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Dr. Diana Hsieh's podcasts on any and all topics, including practical ethics, principles for living well, critical issues in philosophy, Ayn Rand's fiction and philosophy, and more. For more from Diana Hsieh, visit http://www.DianaHsieh.com
(This podcast feed uses the enhanced M4A format; a standard MP3 feed is also available.)
NoodleCast
This podcast provides a full cycling workout for the indoor or outdoor enthusiast. The workouts are the same that I teach at my spinning classes, and can be used by both cyclists and fitness enthusiasts for indoor or outdoor cycling.
Tri Harder
Pre-Race: IMKS 70.3 2010
Tri Harder
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This podcast provides a full cycling workout for the indoor or outdoor enthusiast. The workouts are the same that I teach at my spinning classes, and can be used by both cyclists and fitness enthusiasts for indoor or outdoor cycling.
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I can't sleep.
I have a half ironman in less than 5 days.
I don't really have the mental capacity to write a full blog post, but I have to write something.
I'm not nervous, or anything. Just can't sleep. It's like I can feel individual synapses firing in my brain when I lay still enough. Gah.
I'm so ready for this race. Should have started training about a month later than I did. I feel like I've had six weeks of tapering. My base building was done eons ago. I know I have the fitness to get through the race. And maybe all the sharpening has put me in position to go faster than ever. What do we think? Definitely sub-6:00. Maybe a 2:05 1/2 marathon? How about I really go for it and shoot for a 1/2 marathon PR? No, I don't think that's realistic. But sub-6:00? Hell yeah.
Okay. I'm going to go try to sleep again.
Pre-Race: IMKS 70.3 2010
PR! PR! PR!
So . . . this race report is over 2 weeks late. If I were pregnant, and the baby were 2 weeks late, I would be pissed. It's a good thing my blog is not my baby. Because if it were, it would have died from neglect this month.
Anyway. Back into the race report.
The River Run is THE race in Wichita. Actually, it's arguably the largest race in Kansas (the big Kansas City races are on the MO side, natch). There were around 2200 signed up for the 10k, and another 3200 who finished the 2 mile race. More people than that signed up, but that's how many finished. The River Run has had up to 10,000 participants in past years. In other words, around here it's a big deal.
That's me and The Photographer. And Craig. From cycling class.
I rode my bike to the race, all on the bike paths. It was a little chilly, and my hands and feet were frozen by the time I reached downtown Wichita. The Photographer was there, and I found her right away. What took me much longer was finding my dad. I was later than I'd expected to be, and he'd already put his phone away. I found him at our arranged meeting point, and we walked way far away to where he'd parked so I could stow my bike and spare gear in his car. We jogged back to the start line (a good mile), and I decided that I HAD to find a toilet. So I went to stand in a remarkably short port-a-pottie line (great organization from the River Festival folks), and came back out right as they were announcing "90 seconds to the start!" I hustled to the mass of humanity waiting to run, and pressed as far forward as I dared, trying to seed myself for the mass start. This would turn out to be my big mistake for the day.
When the cannon blasted, everyone sort of jumped forward, like they were going to be able to run or something. I walked. No sense in making the 10k one step longer than it has to be! The start line was hard to miss at this race, and so I was able to start my watch right where it should start. The pack was moving slowly, though. I couldn't open up any kind of speed, except in bursts. I really seeded myself too far back; I should have pressed forward closer to the front. I spent a good mile running, walking, and sprinting, trying to get around the slower runners and up to my own speed. Running through the narrow streets of Old Town was the worst. I hopped up onto a raised planter and ran along that for a while, trying to pass people from above. The course cleared out sufficiently after the Old Town section, and I was able to move myself up through the ranks a little.
In spite of the sluggish start, I hit the 2-mile split in 17:01!
After finally working my speed up to a good (for me) pace, I checked my heart rate and settled in at about 163 BPM. I've realized that the best way for me to pace my races is probably ...
Race Report: River Run '10
I just had what may have been the best swim of my life. Okay, well that might be an exaggeration, but it was a good one, at any rate. Hey! You wanna try it? Here:
100 SKIPS (swim, kick, IM, pull, swim; can be shortened to SKP)
8 x 25 drill (I did one-arm, fist swim, and quick catch)
8 x 75 w/ :45 rest (I went on 2:00)
200 kick w/ fins
8 x 50 w/ :30 rest (I went on 1:15)
200 kick w/ fins
8 x 25 hypoxic (don't breathe until you're touching the wall)
100 choice (not free) to cool down
Fun, huh?
