Precision Cycle Coach

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Eating During Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:45:00 +0000

By Jenny Ives Dietitian - PCC Athlete and Associate

Ideally, during exercise that last longer than 60 minutes, you should try to balance your water and energy output with enough fluid to match your sweat losses and enough carbohydrate intake to provide energy and maintain normal blood sugar. You can significantly increase your stamina by consuming about 100 to 250 calories (approx 25-60 grams) of carbohydrates per hour while performing endurance exercise after the first hour (ACSM 2000). The most recent research involving cyclists indicates that sports beans, sports drinks, and gels all offer performance benefits (Campbell et al 2007)

Better yet, it is wise to mix up your foods and fluids so that you are getting a variety of types of carbohydrates. For an example instead of just a sports drink, choose a sports drink and a banana or part of an energy bar and extra water. This stands behind the fact that different sugars use different transporters resulting in an increased absorption of carbohydrates giving you more fuel to support your exercise. Engineered sports foods commonly contain 1-2 types of sugars, so ideally if you can physically handle a variety of energy products and natural foods than you may want to experiment.

A moderate to hard endurance workout often supplies about 50 % of the energy. And as you deplete carbohydrates from muscle glycogen stores you rely more so on blood sugar for energy. Therefore by consuming carbohydrates during exercise, such as gels, sports drinks, etc your muscle have an added fuel source. As we know, much of our performance depends on mental stamina, for that reason is wise to maintain normal blood sugar levels to keep your brain fueled and help you think clearly, concentrate, and remain focused. Your body really doesn’t’ care if you ingest solid or liquid carbohydrates both are seen to be equally effective, it’s sort of a matter of what you personally do best with. Some people prefer the natural sugars from fruits and juices, while other choose energy gels and bars, or sports drinks and hard candy. It’s up to you to experiment and find the foods that work best for you. An avid cyclist in England that I have had the honor to work with gets through his races with Kendal mint cake (380 calories, 0 grams protein, 95 grams of carbohydrates).

The question that remains; are more carbohydrates better? The answer to this is no, if you consume more carbohydrates than you need than it just sits in your stomach which can lead to other issues. In a study of well trained women cyclist, who did two hours of moderately hard endurance cycling while taking in a beverage that provided 60 grams (240 calories) of glucose per hour resulted in the highest amount of carbohydrate being used. However, when the women consumed a beverage with 90 grams of glucose (360 calories) per hour there were no change in performance. This is most likely because the excess fuel intake sat in the stomach unabsorbed leading to gastrointestinal discomfort. With the 60 gram intake there very few complaints of stomach distress and with plain water there was only one complaint (Wallis et al 2007). A later study has shown that when the women consumed a variety of carbohydrates there was even fewer complaints.

Keep in mind that excess sugar or food consumed at once can decrease the rate at which fluids leave the stomach and become available to replace sweat losses. Therefore be conservative with your sugars during intense workouts and hot weather, when fluid replacements becomes more important than carbohydrates. When the cold weather workouts roll in the risks of dehydration are greatly decreased therefore sugar fixes can provide much needed energy.

Lastly, if you are not used to consuming 100-250 calories per hour than you need to practice eating during training to figure out which foods and fluids work for you. As always if you want to try something a new drink, bar, gel, etc be sure to do it during training and not on race day. Then once you try something keep a list of what works and what does, however keep note of the temperature. For instance you may not do well with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in 90 degree weather, but it may be just fine in 40 or 50 degree weather. Do be afraid to try new foods after all eating the same foods every workout gets awfully old.

Make It Hurt So Good

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Hey everyone. As this is my first post on the blog I reckon’ a short introduction is in order. My name is Evan Burkhart. I’m a Category 2 road racer and just started working with Zach a few weeks ago. I currently ride for the ITS-Kane Elite Cycling Team. If you desire more background follow the link to my blog, Saddle Up, a little further down.

Zach asked me to contribute to the blog and since he seems to have the technical and the nutritional covered, I’ll focus my thoughts elsewhere.

Since I’ve started working with Zach the name of the game has been pain. My total time on the road has decreased but every time I throw my leg over the bike I have to be prepared to hurt. At first I simply didn’t know what to expect. I would see a workout and say, “Man, that looks kind of hard.” Then I would find out. Do you know what it’s like to be dying a thousand deaths only to look down and realize you’ve just hit the half way mark of a workout? I do. I was pushing myself further than I ever had in training. These workouts were tough, physically and mentally. You might think that after a while knowing every workout was going to hurt, a lot, would get old and the motivation to push yourself to those limits would disappear. However, since I’ve been doing these workouts I’ve seen a huge jump in my fitness. I’ve never experienced gains this significant in such a short amount of time. Now I can’t wait to get on the bike and push it. I know the pain is making me stronger and I legitimately enjoy it. Then, when it’s all over, there is the rush of endorphins and the visualization of that moment when it is all going to pay off. So the next time you question how hard you should push yourself and if it is really worth it, just remember to make it hurt so good. I promise you will become a stronger cyclist and a stronger person for it.

Having said that, remember to have fun. It’s not always about torturing yourself endlessly. Enjoy the recovery rides and the time spent outdoors. Don’t forget why cycling is such a great sport and enjoy every aspect to its fullest. Ciao.

