February Already? Time to Get Serious!
Throughout the month of January I took things at a decidedly easy pace. I was running a bit, spending some time on the trainer, and riding to work every day, but my both my volume and my effort were low.
But that was okay. It was Only January.
Then today I came the shocking realization - it's Already February! And that means it's time for me to get serious.
This year will be my first full year of racing, as well as my first year with a team, RACING GREYHOUNDS. Here's a preview of the fancy team kit:
So I spent some time outlining my goals and planning a tentative race schedule.
Since this will be my first full race season, I'm not entirely sure what my goals are, or should be, so I've come up come up with a list of things I'd like to achieve:
- Build and follow a periodized training program
- Lose 10 pounds
- Gain experience and confidence in a variety of settings (time trial, criterium, road race)
- Improve anaerobic endurance, speed and climbing
- Finish >75% of started races
- Upgrade to Cat 4
- Finish 3rd place or better in a cyclocross race by the end of the season
This is my tentative schedule:
- Mar.27.2010 Barry-Roubaix Gravel Road Race
- May.02.2010 Cone-Azalia Spring Classic Road Race
- May.22.2010 West Branch Classic Road Race
- May.23.2010 West Branch Criterium
- May.29.2010 Das Tour of Frankenmuth Road Race
- Jun.12.2010 Le Tour de Mont Pleasant - Criterium
- Jun.13.2010 Le Tour de Mont Pleasant - Road Race
- Jul.24.2010 Maillot Jaune Road Race
- Aug.01.2010 Milford Criterium
- Aug.28.2010 Cherry-Roubaix Criterium
- Aug.29.2010 Cherry-Roubaix Road Race
- Sep.18.2010 Michigan Double Cross - Day 1 CycloCross
- Sep.19.2010 Michigan Double Cross - Day 2 CycloCross
- Oct.23.2010 Mad Anthony Cyclocross @ Historic Fort Wayne (DET) CycloCross
- Dec.4.2010 Tailwind CX #9 - USCF State CX Championship
I've scheduled my periodized training plan around four A races, shown in bold type - two road races, and two cyclocross races.
The other races listed are my major off-peak races. I'll still be giving them my best effort, but they won't fall on my training peaks.
I'll be doing several C races, as well, made up of a selection of other other available road races time trials and criteriums, team-only races, a few mountain bike races, and as many cyclocross races from the Kisscross and Tailwind CX series as I can reasonably manage.
A teammate and I have scheduled a short, roughly 20 mile group ride on the road this weekend. It's still cold here in Michigan, but the roads have mostly been dry and free of significant ice and snow. I've been commuting and running in this weather, so there shouldn't be any reason not to ride.
While it still feels very early, my first B race is 7 weeks away, and I want to be ready.
Besides, I'm really missing spending several hours in the saddle each weekend. It will be good to be out on the road again.
No Animals Were Harmed
Last night I attended the new member orientation meeting of the Racing Greyhounds, a cycling team to which I applied and, shockingly, was accepted.
Since receiving my acceptance email last week, I'd been concerned there had been some kind of mistake. Perhaps they had accidentally sent the email to everyone who applied, rather than just the smaller group of those selected for the team. When filling out the application, I was somewhat embarrassed when filling in my "race resume" - a short list of 5 or 6 category C cyclocross races and a 100-mile "time trial" with less than impressive results - sure that my lack of experience and barely competent performance would ensure that my application would be quickly sorted to the "NO" pile. Despite this nagging concern, I managed to convince myself to go to the meeting. Not only was I not asked to leave, but they were, in fact, expecting me to be there.
The meeting was held at Woodland Lanes - a bowling alley that is one of the team's sponsors. I was one of the first to arrive, and as I made my through the smoke and bowlers, A couple of guys approached me and asked if was there for the cycling team meeting. I'm not sure how they could tell. I guess I stood out like a cyclist in a bowling alley. Regardless, I said I was, and they showed me to where we'd be meeting.
The evening itself was largely procedural, yet fun. I enjoyed a glass of beer while I filled out the necessary paperwork and learned of the benefits and obligations of membership.
We then broke out into our individual teams, in my case the road team, to meet the team captains our teammates and to talk about the team's goals for the year. One goal is to move Cat 5 racers (such as myself) to Cat 4 by the end of April 2010. I didn't really expect to be thinking about upgrading yet - I have only been licensed for two weeks - but team's captain seemed confident that there would be enough racing opportunities to move up to Cat 4 in the spring, which he insisted was a much safer category to race in - as in personal safety. Less experienced cyclists are less predictable and make more mistakes that place you at greater risk when racing among them. Okay, make sense.
The rest of the evening was spent trying on the kit samples for size, getting my "mug shot" taken, and just chatting with the other riders.
It was a good time, and I'm excitedly looking forward to the 2010 season to be racing and training as part of a team for the first time.
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