ironclm's tri world

QOTD (a couple of months worth)

Take your rightful place on your own stage.

When in doubt, throw it out.

A loss becomes a gain.

"A true cyclist sometimes has to bite the dust before he can reach the stars. Win. Survive. Hang in there"__Laurent Fignon

"As soon as you move fear aside, that's when fun really happens."__Carlos Santana

"You can't just want it; you've got to go earn it."

Wherever you go, you have to take your own head with you.

True competition - striving for excellence. False competition - the need to prove something to someone else.

"ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY, just remember you have already been invited to the dance so have a good time dancing."__Jimmy R.

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus. ~ Tony Robbins

In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. ~ Tony Robbins

" Picture yourself in your minds eye as having already achieved this goal." ~ E. Nightingale

"Jens Voigt's Suitcase of Courage will not fit in the overhead compartment."

"If something is important, do it every day; if it’s not important, don’t do it at all."

"It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right". ~ W. Churchill.

"...but I tried with everything I had and that is the most important thing for me."___Carlos Sastre

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity ~ Andrew Carnegie

"Today I did it for me."___Chris Horner

"The genius controls the chaos."___Jens

"“My ribs are hurting but hey, broken ribs are overrated anyway. Fortunately, I didn’t land on my face this time and I’m still alive."__Jens again

Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think. ~ Tim Ferriss

"There are no safety nets in the sport of professional cycling."___Paul Sherwin

He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it.___African proverb

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up ~ Thomas Edison

If you fear something you give it power over you.__African proverb

It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. ~ Tony Robbins

If Jens Voigt was a country, his principle exports would be Pain, Suffering, and Agony.

Be willing to see the existence of mental self-interference.

Seize that moment. That moment is a crossroads where everything you want will collide with everything standing in your way.

RR: Track Masters Nats - 500TT and Team Sprint

500 TT:

A race against the clock, two laps of the track from a standing start.

Saturday I didn't have any races and the coach said to go to the track during the break between the sessions and do a workout to get more comfortable on the track.  Warm up, then do 10 laps in the aerobars in the middle of the track (at the blue/stayer's line), then 10 laps in the aerobars in the pole (down near the bottom of the track) and then 10 laps at the rail (the very top of the track).  I did this on Saturday and it helped A LOT. 

Sunday morning I woke up and felt OK and ready to race.  I drank some coffee, ate some eggs and veggies and got everything organinzed to head over to the track.  I wasn't racing until later in the session and you don't want to be out in the heat all day.  I got ready and then suddenly I started feeling sick.  I ended up getting a late start and did not feel good at all.  I got to the track and it was sunny and getting hot, but not too humid.  Since they changed the schedule (stupid idea!), for Sunday there were the kilos and then the 500s and then the team stuff and then madison, with awards intermixed in between, plus a break scheduled mid-afternoon.  Since so many people were racing that day, the place was packed with people so I set up the rollers outside next to the fence.  I got in a warm up on the warm up gear and felt so-so, actually wishing I was back at the hotel in the bed.  After an abbreviated warm up, I went to get off the rollers and the bike to change wheels to finish my warm up on the race gear and the bike was facing the "wrong" direction (which means I got off the bike on the right side) and ended up toppling over.  Dammit.  Never get on/off a bike or a horse on the wrong side!

 I brushed myself off (at least I fell into the grass) and changed wheels and had to rush to finish my warm up, plus I was still feeling like crap.  I got the bike checked and it was time to go to the ready area (like the baseball on-deck circle).  I was first to go in my age group, riding solo.  I used a gear that I normally ride since it wasn't windy but, that wasn't the best idea.  I got an OK start and stood up over halfway around the track and got into the aerobars after coming out of turn 4 and rode the rest in the aerobars (a big win!)  I crossed the finish line and felt like I'd had a decent ride but the announcer 48 seconds.  I couldn't believe it!   That was so freaking slow and I was SO SO SO disappointed.  I got off the track and stopped the bike and went to get off and SHIT…I toppled over AGAIN!  This time in front of everyone and on the concrete!  I walked over to where the Hellyer people were and lost it, sobbing my head off into a towel, still holding onto the bike.  The folks still in the area came over to see if I was OK and Keith came over to put my bike away.  After about 10 minutes I walked outside to call the coach but he didn't answer so I left a sobbing message on his voicemail.  What was done, was done and I ended up 4th.  Nice to be on the podium, but I'm still not happy with the time I rode.

