No Cross Today

Unfortunately today I wasn't able to race in the second day of the NE CycloCross Weekend. We had to celebrate Thanksgiving with my wifes family. It would have been nice to race and I think I may have had a better day today than I did yesterday. The legs felt good this morning when I got up but no big deal. It was nice to spend the day hanging with my family. We went to my wifes uncles house who lives in the country and has a big spread and lots of motor powered toys. Not quite my cup of tea but hey something differents fun once in a while. Riding the ATV's my time as a cyclist worked against me for a while when what I'm used to being the front brake is the clutch and the what I'm used to using my right thumb to shift gears is now my throttle. I did find myslef wishing I had my bike. I still prefer my off road vehicles to have pedals no motor.

I kept my diet in check today also. I only allowed myself to have one serving of the main meal. A couple of hours later though I did have some pumpkin pie but it is a vegetable ha.

I thought a lot today about what I mentioned in yesterdays post and am really looking at my training and what I need to do to improve. I uped my training routine for tonight when I got home. I did my usual interval workout ( I need to work on some new ones the one I usually do is getting really redundant) and added an extra 15 minutes of high tempo work. I'm going to continue to work on researching some new training techniques.

That's about all for tonight. I need to go watch the last couple minutes of the Chargers game. They have a chanve of actually winning this one.

Harp

NE CX Weekend

Today was the first day of the Nebraska Cyclo-Cross Weekend. I raced twice in the category 3-4 race and then in the cat 4 race. I only have two words for my feelings on how I did after the races today: MOTIVATION & FOCUS.

Today I sucked. Again. I just didn't have it in me. In the cat 3-4 race I finished last. That is driving me nuts. I keep trying to tell myself that this is really only the first time I've raced cross but I just can't get past it. It's killing me. I know that I'm better than that. In the second race the cat 4 race I finished 8th out of 10. Still not that great. I know that cross racing is a different discipline but there were some guys I raced against in mountain races and killed that I had no chance of keeping up with today.

The races today really made me think hard about how I've been the past couple months since my last mountain race of the year. I've been kind of lazy and finding a lot of excuses not to train and eat right. The poor performance today really has gotten me back on track to start thinking about how I need to be in the off season to be ready for next year.

As for the races themselves. I wasn't really that prepared for the first race the cat 3-4. When the whistle blew I got a bad start and ended up leaving the start close to the end where I ended up staying the whole time. I don't even know what to say. The dismounts and barriers killed me ( I fell over them my second time through). I was just so damn slow getting off the bike and then getting back on and get going again. I know it is something that I just need to practice a lot more. The course had one big hill in it that required me to run up it. The second time up I'm not sure but I managed to lose a shoe and had to stop and put it back on. After that as the race went on I just started feeling worse and worse. Eventually I got to the point where I just tried to keep pedaling and make it through the race.

The second race started only 15 minutes after my first which in hindsight was probably a mistake to do 2 of them back to back like that. When the whistle blew for this one I was ready and got off the start in second and rolled into the first turn in first then I flew through the first section of tight twists and then boom the first barriers and everyone went around me except for the poor people that were right behind me and I was holding them up. After that I went through the race ok but still couldn't really catch up with anyone in front of me and my I ended up just trying to keep in front of the two people behind me.

I don't know what to think. All I know is that I need to get back to work and really strive to make some improvements over the winter. I need to really force myself to train harder and I've said this before but I need to be able to stay at me top end for a longer period of time if I have any chance of achieving my goal for next years mountain bike season. The goal for next year is a podium spot in every cross-country mtb race. I've kind of made up my mind that nothing else is acceptable.

Marin Indian Fire Trail Video

Came across this video on the Marin Website. It's a video of the 08 Marin Indian Fire Trail. It is the mountain bike that I am in love with and have raced this past season and hopefully next season.

Leg Recovery

As I've been working through my training last week and through the race this weekend my legs have felt really tight especially my hamstrings. Yesterday when I got home I went out for a light 45 minute spin to try to loosen them up but couldn't really work out the kinks. When I got out of bed this morning my hams felt really tight again and know I feel tight right above the back of my knees. So tonight instead of training I decided to work in a lot of stretching and just try to stay off my feet and let the legs recover a bit before this weekends cross races. I'm thinking I need to suffer so I might possibly race 4 times. Since I have a cat 4 cross license I can race in both the category 3-4 race which is 45 minutes and then also the just category 4 race which is only 30 minutes. The big problem is that the cat 3-4 race is at 2 pm and the cat 4 race is at 3 pm giving me only 15 minutes in between races. I'm not sure if I can or should try to swing both races but at the same time I'm looking at these races as a way to force me to train at my top end. So I'm not sure. Let me know what you think.

