Run with Eric:
training

I've posted some photos from some recent rides.

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.

Tonight, I made it to my first "track" workout in about 6 weeks. The word "track" is in quotations because our local group doesn't do our speed workouts on a track at the moment, we run on a paved bike path since the local high school track is being renovated. With some luck, it will be done by the fall and we will have a nice new oval to run around.

The workouts are on Tuesday nights, and the last several Tuesdays I've been hung up elsewhere. Either working late, or in Phoenix for work, or in Tucson... or in Orange County... seems like something keeps coming up.

Tonight's workout was 6 x 800 w/1:30 rest. I had to go back all the way to October to find out the last time I did some repeat 800's, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the two workouts and see what improvement I've made after a long winter of hard training.

October 21 - 6 x 800 w/2 min rest

2:48
2:45
2:44
2:43
2:44
2:46

average time 2:45

March 17 - 6 x 800 w/1:30 rest

2:38.5
2:37.3
2:36.5
2:39.5
2:41.2
2:36.7

average time 2:38.3

I started tonight's workout with a little fatigue in the legs as I did a hard trainer 60 min workout earlier in the day. It's hard to predict what effect that might have had, but I think it's reasonable to assume I probably would have run a second or two faster if it was the only workout of the day. Also, the rest interval was a bit shorter. My HR only came down to the low 120's between reps.

All in all, the times show a 6.7 second improvement, which is equates to 4%. It doesn't sound like much, but a 4% improvement in a half marathon is roughly 3 minutes... in other words, huge.

I'm encouraged by this. Hopefully, I can put the pieces together come April 4th.

If you're married and trying to pursue this crazy sport of triathlon, you better have a supportive spouse. And that hold doubly true if you have kids.

Some things that I've learned, through trial and error mostly. A lesser woman would have changed the locks on me, but fortunately for me, my wife, Kelly, cuts me way more slack than I deserve.

Here we go:

1. Spectating at a race is nearly as tiring as actually competing in it. I've been on the other side of the ropes, as it were, on a number of occasions. As an athlete, your mind is occupied with your race, trying to get yourself prepared for a good performance. As a spectator, 50% of your mental energy is spent trying to send good vibes to your loved one, 25% is spent thinking how much you'd rather be in bed and the rest on where you can get some friggin' coffee. A coffee stand near the transition area would clean up!! Ok, so once you get the race area, you stand around, chat with other supporters a bit. And wait. And wait. And wait. And trying to figure out the exact moment when your athlete is going to flash by. How long did she think the swim would take? She started at 6:47 and 30 seconds, a 20 minute swim means she should go by at roughly 7:07 and oh crap, there she goes! Damn it, I didn't have the camera ready!

2. Spectating at a race while simultaneously watching two young kids is HARDER than racing. Seriously. The kids and I watched Kelly compete at the Danskin race at Disneyland recently. Between getting the kids packed up in a stroller while they are still completely asleep, making sure they have food and drink for the day, managing to get them both to go to the bathroom in a porta potty at the same time without disaster (can't leave one alone outside, ya know), prevent them from running out in front of speeding cyclists on the bike course, and calming them down after one of them drops a sippy cup in a lagoon. I was DYING for Kelly to finish just so I could get some help!! And that was a 2 hour race. How she does it for a 5+ hour event like a half-ironman, I honestly have no idea.

3. On a related note, no matter how exhausted you are when you cross the finish line, you better be ready to take over with the kids when you're done. Like I mentioned before, your finish line is your spouse's finish line as well. She (or he) is Finished taking care of the kids. Time to take off the race number and strap on the baby carrier. No complaining about how tired you are... get it?

4. Say goodbye to race expos. Yes, they are full of cool stuff to buy. We all have to procure those last minute items that every triathlete needs like Gu flasks, Co2 cartridges and Lacelocks. Do yourself a favor. Buy that stuff in advance. Get your race number and get out of there. Your spouse and your kids have no desire to be there... and are spending a whole day watching you tomorrow. Don't make 'em waste their day watching you pick out a new race number belt.

4. Race day is all about you, the athlete. And justifiably so, you've trained hard for your event, so come race morning, you deserve the ability to focus, prepare and enjoy your race experience. But, see #3 above. Once you're done, you're done. Save the talk about your next event for a few days down the road... the last thing your spouse wants to hear is more talk about your next heavy training block and another race.

5. So, do something fun for the family the day after, the week after, even the month after your big event. If you do Oceanside 70.3, take the kids to Legoland on Monday (Your legs will appreciate the walking). After Vineman, hit up the wineries and drink some old grape juice. After IM Hawaii, relax on the beach for a few days afterwards and let your spouse indulge in a spa day while you hang with the kids. Let the training and triathlon talk disappear for a while.

There is more to life than triathlon after all. Right?

A couple years ago, someone handed me a copy of the The Paleo Diet for Athletes, by Dr. Loren Cordain & Joe Friel. In the book's pages, the authors claimed that eating a diet closer to what our Paleolithic ancestors ate has amazing benefits. A diet that eliminates grains, dairy products and legumes and replaces them with an increased intake of animal proteins and healthy fats, along with plenty of vegetables and fruit results in improved body composition, more energy, superior athletic performance, reduced illness and reduction in the risk factors for the modern long-term illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

Ever the cynic, after reading the book, I set it aside as another fad diet (Adkins, Zone, Hollywood, South Beach) that promised incredible results, yet failed to deliver. But several times over the last several months, I had conversations with friends and fellow athletes who embarked on this way of eating and reported results quite similar to what Dr. Cordain and Mr. Friel claimed. I began to do some research, discovering that Paleo and similar eating philosophies (Primal, PaNu) seems to have nearly universally positive results for those willing to embrace the change. Maybe there was something to this after all.

On March 1, I began my own Paleo journey, adhering to the following principles.

What I stopped eating (or ate a LOT less of)

Month 1:

• No grains (including breads and other baked goods, pasta, cereal, granola, oats, quinoa and rice)
• Minimal dairy (occassionally using some butter for cooking and a small amounts of cheeses like feta or in salads). No milk, no yogurt, no cream. Of course, no ice cream. Ouch.
• No legumes (including all beans, peanuts and soy products).
• Starchy carbohydrates: potatoes
• Refined sugar products: soft drinks (including things like packaged iced teas... ever read the nutrition label of an Arizona Iced Tea?), candy.

