Way back in the day, I was quite the swimmer. I was mostly a sprinter, competing in the 50 and 100 yard/meter freestyle events. I would compete in other strokes and distances, but the short races were my focus. It was those early swimming days that really set my athletic foundation for the rest of my life. I learned so much from my coaches as a youth. I still find myself drawing on the things I learned back then, showing just how important starting early in any endeavor really pays off.
One of the basics I learned early on was cross training. Especially as a kid, it was important to play soccer, basketball, learn to sail and keep up with the swimming. Those other activities created a broad physical base, exposed me to team sports and the lessons learned there, kept me from getting board and really cemented my love and talent for swimming in the process.
Fast forward 20 years to today and the basic principles of cross training still apply. 2012 was a pretty terrible season for me racing wise. I burned my candle at both ends and overtrained to the point that my season was pretty much over by June. I had some good crits at the beginning of July, but I had to rest quite a bit to eek out a 2nd and 3rd place at the Utah City Crits and managed a 9th place at the State Crit Champs. Tour de Park City really took it out of me as well and I ended up not finishing LOTOJA, dropping out in Afton, and didn't finish the Harvest Moon Crit either. Needless to say, I needed a break come September. Starting in October, I took a 2 month break from the bike. I rode off and on but nothing major. I put on 10 lbs in the process but I took the opportunity to get some sleep, take care of some business and really push the reset button.
Now that I'm back in training mode, I'm taking a look back on 2010 and 2011, which really were my best years on the bike, especially 2011. What was different about those years? Well, my winters looked much different than 2012. You guessed it, I went swimming! It was the break from the bike and some enjoyable laps in the pool that I think really made for a great year. I also ran some and did quite a bit of core work on my non-cycling days. Just as when I was a youth, the cross training broke up the monotany of riding, switched up my muscles a bit, all the while giving me a great aarobic workout. I put in 2 days a week at a spin class and spent Saturdays at a long spin class or riding outside.
I've decided this is the path I'm going to take again this season. I'll be self coached but have a good knowledge of base building and periodization. I may not be all that fast for the Feb and March races, but I would like to peak mid summer and towards the fall. I'm not going to do LOTOJA and just focus on crits and being a good teammate at other races.
Here's what December has looked like:
M, W, Fr - 1 to 1.5 hrs on the bike, Zone 2 HR and power
T, TH - 30 min running with 30 min of core work
Sat - 2-3 bike ride.
I also spent one Saturday doing a mini indoor triathlon followed by a 1.5 hr ride.
January will see some changes but basically look the same:
M, W, Fri - Spin class
T, TH - swimming + core work
Sat - 2-3 ride.
This schedule will help my body and mind prepare for the new season and hopefully I'll be able to last beyond June. We have an awesome team this year and I don't want to disappoint them. So, here's to a great 2013!
Showing posts with label LOTOJA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LOTOJA. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, September 13, 2010
LOTOJA Greatness?
I first want to give props to my teammates. Darren Goff took 10th in the Cat 1,2,3 group. Kevan Steed, Jerald Olsen and Farrell Spackman all finished in front of me in e Cat 4 group. They rode strong all day and that was Kevan's best LOTOJA time in 3 tries. Trent Olsen rode 2 legs for his winning relay team. Way to go guys!
Now as for me, did I accomplish my goal? I finished LOTOJA in 10 hrs 13 minutes for 36th of 67 in my category. Far from what I wanted but as I'll explain, for a few hours I wasn't sure if I would even finish.
The day started very, very cold. I hear it was in the 20's in some spots of Cache Valley. I was ready, though. I had eaten well all last week and felt like I had plenty of energy Saturday morning. I shivered for a few miles but warmed up quickly as we rode to Preston at 23-24 mph. About 15 miles from Preston I had to pee so bad I could barley stay on my bike. The group was going so fast though that I didn't want to stop and try to catch back up. But I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled off, purged my system and got back on it. I was actually got back to the group in no time and sat in for a bit.
Rolling into Preston I got towards the front to make sure I didn't get left behind in the chaos. I grabbed my mussette, replaced my bottles and pockets and was back at speed without any fuss. I was relaxed knowing that my first of many challenges for the day was coming up.
