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The last of my prep races are behind me after last weekends go at Vineman 70.3 and I'm really happy with where I am this season heading into the final push to Ironman Canada.  I really ripped it up at Vineman posting a 4:36:06 final time good enough for 7th in my age group and personal bests at the bike and run at this race distance.  That's two PR's at the 70.3 distance in two very tough races although I just can't quite crack the podium in my AG (finished 7th in both races).  Given my history of Ironman times compared to my 70.3 times I have teh potential of a good one in me.  So I'm putting the guys in my AG at IMC on notice, you better come ready to race.

It just goes to show you that a goal, desire, consistency and hard (but smart) work pays off.  I've got some big training weeks coming up so I'm getting ready for those physically, mentally and logistically.  As start the final push I also change my mental focus.

Here is a little something that I put together that was adapated from a VS. commercial that find appropriate as I shift my focus in the final few weeks of training.

No one trains to fail
Nobody prepares to lose
Everyone wants to prevail

but first....

You must compete, and to compete you must;

Persevere
Have passion
Focus
Overcome adversity
and have the will to triumph

Competition is life, live to compete....It's on.

When I'm on the bike for 7 hours riding and then throwing an hour of time trial effort or when I'm running an hour tempo just a tick slower than 10K pace or when the swim is 6K with six descending 500's, I can think back and remember why I'm doing this, focus on my goal and find the clarity to go harder, go faster and go longer.  It was once said, "if Ironman was easy, everyone would do it".  

If you want to view the commercial I adapted this from you can do so here.

For now if you see me on the trail or the road in the lake or at the pool and I'm not in a chatty mood you know why, I've shifted focus and it's on.
 

It took me a solid 5-6 days to recover from the Boise 70.3 race.  Not my normal recovery from a Half Ironman but then again I've never raced that fast or in such tough conditions.  I finally started to feel good again the middle of last week.  It was still a fairly light week from a volume and intensity standpoint but I had some really good training.  I had a solid hard run mid-week with 30 minutes of running in the mid 6 minute range.  I was throwning down some of my fastest short swim intervals ever and I had a great ride and a good run this weekend.

I was down in the Gorge this weekend as my girlfriend had a outrigger canoe race.  Outrigger and long course triathlon spectating are very similar.  The start and finish are really exciting and then there is a lot of waiting in between.  As I had a longer ride to do we agreed that I'd go ride while she was getting ready for her race and racing.  We were at Rooster Rock State Park which is just a couple miles east of Corbett, Oregon.  This is an area of the Gorge I've never ridden in so it would be more of an exploration day.  My goal was to find the old Columbia River Hwy and ride along it.  After checking with the ranger I found that the only access would require going on Interstate 84 a few miles either direction.  I had hoped to stay off the interstate but sucked it up and rolled west the 3 miles to Corbett where I exited and found that immediately I had a 1.5 mile climb up 1000 feet just to get the blood pumping. 

Once up the climb I found the old highway and followed it to the Vista House and overlook and then plunged down through some old growth forest on a road that felt more like a tunnel than a highway.  At several points the road literally goes under this cool outcropping of rock.  I wish I had brought my camera but I didn't so you'll just have to trust me it was very cool.  I rode the old highway which is pretty much flat past a number of state parks and trailheads before finding that the road dumped me back on the highway, so I turned around and rode back. 

On the way out I had noticed a road that said Larch Mountain and indicated it was 14 miles.  I had thought I'd ride back up to that branch in the road an ride up the Larch Mountain road to round out my ride.  On the climb back up to Vista House I was able to look out to the river and see the canoe race shortly after it had started.  So I did a little spectating of the race which was a bonus (of course I couldn't tell one boat from another from that far away).  At the turn up to Larch Mountain I was curious what this section of road would be like.  As it turns out the name doesn't lie it takes you right up to the top of Larch Mountain which I found was a nearly 4,000 foot climb.  It ranged between 5% and 11% but mostly in the 6-7% range. 

Larch Mountain Ride Profile

Here are a few pics from the race in Boise this weekend. 

Early miles of the bike

The state of the weather for the day!!!

Running hard at mile 8.

Finally at the line in 4:40:52

I've been surprised by how sore I've been this week after racing in Boise on Saturday.  Even today some 4 days after the race I'm still pretty sore.  Normally I'm sore for a day or so after a half IM but this time I'm still feeling it.  I think there were a couple of culprits this time. 

