Recovery Week A Success!

After taking off Monday and Tuesday,  followed by a light ride on Wednesday, by Thursday I felt much better for Friday's two hours with short thirty second max efforts.  It was the right amount of intensity to test the waters and see how I was feeling after hitting the wall last week.  I felt great! I was even able to ride with some Pedal Pushers teammates for a little bit.  Thursday I shuttled Mount Falcon with some midwestern friends whose weak lungs couldn't handle too much climbing in altitude.  It took me awhile to acclimate myself so I felt their pain.  After the ride, I rushed to pack and make it to the airport for a much deserved weekend trip to Santa Barbara, CA that my wondeful wife surprised me with.  She is a flight attendant (therefore we fly free) so we try do these weekend trips whenever I'm not training or racing on the weekends.  Best wife ever!  Biking, travel... yep, I have a rough life, I know.

My trail bike, 2008 Giant Trace X1, on Mount Falcon.  The gold RaceRace Atlas handlebars and Crank Brothers Joplin dropper seatpost is my sad attempt to make it an all mountain rig... gotta love the gold bling though!

Picture of me climbing White Ranch and somehow smiling... yes, I love the climbing as much as the downhill... I'm one of those weird kids.

Balcony of the hotel in Santa Barbara, CA!  Can't believe I'm saying this, but the humidity feels nice with the 70's degree weather... and humidity is one of the big reasons I left the Midwest in the first place!

Parasympathetic Overtraining

Eureka! I've found it! After doing some research on over training I figured out what was going on! Whenever you see articles about overtraining it always talks about your HR being higher than normal. With Parasympathetic Overtraining the opposite happens, your HR is lower. This happens to a lot of endurance racers and is exactly what was happening to me. As blogged about in my topic “The Dreaded Dead Legs Experience”, it was getting harder for me to keep my HR up during my Wednesday threshold (maximum steady state) workout even though my perceived exertion felt like I was really pushing it. By Friday I was cashed. There's a great blog post about it here: http://troyshellhamer.blogspot.com/2012/03/parasympathetic-overtraining-and.html. Looks like I really need to start paying more attention to my perceived exertion especially during hard training blocks. Maybe now that I'm more aware of the signs of it I can better prevent it from happening again.

RECOVERY!

Feeling pretty let down after failing one of the most critical training days in my winter/spring training. It was apparent I needed a break physically, and mentally. Luckily, I had some out of town guests that were good friends of my friends back in the Midwest that needed a mountain bike tour guide. I decided to bring them to a local trail that was easy to shuttle to the top so they didn't have to do much climbing in the high altitude, and I could save my legs from climbing as well. We also met up with even more Midwest vacationers who are good friends with one my Colorado transplant friends. We all enjoyed some down hilling together and then met up with my wife at the bottom who brought sangria and a snack while we waiting(waited) for (the)cars to be retrieved from the top of the mountain.  Best wife ever!  Great times were had and it was awesome to ride with somebody other then my own thoughts. I also took a break from logging my calories and over indulged in some really good grilled food for two days. Made some new friends, ate some good, and even had some good beer for the first time in weeks. After a fun weekend it's time to get back on track and start my recovery week. Going to cut out a day off of training and really going to listen to the body. If I'm not feeling it from the start I'm not going to attempt riding. Recovery at this point is much more important then(than getting in a ride) getting a ride in.

The Dreaded Dead Legs Experience

Well, it's happened. I've hit a wall that I've never hit before. The dreaded feeling of dead legs as result of over training. As blogged about on March 26, I had a hard week of training and positive results. I want into the beginning of the second week of the training block with high hopes of having another great week. Monday's VO2 max went well. I took it easy on Tuesday for my recovery ride by hitting the dirt jumps at the local Golden Bike Park... maybe should have took a few more breaks between hitting the jumps since my legs aren't used to jumping. Wednesday I should have took the hint that over training was occurring and backed off. I had three Maximum Steady State intervals with efforts uphill. The first interval I felt a little weak, but decided to do the second interval anyway since sometimes the first interval your still not quite warmed up. The second interval I was able to do, but it was a lot more of an effort then what it should have been. Stubbornly I did the third interval anyway. I should have did the first interval and known that a recovery was needed, but I guess I figured a day off on Thursday was going to be enough... that was a mistake. Friday was a 3.5 hour ride with a 2 hour tempo effort. I had to cut the tempo effort short by 20 minutes because I could feel the effects of over training worse then ever. I was really hoping by cutting the Friday training short I'd somehow miraculously recovery enough for Saturdays 5 hour hard endurance training. Instead Saturday was a disaster. I couldn't even hit the low HR zones to warm up. I ended up doing a 3.5 hour death march ride before calling it quits. My diet also played a key role in my over training. On Thursday I broke 150 was done to 149. I was so caught up on trying to hit my max power to weight ratio that I continued to cut calories during two critical weeks that I needed the extra calories. Fail.