The initial climb up to Strawberry was toe numbingly cold. The group was pretty tight and the biggest challenge was weaving in and out of the "fun" riders who started ahead of us Not ripping on them, but maneuvering around them was just part of the race. The actual climbing though was pretty tame. I found myself with some strong guys near the front and I had some good feelings in the legs. Our group started dropping a few guys, some of whom I was surprised to see fall back. I kept my eyes pointed forward however, working hard to stay on.
Leaving the HR strap at home turned out to be a great decision. I focused on how I was feeling not on the numbers. With that focus I was able to keep the cadence high.
The rest of the climb was long. There's a false summit and some false flats that play tricks on you. As we neared the feed zone and top of the climb the leaders started to pull away. At first I started to think "hear we go again" but dug deep to keep them within sight at least. Remember, I had a all or nothing strategy on Strawberry. I figured I'd work my guts out to stay in touch and try to hold on the rest of the way. At the summit it looked like I was managing to accomplish just that.
As we descended, a group of us formed and started picking up riders. We had a strong pack coming into Montpelier but only 2 or 3 of us were really motivated to reel the lead pack back in.
I stopped in Montpelier to pee but got right back on my bike. It was great to see Jacob Balls from The Bike Shoppe there. He was putting food in my back pocket while my awesome crew of Alex Carson and my wife swapped bottles for me. When I remounted I was alone. This is where things started to go downhill for me. Not in the way I might have expected though.
In my preparation for the race, I thought I had really mentally prepared for the hurt that I knew would come after laying it all out on Strawberry. Ironically however, it was at Montpelier that my mind gave out. For some reason, being alone and not knowing where the others were really got me down. Even as other racers in my category came up beside me up the Geneva climb, I could have almost cared less. My all or nothing strategy, in my mind at least, had failed and even though I probably had plenty of gas in the tank I was creeping up that climb. I tried and tried to latch on only to sit up and soft pedal. Over the summit of Geneva and onto the climb up to Salt River Pass and the KOM I battled all kinds of thoughts of quiting. Not just the race but my team, my race promotion gig, cycling, the whole thing! I still had more than 100 miles to go and my mental breakdown was literally dragging me down.
My teammate and great friend, Kevan, pulled up beside me with a small group. I managed to tag on and rode strong for a few miles. He pulled off at the neutral feed zone and I followed to try and compose myself and swap bottles. He was taking a few minutes in the port-o so I waved at him as he stepped out and got back on my bike. I knew he would be passing me again shortly so I started back up the climb. He did come up and I wished him luck on getting a great time.
I crept up the KOM and at one point almost fell over I was going so slow. The summit seemed to never get closer but when it finally did I started my decent with some hope that maybe I'd finish.
I rolled into Afton and got some great words of encouragement from Alex. The ibuprofen and 2 cans of FRS really helped to. Holding my kid and kissing my wife was the best pick-me-up of all and reminded me why I do this stuff.
The next 70 miles really saw things turn around. The tailwind out of Afton was a huge boost but even beyond that me and another dude hooked up and railed it for 30 miles. We came up on another group and recruited them to step up as well and we raced into Alpine at warp speed. My attitude was still suffering though. The Alpine feed zone was quick and I got a nice push from Nate Messerly from The Bike Shoppe. I started to get passed though by more and more guys from my group. Another teammate, Jerald, came up on me and yelled for me to dig deep but I had nothing for him. Eventually a dude with one freakin' shoe on passed me! Talk about salt in the wound!
Finally, Jackson approached and I made a very uninspiring effort for the finish. I crossed the line in 10 hours and 13 minutes. I had actually made up about 20 minutes on Kevan and some others. Kevan and Jerald only finished 2 places and 7 minutes ahead of me. Had I latched on to Jerald out of Alpine, we could have finished and celebrated as a team. I let them down.
