Week of December 11th ReCap

Sched 19:05
Actual 16:12

Missed saturday morning swim, 45mins of the bike and strength on Sunday. The hours are taking bit of a toll early in the season...

Saturday ride was good though. Rode with Veloshop. We went to Sauvie Island for some paceline work. County signs record: 1-1. After that I went out to Rocky Point (3+ miles, 7%+) for some fun. Sub 25mins up, HR below 160.
Yoga with Uma in the Pearl was great on Friday. Her studio is sponsoring Veloshop which is very cool. Discount yoga! Hell yeah. Although I'll miss Monica @ Root Whole Body, I'll deal.

Swim TT: 2000 in 29 and change. 1:27 per 100yards. Not my fastest time, but good for only swimming a couple weeks again now.

Run VO2 Max: Mark Kendall @ Speedshot Racing did my follow test to earlier this year. I tested out at 71...but this time, and incredibly I tested out @ 78!!! Thats freaking elite level shit. I'm suspecting his equipement may be faulty. But it doesn't matter, it's the other data that I am concerned with. I'm at 75% of my threshold. My fat v. carbohydrate burning is about 7:30 pace...I'll have all the details as soon as i get them emailed from Mark.

Long Run: 115 minutes - from my house to the new Sprinwater corridor bridge. The new bridge is pretty cool. I ran through Oaks Bottom to get there. It's nice to have a little dirt to run on for the long runs. Oaks PArk still has the old school steam train giving rides from OAks Park to OMSI. It's funny to see the same old guys taking photos of the train an hour later as I run by them again. I bet they are out there all day...must be super train freaks.

Scott, my coach got back to me today about not doing Wildflower Half a couple weeks before Brazil IM. I was wondering when he would tell me that. He thought I was testing him, funny stuff. So, now I am looking for Oly or so a couple weeks out from Brazil...havent found one yet.

Monday/Tuesday Workouts

Monday:
Bike: 90min - Rode around town doing errands on the fix. I needed to try on the Veloshop kit as well as go buy a new derailuer for the F1X.

Run: 32mins (40 planned) - Lunch time run. Cold and wet. Cut short as I wasn't feeling well.

Resting HR: 50

Diet: I'm now more hungry as workouts have increased, need to get on a good diet again.

Tuesday:
Swim: 3000yards (45mins) - Decent swim. Since I just started doing flip turns, breathing is a little more labored than usual when going hard. I'm experiementing with flip-turn styles (popping the head up just before flipping and leading with left and right arms). I've found that when leading with my left arm, i flip straighter then when leading with the right.

Bike: 30TT on the Tacx Flow trainer - It was a good session. My power numbers seem off, well high. Either cyclocross helped me retain/gain strength or the thing is not calibrated correctly.
Average watts: 322 (360 for last 10 minutes @ 30mph, HR of 177)
MPH (avg): 27.3
HR (avg): 170
Cadence (avg): 91
Miles: 13.8

Week #1 Recap

First week of training in the books. Wasn't easy, nor hard since i misses a few workouts. I missed a 2 runs and a swim. I added a plyometric workout to compliment my running. I have a list of routines to do over the next 5-8 weeks from Training Peaks. It's a mix of jumping rope, skipping, hops and bench jumps. It progresses over the weeks, each routine is done 2-3 times before moving to the next. It's different and new, good times.

My long bike was done on my fix gear...very long day in the saddle, but it was the only bike with fenders... I snapped my derailuer and hanger at the last cross race. Mud was super sticky. I was in 4th place when it happen, ended up running about a mile to come in 9th. It will be fixed up for riding today, fenders and all!

Since I am not blogging daily, posting my diet is tough. I need to do this, so we'll see.

Week #1
Swim 2:45
Bike 9:00
Run 3:55
Strength 2:15

Sched 17:55
Actual 13:35

I have 19 hours slated for this week and I'm on top it so far, wish me luck!

November 27th - Time to Buckle Down

No more screwing around! 6 months till Ironman Brazil! Official training schedule begins on the 1st! I will slowly start to disappear from social engagements and the like over the next 6 months. I'm planning on getting pretty serious this year. I really want to get to Kona in October. The run will be my focus, while retaining the strength and endurance on the bike. Running doesn't help cycling...cycling helps running. Swimming, well I'm just looking to keep that at a solid level - no worries there.


Workouts:
Swim: 2k with drills and flip turn practice
Run: 4.1 miles - standard waterfront loop
Lift: full body, light weight, high rep

*The knee is still funny. More than likely will take awhile to recover.

Breakfast: Venti Americano, cinnamon roll (healthiest thing on Starbucks menu)
Lunch: Green tea, yogurt, salad w/ egg, walnuts, sunflower seeds, Italian dressing (low-fat), broccoli, carrots, peas
Dinner: Dream Dinners Tuscan Chicken, beer

November 19th - USGP - Hillsboro CCX

Similar to Estacada, this course suited my style of racing - flat and fast. While I'm far from a Roadie, I'm a triathlete (albeit somewhat out of shape) and flatter, the better. I rode MAX out to the stadium with fellow teammates in Pink & Black for a pre-ride and registration. It was dry today, but the forecast was for lots of rain on Sunday. The whole course was rideable today with several big puddles with mystery holes. It took out on teammate and had me hitting my stem so hard with my knee, it still hurts to run...8 days later! I'm getting some physical therapy on it.

Back to the race, finally got a front row spot! A long straight start was good for me too. I pulled into the top 10 by the second corner. The knee is feeling fine today. My nemesis, Gant, isn't racing today, but he will be out for the Veloshop's race this Sunday. It rained on and off since 7am that morning, making the course sticky and slick. Perfect racing conditions. I felt good on the first lap, riding some, running some other hills that became faster to run than ride. I was still top ten with two laps to go and I was gaining ground on people, starting to pass several. I was getting good support from teammates, especially Erin who kept telling me I was the fastest one out there in a particularly tough muddy section. Whether or not I was doesn't matter, I felt that I was because she said i was, that's all I needed. Thanks Erin. As i pasted the finish line, I was pulled...one lap short and only 32 minutes into the race. WTF? They were behind on time, so we got screwed. I was just getting started! I ended up 4th! They dq'd the winner for cutting course, sucker! There a couple photos I'm going to buy and post, check back for those.

Nov 12th - Cross Crusade District Champs

It's double points Sunday at the Cross Crusade Champs! Since my season hasn't shaped up the way I wanted it too, I've conceded to battling for spots 10-20 each race. One of the Veloshop riders, Mike, has a chance to take the overall title today. There are about 6 riders in B's who are going to try and help Mike win. None of us would be fast enough today to help. He ended up 3rd and 4th overall...bummer. My race was again battling Gant. I was with him for three laps at the end. It wasn't until the last lap did he see me and try to get away. I stayed with him only to lose in the final sprint to the finish, he had too big of a gap. This time we were 10th and 11th, better than last week. I think I have ended the crusade in the high teens for overall placement. I didn't train like I planned for cross, so I'm not too upset. There is always next year!

Nov 5th - CCX @ Barton Park

Barton Park is the second to last of the Cross Crusade series. Barton is an old rock quarry that usually has big puddles and deep mud. This year was no exception. And again, it was raining the whole time, hell ya! Check out the video of Barton. I'm in the beginning of the video trying to ride the ditch, but i crash hard and get back up...good stuff. I weighed like 20lbs more after that, the mud was thick and cold.

The race was good. I got a fifth row starting position, which sucked, but I was able to work up quickly after the long straight start. The ditch in the video was the best part, except for the time i crashed, i nearly rode it everytime. I just put my foot down at the top for a second. Eventually I ended up behind a teammeate from Ironheads, Gant. He just got back from Kona a few weeks ago. One the last lap, he gapped me when a rider between us didn't respond to his pace. I knew I had better handling skills, so I knew I would see him again. I did and ended up passing him until the giant run-up at the end...where he caught me and we both finished at the same time...although he got 15th and I got 16th. I'll get him next week.

