First of all I am going to try really hard this year to keep this updated, once a year does not a blog make LOL.
I've had a very good winter training, with some promising increases in power compared to last year, no doubt helped by a subtle change to the training plan this year. As per usual I have entered some early season races, I train to race so when I get the chance to race I am always up for it, well almost but we will come to that in a minute.
I have got into the habit of doing the Southborough and District Wheelers New Years Day 10 mile TT between Bethersden and Ashord on the A28. It is always good to blow out the cobwebs and have a little bit of fun. As training had been going well I expected a better performance from myself, but a cold between Christmas and the New Year didn't really help my confidence. The race went very well indeed, setting a new course record, event record, and matching my best 20 min power from the previous year, not too bad considering I had only done base and tempo work, and not 100% recovered from my cold.
After this it was a case of a few months solid hard work, another difference this year was that I was doing alot more work on the turbo. I realised that some of my training in 2010 to 2011 was not the best. Trying to do hard tempo rides in the dark wasn't always the best choice, as sometimes the speeds mean you can't react quick enough to potholes etc. I thought although the turbo is boring, the quality of the work done on it was far superior. This meant alot of split sessions as well, as spending 2 hour blocks on the turbo wasn't a pleasent thought, split sessions meant sometimes getting up very early to get an hour done before work.
The first of my early season hillies started with the Redhill CC Sporting TT, a great little course which I really enjoy. To familiarise myself with the course again I rode out from home to recce the course, this was on top of a couple of tough days training as well, after a 126 mile return trip my legs were a bit shot to say the least. Thought as the ride was done on the Thursday I thought I would have plenty of time to recover for the TT. The TT went well, though not fully recovered, and although power was down on what I expected it to be, I still rode it faster than last year, and above my expectations I won the event. Beating the likes of Tevjan Pettinger and Conall Yates is a nice feeling, these are quick guys, especially on the hilly courses. This was also my first ride for Team Swift, I will speak more about that another day, it is always good to win for your team first time out.
That was 2 out of 2 for 2012, but the next event was another hilly, in which Pete Tadros was riding, Pete is a master of hilly TT's and hillclimbs, and is always a good test. In the Central Sussex Sporting I rode really well, set a new 20 min power PB, and actually managed to be near this for 35 minutes, so another great sign of winter training paying off. I finished the event 14 secs down on Pete for 2nd place. I thought this was great considering Pete put a min and 20 secs into me in a 10 mile TT in the middle of last year.
The early results had bouyed me, and I was training very hard, this would come back to bite me though. I did say earlier I love racing, but the morning of the Sussex CA Hardriders event, I wasn't really looking forward to racing, it was very wet, and very cold. I don't mind either of the 2 scenarios, just not added together, but then again I do not like to DNS either. Legs didn't feel that great, and in the race it showed, woeful power and very tired legs meant a very poor performance from my perspective. Pete Tadros was again riding, and this time he put over 2 mins into me over a very similar distance, though the course was hillier than the previous week. I think Pete summed it up well by saying it was like a series of hill climbs and technical descents, not the best with tired legs. 3rd place was the result, which though still not too bad, it was the performance that worried me.
Luckily I have a great coach, and she just looked at the weeks data, and concluded it was just pure tiredness, and said it was to be expected when pushing to the limits in training. It just happened that the following week, training was going to be punctuated by work, and being away from home. It meant an additional rest day which helped me no end. The other session in the week went well, and I felt good. Even the pre race session I do felt amazingly good, I just hoped I would feel the same on the next race day. The next race was the East Surrey Hardriders event, this is a classic, won by the likes of Michael Hutchinson, Ricahard Prebble, Pete Tadros and for the last 2 years Wouter Sybrandy. It always attracts a good field, this year Wouter wasn't able to ride, but Pete Tadros was the scratch man.
I hoped that I could pull out a sub 1:08 for the course, and fully expected Pete to beat me, though I hoped to keep the margin in secs and not mins this week. It was a good day, dry with little wind, though still chilly as you would expect in March. I soon realised that the power was good, and the speeds were higher than I expected, saving some energy for the remaining 9 miles of country lanes I used my speed and power wisely on the A25, A24 and the A264. I came off the A264 with an average speed of around 28 mph, and thought I know I will lose some to the finish, but I am certainly on for a sub 1:08.
As you come off the A264 on the road to Rusper, you have to climb Hurst Hill, although not particularly long, only around a 2 min climb, it is a leg sapper. The road leading up to it is a false flat and after the A roads it just seems very hard to get speed up. Feeling brave I got up the hill in the big chainring, though near the top it was getting tougher to turn it over. I lost some of the average speed here, down to around 27 mph. The last 8 miles or so are rolling with a couple of sharp inclines, I just pushed as hard as the body would allow, and managed to get a sub 1:06.
With this it meant I broke the previous course record, set by Wouter, and back at the HQ I realised I had also beaten Pete Tadros by 30 secs. I was a bit gobsmacked really, from being 2+ mins down the previous week to winning by 30 secs. It was a good day, power was where it should have been for the hour or so, it certainly proved one thing to me.
One may ask why such a big difference in a week, well tiredness has a massive part to play. I had had 3 to 4 weeks of hard training with some races thrown in, and by the time I got to the Sussex CA event my body was just extremely tired, and the power output showed this, being some 10+% below what it should have been. An easier week with more time to recover was what my body needed, and for once work helped in this regard with me having to miss a session. It gave me and my coach great feedback about how much load I can take and the length of recovery needed for optimal performance, this should pay great dividends for the main races of the year the BBAR races.
Tally for 2012 so far
5 Races, 3 x 1st, 1 x 2nd and 1 x 3rd, 2 x course records
