Before I go over my expectations for 2014, I'd first like to go over how my 2013 training and racing season went:
The Bad:
- I crashed and got sick in April
- I had a pretty well-planned training plan but I was inconsistent/ didn't follow it.
- My diet was pretty good......for like the first three months of the year
- I still haven't upgraded to Cat 3
- I still don't have a power meter
The Good:
- I had a great experience with my first Collegiate Racing season and I learned a lot about myself and my team.
- I joined a new team--Leopard Sapporo--and my motivation and determination skyrocketed.
- My training hours, mileage, and elevation gain for the year are the highest I've ever done (my 2013 training hours were equal to the amount of riding hours in 2010 but intensity is greater for 2013).
- PR's everywhere
- Learned a lot about the mental aspect of competition in school and am integrating what I learned into my training and racing.
- I have been on top of my training (consistent) for a total of 9 weeks!!
- I have 2 points for a Cat 3 Upgrade =p
I remember I had a good feeling about this year, even though I didn't do the 2013 SBM Hill Climb. I also had to start training a little late because I had to go to the Philippines over Christmas and came back early January. My first race was the UC Santa Cruz Hill Repeat Challenge...err, I mean the UCSC Road Race. Prior to that race I did a 114 mile ride (the longest I have ever done) and I was definitely still recovering from that. Needless to say, I placed among the last 5 riders out of 25 total. Of course, I was being a little overconfident and decided to race in the B's (E3/4) and so I thought about it and decided to downgrade to C to work with my teammates/friends, and it was definitely a success! I only did a few races because my crash in April prevented me from doing two other race weekends but I remained positive through it.
Racing went quite well for me. My best results were at the Cat's Hill Classic and the Burlingame Criterium. I peaked...or at least tried to...for Burlingame and I ended up placing 5th! I was very surprised and happy with that result. After that, I took a few easy weeks and was ready for a second peak for the University Road Race but it got cancelled so my training lost its direction. I ended up doing a few crits and the Mt. Tam Hill Climb where I got a disappointing time, but moved on.
I did 16 races which is the most I've ever done in a year, and I know I took away a lot of information/experience away from them. I think that 2013 will serve as the first stepping stone toward the next great seasons to come. I'm thinking ahead, but as of now I'm not at my full potential or even capability to grind out 16-20 hour weeks.
In fact, I have the time and availability to do that, but I know that I need to progress my way toward the pinnacle of my training/racing and not just jump right into it. I'm feeling very optimistic about 2014 though, and that's because I had such a great season for 2013 despite having a crash and inconsistency. I know that if I address those mistakes for 2014, I can have the training/racing year I should've had back when I was 18 three years ago.
-- DB
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