The Numb Foot Solution?

I get a lot of my images for my blog by doing a google search.  This time I searched for foot pain and this picture came up.  Apparently, foot pain = creepy feet in googleland.

I went for my very first road ride on April 1, 2006 so tonight's ride (I'm writing this Thursday night and posting it Friday morning) marked 4 years as a cyclist.  I did my first multisport event in 2007 so I've been a triathlete for about 3 years.  

Anyway, I've logged every mile in Bike Journal and after 4 years of riding I've ridden 16,835 miles.  All but 40 of those miles have been with numb feet....okay, that's an exaggeration, but my feet go numb on nearly every ride and it gets very old.  

The other day I bought a pair of Specialized insoles because I have new shoes and I needed some decent insoles and I've heard good things about the Specialized ones.  They come with shims you can place under the front of your foot, and I gave them a try.  My feet didn't go numb on tonight's ride.  Go figure.  There's something to it.

It's only one ride, so it's a little early to declare it a solution.  But if it keeps working I will definitely be buying Specialized insoles for my other shoes.  

Tonight's ride was my first with my new insoles, and it was also my first with my new training wheels.  My new bike (pics coming soon) came with Shimano wheels but I had a set of Reynolds wheels I wanted to put on that bike so I took those wheels and threw a cheap powertap in them so I now have a set of training wheels with a power meter.  Now I'll get power on every ride.  It's gonna be nice.

The wheels were great.  Nothing special, but I didn't notice them flexing when I attacked a few climbs so I like them.  Basically, I have no complaints and to me that equals a good set of training wheels....not that I've ever had a set of training wheels before so what do I know? 

After blowing my big brick the other week, I was in a bit of a mood today.  This was my first big outdoor tempo ride of the year and I was determined to make it a good one.  I set out for 2 hours of tempo, and after 45 minutes I was averaging 251 watts.  This is where I screwed up a bit.  This was my first ride with my new Garmin on my tri bike (lots of firsts tonight), and with my water bottle mounted on my handlebars my bottle bumped the stop button on my Garmin and I rode for 30 minutes before I noticed.  I was watching my power and kept it around 250 so I don't think my average would have changed much.

After I realized what happened, I hit the start button and was able to get the last 45 minutes of data.  In that time I got my average up to 260.  Having lost some data, I went with a conservative estimate in my training log and put down 2 hours at 250 watts.  For April 1, I'm really happy with that.  And surprisingly, my legs felt really good after the ride.  I usually feel pretty worked over after a long tempo ride, but not tonight.  

For those who appreciate irony, I work for a scissors company and they sent out the employee purchase forms today.  After work, I cut myself with a cheap pair of scissors.  I don't think I've ever hurt myself with scissors until today.  I think I'll be placing an order.

Friday I have the day off work so I'm doing a long swim in the morning (4800 yards) and a long bike in the afternoon (probably about 80 miles).  The weather is looking phenomenal so I'm really looking forward to my ride.  Plus, I'm heading out on my new bike for the first time...another first.

One more thing: April 1 marks 4 years as a cyclist.  April 2 is one year after they announced the CT relocation, which lead to me and many others leaving the company.  Last year, April 2 was not a good day.  Tomorrow, I'm going to try to make sure it's a good day and I'll be able to look back and say it all worked out for the best.  

What a difference a year makes.

Workout Wednesday - Recovery Ride

Recovery workouts, or easy workouts, are often referred to as junk miles.  Then, of course, there comes along programs that eliminate the "junk."  That sounds good in theory, but I'm not a big believer in those programs.  They have people that get good results with them, but I'm skeptical of programs like 'run less, run better.'  It's good marketing, though.  I'll give them that much.

I think those programs work for people who never had intensity in their program, but for everyone else I think you need your hard workouts and your 'junk' miles.  I'm a big believe in volume.  Just look at American long distance running.  For years our elite athletes tried programs that focused on less volume and we fell off the map.  Now, they're all going old school and running 100+ miles per week and starting to become competitive again.


With that said, I say don't make your 'junk' miles worthless.  Don't make them junk.  Keep them easy so you're recovered enough for your hard workout, but this is the perfect time to work on form.  When running easy, I focus on good form, landing on the balls of my feet and I count my cadence to make sure my turnover is high.  Swimming is all about form as well, and my easy workouts typically have more drills than the others.


Below is what I'm currently doing on the trainer for my recovery rides, which is easy but I try to make it beneficial so it's not 'junk.'  When I start doing these outdoors, I'll try to do something similar although I sometimes just go for an easy ride with friends and enjoy the weather (I don't think those would qualify as 'junk' miles either).