St. Helens Climb Recap

As I mentioned before, it was going to be cold! And it was. There ended up being 17 who summited very early Wednesday morning. The wind was blowing pretty hard as we left Portland, even harder once we hiked past the tree line about 4500' . As of November 1st you don't need to pay for a permit, just record yourself and take a permit. We slept for an hour once we got there and started hiking @ 1am. It's very different being guided by your own headlamp. There are posts to mark the "trail" but they aren't easy to spot inthe dark. I think the group of four i was with ended bouldering a little more than necessary, but it was fun. Once past the false summits, we could see the top and first light was appearing. Even at 8000' breathing became more laborous. We made it to the top before sunrise. Awesome sight being up there watching the sun come up behind Mt. Adams. Mt. Hood to the south and Rainer to the north. Cool shit. There was no snow up there, but since it was below freezing the moisture that was on the ground made the scree hard, which is good for the climb, bad for the descent. Check out the photos.

October 31st - Halloween

I didn't dress-up for work today, nobody at work did for that matter. Our earnings conference call with investors was this morning. Lost another $20MM this quarter...

Anyway, I'm off for a run (30 minutes) for my warm-up to climbing tonight. I'll be bringing my sleeping bag for the top as we wait for the sunrise. Getting pretty excited about the climb. Not too stoked on the allnighter part, but whatever, there's plenty of Halloween candy to go around...

Monday Oct 30th

So, I finished 12th, well 13th after the results were revised. Not bad considering the long climb, which was the only place people passed me. I'm started to get stoked for the next two races, as the are flatter and faster. My kind of courses.

Ran today for 4 miles, felt good.

Yin yoga was also very good. It's such a good class.

Tomorrow night I'm climbing Mt St Helens!!! Can't wait to see the crater with the new lava dome. I haven't been up there since the late 80's, 1988 I believe. I think I went after that, just can't remember when it was. It was "exploding" and ashing a lot last year and the Forest Service final opened it to hiking again. It's only 8000' or so, and not technical. It's going to be freakin' cold though. It was 29 degrees at sea level this morning!!! I'll get some photos for the entry on Wednesday. We'll summit in the dark and wait for the sun to rise, should be way cool!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Thursday Oct 26th

Today was a short, 2 hour, spin to Forest Park for some off-road cross-like stuff. Today was nothing hard, just "base" stuff. I was that word base loosely because it is hard to go easy while practicing for cross. Everything just seems to speed up. Climbed up Saltzman again and down Firelane 5. Took longer than normal, since I was by myself, didn't want to crash and have to walk out with out help...that's all folks.

Friday Oct 27th

More of the same. This time with friends. Took 11 seconds off my Firelane 5 decsent. Down to 3:39 now. Hammered with friends on the way off to shake of the cobwebs...good times.

Saturday Oct 28th

This is the or one of the greatest days in Beaver Nation history. Today the Oregon State Beavers knocked off #3 USC!!! Unbelievable. My father was there, it was fathers day weekend @ OSU, but he has no more kids there anymore. My little brother graduated earlier this year. Anyway, great day to be a Beaver!!!

Today was also the First Annual Beer Crit. Same rules as the Beer Mile (beermile.com) but on bikes and off-road, cross style! Oh yeah! Here's how stupid or whatever you want to call me I am. Last night I poured a can and a bottle out to see which empties faster. Then I pound one of each to see which I could pound faster. Nothing like drinking, pounding beer, alone. At any rate, the 12oz can of beer won. That's what i used today. Miller High Life was the beer. Felt F1x is the bike... There were 5 Ironheads and 3 Guiness Cycling guys there for the race on Powell Butte. I was nearly last from the start, 18 seconds to "pound" a beer is not good or fast. I caught the lead pack coming in for beer #2, once again, fell off the pace and never gained ground. As for the Guiness cat 1/2 riders, i beat them all! Wankers drink slower than I do! One guy might of won, but he threw-up after beer #3, thus DQ'd, well penalized with an additional beer, but he chose not to. I ended fourth, behind 3 other Ironman triathletes, what does that say...?

Sunday Oct 29th - Cross Crusade Halloween @ Flying M Ranch
Most people were in costume and most were drinking allday. With my warm-up drink and bike real hard yesterday, I felt a pre-race beer was a good idea today. Shit, it can't get worse than 39th this week, can it? It didn't. I don't have offical results yet, but i should be in the 20's if not teens and maybe score some points! Two races left, my top 5 overall is all but slipped away. It about being a spoiler now! With two fast courses coming, I should be a good spoiler.

The race course was a little "dumbed down" from last week. Most likely to prevent injuries since we life flighted a guy last week. He's okay, nothing broken. Meaning the course was fast, with one long climb, that killed me. Bastards! The coffin barrier and short run-up was the best part, I felt I nailed it everytime. The twisty sections were fun and fast, that's were i would catch the fools who passed me on the climb.

My costume...Stewie from Family Guy ($20 @ Target) complete with head and big plastic ass. Chics dug the huge ass. I ditched the head att eh start of the race, too big and would have been problems. So, those who didn't see me in complete costume prior to the race called me Mario, as in Super Mario. I had on red/yellow clothes...anyway. Lots of compliments on the ass. Still searching for good photos from the photags.

The only free pic I could find...

October 25th - No Running, Cross Instead

Since I didn't commute home, there was no commuting to this morning. I packed all my shit, again, up to commute and/or ride at lunch today. I rode at lunch. I won't get in a run, which means Thursday and Friday I will need to run.

Cross ride today @ Willamette Park (in Wilsonville). 60 minutes ride. Good stuff. I rode down there and found a bunch of dirt trails to ride. It was fun. Then I roamed around the asphault for barriers and gravel pile run-ups. Good times! Good workout. I'm missing Cross Skills practice tonight at the other Willamette Park (John Landing area) for Ed Viesturs book signing @ the Baghdad.

NO SHORTCUTS TO THE TOP: CLIMBING THE WORLD'S 14 HIGHEST PEAKS is the extraordinary memoir of Ed Viesturs, a giant in the world of mountain climbing and the only American to have reached the summit of all fourteen of the world’s highest mountains—all without the aid of bottled oxygen. Now he shares his triumphant journey with us in a riveting, inspirational and psychologically revealing account of his tireless pursuit of an awe-inspiring and groundbreaking feat.

October 24th - Run Some More

Another run, this time 5 miles! I know, crazy huh? HR still in 145 range.

There's a 10k on November 4th I'm thinking about doing for a benchmark. There is also a Beaver game that day I have tickets to. We'll see how this works out. It's a Champoeg, so at least it is on the way to Corvallis.

I had the intent to commute home by bike today, but dumbass forgot his shoes. I had everything packed up, running hear for tomorrow, clothes everything! Now it's been two days and no cycling. Not good.

October 23rd - Run, Run and Run

Today marks the beginning of my Run Forest Run campaign. As I go into the off-season, my running needs to improve in order to get to Kona. I will be running 5-6days a week. Short stuff, pushing it sometimes, with some stairs thrown in there for Cross.

4 mile run, too long, 4 sets of 50 stairs, HR 140ish.

Bored at Work, So I Update

October 19th
Thursday...what did I do...I got my hair cut, well trimmed up. I may or may not have ran afterwards. Pretty sure I didn't ride.

