30 April 2012

core

Man am I tired from the weekend… it felt good to do nothing aerobic.

Still manage to check the 'training' box though and got in my core routine. Barely. I dicked around like crazy again this morning and almost did not make it to the gym…

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 6:00 AM
Workout Type  
Weather  
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side (no plank leg lifts today)
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 21
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment  
Clothing  

29 April 2012

Arboretum run | Soaring Eagle MTB tandem ride

What a great day!

In the morning I got in a fun run with some great guys and then Shelley and I took the tandem up to Soaring Eagle Park on the Issaquah Plateau and rode some super trails.

Note to any MTB tandem riders - these trails are very tandem friendly!

Which was exactly what we needed as our skills seem super rusty this year for some reason.
I have met a few new running buddies through one of my cycling teammates Lane Seeley and these guys, in particular Jon Westerman who I have run with three times now, are fantastic company. On the agenda today was a 10-mile cruiser which did not sound too threatening but after yesterday I was just a tad uncertain about how my legs would bounce back. Turns out just barely enough to keep up today. :)

Lane wanted to keep the run on as much dirt as possible so I plotted a route that did just that. It's pretty cool how you can almost entirely avoid pavement for extended section right in the city!

Our pace stayed very steady with just a slight speed up on the descents and a slight slow down on the climbs. I wore two shirts which was too much. At the end of the run my left hamstring that had cramped yesterday was a little tender but overall it was a nice morning.

Here is the run.

After a quick rise-off shower and a snack Shelley and I packed up the van and headed east. Judging by the trail map Soaring Eagle Park is pretty small! It's about one square mile but there are tons of loops you can do and the ones we did were just moderately technical. Nice.

We started out just riding all the way through the park on the main trail which I thought would be a good warm up. Turns out this trail is one of the wettest and muddiest and more than once we had the rear tire churning through the glop like an egg beater! We slowed down so much once we almost bailed into the brown goo but managed to save it and only submerged one foot each. That would have been nasty…

We had a somewhat rough start but kept improving as we rode and by the end were middle ringing the trail and having a blast. And I only threw Shelley from the bike once. :( Luckily she had a good time too. We would both go back here any day.

Here is the ride.

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food run - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day run - 7:00 AM
ride - 11:45 AM
Workout Type run - endurance
ride - fun
Weather run - low 50s, mostly cloudy, dry, calm
ride - mid to upper 50s, occasional light mist, cloudy, calm
Course
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment run - Brooks Launch, handheld bottle
ride - Ellsworth Witness
Clothing run - Brooks Infinity Short III, Patagonia Capilene 1 Silkweight Stretch T-Shirt, Patagonia Merino 1 Silkweight Crew
ride - bib shorts, short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey

28 April 2012

Olympic View Road Race

Attack! Go fast! Go fast some more! Cover that move! Do it again!

This was real racing today which was a nice (although tough) change from the negative riding that sometimes occurs at our level. Huge kudos to Greg Kauper; with just one teammate we had to cover everything and except for the very last move we did! Also to Aaron Berntson for making that last move which we missed stick, the entire Garage Racing team for lighting up the race and to Audi for putting in a solid, coordinated effort to bring back the last big break.

Whew.

Last year was my first time participating in this event and man was it WET. And COLD. As we drove down and the rains started I was thinking, "Not again…!" Thank goodness it dried up by the time we got to the start. Also, the temperature was a good 10 degrees warmer than last year so I was not complaining. We had loads of time so after standing in line for the toilet, changing clothes and airing the tires I went for a little spin.

Here is my warm up.

The field looked stacked, there were about six guys from Garage, about five from Keller Rohrback and about five from Audi. Throw in at least four from Apex Racing and Greg and I had our work cut out for us.

When you're not going to win any pack sprint, racing is all about the break. Rather, it's all about getting IN the break so that was the mission of the day. Surprisingly the race started off relatively mellow and there were no massive efforts right from the gun. Of course that did not last long and soon there were people sneaking and flying off the front. Greg would go with one move and then I'd go with the next. Sometimes one of us had to go twice in a row but that's how it works when there are just two of you.

About the fourth Garage rider to take a flyer was David Hills. He got away solo so after a few seconds I jumped after him and got away clean myself. I bridged, he got on my wheel and then I put in a good long pull to see if the pack was going to respond. When I peeled off and looked back they had not! But just the two of us with at least 60 miles to go was not the greatest odds. After a couple of more rotations I asked him how he was feeling and he replied, "Not so good…" Oh well. So I dialed it back to about 85% and instead of another group bridging up to us the pack just reeled us in. Done.

Not long after Greg got in a move that had four riders, this looked more promising. They stayed away for about 1.5 laps but they were never out of sight as Garage kept trying to increase their odds by sending more people off the front. Unlike some races where you can pretty much sit up once the break is established I had to cover EVERY ONE of these attacks. :( It just didn't make sense to let Garage add firepower to the break without also adding me. :)

With a little less than two laps to go we caught the break and then shortly thereafter I got in another one. Now this one looked good! It had Matt Hill, Nikos Mills, two guys from Apex and Erik Scheller from Keller. Plus me that was six so I figured good bye pack. Not.

One of the Apex guys was not so strong and Erik was a little reluctant to work so even though we got the gap up to about 45 seconds that was it. Also, we didn't have an Audi rider… Back in the pack Audi did what teams rarely do outside of a Pro/1/2 race and that's go to the front and chase. And they did it well. All five guys rotated and 1.5 laps later they pulled us back.

