Alison Powers - Featured Blogger

Since I didn’t post about Friday or Saturday, I’ll start there. Friday was a day off the bike. I packed, I worked, and I got ready to leave early Saturday morning. I do remember rolling and stretching in the evening.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.This close to a big event, it isn’t really about the bike or the training anymore. 

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Since I have started this SBT GRVL blog, I have had 7 recovery days. Today is my 8th. I want this to sink in— in the past almost 3 weeks, I have had 8 days off. 

Today was an early morning so I could get to Boulder to meet and ride with one of my ALP Cycles Coaching athletes. He is a very strong rider and would be on a TT bike, so I needed to bring my ‘A’ game (that’s part of the reason I didn’t go longer yesterday).

Today was my last big/hard training ride before SBTGRVL. The last day to get everything dialed in. I tried a different approach with my dynamic warm-up and activation this morning. Since I did core yesterday, I felt pretty “activated”, but tight. 

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

There are days when a rest day and a day off are completely different things. Yesterday was a good example of just because you have the day off the bike (or away from training) doesn’t mean you had a rest day.

Yesterday, I blogged about how much sitting I do. Today felt like the exact opposite. The day started with coaching a 2 hour private mountain bike skills lesson. I very much enjoy this type of hands-on coaching and she was a strong rider so we got some solid pedal time.

I woke up in the middle of the night worried about what I was going to do for hot water (coffee) and bathroom while in Steamboat for the race. I plan to #vanlife it for the race- a quick in and out trip with one night spent in Steamboat. But that one night is important and that one morning (race morning) is most important. 

The best 3 days on a road bike every year. This year, I was a bit selfish and scheduled the Tour exactly 3 weeks out from Steamboat. Three weeks out from an event is a perfect time to do a big training block.

Triple national champion Alison Powers prepares for the premier Colorado event SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads.

Day 2 of our annual tour of Colorado went from Aspen to Carbondale by way of Maroon Bells and Ashcroft; two amazingly beautiful climbs. I was support and van driver today (coaches Paddy, Brie, and I take turns driving the van and riding). Because we had 2 out and back climbs, I was able to squeeze in a little riding between van stops. I was tired today but felt surprisingly better than I thought I would after yesterday.

Laying in bed with aching legs and low back does not make for good sleeping and sleep is the #1 most important tool for recovery.

I have a small group of friends who are also “in training”. Among other races, both are racing SBTGRVL. Every couple of weeks we get together and ride. I very much like these rides as they let me pick the route (usually very hard), and they are mostly ok with my “no phaffing” philosophy (No B.S.- let’s ride and then get home to work and take care of dogs).

 After 5 days of riding, I was ready for a break (more mentally than physically). I mentioned in Day 1's blog that I have no plans to pre-ride the Steamboat course. So, today I took the time to get to know the course. 

Today's ride goal was 2 intervals to the Portal (the flattest road around here). The goal was steady/hardish riding. I wanted the second interval to be just as fast as or faster than the first interval. Each interval was ~28min and the second was far more uncomfortable than the first (a sign that this was good training for my body).