Saturday, April 11, 2015

Optimistic

With my first off road race coming up fast I really have one word that sums up the way I feel about it. That word is optimistic. I have done a lot of really good things this year starting in October that have added up to make me feel really good about the season ahead. The training has gone the way Id had hoped, I have not been sick since the fall and have no major injury's. I have had some bumps in the road and the ITU Clermont race was for sure one of them. I swam with my hands closed or something because that swim was not what I had in mind. Still made the best of it and lighted the bike up. Rolled over 300 watts and dropped many athletes right off my wheel my normalized power was over 350watts so bike wise I know I'm doing the right things. That race Im happy I did as it gave a opportunity to blow out the cob webs out, rather then have that feeling at West Xterra Champs. Since the race in Florida I have worked on some of the weak points that showed. My running was missing some higher intensity work I felt fitness wise I could hold 3:20 per K all day long but had a hard time dropping it lower I had a few key sessions that help get me well under that mark and now feel good about my running. One of my biggest weakness last year in xterra was not being able to close out races because I didn't have enough base fitness. I was fit for events for 1h-1:30h rather then 2h-2:30h. Many of my training days are now well over 4 hours and adding a strength program has helped me feel very strong. I have done many workouts on some very tired legs because of it. I think being able to execute on the tired legs was something I just could not do last year. The great thing about racing is I can see if we made all the right moves and find new areas to work on. In closing last year was the year I learned most about off road racing and this year its time to apply what I took away. Also Happy to Officially announce ENVE as a Sponsor! Last year I rolled ENVE on my mtb. I rode it because its truly the best stuff out there for durability and performance. Please check out what they have to offer! www.ontheedge.ca