Still learning...

It’s been a few weeks since the last entry. A quick recap of the RNR.

The morning was great for running, upper 50’s, no rain or wind. I felt ready. That morning we took the shuttle for the first time and the pressure of years past was non-existent, even when the bus was stopped for several minutes to wait for a train to pass.

My goal was as close to 1:30, my PR was 1:35 and some change so I figured anything under that was fine. The weeks leading up my legs had felt GREAT, pushing the hills and being comfortable at pace. The only drawback was I’d gone swimming about 3 weeks before and for whatever reason that really bothered the foot that was fractured over the winter. ???? Whatever?!?!?

The thing I learned from this race was, if it works in practice/training then FOR F**K SAKE DO IT FOR THE FREAK’N RACE DAY!

I always run a 1.5-2 mile warm up then hit what’s on the days schedule for run training. The morning of the race, about 15 minutes before I ran out from the start line and only did a short jog of about .25 mile. LOSER!

I hit miles 1,2,3 all on time and was on pace at just 6:58 per mile. However, from the start my legs were not happy, not enjoying any of this. Tight and heavy, not willing at all, and my left foot started to cramp. Hey something new, why not!

I was still holding my time through mile 6 along the lake and at mile 8, just before the tunnel I had this clear thought like a bolt of lightning.

“If you don’t walk for 10 seconds RIGHT NOW, you’ll walk the last 4 miles in about 2 minutes”

So for the first time in 6 years I walked during a race – ( well sided from the 4.5 hours at IMC ) D’ho

My legs were killing me! I stopped and shook them out and walked for about 10 seconds, got back in a jog and worked back up to pace. I hit the 11 mile marker and was happy to see that even if I ran 10 minute mile pace I’d still have room to PR. I was looking forward to the big downhill actually training on big downs so I’d be able to take full advantage of, but the legs never let me get below 7:00 pace. Bummer!

I have these talks with myself when I’m racing. They aren’t always pleasant, but they are never sugar coated. I always feel any conversation you have with yourself takes your mind off the suffering for even a little bit.

I had to have one of those “yank your head out” moment’s when at just after the 12 mile marker I started telling myself “ OK, todays just not your day, go ahead a slow up and save your legs. Next time you’ll blah,blah,blah…” Less than a mile to go and I’m having this talk now? I yelled at myself to straighten up my form and put my head out of my azz, and quit feeling sorry for myself because my legs hurt. I was keeping 7:20 pace and still on pace to PR. The last bit I got back to 7 minute pace and finished it off crossing at 1:32:40ish 33ish. I can’t remember. But I PR’d : ) by almost 2 minutes…

What I learned

Warm up the same way before a race as you would before training.

This last weekend I ran a little 10K put on at Magnuson Park and did just that. Put in 2 miles of 9 minutes pace 10 minutes before the race and the legs felt GREAT!  See, sometimes all that yelling at yourself in your head pays off….

Running again...

Back running again after about 14 weeks out of action do to the fractures in my left foot. It’s been hard finding momentum the last 3-4 weeks and the off and on again pain from my foot doesn’t help much. Up to now I’ve gotten 3 runs a week in, ranging from 3-5 miles and averaging 8:50 minute per mile. Not where I was, but I’ll take it.

It’s funny about how relative things are. You go from situation to situation and then only after do you realize how high or low you were before. The other day at track I was running at 9:00 and thinking ‘I hate this, I hate having to start over”. Then about two miles later I was at 9:15 minute miles thinking how I would of loved to be able to run 9:15 back at Canada last year where 15:20 was the max my IT band could handle from mile 8 on.

This year after thinking about it and having to nurse the foot I’ve decided to take the tri season off and just focus on one race, Seattle RNR Half Marathon, and spend more time hiking and camping. This seems like a good time and I had thought about it before signing up for IM last year. Some may think that I got burnt out from all the training last year, but that wouldn’t be true at all. I loved the training and the team that I joined I just want to get back to a few simple things this year and that starts with no schedules or training plans for a few months. Just packing the car and seeing where the road takes us from time to time.

When I think about it I’ve been training for something just around the corner for over 9 years now, adding up to almost 60 races. I love racing and felt stronger last year than any before, so being burnt out isn’t a worry at all. And I’ll still be swimming, biking, and running with the team, I’m just laying low a bit on the competing side.

However, I am signed up for the one half and I do have a goal in mind for that one. I’d like to get as close to 1:30 on the half as possible. 1:34 is my PR, set at  the Kirkland Half a few years ago, very unforgiving nasty course, urgh! So I think I can pull a close to 1:30 time off. Training doesn’t truly start until March 27th for that. Right now it’s just getting miles on the foot and slowing back into it without any injuries. So far, so good.