CRAMPS

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Another Great Article by our resident Nutritionist and PCC Athlete Jenny Ives.

Muscle cramps are most commonly associated with dehydration. If you are among the thousands that experience the excruciating pain of severe muscle cramps, you are likely wondering; why is this happening? How can I prevent it? Well because no one completely understands what leads to these muscle cramps, these unpredictable spasms remain somewhat mysterious. Given that muscle cramps occur when the muscles become fatigued, the problem may be related to nerve malfunction resulting in an imbalance between muscle excitation and inhibition, preventing the muscles from relaxing (Schwellnus et al 2004).

Cramps are most often related to overexertion, fluid loss, inadequate training, and electrolyte imbalance. Cramps, for the most part can be treated with massage and stretching, however sometime nutrition is involved. For an example a deficiency in any of the following can lead to cramping:

Water:
Cramps, commonly are associated with dehydration. Therefore in order to prevent dehydration induced cramps, be sure to drink enough fluids before, during, and after exercise. Your goal for hydration status should be clear, pale yellow, and copious urine. During a long exercise session an 150lb athlete may need about 8 oz of fluid every 15-20 minutes. It’s difficult to make a one-size fits all fluid recommendation, but the best hydration indicator is to check you urine; if it is dark and scanty you need more fluids or foods that have a high fluid content such as fruits, vegetables, cooked oatmeal, etc.

Calcium:
Calcium plays a vital role in muscle contractions, therefore often times athletes with cramping issues will notice a difference with an increased calcium intake. However, some scientist will argue that a calcium imbalance is an unlikely cause of muscle cramps because if a dietary deficiency were to occur, calcium would be released from the bones to provide the muscles with the proper amount of calcium needed for contracting. On the other hand, to rule out any potential link between a calcium poor diet and muscle cramps an athlete should consume adequate calcium through dairy products or other calcium sources (soy milk, fortified food products, or lastly supplements-this should be the last resort, try to get it from food) at least two times a day.

Potassium:
Commonly electrolyte imbalance, for instance a lack of potassium, may contribute to muscle cramps. However, a potassium deficiency is not likely to occur as a result of sweat losses because the body can store much more potassium than a marathoner might lose during a hot sweaty race. However, if the potassium loss that occurs after a hard sweaty workouts isn’t consistently replaced this can overtime lead to a deficiency. Therefore to rule out this issue be sure to eat potassium rich foods such as potatoes, bananas, raisins.

Sodium
Believe it or not athletes are often found restricting their sodium intake during exercise, putting them at great risk for developing a sodium imbalance that could contribute to cramps. This is most often found in athletes who exercise hard for more than 4 hours in the heat such as cyclist, runners, triathletes. The risks increase for those that only consume water during the competition or training session or have not consumed sodium containing foods or beverages. Sports drinks (i.e. Heed, GU2O) are a great choice for those long and hot training or event days.

Magnesium
Muscles need calcium to contract and therefore need magnesium to relax. Magnesium has been shown to help reduce leg cramps that may occur in the middle of the night ( Roffe et al 2002). However, whether or not magnesium can help with exercise related cramps remains unclear. On the other hand it has been observed that most people do not meet the RDA for magnesium (320 mg for women and 420mg for men). The richest sources of magnesium include green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, legumes (1 cup of spinach has 155 mg, 1 cup brown rice 85 mg). I have often heard of endurance athletes consuming a few Tums as they contain 45 mg magnesium and 220 mg of calcium. These are a great source, but food is still the best source of any nutrient.

These are a few tips for resolving muscle cramps, but they are only suggestions, not proven solutions, therefore you may want to experiment with these dietary recommendations if you suffer from chronic muscle cramps. Making small changes such as consuming extra fluids, low-fat dairy products, potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, and adding a sprinkle or two of salt certainly won’t harm you and it may even resolve your issues. However, it may also be wise to consult with a physical therapist, trainer, or coach for stretching recommendations.

The latest on Caffeine

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:50:00 +0000

Written By Jenny Ives BS in Nutrition - PCC Athlete and Associate

The latest on caffeine as it’s everywhere. It’s even starting to appear in energy gels, bars, etc, but why? Well to start caffeine is a very popular pre-exercise energizer and is well known to help athletes train harder and longer. Caffeine acts as a stimulant to the brain, contributing to greater concentration and clearer thinking. There are numerous studies involving the use of caffeine for both endurance exercises and higher intensity exercises. The vast majority of studies conclude that caffeine does enhance performance by roughly 11%, making those hard efforts seem easier. However, it does appear that endurance athletes notice a greater benefit that those doing short bouts of exercise.

If you rarely drink coffee/tea then you may notice a dramatic caffeine boost likely due to your body’s little tolerance to caffeine’s stimulant effect. Interesting indeed was a study compared regular caffeine users to nonusers and it showed that nonusers lasted 8.5 minutes longer when biking very hard to exhaustion, as compared to when they had no preexercise caffeine. The regular caffeine users exercised for only four minutes longer when they had caffeine fix (Bell and McLellan 2002)

However, what is important to understand is that everyone’s body responds to caffeine differently, therefore don’t assume you will perform better with a caffeine boost. You may end up nauseated, coping with the so called “coffee stomach” or suffering from the jitters at a time when you are already trembling with anxiety. Also beware: a cup of coffee may help with bowel movement, however precompetition it may lead to transit complications. Experiment during training to determine if caffeine or plain water is your best bet.

