May 18, 2012

The Mitchell Plan

By aaronwest

Last year my plan was just to complete the Assault on Mount Mitchell. This time I plan to do it faster. I finished in 8:05 last year and my first ambition was to beat that time by a mere thirty minutes. That seemed reasonable. I have since set the bar higher and am now shooting for a time somewhere around seven hours. That’s a much higher challenge and will require a plan.

I have done all of the work and all of the training. Now the outcome depends on the choices I make before and during the ride.

First, I am going to eat well. Tomorrow we’re having a Mediterranean dinner because most of those carbs are high glycemic and should be ready to burn on Monday morning. The next day we’ll be having a pasta dinner somewhere in Spartanburg. To be on the safe side, I’m going to have some ice cream on Sunday evening. Yep, I’ll be living it up this weekend.

The next decision is where to line up on Monday morning. Last year I was hesitant to jump into too fast of a pack, so I hung back a ways. That meant I was in a slower group to Marion. This year I am going to scoot my bike up a lot closer to the front and try to hang with the big dogs for awhile. There will be some separation when the hills hit, especially Bill’s Mountain, but there will be groups forming the entire way. I’ll try to hang on to whomever I can and will shamelessly try not to pull.

In total, I stopped around 20 minutes last year. It sure felt like more, but that was it. I need to cut that down drastically this year. I am hoping to only need to stop once along the way to Marion. Hopefully I can manage the way up to Mitchell with just one or two stops as well. Fortunately I have learned how to pace myself on climbs and let my heart rate go down. Rather than stop, I’ll just slow down until my mojo returns.

The problem with not stopping is I won’t be able to eat the delicious rest stop food. I learned a good bit about that from last week. I will pack some mobile food to carry with me, most of which will be Clif Mini Bars and my Hammer Gel squeezer. I’ll also carry a third water bottle in my jersey. If I have to stop along the way to Marion, it should be only to refill bottles and nothing else.

This year I have the support of my lovely wife. She’ll be waiting for me at Marion with half a Subway sandwich and a Coke. That will probably be my longest stop. There I will scarf down the sandwich and guzzle the Coke before hitting the road again.

I will carry only one full bottle up to Mitchell. Why carry extra weight when there are rest stops every few miles? If I need to top it off, I’ll stop for a refill without lingering. I remember that most of the volunteers are helpful and will refill bottles for the riders.

So far the weather looks to be gorgeous, with a low in the 60s and high in the 80s and little chance of rain. Sounds like a perfect day to ride. Hopefully I’ll make it a good one.

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Blog

May 16, 2012

The Pre-Mitchell Massage

By aaronwest

This year I have really come to understand and appreciate the benefits of athletic massage. I started when I was having hamstring troubles, and found the perfect fit in Debbie Lipski. She has worked with cycling teams on race events and understands the pain that we put our muscles through. She alleviated the hamstring tightness immediately, allowing me to recover and continue training. Without her help, I probably would not have completed the climbing challenge.

Yesterday was my pre-Mitchell massage. It felt amazing. The more I abuse my muscles, the better the massage feels. I hurt them pretty thoroughly this past Saturday. My left side was particularly tight, both the quads and the hamstrings. That probably means I favor that side and could use work on my form. That comes later. It was painful when she put pressure on my left quad, but felt so good at the same time. All the soreness was slowly leaving my body.

I have been supplementing that massage with foam rolling. When I was doing the hard work, I would practically be on the rollers nightly. I even pulled out a rolling pin and would roll my quads as if they were pizza dough. It still hurt, but in a refreshing way and would allow me to bounce back quicker.

Now that I’m finished with the massage, I feel like a new, relaxed person. Since I’m only tapering this week, my muscles should be more than ready to tackle the big mountain.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Training

May 13, 2012

Tour de Midlands, 2012, Lexington, SC

By aaronwest

At last year’s Spring Valley Presbyterian Church ride, my intent was to ride with the lead pack. That plan quickly evaporated when a small pack stormed out of the gates and vanished out of sight. I’ve always been a slow warmer and wasn’t ready to chase. It turns out I couldn’t have caught them anyway. I found out later that was the JB Express.

