Here's Elliot from NRO showing me how to win a sprint at the training race in Clinton last week. He played it just right, and once he came around me I had nothing left to get him back. Great job Elliot, guess I'll have to be better next time. Photo - nrocycling.com

Another week has passed, and the races are sneaking up on us. The second training race in Clinton was today. I'm not sure how it played out, as I was unable to attend due to the dreaded "work" problem I have. I guess I should be thankful that I even have any work to do, with the way the building has slowed drastically here in the Bozeman area, but it sure gets in the way of training and racing. I hope everyone is getting in some good, structured training in preparation for the upcoming season.

My training has been pretty good so far this winter and early spring. I have been more focused on getting my rides in, and have had more structure in my training than in years past. I feel pretty good at this point in the season, and seem to be a little ahead of where I was last year at this time. I had hopes of racing at some early stage races like Walla Walla and Frozen Flatlands to test the fitness, but don't think I'm going to be able to make it happen. So, for me, I get one more good solid block of training in before the Rocky Mountain Roubaix race outside of Missoula in late April. Hopefully, my busy work schedule won't derail my training to bad, and I can come into the Roubaix in decent shape. Time will tell. I had one minor setback earlier this week, when I somehow tripped and fell while climbing up the side of a bouldered deck at work. Ya, graceful, I know. I managed to land awkwardly on my left leg, resulting in a painful "charlie horse" that won't seem to go away. It forced me to take a couple days completely off the bike, followed by some easy riding to "spin" the leg out. I was finally able to ride hard again today, but there's still some soreness. Prior to that, I felt great. I had an awesome ride on the trainer early in the week where I was shooting for 1 1/2 hours of sweet spot training. I felt pretty good, having just come off a rest week, and was able to up the power a notch or two, and ended up riding for 1 1/2 hours at what I thought was my functional threshold power, with a pretty low average heart rate. Obviously, my training is working to some extent, as I am definitely getting stronger. Today I had some high hopes of getting in some good climbing miles, as my current job site is near the Norris Hill outside of Ennis, MT. I was going to go up and down that bad boy several times, trying to climb at or slightly above threshold power. I though that would be some good suffering. Unfortunately, just as I finished up with work, the weather turned nasty, and I was forced abandon my plans and head home without doing the ride. It looked as if there was another long, boring trainer ride in my near future.

Once back in Belgrade, the weather was a little better, though still cool, gloomy, and spitting a little rain off and on. I decided to sneak out for a short ride on my 'cross bike before dark. I have a little loop I do that keeps me close to home in case the weather gets bad, has a mix of dirt/gravel paths, sidewalks, grass, roads, and subdivision streets. It is super fun, and much better than the dreaded trainer. I ended up having a great ride, got a little wet and muddy, and did some solid race simulation type efforts. Most of the ride was in zone 3, but I did plenty of hard riding to keep it interesting. I did a few 1 min hard effort around our subdivision loop. There is virtually no traffic, and I can hit the corners as hard and fast as I dare for some good cornering practice. There are a couple long gravel stretches where I did some good threshold work, and tons of tight corners. The corners are great for bike handling practice, and also for working on your acceleration as you power out of each turn. I had a sprint point on each loop so I could get in a few good, hard sprint efforts, which I need. I also did some short hard efforts to simulate an attack, or closing up a gap. This is a ride that I do a lot in the fall to prep for 'cross, but also serves as a great ride this time of year to help prepare for the constant speed changes encountered when the racing starts, plus, it is killer fun. I also do it a lot of times at night, with lights of course, which for some reason makes it even more fun.

Well, that's what's going on in my little world. I was hoping for a good long ride tomorrow, but it sounds like more snow is on the way. I better go put my bike on the trainer.

Here's Trey "Nails Junior" Morgan, #532 showing Dad the proper way to end a sprint, in front!

photo- Tawnya Morgan

Keep it PURE,
Brad

Clinton Training Race

First off, a big thanks to Shaun over at montanacyclocross.com for the interview and for adding this blog to his "favorites." No one has ever thought I was worth interviewing before, so that was pretty cool. I think he just needed something to post that day! Mtcx.com is where you can go for all the latest and greatest info about Montana racing and the inside scoop on Montana riders. I know I check it daily to see what's new, and you should to. Shaun has already posted his race report from the Clinton race, and it was informative and entertaining, as always. Thanks, Shaun

As Shaun reported, Brian "Freight Train" Frykman let people in on a little secret we've been aware of here on the GAS team for a while. He's a freaking animal. He picked the right time to attack, had a little help, and pretty much rode away with the race. I know Brian has a good training plan and has been training consistently throughout the winter, and it looks as if it is paying off. It's a fine example of what having and following a training plan can do for you.