Recovery Ride 1:15 roughly 20 miles


Warm up (15 minutes)
7 minutes easy (80-110 watts)
6x:30 (big ring - 180ish watts/small ring 80ish watts - just to get loosened up)
5 minutes easy


Drills
10 x 1:00 one-legged drills (alternate legs - one minute each leg)

Main Set
35 minutes 140-160 watts (95+ cadence)


Drills
10 x 1:00 one-legged drills (alternate legs - one minute each leg)

Cool Down
5 minutes easy


The one-legged drills can be tough, but they won't kill your hard workout and they help smooth out your pedal stroke.  I like to keep my cadence really high during the main set to get used to spinning fast.  Training for triathlons it seems like I do a lot of time trial type of workouts (even my long rides tend to be like this) and my cadence is usually around 85 so it feels good to mix it up and train my leg muscles differently.  I think it makes you a more well-rounded cyclist.

February Training

February is kind of a tough training month.  The weather is still pretty bad so you're stuck indoors, yet it's also the month you start to realize spring is coming and it's time to get in shape.  It won't be that long before race season is upon us.  But with it still being winter, you're not in the shape you want to be.  You might have a few weeks of training under your belt, but you're still building your base.  But the real problem is that you're starting to have expectations and goals with your training that you may or may not be meeting.  

I am not meeting some of my goals right now, and it's a little frustrating.  

Saturday was the second of three one-hour indoor time trials this winter at SBR Coaching.  Last time I averaged about 272 watts and wanted to bump that up close to 280 this time.  I started out around 280 and faded a bit and couldn't pick it back up.  I was getting pretty frustrated toward the end.  I was pushing hard, but just didn't have that last little bit I needed to hit my goal.  I ended with an average of 273.  It was enough to win the overall, which is nice, but that wasn't my goal.  My goal was 280 watts.  

 

My running is going well, but again I'm not quite running up to the level I wanted to be right now.  I'm hoping things come around, but it's a little frustrating and makes me wonder if my goal of going sub 10 hours at IMWI this year is obtainable.  I still have a lot of training time left so I'm definitely not giving up, not by a long shot.  But self-doubt enters in when you're not where you want to be and you start to feel like there's a ton of work left to do....even if there is a lot of time to do the work.  

On a positive note, my swimming is going well.  I'd say I'm about where I want to be.  It's tough to say because I've never done a lot of swimming time trials so I don't have much to compare things to.  I'll have a better idea where I'm at when I do my first triathlon and aquathon this year.  Then I'll know if I'm where I need to be or not.

I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in March so that will be a good test for my running.  I ran that race in 2008 and assuming it's the same course I'll be out to beat that time, which should give me a good idea of my progress.

 

First century of the year

Yesterday, I rode my first century of the year and it was a tough one. I met Matt's group at 8:30am (still cold - mid 30s) for a 50 mile ride to New Glarus like last week....can't resist that Fat Cat coffee. Then Matt, Dave and I rode another 20 miles so they would end at 70. Then I was on my own.

It was a decent plan, but there was one flaw. I planned on maybe a 17.5 average speed. Since most of the group was doing 50 miles, they pushed the pace and we finished with an 18.5 average. Then Matt, Dave and I put in some hard work on our 20 miles and finished with an 18.6 average.

Then I was on my own, and getting pretty tired. The wind was brutal so Matt suggested I bike through the arb to help block the wind. That helped a lot. Then I turned around and headed out to Paoli with a tailwind so I was flying. At mile 92 I turned into the wind and it only took 3-4 miles for the wind to get the best of me. At mile 96, I hit the wall and was stuggling. My average speed was still at 18.6...then 18.5....then 18.4.

And that's where it finished. A great training ride, but I paid the price. Good thing next week is a recovery week.

Looking Ahead

Finally, the weather is warming up, the snow is melting and spring is in the air. People are riding outdoors, running and generally getting back in shape. So what did I do this weekend? I rode indoors.

I did an indoor team time trial Saturday at SBR. Each member of the four person team rode for an hour so it was a tough workout. Two members rode hills and two rode a flat course. I rode hills.

My goal = 280 watt average.

I came close with an average of 275. I weighed in at 171 Saturday so I averaged 3.56 w/kg. I want to average 4.0 w/kg at time trials and to do that I need to get my watts up to 300. Losing a few pounds won't hurt either but I've been struggling to lose weight lately. It's frustrating. If I can get down to 165 and get my watts up to 300 I'll hit my 4.0 w/kg. If I can't lose weight, I need to get my watts up to 310. That's a big jump from 275.

