LIFE vs TRAINING vs RACING

From startline to complete line and past, a Nats champ stays grounded.

With Shannon Koch

INTRODUCTION

Although a crash dominated her out for the US Professional Nationwide Championships (and derailed her mid-season objectives), Kingdom Elite Racing’s Shannon Koch has come again to complete 2024 sturdy. Along with a string of wins and podiums on the crit circuit, Shannon additionally repeated on the Grasp’s Nats crit and bagged the one which received away final yr with a second gold within the Grasp’s Nats highway race.

Shannon’s schedule is capital-H Hectic. She balances a full-time job, 10-15 coaching hours per week, and touring for races – a schedule that many devoted endurance athletes can relate to, even when we don’t have her palmarès. Regardless of dwelling a life that appears to by no means cease, Shannon did no less than decelerate sufficient to reply some questions for us about her success at Grasp’s Nationals, her strategy to the coaching vs racing vs life equation, and the way her workforce’s basis in religion and positivity helps her keep perspective on and off the bike.

DOUBLE GOLD

To begin our dialog, we requested Shannon to element previous wins, and he or she promised a “fast abstract.” Right here’s the abbreviated record, solely together with Nationwide and State Championships:

“After this yr’s Grasp’s Nationals I now have eight Nationwide Championship titles, which embrace 4 throughout my junior days, one Elite Staff Pursuit title on the Observe, and now three as a Grasp. I’ve far too many State Championship titles to rely at this level throughout crit, time trial, highway race, and monitor.”

We might go on itemizing her wins, however we solely included these as a gap to rejoice her addition in July of two extra golds at Grasp’s Nats. Coming into any Nationwide Championship with profitable crit kind and profitable RR kind is a large enough achievement to rejoice with out each different laurel she’s collected. That’s very true contemplating her disappointing bronze in final yr’s grasp’s nats highway race. (Shannon didn’t use that precise phrase herself, however it’s clear that she wasn’t happy with the third step.)

“Having gotten third within the highway race final yr, I used to be after that prime step for positive,” she remarked. “It was at all times a aim for me to return and attempt to repeat within the crit but additionally to redeem myself within the highway race.” Specializing in the highway race is sensible – in our dialog, Shannon confirmed a previous desire for highway over crit.

“Up to now, earlier than I took a protracted hiatus from racing, I really most well-liked highway races to crits,” she informed us. “It wasn’t till I began again and my coach helped me notice I’ve the physiology for shorter occasions that I discovered a love for crits.” That crit-friendly pure expertise – and a yr spent targeted totally on the quick, punchy efforts of a crit – additionally paid off within the highway race.

“I knew I had a good shot within the highway race if I might climate the assaults and make it to the final climb with the lead group,” she mentioned, noting that there have been positively assaults. “The race was extremely aggressive proper off the road, however I knew I might depend on my good three-minute energy to recover from that climb and nonetheless have a reserve to dash if vital.”

TRUST THE PROCESS

Amazingly sufficient, Shannon was as soon as suggested towards this precise strategy to a race in what she recollects because the worst teaching recommendation she’s ever obtained. To wit: “That I could not dash and that I wasn’t a really explosive rider. I’ve discovered that’s very a lot not the case.” Understatement each bit as dry as her closing kick is explosive.

That recommendation is, unsurprisingly, a far cry from the teaching she’s getting now, and Shannon’s present perspective on that dangerous recommendation is both indicative of how a lot she’s grown as an athlete or how centered and grounded she’s at all times been. “Even when you do establish one thing as a weak level,” she mentioned, “that simply means it is one thing that wants some further consideration. We should always at all times be seeking to work on the chinks in our armor and enhance ourselves as well-rounded athletes.”

No matter whether or not that wholesome perspective was inherent or discovered, Shannon makes some extent of sustaining it, even – or particularly – when issues aren’t clicking.

“There are durations in any coaching plan the place you undergo slumps and do not feel your greatest,” she mentioned earlier than sharing what could also be her greatest piece of coaching recommendation. “My coach at all times tells me to belief the method,” she went on, explaining that “trusting the method will get me the place I need to be after I need to be there. That permits me to proceed to indicate up every day and easily give attention to undertaking the work in entrance of me.”

