Finding your Peak!

Ahhhh… the big Taper. You finally get to relax. Skip the hill workout and the mega mileage brick on Saturday… Some people hate this time of training. I am one of them. It’s a scary time. The time when you can do very little to gain anything and do every thing to screw up months or even years of training. However it is necessary to achieve maximum potential. First off I prefer to use the term “Peaking”. Tapering promotes the idea of doing less and less, and this is not the complete story. Tapering makes me think of something getting smaller and smaller, and that’s not what we are trying to do. Peaking is the process in which we achieve maximum physical and mental performance potential. This can be a lot more complex than just cutting back your mileage.We will discuss this in general terms for a race or your big event. Peaking workouts and how much you do and don’t do, can and will vary a lot depending on your event, duration, and skill level.

First off the peaking phase duration will vary depending on the duration of your event. The longer the event the longer your peaking phase. For Iron distance events, stage races, etc. the longer the lead up of peaking. You might see over a month of decreased volume in some cases. In the weeks leading up to you’re A race the amount of aerobic fitness one can gain is minimal if any at all. So don’t kill your self! Skip the long ride and always, ALWAYS error on the side of doing less. As a general rule I like to decrease total volume by 40-60%. Endurance training can be cut back by the greater amounts. For those doing shorter distances where you may have quite a bit of intensity training here are a few key things to note.

~Make sure you are fully rested before a hard workout. We are looking for maximum speed and performance now, not beating our selves up. This will also build confidence. You’ll be amazed at how fast/far you go on your threshold intervals after only a 30’ warm up and taking the day before off instead of the 3 hour ride or tough run.
~Work your strengths. You will be racing your strengths so focus on them. Use them, race them. This will build further confidence and hone your skills for race day.
~Make your workouts simulate race conditions. Use the aero bars more/ race bike (if you haven’t been) wear the clothes shoes, etc... Do a group swim in open water. Do a race sim day. Practice fueling and mental preparation. Make sure every thing works!
Race.
~Use a B race as prep. If your training for a long distance race a shorter race in the weeks leading up to it can really get the kinks out. It will allow you to use some racing strategy you are planning in a consequence free environment. Does the elastic band holding the shoes on the bike trick really work? Or is it not worth it?

Over all:
As we peak, decrease your overall volume. If you have been doing 3 hr rides and 4x 400 meters running on the track do 90 minutes in the saddle, and 2 or 3x300m intervals. You want to stay fresh and sharp but not worn down. Workouts should be short and sweet. They might burn but you should recover fast. By maintaining or even increasing your intensity your body thinks that training is still on full blast and your body will continue to adapt full blast. But… you have decreased the volume and by the time it realizes that you have actually done less your body has over compensated and your flying. Further hone this adaptation with race specific workouts in a race specific environment and you will be more ready on race day than you ever imagined.
While this decreased training time will be nice you should still treat your self well. Treat your self like your still training hard. Get that recovery drink even if you feel you don’t need it. Get plenty of sleep and keep up on stretching, etc…

The other item you will need to keep busy is your brain. Don’t think too much. Go over the race plan, make sure the tires on the bike are in good shape and just go. You have done this in training so you can do it in the race. Remember there is not much you can do to get faster in the week or three before the big race but you can do everything to blow it. So stay the course. Take care. Eat the extra pasta. Skip the morning swim if your feeling tired. And don’t be afraid to light it up a few times. Show your stuff, whether in a race or a short hard work out with the training partners. You have been looking at your heart Rate and power meter all season staying in “your zone”. Time to see how far you can push your self and start looking back the all the people your beating!
Stay safe and have fun!

Training Seminar

Free Training seminar!!

Be there.

DETAILS:

Time: 7pm till we're done

Location: foxtrot wheel and edge
776-C W. Baseline Rd.
Lafayette, CO

Topics:

~Late season racing and training.
~Avoiding burn out
~Recovery and training in the fall (most adaptation-least amount of fatigue)
~Cyclocross or not??

Run up Longs Peak

Last weekend I finished a big run focus week
with a hike/run up Longs peak with 2 EK
Endurance Coaching team members.

Kyle, Amanda and myself headed out at about 4am and got our 14er groove on!
They are headed to Pikes Peak soon to race in the Pikes Peak ascent! Both being avid hikers with several 14er’s and even Mt Kilimanjaro under their belt, they decided to take it up a notch. The pikes peak ascent is a running race form the base of the mt. to the summit. 13.1 miles straight up to an altitude of over 14,000 feet. ! yeah… I’ll be watching.