Riding The Ranch

Headed out to White Ranch for my 2.5 hours ride with Maximum Steady State uphill efforts. Hit Belcher Hill Trail hard up hill three times and came back down it three times. Each time I was pushing pretty hard uphill to keep my heart rate in the proper zone. Apparently I wasn't the only one that thought White Ranch was the place to ride. I passed at least 20 people heading down after each hard effort, and then turned around to do another interval and passed the same people again. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone out there. Wasn't trying to show boat, just trying to stay in my HR zone. Great to see that many people out there enjoying the mid 70's temperature in March!

Any Time, Any Weather

Monday was the scheduled VO2 maxes uphill day. The temp was nice in the 70's, but it was another windy Colorado day. I elected to ride the hardtail out to a nearby steep uphill fireroad with the wind at my back as opposed to taking the road bike uphill into the wind. Riding in this adverse condition made me think of all the times that I have ridden in trouble weather. Just a couple weeks ago I rode when the wind has even stronger. On one section the wind was so strong it blew me off my bike and tossed my sunglasses a couple of yards. I've ridden in rain, sleet, and snow (sometimes in the same day). One time it was sleeting/snowing so badly several motorists stopped to ask if I needed a ride. I've also ridden extreme cold weather were even with two layers of gloves and hand warmers the downhills I had to stop several times on the downhill to warm up my hands. Sure, I spend a fair share in my basement on a trainer, but there are just some training rides that cannot be simulated on a trainer effectively. My theory is that every time I ride in these adverse conditions when no one else is crazy enough to try it gives me a little bit of an edge on the competition who are warm and dry on there trainer. We'll see if it pays off this spring.

One Week Done Of Two Week Hard Training Block

One week done, one more to go!  These two weeks are the hardest weeks I have for training.  So far this week:
Monday: 2 hours with VO2 max (zone 5+) efforts uphill
Tuesday: 1.5 hour recovery ride
Wednesday: 2.5 hours with Maximum Steady State (MSS) (zone 4-4.9) efforts uphill
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 3 hours with long tempo (zone 3-3.9) effort
Saturday: 4.5 hour endurance with 1 hour warm up, hard effort for 3 hours, 30 min cool down
Sunday: Rest... is walking 9 holes of golf considered active recovery?

Here's the results from Saturday:


Last year I did this same training session at Bear Creek Lake so I compared my results starting after the 1 hour warm up until the 30 min cool down.  In the same 3 hours of hard effort I went 6.53 miles more this year!  Good sign of improvement!    Next week is more of the same except with a 3.5 hours with long tempo effort on Friday, and a 5 hour endurance on Saturday.  Lots of fun!

The Race Bike

2009 Giant XTC Advanced
FRAME:  Advanced-Grade Composite
FORK:  Fox F100 RL, 100mm travel
SHIFTERS:  Shimano XT Rapidfire
FRONT DERAILLEUR:  Shimano XT
REAR DERAILLEUR: Shimano XT Shadow, top normal
BRAKES:  Avid Elixer R 160F/160R
BRAKE LEVERS:  Avid Elixer R
CASSETTE:  SRAM PG990 11/34, 9-speed
CHAIN:  SRAM PC991
CRANKS:  Shimano XT, 22/32/44
BB:  Shimano XT, External
RIMS: Stan's ZTR Crest 26"
HUBS:  Stan's 3.30
SPOKES:  2.0/1.5 DT Revolution
TIRES:  Continental X-King Protection, 26x2.2 Folding
HANDLEBAR:  RaceFace NEXT Flatbar
STEM:  FSA OS-99
SEATPOST:  Thompson Setback 30.9
SADDLE: Fizik Tundra with Carbon Braided Rails color Orange
GRIPS:  Ergon GX2 Leichtbau Carbon color white
PEDALS:  Crank Brothers EggBeater SL