• Still no grains, except for the occasional cheat meal.
• Minimal dairy, but now have added full fat organic whole milk as an indulgence (maybe a glass a week) and whole cream in my coffee.
• Dramatically reduced legumes: I try to avoid peanuts, soy... will have some black beans on occasion.
• Starchy carbs (sweet potatoes, parsnips) only immediately before or after hard exercise sessions. I am still avoiding potatoes.

• Fundamentally, Paleo or Primal eating is about "real" food. Unprocessed, as close to the source as you can get. If it's a packaged food, the fewer ingredients the better. But ideally, this style of eating minimizes consumption of foods that come in boxes, cans or jars.
• Meat: beef, chicken, fish, pork. A quick aside about meat. It is pretty well-documented that there is wide variation in quality when it somes to the meat available at the grocery store. Most "factory" cows and chickens are fed a non-optimal diet of grains and soy. When possible, we purchase pasture-raised, organic or wild meat. In the case of beef, we acquired a 1/2 steer from a local supplier, so all our beef at home is grass-fed. We buy the best chicken available at the local groceries, but due to cost and availability this isn't always pastured or organic. Same goes with the fish; wild when possible, but sometimes we eat farm-raised.
• Eggs: Organic or pasture-raised when possible... but again, sometimes we are limited by what is on hand at the local Wal-mart or Kroger.
• Vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, various squashes, onions, mixed greens, leafy greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard), bell peppers... the list goes on. You get the idea, lots of veggies.
• Fruit: berries, mandarin oranges, apples, bananas.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds (and almond butter, milk), pecans, macadamia.

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs and fruit (apples, bananas) and on the weekend, bacon.
• Lunch: Big salad with greens, colorful veggies and chicken, tuna, beef and turkey. Basic oil and vinegar dressing or homemade vinaigrette.
• Dinner: Steak, chicken, fish, some cooked veggies and a green salad.
• Snacks: a handful of nuts, some trail mix, celery or apples with almond butter, baby carrots, sliced red bell peppers with some hummus. Will have a protein shake (with almond milk and some fruit) after a big workout.

• Daily calories: 1876
• I was somewhat surprised by how low this was. For reference, my Basal Metabolic Rate (daily calories burned at rest) is 1986.
• Carbs (g): 139 29.64% of total
• Here, Mark Sisson of MarksDailyApple.com talks about an ideal range of 50-100g per day for weight loss and 100-150g for maintenance, plus roughly 100g for each hour of training.
• Fat (g): 94.5 45.3% of total
• Nothing remarkable here... certainly more than the 44-78g range recommended by the Mayo Clinic, but not surprising considering all the nuts, avocado, healthy oils, and of course, a good amount of animal fat.
• Protein (g): 117.3 25.01% of total
• Way more than the FDA's 56g Recommended Daily Allowance (RDI), but quite close to the.7-1.0g per lb of lean body weight guideline recommended by many fitness trainers for those looking to increase lean muscle mass.
• Fiber (g): 24.69
• Depending on where you look, most experts recommend a fiber intake between 20-35g per day. I ended up well within this range... despite no grains. Amazing to think vegetables have fiber. Whooda thunk?

On April 1st, I upped the intensity of my training somewhat added in some longer cycling sessions, while continuing my strength training as well. Total volume came in just under 65 minutes avg per day (72% cycling/rowing/running, 28% strength training)

Weight change.
March 1: 209.6.
April 1: 193.6
May 1: 189.0

Very dramatic weight loss the first two weeks (about 12 lbs), since then it has slowed to about 1 lb per week.

Performance and strength gains are evident. A few data points:

One set standard pushup max:
March 1: 43, May 2: 78
TRX Low Row/Atomic Pushups (aka 40/40 challenge):
March 1: 18 pushups/26 low rows; April 29: 40 pushups/41 low rows

There was some initial impact on my endurance the first two weeks... my energy level crashed after about 20 minutes into any extended cardio workout. But this subsided and my energy levels and endurance improved and exceeded previous levels after this transition period. In fact, I set a new indoor rowing half marathon personal best on March 27 and my strength on my bike is improving every day.

Overall impressions on changing to this way of eating:

I'm not going to lie. The first couple of weeks, I was craving bread, rice and pasta... it was such a cornerstone of my meals that it seemed strange to have a meal without some starchy carb in it. But, now I am used to it and am perfectly satisfied with a plate full of veggies with some protein, whether its in the form of a big salad, or some cooked veggies and a nice portion of roasted chicken or steak.

Benefits:

• Improved body composition: I am losing body fat consistently, and thanks to a consistent exercise routine, building lean body mass and improving strength. What else can I ask for?
• Energy levels: More consistent throughout the day. No post-meal "food comas". No energy crash in the afternoon.
• Sleep: Generally improved, once I'm out, I am out until about 8-9 hours later.
• More consistant hunger patterns: I am rarely "starving". I eat three times per day... moderately sized meals, but I rarely find myself super hungry like before.

• Eating while out or traveling: paleo/low carb options can be hard to come by while eating out or on the road, particularly for breakfast. I am getting used to special ordering.
• Food preparation time: So many of the quick foods available are grain based, so it can be inconvenient to cook every meal. Grabbing a pizza on the way home from the kid's softball practice is no longer in the cards. Or if we do, I have to make my own meal while they eat pizza. Which begs the question, are my kids eating paleo? Yes and no, but that's the subject of another post.
• Cost: Protein is expensive. Carbs are cheap. Enough said.

People don't talk about it much, but you've been there. A injury puts you on the sideline for a few days, maybe longer. Those days turn into a week or two. Maybe three. And the discipline that you apply to your workout regimen also applies to your nutrition. But, when the workout regimen goes south so does the diet and the time off from injury not only results in lost fitness, but a few (more than a few?) extra pounds that makes the road to recovery that much longer.

Last week on a run, I pulled up lame with a strained calf muscle. I felt it starting to hurt about 3 miles into the session and at exactly 3.86 miles (gotta love my Garmin), a sharp pain and I was limping back to car. Fortunately it was only a mile walk back to the car.

