The Jeff Cup course turned out to be a lot of fun. Most of this was due to the rolling enclosure on the 10 mile loop, as in no yellow line rule. This is what bike racing should be like, but of course I don't get to do it too often. We did five laps. The officials were really on the ball too, and we had three or four moto refs for the masters. One lap they neutralized us because the 1/2/3 caught us (they must have been doing 20 minute laps) and they even got that part right.
Anyhow, the main climb on the course was not severe enough to eliminate anyone except the most unprepared non-climbers. I was doing it in the big ring with the chain crossed over into the 23. We had 115 registered, but only about 90 started, maybe less. The chilly temps and pre-race hailstorm might have had something to do with that, but other than wet roads, it wasn't all that uncomfortable. After the climb, this course featured some fun and exciting twisty downhills over good pavement. The quality of the riding was good too, until the last lap when we still had about 70 guys who all thought they could win.
With about 9k to go, I was trying to set myself up to move up out of a slow, tight 90 degree turn by taking it wide and fast, but a crash in the center slid out in front of me and I ended up parking it in the 14 and having to burn a match to jump back up to the group. A few k later a pair of guys tangled and went over the bars in front of me, with one guy bouncing off me as I squeaked past, so it was out of the saddle again. I was getting crampy. With 1k to go another near tangle put me into cyclocross mode with a foray up the grass, pretty much finishing off hopes of anything but a pack finish. Too bad, as the final few k drag slightly uphill, and the final sprint was contested by just 20-30 survivors strong and lucky enough to hang at the front. Ranger Rusnak got 5th. I rolled in just behind this group. All in all things went as well as I had hoped. Some of these guys down here have seven or eight races in their legs this season. The four hours of climbing on the parkway that I did yesterday probably didn't help either.
Weather for the next few days looks like it could be damp, but that might be good because they've been closing part of the parkway sometimes due to a huge forest fire, and we're supposed to be riding that section tomorrow. Hopefully the rain will put it out. At least it's supposed to be warmer. It was 75 when I got here on Friday, simply gorgeous. Hopefully that will return. Later in the week it's on to Chapel Hill, so let's hope the 'heels stay in it so I can take in some of the craziness. Thanks for reading!
since 2006
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
This is why I hate plans
Everything fell into place for the trip at the last minute. Shencycling provided me with some awesome local route info, as well as put me in contact with the local shop, even though he himself is going to be out of town at the friggin' Ronde while I'm in VA. Thanks so much Mark. I firmed up all my accommodations and riding associates. My new Ibex bib shorts came in the mail yesterday, and they are simply awesome, sure to be my new favorite cycling garment. The organizers for Carrboro hooked me up with the full pro treatment for their event. Thanks so much to Tridaddy for his generous assistance. Feltslave set me up with a nice bike mount for the inside of the XBox, I got a new cooler, and am just about done putting the packing puzzle together. So what's the problem? After an entire winter of near perfect health, here I am, two days before my vacation, and I swear I'm getting sick. That would suck. But I'll deal. Thanks for reading.
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Charge Pond Raunch
I don't have time to write this, but I'm doing it anyway, purely out of a sense of responsibility to the blogosphere. Here's hoping all of you think the same way. How about a big week with mega-content from everyone?
Anyhow, Saturday I made it down to the nearby training race at Charge Pond for my first time ever. Having heard the horror stories about bad pavement and sand, I nonetheless needed a test before the Jeff Cup, and this was the closest race. I wasn't sure if I should do the A's or the B's, and thought I'd get there in time for the B's, but Myles Standish State Forest (that's right, named after the Pilgrim) is friggin' huge, and due to partial winter road closures I got treated to a deja vu filled trip around the old race course in order to reach the new venue. The B's were just rolling off upon my arrival. No matter, as the A's turned out to be where I belonged anyway.
So the lowdown on Charge Pond - think Wompatuck on a Saturday morning. The course is about the same length, roughly 2k. It's more rolling and a lot twistier than the 'tuck, and instead of slippery moss, the edges are sprinkled with sand. Old timers who date back before the canal was dug consider Plymouth part of the Cape, and it makes sense as it's all sand dunes with scrub pine, which do not encroach on the edges of the course nor block the wind as well as the thick forests of Wompatuck.
