by Maghalie Rochette
Summer is almost here. Time for an update.
It's been a few weeks since I wrote a newsletter, but this morning, I felt like writing! Plus, the last few weeks have been busy with a lot of training and a few races, so it felt like a good time to share a little update.
The last time I wrote was April 29th -- I had juste raced the Rasputitsa Dirt and Paris to Ancaster gravel races, and I was just about to start the real training of the 2024 season.
A new way of training
May 1st marked the start of the training period, and my goal this year was to give myself and my body the chance to build properly, and train consistently. After a couple of years of training always interrupted by injuries or sickness, I just wanted some consistency. I wanted to build momentum, no matter how long it took to get back to form.
The first month (May) was mostly dedicated to endurance rides with a bit of pressure on the pedals. David and I were also trying a new way of training; No set plan. So yeah, there is nothing written in my Training Peaks on a daily basis. Instead, we have some goals and guidelines of things I want to achieve in training.
The fact that there is no set plans encourages me to listen to myself, and every morning make a decision on what kind of training seems appropriate for the day, according to those set guidelines & goals, and how I'm feeling. It forces me to be honest with myself.
I also try to measure success with different metrics. Good work is not measured in number of hours (it’s a challenge to not look), and not either solely with the number on the power meter. Is this fun? Am I improving? Am I stimulated? How tired am I? Is this a fatigue I should push through, or listen to? I’m learning to see a good rest day as successful as a hard workout day.
So I am definitely asking more questions, but generally, I feel like I’m also finding better answers than with the strategy I’ve always used before…for me, this was « don’t question, dig deeper, work hard ». I’m glad I have this work ethic, it’s been helpful, but truthfully, this mindset over many hears burnt me out so much. I like our new strategy which is based on being honest with myself, using our experience, having conversations, and above all, on trust.
Racing
All that to say - I felt like I improved a lot already with the endurance in May. June started and we've been focusing on more tempo efforts, and started including more races for top-end intensity.
Over the last 3 weeks, I've race 3 events:
- UCI Mountain Bike Canada Cup in Tremblant
- Gravelooza (A 140km gravel event in Bromont, QC)
- UCI Blue Mountains Gravel race (a 120km UCI Gravel Series event)
The short of it is: I got 4th in the MTB race, I won the Gravelooza, and got 2nd at the UCI Gravel race.
But each race brought something special. I'll make it short, but I still want to share, because every race is such a great learning opportunity and always has more to offer than solely the result it brings. • Mountain Bike Canada Cup: "Taming that racing ego." This is a local (to me) UCI race that I have won a few times. In the past, I've always felt the pressure that I HAD to win this race, and I was a failure if I didn't. I know this is not a super healthy way to look at it, but I couldn't quite control myself. This year, I chose to approach it differently; I would give my very best, and would not allow to judge myself on where I was placed in the field. Just give my best, honest effort.
Well, I got completely demolished by World Cup riders Marine Lowe and Laurie Arsenault, and Greta. But through it all, I kept pushing and giving my best effort, while smiling to the many people I knew that were cheering on course. I was so proud for not judging myself, because ultimately that's what allowed me to really give an honest effort. And in the long run, only honest efforts can help me improve. Rarely had I been so proud of a 4th place at a "local" race!
Gravelooza, a family affair
For this one, I was still high from the excitement of the Mont Tremblant race. I wasn't even nervous, and I think it is because I had proved to myself the week before that even if I get beaten locally, I could still have a great time and be proud of myself. I felt kind of free, which was a great feeling. I only wanted to push hard and race. It ended up being a fun and hard day on the bike. The highlight was that my husband (David) and my brother in law (Antoine - who raced in the World Tour for years and retired 2 years ago) were both racing. It wasn't planned but midway into the race we found ourselves in the same little group. We rode together and finished all together. My 2 year old nephew was so excited to see us all crossing the line together. It was such a fun moment!
UCI Blue Mountains Gravel race "Trusting the Process"
I am slowly starting to feel fitter, but you never truly know your fitness until you race. I was looking forward to this one as I knew there would be a few strong racers, and I was eager to find out where I stood. Well, heck! I suffered so much hahah.
It turns out I'm definitely lacking some speed and pure power. About 2 minutes into the race, I was fully redlined, and it lasted for the next hour. Hour 2 I was managing leg cramps, and hour 3-4 I finally felt better. lol. From the beginning I wasn't able to follow the first woman (Devon Clarke) as she managed to follow the first group of men. We had a nice group with myself, a few strong men (David included as he was trying to qualify for Gravel World Champs in his age group), and 3 other pro women. Quite honestly, all 3 women looked like they were stronger than me. At times, my mind was trying to get negative and trying to find excuses. But really every time I got to the conclusion that no matter how much I searched, I truly had no excuse hahaha. It made me laugh to recognize it. And so I got to the only conclusion that was true: "I'm not fit enough right now, and the only way to get to that level is to push through this suffering I'm currently experiencing" So let's go!
I ended up edging out my competitors in the the more technical sections, and managed to ride to the finish in second place. But what a day, I felt very tired and happy afterwards.
All in all, those 3 races have all been very fun and enriching experiences! I still have a lot of work to do to reach my top fitness, but each race is an opportunity to get closer to it.
My goal remains the same; to build up progressively and consistently. So far, so good. It has been very refreshing to feel the momentum and enthusiasm for racing come back after some challenging years, and I just want to keep building on this!
Thanks everybody and happy riding to you all!
Maghalie
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