Note: 100 SKIPS is short-hand for 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 IM, 100 pull, 100 swim. It's my standard warm-up. A shorter warm-up is 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 pull. But then I don't get to practice my fly ;-)
Lactate Swim
So I was going to do one last race, this season.
But I've changed my mind.
I don't really want to do the Derby Rock 'n' Route Tri. Don't get me wrong--it's a great race! I highly recommend it! But you know what? I'm ready to be done with tris for a while. Right now, I'm teaching spinning classes and water aerobics and yoga, and I'm happy with that. I feel no desire to swim or bike or run. Well, maybe a little desire. But not enough to want to train and race.
Yes, I'm sure I'll come back to the sport, eventually. Endurance will be a part of my life again. But right now I just need a break. And I'm ready to give myself some space to take it.
Not sure what I'll do with the blog, now. Probably continue with the cycling workouts. Maybe do a post on biomechanics or form, if I'm in the mood to get all technically minded. And I might come back to do some cyclocross later this year. We'll see.
Right now, the Photographer is running and biking and getting into all kinds of shape. And I will be doing just enough training to keep up with her. I'm very happy with that.
Very happy.
Closing Down
Hey all! Here's a little treat for you, as you're beginning to build a base for your season. I've integrated some personal training and yoga knowledge to give you a well-rounded set of swimming exercises that you can do with no equipment in very little time. This originated as advice I gave to one of my top-notch swimmers, who was struggling to keep his legs in line with the rest of his body while using a pull buoy. I gave him this assignment to strengthen his core and teach him better alignment.
p.s. Thanks to The Photographer for switching it up and being my videographer. Also, thanks to The Photographer's kids for being so quiet!
Strength for Swimmers
Hey! Guess what I did! A triathlon!
It's been months since I've a done a race, so I wasn't expecting much, especially it's been verrrry recently (only within the past 2-3 weeks) that I've even really thought about training again. It came as quite a surprise when I ended up on the podium! Here's how it broke down . . .
Pre-race I had a hard time sleeping the night before, and a hard time waking up the morning of. Good thing I prepped my equipment on Saturday night! All I had to do was wake up, get dressed, grab my bag, and go. I had somehow ended up in the first swim wave, this year. In past years, I've (well) not been in the first wave. I was pretty sure there had been some mistake, or else the field was really down in size, if I (at my pace) somehow wound up in the fast group. I realized about halfway through the bike that the reason I had been mis-seeded was because I'd written down my estimated 400 m swim time (7:30) instead of my estimated 500 m swim time. Oops.
At any rate, that meant that I had to be at the DRC at 6:45. I got there at about 5 'til 7. Of course, set up was just a pair of shoes, so it's not like I needed a bunch of time. But it did take time to go and get the stationary bike settings adjusted to my liking, and I did have to pee a couple of times (yes, within the same 30 minutes). That left me with almost no time to warm up. I ended up spinning on the bike for 5 minutes, running 2 laps around the track, then hopping in the pool and sprinting through a 50. And that was my warm-up. Kids, don't try that at home.
Swim: 500 m in 9:02 - 1:48/100m ('09 ~8:30, '08 9:48)
I kind of figured that I would be the last one out of the pool. And I was! The Photographer said not by much, though ("Not by much" turned out to be about a length and a half). I felt awful until about halfway through, when my body had warmed up a little. I've been doing my 100s on about a 1:50 interval, so I'm confident that I could have gone faster with a better warm-up. And I just got back into the pool a couple weeks ago. So. You know.
T1: 1:02
Have I mentioned before that they don't let athletes run through this transition? No running allowed on the pool deck. So we have to walk the whole way. Which is why this took so long.