Yesterday I hit the first hills running with the team over at Mercer Island and OH MY GAWD! Dying!!! Heavy, flat, wheezing. And that was just the first hill. I was telling Alley that at one point all I heard was I high pitch sound and my heartbeat. That can’t be good? But it’s a start, with an ave. of 8:48 I can honestly say it can only get better.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

Just got back from training camp up in Canada for the Ironman. What an amazing time! Aside from being on the course and everything else about traveling off for a weekend, it was the team that really made it worth it. Surrounding yourself with people of like mind and that are there to help you is a great feeling. The team is stacked with great athletes, but you never feel intimidated or overlooked. Great coaching and teammates that know on any day you’ll need a hand no matter how good you are.

It’s odd being surrounded by people of like mind. So often I get tired of explaining why I “need” to get a long swim, bike or run in when on vacation or just over a weekend away from home. being in a place where you could see, not just our team, but hundreds of other people doing the same.

With the team it’s a different feel than I’ve ever been use to before. It seems like no one has an attitude, is condescending or over competitive to the point of being overbearing. Every workout seems to push and raise the level of your our game.

It’s odd waking up knowing that at some point in the day you’re going to be pushed to your limit. Reason enough to hit the snooze button a few extra times. I knew I was going to be in trouble before the bike start if I didn’t approach long rides from a different angle. Up until now the last 10-12 miles of all bike rides have been just trying to hold on. I go out steady, feel good at about 80-85% effort, but at the end....Bam...holding on to make it back to the car.

Mark suggested that “just because you can fly up the hills, maybe you shouldn’t”. I thought about that all week, or the few days before training camp. So my new moto on the bike is, “Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.” So I took the bike out as usual, but as we hit the first hill I slowed, lowered my rate, kept the heart rate down and did a steady climb up a little steep hill about 5 blocks long. It was still early, real early, mile 10 of 112.

Forty miles in we hit a little kicker and the same thing, get to the top and feel OK, steady. At about 45ish we start Richter Pass, I’m looking at the road as we approach and I can’t wait! I’ve been living in fear of this damn piece of road for almost 6 months, bring it on!!! Hard right turn and......

“Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.” I ease up and slow down and pedal nice and easy. On the bottom part of Richter I got pasted 4x and had to just mentally tell myself over and over. “Let them go, not your pace today”. I was feeling amazing when I got to the top, breathing wasn’t labored, heart rate was 135 and down to 93 about a minute after I stopped climbing. I looked around and just noticed how almost everyone else was pretty whipped, both from the heat and the climb. I felt great!

I had a few things I was trying new this day. 1. was the not going up with as much effort as I usually climb with. 2. Was not to pedal on the downhills, unless you needed to so you didn’t have to do much work on the next hill. As I did this I’d see the heart rate ease back to 130 and figured that was saving matches for later.

The out and back hits you around 63 miles or so. You have to keep in mind that the out is hard because it’s hard. Not because your tired. It’s Hard, because it’s Hard! False flats and steep little climbs, solidly kicks your ass. The way back at the turn around, not so bad. Which makes you realize - It’s Hard, because it’s Hard!

Yellow Lake - because I like to look at climb profiles and expect every climb to look like a saw tooth I didn’t realize we were on to climb until about a mile from the top. I may be a little thick when it comes to this. On the EWT, day one I think, I keep waiting for the road to really turn up for the 12 mile climb to Loup Loup and was amazed at the rest stop to hear we were already 6 miles into it. Sweet! So I kept thinking we were always about to start climbing, the rollers were just, well rollers to the approach.

Energy wise I was doing very well, heat wise I was not really doing very well. The last stretch up to Yellow Lake was an oven, I was riding with Kirsten and out of fluids. It seemed the heat was just eating away at any energy. It was very survival mood. I could only really focus on her back tire and felt if I lost that I was cooked. Luckily before things got too critical we hit the top and our great team support car was there with ice cold water and Gatorade...Phew

I iced down and stood off the bike for about 3 minutes and felt back in the game. The rest was about 2 miles of rollers and about 8 miles of descending back down to flat ground. I think everyones face was lit up with this excitement of “ I just did the bike course in 97 degree weather and survived” Holy Shit! 4200 plus feet of elevation gain as well.

The next morning was a long run in the 14-15 mile range, mind you I was doing one of the shorter runs...???? It was hot hot hot, again with amazing support from the team and coaches. Such a strong team, it’s so inspiring to train, work and support along side them. And by the way, the new approach to riding hills and saving energy totally paid off...

Eastern Washington Tour - Catching up...