Not sure the exact weight, but it's somewhere between 22 and 23 lbs with pedals.  Some of my favorite components are the Fizik Tundra saddle, Ergon GX2 grips, Stan's ZTR Crest Wheelset, and Continetal X-King Protection tires.  The Fizik Tundra is the most comfortable saddle I've found so far.  Long hours in this saddle is no problem at all.  And it's bright orange!  Added bonus!  Orange highlights on the site, orange saddle, my teams color is orange so the team kit is orange... yeah, there's a bit of color scheme going on here.  The Ergon GX2 grips also makes the long rides a lot more comfortable.  They are awfully stylish in color white.  Yes, they are a bit of a pain to keep clean, but totally worth it!  No matter what Ergon grips you choose, they are a must for any endurance racer.  I'm a bit of a fan boy for the Topeak Ergon Racing Team.  Dave Wiens, Jeff Kerkove, and Sonya Looney are all awesome endurance racers!  Jeff Kerkove's blog was an inspiration for me to start my own.  The Stan's ZTR Crest Wheelset matched with Continetal X-King Protection tires have shed pounds off the bike.  Although light, the wheelset is super stiff!  Can really feel it when I get out of the saddle.  The X-King Protections are a light tubeless ready tire, but the sidewalls are tough enough to run at crazy low psi!  The rolling resistance on them is awesome to without sacrificing any grip.  It's not the sub 20 lbs race machines the pros have, but without any sponsorship help (yet) it's what I have to work with.  No worries though since my 'Porsche' (that's right, I call it my 'Porsche') still can get the job done!

Damn Those Skinny Kids

I've said it once, and I'll say it again... POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO! This was the BIGGEST downfall I've had in my previous years of racing. I had the power, but the weight thing was out of hand. I've heard a few times that endurance racers can eat what they want since they burn so many calories; well tell that to my body because that wasn't working! Doesn't help that I have the uncanny ability to eat like a 400 lbs man. Seriously, if I wasn't trying to be a professional endurance mountain biker I'd be a professional eater. It wasn't until I started logging my calorie intake that I really started to shed a lot of pounds. In fact, it wasn't until I lost the weight that I realized just how heavy I was. I wasn't even this skinny in high school! Looking at my training logs from just a month or two back, I'm already seeing huge gains in performance. I've come to the cold hard fact that if you want to be as fast as the skinny kids then you have to become a skinny kid yourself. Only downfall is having to shop for new clothes. At least size small seems to always be on clearance.

Big Changes For 2012

Many elements have gone into my training for 2012. The first improvement for 2012 started in fall 2011 with the purchase of a cyclocross bike. I raced from September to December in cyclocross races. This is a huge improvement from the previous fall of not riding for three months. Once CX season was done I turned the cyclocross bike into a road bike and decided to do more of my high intensity training on the road. This is another huge improvement from 2011 were I did most training rides that are best done on the road on dirt instead which caused me to have less than optimal training sessions. My recovery in 2011 was less than great as well. I would go too hard on days that I should of taken it easy which translated to tired legs when I needed to excel on hard training days. Another big part of recovery that I lacked in 2011 was taking better care of my legs. For 2012 I purchased a foam roller. The foam roller along with massage and stretching regularly has kept my legs fresher than they have ever felt. Power to weight ratio in 2011 was not even close to par with other racers. Losing quite a bit of weight already, I can feel the power gain on climbs. A few more pounds and I'll be at the perfect power to weight ratio for myself. Another area that needed some pounds dropped was on the race bike. I bought a new wheelset and dropped 2.4 pounds which is 4.8 pounds of rotational weight. Hopefully all these elements translate to a season of top place finishes in 2012.

First Blog!

For my very first blog post let me tell you a little bit about myself and the reason for this blog. I started riding mountain bikes in 2005 and started racing in 2008. Every year since I started racing mountain bikes I have gotten a little more serious about racing each year. My first year in Colorado in 2010 I hit the ground running by switching from XC racing in the Midwest to an endurance racing in Rocky Mountains. The first year of endurance was a lot of trial and error with nutrition during races, adjustments to the bike, getting used to the long hours of training, etc. The second year went much smoother and I was able to nail down a good on bike nutrition plan, but I still had a lot of room for improvement. 2012 needs to be the year I make huge gains in order for me to live out my dream of one day being a professional endurance mountain biker. This blog is about my journey along the way to obtaining my dream and is dedicated to my passion of endurance mountain bike racing.