Ironman World Champions Tim DeBoom and Normann Stadler both visited the A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina in the past few weeks. They were joined by the CTS Coaches, Kirk Nordgren and Lindsay Hyman, respectively. Also joining them was CTS Premier Coach Dean Golich, who was a member of the F1 Group of experts that helped optimize Lance Armstrong's equipment and positioning on his road and time trial bikes.
[if !mso]> Cyclists are the biggest sandbaggers and secret trainers around. It's not that hilly" More cyclist code phrases: This has sort of been said: "Your bikes (plural) are worth way more than you car." After hammering along with others in the group ride, you recall that you scheduled EM workout specified that HR > 160, and that you were mistaken to think that the plan was HR < 160. ...You've asked your kids if they have cleaned their room "As Prescribed"!
They'll say anything to soften you up for the kill. Don't let this happen to you. Study this handy rider's phrasebook to find out what they really mean when they say:
"I'm out of shape"
Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your mortgage rate.
"I'm not into competition. I'm just riding to stay in shape" ---
Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter, babbling and whimpering. I will win the line sprint if I have to force you into oncoming traffic. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seat post, and spray energy drink in your eyes.
"I'm on my beater bike"
Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It weighs less than a fart and costs more than divorce.
"It's not that hilly"
Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign. Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You have a
39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon.
"You're doing great, honey"
Translation: Yo, lard ass, I'd like to get home before midnight. This is what you get for spending the winter decorating and eating chocolate. I shoulda married that cute Cat 1 racer when I had the chance.
"This is a no-drop ride"
Translation: I'll need an article of your clothing for the search-and-rescue dogs.
"It's not that far"
Translation: Bring your passport
- Iain
Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign. Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You have a
39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon
- I like this one especially! [if gte vml 1]>
I bonked
(All I took for a 4-hour hammerfest was a half-empty bottle of month-old OJ and a moldy Twinkie)
If you don't crash, you're not going fast enough, dude!
(I crash a lot)
I don't own a car, dude!
(I'm a better person than you)
Why doesn't somebody do something about all these potholes?
(Why doesn't somebody else do something about all these potholes?)
I do all my own bike maintenance
(When I squeeze the front brake lever, the bike shifts gears)
Thanks for waiting
(Wipe that smug grin off your ugly face)
Hey, did you guys hear about those new 1.8 gram carbon-fiber quick-release skewers with titanium springs?
(I am a very lonely person)
You pass the dirt bikes on a good decent.
You look at you legs and name the crash that goes scar.
You look at your legs and there are so many scars you lost count of the previous statement a long time ago.
All right! The new community is up and live. I've been waiting for this day for quite a while and I'm really happy to see that people are already starting to join. For years I've been fortunate enough to travel around the country and the world meeting athletes who have inspiring personal stories, and I hope this becomes a place where all of those athletes can tell all of those great tales.
We're all athletes and we have challenges to overcome in order to achieve our personal goals. Right now, Lance's biggest challenge is the fact he's been out of professional cycling for more than three years. Had he not retired, he would have ridden about 140, 000 kilometers between July 2005 and now. It's impossible to make up for those lost kilometers between now and January (obviously), but I'm very impressed by how quickly his sustainable power output is increasing. He responds to training very well, and he always has, so I'm confident he'll be ready. You can look at the three years out of the sport as detrimental to his endurance base and power, or you can see it as a three-year break from the cumulative stress (physical and mental) of being a professional cyclist.
As we all know, adequate recovery is crucial to performing at your best. Perhaps the time off will act as a giant recovery block. When you're training, it's common to take one rest day every 7-10 days, and one rest week every 4-6 weeks, and a few weeks of recovery at the end of a long season. Though it remains to be proven, I could argue that three years of staying fit but not racing might be the appropriate "recovery period" following 15 years as a pro, and that Lance can and will return to the pro peloton as good or better than before. That remains to be seen, but what I can tell you is that his enthusiasm for training and racing is higher now that it was before he retired.
Stay tuned, we'll have some fresh video from the wind tunnel and the velodrome testing coming up soon.
Chris
One of the most difficult aspects of launching an athletic comeback is managing the transition from your out-of-competition lifestyle back into your pro-athlete lifestyle. When Lance retired from cycling in July of 2005 he didn’t stay idle. He rapidly replaced his training, racing, and team obligations with activities related to his family and foundation. If anything, he’s been busier in the years since he retired than he was while he was racing.
