Gregg Brekke Coaching

I like to say there are no bad days for cycling, just bad clothing/equipment choices.

Well – I was wrong. No equipment/clothing could have improved the conditions for the June 5, 2010 installment of the Mohican 100 MTB race.

Goopy “fresh concrete” mud covered most of the singletrack course for the ultra-endurance MTB race. Pretty miserable going for the first 20 miles or so – all the singletrack was a mess. The group I was riding with did got to the first checkpoint (24 miles) at 3.5 hours!

On a slick and rocky fast downhill prior to the second checkpoint, a rider went down in front of me and I had to bail to avoid going over him. My left elbow and knee got pretty torn up. Got going again and was checked out at the aid station – wrapped in gauze and duct tape, I kept going. Unfortunately my left hand was messed up so shifting the front rings was nearly impossible.

I got to the last aid station (56 miles) at 9.5 hours and made the call that going into singletrack for the last 6 miles wasn’t in my best interest given that I couldn’t shift and my left arm wasn’t functioning too well.

Toughest ride I’ve ever done. The finish times for ALL riders was nearly 50% longer what it had been in previous dry years. Hated to DNF, but heading into singletrack for another 1+ hour while injured wasn’t looking too good.

Three weeks later, my left arm is still suffering a little nerve trauma but it’s getting better…

gregg Uncategorized

A truly awesome day of riding. Sunshine, dry, nice temperature – easy pace to get accustomed to new bike and a new trail. Sweet.

Mohican Ride Details at Garmin Connect –  by gdbrekke at Garmin Connect – Details.

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I have to admit that in 2009, I put a lot of expectations in the cyclocross season. My family had been in transition since the summer of 2008 – we’d moved to the Cleveland area in phases, had trouble selling our home and were finally settled by July 2009. But international travel for work and further transition details kept me from any significant base training.

With 25 years of road racing in the bank I could hang with the gang but didn’t have the muscle endurance to keep max efforts for very long or hold my own on steep grades as I could in previous seasons.

So, these excuses aside, I had very little endurance coming into the ‘cross season. At the worst, dedicated ‘cross racers need to start base training in May. Here is my story…

MAY

No time off. Extra work on weekends. Huge convention in July to prepare for. I commute to work. Must decide if I’m a bike commuter who wants to race or a racer who commutes to work.

JUNE

Ditto of May. Embarked on a 400+ mile ride from Cleveland to Grand Rapids, Mich. Lots of miles in five days riding, but at an average of 15mph, not much real work being done.

JULY

The big week-long convention. Then finally move into new house and SUPER-SICK for three weeks while still having to go to work.

AUGUST

Two weeks vacation – amusement park, five 20+ mile rides, a few three mile runs. Begin hitting the trails and a few ‘cross team training sessions.

SEPTEMBER

International work trip to Israel/Palestine – two weeks of hard work, long days, little rest and NO exercise. One week back and then a week-long trip to NYC. Spent two hours a day on the treadmill at my hotel… Changed groups on my ‘cross bike from Campy Chorus to SRAM Force. Missed the first race at Wendy Park and did OK at the Kent State (Stark Campus) race Sept. 26 – finished in the last half during a driving downpour and shortened race due to lightning. Lovin’ the ‘cross…

OCTOBER

Leroy Township race Oct. 6. I’m so ready for this race. I’ve had two week to do a bunch of lactate threshold training and finally worked a few real sprint workouts. But NOOOO. On the third lap I flatted. My spare wheels were in the BACK OF MY CAR! I warmed up on the course and though there was no way I could have any problems. Surprise, hit a rock going through one of the mud pits. Finished DEAD LAST. Humble pie for lunch.

Willoughby Cross My Heart (and hope to die) Oct 17. Again, a pretty decent two week training period between races. Crazy muddy course. Strong start and stayed in the top 15 for the first few laps. Then disaster struck – I rode over some barrier tape that had torn free and it was sucked into my cassette. I tried to “ride it off,” but shifting seized and I had to stop to unroll the tape and pluck pieces out of my rear derailleur. Saw at least 10 positions pass me. Truth be told, I slowed down in final three laps anyway. Remember my lack of muscle endurance training? Didn’t get lapped and won the sprint for the next-to-last lapped rider – nearly 12 minutes behind first place. Stink.