October 20th
Friday I did ride with Veloshop speedsters. Met @ Downtown Stumptown for a spin through Forest Park. Rumors had it that they hammer eachother to the top of Saltzman, rumors were right. I hung on until I made an attempt to get off the front. I made it off, didn't expect a gap, but the hill was long and blew up. Slowly spinning at the top, it wasn't long until I was caught and couldn't stay on their wheels...damn it. Made it to the to of Saltzman. From here we head down, as fast as we can, Firelane 5. Record before this night was 3:42, Tommy was down in 3:25ish, me in 3:50. It's getting dark, so we hammer out Leif, and I split off to home. Good ride, hard ride. 2 hours.

October 21st
Surf report was hot! 8-10 footers, 12-13 seconds periods, offshore winds, golden right? Nope. Seaside Cove was terrible, two guys way out not catching anything and another one the inside riding the rocks, no way! Drove to Cannon to check out Guanos, etc. No dice, no one out. Too big to be out by myself. Busted, drove home to go make fresh applesauce with the Fam. Went to bed early, for there was cross the next day...

I tuned into Kona as well. Three Ironheads were there. All three had good days. Ann ran a 3:28 marathon - wicked fast! Gant has a super solid bike and Dave, battled and won with his hamstring to finish with his wife (the both started together as well). Next year!

October 22nd - Cross Crusade #3 - Hornings Hideout
Going into this, I don't think my head was straight, rather I had already defeated myself. I knew the course was hard, meaning lots of little hills requiring lots of short bursts of climbing - NOT my forte! The technical stuff, the downhill, the flats, everything else is fine. It had a brutal run up, walk up by the second lap. A wicked downhill section after that with a slippery righthader were everyone was falling. I had a sweet sideways skid coming into the corner, saw flashes, but I haven't found the photo yet. Anyway, I slipped from top ten (had a sweet start) to 39th - SUCK!

There are three more races, best of four races count. So I better make the next three golden if I want a chance at an overall top 5 finish in B's. Flying M this weekend, still have no costume, maybe need to get one...

That's it for last week!

Hump Day

Yesterday I rode up to Forest Park for a little cross ride. Spun up Saltzman and descended Firelane 5, newly opened to bikes. Before we just poached, there was never anyone on it, over grown. It's faster now that the rain has helped smooth it out. Pretty technical and now that it; faster, the hair pins are a bit more work.

10.17.06
90 minute ride
No HR, its was high
1500' ascent

Bottom bracket issues are finally solved this time, after three trips back to Demetri. I put the Michelin Muds on, great tires. 55psi is too soft still for the rear and 50psi to hard for the front. Tonight I will go with 46-47 up front and 60 in the rear. I'm still looking to get into some Stans No Tube set-up, but its spendy!

There's cyclocross practice at Willamette Park tonight, should be fun. I'm also going to run and/or lift today.

Damn Smokey!

October 16th will go down in history as one of the worst runs I have ever had. I set out to do my typical loop around the waterfront (4.1 miles). Started fine, then got a sideache that never went away. That's not true, it went away while I did stairs...WTF? I did 4 sets of stairs, single step, double, triple then single again. Only about 50 stairs in each set. That's about half of what I normally do (stairs off of Terwilliger). They felt fine, I'm doing them for cross. Sideache came back after that and never went away. Brutal run, HR was high, left watch and HRM at home, on purpose. I dont' plan to run with it for awhile. I need to start running daily. This "off-season" is all about running frequency. Offical training won't start until December, I think. I'll need to check with Blue Moose.

I've taken plenty of time off since IMC. Too much in my opinion. My bike and run fitness is shot. I'm thinking it will come back just fine. It did last year after even more time off.

I've signed up, well hopefully, with Breakaway Training to do a once a week sign class taught by Julie Browning. It's a great way to get on the trainer and have a good workout. Trainer workouts are tough to right. Plus, it's a great way to focus on the basics again - pedal stroke, cadence, etc... It'll help for cross as well. Four weeks of cross left. I need to place well in each one to have a shot at an overall placing. I started well in Hood River with a 3rd...then a DNF...

I need to spice up this blog a little...before i start in for IMB training.

What I'm Doing Now

After been super sick last week, it's time to start riding and running, with the goal on running. I'm maintaining easy miles, to keep some fitness and not get wasted at the weekend cyclocross races. Running is going to be 5/6 times a week, short, nothing really long, just frequent.

I had a good start to cyclocross in Hood River. I raced B's up from C's last year and took 3rd. The next week was the Cross Crusade Opener @ Alpenrose. I started front row this time, but now I kept crashing (twice, once pretty hard) and then pinch flatted. No pit wheels. I will have them next time. Next race is October 22nd @ Horning Hideout - new venue, should be fun. Hopefully some rain by then so it's a little more cross then road. I'm missing this weeks 2nd CrossCrusade race.

Starting yoga again too. That will only help me. I'm also retaining Scott of Blue Moose as my coach. Oh and the gym will be my friend for a few months as well.

Been out For Awhile

I finished up my taper and competed in Canada. I had a stellar race. Here's the report

IMC 2006

By the numbers:

Total: 10:25:11 OA: 110/2300+ AG: 21/239
Swim: 58:10 (1:31/100m) - (93rd fastest)
T1: 2:50
Bike: 5:21:43 (20.9mph) – (149th fastest)
T2: 2:33
Run: 3:59:55 (9:09/mile) – (195th fastest)
Run Splits: 1:57:12 (8:57/mile)
2:02:38 (9:21/mile)

I have no idea where to start this race report. How about the fact that I took over 2 hours off my time from last year! That’s a good start eh?

The alarm went off @ 4am, no need to snooze, I got right out of bed. I needed some 700 calories three hours before so I got busy eating. A couple waffles, back to my favorite pre-race meal, with peanut butter and syrup. A Gatorade, cup of coffee and I think that was it. Probably not 700 calories…

Got busy with the sunscreen, I applied generous layers of Himaya 45 SPF, the bomb sunscreen. I reapplied after body marking as well. Finished dressing and drinking some water, careful not to pound water. Rolled out the door and got to transition @ 5am. Checked bike, placed fuel bottles, ran for 20 minutes and hung out stretching. Hit the john again, I was early enough, there was no line yet, sweet! Bored and nervous I went over to the Race Café at the expo for a double shot espresso, lucked out and got three for the price of two and a Gatorade. Done drinking by 6:30, donned my new Blue Seventy wetsuit and headed to the water.

Standing at the edge of the lake, watching the pros warm up then go, was relaxing. I warmed up for a few, then took my place at the front row, left side. I figured there were at least 100 people on the front row, which is about how many will finish ahead of me on the swim. Nothing to lose starting in the front, I can handle being crawled over, just not feet in the face. Cannon goes off, I swim…

I had pretty much free sailing for the first 500m or so, which is about when I realize that those on the inside (between me and the bouys) were going faster. I thought about jumping on Rob’s feet, about 5m ahead, but decided to venture inside instead. I jumped to a group and settled in, hanging out on the very inside now. Nothing exciting until the way back where the bouys are angled to the right, which I had trouble following, I always veered left, more like straight, but still off course.

I swam as far as I could before reaching bottom, stripped half the suit and went to the strippers. Took longer than it should have, but they got it off and I got my T1 bag. The transition volunteers, while great, just weren’t as aggressive as I remember from CDA. Anyway, my T1 and T2 times were good.
I carried my shoes to my bike since there was a long section of asphalt I didn’t want to run on with my cleats, which I just replaced. I was in 95th place currently.

On the bike and headed out of town. There was great crowd support out of town. My legs weren’t feeling 100%, so I did a few spin ups, didn’t really help. Remembering other races, my legs never felt 100% until I have 40ish miles on them or some good hills. Not worried. Hit the first hill, easy spin, low HR. After that I settled in on a HR of somewhere between 130-140. My target was anything under 140. I haven’t poured over my bike data yet, but I took 10 mile splits and if I was under 30 minutes for each, I was happy. Most said 28 and change. Before I knew it I was at Ritcher Pass, 11km climb. I let the HR get to 155 and stay. Easy spin up, warming up the legs. Didn’t fly by anyone and no one flew by me either. Descent was sweet, barely pedaling, even with 54x11, just tucked.

