Earlier last week, you may have noticed how I employed a technique I call the “pre-excuse.” In this, you tell everyone a reason (or multiple reasons) why you will be performing poorly in a given event. Make sure you go around and tell as many people as possible or at least proclaim it loudly enough that anyone within earshot can hear you. If you are successful, you’ll have sold yourself short of what you actually know you can do. This leaves only room for improvement. Then, when you perform above expectation, people adore you.
The pre-excuse ordinarily should be used in conjunction with the post excuse when you don’t win. Even if you perform better than your pre-established low standards, you should always ensure an excuse is queued up in case someone (or everyone) beats you. Immediately after the event, verbally demote them by commenting about various conditions that affected your performance. This should be accompanied by a superficial complement, but always make sure they know a legitimate reason that you weren’t at 100%. Whatever you do, don’t concede that they were faster, because this simply is not the case. Make sure you have clearly inferred that if circumstances were better, you would have beat them. This ensures that they feel empty about their accomplishment, and you maintain the upper hand. Timing is important. Before they point to the horizon and say “scoreboard,” deliver one of these unquestionable excuses because they ALWAYS work: positioning (e.g. got blocked out), mechanical (e.g. softening tire), or prior sickness. Excuses that generally don’t work, but are worth a try, include work or family obligations affecting training. Read more
With much hesitation, I’ve decided to share my strategy for time trials. I grappled with this decision for quite some time, fearing I would allow my competitors to “steal my playbook.” This weekend is my first race of the year, the Jason Broom Individual Time Trial in Boise, Idaho. Revealing my secrets online could negate my strategic advantage. The Broom ITT is short at 10 miles, very similar to our local time trials on Foothill Road. Consequently, my strategy for both time trials is similar. Hopefully, you’ll understand the details of my strategy, because it is very complex. So. . .here it goes, my time trial strategy follows:
- Pedal as hard as possible (i.e. cross-eyed intensity)
- Slow down for the turn
- Repeat Step 1
Kidding aside, I have no reservations sharing my strategy. The key is conditioning, which come from good training before the event. However, there are some race day strategies that help me to do a good time trial. The most important factor is the warm-up. I do the same warm-up for both time trials and criteriums. Here is the sequence that works for me, which is based on some suggestions from Chris Carmichael’s book:
- Start timer 1 hour before start time. Always go by the clock at the start line.
- 4 minutes of preparation. During this time get on the bike with everything arranged and ready: energy gel, headband, towel, music, drink. Keep the helmet, race jersey and anything else you will put on just before the race right there. A trainer works best for ensuring the full warm-up can be carried out.
- 20 minutes long-ride pace
- 10 minutes tempo with lower cadence pushing TT type of gear but not getting heart rate up too high (about 160 bpm maximum for me)
- 2 min recovery spinning. Eat a gel.
- 4 min sub-threshold. Higher cadence and higher intensity (about 162-166 bpm for me)
- 2 min recovery spinning. At the beginning of this interval, double check the time. You should have 20 minutes to your start time.
- 2 min max interval. High cadence all out effort
- 4 min recovery. Jump off the bike and go to the bathroom.
- 2 min max interval. High cadence all out effort
- 2 min recovery spinning
- 8 minutes to get to the start line. Don’t forget race number and helmet.
Another important aspect is appropriate focus during the race. This is where practice pays off, and one reason we do our local time trials early in the spring in La Grande. Last week, I had a guest lecturer teaching self-defense in my class. His name is David Tift who does excellent work at Shelter From the Storm and the Take Musu Kai dojo downtown. A few things I gleaned really resonated as valuable in time trialing. When heart rate is high (about 170+ bpm) your body has some interesting reactions. Among other things, peripheral narrowing occurs (aka tunnel vision). Another reaction is stress-induced amnesia which can result in significant memory loss. For example, I had a very foggy memory of what happened in my TT a couple weeks ago. I vaguely remember passing a car from behind, a blizzard hitting me at one point, getting tossed around in the wind, and then a flat jolted me into reality. I’m convinced the sensory distortions and memory loss are to blame for the all-to-frequent freak crashes that occur in time trials. Crashes are expected in bunch racing, but not when the road is open for single riders. While the effects of stress vary for each individual, these points reaffirm my emphasis on focus. I focus on the following simple things:
- Line of travel: watching for potholes, bumps, and other danger but traveling as straight as possible.
- Intensity: Breathing is the feedback I like to monitor (deep not short shallow). I never look at heart rate, except after the race is over.
- Body position: keeping back horizontal and steady.
