March 2015: Training Ramblings.....The Racing Starts

March was a great training month and we saw the race season start too which was good as it's always exciting to see how the training numbers translate into racing.  The first race was the MABRA season  opener at Black Hills which is a circuit race with a nice little hill and normally a good field. As per last year a few of us from ABRT rolled in the Masters 35+ field and aimed at repeating Hogan's win from last year.  

The season opener at Black Hills.

Unfortunately it was not to be as a break got away early and was never to be seen again.  The good news however, was that I felt great and with an all time FTP high the numbers did in fact translate to racing.  The key for me was to stay aggressive and get some early season confidence to head into the Spring.  Ultimately I initiated the chase break with a couple of laps to go that also included Hogan who was able to take the chase sprint for 7th and me rolling in at 12th after leading out the sprint.  The numbers from the race can be seen here at Training Peaks

Time: 56mins
Distance:21.6m
Normalized Power: 369w
Ave Power: 292w
Max Power: 1063w

You can check out Hogan's video below:



The following week was suppose to be the Cranky Monkey 6hr MTB race but with some rain in the days prior the race was cancelled in order to protect the trails. I am all for trail preservation but most agreed that the race could probably have continued....it's funny when I look back and remember some of the conditions we raced in while in the UK. If you don't like the rain you'll never ride/race in the UK!

So with that we now look forward to the Spring and more races in April.....now the season really starts with Xterra Jersey Devil at the end of the month.


What I am drinking this month:
Gimme Coffee: From the Chirinos Cooperative in Peru. Sustainably harvested at 1,600-1,900 meters above sea-level. Tasting notes - chocolate, almond nougat with a lingering sweetness. This has quickly become one of my favorites.

March Total: 582miles/44hrs 16mins/2835 TSS
Swim: 9.97m/5hrs 21mins/ 208 TSS
Bike: 460m/25hrs 13mins/ 1600 TSS
Run: 112m/13hrs 42mins/ 1026 TSS