Momentum Endurance, LLC

Based from Tucson, AZ, Momentum Endurance LLC is your source for Carmichael Training Systems coaching. Working with your coach you’ll learn more about your sport while achieving new personal bests. Take a look through the pages of this site to see how Momentum can benefit athletes from all across the country.  Don’t hesitate to contact Momentum with your questions or for more information. Thanks for stopping by.

Travis Woodruff
-Founder

Momentum Endurance athletes competed at the US Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt. Snow, Vermont July 17^th – 20^th.  Each had unique goals for the weekend and a lot of focused training was done in preparation for the weekend.

Chloe Forsman of the Luna Women’s Professional MTB team successfully defended her U23 XC National Championship title. Shortly into the race Forsman established her lead and it grew each lap until the finish.  Excitement and satisfaction were the emotions after scoring a hard-earned champion’s jersey once again.

Perry Roper of Richland, WA placed third in the Expert Men 45-49 XC on Saturday. Not resting on his strong XC result Roper went on to finish 2^nd in the Expert Men 30+ STXC in a race that came down to the very final lap. Though a championship jersey eluded Roper, he was pleased with his performances, knowing that his training efforts proved to be fruitful. With some added motivation for 2009, expect to see him racing even faster.

Dan Smiley of Burlington, CT competed at the National Championship in his first-ever year of competition. Racing in the Beginner Men 50+ category, Smiley came through successfully with his top ten result.  Mt. Snow’s course is more demanding than any other and Smiley showed that he’s catching on quickly with his skill and fitness. At 53 years young, we still haven’t found a limit to his progression. With a balanced plan of hard training and ample recovery Smiley continues to love what he does while improving every month. A strong finish at the National Championships was a rewarding confirmation that the training can keep him young and enjoying the bike more than ever.

With motivation stemming from the successes of my athletes, I went on to finish a personal best 22^nd place in the Pro Men’s XC. It was an excellent day and a bit of redemption on a course that’s had me struggling in each of my three prior attempts. It’s very rewarding when everything comes together for one of the season’s biggest events.

You can full results from all of the US MTB National Championship events here. Thanks keeping up with Momentum, -Coach TJ

Momentum Endurance will be attending numerous races in the upper Midwest this season so be on the lookout. Stop by and say hi or ask a question or two if you have the chance. It’s our goal to enhance the experience of all participating athletes. Look for Momentum Endurance  at  WORS events and also the ‘Triple Crown’ of the Ore to Shore, Chequamagon, and Iceman. Best of luck with your training and preparations. Enjoy the ride,

The 2^nd annual Serotta Cycling Science Symposium in Denver, Colorado was a great opportunity for researchers, coaches, physical therapists, and bike fitters to gather for a three day conference of lectures and presentations applicable to cycling performance. Presenters shared their scientific endeavors and provided us industry folk with some extremely valuable and applicable information. I was able to take notes on cycling issues such as knee pain, low back pain, dynamic bike fitting, and saddle pressure amongst several others. It was valuable to gain insight from those who have studied such issues first hand and have great amounts of experience to share. As a coach, much of the conference further reinforced what I already do, but of course I picked up a few new skills too. It’s great that I’m able to use some of these new skills here in Tucson with our 3D Dynamic Bike Fit services.

To read the full write up, check out the CTS Tucson blog at: trainright.com/tucson

Here’s what the Wildcat, student newspaper of U of A, has to say about the event. You can click here for the full linked version. It was great that Momentum Endurance got to volunteer with the club for the race weekend. Keeping busy with bike repairs, numerous bike washes and of course feedzone and start/finish line duties was the story. There wasn’t a single mechanical mishap for our riders and everyone finished well despite the horrendous course conditions. Collegiate cycling is alive and well!

Cycling

Sophomore Chloe Forsman and the Arizona club cycling team had a banner weekend among the mud and muck of North Carolina at the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships.

Forsman successfully defended her 2006 cross country title and also won the Omnium National Championship. The Omnium title is awarded to the athlete with the highest combined scores from four different mountain biking disciplines - cross country, downhill, short track and dual slalom.

Dual slalom is a head-to-head race down a man-made course, usually with grated turns. The course frequently has man-made obstacles such as jumps or berms.

