Monday morning and I'm facing a busy 4 days.
A few more hard rides to squeeze that fitnees level and a mad dash to get
everything packed up. Traveling to races always requires the equipment
everyone would expect - 2 bikes, 2 helmets, jerseys, racing skinsuits, raceshoes
ext...
But the stuff I'm most likely to scramble for is the extra cleats, tubes/tires,
race license w/ID, photocopies of license and passport.
the little things that are in the house but never thought of.
I finally was able to spend a few days training with the team.
Friday - 6x 5 minute max efforts up a favorite climb of mine (Gold Camp rd)
This was done on the TT bike and almost made me vomit on myself.
Saturday - The local group ride. I was feeling strong at times.
I took a flyer of the front of the group of 30 to create a short lived breakaway.
Two other times I covered gaps created by a couple local pros.
Those efforts were race like moments and got my head and body ready to Italy.
Sunday - Sprint intervals w/ motor pacing. On a flat 3 mile loop myself and 5 teammates would be drafting off my coach who was driving a moto. We would rotate around untill the final home straight. This is where everyone would set up for the sprint and race to the line.
In cycling the smartest sprinter wins. It was a drill of tactics and effort. The ones I won
were the ones I had the most patience with.
A 3 day day block justifies an easy day. for me it's a full day of work.
With four days remaining I'm feeling like me fitness is here. a few loose ends and
I'm off to Milan, Italy.
I'll be writing more once over there. We are regulated to our bedrooms for most of the trip so
you may see more posts.
Thanks for reading.
-mike
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Team Training Camp
The 09 Worlds prep camp begins offically tonight with a team meeting at
the Olympic Complex.
It's always gives me a spark when I see the team roll into town.
A few weeks ago they were the ones I focused on beating. Some I did
and some reminded me that there is still room to improve.
The meeting will go over training schedules for the nest couple of weeks and
the goals that we as a team will shoot for when in Italy.
Our head Coach - Craig Griffin - expects our best and at our best we win.
This year the team consists of 7 men and 5 women.
two tandems, three handcycles and 7 tradition bicycles.
Within the team comes gold medalists, World Champions,
and many National Titles as well.
Everyone has the ability to medal if not win. So the expectations are high
and our training camp will reflect our desire to win.
Most days will consist of a hard AM training ride that may be 3-4 hours long
but have a series of intervals to overload the system. Every few days we'll get a
rest day to let the adaption to training take place.
So that what my life will conist of for the nest few weeks.
I'll add that I'm tossing in work hours just to make things harder on me
than on everyone else.
Life goes on even when you want to win.
The 09 Worlds prep camp begins offically tonight with a team meeting at
the Olympic Complex.
It's always gives me a spark when I see the team roll into town.
A few weeks ago they were the ones I focused on beating. Some I did
and some reminded me that there is still room to improve.
The meeting will go over training schedules for the nest couple of weeks and
the goals that we as a team will shoot for when in Italy.
Our head Coach - Craig Griffin - expects our best and at our best we win.
This year the team consists of 7 men and 5 women.
two tandems, three handcycles and 7 tradition bicycles.
Within the team comes gold medalists, World Champions,
and many National Titles as well.
Everyone has the ability to medal if not win. So the expectations are high
and our training camp will reflect our desire to win.
Most days will consist of a hard AM training ride that may be 3-4 hours long
but have a series of intervals to overload the system. Every few days we'll get a
rest day to let the adaption to training take place.
So that what my life will conist of for the nest few weeks.
I'll add that I'm tossing in work hours just to make things harder on me
than on everyone else.
Life goes on even when you want to win.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The balancing act
The past 5 days I have been completely off the bike which is something I haven't done since thanksgiving. I've turned my attention to my work which I almost consider a seperate life from my bike racing world.
For the last 5 years I've done social work here in Colo. Springs. Without details
I'll just say I take care of adults with developmental limitations.
My work life has always offered me a world away from cycling that
challenges me in ways that's hard to even convey.
This balance keeps me fresh and away from any burnout in both fields.
Balancing these two jobs has pros and cons like everything but they
showcase two parts of my personality and do have a way of balancing eachother.
For the last 5 years I've done social work here in Colo. Springs. Without details
I'll just say I take care of adults with developmental limitations.
My work life has always offered me a world away from cycling that
challenges me in ways that's hard to even convey.
This balance keeps me fresh and away from any burnout in both fields.
Balancing these two jobs has pros and cons like everything but they
showcase two parts of my personality and do have a way of balancing eachother.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
National Championships
This year the Paralympic Road National Championships were held in Bend OR.
The event ran in conjunction with the the US elite and Junior National events which made for
a huge event in a great location.
Getting off of the plane in nearby Redmond I thought I was back in Colo. Just did not think of the central part of the state being high and dry. My taxi driver explained that 95 degrees was a bit warm but Bend is 3,000 plus feet and on the dry side of the mountains.
