Week 3: A Time Trial and a Drugged Pug

This was a tough week of training.  It was supposed to be, being the last week of a block and what-not.  Next week is all about recovery and absorbing the physical stresses I've doled out on myself.  I'd like to say that I know I've trained correctly because of how fatigued I am, but I think I'm losing some gains because of nutrition.  I'm not eating low quality food (as a rule), just too little.

This past weekend I planned on crushing a 20K time trial using some new software from Best Bike Split on my new Garmin 520.  Then, I had high hopes for placing well in two criteriums on Sunday.  But as plans go, these went...

A shot of me after the time trial.  The beard IS aero!

Balancing how I have felt with what I've seen on the scale, and what little I know about developing fitness while losing weight, I will try to eat more the follow few weeks.  I'll start with adding some source of lean protein (100 - 200 calories) shortly before bed.  I'll also increase my protein with breakfast. I'm borrowing some ideas I got from the Velo News Fast-Talk podcast.  Eventually I'll write up what I've learned about nutrition, weight loss and performance, but I need a little distance and perspective to make it meaningful.

That said, I did hit my lowest weight as a cyclist this week, 201.2 pounds.  I started the week at 206 (but I always start the week very high due to inflammatory responses to the stresses of the weekend's rides). I think I can drop 20 pounds still, but that'll have to come slowly over the next year or so.

For the time trial I used some software from Best Bike Split that calculates the fastest pacing plan given your information like FTP, weather, your weight and bike configuration.  I didn't have an accurate route loaded into the software so it was a little funky on the race, and it was just my second try at it (golden rule: Don't try new stuff on race day), but regardless, I was sore before the race and just could NOT hit my numbers.  It was frustrating at first because they were power numbers I hit regularly.  But, again, with the lack of fuel, three weeks' fatigue and what not ...  All told, I still had a good time, 28:46 for the 20K, which was one of the better times on the day, but far from what I'd hoped.  (I think there's a lot of promising things with the BBS (Best Bike Split) for me, but I'll have to spend more time on it and do a write-up later.)

Here's a video my wife shot of me leaving the line.  (They didn't have anyone holding bikes!)

What you might not realize is that packing the car for a bike race is a chore.  I'm working on streamlining the process, getting duplicate materials like tools, tubes, air pumps and such so I can just have a "Go-Bag" I throw in the car with my bike before races.  Being more efficient with this will make me a better racer because it will reduce stress and trips up and down the stairs in my house (I store all my bike stuff in my man-cave upstairs).

Friday night I spent a few hours working on these go-bag ideas, along with setting up the time trial bike and tuning it for Saturday, as well as getting my road bike ready for Sunday.  After Saturday's race I was SPENT.  Still, I had to unload the time trial stuff from the car and load up the criterium stuff.  I wasn't looking forward to the races Sunday, getting up at 4 AM to make the first start time and the driving, 3 hours each way.  But, I knew it would all help prepare me for Tour of the Gila in April.

At 3:30 AM I was wide awake, emotionally ready to go.  I got up, started getting ready.  I convinced my #1 fan (my wife), to sleep in and enjoy a relaxing day, so I was trying to prepare in quiet.  She got up anyway and we noticed that her dog, I call him Chuggies, wasn't right.  He was unbelievably hyper, couldn't walk or hold still and was very bloated.  Eventually he was in a lot of physical distress, and certainly acting out of character.

After calling our local vets and finding that our go-to guy is out of town and the others ... well, they don't even have emergency numbers posted, we ended up rushing him to Tucson.  The best guess, right now, is that he consumed something toxic, perhaps a mold of some sort.  He's not in good shape.  He's staying overnight at the vet-hospital, and we will see how things are in the morning.  In the mean time, nothing can be done for him other than to keep him hydrated.  He's displaying severe neurological impairment, so they can't give him any medications (luckily he's not in pain from his stomach anymore), or perform surgery, if a blockage or something was discovered.

Here he is watching me get race stuff ready, I think.  He looks everywhere, all at once.

I'm pulling for Chuggies, he's a little dog with a super engaging personality. I've thought about making him a service dog because when crossing the street, he can look both ways for safety!  Seriously though, we are very worried and concerned, but all that can be done is being done, so we wait.

As for next week:  I am looking forward to some recovery rides, rest and eating a bit more.  Next weekend I will be participating in the Santa Catalina Omnium.  The criterium on Saturday is a bit technical, and I will have a lot to learn.  The road race is defined by a climb.  Climbs can be tricky.  If it's the right distance I'm strong enough to shell the climbers and sprinters and usually those that are left I'll be faster than on the finish.  So, it will be a lot of fun.

Until then, thanks for following along.