My vacation has turned into a pretty intensive training camp. The first few days were a good mix of workouts and windsurfing but the heat has been turned on and the wind has dried up.
Last weekend and the first part of the week had temps in the mid 80's and it has slowly increased into the triple digits with the high tomorrow expected to be 107 degrees. Despite all of the heat the training has been great with a focus on the bike.
So far this trip (since Sunday I've logged 320 miles on the bike and with one more ride scheduled for tomorrow I'm going to top 420 miles. I've also logged 35 miles since last Saturday with another long run scheduled for Sunday.
Saturday through Monday was either runs or rides followed by some solid windsurfing sessions. As the tempeatures began to heat up the wind dropped off and the focus became the training.
Tuesday I tried a new route from Lyle to Goldendale up highway 142 (and back). The route climbs very gradually for the first 12 miles along the Klickitat river. Before finally climbing up a steeper grade for 4 miles up to the plateau where the road rolled up and down through wheat farms for the final 12 miles or so. The ride was beautiful but the road was rough and tough on the body. On the way back to Lyle I was fighting a serious headwind roaring up the canyon and just wished that I could get done. It was maybe the hardest 72 miles I've ever ridden (hard on the body).
Wednesday was a good run in the heat of the day. A negative split cruise but not too fast as the temps were in the upper 90's.
Yesterday was supposed to be the big day of the week but with temps forecasted in the low 100's. I didn't swim I just got out on the bike before it got really hot. I explored another new route east of The Dalles on a road called fifteen Mile Road. It was a great ride out this canyon the road wound it's way past farms and scrub brush. I turned around at 15 miles although the road continued to go on for who knows how far. I was tempted to keep going but was running low on water and though that around each corner would be just a little sign of civilization but not place to refill my bottles and knew I had 20 miles to the nearest refill. The wildest part of this ride was all of the coyotes I saw. I saw probably 20 including a pack of about six. Pretty unusual to see them out in the heat of the day. I also had a run in with a ground squirrel, well actually I ran over the ground squirrel. Thankfully I wasn't going too fast otherwise it could been ugly for me. I don't the the squirrel was any the worse for wear.
I finished off the day with a short one hour run up the Rowena Grade and back about 3 miles up at a steady 7-8% grade. Of course this was in the hottest part of the day. My frozen water bottles were turned into hot water by the end of the run.
Today was my "off" day but given the forecasted high of 105 degrees I hit the river for a standup paddle board adventure, I did a 90 minute trip from our house in Rowena to the mouth of the Klickitat river and up the river a ways and back, it's a pretty cool way to see the river.
Two more fairly big days with another long run tomorrow and a 2 hour run on Sunday. I plan to hit it early.
Hope to post some pictures and possibly some video at the end of the week.
I was doing some thinking this morning. I know....crazy. I was thinking about the choices I had made yesterday in particular one decision. The choice to ride.
Here's the thing when you've got a full time job that you spend 40, 50 or 60 hours a week at, finding time and motivation some days to workout is tough. I don't know if would be different if working out was my job but I suppose it would be. In the end after a busy day in the office I had planned to ride from work to get my 2.5 hour ride in. As the day was coming to a close I looked east and it looked questionable (i.e. - wet and stormy) we get this this time of year in Seattle when it gets warm. I decided to drive home and ride Mercer Island which is a shorter ride but the weather in the foothills wouldn't drift that far west.
After driving home I went to get my kit on and I found myself really not motivated to ride. I didn't feel like I had much energy, my body had been sore lately, my hip and back acting up and just didn't want to go. I walked from my bedroom to the kitchen and back several times and finally I said "you need to go".
I put on my kit and grabbed the water bottles and headed out the door, right smack into the evening commute. It's not really that bad but the first 2 miles are basically waiting at traffic lights with the commute lemmings. The first 6 miles of this ride has a lot of short steep hills and I was amazed at how good my legs felt, I was just spinning up these hills.