I've got some work to do.

I don't know how my team did yet because the overall results haven't been posted yet, but I was told I set the fastest time on the hilly course so I'm happy with that. The last of the indoor TT series is this Saturday so I have one more day on the trainer.

********

Sunday I met Jim in the arb for a long run. Those familiar with the arboretum know that it's a fairly challenging 10K loop. There's a fair amount of small hills, which add up to quite a bit of climbing when you do a couple of loops.

I've been having a pretty good year for long runs and Sunday was no exception. We kept the pace fast enough to be challenging, but not so fast we couldn't carry on a conversation the whole time. We ran for 2 hours at an 8:30 pace so we got 14 miles in for the day. I haven't run 14 miles since the Ironman so it felt really good to get in some high mileage, and to have 8:30s for a long run be a conversational pace is really encouraging. I put a lot of work into my running this winter and I feel like it's paying off.

So I decided to set a crazy goal for Crazylegs. I want to break 30 minutes. Last year I ran it in 32:40, which is a 6:36 pace. To break 30 minutes I need to hold a 6 minute pace for 5 miles. I'm not confident I can do that, but it's going to be fun to try. Why not, right?

********

I've been working on my training plan lately and trying to set some goals for the season and pick my races. It's tough to do because I love to race and I want to race everything. But this year I think I'm going to race less so I can get in more training volume for The Great Floridian. That's my "A" race for the year so I need to stay focused. I'll also pick a half ironman to do in the middle of summer but I haven't decided which one yet. I'm thinking I might do the Door County Half or the Spirit of Racine again.

Or maybe I'll have to do the Rhode Island 70.3 instead.

But right now I'm getting anxious to do some early season duathlons and time trials. And now that I have a goal for CrazyLegs, I need to start focusing on that and working some more tempo runs and track workouts into my program. It's good to have goals....even if they are crazy.

Those pesky details...

Friday I decided to take the afternoon off work and enjoy the weather with a long ride. Having already done a 75 mile ride this year, I figured I'd map out something in that range. Winds were supposed to be from the West, so I decided to head west and enjoy a tailwind on the second half of my ride when fatigue will be sure to set in. I love riding west of town so it seemed like a great plan. Tailwind on the way home...great route.. nice weather...perfect day...right?

Forgotten detail: My 75 miler (a month ago) was intentionally flat. I wanted to do some distance and save the hills for later when I'm in shape. So I rode East.

I grabbed my book of Bombay Bicycle Club routes and found one that was about 65 miles. It started at Elver Park and went out toward Blue Mounds and back. I figured if I left from work, did the route and returned to work I should have about 70 miles. And I love riding around Blue Mounds. Perfect.

(If you're in shape.)

Forgotten detail: Last week I biked 65 miles....for the whole week!

I set out a little after noon with the lunch ride and was wishing I had gone with a different plan. Everyone came out for the ride so there was a big group and I wanted to ride with them. But I had a route programmed in my gps and a pocketful of Fig Newtons so I stuck with the game plan and kept going straight when the group turned off Raymond Road onto Tawhee. It's rare that I ride with my ipod, but today was one of those days so I turned on my music, enjoyed the warm air and started noticing my legs felt sluggish. Not good.

Forgotten detail: I have never ridden around Blue Mounds this early in the year.

The first half of the ride was into the wind so it was a little slow, but fun. I ran into Mike from Crono Metro and rode with him until Black Earth where his route sent him back to Madison and mine continued on to Blue Mounds.

I hit Mounds Park Road at the halfway point and my legs were tired already. Mounds Park Road has more than 800 feet of climbing and will take you to the highest point in Wisconsin if you chose to finish the climb up into the park (that will give you more than a 1,000 feet of climbing, I believe). I chose not to.

The climb was brutal and I was quickly reminded that I do not have my climbing legs yet. I was struggling. The only thing I had going for me at this point was that one of my favorite songs came on my ipod and I hit the back button when it was over so I had a chance to listen to it a couple of times (it's a 5 minute song).

With Mounds Park Road out of the way, I got to enjoy a very long downhill where I was able to "cruise" at 32 mph for several miles. Very fun.

Forgotten detail: The climb from Midtown to Raymond Road is an 18% grade.

