Well I got through May training fairly well. It was one of those months where the bike volume started to crank. Managed to get in 95+ mile rides every Saturday except for this last one since I had the Boise 70.3 to race. I'll get into that fun soon. Swimming is coming along at this point. I continue to improve by drilling tons, but I'm also putting in at least one day of hard sets for strength. I'm still very motivated to get to the pool as well as get to the several choice ponds for open water swimming. The ponds are clean/clear so it's not much of a gross experience. My running continues to improve on the hills despite the lack of volume. I get my long runs done up in the foothills so that's not a problem and I get plenty of climbing in, but I think it's time to get at least one more day on my feet. June/July will be big months for me.
Two weeks ago I took on the Boise Aeros annual bike ride from Boise to Stanley (check out the terrain view). This is a 130-mile trek, covering a slew of elevation gain (about 11,000ft of climbing) and three major mountain passes. Once you leave Boise and head up highway 21 the scenery goes green and mountainous. It's truly a beautiful ride. Around miles 80 to 90 I had a small rough patch, but I pretty much tuned it out and just listened to the surroundings. Nearly the entire ride you go along the south fork of the Payette river. The river is currently running very high due to all the snow runoff from the mountains. If you tune everything else out and just listen to the river the pain you talked yourself into miles back pretty much disappears.
Experiencing the mountain passes on the bike was a trip. The first pass (Moore's Summit) was a 10-mile doozy, with some big switchbacks and steep grades. I had my tri-bike for this ride so that makes it interesting since you don't spend much time in the aerobars when climbing these honkers. The second pass (Beaver Creek), which is only about 5-miles later is another dandy, but the easiest of the three. Then at mile 90 the climb up over Banner Creek Summit is a 15-mile straight shot up and over. Not only are you zonked from the 90-miles of continuous UP, you're now faced with this big climb that continues to give you this false hope that you've reached the top. Every time you think you're over...WHAM...it just keeps working it's way back up. I had my Garmin with me so I knew 7200ft was the magic elevation marker. After 90mins of climbing though you just sort of want it to end. I had fun climbing the other summits, but I was pretty much ready for this one to be done. Half way up my supplies went dry and was basically recycling spit. That's when Super Wife arrives (insert superhero theme music here). Kater was driving up separately so she could get some studying done. When she asked me if I needed anything I was like "OH BABY!". She packed the cooler full of everything and I went for the coke. I slammed one can, threw two more in my aerobottle, proceeded to drink over half while gabbing with her so threw another in. So now I'm buzzed up and ready to go. Once I reached the summit I think I threw two more cokes down me. Cheeze ballz dude!!! I'm surprised I didn't jitter-vibrate myself off the road. Once we got over that last summit it's about 25-miles to get down into Stanley. This was 25-miles of rollers, elevation LOSS, and wind to our backs. And with all the cokes in me I think I averaged 25+ getting there. Also, once you're over that last mountain pass you see the Sawtooth Mountain range. "Damn", is all I can say. It's a spectacular view and after being in the saddle for nearly 7hrs it's a very welcome site. It was just a kickass experience, to say the least.
I took'r a little easier this week to get prepped for the Boise 70.3 half-Ironman. This was our 1st annual event here and it turned out to be an event I'd recommend to anyone. Logistically, it's a bit of a challenge since it's a point-2-point race. So it's one of those deals where you have to get your bike out to the Lucky Peak reservoir before-hand then get your running gear over to T2. I think there's some things they can do to make it a little easier for everyone, which always improves over time. I also didn't witness any first-hand whiners, which was a surprise. I was actually impressed by the lack of whining from the athletes as it always seems to be a case of "please me please me". Dude, just harden the f#@k up and race! Anyway, quick rant.
The race itself for me was pretty good. This was the first half IM where I got to sleep in my own bed the night before, which is a new/strange experience. And to have it as an Official Ironman sponsored race in my backyard that made it even stranger. Ironman also did a fantastic job of bringing in some top-notch pro athletes. Chris Leito, Desiree Ficker, and Kate Major to name a few. Once again, weird having these athletic icons in our backyard.
So though the race is local it didn't change the wakeup call. At 3:45am I'm up in the shower to induce "wake up" then down for my pre-race meal. Kate and I were then off to our friend's place to pick them up (more support crew) then off to downtown. We then get shuttled out to Lucky Peak to start the race. By 7:30am my wave finally goes out and we hit the friggid choppy waters. I'm guessing it was around 55F. It's cold, but tolerable, especially with the thermal hoody on. Some guys had little wetsuit booties on and i think I'd opt for that next time at this race. When I got out of the water it was a bit of a challenge running with stiff ankles on a stoney path. The swim itself went pretty well. Times were slow due to the conditions, but I ended up 9th in my AG for the swim. That's a rather large step up from the usual 3rd of way down the list.