So what happened? My crew was confused. They said I rolled into the feed zones looking fresh, no stress in my voice or strain on my face. The only evidence of any hurt was in the words I was using, which did not fit my physical appearance. I'm thinking I suffered a "brain bonk". Never heard of it? Well, that's because I just made it up! Just as a great friend of mine on another team suffered from stomach issues and puked his guts out and had to abandon, I think my mind did the same thing. I had set myself up to think that if I didn't keep up on Strawberry, it must only be because my legs would blow up. When I got dropped, and only dropped a little considering its a 200 mile race, I had convinced myself all was lost at that point. Being alone on Geneva only made that feeling worse and it took the remainder of the race to recover.
So much emphasis in our society in placed in physical health and well being. Mental health really has yet to be legitimized. Just look at what our insurance plans cover. Maybe its because a stomach issue is easier to pinpoint than a race stopping mind !#$%. It seems sports is the only area where the mental part of life is really taken seriously. Just look at Tiger Woods. He's obviously still a great golfer but what has happened in his personal life really messed with his game. He doesn't admit it, but I think the same could maybe be said for Lance as well at this year's tour. The dude was in great shape and had never crashed his whole career. In 2010 I think he went down in every race. Could it really be that my body was simply responding to some serious outage in my head? I think so!
When I finished LOTOJA 3 years ago in a time of 11 hrs and 54 minutes, I collapsed on the ground crying out of exhaustion. I could barely walk to the car and was a complete mess. On Saturday, I strolled across the line and walked just fine to the car, even holding my 2 year old for most of the way. I obviously had gas in the tank but lost the mental game.
So what does this mean for my quest for LOTOJA greatness? A great deal actually. One of my favorite quotes is from Phil Knight who said "Sports is the great educator". When you think about it, only one person is going to win your category. Only one team of 33(?) in the NFL will win the Super Bowl. Does that make everyone else a looser and less great? In the media's eye maybe. Or for sponsors, yes. But I refuse to believe it.
For LOTOJA, I think just being there proves your greatness. Think about it, there were 2000 people turned away from the event because of the 1500 rider cap. Anyone who gets in is in elite company. You have dedicated at least a year of your life getting ready for this race. Whether you're in it to win it or just finish before dark, just showing up is half the battle. I believe greatness was achieved by Kevan who made his fastest time ever in LOTOJA. Darren took 10th place in the Cat 1/2/3's in his first year at LOTOJA and during his first real season of racing. All 7 feet 7 inches of ex-pro NBA player Shawn Bradley showed greatness completing 160 miles of the LOTOJA course. First, last. I'm convinced it doesn't matter. Think of all the folks out there who refuse to get up off the couch and turn off the TV. Think of all the guys who can't pry themselves away from their video games. We are out there, bettering our bodies and our minds by pushing ourselves to the limits. There is greatness in all of that.
I wanted to be on the podium. I knew it was a long shot but I still fell short of that. But I do look back on Saturday knowing that I did leave it all on Strawberry. Turns out my body recovered much better than I had anticipated and other obstacles presented themselves. But I finished.
I'll be back. I'm not sure yet if it will be next year but I won't let a bad year get in the way of further greatness. In 2011 I'm going to get back to my roots a bit and try some sprint triathlons, maybe some masters swim meets. I'll still race my bike too. I love this stuff too much. I love my team and I love the races I've been promoting. I have some unfinished business at the Bear Lake Classic and Simply Mac Crit Series. I'm looking forward to the season ending Harvest Moon Crit on Sept 25th and a nice fall to enjoy some rides with friend and teammates. I'll keep up on the blog as well to document winter base building and my foray into a triathlon a two next year.
I want to thank my wife and daughter for supporting me in this. They are my life and as long as I am great in their eyes nothing else matters. I want to thank my team and especially my friend Kevan Steed. I also want to thank Alex Carson for supporting my on this race and helping my wife corral the kid. You all are great!
Now, lets get back on our bikes, eh?
Now as for me, did I accomplish my goal? I finished LOTOJA in 10 hrs 13 minutes for 36th of 67 in my category. Far from what I wanted but as I'll explain, for a few hours I wasn't sure if I would even finish.