On the way back I realized I routed myself back on Midtown which meant I would have to climb that short, horribly steep hill up to Raymond Road. I was spent, and it was very, very tough.

When I got back to work I grabbed my recovery drink from the fridge and heard, "You look exhausted."

I was.

One last forgotten detail: Water. I ran out at mile 45.

*******

Yesterday I waited for the rain to stop so I could get my long run in. Around 4 o'clock, the rain let up so I headed out....just in time for it to turn to snow. It snowed the whole time, so I ran in slush for 90 minutes. My feet were soaked and my legs were tired by mile one - still fatigued from Friday's ride. And the wind was brutal and cold. I ran 20 seconds per mile slower than last week. It was one of my worst long runs ever.

Today, my legs ache. I'm tired and sore and I have to swim tonight.

I'm on a mission to make up for my lack of swimming all winter. The most yards I swam in one month last year was about 46,000 so I set a goal of swimming 50,000 yards this month. I'm at 14,600 right now with 3000 planned for tonight.

*******

This weekend SBR is having a team time trial. Each rider rides for an hour. I tried to put a team together, but it fell through so I figured I'd hope for good weather and plan for a long ride. Then Jess at SBR told me one of the guys who does the indoor TTs was trying to put a team together and asked if I was planning on doing the TT. I said I would do it so now I've got an hour at threshold to look forward to...indoors...and the weather is looking pretty good.

But it should be a good test of my fitness.

Tour of California

They have some great coverage of the Tour of California this year, and unfortunately I discovered they have incredible live online coverage...live as in while I'm at work.


I didn't sign up for the Hillsboro Roubaix because I found out I'd have to race Cat 5, which means I would drive 6 hours for a 22 mile race. No thanks. A co-worker was thinking about doing the race with me, and after we decided not to sign up he suggested we come up with our own "Paris Roubaix Hell of the North" style race (that's the race the Hillsboro Roubaix is inspired by - rough roads, strong winds, crappy weather...a good spring classic).

So I've been planning a ride, which I think will head up toward Denzer, WI where I found a few miles of gravel road we can include. I'm having a hard time finding brick roads. I might include some of the Military Ridge Trail too to get in a few more miles of non-paved roads. And some tough climbs. Maybe I'll run it down Allied Drive to add an element of danger.

Then today, a co-worker sent me a link to this...



They call Paris Roubaix the "Hell of the North" and apparently someone has put together a Hell of the South ride that starts in Madison. Not sure why it's the Hell of the South when clearly we are in the North, but whatever. I haven't decided if I'm going to do it, but I might. I'll still do my own "Hell of the North" as this ride is completely off road and mine will be mainly paved with some gravel and tough climbs. But this sound like it could be fun.

********

Saturday, I didn't ride outdoors since we got some snow overnight so I popped in the Timetrialapalooza DVD. I haven't done that one in a few weeks, and I hit my best numbers ever for that workout. I was really happy with that, but figured it would put a hurtin on my Sunday run....not the case.

I had a lot on my mind Sunday morning and went out and just ran and let my mind wander and by the end I had run 11.46 miles at a 7:52 pace and felt great the whole time. I didn't even need to eat anything.

Today, my legs are a little sore so there was a price to pay, but it was worth it. I wish I could run like that every Sunday morning.


This Saturday is the 3rd SBR Time Trial and after winning the last one I am going into this one with the goal of winning again. I typically don't care how I do because these are just training days, but I think trying to win will help me get in a great workout. It's gonna be a sufferfest.

February Base Miles

That's right. Outdoor riding in February. This winter started out as bad as last winter, but the snow let up and the roads cleared off. Then it warmed up....a lot.

Friday, me and a bunch of guys at work got out for the first lunch ride of the year. Early season rides are always interesting because we have such varying levels of fitness. We dropped our first guy 3 miles in. Too much beer in the off-season and you pay the price.

The high for Saturday was 50 so I wanted to get out for a long ride. I was thinking 50 miles, but then Dennis called and wanted to ride about 20 miles with me. He suggested meeting me somewhere, but I came up with the idea of riding to his house, doing a 20 mile loop with him and then riding home. It turns out I took the long way to his house and the ride was a bit longer than I expected - 75 miles.

I had a strong tailwind going to his house and averaged 19.6 mph without trying. That's when I knew I was going to be in trouble on the way home. Dennis had a loop planned that started out with 10 more miles with a tailwind. Fun, but now I'm looking at 35 miles straight with a headwind.