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not frustrated. I am hugely frustrated. This is my third significant, activity-limiting injury, in the last 12 months. Getting old(er) sucks. Last spring, it was achilles tendonitis that had me abandon running for 8 months. In November, I strained a back muscle during an overly vigorous sprint effort on the Concept2. And now this.

For the twenty minute walk back to the car and most of the remaining day, I pondered what to do and how I could preserve the fitness gains I've made over the winter. Running is out for at least a couple weeks. Cycling too. Maybe rowing after a few days since there it's not weight-bearing. Ramp up my strength work. But how do I avoid the dreaded injury-related weight gain.

The Paleo diet had intrigued me for some time. Put simply, it focuses on lean meat, fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. No dairy. No grains. Granted, I am still learning what is "allowed" and what isn't, so I'm sure I'm eating some things that aren't strictly on the program. And I refuse to cook myself totally separate meals, so there will be some compromises as I prepare meals that both my family and I can eat.

So, on March 1, I decided to give it a try. It is the perfect time as it is never good to drastically change eating habits during a heavy training cycle and my current activity level is low due to the injury. I'm not going to journal every day, but thought I would share the first few days to provide a sense of how it's going.

Tuesday, March 1, Day 1 - Weight 209.6

Breakfast - coffee w/sugar (drinking it black is something I need to work up to), scrambled eggs, sliced apples
Lunch - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Snack - handful of almonds
Dinner - sauteed chicken thighs (in olive oil), steamed broccoli, green salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. The rest of the family had brown rice which I skipped.
Snack - 2 oranges

No exercise today. Feel pretty normal, actually. A little hungry at night, but not too bad.

Wednesday, March 2, Day 2 - Weight 204.8 (seriously)

Breakfast - Coffee w/sugar, apples with peanut butter (peanuts are not strictly Paleo, but I haven't had a chance to buy almond butter).
Snack - fruit smoothie (almond milk, strawberries, melon, banana, soy protein powder)
Lunch - mixed green and spinach salad with sliced deli turkey, ham and homemade vinaigrette dressing
Snack - Muscle Milk protein drink
Dinner - Sauteed chicken breast (in olive oil), green peas, pinto beans (opps, not Paleo). Kids had rice as well.

Did an morning 10K (40:49) on the rowing machine. Felt more tired than usual, but that could be due to the fact that I haven't done an aerobic exercise in a week. Evening strength workout. Pushups, core plus 30 min of 30:30 circuits on TRX. Energy a little low today, but surprisingly no hunger pangs.

Another update in a few days.

In the blink of an eye it seems, the month of January has nearly passed and the resolutions set for 2011 are either works in progress or becoming a distant memory. Time flies when you're having fun, as the saying goes. And, despite the cold and seemingly never ending winter, I am having fun... workouts are coming together. I've started running again. I am getting stronger, fitter and even a little leaner. The last part has been pretty easy actually, after being a complete and utter glutton during the month of December, losing a few pounds has simply been a matter of all the pie being gone.
You might be wondering why I chose the title for the post and it's pretty simple actually. I've been struggling with the why. I enjoy my daily workouts, that's not the issue. And I've chosen a few events to focus on later in the year to provide some additional motivation and allow for some structure to my training. But the big why is lacking. Yes, daily exercise is healthy of the body and soul. But, come on, that's kind of boring. I need something more.

Over a decade ago, I signed up for an Ironman on a whim... and I trained my ass off, primarily driven by fear. Fear that I couldn't complete the distance and that I would fail. And that fear pushed me out of my comfort zone on a daily basis, doing things that, at the time, seemed impossible, even stupid. For example, ride 100 miles in the northern Virginia summer and then run 10 miles afterward. Now I know the game of triathlon to know that such a workout is not unusual at all for Ironman prep, but at the time (before the Internet), it seemed a little crazy... but fear is a powerful motivator and it got me out the door.

Of course, there was a happy ending, I finished in a respectable time, I lived happily ever after, even doing another Ironman and a bunch of other marathons, half ironmans (click on the 'racing' tag to the right to read some of the race reports). But the sense of accomplishment and pride at Ironman finish line #1 has yet to be equaled.

So what next? I don't know the answer right now, but I'm thinking a lot about it.

Things have been pretty crazy around Casa Flores for the last month with my family visiting from California and what, at times, seemed like endless stream of parties to cook and prepare for. So after nearly six weeks focused on celebrating with friends and family, it's time to look toward the future on how to make the new year even better than the last.

2010 was a huge year of change for me and my family. In August, we moved from the beaches of sunny San Diego to the mountains of West Virginia in order for my wife to pursue a lifelong goal of hers, which was to work at The Greenbrier. The stars aligned for her, as she is now playing a key role in the rebirth of the resort... truly exciting times. We swapped roles as she took over the responsibility of primary breadwinner as I quit my job at a telecommunications company and effectively ended my career in technology sales to take over as the primary caregiver for our two young daughters. This has a been a incredible blessing. My relationship with my kids has improved dramatically. Not that it was bad before, but we are much closer now than when I was working full-time.

The other blessing that has come out of the last few months is that the downtime has allowed me to do some thinking about how I want to focus my energies going forward.

Primary 2011 goal - To leverage my experience and passion for endurance sports and fitness by providing coaching and training services, primarily focused on beginner/novice athletes who are looking to use endurance sports as a way to open the door to a fit and healthy lifestyle. The state of West Virginia suffers from some the highest obesity rates in the country, despite the ample outdoor activities that are available here. My aim is to help stem the tide of this epidemic one individual at a time by becoming an evangelist and an educator. The first step is to educate myself more fully and I am currently in the process of obtaining my NASM Certified Personal Training Certification and later this year will pursue my USAT Triathlon Level 1 Certification. Much, much more on this to come as this plan comes to fruition. Stay tuned.

Of course, I have some personal fitness goals as well, some big picture and some more fun little challenges.

