Last night, I went out for a couple of beers with Ben and Helge at Gold Star in Wicker Park. As so often happens when one is hanging out with cyclists, the talk turned to training for races. Helge and I both know this, but it still continues to astound whenever we ask Ben, who is three points shy of being a Cat.1, what is training regimen is – which is none. He gets out and rides when he can, but sometimes the only time that he is on the bike in any given week is on race day. Which is infuriating and comical – only because Helge and I ride almost every day and put some decent efforts in, while eating mostly quality food, and yet, Ben who eats McDonald's around three times a week, is an absolute monster.
Not fair.
Other than blaming genetics, which is just too easy, or blaming the bike which is just stupid, the only thing I like to blame is my training regimen. My riding consists of the following: Sunday – three hours of long, hard efforts; Monday – two hours of long, hard efforts; Tuesday – two to three hours of long, hard efforts; Wednesday – screw around on the bike in the neighborhood (unless someone calls me up looking for a ride); Thursday – three hours of long hard efforts, and so on and so forth. You see the pattern? Yeah, I go out and just ride hard and don't do anything specific, and more often than not, I'm more interested in getting miles in than I am in trying to improve my steady-state LT. I do practice CX techniques, but that good idea sometimes turns bad – like when I crash trying to bunnyhop over a branch and in turn, I bruise a rib.
So instead of complaining, I'm going to lay out my goal for next year: be fast. No more junk miles in search of breaking some kind of silly record, which incidentally I will crack at 7500 for this year alone, nor will I blow off riding for other more base pleasures, such as sleeping. I'm not going to be like Ben and get a coach, because as nice and helpful a coach would be, I have little chance of making it big with the bike-racing thing, unlike Ben who I think is likely to be racing in Europe in a year or two if he works hard.
Maybe it's time to dust-off the Polar HRM, which I haven't touched in forever, and figure out all of my zones again. And maybe, for 2008, I could get a top-five or something. *shrug*
Kevin F
1 month ago
4 comments:
Hit the weight room. It'll help you tons in the spring. You could also get a set of these. Makes you tons faster.
http://www.reynoldscomposites.com/index.php?p_matter=products_wheels_sdv66t
Oh Zach, I am flattered and ashamed at the same time...please try not to compare and be discouraged. You have a crazy amount of power in your legs, it will be unleashed rather unsuspectingly and you will suprise more than yourself, I know it.
ok, i know it's too easy to blame genetics, but it's true. ben's not human.
It's all perspective. Bicycles are a central part of my life and have been since I was 13 (since i'm 26 now, that makes it half of my life I suppose). I raced BMX for five years, hit the weight room every winter, and even went on long road rides on my 20" and did rollers in the winter. I had a "training" schedule when I raced BMX that included sprints and intervals. Except during graduate school, I've always tried to get on my bike as much as possible. You'd think with all of that riding experience and training that I'd be fast...well I used to think that until I started riding with you, which, by the way, makes my lungs burn and my breakfast gurgle around in my stomach. Far too often I've watched you and Curt ride away into the distance and I think "nope, can't do it" and simply try to catch up when I can. Oh, I heard that you are back in Ohio. Make sure you ride some hills while you are home!
Post a Comment