Updating this over the course of the year. Check back from time to time.
LEADVILLE TRAINING BLOG 04012022
I am a year older but the only growth I cared about was my FTP and the speed with which I rail corners on any bike trail or bike path. I learned this last year that from April to race day is really the meat of the year in terms of training. Everything seemed to get harder and heavier in April. Racing began late in April too and I wanted to make sure I was fit enough to have some fun. The WNW Series Started on the last week and I felt eager. Warmth was beginning to creep in, the sun seems to linger just a little longer in the evenings too. In years past I would have began running around this time but instead I opted to focus on being consistent with the structure. I have to admit, the better I kept up with the schedule, the stronger and faster I felt.
The first race in the series was a blast. I forgot to turn my Garmin on because…well first race of the season. I raced hard boys. I attacked whenever there was a hill and fought hard to be in front of whatever group I ended up with. This got me a 4th Place. With that under my wings I couldn’t sleep but I also could not wait for May and June. The plan being to race every other week. On non-race weeks I would do something directly from the plan. By the beginning of May I felt really strong.
LEADVILLE TRAINING BLOG 03012022
March is my birthday month but it’s also Echo Red to Red. I prepped and Raced to train and trained to prepare. I worked and Dad’d and husband’d hard too. I am realizing that pressure brings out insecurities that force progress from production. the only byproduct is residual tension in the home. The balance of selfishness and selflessness is my mission in adulthood. Racing bikes is the tool I use.
Recap:
The ball of anxiety building up in my stomach was smaller this year even though the size of the Cat 1 field would triple. I don’t belong here, technically, but I can’t deny my ego the possibility to feed on all the comparison-cookies it so obnoxiously wants. What is it about constantly comparing ourselves to a continuous upward flow of others and thems. Even here, wise or woke, I know that where I end up on the list is a pathstone to the next tier. Worse still, is that moving up in difficulty -rather than an increase in the effort- provides an entire new assortment of excuses. I am really just crafting the most depressing pair of wins in case I never allow myself to win.
I have paid for and entered a number of races since clipping in for the first time but I am not a bike racer. I know it on every lap and forget it on all of the days in its’ orbit. To race a bike takes violence. To race a bike takes the type of energy that pulls your jaw apart to scream. The scream doesn’t come from your jaw but they must forcefully get out it’s way, and in a hurry. Naturally but systemically. On purpose and completely reflexive. Reflective effort of the trust you have in yourself. I sign up for these events because I want to see myself this way. I want to be initiated and time travel just to hear the story unfiltered. I want to hear the emotions in the way thoughts come and go in and out of reality during those shower conversations you can only have with yourself. I want to know all the secrets and, like other champions, only share those easily understood by the others out there convincing themselves that one day they can win too.
ER2ndR – Race Recap post: LINK
Leadville Training Blog 02012022
Sweetest Spot (Block 1)
February meant racing my new body (like THIS and THIS) and a reintroduction to all of those emotions that lurk within the tape. Looking back getting the chance to roll through trails at speed with others was the part I missed. Not anyone in particular either. Just simply to be on trails with other people trying to escape the tugs for attention from everything else. Signing up for a race feels exactly like permission and confirmation to show up regardless of the weather. Unlike wispy weekend plans affected by the warmth of “just doing it on the trainer instead” As soon as you pay those $26 all of the sudden you can secretly rejoice in the thrill you’ll pay for in suffering. The wind carries anticipation and little bits of anxiety along with the pollen.
It’s 5:27 in the morning and it’s cold. The memory of the registration tab I left opened passes by. It’s open to the portion of the page with the different categories. I am seeing a faint image of my category selected. Last time I was looking at this tab was late last night. Part of the reason I am awake right now is because I already made the decision to pay those $26. I already know what I’ll be wearing and I have a good idea of how shitty the weather will be. I’ve been hinting looking for positive reinforcement for a couple of weeks. Around the house, on any conversations even hinting at health, and on everysingle bike group text I’ve ever been on. Just a nod in the right direction and I am all in. But this morning I still havent signed up.
A couple days later and I am staring at that registration page again looking around corners hoping for information that wasnt there the last 6 times I refreshed the page. The only difference between this time and last time was that now it was officially February and today was also FTP test day. Y’all know how this goes. I havent slept in 3 days and I am not sure whether to eat more or less, do I want fiber, and what the fuck do I do with all that lifting I was supposed to be doing?. Am I “flat” or “fresh”? Who knows.
The FTP test went well but mostly because I pressed the FTP Button. My ego made that little ding sound that pay-to-win games make when you buy an item. The workouts looked scary but as soon as I got in there I was rewarded with confidence. I dont know about you – I barely know about me – but the only time I can have real fun racing is when racing intersects with the positive feeling associated with a good test. Not a good testing protocol or even any and all justifications. Not even good feelings in training. A good test score is the only ingredient neccesary for a fun pie.
LEADVILLE TRAINING BLOG 01012022
On the internet I came across the idea that BASE training starts 28 weeks from you A event. This was a lucky coicidence that plays nicely with my procastination. Well, we’re here so my FTP test was perfectly timed and the results worked out great too.