After some easy hiking for 10 minutes we were warmed up and got into a nice jogging rhythm. I made it to the turn of for chasm lake in 50’ or so. And we were up at the high camp/ boulder field in well under 2hr. we were relegated to hiking/ scrambling up the rest of the climb. The sun rise was beautiful. After hiking through the clouds in the dark we were above a thick white blanket of clouds fully exposed to the sun and her best friend, the blue sky.

The weather was great. Chilly in the shade hot in the sun, standard CO mtn weather.

I did a bit more running on the decent which was not comfortable but held my composure.
What a great day in the outdoors and a fantastic day of training.

The Boulder Peak Triathlon

This past weekend was the Boulder Peak triathlon.
An Oly. Distance race that features a short yet nasty climb up the 15 % grades of old stage rd. the scenic beauty of the boulder reservoir and rocky mtns. I have always heard this is a race NOT to missed. My thought was always one of, “its an Oly. dis. triathlon. I know the course, relax, its good I am sure but can be any better than another race?” well now I know! It’s simply awesome.
This race is a fairly big deal with a fantastic pro field and some of the best armatures in the country.
Personally I had a great day out. The best part of the race for me was how I felt. Very in control. I had that, I can’t crack myself if I tried, type of feeling. And while I fell short on a few goals I had set I am not going to dwell on it. Over all this was my best performance this year. I have gotten a lot of questions on my power file from the bike. So… here it is. http://tpks.ws/GARW The min. or 2 at the end can be cut off.
Norm power was 291. Felt great. Pretty evenly paced, despite the steep climb in the first half. I am a mear 155 lbs now so my speed up the climb was probably pretty quick compared to most for the wattage. Would love to hear from any others regards to watts and time/ speed. Especially for the later half of the course. Wondering how aero I am??
I was very impressed with all who were out there racing. Scott F. seemed to have a spot of bother on the run but at the turnaround I realized that’s all it was, a spot. He was right behind me still! Steve Johnson ran a 5:51 pace on the 10k trail run. I can’t even fathom that speed. Erin Finnegan, Amber kardosh and Brent Schoeb did great races despite the altitude, heavy training sch. and some long car travel. Evan Macfarlin, killer race, Max Lawler very nice work. Christiana Glenn continues to rock here AG and looked so strong on the climb. Great chat with Heidi smith post race,
The guys/gals at the beer tent, you rock!!
Sorry to the guy I passed on the right on the turn going into lefthand canyon. And to the riders who I squeezed between them and that van on 63rd st. everyone handled them selves well.
The race was run so well. A great event!

The Race Across America

leaving the race

Amy Xu’s RAAm has come to conclusion. After making the time cut at the Mississippi Amy and her crew regrouped, Amy tock a “long” 6 hr. rest but after remounting her bike fell over again in the first 5 minutes of riding. Her race is done. She is sad but still proud of her accomplishment in finishing over 2 thirds of the hardest race in the world on her first attempt. She and her team have raised thousands for Camp Odayin, a center that helps kids with heart defects. You can see Amy’s journey here: http://www.teamstrongheart.com/
Amy’s did extremely well in her first bid at the solo race. In the end saddle pain and an inability of get enough calories in her system is what lead to her demise.

The RAAm quickly becomes a task of dealing with issues you never saw coming, a ride so fatiguing you can’t begin to train for, a task more mental and logically challenging than one can imagine. I am very proud of Amy and the entire crew.

I have asked myself may times in the last 12 hours what could I have done better. Should we have done another big block of endurance training, more neurological work? More on the bike strength work? While I have come up with a few areas I would like to improve on in the training there are more areas in the general preparation for the whole trip that will make a bigger difference. No sooner did I start thinking about these topics was I called about coaching another RAAm racer for 2011. I hope I am up to the task.

from the crew chief:

"Your expertise, encouragement, and example of humbleness was a huge asset to our success. RAAM solo is a unique beast. You can prepare for every possible situation, and still have challenges you could have never imagined. RAAM is not just about bike racing. It's a race that challenges team work. Time management, problem solving, and spirit. Amy... See More is an athlete that has a spirit of life that is infectious to everyone who touches her. Her race, along with you're help, has taught us as individuals how to dream big, and LIVE everyday! Thank you for everything! Michelle Pearl Team Strong Heart Crew Chief"