I hit the rollers, never hammering them, just getting over with he least amount of energy. I was out of the saddle a few times for a couple smaller ones. I was with a group of five or six, that included a MPRO, confidence booster. We all hung together, passing and re-passing, which for me meant passing on the downhill, coasting, and them passing me on the flats catching their legal draft…

Somewhere along the out and back to special needs I lost it. Focus was hard, people were passing me, back hurt, etc, etc. I got it back somewhere around mile 80. Then I realized it was only 13ish miles to Yellow Lake, then I was home free! This also when my low back and right hamstring (none of which ever bothered me before, nor were they the arts getting physical therapy leading to the race) started really hurting. I alleviated my hamstring by focusing on a smooth pedal stroke and not hammering, but the back was only good out of aero. Since the Yellow Lake series is a gradual uphill anyway, out of aero wasn’t hurting me that much. I was reeling a few people in anyway by this time.

By the last Yellow Lake climb I was feeling good, finally warmed up I guess. After that I felt great and really felt strong for the remaining downhills and false flats into town. However, the little uphill bit into town was rough. Cresting the hill, I just spun into town, gearing up for the run.

As I mentioned earlier, the volunteers were less aggressive than expected. They wanted me to walk into transition, weird and then I stood there waiting for someone to get my bike…I said screw it and I think E-40 said it best, “Ghost ride the whip.” So, I did, they caught it. Got my run bag and headed to the tent. I asked where the sunscreen was, but I still didn’t see them anywhere as I headed out of T2. Oh well. It’s two days later and no burn, so I think the Himaya stuff is definitely the shit! Now I was in 92nd place…

They say, and I agree, it’s all about the run. My mantra for this race was to be a runner. Much to my dismay, I wasn’t the runner I wanted to be. I still had a great run and PR’d the run by over a half hour. I set out to slow down to 8:20/8:30 pace, well I struggled to keep that pace from the start. I had no GI issues, when the stomach hurt, I’d just fart, all better (sorry ladies). Every two miles I would take a swig of malto with water. Every aide station was ice in the pockets and sponges on the shoulders. I relegated myself to a 10:30 finish early, which still meant a 9min pace. That was even tough at times with the gnarly headwind. I heard to got to 90, but I never felt overheated, I’ll chalk that one to proper nutrition and hydration. I just think the legs weren’t there.

By the turn around, I had blisters, so I stopped and wrapped them with stuff from special needs bag I put in last minute. Now it was getting tough and I was a little worried about overheating with the wind at the back, no cooling effect. Began alternating cola, water, and nutrition for the remainder. Still icing and sponges, that kept me cool enough, tailwind was not an issue, nor help. I began to stumble by a few women pros and men not having a good day. Lost focus again, so I removed my sunglasses to wake up, cola not doing the trick. I am happy to say that my hip flexor was not an issue, I had ART on it two days prior. Remembering a friends trouble, I had them go easy… By now (22) I was really wanting to walk, so calculating splits, I walked for a few meters every now and then until mile 24ish when the crowds pick up.

I hit the final out and back on Lakeshore, second best feeling than actually crossing the finish line. I crossed, under 10 and half, I was happy. Slower than my goal of 10:10, but oh well. Just means that I have at least two more Ironman to do! There was a lot of carnage, the handlers remarked how well I looked, didn’t feel well, but thanks! Nutrition and hydration were solid. Definitely couldn’t have performed that well if it wasn’t spot on. Off to soak in the lake!!!

A Kona slot wasn’t in the cards on this day. The roll-down went to 11th place @ 10:03, another fast year. Plus, we only had 7 slots, down 2 from last year.

What’s my biggest accomplishment at this race? Peeing on the bike! I finally did it. I’ve been trying all year in races.
Next up…IM Brazil…May 27, 2007

August 16th - Just a Run!

Oh the days when I could say I have just a run today, it's been a while since then!

Run: 50mins - easy to steady Z2 (145-155)
Suana - 12 minutes

Breakfast - I really need to do something about eating in the morning. I had a pumpkin muffin (vegan at that) this morning, non-fat mocha @ 8am after PT. Then about 10:30 I had a yogurt and OJ. Thats fine, i guess, but i had to buy everything, i guess that's what i mean when i say i need to do something about it - grocery shop a little.

Resting HR: 47
Sleep: 7.5+ early morning to get to therapy by 6:30.

I anticipation of my new CCX bike arriving this week, I bought some hooks to hang my mountain bike and TT bike. They are more out of the way now. I won't ride it until after Canada, but after Canada, I'm all over that shit!

I think tonight I will meditate and visualize my race. Coach has asked me to do that, and i have done well inthe past when visualizing my events and what I need to do. It helps take some of the stress and worries out the race. I have enough anticipation built up as it is, the more i can deal now, the less later.

August 15th - Massage Day

I have a massage scheduled today at Pioneer Pacific for free. There students and some are good others aren't. After the MS 150 ride my hips have been extra tight. They always are, need yoga again, but that's all the student gets to work on today. Let's see how confortable they are massaging my ass for an hour! Hip flexors, soas, periformis, hamstring, glutes, all that shit! I'm also getting PT on hamstring/bursa and right shoulder pain (only when riding). I have a real massage on Sunday morning with my regular girl.

Bike: Interval workout on the way into work this morning. Ran out of real estate and time so I got only two in. That's fine, cause they were tough. Skipped the t-run. I'll do a run after my swim and then a sauna treatment after work.

Swim: Easy 2000m, some drill work.
Run: 20 minutes
Suana: 12 minutes

Dinner: Cashew Chicken - fantastic dinner! Very good.

Resting HR: 45
Sleep: 9+ and still didn't want to get up today.

August 14th - Monday Blues

It's Monday and I feel it. Didn't want to get up at all. Resting HR was 47ish, which is fine. The day after i slept for 12 hours it was 41. I packed gear to ride home, clothes for Tuesday and swim gear. Forgot swim shorts...I discoverd this after i got to the pool. Swim will be tomorrow. Besides I swam 5k yesterday.

Bike: Easy 2 hour bike home, took the long way, did a loop arond Lake Oswego, down through Terwilliger to home. Felt okay.

I was planning a suan treatment tonight, but I had no energy. I drank tons of caffeine and sugar yesterday, felt kind of sick, but could barely stay awake! I just cooked dinner - salmon (Atlantic - yuk) and pasta. The was a not so good Dream Dinner. The lite-mayo, lite-sourcream herb sauce was gross. Pasta was good. Went to bed before 9:30 - sweet!

12 days to Canada!

August 13th - Bridge Pedal with Pops

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn, again, to ride the 10 bridges in town with my dad and his friend. For the past month, since i "sold" my cross bike to him, he's been a riding fool. Since i rode long yesterday and they don't go fast, I took the fix gear out to bump around town with him. 1,000 of cyclists, one a hand full actually knew how to cycle. Kinda reminds me of the Vineman race with all the idiots on the road. Granted, it was a billion times better than last year. It was fun, got to spend sometime with dad riding over the Portland bridges. 32 miles and over 2 hours of saddle time. This ride was not on the schedule...

What was on the schedule is a 5k swim and 1.5 hour run. After the ride I went home, inhaled some pancakes, eggs and coffee - then fell asleep. Woke up around noon, got more coffee and headed to the pool. IM session.

WU: 200 + 3*100 build to hard effort
MS: 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 - decsend effort to moderately hard with 30-60sec rest. Start out at 1:35/100 and ended 1:28/100.
1200 - 19:09 (1:35)
1000 - 15:34 (1:33)
800 - 12:15 (1:32)
600 - 8:59 (1:30)
400 - 5:50 (1:28)
CD: 500 easy

Alright, good seesion. Arms a bit tired, no shoulder pain, good to go. Jumped in car and drove to Forest Park. It's now almost 3pm, getting to the hotest part of the day. Plan is to run 30min warm-up, 3 miles @ 7:30 and 3miles @ 8:30 and cooldown for the rest. Reapplied sunscreen and was off.

