Starting the climb up San Elijo Road in San Marcos, CA.
This next pic was taken while descending Champagne Road/Old 395, just east of I-15 in east San Diego County. I was going about 35 mph. Not that smart..I was trying to get the speed reading on the Garmin and the road ahead in the shot... didn't work out though.
At the base of the climb up Old Castle Road near Valley Center, CA which is inland north county San Diego.
Yesterday, I wrapped a nice 4 week training block. I only have training log data since 2005 but I am pretty sure that it is the biggest 4 weeks of training I've done since I started triathlon. That's even counting back in 1997-1998 when I did two Ironman races. I was not a big volume guy then (and am not now), so for me this is somewhat uncharted territory.
some stats: swim - 14,650m, 4:20 bike - 523 miles, 29:01 run - 155 miles, 19:22 total time - 52:43 (13:10 avg. per week)
The good news is that I feel pretty fresh. There have been a few workouts where I feel flat and tired, but those are typically followed by sessions where things are firing on all cylinders and I feel very strong. I'm way ahead of where I was last year at this stage so I'm excited about that.
There is lots of work yet to be done, but I'm allowing myself to dream a little bit.
The faint sound of the alarm on my watch pierces my consciousness. 5:30 am. It is Saturday. I click the button to turn it off and cherish for a moment how warm and comfortable the bed is. Most nights, one, if not both, of our kids has climbed in the bed at some point and last night was no different. The soft sound of their breathing slowly lulls me back to sleep. As I struggle to keep my eyes open for a moment, I consider the day in front of me. Saturdays are a big family day. After a full week of work and school, this is our chance to do something as a family. Maybe the playground for a couple hours. A birthday party in the afternoon. Some errands and maybe dinner out.
But, besides being a husband and dad, I'm also a triathlete. So that means I need to ride today. So, while most sane people sleep in on the weekends, I am lying awake at 5:50 (shoot, I dozed off) and considering the fact that if I want to get a ride in, I need to go now. And I'll be back before the girls are finished watching cartoons. But, if I go back to sleep, the opportunity will be lost. So I roll out of bed. Quietly.
The dog stirs, looks up at me with a confused look... then lays his head back down. The girls and my wife continue to sleep peacefully while I grab my gear that I laid out last night, and step into the bathroom to pull it on. I wouldn't want a light to wake them. Once dressed, I head into the kitchen and brew a cup of coffee while I mix up my bottles. The first sip of caffeine tastes like heaven. A quick bathroom stop and a few minutes later, I walk into the garage, put my helmet and shoes on, check the tires and roll out the door.
6:18 am. I can see my breath in the brisk morning air, but the sun is rising and the sky is turning blue. The legs feel good as I turn the pedals. It's going to be a beautiful day.
As you can see from the image to the left (taken in my front yard), winter has hit like a hammer here in West Virginia. The first week of December has been marked with near-record lows, single digit windchill and copious amounts of the fluffy white stuff falling from the sky.
My kids aren't complaining, we had the first two snow days of the year already. More to come I am certain. What that means from a fitness perspective is lots of time will be spent on my indoor rower, my bike trainer and working out on the TRX and in the gym. The only difference is the addition of a space heater in my garage... the low temps mean that it's only getting into the 30's in my workout space. It is kind of strange putting on layers to workout indoors. Progress on Project 640 has hit a speed bump. I slipped on the ice on the steps of our patio a couple weeks ago, managing to land squarely on the rear part of my ribs, right where my ribs meet my spine on the left side. The resulting bruise and muscle strain has kept me off my Concept2, but I've been trying to compensate by adding in some tough workouts on the bike trainer. I am optimistic that I will back to where I was within a week or so. A while back on Twitter, I broadcast my intention to get over the million meter threshold for the season my year-end. As of this morning, I am at 853K, so that is still within reach, if I can manage just shy of 10K a day. Not easy, but doable. More on that to come. Aside from my rowing goals, things are starting to percolate for next year... a couple events have caught my eye, the Cheat Mountain Challenge in August, a 105-mile ride with 10,000 feet of climbing including a climb up to Snowshoe Resort. The route has numerous 11-15% pitches. Tough to say the least. Another is a 100-mile mountain bike ride, the Mountain State 100 in May. As for running or triathlons, I'm holding off until the first of the year to see how my Achilles is doing. But the competitive itch is starting... I need to find a way to scratch it.
