The Mantra

When I started to really race and move up in category, I got totally into it. I wanted to race all the time. I wanted to get podiums and wins.  I worked on my physical training, got a coach, and settled into routines and healthy habits. See: https://h-factor-training.blogspot.com/2019/03/habits-routines-and-superstitions.html?m=1 

As I progressed, I started to eliminate variables that were working against performance and wins.  As a logical next step, I started to work on the mental game and putting myself into the right frame of mind.  Racing is never a walk in the park. If it was, it would be called “easy recovery day”. But it’s not. It’s racing. One of my favorite quotes from Kevin Bouchard Hall is “cycling is about pedaling when no one else wants to”.  

To that end, one of my first breakthroughs was when I started to just tell myself “ten more pedal strokes” when it got hard and I was feeling like I was going to pop.  After doing this a few times, and having it work some of those times, I realized that in most cases, the whole field is racing hard and chances are, if you commit to ten pedal strokes, a majority will only commit to 5 and you will stay in the group. 

Cycling in general is a pack sport.  You don’t always have to beat everyone, you just need to stay in the pack and conserve energy until the critical turning point of the race and then commit. Yes, there is a lot of training and preparation to get you to making the break, but don’t count yourself out before it begins without a positive outlook.  For me, the next phase was the mantra. 

A mantra is a phrase that athletes or humans in general use to focus positively on the moment. It helps to center you and keep you moving towards the goal.  A phrase that calls out the few characteristics that you need at that moment to stay in the fight. 

For me, that phrase was “GT6”. I made stickers and put it on my stem. When I was concentrating on crits, it was what I visualized in the last few laps to stay positive and stay competitive. It’s components?

G: get on up. Get motivated and keep in it

T: They hurt just as much, or more than you do

6: sixth place or better in the last lap or turn. 

These kept me positive, kept me moving, and reminded me to be in position. Think about times when you body is about to crack and you just need a little bit. How many times have you given up only to be 10 feet off the back and unable to close but be so close. Maybe a way to focus here is to distract. Distract with positive reinforcements of simple things to get through the moment. 

Fast forward 20 years, and there I was, at the corner of College and St Paul, in 5th place, and thinking to myself “let’s get this done, GT6, and I feel pretty good right now!” I was shocked at that point how visual the feeling of being ready was as I put that simple check phrase into my psyche and got ready to let it fly. I swear at that moment, I relived the quote of Todd Cassan and could nearly breathe through my nose I was so ready. Three turns later, I was in position and let it fly. And it was glorious. 

Find your zone, find your mantra, and let a positive outlook take your further.  Analyze some negative habits or opportunities for growth where a small amount of positive visualization can get you through the pain. Positive visualization is almost like “free speed”. Used properly, it can be the difference in making a positive outlook. Not used at all, and you will never know the benefit. 

Habits, Routines, and Superstitions

Yes!!! Everyone has some or all of these. They provide structure, drive, and insecurity!    I have been racing for many years and seen many many different approaches to competition and training.  Observing some is a learning experience in both positive and negative aspects. 

Routines

Routines are specific orders of events that you go through to be ready for the day or a race.  Routines have macro and micro steps. A macro or high level routine helps you to have structure in a fast moving lifestyle so that all of the details are attended to. Micro routines are things like how you get your kit ready for a ride or race, when you make or organize your nutrition, and the order you do things in your day. 

I have a race day routine that works for me. I know after hundreds of races the tangible things that have worked and what I have time for.  When to arrive, when to get my number, when to pre-ride, when to get to the line. Enough routines and they allow you to adapt when the curve comes.  Traffic, car trouble, bad directions, etc. You will know what you absolutely need to do and have the muscle memory to do it, even if you need to skip a few steps.  My truck once died on the way to a race. I limped it to the house where I was picking someone up. Changed a flat on their truck, drove to the race, had time to ride from the start to the first pit.  Crossed my fingers and got fifth with most horrible no-warmup legs. But I lived!!!

Habits 

Habits are learned behaviors that usually result from a desire to change. They take some time to develop and can sometimes come and go.  We all know there are good ones and bad ones. Good: eating a healthy varied diet a good portion of the time, good sleep patterns, getting workouts done in a part of your day that works.  Good habits are generally lifestyle driven with a long term goal in mind. Things like progressing to a Cat 3 cyclist, competing at a high level in age group racing, or even maintaining a healthy weight and blood chemistry.  