7:51 - 147/158 ==> There was a bit a climbing on this one.
7:16 - 165/171 ==> better.
7:26 - 171/172 ==> perfect.

The 8:30's were a bit tough to hold on to for some reason. I'll blame the heat and the bike/swim I had already done today. Total of 11 miles.

Celebrated with bubble tea later that night!

August 12th - BOG Ride

It took some convincing, but I got a friend who is also doing Canada to come along for the long, slow Bridge of the Gods ride. I have never done this ride before. I just may have to do it more often, i liked it! 90 miles, 5 hours was the plan along with a 30 min t-run.

I was in Z1 for all of 3mins, 30 seconds! Average HR = 106. 4000' of climbing was nice. The climb from Multnomh Falls to Crown Point was fun. Averaged 13mph and felt easy, just what the doctor ordered at 4hours into the ride (Yellow Lake, here I come!). Other than that fairly uneventful, which is how it's supposed to be. Looking throught the stel grate on the BOG was a little crazy.

T-run: 8:30 pace, kept Melissa from running too fast.

Sleepy time, long day tomorrow...5k swim and 1.5 hour run! See ya then!

August 11th - It's Friday!

Good times, all i haad to do today is 4*400 and 4*1000

400's alternating 1:25/1:40per
1:25 156bpm average
1:37 163bpm
1:26 169bpm
1:39 167bpm

1000's @3:55 with 2:30 rest
3:55 164bpm average
3:49 166bpm
3:42 173bpm
3:39 174bpm

goal of 1000's was to get HR to 180ish. First two were good but HR was still low 170's, so i pushed the last two to get to 180, got there! While no easy, aerobically and physically, i was able to respond and complete the workout under no major duress.

Oh, and i slept 12 last night!!! Fell asleep waiting for kabobs to marinade, woke up 5:40am...crazy!

August 10th - Easy Day

After riding home last night, I obviously had to ride in this morning to work. It's a 20mile, 70ish minute ride. It was nice and brisk this morning, which was nice. Legs are a bit heavy. I climbed the cemetary under 140bpm for most of it. There are two sections that require a bit more effort.

Lunch time run of 50 minutes was less than "easy." Legs heavy, stride short. Kinda warm and muggy today. I sat in the sauna for 10 minutes as well. Time to start sauna training with 2.5 weeks left to Canada!

Tonight I hope ot have Greek Beef Kabobs before the Timbers game.

Resting HR was 48 or so.

Catching Up & Riding w/ George Hincapie

August 2nd - 10mile TT

I headed out to Sauvie Island for this. It was a nice day, a bit windy so i chose the fast way around, which still wasn't that fast.

152 bpm avg/161 max
23.5mph avg. See not that fast. The headwind kept me down. This wasn't a race though.

t-run: 20min. Nice and easy to steady.

August 3rd - Repeats!

Lunchtime swim to establish a "t-time." Warmed up and then swam 1000meters for time holding a solid effort. T-time is the average pace per 100m = 1:28

Late afternoon, errr more like evening repeats. I ended up getting a hair cut (almost shaved my head, but still cut it shorter, not as short as I've had, but closer). I'm getting tired of the longer hair, plus I'm balding...I also went to Dream Dinners and finally made those. It was like being at the restuarant again, everything was set out and you make it, pretty cool. I shold drink next time i do it.

15 minute warm-up from my house to Duniway track. I skipped the 4*400 because I ran into a friend and she was doing one more repeat so i started in on my 4.

1 - 6:38 162avg/172max HR
2- 6:38 167/175
3 - 6:34 169/175
4- 6:31 170/173

Good work! I went too fast...was suppoed to do 2*1 mile at 6:45 then 1 mile at 6:40 and last mile at 6:35, all with 1 min jog in between. However, my legs responded so i went with it.

August 4th - Rest Day

BUT, since George Hincapie was coming to my office and riding with several of us, I rode today. The photo is after the ride. See what i would look like if i lost 20 pounds!!!

August 5th - MS 150 Ride in Forest Grove w/ George Hincapie

7:30am start for the 86 mile route. We had a huge pelaton riding with George. It was fun seeing all the quacks trying to get a photo with him. Some were very scary to ride with. George had a couple "handlers" that rode with from Seattle, including his brother. There should be a photo of my and another guy on our Felt B2's leading out George and the pelaton. Should be a good photo. Iwas supposed to ride 70 easy, ended up riding 86 too hard...hills is were i lost it. I also forgot to t-run...ooops.

August 6th - Day Two of MS 150

George is gone, that's good because i shouldn't try to keep again. I rode with fellow Ironheads that were riding in supprt of their father, father in-law depending on which one you talked to. We rode real easy because one guys brother hadn't ridden farther than 50miles before. Nice easy day as i was supposed to run 2.5 hours afterwards...didn't happen. I did get massages and my glutes are shot.

August 7th - TIRED!

I ran 2 of the 2.5 i was supposed to do yesterday. Felt better than i could have hoped. Picked up the pace for 30 minutes, legs no response, HR big response. 14 miles, 2 hours.

I had my first dream dinner (DD) tonight! Pasta Primavera - good stuff. Needs some meat in it though. I'll add chicken next time and more broccoli, less artichokes.

August 8th - Resting Day

Rode to the bike shop to decide whether or not to buy a Felt F1x for CycleCross or not. I'm also looking at the Scott. I went with the Felt. I've ridden the Felt for two years, i like it. Only saving $150 bucks if i went with the Scott. I should be ready next week! Doubt i will get to ride it before Canada, but afterwards look out!

Curry Chicken DD tonight - good stuff! this one was for 6, but i split it and it will feed me twice. The chicken peices are small, so i ate three...with rice. These meals are meant to go with other things, but so far i haven't added anything to them.

August 9th - Back at It!

Swim: 3200meters - Solid MS set of 15*100's decending the 500's. 1:30ish to 1:27ish to 1:25ish...felt a bit tough, but good. It's been a few days since i have swam.

Bike: Freakin' bike! I popped a chain link, well almost. The linkpin was coming out, and the link itself was tweeked. I was able to pedal a mile or so closer to the Bike Gallery in LO before i had to walk. Once fixed i started my 4*30sec build to sprints then the 3*4mins very hard repeats. I did the first two 4's at the cemetary and the last one along the Springwater - narrowily avoiding others at 25mph... Because the chain issue, workout was 30mins short.

T-Run: Felt okay, nothing exciting. I do know that the racing flats i bought are not going to work for IM. Need other shoes for that. These Adi Zeros don't provide enough support for my fat ass. BTW: i was 177 after my run today...little light, but most of that is water loss. 180 is were is should be.

Aug 1st

Back to work today. I have 18 hours this week before the hours start to dwindle into a taper.

Run: 60mins, a bit rough. Legs feel okay though.
Bike: 75mins, feels fine. Hamstrings a bit sore
Swim: 3300m - felt fine. No worries. Easy relaxing swim

July 27 - July 31 inc. Vineman 70.3

July 27th

I left for Santa Rosa, CA this day. 10-11 drive solo! Good times! I'm tapering and doing quicker shorter workouts for the race on Sunday.

Swim: 30 minute swim, nothing special, felt good though.
Run: Ran after the swim for 30 minutes as well. Just easy.
Bike: Wasn't able to ride today. Had planned for 2 hours.