The most frustrating thing about being injured is not getting to do what you love. Running on a nearly daily basis has been a part of my life for so long now that not being able to do it is screwing me up.
I'm trying to fill the gaps with hitting the weights, riding the bike and the pool as much as I can. But it is sort of like trying to fulfill a burger craving with a Big Mac. Yeah, its a burger. But it's no Double-Double.
And as much as I love getting out on the bike, which I truly do... most of the time, my schedule doesn't really allow for daily outdoor rides. So, instead of the daily run to get my head straight, I'm lifting weights or hitting the trainer or jumping in the pool... when most of the time, I'd rather be slipping on my running shoes.
But, the good news is that I'm on the mend. After a handful of short treadmill runs to gently test the Achilles, I went for my first outdoor run yesterday in nearly 2 (!) months. 30 minutes. 3.6 miles... at a glacial 8:10 pace. Well, it didn't feel glacial... actually it felt like I was running pretty hard, but I guess that's what happens when you get out of shape.
The achilles still has some twinges every now and then, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm out of the woods and will be back to the daily runs within a few weeks.
On the flip side of the coin, while my run fitness has fallen through the floor, my cycling is getting stronger. On Sunday, I did a ride I'm calling the Three Sisters. For those familiar with North County San Diego, the climbs are West Lilac, Old 395 to Deer Springs and Twin Valley Oaks to San Elijo. Below is a pic of the profile... the overlying graph is my HR. Twin Valley Oaks in particular is a pretty tough climb, not long..only about 2.5 miles at about 6%. But there is a section in the middle at around 11% that definitely puts the sting in the legs. Gave me a chance to work on my Contador-esque climbing style.
Endurance athletes have a twisted sense of what it means to have fun.
Mike Plumb, coach of TriPower Multisports is no exception, and his latest brainchild is the Palomar Ultimate Challenge. If you caught the 2009 Tour of California, Palomar Mountain was the featured climb of Stage 8. Rated HC ('hors categorie' or 'beyond category') by the UCI, Palomar is an 11.6 mile climb with over 4200 ft of vertical gain. The average gradient is just under 7%. It has drawn many comparisons to the Tour de France's famed Alpe d'Huez climb which is similar in length and also has 21 switchbacks.
Simply put, it's a bitch of a climb for any cyclist.
As if climbing the mountain on a bike wasn't hard enough on it's own, the Palomar Ultimate Challenge adds an out and back 9.5 mile run from the famous Mother's restaurant at the top of the climb along a 4.75 mile route to the Palomar Observatory at a elevation of 5618 ft.
Since I had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning, I drug my ass out of bed early, got on the road for the 1 hr drive and showed up atop the mountain at 8:30am. Why meet at the top of the mountain, you ask? So I could have my running stuff ready to go after finishing the climb of course! A few other folks had already arrived. Despite the sunny skies, it was cold, mid-40's, so I bundled up for the descent down the hill. After 24 bone-chilling minutes, I arrived at the official start of the climb, Jilberto's Taco Shop, just east of the intersection of Valley Center Road and Route 76. I dumped my windjacket in one of the trucks that was driving up, but left on my arm and knee warmers. By 9:30, about 15 people had arrived and once we shared some encouraging words, we began our ascent.
After the descent (that's me in yellow), blowing on my hand trying to warm it up.
A few words of wisdom from Coach Mike I've climbed Palomar 3 times previous to this attempt. Every time, it was a struggle. But this year, I've trained a lot more on the bike and after climbing Mt. Lemmon last weekend, I was optimistic that I would do pretty well. The first mile or two is not steep, but has enough pitch to it that climbing it with cold legs is tough. It took about 15 minutes of solid effort before the legs were really warm and I settled into the effort. I set a HR ceiling of 150, and on several occassions I had to drop into my smallest gear (39x26) to keep the HR below that threshold. I was toward the front of the group, two guys were way off the front... Mike passed me at about two miles in and Ray (another TCSD athlete) left me at around the 3 mile mark. Once Ray put about 100 yards on me, I matched his pace and that distance stayed pretty consistant up the rest of the climb.
As we got further up the climb, I passed a few other cyclists that were not in our group. A few short words of encouragement were uttered... but that was it, but there was not much breath to spare due to the effort.