Is Caffeine Dehydrating?

This is the common question, however according to Dr. Larry Armstrong, an exercise physiologist at the University of Connecticut, caffeine does not contribute to excessive water loss and is even ok in the hot temperatures (Armstong 2002). Interestingly enough, the military became very attracted to the physiological effects of caffeine on hydration among soldiers and heat. Moderate and high caffeine intakes were measured and there were no detrimental effects. A 24 hr urine loss with and without caffeine was very similar.

Should I get more Caffeine that I already get?

Although a cup or two of coffee before exercise may be helpful, more may have no effect. A study performed in 1995 showed that well-trained cyclists performed just as well with 350 milligrams as they did with 850 milligrams. What they found is that the second or third cup of coffee may do more harm than good (Pasman et al 1995). Small amounts of caffeine, such as those taken socially, may enhance performance, where high doses may be counter productive.

The Recommendations:

The target dose is around 1.5 milligrams per pound (3milligrams per kilogram) (Doherty and Smith 2005). For an example a 145 lb athlete they would need approximately 218 milligrams. Great, so what are my caffeine sources?

Source of Caffeine	Approximate Caffeine Content (mg)
Coffee-16 oz
Brewed, generic	275
Starbucks, brewed, grande	320
Dunkin Donuts	200
Decaffeinated, brewed	20
Other Beverages
Starbucks espresso (6.5 oz)	150
Espresso, generic(1 oz), shot	50
Hot cocoa (12 oz)	15
Tea-16 oz
Tea, brewed	175
Starbucks Tazo Chai tea Latte	100
Snapple Lemon, Peach, Plain Tea	42
Soft Drink
Mountain Dew(regular or diet)	71
Pepsi One	54
Mello Yellow(regular or diet)	53
Pepsi	38
Diet Pepsi	36
Coca-Cola(regular or diet)
Energy Drinks
Red Bull (8.3 oz)	80
Rockstar Energy Drink (8oz)	80

Information taken from CSPI 2007. Adapted from Nutrition Action Healthletter

www.cspinet.org

Many people drink a warm cup of coffee, not for an energy boost but because the warm liquid helps support regular bowel movement and helps empty the body before exercise. This could be the most justifiable reason for some people to include this beverage in their diet. However, as we all know if you are so tired that you turn to coffee for the stimulant effect to get you going for your workout, then you should probably be back to bed resting.

A rodie does a Tri...

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:13:00 +0000

Today was the local World Championship Sprint triathlon in my hometown...Valdese, NC. I have watched this race for many years since it is 1/2 mile from my house and have always said "that looks like fun, I'm gonna try that one day". Well today was that day.

I now have a a ton of respect for multi sport athletes, especially the fast ones. Wow, the top 3 guys were moving! Anyway the race went like this.

1. Swim in a pool for 250 yards, short but fast...I am actually a decent swimmer as I use it to cross train in the winters..its awesome active recovery for the bike. Swim took me about 3:45 I think... not the fastest but no more than 20 seconds slower than the top guys.

2. Bike. YEAH! The course was only 9 miles..again super short and either up or down so there is some technique to riding that kind of TT while keeping in mind you have to run afterward. Bike time was good, probably the top 3 of the day... but not sure.

3. Oh yeah you have to run at the end of these things...THAT SUCKED. I can count on two hands the number of times I have ran in the last 5 years, and I am no good at it to begin with. It took about a mile for the legs to get into a rhythm and that first mile hurt...I actually considered stopping at that beer store we passed and calling it quits!...after that first mile, felt a little better and was able to hobble through the rest of the 5k without puking.

End result: 1st place in my age group (30-34) and 8th overall. I am really looking forward to my next tri, in 2025!

11

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:10:00 +0000

That was the temperature yesterday morning in the garage for my workout. It sucked. Started my work out but never could really warm up. When I started my 20:00 interval I began sweating and was pretty wet within 5 minutes. so my extremities were freezing along with the sweat but my core was hot. It was no fun to say the least and I am really sick of winter...ready for some more warm outside riding.

On top of that, half way through my ride my PowercontrolV quit working, the screen froze for about 20 seconds, then went blank. I guess it was due, it has about 30k miles on it. So now I am without power for a week at least and will be going back to using HR and PE, its no big deal really and may actually be good for me to get back to some longer riding without focusing on the numbers to much.

I think to many riders become obsessed with "the numbers" and burn them selves out obsessing about power.

How you get fast...