Chagrin River – Day 1 (Halloween Cross) Oct 31. Team Cutter (i.e. SnakeBite) made a great showing in their retro “Cutter” shirts and retro helmets/shorts/tube-socks! This was my second race on my Revolution Wheelworks REV-25x wheels with Tufo Primus tires. Love the feel of this super-light ‘cross wheel setup. Used the Tufo tubular tape…

OK, so this course is WET. Three deep-dives through water filled ditches. On the second lap going through one of the ditches, my rear wheel seizes – I’ve rolled my rear tubular tire! Crap. Only 200 meters from the start/finish and the pit, where I’ve fortunately stored my spares. It takes A LONG TIME to change my rear wheel because it is wedged hard into my brakes. Spent most of the race trying to catch up – passed a dozen but still ended up #30. On the to-do list: buy lots of tubular glue!

NOVEMBER

Kent State/Main Campus Nov. 14. Felt pretty good – tires glued tight. Another work trip in-between races where no training happened. Needed to do more endurance work but moved to the indoor trainer as bad weather moved into Cleveland. I was caught up in two early race crashes – I didn’t go down, but had to clip out and/or go around the fray. Again, my muscle endurance petered out during the last third of the race. I held my own, but was passed by a few people near the end. Again, #30.

Kirtland Park Nov. 22. Finally, no mechanical problems and I felt pretty strong and technically able to handle the course. A few people passed me in the last third of the race, but I also passed a few. Finished #18 and kept a good focus through the race.

DECEMBER

Boughton Farm Dec. 6. Had my groove on. Had worked tons of endurance, sprints and AT in the previous month. Finished #9 on a SUPER MUDDY course. Everyone was stopping in last few laps to clear their chainstay or fork of mud after a long field section. Was lapping people left and right and hanging with a group of three for a good period of time. On the last lap, I passed a few guys while they were clearing mud, but they ultimately caught me on the straight sections. Not a huge speed difference in speed, but enough that I recognized the need for more speed training in 2010.

REFLECTIONS

#1 – Need to start endurance and speed training sooner
#2 – “Racing into the season” isn’t a good strategy
#3 – Equipment changes not recommended – that’s what July/August are for
#4 – Race more in the summer – no training simulates race pace

Overall, I finished where I’d hoped to start. My mind says, “what if you’d been as strong in September as you were on Dec. 6.” The year behind me – with no road or mountain racing earlier in the season – I have a good plan for 2010.

More on AT and power training in the next post. Plus, what to do while you are waiting for base training to begin…

gregg Training Tips

What does a plate of nachos have to do with your 2010 training plan? (Very little...)

It isn’t even December, but if you’re not thinking about the 2010 season yet, you ought to!

Unless you are currently finishing the cyclocross season or running some late-season races, the competitive period of you year is over. Now is the best time to start planning – and training for 2010.

After a few weeks off the bike or road, or out of the pool, your body is getting used to its lowered expectations. You are no longer asking it to rapidly turn food into fuel and to regenerate muscle during recuperation. After about six weeks of inactivity, your body will fully adapt to less physical stress and need to be kick-started.

Hopefully you haven’t waited that long and you can work into base training without much preparation. If it’s been more than six weeks since your last hard workout or race – a four week adaptation period is recommended to get the machine running again.

So, at this time of the year – as the holidays approach and you are full of other commitments – remember your training and preparation for next season by doing these four things in December and January:

1) Set an overarching goal

• Do you want to compete in more races, complete your first marathon/Ironman/road race, upgrade your road/mountain category, set a PR in a race you’ve already competed in? This macro goal will feed into your race plans and training program.

2) Set a tentative race schedule with prioritized events

• Look at your respective sport and pick 3-5 events that you will definitely compete in. Prioritize them – only two can be a Level 1 “top” priority and three Level 2 “important”. All the rest will be categorized as training races – still important, but not annual goals.

3) Get an assessment and annual plan

• GB Coaching offers an affordable yearly coaching plan that begins with discussing #1 and #2 above and an anaerobic threshold test. From there we’ll build a customized annual training plan to include periodic fitness tests and regular feedback. Plain and simple – you can’t improve without sticking to a plan.

4) Start training for next season NOW

• Cross train once a week – bikers, run; runners, swim; roadies, mtb; mtb racers, ride road. XC skiing is just around the corner, running is always an option.
• Lift weights once a week – leg extensions, leg curls, bicep curls, squats, back raises, crunches, leg presses, calf raises and triceps extensions are universal exercises that apply to all runners, cyclists and triathletes.
• Spend 2-3 days in specificity – sprint, interval, technique (again, all disciples)
• Spend 2 days in active recovery – walk, jog or bicycle commute to work (or another lower intensity exercise) to keep your body alert and guessing.

By resolving now to have a better 2010, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of the holidays and stay on track for an excellent season.

admin Training Tips

Tom Boonen wins stage 2 of the 2005 TDF

Forest Gump famously said, “simple is as simple does.”

