Taking July by the Horns

It seems as if July disappeared as fast as June. I'm still sort of shaking my head about the whole thing. Kate and I enjoyed our 4th of July in Boise though we both had some subtle setbacks on missing our families. Everyone was doing something and we really didn't have much for plans since Kater had an epic week of school starting that Monday. We got to see some great fireworks from our backyard and seeing it doesn't get dark-dark in early July until about 11pm everyone tends to start late and end late w/ the firecrackers. Such as life, it's once a year. I had a big ride planned that next day so I was hoping for some good sleep, but once 12:30am hit I don't think a blackcat Atom bomb could have woken me.

My brother was arriving the week after the 4th for some good family time and training. I had a 95-mile route planned out so I decided to ride it before we tackled it together. It started w/ some short killer hills after 10-miles then off to some longer climbs of around 2+ miles after 30-miles, then off to climb the Bogus Basin Summit starting at mile 40. You've probably heard me talk about Bogus in the past, but it's a great 16-mile climb and since it's very close by it's very convenient to get big training in without having to go forever to get there. I ended up hitting the route well and even tooks splits on the bogus climb. Knocking 22-mins off my previous attempt made for a very smiley descent back down the mountain. I think the legs are starting to enjoy the tilting-up roads of Idaho.


Having my brother arrive was exciting and I couldn't wait to show him around in the car, but mostly on the bike. Besides the mentioned route I also planned to take him up to the Mores Creek Summit, which crests about 13-miles past Idaho City and is around a 108-mile route. This route has three summit climbs since it's a down and back. Once again, it starts all innocent for about 11-miles then on to a 4+ mile climb up over Highland Valley Summit or Hilltop as the locals call it. From mile-23 you slowly gain elevation for 30-miles w/ the last 10 getting pretty steep. With about three miles left the road begins the switchbacks. The pic to the right shows the first switchback. It's an absolutely beautiful ride. I knew Flipper had his own demons to conquer going up so I went ahead and tackled my own. Reaching the top is always a kickass experience.

When I got to the top I waited for Flipper to arrive. It wasn't long before I could hear his grunts up the switchbacks. I got a good laugh out of it, but I knew he put in a hard effort to get to the top of that beast. We snapped some shots then turned around and enjoyed a very fast 13-miles back to Idaho City. Other than the Highland Summit being an absolute beeotch after 90-miles in the saddle we felt like life was once again fantastic. The beer that night tasted quite good.

It was great having my brother here and I can't wait until he comes back. He even managed to design up and build a huge shelving unit in my garage. He was the mastermind and I played the grunt dude. We had a blast and the house now has a ton more storage space. Something it was running a bit short on.

The day after Flipper left I had to fly out to Columbia, MO for work. I'm a geek who supports a lot of other geeks at State Farm so we had to present a bunch of the new technology coming their way. It was great to see everyone I work with again face-2-face. Being a teleworker you lose some of the that personal 1-on-1 contact. The conversations and more importantly, jokes!, that come up when we're all together is priceless. You just can't get that on the phone and email. Anyways, the presentations all went pretty well and I managed to get one good run in on Columbia's Katy Trail. Columbia is a very green, woodsy city so the run on the trail and along the river was quite nice. It also reminded me how dry Boise is and how humid the midwest is. Sheesh, my workout clothes never dried the entire time I was there. It was a nice reminder though since there's always a good chance that Ironman Moo is going to be nasty.

Other than that, training has gone exceptionally well in July despite not having my tri-bike for nearly the entire month (I've got the new frame now). These last six weeks will be nailing the longer runs and hitting my FTP efforts on the bike. I have an Olympic distance race on August 9th so that'll be my last FTP effort. Then it's one last big weekend and off to the psychotic taper. Whooya!

Take'r easy,
Drew.

Jeeeese Focker, where did June go?

Seems as if June came and went with a blink of an eye, a turn in the pool, some crazy-ass ride on the trainer, and the list goes on and on. Where the flippin heck did June go? I don't know. I do know it was eventful so I guess that explains it, time flies when you're having fun. As I mentioned in my May blog, the Boise 70.3 half-Ironman kicked off the beginning of the month with some positive feedback and also some "what not to-dooz". Recovering from that race could have been a little quicker, but I came back in full force w/o any injuries to speak of so knock on wood there. The month built up nicely and ended with a Half Ironman in Bend, Oregon. I'll get into that race in a bit.

June has been the month of family and friends and it felt damn good. My parents made it here in early June, driving their little yellow corvette all the way out here from Wisconsin. It was so nice having them in Boise and they can relate to all the great things we've been talking about when it comes to living in Idaho.

My buddy Brian made it out here so we could drive up to Coeur d'Alene and meet up with CD and Kdog for Ironman CDA and our annual "guys trip". Man, I didn't think a Guys trip was going to happen this year, but we made it work. Kdog was there to kick some butt and he left Idaho a butt-kicker. He did fantastic as did the rest of the Bloomington gang. Ya'll certainly didn't' suck! :) Rossi, CD, and I also got some good training in. We managed to get one lap on the Ironman swim course (1.2 miles) and roughly three laps of the bike course plus a little running. The new bike course at CDA is a huge improvement over the older course. I had no idea how beautiful the riding up by Hayden Lake was going to be so that was a pleasant surprise. There's also a few more challenging hills on that course so it helped us all get our legs better prepared for Wisconsin (Ross and I) and Kona (CD). Yes, there are hills in Kona! It was also simply great to be riding with the guys again. It didn't take much to realize how much I missed that.