I suppose it didn't hurt that this was virtually the same cast of characters as a typical night at Wompatuck either. Chris C was the official, and the riders were all the usual suspects. About 45 of us lined up for the A's, which Chris announced would be a 90 minute race. After a slow start, of course Jon Bold started the hostilities. My purpose was just to see where I was fitness-wise, and get a feel for pack riding again after the winter. There would be no heroics. As it was, I think about a dozen guys including Bold, Sammy, Frankie, and some of the Hot Tubes kids broke away pretty early. The field behind started to disintegrate under the pressure, but I was pleased to be able to step it up and close all the huge gaps opening in front of me with relative ease. I wasn't up front, so I'm not sure, but I think some of the break came back to us, while the rest of them ended up lapping the field. In the meantime, the pace ebbed and flowed and I even took a few meaningless flyers off the front of the dwindling grouppetto with some of the others who were also out for a workout. Things went about as well as I could have hoped; I did not have the legs to sustain an effort, but my lungs were good and my recovery was quick.
So what about the raunch? Yeah, there were a couple of bumps, one in particular, that you really wanted to avoid on this course. The first few laps I managed to find it consistently. Then I smartened up, but one lap some dude slammed it and groaned "oh my balls!" Well, a few laps later, in a little advance off the front and riding hard on the nose of my stripped of its padding Flite saddle, I did the same thing. Taint a good feeling, pun intended...
So Sunday I fitted a new 2008 Flite to my race bike. We'll see how long it takes to look like the Turbo in my profile pic over on the left. Swapped my stem too, from an 11 to a 10, also with a 17 degree drop so it's level like stems and top tubes should be. Took it right out for 100k Sunday afternoon. The new Flite is a bit different shape than the old style, but I think I'll grow to like it. I hit Big Blue and rode a 5:18, pretty good and a best for March, would have been better but I was overgeared in my 36x16 at the top and bogged down. Since I'll be out of town for the traditional 3 days of da 'pan, I took the short loop down to the parkway, but of course this only skirts the edge and my wheels didn't actually touch Mattapan soil. I had to make the effort though. Maybe some of you can take care of this in my absence next weekend. After the ride I went right out for a 7k runoff, managing a 7:18 pace, very satisfactory after 3.5 hours on the bike. That's the deal, keep the posts coming this week. Thanks for reading.
Anyhow, Saturday I made it down to the nearby training race at Charge Pond for my first time ever. Having heard the horror stories about bad pavement and sand, I nonetheless needed a test before the Jeff Cup, and this was the closest race. I wasn't sure if I should do the A's or the B's, and thought I'd get there in time for the B's, but Myles Standish State Forest (that's right, named after the Pilgrim) is friggin' huge, and due to partial winter road closures I got treated to a deja vu filled trip around the old race course in order to reach the new venue. The B's were just rolling off upon my arrival. No matter, as the A's turned out to be where I belonged anyway.
So the lowdown on Charge Pond - think Wompatuck on a Saturday morning. The course is about the same length, roughly 2k. It's more rolling and a lot twistier than the 'tuck, and instead of slippery moss, the edges are sprinkled with sand. Old timers who date back before the canal was dug consider Plymouth part of the Cape, and it makes sense as it's all sand dunes with scrub pine, which do not encroach on the edges of the course nor block the wind as well as the thick forests of Wompatuck.
I suppose it didn't hurt that this was virtually the same cast of characters as a typical night at Wompatuck either. Chris C was the official, and the riders were all the usual suspects. About 45 of us lined up for the A's, which Chris announced would be a 90 minute race. After a slow start, of course Jon Bold started the hostilities. My purpose was just to see where I was fitness-wise, and get a feel for pack riding again after the winter. There would be no heroics. As it was, I think about a dozen guys including Bold, Sammy, Frankie, and some of the Hot Tubes kids broke away pretty early. The field behind started to disintegrate under the pressure, but I was pleased to be able to step it up and close all the huge gaps opening in front of me with relative ease. I wasn't up front, so I'm not sure, but I think some of the break came back to us, while the rest of them ended up lapping the field. In the meantime, the pace ebbed and flowed and I even took a few meaningless flyers off the front of the dwindling grouppetto with some of the others who were also out for a workout. Things went about as well as I could have hoped; I did not have the legs to sustain an effort, but my lungs were good and my recovery was quick.
