Cyclocross Nationals Postmortum

I raced my third Cyclocross National Championships this past Thursday in Austin, Texas, joining

2,000 other racers who came to test their fitness and technical skills on the challenging  course in Austin's Zilker Park.

2,000 other racers who came to test their fitness and technical skills on the challenging  course in Austin's Zilker Park.

The fitness was there, but my ability to maintain speed and apply power through the technical sections of the course was sub-par compared to the top racers in my category.

 After turning in a poor performance in last year's icy and snow-packed race in Boulder, Colorado my year-long goal was to finish in the top 10 in this year's event.

With that goal in mind, I spent most of the past year focused on training for this year's Nationals, doing base miles, tempo rides and strength training during Feb, March, April and May before transitioning to a structured cyclocross training program in June.

The structured program included many miles of 15-20 minute threshold intervals, trail rides on my CX bike, some running, skill work such as barriers and run-ups, VO2 max efforts and endless miles of hard race simulation laps on a practice course.

Unfortunately, I did not accomplish the top 10 goal, finishing 16th in the Master's 65-69 field of 22 racers.

I was positioned to achieve the top 10 goal, but two critical mistakes during the race coupled with a less than stellar job of keeping the speed up through the technical sections dropped me down a few places.

Although I was staged in the back row of my field since I didn't earn many USAC points during the season (only two races), I moved up to mid pack by the time we hit the first dirt section with my heart rate 'comfortably' just a beat or two over my threshold.

Shortly after that, I made my first mistake by running into a rider who stalled in front of me on a short hill. The resulting dab and loss of speed let several racers pass me.

Later in the race, I completely biffed a right hand off-camber corner and ended up falling into the course marking tape.  Again, I lost several places while getting upright and then having to run up the short but steep climb that followed the corner.

My gut feeling is that unless I figure out how to improve my technical skills, I'll need a flat and fast course with the only technical sections being off-the-bike run-ups to crack the top 10 in my age group.

I can also keep racing until I'm in the really old age groups that have less than 10 racers :)

Speaking of older racers, I had a 'race encounter' with the ageless Walt Axthelm of Durango, Colorado who won this year's 80+ category.

His field started 20 seconds behind my 65-69 group, but by the 2nd lap of the race he had bridged up to my wheel and was telling me to " Go - go- get off the dammed brakes" as we traversed through a section of off-camber turns and steep ups and downs in a ravine.

Axthelm continued to stay right me through laps 3 and 4, rolling faster than me and some other 65+ riders through the technical sections.  The only places I could gap him were on the flats and run-ups.  He says his normal training partners in Durango are all fast racers in their 50s.

During the Thursday open pre-ride of the course, the weather was sunny and 70 degrees. That changed dramatically Tuesday evening as a cold front ushered in frigid temperatures and a forecast for rain, mud and sleet for the Wednesday through Sunday championship events.

When I started warming up at 7:30 am on the morning of my race the air temp was 23 degrees with a reported 16 degree wind chill. It did not warm up much by the 9:00  start time.

My race kit for the day for the day was double socks with plastic bag over the toes, duct tape over the vents in my cycling shoes, medium tights over thin tights, two long sleeve base layers under the bike jersey, polypro liners inside wind shell gloves and an insulated skull cap under the helmet.  During warm-up I also had wind pants over the tights and a down jacket.

The Zilker course was a challenging 3.5 kilometer per lap loop adjacent to Barton Springs pool that includes pavement, rolling sections through rough grass, run-ups over limestone outcroppings and plank barriers, and challenging descents that drop 75-100 feet down the face of the park's ridge line.

The starting stretch was a 400 yard gradual uphill on pavement that veered off onto a bumpy up-and-down grass/dirt section with multiple 90 to 180 degree corners in loose dirt and numerous 'curb ramps' where the course crossed streets.

After reaching the flatter high part of the course, the route headed back down toward the start area

with multiple descents that terminated in sharp off-camber corners leading to immediate short steep climbs back up the hill.

Most corners on the descents had frozen mud ruts and rough washboard areas making bike handling skills and a 'no-fear' attitude important while riding on narrow 35 mm or smaller tires cyclocross tires. Since I lack both great technical skills and the 'no-fear' attitude I lost quite a bit of time through these sections.

There were two longer descents including a rough and rutted dirt downhill and an interesting wooden ramp that bridged down over a 6 foot limestone cliff.  Each of the descents terminated in a 180 degree turn back uphill into dismount and run-back-up sections.

There were three dismount/run sections and several more run-ups if riders who failed to stay upright through the rutted off camber corners that preceded short up-hills. Two of the run-ups were over rough natural rock outcroppings that climbed 15 to 25 vertical feet up the ridge with the 3rd section being a double set of 16" high plank barriers situated on an uphill stretch of grass.

 One of the things that I've done for many years (in every sport I've competed in) is to do a post-season and post-race analysis to determine what I need to improve on for the next event or next season.

My list is long this year, but there are also a few bright spots such as an improved threshold based on field test heart rates, no crashes this year that resulted in injuries, and no difficulty with steep run-ups.

Here's the 'to do' list that reflects what I need to improve on during the off-season and the strategies I'll use to make those improvements.

1. Improve technical skills on corners and descents: Do more mountain biking, ride my CX bike more on mountain bike trails and (whenever possible) do these rides with other riders who are more skilled than I am.