Now were were getting close to the finish and I was tired! Of course Garage blasted up the last couple of rollers but in spite of feeling blown I was still able to get over these better than most of the field. With about 3 km to go Aaron and an Apex rider put in their attack.

Greg was on the front and pretty wasted himself and I was about 15 riders back and boxed in so bad timing for us! These guys rolled up the road and by the time I had extricated myself from the bunch it looked pretty unlikely that I would 1) get away clean or 2) be able to bridge. All I had left was to hang tight and hope that someone else would chase them down. That did not happen.

There was one last surge on the last climb and then Sean Phillips and Nikos kept the pressure on over the flats at the top. I was able to go with them but we did not go fast enough and the pack pulled us back.

Down the hill, around the corner and we're at 1 km to go. I stood up to move up a few positions and my left quad cramped up incredibly bad. Ouch! I had to sit right back down and rub it out as best I could while not loosing my position; it was not easy.

At 200 m to go Mark Mirante takes off with Jim Flynn right on his wheel and he freaking holds him off all the way to the line. Amazing. I sprinted a few pedal strokes, cramped again, sat down and did my best which was getting passed by a few guys and then passing a few back. I think Greg had shot his wad and simply sat up.

After rolling across the line I had do a few laps around the parking area just so I could dismount my bike without locking up again. I drank a lot, stretched a lot and finally felt good enough to watch the Cat 1/2 break and field get held up by a crash and then restarted. Bummer. Then I watched the end of the Cat 3 race. Where there was another wreck. Hello ambulance. Sheesh.

I think I ate and drank well today, the cramps were just from going hard that many times for this much distance. I am not used to that this year for sure. With my running and training in general I have not been doing as much top end stuff and it's been more about volume and threshold intervals. It's all good. I made it into a break, still managed top-10 and we represented our team VERY well today. I also did not freeze. Bonus.

And here is the race.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 6:00 AM - 2 bananas, apple sauce, 1 scoop protein powder, walnuts
8:30 AM - 3 eggs, salsa
drive down to race - large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem and 2 Endurolytes, large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2.5 scoops HEED, half a PowerBar, 2 PowerBar Energy Gels, flask of Hammer Gel
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 1:20 PM
Workout Type race
Weather low to mid 50s, off and on drizzle but mostly dry, light breeze
Course mostly flat 18-mile loop with a few rollers
Results 10th - Masters 35+ Cat 1/2/3
official results
Time  
Distance 72 miles (4 laps)
Pace  
Equipment Road Bike
39/53, 12-25
Mad Fiber wheels
Clothing knit shoe covers, bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, cap

27 April 2012

core | bike commute

Great core workout today - what a pleasant change! I had no iPod but still got in the 'zone' for the plank and honestly could have gone a little longer than four minutes today but was so surprised when I looked at my watch and saw the time that I just quit. Still, nice!

At lunch I went to the IMA and got in some much needed stretching. It never ceases to amaze me how tight I get without regular maintenance.

ASIDE - I've said it before and I'll probably say it another 100 times, it blows my mind how much stuff I have to do just to be able to do the things I want like ride and run.

My ride home felt great so I took the long way. The clouds looked ominous but the rain held off, lucky me.

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 182 lb.
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food water
Injuries
Therapy 12:00 PM - 30 min stretching
12:30 PM - 15 min sauna
Time of Day core - 5:45 AM
Workout Type fun ride
Weather mid 50s, mostly, cloudy, some wind, sprinkles really early and late but dry most of the day
Course
plank 4 min, 2 min each side w/3 x 20 sec leg lifts each leg
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 150
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 24
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment Town Bike
Clothing

26 April 2012

cardio x 2

Last night I was sorta psyched to ride this morning and then when I woke up it was pretty darn wet. No thanks.

ASIDE - when did I get so freaking soft…? It's been a while now that's for sure. And my weight is way up! I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have eaten out and had beers the last three nights. :(

Instead of riding I went to the gym. I have a hard race coming up Saturday so did not go for a run and instead opted for some low-impact cardio. Exciting. I know.

Since that was only a short effort (I delayed going to the gym until the last possible minute) I went again at lunch.

Sleep 7
Waking HR  
Body Weight 1:15 PM - 185
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy 1:45 PM - 15 min sauna
Time of Day AM cardio - 6:00 AM
PM cardio - 1:15 PM
Workout Type endurance
Weather  
Course elliptical trainer
AM - 14 incline, 14 resistance
PM - 14 incline, 14 resistance
Results  
Time AM - 30 min
PM - 30 min
Distance  
Pace AM - 140-150+ rpm, heart rate was in the low 140s when I finished
PM - ditto
Equipment  
Clothing  

25 April 2012

cardio | core

Just some active recovery (the cardio) and some maintenance (the core) today.

My shoes still had not dried out from last night's douching.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day cardio - 5:45 AM
core - 12:00 PM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather  
Course cardio - elliptical trainer, 12 incline, 12 resistance
plank 3 min, 2 min each side w/3 x 20 sec leg lifts each leg
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 20
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace cardio - 140-160 rpm, heart rate was in the low 130s when I finished.
Equipment  
Clothing  

24 April 2012

bike commute | Pacific Raceways

I woke up in time to go to the gym… but stayed home this morning and dorked around on the computer. :( Such is my lot in life to want to be fit and to play with my toys.

The ride to and from work felt great.

