blown up and slavaging the pieces

Soulard was a disaster to say the least. Dropped out only 22 minutes into the race. It's hard to race when the heart rate is at 185 after the first lap. De-hydration and the heat just made things too difficult. It definitely would have been a fun race, as the course was fast and exciting!!! I hadn't raced in 3 weeks prior to Soulard, so I also didn't have the race legs. In the meantime, I have raced 2 tuesday night riaces, plus the MO state TT championships. Those went fairly well. I was hoping to go under 1 hour, which I know I can do. I cramped at about 23k, and had to sit up for a couple minutes. My 10k splits definitely tell me I can go under 1 hour as they were: 15:35, 14:55, 17:26, and 14:30...better luck next time I guess.

The last couple weeks of training have been good, I should finish up July with the most miles I've ever ridden in a month, so that is a positive. Gearing up for the state crit championships, and then tour of KC. Should be exciting!!

Soulard and Training

Soulard tomorrow!!!..looking forward to racing again...I'll post the result obviously after it is over. Got in some great riding the last 2 weeks...well over 400 miles which is good. This past week I really made an effort to concentrate hard efforts on power output. I think this is where I'm lacking right now. I've got the great base, and the lactate threshold is better than its ever been...but I'm not really producing much power. So thats what the workouts have been geared towards lately.

Not much to report in other news. SLU still does not have a new athletic director. No one is even really talking about who could be the replacement. We did hire a new baseball coach, and rumor has it he has already gotten himself in trouble!!!..got job on that one.

Results to come soon!!! Enjoy the tour on TV!!

Back on the Bike

I took all of last week off which was nice. I don't think my body actually needed the day off, but my mind definitely did. I feel re-charged and ready to go!!

Sunday I got in a good 47 miler, followed by an easy 36 on Monday. Yesterday I did some hill repeats in the big ring for about an hour and got in 20. Not a bad little week so far. I wanted to do more yesterday, but we had a SLU athletic dept. meeting for Happy Hour. Since half our dept. has either been fired, or is not coming back next year, it was nice to go out and have a few drinks with some of them. You gotta love life in college athletics...you never know where you will end up.

Back from the Dead

So it's been 59 days since I last posted. Needless to say a lot has happened in those 59 days. From a cycling standpoint, I have raced 9 different times with very average results. I was preparing for Joe Martin as of my last post, and well lets just say that turned out to be a disaster.

I got down to Fayetteville alright, and was excited to get the racing underway. I warmed up great, and was feeling very confident as they staged us for the start of stage 1. They stage us, and turn us lose, and not even 1/4 mile into the race, I have 2 flat tires. That wouldn't have been too bad a problem, if the wheel truck had actually left the staging area when we did...not 3 minutes after us. By the time I got the tires changed, the peleton was no where in sight...I chased for the entire day, never even getting a sniff of them. Then 3 miles from the finish, another flat. I dropped out. That was the most disappointed I've ever been at a bike race.

A week later I was at it again at the Clarksville, MO time trial. That was a fun little race. I didn't ride as well as I could have, but I was still rather pleased. I struggled up a large hill in the middle of the course. All in all that was a decent result. 2nd in the 3s.

There were a couple of the tuesday night crits scattered in there, which are great tests of fitness...they really let you know where you're at.

I finished 17th at Winghaven, but feel I should have been in the top 10...I rode strong, but just didn't put myself in good position as we made the final decent. I guess you learn from your mistakes right?? Then this past weekend I went to Baldwin city. I was really pumped for the stage race, but it started out bad too!!! This time in a time trial. There were 2 hills at the beginning, so I went out conservatively, but for some reason never broke out of that rhythm. I was behind from the get go. The crit went alright...some dumb as fell right in front of me with 2 laps to go, and that put a small gap between me and the front end...a 16th place finish. The road race went great, was in the front the whole day...the whole race, except for the last 500m. Ended up 16th in that too. Since I've moved to STL, I just have not been able to get the results. Maybe I'm just having a bad year...I guess I just need to be patient and keep working hard, and the results will come. I've taken this whole week off so far, and will get back on the bike this weekend. The next race for me will be soulard...looking for some good results!!!

ugghhh!!! what's that??

I'm sore. My piriformis is very sore. I don't think I've ever riden to the point of soreness. I've had dead legs before, but never flat out soreness. I guess Sunday's forest park crit, and my ride last night really did it to me. It's good though, lets me know I'm working.

As for the crit, talk about fun and painful all at once. I'm pretty sure that was the fastest crit I've ever done, and definitely the longest. I can tell I haven't raced since dogwood, but I feel good. Tactically I was all over the map...one bad decision after the next. Not the best way to race, but I ended up 15th. I do feel I could have been better though. I'm looking forward to Joe Martin in 2 weeks. I feel I will do very well there.

In other news...to put it mildly, lets just say it's fun to be involved in Saint Louis U athletics. I know we've been taking a beating in the papers the last couple of weeks, but with the hiring of Majerus, there is quite a buzz in the office. I'm excited to see what this hiring will do for everyone involved!! We have the Atlantic 10 championships this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I'll be out of town and off the bike for a couple days. I guess I'll be on the stationary at the hotel. Oh well, not the best, but at least I won't be losing my fitness.

been away

So I've taken a week away from the blog, but not the bike. Last week I got 2 great workouts in, and then last night I got another good one in!!! I'm pretty stoked. I didn't quite get as much in last week as I'd like in terms of volume, but it was still a quality week. I had to take friday off as we were traveling to Nashville, TN for a meet. The meet was great!! We had a bunch of kids either set school records, or set personal records. So like I said, it was a great meet. We only have 2 more left, and the season will be over for us...thats when the real training for me will begin!!!!!

I'm looking forward to getting back into the racing this sunday at forest park. I feel I'll do very well. The form is coming. I'm still a couple of pounds over the fighting weight, but I will have most of those shed before Joe Martin which is less than 3 weeks away. I'm getting excited!!!

back on the bike!!

I took 4 days off the bike, and now I feel great. I've got the movitvation back and ready to roll. In all honesty though, physically I probably didn't need the break. Even emotionally, I probably didn't need the break. It did feel nice to not ride though. I had a great debate with myself all of last week while I was taking the down time. Typically at the beginning of May I've struggled with my form and needed some time off....so to avoid that I took some time off now. However, I've never had this kind of base before, so I don't know if I would have struggled in May. Either way, I took the time off, and I got back on the bike Sunday. I just went for an easy 1:17 so I just got the legs going again. Yesterday was more of the same, about 1:11 of ride time. It may not sound like a lot, and it really isn't but until school is out, it is hard for me to get much more than 1:45 a day in. I have to go recruiting tonight, so no world championships crit for me. I'm planning on racing the Forest Park Crit of the Tour of St. Louis. That means about I will not have raced for about a month. Damn near 2 months for a crit...oh well...I'll be ready. After the HS meet tonight I plan on doing about an hour's worth of TT work...nothing like big ring repeats!!!! If you've read Daniel Coyle's Lance Armstrong's War you'll know...thats "the shit that will kill them!!!!!" Gotta love it baby!!!