At the 4 mile mark, after a short flat section and a very short descent (maybe 200 yards), there is a split in the road and the climb continues up the left fork (South Grade Road). This is my favorite part of the climb. The 21 switchbacks wind tightly up the mountainside and the views of the valley below are amazing. My intial HR ceiling was getting hard to manage and I revised my plan. Keep it under 160. There are markers every.2 miles up the climb and I concentrated on keeping a steady effort to each one (43.2, 43.4, 43.6... etc.).
It wasn't long before I reached the 5000 ft marker and then the final 47.8 mile marker just before the official finish of the climb (the stop sign at the intersection of South Grade and East Grade). I stopped the clock at 1:19:04. A far cry from the sub-1 hr times of pro cyclists, but certainly my best effort up the mountain.
HR/elevation chart from the ride After a quick change into my running stuff and a stop at the bathroom, I began the run. The route follows Canfield Road to the Palomar Observatory. And it's HILLY! I knew I was in for some pain when the road descended for the first 2 miles. Which I normally wouldn't mind, except for the fact that I would have to run UP the same road at the end of the run. Then, after reaching the bottom of the descent, the road tilted up. Which is how it stayed until I reached the Observatory. After climbing the flight of stairs to the entrance and giving the building a high-five, I started back down. Oh, nearly forgot to mention, my legs were so tired from the long climb that I tripped twice on the stairs... much to the amusement of the sightseers who were wondering what the crazy runners were doing up there in the first place.
The run back was pretty much the same routine... a long descent, followed by a ridiculous 400+ ft climb the final 1.5 miles. Here's the chart, check it out.
HR/elevation chart from the run
Wow, what a workout. As close as I've come to race-level intensity during a workout. As you can see from the run chart, my HR was right at lactate threshold (165-170) for long sections of the climbs. I can't wait to do this one again.
Like I said, we endurance athletes are a little twisted.
I was in Tuscon last week for the Gorilla Multisport Winter Training Camp. My original intention was to blog every day while at camp to give the daily update on the experience. But, frankly, I was too tired to manage it. So, now I am typing this from home in San Diego after a few days of recovery and decompression.
I had been looking forward to this for a while... five days of nothing but training, learning and hanging out with some other like-minded triathletes.
We arrived on Tuesday, I'll call it Day 0. After the long drive I was pretty wired, so I went for a quick run before some grub and bed. Our hotel was about 2 miles from the Kino Sports Complex, which is where the Arizona Diamondbacks do their spring training... made for a nice turnaround for the out and back route. Workout #1 in the books.
Day 1 - Wednesday The other campers were not due to arrive until mid-day, but since we were in town and had some free time, my friend and Gorilla Multisport Coach DeeAnn and I went to a Masters workout at the University of Arizona. They run a nice program over there and the pool is amazing. With the week of heavy training ahead, I was glad to find out that the workout was an easy one. Lots of fast 100's and 50's with lots of rest, along with some technique work. I ended up with just over 3000 yards for the workout. After some coffee, breakfast and a short rest, I headed out for a run out to the Kino Sports Complex again. One of the campers from Florida, Joseph, had arrived, so he joined me. We ended up with just over 4.5 miles of easy jogging. After lunch and "registration", the entire crew convened for the first ride of the camp, Gates Pass. The ride began with a flat stretch through urban Tucson, which was not great due to all the stoplights. But once we were out of town, the scenery was amazing... spectacular views of the desert and endless miles of cactus and beautiful landscapes. The highlight of the ride was the climb up and over Gates Pass, which has a section at the top that rivals some of the steepest roads I've ever climbed on a bike. Out of the saddle in the 39x26, just trying to keep the pedals turning over. After a photo opp at the top, we bombed down the backside and back into town. Total ride was 38 miles. After getting back to the hotel and cleaning up, we were treated to a nutrition presentation from Bob Seebohar (www.fuel4mance.com), elite coach and sports nutritionist for the 2008 US Olympic Triathlon Team. I learned a lot about metabolic efficiency and picked up some tips that I will definitely incorporate into my own training.
Day 2 - Thursday AM - 50 mile ride out to Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Coach Bob and Seton Claggett from TriSports.com joined us for the ride. Both are great guys and strong athletes. Overall, an moderate ride with lots of false flats and gentle inclines. The best part was that all the climbing was in the first 30 miles and the entire 20 mile return trip was a gentle descent. Immediately upon returning, our group headed out for a quick 20 minute transition run. Coach Bob rode and ran with us and gave us some great tips on run cadence. After a quick bite to eat, I put my legs up for an hour to rest up for the afternoon ride. PM - 38 mile ride, the bottom half of the El Tour de Tucson route. By this time, the day had turned hot and windy... so we were treated to a pretty tough ride, starting out in urban Tucson, than out to some less-traveled roads in the north part of town. As soon as we could get our bikes in the hotel rooms and showered up, we headed over to a strength workout with Coach Bob. We focused on a concept he calls neuromuscular activation... essentially a series of pre and post-workout movements that activate the key muscle groups. Again, I learned a lot... great stuff.