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:16:00 +0000

While many would have taken the day off or would have done a 30 minute "easy spin" on the trainer. This is what I did today, in the 50 degree rain, after a 2 hr Z2 ride for a warm up:

SRM #1:
Duration: 49:13 (49:59)
Work: 1006 kJ
TSS: 90.9 (intensity factor 0.981)
Norm Power: 324
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 1.72%
Pa:HR: 7.82%
Distance: 16.939 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 486 320 watts
Heart Rate: 130 192 178 bpm
Cadence: 40 116 80 rpm
Speed: 8.8 40.5 20.6 mph
Pace 1:29 6:48 2:54 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 677 322 lb-in

Get off the trainer....Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Last week I posted on the benefit of doing a large portion of your workouts outside:

http://precisioncyclecoach.blogspot.com/2009/02/get-off-trainer.html

Well today it was sweet weather and as usual I headed outside and did my 3x15:00 workout on the road. Below is a part of the ride and I wanted to point out a few things.

Some riders and coaches claim that the only way to do intervals properly is on the trainer or rollers. They claim that its more controlled and that the "iso-power" efforts are the best way to do your intervals. I couldn't disagree more.

Take a look at the screen shot below. The target power was 320 watts. It felt easy PE was way down and I know my FTP is higher than what i am training at right now so i let the power creep up a bit to 323 average and normalized. Still with a VI of 1, still an "iso-power" interval.

But take a look at the crank torque, cadence and speed and you can take my word for it that I would stand for a total of about 1:00 of the 15:00 interval. Notice that both torque and cadence are variable, but still have nice averages. These variations recruit different muscles and even muscle fibers, slow cadence/high torque on the steeps, high cadence/low torque staying "on top" of the gear on the few short downhills. All this opposed to a steady cadence, same gear, same crank torque that would usually be the result of the same workout done indoors.

I think that any intelligent individual would agree that the outside version, where you more closely simulate racing conditions is far superior. I understand many of us must do our workouts after dark in the winter so indoors is the only option and thats fine. But whenever possible get off the trainer and get your butt outside.

Healthy Day!

Zach

New race wheels...

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Today I went for a nice little group ride with my wife and a few other guys, including a very promising new Jr. in our are who, mark my words, will be mixing it up in the Pro 1/2 races by the end of the year.

When we rolled in, there are the porch, thanks to sponsor Zipp, were my new race wheels for this year. Drum roll please.... 808 Tubulars.

Now, some might think its "too heavy" and more of a TT wheel or that they are n0t light enough to accelerate out of the corners at a crit, (i hear that one a bunch). Well its like this, aero always wins over weight...well almost always. Ideally I would like to have a set of 303's for hill climbs 404 for really hilly road races, I would use a 404 front and 808 rear if it was extremely windy, and 808's the rest of the time. But... I can only have one set of wheels so the best choice for an "all around" wheel is the 808's. Like I said aero always wins, even if there are some hills, and they are a bit heavier, the races around here have more terrain where a more aero wheel will save you way more time than a lighter one on the few hills. You save way more watts in a crit by a wheel that rolls through the wind at 25 mph, than you do with a "light" one that may accelerate out of the corners just a tad easier. Once you have ANY wheel rolling at such speeds, weight begins to make less and less difference and aerodynamics become MORE important.

Where do you get your information?

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:00:00 +0000

This is the question I got from one of my Athletes earlier in the week. I thought it was a good question to post about. First of all, this Athlete is a nutritionist and the question was geared toward that. She has been constantly amazed that despite her former schooling, I have been able to give her great nutrition and supplement advice for years now. Stuff they don't teach you in the class room.

First let me say that an 'expert" has all of the answers, a "professional" knows where to GET all of the answers. I would call myself a mix of the two. I know quite a bit when it comes to nutrition and what I don't know, I know who to ask.

So where have I learned all of this valuable nutrition information? Well, from a few places. Mainly experience, but also from a ton of reading, seminars and apprenticeships under other VERY experienced coaches and Athletes. Its no secret I am a BIG fan of the Paleo diet, so big in fact it seems other coaches in the area are know jumping on that band wagon as well. I have added my own variations to that diet however that will remain top secret. I have quite a bit of experience with female athletes and the deficiencies they almost always have, my experience with them has taught me what foods and supplements work best for them.

The network I have built over the years with some world renowned "experts" also keeps me up to date on nutrition. I read a ton, all of the new studies, and experiment on myself. Once a year I attend a sports nutrition seminar (that will remain a secret) that has proved extremely valuable in staying on top of nutrition.

Nutrition is a KEY component of your training...so....Where do you get your information?

New bike!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Unfortunately its not mine.... Built up Tonya's new race bike today courtesy of Bianchi. its really sweet ride, Womens specific Carbon, Dura-Ace, SRM Pro, and she will race on Zipp 303's again this year.

I love bikes!

Get off the trainer....

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:09:00 +0000

The last two days I had a nice couple of workouts. Monday I did 2x16:00 climbing repeats up the local Mineral Springs Mountain at 98%. Again it felt pretty easy so I know FTP is climbing quickly, cant wait for a field test to verify.

Today I rode with my wife on mainly a fun ride but I threw in 2 15:00's at about 90%, but they were highly variable in terms of power. In fact both days the power was up and down within about a 20-40 watt range.

This reminded me of why I prefer to have my Athletes do workouts outside whenever possible. The microbursts, changes in cadence and wattage, different muscle groups used as well as terrain is much more effective than nailing the power right at a certain wattage for an interval. Think about it, how many events RR/crit or TT have you done where the power and cadence is exactly X and never changes?