T1 was a slow slow slow. The point-2-point thing changes plans so you have to pack all your crap in a bag before you head out so they can take it downtown for later. Not only that, all of the crap you plan to wear on the bike has to be in that bag before the race. So it's unload the bag, reload the bag. It's an even playing field for everyone so that's cool, but I get impatient in the transition area. Blame the A.D.D.!
The Giant is starting to mold to my frame. I still have some tweaking to do so I can hold pace for 112-miles, but it's coming around. The bike today felt pretty good and the couple bigger climbs we had I think I handled with "running 13.1" in mind. Very conservative up them things. The rest of the ride went well other than dropping the chain once and loosing my gel (off to plan B). I still have some impatience I need to take care of, which is all things to expect in early June. The ride itself was good enough for 5th in my AG so I was happy with that.
T2 was once again slow slow slow. I had to pack my bag again, but I also had to rip it open since I tied it the night before so my shoes wouldn't get wet. After ripping the bag open then trying to throw my aero helmet in there, the force of me squeezing the helmet in broke the side ear piece. Arg!!!! We'll see if crazy-glue can fix it. Otherwise, you might be seeing a new lid on me soon. Whattapisser!
My legs felt great going into the run. I had to stop the first mile to pee, but then got into a groove of 7:00-7:10 splits. I eventually slowed down a bit which shows to me that nutrition is still a factor on the bike and perhaps requires little more conservation. But I also think adding some more high quality volume to the run will help as well. I know I have it me, just requires some work. During the run I was able to see Kate and the gang several times. The run is pretty much a pancake other than the "here and theres" and today there was overcast with periodic drizzle. If you can run fast, today was the day to prove it. The crowd support for the run is worth it alone to do this race. It has an Ironman Wisc feel to it, but a much more scaled down version of it. And it's only going to get better. When it was all said and done I had the 9th fastest run in my AG and it was good enough for an 8th place AG finish. Not bad. I'm happy with that and it gives me some things to work on.
Well, your basic race report stuff.
Train smart, keep your nose clean, don't f@$k up! :)
Drew.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Bike Love
I love bikes, I love my bikes, however, my bikes can also be those bratty little kids you want to put into a headlock, give them a couple big noogies, and follow it up with a wet-willy! Since I got the new TT bike I rebuilt my Van Dessel as a road bike and it's been mainly my power bike on the CompuTrainer. The seatpost clamp has always been dumb on that bike. Close tri-geek buddies who have traveled with me to races can attest that it's given me some grief. It's dumb. VD designed a frame with a slightly larger (2mm) than standard seatpost. So if you go with a standard post then you have to crank down on it, which puts a lot of strain on the frame. At some point in 2005 the frame started to crack in that area, but has been holding until now.
Last Tuesday I'm 20-mins into my ride and "CRACK!". What a nice lovely sound the bike just made followed with the dropping of my saddle. The internal metal of the clamp within the frame completely shattered. So in the last month the bike has seen a cracked deraullur hanger and now this. Nothing another trip to Lowe's can solve. Since I don't care what the frame looks like there's now a nice fatty bolt, nut, and washer going through the frame to snug up the seatpost. Mission complete, but I don't know how much more time the ol' VD has left. She's just gotta hang on until the end of the 2009 season. After that my Sugaaa Momma (aka wife with job...he he) arrives and perhaps I could swing a new road setup. Until then, HOLD ON YOU LITTLE BEE-OTCH!!!
OK, on to the new Giant TT bike. Last year I used some cash I made from my little software app to purchase some new kickass Easton DeltaForce TT drops. They're all carbon, they're sexy, and they're 100+ grams lighter than the VisionTech drops I had prior. Well, I installed them on the VD back in it's days and they kept slipping at the stem. They slipped enough where the bars got slightly chewed up. I tried everything at the time then eventually gave up. Well, those $200 bars just sat in my little bike shop and the guilt factor was building. I finally decided to give it another try. I did some research and found that using a little piece of aluminum oxide sandpaper would keep them from slipping. So I tried that and they still slipped. Then I changed out the bolts in my Syntace F99 stem and reversed the side the sand is on and Viola! That took care of it. I got over a 100-miles on them in the last couple of days and no slip. I think the guilt is starting to wear off. We'll see.
So I think that's everything other than blowing a tire on my ride yesterday. No big deal of course since that happens to everyone, but it was another thing to think about. I had to order some new tires that can handle some of the debris around here, which is just another slight adjustment in my new bike surroundings.
Ok, final thing. I'm two weeks out from perhaps the toughest and longest ride I've ever done. I'm biking with some of the Boise Aeros from Boise up to Stanley. This is a 130-mile trip with well over 20,000ft of climbing with the elevation topping out around 7300ft. I'm pretty pumped to take it on and also a little nerveous. One cool thing is Kate is helping out that weekend and will drive with us in case we need anything. So she'll throw the doogies in with her and we'll spend the night up in Stanley when it's done. We then have a nice long trail run scheduled the next day. Should be a great time and I'll tell ya all about it when it's done. It should be beautiful (follow link) so we'll take plenty of pics.
