Jefferson Cup Workout

OK, I'll start with the stats....

Distance: 32 miles of hard tempo and rolling hills

Time: ~1:40

Average speed: ~19.2 mph (I don't have a working bike computer at the moment so this is a rough calculation)

Today was my first hard ride of the season with two riding buddies here in Charlottesville who are preparing for the Jefferson Cup road race. Even though it's an early season race it often sells out within minutes and attracts a very competitive field. The race is held on a 10 miles of beautiful country roads just over the mountain from where we live. We did 3 laps (just as a reference, the mens 50+ race is 5 laps of the course. Ouch!). The course has 4 sections allowing for a variety of training. A road racer might divide it up even further but as a triathlete each of these four sections were distinct and had something specific offer. Here's how I split it up:

1. Flat section that includes the start/finish line (3 miles)

2. Massive hill just under a mile long responsible for splitting the field every year. (1 mile)

3. A winding flat and downhill section. (3 miles)

4. A section composed of mostly rolling hills. (3 miles)

We used the first section as recovery, rode the big hill hard, and the other 2 at a hard tempo. There were a few things that stood out to me as things I need to work on and a few things I did right.

Things to work on:

1. My power isn't smooth or consistent. At this point I'm exploding at the beginning of an effort and dieing down quickly as soon as my legs begin to fatigue. I need to do longer intervals so my power only dips slightly after the initial surge. I say this with the first 5 minutes of the bike leg in a tri in mind when you're pushing the tempo and trying to get a rhythm going, eventually settling in to a steady effort.

2. Bike handling. A lot of the curves and descents were scary. I just need to ride more. Being confident on your bike won't win the race, but it'll stop you from losing precious seconds having to slow down at every turn.

Things I did right:

1. I stretched before and after. Again, it was static stretching and it wasn't more than 5-10 minutes of it, but it made a difference. No odd muscle cramps during the hard efforts or surprise cement legs after the car ride home. I'm almost embarrassed that I wasn't doing this before.

2. Nutrition. I had a protein shake made with water and a rice cake with peanut butter before the ride, two bottles of Gatorade and a rice bar during the ride and a protein shake made with milk and a rice cake with nutella afterward. I had fuel in the tank for the whole ride and I came home not feeling like a dead man walking (every endurance athlete knows what I'm talking about). I need to start using gels again and skip the solid food during rides less than 2 hours. While solid food is more satisfying, you can't beat the convenience of energy gels.

We had a great ride. It felt really really good to be out pushing my limits again and it was good to walk away with positive points and a thing or two to focus on in the future.

The plan for this week is up in the air but at a minimum, I'd like to get in a swim workout, a few morning runs, and stick with my two strength workouts. A lot going on, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for reading.