The fog of training

Giving up is something I don't like to do. However, everyone has a breaking point. I reached mine in January after another lackluster race.


I pitched the rest of my season, determined to take some time off, ride for fun and rediscover my passion while attempting to explain how a cyclist with more than 4,000 miles in his legs could have the worst season of his life.


It wasn't until I read this April 24 posting, "Fatigue Indicators'' http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html on Joe Friel's blog, that I understood what happened.


I was pretty sure I overtrained -- getting sick twice in 21 weeks sort of indicates that -- but that wasn't the complete answer because I did reduce my volume in November and December without a boost in fitness. No, the answer was deeper than that.


The main thing I got from Friel's post is this: It's not just the overtraining that does you in; it's what it prevents you from doing. Mainly, being able to ride enough in the high training zones -- lactate threshold, Vo2Max, anaerobic capacity -- to develop racing fitness.


I was a victim of the Zone 3 Syndrome.


This is the no-man's land of training. And I was living in it during my racing season. When you're afflicted with the Zone 3 Syndrome, you struggle to get your power and heart rate at or near the lactate threshold because you're tired. Any reaction to this other than a diet of recovery rides prolongs this condition. When you can't train sufficiently in these higher levels, you can't develop race fitness.


Every "hard'' ride, in effect, becomes a Level 3 Tempo ride. Not hard enough to induce the desired training effect and too hard to allow for necessary recovery. It's an endless spiral.


I researched some of my WKO+ data and it shows I spent too much time in Zones 2 and 3 and very little in the higher zones. Specifically, during my four-week Base 3 and eight-week Build periods -- the time when you should be developing LT, Vo2Max and anaerobic capacity -- I spent only 1.5 percent of my road training at LT, 0.8 percent at Vo2Max and 1 percent at anaerobic capacity. I spent 15.4 percent in Level 3 Tempo and 43.7 at Level 2 Endurance.


I think I'm on to something.


While I train with power on the road, I don't have a power meter on my off-road bike. So, researching my average heart rate numbers showed I was consistently 5+ beats lower than my LT average. My tired body was trying to tell me that I needed rest, but my Type-A personality was determined to "fight through'' this dead phase.


It all looks so clear now, outside the fog of training.


My advice to anyone out there who has suffered through the Zone 3 Syndrome would be to hire a coach to prevent this. Like most, I'm great at giving advice but bad at following my own. A coach likely would've seen what I was doing and corrected it long before I dug my hole. However, Friel's athlete fell victim to it, so nothing's guaranteed. But, Friel noticed the warning signs early enough to salvage his season.


I'm going to begin my '09-10 annual training plan May 4. Rest assured, I'll be following this advice: When it's time to ride slow, ride really, really slow. When it's time to ride hard, ride really, really hard.

FSC 4: I hate times like these

Unfortunately, this state series is going down hill faster than an acorn rolling off a tin roof. Sunday's race at what I consider my home away from home (Alafia River State Park) because I'm a Tampa native was an unmitigated disaster.


I probably was stale coming into the race because my wife Charmain and I drove to Tampa on Thursday in order to spend a few extra days in our former hometown. I rode Tuesday (2 hours consisting of a Functional Threshold Power time trial) and Wednesday (2 hours off-road at Markham) and planned to ride Friday at Alafia. However, it rained a lot on Friday and decided against going out there.


Riding so little before a race is not good for me and I felt stale when doing my preride Saturday on a wet and demanding course. Then, when I awoke Sunday morning, I had the dreaded "mild sore throat.'' It never got better but I raced anyway and never got comfortable on the bike.


I raced fairly strong on the first lap, but beginning on the second lap, I became a turnstile. Seemed like everyone from classes starting behind passed me like I was a statue. It's times like these when I wonder what the F am I doing out here.


I finished 8th out of 9. Pitiful.


So, now on top of a truly forgettable effort, I'm battling a virus and feeling my fitness dropping lower than the stack of tissues I need to keep close by. Oleta River State Park is hosting the FSC 5 this weekend, and it looks like I won't be there.


It's really hard to handle times like these. You train, suffer and plan with a single purpose: To do your best. When you fall short, it's difficult to handle. Then you start dissecting your plan, looking to see where you messed up. It's times like these when you just need some time to sort through it all. I guess I have that time now.