Bike: 6 mi in 15:26 - 23.3 MPH ('09 16:43, '08 19:00)Ha! I am awesome! I got the second-fastest bike split out of all the women! My friend Heidi was the only one who beat me; she finished in 15:25. Of course, cycling is the one thing I've still been doing consistently. 'Cause (you know) it's my job. Besides which, the cycling protocol we use at Genesis is Body Training System's Group Ride. Which spins at speeds anywhere from 50-130 RPM. 130 RPM, guys. And the bikes at the DRC are set to track distance off of revolutions vs. wattage. Which means that the faster you can spin, the faster you'll be done. Apparently, all that fast spinning in cycling class pays off!
T2: 24 s
I was allowed to run during this transition.
Run: 2 mi in 17:11 - 8:35/mile ('09 18:00, '08 18:18)
Wow. I guess this a pretty significant improvement, too. I mean,
Derby Rec Center Indoor Tri '11
Hey all. Here's a little video with some strength and flexibility exercises for your swimming. Keep in mind that in between now and when you start your base building phase you have the perfect opportunity to improve your strength and flexibility in ways that will make your training more effective later. So take advantage of this time by starting to do these exercises in the next month or two!
By the way, the little noises in the background are The Photographer's kids :-)
Strength for Swimmers
This is Rich. He's a triathlete. He's in Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose).
Doesn't he look like he's having fun?
I know this will be relevant to a relatively small sector of my readership, but I do want to get the information out there.
I've organized a yoga program especially for endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, swimmers, triathletes). It will focus on flexibility in the hips and legs, strength in the body, proprioceptive awareness, and mental focus. I think it will be a great way to train the brain for racing! More importantly, you'll be under the tutelage of an instructor who knows a great deal about endurance sports, yoga, AND the biomechanics of of both.
Classes will begin Saturday, Jan. 15, at 11:30 a.m. Location will be 3725 W. 13th St., Wichita, KS (this is the Genesis location on West 13th). Athletes who don't have a Genesis membership are welcome to join the class! It will include 6 sessions (1 each Saturday) and the cost is $65 ($50 if you're already a member of Genesis Health Club).
I will offer two free preview classes, so you can get a sense of what benefit the class might provide. The first will be Sunday, Jan. 2, at 1:00 p.m. (location will be the Rock Road Genesis, 1551 N. Rock Rd., Wichita, KS); the second will be Saturday, Jan. 8, at 11:30 a.m. (3725 W. 13th St., again). Again, both classes are free! No sign-up is necessary, although if you've never been to a Genesis Health Club, you will need to fill out a guest waiver for liability purposes, so allow time for that. Wear comfortable clothes (they don't have to be "yoga" clothes), dress in layers, and bring a yoga mat if you have one (we have spares, if you don't have one).
If you have any questions (or need to be convinced that this class series will help you, because it most definitely will), please feel free to e-mail me: trihardist@trihardist.com.
Triathlete Yoga
So, um. This race was in February. Yeah, I'm a little late on updating.
But! But! I promise it is a very good race report and totally worth the wait!
I have been planning to run some of the XC races in Wichita for the past two years, but never get around to it. Mostly, it's because the dates kind of sneak up on me, and I've usually already scheduled other things on Saturday mornings. But Pawnee Prairie Park is one of my favorite running locations in ICT, so I made a point of getting to this.
I was not, how you might say, exactly trained at this point in the year. In fact, I was out of shape. I'd probably run a total of 10 miles in the past two months. So I fully intended to go into the race and treat it like an $8 training run.
And that's exactly what I did. Wait! Wait! Don't leave! I promised you an exciting race report, and I will deliver.
I started in between packs: too slow to keep up with the front runners, but much faster than the next pack back. So I started towards the front, got dropped quickly, and didn't see anyone other than the occasional male as they passed me by . . .
After about a mile, as we were reaching the main turn-around, I heard heavy breathing and footfalls coming up behind me. We were about to get into a narrow section of the trail (moving from pavement to dirt track), so I slowed down and moved to the right so the guy behind me could pass before the path got too narrow. He didn't pass, didn't pass, didn't pass . . . He sure was breathing heavy! He sounded like he was breathing hard enough for two people! Finally, we were well and truly on the dirt, and at that point I wasn't going to let him go around, so I picked it up again and led through the trail section. I know those trails really well; I feel great running soft tracks in my Vibrams; so I figured he could go around me if he wanted to try it.
