Since Land Mine I’ve been deconstructing my approach, my season and my training.
It wasn’t even that the race was that miserable or that the course was so rough or that the rear wheel fell apart, but rather the frustration of getting just ever so slightly closer after putting so much behind it.
The Divide is now getting some formal attention with the wheel being put into a real truing stand presumably and I’m in the midst of sorting out how I can improve my own performance with the help of Spinney.
He’s had the theory for a while that I’m anaerobic by nature which seems a little odd since I race marathons, but consider the way I train and how my races unfolds and it makes sense. At every race I can light up the start with the best of them- and it’s up to me to know when to settle down before I crack. If I tried to get the holeshot at Catamount I’m pretty sure I could- but it’s no use because I’d be so blasted once I got it that I’d just be in the way. In my endurance races I try to hide on the long, fast, pedaling sections and move up on the repeated short, steep climbs. The relentless but spaced out rollers in the Hampshire 100 are perfect for me as I can go into the red over and over again all day.
Two devices for the two heart rate straps.
Thursday I did a fitness test and sent the results to Spinney. As I’m still not 100% sure to do laps or splits or intervals on the Stealth 50 (and extract heart rate data from it for said intervals) I relied on my Timex heart rate monitor. Thus the belt and suspenders approach you see above.
The results proved what he had long suspected- that I’m predominantly anaerobic, and one of the most anaerobic athletes he’s ever seen. And that explains a lot- I can go really hard for short bursts and I burn more glycogen than fat when exercising. That helps me understand why I have blood sugar issues and difficultly losing weight.
From here the next step seems like the South Beach Diet for bike racing- a very specific, super aerobic regimen sticking to a prescribed heart rate zone to aggressively improve my aerobic system. While there are anaerobic elements of mountain bike racing most of the cruising speed comes from the aerobic system, and cruising speed has long been my biggest weakness especially on relentlessly flat or hilly courses with no descending to recover.
For the next few weeks I’ll be on the belt and suspenders program, and if you hear an electronic beeping rolling up behind you it’s probably me.