Training Log Archive: Gswede

Oh no! The pendulum is keeping me from writing on my log.

http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...

I did what I could in the race, and it wasn't enough for the W. In a more normal approach to sport, I should be upset, angry, indignant, irked, galled, and maybe even apoplectic. But I'm not.

When I moved back stateside in 2017, it was primarily to try to ensure a culture of consistent technical training survived with the junior and senior teams. It had been there before, but at that time there wasn't too, too much going on due to a generational shift. When I moved back I was winning most events by a large margin (not all thanks to a few who kept me on my toes). That was an outstanding ego boost, but I started to feeling very lonely and a bit bored too.

So my main takeaway from this event is how happy I am to have a truly competitive group of guys who could all win depending on the day. And all of them take it seriously and are interested in improving through techinical and physical training. I've been involved in guiding them, but that's pretty useless if they didn't already have the motivation to improve and compete.

Of course it means I won't be winning nearly as many races in the future, but the current situation is a much healthier ecosystem for the sport in the US and one that makes me happier.

So as for what I can do better after the race: my friggin hamstrings. I would have absolutely annihilated Danny if I just didn't have my hamstrings cramping up on me again ; )

Ultimately they did not cramp in this race, but I could tell I was on the edge and stopped to stretch them preemptively several times. I also ran slower and more cautiously starting at 13 because I knew they were coming.

I've had this issue of hamstring cramping in longs basically since I've started racing them seriously. The issue doesn't appear to be due to salts or strengthening since I've tried both and there's been no impact.The only thing that's seemed to help is more long runs in terrain. Long enough and at a high enough intensity that I start cramping. This is, naturally, somewhat difficult to consistently do. But I will have to start working it into my training plan if I want to be competitive in longs. Because I was still navigating fine towards the end and otherwise I felt capable of running much faster. I only ran slower because of possible cramps.

So now it's time for a training montage. Actually probably a training montage after the Billygoat because every weekend is busy with events now.

Long Blue-TT - Splits

Event: 43rd West Point National Ranking Event
 

Sometimes you eat the bear. Sometimes the bear eats you.

Going into this I knew that I had not being doing enough technical training to feel the sharpness I wanted for a middle.

That was very much unavoidable since moving and associated complications had made technical training difficult enough to be counter-productive.

Of course, you do what you can with what you've got. But I was very sloppy out there.

My bearings were consistently off and I was losing 10-20 seconds on most controls, and on 6 the mapping made no sense to me. I wanted to go back and look at it without pressure to understand the decisions behind that section, but I also wanted to save energy for the long.

A strange positive from this race was that I physically felt quite good, but technically I was unable to match the pace my body wanted.

So another experience to look back on. But the future's coming at us fast. So there's no time to dwell on the past!

Middle - Blue - Splits

5x Riverfront hill at 5k effort with recovery jog down.

Dressed for -5C although it was 20C out to start getting ready for the heat, followed up by a hot bath. Feels like a sauna session.