My coach had prescribed just time in the saddle. The Mercer Island ride is a great little 20 mile out and back on the island (total ride is 36 miles). The first half of the ride I just kept the bike in the small ring and spun. At the turn I decided to push a bit the way back I loaded the bike into the big ring and got into a great cadence, my legs felt full of power.
I love this section of the ride because it twists and turns and the speed limit is 25 miles an hour. Many times a car (on Mercer Island it's usually a Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and the occassional Ferrarri) will come up behind you waiting for a spot to pass and then you hit one of the twisty turny sections and you're putting a gap on the car, they eventually will catch you and pass you but it's still great. I was holding near 30 mph and just under 300 watts for this entire section. I spun the hilly section the rest of the way home and and felt great.
This morning I felt great, I mean great. My body wasn't sore, my hip and back didn't hurt and I felt motivated to workout. This is what led me to think about the choice to ride I had made. Now let's be clear, the ride yesterday wasn't a tipping point but it's just one example of how our choices affect us. The choice to have a regular latte or non-fat, the choice to let a car merge in front of you in traffic, the choice to say please and thankyou, the choice to do your daily stretches and the choice to swim, ride or run. The choices we make affect our lives in ways we aren't even aware of and I believe it's like a bank account for your physical, mental, emotional well being. Will I think about every choice I make no we make too many of them each day but I think I'm a little more aware of how they affect my and others lives.
Next week I'm on vacation and am really looking forward to the the training I'll be doing. I've been scouting new rides on the map in and around the Columbia Gorge so I'm looking forward to exploring those rides. I already know one choice I will be making assuming the wind blows, that is the choice to windsurf (hopefully it won't come back to haunt me). Look for updates from the The Gorge.
Yeah I'm in the Motherland of triathlon..... Kona. I'm loving it. I'm splurging and staying at the Mauna Lani Hotel and Resort which is hosting the IM 70.3 Hawaii race next Saturday. It's great.
The race isn't really the focus it's getting the final big training days in before my taper to IM Coeur d'Alene. I love this place. Running is tough but the swimming and riding are phenomenal. I've been swimming every morning in the ocean at Mauna Lani Bay Beach Club it's like high speed snorkeling. Today besides a crazy assortment of fish over the coral reef, I saw a bunch of rays, a big school of rather large something or others which I was swimming through and one little shark cruising about 30 feet below on the bottom.
Today my coach scheduled a 25 minute "race" effort. I took my GPS watch and put it in a zip lock and placed it in my swim cap to see just how much I've improved over the past year in the swim department. When I downloaded the data I was shocked. 25 minutes = 1 miles. That would put me just under 30 minutes for a half IM swim. My fastest ever was a 34:30 which I think was a short course every other swim of that distance has been consistently 36:30. If I can take 6 minutes off my swim time it would be crazy and today wasn't really race pace as I wasn't racing I was swimming solo.
Riding here is also fantastic. I'm sure over time it would get a little boring as it is an island but so far the roads I've been on all have great shoulders not a lot of debris and the drivers have been pretty cool. The part I like best is I seem to be riding really fast here, part of it no doubt is the fact that I've got my race wheels on (Zipp 808 front and 1080 rear which has been a mixed blessing with the wind), or the aero helmet but I think it's just the terrain and I actually am enjoying the heat. It's been really windy, there is no direction that I haven't been hammered either by head winds or side winds.
I rode on Sunday the day after a long trip and hit 84 miles at just under a 20 mph average. Today I rode 73 miles at just under a21 mph average. Crazy as neither of these were crazy race efforts so I figure I'm good for about another 2-3 mph average in the race Saturday and it's giving me big confidence going into IMCDA in a few weeks.
Running is tough, it's hot and humid. I did manage an 8+ mile negative tempo run in the heat of the day yesterday with my negative split at sub 7:00 pace. Needless to say it's going to be a long hot run.
My coach has changed the race plan. Put in a hard solid swim effort to see how the winter swimming has paid off and then ride like a man possessed. The run is now just get through it as close to 1:40 as possible. I was quick to inform him that a 1:40 would be a half IM run 2 minute PR for me.
I'm feeling great with the final hard training and feel like I would really love to be back here in October for the big dance. Now just to put it all together on race day. I'll post how things went.