‘Bass’ Training before Base Training
Around Decemeber I began to really take weight lifting seriously as a way to prepare for my endurance and health based goals for the year and the rest of my life. The world seems to agree that lifting heavy things up and placing them gently back down is good for our appetites, our mental health, our joints, our skin, our bones, the way our wife’s think about us during their days, and our dwindling testosterone levels. Instead of diving into what an “NFT” is I doubled down on my strength training. I would be lying if I told you I wasnt enjoying it. I may or may not be getting stronger on the bike but I know that the confidence that comes from walking around with my T shirt off has to be worth a few watts.
Decemeber and January were all about waking up early and setting a new routine. If I’m going to succesfully add this new training stress and somehow keep it flowing through out the season than doing it before work was a neccesity. Getting up at 5:15am was the only way I would be able to get this work in during the week. By 5:30 Ive crawled around the house in the dark looking for layers to pile on before heading into the garage. It’s time to make a shitty coffee and pedal on the BikeErg for 5-10 minutes. I use this time to decide what 2000’s hip hop album I will be lifting with and to help my eyelids lift themselves up before my arms and legs have to help lift up the weights. When that coffee hits the interludes and intro tracks have all passed and now its time to work.
Seattle mornings are always too cold, too damp, and really really quiet. This is the perfect setting to – with my shoes still unlaced- load the barbell. Feel that hard cold steel on my calloused hands hurts at first but then serves to remind me that I am here and that cold will not be even half as painful as when it comes time to stand my expectations up. I load the barbell and look for my belt. Where is that belt? I dont really like this song but let it ride for the warm up. This coffee taste worse than last time. I think. But it will work. I think. I wont know until a few good songs play anyway. I add a couple more problems to the barbell and wait just long enough to forget how hard it was to stand up last time. I stand up. I stand up again and again. By now my heart rate is creeping up and so is the weight of my self inflictred burdens. The shoes are laced and my cap is most likely backwards. My belt has been undone and tightened 5 or 6 times and the mountain is looming. Who am I kidding, that belt is not going to make the ascent any easier. Those two thing fabric laces holding my feet inside of my whoes are not going to make the weight dig any less into that fleshy space between my spine and my shoulders. The bar is freezing to the touch but as soon as slides lazily off of the J cups my entire body is on fire. Now it all hangs in the balance. What has taken only an hour to get to will be how I judge the last 34 and half years of my life. At this very moment the rest of my month will be determined. At this very moment I dont know if I will self-love or self-hate for the rest of the week. As the knurling digs into my skin through my sweatshirt today’s mood is developing. Infront of me the exposed studs of my garage walls are holding up the roof, protecting me from the cold air and colder rain outside, serving as my only motivation. I can hear the rain no matter how loud J cole’s voice sings “the winters were soo cooold!”. Can I stand this up? Can I just go on and stand this up already? The beat drops and the weight comes up. The weight comes up and up. I can feel the skin on the tops of my legs having trouble to holding their insides inside. My stomach is the same. I return the bar and undo that belt for the last time. Its damp and clammy like my t shirt and like my socks. The coffee has gone cold and I can see Luna’s bedroom light is on through the drizzle. I hit the lights, slide into a worn in pair of burks, and close the garage door silencing the rain only to walk into it on my way back to reality.
-a random Wednesday morning before the sun comes up
Link to Post
My routine is simple and it’s based on the 5/3/1 system. The only real difference is that I am not chasing maxes but instead trying to “leave one in the tank”. This is harder to do than it seems because when the music and the coffee are conspiring I seem to forget that my focus is NOT to be a power lifter but to build pedal power.
| Monday | Wedenesday | Friday | Core | |
| Week 1 | 5×3 Bench 10×3 Shoulder Press 10×3 Dip 10×3 Inclined Bench/ DB Fly | 5×3 Squat 10×3 Bulgarian Split Squat 10×3 Weighted Step Up 10×3 BB Lunge | 5×3 Deadlift 10×3 Pendlay Row 10×3 Pull Up 25×3 KB Swings | 4 Rounds 15x Push Ups :30 Plank :30 Side Plank 10 Push Ups |
| Week 2 | 3×3 Bench 10×3 Shoulder Press 10×3 Dip 10×3 Inclined Bench/ DB Fly | 3×3 Squat 10×3 Bulgarian Split Squat 10×3 Weighted Step Up 10×3 BB Lunge | 3×3 Deadlift 10×3 Pendlay Row 10×3 Pull Up 25×3 KB Swings | 4 Rounds 15x Push Ups :30 Plank :30 Side Plank 10 Push Ups |
| Week 3 | 3×1 Bench 10×3 Shoulder Press 10×3 Dip 10×3 Inclined Bench/ DB Fly | 3×1 Squat 10×3 Bulgarian Split Squat 10×3 Weighted Step Up 10×3 BB Lunge | 3×1 Deadlift 10×3 Pendlay Row 10×3 Pull Up 25×3 KB Swings | 4 Rounds 15x Push Ups :30 Plank :30 Side Plank 10 Push Ups |
| Deload Week | Lighter 3×3 Bench 10×2 Shoulder Press 10×2 Dip 10×2 Inclined Bench/ DB Fly | Lighter 3×3 Squat 10×2 Bulgarian Split Squat 10×2 Weighted Step Up 10×2 BB Lunge | Lighter 3×3 Deadlift 10×2 Pendlay Row 10×2 Pull Up 25×2 KB Swings | 2 Rounds 15x Push Ups :30 Plank :30 Side Plank 10 Push Ups |