The original plan for today was to go out early and get a good hard training ride in. When I got up I had a major headache and my stomach was in knots. I tried to get up and do something but it didn't get any better. I tried going back to bed but it didn't help either. So I got up layed around on the couch all morning and eventually I started to feel better. Around 1 I geared up and headed out for a quick ride. I still wasn't feeling 100% and I still didn't feel like eating anything. So I forced myself to eat a bar while I was on my way out. While I was riding I started to feel the effects of whatever was wrong with me this morning. I would go through times of feeling week and then go through times when I couldn't control my breathing and felt like my heart was beating like crazy and my chest hurt. When all that was happening I was getting a bit worried but I kept going. After a while longer I started to feel a bit more normal and ended up having a good ride and felt great by the time I got home.
After the way I felt this morning I guess it's a good thing that the race was postponed to next week. I doubt I would have done very well.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to do tomorrow but I'm kind of leaning towards a 1/2 century ride around branched oak. A trip back to last weeks race course. Hopefully the legs feel up to it, their feeling a bit tired now I'm feeling yesterdays core workout.
Harp
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
No Race, Night Off, Flood and New Computer
Not much for posting this week. It's been a bit crazy. On Wednesday my wife and I decided it was finally time to get a new computer. Our's was in pretty old and we weren't sure how much longer it was going to last. So we headed to Omaha and picked up a new Gateway Notebook. It's nice to be able to move around the house and still be able to get online. Now I can blog from the couch when I'm in deep recovery. 
The new comp.
Tomorrow it's a full on killer training session on the road bike and then off to the links.
Gotta go and hit the bed to rest up for an early ride.
Harp
The new comp.So getting the computer was fine on Wednesday night. The problem was when we got home we noticed a puddle on the basement floor. When we turned on the rest of the lights in our basement living room we noticed that the whole living room was soaked. Upon further investigation we found that the water was coming from our hot water heater in the laundry room was pouring water out of it. So we had to turn off the water to the whole house to get it to stop. We had to go the rest of the night with turning the water off to the whole house as we needed it. It was a nice $500 I didn't plan on spending this month. Luckily on Thursday my kick ass father in law who used to be a plumber took the day off work and came to Lincoln and installed a new water heater.
Good and Bad day today though. The Bad: Race was cancelled cause we've had rain for 2 days solid now and the trails have standing water on them. The race was postponed until next Saturday which means my last 2 races of the season will only be a week apart. Not to big a deal I haven't felt that great this week anyways. The Good: got a call from the Links saying the guests we had for tonight cancelled and I have no reason to work. That kicked ass. I needed the night to get some stuff done and since there is no race tomorrow I needed to get a good weekend of training in before I taper start to get ready for the race next weekend. So tonight I had an awesome night of training even if it was in the house and not outside. I got a 1 hour interval session on the trainer and then I got a full core workout in. The core workout hurt. Reminds me I need to start doing it more. I feel like a little chunky lately and the core workouts should help tighten things up.Tomorrow it's a full on killer training session on the road bike and then off to the links.
Gotta go and hit the bed to rest up for an early ride.
Harp
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
09 Marin Alchemist
Came across this article about the new 2009 Marin Alchemist. It's said that the top of the line one the 4.9 has a weight of only 21.8 lbs. That's lighter than my 08 Indian Fire Trail before I've upgraded and lightened it up. I've been thinking about a full suspension bike in the future and this will probably be it.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Race Report: NE State Road Race
Only two words can describe how I did in the road race yesterday: I sucked. Yesterday was not a very good day on the bike for me. I went into the race with my main goal being to stay with the pack for most of the race. I did not acheive that goal. I didn't even come close.
The race started with a 2 mile roll out and then it was on right at the bottom of the biggest climbing section of the race. I did fine through the climb and stayed with the pack for about the next 6 miles feeling ok but I was not very comfortable being so close to so many other riders, some of which were making real bad moves in the pack and constantly bumping wheels with other people. I found my myself drifting towards the back and next thing I know I was out after only about 8 miles. After that I just didn't have the legs to get back up with them and I ended up riding with 3 others for most of the race.
The 3 other riders and me worked pretty well together for most of the race. It was actually good practice for me to get a little more used to riding with others and trading off taking pulls at the front. Somewhere around the last 10 miles of the race I looked back and it was just me and one other rider. Him and I finished off the race together.