FSC 3: Risk with no reward

I gambled early in Sunday's Florida State Championship Series race in Tallahassee at the beautiful Tom Brown Park. I felt like I had great legs and really pushed the pace in the first lap and a half of the four-lap 27-mile race. But I paid mightily.


I was among the top quarter of the field after the first 30-minute lap and felt great going into the single-track for lap two. I was with two other racers, and I decided to try and drop them. I got rid of one but not the other. We were in sixth and seventh place. A short while later, I knew I was in trouble. The other guy built a gap and I started that slow drift back.


I ended the second lap nearly two minutes slower and knew I was in big trouble. I couldn't power up the climbs like before and my descending got sloppy. Halfway through the third lap, two guys from my class passed me, and as much as I wanted to get on their wheels, I couldn't. Then in the final lap, I was passed by another fellow racer. I crossed the line 10th out of 14 and was cursing my flawed strategy.


My final two laps were nearly five minutes slower than the first. Obviously, I rode way above my fitness. In other words, I blew myself up. A lot of times, I ride too conservatively. This was one time where I rode too aggressively. Well, sometimes you need to take a chance. This was not one of them.


One other factor that could've gone against me was the riding I did Saturday, when the team time trial took place. I raced for one of the On Your Mark teams and put out a lot of effort. I also rode fairly hard on the trail earlier in the day. All told, I turned 21 miles and that's a lot more than I usually do the day before the race. I'll never know how much that played a role in my performance Sunday, but I won't use it as an excuse.


I feel like my fitness is really improving. I'm building a strong engine that just needs more time to evolve. It might not be in time to do my best in the state series, but I think my second half of the season, consisting of the Coconut Cup in South Florida, will be really strong.

FSC 2: A breakthrough of sorts

I had my best race in two years Sunday in Fernandina Beach at Fort Clinch State Park. I was sixth out of 11, which doesn't sound all that great, but it was more about my effort than final placing.


I rode 2 1/2 laps with the racers who would fill out final positions 2 through 4, but I lost fifth near the end of the race when I was on empty. I also was passed again shortly thereafter but surged back into sixth near the line. That took every fiber of my legs and I felt like I was at death's door after crossing the line.


So how did I make this improvement from my flame-out in FSC 1? I simply started riding faster in training, paying as much attention to miles per hour as watts. I did a few rides in the 2 1/2 to 3 hour range, basically riding an hour or more in high endurance/low tempo range (19-20 mph on average). When I finished, my legs were heavy and sore into the next day, when I would rest or do a recovery ride. Also, I was in my Peak period, in which I reduced my volume but included high-intensity race-pace efforts.


Sunday's race began with about a mile asphalt road start that felt more like a road race than off-road race. We'd take that same long cruise to the finish line. The trails were dry and super fast. The whole race felt like a 28-mile short track race. The trails weren't technical and begged you to go as fast as you could. Which is what my 40-plus Expert Class did the whole race.


I made too many huge efforts on the long road sections early on and I paid for it in the final lap. In fact, in the second of the four laps, I actually felt like upping the pace while I was fourth (fifth overall) among the four-man convoy. As good as I felt then, it went downhill suddenly at the end, so it was wise I didn't attack then. Unofficially, my splits were 29:24, 29:40, 30:20, 31:38.


I have a long way to go to contend for a top-five position, but I'm closer than I was two weeks ago. Steady progress is all you can hope for in endurance sports. You can't rush it, as much as I'd like to. I'm back to rebuilding my base this week, upping my volume and miles in the next three weeks.


Hopefully, the best is still to come.

FSC 1: A weekend to forget

The opener of the Florida State Championship Series last Saturday and Sunday in Gainesville at Hailes Trails couldn't have gone worse for me. I brought a slingshot to a gunfight on both days.


The Saturday time trial went great for me as far as riding technically smooth, pacing my effort and saving enough for a burst at the end of the 4-mile test. Unfortunately, I just wasn't going fast enough. I was caught by the guy who started a minute behind me near the end. My time was 19:55, good for last place in the 40-plus Expert Class.


That set an ominous tone.