• Become a runner again. After six months off, it's healed and time to get back to it. And get back to 80 min half-marathon shape by the end of the summer.
• Row a 6:40 2K on my Concept2 indoor rower. My original time frame was by December 1. A back injury last month derailed my efforts somewhat, but I am back (pun intended) and will be posting my progress here regularly as I try to achieve this goal by February 1.
• Row 2,000,000 lifetime meters by April 31. (at 1,048,829m as of Jan 4)
• Sub 4:30 Half Ironman Triathlon. Goal race - PPD Beach to Battleship Triathlon
• Complete both TRX 40/40 challenges (upper body = low row/atomic pushups, lower body = hip press, suspended lunges)

The 2000m erg test is the defacto standard measure of rowing fitness. It is the distance competed in on-the-water rowing events at the Olympic and World Championship level and is also the distance competed at the World Indoor Rowing Championships (aka the CRASH-B's) in Boston, MA every year.

Now that rowing has become my primary sport during my extended hiatus from running, I need a challenge to motivate me through the winter. And now that I have my very own Concept2 Model D adorning the workout space in the garage, I've decided to take on the challenge of improving my 2K time. My one serious effort was a 6:58.4, which was this past summer about a month after I started rowing.

I've drawn a line in the sand at 6:40, which equates to an average pace of 1:40/500m or a power output of 350 watts. This time would put me in the top half of the rankings in the 30-39 Heavyweight men at last year's CRASH-B's, so it seems like a worthwhile, yet attainable goal for someone who has just taken up the sport.

While a 18 sec improvement doesn't seem like a lot, it requires a significant leap in power output to achieve. My current best effort of 6:58.4 equates to a power output of 305.8, so improving to a 6:40 is a increase of 44.2 watts or 14.4%. No small task.

The bulk of my time on the erg has been steady distance, but in order to improve my power output, I am changing up my training routine by adding the following components to the endurance work I am already doing. In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't come up with the following workouts in a vacuum, I've borrowed heavily from well-respected rowing coach Pete Marston and his Pete Plan for these.

Speed intervals (i.e. 8x500, 250-1K-250 pyramids)
Endurance intervals (i.e. 4x2000, 5x1500)

In addition, I am adding in some strength components to my routine, focusing on posterior chain and core strength. Some specific circuits will be coming in later posts, but here are some of the key movements I am incorporating into my workouts.

Kettlebells - two-handed swings, one-handed swings, cleans
Lunges, split jumps, dumbbell and bodyweight squats, deadlifts, pull ups
TRX Atomic pushups, suspended lunges, burpees, supine hip press, planks, side planks, body saws, ab rollouts.

Our dog has cancer.

Kona, our beloved Rhodesian Ridgeback, who has been a part of our life since my wife and I got married, only has a couple months to live. Three or four if we're lucky. He is not even 8 years old.

Before we left for Wildflower, we noticed he had a slight limp. A quick exam at the vet revealed nothing, but he thought it might be a slight sprain from jumping out of our van. Take two painkillers and call me in
the morning. A week later, we get a call from my sis-in-law, who was dog and house sitting for us. The limp is much worse. We take him back into the vet after we get back from our trip. The symptoms have multiplied. Severe limp. He can barely walk now. Weight loss (15 lbs in 10 days!). Loss of appetite. Swollen shoulder joint. Swollen stomach. Doc says, I hate to tell you this, but I think it may be bone cancer. Let's get some x-rays to get a better look.

X-rays reveal massive tumors in his shoulder joint. Possibly some in his belly as well. Now we see the oncologist on Thursday to see what to do next. Options are chemotherapy and possibly amputation of the offending limb.

I woke up this morning and our four-year was lying on our bedroom floor next to Kona, hugging him. I nearly lost it.

I really don't give a rat's ass about training or racing right now, I just want to go for a walk with my dog.

A quick summary of my race day. It pretty much sucked so I'll skip the usual preamble and get into it.

Swim, 31:04. My worst swim ever in a half-ironman. As normal, I lined up front right and made a beeline for the first buoy. My usual approach is to swim about 50 strokes (roughly 100m) hard then settle to a rhythm. I did that and as I got the buoy and started to dial back the pace, I felt my heart start to race and felt very out of breath. Even though I was breathing every other stroke, I just couldn't get enough air. I pulled up briefly and very quickly realized that if I paused for much more than a few seconds, I was going to get swam over by my entire wave. So I made a 90 degree turn and swam about 20 yards water polo style to get some clear water, where I just rolled over on my back and tried to gather myself. I was breathing like I was running a 100 yard dash and for the first time ever in a race, I started looking around for the lifeguard. After a minute or so, my breathing became more regular and I decided to press on. Every couple hundred yards or so, I would start to get short of breath again and when this happened, I pulled up... took a few deep breaths and continued. The end of the swim didn't come fast enough... I was glad as hell to be getting out of the water. I honestly thought I swam closer to 35 or 40 minutes... maybe I cut a buoy or something. I walked up the ramp and debated with myself whether to pull the plug or not. But, I seemed to be feeling a little better and what the hell, I paid my entry fee, might as well see the bike course. It was a very slow transition... I just calmly got out of my wetsuit and got my bike stuff on. No rush.
Bike - 2:56. After the miserable episode in the water, I just got on the bike and started pedaling easy... about the same effort as a training ride. When I pressed the pace even a little bit, my breathing rate would speed up again so I said F that and just took it easy. I noticed about 20 miles into the ride, my shoulders were getting tired in the aero position, so I was shifting around more than usual. After the race, I noticed that my saddle had tilted down slightly (probably from a bump). Figures. Aside from that, I just tried to ride steady... no big efforts and took every opportunity to let the heart rate drop on the flats and downhills. No problems really going up Nasty Grade, I just rode it in my smallest gear (39x27) and spun.
Run - 2:04. Two freakin' hours, I'm still shaking my head at this. It felt more like four. The wheels fell off completely. Ran the first 3 miles at about 8 min pace. Got to the big hill at mile 4 and my HR and breathing rate went through the roof. It wasn't a feeling of increased exertion, it was more like my body didn't know how to react to any change in effort level. Walked nearly a mile, jogged from mile 5 through Redondo Vista to mile 8. Walked (again!) up the little hill before the descent into the pit. Ran all the way down to the mile 10 turnaround and walked back up. Managed a weak jog/walk from mile 11 to the top of Lynch Hill and then ran the rest of the way home down the hill.
Final result was 5:39. By far my worst half ironman result ever and 32 min slower than last year. 55 min slower than Oceanside just five weeks ago.
I'm at a loss. While training has not been ideal, there was nothing that would have led me to believe that I would fall apart like this. Leading up the race, I was feeling more tired than usual, but I chalked that up to allergies. Now, I am suspecting there is more to it.
Very disappointed in this.

