Got this e-mail from Fran today. Fran has been on the program for a short while. It have been really great to see her take on the challenge of a not so easy program. And as consequence start to already see the results from her focused commitment and dedication to the training program. Her enthusiasm is contagious and it is only a matter of time till we see some truly great results from Fran. Well done Fran! You are a rising star.
By Fran
My weekly vets handicap race is my highlight for me this week. I came second by half a wheel, but boy, did I feel strong!! My kids think I’m a legend for bringing home $40.
(I so hope my handicapper doesn’t read this!).
It was a hilly race – 2 laps of the same circuit. I felt very strong in the bunch and I think the other riders had worked it out too – one of them said to me “Fran, you are doing this easy aren’t you?!” I said no, but I thought… well, yes, I am actually. I had your words ringing in my little baby 4 week old training ears David – You will have hurt yourself more in training than you will feel out there racing. I thought at the time, yeah, right… racing hurts like hell. And I also remembered your words when you had told me I was in a “wax on, wax off” phase, so I was expecting lots of hard work before I was going to learn any karate. I had already taken a very big breath and bunkered down psychologically for what lay ahead, and I certainly didn’t expect to start seeing some majorly exciting improvement within the first four weeks – wax on, wax off – phase!
Anyway there I was listening to people puffing and struggling around me AND I was thinking to myself… I HAVE hurt myself more in training! It was very exciting. I was very strong in the bunch and most of the bunch were struggling. My legs felt great! These hills just might be my friends for the day! How bizarre! I was faced with a choice as my bunch sat on my wheel on the hills. Strategically I had a choice whether to drive the bunch and try to get the bunch to the line, or sit up and wait to be caught by the next fastest bunch behind. I chose to do about 80% of the work on the steeper gradients and try to get us to the line. I thought if we get caught, then I will still have enough left to go with the next bunch. Basically on anything that looked like an incline, I wasdoing a track turn on the front of the bunch, driving them up the hill. About 1km from home, I was perfectly positioned to attack, waited, and attacked onthe last climb. The remaining sprinter hoppedon my wheel by response, so I chose to ease up a little. There were 3 of us. The sprinter counter attacked and established a lead of approx 15 m. I waited and watched the other rider go, and I let him lead me out. We both beat the sprinter and I missed beating him by half a wheel.
I was thinking afterwards, I probably would have left me out there to weaken me, cos I was obviously the strongest. But probably the most exciting thing is that in four short weeks, even in the “wax on, wax off” phase, I can see that your training is giving me the ability to cover all the different strengths for racing.
Can’t wait to see where it goes from here…. Baby steps, but I am locked in for the ride. Can’t wait to catch flies with my chopsticks!! Thx David!
