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Here are my latest Entries It's all about Philly June 1 Road Magazine Interview July 22 'Toona Build Up July 24 Rolling the Dice Sept 5 Wild Ride Sept 5 Hello March 10 Camp March 24 Mt. Hood Stage 1 May 21 Mt. Hood Stage 2 May 21 Mt. Hood Stage 3 May 21 Mt. Hood Stage 4 May 21 Mt. Hood Stage 5 May 21 Mt. Hood Stage 6 May 21 |
Rolling The Dice With Vegas's Interbike just around the corner you might think that I'm a bit overzealous to throw my huge cyclists salary down on the craps table. Well, I'm talking about a different kind of gambling and it's not even in Sin City but in Greenville, South Carolina of all places. Greenville is home to the USPRO Road Championships for the second straight year and is no doubt the hardest one-day race in the country. Last year I finished in a distant 17th place. Considering less than 40 riders finished the race I guess it was a decent result but not nearly what I was hoping for. With similar fitness to what I had last year at this time I could play it safe, try to manage my form through August and probably end up with a similar result to last year. Or I could throw caution to the wind and use August for a huge block of training and if all is done right come out flying in early September. But if I'm a bit off with my timing or a little too eager with the miles I could find myself off the back on the first lap with half of the field. It was actually a pretty easy decision. Another top twenty wouldn't mean that much to me or the team but if I'm able to step up my form another notch and pull off a top-ten that would be a great result for us. Being home all of August with the exception of Downer's Grove USPRO Criterium weekend is an ideal situation to put together a specific block of training. Besides who wouldn't want to rip out a few 25-30 hour weeks of training instead of trying to just maintain their fitness? My build started six weeks out from Nationals, the first week just happened to be Tour De Toona. Perfect, a week of hard racing and only a few extra hours of training during the week. After Toona I came back home, took a few easy days and started with three 4-6 hour days followed by a recovery day. Eighty percent of the training was spent in the Endurance zone with fifteen percent at Tempo and the last five percent was at LT and over. I will continue with the three days on and one day off schedule through Downers Grove. After that I will cut back the overall volume and add in two tough Northern California road races the week before Nationals to fine-tune my form. The week leading into Nationals will be a balancing act, trying to make sure I get enough recovery to freshen up my legs but still training enough to keep from going flat. As a coach, and knowing my body specifically, I feel confident in trying something different at this point in the season. While I have always taken the more conservative approach with 'maintenance' training through August I'm ready to put it on the line. I never really hit my stride this season so maybe this is what I need to really get myself firing and end the season on a high note. Once we all roll to the start line with our poker faces on it won't be long until we know who's bluffing and who has the hand to play. Through good preparation, smart training and a bit of luck I'm hoping my gamble will pay off. Thanks for reading. Neil Shirleyneilshirley.com |
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