Greetings!
Spring is here and racing is ON! Got a lot going on in your life? Check out the Q&A by sports psychologist Dr. K.C. Wilder about honing your focus in racing so that you stay in the game. This month we welcome cyclocross, mtb
and road coach Kari Studley, DPT of Bothell, WA. Also, running and triathlon specialist Aubrey Curtis takes a look at barefoot running and what it might mean for you.
As always there are the Tip of the Month, Resource and Quote of the
Month as well as Client Successes. We welcome your email input always.
Happy training and racing!
~ Kendra Wenzel, Scott Saifer, and the Staff of Wenzel Coaching |
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 Q. I find in races that my mind wanders. I'm right in the race one moment, and then the next I'm worrying about work tomorrow or thinking about something else, and by the time my head is back in the race, I've slipped several positions in the pack or someone might have even opened a gap in front of me! I love bike racing, but I can't seem to keep my head in the game non-stop for the entire race. What can I do to improve on this?
A. Narrow Your Attentional Focus For Race Day Performance
This is an excellent question on how to learn how to focus on the right things during a race. To improve upon your attentional focus during a bicycle race, you need to intentionally make some changes in how you prepare for your race. To begin with...
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New Coach Profile: Kari Studley of Bothell, Wa
 Wenzel Coaching would like to welcome new Coach Kari Studley of Bothell, WA. Kari has six years of elite cycling experience and currently races cyclocross and mountain bikes professionally. Her undergraduate work in Exercise and Sports Science and Doctorate in Physical Therapy allow Kari to educate her clients in injury prevention and overall health.
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Training Tip of the Month: Don't Ignore the "Show Off" Skills
For
the cyclist or triathlete there are some bike skills that might seem to
mostly be useful for showing off but that, in fact, confer important competitive advantages.
For instance, if you can ride 'no-hands', you can don or remove
garments while riding, which means you don't have to guess about the
weather and suffer if you're wrong, or dress one way for a whole race.
In an early morning Spring race that starts out in the frosty dawn
hours but continues into the heat of the day, you can start with a vest
or jacket and then remove it as the temperature rises. You can strip
for climbs or put a garment on for a descent. Dressing to keep a
comfortable core temperature is essential to performance. Overheat or fail to keep core temperature up and you can't perform.
Bunny-hop
is a race- and wheel-saving skill. It's not uncommon to suddenly see a
pot-hole or broken bottle too late to swerve around it, but not too
late to jump over it. Being able to time a hop and get it high enough
to clear the hazard keeps your wheels true and the air in your tires.
I've even seen a rider hop up on a curb in a crit to get around a
crash, then reenter the field a few second later.
The ability to ride dirt on the road bike makes it possible for a rider to move up in a road race
even when the pavement is packed with riders shoulder-to-shoulder or a
crash blocks the road. The ability to "track stand" rather than having
to put a foot down when stopping can save you a few seconds getting
started again when you are caught behind a crash, and that can make all
the difference as you attempt to regain the pack.
So, work those skills. You never know when you'll need them in a race, and if you don't, they are still cool for showing off. |
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Quote of the Month
"The greater danger for most of us lies not in
setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too
low, and achieving our mark."
~Michelangelo, Artist, Poet, Engineer
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Resource of the Month: Cycling and Triathlons on Universal Sports
 Have some downtime during the week and want to watch some cycling or a triathlon? Now you don't have to wait until the weekend coverage. Check out the cycling and triathlon coverage on Universal Sports online. Their schedule shows what events are coming up and you can either watch live or replay the event from the website. Now you don't need to worry about missing any of the action during the week.
The
websites found in the "Resource of the Month" are in no way associated
with Wenzel Coaching and we are not responsible for any information
they contain.
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Client Successes
Wenzel Clients had 26 top 3 finishes including 15 victories this month
Leia Tyrrell
-1st at the Banana Belt #1, Women Cat 3 -1st at the Banana Belt #2, Women Cat 3
-1st at the Banana Belt #3, Women Cat 3 -1st at the Banana Belt Series, Women Cat 3 -Upgrades to Women Cat 2
Colby Wait-Molyneux -1st at the As the Raven Flies TT, Men Cat 4/5 -1st at the Piece of Cake Road Race, Junior Men 16-18
Dylan Drummond
-1st
at the Snelling Road Race,
Junior Men 13-14
Cara
Bussell
-1st at the Tuscon Bicycle Classic Road Race, Women Pro/1/2 -1st at the Focus Grand Prix Criterium, Women Pro/1/2
-2nd at the San Tan Criterium, Women Pro/1/2/3
Coach Steven Beardsley -1st at the Banana Belt #1, Men Cat1/2 -1st at the Banana Belt Series, Men Cat1/2
Alissa Maglaty -1st at the Land Park Criterium, Women Cat 4
Sue Butler -1st at the Echo Red XC MTB, Women Pro
Mike Gaertner -1st at the Wawawai Landing Hill Climb, Men Cat 1/2 -1st at the Wawawai Landing TT, Men Cat 1/2
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Featured Article: The Barefoot Running Phenomenon
by Coach Aubrey Curtis
So what is with all this barefoot running? While I believe that we can thank Christopher McDougall and his book Born To Run as the reason for much of this latest craze over running un-shod, barefoot running is really not all that new. There are a handful of elite athletes who have been going shoe-less for years. I can remember running the Tuscan Half Marathon about 8 years ago and watching Bassirima Soro absolutely destroy the full-marathon course with a time of 2:20 wearing nothing on his feet. And of course, if you have read Mr. McDougall's book, you will know that there have been tribes all over the planet that have been running barefoot since their creation. However, as a coach advising several endurance runners, would I recommend this method as a means of training? Is there any added benefit for the middle-aged athlete who has spent most of his or her life walking and running with shoes on? The answer is not that simple...let us explore further.
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More Client Successes Travis Monroe -2nd at the Wawawai Landing Hill Climb, Men Cat 4
-3rd at the Wawawai Landing TT, Men Cat 4
Tim Butler -2nd at the Echo Red XC MTB, Men Cat 1 35-44
-4th at the US Cup/Fontana MTB XC, Men 40-44
Mac Carey -2nd at the Mt San Bruno Hill Climb, Men 55+
-3rd at the Pine Flat Road Race, Men 55+ -3rd at the Central Coast Circuit Race, Men 55+
Danielle Ones -2nd with team at the Berkeley Hills Team TT, Women Cat 4
Emily Breslin
-3rd at the CCCX XC Race #2, Junior Women
Ryan Potter
-3rd at the CCCX XC Race #2,Junior Expert Men
Gabe Varela
-4th at the Go Fast or Go Home Criterium, Men Cat 1/2
Coach Ron Castia -4th with team at the Berkeley Team TT, Masters Men 70+ Cat 1/2/3
Missing your results?
We
do our best to publish all the results we receive, but if we don't know
what you did, we can't tell the world about it. Did you have recent
results that we didn't publish already? If so, please send them to our newsletter editors.
We publish top-3 in any event, completion of endurance events, top-5 in
national events, any substantial goal reached (weight lost, training
pace increased, personal best for a course...)
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