cardio | bike commute | Pacific Raceways

After a solid weekend of racing and making my calves really tight from running I wanted to loosen the legs up some prior to going fast again tonight so since I did not really have time for a ride I went to the gym and did some zero-impact cardio on the elliptical trainer at a moderate resistance. I think it helped. A little.

The racing tonight was excellent. Garage Racing had no fewer than NINE riders in the Masters field so Dave Hecht, Greg Michler and I had our work cut out for us. Phew…
When I started out on the elliptical trainer my calves felt really tight. Luckily they slowly loosened up which is exactly what I was hoping for and by the end I was feeling pretty good. I keep forgetting how much running on pavement like I did Sunday tightens up all my muscles.

Here is the ride to and from work. No biggie, just the shortest way there and back so I could hurry up and hit I-5 and promptly go nowhere. :(

As I pulled into the Pacific Raceways parking lot I saw red jersey after red jersey… then I remembered that Greg was going to be there and walking back from registration I saw Dave. Nice, I was not going to be totally alone.
The race was just what I would expect when one team has a dominating presence; attack after attack after attack. And really, that's how it should be so anyone that complains shouldn't.
I think it was the second time up the hill when Nikos Mills took off on the right. I was like, "Really…?" and luckily Dave went after him. My legs were not yet up to the task and damn that was a solid acceleration.
No move lasted for more than half a lap at first but Dave and I were getting in each one and my legs were coming around. At one point I launched myself up the hill but when I looked back no one had come with me. Ha! That was a first. So I had to sit up, solo was not going to cut it today.
As Rory rang the bell for the first prime I turned to Jeff Reed (Starbucks) and told him we should counter the sprint. Jeff said he was getting marked pretty heavily but I said let's go anyway.
ASIDE - if I have any sort of 'move' this is it. Follow the wheels across the line and then punch it when everyone is tired. Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes too many people are following me.
So Jeff and I take off. We get a little company in the form or two Garage riders and Mick Walsh who is always a pleasure to have along as that guy is a freaking diesel! At first everyone is pulling through and we're making progress. A couple of laps later Rory rings the bell for the second prime. I turn to Mick and say that I'd rather stay away than sprint. As Mick pulls off I thought I heard him communicate this desire to everyone else in the break but it's suddenly obvious that one Garage rider wants to duke it out for the point. At first I don't really care and keep pulling but then as we start to slow down and the field is getting closer and this guy still is expecting an armchair ride to the finish line I just sit up to call his bluff.
I was thinking that if I kill myself we might stay away for the sprint but I would be whipped and then the field would catch us anyway and I'd be useless. This way the field catches us sooner, Dave has a chance in the sprint and I am fresh enough to try my move again. Which is exactly what I did.
I crossed the line in about 10th spot and just kept on going. this time Nikos and Kevin (Garage Racing as well) came along for the ride. My first pull was long. I wanted to 'break the elastic' as they say. Nikos followed up with a great pull himself and we had a gap.
Three dedicated people is enough to stay away and we all did our share. After a couple of laps it was evident that Kevin was 'on the rivet' (yet another thing that 'they' say) but he was still very game and neither Nikos nor I wanted to drop him on the hill because we needed him on the flats.
With one lap to go we caught what was left of the Cat 1/2/3 field that was behind their break and tried to ride through them. As usually happens, some riders don't seem to realize that each field has different color numbers and they latched on to us. Oh well. As we hit the descent I had to remind one guy that he was not in our race and then all was good.
Kevin had missed a pull or two recently so I knew he was not going to be a factor in the sprint. That left Nikos. Nine times out of ten (hell, 99 times out of 100) Nikos will beat me but I could at least try. On the descent I positioned myself in the back but Kevin took the lead on the hill and Nikos hesitated just a bit and so I had to fill the gap and was in second position as we rounded the corner.
I figured starting the sprint in front of Nikos might be an advantage as I would at least have a bike length on him but it did not matter. He jumped first (in retrospect I waited a little too long) so by the time I reacted he was already in front of me. He won easily and finished about 20' in front of me. Nice job Nikos.
For the first time in quite a while I felt pretty good. Maybe my race legs are finally coming around? I think the weekend of hard riding helped me out. I'm also VERY excited about doing this well with all the Garage riders in the field, I was totally expecting to be that guy in the field watching the break disappear up the road…

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	gym - water drive down to race -0 bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED 20 min before race - gel race - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED
Injuries	my right hamstring was pretty tight this morning but got better during cardio and is not bothering me on the bike
Therapy
Time of Day	cardio - 5:30 AM race - 7:00 PM
Workout Type	cardio - endurance
Weather	race - low 60s, dry, mostly cloudy, some wind
Course	race - counter-clockwise down the escape road
Results	Masters 1st prime - pack 2nd prime - pack finish - 2nd
Time	race 1:05
Distance
Pace
Equipment	commute - Town Bike race - Road Bike Mad Fiber wheels 39/53, 12-25
Clothing	race - bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, cap

Technorati Tags: BuDu Racing,Pacific Raceways,FareStart Cycling Team,Thumbprint Racing

core | bike commute

Went to the gym, did my core thing, ran an errand downtown, had dinner in Pacific Place and rode home. It was beautiful out. And getting everything done on the bike really makes my day.