In the end I'm not happy with my performance at all in this race. It is serving as a good motivator for me for next season. I will be doing more road racing next season. I need to get out on some more long rides with other racers to get my endurance up and to get more comfortable drafting and riding close to others. A race like I had yesterday for me won't really be acceptable again. I still have 2 mountain races left for the season and know my focus is totally on them. This week is mostly going to be spent recovering from yesterdays "race" and resting up for my race on Sat. My legs feel ok today not really sore at all but my butt is pretty sore. Not from the saddle but with just some muscle pain.
It looks like there is going to be some rain this week so I'm not sure what is in store for outdoor training or riding some more laps on the race course for this weekend.
Harp
The race started with a 2 mile roll out and then it was on right at the bottom of the biggest climbing section of the race. I did fine through the climb and stayed with the pack for about the next 6 miles feeling ok but I was not very comfortable being so close to so many other riders, some of which were making real bad moves in the pack and constantly bumping wheels with other people. I found my myself drifting towards the back and next thing I know I was out after only about 8 miles. After that I just didn't have the legs to get back up with them and I ended up riding with 3 others for most of the race.
The 3 other riders and me worked pretty well together for most of the race. It was actually good practice for me to get a little more used to riding with others and trading off taking pulls at the front. Somewhere around the last 10 miles of the race I looked back and it was just me and one other rider. Him and I finished off the race together.
In the end I'm not happy with my performance at all in this race. It is serving as a good motivator for me for next season. I will be doing more road racing next season. I need to get out on some more long rides with other racers to get my endurance up and to get more comfortable drafting and riding close to others. A race like I had yesterday for me won't really be acceptable again. I still have 2 mountain races left for the season and know my focus is totally on them. This week is mostly going to be spent recovering from yesterdays "race" and resting up for my race on Sat. My legs feel ok today not really sore at all but my butt is pretty sore. Not from the saddle but with just some muscle pain.
It looks like there is going to be some rain this week so I'm not sure what is in store for outdoor training or riding some more laps on the race course for this weekend.
Harp
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
I'm doing it again
That's it I signed myself up for another race on my road bike. This time it will be a regular road set up. 49 miles for my class. Should be interesting.
Harp
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Only Me
Heading out on the bike path After work tonight it was out south of town for the pcl tuesday night crit. I was running a bit behind but still made it out there only a couple of minutes late but the problem was I was the only one there. I did a couple of warm up laps hoping someone would show up but no one did so I ended up just doing some intervals alone. My legs felt ok but were a little lacking. The intervals were good but I only did them for about 20 minutes and then I decided to head back towards home. I think I would have felt a bit better if I was pushing to keep up with someone. I swung through pioneers park for a quick lap to get a few short climbs in and then headed home. I need to try and taper it down a little this week and get my legs back. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks of racing.
A little bummed on the way back towards home
Rollin homeNot sure what was up with the crit tonight. Maybe everyone was tapering it down a bit for the race this weekend or maybe the rain all day got everyone out of the mood to ride. Hopefully it continues to go on. I get some real good training out of it.
Harp
Monday, September 1, 2008
Labor Day Weekend
My labor day weekend couldn't have gone much better than it did. I did have to work on Sat. night and at the shop Sunday afternoon but other than that I spent the rest of the time with the family or on the bike.
On Saturday morning I decided to sleep in a bit and went for an extended ride in town through wilderness park. I spent a solid 2 hours in the saddle pushing a race pace most of the time. I was surprised that I didn't see any other riders out there though.
Sunday morning I was up early and headed out to Branched Oak to hit my favorite singletrack in the area. I decided to ride area 1 where we usually race but won't be in a couple of weeks. I did put in some real good laps other than the first which always sucks cause it is what I call the spider lap. The spiders there love to put up their webs across the trail. I always end up stopping a lot to clean the webs off my glasses, face and arms. Once in a while you have to clean off the spider that's crawling on you too. After that is done the rest of the laps are great and I always feel like I get a lot more accomplished training wise on the more challenging climbing course.
