Bitter sweet April
Hello, this month there has been good performances and less than stellar performances. I mentioned the qualification race in Texas last month in my blog. This was the qualification race for world cup 2 and 3 in Europe next month. I was confident in my training, previous races, and tests up to this point. Well, it is hard to push up against a 20+ mph wind. I fell short of the standard I had to meet to get selection. Honestly though, discretionary selection by Team USA needs to be fixed when consistent top tier athletes were not selected. I came back the next day and rode the standard in the road race, twice the distance of the TT, as there was less wind. There was even more turns to slow someone down in the road race but 9t is not considered in selection. I am still grateful because I’ll be attending world cup 2 and 3 with PossAbilities wearing their jersey representing Loma Linda University and partners. I’ve beat new standard a couple times last year and 3 times this year.
Other than the above, I’m staying focused on progression with training, the class I am teaching, and what is coming in the next few months. The class I am teaching has a new design which has had its pro and cons. The previous design was good but a blend of the two may have provided a better learning opportunity for students. I have been trying to encourage what students may see in their future as it’s an intro to exercise and sport science course. Iam grateful I have had the opportunity to continue to train outdoors 1 to 2 times each week, in addition to zwift, as it is integral to feel the road and the bike. That feedback is so important. Even positioning can be different on the road versus the zwift trainer setup. Ultimately though, the focus is on racing and training. I need to keep my head in the game as these two world cups in Belgium and Italy are the first two qualification events for the Paralympics.
In closing for the month I just want to say you will here from me next month. Regardless of good or less than desired performances all I can do is push/pull on the pedals to the best of my ability. The competition will be hard over there! I took 3rd and 4th in Belgium last year but did not race in Italy.