The trainer is good for some types of workouts like the dreaded "race winning interval" or a crit specific workout with bursts every 15 seconds. Changes in terrain and wind can make it pretty difficult to do those types of workouts accurately. But for the most part, and especially for longer 15:00+ Threshold intervals and tempo work you are better off doing them on the road. Don't focus on the power too much, rather keep it, in a range of bout 20-30 watts and go by feel, glancing down every 20 seconds to make sure you are on target, chances are your normalized power will be very close to your goal.

There are some coaches and athletes out there doing ALL of their workouts on the trainers or rollers. I am still looking for that event that requires me to ride at exactly 365watts for 20 minutes....if anyone finds one let me know.

Hit and Miss

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Thats what my blogging has been like lately... So I apologize to my loyal readers. It has been 6 months since i have posted, and there has been a ton going on with me. So here are the bullets of the last 6 months.

Injury, pliriformis syndrome took me off the bike from October till January 15thish.
Medical problems... long story involving a small outpatient surgery mid Jan.
Started "lightly" training towards the end of Jan.

The riding has been spotty up until the last few weeks. I have been swimming (therapy for the pliriformis) and running to cross train. There are rumors floating around locally that I may show up to a few spring sprint trialthlons so all of the local tri "stars" are nervous and keep emailing me asking if its true :)

The past two days I put together some nice workouts Yesterday I did 2x20:00 at 95% of FTP, felt great so today I went out and threw down 60:00 at 95% of FTP.. much tougher for sure but i did it and i felt good. I suspect that FTP has already made that early spring "leap" of about 20 watts that is the norm for me when i climb back on the bike for yet another racing season.

We may be headed to the beach next week for 4-5 days and do 2-a-days for a nice little spring trainig camp. We will see!

Ill try to be more consistent with my postings this year. Healty Day!

Like Shootin Fish in a Barrel"

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:34:00 +0000

Thats what it was like this weekend at Crossroads for Time Pro Cycling. They took the lions share of the podium and prize money all week with Daniel Ramsey winning the first three days of Crossroads. There was not anyone that could go toe to toe with this powerhouse over the weekend. And I imagine this trend will continue through the rest of the 9 day race series this week.

Friday: Very hard race, big finishing hill. 36 Starters, 26 Finishers. I lasted 20 minutes. Ramsey lapped the field solo, followed by Hamblen and Johnson and that was your podium. Teammate Jay Cox hung in there for a field finish, great ride to even finish among mainly Pros that finished.

Saturday: Didn't race, the 8:00 PM start, chose to go home and sleep, but failed in that as well. Our team had no finishers in the filed of 26 that did cross the line.

Sunday: Up at 5am, set up course, put up almost a mile of crowd barriers, set out 50 hay bails, hang banners, on feet all day promoting the race in the heat, forgot to eat drink or sit, kitted up to race last minute with no warm-up. Strong recipe for a disasturous race, and thats exactly what it was.

The temp at the 3:30 start was about 95 degrees. All of the big guns were there from the past few days the 3 powerful teams being Time Pro Cycling, DLP, and Hincapie/Coke.
The course is one of the hardest in the south-east, if your not climbing your turning. Did I mention it was hot? The race was insanely fast from the gun and guys went off the back at record speed. I was hurting from working all day but was trying to hang in there until my body settled into the pain cave. The first few guys i saw of note drop out in the first 15 minutes were Torsten Wambold, Joey Coddington and Andrew Olson, all from the DLP PRO Cycling team. This race was crazy hard. At about 19:00 into it Erik Barlevev, famous for his recent win at Harlem Rocks Crit, was next to me and obviously on the rivet, then he just quit pedaling and pulled off. This was really bad for my attitude about the race, because i reasoned "if all these "Pros" are quitting, than ive done ok to stay in this long". I probably could have stayed in a little longer. Right after that there was a $100 cash preme and i was gone. My two teammates Pete and Jay hung in there to get 7th and 18th respectively. There were only 22 finishers out of the 44 starters.

Know When to say ENOUGH!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:07:00 +0000

Last night it was looking like T-storms 2 - Zach 0. However by the time I got the bike setup in the garage to ride, it had blown over so I headed outside. The workout was this:

Warm-Up
2x5:00 at 410 watts (VO2)
1x5:00 "Race winning interval"

I felt pretty decent for the first 5:00 averaging 409, right on target. I decided to mix it up and go straight into the "race winning interval" after a 5:00 recovery. This is one of my favorite workouts that simulates an end of the race "winning move." It starts with a 15 second sprint, usually at around 1600 watts for me, and then goes into V02 or around 410 watts until 3:00, then settles into FTP (345 watts) for the last two minutes and then ends with a sprint.

This workout simulates perfectly a 2 to go race winning move in a crit. You have the sprint to create initial separation, the 3:00 of high output V02 to build a good gap, and the last two minutes you settle in to your FTP and then you finish with a sprint to hold off the field for the win. These are really hard.

So I start the "race winning interval" and at about a minute into it I notice that my HR is only around 185, very close to my LT HR, (max is about 203 for me). Normally my HR would be in the mid 190s for this particular workout. I have been noticing for the past few days that I was feeling tired and sluggish and legs have been sore, the deep soreness that feels like its in the bone.