The truth about long-distance triathlon (or any endurance sport, for that matter) is that you can't fake fitness. Sure, if you are reasonably fit and have some raw talent, you can go fast at a shorter distance. But a half-ironman is too long to fake it, no matter who you are.
So, I started the race with a solid base of swim training, some good work done on the bike, but nowhere near the consistency I would have liked to have in my run training. Life, sickness, the occasional little injury... it happens.
Based on the above, my race pretty panned out exactly how I thought it would.
Swim - 27:41. My best split in a half-ironman by about 30 seconds and my first time under 28 min. My swim training fell off a bit over the last month, so if I can keep up the frequency that I had over the winter, I am sure I can get down in the 26's. The swim itself was uneventful, aside from getting once kicked in the stomach and again in the mouth when I swam over some slower swimmers (hey, it happens). The stomach kick actually hurt, I had to flip over and do a few strokes of backstroke to catch my breath.
Got into transition, did the switch into my bike gear and was off. I still need to work on my transition speed. 3:58... geez, you'd think I stopped for a cup of coffee while I was in there.
Bike - 2:36:42 (21.44mph). About a minute slower than last year... but about what I expected. The three climbs stung a bit more than I remembered, but I felt very good on the flatter sections. My recent bike changes (new Adamo Road saddle) and switch to S-bend aero bar extensions worked out great... rock solid in the aerobars for everything but the steepest part of the climbs when I got out of the saddle. Which is more than I can say for a lot of guys I saw on super-blinged out Cervelo's, Trek TTX's and various other super-bikes with deep Zipp wheels with aero helmets, sitting up with their hands on their bar ends on the flats. Seriously, just buy a damn road bike. The conditions were the windiest that I've seen the four years I've competed here, there were a few sketchy sections. Some of the other athletes running super-deep front wheels were getting blown around quite a bit. Even with a (relatively) shallow 50mm front wheel, a rear disc, and weighing 190lbs I was holding on for a dear life on Deadman's Curve (this is a speed-limited descent where an athlete died in 2000 when the race was a full Ironman). However the wind was a quartering tail wind on the run back into transition, which made the last 10 miles a lot of fun.
Off the bike and into transition. 1:48 then off onto the run course
Run - 1:34:16 (7:11/mile). Felt pretty good coming out of transition, but I was cautiously optimistic. 6:50's the first few miles. Just tried to stay relaxed. Water and gatorade at every aid station. Added Coke to the menu at Mile 7. Based on my overall lack of mileage, I had a feeling that I might run (excuse the pun) into trouble around mile 9 or 10. That's exactly what happened. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Regardless, I stopped to work out a cramp at around Mile 8.5, walked though the aid station at mile 10, drank two cups of Coke and got back on my way. The 6:50's became 7:30's... managed to hold it together and even put on a little surge to pass two guys on the final stretch.
Overall time: 4:44:25, a whopping 34th in my AG... damn I'm glad to be aging up next year.
For those who care about this stuff... here's my nutrition plan for the race... which despite my poor finish, was pretty on target. Good nutrition can't give you fitness that isn't there..
pre-race brekkie2 cups of coffee2 slice of wheat toast, pb and jellysipped on water bottle all morningimmediately before swim - 1 GU
bike2 bottles with 2 scoops of First Endurance EFS + 1 scoop of CarboPro (roughly 300 cals each)1 bottle of water9 Thermolyte salt tablets (5 at 1 hr mark, 4 at 2 hr mark)2 GU's
rungatorade and water at every aid station, Coke starting at mile 7. 3 more Thermolytes at mile 4

In this blog he explains that gemmology is getting ever more scientific with all the new equipment available, that allows a more in depth analysis of a gem material.

These are big expensive pieces of equipment that are housed in the larger gem labs and universities and are proving very helpful in the identification of new synthetics and treatments.

It used to be a matter of course that when you entered the jewellery trade you enrolled in two courses to gain qualifications. The first was The Retail Jewellers Diploma (R.J.Dip. now The Professional Jewellers Diploma, P.J.Dip.) to gain knowledge about all the various aspects of the retail jewellers role. The second was enrolling on the Diploma course in gemmology from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and Ireland, to gain an excellent understanding of gemmology and ultimately the F.G.A. I have spoken to many colleagues in recent years that are either too focused on sales or don't see the point in studying gemmology "because it's all done in labs now" rather than using some skills in store.

Erics next point is to say that the new gemmologist's job is to explain gems, synthetics, treatments and of course the beauty of these pieces to the trade and public. I spend hours every day explaining what a Tourmaline is, how angles and percentages affect the light performance of a Diamond, what is the difference between Akoya cultured pearls and Natural Pearls, what does heat treated mean, and so on. But I am able to do this with confidence because of the training I have had. So Eric is right, but this is only part of the new gemmologist's role.

We need to have more gemmologist's in or close to retail in order to protect the trade and public alike. Unfortunately there are many rogue traders in the world that don't tell the truth either intentionally or through ignorance. All jewellery professionals need a basic training using the most useful equipment a good pair of eyes and a loupe or eyeglass. This was something reinforced by Edward Johnson of GIA London where I attended a course in January. My view is it's easier to stumble into trouble with your eyes closed!

You also need to train your eyes. After coming back from a weeks Diamond Grading, I noticed colour or lack of it in everything. When a tap was running, I could easily detect the slight differences in the water coming out, just the same as Diamonds in the normal colour range. Something that made me think of doing this blog this mornig was this. My wife tells me off for putting spread on the toast on the kitchen worktop intead of on a plate. If she had an eye as trained as mine I would never get away with it. When you spread toast on a worktop it stays relativly flat, if you spread it on a plate it takes on the curvature of the plate. Yes, I know it's very sad that I notice these things, but it helps me to be a good gemmologist! Get looking!

To close out 2009, here are some thoughts on some of my recent reading. Listed below are three excellent sport-related books that I highly recommend.

