Mayberg – You Look Marvelous!

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Experiential Training and Racing Report from Stephanie Mayberg – o2fitness athlete and Rio Stada Cycling team member…

This is my first season racing, and I started out with an injury that had me off the bike for two months.  Once I was able to get back on the bike, I have made slow and steady progress regaining what I had lost and getting stronger and faster.

I decided to try my hand at time trialing by going out to a time trial training ride, and loved it.

I trained a few more weeks, then set my sights on my first official NCNCA event – a 10 mile individual time trial.  All week I visualized what I thought the course would be like; it was described as a 10 mile out and back with a “slight elevation gain” on the way out.  I felt fit and ready to race.  I talked over my fears and thoughts with Julie and had a plan.  I checked out my bike the night before, packed my car, reviewed my plan and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning excited and focused. I drive down to the race, got checked in and warmed up. I was feeling great. I didn’t want to go out too fast, because I had made that mistake in the training rides.  First mile I was feeling great…then we started to climb.  This wasn’t a slight elevation gain – it was a hill!  I kept pushing, and then came panic and doubt.  “Why did I think I could do this?”  Someone on the sidelines said “take a deep breath.”  I did just that, I regained my composure and told myself that I wasn’t quitting and I wasn’t letting up.  I kept climbing knowing ( or thinking I knew) that the turnaround was just ahead and the rest would be downhill.  I hit the 5 mile mark, where I expected to see the turnaround, and it wasn’t there. My legs were screaming!  This went on for another mile and a half when the turn around appeared.  I turned around for the downhill portion, but needed to recover from all of the unexpected climbing. I finished the race totally exhausted.

After discussing with Julie, I realized that while the fitness and mental piece were there, I needed to fine tune distributing my efforts.

I stuck with my training plan and headed out for a Tuesday night twilight crit – my first crit ever.  I was determined to have fun and ride smart.  I also told myself I didn’t want to lose the pack.  We warmed up with a few laps, then took our place on the line.  The speed slowly increased, and I found myself at the back of the pack. We slowed and surged at every turn.  It took me one lap to know this was not where I wanted to be…we rode a few more laps, and I saw my opportunity.  The pack was starting to splinter. I moved up to the front one rider at a time. The speed was moving now.  For the next 30 minutes rode my heart out, learning where I could push and when I should conserve.  I thought about my discussions with Julie on cadence and pedal stroke, and somewhere in the race it all came together. I worked hard, I hurt, but I had a blast! Added bonus- I finished third and took a prime.

 

O2fitness athlete Todd Heinzen Tunes Up His Tri

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Really pleased with today’s race.  Course was a little slow on the swim and bike.  Rougher water and a little breezy.  Cold too.  But I was out of the water in about 9:50 with good aggressive effort.  Bike was really fast.  The run up the beach was about 1 minute longer than last year and my bike split was about the same.  Leaves me about 1 minute faster for just ride time.  I was flying.  Got into the pain early in the race and lived there.  Run was hard.  I had a good effort, but felt a bit fatigued.  This is a tough course to find a good pace with all the hills, single track, etc.  Even then, I think I ran about 5 seconds faster than I have ever run.  1st AG by 3:15 and 4th OA.  I would have won the 3 age groups younger than me, so THAT gives me bragging rights!  Fast group ahead of me with one young pro triathlete winning.  Very nice result by effort and speed., especially on the swim and the bike. Todd

Never Too Old to Improve!

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I have always loved the outdoors, all forms of exercising including running and cycling.  Since moving to Auburn in 2010, my husband Dennis and I have been really enjoyed cycling.  When I decided it was time to step it up a little, I turned to Julie Young.  Some of my “cycling cistas” had taken her 10 week training program and loved it.  So when Carrie said she was setting up a semi private class, I jumped on board!  WOW!!  Only 5 weeks into the class, I see a definite improvement in the way I climb and handle the bike.  I also did a bike fit with Julie to insure I was positioned on the bike properly to get the most power from each pedal stroke and to insure proper alignment for comfort.  We made some adjustments to the bike and again WOW, I could immediately tell a difference in power when climbing.  Why do I keep talking about climbing…..well a small group are doing a tour thru the Colorado Rockies, “Ride the Rockies”, 7 days, 513 miles with about 20,000 feet of climbing.  I now feel better prepared than ever to tackle such a challenge at 55!!  The next 5 weeks of class will get me even stronger, physically and mentally.   Whether you are a beginner or seasoned cyclist, we can always improve and learn to enjoy the bike even more.  I now look forward to the challenge with no doubt iI will embrace the ride and enjoy every beautiful mountain pass!!