The race was supposed to be dry… need I say more? If it's raining it must be Tuesday.
Here is my commute. Riding home I forgot to start my cyclometer until I was about one mile from work so this is about one mile short. And that matters pretty much only to me. :)

I had not attended any of the races at Pacific Raceways so far this year because I was 1) sick of riding in the rain and 2) was sick of racing on the flats. Since the schedule indicated today was going to be a hilly course and since it was supposed to be dry some teammates and I decided to finally make the drive south.
To make a long story short, here is a bulleted list of what happened.
  • Since it had rained pretty much every Tuesday evening so far this year, the organizer switched the course at the last minute and threw all the flat-loving racers a bone. No hill tonight.
  • One lap into the race it began to sprinkle and then the sprinkle turned into steady rain and so we rode a grand total of two laps on the flats (the drag strip is too slippery when it gets wet) and then we were rerouted down the escape road and up the gradual hill.
  • Garage Racing attacked, we attacked, repeat.
  • A break got away.
  • A second group got away.
  • I missed both moves. The first time I was actively sitting up to let the break with our rider get away and it was just shitty timing on my part the second time as it went when I was on the front. At least Ryan Dean and Dave Hecht were up the road.
  • The second group caught the lead group and that combined bunch stayed away.
  • I led Greg Kauper out for the 'pack' sprint.
Kudos to Jeff Reed for making it into the break, ditto for both Ryan and Dave. Also to Sean Phillips for winning. Again. Also to Aaron Griffith for riding with us and for riding aggressively.

In retrospect I should have chased the second move no matter what. It consisted of two Garage riders and Dave and sending bad odds up the road isn't always worth it. In the end Dave did better than Ryan in the sprint so we got lucky.

When the rain started I was wishing I had my wind vest on but I survived. My hands got a bit cold but again not too bad. The only bummer was my tires were sliding around like a mother! I was running 110 PSI (I'll try 100 next time) but still, c'mon. I had less traction than I have ever experienced on this course. Not only was the last left hand corner bad (it always is) but there was a spot half way up the climb that is slick as snot. I drifted across it sideways once and then avoided it like the plague thereafter.

My kit will never be as white as it was before this race began.

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food 15 min before race - PowerBar Energy Gel
race - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day race - 7:00 PM
Workout Type race
Weather race - upper 50s, rain, calm
Course race - counter-clockwise down the escape road
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment commute - Town Bike
race - Road Bike
39/53, 12-25
Mad Fiber wheels
Clothing race - knit shoe covers ( forgot my wet weather booties), bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, cap

23 April 2012

core | bike commute

At the gym this morning all my hip abductor exercises were really tough… Oh well, I have not done them in about one week so that's what I get.

More fantastic Seattle spring weather so I took the long way home. Yes!

As luck would have it, as soon as I hit the Burke-Gilman Trail two guys started 'racing' me. Now first of all I'm riding a single-speed cruiser with platform pedals. But the intent was obvious, being a racer myself I can totally tell when someone is trying to assert themselves and these days I usually just let it go. 1) The Burke is not a great place to race and 2) I'm here to enjoy the scenery, listen to my music and people watch.

Not today.

It's a fun challenge to see if I can keep up with (or sometimes pass/drop) people while on my commuter bike and so that's what I did.

Pedal, pedal, pedal!!!

I won. And there you have it, Martin is a shallow human being. :)

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day core - 5:45 AM
Workout Type commute - 'openers'
Weather upper 60s (70?), sunny, dry, some wind
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side w/3 20 sec leg lifts each leg
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 21
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment Town Bike
Clothing

22 April 2012

Japanese Gulch MTB tandem ride

We set out to try a new trail today - Japanese Gulch. This is a really cool ravine in Mukilteo with railroad tracks (the steepest grade in the state of WA!) running up the middle and trails on both sides. The loops are not super long but you could easily string together two, three or four for a full day of riding. And it's incredibly accessible. Some sections of the trail do not drain very well and the soil has some clay in it so be prepared to slide around a little, a lot if it's wet.

This was our first mountain tandem ride of the year and for some reason it takes me a while to dial in the bike handling every spring… Let's just say we should have had a helmet cam.

We parked, changed, pumped up the tires and headed out. The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance site said the east side of gulch was more technical but I was disoriented so we headed west. Mistake #1.

We rolled down to the train tracks and the only trail I could see went straight up at a precipitous angle so instead we opted for a road parallel to the tracks which was a great warm-up. The road takes you all the way to the top of the gulch and suddenly you are RIGHT next to the Paine Field Airport. There were even a few planes landing while we climbed the road and this enormous shadow would flick across us and then be gone. Pretty cool.

At the top I did not know where to go so we headed in the most likely direction of the ridgeline. After a couple of twists and turns on the road and a gentle roller we hit the trail. And then we hit the deck.

It was laughable really. About 20 feet after the trail started there was a mud puddle as you went through some sapling trees. As I saw the puddle I slowed way down. Mistake #2. There was a thick branch submerged in the mud at a shallow angle, our front tire hit it, got deflected and down we went. To be perfectly honest, Shelley went down - head first - into the trees and mud. I somehow managed to stick my foot out and just submerge my shoe in goo but didn't take a bath. Nice. Not the way you want to start the ride if more riding is what you hope to do with your spouse… I felt pretty bad to say the least. :(

To her credit Shelley was able to shrug this off. It took a couple of minutes in the fetal position (while lying in the mud) and then some walking around but we did get going again.

If you have ever had a bad fall you know that after you get up the natural reaction is to ride chicken. That's what happened to me. Mistake #3. Now we're riding along at about 4 mph and I'm grabbing the brakes every time there is the smallest little bump or corner in the trail. Dang.