July 28th

Arrived in Santa Rosa, well Windsor where the race is, actually just the finish. The start is in Guerneville, 15 miles away. I settled into the hotel. Went to VW dealership to pick up some power steering fluid, since my mechanic failed to fill it up this week. They did fix the brakes. About 3pm I went for a run in Windsor. I had a AeT test to do. Run 2 miles @ 150 bpm and then 2 miles @ 160 bpm, record mile splits. I found a track, Los Lobos was the mascot of the school, forget the actual name.

150bpm - mile 1 @ 7:59, mile 2 @ 8:09
160bpm - mile 1 @ 7:37, mile 2 @ 7:50

Not bad.

Got back to Santa Rosa and went for a spin. I found a 15 mile route with a mile long climb @ 8.8%, good times! I was cold on most of the ride. The weather had cooled off considerably after the heat wave of the previous weeks. No more 112 degrees. It was 61 on the ride.

July 29th

I was supposed to go to a buddy's vineyard this weekend, but his sister-in-law was having a baby, so the wife had to leave, so he was stuck with 2 kids...oh well. Took my time, eat breakfast and headed back to Windsor to pick up my packet. I got really bored today. I also visted the swim start (Russian River). The water was not super warm, but i guess it was 75ish...just cold enough for wetsuits. At 78 degrees, wetsuits are no longer legal.

Ride: Rode several miles of the run course - 60 mins
Run: Ran the first bits of the run course - 20mins

Went to dinner in Santa Rosa with some friends down for the race. No drinks, left early, i was tired.

July 30th - Race Day!

Ironman Vineman 70.3

AG 30-34 42/231
OA 158/1800
Swim 00:28:47.0 PR
T1 00:02:36.3
Bike 02:39:42.1
T2 00:03:36.2
Run 01:44:23.8
Finish 04:59:05.5

Pre-race meal: At 5:30 (7:50 start) I had a bagel with peanut butter and a cup of yogurt. Didn’t finish the bagel (left a few bites). Drank about 32oz of water between then and the start. I had a half can of ROCKSTAR about a half hour before.

Warm-up: No warm up except the 50m swim as I got in the water

Set-up: Separate transitions (15 miles apart), so the run was already set-up with 2 6oz fuel belt bottles with about 4 scoops malto and 2 scoops endurolytes. I figure about 100-150calories each. Put a little Gatorade for flavor, didn’t help. I also had a rubber “coin purse” with endurolyte capsules, just incase. T2 set-up was bike, helmut, sunglasses, shoes, socks, towel, two water bottles (80 minutes of malto with 2 scoops endurolytes in each flavored with cran-apple juice) and a cliff bar.

Nerves: For some reason I was more nervous for this race than Pac Crest. Probably new venue, and I was by myself (no teammates around). My stomach was a little knotted. I was fine when I got in the water, which is usually the case.

Goals: Today was all about IM pacing and nutrition plan. 30min swim, 2:45 bike and 1:53 (8:30ish) was the goal.

Recon: I rode the first several miles of the run course and saw the few hills that it had. So, I knew there were some, but it never registered it would be a problem. There were obviously more than the ones I saw, but the dreaded looks on peoples faces in the early miles made me feel much better about where I was mentally and physically.

Swim: Out (upriver) and back (downriver) swim. The program says the accomplished swimmer will be 1 minute slower out than normal, and sure enough I hit the turnaround @ 16 minutes. I started second row, and with in the first 100m swam over two people, and settled in. I saw a group forming ahead as well as two guys to my right. I gradually got behind the two guys for a bit. The group didn’t get much further ahead so I decided to see if I could bridge up. I went, felt good, not too hard and caught the group. Stayed there for a bit until the turn around when it shattered. All alone again, but the two guys from earlier where back, jumped on their feet again. Stayed with them for most the return. It was weird to grab ground for a couple 100m after the turnaround. I altered my stroke a bit so not to go as deep. Went solo for the last couple 100m to kick it out and loosen up. Never felt stressed and I PR’d the swim too.

T1: I counted the rows prior, so I knew where I was (I didn’t do this for T2). I had trouble putting my wetsuit in the bag (for transportation to T2), it was small. There is a short steep hill just as you leave transition. I saw several people (a pro even) have trouble here – too big of gear. I spun up it no worries, actually on the sidewalk since there was too many people in the way. The wave starts are great for ego, but really annoying after several hours of passing people.

Bike: I tried and tried to get my HR down to <130 (IM pace), but to no avail. So after 45 minutes, I said screw it. On the flats I was able to, but there were very few of those. Constant rollers all day and really bad roads in parts. Water bottles were everywhere. I’ve also come to the conclusion that triathletes have the WORST bike handling skills and road etiquette! Everyone thought they were the only ones out there because they all road from the center to the yellow line. I was constantly crossing the yellow line and got tired of yelling “on your left.” I digress. I sampled the malto mixture every 10 minutes, so my nutrition was spot-on. I had a half cliff bar somewhere around halfway. It was abundantly clear, if not before, on Chalk Hill about triathletes bike skills and etiquette. Like no one is going to pass you ever? Towards the end of the bike leg my legs were feeling a bit fatigued, similar to the feeling at Pac Crest, which made me worry a bit. 2500’ of total climbing, lots of small hills and turns made for a slower bike than Pac Crest, albeit only 3 minutes and my HR was lower on average.

T2: Count rows and/or practice your run-in off the bike so you don’t get lost. I forgot to do this. I went too far and got lost for a “minute.” Found my stuff, changed socks and off I went. It was a long run after the dismount to my gear.

Run: My legs felt fantastic today. No need to be worried. I “jogged” out on the course trying for the life of me to slow down to 8:30’s (IM pace). Never worked, it felt really slow, so I stayed about 8:20’s for awhile. At the turn around, it started to get a bit harder, but still very doable. In the last 3 miles or so I picked it up and hit a couple 7:30’s. Finished strong and not labored at all. This was in stark contrast to my Pac Crest run where I suffered from mile 1. Ironically, I ran the same splits in each race. I’m making progress and stoked about that!

I’m very happy this race came together as it did. While I would have liked to go faster, especially on the run, it wasn’t in the plan. My run was very inspiring for my Canada goals!

Then I jumped in my car and drove straight home. I stopped in Redding on the way down, but not this time. Besides the liquor Barn in Redding was closed again anyway! I called just about everyone that i knew would be up to stay awake. The worst of it was from Salem to Portland! Crashed immediately!

July 31st
Sleept until noonish. Went for 1.5 hour ride to spin out. Unpacked, eat and slept some more.

July 26th - "Rest Day"

I'm supposed to rest today, but since I took my car to the shop last night, I don't have a choice but to ride to work this morning. 20 miles, 70mins. I took a new way south from Tualatin - went left on Sagart then right south on 65th to Elligsen. 65th has a few hills in it, but still climbing out of downtown on Barbur and then 65th only got me 1250' of climbing. Felt like a lot more. I pushed the HR too high too, oops. I'm getting a ride home today.

Just read a crazy article in Wired "Pinch My Ride." It's about car thieves stealing "unstealable" cars with transponders. My favorite bit is about the Civic Hybrids, it has a cheat code, like video games, made up of e-brake pulses and ignition turns, and viola! You're in! After you smash the window or use a "jiggle key" (a key with shaved bumps). Crazy huh? It's like playing Contra all over again!

I leave tomorrow afternoon for Santa Rosa. I'm visiting a good friend from college at his families vineyard, Lamborn Family Vineyards. Should be fun. I'm doing that Friday afternoon, then doing race check in/prepare on Saturday before the race Sunday. Water temps were 81 degrees! No wetsuit, that will be a new one for me. Never have I swam an open water swim without a wetsuit. I hope the next time will be in Kona! There are 5 or 6 Ironheads going this year already, I hope to one.

Contra kicked ass! So did RC Pro Am!