Alarms and red lights went off instantly, WARNING WARNING MELT DOWN APPROACHING. I instantly killed the workout and headed home for some good sleep.

Which leads me to the point of the post, listen to your body and pay attention to the signs. Know when its time to pull the plug and take a rest day. This is where having a coach to review your power/HR files really comes in handy. Most athletes don't recognize overtraining until its to late and the are in a violent tail spin ending a large portion of their season, and perhaps ruining their "A" race of the year. Even riders that may recognize the signs are often too stubborn to listen to them and think they should "man up" and push through it.

I constantly preach "less is often more" and "when in doubt don't." When you get these warning signs listen to them and go home and take a nap, you'll be way better off for it.

Most of you know that one of my "A" goals is coming up Sunday the hometown Morganton Cycling Classic. So i have decided to stay away from the bike today and tomorrow and do a short "tune-up " ride on Saturday. I would much rather show up a little "dull" well rested and motivated than perhaps a little sharper but tired and overtrained. After all there are 7 crits next week, plus a TTT so I need the rest!

Thunder Storm..

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Last night i went out for some good threshold work. Was planning on 2x20:00 at 97%. I waited around the house till about 7pm to leave since it was about 99 degrees, I wanted to wait for it to cool off a bit. Big mistake.

By the time I headed out it was nice and cool, due to the dark cloud cover that had moved in. Thats ok ill stay close to the house i thought. I did my usual lazy 20 minute warm-up and started on my first 20:00. I do these on the same exact loop, and usually 20:00 takes my right to a certain stop sign. This is good because i can test different techniques like position and cadence to see if what is more efficient and will get me to the stop sign a few seconds quicker.

Anyway, at about 16:00 in, i started to see bad lightning on the horizon and i was headed right for it. I was really pissed because i hate not being able to finish an interval, much less an entire workout. But i did the "safe" thing and pulled off the road and hung out under a church awning in the middle of nowhere and waited out the storm, about 30 minutes.

It was a bad storm and i still got wet form the wind blowing in, it had to be gusting to 60mph, at least it felt like it, and a little bit of hail as well. I found this info below and thought it may be helpful, not exactly a "training tip" but its good to know. I was surprised to see that rubber tires will NOT offer any protection against lightning.

This Sunday is the Morganton Cycling Classic in my hometown, of which i am one of the promoters so it is high on my list of races to do well at. I feel pretty good but the crash hasn't helped any and im still stiff and sore. Ill try to post every day for the rest of the week so all can see what a "mini-taper" consists of.

Surviving a Thunderstorm

A PREPAREDNESS GUIDE for severe weather is published by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service. The following is our adaptation of that guide to specifically address cyclist concerns. National Weather Service has reviewed and approved this adaptation.

In general . . .

Cyclists on the road are most at risk from thunderstorms if they are under or near tall trees, are on or near hilltops, or are themselves high points on flat terrain (such as crossing an open field).
Lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and may occur as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall.
Rubber-soled shoes and rubber tires provide NO protection from lightning.
If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning. Look for safe shelter immediately!
When skies darken, look AND listen for increasing wind, flashes of lightning, sound of thunder
Lightning remains a danger even when a thunderstorm is dissipating or has passed by.

When thunderstorms approach . . .

If you are on a hill with exposure to the sky, try to head downhill, seeking out an overhanging bluff or a valley or ravine where you can lower your exposure.
Move to a sturdy building or shelter if there is one within reach (such as an underpass, a large barn, a store or railroad station). Do not take shelter in small sheds or under isolated trees.
However, get to higher ground if flash flooding is possible where you are (such as by a creek bed).

If caught outdoors and no shelter is nearby . . .

Find a low spot away from trees, fences, and poles. Make sure the place you pick is not subject to flooding.
If you are in the woods, take shelter under the shorter trees. (Lightning is more likely to strike the tallest trees.)
If you feel your skin tingle or your hair stand on end, dismount fast, get away from your bike, and squat low to the ground on the balls of your feet. Place your hands on your knees with your head between them. Make yourself the smallest target possible, and minimize your contact with the ground.

BMW Gurls

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:22:00 +0000

Someone shot this great picture of my wife Tonya (left, AKA back) and her teammate Kristi (?) at a crit this past weekend. Her team does very well considering they are usually chasing around top pros at the regional races.

Tonya is sprinting really well this year, when she gets a good lead out or gets on the right wheel, she won the field sprint for 2nd place at the Piedmont triad omnium last weekend (2nd picture.)

FBCC - CRASH!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:33:00 +0000

This past weekend was French Broad Cycling Classic omnium in western NC. I skipped the TT on Friday and had plans on doing the crits only. Saturday we drove down to Brevard NC for the crit and after Tonya raced, check that, chased around the two Pros from Chreerwine and Aarons for 40 minutes, it was my turn.

All of the usual suspects were there, including the Coca-Cola guys and the Pro DLP team, including Thad Dulin. Plus about 50 other local strong guys. The course was rotten with allot of holes and very narrow corners, but it had a climb up to the finish which suited me and I was able to easily move up each lap going up the hill.

