Heidi’s 2011Race Season Reflections
My season started out with promise in February. It quickly went awry starting with Snelling, where I DNF’d due to back pain that would always start around mile 30 of a road race. From there, it went downhill pretty rapidly and continued doing so until a thoroughly awful weekend at the Chico Stage race, where my back problems really hampered me. After Chico, I decided that training harder wouldn’t fix the issue. I needed to get some help.<
I had a connection to Julie through my current club/team (Silver Sage is a sponsor). She changed my bike fit and
within a couple weeks, I was able to actually ride my bike without pain. I also gained some wattage output that translated to an increase in speed that I couldn’t have otherwise attained. I got some quantification of the improvements at a couple of our local Tuesday Night Twilight races and the Little City Stage Race in July. The road race, while not the greatest placing, was the best I’ve ever felt in that discipline. The total lack of pain meant I could actually train for road racing. What a concept!
Through two 8-week training camps, Julie taught me some huge improvements in my pedal strokes, as well. That change, along with a wider variety of interval workouts, caused an overall improvement in my riding/racing that resulted in several podium finishes in the last half of the season. The changes also made it possible for me to be more aggressive in my race tactics because I’ve been more confident in my physical ability.She’s been an incredible sounding board for all my ups and downs this season, even though she probably didn’t have to do that. Her support and knowledge was the major reason I was able to turn my season around and start having FUN again.
Through two 8-week training camps, Julie taught me some huge improvements in my pedal strokes, as well. That change, along with a wider variety of interval workouts, caused an overall improvement in my riding/racing that resulted in several podium finishes in the last half of the season. The changes also made it possible for me to be more aggressive in my race tactics because I’ve been more confident in my physical ability.She’s been an incredible sounding board for all my ups and downs this season, even though she probably didn’t have to do that. Her support and knowledge was the major reason I was able to turn my season around and start having FUN again.
