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@Kyton57 I can feel the pain you are going through: I spent close to 5 years being coached, 2yr by the head coach for British Cycling Paralympic programme and 3yr by a professor in sports physiology. The experience taught me some valuable lessons: coaching is as much trial and error as it is science and trying to replicate what works one week may not work another. Even more so when you throw in all the 'noise' created by life outside of riding (work, kids, social life, etc.). Under both coaches I did reach my mental limit; which resulted in me spending time away from a training plan and spending time just enjoying riding. This may have been triggered by anything from a bad result or not hitting the power zones in successive days. Coaching is all about pushing your body and mind. I really think it is often forgotten how mentally taxing training can be and coaches need feedback to be aware of this.
Fast forward a few years and I am now coach free but use all that experience to self coach, its working I think.
Ernie, that’s very valuable - thanks for posting it.
Yeah don’t take it personally Kryton- it’s fascinating stuff. I’m sure there’s loads of us that would love to be coached if we could justify the expense so it’s always interesting to hear about experiences.
Speaking generically, I’ve always thought having a coach would be MOST useful for dealing with the very situations you’ve outlined- juggling work, fatigue, family and other stresses. There’s so many times on a generic TR plan when I think “hmmm, I’m tired from banging in fence posts all day but the plan says this” and that’s where I’ve always pictured a coach as being the one to save ones self from ones self IYSWIM.
I for one hope your faith in them and their methods is vindicated with some cracking Scott Marathon results- you’ve certainly put in enough effort 👍🏻
Gutted i'm not making the Wantage race, it's my local stomping ground and i know the routes/terrain well. Not that it means i can climb quicker than i do just because i know it... But you feel a bit 'at home'.
I raced the 3rd Round of the Nationals at Glentress at weekend. What a fantastic weekend. I knew the course was going to be a tough one, but my god that was tough! Proper old school XC with long climbs and long techy descents. In a nutshell the course was one long climb and one long descent with fantastic weather to boot.
I knew after the Saturday practice that the course suited my mountain goat rivals more so than myself and had planned to adopt the just hang on for grim death on the climbs and make haste on the descents approach. That being said I felt strong after a decent taper week leading up to it and knew that I was probably in the best shape I could have possibly been in.
I didn't get a great start (again!) as the door closed right in front of me off the start line. I still managed an all time 10 minute power record from there onwards though! That led straight into 5 laps of the closing racing I've ever had. Lap after lap I changed place with my main rival on the climb, I had to dig deep, like really deep. Somehow I managed to hang on as he attacked, then I attacked, the he attacked, then I got tunnel vision, then repeat. I would always pull out a 10 second gap or so on the descent and then I'd have to prepare myself for the battle up the climb again. As I started the the climb at the begining of the last lap I was truly prepared to surrender and let him catch me and pull away.... but that didn't happen! Knowing I just had another 12-15 mins of outright suffering up the climb I just got my head down, said a prayer and cracked on. Occasionally glancing over my shoulder to see the gap extending was a welcome sign. I done him in, on a course that definitely swayed in his favour and I was properly chuffed!!! Just one long descent to go....
I rocked over the line in 16th in Expert Cat, 8 seconds clear of my rival. Whilst a mediocre result at best, it made the last 8-9 months of training worth every second.
That's fantastic ! Well done indeed. I'm exceptionally jealous !
Nice ride R8. Great to hear you had a great battle...and won!
@crosshair My second coach was fantastic for being available for tailoring the plan to fit me. Being a Prof, training athletes was an opportunity to test theory in the real world (he would tell us when he did). With five years coaching plans under my belt I know what works and can now happily chop and change as the mood suits me. If I were to get a coach again, I would only go the way of someone who can give me a plan that fits me and my life, not a generic off the shelf plan. As you said, a coach should prescribe a plan to fit you, your strengths/weaknesses and more importantly, for those of us who this is just a hobby fit it into the hours we have available.
