This past memorial day weekend while most people were enjoying a near perfect NW weather weekend with BBQ's, time with family, lazing about I was hammering my legs into shape on the bike.
I was back in Hood River for the weekend with another big focus on the bike. I arrived in Hood River very late Friday night after getting a short late afternoon ride in and quickly packing the car only to sit in heavy evening traffic on the way to Oregon.
Saturday morning I loaded up the tank at Bette's for breakfast before heading out on the bike. It would be a long day and my first 100+ mile ride of the season. Knowing the miles I would put in the next couple of days I opted out of doing the big climbs, there would be plenty of shorter climbs on the ride but I didn't need to tax the legs right out the gate. I eased into the ride and headed east through Mosier and The Dalles. Once I hit a great little road called 15 mile road, I had never been to the end of this road as there is no place to refuel out there so I was always leary about getting too far out. Today it was a little cooler and decided to go past my normal turnaround spot which is an abandoned farm at the top of a 1.5 mile climb. About a mile after this spot the road ended and turned to rock and gravel.
Back I headed as I rounded a sweeping bend in the road there was cow in the middle of the road straddling the center line. I moved into the oncoming traffic lane and slowed to go around the cow when it turned and started running the same direction I was riding. I figured I'll just kick it in and blow by this bovine. Nope I was doing 30mph and this darn cow was holding right next to me. Now I was concerned on which way it would swerve, luckily it went right into a field and not directly into me. I didn't know cows were so fast. I happened upon a few more cows a mile later but it was less exciting this time as I came to a stop and rolled around them. It's a good thing there isn't much (well any really) traffic on this road or there would be some fresh ground beef for the taking.
I rolled back towards HR and hit the climb up Rowena Overlook. I rode the grade twice but was feeling it the second time. The wind was mellow until I got back to HR where it kicked up to 30mph which would be a sign of things to come. It was a good solid 100+ mile day
Sunday I rolled my tired legs out of bed early and headed out for my 2 hour run. It was a good run, not great but good. I grabbed some breakfast and hydrated a bit before heading out for my afternoon ride. Again I headed east beyond The Dalles to 15 mile road. This time I took a new side road which I knew connected with a road I was familiar with. On the way out I was flying along comfortably. One 10 mile flat or slight uphill stretch I was holding 26+ average and very low watts. When I made the turn onto this new road I knew it was going to be battle the rest of the ride. I immediately began to climb up a steep grade into that 30+ mph headwind. I was 40+ miles from home and I was going to be into the wind the rest of the way home. At one point I was riding uphill at 2 mph pushing 330 watts. That which does not kill me will make me stronger. Another good ride but my legs were sacked by the end of the 4+ hour ride. That night I ventured to my friends the Downer's farm and caught up with a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was a much later night that I had planned on.
Monday I was up early again and out on the bike. Again I headed east this time doing the ride (modified) a bit the reverse direction from the previous day. My legs were pretty tired early but they loosened up as the day went on. I hit one section of road which is a long fairly gradual downhill grade with no real hard turns and with the tailwind I hit 56 mph. It's a bit of a white knuckle ride at that speed but Eleanor was solid as a rock. It was another good ride nearly 5 hour ride. My total for the 4 days of riding was 320 miles. Needless to say my legs are a little sore to start the week but I had a great aerobic run test yesterday and will be in the pool and on the track later today. I'm looking foreward to this weekends race, the Issaquah Sprint Triathlon. I think I should do pretty well in this race given my recent training and previous finish in this race and other local sprints. We'll see come Saturday. What I do know is it will be an all out push for an hour.
Here's a picture from the Capitol City Marathon the weekend before last. This was just as I was making my move in the last 800 meters. I had been chasing this guy for about 2 miles and had just caught him then eased up before kicking it to the finish.
The triathlon world got some bad news today. One of the really good guys in the sport passed away yesterday. Steve Larsen of Bend, Oregon passed away yesterday apparently during a track workout from what they believe was a heart attack. Steve was 39 years old, a father of 5, an amazing athlete and an all around nice guy.
I had the pleasure of meeting Steve twice and both times I was impressed by his workman like and friendly attitude. I also had the opportunity to race against him at Ironman CdA (I use this term lightly because I really wasn't a threat to him). I remember crossing paths on the bike and watching this man in a calm, controlled and yet powerful manner rocket forward on his bike. I only dare to dream about such ability on the bike. Steve was a professional road bike racer, a national champion mountain bike racer and when he turned to triathlon he was a winner as well winning the 2001 Ironman Lake Placid with his devestating bike effort.
It's hard to think about a man with such amazing fitness gone so suddenly and so young. It rings home for me as my father passed away from a heart attack while working out at the age of 52. By looking at him you would have sworn he was no more than 40. I don't know if there was a family history of heart disease for Steve I know there is for me and this just reminds me it's time to get my checkup. Some will say that all the stress of training took it's toll on his heart and while that may or may not be true I know it's not a lifestyle that I'd give up easily or very willingly as I get too much joy from the training and racing, it enriches my life everyday as I believe it did for Steve as well.