ASIDE - we had our brakes cleaned, adjusted and the pads replaced by Wrench Bicycle Workshop and they did a great job. They even cleaned and lubricated the pistons and the action was utter silk. I highly recommend them.

After more halts and dabs than I care to recite I finally had the bright idea of lowering the stem. Being relatively tall I usually put a stack of spacers under the stem and run a pretty long one. This combination makes any bike steer like you are holding onto a rudder and it's only amplified on the tandem. I moved about 2 cm of spacers above the stem and instantly the bike felt better. I am an idiot. I am also wondering how I could have ridden this bike like it was setup for so long…?!

Anyway, now we slowly started to find our rhythm and actually ride. We still had to dismount for the occasional tight switchback but we also handled a few muddy sections just fine. Thanks to Shelley's encouragement. We'd be riding along and she would see the mud/root/obstacle and I would hear, "We got this! Go, go go…!" I love it.

We met some other cyclists, most of whom were quite impressed that we had taken a tandem on these trails. We also encountered several people running these trails. In retrospect they looked ideal!

When we got back to the car we thought about trying the other side of the ravine but after riding about 100 m up the trail we realized we were both pretty tired and since no fall had resulted in serious injury yet we decided to head back to the car and call it a day.

That was fun. I want to go back.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 5:30 AM - grapes, orange, tea
7:30 AM - Smoothie 2.0
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food nothing… it was a really short ride
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 10:00 AM
Workout Type fun ride
Weather 65-70, sunny, dry, calm
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Ellsworth Witness
Clothing  

21 April 2012

Magnuson Series Half Marathon

The Magnuson Series is a pretty cool event. It consists of a 5 km loop that winds through Magnuson Park and normally you can do the loop once, twice or three times but twice every year they have a half marathon option which means you do four laps plus a 1.1 km loop to round out the distance.

This course is roughly 50% paved foot paths and 50% gravel walking paths and one grass section. With the exception of one tiny rise (30' elevation gain?) this is a FLAT loop. I have always thought Magnuson Park was huge but you need to wind all over the place to get in 5 km.

What makes this event so great is that it's in the city (so it's close to where most people live), it's scenic, there is plenty of parking, the course is not difficult plus it's a loop so you can go as long/short as you want which lets everyone finish and there is a separate walking category which makes it more inclusive. Nice.

Did I mention that Magnuson Park is not very far way from our house? So I rode my bike to the start! Here I am after finishing.

Magnuson Series Half Marathon. And what the hell, how about a PR.
Riding to the race was an excellent idea. I'm not much for warming up (actually I'm very much FOR warming up, I just have a hell of time getting myself to do it) regardless if it's a cycling or running race and so using my bike for transportation solves that problem nicely. It took me way less time to get to the park than I anticipated so I had almost 50 minutes to burn but that meant I could hit the head twice in leisure, change my clothes, pin my number, check out that last 1.1 km loop and find a place to stash my bike in plain sight.
See, I kinda screwed up. This race does not offer any sort of equipment check and so I was just going to lock my bike up and hang my messenger bag over my bike and hope the park was only going to be populated bylaw-abiding citizens today. With this race being the main draw all the way down here by the water I figured the odds of this were high. To prep I took all the essentials crap that I usually haul around in my bag out and left them at home. I even removed my lock key from my key ring so my other keys could not get stolen. When I got to park I discovered that I had left my lock key in the pile of stuff I had removed from my bag. :(

What to do? No way was I going to DNS so instead I found a high spot, leaned my bike up against a railing, draped my messenger bag over it and then wound my lock around my bike and the railing to hopefully fool anyone that might be inclined to act on impulse. I was guardedly optimistic as the bike was RIGHT THERE where everyone could see it and you would have to be pretty ballsy to gab it and ride away in front of all the spectators. Still… I was a little nervous.

I was wearing a new pair of shorts today! They are total running shorts meaning they are very short (3.5" inseam), split up the side and weigh nothing. And I loved them. LOVED them. These things completely disappear when you run which is exactly what I was looking for. And within about .25 miles I completely got over the self-conscious aspect of wearing teeny, tiny shorts.

I tried out a new top today as well, this shirt is incredible. It also 'disappears' when you run. This is the first day I have been able to wear it by itself, because of the cold it has always been a base layer up until now.
The announcer let us know that this was the 3rd anniversary of the Magnuson Series, I guess it started exactly three years ago on Earth Day. Pretty cool. Then it was time to line up by estimated pace. Sub 8-minute up front, 8-12 in the next section, 12-16 next and finally 16+. Of course I was looking around to see who all else had on half marathon numbers (each distance had a unique color) but I did not know what each of the other colors designated. Oh well.

Go!

Twinge!

Ouch… I have had this weird 'thing' in my right hip and not having run a single step prior to the start my running muscles were not ready yet. Sometimes this thing bothers me when I start running but it usually goes away after a mile or two. Well it hit me pretty hard today and suddenly I was almost limping. Not an auspicious beginning. I forced myself to keep running relying on the belief that it would get better. Very soon. Luckily it did.

Right away there are about four or five guys that just light it up. I have done this run once before and based on experience they are doing the 5 or 10 km distance but still, to see them shooting up the trail is somewhat discouraging. I also see about five(!) guys with half marathon numbers pull ahead of me. Rats. For some reason I thought I this would not happen. Oh well, with my hip acting up I was content to just try and warm up and run myself into this.

ASIDE - three days ago I had thought that I would be happy with a sub 7:30 pace. I mean shoot, it had been some time since I had run any distance whatsoever and ages since I had done any speed work. Two days ago I wanted to do sub 7:15. After running one mile and checking my watch a few times I told myself fuck it, let's shoot for 7:00.