You can see I mixed up the route a bit on the way home for some variety. I had about 65 miles in my legs, which would've been great if the ride was only 65 miles. The last 10 were a struggle and I coasted a lot. But I can't complain. I was in good enough shape in early Feb to do 75 miles which isn't something I've ever been able to say before.

I snapped a few pics on the way home...

Lake Kegonsa

Look mom, no hands.

Sunday morning I went for a long run - 11 miles. My legs were tired from the ride at the start of the run, and they hurt by the time I got home. So I rested for a few hours and headed out for another 25 miles (Paoli Loop) so I would have 100 miles in for the weekend. I expected that ride to be brutal, but my legs loosened up and weren't too bad. This morning was a different story. Luckily Mondays are rest days.

Tomorrow is going to be in the mid 50s so we're heading out for another lunch ride. We're going to have a 20-30 mph headwind so the way out to Paoli is going to be tough. The way back, however, is going to be really, really fast. I loves me a good tailwind so I'm dropping the hammer on the way back. A lot of the guys don't have many base miles in yet so that will break up the group quite a bit, but I don't care. They know the way back. I can't resist an opportunity to do 30+ mph on Seminole [plus, when I started riding no one cut me any slack....I got dropped]

********

MADCITY VELO

Today I sent in my application to join the Madcity Velo club. I've been debating joining them for more than a year, and today I went for it. It's cheap, only $25 for the year so I figured it was worth it. They're a local cycling club. They have weekly training rides and race local events throughout the summer. I joined because I want some more people to ride with and I want to do some more racing...and I need some teammates. I've only done three road races, but that was enough to learn that teammates are helpful. I don't know much about them, so I'm not sure what to expect. But I figure there must be some pretty fast guys riding with them and hopefully I can ride with them this summer and improve my speed. Plus I want to improve my bike handling skills and paceline skills. It's very rare I get a good paceline going with the guys at work (I've given up at this point). I'm looking forward to getting out for some rides with them and meeting some local cyclists outside of work.

********

That's the weather for the week. A high of 36 on Saturday, and right now I'm debating how many miles I can stand in 36 degree weather. Can I do another 75 miles? That's pretty cold for a ride that long. I'm debating doing two loops and stopping at home in the middle to warm up and change if I overdress and sweat so I'm not riding in wet clothes.

I'm afraid I might be doing too much too early in the season, but right now all I want to do is ride my bike. I don't know where the motivation came from suddenly (because my motivation was at an all time low for a while there), but I have been putting in some killer rides lately - 90 minute tempo rides at nearly 250 watts. There's no way I could've done that last winter. If I did 20 minutes of tempo last winter I needed a nap. Now I'm doing 90 minutes straight and going home and planning a threshold ride for 2 days later. It's crazy.

I'm afraid I'm going to get burned out, but for now I'm going to ride this wave and see where it takes me. At this pace, I think I might be able to race the Hillsboro Roubaix and not entirely humiliate myself. I wonder if registration is still open. Hmmmm.....

pavé

Coeur D'Alene

Time Trial: So I said I didn't care how I did, which was true...but things have changed now that the results were posted today. Finally....

....I won. By a mere 14 seconds, but it's a win. And that win added $15 to my computrainer account at SBR so tonight I rode for free.

...and there's nothing like a win to get you motivated to keep working hard so you can hopefully win again.



Coeur D'Alene: Tonight I did a 90 minute tempo ride at SBR on the IM Coeur D'Alene course (screenshot above). It's real video from race day and the video moves according to the speed you're going so it's pretty realistic. It helps pass the time when you're doing a long trainer ride.



Snowshoe Run: At lunch today I went to the arb for a snowshoe run to see if I can actually run in those things. My first attempt was in deep snow and that didn't go very well so I thought I might do better running on the trails in the arb, and I did. Snowshoe running is hard enough on trails, and it's just too difficult in deep snow. Today I managed to do 5.1 miles at about a 9:20 pace and it was really fun. Most of it was on trails that were pretty beat down so I stayed on top of the snow and was able to keep my pace up. I did venture off into the woods a bit more in the middle of the run and got into some tougher terrain which slowed my pace, but added a little adventure to the run so that was fun. I was dodging trees and jumping over logs. Nice change of pace from running the Capitol City Trail every day. [I didn't know where I was going and you can see where I ran into a dead end and had to turn around]



Tour Down Under: The 2009 Cycling season has officially started. Lance hasn't done much yet, but he did get 2 days of racing under his belt without problems and finished with the main field each stage.

If you don't make your booty move....