The day started very, very cold. I hear it was in the 20's in some spots of Cache Valley. I was ready, though. I had eaten well all last week and felt like I had plenty of energy Saturday morning. I shivered for a few miles but warmed up quickly as we rode to Preston at 23-24 mph. About 15 miles from Preston I had to pee so bad I could barley stay on my bike. The group was going so fast though that I didn't want to stop and try to catch back up. But I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled off, purged my system and got back on it. I was actually got back to the group in no time and sat in for a bit.
Rolling into Preston I got towards the front to make sure I didn't get left behind in the chaos. I grabbed my mussette, replaced my bottles and pockets and was back at speed without any fuss. I was relaxed knowing that my first of many challenges for the day was coming up.
The initial climb up to Strawberry was toe numbingly cold. The group was pretty tight and the biggest challenge was weaving in and out of the "fun" riders who started ahead of us Not ripping on them, but maneuvering around them was just part of the race. The actual climbing though was pretty tame. I found myself with some strong guys near the front and I had some good feelings in the legs. Our group started dropping a few guys, some of whom I was surprised to see fall back. I kept my eyes pointed forward however, working hard to stay on.
Leaving the HR strap at home turned out to be a great decision. I focused on how I was feeling not on the numbers. With that focus I was able to keep the cadence high.
The rest of the climb was long. There's a false summit and some false flats that play tricks on you. As we neared the feed zone and top of the climb the leaders started to pull away. At first I started to think "hear we go again" but dug deep to keep them within sight at least. Remember, I had a all or nothing strategy on Strawberry. I figured I'd work my guts out to stay in touch and try to hold on the rest of the way. At the summit it looked like I was managing to accomplish just that.
As we descended, a group of us formed and started picking up riders. We had a strong pack coming into Montpelier but only 2 or 3 of us were really motivated to reel the lead pack back in.
I stopped in Montpelier to pee but got right back on my bike. It was great to see Jacob Balls from The Bike Shoppe there. He was putting food in my back pocket while my awesome crew of Alex Carson and my wife swapped bottles for me. When I remounted I was alone. This is where things started to go downhill for me. Not in the way I might have expected though.
In my preparation for the race, I thought I had really mentally prepared for the hurt that I knew would come after laying it all out on Strawberry. Ironically however, it was at Montpelier that my mind gave out. For some reason, being alone and not knowing where the others were really got me down. Even as other racers in my category came up beside me up the Geneva climb, I could have almost cared less. My all or nothing strategy, in my mind at least, had failed and even though I probably had plenty of gas in the tank I was creeping up that climb. I tried and tried to latch on only to sit up and soft pedal. Over the summit of Geneva and onto the climb up to Salt River Pass and the KOM I battled all kinds of thoughts of quiting. Not just the race but my team, my race promotion gig, cycling, the whole thing! I still had more than 100 miles to go and my mental breakdown was literally dragging me down.
My teammate and great friend, Kevan, pulled up beside me with a small group. I managed to tag on and rode strong for a few miles. He pulled off at the neutral feed zone and I followed to try and compose myself and swap bottles. He was taking a few minutes in the port-o so I waved at him as he stepped out and got back on my bike. I knew he would be passing me again shortly so I started back up the climb. He did come up and I wished him luck on getting a great time.
I crept up the KOM and at one point almost fell over I was going so slow. The summit seemed to never get closer but when it finally did I started my decent with some hope that maybe I'd finish.
I rolled into Afton and got some great words of encouragement from Alex. The ibuprofen and 2 cans of FRS really helped to. Holding my kid and kissing my wife was the best pick-me-up of all and reminded me why I do this stuff.
The next 70 miles really saw things turn around. The tailwind out of Afton was a huge boost but even beyond that me and another dude hooked up and railed it for 30 miles. We came up on another group and recruited them to step up as well and we raced into Alpine at warp speed. My attitude was still suffering though. The Alpine feed zone was quick and I got a nice push from Nate Messerly from The Bike Shoppe. I started to get passed though by more and more guys from my group. Another teammate, Jerald, came up on me and yelled for me to dig deep but I had nothing for him. Eventually a dude with one freakin' shoe on passed me! Talk about salt in the wound!