Today I went out again to Branched Oak and first hit the spider lap up alone and then met up with Ryan and we headed over to area 7 where the race will be held on the 13th to meet up with Millhouse and do some course recon. We rode the course twice. The first lap Millhouse led the way and I realized the course wasn't as bad as I thought. It is a new trail right next to the old rutted out one. On the second lap I lead us out and pushed up to my race pace which I wasn't able to hold over the entire 2.9 mile course. I cracked about 2/3rds the way through. I'm not sure what was up and after that I felt pretty weak the rest of the day. I didn't really eat anything before I rode this morning cause I was a bit tired and just forgot. I'm not sure if that is what it was or I just haven't been getting the rest I need. The course is shorter than the rest of the race courses so it will be a bit different doing more laps instead of the standard 3. After that Ryan and I head back to ride area 1 again and I still didn't have much in the legs and Ryan was having trouble with his drivetrain so the loop wasn't the best but bad singletrack is better than none. After that I needed to get going cause I thought the wife and I were going to go get a new laptop in Omaha but the store we were going to go to was closed for Labor day. So the rest of the day was spent lounging around the house catching up on some reading.
The only gripe for the weekend is what should have been. A few weeks back I decided I wanted to race the Dakota 5-0 in Spearfish South Dakota. I wasn't able to do it cause of some family stuff I was supposed to do. The family stuff ended not happening and I really wish I had gone to the race but by the time I found out it was to late to get everything organized so that I could be gone for the weekend. I did keep thinking about it yesterday as I rode that I should be racing instead of just out training. Next year it will definetly be on the schedule especially after reading a race report from it.
The plan for tomorrow is to head out to the pcl Tuesday night crits and get my ass kicked. I figured this will get me into the road bike mind set since I'm going to do a road race this coming weekend. Should be good training to get me ready for my last 2 mountain bike races of the season.
Harp
On Saturday morning I decided to sleep in a bit and went for an extended ride in town through wilderness park. I spent a solid 2 hours in the saddle pushing a race pace most of the time. I was surprised that I didn't see any other riders out there though.
Sunday morning I was up early and headed out to Branched Oak to hit my favorite singletrack in the area. I decided to ride area 1 where we usually race but won't be in a couple of weeks. I did put in some real good laps other than the first which always sucks cause it is what I call the spider lap. The spiders there love to put up their webs across the trail. I always end up stopping a lot to clean the webs off my glasses, face and arms. Once in a while you have to clean off the spider that's crawling on you too. After that is done the rest of the laps are great and I always feel like I get a lot more accomplished training wise on the more challenging climbing course.
Today I went out again to Branched Oak and first hit the spider lap up alone and then met up with Ryan and we headed over to area 7 where the race will be held on the 13th to meet up with Millhouse and do some course recon. We rode the course twice. The first lap Millhouse led the way and I realized the course wasn't as bad as I thought. It is a new trail right next to the old rutted out one. On the second lap I lead us out and pushed up to my race pace which I wasn't able to hold over the entire 2.9 mile course. I cracked about 2/3rds the way through. I'm not sure what was up and after that I felt pretty weak the rest of the day. I didn't really eat anything before I rode this morning cause I was a bit tired and just forgot. I'm not sure if that is what it was or I just haven't been getting the rest I need. The course is shorter than the rest of the race courses so it will be a bit different doing more laps instead of the standard 3. After that Ryan and I head back to ride area 1 again and I still didn't have much in the legs and Ryan was having trouble with his drivetrain so the loop wasn't the best but bad singletrack is better than none. After that I needed to get going cause I thought the wife and I were going to go get a new laptop in Omaha but the store we were going to go to was closed for Labor day. So the rest of the day was spent lounging around the house catching up on some reading.
The only gripe for the weekend is what should have been. A few weeks back I decided I wanted to race the Dakota 5-0 in Spearfish South Dakota. I wasn't able to do it cause of some family stuff I was supposed to do. The family stuff ended not happening and I really wish I had gone to the race but by the time I found out it was to late to get everything organized so that I could be gone for the weekend. I did keep thinking about it yesterday as I rode that I should be racing instead of just out training. Next year it will definetly be on the schedule especially after reading a race report from it.
The plan for tomorrow is to head out to the pcl Tuesday night crits and get my ass kicked. I figured this will get me into the road bike mind set since I'm going to do a road race this coming weekend. Should be good training to get me ready for my last 2 mountain bike races of the season.
Harp
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