The five-person team rolled into Banner Elk, N.C., on Thursday afternoon, and the rainy conditions made for a rocky, slippery weekend of competition - which meant much discussion about mud, tires and bike modifications.

Despite the possibility of climate shock moving from the sunny Southwest to the more sodden Southeast, Arizona coach Travis Woodruff felt the team performed well.

"These Wildcats performed well in the muddy conditions," Woodruff said. "Coming from the dry conditions of Tucson, this was a big success."

Forsman had the biggest weekend, winning the cross country race by over a minute. Forsman also finished 10th in the dual slalom, second in the short-track event and 26th in the downhill. She was the only Arizona athlete to compete for the Omnium award.

Other high finishers for the Wildcats included mechanical engineering doctoral student Kyle Colavito, who placed 17th in the men’s cross country race, and civil engineering graduate student Evan Hyde, who placed 14th in the short-track race.

As a team, Arizona finished seventh overall in a field of 38, with a combined score of 346 points.

The University of Arizona Cycling Team won the SouthWest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship for mountain biking October 6-7 in Sonoita, Arizona. Not only did the U of A team take the podium in convincing fashion, but the entire event was organized and run under the direction of student team members and recruited support. In a developing collegiate cycling conference such as the SWCCC, it is ever important that such events continue to go off with such great organization. This event was something that other SWCCC team can, and likely will, model in the future for their own events. Evan Hyde did a fantastic job as Race Director in making the weekend a true success. 

The racing action was fast and action packed with a two-mile TT race Saturday morning followed by an afternoon Short Track. The TT featured a rugged 4×4 dirt road climb going out and a fast big-ring descent coming back to the line on the single loop course. Short Track was contested on a technically challenging course that featured several tight corners which demanded both a rider’s concentration and finesse. Fox 11 captured the full effort STXC action for the weekend sports news recap. The cross-country was contested on a long 9.25 mile course that was relentlessly undulating and rough. Racers completed either two or three laps depending upon their race category.

It was Kyle Colavito who swept all three events in the Men’s A category, taking victory in TT and also a hard fought win over Evan Hyde in the STXC. Kyle went on to win the cross country event after catching early race leader and eventual second place finisher Alex Luce.  In the Women’s A category Melanie Meyers took victory in the TT and also the XC event. Teammate Chloe Forsman came around Meyers just before the finish to win the STXC in a close sprint. Brian Meyer collected third place in men’s A TT. Other notable results achieved by University of Arizona racers in the B categories were Rob Cyrek and Jon Burin taking the top two spots in the STXC race. Kelly Clifton earned wins in both the women’s B TT and STXC.

As SouthWest Collegiate Cycling Conference champions several U of A racers will go on to compete at the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships hosted by Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina October 26-28, 2007. Momentum Endurance will be there to support these races and encourage them along the way.

All the Best to Collegiate Cycling!

who: you and your ‘cross friends
what: Cyclocross Practice
when: 7:00 am Wednesdays
where: Himmel Park (google directions)
why: have fun while refining your skill and fitness all at the same time

With a full slate of Cyclocross racing to come this season take advantage of an opportunity to hone in your ‘cross skills with a weekly cyclocross practice session. This informal practice session will allow you to dial your dismount and perfect your transition over the barriers and back onto the bike.  Cyclocross requires a certain level of finesse; surely this time will be highly valuable and enjoyable all at the same time. Whether cyclocross is something brand new to you, or if you’re a veteran of the discipline, feel free to join in. Ride your cross bike or your MTB (minus bar-ends).

We’ll set up some portable barriers and do some trial runs, move things around and try some more situations. Himmel’s terrain will even allow for a run up. Come ready to practice and enjoy all that is ‘cross! Make it a skills ride or incorporate some race efforts to boost the fitness. Have questions or need further details? Simply stop on by or email twoodruff@momentumendurance.com.  See you there!

For further reference, here are some links to some helpful cyclocross resources:

Wiki - what is cyclocross?
Tucson CX Series - Calendar
AZ Cross (Phoenix series)
AZ Cycling.com

August was a busy month for many Momentum Endurance athletes, but Tom Felton got off to the fastest start. On August 4^th he blazed Wisconsin’s 40 km State Time Trial Championship with a time of 54:52,
earning the State Champion jersey. Being relatively new to Time Trial competition, Tom entered and handily won the Men’s Category 4 event with a time faster than that of the Men’s Cat 3 Champion. Undoubtedly Tom possesses skill in the TT discipline that has just started to shine.