Finally, Jackson approached and I made a very uninspiring effort for the finish. I crossed the line in 10 hours and 13 minutes. I had actually made up about 20 minutes on Kevan and some others. Kevan and Jerald only finished 2 places and 7 minutes ahead of me. Had I latched on to Jerald out of Alpine, we could have finished and celebrated as a team. I let them down.
So what happened? My crew was confused. They said I rolled into the feed zones looking fresh, no stress in my voice or strain on my face. The only evidence of any hurt was in the words I was using, which did not fit my physical appearance. I'm thinking I suffered a "brain bonk". Never heard of it? Well, that's because I just made it up! Just as a great friend of mine on another team suffered from stomach issues and puked his guts out and had to abandon, I think my mind did the same thing. I had set myself up to think that if I didn't keep up on Strawberry, it must only be because my legs would blow up. When I got dropped, and only dropped a little considering its a 200 mile race, I had convinced myself all was lost at that point. Being alone on Geneva only made that feeling worse and it took the remainder of the race to recover.
So much emphasis in our society in placed in physical health and well being. Mental health really has yet to be legitimized. Just look at what our insurance plans cover. Maybe its because a stomach issue is easier to pinpoint than a race stopping mind !#$%. It seems sports is the only area where the mental part of life is really taken seriously. Just look at Tiger Woods. He's obviously still a great golfer but what has happened in his personal life really messed with his game. He doesn't admit it, but I think the same could maybe be said for Lance as well at this year's tour. The dude was in great shape and had never crashed his whole career. In 2010 I think he went down in every race. Could it really be that my body was simply responding to some serious outage in my head? I think so!
When I finished LOTOJA 3 years ago in a time of 11 hrs and 54 minutes, I collapsed on the ground crying out of exhaustion. I could barely walk to the car and was a complete mess. On Saturday, I strolled across the line and walked just fine to the car, even holding my 2 year old for most of the way. I obviously had gas in the tank but lost the mental game.
So what does this mean for my quest for LOTOJA greatness? A great deal actually. One of my favorite quotes is from Phil Knight who said "Sports is the great educator". When you think about it, only one person is going to win your category. Only one team of 33(?) in the NFL will win the Super Bowl. Does that make everyone else a looser and less great? In the media's eye maybe. Or for sponsors, yes. But I refuse to believe it.
For LOTOJA, I think just being there proves your greatness. Think about it, there were 2000 people turned away from the event because of the 1500 rider cap. Anyone who gets in is in elite company. You have dedicated at least a year of your life getting ready for this race. Whether you're in it to win it or just finish before dark, just showing up is half the battle. I believe greatness was achieved by Kevan who made his fastest time ever in LOTOJA. Darren took 10th place in the Cat 1/2/3's in his first year at LOTOJA and during his first real season of racing. All 7 feet 7 inches of ex-pro NBA player Shawn Bradley showed greatness completing 160 miles of the LOTOJA course. First, last. I'm convinced it doesn't matter. Think of all the folks out there who refuse to get up off the couch and turn off the TV. Think of all the guys who can't pry themselves away from their video games. We are out there, bettering our bodies and our minds by pushing ourselves to the limits. There is greatness in all of that.
I wanted to be on the podium. I knew it was a long shot but I still fell short of that. But I do look back on Saturday knowing that I did leave it all on Strawberry. Turns out my body recovered much better than I had anticipated and other obstacles presented themselves. But I finished.
I'll be back. I'm not sure yet if it will be next year but I won't let a bad year get in the way of further greatness. In 2011 I'm going to get back to my roots a bit and try some sprint triathlons, maybe some masters swim meets. I'll still race my bike too. I love this stuff too much. I love my team and I love the races I've been promoting. I have some unfinished business at the Bear Lake Classic and Simply Mac Crit Series. I'm looking forward to the season ending Harvest Moon Crit on Sept 25th and a nice fall to enjoy some rides with friend and teammates. I'll keep up on the blog as well to document winter base building and my foray into a triathlon a two next year.
I want to thank my wife and daughter for supporting me in this. They are my life and as long as I am great in their eyes nothing else matters. I want to thank my team and especially my friend Kevan Steed. I also want to thank Alex Carson for supporting my on this race and helping my wife corral the kid. You all are great!
Now, lets get back on our bikes, eh?
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