More Fire: How to Run the Kenyan Way, by Toby Tanser
If you wonder why Kenyan athletes dominate world distance running, this book is a good place to start. The author has spent alot of time in Africa, working with and training with the local athletes and he opens a door into the world of elite Kenyan runners... explaining in some detail the history, culture, the development programs, training regimes and the spartan day-to-day existence of these incredible athletes. He goes into detail about Kenyan training philosophies about nutrition (simple), how training plans are structured, the importance of rest and the
dynamics of group training. Of particular interest to me, were the section containing detailed profiles and training schedules of many of Kenya's most successful runners from distances from 5K up the marathon. There is sometimes a bit more detail than needed... for example, the section entitled "A Typical Kenyan Training Run" is 29 pages long. Nonetheless, it is a compelling and eye-opening read that I would highly recommend to any endurance athlete or coach.

A Dog In A Hat, by Joe Parkin
Joe Parkin is an American cyclist who was among the first to squeak out a living as a European pro in the late 80's and early 90's. His book is a gritty and honest glimpse into his not-so-glamorous life as a touring pro and is filled with hilarious and sometimes sobering stories and anecdotes of his life before, during and after races. If you're a fan of pro cycling, particularly the Belgian one-day races... this is a must-read.

Gold In The Water, by P.H. Mullen
Another profile of the lives of elite athletes... this time, swimmers. I related to this one more than the others because I spent some time in a fairly rigorous age-group swimming program, however the story of Coach Dick Jochums and his Santa Clara Swim Club's elite team's preparation brings new meaning to the words dedication and commitment. The book focuses of three individuals, up-and coming breaststroker Tom Wilkens, Olympic team veteran Kurt Grote and their coach Jochums in their preparation for the 2000 Olympic Games. Mullen does a great job of expressing the monumental physical toil these men undertake, which is compelling on its own, but he also explores the mental anguish these athletes experience. Get a copy and take a read, you won't regret it.

Shootenanny! - Eels [2003]

This list is fast becoming an explanation of the learning process in music; how so many albums grew on me after I'd initially dismissed them. After narrowly choosing Gorillaz over Demon Days and learning to love I Am A Bird Now, we once again have an album that only found its way onto my list in recent weeks.

I've always sworn against the critics, friends and Eels fans who said Shootenanny! is a sly masterpiece, and sided with its highly underrated predecessor, Souljacker. There was no grand reason behind it; I just thought Souljacker, with its ace slogan 'YOU LITTLE PUNKS THINK YOU OWN THIS TOWN' on the cover, was a better collection of songs, thanks to such superb efforts as Bus Stop Boxer, Dog-Faced Boy and Jungle Telegraph.

But in giving both albums another listen when compiling this list (see, I do research and stuff!), I realised - once again - that I was wrong. Again. I'm always wrong, it seems, but at least in this case I have company. Fans and critics alike may love Shootenanny! but they don't appear to have listened to it properly.

Shootenanny! is described, from Amazon to the mouths of groupies, as E's 'happy' album, 'celebrating the joys of life' (no, really). I recall one review even said Eels had completely 'dropped the misery' that so defines them for one album.

This is bollocks. If these phrases were describing 2005's more optimisic follow-up Blinking Lights And Other Revelations they could almost work, but Shootenanny! is far from joyful - and that, by the way, is why it's so good.

With song titles including Agony, Rock Hard Times and Restraining Order Blues it's never going to be an easy ride emotionally, but that's what you get with Eels. Agony, in particular, is a heartbreaking piece of, well, agony that perfectly befits its jagged guitars and stabbing drums.

Most tracks are more obviously pleasant musically, but it's still tough stuff: Love Of The Loveless, an aching alternative anthem so subtly cynical E can only wearily murmur the chorus, is probably the most famous song thanks to The O.C. and it gives a good idea of the record's hurt.

What these happy-clappy easygoing critics probably mean to say is that, musically, E took a more middle-of-the-road approach to Shootenanny!. I'm still not sure I agree - every Eels album, even misery-fest Electro-Shock Blues, has had its mainstream singles - but there are, admittedly, more radio-friendly songs on this album.

Again, though, this is providing you don't delve deeper into the lyrics when twiddling those dials. Fashion Awards comes across as a light and lovely ballad until you hit, "We'll blow off our heads in despair" in the chorus (yes, it's ironic, but still). Rock Hard Times is pure bubblegum pop, except it features the words, "It's hard to laugh as you choke / Hope you like the rotten stench of doom." The music may be more upbeat at times but the words sure as hell aren't. You could list examples of the album's depressing lyrics until the cows come home and Anthrax themselves (one for the Izzard fans), but it still wouldn't convey the overwhelming misery of the record.

And it's fantastic. From the opening trio of quality tunes (All In A Day's Work, Saturday Morning, The Good Old Days - all excellent) to the semi-optimistic pay-off Somebody Loves You, via should-be indie classics such as Lone Wolf (wonderful song), Shootenanny! is a winner. I was wrong - again.

But, y'know, Souljacker's good too...

No Spotify link today, I’m afraid, nor tomorrow. Circumstances are beyond my control. Spotify links to #21 and #20 will come with #20 on Saturday.

Over the last several months, I've been struggling with an issue with my achilles... what I fear is the beginning of tendonitis. This is something I haven't mentioned before primarily because if I did it might become real and I would have to stop ignoring it.

Somehow with the help of a lot of ibuprofen, stretching and ice I managed to get through the preparation for both Oceanside and Wildflower without too many problems. After Wildflower, I took a couple easy weeks which I thought would help. But when I tried to ramp my running back up in late May, it became clear to me that I couldn't ignore it any longer. Waking up nearly unable to walk was a good signal that I needed to take some steps to address the issue before I did some serious damage.

It's been over two weeks since I've run a step, the longest break from running I've taken in nearly 3 years. I'm also getting regular ART treatments to help loosen my calves and am stretching a lot. The pain upon waking up is gone, though both tendons are still a little tender to the touch.

As much as it pains me to stay off the roads, I'm going another 2 weeks before attempting to run.

In the meantime, I'm staying fit with some time in the pool, on the bike (making a point to avoid excessive dorsiflexion), and the elliptical trainer. I'm also taking advantage of the forced off-season to work on an area of fitness that I've long neglected - strength training.