Betty Bennett

Bev’s Rapha Prestige 2013 Race Report and Wrap-Up

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On April 13, I had the opportunity to participate in an incredible challenge with five other teammates, the Rapha Women’s Prestige 2013. It’s a 123 mile team time trial race with approx 12k feet of climbing. There were 18 other teams racing. The Rio Strada Women’s team consisted of four of our strongest cat 3 women, myself (cat 2), and Julie Young (12-year US National A-team member, ex-Saturn, Timex, Cox Cable, etc pro).

For me, 123 miles is quite a distance which I have been training for over the past three months along with my five other team mates. But it’s not the miles that matter so much, it’s the time in the saddle and the ability to push yourself hard off and on during the hours of the race until the end. In order to keep our energy going, appropriate fueling is necessary, both liquids and solid foods. I’m not one to let myself go hungry during a ride or a race either. I probably eat more often than less often.

The Race started from Rapha Cycling Club in San Francisco, about a mile outside of the beautiful Presidio. We headed out through the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and through Sausalito. I was glad that I started the day with a large breakfast because 15 miles into the ride, in Sausalito, we started our first long (four-plus mile) climb. I knew it was a sign of things to come. We had a very short breather downhill when we got to the dirt road up to the top of Mt. Tam which ended up being just under five miles long, both fun and taxing.

When we hit the pavement, we fueled up. Our team was lucky enough to have Nature’s Bakery provide each of us with yummy, fresh raspberry bars which we loaded into our pockets. The raspberry bars are my favorite! The packages are easy to open to pull out the bars while riding. I devoured one pack of bars, then constrained myself from gobbling down more to save them for later in the ride.

We were just about a quarter of the way into the ride, at around 30 miles, after a really nice, long downhill. Legs were feeling those climbs but still feeling good. Stinson Beach brought us a nice flat section of Highway 1 along with a beautiful view of the ocean and a very nice, incredibly strong head wind. Ugh! Luckily, another team passed us as we were regaining composure and grabbing a quick bite without stopping, we quickly hopped on to the back of the other team. They carried us for several miles and a comfortable pace.

One of our team mates was starting to fall back. She began having lower back issues from that stint on the dirt. That whole section was incredibly jarring on the body. She kept giving it a shot but her back was not cooperating at all. At this point in the race, we were about 12 miles away from one of the hardest climbs on the ride, Mt. Vision in Pt. Reyes. So unfortunately at this point in our race, we lost the one team mate and she jumped in the support vehicle. We found out later on that this teammate lent her bike to a gal on another team, who’s bike derailleur broke, so that gal could finish her race.

Mt Vision was not without pain. It was a very beautiful climb of 1,300’ up into the park at the top. Then it was an incredibly windy and cold descent. The good news at this point was that this was our turn around point. Now at mile 60, we were headed back. To make things even better, the wind would be at our backs for a very long distance.

We made another pit stop with our support vehicle for more water, Nature’s Bakery bars, a hard-boiled eggs, and electrolyte drink.

On our way again and mostly with a tailwind, we were picking up our pace on any section that was flat or not too hilly. We had a nice long break from the hills up until mile around mile 90 where we were headed up Ridgecrest, a very nice and long climb. My legs were really feeling it at this point. Julie rode alongside me telling me to just focus on a nice consistent pace. That totally helped me too otherwise I may focus on the pain more. I was really starting to fall back further on the hills. So I would ride ahead on the down hills leading in to another hill and start up the hill before the others to  save time. By the time we hit the “Sever Sisters” which is a series of shorter power climbs that overlook the Pacific Ocean and is absolutely beautiful, another teammate and I were feeling the pain.

Finally we reached Mill Valley again then back into Sausalito. We were so close to being finished. We had another mile climb back up to the Golden Gate Bridge. As we approached a traffic light we caught up to team Rapha who had started just before us. As we approached the last climb, team Rapha was pushing the pace. Another teammate and I fell back on the last hill. Our legs were toast. Our other three teammates waited for us at the top at the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge. Back together again deflated knowing that team Rapha would beat us to the finish line.

Our last few miles of the ride and back through the Presidio were a satisfying relief. As we rolled back to Rapha Cycling Club we were welcomed with a loud, warm cheer from the crowd. Much to our surprise, several minutes after we finished the team Rapha rolled in – apparently a wrong turn navigating back though the city.

What a great day and what a great adventure. Would we do it again? Probably….

