You Must be a Masochist

After three days of hard training – and with trashed quads – I ran the Carrboro 4 on the 4th race today.   I finished in 31:25,  pace of 7:51, cutting 1 1/2 minutes off  last year’s time.   My quads and hammies are really sore now!   I like sore muscles because they remind me that I have worked hard.  Does that make me a masochist?  I hope so…read on to see why!

I am taking it easy this afternoon wearing my Zoot compressions socks for recovery, while watching the Tour de France.    Check out the TdF online or on Versus TV.

You absolutely must watch the Tour de France.    Even tho it’s not the same type of bike race as in a triathlon, I learn so much from watching these great cyclists.   I am going to do one post a day on what I learned by watching.  Today’s inspiration actually came from a cervelo commercial, before the race  even started:

In the commercial, Ignatas Konovalovas, Time Trial Champion of Stage 21, Giro d’Italia says:

In time trial, it’s just you and your bike and the road.  You must forget about the love for yourself.  You must be a masochist.  I want more pain, more pain.  Go, Go, Go, Go.  When you like suffering – when you like the pain in your legs and all your body – it means you are good.  youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjWqNk5HYoA

So now I have a goal for Triangle Triathlon.  I don’t think I have much hope of making the podium at that race, because there are 5 women signed up who are faster than me.   But I will get the #1 bike split.    I will be a masochist.  I will like the suffering and all the pain in my legs and my body.  I will be good.

Other thoughts, while watching Stage 1, which is a 15.5k Time Trial.  Perfect, that IS just like a triathlon race!

• Look at their butts.  No, not because they are nice to look at!   But how they get power from their hips.
• They interviewed Lance before the start of the race, and he talks about pacing.      He says  anyone who goes into that first climb at an all out effort will suffer in the end.     Hmmmm, I had the idea that a short, sprint race should be “balls to the wall” the whole way.  That reminds me, I just saw a tweet this week referring to Friel’s blog about negative splitting races.   So, let me revise my Triangle strategy to include negative splitting the bike, in addition to feeling pain!  Pain during the first half of the bike.   More pain during the 2nd half!
• Most of the guys seem to be holding the tip of their aero helmet so that it touches their back.   Sometimes they put their head down so the tip goes up.  I thought maybe they were looking at their bike computer.   But the announcer said “they do this to give their heads an aerodynamic torpedo shape”.
• Notice how they keep their upper body extremely stable.   Minimal lateral movement.  I can watch these guys all day long.  Then when I am on my bike, I replay that picture in my mind and try to mimic them.
• Look at their faces as they approach the finish chute… notice the grimace of pain.  Pain.  It means you are good.
• “Every time they feel their speed slow, they get up out of their saddle to accelerate back up to top speed.”
• Yukiya Arashiro is very nice to look at 🙂
• Fabian Cancellara, the Stage 1 winner, said in the pre-race interview:

What I want to do is ride my bike and do the best that I can.  That’s winning races.

And a great win he had!