This past Memorial Day weekend I was in
Colorado Springs working with my coaching mentor. He's a Level 3 USAT coach and has been a
wealth of knowledge for me as I progress up the coaching ranks. I'm in constant contact with him and the time
I spend working with him is invaluable. A
weekend of coaching and training was just what I needed.
It was a great 4-day weekend for my wife, JL, and I. Amazing running and
riding. Great food. Stunning outdoor atmosphere and views. The takeaways for me, however, were the
lessons learned as an athlete – and how these lessons will impact my personal
training as well as the training of my athletes. There is much to cover, but I'll try to keep
this short and highlight the primary events that resonate from the weekend.
The
Bike
We had two serious mountain bike training rides
while I was in Colorado Springs. Living
on the east coast, I now understand that what I used to think was mountain
biking is really "trail riding".
(No offense to any of my friends that mountain bike here on the east
coast).
Damn.
The technical skills that can be gained are
immeasurable. I’ve never worked that
hard to control my bike. Ever. I have to admit that when I got back to the
east coast and went out for a ride on my TT bike…..well…..I was never so
comfortable throwing that rig around corners at speed. I didn’t once think about taking a quick
turn, or navigating around potholes or gravel.
My confidence in being able to control my rig was completely boosted.
Additionally, the effort involved and required is
amazing. Two hours on a road bike can
yield anywhere up to 40 miles for a training ride. Two hours on the mountain bike up near
Ramparts Reservoir? 12 miles.
Huge aerobic workout (especially at 9,000 feet of altitude). I almost can’t wait for the off-season to get
here so I can mountain bike more. And
have I mentioned the technical skills required?
Let's just say that I dug in, on more than one occasion, like Wile E.Coyote . My new nickname may or
may not be “Digger Dave.”
The climbing while we rode was amazing. There’s nothing like mountain biking to work
on your climbing skills. I've never been
so happy to be riding a triple crank-set than this past weekend. As mentioned, we covered 12 miles on our
Friday ride. In those 12 miles we climbed
2,500 feet. I was shattered. Well, it's tough to say if I was shattered
from the climbing or the aforementioned crashing like a cartoon character.
Those of you who do serious mountain biking are
well aware of the benefits (and pure enjoyment) of getting a little dirty while
you ride. Those of you who aren’t –this
is something to really consider. The
gains in technical ability and climbing strength are huge. The “hills” back east seemed easy in
comparison. That’s not to say they
didn't require effort, but they certainly seemed much more manageable.
The
Incline
If any of you have been to Colorado Springs,
you know what The Incline is. One
mile of hill work - at an average grade of 41% (and a maximum grade of 68%). There are people that do this climb (and then
run down the 2.5 mile trail back to the parking lot) on an almost daily
basis. The benefit of this workout was
obvious as soon as I went on my first run back on the east coast, the hilly
sections didn’t seem so bad. At all. In comparison, they were speed-bumps.
Hill-work.
We all know it’s important, and, just like speed-work this needs to be
included regularly in a workout plan. I
realize this is completely obvious, but running The Incline made me realize how
much more I need to add hill-work into my (and my athletes’) plans.
At the top of the incline, my coaching mentor
immediately asked me the question: Why, if his PE (perceived effort) was the
same, was his heart rate 10 beats lower than it should have been?
I had the answer, but was slow to get it out
due to being exhausted and trying to suck in oxygen at 9,000 feet.
What
do you think the answer is? Would love to your thoughts on this in the
comments below.