Athlete Seasonal Summary

Athlete Seasonal Summary

Name: Athlete Year: 2011 Racing Disciplines: RR, Crit, TT, Duathlon, 5K

Number of races/events: 25

Number of: Podiums-2, Top Five -4,Top Ten-6, Top 20-5, Finish-5, DNFS-2

An article that Coach Joe Friel wrote inspired this "Seasonal Summary" form.

Below you will find 5 questions you should ask yourself about your past season. The examples in red are not meant to drive how you answer the questions but are just examples. Remove the red sections and insert your own responses in black.

1. What was the high point of your season? Why does this stand out for you? Was it what you thought it would be at the start of the season?

I had several high points this season: Winning my first Duathlon! Placing 4th in a local circuit race, I did well in my first omnium taking 5th in my TT “A“ race, Wining my age group in my 5k A race while taking 5th overall.

Did I see any of the wins as definite at the beginning of the season? No. I worked hard and educated myself on what was required to do well. In some cases I underestimated and others overestimated.

Taking 4th in the circuit was a real surprise as I had raced poorly in an earlier race. Winning my first Duathlon in age group and finishing 4th over all was a big surprise as I had injured my calf in the first run and thought I was chasing 3rd place in my age group when I was chasing 3rd overall. I had really hoped for a top 5 in theOmniumTT as I trained for strong FTP all season. Also beating my pace goal and winning my age group and placing 5th overall in my target 5K has just been an amazing feeling!

2. What was your greatest disappointment? Why did this happen? Is there anything you could have done to avoided it?

My Greatest disappointment would have been not finishing the Road Race at the Omnium. If I had finished and still had my Crit results I would have been 2nd place in the General Classification instead of 6th overall, which is still very respectable.

This happened as I fell apart on the climb in the second lap and instead of following my instincts I tried working with another racer who fell off the pace too. I should have jumped past him and used my same tactic in the first lap and charged down the descent at my own pace.

I know I need to improve my power to weight ratio in an effort to improve my chances of surviving the same climb next year without having to slide back so far.

3. Looking back, do you think you trained as wisely and as hard as you could have trained?

I feel like I over worked a couple of weaknesses and ignored some previous strengths in my cycling and put on to much mass in the offseason. I feel like I did a great job on my Duathlon and running training this season.

I really needed to improve my FTP but in doing so I hurt my power endurance. I initially thought I had lost my ability to react to jumps and attacks but after reviewing data discovered that my one minute and 5 minute power had dropped significantly.

My run training was much stronger this year and more intense. I wish I had not done the speed work out before the duathlon, as I never recovered from the minor calf pull. I also should have practiced my transitions more as not practicing enough with my aero wheels lead to a breaking and dismount related crash .

4. What is the one thing you most need to work on for next season in order to perform better?

I feel like it’s more than one thing. I will need to race more road races, add a few more crits and time trials to do better in the omnium. I will also need to loose another 10 lbs. and add 30-50 watts to my FTP to have a chance at the ITT Podium.

But to really do better in Mass start races I am going to need to dig my one minute power out of the hole its in and train with faster riders.

5. What would you most like to accomplish next season? Is it a good stretch and yet within your reach if you do things right?

I would like to meet or exceed my training objectives. Yes and Yes
I would like to see more mass start top 5s. Yes and just not sure
I would like to make it to the Master TT Podium and GC Podium. Yes and Yes
I would like to make it to the Duathlon Overall Podium. Yes and Yes
I would like to run a sub 20 minute 5k. Yes and man its going to be tough