 

~Bev

 

Fast at Franktown

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Many thanks to Julie Young for helping get my first sub 20-minutes on this course. All the work is paying off.

Bragging… sort of. We had our first Reno Wheelmen, Tuesday night twilight race in Wahsoe Valley last night — the Franktown Time Trial. It’s been a goal of mine for at least a year to break 20 minutes on this course and Tuesday night I did it! Thanks Julie Young for all the coaching that helped make it happen!

Heidi Littenberg

 

O2fitness Athlete and Steeplechase Speedster – Collier Lawrence

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I started running fifteen years ago and racing seriously, at a national level, twelve years ago.  After being in a sport for that long, there are bound to be some glorified high points and some lower than you’d like to remember.  I had a seven year low.  My high school career, especially late, had been very successful and looking back it feels like I dove straight off a cliff into unsuccessful.  There were less than a handful of times I would consider “high points”, and they were really more average than exceptional.  After my college career, most would have hung up the track spikes and headed, more than willingly, into “post competitive sports” life; let alone continue through three more years of being miserable.  I thought about it; why continue racing when I hadn’t been happy with it in so long.  However, even when I seriously considered it, there was always a little part of me that said “give it one more try, one more workout, one more track season”.

There are so many different combinations that make an athlete, at any level, successful. The one factor in every combination is belief.  When we finally throw in the towel, it’s more often than not, when we stop believing.  At my core (that little spot where my ribcage comes together, right below my heart and right above my diaphragm, set back against my spine) is a place where I’ve always believe I could be great; I could make an Olympic team, World Championship team, and race confidently among the best.  It is that place in me that would whisper, “one more” and no matter how much I wanted to silence it, I always listened.  After fighting it for years and wondering when my core would finally decide to give up, I started having the success for which I had waited so long.  In 2012 I qualified for the US Olympic Trails, took 32 seconds off my 2007 steeplechase PR, and finally got rid of high school PRs in everything from the mile to 5k.  While my recent successes can be attributed to lifestyle changes and a different commitment and approach to my training, the foundation for those changes is rooted in believing.  I’ve come to realize over the past year, when we allow ourselves to fully believe that the craziest dream is possible, we give ourselves the permission to chase it with the passion and commitment required to make it so.  We do the important things with more focus, the little things carry more importance, and our actions build the foundation on which our dreams can be built into a reality.

I wish I knew where I developed this belief, so I could share it with others and they could develop it too.  If anything it’s as simple as taking a goal or a dream and entertaining the idea that it is feasible.

Collier Lawrence is an American track and field athlete, specialized in the steeplechase.  She is a graduate of Reno High and while competing for Washington State University earned a BS in Kinesiology.  She is currently in her fourth season as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Nevada, where she trains under Kirk Elias.  She currently also works with Julie Young, who develops her steeplechase-specific performance conditioning program.   Collier was 19th in the 2012 Olympic Trails last year and was ranked top 15 in the US.  Her training is now focused on qualifying for the 2013 World Championships and the 2016 Olympics.

 

 

Rio’s Heidi Littenberg Hits It…

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Heidi’s Folsom BP Criterium

The first race of the season is always an overly nervous experience.  Several days before the event, my mind starts being consumed by it.  Have I trained enough?  Am I fitter than last year?  Everyone else has been training just as hard or harder.  Will I be able to keep up with them?  Those thoughts are followed by attempts to chill out by reminding myself that the race is really the start of something and that the end result doesn’t matter as much.  Despite that simple truth, I rile myself up too much thinking about how things might shake out.

This year, my thoughts about the first race were just as much about myself as my new team.  Really, it’s my first time on a team after several years of being a “solo opportunist” of sorts.  So, the nervous anticipation for myself was compounded by thoughts of hoping I can keep up with my teammates and hoping I can work with them to do something special for one of us.  I had to remind myself that I’m learning a whole new racing dynamic, wanting to be helpful for others, even if I’m just using the race to take a gauge of my fitness.

This race, being a 1/2/3 field, was fast and full of surges.  Attacks happened early and often.  We did our best to take charge of the peloton and not be followers, which meant we were on the front in the wind, working to reel in those riders.  We took turns working hard and putting out some huge efforts without the luxury of a draft, until we were fried.  I learned, among other things, that one huge benefit of being on a team is hearing, “Get in, Heidi” from a teammate after taking a big pull on the front of the pack.  I had two awesome friends there, making nice holes in the wind so I could recover.  I can only hope I was able to repay them in kind.

We may not have won, but we had a blast and made ourselves proud. We bonded, we fought hard, and we found out that we race well together.  That’s why I wanted to be on a team.

