Less Can Be More On The Bike - Remember That When Training With An AAA-Stent!

Hi! Folks,

Have you read Lance Armstrong’s book, ‘It’s Not About The Bike?‘ I did, fortunately, about one month before I found my aortic aneurysm (AAA) in August 2010, which was about two weeks before my best Lake Placid Ironman (LPIM) race. I finally came home in the daylight! When my AAA diagnosis was confirmed (the morning after I finally took that abdominal pulse seriously), first with the ultrasound and then by CT, and following the inevitable stent surgery several days later, I was at first elated to be alive, and then rapidly depressed. I started to think about how my Ironman days were over, even though I was extremely lucky to be ‘stented’ and walking around. Then I remembered Lance Armstrong’s experience of post-cancer treatment depression, which lasted several months according to his book. I had to endure this depressed state for only about one week after my surgery. I am still dogged by self-doubt, however, in spite of the fact that I am back in IM training mode. It is clear that my best chance of qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman will come from improved skill, not through the application of brute force. Excessive strength training might just place an undue load on my cardiovascular system, and could even displace my stent, putting my life at risk. I love my family and friends (and my life!) too much for that.

So! What kind of skill can improve your bike time without you having to resort to force? Is there more to cycling success than power-to-weight ratio? It would appear that there is more, much more. For instance, hanging onto your wattage as you clear the top of a long hill and hit the down hill takes advantage of momentum and drops the less experienced riders every time, as they are thinking about resting after the climb just a little too soon.

Building cycling experience and knowledge, derived from time on the road combined with personal study and good coaching, respectively, is the way improve your bike performance without placing undue stress on aging muscles, tendons, bones, joints and fascia. There is clear evidence of the effectiveness of this approach in my own cycling history. For instance, I was looking through my old race stats the other day to see how my bike race times compared to the average wattage I generated during these rides. Note: Wattage: power - (physics) the rate of doing work; measured in watts [= joules/second ], was measured using Power Tap on my bike. What I found was both interesting and informative:

LPIM 2008, Bike Leg (112 miles of fairly hilly terrain):

Time 7:53:03; Average Watts 160

LPIM 2009 - bonked on the bike due to poor nutrition. I fixed that for 2009, but that is another story involving a large number of chocolate-flavored PowerBars.

LPIM 2010

Time 6:52:21; Average Watts 159

After two years of really good coaching from Chris Hauth of AIMP, from 2008 - 2010, with some serious training rides, including Mountains of Misery, AIMP Training Camp Rides and the AIMP Coast Ride from San Francisco to San Diego in five days (beautiful trip, see below!), I took off just over one hour for the 112 mile LPIM bike ride, whilst expending one less ‘average watt.’ This shows the power of experience in endurance sports. Now I want to apply the same learning process to training with my AAA-stent, but the only real problem I have is that I know of no coach who understands the risks associated with this remarkable device. If you know of someone, please tell me his/her contact information as I don’t want to die on the course, but I do plan to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman one day.

Happy Boxing Day,

Cheers,

Kevin

PS Here is a photo taken by my great cycling buddy, Rory Conolly, during five days of hellish cycling against a constant headwind, almost constant rain, and three major storms on Highway One. We wouldn’t have missed it for for the World. Thanks, Chris!!!!

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.