Habits are linked with routines at their start sometimes. I remember 20+ years ago I really wanted to do my workouts early in the day. Get them out of the way before work so a changing work schedule—read crazy boss!!—didn’t force me to ruin my plan. It was hard. But then I bought a new car. I had a tandem driveway and I didn’t want my landlord to have to move the car. So I would get up early, move the car and then go for a ride. It’s funny to think that initially, the desire to ride wasn’t all it took to get going. Add one more thing and the motivation kicked in.  Look for these added catalysts to help yourself out. 

Superstitions

Superstitions are somewhat illogical behaviors we carry out to create a perceived advantage through their existence.  They don’t often have a real basis or history. But, in most cases, they provided some response in a particular case and the success or failure was pinned on that behavior. An example is a former teammate of mine who had to have three chocolate munchkins from Dunkins before every race. Regardless of how late we were arriving to the race after driving around trying to find Dunkins.  Think about that. He had to have this snack counter to all good ideas about nutrition and it stressed him out to not have it.  Analyze the true benefit/reward of your preface or routine activities. Do they make sense?  Are they illogical?  Reevaluate based on your answers to these questions. When in doubt, bounce it off your coach or a friend. 

Bonus: Streaks!!!

Oh my, think about how often streaks come into play. Zwift gives you a badge for 14/28/76 straight days. You want to ski or ride for seven straight days in the winter. You want to get 365 racing days before you complete 10 years of racing.  These all have a patina of cool, but have a foundation in an external stress that you don’t need any more of.  If you are tired or have another priority, a streak may push you to make a poor decision. Yes, there are cases when say you are at a camp and you want to maximize work, but life is life. Keep it in balance and make sure the streak doesn’t share some of the bad behaviors of superstitions above. 

Racing and/or succeeding in a healthy lifestyle are the culmination of many factors. The training, the nutrition, and the balance. Get into good habits and routines, and they will complement your training. If you struggle with metrics or results evaluate not just your training, but the whole lifestyle and look for areas to make incremental changes with leveraged rewards. 

Get going, if only a little bit

It’s early February. If you are in New England, it’s like Ben Coleman says: “I’m ready sort of for Winter to walk away”. But, we love Nordic, Backcountry, and our many resorts so we put up with it.  But if you want to enter the bike or triathlon season with some measure of skills, you need to be doing some work in these cold months specific to the sport. 

That being said, as an endurance athlete, go back to the first paragraph and remember the Nordic part. I absolutely love XC skiing. If I could live on Trapp Hill Rd and ski out the back of the house every day I would. A little non specific endurance activity goes a long way. Especially when it is a sport that uses every single part of the body. If you run and bike a lot, the sideways skating motion strengthens your hips and opens up the stride like nothing else.  Skiing once or twice a week makes a huge difference for me. 

But, you are still going to be riding bikes in the spring. So, sport specific activity is key starting in February to be ready for spring. There are a few avenues you can take. But each start with one basic tenet: you don’t have to do everything, just do something.  

First option: get on a trainer or some rollers and ride at least an hour, at least four times a week. This can be before breakfast early or when you get home from work.  I find it’s best early because no one in my house is up and therefore no one is needing my time. It’s mine. After work, you have activities and meals to make and people may be counting on you.  Ride easy at first and then add some intensity but don’t hammer all the time.

Second option: get a smart trainer and ride at least an hour, at least four times a week, and ride with the pack. Do some events, maybe pick a few workouts out of the Zwift workout list. Try a few things but mostly it’s about being aerobic and getting the legs moving.  As a bonus, pick a weekend day, or another day that works and ride 90-120 minutes.  As a goal, check your weight at the start of the commitment to ride and work to see it come down reliably little by little every few weeks.  Note:  there is a wide spectrum of Zwift users.  I love the Zwift!  I see it as a great tool for riding undulating terrain, and doing workouts where power levels can be held constant.  One of my favorites is when you are set to ride X watts, and you start to daydream or lose focus, and your cadence drops...it ratchets up the resistance and maintains constant power even at a lower cadence.  It does that by increasing the load.  You quickly refocus and get back on the horse!  For performance testing, it is also the measure of consistency that is key.

Third option: get some professional guidance. With a smart trainer or rollers and a power meter, look up a coach and either get some personalized coaching or an online plan from a coach. This will be comprised of efforts that are well tailored to being ready for spring. You will get help analyzing key power metrics which will then guide you through early season development on a path to success. 

While some of these options may be a little bit more than you are ready to commit to, remember the key idea: do something and do it regularly.  Commit to ride 4x a week for two weeks and make it a habit.  It doesn’t have to start with a lot of volume, you just need to do something rather than wring your hands about what you may be missing. 

Aerobic activity will prepare you for the upcoming season and required race efforts. The aerobic efforts will burn calories and get you toward race weight.  Make it simple, or jump in with both feet. You decide.