The people watching downtown is always good too.

Riding to dinner I was doing a track stand at an intersection waiting for the light to change and some douche rolls up behind me and starts heckling me. I had my iPod turned up to 11 so could barely hear him and couldn't really turn around as I was trying not to fall down but he said something like, "Hey, are you a racer?" and, "Do you shave your legs?" I found out later that douche was my friend and teammate Ryan Dean. Guess the egg is on my face.

Just you wait Ryan… when you least expect it, expect it.

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	active recovery
Weather	70(!), dry, sunny, calm
Course	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 - 10 lb. push-ups 21 hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment	Town Bike
Clothing

Rainier Duathlon (long course)

My first 'real' (read: TT bike, etc.) duathlon, how cool!

I had the Rainier Duathlon on my calendar for a couple of weeks and was excited for several reasons.

• It was going to be my first time on my TT bike this year! It seems like everyone else on my team has already raced a stage race and/or a TT (or even a TT stage race!) but not me…
• All the running was on pavement. Although not my preference it is fast and it is dry and it is a good gauge when comparing yourself to other people.
• The bike leg was essentially around the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race road race course which went up Mud Mountain Rd and then down Hwy 410. It had a little bit of everything, some climbing, a good descent and some flats. It was fast. I like to go fast.

Because of the ridiculous early start I had to wake up at the crack of [insert your favorite epithet here] to be able to metabolize some food. After getting that done I packed up, almost forgot my running shoes(!) and showed up nice and early.

ASIDE - remembering running shoes was tough. For a duathlon ALL your gear is cycling-specific except for one pair of shoes… I obviously still have a lot to learn.

I pulled into the event parking, checked in, got my number, prepped my bike, hung my crap in the transition area and went back to the van to get dressed. I was worried that running with my new, complete with extra thick chamois shorts was going to chafe something fierce but luckily that never happened. In fact, in retrospect I can honestly say that my jersey was more uncomfortable than my shorts. The sleeves felt a little tight and cut off blood flow to my hands some when I ran. How strange. At the race I saw two familiar faces, Lola Jacobsen and Eric Sach; that was nice to at least be able to say hi to someone.

Warm up? Whatever…

Go!

Shit, I forgot to get my watch ready and had to fumble with the bezel while running; how stupid of me. Once I got that sorted I looked up. Oh man do these multi-sport people run fast.

We took a lap around some barns and by the time we got to the road and hit the first intersection the leaders we almost out of sight! They must have been doing sub 6-minute miles easy. I on the other hand was not. Just after the start I looked down, saw something like 6:30 and said to myself, "Martin, you are DUMB." So I slowed down. Then I slowed down again. The third time I slowed down I realized I felt like dirt and was getting pretty discouraged. For sure I am not a 'runner' but when I'm feeling good I can put in a few miles at sub 7-minute pace but that was not happening today; not by a long shot. Of course the mind is a terrible thing at times and you always compare yourself to your best but once I performed a reality check (meaning I had not been training my running and I had gone hard yesterday) I felt much better. Until I hit the hill.

Ouch. And it was a completely ridiculous (as in easy) hill! I was hating life.

Here is the first running leg.

I finally made it to the transition in maybe 30th place and I'll wager I took more time than anyone else once I got there. First of all I needed to eat so sat down and had a gel. If you are gung ho this is something you can (should?) do on the bike. Secondly I don't have tri cycling shoes so after pulling off my running shoes I had to fasten two Velcro straps on each foot and a buckle on each foot. I also wanted to see how the 'sport mode' on my watch worked so I took the time to switch it from running to cycling and then had to press start again. THEN I had to pee so after leaving the transition area I stopped at the porta-potties. Nice. By this time there must have been about 40 people on the road in front of me, maybe (read: probably) more. I got on my bike - that I had literally not ridden since 2011 - and finally rolled out.

And just like that things changed.

I felt great! I was hauling ass! Right away I'm in the aero position and then I look down and see I'm in the 55x14 and I'm feeling fine. Boom.

I start hauling back people immediately. Within about three miles I have passed back maybe 10. On the first climb I pass another five. On the flats before the descent I pass another handful. On the descent I pass another three. Like a hot knife through butter baby.