Later gators,
Drew.
Last Tuesday I'm 20-mins into my ride and "CRACK!". What a nice lovely sound the bike just made followed with the dropping of my saddle. The internal metal of the clamp within the frame completely shattered. So in the last month the bike has seen a cracked deraullur hanger and now this. Nothing another trip to Lowe's can solve. Since I don't care what the frame looks like there's now a nice fatty bolt, nut, and washer going through the frame to snug up the seatpost. Mission complete, but I don't know how much more time the ol' VD has left. She's just gotta hang on until the end of the 2009 season. After that my Sugaaa Momma (aka wife with job...he he) arrives and perhaps I could swing a new road setup. Until then, HOLD ON YOU LITTLE BEE-OTCH!!!
OK, on to the new Giant TT bike. Last year I used some cash I made from my little software app to purchase some new kickass Easton DeltaForce TT drops. They're all carbon, they're sexy, and they're 100+ grams lighter than the VisionTech drops I had prior. Well, I installed them on the VD back in it's days and they kept slipping at the stem. They slipped enough where the bars got slightly chewed up. I tried everything at the time then eventually gave up. Well, those $200 bars just sat in my little bike shop and the guilt factor was building. I finally decided to give it another try. I did some research and found that using a little piece of aluminum oxide sandpaper would keep them from slipping. So I tried that and they still slipped. Then I changed out the bolts in my Syntace F99 stem and reversed the side the sand is on and Viola! That took care of it. I got over a 100-miles on them in the last couple of days and no slip. I think the guilt is starting to wear off. We'll see.
So I think that's everything other than blowing a tire on my ride yesterday. No big deal of course since that happens to everyone, but it was another thing to think about. I had to order some new tires that can handle some of the debris around here, which is just another slight adjustment in my new bike surroundings.
Ok, final thing. I'm two weeks out from perhaps the toughest and longest ride I've ever done. I'm biking with some of the Boise Aeros from Boise up to Stanley. This is a 130-mile trip with well over 20,000ft of climbing with the elevation topping out around 7300ft. I'm pretty pumped to take it on and also a little nerveous. One cool thing is Kate is helping out that weekend and will drive with us in case we need anything. So she'll throw the doogies in with her and we'll spend the night up in Stanley when it's done. We then have a nice long trail run scheduled the next day. Should be a great time and I'll tell ya all about it when it's done. It should be beautiful (follow link) so we'll take plenty of pics.
Later gators,
Drew.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A Right of Passage...to Your Mom!
Yeah, sorry about that. I've got "your mom" jokes in my head lately. If I'm doing anything lately it's usually with your mom! :)
So Kate and I and a couple of our good friends put our idiot caps on and ran this crazy-ass 1/2-Marathon called The Race to Robie Creek. It was their 31st annual race so it has some deep tradition.
Mostly a Scottish tradition so when guys in their kilts get up on stage before the race and start saying Scottish "stuff", which apparently they always do, they sound like they put a 5th of whiskey down and tried to tell a joke with a mouthful of marbles. I looked like my dog with this confused head-tilted look. "Ummmm....huh?" Anyway, it was all in good fun and we had a blast. There were plenty of runners in kilts with shirts that read, "Plaid is Rad" or "Plaid is Raid" which doesn't make any sense, but makes for a better designed shirt. There was also the "Robie Kilt Me", which is my favorite. But from the veterans it appeared that Robie is a Right of Passage with the end result being apart of this large group of athletes. Seems if you run races, live in Boise, and not run this race well then...pussy!
Robie was my Spring mass-hill running test. I actually haven't run a 1/2-marathon without a 56-mile bike warmup since 2002. I believe it was the Green Bay half marathon. I suppose I could go do a flatter half (or full) at some point to see if I could run under a certain time, but really it's more about making the body stronger (not the strongest hill runner) and experiencing something a bit more unique. I think I tend to gravitate more towards the harder stuff, mainly just to impress my wife. And of course, mainly to over dramatize the situation so that people will like me...especially your mom!!!
We had pretty good weather for a couple weeks, but then it went downhill some. Forecast for the race wasn't so hot. There was a chance of snow actually and it was 78F and sunny the week before. O'well. The weather turned out pretty good, but I think a lot of people overdressed for the occasion. Pretty nipply at the start, but once things point up it tends to get toasty under all of those layers. I was in shorts and a longsleeve so I was comfortable, just in case you were concerned.