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Few snaps -
Top of the long loose and techy A line. Wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t at max HR piling into it.
Being chased down the rock garden
Finally getting that gap
Awesome pics 😎😎
Race Beastway tired or Z2 ride.....
I presume you can enter at the event?
You can ADSH.
I'm going, but to watch Kryton Jnr race. I shall be resting after 30 mins of some Z2 with minor SS intervals 🙂
Social Media shows a "fast" course tonight, making use of the outer hard surface.
Might be free in 2 weeks and Wantage isn’t far.
Never done a Marathon but is the 80k the distance to do? ( I can ride 80k no bother, just not sure how quick )
What sort ‘average’ of time are these done in?
What sort ‘average’ of time are these done in?
Last year, 3hrs or just below for the winners, around 3.5 - 4h for the rest of us.
Sorry to ask but what’s the terrain like? Is it technical or is it doubletrack open country stuff?
Is it a self supported job or is it like a Sportive with water stops?
Full suss 120mm 29er or fully rigid bikepack 29er?
I too raced BEMC and loved every second, the racing was amazing and the scenery was at times breathtakingly good!
Second time racing a stage race so still learning lots but loved it more than XC racing so far this year. I was amazed with how many British riders there was but I am afraid I didn't know any of you.
I will defiantly be there next year and as with many of you will also be at the next Scott MTB Marathon. I race in Renvale Race Team kit on a red Top Fuel. Feel free to say hi!
Sorry to ask but what’s the terrain like?
Ridgeway, hard packed, double tracks, grassy, typical of this area.
So looks like I've slipped a disc / trapped a nerve in my neck this week! Bugger, hope it sorts itself out soon.
The next round of the Nationals is Pheonix Bike Park in Suffolk. Anyone have any ideas what this place is like?
Dry, dusty hardpack. Long grass start/finish straight, several short very steep 10m ramp ups, lengthy single track winding through bracken and WC style 20ft high wooden bridge leading to more single track with some doubles, berms & jumps, and two National A line features of note: a) a a wooden ramp to about 3ft drop, and a near vertical 10m drop in over some railway sleepers down into a gravel sharp left berm.
Parking is in 2 big fields one of which has a small bike shop. Its exposed, so when its hot, its very hot. Tyres should be for loose over hardpack, bring lots of fluid.
Thanks Kryton, that's a great description. Not much climbing then? Other than the short rampy bits? Wondering if I'll have the edge over the mountain goats...
No. I climbed 250m in 6 laps / 90 mins last time. Its the short steep stuff the get your legs, the rest of the course is flat out.
Awesome, not quite the 900m+ in 5 laps at Glentress then!
a 10m drop!? Bloody hell.
"Drop in" aka near vertical slope.
You can probably get some idea from the photos from the MSG round here:
http://www.basilthorntonphotography.com/portfolio463541p1.html
Not XC related so a slight aside... A good reminder today that its not all about Training plans & races. Eschewing a planned 2h Z2, I attended the Saturday (Road) club ride in the Social group to keep things at least a little easy. Really enjoyed riding and chatting, and smashing the local finishing sprint followed by Coffee and cake.
After BeMC last week my legs feel really good, and 84k on a sunny day it couldn't have been more enjoyable.
^I'm jealous.
5hr Z2 Road ride for me. Lovely weather and stunning route but ouch. Amazing how much you can hurt your legs with Z2.
Slightly embarrassing that I don't know the answer - as a 46yo Vet, can I ride Sport category in the Nationals? Suits me better to ride Saturday not Sunday in the June event.
Round two of the Welsh series incorporating the Welsh champs today. The worst race I've had in ages. It's been a busy week but went out to spin the legs for an hour yesterday and felt great. Today I had nothing in the legs at all, started last and went backwards! Can't really understand why I went so badly. Totally demoralised. After half a lap I was just in a solo time trial, by half way through my hr was dropping and the last lap was firmly in z3. There were issues with race timing so we started an hour late which messed up my normal eating (I'd eaten lunch at 10.30 as normal and my energy bar at 12.30 expecting a 1.30 start before hearing of the delay) but everyone was in the same boat. Bit gutted as a climbing course should have suited me.