 

 Team Sprint:

 I'd paid for the TS long ago and was planning to do it with Donna, but after her crash at Districts, I needed to find another partner.  I ended up getting Tracy from Tucson who is in my age group to race with me.  She was pretty gunshy about the steep track but I told her she only needed to do one lap in the pole lane and we were doing it for fun. (Yes, really!)

After talking to Kenny, he said to work on my start and chase Tracy down since there was a differential between our speed.  I told Tracy that I was going to delay my start just a bit but for her to go as fast as she could and I'd run up on her.  She said, "No problem" and we were riding around the warm up circle and heard them DQ one team, then we went up to the ready and watched Beth and Steph from Hellyer ride right before us and THEY got DQed!  The official said something about a zone violation so I asked him what they'd done to get DQed and he said they weren't a meter apart before the end of the pull-off zone, so I told Tracy to really pull off when it was time.  [TS is two riders who start together, one does one lap and pulls off in the zone and the second rider does a second lap solo.  Fastest time amongst the teams wins.]

On the start, I delayed just a bit but still caught her before turn 2 and sat in behind her, resting until my solo lap.  Once she pulled off, I stood up and hit the gas, pedaling through the turn like it was a bell lap in a points race, and rode hard the rest of the way.  We ended up 4th and had fun.

 

They tally everyone's results and award the BAR to the best all-round rider.  There were 4 of us tied with 16 points and then going to the tie-break, I ended up tied for 3rd (or 4th depending on which print out you look at) out of 7.  Pretty happy with that since that's the highest I've ever finished.  And, I have a clear idea of what I need to do in the next 8 weeks.  I submitted the online entry today for Masters Worlds in late October in Portugal.  That's when the competition gets really tough so I definitely need to step it up.

RR: Masters Nats - Sprints

Match sprints are what you see at the Olympics--2 riders going head to head for 3 laps. Time does not matter. Sprints are run tournament style and to get the seeding, everyone does a flying 200. That's 200 meters with a rolling start. And if you drop down from high on the banking, the more speed you carry.

Flying 200: I got to the track and it was cool and overcast and really windy, but instead of the winds we had for the pursuit, it was really gusty and swirly in the corners.  I decided to not ride the disk wheel because of the winds.  I also geared down to a smaller gear after discussion with Mark Rodamaker, who won the national championship later that night.  I rolled out and up to the blue line, then up to the rail (clear at the top of the track) on the first lap. Continued around the rail (barely freaking out) and probably went a little too fast too early and on the last lap, I stood up about 4 pedal strokes and took a good line into the corner. Ended up feeling pretty good about the effort, especially compared to what I'd done at the LA indoor track 6 weeks ago.  Ended up with the 4th fastest (or, slowest, as there were only 4 of us in our age group) and that meant I got to sprint at night!! Damn, that sprinting stuff takes up the whole day! 

Once they confirmed that we were going to ride that night, I went to lunch with Dad and bro and then they headed back to KS and I came back to the hotel and was relaxing and there was a knock at my door....move rooms please.  Crap! That took 30 minutes, so I got settled in the new room and put my legs up and got organized, had a snack at 3:30 and headed back to the track at 4PM.  Did a warm up on the track and then moved to the rollers when things got busy.  My legs felt OK, not great.

Semi finals (best of 3)

Ride 1 v. Ann Marie: She's only been doing this for 20 years and is a former world champion and it's her home track. And, she's so darned nice and helpful.  I drew #1(which meant I had to lead it out) for the first ride and took her sort of long but didn't fully commit so she came blasting past me.  Afterwards, she said she thought I would do that.

Ride 2: I was behind her to start but she slowed way down high on the steep part of the track and I didn't like that at all so I went around her.  Then I jumped with about 200 meters to go and she beat me, but not as much as in ride 1.

On to the 3rd/4th place finals v. Ann from NC (again, best of 3):

Ride 1:  Ann Marie gave me some tips on riding against Ann and the first ride Ann lead out and I jumped and she caught me in the last 50 meters and beat me by about a bike length.