As we re-emerged from the trees, back onto the pavement, he finally started to pull up alongside me. As he did, I realized that I had actually been hearing three people breathing: the one guy and two women (one of them 5-6 months pregnant). And I didn't really want to be passed by other women--I'd only been passed by men up to that point!--so I picked it up a little bit and ran harder, pacing myself off of them. No one pushed the pace, at that point. I was still running comfortably.
As we got farther into the race, one of the women (the not-pregnant one, let's call her Jill, 'cause that's her name) started to push the pace a little bit. I stayed with her. Suddenly, this was not a training run. This was a race. And I wasn't going to drop off so easily. We set a sharper pace and started to leave the other man and woman behind us. As we came out of the park and onto Pawnee (unpaved, limited-access road), she really started to push. I was feeling okay, so I kept going with her. And then, a good three-quarters mile from the finish, as we were in all but a dead sprint, she gasped to me, "The finish is right ahead, right?" I repl
Race Report: First Gear XC Race 4 - Pawnee Prairie
Hey all! It's been a while since we've had a new cycling workout, isn't it? It's high-time for a new one!
This is a workout I did as a custom request for a client, but she never paid for it. So here it is, for your enjoyment and edification! Hope it's a tough one for ya!
Amanda's Cycling workout
Spinning Workout: Special Custom Edition
Picture courtesy of Vladimir Sarkisov, a.k.a. first place's dad. That's her behind me!I did not sleep well on Saturday night. I had trouble getting to sleep, and once I finally fell asleep (well after midnight), I woke up every hour or two throughout the night. I got up for the final time at 6-ish, packed up, and drove to Boonsboro.My stomach was not happy. By the time I got to Boonsboro, I had to use the port-a-loos in an emergency kind of way. Not sure if it was something I ate; I think it's more likely that my body doesn't like hot, hilly road races and was rebelling against the previous day's effort. I started warming up on the trainer but had to take another couple of nature breaks. My legs felt heavy and unresponsive.I used Best Bike Split to estimate the time I could do on the time trial. I had a pacing strategy that involved going hard on the uphills and recovering on the downhills. I don't have a power meter to monitor my effort level; I was going strictly based on feel. I definitely went hard on the uphills, and recovered on the downhills, but I don't think it helped. It took me to the halfway point to catch my 30 second (ahead) person, and as I made the turn-around I could see my 30 second and 1 minute (behind) person close behind me. They passed me shortly thereafter. The wheels started to fall off. I kept an eye on my computer, just to know how much suffering I had left to go. My 30 second person re-passed me right before the finish line. I stopped my computer and let out a sigh. My time was about 3 minutes slower than last year, and I felt like I'd given absolutely everything I had. I was gutted. Last year, I'd been able to do the time trial in around 28 minutes, and it was good enough for third place. This year, that time would have gotten me first, but I couldn't manage anything close to it. Last year I only did half of the road race, though, and I certainly didn't end up third in it! The increased stress of the previous day was enough (I assume) to ensure that I couldn't hold anywhere near my FTP for the time trial.And I'm not trained for time trials, anymore. I've been training to my strengths over the past several weeks, which I now think are short, hard efforts--in other words, criteriums! But last year I had 10 years of steady-state training in the bank from triathlon, which gave me an edge in the time trials but I was at a disadvantage in everything else. This year, my time trialing prowess is considerably less, but I've gotten better at the other things. It all balanced out, at least in this race.After the time trial, I headed back to my car to warm down on the trainer and eat my snacks. My teammates tried to encourage me, but I was feeling low. I stopped spinning after about 10 minutes, stomach still churning, and packed up the car. Back at the hotel, I took a shower and ate some more food, both of which helped me feel better. I packed up the last of my stuff and loaded up the car for one more race.I set up the team tent (I had custody of it for the weekend) and all my stuff and started spinning right away to warm up. The race was running behind schedule, though, so I got off and walked around. I made a visit to look at the TT results and noticed that I'd fallen to fourth in the GC behind a friend who had taken first in the TT. Grr . . . I needed to gain 20 seconds on her in the criterium in order to keep my podium spot (but also, good for her for kicking butt in the time trial)! I still felt nauseous as I finished my warm-up. A teammate brought me a nylon stocking full of ice to stick down my back, and I can't believe how much it helped!I got a call-up and started on the front row of the criterium! My start was textbook, too; I got myself clipped in on the first try without even looking. I went into the first few laps sitting third or fourth wheel and stayed there for a while. As the swarm came up around me, I let myself be washed back until I started seeing cat. 4/5 bibs. Some of the surges were hard,
Tour of Washington County - Sunday Edition (Boonsboro Time Trial and Williamsport Criterium)