So from then on that was my goal, to average 7:00 or just a hair under. I saw everything from about 6:40 to 7:10 (panic!) but really I was pretty okay. The second lap felt nice and easy and I had to stifle the urge to speed up… I have a huge problem with starting too fast for my ability/fitness and with this lofty pace goal (for me anyway) I knew I had to keep it sane. I slowed a little on the third lap but was resolved to make it up on lap four. Not so easy.

Changing gears is difficult for me. Especially after I have been plodding along at the same pace for some time. So when I crossed the line at the start of the fourth lap and tried to pick it up - by just 10 seconds per minute - it was not happening. I did manage to push a little on the two descents on the course and to take advantage of a tailwind section but that was about it. So I changed my plan to just pick it up on the last 1.1 km loop but even that was not happening. It starts with a climb so the only time I was able to really go was the last 100 m of path leading up to the line. Sigh.

On the up side, even though I was barely able to speed up I did not slow down! And considering that I have also not been focusing on running lately I am super happy with this result. I'm convinced that bringing my won bottle contributed to my time. I never stopped. I methodically drained my bottle, I ate my gel half way in and nutrition/hydration was totally covered.

Last fall I ran the Leavenworth Half Marathon with the specific goal of going under 1:30. I thought I scorched the course with a 1:26:12 only to find out all the leaders (including me) had missed a turn and shortened the course. :( Doing some simple math my pace on that day would have resulted in 1:31:48 so to go exactly 1:30 today put a huge smile on my face. I don't have a running background and I don't have any fast twitch muscle fibers in my body but having done this and only really feeling the strain on lap four I'm pretty confident that I could maintain 6:30 pace (1:25:09) on a good day with proper preparation/training in the future. You think?

Here is my run. The GPS measured the distance a little short but I'm confident the promoters got the distance right. You can see my pace is pretty rock solid. Except for mile seven where I must have lost concentration I am very happy. You can see my almost entirely futile effort to pick it up at the end… not so much.

Here is my ride to and from the race. Riding home I was able to wear a sleeveless shirt! It felt really good and once again highlighted to me that the muscles you use for running are way different than the ones you use riding. Yet it still kept me from stiffening up.

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast 5:45 AM - 2 bananas, apple sauce, 1 scoop protein powder, walnuts, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food 15 min before race - PowerBar Energy Gel, water
race - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED, PowerBar Energy Gel
Injuries I got a blister on my left ankle, one of my right toes and bruised another toe on my right foot - something must have gone wrong
Therapy
Time of Day run - 10:00 AM
Workout Type race
Weather low 50s to low 60s, sun, dry, calm
Course
Results Men 45-49 - 1st
Overall - 3rd
official results
Time run - 1:30
Distance run - 13.1 miles
Pace 6:52
Equipment ride - Town Bike
run - Hoka Combo XT, hand held bottle, Garmin Forerunner 405
Clothing run - Brooks Infinity Short III, Patagonia Capilene 1 Silkweight Stretch T-Shirt. Teko Light MinCrew socks

20 April 2012

treadmill run

More training for work today and it's super wet out so gym it is.

Since I'm doing a running race tomorrow today is sort of my 'opener' day. I started mellow, sped up a little and then sped up again for the last five minutes. I have not done ANY fast running in what feels like ages and so this was a bit of a shock to the system but after about 15 minutes I was feeling much better.

I'm not going set anything on fire tomorrow but if the weather cooperates - which it looks like it will - I should have a good time.

I wore some fancy, brand new shoes today (Brooks Launch) thinking I might want to give them a spin tomorrow… we'll see. They felt fine.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 5:30 AM
Workout Type opener(s)
Weather  
Course treadmill, 1% incline
Results  
Time 30 min
Distance 4.3 miles
Pace 5 min at 7:30, 20 min at 7:00, then I increased the pace .3 mph for each of the last 5 min which meant I did the last minute at sub-6 pace
Equipment Brooks Launch
Clothing  

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19 April 2012

cardio | bike commute

I had training all day today for work so just had time for a quickie in the AM. Since I decided I'm doing a running race Saturday I wanted something of the low-impact variety and nothing says low impact quite like an elliptical trainer.

The weather was also pretty awesome looking this morning so I jumped on my bike and rode to the training but of course it was pissing when I went home. Oh well, at least it was not cold. And I felt great on my commute actually, that's always nice. I climbed all the way up Capitol Hill in the saddle.

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day cardio - 5:30 AM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather mid 50s, wet
Course cardio - elliptical trainer, 12 incline, 12 resistance
Results
Time
Distance
Pace cardio - 140-160 rpm
Equipment Town Bike
Clothing

18 April 2012

core

I didn't drag my ass to the gym in a very timely manner this morning so had to abbreviate my core workout somewhat. Oops.

On the upside I got in a quality stretching session at lunch which I really needed. I had developed a slight twinge in my right hip/knee and I'm not sure exactly which stretch alleviated it but one of them did.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 179 lb.
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy 12:00 PM - 30 min stretching
12:30 PM - 15 min sauna
Time of Day core - 5:45 AM
Workout Type rest
Weather  
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
back extension machine 100 - 165 lb.
push-ups 23
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment  
Clothing  

17 April 2012

Lake WA Blvd intervals | bike commute | treadmill run

Today I got it all in. I'm so totally multi-sport. In my mind.