First the cold, even though it was really cold being wet for so many hours really takes a lot of extra energy maintain warmth and I was pretty shaky by the time I got back to my hotel and into the hot shower, pretty sure I had early stages of hypothermia and I know I wasn't alone. 

Second I worked pretty damn hard out there.  I swam hard, biked hard and ran hard and all that effort took it's toll.  This is not to say I haven't worked hard in other races I know I was pushing the whole way this time.

Third I wore new shoes.  Not just new shoes but a new brand and model of shoe.  First off I'll say I really like these shoes but all shoes have a slightly different slip last and density and that changes the way your foot strikes, rolls and pushes off and that can very slight change can cause you to use slightly different muscles.  In this case my lower calves have been really sore and that isn't something that normally gets sore for me.  So I think it's the shoes.  The shoes by the way are the KSwiss K-Ona.  They are very comfortable, light in short they rock now I just need to get some more miles on them so my legs are used to them. 

Overall I was really stoked with my race.  It was a very consistent performance across all three disciplines which is nice not having to worry about making the race in one discipline.  How even was it?  I was 79th overall in the swim, 93rd overall on the bike and 68th overall on the run (out of 1500 starters and 1186 finishers and that includes 33 pro's). 

Biggest surprise was my swim. This was a huge improvement relative to other half IM and IM races in terms of placement.  I don't think I've ever cracked the top 200 overall in the swim.  The bike left me scratching my head a bit.  93rd overall fastest bike is good but posting a 2:32 I would have expected it to be a higher placement overall, but to be fair it's my second fastest half IM bike split ever in really bad conditions and I really haven't come on form on the bike yet this year so the skies the limit on the bike.  My run time was also really solid and I was a bit suprised that I was only 68th fastest run, but a 1:30:48 half marathon is solid and I felt like this was the first time I was actually racing the run (negative split the run by about a minute) so I'll take it. 

This week it's some recovery time no real hard or long running just some shorter swims and a long bike this weekend.  Then I start to ramp into another build cycle next week heading towards Vineman 70.3 in 4.5 weeks.  If I can put together another even and strong effort at Vineman I think something in the 4:30 range is very possible.  As always I will take what the day gives me at least I won't be wading through 12 waves of competitors as my group goes off second at Vineman.

I'm off to Boise tomorrow evening for Saturday's Boise 70.3.  I'll be stopping in Hood River tomorrow night and continuing on to Boise on Thursday.  Looking forward to testing the legs for real this season. 

It may be an interesting race as they've had flash floods lately and the forecast is for rain and thunderstorms on Saturday with temps in the mid to upper 70's.  An afternoon start may not great timing with thunderstorms but it is what it is.  I'm one of the last waves to go off so I don't think I start until almost 3pm, that should be a new experience as least I don't have to get up in the middle of the night. 

Swim and bike workouts have been good lately and my run has been solid so it's time to put it all together and have a good day.  I've been feeling a little icky the last day or so by I think it's just allergies acting up. 

I hope to be posting updates from the trip and the road so check back. 

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.

Well the weather is finally turning (from sun to pouring rain to snow to sun.....) and I'm starting to ramp up my volume and intensity a bit.  I was starting to get a little anxious to get things going but have to remember it's a long season as my first Ironman (IMC) isn't until the end of August, but it just seems like it's time. 

Swimming has been great of late I've swimming some longer swim workouts and feeling really comfortable and strong in the water.  I still don't swim a lot of swim workouts I just don't feel like the payoff for the investment is big enough.  My swims are just longer last year I was swimming 3500 - 4000 yds and I'd be pretty well gassed at the end, this year I'm swimming 4000 - 5500 yds and I feel pretty good at the end of the sessions and I'm swimming these much faster.  I can say I am very focused in every swim workout focusing on different parts of my stroke and it really is paying off as I put it all together it's just taken some time but I think I've improved pretty quickly in just the last 18 months.

I still haven't done that much outdoor riding but that's starting to change with the weater.  The few rides I've done outside have been good and I can already tell the winter power work is going to pay off this season.  My climbing power is already great and exceeding where I was last year.  Now it's just a matter of getting in that volume to build my endurance.

My running is also coming along nicely.  I've been throwing in a good mix of higher intensity work and long slow stuff (I normally tend to run too hard on my longer runs).  My hard stuff has ranged from short very hard work on the track to mile fartleks on the trail and roads to extended tempo's at high intensity. 