Day 3 - Friday AM - The Shootout is a regular Saturday hammerfeest that has been taking place in Tucson for over 30 years... its a fairly challenging route famous for attracting the most competitive cyclists and is typically full of attacks and counterattacks. We choose to do The Shootout ride on Friday on our own to get a sample of the route without the blistering pace and a big peleton. Seton Claggett from TriSports.com rode with us again. It started out with an easy 15 miles in town than a long 15 miles of false flat... nearly dead straight... before it finally kicks up with a final short steep climb. I was feeling pretty strong so I kept the pace high on the false flat, but once the hill came Seton dropped me like a rock as he disappeared up the steep incline. The local knowledge proved to be pretty handy! After regrouping, we headed back into town at a pretty good clip (22-24 mph) thanks to the mostly flat and gently descending route. PM - Late Friday afternoon, I had a swim analysis and video scheduled... but beforehand, for the first time in three days, I had a couple hours to relax. So I napped by the pool. After my nap and a shower, I headed over to TriSports for my swim video. They have a sweet two-lane Endless Pool set-up with underwater and above water cameras. The instructor told me that my stroke was pretty solid (I hope so!), but gave me a few suggestions that I think will be helpful. In particular, one thing that I discovered is that I tend to pull up short with my right arm on the pull. So I need to concentrate on finishing my stroke on that side. Good feedback and something I probably would have never figured out on my own without the video feedback.
Saturday - Day 4 AM - This was the big day. Mt. Lemmon. A 26 mile climb rising from 2500 ft to a peak over 8200 ft. I've ridden San Diego's big climb, Palomar Mountain... which is tough. But the top of Palomar is at just over 5000 ft. When climbing Mt. Lemmon, the 5000 ft mark is not even halfway up the climb. Palomar is steeper, but it is the length of Mt. Lemmon that is killer... over 2 hrs of consistent work going up the mountain. We started the ride with an easy 15 miles of riding through Tucson and regrouped at a coffee shop about 2 miles from the Mile 0 marker at the base of the climb. After some pics and a double shot of espresso, we started up. There were 5 of us (myself, Norm, Manny, Joseph, and Greg) in the group that agreed to ride the whole mountain... the rest of the campers would climb for 90 minutes as far as they could go and then turn around. The summit team (sounds cool, eh?) all exchanged numbers and arranged to text or call each other if for some reason we needed to turn around. Otherwise, we would all meet up at the top. We got going and could see the road twisting up the mountain ahead of us... it was pretty intimidating. About 50 yards past the Mile 0 sign, Norm informed me that my rear tire was flat. Crap. He stayed back to help me get it changed while the rest of the group proceeded ahead. Once I fixed the tire, we proceeded again. The first 5 miles of the climb were tough, there were some killer headwinds that made it tough just to stay upright on the bike. I thought to myself that if the entire climb was this windy, it was going to be a very, very difficult day. Fortunately, as the road twisted and turned up the mountain there was some shelter from the wind and it got easier. I made a concerted effort to keep my HR in high Zone 2 (130-140) and just stayed on my 39x26 gear keeping the cadence high. This netted me a blistering pace of about 10-11 mph. Ha. Every few minutes, I shifted up to my 25 or 23 and climbed out of the saddle to give my hamstrings and lower back a rest. At Mile 7, I caught Manny and Joseph and we all took some pictures from the Seven Cataracts viewpoint. Spectacular. After the short break, I continued up the climb and quickly separated from the other guys. The views up the mountain were simply unbelievable, incredible rock formations and of course, the view of the valley falling further and further away... the closest thing I can relate them to is the Grand Canyon. It's hard to do them justice with words or even pictures. The rest of the climb went pretty well. Every time my legs were screaming for a break, the slope softened a bit and I was able to recover just enough for the next tough stretch ahead. Finally, I got to the first peak at Mile 21 and was treated to a descent. A descent? Wait, I'm not at the top yet! The final few miles of the "climb" were a bowl that drops about 400 ft before re-ascending to 8200 ft at the village of Mt. Lemmon. At the base of the final climb, I caught Greg whom I hadn't seen since I flatted two hours before. We laughed about how tough the climb was, and rolled into town together. A