If you get into triathlon and you're not a cyclist to start, you probably know this drill, buy a good tri bike cause I don't want to spend too much and I don't know how serious I'm going to be about this whole tri thing. My QR was a trusty ride (8,000 miles in 2 years) but it was time for a little stiffer frame. So after a couple of years getting my feet wet and getting more serious about this whole sport it was time to upgrade to a faster steed. Meet Eleanor.
Like all fast cars a fast bike should be named and like a car the norm is a womens name. Why Eleanor? If you've seen the movie Gone in Sixty Seconds (yeah not a cinematic classic) the name of the Shelby Mustang which is the big prize is Eleanor. She's shiny, fast and sometimes tempermental.
Click here for more pictures of Eleanor.
I got Eleanor out this past weekend for the inagural spin. A little six hour ride with a good mix of hills, descents and flats and Eleanor rocks. I figure she's worth a few extra seconds on the bike.... ;)
Well we're getting ever closer to the first races of the year and the hard training weeks continue. This week wasn't the big volume of last week but it had some really good intensity.
Two strong run workouts early in the week; hill repeats and a negative split tempo run which was a good rebound after a tough netative tempo run last week. This weekend was strong with a double run on Saturday totaling 21 miles and a good swim workout. My running is hitting its stride so to speak. My long runs (15-18 miles) are now comfortable at mid 7:20 range and feeling fresh at my top end on my tempo's are now sub 6:00 minute mile pace which I haven't hit in years.
I was out on a long ride today and the weather really cooperated it was nice not to have to worry about snow and freezing cold. I was out on my new ride (Cervelo P3) today and was leary about how today would go after the tough day yesterday (two runs and a swim) and being on a new bike. The day ended up steller my legs were a little rough to start but warmed up and the bike was phenomenal and will need little dialing in, it's fast and has lots of get up and go. I was supposed to ride 6 hours today and hit it nearly perfectly with a good mix of hills, descents and flats, keeping the effort high but not a crazy effort. It was a solid 112 miles in just under 6 hours with plenty of punch at the end of the ride. Highlights of the ride was holding 26 mph tempo along E. Lake Sammamish (8 miles) and hitting 52 mph on the descent to Duvall from Woodinville.
All in all things are going great, I'm feeling strong, fit and beginning to get mentally prepared for the races. Next weekend I'll be racing in the Kirkland Half Marathon to get myself in a bit of race conditions. I also have to name my new bike.
Half marathon results and pics of the new steed to come soon.
I made my annual trip to Coeur d'Alene for some focused training the last weekend of April. I headed into the weekend a little unsure of the conditions given that it snowed on Tuesday and the fact that my coach had a huge weekend on tap for me.
I arrived late on Thursday evening got settled in my hotel. I was lucky enough put in the same hallway with the busload of high school kids (not sure why they were there) but I was not excited about the prospects of the late night antics but suprisingly they quieted down by about 10:30.
Up early on Friday with a plan to ride the IM bike course. Cloudy, windy and cold to start the day. I eased into the ride along the lake and back to CdA before picking up the effort on the way out to Hayden Lake. The weather started to clear a little towards the end of the first lap of the bike and I headed back for the hills of Hayden. As I hit the hills the skies clouded up and the temp dropped. As I hit the big hill on Hudlow road the snow flurries started but I survived the ride with dry roads. The north end of the course was crazy riding on the road with snow banks on either side 2 feet high. Overall it was a good ride, no crazy efforts and I finished up the ride in 6:30.
Saturday was going to be interesting. Long run scheduled with an afternoon bike and t-run. I hit the road from my hotel at 7am. It was sunny and cold (temps in the upper 20's) to start and I cruised down to to the lake before heading out along the lake. I was comfortably cruising along at a pace in the low to mid 7:00 minute range. I hit my turnaround time just a half mile from the bike turaround and headed back to town.