The same mostly holds true for riding fast — “fast is as fast does.”

It goes without saying that to ride faster you need to ride faster. But there are many ways to get there, and not all are equal.

Riding fast in a group or race is very different than training to ride fast. An overemphasis on fast group riding is a sure recipe for a plateau in speed and an end to your cycling improvement. The same holds true for multi-sport athletes – specific training in speed is the best way to improve your ability to go fast and sustain it in race environments.

Sprint intervals are intense efforts of short duration meant to build explosive power and sprinting speed. The endurance that helps you hold this speed is another matter, but we’ll start with one workout guaranteed to make you a faster cyclist (this workout also applies to running and swimming – just not the one leg part!) It is probably best to do this workout on your own – on the trainer or road.

So if you want to sprint like Boonen, give this 45 minute workout a try just ONCE a week. (Sprints should be all out – recovery should be slow enough to get your heart rate back to Zone 1.)

Warm-up 10 minutes
3x – 15 second sprints with 45 second rest
2 minute recovery
3x – 30 second sprints with 90 second rest
2 minute recovery
3x – 1 minute each one leg drills (6 minutes total)
2 minute recovery
3x – 30 second sprints with 60 second rest
2 minute recovery
3x – 15 second sprint with 30 second rest
Cool-down 10 minutes

Stay tuned for future workouts where we’ll work on maintaining speed over a longer period of time.

Happy sprinting!

gregg Training Tips speed, sprint

LSD isn’t just something that Timothy Leary experimented with.

Long, slow distance (LSD) training is an essential component of aerobic capacity building for endurance athletes. As a young racer in the 1980s I heard countless recollections from senior racers and their European coaches – long before the days of heart rate monitors, “you must do 1000km (or 2000km or whatever) in the small ring each spring before you turn big gears.”

It turns out that this advice couldn’t be more true!

Long, slow distance is the key to building an aerobic base for later speed and power workouts.

But how do we define LSD. For those familiar with my training zones, LSD is best described as Zone 1. Between 75% and 84% of Anaerobic Threshold (AT). As an example, my AT is 179bpm – so I would stay between 134-150bpm for LSD rides.

1.5 to 2 hours of LSD each week at this point in your training is a great target for your longer rides each week. On the trainer or on the road, these types of workouts will page HUGE benefits as the season progresses. Aerobic  capacity and muscular endurance will enhance your short anaerobic workouts, weight lifting and/or cross-training activities as you ease into the racing season.

Needless to say, this workout is best done in a small group that has the understanding that the goal is LSD, not hammer-fest. Don’t be afraid to drop out of a group ride that is blowing your “plan.” The plan will work and avoid overtraining – making you a better racer all-year.

If you’re interested in testing your anaerobic threshold (AT) and setting target zones and building a training plan for the seaons – please contact me for a free consultation and to begin building a plan to succeed in your cycling or multi-sport goals.

admin Training Tips

What a Sunday! February 1 and 45F in Cleveland.

Saturday’s MetroParks ride didn’t get any takers – no doubt it was 20 degrees and blustery with light snow.

But Sunday was amazing – sunny and warm. No one else was available so I headed out about 3:00pm for some long, slow distance on the MetroParks paved trail on the cyclocross bike.

My riding pals will be glad to know that I put new brake pads on the cyclocross rig – no more squeaky Gregg approaching  corners and giving away the next trail element.

The Rocky River MetroParks trail was about 60% clear. I decided to do some low intensity bike handling work on my way out (50 minutes) and head back on the road (40 minutes.)  I stayed on the paved trail on the way out – there was usually only a single lane clear, sometimes not even that, and there were lots of dog walkers on the path.

Oh well, good practice being an ambassador for nice cyclists. “Excuse me, I’d like to go around you and your 12 kids and pack of frickin’ dogs…” was a common refrain.

The hardest part of riding on mixed terrain, snow to pavement to slush to hill to road crossing to slush to ice, was keeping a steady heart rate. I wanted to keep my 1.5 hours in the low Zone 1 for me, 75% of AT and 142bpm. The stop-start nature of the ride and powering through slushy areas definitely kept me in some of my lowest cyclocross gears.

I’ll talk more about long, slow distance (LSD) in a later post. Regardless, it is probably the most important component of your early-season training. If you are spending all your time in Spinning ™ classes or the equivalent exercises, I’ll predict overtraining or burnout for you at some point this season (July or August.)