Indoor TT #1 didn't go very well for me - for various reasons - so I was determined to make this one better. I had only one goal - suffer. I didn't care what place I came in. I wanted to stay focused for the whole race and get my average watts back where I think it should be.

Mission accomplished.

Last time I believe I averaged a little less than 250 watts. This time I finished with an average of 297 (from my Powertap, not SBR's computrainer). I averaged 315 in my best TT last winter so I still have a lot of work to do this year but I finally feel like I'm on track. My focus is back. My motivation is back. My holiday weight is disappearing.

It's amazing how quickly fitness disappears. Last spring at the Double Bong TT I held 280 watts for an hour...and improved my endurance throughout the summer. Now I can barely top that number for 16 minutes. I realize it's important to take a break and recovery both mentally and physically, but it's frustrating to see your fitness disappear.

So it goes.

After the TT, I met Dennis in the arb for some snowshoeing. We looked for the lost city, but it is in fact lost. No sign of it. We figure that's probably because of the snow, so maybe I'll find some remnants of it this summer if I do some trail running in the arb. It could also be because we stuck to the trails and didn't venture off into the Lost City Forest...maybe there are some signs of it out there.

4 miles

The Lost City was a planned subdivision back in the 1920s. They started it, but didn't get very far for two reasons: the Great Depression and the soil. Basically, it sunk. It's funny how nealy 100 years later it's fun to search for "The Lost City" when in fact it's really nothing more than a bad idea that probably cost some dumbasses their jobs. Big mistakes tend to lead to interesting historical trivia.

As an ex-Teamster I feel it's my obligation to head back there this summer and see if Hoffa is buried there. You never know.

*******

I didn't feel like spending a lot of time creating a fancy schmancy spreadsheet for my Great Floridian training, so I joined TrainingPeaks.com. I've been using the software for a year now, but I haven't had the online subscription. Online, you can create and track your training plan. The software just allows you to upload and analyze workouts.

The online version is awesome and I wish I had joined last year. I can create my yearly and weekly workout schedule easily and access it anywhere, which is nice because I tend to forget what my lunch workout is supposed to be. I e-mailed it to myself a lot last year, but now I can just log on and see exactly what I'm supposed to do. Here's a shot of the weekly planner for this week. I'm doing 3 weeks of prep before my actual training program begins and I believe this was week 2:


I wanted to post my whole training plan, but the whole thing doesn't fit on one screen and I don't know how to use Hypersnap well enough to get a snapshot of the whole plan. So here's the first few weeks....


This is very similar to the plan I used for IM Wisconsin, except I created it all in a spreadsheet and it took a lot of time. I know it looks involved and confusing, but it's really not that bad...especially when you do it on TrainingPeaks.com. Basically, I'm just following Joel Friel's book and creating my own workouts. The x's on the right side of the page designate the types of workouts I'm supposed to do during the week (speed, muscualar endurance, testing....). I mostly ignore those and do whatever I want. This year I'm going to try to follow the plan a little closer but I suspect that won't really happen. So it goes.

Here's part of my training plan from my IM spreadsheet...


I know.... crazy.

*******

I'm not the biggest Lance fan you'll ever meet, but for some reason I'm very interested to see how his comeback goes. Here's a good Lance video...

If you don't make your booty move, your booty must be dead.

Colorado

I spent the week visiting friends in Denver, but I forgot to take my cable to upload photos so I couldn't post anything while I was on vacation so here's a week's worth of riding and running in one shot....

I drove out last Sunday and - not being sure of the weather - I took tons of winter gear - snow shoes, hats, lobster gloves.... But it was in the 50s and 60s the whole time so I spent the week cycling and running (in shorts).

Since I was doing the drive alone, I picked up a bunch of new CDs to pass the time...every road trip I've taken, there's been a song or band that would later remind me of that vacation. Drops of Jupiter by Train was on the radio a lot a few years ago so that reminds me of driving to Colorado. This time it's Kings of Leon (thanks Toby for introducing me to them)...



That song was playing as I drove away and started my journey home. I left great weather and drove into freezing rain. It took 2 days to get home.



Day 1, I biked into Denver with Dave on the bike path. They have a great path out there - no streets to cross. That's a picture of the park we biked to. You can see the mountains in the background and off to the right is REI - the mother ship.

After that ride, I ventured out on my own for a few more miles. It was a simple ride - down 100th, left on Riverdale, turn around at the end of Riverdale and come home.