July 25th - Rest Day

Today I am focusing on rest. I plan to foam roll the shit out of my legs and back this evening. Legs feel good, stairs aren't painful, but they are tight. I am also a bit tired, I will try to get to sleep early this evening. It's not as bloody hot anymore. It was 96 degrees again in my studio two nights ago, but last night was better! I wonder what is happening to the wine in my place in this heat...?

Oh, I finally made a reservation with Dream Dinners! August 3rd I am going to make dinners with their help. You basically go in and put together meals to take home and freeze. I'll be making SW Grilled Chicken, Mango Curry Chicken, Greek Beef Kabobs, Salmon with creamy lemon & herb sauce, Cashew Chicken and Pasta Primavera. I'll get two dinners of each. Each dinner is 6 servings. If I eat two servings it will be about 600-700 calories, plus any thing else I eat with it. 12 meals, 3 servings each for $220 => ~$6 a meal, helluva deal! Beats Taco Del Mar and bento for dinner everynight. This should be answer to my nutrition issues. Amazing I survived so far on crap...

Yes, I am going to be bored this evening. Should get some things done, like paying my coach, laundry, dishes, etc...

July 24th - Start of Rest Week

I have race coming up this weekend - Vineman 70.3 in Windsor, CA. This is the last race before IM Canada. It will serve as the final test of my IM pacing and nutrition.

Vineman 70.3 Goals:
S: 30mins
B: 2:45
R: 1:53

These are exactly half of my IM goals. While these are not fast for a Half IM, there are for an IM. The effort for these times should feel "easy" and able to sustain the effort for double the distance. Only in the last 5k of the run will I pick things up if I feel good. The danger of racing at half IM speeds is not being able to recover for Canada. I'll have four weeks exactly from this race to recover. I don't want to spend any extra time recovering from Vineman than I have too. Canada is priority.

Today is had an easy swim. It felt okay, not great.
WU: 500m
MS: 5 x 300m on 5min @ 1:32 pace
CD: 300 easy

My recovery ride consisted riding the fixie to have drinks with friends and home. Only on pint though. I am cutting that down in the next five weeks. As well as caffeine, but that battle isn't as easy as beer.

July 23 - Wow, Time to Catch Up

I guess that's what happens when you put in 25 hour training weeks. It doesn't give much time for updating your blog, grocery shopping, laundry, etc, etc.

July 13 - 45 minute run and a three hour Big Gear bike workout.

July 14 - 60 min run and 2 hour recovery ride.

July 15 - 95 mile bike. Spun out "Dirty 30" to St. Helens with a lap around Sauvie Island each way. Had a sweet tailwind coming home. Only five hours total time.

July 16 - 2.5 hour run in Forest Park. This was a good run for me, 18 miles. Didn't get the recover spin in afterwards...

July 17 - 35 mile spin and a swim

July 18 - Easy hour spin home from work, 20m, with a tack workout that afternoon. 4x400, 1x1mile and 2x2mile @ 6:45 pace. I won the mental game today, wanted to quit really bad after first repeat.

July 19 - Spin to work, Solid 16 x 200m swim repeats - these were really good @ 1:27 - 1:30 pace on the 3:20. Followed that up with a 40 minute run after work. Really tough run, really hot.

July 20 - Easy run at lunch, but super hot. Got a free massage from the massage school across the street. I got a creeping dude, hopefully i can get a woman next time. He had good pressure, but terrible technique and transitions. Anyway, afterwork I did BG intervals up Old Germantown Road. 5 min each of aero, seated and standing. I had to adjust a bit since OGR isn't long enough...

July 21 - Hour run @ 1pm --> Bloody Hell it was hot, about 95 already. Guess what? I still needed to ride for two easy hours. I spun out to Sauvie and around. Crazy humid patches out there. The clouds started to roll in a cool things down aside from the humidity. Wasn't looking forward to riding in the same heat for 5 hours the next day.

July 22 - Fortunately, the heat wasn't around today. We actually got rained on a bit, but still humid with the cloudy cover. Spun 40m with fellow Ironheads as KH was doing the infamous DD brick. When they ran for 6m, I did my one and only 45 min interval. Legs were tired and HR depressed. My resting HR these two weeks has been below 50 (within 8 beats of my normal resting HR), but still tired, a deep tired. Doesn't help I haven't slept more than 6 hours a night since Wednesday. Concert, etc... Jurassic 5 was pretty good. Oh, before I rode, I swam. Supposed to be 4000meters, but I didn't have the arms. Went 2000m and stopped, running late for the ride anyway.

July 23 - The culmination of these two weeks is a THREE hour run! Ended up pretty good. I dropped a coke @ mile 4 and Gatorade @ 6 and turned around at 10 miles in to Forest Park. The coke helped, could have used water instead of Gatorade in the end. I carried the bottles in and left them there. My hour recovery ride was on the mountain bike to pick those up. Freakin; 100 degrees when I rode!

Damn! What a two week period. Looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday total rest days before I drive to Sonoma for Vineman 70.3 race. I'm leaving Thursday sometime. I have an important meeting Thursday morning...thinking I'm skipping the "marketing event" for work that afternoon.

Landis is a freakin' stud! I may not have time to wash clothes or buy food, but with DVR, there is always time to watch TdF!

Tuesday July 11

Scheduled workout:
Swim hour, bike two. The swim is to make up yesterday's that I missed. I hit the swim at lunch. It's the best being able swim outside. Unfortunately it won't last past Labor Day... The bike, well I got stuck at work so I only made it an hour on the trainer before I was bored to death.

I have finally unpacked from last week. My director brought me a World Cup while she was over there. She saw Brazil vs. Japan, pretty sweet.

Morning HR: 47
Yesterday: 44

Remind me to pay for my bike jersey for work and to get some new bibs from the Veloshop - Rockin' the full pink/black kit now! Can't wait for CycleCross season! But first, I need to concentrate on Vineman 70.3 and IM Canada...less than 7 weeks away. Which is why I am in the middle a the first of two 25 hour weeks!

Monday July 10

I spent the entire day at my bosses house working on strategic planning and market analysis slides. I was supposed to swim at lunch leaving only my 2 hour run to do that afternoon. We got busy, so no lunch swim. I did get out in time for a hair cut, well trim. After that I drove up to Leif Erickson to run. I wasn't looking forward to this run since my legs were feeling heavy and I was constantly stretching during the day. LJ, my hair dresser or whatever, said the runs you dread, turn into good ones by the end. She was right. It's also a sign of being tired, and not over trained when you feel shitty in the beginning and good during and even afterwards. Which I did. 2 hours, no HRM cause I forgot it. Felt good to go on perceived effort (PE). Went 14 miles.

Someone please explain the need to wear cologne mountain biking? Not one, but several dudes reeked of cologne as they passed by...Weird.

Sunday July 9

My coach said I needed some legs for this workout. 5 hour ride with 3 - 45 minute intervals (below IM and 2 at IM pace) followed by a 20 minute hill climb! Still reeling from no sleep and poor nutrition over the past week, I was a bit worried and took my time getting ready for this one. Slept in and didn't get started until late morning. I did the intervals at Sauvie Island (6+ times around) and rode up Logie Trail from HWY30 for the climb - brutal! I've never ridden Logie from the north side of Skyline, now I know why! Steep switchbacks at the top after being lulled into thinking it's easy because the first bit is mild. I followed the ride up with a t-run for an hour (6 miles). I picked up my pace for 20 minutes in the middle. Tough but good. Ran into a fellow Ironhead who was riding. He's got Lake Placid IM in a week or so. He'll tear shit up!

Came home and took off immediately to my brothers college graduation party at my parents. He just got back from Europe (Germany and Ireland). Wasn't able to get into a WC game, but drank lots of Guinness at the factory. Bastard didn't find me a T-Mo hat over there...oh well.