great sense of accomplishment that we indulged by getting some hot chocolate (it was cold!) and huge pieces of banana cream pie. About 10 minutes later, Norm rolled in and about 30 minutes later, Manny arrived. Shortly thereafter, we got a text that Joseph had turned around. So we finished up our good, got some pics and then headed back down the mountain. It was about 30 degrees cooler at the top, so I put on my arm warmers and shoved some loose paper (the cafe to-go menus!) in my jersey front to block the wind. It took about 25 minutes of work to get back out to the first peak, which after the long break and food was tough. But once back to Mile 21, it was literally all downhill from there. The descent is somewhat technical and super-fast. By the time I got to the bottom, my hands were cramping from constantly being the brakes trying to moderate my speed. On several occasions I was touching 40 mph and that was trying to be conservative. Finally, after regrouping again at the bottom, we headed back for the final 15 miles toward home. The full day was 85 miles, about 8000 ft of climbing. A great day on the bike and one that I will remember forever. PM - Once we rolled back into the hotel at about 3pm, we slammed our (late) lunches and got ready to head over to the University of Arizona pool for a swim workout. I was tempted to bail and just relax, but the idea of splashing around the pool for a drill workout sounded good. Finally at 5pm the tough day was over and we all gathered around the hotel pool for pizza and beer. Good times.
Sunday - Day 5 Final day of camp... no cycling. After four tough days of riding, it was nice not to be getting on the bike first thing in the morning. Besides I was running out of clean cycling clothes. Actually, I ran out of clean stuff on Friday... but was able to make do with some Woolite and the hotel room sink. Anyway, I digress. After a quick breakfast, we piled into the cars and headed out to Saguero National Park for an amazing trail run. There is a 8 mile loop that is simply spectacular. Everyone was on their own to decide how far they wanted to run, we simply had a two hour time limit. Most choose to do one loop. My legs were pretty toasted from the riding, but I wanted a little more than 8 miles. My lower threshold for a "long" run is 12 miles, so I ran one loop and did a 2 mile out and back to bring it up to the requisite dozen. The quads were not happy with me as I climbed back into the van for the 20 minute drive home. After some more breakfast and a shower, we packed up the gear, said our goodbyes and got on the road back to San Diego.
Overall, it was a tremendous few days. Training wise, it was my biggest week ever... with over 270 miles on the bike, 30 miles of running and about 7k of swimming. To think that pros do that every week!! Aside from the training, the other campers were awesome... good people all of them. It was great to spend some time hanging out, we had a blast.
Here are some pics from the rides.
Entrance to Colossal Cave Mountain Park
Joseph, Manny and Me - The Shootout Loop
Heading toward Colossal Cave Mountain Park
The Mt. Lemmon Summit Crew - Manny, Norm, Me, Greg, Joseph... before the climb
At the base of Mt. Lemmon, right before I flatted.
Somewhere near Mile 10 of the Mt. Lemmon climb
Mt. Lemmon - Looking down, around Mile 14.
Banana Cream Pie and Hot Chocolate at the top of Mt. Lemmon - delicious.
Taken while descending at 35+mph. Not recommended.
The new frame is now built up. To quote Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice".
I moved the parts over from my old bike (a 2006 QR Tequilo), with a few changes, mostly related to fitting me on the new frame.
Switched from 250mm to 270mm aero bar extensions. Switched from 172.5 to 175 cranks. I kept the same 53/39 chainring combination. Switched from 110mm, +5 degree stem to 120mm neutral stem
I took it for a maiden voyage on Sunday and, to be honest, I was surprised at the difference in the ride quality over my Quintana Roo Tequilo. I expected the Cervelo to ride better and have better power transfer, but what I didn't expect was the vast difference in both areas. Simply put, it was night and day. Now I get why people fall all over themselves about the P2C and the Cervelo flagship bike, the P3C (P4 nothwithstanding... its not available yet).
Truthfully, the P3C would not be a good fit for me, due to my long legs/short torso proportions... the head tube on that bike is too short. So, in all honestly, the P2C is probably the best possible bike for me.
A couple notes - This is right at 80 degrees, the front of the saddle is about 1cm behind the bottom bracket and saddle to bar drop is 12 cm. Steeper and lower than the set-up on my QR. More about the fit differences will be forthcoming in another post.