This morning I met Ryan Dean and Greg Kauper and Ryan and I spent the whole workout chasing Greg. Greg was on his TT bike and feeling great while Ryan and I were on our rain bikes and I for one was whooped.

Greg wanted to get in two 20-minute or similar efforts and so after meeting these guys at the UW and rolling down to Lake WA Blvd it was game on.

Holy hate, my legs felt like dog doo as Greg disappeared in the distance… At first I was able to save some face by holding off Ryan but after about four minutes he caught me, passed me and I was so demoralized I actually sat up! Luckily that didn't last long and I resumed my effort but it was pathetic.

The effort lasted from just north of Starbucks on Leschi all the way past Seward Park, up the hill and down to the first stop sign after the summit. Adding that hill was a super idea but I was not liking it at the time believe you me. Here we rested for a bit, rolled south some more and then flipped a bitch and Greg promptly took off again.

At first I thought, "I'm holding him, I'm holding him!" but then we got to the first flat section of road and the gap started to form. Bye bye Greg. Bye bye Ryan. By the time we got to the top of hill and were descending to Seward I was seriously adrift once again.

But I felt marginally better this time. And I did not sit up. And I caught Ryan. Some face was saved.
Greg was on a serious roll today - I hope he has an excellent race this weekend. I was obviously not tapering or rested or warmed up. You know, all the things you need to do in order to perform well. :)
Here is the workout. Once again my max heart rate is insane (read: wrong). Not sure what keeps causing that? I'm also not convinced that I ever hit 180… I have not seen that number since the late 1980s. Once again it sure would have been nice to have power on this ride. Anyone want to donate a disk PowerTap hub to a worthy cause?

Here is the commute. It was beautiful and dry in the morning and wet and dreary in the afternoon but I said screw that and took the long way home anyway. Man, my prehistoric platform pedals sure are worn out…! Those things get slick when they are wet and I almost sent one of them spinning around back into my shin. That. Would. Not. Have. Been. Fun.

My run was all right. I did just a bit more than a cruiser effort so yeah for me.
Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 179 lb.
Body Fat
Breakfast 5:00 AM - Odwalla bar, 2 Perpetuem Solids, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food ride - large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day ride - 6:00 AM
run - 12:00 PM
Workout Type ride - intervals (2 x 20 ish)
run - endurance
Weather
Course run - treadmill, 1% incline
Results
Time run - 30 min
Distance run - 4 miles
Pace run - 1 min walking to find the Fox Soccer channel, 4 min at 7:30, 25 min at 7:00
Equipment ride - Rain Bike
commute - Town Bike
run - Hoka Combo XT
Clothing ride - Sugoi shoe covers, Roubaix knickers, Craft long sleeve undershirt, heavy long sleeve jersey, wind vest, OR Gripper gloves, cap

16 April 2012

treadmill run | core

I had not done any core since last Thursday and for some reason I felt sorta pooped today but in retrospect I rallied. In relative terms of course…

I extended my run five minutes in the morning and at lunch when I hit the IMA I opted to not stare at my watch while doing the plank and got in 30 extra seconds. Yes. Some credit goes to my iPod for sure.

My run was just to run! I guess I like it and since I'm not going to Walla Walla this coming weekend I am toying with the idea of doing a running race. Will I be prepared? No. Do I expect to go fast? No. But I think it will be fun and the weather is supposed to be nice and it will be good to get in a longer effort again. It's been a while since I have done that. And I feel way less self-conscious running with no shirt on than I do riding a bike in the same attire.

Sometimes you just need to do what you need to do.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 178 lb.
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day  
Workout Type endurance
Weather  
Course run - treadmill, 1% incline
plank 3:30, 2 min each side w/3 20 sec leg lifts each leg
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 150
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 20
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results  
Time run - 35 min
Distance run - 4.6 miles
Pace run - 7:30 all the way
Equipment run - Hoka Combo XT
Clothing  

14 April 2012

Team Ride in the Bothell hills

A real workout! And because of the excellent weather I got to ride my race bike. Boom. And I did it with my team! And by 'team' I of course mean two other guys.

I met Greg Kauper and Tony Bravetti in Bothell at 7:30 and we proceeded to systematically ride most of the hills up here.

NOTE - there are a lot of hills near Bothell! And most of them are not short.

It was a great day. Why? Well let me tell you.

  • The weather was fabulous.
  • I felt good. Like really good. Not sure if it was the bike or because I took it easy yesterday but I like this feeling.
  • The company was awesome.
  • Did I mention I was on my light bike?
  • We set out to ride 10 solid hills and with a minimum of fuzzy math we accomplished this goal.
  • I was completely dorked out in all my technology so I had speed, heart rate and power.

As we rode Greg and I were both commenting on how we used to think Juanita Drive was a good hill to train on. HA. It's freaking busy, boring, you are breathing car exhaust and you're constrained to the shoulder. On all the hills we rode up today there were hardly any cars, it was super scenic, the air was fume-free and we frequently took up the entire right lane. Nice.

The first hill was very leisurely except Greg was in a monster gear/the big ring the entire way up… On the second hill he was having shifting problems (perhaps why he rode the big ring the first time?) and after hearing his chain hop and skip and jump about 100 times I finally said let's pull over and fix that shit so we pulled over at the top and checked it out. Turns out he was riding a 9-speed wheel and a 10-speed drivetrain. D'oh…! Greg tried to pin the blame on his wife as she was apparently the one that originally put the cassette on the wheel (and she rides a 10-speed bike as well) but he also said he had tried to adjust the shifting this morning so I was having none of it. :) We all exchanged knowing looks WITHOUT ANY ILL WILL TOWARD ANYONE OF COURSE and carried on.