Lots of bikers out as there were 3-4 camps going on this weekend. The Multisports camp group rode by me and Michael Lovato gave me the a look and said "Pick it up" with a big smile on his face. I was really working the hills with solid efforts near 7:00/mile pace. At 1:30 in I hit a 15 minute tempo holding right at 7:00/mile pace. I felt pretty good cruising back up the hill to my hotel finishing off the run 18 miles in 2:10. Very solid effort.
Back on the bike in the afternoon for a solid effort of 56 miles with one loop of the bike course. I was worried the legs would be cracked but they help up well and I finished off the day with a quick short transition run of 20 minutes. Quick dinner and good nights sleep before the final day.
Sunday morning I was up early, got breakfast and was on the bike by 7am. It was sunny but really cold, with highs forecasted for upper 60's I knew it would warm up so I was a little under dressed. I decided to ride a slightly different route and headed directly for Hayden Lake. It was very cool riding through upper CdA early in the morning as there were no cars on the road which was nice. I hit the Hayden Lake road and started the first little climb this would be the state of things for the next 20 miles. This is a great ride it twists and turns and undulates up and down with no huge climbs and the scenery was amazing (I even saw a wild turkey). Almost no cars on the road, I'm sure in the summer things become more busy on the road but it was pretty much just me. My legs were feeling the previous two days for the first 1:30. After coming off the lake I connected with the IM course north of Hayden Lake and started pushing the pace. I had a solid 2 hours on the hills and along the lake pushing hard.
I spotted a couple riders about a 1/2 mile ahead of me along the lake just before the big hill (where run turnaround is) and they became my new target to catch before we got back to Mullan Ave. I hadn't made up much ground by the turnaround so I put the hammer down. No excuses but they were pacelining on TT bikes and I was pushing solo on my road bike. I didn't think I was going to catch them when coming around a corner they were just 300 yards ahead of me just before the rise in the road (Ford motivational mile). I was closing fast just 100 yards before the crest of the hill I blew past them (I actually love this hill as I can hold 22-23 mph up it, last year I was doing 28 mph during the first lap of the bike). Having satisfactorily caught and finished off my prey. I backed off my cooked legs for the final 30 minute spin back to the hotel to finish off the 70 mile ride in 4 hours. I finished off the day with another quick t-run. Overall a great day.
Reflecting on the weekend I felt great putting in 230 miles on the bike and another 24 miles running in just 3 days. I've got two more big volume weeks to this block but am feeling good about my fitness. If I've got a weakness in my mind right now it's the bike but with a few solid weeks ahead I'm sure this will take care of itself as these big rides will really help and lets face it training isn't race day.
I do enjoy a little suffering in my training a few wet, cold windy days during the winter out on the bike or run. It gives you this great sense of accomplishment surviving a long day in the crud and let's face it there are few things better than a hot shower after a long cold day. At a certain point in the spring it's time for the clouds to part, the sun shine down and to be able to begin to worry about getting too warm instead of getting hypothermic.
I've now officially had it with the weather. It's mid April and the forecast for the weekend is snow here in Seattle, enough is enough. I'd go back to Hood River this weekend but the forecast is no better there. My only hope is that it stays dry for my long ride on Sunday. To give you an idea how bad it is we're 10-12 degrees below our average this time of year every day and I did my first open water swim last year on April 21st (yeah it was refreshingly cool but it was above 50 degrees), at this rate I won't be in the lake until the end of May.
I headed south to Hood River, Oregon last weekend as the forecast was for warmer temps, it was forecasted to be nice in Seattle but frankly I don't trust the weather here this year, so I went for the sure thing.