Jeff Brandenburg is a local Iron Man triathlete and one of the strongest riders around. He once finished Assault on Mount Mitchell in the top ten. He prefers to ride in his aerobars in the lead. He rides so fast that others do not complain. They are fine riding in his draft.

For this year’s Tour de Midlands, my last big ride before Mitchell, I knew that the JB Express would be riding out front. My plan was to try and stick with them as long as possible. I also didn’t want to burn myself up too much. With 9 days until Mitchell, I wanted to keep something in reserve.

In the first few miles of the ride, we somehow missed a turn. We ended up at a dead end and had to circle back to the other riders. We then missed another turn and frankly had no idea where we were going. We were sitting in the middle of an intersection, looking at cue sheets, trying to figure it out where in the world we were. Finally one of the SAG vehicles pointed us in the right direction. Even then we weren’t sure. Another rider who seemed to know what he was talking about pointed us in another direction. We took his advice and got there all the same, but that splintered the pack and slowed us down somewhat.

As we crossed over the dam and headed towards Peak, I started to ease in. My heart rate was in zone three and I was comfortably cruising along at a fast pace. Jeff is training for Ironman Coeur d’Alene. His goal was to keep his wattage steady in the low 200s for the entire ride. That meant that although he was riding fast, the effort should be consistent. That was the case most of the time. I noticed that we took hills comfortably, maybe even a little slow. The only time it was a struggle was after cornering, where sometimes I would have to sprint quickly to catch back on.

My one worry was fueling. I had plenty of food, but only two bottles of water. Hydration was going to become an issue at some point. Jeff wouldn’t stop, but as luck would have it, we encountered a train crossing at the Little Mountain rest stop, which allowed us to refill our bottles.

I watched the miles tick by, amazed that I was able to keep up. We passed the 60 mile marker, then 70 miles, 80, and then made the turn back towards Lexington to take this thing home.

At mile 90, Jeff surprisingly moved off the front and Gordon took over. I didn’t know Gordon too well, but assumed he would be keeping the same pace. Umm, no. I hardly noticed the extra effort until we hit a section of hills. All of a sudden my heart rate started rising and wasn’t getting an opportunity to recover. It turns out Gordon is a Cat-2 racer and he was tearing us up. With every hill it hurt more and more.

At mile 96, we hit the toughest hill in the stretch. Mark, who was riding in front of me, gave up midway through the climb. He dropped and motioned me to go by him, and I tried, but the gap had developed and I didn’t have the energy to close. After cresting the hill, the gap had extended. I pushed to try to catch it, burning the last of my remaining energy. The pack was slowed at an intersection and I caught them briefly, but had already spent my last match and didn’t stay on long.

Phew. I was exhausted and not too disappointed to ride in alone at my own pace. My speed average dropped a little bit and I ended with a 21.5 average, which is close to my personal best for a century.

Strava GPS Link

IMAGE GALLERY

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Rides

May 11, 2012

The Taper

By aaronwest

(Coach Peter Kay, last years’s Assault’s Director, posted a fantastic article last year about tapering. With his permission I am republishing it here. This was written 10 days before the Assault on Mount Mitchell last year, so it is appropriate to post it today, 10 days prior to this year’s Assault. Peter is a coach, a musician, and a fellow blogger. He is a good guy and has helped me a great deal.)

What does it mean to “taper?”

It’s crunch time and a lot of us are feeling the pressure of the deadline. The Assaults are 10 days away, and many are beginning to question their training.

The worst thing any cyclist can do right now is “cram.” There is simply NO way to make-up what you haven’t already accomplished this spring. The next 10 days should be “review,” and recovery – not trying to get in those last few hills and mountains or trying to lose those last few pounds.