The first time around the road loop I got out of the aero bars for some corners but not the second time. :) I was super glad that I had put on a larger cassette! Last night I looked at my disk wheel and noticed it was sporting a 12-23. Not so hot for Mud Mountain… The 12-27 was perfect as I used the 42x27 twice each time up the climb.

The second time up the climb I caught what felt like some leaders. It felt that way because once I caught them they would not let me pass. :) No problem, I just kept the pace steady on the climb and then once we hit the flats at the top I pulled away.

ASIDE - I noticed some really interesting things while riding. Lots of these people with fancy aero bikes hardly use the aero position! Loads of people were riding around blissfully with hands on forearm pads or whatever. Totally nuts. I also heard lots of squeaking chains, doesn't anyone maintain their bike? If I were an elitist roadie and hazard to stereotype I might say that triathletes are clueless when it comes to bikes. But I'm not so I won't.

On the descent I extended the gap to the group I had passed at the top of the hill. I was contemplating whether or not to save something for the last run and decided to just go all in. I figured I was not going to raise my running game significantly by resting on the ride and I WAS going to put time into people by riding hard so I rode hard. I pedaled almost all the way down the second descent.

Here is the cycling leg.

My second transition was much faster. I hung the bike, tossed my helmet, swapped shoes (speed laces would have helped here…), stripped off my arm warmers and took off. I managed to switch my watch from cycling back to running while running through the transition.

I must have had at least two minutes when I entered the transition. When I left I had maybe 30 seconds? Add transitions to the list of multi-sport skillz Martin needs to acquire.

Remember those barns we ran around before hitting the pavement? All three of the guys behind me passed me before I got to the asphalt. All I could do was mumble, "Good job…" as they each ran past and disappeared up the road.

Now it was time to try and not explode. I felt much slower than during the first run but my GPS file shows that I was just a little slower. For sure I was not breathing as hard. There was a water station about half way into the second run leg and I actually stopped here to get a drink. My legs felt that wasted and my mouth was dry. It helped. After that I looked back a couple of times and there was one more person trying to close me down but I managed too hold him off. Whew. I even sped up a bit the last few hundred meters. For the camera. :)

Here is the second running leg.

And then I was done! Man, that was a long TT for sure. three hours after I finished my stomach was still feeling a little unsettled from the effort.

Turns out two guys in my age group were 3rd and 4th overall. Nice. What's also nice is I managed to post the 3rd fastest bike leg overall and was only three minutes behind the top two.

I'm very pleased with how I did. My bike split was excellent and although my running stank up the place it was not laughably slow. I guess that's to be expected with the training I have been doing (read: no tempo running or speed work). Plus, before you think I'm getting all serious about this, I really just wanted to have a good time and give the multi-sport thing a try.

Thanks to BuDu Racing for putting on a great event!

Sleep	5
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	4:45 AM - 2 bananas, apple sauce, 1 scoop protein powder, walnuts, tea drive to race - some sips from a large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 3 scoops HEED
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	1st run - nothing 1st transition - 1 gel ride - bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED, flask of gel 2nd run - water
Injuries	my right hamstring felt fine during the first run and the ride but then flared up some during the second run
Therapy
Time of Day	8:00 AM
Workout Type	race
Weather	low to mid 50s, sunny, dry, pretty calm
Course	1st run - flat with one stair step hill and one gradual descent ride - climb up Mud Mountain, descend on Hwy 410, flat connector 2nd run - flat
Results	4th - Men 45-49 18th - Overall 3rd - bike leg overall official results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment	run - Brooks Launch ride - Time Trial Bike Zipp disk, Tri-Spoke 42/55, 12-27 (the gearing was perfect)
Clothing	bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers

Technorati Tags: Rainier Duathlon,BuDu Racing,FareStart Cycling Team,Thumbprint Racing

Vance Creek Road Race

Last year there was a dearth of masters racers in my category at events and promoters were eliminating the category that I race in (Category 2 but not yet 50 years old) which was kind of a shame as it meant I had to race with the Pro/1/2 field (which I can barely do) or just stay home. This year we have eeked out sufficient numbers to have races again and at the Olympic View Road Race last weekend it was actually a great field. Enough folks (28) signed up this weekend again so here we go one more time.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Vance Creek Road Race. It's hard enough that I suffer but I still seem to usually get in the break. That does not mean I routinely win the thing but I do well enough that I can taste success and keep coming back. One year I flatted out of the winning break, one year I stayed in the break but got last/6th, another year I kept getting dropped on the hill but chased back every time and another year me being in the break helped set up victory for a teammate so here goes.

For company I had Ryan Dean, Dave Hecht, RC Rogers. Nice. Both Dave and RC are over 50 but they frequently race 'up' and I for one am sure glad they decided to do so today. Garage Racing had the dominating numbers again with guys like Matt Hill, Nikos Mills, Tom Wick, etc., etc. There was also a contingent from Keller Rohrback and Audi and an old buddy from back in the day when I first started racing - Rick Benson - who has been handing it to the 50+ crowd lately. Game on.