When Lance decided to return to professional cycling, he could not simultaneously flip a switch and erase all plans he had made for the late summer and fall. There were meetings and events on his schedule that had been planned months in advance, and he wasn’t going to back out of them simply because he’d decided to race his bicycle again. This made his training schedule for October more of a challenge than usual, but he still managed to get on the bike for 20-24 hours a week throughout this month. Here’s a look at an outline of his training plan for the month:
Lance’s Training Outline for October 2008
2 x per week 5-5.5 hrs endurance pace
2 x per week 3-4 hrs endurance pace with 2 x 20minutes at just below LT pace (380-400watts)
1 x per week Tuesday-nighter
1 x per week 3-4 hrs with 2 sets of 4 x 20seconds max effort x 40 seconds recovery
1 x per week day off-travel, rest.
Overall his training is progressing quite well. His performance during his longest endurance rides has stayed pretty consistent over the past few weeks, but these rides are taking less and less out of him. That indicates he’s adapting to the increased training volume and it’s time to incorporate more intensity. He’s been doing relatively long intervals just below his estimated lactate threshold power to start building his sustainable power at threshold, and some efforts above threshold to bring up his power at VO2 max. I say “estimated lactate threshold power” because we haven’t gotten him into the lab yet, but with 15 years of data and Lance’s knowledge of his own performance, our estimates are typically within 10 watts of his actual LT power.
In addition to putting in the miles and starting on some structured intervals, Lance spent some time out on the road with aerodynamics guru Steve Hed. After more than three years off a time trial bike, we didn’t want to just throw Lance back into the same time trial position he used in 2005. Although we’re not starting from scratch, the time off actually allows for greater opportunities to make significant changes to his TT position. The time with Steve was quite successful and we expect to see very good (meaning low) drag numbers when we go to the wind tunnel on Monday, November 3. The next day we’ll test any tweaks we make to his position using a power meter in real-world conditions to confirm that changes made in the wind tunnel actually make him faster on the road.
If you want to receive updates from Lance and me, we’re both on Twitter now. Simply go to www.twitter.com/lancearmstrong to start following Lance’s updates, and go to www.twitter.com/trainright (ChrisCarmichael was already taken) to follow mine.
Honestly, once Lance gets a bit faster on the road, I’m going to have to start getting in the car earlier during his training rides. Last weekend I rode with Lance and Taylor Phinney during the Livestrong Challenge in Austin, Texas, and Lance dropped the hammer with about 15 miles to go. Mini-Phinney stayed with him, not surprisingly because he has a phenomenal engine, but this old man was jettisoned like last week’s leftovers. I can handle getting dropped by those two, though. I’m happy to be in the shape I’m in and though I considered a comeback myself (just kidding), Lance better be able to drop me or I’m not doing a very good job as his coach.
This coming Saturday, Lance will compete in a relatively short individual time trial at the Tour de Greuene in Texas, and with his good friend John Korioth, aka “College”, in a 44-kilometer two-man team time trial on Sunday. He first did this event as an exhibition with Eddy Merckx in 1996, while he was still battling cancer, and Lance and Kevin Livingston finished second in the two-man time trial in 1997. It’s a far cry from a Tour de France time trial, but I think it will be a good training event for Lance. From a coaching perspective I’ll be less focused on his power output and more interested in his attitude and his impression of his performance.
Once Lance gets through mid-November, his schedule will open up considerably because he’ll be done with most of the events he put onto his schedule before announcing his comeback. Then he’ll be able to further increase his focus on training and preparing for his return to elite-level competition. This will include some long motorpacing sessions in December to expose him to long periods of time at race speed, and an Astana team camp early in the month.
August to January is a short time to go from a fit-but-retired athlete to an elite-level pro, but Lance is well on his way to doing just that. He’s making great progress, especially considering the extremely high number of commitments he’s had to juggle for the past few months. The lives of pro athletes are somewhat simpler than most people’s, and while Lance’s life will never be as simple as it was back when he was a young pro in 1993, I’m looking forward to the days when he has a little less on his plate. They’re coming soon.
