Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.

Climb It Once and Climb It Well

by Marilyn Trout

Whether you consider yourself a climber or a non-climber, there is one thing for sure…with every climb there is pain. I tell my athletes, “change what you can change and the things you can’t change, leave alone.” Although you can’t change the course profile or your anatomical disposition, you can improve your climbing through mental, technical, and tactical preparation. (I’m assuming that you are including climbing work in your training program.)
 
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Start the climb as close to the front of the pack as possible. Don’t have your nose in the wind. If you drop off the pace you’ll be able to drift back through the group and have greater success to remain in contact over the top of the climb.
• Get on a good rider who will climb technically well, keeps a steady pace (as opposed to one who initiates attacks) and will challenge you to push yourself.
• Guard yourself from being behind a rider who tends to “gap”. If you have seen a rider do it once, chances are he’ll do it again. Don’t get caught behind him.
• On the longer climbs, scoot back on the saddle to get more muscles involved, keep relaxed, get your breathing under control and stay focused. It’s very easy to get distracted on a climb. These distractions can come from within, your own negative thought battles, as well as those that come from without, the climb itself, it’s length, the rough road and its pitch.
• Get into your own rhythm. Indeed, I have mentioned to get behind a steady rider who will challenge you. However, it’s a fine line between riding to challenge yourself and suffer to a greater level within your limits as opposed to going completely over the edge, blowing up and never seeing another rider again. You should have a pretty good idea of your limits and capacities based on your training. Mimic the race in your training.
• Don’t be afraid to suffer.
• Set small goals for each lap, if it’s a circuit race, and each climb. Divide the climb into smaller segments, i.e.) mailbox to mailbox.  It’s easier to eat away at the climb one small bite at a time.
• Remember climbers want to disrupt the rhythm of the climb. If you are feeling pretty good, or at least you aren’t breathing as hard as the other riders, take the initiative and change the pace. It only has to be a surge for 20-30 seconds then settle back into your pace. Most times this simple tactic will mentally drain the other riders.
• Be mentally prepared for the climb. You know it’s going to hurt. How are you going to respond? Will the negative thoughts win or the positive? You may not be able to change the fact that the climb is a part of the course but you CAN change what program is played in your mind during the climb. Be intentional about your mental training before the race.
• NEVER panic and NEVER give up. The race isn’t over until you hit the finish line.

Print | posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 4:08 PM