This is the first time I had ever attended one of these "training races." There was a great turnout, as people are obviously itching to get the racing underway. These early season tune up races are a great opportunity to see where you're at with your training, as compared to your rivals. Although everyone has different goals and training schedules that will have them peaking at different times during the season, it's never a good sign if everyone your racing against can put the hurt on you, even if it is early in the season. If this happened to you, it's a good sign that you may need to reevaluate your training program, and see if there are things you may need to do a little differently to get your fitness level up to that of your competition. Of course, having a coach is a great idea, as he/she will be able to help you understand what you need to be working on, and why.

As for my race, it went pretty well. I put in a couple hard attacks early on the first lap. They didn't really accomplish much, but they did hurt. I did get a little gap just before the turn under the overpass. I had never been on the course before, and wasn't expecting that corner. I came in pretty hot, and had just dropped down into my "aero" position with arms on top of the bars, and suddenly had to shut it down as I realized there was a sharp, very gravelly corner to negotiate. That pretty much ended may "break", but did set Brian up to ride off the front as I was brought back into the group. GAS strongman John Curry had a "mechanical" issue, and was forced to stop momentarily, pretty much ending his race with the group. Never one to miss out on an opportunity to suffer, he still put in a hard effort chasing solo for three laps. With Frykman off the front and Curry off the back (Curry off the back-that doesn't even sound right), I just had to try and cover any strong moves off the front, and there were quite a few. I was confident in Brian's ability to get the W, so I was happy to sit in and see who would chase or attack. I covered a few moves, and tried not to get swallowed up by the sea of NRO green. The whole group pretty much stayed together. When we came down to the finish, I stayed right near the front. I was itching to give it a go from a couple K out, but decided there was just to much horsepower in the group to get off the front and hold it to the line. So, I was forced to use my "sprint," which, as usual, came up just a little short as Elliot from NRO shot past me and rode away to the finish. Sprinting is definitely one of my weaknesses, and that is something I hope to improve on this season by focusing a little more on that area of my training. All in all, I felt good. I never really had to dig to deep, and felt comfortable for the whole race. This is a good sign that my training is coming along as planned.

The best portion of the day came after the race, when the GAS team loaded up into the big green van, and headed out for a lap on the Roubaix course. We wanted to check out the road conditions, and a couple of us had never been on the course before, so this was a good excuse to put in a few more hard miles. The ride started out pretty mellow, as we were all feeling the legs after racing earlier, then sitting in the awesome van for a while. Once we got to the gravel and the first little climb, we hit it pretty hard. Curry and Frykman did not disappoint, as they cranked it up and handed out a little pain. I tried to reciprocate, and like to think I dished out a little as well. The best part of the ride was the rain and mud, not to mention a little cold thrown in before we were all back at the van. The rain came down hard, and we were all totally soaked, caked in mud, had bike that wouldn't hardly shift, and almost hyporthermic after a late ride stop to fix a flat. An epic ride for sure, one I was glad I got to be part of. Mud, cold, rain, and suffering, what a great way to spend a day.

Keep it PURE,
Brad

Spring Training

Spring is upon us. If you live here in Montana, that means the racing season is finally about to commence, and it's also probably stll going to snow a lot more. The first Missoula training race is a mere week away, with the "real" season close behind. The always challenging Rocky Mountain Roubaix has been pushed back a couple weeks from the previous years. This only means it's going to hurt a little more, as racers have a few more weeks of hard training in their legs, as well as some solid racing miles already in the bag. Many hard core racers, including some of my teammates on the super motivated GAS/Intrinsik Cycling Team will be attending Frozen Flatlands in Spokane, and the always brutal Tour of Walla Walla out in Washington. Racers will come into the Roubaix fit and ready to put the hammer down. Will you be ready???

