Topsy Turvy
We simply couldn't have known but it would have been good to have started this thing about a year ago.
Sponsorship is the biggest problem. Companies are in, companies are out. It's hard to order jerseys and shorts without knowing what logos we're putting on them.
The overall response to this thing is super positive. We've got good people backing us in the right places. A camera and light equipment house - Cinequip/Whites - came on board last night and it looks like they are going to be very helpful with our new camera set up. We bought one yesterday but we're taking it back today in order to replace it with another - same camera, better deal.
Started working out with my coach Dennis Mizerski this week. Wow. Seems like I had it all wrong. Like all wrong. I'm a low cadence cyclist, not a spinsy high cadence - the exact opposite of the assumption I've been working under. We did some testing at the beginning of the week that pinpoints this. Low cadence cyclists - Jan Ullrich - turn bigger gears more slowly whereas high cadence cyclists - Lance Armstrong - turn smaller gears faster. One is not better than the other. I've always assumed, because of my body type, that I was a high cadence cyclist. The testing we did measured cadence - the number of times I turn the crank on the bike in one minute (RPM), heart rate, and wattage - the amount of power I'm generating at the back wheel. The idea for RAAM is to get my wattage as high as possible while remaining aerobic - my heartrate within a certain, moderately untaxed zone. Lactic acid - the poison one's muscles begin to generate when the body goes anaerobic - is a bad thing in an endurance race such as RAAM. But we still need power. So we now work to improve my wattage output at lower heartrates.
So this test determined that at a cadence of 95 I was putting out 200 watts at a heart rate in the high 150's whereas at between 70 and 75 RPM I was generating 200 + watts at high 130's, low 140's. The latter is a much more efficiently run motor. Same power output using less fuel. The idea now is to train my body to be able to generate 200 watts for six hours at the same heart rate.
So we're working Total Body Fitness now. Circuit training at the gym. Wattage minded riding on the bike. Getting my body into the best possible shape - strong core, good heart, efficient muscles - so that we can begin to refine in a month or so.
Rest is key. I'm also not eating perfectly well and need more strength in my core and upper body. Diet is getting a lot of attention at the momentl.
Off to the gym now. Then to work. We go to camera on Monday. Lots going on.
Resting = 53
Sponsorship is the biggest problem. Companies are in, companies are out. It's hard to order jerseys and shorts without knowing what logos we're putting on them.
The overall response to this thing is super positive. We've got good people backing us in the right places. A camera and light equipment house - Cinequip/Whites - came on board last night and it looks like they are going to be very helpful with our new camera set up. We bought one yesterday but we're taking it back today in order to replace it with another - same camera, better deal.
Started working out with my coach Dennis Mizerski this week. Wow. Seems like I had it all wrong. Like all wrong. I'm a low cadence cyclist, not a spinsy high cadence - the exact opposite of the assumption I've been working under. We did some testing at the beginning of the week that pinpoints this. Low cadence cyclists - Jan Ullrich - turn bigger gears more slowly whereas high cadence cyclists - Lance Armstrong - turn smaller gears faster. One is not better than the other. I've always assumed, because of my body type, that I was a high cadence cyclist. The testing we did measured cadence - the number of times I turn the crank on the bike in one minute (RPM), heart rate, and wattage - the amount of power I'm generating at the back wheel. The idea for RAAM is to get my wattage as high as possible while remaining aerobic - my heartrate within a certain, moderately untaxed zone. Lactic acid - the poison one's muscles begin to generate when the body goes anaerobic - is a bad thing in an endurance race such as RAAM. But we still need power. So we now work to improve my wattage output at lower heartrates.
So this test determined that at a cadence of 95 I was putting out 200 watts at a heart rate in the high 150's whereas at between 70 and 75 RPM I was generating 200 + watts at high 130's, low 140's. The latter is a much more efficiently run motor. Same power output using less fuel. The idea now is to train my body to be able to generate 200 watts for six hours at the same heart rate.
So we're working Total Body Fitness now. Circuit training at the gym. Wattage minded riding on the bike. Getting my body into the best possible shape - strong core, good heart, efficient muscles - so that we can begin to refine in a month or so.
Rest is key. I'm also not eating perfectly well and need more strength in my core and upper body. Diet is getting a lot of attention at the momentl.
Off to the gym now. Then to work. We go to camera on Monday. Lots going on.
Resting = 53
posted by Christopher Bolton at 5:51 AM
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