I covered several early moves and felt GREAT, this was going to be a good race for me. Unfortunately in the very narrow and fast (30 mph+) second corner, the rider in front of me caught a pedal and did the usual bike hop, but didn't go down. I had no choice but to try and go to the inside to avoid hitting him. Unfortunately, the tires didn't hold that kind of corner and I lost a wheel, front actually, I think. Went down hard on the right side, two or three behind me went right into me. Everyone was ok thankfully.

I ruined my rear wheel and banged up the RD, shifter and bar. Along with my back side. I did get a new wheel and a free lap and got back in there. However, at this point I was pretty bummed and psyched out mentally, especially in the corners. Plus I was hurting pretty badly. I did about 20 more minutes with the main field and then hung it up, my head wasn't in the game at all after going down.

Took Sunday off and laid around the house and took it easy, I will be back on the bike today, after i put it back together, and get tuned up for Crossroads starting on Friday.

TT Clinic at Mock Orange Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Precision Cycle Coach TT Clinic

Zach Lail of Precision Cycle Coach, in conjunction with Mock Orange Bikes will be hosting a free Time Trail Clinic on Saturday July 11th, 6;00PM at Mock Orange Bikes in Winston Salem. This will be just in time for the Piedmont Omnium concluding Time Trial the next morning. Topics will be proper fit and positioning, aerodynamics, training, strategy and pacing. All are welcome to attend and even bring your TT bikes for a free position analysis. contact zach@precisioncyclecoach for more info.

Lowes Motor Speedway TT 7/9

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:02:00 +0000

Wednesday night was the Lowes Motor Speedway TT. MOB Racing was represented by Rick Lee in the 10 mile TT and Myself (Zach) in the 40K.

There were early bad thunderstorms and the organizers postponed the race for about 45 minutes until the lightning moved over. When both of us started however it was still a steady rain and there was plenty of water on the track. At least we will race on a wet track unlike those girlie NASCAR guys ;)!

Rick and I were able to warm up a bit together inside one of the NASCAR garages in about 75 degrees and 95% humidity, (not fun). It was nice however to get to know Rick for the first time. I was able to give Rick some strategy suggestions on how to race a TT since this was his first TT experience. He previously had some really bad advice to try and race for a "certain time" instead of focusing on pacing and staying near or slightly above his threshold heart-rate and perceived exertion. We talked about the importance of pacing and NOT GOING OUT TO HARD!

I didnt get to talk to Rick afterwards but he seemed to have a great race putting up a 23:25.63 at an average speed of 25.61 MPH., 4th place Cat4. Not bad for a newer Cat 4, second year on the bike and his first TT! Nice job Rick!

My sole intention for the 40K was to get in a good solid field test, representative of my power on the road bike. So I left the TT bike at home and raced on my stock LOOK 595 Ultra. No aero gear or clip-ons, just me and the bike. I started out easy by TT standards for the first lap riding at about 95% of threshold wattage, HR stayed low and I felt good. I was a little uncomfortable in the rain however and that caused my greatest weakens in the TT to start to rear its ugly head, FOCUS. I was able to keep my head on straight however and when the sky's cleared it helped a bunch. The race was pretty uneventful and I maintained a steady pace right at my threshold power for the whole 40K, kicking it up of course in the last mile or so to about 150% and then sprinting for the line.

The whole race however I was giggling to myself as I was literally lapping guys on the 1.5 mile loop that were on $12,000 super tricked out Pro Tour ready TT bikes. I was thinking "dude sell some of that crap and buy a power meter and hire someone to train you, you'll be way faster". Guys, a power meter and the knowledge to train properly using power IS THE BEST MONEY YOU WILL EVER SPEND ON YOUR RACING. Don't buy all of the fancy aero gear until you NEED it to go faster (unless you can afford to have both). These guys that were getting lapped were not old and/or over weight, they were young seemingly fit guys!

Anyway, soap boxing aside. The race went ok for me all things considered. I was 2nd 1:10 off of the winner (also on one of those tricked out TT bikes). Time was 56:45.35 at an average speed of 25.67. Not bad on a road bike I suppose. I'm guessing that on my TT bike with the disc and 404 front, I would be about 5 minutes faster, give or take. It became hard near the end to stay as low as possible and I had to stand a few times to give my butt a break which is like hitting a brick wall at that speed. It was a perfect field test, normalized power and average power were perfectly the same, 347 watts. Variability Index was 1.00 which indicates perfect pacing. The textbook way to ride a TT.

Looking forward to the Piedmont Omnium this weekend starting tonight with the Lexington Crit.

The new Casa!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:48:00 +0000

I have been promising to post some pictures of our new house we moved into back in May, finally getting around to it. As you can see we still have some work to do, but its getting there.

Training is going well, spending ALLOT of time near threshold. Off today and tomorrow then doing a 40k TT on Wednesday.

I have been promising to post some pictures of our new house we moved into back in May, finally getting around to it. As you can see we still have some work to do, but its getting there.

Evening delight...

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:09:00 +0000

Ok, I over did it last night, 80 miles, 4 hours and 289 training stress points....nuthin like a little Tuesday night special to run you into the ground. Add to that the fact that i slept like crap last night, i am cooked today.