I decided to skip the rear bottle carrier contraption and keep the amount of stuff hanging off the bike to a minimum. We've all seen the bikes in transition with 4 bottles (2 on the frame, 2 in a rear carrier), bento boxes, CO2 canisters, spare tires and various other items hanging on the bike. Not to mention half a dozen gel packets taped to the top tube. I'm going the minimalist route.
For HIM racing (and probably IM as well), I'm set up with 2 bottles and a small saddle bag with a flat repair kit and maybe a bento box with a GU flask and salt tablets. That's it.
I've always disliked the standard front-mount aero bottles that you see on many triathlon bikes. They tend to rattle on rough pavement and when they are full tend to splash fluid all over the place. And if you have to set the bike down (for a flat repair for example) the open top designs allow all your fluid to spill out. And refilling on the go is a hassle as well. So, instead of a aero front bottle, I rigged up a standard bottle holder with a Specialized Rib Cage and eight (8) zip ties. A simple and cheap alternative. Now, instead of taking on a bottle at an aid station and pouring the contents into my front aero bottle, I can simply slide it into my standard cage. No fumbling around.
And for the downtube, I choose the Profile Design Razor Bottle & Cage. Between the two bottles, I have 40 oz of fluid capacity... more than enough for a half-Ironman or even a full Ironman event due to the abundance of aid stations on the course. And I've eliminated the need for a rear bottle carrier, which helps to cut some weight and any risk of losing my nutrition due to a bottle launch.
Check it out
top view
front view (how's that for aero?)
top view with bottle removed to reveal zip ties. I used a bit of electrical tape on the extensions under the front set of zip ties to prevent them from slipping.
bottom view, zip tie detail. After taking the snapshot, I realized I put the zip ties over the shifter cables. It didn't cause any problems... but I'll fix this to make the setup a bit tidier.
I tested this set up during a 40 mile ride on Saturday. It was rock solid on some very rough sections and drinking while in the aero bars was easy to manage as well. The only thing I had to watch out for was making sure the valve was completely closed before replacing the bottle in the cage, or it would leak.
Other than that, it's a great setup. Very easy to install, lightweight, cheap and as, if not more, aerodynamic than any other setup out there. It's all good.
If I work out late at night, it takes me hours to fall asleep. The physiological reasons for this are beyond my comprehension, but suffice to say that if I work out, say from 9-10pm (like I did tonight), than I'm up until at least midnight.
So, what better things to do when all is quiet in the house than to write a blog post? I'm not really much for watching TV, anyway... most network reality crap bores me to death. Since when did we become such a voyueristic society? Maybe we always have been, I don't know. Anyway, I digress.
Today, I dropped my new/not-new Cervelo PCCarbon frame off to get built up. The story in it is that the frame is new to me, but it is a 2007 model frame. If you watched Chrissie Wellington smoke the field in the 2007 IM world champs in Kona, the red/white bike she was on, that's the same bike I'm talking about. Well, not the SAME bike, the same model. I came by it through some luck and a good friend... I owe him some beers. The catch was that the bike had been in an accident and the end of the aero bars smacked the top tube hard and cracked the frame, leaving a small dime-sized hole. So, I had to have that fixed.
Here is a pic of the frame as it was when I received it and a detail of the top tube fracture.
So, the frame went off to Calfee Design in early Dec and for a reasonable fee, they fixed it up good as new. It arrived earlier this week.
Sorry for the tease, but I don't have any pics of the repaired frame... but I will post them when I get the bike back on Friday.
All in all, for a small outlay of cash and some well-rewarded patience, I now have a new, SWEET frame.
I'm stoked on this for a couple reasons. 1) With all due respect to the fine bike makers at Quintana Roo, the P2C is simply a much more aero, lighter, faster, more comfortable bike than my old Tequilo. Well, the faster part depends on me, but more aero, lighter and more comfortable for sure. And 2) as I've progressed as an athlete, I've started to ride steeper and steeper. And I'm at the limit of what my 55cm Tequilo frame will accomodate. When I'm really hammering, I am on the very tip of my saddle and way out on top of my bar extensions. The new bike is a 58 and with the saddle in the front seatpost position, it will allow me to ride a couple degrees steeper and give me a little more length to stretch out. It should also be more stable at speed since so much of my weight won't on the front wheel.
Once I get fit on the new bike on Friday, I will post before and after pics for comparison.
