Charles Neal completed the 102 mile Civil War Century,
September 9, 2017, a whopping 10 minutes faster than his previous ride over the
same course in 2017!
Along the way through the historic rolling hills and
mountains of Maryland and Pennsylvania, he set new all-time PRs for 60 and 90
minute power, and record 2017 peak performance numbers for 10 and 20 minute
power. His NP, normalized power, was 190 Watts hitting the upper limits of his
target tempo zone for the 102 mile effort.
Charles had an annual plan and he stuck to it over a
challenging year as a professional hard working Dad with a new baby in the
house! He exemplifies dedication and discipline as an amateur athlete as he
gets up every weekday morning, at 4 AM, to go to trainer in his basement
executing his daily workouts sent by his coach via Training Peaks. Only on weekends can he get outside to enjoy
his progressively challenging rides--Saturday 2+ hour endurance and hard
interval HIIT rides on Sunday--as annually periodized by coach Hoffman.
In his 6 hour and 47 minute effort, Charles had an
average cadence of 79 which was right on his target in spite of climbing at an
average grade of 4.5% and pitches of over 9%. "When I saw my cadence fall
below 70, I stood up," he said. Overall, "I just felt faster."
And, after a sorted history of cramping before coming to
PCG, the changes made--in his diet, training protocol, hydration and
massage--have all but eliminated the cramping problem. "There was nothing
near cramping," he reported, almost as an afterthought.
So what next? "I still want to be better,
faster," he says. Now the focus is to back off a little, include some
group and fun rides on the weekend while the mild fall weather is still
cooperating, add cross training and more and varied strength training during
the week, and reboot for next year. Meanwhile he asks coach Hoffman, "what
brand Kettlebells do you recommend?"
Charles is coached by PCG elite coach Charles GaryHoffman
0 comments:
Post a Comment