Day one of the Eastern Washington Tour (EWT)-

The way things appear from a distance is sometimes always best. This season from a distance seemed to spell it’s self out pretty well. Early foot races that lead to early bike rides that lead to a mix of both before the big event. Until of course the mood changes for a few weeks or the weather stays bad and you don’t want to keep at it. Unfortunately that has come in the form of an injury.

I’ve had this same before for the last few years, last year was the first I didn’t and was hoping to be done with it. But it finally caught up. I was at track a few weeks ago and it came on slowly then after about 20 minutes grabbed pretty good and hasn’t really let go since. The good news is I can still bike and swim. However, running is totally out the window. Which is a bummer because the running was really coming around.

Anyways, I’m never one to play the “what if” game, just never made any sense. So I’m at the EWT and I feel a bit under trained, but I have to look at it as training for Canada and not racing 4 days in the mountains.

This is not a race!

We've been told that a number of times already, tired of hearing it, kind of getting on my nerves now. So tomorrow will be fun, regardless of what happens. It’s all part of the road to Canada and will make for great memories with some really great friends.

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I'm just now getting around to posting about the trip that was about 2 weeks ago. It was a great time with friends and pushing ourselves farther than we thought was possible. Days 3 and a four were such a mystery going into this simply because we'd never done that kind of mileage before pass two days. It was more laughs than anything and such a great group of new people to meet and ride with.

I posted plenty, if not all the photo's on Facebook, so I won't repost here.

On to a general update:

After the EWT I pulled up a bit lame w/ my left knee. Some pretty good pain that I hadn't felt before. Now I've had some pretty good pulls and injuries during training and races and this was by far the most painful. Well, maybe second to the few IT band pulls I've had, but you get the idea. Good thing is I went to a UW Sports Doc and he said it was deep tissue inflammation. Some profin and ice and it would be fine in about a week. I was bummed not to be able to roll on the fitness from the tour, but that was great news. I was in the mind set and really bracing for being told I'd have to have surgery and that Ironman was out the window.

So slow going the last two weeks, but I'll get it back in gear soon enough. If anything this minor set back reminded how much I really enjoy all the training. Well I'll start w/ regular posts again now that I'm back at it...

And then things turn...

Crazy how weeks fly by when you really don't want them to. Canada is getting closer and closer and suddenly I'm realizing how serious (how much I could hurt myself) it has become. Working and working and really keeping my head down is kind of how I've been training up until about a month ago. The last few weeks I've gotten out on rides and runs w/ good friends and really started enjoying the longer pulls that training at this point has become.

It's been about reconnecting as well. Reconnecting w/ the form and the mindset, among other things that came at the end of last season. Remembering that my limits are only the limits that I put on myself. With getting back into track and really rolling on the miles I'm interested in seeing how far and injury free this season will go.

I added an odd picture from the pain cave above that looked kind of cool...

A few weeks out

Learning a few lessons from the body and in life I suppose over the last few months. Training is in full gear as of this last week after a 3-4 week disruption through March. It's funny how this is the first year I've really put limits on hours per week getting back up to speed and I feel it has really paid off. Most noticeably, no injuries!

I've learned you have to wait for things or situations to come to you and hope that they do, but be able to move on if they don't. Whether it's endurance, a job, a new bike or something else that's out there for you. On the bike or in a run the last few weeks I've had to stop thinking about where I need to be and just focus on where I'm at and not to rush the process. Training is harder than it needs to be sometimes simply because the long hours give you much too much time to think...

Track and longer bike rides have filled the schedule lately. Core workouts have filled the swim days while I'm in between pools right now. Track is coming along really good, I started off a notch slower and think it's really paid off doing so. Last year and the year before I think I would of already had a few pulls in some not so fun places. I've kept top speed at and around 6:45-7:00 as compared to last years 6:05-6:20 which really was fun, but produced on going injuries throughout the season.

The group I've been running w/ at track has been really fun to work w/ as well. I'm very humbled to be running w/ them, which is a great thing. Well it's windy and a touch nasty out, but I have to go hit some hill repeats over in the Blue Ridge area to start cycle hill training in earnest: Strenuous Hill Interval Training - S.H.I.T is on the menu for the legs and lungs this morning. I love it when people comment that I'm light so I don't have to really work on hill work. It must be that and not the miles and hours of vertical work I put in on the bike every year. My thought to that is gravity is one ones friend, deal with it...

Inspiration...

Spin class today was just kicking my ass, about 20 minutes in I realized I was in trouble, crap.

Mostly (completely) it was my own fault, I stayed up watching Madmen until 1 AM the night before. Ugh… At least I knew what the problem was. I lowered down and looked over and saw this older guy just dying on the hill workout, but holding his own. He looked over at me and said, “stay in there”. Here I was ready to call it a day and this guy, who looked like I felt, tries to throw a line out to me.

From there I focused on pace and got back into the rhythm of the class and had a good, not great, but good workout. I’d never met the guy before, but thanked him after the class. I felt at that point I was falling and no one would notice if I just slowed, got off and left. Bagging a much needed and important part of the days workout.

The plan was:

Spin class -1 hour – treat like a Time Trial
Hill Work – 30 minutes
Run – 30 minutes

Just that half second of “stay in there” was enough to finish the rest of a pretty good workout. From there I went on and did the hill workout that I had planned. I do it on a stairmastertypetorturemachine, it mimics the movement of hill climbing on the bike pretty well. After 30 strong minutes on that thing I put in a solid 30 minute run.

Note to self: if you want to push 90%-95% at the end of a long workout to replicate a strong kick at the end of a race put in a little Rage against the machine on the shuffle.

As this season starts up and training really moves into the next phase I have to start and look into motivation and am currently looking for another Tri Team to join. After last weeks long bike and run, and I know it just goes with the territory, but I was so bored. Not so much from the ride, just from the fact that last week I was solo, the one before that, this weekend solo, next week will probably be solo as well. So I’m looking around for a new team. Also, teams are great for pulling that extra bit of training or extra bit of inspiration during a race.

And you never know where or when you’ll need “some” words or a look to give you that push that gets you through the weak miles or minutes of a workout.

Pretty crazy, but back to normal...

OK, the last few weeks have been pretty crazy. I know some friends have a busy life and still manage to get there training, but sometimes you have to put things in perspective and do what you can. The last two weeks I’ve had finals in both my classes, one being editing 5 interviews for a final presentation, and the other a final analytical thesis. Ugh! Plus this past week on top of finals I had my parents in town, which I wanted to spend as much time as I could with. CRAZY!

Oh and 40 hours of work!

Needless to say I had to drop a few workouts, well not a few, but most. I had over the last 2 weeks only 4 workouts in a space of when I should have had 10-12. I could feel my base slowly getting away from me. The months of training slipping away…
Not ready – I knew this was a bad 2 weeks for training and tried to get in what I could. It also meant that I had to watch what I ate somewhat closely for the last two weeks. Can’t eat like I’m training 6x a week when I’m clearly not. Also, I knew it was temporary, but two weeks down is still two weeks down. So that week will be a build up, soft week. Then starting Friday I’ll be back in the full routine again. Playing weekend warrior can only last so long, because it’s not sustainable and ONLY leads to injury.

The things I do.

So have you ever just really let yourself down? Did crappy in a race because you knew you didn’t train right for it. Or jump into something at a level you should have known was going to need your “A” game and you suffered. I’ve been doing some great bike training the last few months and I’ve been focusing on flats, because that was my weakness from last year. I threw a rough hill climb in this week knowing I was going to get my ass handed to me because I haven’t been doing a lot of hill work this year. Not compared to other years. And as planned it was painful.

A friend and I started with a loop around Mercer Island then headed over and up to Cougar Mountain. As soon as you make the turn on to Lakemont Blvd. it’s no screwing around, right away you realize ‘ Pace, you will walk if you don’t!’ There are I think 5 steps to the climb, can’t rush because you can’t see the top. Slow, steady. Well not that slow, I wasn’t eating my lunch, but I was careful not to red line. My friend Chris stayed about 40 yards in the lead for the whole climb and that’s what I was wanting and waiting to feel. That feeling of “you’re dying and he’s not”, “you should be loving this, but you’re not”. That voice in your head, my head, saying “this is what you need, get your ass in gear” That same voice saying, “you have nothing, your legs are gone, stop, what are you doing, you can’t handle this, what were you thinking, you’re not ready”

That voice competing with the other voice saying, “Pace, find your rhythm, stay within yourself, don’t panic” Again, “Pace, find your rhythm, stay within yourself, don’t panic”. “Pace, find your rhythm, stay within yourself, don’t panic”. You hit a point where you’re going to listen to one or the other. You’re going to stop and walk or you’re going to fall back on what you know and weather a bad situation on a climb (ride).

I put myself on a hard climb when I wasn’t 100% ready for it for a few reasons.

1. After 2 weeks of missed workouts I needed to get my head back in the game
2. Nothing motivates me like not being in the condition I should be in

It was a good hard ride and it ends March with room to still get a 60+ ride in, which was the over all goal for March. Well, training should get back to normal this week and track workout will start up this week or next week. Those are always fun, ugh….

Great weekend Ride...

I took the race bike out for a spin on Saturday. It’s funny how even if I haven’t been on him for six months it feels like only a weekend has passed since jumping on for a ride. I’ve done enough training rides on George, my 4 year old Trek, this year to feel like I have my riding legs under me. Meaning that more or less I have the confidence to go out pretty aggressive with a good pace and kept that going for about 3 hours.

Yesterday we started out with two good hill climbs then a long 15 mile flat, followed by a few hill climbs and finishing off with some rolls into the finish. The start up Market and Juanita were taken at a aggressive pace, I wanted to feel plenty worked by the time we got to the top because I knew we’d have time to recover on the long down hill on the back end. I was riding with a friend Chris and he can descend on a down like a rocket, so I knew it would be a challenge to keep up with him and he’s a confident rider so that always makes a difference.

Heading into the flats the trail was getting pretty busy, but I knew once we got about a mile or two past some of the parking lots it would open up. I hadn’t, like I said, been on the race bike this year yet so I was curious to what kind of speed I could maintain over a 10 mile stretch at a hard effort. I usually train at a 80-85% perceived effort, but I wanted to hit the flats closers to 90-95%. I didn’t tell Chris, but he was on my wheel and a strong rider so I knew he was up for it. We averaged 22 MPH through the flats for a distance of about 10 miles, not bad for only being March!

We still had about 22 miles left to go and the hill climbs ahead of us weren’t terrible just the slow constant 2-3% grade up for about 3-4 miles. It was a great day out, lots of sun and an eagle along the water to look at. We finished the day with 42 miles and a welcome ride back to the car. Not bad for still being winter

It's chilly and hilly

Yesterday was the Chilly Hilly, pretty fun. I wanted to ride and have fun and let the day unfold with a few people I thought I'd be riding with, BUT I ended up riding by myself. Oh well.

I started out pretty easy, trying to take in the first climb or two at ease and the legs felt pretty good. I got to the top of the first climb and I figured "what the hell" I took off and turned my easy day into a great hill training day. The legs were feeling so ready for the work, I started the day thinking I was tired and would rest the legs on a easy ride. So I was a bit surprised to finish in 2:08, a few minutes faster than before.

Hill climbing is something else. There is something about cranking up and up and up a hill. Your hips brace for the turning, your legs sit in for the feeling of what pace is possible. There's nothing really mystical about it, just training. And by that I mean train the hills. At the beginning of the year I ride my hill training course and hit it at about 12:30 minutes per lap. By June 1st, just over 10, by end of August I can hit my hill course in under 10 minutes usually even after multiple laps. And I know people love to say "well you lose weight throughout the year so you can climb easier" During the year I only loose about 3 pounds.

Sunday was a good idea about how the years training going so far and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

2 down, lots more to come...

Two weeks down and feeling good. A little tightness in the right ankle from twisting it a few months back, but that still only bothers after a run and not during. I’ve had a few really good trailish runs, mostly through trails and some road running lately. Going through the local park over here it’s all downhill until it’s very, very much not. It’s about 2 miles to the mouth of the first trail that leads into the park system. You hit the first left and ‘that’s when the fun starts. My goal for the first two weeks was not to stop running until the first set of stairs, next week will be until the second.

Being all downhill for the first 2 miles is a great way to start the run, but of course with only one way in and out, what goes down, must come up. It’s a great course because you get a good hard faast pace to start off with then a good steady swift trail course to really concentrate on and pace yourself. Then you have the climb back out of there to really work the legs. The last two hundred yards climb about 40 feet through a soft switchback and pops you out at the trailhead and parking lot. I’m pretty positive that nothing glamourous has ever come running UP out that exit. It usually sounds something closer to Tom Waits wresting with a treadmill while trying to blow out birthday candles.

Nevertheless I head into that course knowing that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and all the other crap that goes along with that line of thinking. This last weekend I headed in after a pretty hard spin class and run the day before. I was looking for a good tired run to work on running through the tiredness and coming out the other end. First 3 miles I was really not buying it, then at around 3.5 I felt the legs give a bit and I picked it up with a really good pace. It was only 7 miles, but the hills were pretty constant and I didn’t walk or take it easy on the day. Knowing the run was the only workout for the day. Plus, week two, I didn’t feel like I needed to kill it out there and risk injury.

Came in with an ave. of 7:40. In the details of the run the ave. might seem a bit off. The first two miles being downhill I ran at about 5:55. It’s hard to run controlled at that speed, so that’s what I was working on, turnover, control. My heart rate was smooth and calm, about 75% perceived effort. Then the hills hit and of course I just concentrated on light and steady, no extreme burst of energy, again control. Then the long climb out back up to 80th, about 2.5 miles, steady effort, ave. 8:15. Trying to keep plus or minus 15 sec. on 8:00 minute miles. Still at about 80% perceived effort (PE). Then the last mile back to the house, all rollers up and down, I really wanted a good hard effort, so I ran at about 90% PE until I was a block from the house. I ave. about 7:00 minutes per mile on the last and felt really good, controlled.

I’ve been doing a crap load of leg work at the gym, mostly for the bike, but also for added benefit for hill work on runs.

So for the most part I got 2 really good weeks or training started and feel good about weight, fitness and cardio. Weight is the thing that I use as a short guide on something, not sure what. Anything over 130 and I feel too heavy, anything below 124 and I feel too weak. I know it has nothing to do with weight, but still, that’s my metric. So my goal fighting weight is 125.5. I’m starting off this year at 127, in comparison I started last at 133 and the year before at 131.

All this just means that I feel light and ready to start jumping into the buzz saw that training can be. I’ve also really studied and looked over old running logs and calendars to see what worked and what didn’t and to see if there were any patterns that I could just make into routines. For the most part I’m just happy the the first 2 weeks have gone so well.

And we're off...

December 1st, training for the 2010 Tri Season starts. Ready or not...

I've waited for about 3 months now and feel really good about starting back up. On the plus side I haven't added too much weight on and my fitness never really got lost in the slow down. I've added strength training and core workouts to the off season, as most do. This is the first year I've really tried to stick with it, I try and treat it as I would a swim workout or track workout. I'm not very fond of gym strength workouts....

Anyways, I was hitting the pool about 3x a week there for about 4 weeks and was feeling solid on form, then I started building a roof on our deck and my shoulders started hurting from either the swimming or the building so I stopped the swimming for a few.

Tried over the last few weeks to get a few trail runs in, 1-2 a week of 5 miles or so. Nothing too taxing, but also got some much needed hiking in, first time in about 2 years -CRAZY. I think 5-6 nice big hikes with Alley and the dogs. It's hard to believe that surrounded by all these mountains and volcanoes no less, that it's been two years...

So up first in what is a string of one event to the next until Canada is the 12ks of Kirkland. Should be a really fun race, pacing will be interesting, longer than a 10k, but shorter than a half marathon. Seems like pace could go at around 7:23 for 10k / maybe a bit slower, never know...

Well there will be plenty to report on and plenty to write about in the next several months so hold on and here we go....

Yeah, I could probably do that too...

I signed up for Iron Man Canada. My goal has never been to do a IM. I don't think to be a triathlete you have to ever do or think of doing an Iron Man. I hate it when you tell someone you're doing a tri and their first reaction is " so you're swimming like 3 miles and biking 200 miles and running a marathon?!?"

I guess it just shows how obscure the sport of triathlon still is. The only real thing the majority of people know about it is what NBC show's in late Dec from Kona. A 9-17 hour plus race in just over two hours...

I always feel odd when I have to tell the person "no, it's a .9 mile swim, 24ish mile bike, 6 mile run" or whatever distance it is. The look goes from - OH, Cool - to - oh, that's nice.
With the overtone of - yeah, I could probably do that too...

A friend of mine asked - so after IM what do you do? Ultra Tri's? 100 mile footraces?
I thought about it for a awhile and pondered whether or not it was worth ranting off my reason's why IM is not the end of the road or the Everest of the sport for me. (for a lot I think)

Instead I just said I'll focus on training before I focus on what's next, after all it is still some 11 months down the road. I don't think that was the answer he wanted. Good thing I'm not doing it for him...

I am doing it, after years of saying I had no interest in doing it because I feel my body is at the point of being able to take the training (no small point) and I have the support group of friends to train with in place to keep the focus over the long road ahead. Two things I didn't have in place that are going to be huge in the small details of getting ready. Just like running a marathon, you have to survive training before you can even think about running 26.2.

For myself I don't really buy the mentality of signing up for a race or event to just survive the day. I want training to be as hard as possible to reflect the race that I'm jumping into. Whether that's a sprint, Oly, 70.3 or IM. Racing at my limit has always been what the long training months have been about.

Always! If not, then what is the point of being away from family and friends and putting up with all the pain and restrictions for.

This next year of training starts soon and w/ out the thought of, for lack of a better term, training to be stronger, faster and better. I don't see the point. So I guess that's just a long way of saying that I don't see IMC as just try and survive the day, but a race.

Don't get me wrong, surviving the day will be I'm guessing 50% of the day, if I'm lucky to have it be that little, but the focus and goal is to be ready for a day of racing. A day that shows all the work in training come forward and all the goals realized. A day of racing like it was your best 5K sub 20....

Looking back at the season...

This year was a bit different than most I've had. I was looking for my first 70.3 and trying to deal with the added training time in relation to the burnout factor than hits at the end of every season. My plan was to miss the first race of the year, meaning I could postpone training for a month, hoping that I'd also push the burnout factor out a month as well.

Now don't get me wrong, I love all the training and everything that goes into making the machine move, but I also know myself. And planning ahead can save a huge meltdown on the system and to those around you in the long run.

The only thing I was never happy w/ this year was my swim training. I took a class and that improved my stroke and thought process in the water, but getting in the water was were I feel asleep on the job. Last year I did 55 swim workouts - 27 of those open water. This year I only did 18 open water swims, and 4 of those were in races. Argh!

No excuse for that! I was a bit faster than last year and just a bit fresher coming out of the water than last year, but never felt I hit the potential I could of with mroe time in the water.

On the other hand, or leg, my bike had really big improvements. I increased ave speed from 18 plus to just over 20 mph. Of course flat courses are still my down fall, need more stomp! Working on that as we speak or write, hitting the gym pretty hard over the last few weeks. If I can maintain strength and core training over the next 2 months, I should be right where I've never been before.

My running this year was above ave, but again I didn't get the track workouts like I did last year. I believe I was so hot in the run last year because of track and running at the Disco 2-3X a week. This year I just ran the Disco maybe once a week and only did a few track workouts a month. I did maintain longer 6-8 mile runs 3x a week for a larger base than last year. Also, w/ the 70.3 half marathon I didn't really know what pace I should be training at - Half speed - 7:10 / Full speed - 8:30? Didn't really know...

Overall I did as I wanted to, with a few minor notes to self.

Get your head in the game or go home. With tri season, like any other sport, the game is the whole thing. Training/recovery/racing. You can't phone in any one of them and expect to have the results or hit the goals that you sent for yourself. It's hard to remember that at 5:45am when you're leaving for the 3X that week to get to the pool for some laps. Or throw on the shoes to hit the road for your 8th workout that week and it's only Thursday.

Well, of course it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't so damn fun and rewarding. Those are the things you have to remember, that and the way you felt when you didn't give 100% or didn't train like you knew you should of. Such a fine line...

Been there, seen that...

It's been a few....

Last weekend I got a chance w/ the group to go and ride the Lake Stevens bike course. Pretty sweet course! Lots of little rollers and some good, at least 3 tasty hills. The course seems like one you can really enjoy and take advantage of the rollers to swing you up the hills.

The goal would be to jump on it at least two more times, hopefully three, before race day comes.

I still need to get in the water w/ some consistency. I've only been able to get in 2x a week over the last 6 weeks. Not acceptable! I don't think I'll be the swimmer this year that I was last year. A little sad, but that's OK. Maybe that will change in a few weeks.

More later, have to run to swim class...

Bodies, rest and motion....

Last week I had a short easy, but intense training week. Week started w/ a good run ( 8.5 miles ) then a bike followed with a well planned day off. Then Wednesday fresh legs for the track, which I wanted to bury myself in - end in a redline one set out w/ a short rest and a final 400m to end on dead legs. I just wanted to put a little hurt in the room to remember the season had started : )

Then I had a bike hill climb the following day with the group - lots of fun, out and around the Mag Loop, Friday was a bike into and back from work (fake day off from training). Pizza at lunch, mmmm

Saturday was a really good honest 12 mile run. Flat first 8 miles then a nasty climb up to the house for the last four. Felt a bit heavy the first 2 miles, ran really slow and wanted to warm up into the pace that I figured would come soon enough.

I was thinking on the run, last week was heavy this week was short and striking. I read a blog entry from a friend of mine Joe Tysoe that talked about “Hammerfests”. And I guess I was thinking about that this last week in that the basic theme was every big effort needs and big recovery. One big week, one smaller - still intense, focused week.

That also got me to thinking about “Hammerfests” in general. I think they’re a waste of time and is something that only distracts or destroys your training schedule. If you have a light day because you worked yourself the day before, but your buddy wants to challenge you to a “easy” 6 mile run and you end up showing them who owns who, but miss the next two or three days of training, then what’s the point?

I love the huge long run on sentences that I can get myself in : )

Anyways -

Today I had a great day on the bike! I did my Blue Ridge loop course, nasty even for me. The last time I hit the top of Blue Ridge I had to jump off my bike and check if I had a stuck brake. I jumped off and spun front and back, but they rolled fine - %$#^%

Fine.

I wanted to check recovery rate, edge upwards of 85% effort w/ out blowing up on five different hill sets, then all out on the last. I figured the 2-3 minutes back down would give me enough recovery time, without getting cold in between sets.

Result-

About a week or two away from the cardio that I want and know I had last year, but still getting stronger as I warm up.

One of the keys this year will be to not be afraid to have a good solid warm up. Sounds easy.....maybe not.

Well this next week adds a few things: swimming? Pool and open water.

Ok, like Flipper said walking home from the bar “I need to get in the water!”. I picked up a new wetsuit today so there’s no - good excuses left....

Penny of course doesn't see the need for a wetsuit

Checking in...

It's been a great few weeks of training. I've gotten back into pretty good form and am ready to start full swim training in the next few weeks. I finally feel at the point of giving a good hard effort without thinking I'm going to hurt myself in the long run.

I think a few weeks back I put in a great effort on a 28 mile bike ride w/ about 2400 ft of climbing and ended up not doing anything for the next 2 days.

However, having said that I do think I pulled something in my left inner thigh at track on Tuesday. It nags a bit when I'm running or biking, but mostly when I'm just sitting around.
I think a few light days and ice and heat will take care of that.

Well I have a long bike today, but the weather turn rainy and windy so I might just do a short bike w/ a short run. We'll see : )

Start adding fuel....

Tomorrow I start the direct training and get off the build phases of training. Sort of I'm in shape now to start the real training.

Being sick the last week and a half makes it feel like I'm farther behind than I am. I should of been in shape and healthy enough to race the Carnation TT on Sunday, but you can't lose sleep over what you can't control. I feel close enough to 100% that Sunday I'll start the heavy lifting towards this years goals.

The main focus will be to slow down. I've done three years of Sprints and it's hard to switch gears from 85%-90% to 80%-85%. I have a feeling I'll have to relearn pace all over again and really not ignore feeding and refueling. 2008 was a great year and I think I can learn a lot from mainly not being afraid to push at my limits. However, pushing your limits and not pacing have two very different results.

In 2007 at the Victoria Half Marathon I pushed my limits and had a great result and PR. Whereas, 5 months later at Nookachamps 2008, I didn't pace, ran with the wrong pack that was too fast and just about died 2 minutes from the finish line. Terrible day, once you overextend you can't really fish it back in, the damage has been done. That was the 10k and I knew I'd gone out too fast at mile 3,where the half course splits off. After the split is a nasty hill that just keeps climbing. I could feel my legs dead and flat about 25yards before the climb started. Urgh Argh.....

Anyways, tomorrow starts all the real work and fun! It is work, but come on now, I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't fun.

"I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I am adding fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match."

Tomorrow I start adding fuel....

2 steps forward, 1 step back...

The last few weeks training have been going really well.

I got in some bike rides of 25-35 miles and had some explosive spin classes that left me a bit weak in the knees, in a good way. The running was feeling on track with a few 6 and 7 mile pushes of 85%-90% efforts, 3 days a week.

And the swim, I've only had 2 swims since the last time I wrote, but one was for 30 minutes and the other was a 50 minute swing doing 8 pace laps, 2 pass laps,1 minute rest, my idea of swim training. I swim at pace for a few, then in passing mode for a few. It's my PISS swim training.

A few years ago Floyd Landis had an interview in a mag and he was talking about hill training or Steep Hill Interval Training - SHIT....

I thought that was GREAT so me and Alley came up with
PISS: Passing In Swim Situation
CRAP: Continual Running At Pace

So in the thick of training to can have your days or hands full PISS, SHIT or CRAP. Sometimes PISS as number one and SHIT or CRAP as number two...

All very messy if you don't fuel or recover properly.

Anyways I've been sick for the last few days and feel pretty rundown. I know I'll get over this soon, but I feel like I'll have to yet again start training over again. It's just the preseason anxiety that happens every year. Last night was the first late night mental check list of all the things I haven't done yet, Grrh Argh...

I do know that after I get over this cold I won't be taking days off or doing token workouts to just cross off the board. Nothing lights a fire like the thought of disappointing yourself and those that support you....

Another week...

Training started again on the 1st. I've been feeling pretty good on runs and got in the pool for the 1st time in a long time. I think the last time I swam was in the Kirkland Tri.

The water felt good and I actually was reminded at how much I like to swim. It was a short twenty minute swim and the lesson was - Don't swim without ear plugs!

I was a bit dizzy during the swim from getting water in my ear. At first I swam through it then tried to get out of the pool and ended up sitting at the edge trying to focus on staying upright. Walking to the change room I was bumping into the wall then walking too close to the pool, then back hitting the wall. Once I made it back to the locker room and sat for a few I was OK. Which was good because I had to bike home.

Nothing much else right now as far as training, just trying to get back in the swing of things.