The timing is perfect for the new ride. This weekend, my coach and our group is doing our first race simulation ride on the California 70.3 course. 41 miles, with 31 miles at race effort and a 4 mile transition run. It's a perfect opportunity to get on the new bike, test it out a bit. It's also my first real chance get a sense of where my fitness is after the last couple months of hard training. I can't wait.
It's Friday night, the house is asleep... all except for me. This happens to me occasionally. I'm very tired, but for some reason my mind won't shut off.
It's been a solid last 2 weeks of training to kick off the year. In the last 12 days, I've managed 23 hrs of training including 235 miles on the bike, 59 miles of running and 6.5K swimming. Ok, so the swimming is an afterthought... but the bike/run totals are decent, no? After this weekend's workouts, I should end up right around 29 hours.
Anyways, for me that's pretty solid volume. Tomorrow, I going for a group ride with one of the local racing teams here in San Diego, Celo Pacific. It's billed as a low/medium intensity ride... but I have a feeling I'm going to be struggling to hang on. It should be interesting. Sunday, I have a 16 mile run on the schedule.
Tomorrow is 12 weeks out from Oceanside, so these next 6-7 weeks are very critical for laying down as much volume as I can handle. I will probably need one recovery week in there somewhere, the exact timing is still to be determined. About 4-5 weeks out, I'll start to up the intensity a bit with longer race-pace and faster-than-race pace efforts and then it's taper time. It will be here quick so I can't slack off now.
As long as I can avoid getting injured and stay healthy, things are right on track. I am racing in a hilly half marathon on Feb 9 (San Dieguito). That will be a good measure of my fitness. All my training data put me far ahead of where I was this time last year, but the race will be an even better indicator.
Recently, I've been religious about wearing my SLS3 (pronounced SLS-tri) compression socks. My friend from track, Sebastian, owns the company and sold me on them. While the looks are questionnable, they feel fantastic. I've been wearing them after nearly every long bike ride or run and my recovery between workouts has been excellent. While, I'd like to think that all of that is due to my fitness... I will give the socks a bit of the credit.
I also recently picked up a pair of Skins compression tights. After the 120 mile ride last Saturday, my legs were feeling pretty wobbly. So I decided to wear them for my long run the following day. I managed 12 miles and again, the compression seemed to help. My legs never felt sore and afterwards I had very little DOMS. Quite surprising considering what I had put my legs through in the previous 36 hours.
So, yeah, I'm a fan of the compression gear. It is working for me.
Now I'd better get some rest for that ride tomorrow.
I spent some time last week writing a long post, breaking down in detail my training totals for 2008, evaluating my race performances and trying to determine what I can change this year to become a fitter, faster triathlete. That long post can be summed up in four words.
I. Must. Bike. More.
So, I decided the right way to kick off my 2009 training was to do a really long ride. A 200KM (120 miles) brevet with the San Diego Randonneurs.
A map of the route.
I've done two Ironmans and a handful of century rides, but 120 miles is my longest ride ever. Not to mention that this route contains nearly 7000 ft of climbing... all the North County classics like Del Dios, Old Castle, Couser/Rice Canyon, and finishing off with Torrey Pines at the 115 mile mark. I knew it would be a tough day.
We started the ride promptly at 7AM in a light rain and the temps were in the mid 40's. I wore my bib shorts, full length leg warmers, a base layer on top, a short-sleeve bike jersey, arm warmers and a rain jacket that converts into a vest. I also had on ear warmers and wore my full finger winter gloves. Despite all that, I was still cold.
The first section of the ride was over rolling hills through Sorreto Valley, Carmel Mountain and beautiful Rancho Santa Fe. There are some beautiful estates in that area, wow. There were a number of riders stopped repairing flat tires... I guess the rain caused a lot of road debris to collect on the shoulders of the road. I think I counted six in the first 30 miles. The first major climb was San Elijo Road, 1.9 miles at 7% avg. gradient. I dropped into the 39x26 and spun up with no problems. Checkpoint #1 was at the top of the climb, then we were rewarded with a long and steep 1.5 mile descent into San Marcos. I rode my brakes the entire way down... with the wet asphalt, I wasn't taking any chances. With the damp and the wind, it was cold and my feet and hands were numb.