With 3 days to prepared before the race I rode the course each day in the morning and then went on an evening spin to keep the legs fresh. Most of my teammates stayed at the same hotel so we ate meals together discussing the course, our fitness levels, everything bike geeks get excited about.
During one ride I came across a giant sign "Mike Farrell U R Wicked Good"
Didn't know I had a fan base in OR but it turns out that I do. So I must thank Cyndy and the
Cahill clan.
On friday morning, myself and two of my teammates rode down to the course to start the 1 hour plus warm up for the 30 minute race.
Some people ask about the warmup and prerace routine for Time Trialing. The thing that must be know is that a Time Trial is a violent assualt on you system. For most of the ride I'll be just under a hyperventalation state. My legs will be collecting lactic acid because of the strain which is what creates that leg pain everyone feels when riding or running hard.
So to prepare I will ride to get my body warm and loose and then start to do race like efforts to stretch my muscles so that there ready to go when the time is ready.
Without a warm up the race is already lost.
The race course was a 6 mile out with a slight uphill grade (2-4%) a turnaround then a straight
run down to the finish. To anticipate the speed of the downhill I put on a 55/11 gear. I have never raced such a big gear and it turned out that I needed all of it. Just so you guys know the Tandem team rocked a 58/11. The downhill was a blast with speeds in the 40 mph range.
I found that pacing a downhill is something of an art. Sometimes putting out the effort doesn't show a real increase in speed. So when ever there was a level point or a slight rise I pounded on the pedals to ramp up mph.
At the end of the day I found myself in 4th position. I was just a handful of seconds of the podium. My longtime roommate and Beijing Bronze Medalist Anthony Zahn kicked me off.
A tandem team took the top step and a triathlete turned cyclist (craig) had the runnerup spot.
After the sting of losing went away - one huge beer at lunch! I figured 4th in the Country was OK and that qualifying for the World Championship Team is a worthy result.
World's will be held in Northern Italy this September. It will give me a chance to do battle with those I saw in China.
To conclude my rambling I'd like to thank everyone that reads this and is interested in my adventures. Cycling can be isolating and your feedback helps me feel connected. I'd also like to send thanks to my coach Tommy Murphy. He's been trying to figure my out since 2004. Tom and everyone at CTS has helped me get where I am today. If you an athlete and needing coaching try http://www.trainright.com/
Thats about all.
The event ran in conjunction with the the US elite and Junior National events which made for
a huge event in a great location.
Getting off of the plane in nearby Redmond I thought I was back in Colo. Just did not think of the central part of the state being high and dry. My taxi driver explained that 95 degrees was a bit warm but Bend is 3,000 plus feet and on the dry side of the mountains.
With 3 days to prepared before the race I rode the course each day in the morning and then went on an evening spin to keep the legs fresh. Most of my teammates stayed at the same hotel so we ate meals together discussing the course, our fitness levels, everything bike geeks get excited about.
During one ride I came across a giant sign "Mike Farrell U R Wicked Good"
Didn't know I had a fan base in OR but it turns out that I do. So I must thank Cyndy and the
Cahill clan.
On friday morning, myself and two of my teammates rode down to the course to start the 1 hour plus warm up for the 30 minute race.
Some people ask about the warmup and prerace routine for Time Trialing. The thing that must be know is that a Time Trial is a violent assualt on you system. For most of the ride I'll be just under a hyperventalation state. My legs will be collecting lactic acid because of the strain which is what creates that leg pain everyone feels when riding or running hard.
So to prepare I will ride to get my body warm and loose and then start to do race like efforts to stretch my muscles so that there ready to go when the time is ready.
Without a warm up the race is already lost.
The race course was a 6 mile out with a slight uphill grade (2-4%) a turnaround then a straight
run down to the finish. To anticipate the speed of the downhill I put on a 55/11 gear. I have never raced such a big gear and it turned out that I needed all of it. Just so you guys know the Tandem team rocked a 58/11. The downhill was a blast with speeds in the 40 mph range.
I found that pacing a downhill is something of an art. Sometimes putting out the effort doesn't show a real increase in speed. So when ever there was a level point or a slight rise I pounded on the pedals to ramp up mph.
At the end of the day I found myself in 4th position. I was just a handful of seconds of the podium. My longtime roommate and Beijing Bronze Medalist Anthony Zahn kicked me off.
A tandem team took the top step and a triathlete turned cyclist (craig) had the runnerup spot.
After the sting of losing went away - one huge beer at lunch! I figured 4th in the Country was OK and that qualifying for the World Championship Team is a worthy result.
World's will be held in Northern Italy this September. It will give me a chance to do battle with those I saw in China.
To conclude my rambling I'd like to thank everyone that reads this and is interested in my adventures. Cycling can be isolating and your feedback helps me feel connected. I'd also like to send thanks to my coach Tommy Murphy. He's been trying to figure my out since 2004. Tom and everyone at CTS has helped me get where I am today. If you an athlete and needing coaching try http://www.trainright.com/
Thats about all.
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