Key areas of focus:
Core strength
Leg strength and power

my basic routine (either done with kettlebells at home or with free weights at the gym)

• squats (quads, glutes, hamstrings as well as core stabilizing muscles in abs and lower back)
  
• hang cleans (quads, lower back, deltoids, biceps, traps, calves)
• deadlift (lower back, hamstrings)
• pushups (chest, triceps and core stabilizers)
  
• lat pulldowns or pullups (lats, biceps)
  
• planks (prone and both sides) (abs, obliques, back)
  
• swiss ball crunches (abs, obliques)
  

I'm really enjoying the change in routine... and I'll tell you what. If you don't think weight lifting gets the heart rate up, do a set of hang cleans. Those suckers are tough.

This summer is my 20-year high school reunion.

I went to Redlands High School in Redlands, CA about 65 miles east of Los Angeles. Unlike a certain Andrea Wachner, I actually enjoyed my high school years. I was active, did pretty well in school and had a great group of friends from sports, through my church youth group and from the other activities I participated in. But after high school, my teammates from the track and cross-country team all went our separate ways... off to various colleges around the country. For whatever reason, we didn't do a good job of keeping in touch after high school and many of us lost track of one another over the years.
Recently, via this really cool website called "Facebook" (you may have heard of it, ha ha), many of us have reconnected. And a teammate of mine and I decided that it would be cool if some of the guys from our cross-country team regrouped for our hometown 5K race, The Run Through Redlands. We didn't get everyone to show up, but the pic above is six of us from the 1987 RHS x-country team... five of us ran together in the '88 and '89 seasons as well. Our coach from those years, Dean Olsen, who has since retired, made the trek from Arizona to join us as well.

It wouldn't be a race if we didn't actually... well you know, race. My senior year, I was the number 1 guy on the cross-country team and my good friend, Eric Smith, was #2. We also were captains on the track team... he was a nationally-ranked 800m runner, I was a miler. Not anywhere near his level on the track, though I could take him at the longer distances. But, rest assured, we used to kill ourselves on the track trying to outdo one another in workouts.

We got to doing some trash talking in the weeks leading up the 5K. I've been doing some solid training in preparation for my triathlon season. He's since become a cross-country and track coach himself and put himself on a program to ensure he would show up fit and ready to run. My 5K PR is 17:40 and based on my track workouts lately, I figured I was in shape to go a little faster than that. Eric ran a 17:06 about three weeks prior to the Run Through Redlands... so it was going to be a race. Twenty years later, the competitive juices were still flowing.

Race morning, a group of us met up for some pics and high-fives, then it was off to the start. We lined up next to one another. The gun went off. Eric set the pace initially, I sat on his shoulder. After the first turn at about the 1/2 mile mark, I tried to move in front and set a faster pace... figuring I could nullify his faster leg speed by setting a hard pace early. Mile 1, 5:38... but despite my efforts, he responded easily to my move and once we were into the second mile he began to pull away. 10 meters. 20 meters. 30 meters. 50 meters. The gap was widening and at about 100 meters, I managed to hold the gap steady and match his pace. Mile 2, 5:56. The course took a series of turns before a long mile-long straight on Olive Drive. Once on Olive, I tried to close the gap... but he was too far gone.

A final left turn to the finish... and I crossed the tape in 18:04. 29 seconds slower than my teammate. 18th place overall, and 3rd place in my AG. Eric placed 12th, 2nd in the AG with a 17:35. At least we both made the podium. Our coach was particularly proud to see a couple of his "kids" still placing well.

After the race, the rest of the team finished and all gather for some more pics and chit-chat. It was great to see the old crew and how they all turned out.

Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to the reunion.

The first big race of the season is in the books. This is my 3rd year racing at Oceanside. It's a great event that I look forward to every year.

My weakness has always been my cycling so my goal heading into the winter was to really work on my cycling and with improved bike fitness, put myself into a position where I could be top 10 in my AG and go sub 4:30 on this course.

Overall, I'd give my winter training an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I certainly made some huge gains in my cycling ability, but I didn't get the mega-mileage that I was really hoping for. Most of this was simply less-than ideal time management and my other life commitments springing up from time to time. It was good, but not great.

On to the race report.

Swim - 28:01 (15th AG, 126th OA)
Oceanside is notorious for having a cold-water swim, there is always a lot of angst in the transition area with people wondering exactly HOW cold is it? The posted water temp was 58.5 and the race director was allowing booties, but in all honesty, it wasn't that bad. I wore two swim caps to help keep my head warm and I was fine. Once the gun went off, I quickly got into a pretty good rhythm. Unfortunately, there were no good feet for me to draft on, though I did feel the occasional hand on my foot. Someone was catching a ride off of me for a while... I hate it when that happens. Oh well. After the 2nd or 3rd buoy I started to catch some of the slower swimmers from the waves in front of me which forced me to zig-zag a bit to get around them. Before I knew it, I was at the turnaround and heading back into the harbor. There were some slight swells near the harbor mouth, but again, it wasn't bad at all. I do have to mention that I picked up some new googles at the Expo, which I absolutely love... the TYR TRacers. They are great... visibility was perfect, no leaking and no fogging. I usually have to clear my goggles at least a couple times during a race... these were perfect. Anyway, I made it back with no issues and climbed out the water feeling pretty good. My time of 28:01 is a PR for me, but not by a big margin. I seem to always swim close to the same time... (2007 - 28:31, 2008 - 28:59).

Transition 2 - 3:43
This race has a very long run from the swim exit to the far end of the transition area and around again. I was running pretty fast to get to my bike and probably pissed some guys off that were jogging slowly when I pushed passed them. Sorry dudes. Got to the bike and briefly considering putting on the arm warmers on that I had laid out. But, despite the fact that air was cold, the sun was out and I skipped them. Got the bike and got on the road quickly from there.