On hill number three the pace picked up some and then even more on number four but still nothing insane. On hill number five Tony put in an effort at the top on a false flat and it brought out the competitor in Greg who countered with a big surge/sprint to the actual summit. Good times.

Then we backed it off again for a couple but on hill number eight (Juanita from Kirkland) I kept it in the big ring and dialed it up to what I thought I could maintain to the place where we were turning and it was a pretty good effort. From here we dropped down Holmes Point Dr. This is a biggie and we all knew what was coming.

As we started up the hill we were still chatting. Then suddenly Tony says something like, "Here comes the competition…" and as I turn my head I see some guy in a matchy-matchy red and black kit coming up from behind. And then Greg accelerated.

It was a pretty solid acceleration and I had to dig to close him down. Not 100 feet after I caught him he stands up and puts in a full-on attack! Ouch. I was not able to respond immediately so I did my thing and stayed in the saddle and upped my tempo as much as I could. Luckily this was enough to slowly reel Greg in but man did it hurt.

As I caught Greg I figured it was best not to slow down and my 'momentum' carried me until I was next to him. We rode side-by-side for just a bit and then when the road tipped up for the last time and hoping I had not already blown my wad I finally stood up, shifted up and gave it everything. This time I was able to ease away from Greg (or perhaps he just let me go) and we both finished the climb rather out of breath.

Mr. Red was about 10 or 15 seconds behind us and I just know we ruined his day. Which of course made my day. :) Men (and amateur athletes) are so shallow!

I counted Lake City Way and climbing back up to the top of Capitol Hill as hill number 10 but I can promise you that these last inclines were ridden at a much more moderate pace…

Here is my PowerTap data. It's good to see that I can actually get my heart rate up above 160! What's strange is that my max power came on the hill that Greg sprinted for and not Holmes Point; not by a long shot. It's so deceptive how you feel… I was completely pegged chasing Greg up Holmes Point but relatively fresh during that uphill sprint. It just goes to show that you need to be fresh and that a sudden acceleration will always produce more power than an extended bridge or slowly dropping someone. Holmes Point did produce the max heart rate however, no surprise there.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food PowerBar, Odwalla bar, 1.5 large bottles each w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 6:30 AM
Workout Type intervals/hills
Weather low 40s to start, upper 50s at the end, sunny, calm, dry
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Road Bike
Clothing knit shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, wind vest, OR Gripper gloves, cap

13 April 2012

ride | bike commute

Wow… I felt really beat down this morning. My legs were worthless! Good thing for me there was nothing on the agenda or I would have had to take a zero.

I met Ryan Dean at the UW and we headed south for a lap around Mercer Island.

The light crossing the lake was amazing and Mt Rainier was looking incredible with no cloud cover whatsoever. We both commented on how beautiful this part of the country is when the conditions cooperate. Nice.

As we rode it got warmer and brighter and by the end I was positively overdressed but super happy. So I extended the ride by commuting to work on my bike. Bonus.
Here is the 'workout' (not).

After work I got a massage and then headed downtown to meet Shelley and a friend for dinner. And here is the commute.

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast 5:00 AM - banana, Odwalla bar, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food ride - large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day
Workout Type active recovery
Weather
Course
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment ride - Rain Bike
commute - Town Bike
Clothing

12 April 2012

treadmill run | core

Did I say I was giving up running…? I lied. Sometimes it's just easier than getting all geared up for a bike ride. Plus the muscles are different so I was sorta justifying it that way as my ride yesterday was hard.

The highlight for today? My weight is not up.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 180
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day run - 5:30 AM
core - 12:00 PM
Workout Type run - endurance
Weather  
Course run - treadmill, 1% incline
plank 3 min, 2 min each side w/3 20 sec leg lifts each side
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 20
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results  
Time run - 30 min
Distance run - 4.2 miles
Pace run - 5 min at 7:30, 25 min at 7:00
Equipment Hoka Combo XT
Clothing  

11 April 2012

Lake WA Blvd intervals | bike commute

Owie… a real workout today and it was a bit of a shock to my (obviously overly) sensitive system.

I met Ryan Dean at the UW and we rode down to Lake WA Blvd for some intervals. On the agenda was one five-minute effort, two one-minute efforts and then three 20-second efforts. The idea was to do them all as hard as you could for the scheduled time with roughly two minutes of rest between each one.

I was not riding with power but Ryan set a new 5, 3 and 2-minute PR for power in the first effort…! I also know he was hoping to hit 1000 watts during one of the 20-second efforts and we even timed our last one to finish on the rise by Mt Baker Beach but I think he only got up to 987 watts or something like that.

ASIDE - rarely has my rain bike felt so slow…! Nothing like trying to go 100% to highlight the fact that it's not a fast ride.

As we got ready to start the first effort I recall feeling like I had NOT warmed up adequately and sure enough when Ryan took off I was dropped like a rock. I mean I was off the back big time. As Ryan rode away from me I was getting all discouraged and hating life and could not find any sort of rhythm but kept plugging away.

About half way through the interval I guess I felt better because I figured what the hell, got out of the saddle for a few seconds and tried to close some of the gap. And it worked! As I sat back down the gap to Ryan had been halved and at this point I got stuck in and felt some motivation to close it all the way. In the end I actually ended up coming around Ryan as I think he paid the price for going out so hard.

Interestingly the one-minute efforts were almost exactly the same. Ryan would start much faster than me and then I would claw my way back and at least pull even with him by the end.

