I'm Back...

Finally back on my mtb after way to long- think it was a round 4 weeks or something. I planned to be back last Tuesday since I had all the new parts on my bike, except that my cable housing jammed itself into my shifter. It had been like that for a while but was being masked by another problem. Instead I just watched the race, and watched Amanda fly on her 2 laps, she claims it's something called a stairmaster...I say check her for EPO.

This past week had sort of been all over the place in terms of training. Since I missed a fairly important Tuesday race pace effort and my planned longer/easy rides ended up being shorter hard rides. This is because I headed out Thursday bright and early with Manda's family to Quebec. It was an awsome vacation and we stayed in MSA for 2 nights and then St. Sauvard for the last 2. I did a run on Friday and rode my road bike on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Since we were surrounded by mountains, I did some repeats and tough tempo like riding with efforts over all the rollers. We went down to downtown QC which was super awsome to see with all the old buildings and the euro style culture there. I got to see the U23's race as well, the Canadians crushed it and there were a bunch in the top 20.

I woke up Tuesday with tired legs and feeling a little sluggish from all the driving back home. It was a hot day and I was working outside in the sun and I wasn't being smart with my water intake. Got to Kelso to pre ride for a couple hours before the race. I wasn't too sure what to expect from the legs, I was just glad to be back on the mtb. The bike was running great (just need to re adjust the FD as the chain skipped a couple times) and I was riding really smooth considering the time off the bike. The legs, well not so much, they didn't have much in them to sustain any sort of effort. After my pre ride of the super fast flowy course I realised I had only drank 500ml of water in just under 2 hrs. Race was bout to start so it was too late to get any fluids in me.

The race I'll say was a success for me, mostly cause I finished and before the race that was my goal. I knew the legs were way too fried for a win, and the dehydration wasn't going to help. I got the shakes 1/2 way into the first lap. I figured with it being the first time back on the mtb, just finish. Well I finished and I rode much smoother then before. The start of the race was pretty normal, my legs had power I just knew they couldn't sustain any effort for very long. So as soon as we started I figured I'd move into the lead and see where the legs took me. I had a decent gap but as soon as I hit the gravel falso flat going into Fire the legs shut down and weren't putting out any more watts. The group caught back on and I started climbing Fire, I was in one gear lower then I normally climb in as a result of the legs. I cut a corner to close on a rocky/steep section and had to hop off, sorry bout that, think I sort of ruined the momentum there for a couple riders. Got back on and made it to the top. Where I normally get into the big ring and hammer and had to just sit and spin and by the time we were climbing Rockey Road I couldn't hold Ian and a Reynold Cycle's riders' wheel. Normally that would be the spot where I'd make my gap on the group, but the legs would have none of it. From that point on I just settled into a rythym of z4,z5 instead of the usual race pace z5, z6. As the race wore on a couple more riders went by me. I was riding super smooth on the tech sections but I just had no go on the flat parts and falso flats, all the areas where I normally stand and giv'r. On the last lap I got past by a younger Reynolds Cycle rider (Jr Ex I think) he asked if I wanted to work with him , but I had to decline that offer as he was goin a pretty good pace and I was just keeping my rythym. On the ride to the finish his teammate ended up coming from behind me and out sprinting me. I didn't even see him just heard a bunch of people yelling that someone was behind me, sneaky move!

I'm happy with how it all went, I expected my legs to be how they were based on the weekend and Monday's hilly ride. I also haven't raced for a few weeks and missed my Tabata intervals on Thursday so that would explain the missing top end. I'm pleased with my tech. Riding and how the bike felt and everything else. Today I'll be doing a core workout and resting the legs, tomorrow I'll head out on the road bike for a short easy ride which I'll interupt with 2 sets of Tabata intervals to open up the lungs, 1.5 sets made me yak 2 weeks ago so not too sure what 2 full sets will do to me. If you see a cyclists in yellow swerving along the roads in Milton, give 'em some space, there's a good chance he's super dizzy from lack of O2.

this weekend I'll be doing a ton of mtbing at Kelso with a focus on HR recovery. Basically going balls out up the escarpment and then at the top forcing myself to hammer in the big ring. If I train properly the next few weeks I will be in great shape for the next O cup which is at Kelso. I'm missing Buckwallow since it's so flat and technical and I'm not in great race shape since I just got back on the mtb. I should see an improvement at the next Kelso race as well after this week of training.

I had a good talk with Mark from The Vitamin Store yesterday, and we changed up a couple things for this week training block regarding my food intake etc. I'll try and post more often this week, i've been slacking a bit as I've been focused on getting 8 hrs of sleep every night and the blog had to be put off a bit. Hence why this is being typed on my BB, so my apologies for the lack of spell check.

Off to watch a bit of the tour then going to bed, I'll checl back later this week.