Bike - 2:35:39, 21.6 mph avg (34th AG, 158th OA)
New bike, new position and a focus on cycling for the winter... I had made the investment, this is where I was hoping to see the big improvement from last year. Nutrition on the bike was two bottles of my GuH20/CarboPro mix, 2 scoops of each which equates to approximately 325 calories. This is a proven mixture that I've used a lot in training which my stomach handles easily. One bottle on the downtube and one in my aerobar-mounted bottle cage. I also had a flask with 14 Thermolyte tablets in a small bento box. No solid food. Once out on the course, my legs came under me pretty quickly and I started to roll through the field, passing lots of guys right away. I race without a HR monitor, but I could tell that my adrenaline was pumping and I was being too aggressive. After the first little climb on San Mateo (about 4 miles in), I dialed it back and just kept it steady. The first 20 miles of the course is mostly flat with just a couple little rollers, its very tempting to hammer and put lots of time in the bank. But after having done the race a couple times, I know that it's the back half where the race can be made or broken. Even so, I felt really good and was keeping a nice pace... I hit the 20 mile mark in 52:32 (22.8 mph avg). After the left turn at around mile 23 onto Christianitos, the course gets more challenging with a series of rollers until the first major climb at mile 28. By this time, I had finished my first bottle of nutrition and at the first bottle exchange I swapped it for a bottle of plain water. I also took 1/2 of my electrolyte tablets. From this point on, I alternated between taking drinks of plain water and my drink mix. Just after the aid station, I caught up to a guy with nearly the same exact bike set-up as me (same model Cervelo P2C, same wheelset) in this section who I ended playing cat and mouse for about 15 miles. He would pass me on the uphills, I would catch him on the downhills and the flatter sections, back and forth. It made the time go faster and we ended up working our way past a lot of riders as we passed and repassed one another. I managed to get away from him on the final climb and that was the last I saw of him the rest of the race. Once over the final climb, I caught another guy on a black Guru and we did the same thing on the descent and on the final approach down Vandergrift. I passed him, he repassed me... I fell back to 10 meters... repassed, repeat. All the way back into transition. Rolling back into the Harbor, I finished off my second bottle of nutrition, took the rest of my electrolyte tabs and was feeling really good and optimistic for a good run. I was really hoping for a ride closer to 2:30, but after seeing how my relative performance improved this year, compared to prior years (2007 - 224th, 2008 - 386th ), I was pretty happy.

Transition 2 - 1:47
A pretty quick transition. I had my feet out of my shoes as I rolled in. Got the bike racked quickly and was into my running shoes. Grabbed a flask of TriBerry-flavored GU (w/caffeine, natch) to carry with me and my sunglasses and was off.

Run - 1:29:53, 6:52/mile avg (19th AG, 107th OA)
Last year at Vineman, I had my best run ever in an half-ironman (1:25) by running the first 5 miles very conservatively then slowing picking up the pace the back half of the course. My intention was to use the same strategy and I kept telling myself to take it easy, get the HR under control and let the legs get loose before trying to make any moves. The only wrinkle I hadn't really trained for was the 1/4 mile sand section which was re-introduced this year. We had to run over the sand section at the beginning and end of each loop, so there was about one full mile of running in semi-soft to soft sand. However, my first mile was 6:47 even with the sand section and I was feeling pretty good. Mile 2 was 6:45. I took sips from my gel flask and got some gatorade and/or water at each aid station and I kept the pace right around 6:45-6:50 range for the first loop. I tried not to pay attention to the other athletes or worry about catching anyone, I simply concentrated on keeping a steady, strong pace. Once out on the second loop and through the 3rd (of 4) sand sections, I tried to pick up the pace. I started looking ahead at the runners and worked on reeling them in, one by one... especially if they were in my age group. Despite my efforts, my pace was not improving and even slowing slightly. At the aid station just before mile 9, I started taking cola to try to get a boost from the sugar and caffeine. After doing some mental arithmetic, I realized that I couldn't afford to slow down at all if I was going to break 4:40, I needed to maintain nothing slower than 7:00 pace. That was my motivation the last 2 or 3 miles. Finally, once through the final sand section, the finish line and crowd was in sight and I even managed a slight surge to pass one last guy in my AG in the final straight.

Final time 4:39:02 (14th AG, 95th OA)

I'm happy with the performance. It's not the 4:30 I was looking for, but it's a solid improvement from previous years. Execution was solid, there isn't anything I'd do differently and it's a lifetime PR for the distance (though not by much... I went 4:39:4-something way back in 1999 at Eagleman, a far easier course). Both the swim and bike splits were PR's. The thing I'm happiest about is that my relative performance in all three sports was much more consistant than it ever has been. I still have a lot of work to do on my cycling, but now my ability on the bike is at least somewhat on par with my swimming and running.

Now onto to Wildflower.

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.

Bad news for Team GB: eight sports have had their funding slashed ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

They're all relatively minor sports, but the cuts are major enough: water polo is losing half of its budget and shooting will be forced to scale down from 46 funded athletes to 10. Several teams, including water polo, may be forced to pull out of the 2012 Olympics, scuppering the Government's plans to field athletes in every... field.

Well, that's not good, is it? Especially after Britain's success in the Beijing Olympics last year. I can see a lot of people being disappointed with this - and not just the athletes. The British public has fallen in love with the idea of hosting the Olympics, and knowing their own country won't be able to compete in some events will be a major blow to morale. Also, the UK was given the Olympics on the basis it would be cheap - much cheaper than Beijing. I don't think withdrawing their own team was the idea they had in mind.

It's easy to say this kind of disappointment is inevitable in a recession, and to an extent it is, but that's not the direct reason for this. No - it's a £50m funding shortfall. Yeah. OK, enough beating around the bush: the Government failed to raise ANY MONEY AT ALL from the private sector. Not a single penny. Nothing. At. All.

So yes, indirectly the economy's general downward spiralling motion is arguably to blame because private companies aren't happy to be chucking about money at the moment, and certainly not into the training of younger athletes, contributing in turn to national success (much better to invest in Iceland, eh?).

But ultimately, the Government itself must take some responsibility for failing to marshal the private sector into investing in Britain's sporting future. I don't know quite what its level of campaigning was, but clearly it wasn't enough.

I know one thing, though:

taxpayers will not be happy. Reading The Metro tomorrow morning on the bus to work, I can see them choking on their Nutri-Grains reading about how private business has let them down once again. "Why should we pay the money if they don't?", they'll ask. I don't think taxes will rise as a result of the funding shortfall - too unpopular, even with the excitement over the Games - but it's not going to help public attitudes towards companies that many see as having helped to land Britain in this economic mess in the first place. Class war, here we come: public vs. private sector. Now that's sport.

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.