Time to shut-er' down!

I went for a fartlek workout with the uOttawa triathlon club yesterday, for what I thought would be an ideal training session leading up to the November 3rd Cookie Run. While the workout was fun (and it's always refreshing to meet and train with new people), I woke up this morning with quite a bit of tension and soreness in my legs. Pretty standard workout-induced fatigue, right? 

Well, were this the middle of the summer or during a regular training week in one of my "Build" blocks, I would have accepted this fatigue as normal and would have continued with the prescribed training for the day. However, as I sat in bed this morning, dreading the bike workout I had planned for later this evening, a thought occurred to me. Why exactly am I still training this hard? The race season is done after all...

("Hey Bro, can we take a chill pill yet?" said Alex's body to.. Alex)

Perhaps it's because I'm registered for the Cookie Run and have vowed to set a blistering pace. Or perhaps it's because the indoor winter-race series at the Peak Centre is starting soon and I want to improve upon my results from last year! Whatever the reason, I've realized (and I'm sure this is the case for many other athletes) there will ALWAYS be that "next objective". At some point, it's important to step back and reassess the goals that you had set out at the beginning of the year.   Did my original training plan indicate that I would be training to break 40 minutes for the 10k cookie run? No. But my pride and competitive edge have blinded my more "rational side" and inspired me to prolong my offseason for the better part of 2 months. 

While I definitely do not propose that an aspiring athlete should take a few months off training à la Contador, there isn't much use in doing what I've been doing for the last while. That is, training fairly hard in a couple of different disciplines without a real plan or structure. Physical gains are highly unlikely with such an approach, and if anything you are more likely to burnout or over-train. I would argue that this time is probably better spent resting, both mentally and physically. 

("Contador is looking very much forward to his holidays. "From now on, I will rest and disconnect a bit from the bike. I need to give my body and my head some rest. until the next team meeting, which will be mid-November on the island of Gran Canaria, I will not touch the bike at all." - Cyclingnews)

It is thus, and after quite a bit of deliberation, that I finally decided to embrace the "off season". In order to progress further, this time will be necessary to recuperate from all the hard work this year and come back stronger and even more focused.   

If any part of what I've written above rings a bell or sounds familiar to you, read the bullet points below!

When should you take a break?    

I think a good rule of thumb is; If - more and more frequently - you find yourself dreading or avoiding workouts, the chances are you are due for a break.  We tend to mostly rely on physical cues from our body (soreness, fatigue, illness, injury) to determine our pauses from training.  I think it could be argued that the psychological side is just as important as the physical part.  If your head isn't completely in the game and you aren't fully committed to your training plan - progress and achieving your objectives will be much harder.  

Most importantly, and unless you are a paid professional, you should still be deriving fun from your training!  It doesn't matter how inflated your ego, or how important you think that next event is - if you don't enjoy the work you put in, it's time to take a break!

(If you want to succeed, you need to live and breathe the bike)

How long should such a break be?    

I have yet to find any convincing literature on the subject, but recent studies (in runners) have suggested that VO2 max decreases by roughly 6% after two weeks of no training, and decreases further to about 19% after 9 weeks. So, even if you were taking 2-3 weeks off the bike, the odds of losing all the physiological adaptations you gained throughout the season are low. In any case, such a break will leave you feeling refreshed and more motivated than ever.  

What I've done in the past, is take a solid 4-5 days of no training (until I feel like a zombie. *cough* I mean until I resemble your average Canadian).  After this, I will slowly start incorporating some light cross training (running, hiking, rock climbing, swimming), and will do this for another week or two.  There shouldn't be any set time for how long you should take off the bike, but for me it usually ends up being around 2 weeks.  (Usually the point where every part of my body is screaming to hop back on the bike).   

Don't get me wrong, the transition back onto the bike may be uncomfortable at first, but that doesn't matter.  It's not like you're aiming to peak while there's still snow outside or looking to set a PB in January.  This adaptation period should coincide with a return to the basics.  A pre-base period perhaps, where the focus should be on slowly building back your endurance and speed skills.  (Smooth-cadence roller sessions can be great for this).  This period may also be a good time to incorporate some strength work in the gym as well!

What can I do during my break from cycling?     

One thing I've observed in most athletes that I train and race with is that we tend to lead very regularized and routine lives.  The training, the nutrition, the recovery - they all hold a particular (and often strict) place in our lives.  Take advantage of this training vacation to break away from your routine and be more spontaneous!  

Here are a couple of no-brainers for ya:

- Catch up with friends you haven't seen in a while.  

- Spend more quality time with family and loved ones.  

- Try some new activities.

- Catch up on sleep!

- Have that treat that you would normally avoid during the race season.  

(All things in moderation.. Don't overindulge or you could end up ballooning like Jan Ullrich come spring time.  Unfortunately for you though, even a fat Jan Ullrich puts out a few hundred watts more than you!)

Finally, as you approach the end of your break and your mind starts thinking more and more about biking, take some quality time to plan your next season.  Athletes who clearly identify goals and tailor their training plans to meet these objectives fare much better than their counterparts who flounder from group-ride to group-ride, leaving their form and fitness to chance. 

That's all for now! 

Cheers to a great off season!

Alex

Fall Riding at the Peak Centre!

On Saturday, I participated in my first Peak Centre Stage of the 2012-2013 Winter Racing Series!  (And boy did I forget how tough these races were...)

For those of you who have problems with motivation and training at this time of year, you'll be pleased to know that the Peak Centre for Human Performance (and various participating locations across North America) is hosting an indoor Computrainer-based racing series.   Having tried and compared different alternatives (Tacx VR races, spinerval workouts, sufferfest workouts, etc.), I can firmly say that nothing comes close to riding on the limit in a Computrainer race for 40-45 minutes against 120+ riders from across the continent.

While 2012 marks the start of the 9th edition of the Winter Racing Series, the list of participating locations has increased exponentially over the last 2 years.  With riders lining up across Canada and the USA, the level of competition keeps getting higher every year.

The concept is really simple; you register ahead of time through your club, prepare your bike and gear appropriately, carb load the night before (optional but recommended!) and get yourself ready to redefine what you thought was possible to achieve on a trainer.

What to expect:

(Shiny computrainers, sitting in a row, waiting for YOU to come and ride them!)

You will most likely be racing in a heat of 6-8 riders - the overall results from all the clubs are tabulated at the end of the week.  Once your bike has been set up on the computrainer and you have changed into your kit, one of the staff will get you to weigh in.  (One of the really cool parts of the series, is that riders will be presented with various stages and course profiles.  On flat/downhill courses, riders with possibly higher weight but bigger power outputs will shine.  On the flip side, lighter riders will excel on climbing courses).

Following the weigh in, you'll get a nice 15 minute warmup and a machine calibration to make sure everyone is on an equal playing field.  The rest.. goes by in a nice blur of pain!  

Throughout the ride (and after the race - on the Peak Centre Website) you will be provided with all relevant data.  (ie: power, max power, average power, watts/kilo, speed, average speed, etc.)  While the display is not the most beautiful, it's important to remember that Computrainer is renowned for it's accuracy (and not necessarily the eye-candy graphics).  

(Standard display for a Computrainer race.  Displayed data can be changed according to preference.  You can also track your position across the profile throughout the ride.)

At the end of the week, all the results are put together and stage/GC/KOM/Sprint results are posted online.  With 25 stages up for grabs, the battles for the different virtual jerseys are often hot!

If you're tired of riding by yourself in the basement or you're looking for some fun offseason challenges, come give one of these rides a try! I guarantee you'll "enjoy" it!

Alex

The Hog, at it again!

(Johan Bruyneel, "The Hog",  in the spotlight again)

Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder (or desperate) for Johan Bruyneel, the French publication L'Equipe reported that the recently-sacked Directeur Sportif could have somehow been responsible for Frank Schleck's positive control for the diuretic Xipamide earlier this year.

Indeed, an unknowing Schleck would have been given the diuretic and "sabotaged" by Bruyneel as a form of revenge or retribution for wanting to part ways with the Radioshack-Nissan team.  After all, with Frank's suspension, none of his UCI points would have been valid if he switched over to another team.  (Lest we forget, Jakob Fuglsang - who was sidelined by Bruyneel for most of the season over this same UCI points issue).

What do you think?  Is this too far fetched?  

After everything we've seen and read in the last few days, I wouldn't put anything past "The Hog".

Do the Du!

Yesterday was a bit of a stepping stone for me in my (young) life as an endurance athlete.

I competed in my first multisport event...

Yes, I can already see my roadie friends cringing and shaking their heads in dismay.  While this first foray into the world of duathlons was in direct contravention of rules 24 and 25 of the Euro Cyclist *(see below), I did maintain proper "Euro" etiquette by ensuring my legs were freshly shaven prior to the start.  A practice which, I'm afraid, doesn't seem to be prevalent in duathlons.  A quick survey of the other contestants confirmed what I had feared.  I was alone in a heard of HL's.  (Hairy Legs as they're called in the peloton).