With the State Time Trial Championship occurring late in the season we successfully used a second build up phase that allowed Tom to fully hone in his TT positioning while also further developing his ever important Lactate Threshold fitness.  With the goal firmly set and training objectives clearly defined, Tom did an awesome job to execute the plan that we set out with. He knew that with hard work and quality rest along the way things would come together nicely. And they did just that. 

A big congratulations goes out to Tom and all of those who supported his efforts along the way. It was a true pleasure to provide him with Momentum in his successful accomplishment of winning the State Time Trial Championship.

Here’s to more great rides in the future, 

-Travis Woodruff

Mike Phillips - Semi Pro Men’s XC
Chloe Forsman - U23 Women’s XC
Brian Matter - Male Open 4 Person Team 24 Hour

These three Momentum Endurance athletes have recently earned the Stars and Stripes Jerseys at USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championship Events. On July 20th Mike Phillips earned the Semi Pro XC National Championship.  Later that same day, Chloe Forsman convincingly won the Women’s U-23 XC Championship.  These racers excelled on the rugged and challenging Mt. Snow course, proving that they were in fact the best skilled riders. Brian Matter, with the help of his three Gary Fisher 29/Trek-VW teammates followed up on the winning ways with a victory in the Male Open Four Person Category at the 24 Hours of 9 Mile National Championship event. Brian did his fair share of work to help his team put in more laps than any other.
Each of these three National Champions has dedicated great amounts of energy to their causes and it has been a privilege to aid them along the way.  When hard work is aimed directly at the target, wonderful things happen on race day. I’m proud to have shared a part of each of these three victories. Congratulations and here’s to more great rides to come,

TJ Woodruff

All the training you’ve done? Your pre-race routine? What your last meal was? 

These things all count for something but really, they are just a few pieces of the racing puzzle. All the training you could ever hope to do won’t help you win if you’re not getting enough sleep at night. The perfectly balanced, carbohydrate rich diet won’t do much good if you’re stressed out about a bike that isn’t properly tuned. And even if you had the best feeling ride yesterday, today could still be miserable if you’re not prepared to suffer like never before.  To race fast requires a lot of things to go right. Good rest, good spirits, good concentration and good fitness are the integral components.

Of these things, fitness is likely the most consistent and reliable component. If we are fit one day, we’ll surely still be fit the next. Fitness is a long term trend that doesn’t come or go on a daily basis. With good fitness it’s easy to ride hard more days than not, but caution should be exercised so that rest is not sacrificed.  Training with inadequate rest could lead to under performance on race day. 

Rest can encompass a lot of things, but the big determinates are sleep quantity and quality along with one’s daily levels of distress. Stress can be healthy, so its important to know the differences between what adds to and what detracts from a day. Minimizing the detractors means better rest as a result. Getting adequate sleep overnight means that the body is recharged ready the new day. Not only physically is this important for recovery, but waking rested will do wonders for the mental outlook too.

With adequate fitness and proper rest it’s easier to be in good spirits about the bike. Enjoying the training, the traveling, and the camaraderie of race day are important things to do. If for some reason it isn’t enjoyable, it’ll be that much more of a challenge to pull it all together on race day. It is essential to have a healthy mental outlook on the sport and the sacrifices that come with it. 

So with fitness, adequate rest, and a sincere zeal for racing you find yourself staged and ready start. The final puzzle piece will be your ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Over the duration of a race there will be numerous distractions to overcome and decisions that must be made in real time. Keeping focused amongst what might seem to be complete chaos can be awfully hard. Screaming legs, searing lungs, fast riders, and brutal course conditions can all seem to be too much to handle at times. Concentrating on your strengths and ignoring the distractions is the only way to find the finish line fast. The ability to suffer doesn’t come easily to most and improving the intensity of your race day focus is the only way to cope with the stresses you’ll surely find along the way.

Momentum Endurance offers its athletes a comprehensive approach to race day. Not only will you further develop your fitness, but we’ll look at other factors that affect your performance as well.  With Momentum you’ll learn the full approach to racing as you discover what really counts on race day.