Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Points race training and geeked out analysis

Hit up the track yesterday afternoon after a dreary moist morning. Luckily the sun poked out from the clouds and dried up the moisture from the track so Kenny and I could do some points race training. I love motor pacing - racing is the only thing funner! We swap driving so we both get a killer workout.

We started off with a 15 minute warm up - ramping up the speed to 33 or so. The legs were feeling good - despite how sore they felt after the TTT. After warm up Kenny had me do two 20 lap efforts with sprints every five. The goal is to sling shot around the motor with 200m to go and stay seated while surging. Top speed is usually around 34/35 mph. I soooo badly want to see 36! Maybe a bigger gear? Maybe more weights at the gym? Maybe no chocolate chip cookies right before workout? Nah. :) If I see 36mph then I will be well on my way...

I have a tendency to point my right foot - which may be to prevent my low back from tweaking. But the real question - does it effect my power? I was feeling a little taxed after the efforts and slightly numb in that area. My upper body form is coming around - during the sprint I definitely utilize my biceps and get the "bulldog" stance, with a slight tilt of the head. Grrr. It seems like it's all about the power game and getting the most out of how your body interacts with the bike - making it efficient and smooth as possible. I love it!

Other than a slight nag by my back I was able to dig deep and get right back on the motor (which was cruising steady at 28 mph) for the next efforts. You can really get into a rhythm with these efforts - and with two laps to go, you start to feel recovered from the last big hit and can relax about a lap before focusing on the next sprint. The overall goal is to go hard enough where they don't break the bank but just hard enough where you feel like racing is getting easier. The sprints are hard as you can go - but the recovery is what you really need to be concerned with. And I must say, other than my tactical idiosyncrasies, racing with the men is getting easier (solely from an engine standpoint).

Kenny did his efforts behind the moto - averaging around 30mph between sprints. The last sprint effort we ramped it up to about 33. He's an animal. Some fan came onto the track and asked if that was Kenny the cash machine? Ha! I laughed. Oh, you mean the cash register? Yes. That's him.

Today is a LSD (long slow day) ride - 3 hours in the saddle and then a baby shower for the evening. Should be fun!

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