Progress

That's the view from the patient optimist in me. This is the seventh winter for me since I got back to regular year-round training in 2003. From 2003 to 2007 I can't say that I trained seriously; I just got back to my old routines, increased my mileage, raced more, and slowly, steadily got closer to the form that I left off with in the mid-nineties. The key to getting faster as you get older is to not be so fast when you're younger. I was in my forties and improving every year. On the bike, clearly I was not up to the level I was in my early thirties, but not that far off either. Running I was faster than I'd ever been, having never been consistent with that before.

A lot of the guys I trained with and raced against were some years older than me. These were guys who I could hang with on a training ride, or maybe even a break, but who for the most part had always been at a level above mine. Guys who won races every year, and some who were podium contenders at masters nationals (all disciplines). Always alert and observant, I noticed these dudes starting to lose a bit when they hit 53 or 54 or so. Seeing this, I figured I had several more years of improvement ahead of me. But I guess it's not so easy.

In 2008, in some ways I reached a high it fitness and athleticism. All my running PRs were from the winter of 07-08. On the bike I wasn't winning or anything, but I was competitive in the 45+ group and riding well on the longest training rides I'd ever completed, including D2R2 and the Vermont Six Gaps ride. I hadn't been getting injured, I was having fun, and living free from distraction. Life was good. In the fall of 2008 I was expecting more of the same, racing some cyclocross and running hard with an eye on another half marathon. That is when my foot started bothering me.

Today over on Friels' blog, in a talk about minimalist running footwear, Joe mentions a goal of "training injury-free and eventually racing faster." That's been my objective all along. I like training. More than my body does apparently. The past few years I really haven't had much to complain about, so I think I am getting smarter and thus staying more consistent. But I'm still not the most durable mofo out there.

Don't despair though, I think I've got it under control. In 2009 I trained a lot on the bike, increased the amount of general-purpose athletic functional training that I perform, and got back to running in the fall with little drama. But it also became clear this year that the low-hanging fruit had been picked, ripened, and eaten. I did not get faster than than in 2008. Just doing more of the same things is not going to cut it. Assessing the situation honestly, I felt my age this year, like I was on a decline despite piling on the miles. In order for me to continue to progress, even just to hold the line, my training needs to become more effective.

One of the big eye-openers was cross season. In September I raced the Bob Beal omnium and a few running races, but other than that I sort of rested. Then cross started and it was clearly harder than anything I'd done all year. My racing diet had been mostly weeknight time trials and road races, not easy stuff, but mostly longer sub-threshold and threshold efforts, not repeated red zone efforts. In cross races I'd go to the edge and be in big trouble thereafter. In October anyway. By November I started to get it back a little bit, that feeling of quick recovery after a deep, deep dig. Pushing harder when I was already near my limit, confident that I wasn't going to blow. It had been so long I'd almost forgotten what it was like. The light went on -- I had to train like this if I wanted to keep that ability for years to come.

So I'm making some adjustments. I'm still hoping to do an aggressive schedule of running races in the next few months - Derry, Paddy Kelly, Foxboro, then maybe the pub series and New Bedford. But last week my right hip started acting up. Actually it had been sore after runs for over a month, but this time it got bad during a run, forcing me to cut it short. That sucks, as I've already paid for Derry and really needed at least one more long run to prepare. My self-diagnosis is trochanteric bursitis, so I'm resting it, stretching, and hoping for a quick recovery. The first few days saw little improvement. I haven't run for eight days now, but did manage a three hour hilly snowshoe on Saturday with no ill effects. Actually I was running at the end of that in order to get out of the woods before dark.

I'm not exactly sure where this issue came from. I can't remember if it started before I changed from Saucony to Brooks trail runners back in mid-December or not, but I'm going to a different pair when I start up running again tomorrow. Derry is going to end up just being a training run now, rather than a pacing test for a possible return to the New Bedford half (or some other half). Kind of pisses me off, but if I get around this problem I'll soon forget about it. I've been enjoying running. But either way running is not going to help me that much in bike racing. Evaluating last season, and seeing no racing nor high-end training from January to April, I want to do both running races (for sustained high effort) and more intensity-focused bike training. In 2008 I started out working on my shorter efforts, as so many masters races end in sprints. Even doing several nights up at the Londonderry velodrome, I stuck with it, but got diverted back into long miles and climbing by D2R2 and other fun stuff. Last year I didn't go to the track once.

OK now I'm rambling. But I intend to train harder on the bike this winter, whether that means efforts on my trainer at home, computrainer sessions with others, or finding a January cross race somewhere and doing that... Those are not the only things I'm doing differently. No, I did not hire a "coach." Nor did I hire a "prepatore." It seems most riders I know confuse the two, or at least hire one when what they really need is the other, or they get someone to fill both roles who is really only qualified for one of them. But I digress. Being of limited means, that stuff ain't happening here. But I have consulted with a trainer, done some testing, done some research, and made some adjustments. Most of all I've grown more comfortable with my level of fitness and my ability to control it. I told you I was optimistic. That sounds like progress. OK, enough is enough, thanks for reading.