Here's some fun matching you can do.  See if you can figure out what goes with what from some recent workouts:

1) Average speed for 6 mile bike hard effort?                                             A) 6:18

2) Split for final 400 yd interval (3rd of 3 descending time)?                         B) 24.8

3) Average mile pace for 20 minute tempo (2nd half of 40 min tempo)?        C) 5:39

Figure it out? 

Well the bike effort should be easy, 24.8 mph for miles 20-26 of a 30 mile ride into a stiff headwind.  I didn't have wattage but I would have to believe it was in the 270-290 range (I'm not sure how guys like Sinballe hold 300+ watts for an Ironman race). 

My final 400 yd interval at the end of a set of 3 x 400 descending was 5:39 a new record by a bunch and best of all the set was descending (5:53, 5:47, 5:39) all of this at the end of a 4600 yd workout with a whole bunch of drill sets where my splits were all under 1:30/100yd. 

Finally the second half of my negative split tempo run last night was at 6:18 per mile pace.  These are great workouts. Run 20 minutes at a moderate/hard pace then turnaround and run the same distance you just ran for 20 minutes but at a hard effort (typically I target 20 seconds faster per mile).  My total 38 minutes of tempo work (20 minutes 1st half and 18 minutes 2nd half) was at a 6:38 per mile pace average which is great considering where my heart rate was and how I felt at the end.  Normally I'd be stiff after a workout like this effort but today I feel great.  I think I'm turning the corner and finding that extra gear I used to have in my running legs in my early 30's.  I'm not feeling much like a 40 year old these days. 

I'm definitely looking forward to my upcoming mini camp (i.e. - long training weekend) in Hood River.  Still looking for any taker who want to join me for a little suffering in what I hope is sunshine, moderate temps and raging headwinds in the Columbia Gorge.  One thing I know is that I'll be fine if I have to go it alone as it allows for that deep focus on those long rides, hard climbs and TT efforts.

I think I'm on track for posting some great performances at the 70.3 distance races this year and at IMC.  Look for updates from Hood River in a couple of weeks.  Who knows I might even take my camera along and snap a few pics.

Well I'm two weeks removed from my bout with the flu bug.  It's taken me a while to get back to feeling ok.  Thankfully I'm back and feeling pretty good.  My runs have been good, my bike rides ok and my swims pretty darn good.  The challenge of late has been work and frankly the weather. 

I was planning on riding in the first of the Carnation Time Trial bike races last Sunday.  It didn't happen, the time trial happened but I didn't get there.  When I awoke on Sunday it was cold and wet and I just frankly wasn't up for driving 30 minutes waiting around for 2 hours and then going all out for 30 minutes on the bike on wet and slick roads.   As it turns out it was worse than that, it was snowing and there was slush on the roads and several cars had gone off the road on the course from the reports I heard. 

I was thinking that will be the last of the bad weather it's got to get better now with only the occassional wet or cooler day.  I rode on Monday evening for a quick ride as I left my house it was not raining and I thought a window of opportunity for a dry ride.  10 minutes in and the light rain was falling as I made the turn to head south I was riding into a very wet misty rain and a 20 mph cold headwind.  Oh and this morning, more snow.....

My two runs this week have been wet, wet, wet.  Yesterday I ran a little over an hour and it was really coming down when I headed out and you know what it just rained harder and harder as the day went.  I was running along the Sammamish Slough (a slow moving river) and it was literally frothing white with foam from how hard the rain was falling and how big the drops were.  For the first 20 minutes I was trying to run around the big puddles but finally gave up because I realized I was running in standing water everywhere so why bother.  To add to the misery it's cold.  This winter has really worn me out and I haven't even been riding outdoors like last year which makes me so glad I don't have an early season Ironman. 

Our average high tempearture in March is supposed to be 52 degrees this year 40.5 degrees and March is historically significantly warmer than February not this year, colder (February this year was 41).  Now I know it's worse in a lot of places but if you live there you expect it and can mentally get ready for it. 

Thankfully there is a rumor that we will have a couple dry days this weekend before it turns wet again early next week.  It's pretty sad when dry is you measure of a beautiful day (not sunny, not warm, just not raining or snowing). 

I've got a couple weeks until my mini camp in Hood River and I definitely need to get some miles in on the bike or it's going to be a long, hard couple of days and I'd rather it be hard but not potential, continuous bonking. 

Updates on bike upgrades, review of the new GU Chomps which I've had the opportunity to sample, hopefully some new pictures and maybe even some reports on dry warm rides.