It's Alive!!!

Sounds better than, "F@$king Weather Foiled Me Again!" Right? Right!

Of course, I am speaking of the beer I brewed on Monday. Jen bought me a home brew kit to brew a heavy ale. I thought I should do it before the 27 hour training week creeps in on me. I had to call up my buddy Xian, residence brewer and old co-worker, to see why my beer wasn't making bubbles. It's supposed to bubble for 2-3 days violently, mine wasn't doing it right away. Well, it takes 12-24 hours and mine finally started today. My house is barely 60 degrees, so we'll see how that affects the process. I'll be transfering to the glass carboy in a day or two. It will sit for a few weeks until I get back from AD and Cali.

On to my hilly ride for today. The weather has been rain/snow mix for days - snow above 500' and everywhere, BUT Portland. My ride was supposed to be DeRonde De Portlandia. A tribute to the Tour of Flanders. See photos and punch in the Gmap address for another look and elevation profile. It's around 40 miles and 7000 of climbing. It was going to be EPIC!

But instead, I got what you see left... I climbed up Saltzmen Road from HWy 30 to Skyline. We got snow as soon as we hit Saltzmen. 1-5" on the gravel road all the way to the top. I rode every bit (earned massive euro points) of the road except the last bit that jacks up before the gate. I was pissed, but happy. I also didn't have any troubles with the PowerTap in the cold, it was even covered in snow.

Once to Skyline, I went to Cornell. Skyline was clear and just gravelly (sp?). Descended to Miller and rode to Brynwood, #2 climb of 18... Not happening. 18%+ grade and covered in snow. Game over, ride over. Rode around and then went home.

Followed that up with a 2x1000 yard swim and 40 min steady treadmill run. Then I lifted leg weights and I had a good weight session. I haven't lifted in a while and I liked it.

I've got another long ride Saturday. I'm thinking Bridge of the Gods (BOG). However, the weather in the Gorge may not be on my side then either. I can't wait to get to Lompoc and some warmer, dryer training.

The new Zipp private label clincher rim will arrive next week as well as my SRAM TT build. Can't wait to get my bike put together. I'll post up as soon as I can.

Mid 30's and Raining...

Ain't life grand? Nothing like having the biggest bike week of your IM build to date and the weather wants nothing to do with it!!!

In other news, I ran the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon on sunday. Wasn't too bad, and I am not terribly sore. I started out too fast, with only 300 people and reviewing last years times, I knew I could start up front, so i did. I knew I had to let the fast guys go, but it was hard and my HR was in check. And of course my PE was fine at the start! After missing the first mile marker I got the split at 2, 12:20 something...whoops. My plan of 6:45 and then drop to 6:30 at some point wasn't working very well. The next few miles were settling in about 6:30/35 and HR was still in check ~165. Then comes mile 6-7-8, the hardest miles of a half, i think. PE was creeping up and legs were getting heavier. I missed mile 8 and hit my split at 9...14:20ish...crap I was running 7:10!!! I think my HR had dropped to 158 at that point (must have drifted off and lost concentration). Upon further review, mile 8-9 was long. So I picked it up as the 3rd place women passed me. Back to 6:45 were i stayed until 11 at which point I began to pick it up further. Mile 12 was 6:30 and mile 13 was 6:15 passing a current Ironhead and ex-Ironhead on my way to a 1:27:15 PR. The goal was 1:25, so i was close. I am pleased with the performance considering I am still not 100% with the adductors and low ab issues.

The Almighty Power!

No, not that almighty... I finally have power to work with. It's been a few rides and I haven't ran into anything while starring at the read out!

I did my AP30 and AP60 workouts yesterday with it. AP30 is 350watts and AP60 is 320ish. There was 20mph winds from ESE yesterday, that made it difficult to keep power. It was easy going into the wind, but my route took me in and out the wind making lots of gear changes to keep wattage right. I like it! My HR wasn't higher than when doing on the trainer, but PE was slightly higher. On a less windy day, should be better.

Job front... It hasn't been finalized, but chances are good I will be headed to Abu Dhabi for an interview with a national bank. I'd be manager/director of market research and analysis.

