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.
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.
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.