Your plan for aerobic endurance and muscular strength HAS to start with steady-state low intensity aerobic exercise. This applies for cyclists, triathletes and  duathletes. Like the ghost of racing seasons past, I’d like to add, “heed my warning!”

gregg Rides

I’m in the first week of my POWER sets for weight training right now. The cycle for weights I recommend is Adaptation, Strength, Power, Endurance and Maintenance. It is important to follow this sequence – especially Adaptation and Strength – if you are new to weight lifting.

Spending three days a week in the gym may be akin to a nightmare for cyclists and multi-sport athletes. But here are some statistics from a case study that may change your mind. Athletes underwent a 12 week strength training program and were tested before and after:

• participants saw a marked increase in aerobic capacity, or VO2 max (13% for runners, 11% for cyclists)
• at time trial or group ride pace (around 75% max HR/watt) cyclists showed a 33% increase in time to exhaustion
• lactate threshold (anaerobic capacity) increased 12%

Just imagine having 10-15% more power, over 30% more staying power and feel fresher while doing it! All for a measly 12 weeks of work in the gym. You can spend $10,000 or more on your bike and other equipment and not get anywhere near the benefits that a $100-150 gym membership will buy you…

My Wednesday weight workout

Since this is my first week in the POWER set, my sets/reps are static – 3 sets of 8 reps for each exercise. I’ve carried over my max capacity from a testing week last week and will use those weights as baselines for these reps. You always have the flexibility to adjust up/down if needed. Max capacity in weights is just a guideline and should never trump your safety or risk of injury.

The weights listed below are MY working weights – DO NOT use them for yourself until you have undergone testing and spend eight weeks in the Adaptation and Strength phases of a custom designed weight training program.

Also note that each of my weight days has at least eight distinct exercises that do not repeat more than once during the week. That is over 24 unique lifts/exercises that I perform on a weekly basis. Isolation is not a cyclist or multi-sport athlete’s friend. Variety is essential to overall body strength.

1. Warm up: run treadmill 5 min; stretch 10 minutes
2. Leg presses: 75% max (3×8@270lb)
3. Clean and jerk/press: 75% max (3×8@95lb)
4. Walking lunges: 75% max (3×8@35lb each arm)
5. Leg curls: 75% max (3×8@80lb)
6. Calf raises: 75% max (3×8@150lb)
7. Triceps extension: 75% max (3×8@115lb)
8. Decline bench press: 75% max (3×8@145lb)
9. Hip lifts: 3×25
10. Ab Circuit: 3×25
11. Cool down: stretch 10 minutes

Although January is almost over, it’s never too late to start weight training. Within 12 weeks you’ll be working with Power – just in time for those longer training rides and early season races. I’m sure you’d love to see the increases noted above. Why not get started now – send me a note and we can begin your assessment and build a customized plan for your season’s success.

gregg Training Tips

Remember – it’s still January. Training at this point should be fun. Take some time off the bike (or out of the pool/away from running) and do something else. Cross-country ski, lift weights, hike … cross train (cyclists: run or swim; tri-athletes: row or pilates).

An excellent assessment of how all-consuming training can be comes from one of my favorite blogs – the Fat Cyclist:

Train (verb): To exercise according to a set schedule, with the dual objectives of becoming more proficient at that sport, and learning to hate the sport you are working so hard to become good at.

To love cycling when August comes around you need to pace yourself at this point. Ride your trainer if you like – but keep a low intensity (try not to go into Zone 3) and no more than an hour. Go to a spinning class or group cycling session only once a week – and remember that now is not the time for 95% max HR/watt training every session.

Zone 2 training (60-70% max HR/watt) should receive most of your attention at this time of year. Build your aerobic base, don’t overdo it.

Use a intermediate Zone 1 walk, hike or LOW gear spin once a week for a half hour too. Your legs will thank you for the active recovery time.

THE FAST ROAD TO BURNOUT

Most cyclists spend too much time at high intensities and completely ignore the regenerative properties of active rest. There is no better way to peak early and not improve through the season than to start out training at high intensity in the early season (I’m saying this from experience.) Avoid overtraining. Avoid burnout.

Easy does it. May will come soon enough and you’ll be begging for mercy after those first few training criteriums at 105%…

A professional coaching program will help you pace yourself and to focus on your long-term goals that will produce results all season long. Contact me to get started on your assessment and building a plan for a successful season.

gregg Training Tips

Meet in the Rocky River Marina parking lot at 2:00pm on Saturday, Jan. 31 for a 2.5-3.0 hour EASY ride on the plowed Cleveland MetroParks trails. You’ll need knobby tires as there is still plenty of snow down but it is ridable. Gregg: 216.978.3089

gregg Event, Rides