The 20-second efforts were tough! Not surprisingly these felt like they lasted much longer than 20 seconds… Ryan was clearly faster than me here but I was doing better and he didn't ride away from me at least. Nice to see me come around.
Here is the workout.

And here is the commute.

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast 5:00 AM - banana, Clif Bar, water
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food ride - large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED
commute - water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day ride - 6:00 AM
Workout Type ride - intervals
Weather
Course
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment ride - Rain Bike
commute - Town Bike
Clothing

10 April 2012

bike commute

I was pretty pooped yesterday and woke up feeling borderline sick today so opted not to go to the gym this AM or race tonight but by the afternoon I felt much better so took the long way home. And it felt great!

Nice to have your day turn around.

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day
Workout Type active recovery? endurance? fun ride? whatever…
Weather
Course
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment Town Bike
Clothing

09 April 2012

core | bike commute

I love being able to run errands and go places on the bike. What's that you say? Your day has turned to shit because you are stuck in traffic on the Mercer Mess? Well I'm on the bike path listening to my iPod and there are no traffic jams here. See ya.

After work I rode into downtown to get a new phone (joy!) and then it was off to Fremont to meet some friends for a beer. All on the bike and I bet I got to each of my destinations way faster than if I had been driving. Another bonus? I always get to park right in front of where I am going to.

Sleep
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food water
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day core - 5:30 AM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side w/3 20 sec leg lifts each leg
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 20
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment Town Bike
Clothing

08 April 2012

team ride

Another sunny day! How sunny you might ask? This sunny my friends:

CIMG8490

That's right bitches, THAT TAN LINE IS JUST FROM TODAY. Unlike some freaks that sport the perma-line all year long, all mine fade every winter.

Since Shelley was in Yakima all weekend doing the Easter thing with her family (I did offer to go along but she insisted I stay home), I had nothing on the agenda but riding my bicycle. After racing yesterday I got 100% luxurious today and watched the last two hours of live Paris-Roubaix coverage and then 'hit the bricks' as they say with some good friends for a long jaunt in the sun.

It felt positively decadent to be be out in the peak of warmth (which pretty much nukes your entire day… did I mention Shelley was in Yakima?) but god was it fun. FUN.

I met Greg Kauper, Corrie Martin and Tim Farrell at Leschi and we headed east. In Issaquah we picked up Gabe Templeton, Neal Goldberg and Audrey Baldessari. Nice!

Except for Greg's sprint across I-90 and Tim's sprint up the Issaquah Plateau the pace was not hurried and conducive to talking. Up on the plateau we stopped for water because guess what, it was warm and we were drinking! I had taken off my wind vest after maybe three miles and up here on the plateau I took off my knee warmers.

Just as we were about to turn right on the Old Issaquah-Fall City Road we spotted Sean Phillips heading the other direction; everyone waved at each other. Got I love this road… it's so green and curvy and rolling and then you get to FLY down to Fall City. Down here I took off my arm warmers.

We crossed Highway 202 and headed north along the Golf Course road. Here the wind was at our backs and we decided to dial it up a bit. Unfortunately we lost Neal and Audrey right away and Corrie shortly thereafter but Gabe hung in all the way to Carnation and practiced punching tickets at the back. Tim, Greg and I were doing pretty well but it took some talking and anticipating to get just three people to rotate smoothly, fortunately this is the kind of practice that I really enjoy. The surface is excellent and we were flying.

Once in the valley we all regrouped, Greg and I did most of the pulling but that was totally fine. I wanted to get in some time on the front and Greg was riding strong as usual. As we approached the finish line to the Lake WA Velo Circuit Race I should have expected some shenanigans but was caught off guard… :) Greg and Tim took off and suddenly I realized they were sprinting for the 'finish'! I had to jump hard to catch Tim, rest for a second and then jump again to bridge to Greg. I came around Greg but I'm not sure where the line really was and as I passed him we both eased off. Holy CRAP that was a hard effort.

Shortly after that Gabe peeled off and as we turned right to head over to Duval Neal and Audrey went their own way as well. Down to four. Greg and I kept pulling and at the end of the Cherry Valley loop Greg and Corrie had to hurry home so headed back north. Down to two.

Funny how this seems to work… just as Tim said he was getting tired and probably would not be able to contribute much to the pulling I felt like my previous efforts were catching up with me. :) Oh well, I had kept up on my nutrition pretty well so just settled into a pace I could maintain and we headed home. And to his credit, Tim did spell me a couple of times riding back south past the Golf Course which was really nice.

We turned right to start climbing the Old Issaquah-Fall City Road and Tim turns to me and says, "I think the wheels are starting to come off…" Ouch. I felt for Tim. Too often I have been overly exuberant myself in the first half of a ride and then felt like, "WTF…?!" for the second half. But no worries, I was just here to get in the volume and to enjoy the company so we kept the pace easy on the climbs and I pulled on the flats and we made it home. It was stunning out today. STUNNING. And I was obviously pretty euphoric about it. Good times.

Sleep 7
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 6:00 AM - applesauce, 2 scoops protein powder, 2 scoops Perpetuem, walnuts, water
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem and 2 Endurolytes, large bottle w/3 scoops HEED and 1 tablet Nuun, Gatorade, water, Clif Bar, flask of gel, 1 Perpetuem Solids, PowerBar
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 10:00 AM
Workout Type endurance with tempo (threshold?) intervals
Weather upper 40s to low 60s, dry, cloudy to start, sunny most of the day
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Road Bike
Clothing knit shoe covers, knee warmers, bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, knit gloves, cap

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