 

Ride 2:  I started in the #1 position and led her out and jumped her a little sooner and she only caught me at the line and maybe beat me by 6 inches or so.  Really, really close.  Afterwards everyone in the crowd was applauding and the officials applauded us too. So I ended up 4th. 

Of course I would have liked to been higher up the podium, but I feel pretty good about how I rode, especially since I've done no sprinting in about 3 months, and there is a definite technique to it.  And everyone said how well I rode, which was nice to hear.  Two more races tomorrow. Can't wait.

RR: Masters Nats - 2K Pursuit

2K pursuit (10 laps)

 Frisco, TX Superdrome

250m track w/44 degree banking

 This was one of my big focus races of the year.  I've been riding faster than I ever have in training so the Coach and I were looking for me to ride a good time. 

 I arrived in Texas late Sunday night and Monday midday, I went to the track and rode some and was almost in tears and ready to go home.  The steep banking was scary.  I went back Monday night to ride some more and try out the electronic starting gates and felt a little better.  Another session on Tuesday and I felt OK, but not comfortable.

 Race morning I warmed up a bit on the rollers at the hotel and then went to the track and finished the warm up and got the bike checked and rolled around the warm up circle and...it started to mist!  Nuts!  They called a rain delay for about 15 minutes and finally it was time to go.

 Start--I got a very good start off the line, but of instead of standing up for a half lap or more to get to top speed, I freaked out about not being able to get into the aerobars in time before the second turn and sat down in the middle of the first turn after only 4 or 5 pedal strokes.  So I never got up to speed and then with the wind on the front straight, it put me into an even bigger hole.  Plus, with 10 shorter laps, I wasn't sure on how to pace it, so the entire race ended up being one big mess and a super slow time.  I was definitely not happy with my race but I know what I did wrong and what I need to work on and I have until late October to get it right.  

 

I will keep the bronze medal, but I'm going to put it up where I can see it every day to remind me of what I need to do.  I won't be riding that slow in October.

2010 Season In The Books

Long time, no update. I'm not sure why. I just wasn't motivated to write anything over the summer. But now the summer is over and it's like a new year...I,ve always liked looking at things like a school year instead of the calendar year. And as long as it's a new start, it's time for a fresh look for the blog.

So what happened over the summer? Training, some racing and lots of work. I think that with a lot of work and feeling a bit overwhelmed and trying to train and too much sitting and the knee not being 100% (STILL!), that things went in a vicious circle...work, sit, train, too much coffee, too much sitting, too much crappy food, often eating dinner at work at 7:00 PM (where generally the food is starch on starch) and that left clm not so happy. But like I said, it's a new "year" and time to get things back on track.

The 2010 racing season came to an early end and in the grand scheme of things, that is probably for the best. I raced a few mass start races early on, but then the surgeon (with the Coach's agreement) didn't want me to mass start race, which meant Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the velodrome were out, leaving me with only a few chances to race. July was the Beat the Clock time trial day, August was Masters States and Elite States and September was Masters Nationals. I was supposed to go to Masters Worlds (scheduled to leave next week actually), but on coming back from Nats, I turned around and went to Washington, D.C. for work and came back from there and ended up sick and stayed sick off and on for about three weeks, missing some key training. Once I got back on the track, my workouts were terrible, times were slow and Annabell and Carlos both said one Sunday, "You aren't riding like you usually do." At that point, I knew there was a chance I would not go to Worlds, but decided to see what happened at the workout the following Tuesday. Well, that morning I woke up with a fever and I emailed the Coach saying, "I think my decision about Worlds has been made for me". So, no Worlds for me. And I'm fine with that.

Right now I'm on a couple of weeks of unstructured workouts...doing whatever I feel like and mixing things up. Some walking, some weights, ride when I want, maybe even some swimming. The Coach and I are discussing 2011 goals and I'm excited about next year. And the knee? I'm still going to physical therapy, yes, over a year later, and there is still a definite strength differential between my left and right leg. And with what I've spent on PT, I could have bought a new bike or some really nice race wheels! At least I really like my PT!

Winter plan....like the Coach said, this winter we can do all the things we didn't get to do last year, like hit the gym hard and base riding instead of 15 minutes trainer rides and physical therapy. I'm looking forward to it!