Bad luck Ferrals, I can’t empathise as that has remarkably the same parallels as the previous MSG XCO I posted - if you find out what was wrong please let me know. 🙂
You mentioned before about beating highly stressed at the moment, perhaps that effects us more than we think?
Cheers Kryton. Yeah maybe it does. Thinking about it i was pretty stressed on the day too as well as underlying work stress: It was a fraught morning with our toddler before i left the house; then a 2.5hr drive because of slow traffic (nearly turned around hlaf way through the drive thinking i wouldnt get there in time); I was pissed off before the start by the long delay in the race timetable, followed by being told over the tannoy we were starting at 2.15 prompt and then everyone still waiting there at 2.30 for the commisare to arrive at the start line; and then i had a fairly frank discussion with the commisaire on the start line (being the welsh champs there should have been a masters cat for sport and expert riders but it hadnt been organised, the com. didnt know who should be in masters and expert had already been set off). So all in all not the best way to start a race!
Actually, thinking about what you said before about caffiene, normally i have an instnat beofre leaving the for a race but as we were out made an accidentally stronger than normal real coffee which did leave me feeling a bit jittery.. though this would have been hours before the race started.
edit: just seen results.. dead last (though only out of 7) and 18 minutes back from the leader 🙁 wondering if i should just put a pin in racing for a bit
I doubt its the caffeine - my shots were 5 x cans of coke 45 mins pre race 😀 But that sounds a very stressful day...
I didn't think I was hugely stress at my race either, but last weeks "normal" week at work had me feeling like everything was happening in slow motion, and that I might be bored. I guess before that plates were spinning faster than I thought. I also wonder if BeMC was playing on my mind.
Well anyway, I'm going to ride a national in June in Sport cat with no expectations other than doing a race for racings sake on familiar ground, so I'm interested to see if the lack of expectation, lower workload and no international travel makes a difference in my performance!
Didn't ride the Battle in the Bowl yesterday, bit took the bar instead to keep everyone refreshed. Excellent day's racing with fantastic views of the course from the event area - thoroughly recommended for next year when hopefully it'll be over two days with camping on the saturday night.
Only marred by smacking my head on the steel trailer door at the end and spending 5 hours in A&E getting it stapled back together (not recommended!).
my shots were 5 x cans of coke 45 mins pre race
Say what now ? You had 5 cans of coke pre-race ? and we're wondering why it all went wrong ?
2018 racing takes another delay. I have Scarlett Fever. Bang goes the southern regional champs and my plan of getting a demo good gridding for the national champs
Didn’t ride the Battle in the Bowl yesterday, bit took the bar instead to keep everyone refreshed. Excellent day’s racing with fantastic views of the course from the event area – thoroughly recommended for next year when hopefully it’ll be over two days with camping on the saturday night.
Some of the guys in my club made the trip over for it and said it was an excellent event with a high standard too. Definitely one for next year!
Totally demoralised. After half a lap I was just in a solo time trial, by half way through my hr was dropping and the last lap was firmly in z3.
This sounds familiar. I had it explained to me (by Oli Beck no less) as when you're mentally and emotionally exhausted, you can't tap into that fight-or-flight instinct. Might be physically fresh, but just totally unable to get the sympathetic nervous system going.
I've been there. and it's passed with a bit of time and recovery.
I didn't race at weekend. I was planning on doing the Midlands race at Cannock but decided better of it since my shoulder was niggling me most of last week.
Fortunately the shoulder seemed to pick up and feel good again in time for the weekend so I went for a 3 hour blast around Llandegla on Saturday morning. I think most people stayed at home to watch some wedding or something as the place was empty!
