Its almost race season again...

Well the break is over. Law School starts back on Monday and tomorrow I guess I will actually start reading the materials for Monday, as I decided to stretch my break as long as possible a lot of work has been delegated to tomorrow.

But first I thought Id update whats been going on during the break and what progress (if any) I have made.

As far as training goes Id say it has been a successful break. Iv been off for four weeks and I have averaged over 10 hours a week for all four, with a couple 12 hour weeks. Iv enjoyed the unusually warm weather here in NC this year and got in at least one 3-4 hour 50+ mile ride every week. It has with out a doubt been the most structured winter training Iv ever done as well as the most hours Iv put in. At this point Im pretty happy with where my base fitness is. After taking almost two months off the bike and jumping back in with a 3 hour ride back at the first of December I remember thinking with about an hour to go Im tired and by the time I got home I could barely walk in the house. Yesterday I went out for almost 3.5 hours and came in with hardly any fatigue and feeling like I could go another 3. However, about as far as I am right now is long relatively slow miles type fitness. I don’t have hardly any snap in my legs, but that’s what the next few weeks are for.

You might remember that last post I was unsure how to approach this season with collegiate races early in February, down time in march, conference championships in April and then the big public races in the summer. Well although Im still not sure how it will work out things are starting to shape up. First I learned I wont be attending conference championships in April because my first final exam is the Monday after the championship weekend. As much as I love cycling and am very bummed to miss it, I’m keeping my priorities in order. With that I know even if I were to do awesome at the first four collegiate races here in NC I have pretty much no shot at a good overall finish so collegiate racing is sliding back in my priority list. Don’t get me wrong I still plan to do as well as possible and if things were to go really well early on I would consider going to some of the out of state races to get some more points. Plus there is always the pride factor in the collegiate cycling community coupled by the pressure I put on myself because I figure this is my second season so now I should be ready to race. Now however its looking like Ill be racing for 5 out of six weeks early on in the season and then have a bit of a break through april during exams and then get back into it in the summer.

So at this point Im planning on building and increasing fitness as the collegiate season goes on getting up to a pretty high level of fitness and before taking a break for exams. Then Ill use May to sharpen that fitness back up before NC state championships in June.

Aside from training though there has been a lot of other cycling related work going on. First weve got new team kits coming so Ill be sure to post pics of that when they get in. Also weve got our race on February 19^th pretty dialed in with Performance Bike and Genuine Innovations on board to provide some awesome podium and prime prizes. Ill post a link to the flyer on USA cycling once we get the permit process finished up. Finally next Saturday at this time Ill hopefully be a certified USA Cycling official. Marshall and I are attending a clinic in Rock Hill, SC to get our license next Saturday. As your know this is something I have been wanting to do for a while and what better time than the present to get it done before the rigors of Law school really set in Im pretty excited about it.

Also I received my long awaited Garmin Edge 500 cycling computer and a Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor Strap. I decided back in the fall I wanted this year to be a bit more focused on training and so since a power meter was out of reach I wanted a heart rate monitor and while I was at it I thought Id get with the times and get a gamin cyclocumputer.

Iv really been enjoying all the information it shows and so far it had been much easier to actually understand how to use than my Cateye. Plus it looks much more Pro. A few notes is that after using my hrm I know my perceived excursion is usually much easier than I thought, or in other words I havnt been working as hard as I should most of the time and when I usually think I cant go any harder I really can. Its really cool to have that extra information to see how hard your really rode and when to go harder or to ease up to actually stick to a training plan. I look forward to seeing that data after a race. Also although it cant give you turn by turn direction like the Garmin 800, you can load a course and it will tell you weather you are on or off course pretty accurately. Finally loading up the data to Strava to keep up with all the ride data and compete against others is probably the best part.

Anyway with the exception of some disc golf, some relaxing, and a little internship hunting that’s what iv done aver Christmas break. Ill try to give another update after my first race on January 28^th and preview the Collegiate races.