COMEUPPANCE, PART TWO (or in current day parlance: Reality Check)

     First, some history.  Several years ago I sought a coach to help me get faster.  Long story short, I didn't and returned to what I had been doing.  That, basically, was riding with the fast guys on Sunday and putting in miles during the week.  I was content to be fastest in my age group in Texas.  Well, when you are the oldest in your age group, and finishing last, you look forward to the next year when you again become the youngest.  That is 2017.  I managed to earn an invitation to Senior Games Nationals in the time trial, but not the road race.  No biggie, except for a few times when I managed to win, those were merely good 40k workouts.  But I trained a little harder for 2017 and did well in the early races (see previous posts).  My expectation for Nationals was a modest top ten.  Then I went and took silver in the 10k time trial.  The drop to 8th place in the 5k was poor judgment, not poor performance, on my part.  When I looked up the times, and also the times in the USAC Nationals a week earlier, it looked as though I could hang with those guys.  Attitude adjustment!
      But next year I wouldn't be the youngest, so I needed to be faster.  Time to give another try at being coached.  My friend Carolyn has been tearing up the roads this year (including winning Nationals), so I tried her coach.  No luck, his roster is full.  She suggested Owen, also a national gold medalist, and he accepted me.
     Owen doesn't have any old guys as clients.  Yes, a few seniors over 50, but that isn't really old.  This is going to be a two-way street in learning, in that my body can't do what a 50 year old can.  In addition to riding, he will be sending me various strength building exercises.  The first one seemed simple enough: ten 30 second core exercises.  No problem, I've been doing planks and push-ups for several years now.  At Gold's Gym Body Flow, Shawna would remind us that "core" is more than abs.  I now know how very weak my lower back is.  So embarrassing (even though no one saw me), however I confessed to the coach.
     Then there were the push-ups.  Easy enough: three sets of three.  I've been doing eights sets of twenty-plus and a final of sixty or seventy.  The kicker is clapping your hands as you push up.  When a young man, I could show off, clapping twice.  Try as I might, gravity got me first.  I blamed it on trying it after riding (I really know better than do any strength exercises after riding).  But this morning, fresh, I still couldn't do it.  Actually, I did manage it once, but hitting two arthritic thumbs together brought a whole new set of pain.  I'll still work on it, but this exercise might have to be adjusted.
     This morning I had a set of lunges to do before straddling the bike.  Easy enough, I've been doing lunges this past year also.  Well, these were a measly five sets of five (each leg).  But not just forward/back.  The second set was forward/twist upper body.  Looked easy enough on video.  Might have to work on balance.  The third set was sideways.  I've been doing yoga, no sweat.  Oooh!  I thought my hips could go wider than that.  The forth set was three-quarters back.  I need to revisit the video.  The last set was a backward lunge.  Ok, no problem there.  But my knees weren't happy, as I got on the bike to warm up.
     My power meter has been ordered, so until then we are going with heart-rate and cadence.  Three sets of five minutes at 100-110 rpm in zone three.  My practice this year was thirty seconds at 100+, three sets.  So I was elated to complete the three sets as requested, other than a turn-around.  I did exceed the heart rate for a short time as I concentrated on the cadence and didn't shift appropriately.  I'm hoping the legs work tomorrow.  I've had the heating pad on my low back for the last hour.
     Just two days into being coached and two weaknesses have been exposed.  Fortunately, I have six months before racing again.  And tomorrow is a day off.