Then for some reason I decided to go for a fasted Z2 ride Sunday morning which isn't something i'd done before. I was expecting a full on bonk but managed to keep going at quite a steady pace for 3 hours. Quite a satisfying ride and my god I was hungry when I got back!
I've decided my main focus is just going to be on the Nationals this year. It's quite nice not having the stress and preperation for race weekend one after the other. I was going to specifically target the Midlands Series as well but I scored a DNF at the first round, missed the 2nd round and my shoulder kept me from the 3rd round. I'll probably just do the 5 nationals and some other random, spur of the moment races. Would quite like to get at least 8 races done to give me an honest overall national standing at the end of the season. Not sure what that's worth though as it'd be easy to fnish really high if you just pick the races with easy points.
After being beaten by my main rival at the first round, and subsequently beating him at rounds 2 and 3 there's only 2 points between us in his favour!
Thanks for posting that @padkinson - I can see thats exactly where I was on sunday and great to have an explanation. Barely an ache in my legs today but mentally I'm frazzled - thankfully its a day of admin chores in work!
I think I can relate to that as well. I've noticed some of my midweek workouts seem a massive struggle when my mind is occupied with other things. On those days rest is best!
my shots were 5 x cans of coke 45 mins pre race
Say what now ? You had 5 cans of coke pre-race ? and we’re wondering why it all went wrong ?
I was thinking the exact same thing. I would recommend having nothing but water for 90 minutes before a race and then doing a caffeine gel just 5 minutes before the whistle blows. 45 minutes gives your body time to have a massive insulin hit, which will make you sleepy and lethargic just as the race starts. If you are going to do caffeine and sugar, do it MUCH closer to the start time of the race.
@r8jimbob88 I know what you mean. Its for that reason I've given up on turboing - too easy for the mind to wander when staring at a wall / tv screen.
I would recommend having nothing but water for 90 minutes before a race and then doing a caffeine gel just 5 minutes before the whistle blows. 45 minutes gives your body time to have a massive insulin hit
While not wrong, this doesn't take into account a warm up, and the associated glycogen demands of this (if you're doing it properly, warm ups are not easy).
I also must admit I scoffed slightly at Kryton's theory of not going well with caffeine. I'm a very stereotypical cyclist in this regard, the more espressos the better while I'm riding.
The study below however would suggest a lot of weight to the fact that caffeine isn't everyone's friend. I can only hope that I'm of the genotype that reacts positively, I can't imagine life without it!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29509641
I'm also a big advocate of the caffeine. I almost feel like I'm cheating with it sometimes...
Bit of an update on my own exploits/mishaps:
I had vaguely planned to race Battle in the Bowl, at least until I found out that MTBs aren't allowed in the elite race (fair enough for a CX event I suppose). Bit of a get down on Saturday put a stop to any plans though.
4 hours into a cracking MTB ride, and I'd just been thinking about how pleased I am with my skills progression of late, having finally reached the point where I'm doing things without a dropper that I wouldn't have done last year with. Coming into a fairly hefty gap jump (bottom of Eric on Pitch if anyone knows it), and I think I must have have been focusing on the jump too much, forgetting about the preceding steep corners.
I ended up having one of those slightly scary crashes where it just comes out of nowhere. No warning, no "oh shit" moment. Just riding one millisecond, face on the ground the next. I rode the 10km ish home fine, then went to A&E to get my head and nose checked. Nose is slightly broken (deviated septum), but not badly enough to do anything about. Head is fine too (as weird as ever).
That night I woke up at about 2am with pretty bad wrist pain and the sort of sick feeling that goes with broken things. I couldn't get back to sleep so walked to the hospital, where they reckon it's a fractured metacarpal and another of the little hand/wrist bones (forgotten the name). Riding on the road seems ok with a brace, managed 4hrs yesterday, but might have to give the regional champs a miss. BIt of a shame as defending champ, but don't want to make the damage worse.