Saturday I did a 5 hour ride heading out with just knee warmers and arm warmers and sans gloves at 8am. There was a lot climbing in the first hour, followed by a mind bending switchback laden 5 mile descent to The Dalles at over 31 mph avg and a max of 49 mph. After a casual cruise through The Dalles I did my 20 mile hard effort on fifteen mile road. It's a surreal ride the road seriously looks like it's going downhill at a 2-3% grade but is in fact an uphill grade where you're lucky to top 18 mph with the pedal down. After 10 miles you hit the turnaround and then the fun begins with averages above 25 mph back to town. Back through The Dalles and on to Rowena where I did three intervals up and down the climb to Rowena Butte. It's 2.2 miles of perfectly even 7.5% grade and I love this climb, I got progressively faster each interval by 10-15 seconds which is great at the 75 mile mark of the ride. Next I rode back to Mosier, there is a lot of slightly downhill riding in this section but this was the first time I've ridden this ride without fighting the famous gorge winds, normally I'm lucky to average 15 or 16 mph working my ass off but today there was no wind and got to enjoy the 8 miles ride at a 25 mph average. My final few miles I did the easy spin back to Hood River. The temps topped out in the low 80's which was heaven.
Sunday I did a very comfortable 90 minute run on the twin tunnel trail and actually ran negative splits. It was great running comfortably for 90 minutes at 7:30/mile pace and I feel like my run form is finally returning after being absent for several years.
This weekend I'm expecting a tough couple days with the weather and next weekend I'm supposed to be in Coeur d'Alene for my long training weekend but I'm just hoping that it warms up or it's going to be a miserable couple of long days.
It's getting to that time t-minus 11 weeks and counting to IMCDA and it's time to start turning up the bike mileage.
It was yet another cool day but thankfully the rain held off. I'm really looking forward to not having to put on layers and layers to head out on the bike but not today it was cold and the roads were wet and I really wasn't excited about riding today but consistency and hardwork will mean the difference between giving me a chance to qualify for Kona.
I headed out early as the forecast was for rain late in the day. I headed north along Juanita and back to Redmond via the trail before heading out along Lake Sammamish. I headed up and over the plateau and eventually up to Snoqualmie where I rode the climb up to the falls a couple times (faster each time by 20-25 seconds). I finished up the ride back up and over the plateau and back along Lake Sammamish and up and over Rose Hill to home.
It was one of my best rides of this distance not necessarily in time or speed (by no way slow) but in overall consistency in energy level. The ride ended up being 85 miles and just under 5 hours but my favorite part was the cadence at 91 average and my energy level.
I quickly transitioned to a 20 minute transition run and felt great. I threw in some high tempo pace in the middle of the run for 10 minutes and was clicking along at 6:40/mile pace and felt great (if only I feel like this on race day).
Overall a great day and confidence building workout now I can only hope for some dryer and warmer weather. Tomorrow my long run (2:20 on the schedule).
It was a good week of training last week with a great break through in the swim and a strong run and bike this past weekend.
The end of the week brought cold tempeatures and snow. The forecast was for more cold and snow on Saturday so I moved my long run to Saturday. The day ended up being more or less dry but cool but I had a good solid long run. I did a 2 hour run which covered 16 miles (7:31/mile pace). The best part of the run was my legs really never got that fatigued feeling and I actually ran a few seconds faster per mile the second half of the run. All in all a good showing 12 weeks out from IMCDA.
I had switched things around based on the forecast and the fact that Sunday was supposed to be warming up and drying out. Sunday morning was downright cold with temps in the low 30's and there had been snow overnight in the foothills. I waited a little later in the day to head out on my ride and changed my ride route away from the foothills due to the wet and snowy roads. It was a flatter ride so I was working to keep my cadence high for the entire ride.
Things were going great as I came around the north end of Lake Washington I was headed towards my option point of heading home to finish up my workout on the trainer or continuing on around Lake Sammamish. I opted for the extended route as I was feeling good and warm despite the tempeature just above 40 degrees. As I made the turn back north at the south end of the lake I could see the dark wall of weather headed across the lake from the north. A few minutes later mother nature opened a can of whoop-ass on me. A blustery monsoon of freezing rain and hail and what felt like a 5 degree tempeature drop. Needless to say I was soaked within minutes and no longer warm.
I arrived at home 40 minutes later freezing and ready for a hot shower but first I had to squeeze the water out of my gloves and socks and dump the water out of my bike shoes. It was a good ride all in all, 4:30 for 76 miles with an average cadence of 94 rpm.
March goes roaring out like a lion. The next week is supposed be back to more typical temps in the mid 50's which will feel tropical at this point.
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