MAINTAINING PERSPECTIVE

Although she lives by the method, Shannon’s 2024 hasn’t been all a few myopic give attention to checking the subsequent field after which the subsequent field after which and so forth., and so forth., whereas merely trusting that day by day diligence will result in success. To belief, she’s added religion, one thing she foregrounds as a optimistic change together with her change to Kingdom Elite Racing in 2024, a aggressive outfit that describes itself as primarily “impressed and motivated by our basis in religion.

“The workforce’s shift to a faith-based mission this yr has actually allowed me to give attention to the massive image of what we try to perform,” she informed us, describing a completely totally different thought of perspective. “In doing so, it has offered me with a peace earlier than occasions that I have not had earlier than.”

After we consider pre-race rituals in a purely athletic sense, we sometimes think about meals (for night races, Shannon prefers carb-loading at breakfast and lunch with a pre-race dinner of rice, eggs, avocado, and generally hen) and different diet or warm-up methods. In spite of everything, the science of diet and measurable efficiency boosters are in our DNA.

Shannon goes additional, pushing past science into religion. “We at all times pray as a workforce earlier than the beginning of a race,” she mentioned, explaining that that meditative train “actually calms the nerves and grounds us all earlier than ‘going to battle,’ so to talk.”

It additionally places her biking profession into perspective, reaffirming a “dedication to representing the workforce’s mission of excellence, faithfulness, and integrity properly, not solely off the bike, however within the races themselves,” she defined. Sustaining that broader perspective about racing has added a brand new lightness to her strategy, serving to her keep calm and even levity throughout competitors: “Remembering to have enjoyable with it has actually been a recreation changer by way of eradicating these pre race jitters.”

A broader perspective can solely assist when you’ve really ready your self to win, and trusting the method doesn’t matter until you’re totally dedicated to that course of. Shannon is.

Like most of us, Shannon loses most of her week to a full-time job, losing 40-45 hours doing one thing wholly unrelated to biking. Early coaching rides, cramped schedules – she’s no stranger to the hardships of “trusting the method” whereas managing life, work, and every part else that interrupts time on the bike.

“My on the bike coaching can vary from 10-15 hours every week, relying on whether or not it is a race week or we’re at residence,” she mentioned whereas we labored the numbers to comprehend that Shannon’s 50-60 hours both working or driving quantities to ⅓ of every week. Of that appreciable chunk, the 10-15 hours she spends on the bike are unfold out over 6-7 days, and contain crit-specific work like Zone 2 periods with late-ride intervals.

“Length & amount of the intervals will fluctuate based mostly on time of yr or if it is a race week, and so forth., however it retains me sharp & the engine turning through the season with out experiencing that burnout from an excessive amount of depth day after day.”

On days that decision for embracing depth, Shannon takes benefit of quick group rides. Apparently, such rides are helpfully frequent in Florida, and he or she credit them with “getting some race tempo simulation and maintaining the aggressive juices flowing.”

Totally ⅓ of her week is spent incomes a paycheck or getting ready to earn primes, and that’s simply work and the bike. She’s additionally an everyday gym-goer, and – regardless that she focuses extra on a upkeep program through the season – any exercise well worth the hassle is consuming up much more time. All informed, that appears like a burnout tempo for any typical grownup, however elite athletes additionally want elite downtime to be able to correctly get well. So after all we requested about sleep.

“As busy as I’m it may be a problem getting the quantity of sleep I WANT to get,” she candidly admitted, with heavy emphasis on ‘need,’ “however I do try to catch up at any time when I can.”

COMPETE, FORGET, REPEAT

Inevitably, any athlete’s life is outlined partly by their losses – misplaced sleep, misplaced races, and weeks or months misplaced to crashes and accidents. Shannon’s 2024 marketing campaign was no exception.

“Sadly, a crash within the crit at Professional Nationals prompted me to must reassess my objectives for the rest of the yr,” she lamented. “I wasn’t in a position to be at my greatest throughout that individual block. Nevertheless, I used to be actually comfortable to return into Grasp’s Nationals with some good health and again to my outdated self once more.”

That resilience – bouncing again from the losses – is much more vital than the losses themselves. For instance the purpose, Shannon shared one final piece of recommendation she was given by a good friend who races motosports.

“Have a brief reminiscence,” she mentioned. “Not solely after dangerous races but additionally good ones. Specializing in what’s forward of you (and never behind you) retains you optimistic, motivated, and pushing for that subsequent aim.”