In San Marcos, we had a nice flat section up Twin Valley Oaks Road to Deer Springs Road out to the second checkpoint at I-15, roughly 44 miles into the ride. By this time we had been riding about 2:45, and I had gone through 2 bottles of GuH20/CarboPro and 1 Clif Bar. I was carrying one spare bottle in my jersey pocket with enough drink powder for 2 more bottles and with this, I mixed two more bottles of sports drink.
Here's a pic of me... contemplating the fact that I still have nearly 80 miles to go.
Out of the second checkpoint, we headed over the 15 Fwy, then north on Old 395/Champagne Road past the Lawrence Welk resort. A nice long gentle descent before what, in my opinion, was the toughest climb on the course. Old Castle Road, nearly 4 miles at about 6% avg grade with about a mile at nearly 9%. Fun.
From here... only two major climbs left. A short steep ascent up Couser Canyon Road and a long grinding ascent of Rice Canyon before arriving at the final checkpoint, Rainbow Market at mile 65. By this time, we had been rolling for over 4.5 hours in the cold and rain. I was cold. So, I was happily surprised to find hot soup and bread waiting at the checkpoint. SO GOOD! This was exactly what I needed. After a quick bathroom stop, we headed out again... starting with a fast descent of old 395. So much for being warm... the fast descent chilled me to the bone once again.
Miles 70-90 were through the rolling hills of Fallbrook with some nice descents down Live Oak Park and Mission Road. After so much spent climbing the front half of the ride, it was great to have some fast sections. This part of the route was a lot of fun to ride. After brief stretch on Hwy 76, it was a jaunt through the Morro Hills area and then to the most boring (boring-est?) section of the entire coast... the dreaded San Luis Rey bike trail. Most North County cyclists know every inch of this 7.2 mile path and true to form, there was the typical afternoon headwind. I just geared down, zoned out and ate my second Clif Bar.
Once back to the coast (the final stretch), I just mentally checked off the towns that I passed through..first Oceanside, then Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar. In Carlsbad, I caught a group of other randonneurs. The last time I had seen them was back in Rainbow; they were leaving the soup stop as I was arriving. We exchanged some encouraging words and I pressed on. I was riding slightly faster so we were only together for a mile or so.
The biggest test of the ride for me, mentally at least, was the final climb up Torrey Pines. This is not a huge climb by any stretch. But after 115 miles... it felt like I was climbing Everest.
Once over top of Torrey, it was only a few rolling miles through the UCSD Campus to the finish. I pulled in at 3:36 pm for a total time of 8:36. My rolling time was 7:40, a 15.7 mph average. Turns out I finished 5th out of 41 finishers, which I'm pretty happy with. Not exactly in keeping with the non-competitive nature of the event to be talking about my placing, but at least I know what I wasn't out of my league in attempting this.
Once I finished, I quickly got out of my wet cycling clothes into some warm gear and ate a couple brownies.
Some of the other guys tried to convince me to do the 300K later this month. That one has 12000 ft of climbing. Not sure I'm ready for that yet... we'll see.
Someone started a thread on Slowtwitch asking for a triathlon haiku. Here's my contribution:
must get off the couch go ride my bike, run or swim you know, this is fun
I’m no poet.
My training has been coming along. My goal right now is to build base for next year and compared to last year, I’m way ahead of the game.
To compare:
Nov ‘07 - swim 29k, bike 170.4 miles, run 128 miles = 34.5 hours.
Nov ‘08 - swim 9k, bike 427.2 miles, run 121.6 miles = 43 hours
I'm pretty happy with that.
December is starting off pretty well also and I managed a decent week of training. Wasn’t without some juggling though. The wife and I decided at the last minute to go visit my mom for her birthday and ended up staying the weekend, so my original plan of riding on Saturday and running Sunday were out the window. I ended up running Saturday morning and doing my long ride Sunday night on the trainer after we got back.
Map and HR chart from long run:
Some people hate riding on their trainer... but for some perverse reason, I kinda enjoy it. One thing that I like is the fact that the time is precise. I can plan a 3 hour ride and I’m done in 3 hours. If I go for a 3-hr ride outdoors, three hours of ride time ends up being 3:30 door to door with stops, etc. And if I go with a group, I’m usually gone for 4 hrs or more to manage the same three hour effort.
So when we got home on Sunday evening and we got the girls down to bed, I filled up my bottle and I hopped on the trainer for a 3 hour session. Thanks to Coach Troy Jacobson, his Spinervals Tough Love DVD and a good iTunes playlist, the time went by pretty quickly and I had a very solid workout.