I could instantly tell I wasn't used to the elevation. My HR was hovering between 90% and 98% of my max HR. I started to get used to it a bit and a HR of 92% started to feel relatively comfortable. Riverdale is pretty flat and I had a crosswind. I don't get to ride on many roads that go on forever like this so it was pretty fun to just get in my drops and ride. The total ride was almost 22 miles and I averaged 20.4 mph. Total for the day was 47 miles. Then I went out for a 3 mile run, which was really tough, but I had a good case of cabin fever.

Riverdale Road

The next morning, I went to the gym with Jean and let her trainer beat me up. I would've been much better off if they weren't doing legs that day. That workout was brutal and my legs were shaky for the majority of it. That put a hurtin on me so I ditched the long ride I had planned and went back out on the bike path with Dave again.

Wednesday my legs were okay....sore, but not too bad, so I mapped out a 44 mile ride. I forgot that some roads in CO aren't paved....


Then it got worse....


This road was rough, and I hit it at about 20 mph and almost went down. This went on for a few miles until I hit one of the crappiest small towns I've ever ridden through. After that, the roads were decent.

Later in the week, Jean and Dave dropped me off in Boulder so I could ride to Lyons with all the other cyclists. Apparently this is a popular route because there were a lot of cyclists out. It's one road - Hwy 36 - all the way there with rolling hills. I had a tail/cross wind going out and it was really fast - long descent into Lyons. I maxed out at 48.5 mph and was cruising at 37 mph for a while. I averaged 23 mph going to Lyons....



The way back wasn't quite so easy. I had a strong headwind and plenty of climbing for the first half of the ride. I finished with an average of 19.4 so the way back was quite a bit slower...still fun though. 12 miles on one road with no stops. You don't get that in Wisconsin. It made me wish I had brought my TT bike.

After that I got in some more running and the last day Jean, Dave and I biked into Denver again and stopped at Ink (coffee shop) and watched the pups play in the park.

All total, I biked about 200 miles and ran about 15. No swimming. Other than working out, I just hung out with Jean, Dave and....

...Sadie. She's a good pup.

I also met up with a co-worker at the Handlebar and Grill - a bar and grill with cycling memorabilia hanging on the walls...pretty cool. Good burgers too.

No touristy stuff this time. I didn't even make it into the mountains because I wasn't in the mood for snow. We went to some good restaurants and explored the city a bit. It was a great break from our crappy Wisconsin winters. The next time I head out there, I may not return.

Now that it's the new year and my vacation is over, I guess it's time to get in shape and start training for tri season. Spring is just 4 or 5 months away...

The Old Man Gun Show

"The problem is, I'm not willing to push myself as hard as you're willing to push me."

Now that the weather has turned cold, I've switched to my fixie. There's something about riding a fixie in the off-season that just makes sense to me. But I have to admit, that thing is killing me.

Sunday I combined the Old Man Loop and the Gun Show Loop and got in a good, hard 30 miles on my fixie. It was a fast ride so I was pretty tired at the end.


We were planning a fixie lunch ride Monday, but Monday morning looked like this and with a high of 35 the snow wasn't going to melt by noon.


So I went to SBR for the Monday Night Football trainer ride. We rode until halftime. I started out a little tired from Sunday's ride, but I felt surprisingly good once I warmed up a bit. Then the punishment started. Every time the announers mentioned Brett Farve, we had to do a one minute standing climb. Every time the Packers scored a TD, a one minute sprint. At the end of the first half they started talking about Farve so we ended up doing a 7-minute climb. As we were finishing up minute 7, the Packers scored a touchdown. As we were finishing up that sprint, they started talking about Farve again. It was brutal, and my legs were pretty sore Tuesday morning.

So we did our fixie ride at lunch Tuesday. There were three of us, all riding our fixies (the same bike so I'm sure we looked pretty gay) and we pushed pretty hard so my legs went from bad to worse.

Wednesday....same thing. Lunch time fixie ride, except we didn't push quite as hard. The cumulative effects of the fixie got the best of me when I got home from work and I crashed on the couch for a while. I think that was one of the best naps I've ever had.

Today is Turkey Day, and since I'm not racing the Berbee Derby, I'm planning on doing the Old Man Gun Show loop again before dinner. Another hard 30 miles on the Madison. That should put a hurtin on me. If the weather holds up, I'm doing that ride again tomorrow....after the waffle run and some black Friday bargain hunting.

