Forest Festival

It looks like I chose the right race to do with the weather conditions not being the best on Saturday.
Stage 1 was meant to be a 15km loop with about 11km of single track. Thought they would send us up the road & then onto the fire Rd before we hit the single track, to spread the field out on the Rd climb. This didn't happen, 200 riders after about 300m when into this narrow path with room for one rider. Didn't get the best of starts & got stuck in heavy traffic which ended up taking me the next 20min to get a clear trail with very little points to pass. The next problem was that I didn't know the course & so was holding back a little towards the end when I came insight of the finish tent & crosses the line with 11.6km showing on the speedo with 260m of climbing. This put me in second. Just before the end of the stage it started raining lightly. So headed back to the car to get dry & warm. Then the rain set-in.

Stage 2 was the 5km hill climb which was again short at 4.2km. Sitting around for 2:15hr watching the rain come down didn't help the legs at all, just couldn't get going all stage. Just felt like there was nothing in the legs at all. Came 6th on a stage that should have suited me.

Stage 3 was the timed descent back to the start of the climb. With dead legs just couldn't get going & had no flow and only managed 5th on the stage. Was a little cautious due the the crash a couple of months ago, because that's still rattling around in my head.

So I was 4:50min off 1st & 1:50 off second.

It to the car we headed back home & it to the flooding all around Geelong. Water was everywhere & it was nice to know my day was over unlike those doing the Garmin 24hr.

Stage 4 was a 50km loop with around 35kmor more of single track. The decision was do I ride for 3rd with 4th only about 30sec behind, or do I go for the win. Well no question I went for it. I kept within striking distance of Tim who was leading for 30km and then lack of training & racing started to take it's toll. At the 2hr mark I was done & struggled on to the finish, dropping 6min on the riders I was riding with, for a time of 2:45:37hrs. Just couldn't get the HR up with it dropping 15 - 20bpm.

So in the end I ended up in 4th, which considering the amount of training & racing I've done is a good result. Next year the results will be different.
It was a great race, well done to Norm & the crew for putting it on. We did get rain, but it just made things more interesting & the trails held up well.

26/11 1:11:57hrs 448m climbing, 3 deck squats

27/11 2:45:37hrs 831m Climbing, 4 deck Squats

24/11 Easy 38min commute just ticking over
1 Deck Squat

25/11 42min commute 3 x 3min at race pace to blow the cobwebs out for the next 2 days of racing
2 Deck Squats

I'm looking forward to the race. Have no real expectations, has I haven't been training as much lately. It will be interesting to see how racing on the Tubulars go over the weekends as I'm keeping the Tufo XC2 Plus tyres on & it looks as if we are going to get wet & muddy. At least I'll get to sleep this year, not like for the last 8yrs at the 24hr.

Jeff's shed training session Rosanna 3/12/11

Hi Everyone,
                   I'm running a training session at Rosanna Parklands, Bachli Ct, Rosanna 2:00pm Sat 3/12. A mix of KB, Sled, MB and other training. Hope to see you there.


Cheers
Jeff

21/11 Early start & a nice easy commute 42min

22/11 Commute 40min easy
50mi KB class, lots of technique work tonight as I had 4 beginners. Worked with time 40 sec work 10sec recovery with a bit more time b/w exercises.
Around body pass 3 x's ew
OA Swings 6 sets
Cleans 6 sets
Jerks 4 sets
LCC&J 4 sets
Rack Lunge 5 sets
Snatch 2 sets

23/11 Day off, tidying things up around the home & getting the bike ready for the weekend, making sure everything is running smoothly. Did a quick 75 deck squats for a bit of mobility.
Thinking about a Deck Squat challenge like the Burpee challenge. Start with 1 on day 1 then 2 on day 2 etc to 150 days & 150 deck squats . Miss a day & make up the next day.

Here's the bike I'll race on this weekend, except 2 x 10 for the race.

14/11 The legs not feeling the best today, so very easy on the commute 44min

15/11 Commute 42min
KB Class
Around body pass 3 x 20ew
Snatch 8 x 10reps es 15sec rest B/W sets
LCCJ 8 x 8reps es 15sec rest B/W sets
OA Swings 8 x 10es 15sec rest B/W sets
Jerks 8 x 8es 15sec rest B/W sets

16/11 Did more of a technique session
Deck Squats 50
OH Squats 20kg 3 x 10  working on improving bar position over head
BB Snatch 30kg 3 x 5
Cleans 50kg 3 x 5
Front Squats 50kg 3 x 5
Done in 20min

17/11 nice commute 40min

18/11 Commute 44min with a nasty head wind on the way home
KB Class, A pure technique session today, as the AM class needs this more than the training

20/11 Headed out at 6:10am on the road bike as I needed to be home by 8am, so managed a nice ride out through Ceres for 1:47min. Didn't feel that great today so was a bit on the slow side.
Well I've entered the Forrest Festival MTB race net Sat & Sun. 4 races over 2 days will be interesting. It's been a while b/w races & training hasn't been what I'd like, but it's time do do something different. Not doing the 24hr which I've done for the last 8yrs straight on this weekend will be a shame. First race on the hardtail with the Reynolds Tubular wheels will be interesting. I finding the tubulars amazing to ride on. The comfort is fantastic & the grip & corner like nothing else, also being 820grams lighter than my other wheel set-up does help how the bike feels. 9.5kg with a strong 2 x 10 is good.

Sat 12/11/11 Busy day with the kids, off to kids party's in Geelong for Flynn. So we headed down to eastern Beach for the Milly & Riley to have a good play.
After dinner had an option for a quick session
2 x 20 deck Squats
5 x 10 Squats 42kg 15sec rest B/W sets

Sun 13/11 Headed out with David on the road bike at &:00am down to Ocean Grove for a 8:00am bunch ride. Been a while since I've been on the road bike & legs weren't feeling to bad at the start. David wanted to do 40min tempo on the way down. I was fine for about the first 15min and then those squats started to take there toll with the HR elevating above what was wanted so I dropped back into the draft to try and save something for latter. After 50min of solid riding we meet up with the bunch, which David said takes it pretty easy for the first half of the ride. Small bunch today of 16 riders & they did take it easy for about a third of the ride with the pace increasing slowly as we went along. When we reached Portarlington, the pace increased again as we headed south beside the bay. Fantastic views flashing past. Was doing high cadence work & was feeling good. Then we turned & the pain began. Rolling pace line was set & speed went from 35 to 45+kph.  Haven't done this sort of riding for year. When we hit the high 40's riders started missing turns & disappearing out the back door. Was still rolling turns & was hurting but managing until we hit a small climb. But when you are over threshold & hit a climb at this intensity I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. 2bpm off max (183) was the result with the bunch slowly getting away. I was ready to concede defeat, but David dropped back to help me get back on over the top & extend the pain. After a couple on min's sitting on I was ready to go again until the next small rise which ended up with the same 183 HR & me a dribbling mess & David dropping back to extend the joy. Lucky for me the pace dropped back & we cruised the end of the ride with the group. The only problem was that I still had another 30km to get home. The last 30km wasn't pretty with the legs asking me to stop all the way home.
In the end it was a great ride & with the Forest Festival 2 weeks away just what I needed, but should have been doing it for the last month or so would have been good. 124km 3:57hrs.