(Locked and loaded.  At the start, chilling with the HL's)

All kidding aside, I had been looking forward to this event for the last 2-3 weeks after finding out from my father that I could take his bib for the race.  (This short event was not conducive to proper Ironman form-building, so he opted to go for a longer brick workout).  While I am by no means a runner, I knew that the specific "run" distances for this event - 3K, followed by 30k on the bike and wrapping it up with another 5k run, were not too inconceivable for me to accomplish.  Further, the 30k bike portion, which happened to be on the OBC Time Trial course, was right up my alley.  

So there you have it! Just a bit of running to warm the legs up, followed by a TT, followed by a 5k run!  Should be easy right?   Well, as it turns out, it's not so straight forward, especially if you've never tried running after a bike workout.

As I was lining up at the start line, I replayed in my mind the game plan that I had devised for the day.  Don't get caught up in all the excitement and attempt to follow the quickest runners.  Not only would I burn too many matches if I tried pushing the pace in the first 3k, but there would undoubtedly be many fast runners present for this split.  (All events started at the same time; the long duathlon, the sprint and the relays.) Therefore you would be seeing people with completely different pacing strategies.  

The horn went off and before you knew it I found myself near the front of the group pushing a 3:20 pace.  Ok Alex, time to keep that ego in check and slow'er down.  After getting that initial rush out of the way (and going momentarily anaerobic), I found 2-3 runners who were going at roughly 4 minute pace and kept it steady for Leg 1 of this 3 step race.  I exchanged quick "good jobs" with these running-mates, ran to my bike in the transition zone and attempted a "quick transition".  After a bit of fumbling and making sure that I wasn't forgetting anything, I navigated my way out onto the parkway and readied myself for phase #2.

(On the run.  First split: 11:29)

I quickly got myself up to cruising speed and was actually surprised at the amount of people I caught in the first 4-5 minutes on the bike.  (I guess the majority of people there were stronger runners).  I started drinking some water and popped a gel before I really got into my zone.  My goal was to hold 40k/h in order to save some energy for the final run portion.  I knew the course well, so there weren't really any surprises.  It was windy or fast in the same usual spots.  Before finishing my first loop, I had passed all but one of the competitors who had beat me on the 3k run.  (I think 15-20 people were ahead of me at the start of the bike leg)

As I did my turnaround I was able to see my adversaries coming, and was thus able to gauge how much of a lead I had.  (Roughly 1.5 minutes over 3rd place after 15 kilometers, as it turned out).  On the flip side, the turnaround also allowed me to see how far behind the leader I really was.  He had gone out really fast on the run and seemed to be maintaining the pace quite well through his bike leg.  (I'd say at this point he was a solid 3-4 minutes ahead of me).

(Time to git'er done!  Rockin the armwarmers with a sleeveless jersey.  HOT!) 

Coming into the final 2-3 kilometers of the bike leg, I shifted gears and ran a higher cadence so I could flush the legs out as much as possible before my run.  As I dismounted and parked my bike, my garmin read 39.6 k/h - not too far off my pre-race goal.  I quickly put my running shoes on, took a final swig of water and jogged out of the transition zone.  

I had been warned that the final run of a duathlon is always the hardest portion of the race.  Some have referred to it as "running with a bear on your back".  Having this in the back of my mind through the first two legs, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my legs were responding very well.  Granted, I wasn't going to be setting a Personal Best for my 5k, but I definitely wasn't going to be walking it either.  (One of my friends had joked that I would probably be doing the Ironman-Shuffle during the final run).

In any case, I put myself right back into the hurt locker and kept myself there for 20 minutes and 45 seconds.  (Interestingly, only 1 minute off my 5K PB - fresh.)  At the finish line, I was greeted warmly by Catherine, my mother and Cat's mother.  Bagels, bananas and gatorade were thrust upon me, and I appreciatively devoured them.  In the end, it was an awesome experience and I really hope to try some more multisport events in the near future! (Perhaps a Triathlon next year??  Dun dun dunnnnn...)    Thanks also to Cyclelogik for their support and hooking me up with my race wheel!

(Oh, and I guess I can mention that I was able to hold my placing after the bike!)

Results can be seen here.

And for those who actually read through the whole thing, here are rules #24 and #25 of the Euro Cyclist which were broken this weekend:

24. One shall NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, associate with triathletes. This cannot be overemphasized! It is FORBIDDEN to have any number inked onto one’s body before a race.

