Training in AZ #6

The best kind of training is racing.   We started this weekend with the first TT of the season, Race Against Time at Picacho Peak, AZ.

Picacho Peak.

Sunday is TT day out here and we braved threats of rain and strong winds out of the South.

These TT's are kind of amazing in AZ as this one drew about 300 people.....more than our SC State TT Championship.

There were 12 men in my 60-64 MM age group.   You couldn't get that many old guys together in SC if you paid $100 each in 'show money'.

We made the mistake of signing up late and getting a late start time.   We got to sleep later but in AZ, the wind blows harder and harder as the day progresses.   None the less, our goal was training and it was great for that.

The road was newly paved..........after 53 years, according to Bake, AZ does this whether needed or not.   We went out slightly down hill and with the wind.......the 10K out for me was achieved in 12:30....nearly 30mph.   The fun started at the turn and was over almost 19 minutes later.   I failed to hold 20mph coming back.   Sixth in my AG...pretty normal for me.   My power file looked identical to half a dozen more I have archived from past years.

Feedback:  All improvement in my cycling has come from loss of weight.....little help on a flat TT.  Even though I am aging (a brilliant statement), I am not losing power....yet.

Teenie was rolling in better form.   She turned in a 33:19 for 1st in her AG.........looking at the results on a bigger scale, she was 3rd against all Master Women.   She would have been 2nd in the Cat 3 and 3rd in the Cat 1/2 Women........a good day for her.

Our aerobic fitness looked strong.   We had NO decoupling......that is our power:HR ratio was less than 5% meaning we had almost no HR drift.

Our pacing was good....we each held the same power output coming in as going out.   It is very common for the power output to fall as the time ticks off. This was not the case for us.

This type of racing is great for this part of our training cycle, as we work on increasing our 60 minute power threshold.   We do 'cruise intervals' when training but racing brings out the ultimate effort.

We were both very tired last night....interesting how taxing a 30 minute 'all out' effort can be!

We have Flap Jack Flats next Sunday.....a 30K TT.  It is anything but flat.  We do eat pancakes after, hence the Flap Jack name.   Teenie is considering the UofA Crit Saturday as a bunch of her pals are doing it.   I am not likely a player as my CAT goes off at 7:30.   It gets light about that time.   I will cheer her on if she races.  Crits are of little training value in this part of our cycle.  Sometimes though, it is worth doing something just FOR FUN.  Ask the Linzanator about her Short Track MTB race........a crit on dirt.

Train hard, CAMP is just around the corner!