Since the women's road race didn't start until 10:30, I had the chance to sleep in a little on Saturday morning. My body woke up at 6:30 anyway, though, after a restless night of sleep. I took advantage of the hotel breakfast before packing up and heading to the Smithsburg High School for staging. I warmed up very briefly by riding around the parking lot a few times before lining up with one teammate for the start. The cat 4/5 men went off 5 minutes ahead of us, a decision that several of us women questioned; we were pretty sure that our race would be neutralized when the men inevitably caught and passed us. Somebody said something to the effect of, "You're the 1/2/3 women! Surely you can hold off the 4/5 men!" Uh, yeah. Sure.This road race course is moderately rolling throughout, with three short but steep kickers at the end of each lap. Those three hills are probably the deciding factor of this race. The rest of the course is a cinch, comparatively, although the pace picked up on the first, third, and fifth laps for the sprint points competition. A series of attacks strung out the group going into the first intermediate sprint. My legs were already a little tired going into the finishing hills for the first time. I got dropped and figured that was all I would see of the pack for the rest of the race. I was very overheated, to the point of wanting to pull over and vomit. I unzipped my jersey all the way and tried to settle into a hard but manageable pace.Then, naturally, our race had to be neutralized so the 4/5 men's race could come past us. I'd worked myself back within sight of the neutral support vehicle, but the neutralization is what allowed me to catch back on (I probably would have stayed off the back if not for that). It took a surprisingly long time for the men to get past us. I stayed way in the back of the group, following the lead of some more experienced women. I had no problem staying with that group until the second time up the finishing hills, when I got dropped again.I worked hard to try to catch back on, though, and was able to tag on with a group of stronger, more experienced riders. A pair of women from Haymarket and one from Vanderkitten and I worked together (although it was mostly one rider from Haymarket) to get all the way back to the pack. I stayed in the lead group again until the third time through the hills, when I fell off for the final time.Fortunately, I found a few other riders to work with, and a group of 2 to 6 of us worked together for the final 2 laps. We took turns pulling, although we never established much of a rhythm. I was half-hoping that we would get pulled after 4 laps, but instead we got the bell. We stayed together for the final lap, sweeping up a few more riders along the way, until the last time up the hill. On the final climbs, my right quad cramped so much that I couldn't pedal with my right leg at all. So I pedaled one-legged up the hill, shook out my right leg on the downhill, and that gave me enough relief to make it up the final two hills. The group I had been with rode away from me, including one other woman in the cat. 4/5 race. Since I couldn't pedal hard, I took the opportunity to eat the rest of my food and drink the rest of my water to start the recovery process for the next day's races. I made it up the final hill in a little over 2 hours, a few minutes back in the GC from first place and just seconds behind second place.I'm proud of myself for doing well in this race. I don't think this course suits me; it's too hot and too hilly. In retrospect, I wish I would have used different gearing, too. I had a wheel with an 11-28 cassette on it in my car, but used the wheels with the 12-25 instead because they're a little lighter. I think having the bigger cassette would have been more helpful than a slightly lighter wheelset. Still, I managed a respectable third place in the 4/5 field, and gave myself a good start in the GC competition going into the weekend.One of my go
Tour of Washington County - Saturday Edition (Smithsburg Road Race)
I just got back from a long weekend of racing. It'll make for a long read if I write it up all at once, so I'm submitting it to you in chunks. Chunk #1 is for Friday night, the kick-off crit in Hagerstown, MD.I'm fortunate to have a job where I can take off at noon on a Friday to go race, so I left mid-afternoon to get on the road to Hagerstown before the traffic apocalypse that is Friday night in the suburbs of D.C. Even so, the drive took twice as long as usual. I was grumpy and out-of-sorts by the time I got to the cheap hotel I'd booked for the weekend. Also, one of the cats peed on my duffel bag, so I had that pleasing aroma to keep me company on the drive up. Add to that the fact that Emily had to stay home because of an appointment she had on Saturday, and I was having a day.There was rain in the forecast. The sky was gray as I parked in downtown Hagerstown and got my numbers from registration. By the time I kitted up and started riding the course to warm up, it was sprinkling.This was a women's open field and their regional championship crit, so I felt in over my head. I was there mostly to support a teammate, and I needed to keep my powder dry for the weekend and not crash. Tour of Washington County was my A race for the season, but the kick-off crit didn't contribute to the GC; it was just for fun. I told my teammate, who wouldn't mind having the championship jersey, that I would be there for her in the end if I could. We made tentative plans, then lined up for the start.It was legit raining by then. The oil and grime was welling up on the roads. The