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Race season is apon us

It has been a while since I posted  here, so I thought I’d give an update on what I’ve been up to.  Coaching is very active this time of year.  A lot of people want customs plans which are challenging, but also fulfilling when I hear about great results!  I have also added new plans and updated existing plans to my TrainingPeaks store

After the 24hrs in the Old Pueblo race, I had been dealing with  ITB Syndrome.  If you haven’t had this, it is a awful pain in the outside of the knee that will keep you from pedaling.  I was lucky that I didn’t have a severe issue, but none the less it made training difficult when in the saddle for more then 3-4 hrs at a time.  The root cause of this was a incorrect bike fit.  I took a brand new bike  without a professional fit and tried to race it for 24hrs.     Lession learned!

The weeks following Old Pueblo I dealt with this will refocusing my training on the next race, the 12 hrs Dawn Til Dusk.  Last year I got second in my age group and 7th overall.  I was training to win (my age group) it this year.  A lofty goal for early season, but my fitness has been much higher this time of year over previous years.   I contribute my gained fitness to training with power, training smarter, and doing a lot of these (see below) workouts.

3x20 LT session

The weather was not looking good and with the race and since it’s an 11hr drive each way, we didn’t want to take a chance on getting canceled or have a miserable time.

Prior  to  the Dawn til Dusk race I had a visit to the Boulder Center of Sports Medicine  to have my knee checked out, where they diagnosed me with ITB Syndrome. They said there were able to fix it with a bike fit, some stretching and using the foam roller.  The bike fit was a dramatic change, and has me retraining some muscles.  I seem to be getting back on track quickly though.

Leading up to Dawn till Dusk, I was working on my high end speed and V02 Max and was going a lot of these type of sessions.

3x3 Vo2Max Session

With all the training I was itchen to race.  Luckly, some nice folks down in Pueblo were putting on a XC race that is on the same trails we are racing on this week for the Voodoo Fire Marathon 70 mile race.    The Lake Pueblo Arkansas Point Challenge a low key race, where they only have Cat 1, Cat 2 and Cat 3.  No age groups and no pro classes.  The Pros get to race with the Cat 1.  I had a fun time and got to test my fitness.  Which seems to be pretty good right now.  I ended up with 5th overall in the Cat 1.  There were two pros ahead of me, and some others flatted out.   I’ll still take it as a good race.  It gives me great confidence for Voodoo Fire this weekend.

After V00doo Fire there is the Front Range 60.  After this I will take a short break to refocus and get ready for the 24hrs In the Enchanted Forest on June 18/19 where I will race solo.

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