By the time Rossi and I drove back to Boise (7-1/2hr drive), him flying back, and with everyone now gone I think I sunk into a small depression. I think it's typical when there's so much build up to see everyone then you have such a great time. Once they're gone you're sort of empty. So the entire week after CDA and leading up to the half Ironman in Bend I felt sapped of energy, tired, bored, and pretty unmotivated to race. I really considered bagging the race since all I wanted was to just get out the door and train w/o the headaches of racing. I also wasn't too excited about being in the car again, but I really wanted to go experience Bend. Besides, the race and cabin were paid for so we're going! I've been told by plenty of locals how beautiful Bend is. It's a dry climate like Boise, but there's a few monster mountains and miles and miles of huge pines. Another thing putting a damper on heading to Bend was Kate couldn't get out of class until late so we wouldn't be strolling into our cabin until late. It turned out she was able to leave class early so that helped a lot.

Race morning was a bit as expected for me. I felt ok, but I was really unmotivated to kick ass on the course, which was too bad. Its just how it is when your low on go-go juice, but I was still happy to be in Bend and at this venue. The Pacific Crest venue is pretty cool. There's about every distance race and types going on all weekend. There was a marathon, half-marathon, half-iron, and endurance duathlon (bike/run only) all going on at the same time. So during the run you see all sorts of different bibs on the course. It also has that small race feel to it, which I have really missed since I've only been to WTC sponsored events lately. Ironman brand races don't exactly have that laid back feeling.


I went ahead and got warmed up in the water and ready to go. The water was warmer this time around so no need for the thermal cap. It was actually about perfect, at around 63F. When I got done I came back out of th water to hang with Kate and all the spectators started to show up. There was a few people who looked like they were ready to have a good time. I'm pretty sure they were half in the bag. The picture kind of says it all, but from the time my wave went out and when I got done they changed into some band of Indians. It was pretty funny and those guys got a lot of stares. They ate it right up.


The swim went fairly well though I was feeling fatigued from the get-go. Yes, more whining about feeling tired. I expected the water to be clearer, but like everywhere else out West, there has been so much snow run-off from the mountains the lakes were a bit murky. The only weird thing that happened to me was on the way back in, say about halfway through the swim, I hit a "slick" of fish spawn. It was this huge load of fish eggs on the surface that I had to get through for about 20-30yards. It was pretty gross, but I survived. I have noticed a strange ability to stay underwater longer now though...hmmmm....

The bike course is pretty cool. There's only five turns to be made in the 58-miles (this was a non-standard distance race). Once we turned out of the park we had about 10-miles of riding until the next turn. Then it was nearly 40-miles of straight highway and the roads were fantastic. There were three major climbs to do, two of which were actual mountain passes, topping off at around 6300ft. On the mountain passes the temps rose pretty high, but there was still tons of snow on the ground. Only the roads didn't have snow and they just opened a couple weeks prior. It was a pretty cool sight to see. On the way up one of the climbs I saw a dude fling himself off his bike into a snow bank. I said to him, "Dude, you OK?" He laid in the snow, "Cramp, leg cramp." So no big whoop, he was going to survive. The climbs themselves weren't too bad since I've had my fair share of long grinds this year. Nothing crazy-steep, but if you weren't used to zoning out for 6 to 7-miles at a time going up it might become tough. I ended up having a fair bike, but nothing outstanding. I really tried to be conservative in hopes that this lack of energy would turn into something positive, but it never did. Such as life. Lets go for a nice hot run.


I was warned by club members that the 13.1-mile run was a hot one. And they were right, temps got to 100F (if not more) on the run, but it was nothing like running at Moo in 2005. With only 20% humidity it was tolerable and you'd catch a good breeze from time to time to help. I just couldn't muster up a run. So I played the walk-run-walk walk game, had a few bouts of uselessness then finally see Kate around the 10mile marker. I needed to vent to her about my lack of desire, but she pepped me and I was able to muster up enough to run most of the last 5K (slowly) to the finish line. Man, whatapisser! And not a pisser that I finished a bit slower than I'm used too, but more that I was in such negative spirits doing it. Stuff's supposed to be fun and this time around not so much. However, my lovely bride always refreshes my noggin about how I need to put things in perspective and enjoy the moment. Afterall, we're in flipp'n Bend, for Pete's sake.
After a little recovery we headed to the beer tent to collect my prize liquid. Mmmmmm......Beeeeeer!!!! Then it was off to the grocery store to get some salmon steaks and head back to the cabin. There's nothing like cooking up your own meals in a cabin on a lake. Heck, the next morning we treated ourselves to some home cooked eggs/bacon/toast and coffee. Life is grand!

Recovery from the Bend race went quickly since I didn't hammer out the run. So I was right back on the horse w/ a refreshed attitude on getting prepped for Ironman. Other than needing my tri-bike back things are looking good. The next race is in August, which is a local Olympic distance race. That'll be my last Vo2 max effort before I start calming it down for the big dance. Man, this mother is right around the corner and I'm getting hungry.

Well, that's about everything. Train smart and be safe.

Drew.