corners were slick. I stayed near the back of the bunch, which was fast in the straights and ginger in the corners. Five corners, one more of a chicane, with a short, punchy hill on the back side made up the course. There were zebra crossings (stripes of white paint) and bricks on the corners. It only took one lap for someone's rear wheel to slide out on the chicane. Three or four women went down. I barely avoided a downed bike and hopped onto the sidewalk to get around the crash. It took a lap or two to chase back on, but I made it after 2 laps.The pace was manageable for me, so I moved up into the top 10 wheels after getting settled. I followed an attack by a Charlottesville rider, then took the inside line on the chicane (which no one else took for the whole race, for some reason) to go off on my own. I didn't have any ambitions of staying away, but I wanted to get one tough effort into my legs for the next day's road race. I stayed away for about a lap, then tagged on to the back of the group as they caught me.It was raining steadily, and the corners were treacherous. About halfway through the race, a rider from Baltimore Bicycling Club went down in front of me and I slid out trying to avoid her. One other woman went down and another dropped her chain trying to avoid us. No one was hurt, and no bikes were hurt. I'd torn my skinsuit, though, and all I could think to say was, "Aw man! This thing was $180!" In retrospect, I wish I would have said, "You guys okay? Let's go to the pits for our free lap!" The other three took off and I followed at a much slower pace. My brake levers were twisted in so much that I couldn't prop myself up on them. I stopped in the pit to have my brake levers fixed and because I could, but the other three were trying to chase back on. I assumed they didn't want to take the risk of being in the pack, but one of the women later told me she didn't realize she could go to the pit for a free lap. So again, I wish I would have said something about it instead of complaining about skinsuit damage.I got a push from the mechanic and got back in with the main pack, now down to 10 riders. I had no trouble matching their pace, but I was skittish in the corners and kept getting gapped. The bell rung, the race announcer shouted, "$10 prime!" and I though, "I don't want to crash and die for $10!" The pace hotted up a little, I was still getting gapped in eve
Tour of Washington County - Friday Edition (ToWC Kick-off Criterium)
Emily never takes me seriously when I get grumpy because she says I look like this.This year, I've developed a new warning sign for overtraining: when I'm under a lot of training stress, I get really grouchy.I've noticed a greater tendency to react negatively and aggressively to motorists (and other cyclists) late in a long bike ride, when I'm tired and hot and hungry. Sometimes I make stupid mistakes. Sometimes I'm rude. Sometimes I grouse in my head and complain to myself for half an hour. Sometimes I have enough presence of mind to short-circuit my responses before they get out of hand, but other times it's not until I'm home, showered, and fed that I realize, "Oh right, that guy did have the right of way!"This problem is similar to one that a continental pro cyclist addressed in a recent article in Peloton magazine: she was tired on the second day of a tough stage race. Her fatigue led to a poor handling mistake, and she went down with a broken collarbone and concussion. I've had that experience of feeling my handling and decision-making skills disappear over the course of a hard workout, to where I'm scared to ride in a pack by the end of a tough race.This article is less instructional than observational, but I do have some suggestions for how to cope with this phenomenon. First off, be aware that your mood and reactions can be an indication of fatigue and hunger, and use them as an excuse to take it easier through the end of a ride or stop and have some extra food and drink.Second, in race or group ride situations, be aware of how your fatigue level may affect your responses. Be slow to swear or yell at other riders or motorists, especially in race situations. If you feel that fatigue is affecting your ability to handle your bike or respond quickly enough to the moves of other riders, move towards the back of the pack to put yourself and others out of danger. Perhaps you can even recover and eat back there, so that you can eventually move back up and into contention. But even if you can't get back into contention, better to finish at the back (or off the back) of the pack rather than risk bodily harm to yourself or others.You can also practice developing mental acuity when you're already fatigued. I listened to an interview with Ryan Aitcheson where he talked about practicing math problems and critical thinking late in difficult trainer workouts. Choose a venue where you'll be safe, wear yourself down for a bit, then force yourself to think and make decisions.Finally, be aware of changes in your overall mental and physical state. Have you been extra snarky to your spouse over the past few days? Maybe it's time to take a recovery week and let the stress clear from your system. Be familiar with your base state, and be prepared to skip workouts if needed to avoid making your friends and family members hate you.That's my spiel for this week. I'm coming off of a week of recovery and going into a taper week for the Tour of Washington County next weekend, which is my A race for this season. It will also likely be my final race as a cat. 4! I'll tell you all about it when I get back next weekend!
