Back to Business, Upcoming Training Camp

BY KENNETH LUNDGREN

Hey Gang,

So, two weeks ago, the head started to begin to feel better… I can now ride at moderate Tempo paces and do light gym work without any nausea — dizziness is okay, but nausea is VERY hard to deal with… I still feel a bit slow on my feet, just slower to react to things, etc, but I’m beginning to feel normal again…

I want to say right here that I really, REALLY appreciate the thoughtful e-mails I’ve been getting from so many people in this cycling community — the support and wishful thoughts have really brightened my days… I am so grateful to be part of small nation of endurance athletes — Thank You, everyone…

A huge wave of relief, this starting to feel normal again… Gosh, I wouldn’t wish those symptoms on my worst enemy… You start to feel better one day, and then in the middle of the night you wake up and the room feels like it’s spinning. You get to stand up and you feel like you’re on a ship at sea, blah…

But with at least 10 days of the symptoms getting better, I’ve started doing some mid-to-higher-end Tempo work, and I’ve been looking at power files so long, know my own data so well, that I can realistically put my FT at around 275, 280… Not stellar numbers, but I also know I’ve been doing zero higher end work to ilicit changes in FT…

So at 275 FT, not in the best of shape. HOWEVER, with the concussion symptoms, I really couldn’t eat that much. So my weight is around 159-161, not a bad place to be… And with all this aerobic work I’ve been doing, plus tons of cadence work on the PowerCranks, I’m hoping that when I start to “turn things up” that the body will respond very, very well…

Those are my hopes anyway. We won’t know ’til we try 🙂

My goals on the bike this year are still a bit clouded… I’m racing for NYC’s Foundation Cycling Team this year, going to be working with a number of developmental riders. I want to focus on the TT Cup, but I also know I will be obligated to do many out-of-town races — something I look forward to doing, helping support the team any way I can…

I also plan to do 20+ MTB races this year, want to try and get my Pro upgrade by summer… Lofty goals 🙂

But I certainly want to peak for the State TT. And it’s not about winning or losing — okay, I took 2nd last year and want to win the damn thing, lol — but rather about focusing on this one effort and showing up at this event as the absolute best Kenneth Lundgren I can summon. That’s really all we can ask for, whether it’s 10th or 4th or 1st — this is the beauty of our sport.

Because, in cycling, the virtue of our future lays in our struggle and evolution, not necessarily in the prize.

And I try to really impress this onto my athletes, and I think it’s really helped get the best out of each and every one of them… It’s one thing to be a coach and provide workouts and feedback — it’s entirely another animal to inspire and really drive someone to perform at their best, and I try to balance both evenly.

Getting the most out of an athlete is what I do for a living, and it’s stressful and a lot of work, but damn it’s just so rewarding…

I am a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln. I have no idols in my life, but if I had to choose one, I’d choose Mr. Lincoln. And before CX Nationals out in Bend, OR, I was writing Laura Winberry everyday, trying to get her mind in the right place, keep her amped, REALLY get the best out of her at THE most important time of the year…

And Laura said it worked, that she never felt so strong IN HER LIFE. She started near the back in a stacked field of 100 athletes and ended up finising a rock star 34th. She beat many of the top local pros who’d beaten her all year, and most of the field was lapped by Katie Compton. Laura was able to stay away, got stronger as the race progressed, and was just over a minute off a top-20 — just stellar stuff… I keep imagining had she started further up, she could’ve stomped her way to a top-15, a top-10…

THIS is what gets me going, planning for these races months away, having our ups and downs during the journey, then seeing everything beautifully come together in a rare and special way…

I want States, but I’m also going to do a few more stage races this year, aiming to do really well in the Tour of Washington County in late-June… The race had two TTs last year, and this year they’re adding a twilight criterium to kick things off… Looks to be exciting times! I’d just like to see what I could do to the field in the TTs down there, then look to hang on!!! Years ago in the Giro di Jersey, in a big Pro/1/2 field with Kelly and Rite Aid Pro Cycling present, I was able to score 4th in the TT and then survive, taking 7th overall… Hoping to do something similar down in Washington D.C.

Then, for me, Shutdown Mode. Gettin’ ready for cyclo-cross… I have some great news, hope I can make some official announcements in the near-future, but Elite Endurance is looking to sponsor a full professional cyclo-cross team in 2011, while also trying to form a budget to support a true developmental squad…

I coach 4 pro CX athletes, and we’re looking to do all the Verge, MAC, and USGP races (there’re so many UCI races in this region, we’re so very lucky), looking to hit as many UCI I races as we can, really do it right and do it BIG. I have several athletes in the primes of their lives, borderline obsessed with ‘cross, so the time is NOW, not tomorrow, not next year. We do it right, and we do it BIG. So very amped. But we already have Campmor, PowerCranks, Hammer Nutrition, Organic Asana, Gavilan Bicycles onboard, am working on 2 others… Hope to be able to make an official announcement in the coming weeks…

But I’m so very excited… this wonderful energy of the unknown.

It’s electrifying, what gets me up every day, what gets me on the bike, what drives me to figure out the puzzle to each and every athlete I coach…

In March, Elite Endurance is also running a Training Camp down in Helen, GA. Check out the flyer. It’s gonna be good times… I’ve had so many athletes ask me about putting something like this together, and I finally have…

https://eliteendurance.com/Documents/EE_Training_Camp,_Helen_GA.pdf

That’s pretty much it for now… I hope all or most of you are good friends with your indoor trainers or E-motion rollers…

Didn’t y’all hear? We’re having a heatwave! 🙂

Hope to see many of you tomorrow night at the NJBA Awards dinner…

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Coach's Diary | Thursday, January 27th, 2011 | | |