So the race starts all nice and innocent for about a mile then the fun begins. The next couple of miles are on pavement and goes up at a consistant grade. Then around mile-3 the road goes to dirt and gets steeper. From there it's steep, but manageable until mile-7. At mile-7 it becomes rather UNmanagable. Lot of people walking, shuffling, scooting, pooping, etc at this point. It's a nasty steep father-mother-sister-brother for 1.7miles.
Near the top of the summit is an aid-station that serves up a bit more than wasser. Beer and whiskey dominates this aid-station. I was told beforehand about this area and it all sounded good and fun at the time, but after hiking a mountain for over an hour it suddenly doesn't sound so yummy. When I got there I went for the a cup that looked like water. Lady says, "Hey, it's whiskey...it's whiskey!" I looked at it, but just couldn't do it. I handed it to the next lady. I'm sure it found a suitable donor.
So it took me something like 1:12 to get to the 8.7mile marker, which is also the summit. Man, you get to the top and you feel like a tour rider that's been climbing all day. I wanted throw the newspaper in the jersey, zip up, and big-ring down. Just felt that way, but now I can shift gears and muscle groups and head down hill for the next 4+ miles. The first part of this descent is pretty technical. We're at around 4900 feet elevation at the summit so it's bit chillier and there's still snowbanks along the road. The roads are a bit icey mixed with mud so you were never sure if your feet would hold. I never had any major slips, but it sure made you tippy-toe a lot in this section. About a mile down you can relax a little more about falling and just work on not destroying your knees. I also found that there's guys that run a hell of a lot faster than me downhill. Guys that I passed fairly quickly going uphill blew by me going down like they were free-balling. I thought they were evil, but I could clearly see their nuts!
Anyways, moving on from that rant, the finish tape came and I crossed in something like 1:41:40.
Chip times were all messed up, but that was the official time. Not bad. I think I ran a smart race and the focus was pretty good. My only worst-critic-self-criticism is I still had a lot in the tank at the end. Something I need to mentally prepare for a little better. I want the tank on "E" at the tape, which has always been a challenge for me. Such as life!
More pictures of the gang in action
OK, I also did an official 10-mile time trial today, but I'll get to that soon. Good times...good times...with your mom!
So Kate and I and a couple of our good friends put our idiot caps on and ran this crazy-ass 1/2-Marathon called The Race to Robie Creek. It was their 31st annual race so it has some deep tradition.
Mostly a Scottish tradition so when guys in their kilts get up on stage before the race and start saying Scottish "stuff", which apparently they always do, they sound like they put a 5th of whiskey down and tried to tell a joke with a mouthful of marbles. I looked like my dog with this confused head-tilted look. "Ummmm....huh?" Anyway, it was all in good fun and we had a blast. There were plenty of runners in kilts with shirts that read, "Plaid is Rad" or "Plaid is Raid" which doesn't make any sense, but makes for a better designed shirt. There was also the "Robie Kilt Me", which is my favorite. But from the veterans it appeared that Robie is a Right of Passage with the end result being apart of this large group of athletes. Seems if you run races, live in Boise, and not run this race well then...pussy!Robie was my Spring mass-hill running test. I actually haven't run a 1/2-marathon without a 56-mile bike warmup since 2002. I believe it was the Green Bay half marathon. I suppose I could go do a flatter half (or full) at some point to see if I could run under a certain time, but really it's more about making the body stronger (not the strongest hill runner) and experiencing something a bit more unique. I think I tend to gravitate more towards the harder stuff, mainly just to impress my wife. And of course, mainly to over dramatize the situation so that people will like me...especially your mom!!!
We had pretty good weather for a couple weeks, but then it went downhill some. Forecast for the race wasn't so hot. There was a chance of snow actually and it was 78F and sunny the week before. O'well. The weather turned out pretty good, but I think a lot of people overdressed for the occasion. Pretty nipply at the start, but once things point up it tends to get toasty under all of those layers. I was in shorts and a longsleeve so I was comfortable, just in case you were concerned.
So the race starts all nice and innocent for about a mile then the fun begins. The next couple of miles are on pavement and goes up at a consistant grade. Then around mile-3 the road goes to dirt and gets steeper. From there it's steep, but manageable until mile-7. At mile-7 it becomes rather UNmanagable. Lot of people walking, shuffling, scooting, pooping, etc at this point. It's a nasty steep father-mother-sister-brother for 1.7miles.
Near the top of the summit is an aid-station that serves up a bit more than wasser. Beer and whiskey dominates this aid-station. I was told beforehand about this area and it all sounded good and fun at the time, but after hiking a mountain for over an hour it suddenly doesn't sound so yummy. When I got there I went for the a cup that looked like water. Lady says, "Hey, it's whiskey...it's whiskey!" I looked at it, but just couldn't do it. I handed it to the next lady. I'm sure it found a suitable donor.
