Setting Goals

Every year in September, I have my cyclists review the racing season that’s just ended. This past September one of my riders had just finished racing his first season on the velodrome. He’d had a lot of fun with this localized racing and wanted to continue it in the coming season. Racing with the same competitors every week was challenging but it was fun too! It gave him the opportunity to try new and different tactics on a weekly basis. And, of course, saving 60 dollars worth of gas to race in LA every weekend was a nice break too.

The previous year (2010) we’d focused his training on improving general fitness and learning all the different tactics and races demanded of the velodrome cyclist. With a lot of hard work, those goals were accomplished. It was now time to step up and improve upon what he’d worked so hard to attain.

So we sat down together in 2011 to talk about how he could improve upon his last season. We defined clear and specific training goals that would capitalize on his natural abilities. For example, we chose weightlifting in order to improve his neuromuscular power. We added focused tempo efforts at much longer durations to improve his overall aerobic fitness. We focused on specific durations of time at intensities that we agreed showed weakness in certain races. Finally we added motor pacing to help bring his speed up at the peak of the season.

The process I’ve just described is critical: sitting down and asking the questions, “What did I do? What did I do well? And what can I improve?” is important to your development as a cyclist. The answers to these questions will help you set attainable goals. And you should always have a ‘dream’ goal, a goal that may seem out of reach now, but that is also realistic. Improving as an athlete is all about goal-setting; let me suggest a way that will be successful for you.

Set three goals for your next riding or racing season. The first goal is a short-term goal. It should always be something you want to accomplish in a short amount of time, perhaps two to four months. This goal can be as simple as making it through the toughest section on a local club ride (e.g. ‘Stud Loop’ or a hard climb like Honey Springs Road).

The second goal is a mid-term goal and should be challenging enough that it will entice you to keep pushing forward even when you don’t quite feel up to it. This goal can be as simple as finishing that certain race that you’ve always found difficult, or finishing that race with the main group. It can also be as ambitious as setting your sights on finishing in the top ten with the leaders of the race!

The third goal, and my personal favorite, is the dream goal. This should be your most challenging goal, but a goal still attainable if the opportunity presents itself. A good example would be the decision to compete in a really challenging multi-day race. Or you could decide to take that trip overseas that you've always wanted, a trip that includes a race in Belgium or a gran fondo in Italy. These are great examples of dream goals, those goals that are both challenging and rewarding, that are seemingly out of reach but can be attained by committing yourself to the short-term and mid-term goals.

Goal-setting gives intentionality to all athletic endeavors and in the case of cyclists, our riding and our racing. I ask all my riders to write out their short-term, mid-term and dream goals on paper. It’s important to display those goals in a place where you’ll see them every day, like on a bathroom mirror or refrigerator door.  Following these simple steps will help you remember what to focus on in your training, how to challenge yourself as you train, and what to feel good about when you accomplish your goals. If you need help deciding which goals to pursue, don’t hesitate to call a coach!

In my next blog post I’ll talk about how to keep a training diary.

Until then, see you on the road,

Coach Jesse Eisner

Boulevard RR Pre-Ride with Support

Coach Jesse Eisner will be leading a Boulevard Road Race pre-ride  with support January 12th.

The support will include a follow vehicle with power-bar nutrition and electrolyte drinks provided.  We will do two laps of the course the 2nd lap being at a faster pace.

You can ride two laps of the course with  follow vehicle and get the pro treatment;  Have the team car carry your spare wheels, jackets,  and pass you bottles and food. Change wheels quickly after a flat and rejoin the group.

There will be a bail out point at start of 2^nd lap.

If this is your first time racing the Boulevard RR, come ride with us! Get to know the course and select appropriate cold weather gear and equipment.

Coach Eisner has ridden and raced the course multiple times and can give tips on the course, conditions, and tactics.

Boulevard RR  is far from an office park criterium or a ride down the 101. Proper preparation for this event is key.

This is a great opportunity to try out your clothing in the cold,  try  your gears on the hills,  practice nutrition, and pick a point to attack.

Sandwich lunch after the  ride will be provided.   Hot coffee  and tea provided before the ride.  Full follow vehicle support/ broom wagon. Fast and slow groups will separate on the final climb.

Cost $60

Coached Athlete discount: Contact Coach Jesse to register as a coached athlete

Pre-registration required for sandwich lunch-

The weather  forcast calls for a high of 51 with a 10% chance of showers.

Weather forecast for 1/12/13 : http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail8/91905

Bring warm clothing and rain gear (I.e. long sleeves,  jacket, rain jacket, neoprene booties, leg & arm warmers, cold weather gloves, and a beanie).

Remember that you alone are responsible for your safety,  so use your good judgement, and do not blindly follow others .   We will provide  some support,   but you should always be self- sufficient.   All distances are approximate.

Register here:  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=7102

Year in Review

At the end of every season you should take a break from focused training. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ride your bike...not at all! But you should stop looking at your heart rate monitor, your power data and even your personal training duration for a few weeks. This helps to relax the mind, rejuvenate and reboot yourself. We don’t often think about it, but disciplined training is mentally taxing; it’s just plain tiring. Sometimes at the end of a good season the body will feel like it is ready to keep going but the mind still needs a break. After this ‘cooling off’ period I usually add very loosely-structured training with small goals to my riders’ training diaries. These goals are usually pretty simple: do a 4-hour ride 3 times a month, accumulate 3 to 5 hours of tempo per week or maybe do a club ride just for fun once a week. These workouts and weekly goals are low stress, low commitment and allow your brain to slowly get used to the mental workload that is coming when training season arrives. Riders should find that rides during this time of the year are meant to be fun, motivating and inspiring. This is also the time when you should review how your riding and racing season went during the past year. New-found inspiration and motivation will help you see the future and all its possibilities. You should try to assess whether or not you’ve met the goals you set for yourself this past year and whether you want to try and improve on your gains. Maybe you want to attack those shortfalls that you may notice in this review. Maybe you’ll want to set entirely different goals for the coming year. It’s all possible, and it’s up to you! Setting goals is paramount. If you’ve never set goals in past seasons you should try doing it this coming year. If my athletes are planning on competing in the upcoming racing season, I have them try to set at least three goals to strive for. After all, if you know what goals you want to achieve you can then measure how close you’ve come to attaining your desired results and make adjustments in successive years. Setting goals is one of my favorite parts of riding and racing because I have the opportunity to entertain all the possible things I can try to accomplish, and that’s just fun! But remember: goals should be challenging and attainable. After you set some goals you should make sure to keep a record of the training you do, being sure to add comments about how you felt during and after your training sessions. You should also make sure to set milestone markers to measure whether you are moving in the right direction in order to attain your goals. In my next blog post I’ll talk about setting accomplishable goals for your next season. See you on the road, Coach Jesse Eisner Did you have goals this past season? Did you achieve them? If you need help setting goals for next season and you need direction in how to achieve those goals, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help!