Monday, March 14, 2011

Like a Light Switch: Confidence

As endurance athletes training for our A race we often question where we are with our fitness.  This is a natural occurrence for all of us and we usually use certain workouts to gauge our fitness level.  I for one, usually break it down with hitting interval times on the swim, holding a certain pace on the weekend long run, and on the bike fitness is determined based on how I feel/perform on the weekend long rides.

With the Galveston 70.3 in 26 Days and Ironman Texas in a mere 67 Days I have been critiquing the fitness in all three sports quite a bit lately.  The swim and run are both in a really good place and I would say it is fair to declare them ready to tackle the upcoming long distance courses.  The bike, however, has been a different story.  In early January I felt like the bike fitness was ahead of schedule.  Then I got hit with bronchitis, the flu, a sinus infection, and then a bike crash.  With these aliments came a noticeable decrease in cycling performance.  The swim and run came back quickly, the bike did not.

After a bunch of long rides over the last two months (and 1100mi in the saddle)  my confidence in my ability to lay down a decent bike split had been waning.  That is until yesterday ...

Annie and I drove down to Manvel, TX to do the pre-MS150 ride - The Great Escape.  Over 2500 cyclist were doing this ride and Annie and I ended up starting towards the middle of the pack.  The bad news was the first 5 miles was done at a 15mph pace as it was tight, the good news was that I had a lot of rabbits to chase in front of me.  Annie and I separated around mile 5 as I found an opening and hammered past literally hundreds of cyclists.  The legs were responding well, extremely well actually as I was holding 23mph in a head wind?

After about mile 20 we started to head due South into an awful head wind blowing off the Gulf along open farmlands.  I was hammering just to hold a 17mph average in this wind and the next 15+ miles were in this direction until the turnaround!  I saw a pace line of seven cyclist ahead of me.  They were working very efficiently and each taking a turn pulling about every mile or so.  After a few miles and a lot of work I caught up to them and grabbed hold of the last tire and some much needed recovery!  They all seemed happy to have another in the group as they all gave me a head nod and exhausted smile one-by-one as they rotated.

It had now been about 7 or 8 miles and it was my turn to pull the pack.  The guy on the Cervelo in front of me tapped out and I jumped up, dropped down on the bars, and just hammered.  Right at this point we begin a gradual but long climb. Great.  At the top of the climb there is an arrow sign letting us know the road turned to the right.  My goal was to get us to the arrow sign and hopefully into a crosswind.  I just pounded up that hill and got to the arrow sign and just kept going to yet another arrow sign which turned us left and back into the headwind!  It had now been a few miles and I had that feeling of puking in my stomach that was telling me to back-off some.  I tapped my back leg, moved left, and waited for the next rider to take the lead.  No one jumped up?  I looked over my right shoulder and the reason no one stepped up was that no one was there?  I dropped the peloton.

Just like turning on a light switch my confidence had returned and the bike fitness is right where it needs to be!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

37 comments:

  1. Don't you love it when you take the lead and after a nice pull look back to see no one behind you?

    Happened to me this weekend.... then I remembered I was riding alone.... damm.

    Good job MACCA..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome! Now sit on that feeling and don't let it go!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's the best feeling! :) You are going to rock both races Jeff!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good to see your bike confidence is coming back

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice job getting the confidence back!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gripping recap of what sounds like a killer ride. "I jumped up, dropped down on the bars, and just hammered" ... love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. what a beautiful thing! great confidence boost at just the right time. Bob's comment cracked me up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. fricking hilarious haha. I did that on a ride last year... I didn't know "bike ettiquette" and I dropped the group... I felt like an idiot haha.

    Sounds like you are spot on man, keep up the good work!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Go Lance, I mean, Jeff! Awesome fitness. And I can't believe your IM is so close now!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice!! That's gotta be a nice shot of confidence for your splits at Galveston and IM!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm with Matty O - you got some serious riding karma built up on the negative side. Hopefully you pulled the peloton with you for at least a mile before being separated!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You can buy that feeling, or rent it or put in a bottle to drink... you just have it or you don't! Excellent job Jeff!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Put that one in the memory bank and hold onto it. It will help you again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You got this - no doubt!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. sounds like you got both your strength and your confidence back... BTW did you speed up when you hit the front or hiold the same speed as the last Cervelo guy?

    ReplyDelete
  16. WOW!! That is freaking AWESOME!! What a great feeling that must have been. You know they were all going, holy crap, look at that guy hammer up that hill! SWEET.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No etiquette was broken. I held the same speed we were just going up a long grade AND it was a pace line that was adhoc since this was a bigass charity ride. Would have slowed when I realized they were gone if it was my weekend ride.

    ReplyDelete
  18. YAY for confidence back!!

    Am I the only one who thinks of "baby got back" [sir mix a lot] every time I write the word "back". I'm pretty sure it's a medical condition.

    ReplyDelete
  19. YAY for confidence back!!

    Am I the only one who thinks of "baby got back" [sir mix a lot] every time I write the word "back". I'm pretty sure it's a medical condition.

    ReplyDelete
  20. look at you being the Leader of the Pack! Glad your confidence is back! : )

    ReplyDelete
  21. Good job rebounding from the crash - strength and confidence is back!

    Keep it up for another two weeks and then start the half iron taper!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Awesome ride, but don't you just hate those headwinds.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Again, awesome ride! I knew that your bike would catch back up with you. The sickness just gave your body some much needed rest before you could come roaring back at full steam.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sweet. Gotta love getting the MOJO back. I cannot imagine doing an Ironman. I don't even think I've read a full Ironman race report in the Blogsophere. That's some hard core stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  25. what I wouldnt give for some of that cycling confidence!!! good for you tho, love your set at 67 days out.

    67 !!!!!!!!!!

    D

    ReplyDelete
  26. C'mon Jeff... everyone knows that Texas does not get windy.

    Seriously, that is some kick-ass riding. Doesn't it feel great to pass all those people thought?

    I passed at least a hundred or so people last year at CP, only to be passed on the run.

    Glad your bike fitness is killer. It is ALMOST warm enough for me to start riding outside again.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Woohoo! That is so awesome! What a great way to get your confidence back!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Heya Jeff -- my friend is considering starting IM training for IM Switzerland July 2012... he's an excellent runner transitioning to triathlete. Anyway, long story short, he's asked me if I knew of any training plans where you can choose the level of training and the distance to be coached for and I thought of what you were doing... What's your training plan's name? How are the levels organized?
    Cheers, thanks for your help, glad the confidence is high... you WILL crush both the 70.3 and the full. :D

    ReplyDelete