So it took me something like 1:12 to get to the 8.7mile marker, which is also the summit. Man, you get to the top and you feel like a tour rider that's been climbing all day. I wanted throw the newspaper in the jersey, zip up, and big-ring down. Just felt that way, but now I can shift gears and muscle groups and head down hill for the next 4+ miles. The first part of this descent is pretty technical. We're at around 4900 feet elevation at the summit so it's bit chillier and there's still snowbanks along the road. The roads are a bit icey mixed with mud so you were never sure if your feet would hold. I never had any major slips, but it sure made you tippy-toe a lot in this section. About a mile down you can relax a little more about falling and just work on not destroying your knees. I also found that there's guys that run a hell of a lot faster than me downhill. Guys that I passed fairly quickly going uphill blew by me going down like they were free-balling. I thought they were evil, but I could clearly see their nuts!
Anyways, moving on from that rant, the finish tape came and I crossed in something like 1:41:40.
Chip times were all messed up, but that was the official time. Not bad. I think I ran a smart race and the focus was pretty good. My only worst-critic-self-criticism is I still had a lot in the tank at the end. Something I need to mentally prepare for a little better. I want the tank on "E" at the tape, which has always been a challenge for me. Such as life!More pictures of the gang in action
OK, I also did an official 10-mile time trial today, but I'll get to that soon. Good times...good times...with your mom!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
April. More Training and a Spring Sprint Tri
Hey all,
March has come and gone and for the most part it was a solid month for training. All areas are progressing, but I also had some setbacks in volume due to work-related travel. It was a small sacrifice to the company that makes this triathlon thing possible. A couple weeks ago work sent me back to the corporate office in Illinois where I worked for over 13yrs. As a tele-worker, there will always be times when it's best I'm there face-2-face with my bosses and fellow workers. This was one of those times, but unfortunately it was a short 48hr visit so I couldn't see all of my close friends. I made due and was able to hang with a few and even managed to get a swim workout in with Kona Dog and Eric the Eeeeeeeeel as well as Mr. Rossi and MD. So this segways into a swimming thought....
I think I've mentioned I've pretty much been a Driller in the pool. Meaning, not a lot of hard sets, just tons and tons of yards drilling, drilling, and drilling. So the form is progressing incrementally well though I'm due for some video analysis. However, I got the eye-opener when I got with the Bloomington boys. These guys have been hard at it now for awhile, getting ready for Ironman CDA in a couple months. I had to struggle my ass off to hang with these guys. I shared a lane with KDog and the tall glass of water would pretty much drown my ace once he lead enough where his feet were by my lid. After that it was just a matter of getting through the set without being labeled as driftwood. It ended up being a great workout and probably the most yards I've done since pre-Ironman Arizona a year ago. I think it inspired me to get with the masters team a little sooner so I can be pushed when it comes time to push.
Last week I was in San Francisco for a work related Microsoft Conference. I've been to this conference six or seven times now and mostly in San Fran (once in NYC). I decided to pack the bike so I could get a couple rides in the evening. I really wanted to go climb Mt. Tam again and now that daylight saving kicks in earlier it worked out pretty well. Flying the bike with United is pretty much a scam these days and I urge anyone who's willing to complain to write United Airlines some hate mail on their new bike policy. They charged me $85.00 one way then tagged an additional $50.00 for being overweight. $135 to ship my bike one way, which was slightly cheaper than the ticket itself. The case itself is 35lbs and the bike is 20lbs so I'm screwed from the get-go. In May the overweight fee goes up to $100 so I don't think I'll be flying United with the bike again...ever. F#$kers! OK, I've vented, anyways, I got the bike out there and was able to find the top of Mt. Tam again. If I can get the pics off of my phone I'll post them. I had my Garmin with me, which I can import into my software (PerfPro):
The Ride
Google Earth File
I don't have a power meter on the Garmin so it really only shows speed/rpms, but it does show the course profile along with total feet climbed. Not a bad amount of climbing in the first 24-miles. Anyways, you can get a 3D look of the ride in Google Earth by launching that KML file. Kinda sweet.
I got back from San Fran last Thursday and the next day was the swim portion of my first triathlon of the year. The local YMCA puts on a sprint triathlon for the entire Treasure Valley area. It's an interesting way to have an outdoor triathlon in Idaho in early April when there's still plenty of snow on the nearby mountains. You basically predict your time for the Friday swim so they know where to seed you. After your swim they mark your time so it can be carried into the Bike/Run portion on Saturday. On Saturday, the clock starts at 00:00 and everyone lines up behind a transition line (also the chip mat). When the clock hits your swim time from Friday you briskly walk to your bike then head out on the 12.5 mile down and back course. It's then pretty much like a normal triathlon.