Headlamps and Ironpups

This afternoon, I ignored the 33 degree temps and snowflakes and went for a 20 mile ride. I wanted to do more, but an hour is about all I can take when it gets this cold. And I was a little worried about the snow. It wasn't supposed to accumulate, but the last time I biked in the snow I had to ride home in 2 inches of snow and it got a little sketchy.


Then...tonight...


I went running on the Military Ridge Trail in the dark. Crazy? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

I bought a headlamp a couple of weeks ago but haven't gone for a night run until tonight. I bought a cheap light for my bike last fall, and it was a horrible waste of money. I learned my lesson. When it comes to lights, don't get cheap. So I sprung for a decent headlamp, one with several settings and a battery pack. It's a little heavy so I was afraid I wouldn't like it, but I didn't really notice the weight. And it puts out plenty of light.


I run at night sometimes during the summer, and I love it. I don't usually run with my ipod, but for some reason I always bring it along for a night run. Tonight was no exception. I threw together a playlist with some Buckcherry, Honey Claws, Kid Rock and Jupiter One.

The guys at work thought I was crazy the day my headlamp showed up, and I can see where they were coming from. Running in the dark seems crazy, but it's not. It's fun, especially with some new tunes.

Ironpup....

Bass Lake

The weather is strange these days....it's really nice. Definitely not the norm for early November. Today was mid 60s. They said it was going to be sunny, but it was partly cloudy with occasional light rain. But it was warm...I'll take it.

I've ridden 9 centuries this year and I want to do one more. I was going to do that today, but I didn't feel up to it so I decided to go for a hard 56 mile ride - my Bass Lake route. It was the perfect route for today since it heads south and we had 10 mph winds out of the south. Nothing like a good tailwind on the way home.

I've had a lot on my mind these days, and I think I just got tired of thinking so much. I was completely focused on my ride. My mind didn't wander once. I got into a zone, and I kept pushing harder and harder. My legs hurt, but I was loving it.

At the Spirit of Racing Half Ironman in July, I averaged 215 watts for 56 miles so I started out doing about 215-220 watts. Eventually, my watts crept up into the 220-230 range. Then 230-240. Then 240-250.

Coming down Seminole toward the end, I was doing 250-270. My legs ached, but it felt great. I finished with an average of 233 watts, and an average speed of 20.7 mph - by far my fastest on that route. I've never averaged that many watts for that long so that felt really good.

This evening I went for a run, my first in a little more than a week. I've got a mild case of achilles tendinitis that I'm trying to get rid of. I ran 2.75 miles and my achilles felt pretty good so that's encouraging. It's a start anyway.

My legs are really sore right now, but it's a good sore.

I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for....



...but I will say this: the times are ripe for change.

For those of you worried about a possible global recession: The Fix.

And for Toby, who's always looking for a new phrase, this is classic...

One millimeter

Dennis said something interesting at work the other day. He said he raised his saddle a bit and his knees hurt so he lowered it 1 mm and the pain went away.

Hmmmm....I raised my saddle a little bit a few weeks ago too. I forgot about that.

So I lowered it 1 mm and went for a 56 mile ride Saturday. No knee pain, no IT tightness. It's amazing the difference 1 mm can make. I also went over my bike, cleaned it and put on my 12-27 rear cassette (vs. my 12-25) so I have an easier gear for the steeper climbs. That will help me spin a little faster on the climbs and take the tension off my knees. It helped for the Horribly Hilly last year.




This was a great route, with some really good roads - smooth, fast, little traffic, rolling hills - but I think I'm going to make a few changes to it and then it will be an awesome Spirit of Racine training course. There are a few rough roads I'd like to cut out, and I need to find a gas station about half way so I can get some water. Other than that I was really surprised how nice the route was. I got lucky.

The ride starts off with this hill from the Pennycook route Cheri and I have been doing the past few weeks. It's an 18% grade...




Here's Cheri looking a little nervous the first time she had to climb it. She didn't fear walking the hill (which she didn't have to do) so much as tipping over or crashing into the gully on the right side of the road.



Pennycook...


I know extended forecasts are never accurate, but I'm hoping this one holds up. My ideal weather for the race would be a high of 68-70, light winds, partly cloudy. I'm convinced hurricane Gustov is going to screw up our weather somehow and it's going to be cold and rainy - 06 style.



Today I'm off to swim in Lake Andrea one last time this year and then run a few laps around the lake.

Monday - Rest day

Tuesday - Swim, short run

Wednesday - Bike, short run

Thursday - Gatorade swim, easy bike, easy run

Friday - Rest

Saturday - very short warm up workout

Sunday - Race day