Rain on too it seems… it had been spitting on and off the entire drive down and no sooner do they turn us loose that it begins to sprinkle. Shit. At least I had opted for the wind vest. Good thing as I never took it off all day.

Surprisingly there were no hard efforts during the first half of the first lap; everyone must have been waiting for the hill. On which I felt like DIRT. As everyone seemed to be climbing effortlessly I was thinking, "Oh no, not again…" but managed to cling to wheels up and over the top. Then the attacks started. And although there were no massive moves or 100% commitment, they pretty much kept up the rest of the race. We did a super job of covering moves with at least one of the four of us in each one.

I think it was the third hill when Tom from Garage went like stink right from the bottom. This time we shed a few people and I was DFL as we crossed the finish line. Not good. At least I had hung on.

By now everyone is soaked and muddy. Each time we rode through the 'fields' on the flats we were getting sprayed with grass clippings, mud and cow(?) shit. I remarked to someone how the wheels spray tasted salty here and as soon as the words were out of my mouth I was grossed out. I had teammates sneaking off the front along with Garage riders quite a bit so tried to sit and create a gap more than once but kept getting swarmed and the break got chased down.

With about 1.25 laps to go, just as we turned right out of the flats and onto the main road Tom took off it was more instinct than anything else that made me jump after him. It turns out I was the only guy from our team in a good position at the time so good thing I went. Up until now everything that had moved was getting chased but this time we got away… Time to get stuck in.

I bridged to Tom and knew right away that he was the stronger rider today but you do what you can and Tom was smart and committed himself to the move so had no problems with doing the majority of the work. He came very close to shelling me on the climb. I briefly thought about asking him to slow down but that would have risked him just taking off solo if he knew how lame I felt so instead I just shut my mouth and hoped I could hang on which I was luckily able to do.

By the time we got half way up the hill we were well out of sight and I was thinking guardedly optimistic thoughts.

Knowing I needed to keep eating and drinking I tried to grab a gel on the descent. I guess I was squeezing it too hard when I ripped the top off with my teeth because most of the gel sprayed all over my hand and my left thigh. Oops. Tom looked back to see why I was not pulling through and I'm, wiping my glove on my shorts and my leg with my glove. :(

As we turned right onto the flats at the base of the descent I looked back and saw the pack. Damn. I told Tom we were getting chased down and the suddenly found my second wind and across the flats I was able to do my share of the work finally. As we turned right exiting the flats I could still just see the bunch…

the first couple of roller killed me. Tank empty. What a lousy feeling. Still, I was hopeful that I could pull a 2nd place out of my ass if we got lucky so I just tried to hold Tom's wheel. On the second to last climb we passed the Women's Pro/1/2 field who were also on their last lap. We had a small gap as we hit the last descent but heading into the feed zone I could hear the fat lady singing.

First Tom started to leave me behind and then I got swarmed by what was left of our field and some of the women. Who am I kidding, it was most of the women.

In the end Dave got 2nd and Ryan got 7th so me being up the road helped my teammates rest in the pack. I gotta say, I have no problems giving it my all when I know someone behind me can pick up the slack if I get caught.

As riders streamed past me Ryan said something like, "Nice job!" At the time I was thinking, "Save it for after we're all across the line Ryan, GO RACE!" But perhaps I was a bit tense at the time.

Kudos to Dave and Ryan for great placings, to RC for mixing it up all afternoon and to Nikos for once again showing us his rear wheel. These finishes are tailor made for him.

Here are all the pictures.

You can see from my Garmin data that my heart rate spiked markedly on 'the hill' which makes sense. What's interesting is that my heart rate was almost exactly the same each time up but the first and third hill felt much harder than the others. I attribute the first one to not being properly warmed up and the third one to Tom going so hard right from the bottom. Too bad I didn't have power.

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	5:30 AM - Smoothie 2.0 8:00 AM - 2 eggs, avocado, tea drive to race - large bottle w/3 scoops Perpetuem
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	2 large bottles each w/1 tablet Nuun and 3 scoops HEED, flask of gel, 2 PowerBar Energy Gels
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	1:20 PM
Workout Type	race
Weather	low to mid 50s, mostly cloudy, off an on rain, fairly calm
Course	13-mile loop with one stair-step hill culminating in an uphill drag to the finish, one gradual/non-technical descent a few miles past the finish
Results	pretty much DFL (19th/21) official results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment	Road Bike Mad Fiber wheels 39/53, 12-25
Clothing	knit shoe covers, bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, wind vest, Patagonia gloves, cap

Technorati Tags: Vance Creek Road Race,FareStart Cycling Team,Thumbprint Racing