tawfeeredux's 2011 plan

tawfeeredux

Mon: rest. Went to physio in the evening for lower back pain that had been extending down & across my upper leg. physio did some work on the back, then looked at the leg. Discovered, after vigorous & extremely painful massage, that there was a small tear in the left quad, just above the knee. Had felt some discomfort in the area the last couple of weeks but had thought it was just pain referral from the back. Wouldn't have been too bad if the physio didn't keep digging into it with his thumb for another 5 mins before i had to tell him to stop. Hobbled out, extremely pissed off, fearing that participation in Friday's hillclimbs was now in doubt.
Tues: rest. Leg still quite sore from physio the previous day.
Wed: 1:15 spin. Light enough spin to see how quad felt. ok when spinning, but could feel a twinge when putting power down out of saddle. Was in 2 minds as to whether i should chance the hill climbs. Was thinkin of Dunlavin on the Sunday & possibly Charleville 2-day the following weekend, & was worried that the exertions of the hill climb might be the sort of thing that could exacerbate the problem & leave me unable to race the last couple of weekends of the season. Figured i'd leave the decision til the following day & the last club league race of the year.
Thurs: 1:30 race. Club league Batterstown. Wanted just to see would quad hold up to more exerted effort. Initially thought i'd do just one lap of the two, but as we came round the finish line, i decided to keep going & ease off towards the end of the second lap. Leg didn't feel too bad & was happy enough that i'd be having a go at the hill climbs. With about 3kms to go, i actually eased off the back of the scratch group with the intention of warming down before getting changed & going to the after-race presentation. We hadn't caught the next group so there were no extra points for any of us in scratch. For some reason though, i changed my mind, got back onto the back of the group, and as we came round last corner, i put the head down & started sprinting for the line. About 5 seconds later, i'm hitting the ground, dislocating my elbow & bringing an abrupt end to my season.


So, about 2/3 weeks earlier than planned, i'm reviewing how the season went. Just looking back now at the first post, this was all i mentioned in terms of goals:

Goals:

Mostly racing-related. I want to get to a stage next year where i'm competitive at A3 level at least. Would also like to do an Etape or something like that, but that may be for the following year.

While it's fair to say i met that goal, it was a bit vague, & I subsequently worked out more specific goals later on which I didn't post here. They were as follows:
1. Win Falling Leaves Classic
2. Top 3 in Club League
3. Top A4/A3 in Shay Elliott Memorial

Another goal only came into focus after the club hill-climb champs, namely:
4. Top 10 in National Hill climb champs

So, of the 4 specific goals for the season, i achieved precisely none:rolleyes:.

The idea was to peak in mid-May, try & maintain form for a few weeks, take a break (maybe a cycle touring holiday in France) during June, work the speed & fitness back up again in July & have a crack during August at the 1st & 4th goals. The 3rd goal wasn't achievable anyway when i discovered later in the season that the Elliott was only open to A+/1/2s. So I decided to take the races as they came at that stage of the year. In this sense, i did achieve one of the goals, as in a 2-week stretch either side of the Shay Elliott Sunday, I had 2 wins (Hammond Memorial & Emyvale GP), a 2nd (club hill climbs) & a 3rd place finish (Mondello).

At this stage, I was still plugging away at the 2nd goal - the club league - but it was only during June (when to be honest the numbers were down due to holidays), that i picked up a few results. Never really got near achieving a top 3 though, & the last few weeks were either missed due to work, or a write-off due to bad luck & stupidity.

The end of June & start of July were disrupted by injury & when i got back into racing again towards the end of the month, it was with two purposes in mind: to build form back up for the 1st & 4th goals, and to prepare for next season by racing the Suir Valley 3-day. The Falling Leaves Classic followed & I wanted it really badly, not just cos I'd won the A4 last year, but also because i wanted to rediscover the momentum i'd had earlier in the season. It didn't happen though, just didn't have enough on the day.

So to the last goal, which had been joined briefly by a fifth goal:
5. To go from A4 to A1 in a season.

As the results became harder to come by as an A2, that last goal wavered a bit, & changed to a hope of getting just one more good open race result before the end of the season. I figured it might be better anyway to start the next season as an A2, if only to give me more options when it came to choosing races. Goals 4 & 5 were scuppered though by last Thursday's events.

All in all though, very happy with the way the season went. Thought i was feeling generally a bit sick of it the last few weeks, but now that i'm off the bike the last few days, I'm itching to get back to it again. Just purchased a Garmin, an MTB bike, the updated edition of Joe Friel's training bible, and am keeping an eye out for a TT bike bargain - it never ends:D. Going to use the next few weeks planning out the season ahead. Kinda half thinkin of getting a coach, need to talk to a few guys to see what's what in that regard. Like the idea of heading away over the winter at some stage & doing some warm-weather training - didn't get to go to France this summer in the end, so would be nice to see some sunshine this year. All to be figured out over the next while - haven't decided yet if it's going to form a new thread though, may need to keep next year's prep a secret;).

Anyway, that's that. Thanks for reading & for the feedback. Until next season....

nomadic

Didn't know you started in A4 this year, that obviously didn't last too long! You had a cracking season, unlucky with the accident but at least you only missed a couple of weeks of the season.

You need to add a cross bike to that shopping list.

lalorm

tawfeeredux wrote: »

haven't decided yet if it's going to form a new thread though, may need to keep next year's prep a secret;).

It was interesting to read and you should keep this thread going next year. By the way I'll drop over with the car key this evening if you are around.

velo.2010

Even if you keep next years training plan a secret you'll have aload of guys reading this past years entries for tips! Don't delete the thread!:D

Winter sun? The Canaries looks good. Mega climbing on Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Pico de Las Nieves at 1800m(Gran Canaria) and Mount Teide at around 2350m(Tenerife) are the main climbs.

And a decent TT rig, check out Canyon and the Speedmax AL 9 for e1999. Its Alu but its light and well aero with great kit. Might be cheaper after the Eurobike show as well!

Good luck with your own recovery and see ya next year!

smithslist

tawfeeredux wrote: »

I figured it might be better anyway to start the next season as an A2

Good choice not to come A1 by end of this season, starting next year as A2, and train as a A1 you will improve.

tawfeeredux wrote: »

All in all though, very happy with the way the season went.

Great season despite your injury, congrats again on it.

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Going to use the next few weeks planning out the season ahead. Kinda half thinkin of getting a coach, need to talk to a few guys to see what's what in that regard.

Paddy Doran is your man if you want to do the coaching route, many national riders part-time and full time would also recommend him, and now(Sept period) is the time
to talk to a coach regarding next year.

tawfeeredux wrote: »

Like the idea of heading away over the winter at some stage & doing some warm-weather training.

Am thinking of headin away in mid-FEB of next year, 4\5 guys already interested, can keep you posted on it if interested...and visa-versa.

Beasty

First of all, tawfeeredux, I was very sorry to hear of your accident. I'm sure you will come back all the stronger next year

You've only been racing for a year, and have made tremendous progress. Your results throughout the year have been very impressive, and given your dedication to this you'll definitely improve further next year. This year's racing will stand you in good stead for next year, and you'll see from some of the guys around you both on the road and the track, this us a sport where you can compete at a very high level even if you start late

Here's to a rapid recovery, and hope you're back on the bike soon