This past weekend was a blast! Another Winter Cycling Relay Challenge with SBR Coaching is in the books. A quick recap of this event: 24 hours of computrainer riding with 7 teams going head to head. There are 2 courses; flat and hilly; where riders go all out for 55 minutes. Teams are ranked according to total accumulated mileage after the 24 hours.
I always look forward to this weekend. Its a great time with good company, food, beverages and some very strong riders. I was on a newcomer team, Pat's Gym. We took a respectable 4th place amongst some stiff competition. RDE, who has won the lat several of these events came in 3rd, The Competition was 2nd, and StravaJava took back their title. Congrats to them!
Having worked on my cycling legs this winter, I had some high hopes for putting out some respectable power numbers for my 3 pm hilly course. Sadly, things did not go according to plan. I have been training at Speed Cycling with a threshold of 280 watts for workouts and feeling really good, and I suspect that my actual threshold is in the 290-295 range, on a good day. The one time I power tested this winter I averaged 289 with a flat tire...(make sure your tires are good before doing something like this!) So far I have been struggling to find those legs when it matters. I came out at a meager 262 for my hour...that's a number I am not happy with. Granted, I did run a 5k that morning at a relatively solid effort, but I felt like I held back enough to keep my TT effort together (more on that in a bit). For the first 30 minutes I felt relatively good. Unfortunately, when it came time to start pushing, my legs did not want to cooperate. Cramping in my calves started after about 25 minutes and did not stop. I suppose I can't be entirely disappointed with my effort, since I did hold it together enough to not be completely embarrassed. Oh well, there's always next time...
On to the somewhat better news, the Valentines 5k. I had high hopes at cracking the 18:00 min mark, but the weather and pavement conditions did not help here. That morning I was greeted with cold, high winds, freezing rain and a very slick course. The roads were covered in slush, most of the turns had to be taken very cautiously and we had one 0.5 mile stretch that was completely covered in ice and snow. Even with those conditions I finished around 18:23. I'm happy with that. I had a lot left in the tank. Really looking to another crack at it when we get some decent weather in WI and dry pavement! Come on spring! Enough of this awful winter....
Moral learned from this weekend? I need to be less hard on myself sometimes. Its only February, I did not prepare for either of these events as a priority, and serious training does not start until March. I'm still in maintenance mode and have a long season of racing to look forward to. One thing is for sure...I'm seeing improvements in the right areas and expect to make some big gains this season. Keep on keepin' on.
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