In the end, I think we surprised ourselves a bit by working that hard and still being able to contest the final sprint of the race.  We were able to recover at race pace and have enough in the tank to finish strong.  The three of us placed in the top 11 of a field of 25 racers after practically killing ourselves for 50 minutes of really intense riding.  While the end result was not the real goal for this race, it did show each of us that the fitness foundation is there.  The training is paying off.  It gave each of us that big first step toward being fully confident. We now know we can turn it up a notch and be the ones that make it happen.

Now it’s time to take it forward into the rest of the season.

 

Team Rio Rider Audrey Biehle’s Early Season Racing and Training Odyssey

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My experience at the Cal-Aggie crit was motivating, and it went well. I felt very strong throughout the race. I can completely see the benefits of our training intervals where we ramp up heart beat every 3-4 minutes. Totally felt that kind of effort during the race.

In terms of tactics, it was difficult. One team kept sending out breaks and no one would chase. Finally two girls got away and I wanted to reach them but no one would work together and it as too late for me to try and bridge by myself. I did, however use it as an opportunity to try several times. So they had first and second clinched coming into the finish. I was frustrated throughout the race by the lack of effective tactics. I had to fight through wanting to give up mentally when I saw I couldn’t get 1st or 2nd. I brought my mind around and decided I could at least get third. I was near the front coming into the finish, on the wheel of two other girls. There was a crash right in front of me and I had a moment of hesitation, thinking I should stop and see if she was okay, but then a girl came around from my left and I jumped on her wheel. I was coming around to try and beat her but the finish was too close. If there were 10 or 20 more yards I think I could have nipped her at the line.

So overall a great race! Very exciting, learned more about tactics and feel motivated for more training and intervals!

According to Julie’s training plan, I did a Lake Natoma spin that evening and some hilly Auburn riding the next day. I had never felt so strong coming up Baxter’s grade, especially with the crit the day before.

Awesome weekend of riding!

Two weeks later I was racing in Napa and came away the winner of a giant cherry pie, cause I got second!!! Yes!!!

The race went so well, I almost couldn’t believe it. I played it smart the entire time. Initially I conserved and stayed light on the pedals when possible, just as Coach Julie had instructed and I had learned from my last crit. The race started very fast and I just stayed near the front and got the hang of the course. Then there was a prime, and I came flying out of the chicane and up to hill to win it! Yes! First prime I ever won, I was super excited. Then I just hung in for the remainder of the race. No one was really attacking so I didn’t have to worry about breaks and I just took the corners smooth and stayed on my own line. Then on the last lap I was in great position and coming up the hill hard, in too big of gear. There were two girls next to me, but my legs were blown from poor gearing choice at the bottom to get around them. Turned out one was a junior and they were picked separately, so I got 2nd! Woo Hoo!!! Best crit ever! And I actually felt like I knew what I was doing, amazing!

I have seen so much improvement lately and I can’t wait for the rest of the season!

 

Mental Tenacity Wins the Prize

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Off the cuff, Ah-Ha moment, by Stephanie Mayberg, Team Rio Strada rider…

The Sunday ride was tough, but good.  I saw most of the Rio gals finishing up as I was starting and got warned of severe Valley winds. Initially,  my mind took control and I almost bagged it and headed home…but I regrouped, took control mentally and finished my ride strong (but tired). It was a good lesson for me about the power of thought…

Colene – Crushing It

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A conversation with Colene Crowley, Rio Strada Racer, on foundation phase training in the o2fitness-Rio Strada team training group…

Colene-BP-critI am loving the training.  Despite the fact I do not do all of it.  Now, the rain!!!

I can really do and like a controlled, planned, training session, there is a defined start and finish and I can focus, conserve and prepare and check off the boxes as we progress through the session.   But if it is unknown. . .like a race, it is not so good, too many elements come into play that are not controlled, hmmm.  I will always try to work hard and perhaps that will motivate others to push even harder too, harden than they think they can.

I like the focus on the trunk stability, adjusting the hips, maximizing power, I know I need to work on my pedal stoke and high cadence.  High cadence really poops out my legs.    I also need to work on my pedal stroke, I am imagining those ovals, but executing, who knows?  Especially during the sprints.

Julie, you are the first cycling coach that I have worked with, but I have worked with coaches in other sports, and you are amazing, you are holistic, so well studied, and almost guru like.  Quite an admirable talent to have an share with others.  I am glad that our paths have crossed.

I do hope that you are able to share your talents with younger athletes too.