Sunday, June 15, 2008
Training while keeping my eyes on the Prize....
This season the focus is on getting lots of saddle time with the main goal being a top 10 finish at the National Championships for 24 Hours @ 9 Mile, near Wausau, Wisconsin (August 2nd & 3rd)...Last year I earned a 12th place finish at the big race @ 9 Mile without nearly as many hours on the bike, but many more regular mountain bike races...So far for the last 23 weeks, (the beginning of this training macro-cycle) I have sat on the bike for a total of 325 hours or a little over 14 hours of bike time per week...So I am feeling strong for the long haul, but I sense that I lack speed for the race pace, I got smoked at the only regular race that I did a few weeks back. For the immediate future the plan is to really go hard for the next week, and train right thru the local Mont du Lac race on Sunday (maybe 20+ hours, including riding to and then racing the Mont du Lac!) and then attempt a mini-peak for the 100 miler on June 22nd. I plan a big time two week taper going into the big race at 9 Mile...
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Charles:
ReplyDeleteYou are training an oft overlooked capacity in endurance athletes---bravery. Some (i.e. dumb people) may think that you either have bravery or you don't. This couldn't be more wrong. By doing it the hard (morally superior)way, single-parenting during the week, riding all night, sleeping too little, drinking too much coffee, always going a little past what others think is reasonable, you are building your capacity for bravery. Nothing divides athletes as quickly (when 24 hour races get to the dangerous stage) as bravery.
Keep on keepin' on.
gh
SWEET :)
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