Where should your training be at this point in the season? Well, as always, that is highly individualized and depends upon your overall goals. If you're following a periodized training plan, and if your goal race is mid summer, like say the very prestigious Tour de Bozeman at the end of July, then, generally speaking, at this time of year you should have a pretty good base established and be starting to ramp up the intensity in your training.

Hopefully you took a short break following the end of your season last year. This should have been long enough to rest and recharge your body and enthusiasm for the sport and training, but not to long as to allow all your hard earned fitness to completely disappear. Then, you began putting in some nice easy miles on the bike, as well as enjoying some cross training to help beat the dull drums of endlessly slogging away on the trainer. Some time in the gym to build muscular strength and some solid core work would also have been a wise way to spend part of the long, cold, dark winter months. You may have started with some nice long endurance rides, adding in some on-the-bike-strength-work, gradually building up to tempo rides, and occasionally adding some sub-threshold, threshold, and some climbing work into your training schedule. If your goal race is mid summer, this should be done, or very close to it.


So, what should you be doing now? With races starting to pop up in April, now is a great time to focus more on building your threshold power. Although you may have been doing a little threshold work throughout your base building period, now is the time to really focus on it. Before doing full on threshold work, a few weeks spent doing sub-threshold intervals, or sweet spot training is advisable. Sweet spot work is done at 88-94 percent of your functional threshold power, and is a great training intensity to help push your threshold power higher, without inducing quit as much fatigue as full on threshold work. Throw in two or three 12-20 minute sweet spot intervals during a couple of your weekly endurance rides, and you'll be ready for some full on threshold work after six to eight of these sweet spot rides. Once you've progressed to full on threshold intervals, which are done at 96-105 percent of threshold power, you can gradually increase the amount of time spent in this zone. Depending on your level of fitness, you can start with 2 x 12-15 minute intervals, then progress to 3 x 15 minute intervals, followed by 2 x 20 minute intervals, and 3 x 20 minute intervals. These are hard efforts, and require some recovery, but can be done up to a couple times a week. You should eventually be able to ride for 1 hour at this level of intensity, but it will hurt. A great workout for this time of year is to do a sweet spot or threshold ride with some high intensity burst thrown in. While riding in your sweet spot, do some bursts of 20 to 30 seconds every 2 to 5 minutes up to about 120 percent of functional threshold power, not allowing your intensity to drop out of your sweet spot or threshold zone after the burst. This is a great ride to help you get ready for the constant speed changes you will encounter in your races, as well as helping with being able to recover slightly, even at a fairly high intensity. Another area to address as the racing season approaches is short term power. Doing a few short, 1 to 2 minute intervals of high intensity will also help you prepare for those speed changes, and perhaps give you the ability to create some separation from the pack to start a breakaway, or hang with the peloton as those breaks are constantly being chased down.

Althougth the first races of the season may not figure into your overall goals, if you've done your work up to this point, you can still be competitive and get in some good racing miles. There will be some racers who are in exceptional shape, even this early in the season. If you're following a periodized plan you may not be one of them, don't let this discourage you. Use these races for training. Get in some good, solid miles at race intensity, and some good racing experience. Get used to riding in the pack again, throw in some attacks, chase down some breaks, try some things you may be afraid to "risk" doing in a race that "counts". Most of all, have fun, whatever that means. I still haven't figured out what the fun part is, as most of the time I'm suffering to bad for it to be even remotely fun, but, regardless, I'll still be paying my hard earned money to toe the line, and see what I've got week in and week out, hope to see you there.