When Cycling Makes Me Grouchy
This was my longest race of the year so far at 50+ miles. And it was on hilly roads. And it was in a women's open field. My main goal for the race was to flog myself as training for the Tour of Washington County, which is my A race for the year and comes up in three weeks. I wanted to hang with the main group for as long as possible, over all of the hills if possible. To that end, I made a RideWithGPS route based on the course map and race e-mails to review the night before. I even wrote down key features of the course and taped them to my top tube (with the words "GO FLOG YOURSELF! TOWC" at the bottom). One teammate also raced, but we decided in the pre-race to hang out and take the race as it came with no specific team plan.The course was a preview of the USA Nationals course for 2018-2019. It runs over a loop of about 13 miles, repeated in our case 4 times (with the first one slightly different to avoid the "big" climb). The first half of the loop has some rolling hills, including one that steadily gains over about 1.5 miles, then a long stretch where the roads are mostly flat or downhill, with a short, steep climb towards the end of each loop. The finish line was . . . well, I'll save that for later.The race started with about 25 women and stayed mostly together for the opening lap. There were a few women who took the pace hard on the hills, but most of the group was able to stay on. Going over the climb that had looked so big on the elevation map didn't feel that bad, either! I turned and asked another racer, "Was that the big hill?" The second lap was more of the same, but with a little more attrition through the hills and also some rain. I responded to an attack with a counter on one of the early downhills and covered a few more. My teammate floated off the front at one point and stayed away for a mile or two. A woman from Sweetspot-Cutaway stayed away for I think most of a lap. There were a flurry of attacks to bridge up to her, but enough of us covered those bridge attempts to bring the whole pack back together eventually.In the penultimate lap, I was sitting second wheel to a woman I've seen (from the sidelines of the 1/2/3 races) to be strong. She took a short roller pretty hard, and I was able to match her pedalstroke for pedalstroke. So I figured, why not? And took the next roller as hard as I could. I went clear of the group and stayed away for I think 5 or 6 miles. I came around and got the bell for the final lap solo, which was pretty sweet; but I didn't really think I would be able to stay away for the 10+ remaining miles on my own. I had time gaps ranging from 20-30 seconds, and my goal was to make it over the "big" hill and into the descent before the group caught me. I figured I would be toast if the group caught me in the hills.I finally came back to the group just before a sharp left turn, and I was surprised to get kudos from other riders! One of my buddies said she would give me the Most Courageous Rider jersey, if there were one for this race. I felt a little bit like I'd proved my mettle in terms of ability to hang with the 1/2/3 racers. I drifted to the back to recover, but didn't stay there for long. My legs still felt good, and I go downhill so fast that I naturally drifted back into the front 10 wheels.My teammate and I found each other and discussed the finale. I said my legs were still feeling okay, so we agreed that she would do her best to lead me out. Around the peloton, other teams had similar ideas, and riders were showing up in pairs and trios of matching kit at the front. It was really cool to see! That almost never happens in a 4/5 race, where multiple teams coordinate their individual lead-outs!Sweetspot-Cutaway and Haymarket were mostly patrolling the front with a pace that was not too high but certainly not soft. Somehow, my VWS teammate and I ended up driving the pace the final time up the short, steep hill, and boy was it hard! I barely hung on to my teammate's wheel for the climb!
Race Report: Clear Spring Road Race W1/2/3/4
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