Recovery from Travel

I've had a very intense 7 seven days, need to recover. I had planned to ride 3 hours and a hard swim. I ended up just riding down to Oregon City out Redland road to Clackamas River and back into town through Lake O. It's one of my favorite rides. Along the Clackamas I had biker (Harley) cruise up next to me, we chatted about the weather and who was having more fun, then he took off. Pretty random, but it was cool.

Pretty much crashed and still didn't unpack. I wanted to go to the Timbers game, they were playing second tier English team, but nobody could go. Prolly best since, I needed some sleep.

San Diego Trip

July 4th I headed to San Diego for work. There was an educator conference called NECC there. I was able to get in a ride and run before i flew out that night.

1:45 bike down to Oregon City and back Taylor Ferry/Terwilliger followed by a T-run, waterfront loop (4.1miles).

I did see some fireworks from the plane.

July 5th - took off. Took it easy on the Booze Cruise sponsored by my work. The tour round the San Diego Bay was kinda neat, lots of military vessels. Aircraft carriers are freakin' massive!

July 6th - Morning easy run for 45 minutes with some PR people. That afternoon I took a cab to Coronado to swim. The hotel pool sucked. Coronado has a 50m pool, but it wasn't set-up and I had to wait for a hour before the 25yrd pool opened to lap swim. I started swimming, but after 30 minutes it was too warm, not the weather, but the pool, it was like 88 degrees! Besides I had another sponsor dinner to be at. More free food and drink.

July 7th - I had a speed work i needed to get done. I googled the area high schools and found SD High a 1.5 miles away. I was supposed to do 4x1 @ 7/min pace, but I though I needed to go faster, so I did 3x1 mile @ 6:30's. It was hot and muggy, unusual for SD.

Canada Re-Cap

June 30 - July 3

I left for Penticton on Friday with my friend Be. I invited two other friends who are racing IM Canada, but they could not make it. Be went because there is lots of mountain biking. He just raced the Cream Puff (100mile MTB Race) completing 60 miles of it on his new full squish. We loaded up with two road bikes and two mountain bikes and headed north. It's an 8 hour drive. I reserved a camp spot at Lost Moose Lodge. About 6 miles from town, up in the mountains. We arrived about 2am and set-up quickly and slept.

Saturday morning, we woke up late. Had breakfast at the Elite restaurant - fantastic 70's decor, totally original. Headed to the Bike Barn for some chamois creme, IM map, mountain bike trails map and some other stuff. Watched the England/Portugal shootout - poor England. Asked about watching the tour somewhere, they recommended a coffee shop, but they hadn't got cable hooked up yet... So, we went to the lake so I could swim. I swam for 54 minutes in the lake straight. Water was cool, but I was warm pretty quick. Still, it was nice since it is getting hot. After that we headed up to the Three Blind Mice trail just north of town towards Naramata. Hot and dusty! I am not in mountain bike shape. I was pushing my HR too high, so I backed off which meant Be took off ahead and waited several times for me. Just wait till we ride the IM course... We climbed for almost an hour over rocks slabs and boulders. Tough, but fun. On the decent we picked our way through whatever trail headed down, the all ended at the same place. There were a ton of stunt ramps and log rides - didn't attempt any! The last thing I need is to break something. Speaking of which, Be caught his handlebars on a branch sending him to the ground. He rolled out, after hitting his elbow and shoulder hard on the dirt/rock ground. His elbow hurt and was slightly swollen. After making it back to the car, we headed to the ER...$570CDN later, it wasn't broken, just sore. We got some food and headed to camp. Long day tomorrow riding the course.

Sunday morning we are off about 8am to Skaha Beach to park and ride the IM course. We skipped the first 4 miles out of town and the 18 miles out and back for the special needs drop. We headed out along the lake to the first climb at McLean Creek road. McLean Creek climb is short, but steep. Need to remember to just spin up and get back into a rhythm. The descent is short and twisty, no need to hammer this part. Once back on HWY 97 we head to Oliver and Oyosoos. There are about 58 wineries along this road! The stretch Be just tucked my wheel as we rode about 22-23mph the whole way to Oyosoos. Ritcher Pass, the first major climb, is at the 40 mile mark of the race. Ritcher is a good climb. There are three sections, with little downhills been each. I got in a good rhythm on each working about 150bpm in 39x19/21 gearing. The downhill is fast and straight, good times! Then come the rollers, there's seven of them. There is a false flat/roller right as the end of the downhill, too big of gear and it will hurt you, gear down. The rollers are big, except #4 and #7 which I was able to big ring over. The rest are too big to BG over. The valley you are in is beautiful, orchards, vineyards and a river running along the course, very nice. After the rollers it gets flat heading into Crawston and the special needs turn around. We skipped the 18 mile out and back to the special needs. It's downhill out and flase flat back. Now we are at mile 80 of the course heading up to Yellow Lake. When I drove this last year, it seemed like nothing. It's a bit different when you ride it. It's very gradual uphill until you hit some short steep sections. There are three of them before Yellow Lake, the last being the steepest and longest. 39x23 gearing was fine. It didn't feel too hard, but i was tired to begin with and I should be more fresh come race day. It's all downhill from here, well not really. There another climb after Yellow Lake. Not bad, just mentally defeating if you expect it to be all over... The downhill is more work than I anticipated as well. I rarely get caught going downhill, so I intend to push the Yellow Lake climbs and spin the downhills to keep my legs moving. It will be important to keep them moving and not static on the downhills. Great views of the lakes and town on the downhill!

All in all, 90ish miles for the day, just over 5 hours. Finally found somewhere to watch the Tour, but we were there for 4 hours, two just waiting for it to come on. It sucks watching TV with commercials when you can't fast forward through them.

Monday morning rolls around. The plan was for me to swim (1hour) and run (2hours) and then mountain bike that afternoon. I swam and ran while Be drank coffee and read in town. My run was less than desirable. I ran miles 4-11 (15-22) of the marathon course. These were the miles with the hills. The hill at McLean creek road is the worst. Going down the backside was stair stepped while the front is just straight up. It was 85 degrees at 10:30 when I started, over 90 by the end. There is no shade and with my stomach not absorbing anything and getting side aches every drink I took, it was a tough run. I ran/walked the last fifteen minutes. Two little girls were selling 7up/cranberry juice drinks, that was very good! Hopefully they are there during the IM.

Be didn't want to really ride that afternoon, neither did I. I also had to catch a plane to San Diego on Tuesday night, so we packed up and left. We stopped at a winery Illinskillin, it had the best name. There are known for their ice wine, it was good, but only their most expensive version. The cheap version wasn't so good. I got two bottle of a Bordeaux blend, for my dad. I learned awhile ago that when buying wine, you must buy two bottles. It was a good blend. We were in a hurry, so the tasting was quick.

The idiot border patrol thought I had five bikes on the roof and gave me shit about no front license plate. Idiots! He thought I was carrying other peoples shit. Moron, there are two road bikes, two mountain bikes and two people, think about it!!! Long drive home! I'd like to thank the Kronik energy drink for keeping me awake. Is it a good thing when Taurine is the second ingredient behind water in that drink???

First Blog!

This is the first of many blogs for me, I hope. I'm using to document my training and other events that intertwine into my training for my Ironman triathlon. It's in 8 weeks, so a little late, but I'll use it in the winter for CycleCross and then my winter training.

This week is a rest week since I raced last Saturday. I rode home from work in Wilsonville (20 miles) and then ran the waterfront loop from my house (4.1 miles).

Bike: 70 min
Run: 30 min

Breakfast: Iced mocha, peanut butter/honey on toasted panini
Lunch: Spinach salad, broccoli, peas, cheese, sunflower seeds, non-fat ranch, Coke Zero, bowl of fruit
Snakcs: 3 brownies, recovery smoothie
Dinner: Mussamun Curry and rice