My TSB is at -61.8 today and i am actually still considering going up to Asheville tonight for the speedway race....its short. Thats my addictive nature, i LOVE that race, even thought the smart thing to do would be to stay home and rest. Ill try to catch a nap today and see how I feel later.

House of PAIN!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:52:00 +0000

While I have been back on the bike riding for about a month now, after a 6 month break, yesterday marked my return to structured training. The goal will be to build Power at Threshold up to what it was last year. Given my very dissapointing ride at Town Mountain Hill Climb Friday, I have allot of work to do to salvage the season.

Yesterday was one of my favorite workouts and my clients will tell you i prescribe it allot, I call it LT3. It is 2x20:00 at 95-100% of FTP. Here is the SRM Data for yesterday, I felt pretty decent although the second one was starting to hurt a bit at the end.

SRM #1:
Duration: 19:40 (20:01)
Work: 377 kJ
TSS: 34 (intensity factor 1.019)
Norm Power: 321
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 5.91%
Pa:HR: 19.57%
Distance: 7.569 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 477 319 watts
Heart Rate: 145 208 184 bpm
Cadence: 50 108 88 rpm
Speed: 9.3 37.5 23.1 mph
Pace 1:36 6:26 2:36 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 708 310 lb-in

SRM #2:
Duration: 19:49 (20:01)
Work: 379 kJ
TSS: 34.1 (intensity factor 1.016)
Norm Power: 320
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 9.18%
Pa:HR: -1.76%
Distance: 7.256 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 607 319 watts
Heart Rate: 124 197 187 bpm
Cadence: 55 180 85 rpm
Speed: 8.7 37.3 22.0 mph
Pace 1:37 6:54 2:44 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 635 323 lb-in

Today was a M1 ride which is basically 45:00 minutes at about 85-90%. At first the legs felt really bad after yesterday, but about 10 minutes into it I loosened up nicely and actually felt great for the rest of the ride. My HR was consistent and it felt pretty easy to hold 300 watts for 45:00. Here is that data:

SRM #1:
Duration: 44:14 (45:03)
Work: 813 kJ
TSS: 71.4 (intensity factor 0.984)
Norm Power: 310
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 2.67%
Pa:HR: -6.49%
Distance: 14.774 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 648 306 watts
Heart Rate: 139 185 172 bpm
Cadence: 42 165 81 rpm
Speed: 5.2 43.2 20.0 mph
Pace 1:23 11:30 2:60 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 610 330 lb-in

Tomorrow is a 1HR z2 ride to the local group ride then about 2 hrs of group ride (unstructured VO2 work hopefully, I like to toy around with those guys ;), and then another 1HR easy ride home. Then its the Asheville speedway race on Wednesday. After that i will be looking forward to at least one day off, probably two.

I heard that my teammate Pete Cannell won the 30+ TT at nationals today, look for a report from him soon!

WIN!

noreply@blogger.com (PCC) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Last weekend PCC athlete Jenny Ives put in an amazing ride to win the womens field, here is her story.

At the start of the 55 mile road race around Wilmington, Lake Placid with a finishing climb up Whiteface mountain road ending just beyond Santa's workshop, I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. I was in for it, I looked around to spot the other women in my race, but it was hard to find their faces since they were buried in the crowd of Cat 3/4 and 35+ men. As if I wasn't frightened enough with the course and the climbs and the twisting descents, now I had to start with the men. I looked for the familiar men's faces I knew from my area and decided that I would stick with them as long as I could. If I could only just sit in the field it would be an easy ride.

I worried some about the climbs, but as I worried I realized I was already 10 miles into the race and I was still riding with them, even after the big climb. I was just amazed, usually I would have been dropped, well I kept going as we approached the twisting decent, I clung to my teammates wheel, who I worked on descending with and put my trust in him, well it worked we actually gapped the field. I felt like I was flying and like this was all too good to be true. As the race went on more and more attacks were taking place, I was able to stay on by grabbing the nearest wheel, I did get gapped close to 26 miles into the race but caught back on with the screaming decent, which actually caught the officials attention asking me if I had permission to descend like I did, I just laughed. For that official to comment on something like that, well let's just say it doesn't happen often. After the descent I noticed it was the start of the feed zone hill, which was a 3 mile climb, I stayed with the boys until just a little over half way and then someone attacked and I went then another attacked and I went and then another, and another, and another, and on this last one I just couldn't go I was done, so I dropped off thinking, man those other women are lucky to stay in there, well, as I looked closer I didn't see one woman, no way I thought. Well I took a breath and thought man this is like a solo break, so I took a drink and popped a GU and rode like crazy for the last 30 miles! I didn't get caught and I didn't see a woman in sight. Well I finished the climb just 3 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of 2nd. I was so excited, this was the first time I won in a break. The race gave me a whole new picture of racing and opened me up to my capabilities, all things I have never experienced before!

Zach, you have taught me so much about riding and how to enjoy it and how to not give up and be patient because my time will come, well you sure know what you are talking about! Thanks for everything, you have shown me a whole new side of my capabilities, I guess you could call it. Thanks again for everything, hope this write up helps some.