This past Sunday I went to see Sharon in Colorado Springs. Sharon McDowell, Ph.D. is an exercise physiologist, helps run the Total Performance Institute, is an accomplished athlete herself, and all around cool person. In simpler terms, Sharon is what most would people would call my coach. She started helping me out mid-season last year which was great, but at that point there was not a lot she could do; there is no such thing as "cramming" for a race the way I did the night before a final in college. Whatever training I had done over the winter, for better or for worse, was what I had to go on. Although I have excelled to the level of professional racing, I am off the back when it comes to knowledge of proper training. So I was pretty excited to get busy planning and talking about next season. It was also nice to have a whole afternoon to pick Sharon's brain; something that one could spend a much longer time doing before even coming close to exhausting her resources.

We talked about periodization and the different phases of training; what I should be doing when and how much. We looked at the 1998 race schedule and talked about what races I would want to peak for. We talked about when I should come in for testing (VO2Max and Lactate Threshold) and which types of intervals to do at various times of the year.

The best part about making a training plan is it takes all the guess work out of what you are doing. Training goes from just getting out on the bike to a purposeful, calculated agenda. A few friends of mine pitied me last winter. They were going out for a "fun" ride while I was "training." I realized I looked at riding differently than they did. They considered any kind of structure to consequently not be fun because structure, to them, meant a lack of freedom. But I viewed training as giving me the "freedom" to reach my goals.

I would be the first to admit that training is not always fun. It is mostly a lot of hard work and self discipline. Some days are enjoyable, wonderful experiences that can include beautiful sunsets and awesome singletrack. Some days are it's just training. And some days, when the wind blows, my toes are frozen and my legs feel like I'm pedaling through jello; it just plain sucks. Regardless of the weather or day, there always remains one basic element: I like riding my bike. As bad as the worst training day can be, it doesn't come close to how great racing at your best feels.

----Jilayne