25. Any physical activity other than cycling is STRONGLY FROWNED UPON. This includes any form of running or swimming and their derivatives (this includes walking). The ONLY TWO other sports with a recognized degree of euro are: cross-country skiing and long track speed skating.

Cheers,

Alex

Riding with Legends...

Fall is one of my favourite cycling seasons.  After a long year of racing, it's nice to just get out for a ride and not have to pay attention to heart rate, power or any kind of data.  You go easy when you want to and you push harder when the urge strikes you.  No sense of urgency or purpose, just eating up the pavement and getting lost in the moment.  It is thus that I found myself biking around in the Gatineau Park on Tuesday, enjoying what was possibly one of the last comfortable “sleeveless” rides of the year.  The sun was shining, the autumn foliage looked glorious and the gentle breeze kept my body cooled at just the right temperature.  The perfect ride!

(View from the Champlain Lookout on a nice Fall day)

For quite a while, it seemed as though I had the park to myself, as there were barely any cars or cyclists on the roads.   Only the sounds of nature and the rhythmic thump of my heart beating accompanied me as I climbed further into the park.  The moment was ruined and I was awoken from my reverie when a loud voice coming from behind yelled "On your left! Stay right!"  I was startled, since this was the first person I had seen or heard in more than an hour.  Who could possibly be barking such orders?  It all made sense when I saw who passed me.  Philippe Gilbert.

(Newly crowned World Champion, Philippe Gilbert, wearing all his swag!)

Yes, Gilbert himself was passing me in the Gatineau Park.  Or maybe it was Tom Boonen? Or perhaps Mario Cipollini... It's all so confusing now.  I couldn't really tell, but one thing was certain; here in front of me - in front of my very own eyes, was the UCI Road world champion!  Decked out from head to toe in Rainbow colours, this would-be cycling dominator (who interestingly had a bit of girth around the midsection) was laying claim to his territory.  It's funny, because I had been discussing the topic of national and championship jerseys with my friend Morgan a few weeks back, when out of nowhere this mythical creature appeared.

Who was I to get in this guy's way?  I mean, he had the helmet, glasses, kit, shoes AND gloves to legitimize his status as Gatineau Park's numero uno!  Obediently, I got out of his way and was content with letting him continue on his date with destiny.  A quest to achieve greatness no doubt.  Unfortunately (for me), our climbing speeds weren't too different, which resulted in me getting another earful for "trying to catch some draft" from the great presence in front of me.  An intentional maneuver on my part no doubt...

Il campione del mondo turned off at some point and I was left to continue my ride in silence.  Should this encounter really have surprised me?  After all, if I've learned or observed anything over these last 3 or 4 years of riding, it's that cycling is unfortunately plagued with egomaniacs / narcissists / generally unpleasant people.  Don't get me wrong, I have met a ton of standup and admirable individuals through bicycling, but for every nice person I meet on the road there's 2 or 3 head cases who believe they are god's gift to cycling.  Case in point, JP and I tried a social experiment at Green Mountain this year, where we wanted to see how many people would reciprocate when we waved or said hello.  The results were underwhelming to say the least.   Why should you say hello to me? After all there's no way I can possess even a fraction of your skill or talent!

In any case, there isn't really a moral to this story.  I haven't gained (or sought) to find out why big egos seem to be rampant in the sport, but I have learned that I'll need to be more cautious around "world champions" in the future!

What do you think? Should anyone (other than the current champion) wear national or championship jerseys? Is a person wearing such a uniform more likely to be unpleasant?

Secret to cycling success revealed!

This off season, forget about purchasing that new power meter you've been looking at.  Stop worrying about all the hours you're going to log on that trainer.  You want to see a marked improvement in your race results? Try this new strategy:

Grow a beard.

A recent (and completely serious and legitimate) pentagon study has revealed that Special Forces soldiers who sport facial hair have been proven to be more combat effective.  That is to say, bearded warriors possess a psychological edge over their colleagues.  A certain bad-assery that can only be achieved by committing to the ways of the beard.  

So quit worrying about upgrades and training, start growing out those whiskers.

(Beautiful Zoolander shot, for your viewing pleasure.  And yes that Is a Mercatone Uno skin suit.  Deal with it!)

Achievement unlocked: Swap bikes at 30 k/h

I was going to write a post about objectives for next season and different things I'd like to work and improve on...  Then I saw this video.. and have decided to invest all further energy into mastering this feat.   Amazing!