So, my February is getting really packed! The week of the 11th will the 24 hour flight to AD and back. I'll spend two days there, one interviewing and the other checking things out. The following two weeks will be spent in Cali training. I plan to drive down and watch the Prologue of the Tour of California @ Stanford. In addition to making the trip south from Lompoc to Solvang to watch the TT a few days later. I still need to confirm with the athletes already in Lompoc that it's cool I crash with them, but it should be. Otherwise, I'll go to Tucson.

I've also been having a fire sale of bikes, parts and wheels. I sold my TT bike and almost have the confirmation that my new TT build will be here next week, as the frame is waiting patiently at AL. If you need a carbon chainring guard (42T) or carbon areo bars (26.0 clamp) let me know...those are the last couple items for sale.

I also have a pair of Blackwell Research 100s I'd like to sell. As well as a pair of 2005 Zipp non-dimpled 404 clinchers. $1200 and $800 respectively.

The Zipps aren't built yet. I have a replacement front rim on its way from Zipp. It'll be laced up with Sapin CX spokes to the original hub.

What else...I don't know. Peace.

Training in AZ, CA or TX?

Where will I be training in February? Scott put me in touch with some Canadian Pros that will be in CA. There are two opps for AZ and on for Austin, TX. At any rate I should be somewhere the last two weeks of February. Although that puts be out of town for the Jack Frost TT. I really want to win the Cat 3...

What else is happening? I had my trainer wattage workout last thursday. It was horrible. I had to back off the watts from 350 to 320 for the 1' intervals and to 290 from 320 for the 4 5' intervals. I have no idea what my problem was that day. BUT, the next couple workouts were good including my swim of 500, 5x100, 400, 4x100, 300, 3x100, 200, 2x100 were I held 1:18/100 yrd average for each set! I'm saying it now...I will be in shape to swim a 50-52 in AZ. There may be factors outside of my control, but I will in shape to swim that fast.

Working at PRC is going good. I like helping people get in the correct running shoes.

I've decided to get a new TT bike too! Just dont know what to get yet. I will most likley sell mine whole and not rob any parts. Also, I should have a set of non-dimpled 404's to sell here soon. The new blank should arrive soon and I'll have that laced up to sell.

This week started out with a good 3700yrd swim and 14 mile run. I have lots of running this week and some pretty good time on the bike too! I just wish my PowerTap would get in so I can do some power sets in some of my endurance rides during the week. I have a big gear power set wedensday during a 3 hour ride I'm doing with Bill.

Clear Lake Fire Lookout Photos

Just gettin' started!

On the move!

Views of the trail...

And the view from the top...

And the 14x14' space we called home for a night...

Happy New Year

What a year 2007 was...

1. Raced my fastest IM to date in Brazil
2. Qualified for the 70.3 Ironman Champs (didn't race due to injury)
3. Won TWO sprint triathlons
4. Won TWO cyclocross B races...now racing A's
5. Won OBRA Criterium Champs, Cat 4/5...now racing Cat 3
6. Lost job...now training full-time for triathlon!
   
   I've put in some good quality weeks of training now. January will get a little longer and then come IM specific stuff, hopefully more interval bike work and shorter time.
   
   A few of us went riding on Sunday, goal of 5 hours. We made it all the way to hour 4 before this happened... see what Patrick has to say about it.
   

It was pretty sweet riding in the snow, makes me wish i was racing CX in Belgium.

I've got a pretty easy 5 days planned before training jumps up again. The forecast is for rain...for at least 10 days....need to get away...looking at Phoenix again!

I settled on a PowerTap for my power meter. It should get ordered this week. I really want a new bike, mine is tired, but not as tired as my road bike I now ride in the rain. The 'ol Cannondale is creaking and flexing in all the wrong spots... The joys of no extraneous income.

I spent New Years at the Clear Lake Fire Lookout. We XC skiied in about 3 miles (1:45 in/1:10 out). It was very beautiful up there, aside from breathing the occasional Artic Cat or Polaris exhaust. I liked it, but was really frustrated going up the last uphill section...threw in a few curse words for good measure. Jen did a good job letting me do my thing and keeping a smile on her face. There is good photos and video I will post up later. We got really drunk on Rumpleminze and Cabernet will making the hottest fire that 14x14 tower has ever had. Massive winds made the tower shake all night, which was good, cuz that allowed me to feed the fire all night to stay warm.

Happy New Year!

Quick and dirty resolution...find dream job this year!