I got a great sleep Saturday night, awoke Sunday morning feeling ready to race. I had a good warm-up and went to the line feeling loose and calm. We blast from the line and I'm near the middle to back of the 16-rider field going into the singletrack.


I could tell early on I wasn't going to challenge the top quarter of the field. I had labored breathing and was riding above my fitness. I kept pressing until I finished the first of four laps in a pedestrian 25.02.


I knew I had to back off. That's when I began getting passed by a few riders and basically felt helpless. I brought the second lap in at 26.95. In the third lap, I began feeling much better and upped the pace. I found a rhythm climbing and I hammered the straights. I began catching some of the riders who passed me earlier. I finished Lap 3 in 26.31 and began the final lap invigorated. I ended up passing five riders during my last two laps. I passed the final guy to climb into 10th place right before a steep climb about two miles before the finish line. While beginning that climb, I snapped my chain while standing.


That's racing. And that was it for me. A DNF. I didn't bring a chain tool with me because I've never broke a chain in training or in a race.


I wasn't ready to race in Gainesville. I have plenty of miles in my legs, but not enough at race-pace. To go faster, you need to ride faster. It's really that simple, and I haven't been riding fast enough in training and haven't ridden off-road enough. That will have to change for me to improve.


Getting embarrassed like I did can do one of two things: cause you to focus or fold.


I'm focusing on getting faster.

The time is here

On Sunday, the Florida State Series officially opens in Gainesville. But on Saturday, there's a short time trial that gives racers the opportunity to secure up to 5 bonus points for each class. The event was started last year, and many racers seemed to enjoy it, but some skipped it, fearful of expending too much energy the day before the cross-country race.


I wanted to compete in it. I never had done a road time trial and always have been intrigued by the discipline. I did pretty well, finishing third in the Expert 40-plus class.


To do well in a steady-state event, you need to proportion your energy by using the 51-49 principal. TrainingBible Coaching founder Joe Friel, who has coached endurance athletes since 1980, writes at length about this in a Feb. 12, 2008, blog post http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2008/02/negative-splits.html. Simply, you want to complete the first half of the time trial in 51 percent of the total time and the second half in 49 percent. It's the old negative-split theory. You want the second half of your distance to be covered faster than the first half.


Easier said than done of course. How many times have you gone out too hard during a ride, race or interval session only to blow up before the end? Proportioning your energy is key and no more so than in a time trial.


So good luck this weekend to all the State Series racers. And in the time trial, hold back a little in the first half so you can give back even more at the end.

Are you a big fish or a little fish?

It was at the beginning of my weekly group road ride on Saturday -- the call going out, "Fast group leaving'' -- when a question hit me: When you ride in a group, are you normally the big fish in the little pond or the little fish in the big pond?


Too few cyclists on these Saturday rides elect to ride with the first group. Sure, some are just weekend warriors and don't race, so it's not worth it to them. Others, by the looks of their physiques, do a lot of riding and could stand a challenge but elect to take the safe route and avoid the possibility of being just another rider in the group, or heaven forbid, dropped.


This is a key choice that can either sharpen your fitness or massage your ego. In general, you should bury your ego and choose to ride in a group that's pushing the pace over your comfort level, i.e, be the little fish in the big pond. Nothing -- and I mean nothing -- will motivate you more and bring out your best than the fear of being dropped.


If you get dropped, you must resolve yourself to try and stick next week. That can be difficult; nobody enjoys getting their ass kicked and it's human nature to avoid uncomfortable situations. Confidence is mainly about ego, the thought that, hey, I'm one fast dude. There's nothing wrong with a heaping dose of it. Just don't let it get in the way of a nice challenge. Getting humbled now and then is healthy for a competitive cyclist.


Therefore, always electing to ride in a group where you're among the fastest, will massage your ego, but will it make you faster? If you train to successfully race a bike, you should begin every ride asking yourself, "How will this workout make me faster?'' not "How will this workout boost my ego?''


I like to be the little fish. If I had a nickel for all the times I've been dropped ... well, you get the idea. But when I'm able to finally stick, well, that's a real boost to my ego.


So next time you saddle up for a group ride, throw caution into the wind and join the fast guys. And if you become their equal eventually? Well, there's always someone faster in the group up ahead.