From here on out… you work with what you have!

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Before any event that a cyclist takes seriously, there should be a period in which volume tapers off so that the body can rest, recover, and rebuild broken-down muscle tissue. Each person is different, so there is no one way to taper. That said, there are certainly a few generalizations that can be made:

1. Most cyclists do best with a 7-10 day Taper. Some people need less time, but almost no one needs more than 10 days (after that, one begins to lose a bit of fitness).

2. Taper refers to “tapering off” which does NOT mean stopping altogether. Similarly, the first few days of the taper should only be moderately easier than usual (or shorter) while the last few days of the taper may feel too easy or short.

3. Decrease volume more than intensity. Short rides with a few hard blasts will keep your body’s metabolism going, the blood flowing, and your muscles used to stress. You want to keep the engine revved up without burning much fuel. At the same time, try to avoid breaking down the muscle fibers too much. Don’t go out and do serious hill reps for an hour – but throwing in a few hills OR a few sprints during a casual spin will help keep the legs loose.

4. By the end, one should feel almost twitchy with excitement and energy – NOT sluggish, lethargic, or “soft.” These are signs that an athlete didn’t taper correctly. If you feel yourself getting tired a few days before the ride – get outside and pedal around a while. It won’t hurt you to change your taper along the way (so long as you don’t burn up your legs).

5. In the last two days, it is generally considered best to take Saturday completely off the bike, ride a short and easy ride on Sunday (45-75 minutes at a recovery pace with no real hard efforts). This is a perfect combination of rest and active recovery that primes the pumps for Monday’s hardest efforts.

If needed (schedule conflicts, etc), you can also swap these two days, riding easy on Saturday and resting on Sunday, although your legs will most likely take far longer to “wake up” on the day of the event.

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Many are headed to the mountains this Saturday, and that’s okay. So long as it’s a shorter ride – less volume – and slightly easier than usual (no need to take risks, bombing the descents… there’s no clock and there’s no prize!).

As I said earlier, a taper could be as many as 10 days, but for some it’s far fewer. The length of time isn’t based on age or experience – although, that does play some role in the process. Instead, it’s more about genetics and lifestyle. A 35 year old, Cat 2 racer with an active and stressful job may actually need longer than a retired man who simply cycles as a hobby. Trial and error is still the best way to find what works for you but within the framework of the guidelines above.

The key is to rest, eat well, and stay hydrated.

-Peter Kay

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Training

May 8, 2012

From Cashiers to Mitchell

By aaronwest

My 2nd Assault on Mount Mitchell is less than two weeks away.

I’m glad that I had a couple struggles at Cashiers. To me, this was like the powerhouse team that loses a big game before the playoffs. It happens often in sports. The teams lose, then have to regroup, re-focus and come out on top. Kentucky’s basketball team is a great recent example.

Most of my Mitchell training is now finished. There will be a couple more rides, including one more century this weekend, but the hard stuff is behind me. Now I have to use what I learned about myself to formulate a plan for the big ride.

Cashiers reminded me not to overestimate myself or underestimate the ride. That’s exactly what I did this weekend. I have been training hard and making great progress that I forgot some of the little things.

  • The week prior to Cashiers, I didn’t ride at all. I was due for a recovery week, but could have benefited from an easy spin or two.
  • I didn’t drink a lot of water prior to Cashiers. Most of my hydration came in the form of two cups of coffee before the ride, which is not ideal.
  • The biggest mistake was in my eating the night before the ride. I made poor choices ordering from a German restaurant. I got a small side of potatoes when I should have ordered a pasta dish.
  • On top of that, I forgot to eat something just before the ride as I usually do.

No wonder I struggled out of the gates. My tank was empty!

So I have one more (relatively) flat century to use as a testing ground. That will be at this weekend’s Tour de Midlands. The plan this time is to fuel intelligently, stay on the bike without stopping (much) and ride as fast as I can.

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