Tonight I'm thinking about his kids and his wife because I do know what it's like to have a father gone suddenly. My advice to all of you parents out there is tell your kids you love and hug them everyday. To all of you kids tell your parents and loved ones just that you love them because frankly you never know when it might be the last time. Steve may you rest in peace.
Well I just wrapped up my little mini training camp in the Gorge. It was a mixed bag in terms of weather but overall it was a good couple of days.
Day 1 - Headed out for a good ride east from Hood River on the old Hwy 35. It's a good road with some good gradual climbing for 5-6 miles then things get tough as you head State Road out of Mosier this is a brutal 5 miles of serious climbing with some sections in the 17% grade range. The prize is a sketchy descent down the other side to The Dalles. The weather was good on the first morning with temps getting up to the mid 60's. Out of The Dalles I rode 8 mile road which is a real mind bender with sections which you swear are downhill but frankly there not their uphill. Overall it was a good solid ride of 70+ miles.
After a quick refueling and a nap I was back out for a nice 20 min negative tempo run. It was a good run after the legs got loosened up. The first half of the 20 minutes was at a solid 7 min mile pace. The negative side was at 6 min with a couple of sub 6's thrown in for good measure. I finished off day one with a tasty meal and a couple of Walking Man IPA's at Brian's Pourhouse. Then I crashed.
Day 2 - Just a ride today. When I started thinking about this couple of days of training I was thinking some really long 6-7 hour rides but I forget that I don't have an Ironman until the end of August and haven't ridden long yet this year (as my coach reminded me) so my long ride was another solid 4+ hours and just over 80 miles. This included my favorite climb anywhere it's the section of Hwy 35 from Rowena (not really a town) up to the Rowena overlook. It's just under 3 miles but it is a solid 6% climb the entire way so you lock in a gear and go. Another good ride and my legs were feeling good. The weather was even better with temps up to the low 70's.
Another enjoyable part of this ride is the ride out on Fifteen mile road (they're not really creative in this part of Oregon with the naming of their roads) which is the great country road with no traffic at all. I still haven't seen the end of this road it was a great ride most of these roads head out through canyon farmland so usually you've got one a slight climb one direction and a slight descent the other makes for a nice little bit of work and reward. This was it for day two. I refueled after the ride with a late lunch at 6th Street Bistro and enjoyed the last of the sunshine.
Day 3 - The weather has turned. It wasn't cold but it was wet!!! I headed out for my 1:45 easy tempo run early in the morning and got really wet but at least I didn't freeze and the legs felt pretty good overall. Got some breakfast, coffee, email done and a nap late morning while I hoped the weather would improve. Finally time for my early afternoon ride. Just a short 2 hour ride. The weather had cleared and the roads dried so I headed out with just a rain vest. 20 minutes into the ride and the weather had rolled in and it was big time. The start of the rain conicided with my flat tire. A quick change and back on the bike and it was really raining hard now, but it wasn't cold, it could have been brutal if the wind had been blowing the The Gorge was uncharacteristically calm.
I passed about 20 people huddled in the Hwy 35 tunnel waiting for the rain to stop but I just kept on going. It was one of those trance rides the rain pouring down and I was just tapping out cadence on the slight climb. I was also chasing clear sky just as I got to the turnaround point the rain stopped. It was short lived as I turned back into the teeth of the weather. I came back through the tunnel and all the people were still huddled there still waiting. I finished off the ride back in Hood River to the rain subsiding. I was going to quickly do a t-run and changed to go run as I walked out the door into a black sky the first roar of thunder boomed and the first bolt of lighting ripped down....ok no run.
I was suppose to stay another day but the forecast was for another wet day on Sunday and I decided I could ride in the rain back home. The ride home was a wild and wet one with cars slowing to 20 mph on I-84 for about 15 miles with the rain just simply pounding down. The rain subsided just as I got home in Seattle just before sundown Saturday.
Day 4 - Another 3:30 on the bike. My legs were cooked from the last few days but surprisingly it was sunny and not too cold out. I headed out for a good ride but my legs were sacked, but still managed 65 miles at a pretty good clip. After a good nap and refuel it was to the pool to finish off the mini-camp with a nice little 5K swim. Lots of long mixed drill intervals and then 10 x 200 which turned into 8 x 200 (I was just too tired).
Overall a good week with 275 miles of biking, 35 miles of running and 10K of swimming. Looking forward to racing in a half marathon in two weeks and mixing it up in a bike time trial next weekend (as part of my long ride).
I've included some pics below from the trip to the Gorge.
Self Portriat at top of State Road after a 1600 ft ascent in 5 miles.
View south from the top of State Road.
A glimpse of my favorite climb. Hwy 35 from Rowena up to Rowena Butte. A perfectly even 3 mile climb @ 6% grade.
View east of the Columbia River Gorge from the Rowena Butte overview.
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