Other than that tonight has been spent hanging with the kids and trying to put together a training plan for after this weekend and the rest of this very long winter to try to get ready for next season. I've done a decent amount of research tonight and am starting to get some ideas together. I'm also still thinking about going this route also.

One problem though is as I'm sitting here working on training research and drinking my nice glass of pinot ( I've got to indulge myself once in a while anyways isn't red wine good for the heart) I keep thinking about the "need" for a cross bike of my own. I really appreciate Greg at the shop loaning me his Surly but I need to get one of my own now that I'm kinda hooked on this cross thing after only one race. The thing I keep thinking about is how much to spend on a cross bike that is going to get limited use and only gets raced about 4-6 times a year. I don't know for sure but I think when the time comes the decision is going to be pretty easy on what to get. It will probably end up being this. Big Surprise. Of course I say that I need this bike today and that could change to any one of the other bikes I need. I keep telling myself that the next new bike needs to be a new road frame which is a whole other story to come at a later date.

Well that's enough of my ramblings for the night. I need to rest up as much as possible tonight since I've got a long day at the college and club tomorrow and then just a real long day at the college on Thursday. Later.

Harp

Cowboy Cup CX Race

Today I headed out south of Lincoln to get a taste for Cross Racing. I got to the race site which was at a farm. It was a nice course looping around the house, barns, pastures and a couple of crossing through a creek. As I was pre-riding the course and trying to get used to the cross bike ( this was only my 3rd time on it) I noticed that my hamstrings were really tight. Must have been from the training that I've done this week.

As the race got going I entered into the course in the middle which didn't last long. I cracked rather quickly and just couldn't get going. My legs just didn't have anything in them. I couldn't accelerate on the straights like I needed to. Everyone else seemed to be able to punch it and I just couldn't dig it out. I'm still getting comfortable on the bike and taking the twisty turns at speed. And I'm not even going to start on my inability to mount and dismount quickly.

All in all though it was a great time. It was nice to get out and suffer for an hour and I think I'm realy going to get into cross racing. I like the idea behind it and I also like the fact that it is a way to keep racing after the mountain and road season is over.

I'm looking forward to next weeks races.

Big thanks to Sydney and her family for putting all the work into it.

Go here to see some pics.

Harp

Cold Thoughts

Today had a rough start to it. For some reason this morning when I woke up I felt aweful. Actually I felt like I was really hungover and that sucked if I'm going to feel that way I really wish I had had the fun that went into getting that way. It was really bad. I barely made it to work and then barely made it through my one hour lecture without throwing up. I had to sit and give the lecture which is odd for me since I've never done that before and I tend to move around a lot when I'm giving lectures. Luckily for me as the day went on and we went into the lab portion of the day I started feeling better and by the time I got home from work tonight I was feeling ok and went decided to go ahead and get on the trainer. I still wasn't feeling 100% so I did a hour of steady tempo at the top end of my ownzone on the new monitor. I don't think I could have made it through another heavy interval session. The legs were pretty sore and I need to ease back into the training instead of hurting myself. I mean I'm not going to hurt myself until the practice cross race this weekend and the 2 days next weekend.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what gear I need for riding outside this winter. I still want to try to get outside as much as possible. I know I need more gear than what I have right now. I got some new bellweather leg warmers tonight which should help alot but I still need to get a new set of gloves. I'm kind of leaning towards the PI Lobster gloves and kind of just get something that I can use in February. I also need a new winter riding coat. Of course I like the new Twin Six wool jerseys or I could just wait and order a team winter jacket with our team gear. The problem is the team stuff won't be in until sometime in January. I'll have to figure it out or tough it out amd I'm sure there is other things that I'm going to need.

100% awesome

Now I need to get some sleep got a long day at the college tomorrow.





Harp

Training and thinking of Cross

I finally feel that I'm caught up enough on work that I can get a good training block in this week. I had to teach a class at the university last night so I used that as a recovery day after a couple of good rides this weekend and got in 2 different training sessions today. This morning I did my core workout. That is going to hurt tomorrow. It's going to be nice when I get myself used to doing them again. I feel like I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow. When I got home from work tonight I hit the trainer for a set of heavy intervals. I kind of struggled through the intervals. It was a workout that I used to do on a regular basis. I need to keep up the training to get myself back to where I was so that I can then start improving.

As for the cross racing after a couple of rides this week I really am kind of enjoying the bike. I'm thinking avout doing a bit of practice with some folks this weekend hopefully. I think this look like it should be a good time and put me in the pain cave for a while. I'm not sure if I'm going to do both days or not but definetly one.

I'm kind of surprised that I was able to get through this post. I've had a problem with a tooth that got a cavity that then got infected and I've been taking some pain killers and feel a little off so hopefully it doesn't read to bad. Know I got to get to sleep.

Harp