[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 02 (ending 2011-12-25)

Hello everyone. I've been fighting off illness for most of the week. There is a balance between doing training and recovering from a cold, even a minor one. A minor head cold is not a dealbreaker for many training rides. Of course, training too hard in cold weather can divert energy away from the immune system, complicating a simple cold. I do not enjoy being sick.

Workouts:

12-19 Monday
Prescribed: 45-60 minute recovery ride.
Actual: Easy spin to work, along the usual Central Expressway route.

12-20 Tuesday
Prescribed: Crossfit workout in the morning, followed by on-bike sprints session.
Actual: As prescribed. Crossfit was good, with a challenging workout of the day (WOD) involving box jumps and kettle bell swings. Dan sometimes prescribes sprints just after Crossfit to take advantage of neuromuscular training. The sprints were the best I've done in a while, with a max wattage of just over 1400W. Someone my size ought to generate more wattage than that in a sprint; this is one of my training goals.

12-21 Wednesday
Prescribed: Unstructured ~60 minute ride with stretching session.
Actual: I woke up with a sore throat this morning. I did a loop ride (defined as a ride on Alpine, Portola, and Sand Hill roads) around lunchtime, which may not have been a great idea. I cannot recall if I managed to get the stretching in, which means I likely did not.

12-22 Thursday
Prescribed: Crossfit workout in the morning, plus 1 hour ride with some tempo efforts.
Actual: No workout. Woke up feeling less well. Stayed off the bike and ended up leaving work early due to not feeling well. Tried to do some stretching in the evening, but decided against since I really was not feeling well.

12-23 Friday
Prescribed: 2-3h tempo combo ride with stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. I was feeling a little better this morning. I waited until the warmest part of the day to ride. The ride itself was very good: I felt stronger than I have in a while. Stretched after the ride.

12-24 Saturday
Prescribed: 3h30m ride with two 20+min climbs, doing 90min sitting 60sec standing on climbs, plus stretching session.
Actual: No workout. I woke up this morning to green mucus, signs of a possible chest cold. Blech. Tried to recover as best as I could.

12-25 Sunday
Prescribed: 90 minute endurance ride with some 10min Z3 efforts, plus stretching session.
Actual: As prescribed. I was feeling somewhat better today. I rode up and down Canada Road once the weather got "warm" (around 8C, or 48F). Merry Christmas!

Weekly summary:
Time: 8h16m
Distance: 103.73 mi
TSS: 462.4

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

[JEP Coaching Scholarship] Report for Week 01 (ending 2012-12-18)

Hello everyone. My name is Jose Soltren. I was fortunate to receive a JEP Coaching Scholarship this year! In the coming weeks, you'll hear more about the training and racing I am doing.

For those who don't know, the JEP Coaching Scholarship is named in honor of John Peckham, who was an Alto Velo (altovelo.org) member and an original scholarship recipient in 2005. John was struck by a car and killed in 2006 while out training.

About me: I'm a Cat 2 road racer, racing age 27 in 2012, who joined Alto Velo in early 2011. I've been racing in the NCNCA district since 2010, previously with Los Gatos. I moved to the area in 2009, after getting my Cat 2 upgrade on the East Coast and graduating from MIT with a Master's in Computer Science. Apart from cycling, I enjoy working at NVIDIA as a software engineer, mentoring a young man named Kevin through the Big Brothers program, and studying to become a private pilot. I live with my fiancee, Jane Wolcott, in Menlo Park.

Season Goals:
- Be competitive in district races
- Learn to work as part of a team
- Get a starting spot at the Hellyer Velodrome Challenge

Training Objectives:
- Race weight of 175 lbs
- Develop and maintain sprint and attack power
- Improve pack handling

Weekly Overview:

Workouts:
12-12 Monday
Prescribed: Meet with Coach Dan Smith (sportvelo.com) to establish annual plan.
Actual: Dan and I sat down and discussed my aforementioned season goals and training objectives. I left the meeting with an annual race plan completed, which also highlighted which races I am planning to target more seriously. My 2012 race calendar is on my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/2011/12/2012-racing-calendar.html .

12-13 Tuesday
Prescribed: Morning workout at Defiance Crossfit, plus commute to work with a few 5 minute Z3 tempo efforts.
Actual: I felt great during the Crossfit workout but wanted to throw up afterwards!

12-14 Wednesday
Prescribed: Z2-3 commute to work, 1h on rollers with 10min Z3 efforts, plus 30 minutes stretching.
Actual: Rode to work, and rode the rollers after. Felt pretty good. I've taken over the living room to do stretching exercises.

12-15 Thursday
Prescribed: Morning workout at Defiance Crossfit, plus Z2-3 commute to work.
Actual: As prescribed. I discovered that I can jump on a fairly tall box, and can swing a heavy kettle bell. The ride in was good, cold, but good.

12-16 Friday
Prescribed: 2-3h flat-rolling ride with some 10min Z3 efforts before work.
Actual: Rode 2h45m before work. Discovered that home, to Canada and 92, to work takes about 2h45m in Z2-Z3. Solid ride.

12-17 Saturday
Prescribed: 3h road ride, with two 20+min climbing efforts, during which alternating between 1.5min seated, 1min standing (I call these "90-60s"), plus stretching afterward.
Actual: Long ride up Kings and West Alpine, doing sitting-standing efforts. Felt better than I thought I would out of the saddle. Did stretching when I got home.

12-18 Sunday
Prescribed: Day off. Be lazy.
Actual: As prescribed.

Weekly summary:
Time: 13 h 15 min
Distance: 150 miles
TSS: 626

(Distance and TSS only incorporate rides for which I have power data.)

I've copied this report to my blog at http://bikefleet.blogspot.com/, where you can also find past updates, race reports, and more!

Thanks for reading.

--Jose

2012 Racing Calendar

I recently met with Dan Smith (sportvelo.com) to establish my 2012 racing calendar.

Some considerations were:

* Preference for local races over out of district races (minimize travel).
* Preference for later season start.
* Getting married in August, and ensuing travel, effectively ends my season.
* Realistic race schedule, avoid burnout.
* Hope to compete in the Hellyer Velodrome Challenge this July.

As a result, my race season begins in mid March, and ends in late July.

I am planning to start the following races:

Mar 18 Bariani Road Race

Mar 25 Regalado (Warnerville) Road Race

Apr 14 Chico Stage Race
Apr 15 Chico Stage Race

Apr 22 El Dorado Hills Criterium

Apr 28 Wente Road Race

May 05 Cat's Hill Criterium

May 13 Panoche Valley Road Race

May 20 Scotts Valley Grand Prix

May 28 Memorial Day Criterium

June 03 Dunlap Time Trial

June 09 Campbell Criterium

June 17 Nevada City Classic

June 23 Pescadero Coastal Classic Road Race
June 24 Burlingame Crierium

July 06 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge
July 07 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge
July 08 Hellyer Velodrome Challenge

July 22 Menlo Park Grand Prix Criterium

July 29 Spring Hill Road Race

(Race dates are tentative, and based on the NCNCA 2012 Race Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=g533udgvcn6d0o6drp8ubatcuo%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles )