Weird start to a taper

So I'm a couple days into my taper and can't say that I'm pleased. In addition to a minor cold, I had an incredibly weird accident on Saturday. I was getting ready to go for a short ride and was looking for a spare helmet since my original had been sent with my bike on tri-bike transport.

I opened a closet in the garage and was shocked when the entire door came off the hinge and landed on my right foot with a thud. I can't describe how bizarre and unexpected that was! Still can't believe it. At a minimum, I gave myself a huge bruise on the top of my foot. At worst...may have a little break or fracture. The good news (if you can call it that) is that the damage is on the top of my foot. It's swollen but triathlon specific activity (i.e. pushing off) doesn't hurt except when my shoe touches the top of my foot.

The cold appears to be fairly minor so I'm hoping that it will clear during the next three to four days.

I guess that's a wrap

Finished my last hard weekend of training. We put in a seven hour ride in palm springs that had a little bit of everything on Saturday. I guess I should have anticipated wind when the route headed for an f'ing wind farm. I'm talking full blown fields of those giant white turbines. About 45 minutes into the ride we left town and headed north. The wind began picking up until it was (no kidding) about 35 miles per hour. When it was to our side we crept along waiting to get blown over (even had to walk our bikes over bridges out of fear of getting pitched over the side) then when we turned into it, we had moments where we were descending a 5% grade at less than eight miles per hour. Wild! The strangest part though was when we finally turned south and had the wind at our backs. For a period of time I was going about 35 miles per hour and it was absolutely still. I guess we were moving at the same speed as the wind and consequently, there was almost no sound whatsoever. Eventually we got out into the desert and the ride turned somewhat normal.

This morning, I got up and did a 14 mile run to close the book on my IMCDA training. While I feel fairly good, I do wish I had done more long swims during my training. And more long rides too. With more hills. Oh...and I wish I'd done a couple of big bricks. Probably should have thrown in a couple more long runs.

Oh well, nothing to do now but put in a quality taper and see what race day deals me.

solid but not stellar

I have to admit that I'm somewhat hooked on reading other people's blogs as they do their Ironman training. Prior to getting into this somewhat voyeuristic activity, I might have thought that I put together an A+ week. Now thanks to the ability to peruse the net and see every entry that contains the letters IMCDA, I have to classify the week as...well.."ok".

I managed to get all the workouts in except one and even popped out a 50 mile ride yesterday with Kebby and Steph. Both of whom were riding strong, oh by the way! Followed that up with a one hour run and an open water swim today. Still, compared to the centuries on the bike and leagues (that's a nautical term for lots o distance..right?) that my friends in the blogosphere are hammering through, my "solid" week feels solidly weak. Still, I'm generally pleased with where I am at this point in the year. Oh...and about that open water swim. Wow... talk about cold! I've got to do more of them to get used to the shock of putting my face in an ice bucket.

On a really positive note, Kebby and Brit both competed in the Fiesta Island time trial today. And they both ROCKED! Kebby took first overall woman at 25mph and Brit got second in his age group at 24 mph. That kind of speed makes me glad I've moved up to the "Long Course" where I can claim that I'm riding slow because I'm still in "Base Building" mode!

Reality Check

We're almost through our first week with Renata (our home stay Xterra athlete) and I have to say, it's been great and also very humbling. While Kebby can hang with her on the swim and on the bike, I'm pretty much tail end charlie on everything.   Renata really loves to train, so most mornings, she has been getting up to join us for our workouts then heading off with her coach - Jim Vance.

Our neighbor Stephanie joined us yesterday for a brick session and having four people made for a great environment!  The coolest part was probably when Renata did her session on the treadmill. The first indicator that she is cut from different cloth was the fact that she couldn't turn it up as much as she wanted (it only goes to 10 mph).  The second (and more significant indicator) was her form.  It was absolutely perfect! She did everything you ever read about related to good running form.  Controlled strides. Mid-foot strike, foot under center of mass and heels almost hitting her butt.  Words really don't do it justice but it was clear after about five seconds that I'm an age grouper and she's a very talented professional.  

Still, so far having her around has been everything we hoped.  Motivating and an educational look into how a pro trains.

     

Solid

Well..the Tucson momentum has continued, so I'm even more hooked on the training camp concept. Did the Great Western Loop last weekend and got in an 11 mile run the next day. Made through the week without missing too many workouts but I'm still light on the swim yardage. I've got a long swim planned tomorrow but it comes on the tail of a long bike, so I hope I can get them both done.

On a cool note, we're providing a home stay to a professional Xterra Athlete starting tonight. Her name is Renata Bucher and it sounds like she's winning almost every race she starts. I'm hoping it will be motivational to see how a pro trains day in and day out.

All that is good

Just came back from Tucson where a small group of us experienced what can only be described as "all that is good about the sport".

We spent four days running, biking and swimming. And of course, we were also eating, drinking and talking. Not surprisingly, after doing number two (drinking...not pooping), we mainly talked about triathlon.

One of the many highlights of the trip came on the first day when the entire crew went to the track to meet with Triathlon Coach Extraordinaire - Cliff English. For those of you who don't know, Cliff is one of the best triathlon coaches on the planet. He gratiously agreed to work with us for two days and was absolutely great! We started out with some dynamic stretching and much to our pleasure, his wife (Sam McGlone) joined us. She was incredibly down to earth and chatted about her rehab and her upcoming race plans. After that, we completed an easy three mile run and then moved to a grassy field. Cliff watched us all run and provided technique tips. We then went through a series of drills and finished up with a short Q and A session.

After a quick change, we headed for the pool. After an 600 yard warm up, Cliff watched us all swim and again provided some great technique tips. We finished up with some really cool drafting drills where we would hang on the toes or hip of the person in front of us.

In the afternoon, we got in a short one hour ride around Oro Valley.

On day, two we met up with Cliff again at Buzz Cafe. After a brief talk, he then led us on a ride up the legendary Mount Lemmon. Apparently, the Cafe Parking lot is the unofficial start for the ride because we saw at least 60 to 70 riders coming and going. There's a four to five mile ride in to the mountain, then you start climbing. The cool thing is that while the grade isn't too hard (5% to 6%), it never ends. Or at least it seems to never end. In reality, it does end after 25 miles at 9,000 feet. Due to time constraints (and snow), we had to turn at mile 12. On the way up, Cliff spent time riding next to all of us. Perhaps the most humbling part of the ride was when he was ahead of me with my neighbor Stephanie and he demonstrated one-legged cycling drills for about five minutes. What's humbling about that you ask? Well...that was exactly when I decided to pick up the pace and "close the gap". Only problem was that the gap stayed as wide open as the back door of the barn! I couldn't even catch him when he was peddling with one f'ing leg!!! Did I mention that Cliff (or Cliff Bar as we privately called him) used to ride professionally???

Anyway, despite the ego ding, the ride was just fantastic.

Cliff had to fly out that afternoon, so the rest of the camp was spent without our "big toe" (extra points if you get that movie reference). We got in a short run with hill repeats that evening. The next two days were pretty much a blur of run, bike, swim and core workouts.

So, just like with our Kona camp, I'm hoping that we can build on this momentum and have a couple of great weeks of training.

It is all that

We did the much discussed and celebrated "Great Western Ride" today. And even with all of the hype, it delivered. We did the "clockwise" version which has long continuous climbs. Nothing too brutal but very solid and pretty darn long.

We got lost after the country store and added some time and miles to the ride but made it back to the car in one piece and in good spirits. This is now my new favorite ride!

The only downer was my stupid garmin. For $700 I expected a bit more navigational help. Just a few miles before we got lost it completely locked up. It wasn't until after Kebby pulled out her i-phone and pulled up the map function that it started working again. Suspicious. Very suspicious! Then as if to make up for its mistake it started giving way to much information on the way home. Instead of beeping and telling me to turn just a street intersections, it started beeping and telling me when turns in the road were coming up. Great! Thanks for that useless information you incompetent paperweight! Never mind that I had no choice but to turn since it was just a bend in the freakin road with no side road, intersection or even driveway to choose from!

Ahh but I digress. Couldn't be happier with the weather, the ride and the day. Run tomorrow. I'll be interested in seeing how I feel.

Friday or is it Fry Day???

Not a stellar day with respect to training. Got up at 5:00 and slogged through an abbreviated swim. Busy at work and went through lunch with just an energy bar. Got home starving and ate a bag of some kind of Chinese or oriental fried things. I remember picking up the bag at Trader Joe's but I can't really tell you why I bought it or with certainty what it contained. It had crunchy little stick things, peas covered with wasabi paste and some kind of edible star.

Oh well, I'm hoping to do the Great Western ride tomorrow so maybe I'll stop the skid before it gets out of control.

Happy Training Everyone!

How much is enough

Just finished my morning "skill" workout on the treadmill.  Sergio claims that these are the most important of all the workouts.   On the run, he has me doing a 20 minute easy warm-up followed by 10 x 30 second all out sprints where I'm supposed to hold a high cadence and perfect form.

In theory I'm training my muscles to "fire" at a faster rate.

That all makes sense but I'm concerned about not getting enough volume.  I don't know about you but I think an Ironman is a reeaally long event, so maybe to train properly, one should do some reeaally long workouts.  On the other hand, he's done about a zillion half and full IM's so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I'd still feel better with a couple of centuries under my belt.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I've found a new food and drink that seems to be doing some great things.  The ingredient is called Quinoa but it's pronounced "Keen Whaw".  I've been eating some for lunch lately and have noticed a marked increase in energy.  Not the energy drink kind of crackling energy, it's more of a steady glow.  It's out in a drink form now and you can get it at Whole Foods.  If anyone tries it and has a similar experience, please let me know.

And the beat goes on

Workout, work, eat sleep, workout. Repeat. Seems like I'm always working out, getting back from a workout or going to workout.

Good swim Monday morning with core work in the evening. Did the bike run brick with Sergio on Tuesday. Core and 2,500 yards of swimming Wednesday. And I just got back from a run on the treadmill this morning.

Off to work now and before you know it....yeah. Time to workout again.

But you know what....I kind of like it.

Sun Day

I'd guess that San Diego weather nets one a good 50 to 60 more "A" workouts compared to my old home town of Atlanta.

It's sunny, clear and almost 75 degrees today. Consequently, I had very few excuses when it was time to go do my swim. Went over to the YMCA and knocked out my 2,000 yard recovery swim without too much commentary from the "excuse monster". About a quarter of the way through, I stopped, looked at the palm trees and really took a moment to appreciate the fact that I was swimming outside in January. Crazy. Absolutely Crazy!

The swim came after a 90 minute run on the treadmill. I would have preferred to run outside but the plan from Sergio clearly stated that I needed to do this one on the the hamster wheel. Afterwards, it was clear as to why he mandated the treadmill. My muscles were worked but the knees, ankles etc. felt good.

All in all, not a bad end to the weekend.

Ups and Downs

Long hours at work this week meant mojo go bye bye. Tried to keep the momentum by getting up Wednesday morning for the swim workout. Got to the pool at 5:30 and managed to get into the water but that was about it. 500 meters later and it was back to the cocoon. Thursday and Friday were complete losses.

Fortunately, I had a ride Saturday with Brit and Steph and may have gotten back on the horse so to speak. We rode for 2 hours and 40 minutes in the hills around Romona. Good effort and I'm pleased. Legs are worked but not sore or injured. I guess it's inevitable that I'll have peaks and valleys during the training. The key is to not let a losing streak continue on too long.

Having friends to train with certainly helps on that front. I also think that training camps and weekends away for training will help too.

Not to get to philosophical but I'm of the opinion that the Ironman isn't one event. In reality, it's thousands of little events (and decisions) strung together over the course of six or eight months followed by one long day culminating (hopefully) with a finisher's medal.

Plan calls for 90 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow. Let's see if I can keep the new streak alive.

What is epic anyway?

So, solid couple of days. Brit, Steph and I headed up to a ride near Ramona that Steph created. We started with a nice descent then turned for a very challenging 40 minutes of climbing. According to my garmin, some of the sections were up to 15% in grade. Fortunately, I never quite reached the "tipping (over) point" which for me is around 3 mph but there were sections that ended just in time.

After the tough climb, we had a nice descent then the ride flattened out nicely. We were able to get down in the aero bars and ride on some flats for a good while. Finished the ride in 2 1/2 hours and felt tired but not dead.

After a short rest, Kebby and I headed over to the YMCA and got in 1,600 yards of easy to moderate pace swimming.

So, while no single part of the three days (Fri, Sat & Sun) met the suffering threshold that would classify it as "Epic", I have to say that in total (3,400 meters of swimming, 10 mile run and a 35 mile bike with climbs), it came close.

And probably best of all, I'm not so destroyed that I'll have to miss my next workout. Who knows, maybe the "Method" method of training makes sense after all.

Sometimes the sun shines

Good one today. Stayed out later than usual last night at dinner and thought that I'd have a bad workout day. Fortunately, I was able to sleep in and head out for my workout after lunch. Plan called for 90 minutes easy running. I went out to Fiesta Island and started a slow trot. I was able to speed up and get into an easy rhythm of about 8:45 per mile. Felt great through mile seven then the pace started to drop and the knees got a bit sore. Nothing to bad and I ended up with a 10 mile run.

Thinking back to IMAZ, my first 10 miler came about three months prior to the race. I'm really pleased that we still have a good five months of training before Coeur d' Alene.

Just need to keep the momentum and stay injury free.

Laguna is Spanish for "F'ing Cold"

The plan for today...park in sunny pine valley (temperature 55 degrees) and climb mount laguna. Turn around...descend. Get in car. Come home.

Sounds simple. When we were leaving the car, I debated as to whether or not I should wear my wind breaker. Since I had long sleeves on, I elected not to add another layer. Besides, once you start climbing you heat up. We started the climb and after about four miles, I thought I had made a good decision on the jacket. At mile five, I started seeing the snow! At mile six, I saw the people on sleighs!!! By mile ten...a full winter wonderland. By then, it was too late. What goes up must come down.

I was riding with Brit and Steph and at the top of the mountain we all knew that the descent was going to be a big problem. We just didn't know how big of a problem. I suspect that the wind chill on the way down must have been about five degrees. Maybe zero! We started down and after about a mile, I had the full body shakes and had to pull over. The cold was terrible but the real problem was handling the bike when I was shaking so badly. We had to go a mile or two and pull over to recover all the way down. A little of half way, it started sleeting! Are you serious???

Eventually we made it to the car and called it a day. Next time let's try the desert!

Ironman Coeur D' Alene Momentum

I feel like I'm starting to gain some momentum for Ironman Coeur D' Alene. Got up and did my swim workout this morning at 5:30 a.m. It was cool to see the sun come up during the workout. Still have a nagging feeling that I'm not doing enough but I suppose that will never go away.

Tide Pool of Misery

Rode to Point Loma Tide Pools with Kebby, Brit, Steph and their friend Kelan this morning. Did 10 good hill repeats and came home. Solid effort and I'm pleased with the workout. Total distance was 27 miles. Each climb was about 7/10 of a mile at 5 to 6 percent grade.

Would have felt even better about the workout if everyone else hadn't gone for a transition run. I just didn't have it in me, so I came in drank some recoverite and stretched.

Holiday Pounds

Well, we made it through the best of the holidays from a fun and food perspective and the worst from a workout point of view. Managed to get in a couple of short swims and a short run while we were in Atlanta but didn't get anything major accomplished. Probably just slowed the rate of loss. Too much sugar, stuffing and white bread.

On a positive note, our flights were more or less on time and uneventful. Interesting that we absolutely expect something to go wrong whenever we fly. I guess the airlines do a great job of setting a low bar. Where else would you be absolutely stunned if you actually received what you paid for. Imagine going to the wine store and buying a bottle of cab all the while expecting that when you open it you'll probably get a merlot or milk or water or nothing at all. Oh well. Good for them for getting us to lower our expectations.

Had a great time though. Will try hard to pick up the momentum from Kona again starting tomorrow.

Be Careful Out there

Missed a brick workout this morning thanks to a fun night of holiday festivities with our neighbors. Managed to get to the gym in the evening and get in a decent core and weight session.

Big scare came after Kebby and I dropped off the dogs at Snug Pet Resort. We were about to turn right at a light when a cyclist ran a red light and got hit by a car. I saw the cyclist coming and then caught sight of the car out of the corner of my eye. The car must have been going about 40 to 45 mph and hit the front wheel of the bike. The cyclist was literally launched ten feet into the air and flipped multiple times before landing on his back.

We both got out of the car and ran to the middle of the intersection. While the scene was pretty bad, the biker was very very lucky. The car hit his front wheel not his body. He probably had some fractures but looked to be in reasonably good shape all things considered. I honestly thought he was going to be dead. When I got to him, all I could remember was "don't move the spine" and ABC. The A is for airway as in make sure it is unobstructed, the B is for Breathing and for the life me I couldn't remember what C stood for. I asked him if he could breathe and he said "yes". Then I said don't move. After that, I was pretty much useless. Four or five of us tended to him until a police car arrived followed a few minutes later by an ambulance.

After giving a statement to the police we watched him get loaded into the ambulance. The police said they would impound his bike.

There is no way I can really describe how incredible (in a bad way) the sight was or how it felt to have the adrenal glands absolutely unload. About an hour or so after the accident, I was starving and had a huge headache. I'm sure this is all some type of physiological response.

While I absolutely hate to have seen the whole thing, I am now committed to being as safe as I possibly can be when I'm out riding.

Off to Atlanta tomorrow for Christmas with the family. Happy Holidays!

Google Rules!

Ok...I may have solved my training tracking issue. I was watching CNN this morning when they interviewed a cyclist that worked for Google. He was having a hard time keeping track of his training so he wrote a program called Google Calendar. Now he can sign in and log his workout from almost anywhere.

I went on-line and the application is very easy to use. I gave my coach access too. Hopefully this will stick!

On a training note, I'm fairly pleased with the week. Worked out every day since Monday and logged three swims, three bikes, three runs and two core sessions. Finished up the week with a 22 mile ride on the 101. Would have gone longer but got a massive flat at mile 10. I managed to get the tube changed but was afraid of another flat since the tire was punctured. We ended up turning around after another mile and called it a day.