When I signed up for this race last month I really didn't have a good idea where to seed myself so I shot high. It's a 750yard swim in the pool so I put an aggressive time for me at 10:00 flat. After a couple moderate tests at that distance I realized that was way too aggressive for me. I think I was around 11:20 for one of them, but so be it. I get the lane to myself so it didn't really matter what I got. When the gun went off for me I felt pretty good. Laps where clicking off and I thought of a couple things. Keep the form and remember a couple weeks ago when KDog was kicking my ass. That workout was much harder than this 750yard test. Anyways, I lost count of the laps and kept pushing the long strokes until I saw the sign for the last lap. When it was all said and done I hit the mat in 10:10. I was stoked!!! It seems like it's been forever where I had a swim I was happy with. After the swim a lady asked me if was happy with my time. Not being one to ever answer a question like that directly I just said, "Was I happy? I'm always happy!" So I was excited now about getting the bike/run in the next day.
Saturday morning I gathered all my bike/run stuff and headed down to Camels Back park where all the festivities were at. It was a brisk 36F out, but the wind was mild so I kept the clothing light. I figured it would get a little warmer and it I think it got to around 45F. Still, a little chilly so it had a lot of people confused on what to wear. When my 10:10 time on the clock hit I ran to my bike and took off on the course. The course is a 12.5 mile (12.6 according to my GPS) course on Hill Road, which is a well traveled bike road going out of the city. There's not a lot of climbing really, just some gradual stuff that'll slow you down some. I felt like the whole ride I played it conservative. That will be my theme for the entire year. Back it off some and save it for the run. When I got off the bike I felt like I had plently left in the tank.
The run is a 5K course out in the trails where I run frequently so I kind of knew what to expect. The first half of the run is a gradual uphill so it tends to sap you a bit and it kept me from building up any kind of groove, but I kept at it. Only one guy passed me at the beginning and I passed one other guy. At the turn-around I see a whole bunch of dudes, but the course goes flat so I poured it on the best I could. With about half mile or so left one of the local short distance studs past me like I was running backwards, but he was it. I managed to hold off the rest and came in feeling pretty good. Good enough for a 2nd 30-39 AG placing and 6th overall (excluding the three relay teams) out of some 240 plus people. So it was a nice start to the season and appears to be a good sign that things are progressing well.
Well, I think that's all for now. I have a very tough half-marathon in a couple weeks. I'll report back on that. I'm sure the beer will help wash down the taste of lungs!
Aloha,
Drew.
March has come and gone and for the most part it was a solid month for training. All areas are progressing, but I also had some setbacks in volume due to work-related travel. It was a small sacrifice to the company that makes this triathlon thing possible. A couple weeks ago work sent me back to the corporate office in Illinois where I worked for over 13yrs. As a tele-worker, there will always be times when it's best I'm there face-2-face with my bosses and fellow workers. This was one of those times, but unfortunately it was a short 48hr visit so I couldn't see all of my close friends. I made due and was able to hang with a few and even managed to get a swim workout in with Kona Dog and Eric the Eeeeeeeeel as well as Mr. Rossi and MD. So this segways into a swimming thought....
I think I've mentioned I've pretty much been a Driller in the pool. Meaning, not a lot of hard sets, just tons and tons of yards drilling, drilling, and drilling. So the form is progressing incrementally well though I'm due for some video analysis. However, I got the eye-opener when I got with the Bloomington boys. These guys have been hard at it now for awhile, getting ready for Ironman CDA in a couple months. I had to struggle my ass off to hang with these guys. I shared a lane with KDog and the tall glass of water would pretty much drown my ace once he lead enough where his feet were by my lid. After that it was just a matter of getting through the set without being labeled as driftwood. It ended up being a great workout and probably the most yards I've done since pre-Ironman Arizona a year ago. I think it inspired me to get with the masters team a little sooner so I can be pushed when it comes time to push.
Last week I was in San Francisco for a work related Microsoft Conference. I've been to this conference six or seven times now and mostly in San Fran (once in NYC). I decided to pack the bike so I could get a couple rides in the evening. I really wanted to go climb Mt. Tam again and now that daylight saving kicks in earlier it worked out pretty well. Flying the bike with United is pretty much a scam these days and I urge anyone who's willing to complain to write United Airlines some hate mail on their new bike policy. They charged me $85.00 one way then tagged an additional $50.00 for being overweight. $135 to ship my bike one way, which was slightly cheaper than the ticket itself. The case itself is 35lbs and the bike is 20lbs so I'm screwed from the get-go. In May the overweight fee goes up to $100 so I don't think I'll be flying United with the bike again...ever. F#$kers! OK, I've vented, anyways, I got the bike out there and was able to find the top of Mt. Tam again. If I can get the pics off of my phone I'll post them. I had my Garmin with me, which I can import into my software (PerfPro):
The Ride
Google Earth File
I don't have a power meter on the Garmin so it really only shows speed/rpms, but it does show the course profile along with total feet climbed. Not a bad amount of climbing in the first 24-miles. Anyways, you can get a 3D look of the ride in Google Earth by launching that KML file. Kinda sweet.