Until then, keep it PURE.
Coach Brad

Welcome

Racing excellence. I think that is one thing many, if not all, bike racers are striving for. But, what is racing excellence? Is it winning every race? Is it not getting dropped two minutes into the race? Is it leading out your teammate for the sprint or chasing down the break for your team leader? Surely it can mean different things to different people. I am going to define racing excellence as being the best you can be, on the day you need to be your best. Sure, everyone wants to win, but we all know that everyone is not capable of winning. Everyone is, however, capable of being the best they can be. How good is that? How good can YOU be? What is YOUR best? That depends on many factors- genetics, age, time constraints, nutrition, family support, and mental strength (willingness to suffer) to name just a few. One of the big limiters of how good you can be is deciding how good you want to be. How BAD do you want it? How much time are you willing to give in pursuit of your goals? Are you willing to change your lifestyle to become a better racer? Maybe you are, maybe you're not, but either way, you can still be the best you can be. The simple fact is, the more you're willing to give to the sport and your training, the better your best can be. Most of us have busy lives that require us to do crazy things like work 40+ hour a week. We have families, kids' sporting and school events to attend, relatives in town, yards that need mowed, etc, the list goes on and on and on. This is a limiter to how good your best can be. So, we can't all be the next John Curry (awesome Montana racer, I'm sure you've all heard of him), but we can figure our limiters into our plans to set real and attainable goals. We can asses our current life situations , fitness level, training history and DESIRE to race, train, and win and use all that information to help us be the best we can be on the day we need to be our best. We can look to science, past experience, course profiles, strengths, weaknesses, and goals to help understand and guide us through the training process. Once we decide how much we are willing and able to give to get to our best, we can tailor our training plan to fit into and around our busy lives. We can plan our season and workouts so we are at our best on the day we want to be, not on some random Wednesday while we're out hammering on a group ride, but on the day of our goal event when it counts. This can all seem a little overwhelming at times. Should I ride or rest today? Should I go hard, or just spin the legs? Do I have a plan to get me to be the best I can be on the day I need to be my best, or am I just "riding around in circles"? Most self coached racers have asked themselves these questions. I know I certainly have. Having a coach can help put all of this together. A coach can structure a plan that fits your individual needs, and help guide you to your goals. A coach can focus on how hard you should or shouldn't train at any given time, so you can focus on doing the training to the best of your ability. A coach can write training plans and review training data to keep you on track, or reroute you if you get derailed by an illness or other situation. A coach can motivate and inspire, teach and mentor. Virtually every bike racer can benefit from having a coach.

Though I'm new to coaching, I am not new to riding and racing, I spent a few years "riding in circles" and still had some decent results, but wanted more. So, I decided to learn how to get more from what I could give. I've read all the training books, experimented with different training plans, learned from others, and taken seminars on training with power. With the increase in knowledge, came an increase in results. Here are just a few:

• former Montana Road Race State Champion, CAT 3
• former Montana TT State Champion, CAT 3
• former Montana Criterium State Champion, CAT 2
• former Montana Series Points Champion, CAT 3 and CAT 2
• 1st place GC, High Plains RR, Devils Tower, Wy, CAT 1,2,3
• 3rd place TT, State Games of America, Colorado Springs, CO, CAT 1,2
• 1st place, Helena RR, CAT 1,2,3
• 2nd place, Big Sky Cyclocross Race, CAT 1,2,3
• 1st place, Rolling Thunder Cyclocross, CAT 3

I was able to accomplish all those things and more over the past few years, even though I have a fairly busy life. I am married to my lovely and supportive wife, Tawnya, who puts up with all the hours on the bike, the leg shaving, the skin suits, the traveling to races, and all the other things being a bike racers brings into ones life. And, we have two young children, Mariah 8 and Trey 5, who are very active and keep us running in circles on a daily, almost hourly basis. I also own a tile installation business, that usually keeps me busier thanI want to be. My family, of course, takes priority over my cycling, and unfortunately, my business does as well. I have also had to battle back from a fairly serious injury recently after suffering a broken hip in a TT crash a couple of years ago. So, I know what it takes to fit cycling into a busy life, be fairly successful at it, and still be married, (thanks for the support Tawnya). I know what it's like dealing with adversity. I know what it's like to want to give more so you can get more, yet being unable to do so. I had to prioritize my goals, and focus on training smarter, not training longer or harder, so I could be the best I could be.

Most recently, I have attended a USA Cycling level 2coaching clinic where I learned a ton about sports science, nutrition, training plan design, and also had a chance to interact with and learn from about 30 other USA Cycling coaches. With that, I feel that I'm at the point now where I can do all those things a coach needs to do to make someone a better racer. I think I can help racers with their pursuit and understanding of racing excellence. All I need now is someone to be my first success story. Let me know if you're interested, it could be you.

So, welcome to my blog. I plan to use it to relay some coaching and training information to those who are interested, as well as write about my own training and racing throughout the season. If I have athletes who are willing, I'll post some of their training data and info as well. There will probably be some race reports from my team, GAS/Intrinsik Cycling, as well as a few tidbits on what my family is up to, since we all race bikes of some sort. Hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think.

Coach Brad