Friday, August 17, 2007

oooof

that about sums up the thursday night points "race." for me, it was more like the thursday night points "workout." in that sense, i had an awesome workout-- not so awesome of a race-- but awesome workout! perhaps i was a bit tired from yesterday, but really i was just out of my league. period. that lead group was faaast! wooo!!!

i didn't go for points on the first bell lap, cause larry said don't go for points on the first lap. but i think when he told me that, he meant to add in that i should also stay really, really close to the people who did go for points so they don't get too far ahead. well, they got ahead. but don't worry, i saw them again & again when they'd lap. i have no clue how many times i got lapped. 3? each time i'd try to get on their wheels, hang for a little while, then it'd be my "turn" to pull (...which i probably should have passed on...) and then i'd get dropped trying to get back on after my crappy pull. then i'd suck some wind for a really long time or try to mitigate misery with sabine and jonathan...and then we'd get lapped again-- repeat. the downs on getting lapped is you got lapped... the ups, though, are that you get to do one less lap! when you are suffering like we were, that is great news! getting lapped actually kinda rocks. that means a 70 lap points race was really a 67 lap race (or 66 or 52....okay, not that few!) . So, while I felt demoralized for 1/2 second when I got lapped, mostly I thought of the positives, that being one less lap and a draft for a little while til I get dropped again.

Well, that is about all there is to say - a great workout for sure and I know if I keep doing that every week I'll definitely have much better endurance! better endurance for.... off season.

8 comments:

place_holder said...

still thirsty?

Anonymous said...

Dear Beth “Shaffer is the Best Cheap Beer” N,

Larry also says this is your interval opportunity…or was that Warren’s good advice? No sense slogging out a chase, if you’ve concluded your passed, and won’t catch. Pull up, take a breath, then MAKE SURE to get back on the lead-main group (without actually interfering with their racing).

That group is like PB and his keirin motor. Slam down on the back of the group, suck wheel, go ahead and do your pull, and get your pitter-patter heart a-goin’…interval. You also see more “race” this way. Remember AVC’s fun? Think of it as training for next years AVC, eh?

This training concept can WORK for you because you are not one to worry about about image (evidence: you mentioned takin’ an ass-whuppin’, or “havin’ ur head up ur ass” three times in a same previous post). Of most people, YOU have the brain to give up a lap for a higher cause! On the other hand, a cool Thurs night commiserating with S&J for a few laps is not a bad life.

Another thought…maybe it’s not so much a crappy pull that gets the leaders by you. Perhaps you have a crappy “get-back-on-after-I-pull-off”? Check over your shoulder, swing high, then SLAM back down using friendly banking to moderate the speed you need to find friendly wheel-suck.

As always, moderate any advice you might hear from me with the common sense of others.

P.S. I’m watching for your first Madison report. Who are you targeting as a P?

And, this is fun-easy being an armchair velodrome hang-outer.

And, you are officially faster than me.

And your quads are cooler.

And for Q&A… does one need to have one’s own blog or website to be considered a trackie?

Take care.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

i would totally do the madison with Beth.


it was pretty evident that your legs and lungs were fatigued last nite. GOOD!!

i think you did a fine mixture of working on suffering in the chase, and sitting up and getting back on that lead group for some interval action.

you rode it well. and, it was fun watching the race.

I was soooo proud of Sabine, the way she dug hard to claw onto wheels. It's not all the time tat she wants to ride that hard and i just LOVE being able to watch it when it happens. So sexy!

winning and scoring and all that rah-rah is very hip and we dig it ... yeah, yeah.

but, it's those challenges that are met head-on that i think are the coolest (even if you get dropped!)

anyway, get some good rest. at least 8 hours a nite for athletes!


i'll be at the bar.

Velo Bella said...

Did you write this last night?

There is no way I could have written a coherent sentence last night.

Velo Bella said...

oh and last night was perfect Cyclocross Training!!!

its not the off season...

beth bikes! said...

twinkie-not thirsty anymore. i wish i had an IV at my desk; that'd be sweet.

glen- thanks for all the advice. you are definitely right about the pulling up track to get back on. i don't think i was swinging high enough.

OV- thanks! good workout for sure & good practice trying two hard days in a row. and sure i'll do the madison with you- you know what it would look like, though? hernandez: 67 laps, newell, 3 laps.

VB- yes, i did. it is hard to race at night- you get a rush of energy late at night. this would be great, although i sadly have work in the early morning....which i resume at the moment....

Anonymous said...

Beth - love your blog. You're hysterical. Kudos to you for being out there last night. I'm not sure after my explosion in the Points Race Wed pm that I would have been able to turn the cranks, much less survive 67 laps.

Your prior post, once I picked myself up off of the floor, inspired me to measure my quads (curiosity really...what else?)...I used the fattiest part of my thigh (in hopes of beating your measurement), but the best I could get was 58. Perhaps your legs were still swollen when you took that 60.75 measure... Rest assure that after tonight's Track racing while i struggle to become dozy, the first thing I'll do is reach out for the tape measure and see if I can get bigger than a 58 ;). I'll keep you posted.

--Julie G.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

julie is funny!