I got back from San Fran last Thursday and the next day was the swim portion of my first triathlon of the year. The local YMCA puts on a sprint triathlon for the entire Treasure Valley area. It's an interesting way to have an outdoor triathlon in Idaho in early April when there's still plenty of snow on the nearby mountains. You basically predict your time for the Friday swim so they know where to seed you. After your swim they mark your time so it can be carried into the Bike/Run portion on Saturday. On Saturday, the clock starts at 00:00 and everyone lines up behind a transition line (also the chip mat). When the clock hits your swim time from Friday you briskly walk to your bike then head out on the 12.5 mile down and back course. It's then pretty much like a normal triathlon.
When I signed up for this race last month I really didn't have a good idea where to seed myself so I shot high. It's a 750yard swim in the pool so I put an aggressive time for me at 10:00 flat. After a couple moderate tests at that distance I realized that was way too aggressive for me. I think I was around 11:20 for one of them, but so be it. I get the lane to myself so it didn't really matter what I got. When the gun went off for me I felt pretty good. Laps where clicking off and I thought of a couple things. Keep the form and remember a couple weeks ago when KDog was kicking my ass. That workout was much harder than this 750yard test. Anyways, I lost count of the laps and kept pushing the long strokes until I saw the sign for the last lap. When it was all said and done I hit the mat in 10:10. I was stoked!!! It seems like it's been forever where I had a swim I was happy with. After the swim a lady asked me if was happy with my time. Not being one to ever answer a question like that directly I just said, "Was I happy? I'm always happy!" So I was excited now about getting the bike/run in the next day.
Saturday morning I gathered all my bike/run stuff and headed down to Camels Back park where all the festivities were at. It was a brisk 36F out, but the wind was mild so I kept the clothing light. I figured it would get a little warmer and it I think it got to around 45F. Still, a little chilly so it had a lot of people confused on what to wear. When my 10:10 time on the clock hit I ran to my bike and took off on the course. The course is a 12.5 mile (12.6 according to my GPS) course on Hill Road, which is a well traveled bike road going out of the city. There's not a lot of climbing really, just some gradual stuff that'll slow you down some. I felt like the whole ride I played it conservative. That will be my theme for the entire year. Back it off some and save it for the run. When I got off the bike I felt like I had plently left in the tank.
The run is a 5K course out in the trails where I run frequently so I kind of knew what to expect. The first half of the run is a gradual uphill so it tends to sap you a bit and it kept me from building up any kind of groove, but I kept at it. Only one guy passed me at the beginning and I passed one other guy. At the turn-around I see a whole bunch of dudes, but the course goes flat so I poured it on the best I could. With about half mile or so left one of the local short distance studs past me like I was running backwards, but he was it. I managed to hold off the rest and came in feeling pretty good. Good enough for a 2nd 30-39 AG placing and 6th overall (excluding the three relay teams) out of some 240 plus people. So it was a nice start to the season and appears to be a good sign that things are progressing well.
Well, I think that's all for now. I have a very tough half-marathon in a couple weeks. I'll report back on that. I'm sure the beer will help wash down the taste of lungs!
Aloha,
Drew.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
March, It's-a-On Like-a-Donkey-Kong
Sup Homebrews??
So it's March, which means the road to September has begun. My swimming is on a mission from a total tactical sense. I've ripped apart my form and slowly piecing it all back together. It's kind of funny, I've been doing workouts in the pool steadily since 2000 yet it takes this long to finally listen to what the experts have to say, "form first, workouts last". It's true, I have made more gains in the pool these last few months than I have in the seven years prior. I suppose experience and a level of faith in oneself helps a bit. If you keep doing the same old shit over and over and over again its pretty hard to complain about those reoccurring results. I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm not totally burnt out from swimming either. It's a fresh look so I'm rolling with it. Those hard vomit-sessions can come later, like August!
Overall, my fitness is coming around. I've been doing my long runs in the hills, which has been a real challenge, but this half marathon coming up mid-April is sort of scaring me into it. I have a pretty kickass 12-mile route that has over 2000 feet of climbing and I'm usually a full MPH slower than I would be on the flats. It's been a good test to get adjusted to all of the long steep running and it's also exposed some weaknesses in my lower back and core. And I am definitely my worst critic when it comes to my core. It'll never be strong enough. At least with the lower back I finally invested in a real nice desk chair since I spend so much time being a geek. Within the first week of having my new swivel-saddle my lower back pain has nearly diminished. Today was my first run test on the flats to get an overall idea of how well the base training went and I think I'm happy. It was rainy and windy today and made for a good HTFU 6-mile run.
