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.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
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.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
February, Pre-Training, and Caffeine Free
Yeah, so I'm over all the sickness I had in January and managed to string a few good weeks of training in. Nothing completely structured as of yet, but I'm starting to feel like a triathlete again. The volume is starting to pick up, but is still around half the time I normally put in a week during the summer. It's a kickass feeling though to get the gears going and think about what's to come. I love to train, pure and simple. Kate and I have also managed to get some more skiing in and love to get up there on the mountain. We're getting season passes that'll cover this year and next so we'll be heading up there a lot more.
Two Sundays ago I finished a run that may have been one of the tougher weather runs I've done. There's a real tough section of road over in Hidden Springs that a lot of bikers including myself like to hit. They call it the Dump Loop. It's an 18-mile loop with some steep long climbs that you keep doing over and over until you dump off. I decided I wanted to run around 10-miles of that loop to get some hills in on a hard surface. I don't think I'll do my body justice if I solely stick to trails. There's a noticeable difference in the legs after 10-miles on the buttphalt compared to packed gravel and grass so it's just best to mix it up. Anyways, I had planned to do this run pretty much all week. I wake up Sunday and the weather is nasty. Rain mixed with sleet and 30+mph winds. I'd have to cut that HTFU bracelet off if I didn't at least give it a go. So, I drove over to Hidden Springs and got my run on.
When I finally got into the hills it was a direct headwind with all the nasty sleet. Pretty fricken sweet! I was going up hill on the flats and climbing stairs on any hill. That's what it felt like, anyway. It was really a matter of convincing myself that at the turn-around things will get better. And it did. You have about 4-miles of tailwind coming home (my ass froze though) then finally one big ass hill to get up and over, which was of course back into the wind. So it was cool to get it done and I'm glad I didn't bail. I also got some good stares from cars going by and some thumbs-up from cars I knew were into what I was doing.
I started doing the group-ride thing with the fellow Boise Aeros club. A couple of the club members really take care of everyone during the winter. One guy, Ken, supplies six CompuTrainers (CTs) plus a few trainers with PowerTaps, and the other guy, Rob, volunteers his garage so we can all come over and train. I donated a copy of my Performance Pro software to the club and Ken uses it to get all of the analysis done for the members. He's also provided some nice feedback to help the software mature. Both of these guys are also Kona qualifiers/finishers so it's not too hard to notice their passion for the sport.
Last Saturday we rode 2.5hrs on the CTs and had a nice 30min brick to follow. Getting there I was thinking it was going to be nothing more than an endurance ride, but these guys had other plans. They had threshold power stats listed and we had to follow those watts throughout the ride. Chunks were at Ironman pace, while other times it was a nice build up to 110% of our threshold pace. There were also times we would go one-legged so it was mixed up and the time flew by. And the ride was nothing that left me thinking "too hard too soon". Just a nice mix of stuff.
I'm starting to get to know a few more triathletes at the pool now as well. I tend to show up near the tail-end of their structured Masters workouts, but they've been trying to get me in there sooner. My mindset is, "I'll get there soon enough". It's still February so I'm enjoying my sleep time which segue ways into another thought...
My goal for life is to get more sleep. I've been a caffeine junky for about 35 of my 38-years and my sleep always suffers. I was a Mt Dew kid growing up and I've consistently taken 200mg in pill form every morning for who knows how long. Part of that mindset is that caffeine is a proven stimulant for endurance sports and I enjoy the smack-in-the-face alert feeling I get in the morning before I head to the pool or on the bike. I suppose we all have our weaknesses, that's one of mine (along with Swedish fish and gummi bears!). So at this point I've been off the stuff for 8-days solid now and yesterday was the first day without the headaches. Shit, I feel like a recovering drug addict, but in many ways that's what it is to a small degree. I'll keep at it and if I find I can get more sleep then that'll supersede any buzz I get from the caf.
OK, final thought. My new sponsor, Bike Sherpa, recently put the Team Page together. You can check it out here. The entire team is chalked with some incredible backgrounds and experience. Check it out!
Peace out home brews,
Drew.
Two Sundays ago I finished a run that may have been one of the tougher weather runs I've done. There's a real tough section of road over in Hidden Springs that a lot of bikers including myself like to hit. They call it the Dump Loop. It's an 18-mile loop with some steep long climbs that you keep doing over and over until you dump off. I decided I wanted to run around 10-miles of that loop to get some hills in on a hard surface. I don't think I'll do my body justice if I solely stick to trails. There's a noticeable difference in the legs after 10-miles on the buttphalt compared to packed gravel and grass so it's just best to mix it up. Anyways, I had planned to do this run pretty much all week. I wake up Sunday and the weather is nasty. Rain mixed with sleet and 30+mph winds. I'd have to cut that HTFU bracelet off if I didn't at least give it a go. So, I drove over to Hidden Springs and got my run on.
When I finally got into the hills it was a direct headwind with all the nasty sleet. Pretty fricken sweet! I was going up hill on the flats and climbing stairs on any hill. That's what it felt like, anyway. It was really a matter of convincing myself that at the turn-around things will get better. And it did. You have about 4-miles of tailwind coming home (my ass froze though) then finally one big ass hill to get up and over, which was of course back into the wind. So it was cool to get it done and I'm glad I didn't bail. I also got some good stares from cars going by and some thumbs-up from cars I knew were into what I was doing.
I started doing the group-ride thing with the fellow Boise Aeros club. A couple of the club members really take care of everyone during the winter. One guy, Ken, supplies six CompuTrainers (CTs) plus a few trainers with PowerTaps, and the other guy, Rob, volunteers his garage so we can all come over and train. I donated a copy of my Performance Pro software to the club and Ken uses it to get all of the analysis done for the members. He's also provided some nice feedback to help the software mature. Both of these guys are also Kona qualifiers/finishers so it's not too hard to notice their passion for the sport.
Last Saturday we rode 2.5hrs on the CTs and had a nice 30min brick to follow. Getting there I was thinking it was going to be nothing more than an endurance ride, but these guys had other plans. They had threshold power stats listed and we had to follow those watts throughout the ride. Chunks were at Ironman pace, while other times it was a nice build up to 110% of our threshold pace. There were also times we would go one-legged so it was mixed up and the time flew by. And the ride was nothing that left me thinking "too hard too soon". Just a nice mix of stuff.
I'm starting to get to know a few more triathletes at the pool now as well. I tend to show up near the tail-end of their structured Masters workouts, but they've been trying to get me in there sooner. My mindset is, "I'll get there soon enough". It's still February so I'm enjoying my sleep time which segue ways into another thought...
My goal for life is to get more sleep. I've been a caffeine junky for about 35 of my 38-years and my sleep always suffers. I was a Mt Dew kid growing up and I've consistently taken 200mg in pill form every morning for who knows how long. Part of that mindset is that caffeine is a proven stimulant for endurance sports and I enjoy the smack-in-the-face alert feeling I get in the morning before I head to the pool or on the bike. I suppose we all have our weaknesses, that's one of mine (along with Swedish fish and gummi bears!). So at this point I've been off the stuff for 8-days solid now and yesterday was the first day without the headaches. Shit, I feel like a recovering drug addict, but in many ways that's what it is to a small degree. I'll keep at it and if I find I can get more sleep then that'll supersede any buzz I get from the caf.
OK, final thought. My new sponsor, Bike Sherpa, recently put the Team Page together. You can check it out here. The entire team is chalked with some incredible backgrounds and experience. Check it out!
Peace out home brews,
Drew.
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