2. Improve 'no fear' attitude: This is largely related to #1 above since better skills will improve my confidence in sketchy situations, but ... I'm also considering enhancement surgery to see if some bigger 'brass boys' will help :)

3. Improve power on short steep climbs: Do more hill workouts (especially big gear uphill intervals), spend more time in the weight room, and find a practice course that has more difficult uphill power sections.

4. Regain running fitness during the off-season: This one sounds strange, but my best cross seasons happened during a period when I was training for and racing duathlons and running events during the spring, summer and early fall. I'm going to add in more trail running and duathlon workouts (bike/run bricks) this year to see if that results in a higher fitness level and more overall strength and agility.

5. Build a stronger endurance base: This involves all of the above, but I suspect that that increasing my miles and total workout hours during the off season will let me train harder later in the year and - as a side benefit - will help me lose a little more weight. I'm currently around 184 and think that I would race better at about 175. The mileage goal for this year is 5,000 or more.

That's it ... the season is over ... time for a few easy weeks and then time to start training for the 2015-2016 CX season.


Upcoming Events
Jan 17: Trail Running Series 10K, roadlizards.org
Jan 31: Trail Running Series 12K, roadlizards.org
Feb 21: Trail Running Series 15K, roadlizards.org
Feb 21: Funnel Cake 5K, sanangelorodeo.com/events/2015/funnelcake5k
April 11: Castell Grind cycling ride, castellgrind.com/home.html

Losing Weight in 2015

(Old Guys Who Get Fat in the Winter, Patrick O'Grady)

Many of you made New Year’s resolutions that involve losing weight and getting back into shape.

You’re not alone — most Americans need to make (and follow through) with that same resolution. Statistics indicate that 69 percent of people over the age of 20 are overweight (BMI of 25-29.9) and within that group 35 percent are considered obese (BMI over 30).

The good news is that — over time — overweight individuals can lose the flab, increase muscle tone and reverse the effects of too much food and not enough exercise.

Simply put, weight loss means burning more calories than you take in and it takes approximately a 3,500 calorie deficient to burn one pound of fat.

Eat less food, cut back on high-calorie drinks such as beer and soft drinks and increase the amount of exercise that you do.

‘Calories burned’ is the sum of exercise calories plus your basal metabolic rate with basal metabolism accounting for approximately 70 percent of all calories burned. You can approximate your base metabolism using a calculator such as the one online at bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator.

Your base metabolism will stay about the same or even decrease somewhat as you age, although you can ramp it up with cardiovascular exercise and strength training that builds muscle.

Increasing the amount of lean muscle is good because it burns more calories than fat, thus increasing your base metabolism.

Lack of exercise intensity is one key area where many people fall short related to burning calories during exercise.

Short slow walks with your dog or those twice-weekly ‘no sweat’ 20 minute workouts in the gym, while still beneficial, will not accomplish what’s needed if you’re trying to lose weight and tone muscles.

Instead, you need to consistently exercise long enough and at a high enough intensity to really make a dent in those fat cells.

Aim for at least 60 minutes of exercise per day, five to six days a week, with a combination of low intensity aerobic exercise (60-65 percent of your maximum heart rate), some high intensity (75 percent of max heart rate or higher) and several days that include strength training.

You can get an estimate of your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 and then use a heart rate watch to make sure you’re ‘in the zone’ during workouts.

One good way to structure your fat-burning exercise program is to do at least two days per week of higher intensity interval sessions (body pump, spin classes or interval workouts on gym equipment) with one or two days of lower intensity aerobic exercise between each of the high intensity days.

Fast walking or walk/jog is also a great way to get your heart rate up and burn calories. Start with 20-30 minute sessions on a treadmill or on a soft dirt/grass surface (avoid pavement). Warm up with a brisk walk for a few minutes, then alternate one minute of fast walking with one minute of easy jogging. Gradually increase the length and speed of the ‘run’ segments (i.e., two minute run and one minute walk; three minute run, etc.).

You can do the same type of interval workout on an indoor or outdoor bicycle. Warm up with easy riding, then go harder for 1-2 minutes, relax and spin easy for recovery and repeat that cycle for 20-30 minutes.

Add in strength exercises on several of the days and you’ll have a solid program that, when coupled with smart eating habits, will result in a slow erosion of the pounds that you’re wanting to lose.

One additional suggestion is to keep a workout journal. Write down the minutes per day of exercise, note what the workout(s) were, track your daily weight and then calculate your average weight for each week. The data in the journal will keep you honest about what you’re actually doing and it also lets you look back and see what worked based on weight and fitness improvements.

My final tip is to set some goals with a time line. Establishing goals means you’re working toward something instead of just working out. Goals can be something like ‘lose five pounds by May 1’ or ‘complete a 4-mile walk in 70 minutes by June 15.’

Last but not least, be sure to consult with your physician before starting any type of new exercise program.

Remember — the best weight loss formula is to eat less and exercise more.



Upcoming Events
Jan. 10 (rescheduled date): Resolution Run, roadlizards.org/events/ecvfd-resolution-run-2015/

Jan. 7-11: Cyclocross National Championships, usacycling.org/2015/cyclo-cross-nationals

Jan. 17-Feb 21: Trail Running Series, roadlizards.org

April 11: Castell Grind cycling race, castellgrind.com/home.html