Biking has been up and down, which can be expected for March. I have logged a lot of hours on the CompuTrainer in February and so far March is going well too. Though my ride today got cut short because my rear derailur hanger snapped and about sent the rear der through my wheel. A story for another time, just glad it was on a trainer. The group indoor rides have finally come to an end since everyone is migrating outdoors, but I managed to get over there for 5-weeks straight where we did some tough 2.5hr rides followed up with a 30-min transition run. Those workouts have been great and last weekend I managed to the same workout from home. So here's the first posting of data from that workout, which is also showing off my new workout feature of Performance Pro:
- The Workout
- Overall Summary
- Stats for each segment from the workout above.
Yeah, it can be data overload, but the stats become extremely useful when you look at the easy and hard parts of a workout. You can see if you actually hit your marks and if you paced well throughout the entire ride. As an Ironman, pacing is somewhat important, no?
The down part of biking lately is adjusting to my new surroundings. I'm finding that climbing is not a problem around here. I've already done a few rides on the new TT bike and hit some major climbs. However, since I'm still discovering where to ride around here I also need to get to some areas where I can be in the aero position for hours at a time. Being in an aero position around here on big climbs is nearly impossible. It's too steep for too long so you have to be on your drops to breath. I'm sure the early fitness and too many layers of clothing doesn't help either, and once I can get with the group and get better orientated I'm sure things will be fine. Heading south there's plenty forever-flat riding so it's just a matter of time before I figure out where to go when.
Well, I think that's all for now. I haven't posted anything in awhile so I'll try to be more frequent. Spring is right around the corner, we got our daylight back, and tri-season for me begins April 5th. Looking forward to it all.
Foshizzle Monizzle Patizzle,
Drew.
So it's March, which means the road to September has begun. My swimming is on a mission from a total tactical sense. I've ripped apart my form and slowly piecing it all back together. It's kind of funny, I've been doing workouts in the pool steadily since 2000 yet it takes this long to finally listen to what the experts have to say, "form first, workouts last". It's true, I have made more gains in the pool these last few months than I have in the seven years prior. I suppose experience and a level of faith in oneself helps a bit. If you keep doing the same old shit over and over and over again its pretty hard to complain about those reoccurring results. I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm not totally burnt out from swimming either. It's a fresh look so I'm rolling with it. Those hard vomit-sessions can come later, like August!
Overall, my fitness is coming around. I've been doing my long runs in the hills, which has been a real challenge, but this half marathon coming up mid-April is sort of scaring me into it. I have a pretty kickass 12-mile route that has over 2000 feet of climbing and I'm usually a full MPH slower than I would be on the flats. It's been a good test to get adjusted to all of the long steep running and it's also exposed some weaknesses in my lower back and core. And I am definitely my worst critic when it comes to my core. It'll never be strong enough. At least with the lower back I finally invested in a real nice desk chair since I spend so much time being a geek. Within the first week of having my new swivel-saddle my lower back pain has nearly diminished. Today was my first run test on the flats to get an overall idea of how well the base training went and I think I'm happy. It was rainy and windy today and made for a good HTFU 6-mile run.
Biking has been up and down, which can be expected for March. I have logged a lot of hours on the CompuTrainer in February and so far March is going well too. Though my ride today got cut short because my rear derailur hanger snapped and about sent the rear der through my wheel. A story for another time, just glad it was on a trainer. The group indoor rides have finally come to an end since everyone is migrating outdoors, but I managed to get over there for 5-weeks straight where we did some tough 2.5hr rides followed up with a 30-min transition run. Those workouts have been great and last weekend I managed to the same workout from home. So here's the first posting of data from that workout, which is also showing off my new workout feature of Performance Pro:
- The Workout
- Overall Summary
- Stats for each segment from the workout above.
Yeah, it can be data overload, but the stats become extremely useful when you look at the easy and hard parts of a workout. You can see if you actually hit your marks and if you paced well throughout the entire ride. As an Ironman, pacing is somewhat important, no?
The down part of biking lately is adjusting to my new surroundings. I'm finding that climbing is not a problem around here. I've already done a few rides on the new TT bike and hit some major climbs. However, since I'm still discovering where to ride around here I also need to get to some areas where I can be in the aero position for hours at a time. Being in an aero position around here on big climbs is nearly impossible. It's too steep for too long so you have to be on your drops to breath. I'm sure the early fitness and too many layers of clothing doesn't help either, and once I can get with the group and get better orientated I'm sure things will be fine. Heading south there's plenty forever-flat riding so it's just a matter of time before I figure out where to go when.
Well, I think that's all for now. I haven't posted anything in awhile so I'll try to be more frequent. Spring is right around the corner, we got our daylight back, and tri-season for me begins April 5th. Looking forward to it all.
Foshizzle Monizzle Patizzle,
Drew.
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