Spring Is Here
And I'm out training! The YMCA tri club has officially ended, but many of the training sessions will continue, like the swim sessions with assassin Steve. I plan on focusing on the bike for the next 8 weeks. My first race of the season, Riverwood Sprint, is four weeks away, but the first of two "A" races, Kerr Lake Oly, is only 8 weeks away.Here is the plan. Tuesday lunchtime spinning class with Stanley, Thursday morning 10-15 mile ride with hill repeats. There is a decent hill near my house, so I plan on getting very familiar with it. Sunday will be the long ride, I've downloaded several routes from the NC Cycle club, and they all seem to start from Blue Jay Point in N. Raleigh. That just happens to be 8 miles from my door, which will give me a 30-35 miler for the shorter loops. Not too bad. They will need to get longer if the half-iron comes to pass. Any advice on cycle improvement will be appreciated.
I mentioned that the Y club base training is over, and my wife couldn't be happier! The "graduation" time trial was held on Saturday. My times are below:
Swim 400yd - 7:37 (10 secs slower than the last trial, I blame the beer and fries at the Hurricanes game the night before.)
Bike 30 min (inside due to rain)
Run 5K - 24.26
I'll take it. Riverwood will be a good gauge for how the next phase will go. I've set my weekly schedule to account for my wife's downtime, my boys soccer games AND getting 2-3 workouts in each discipline. It will be a highwire act for sure and will probably come crashing down more than a few times, but in the end, it will be worth it.
posted by Battman @ 12:27 PM
7 Comments:
Great job on the time trial! I don't have any advice for cycling...I could use some myself! I'm a hill slug so I really need to do lots of hill work this year.
I am pretty familiar with some of those routes from BJP. If you want to ride some weekend, or maybe even once in a while in the evening, shoot me an e-mail. Nice job in the time trial.
Have I told you I love your writing style? If not, I love your writing style.
I hear you on the juggling act, too... hang in there, if it crashes, I'm sure you'll pick it up again and press on.
Jamie,
I will take you up on the offer. I got the Joe Friel Bible, taking a while to digest it all. Thanks,
Wil, that means a lot coming from someone with your skills. Thanks,
spring was only up in NH for a week, now we're back to winter :(
My entire bike training last year was Durant Rd Food Lion, cross Falls, cross Honeycutt, turn Right on Six Forks, stay on Six Forks when it turns sharp Left, cross 98 (Six Forks becomes New Light, then eventually Bruce Garner) and continue on until Lawrence Rd. You've got some great hills on that ride...
1st Hill, not even a mile into the ride: Little incline on Durant leading up to Falls of Neuse
2nd Hill: long slow incline from Honeycutt up to Six Forks
3rd Hill: Leading up to Blue Jay Point after crossing 1st Bridge, this is a good roller, almost more than a roller.
4th Hill: almost indentical to 3rd and at the same interval, just after descending past Blue Jay Point
5th Hill: almost identical to 3rd and 4th, and at same interval, just after descending from 98. You usually get a break at the traffic light on 98.
Then a few more short little rollers and eventually a short flat stint until Lawrence Rd and a small country store. I stopped for a rest, then turned arround to go back home.
The short steep incline just after the stop sign at Honeycutt on the way back will be a KILLER after 33 miles of hills, believe me. Then cruise on home.
Hills 3, 4, and 5 are GREAT training, but most people miss #3 because they start at Blue Jay Point. If your'e concerned about traffic on Falls and Durant, I'd drive to Pleasant Union elementary and coming out of the parking lot, go left on Mt Vernon Church until it brings you back to Six Forks, (you'll encounter another solid hill on this route) then left again on Six Forks and you get Hill #3.
That was my only training on a road bike ever starting in March and leading up to Kerr Lake early June, my first oly. I started at 15 mph on those hills and by June was averaging 16.1 mph. I attacked every single hill and recovered on the downhill and occassionally flat. Then I busted out a 19.8 at Kerr. Like I said, good training.
Also, I always stay seated on the hills. I think it helps you develop power.
That's my newbie non-cycling ass advice.
Many thanks THT, its good to know some great training is right outside the door.
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