Matthew Page Blog: Training Ups And Downs
The past few weeks have been rather turbulent and chaotic at times as I attempted to restart my training in preparation for the 2010 racing season. The first week back was great and most training sessions went well, but things took a turn for the worse in the weeks after as I really struggled with motivation and went days without riding. I knew exactly what the problem was, but it wasn’t something that I found easy to correct. I was trying to do too much too soon and my mind and body were struggling to keep up.
With low motivation I needed something to give me a boost and some drive. What better way than confirming my entry to the 2010 24hr Solo World Championships, being held in Canberra next October! Flights have been booked and my entry in the Elite category confirmed. I want to be able to race and compete directly against the best riders in the world, but to stand a chance I know I need to train harder than I ever have before.
Luckily I have a few new bits of kit that are going to make a massive difference to my training. First of all is a CycleOps Powertap SL+ wheel system, which is something I have been contemplating for a while but now have decided that I needed to make the switch to training by power in order to make the fitness gains that will be needed. The powertap links seamlessly to the Garmin Edge 705 that I already have and now I can follow my training with far more scientific detail than before. I have only had the powertap for a few weeks, but I can see that it will be of benefit. When doing a fairly standard 2 x 20 minute threshold interval with Heart Rate my power is all over the place, going sky high and then really low, all while keeping my Heart Rate within the right zone. With power the efforts are far more controlled and you can gauge your efforts more accurately.
The next very nice kit I have had the pleasure getting very recently is a Focus Mares cyclocross bike. I’ve never ridden a cross bike or entered a cross race before, but it has always intrigued me and I decided it was time to give it a bash. The bike arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, just before a planned road ride. Plans changed and I took the Mares out on the forest trails in Brechfa instead, doing the blue and red waymarked MTB routes. It was dark and wet, so perhaps not the easiest of ways to test a new bike but I was immediately impressed and I felt very confident riding it on all terrain. I didn’t get a chance to ride it again during the week, but had already decided to enter the Welsh CX round at Margam.
I was quite nervous about the event simply because I didn’t have a clue what to expect. It was a wet and windy day and we turned up in time to watch the Youth race before hand so I could get an idea of what to expect. After meeting with Lee and picking his brains about racing and what to expect I set off for a quick practice lap. It was rather wet and very muddy with about 5 places each lap where I was off the bike and running. At the start of the race I put myself towards the back of the grid, not wanting to get in the way of other more experienced racers. With a fairly fast but congested start I was feeling fine, moving through the field fairly well. Towards the end of the first lap I was in 19th position. I was quite happy with that seeing as it was my first race and only the second time on the bike. I kept picking people off one at a time, trying to keep a solid tempo going.
Before I knew it someone shouted “Halfway through, not long left now”. It felt like I was only 5 minutes in! As the race went on I started to get involved with my own mini race with a few other riders around. I managed to get ahead, but the gap was very small. I would gain a small amount of time on certain areas but loose time on the technical sections where my lack of cross racing was evident. On my final lap I could see a rider charging up behind me on a climb, it was Lee who was lapping me! He was flying and I could not believe the speed he was carrying through. I held off the challenges of the riders behind to finish 7th, which I was very happy with. At the end I was covered in mud, as was the bike so I was really glad I decided to take my Mobi along to wash me and the bike down after before travelling home. I really enjoyed the race and I can’t wait to do it again next week. I’ve learnt several things and hopefully there is some room for improvement.
Race Results
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Hmm….. should I get one too?