So what about the raunch? Yeah, there were a couple of bumps, one in particular, that you really wanted to avoid on this course. The first few laps I managed to find it consistently. Then I smartened up, but one lap some dude slammed it and groaned "oh my balls!" Well, a few laps later, in a little advance off the front and riding hard on the nose of my stripped of its padding Flite saddle, I did the same thing. Taint a good feeling, pun intended...
So Sunday I fitted a new 2008 Flite to my race bike. We'll see how long it takes to look like the Turbo in my profile pic over on the left. Swapped my stem too, from an 11 to a 10, also with a 17 degree drop so it's level like stems and top tubes should be. Took it right out for 100k Sunday afternoon. The new Flite is a bit different shape than the old style, but I think I'll grow to like it. I hit Big Blue and rode a 5:18, pretty good and a best for March, would have been better but I was overgeared in my 36x16 at the top and bogged down. Since I'll be out of town for the traditional 3 days of da 'pan, I took the short loop down to the parkway, but of course this only skirts the edge and my wheels didn't actually touch Mattapan soil. I had to make the effort though. Maybe some of you can take care of this in my absence next weekend. After the ride I went right out for a 7k runoff, managing a 7:18 pace, very satisfactory after 3.5 hours on the bike. That's the deal, keep the posts coming this week. Thanks for reading.
Friday, March 21, 2008
No so fast
I'm very tempted to write this post as a Gewilli parody, but I'm also a little busy, so we'll save that for another day. Quick and dirty, I rode to work today, despite it being cold enough for there to be ice on the road, and of course the ridiculous winds blowing in this region. I almost bagged out on the idea, but then I remembered that today is a religious holiday and so traffic would be light, and off I went. Here is my route. Let me know if you can't access this without an account. I like runstoppable. You can drag your mouse over the elevation profile and make a little cursor run along the route. The scale makes this ride look mountainous, but in reality it's pretty flat. Regardless, I rode slowly. Nothing bigger than a 42x16, and on final grade up 138, the wind was brutal, and I said f-it, I'm not getting all pumped up right before I roll into work, so I relented and used the 30x19. Most of the ride I was in the 42x21 though. Even so, the trip took me exactly 50 minutes (14.15 mph), a full eight minutes more than last week's more energized ride. On Fridays they have a $3.50 breakfast buffet here, and I indulged in sausage, eggs, waffles with berries, a bagel, and excellent spicy baked beans with homefries. Shit, this was almost a Gewilli paroday without even trying.
Oh yeah, I ran the hill last night. Overall the 8.9 miles took me 1:11, one more minute than last week, but I took 16 seconds off my access road time, getting it down to 7:21. I'm thinking sub-7 is possible. Overall though my running seems to have slowed significantly. I'd like to get my blood retested (remember that 40 HCT back in December?), but I don't think there will be time before the trip. At least part of my problem seems to be undereating, but we won't be having that issue today. I think they're serving catfish for lunch, so I'll go for that. GCD finally put his New Bedford post up. He killed it with a sub 1:21. Rock and roll dude. Busy weekend ahead but I'm hoping to put together one or two more interesting posts. Thanks for reading.
Oh yeah, I ran the hill last night. Overall the 8.9 miles took me 1:11, one more minute than last week, but I took 16 seconds off my access road time, getting it down to 7:21. I'm thinking sub-7 is possible. Overall though my running seems to have slowed significantly. I'd like to get my blood retested (remember that 40 HCT back in December?), but I don't think there will be time before the trip. At least part of my problem seems to be undereating, but we won't be having that issue today. I think they're serving catfish for lunch, so I'll go for that. GCD finally put his New Bedford post up. He killed it with a sub 1:21. Rock and roll dude. Busy weekend ahead but I'm hoping to put together one or two more interesting posts. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Three Twenty
The first day of spring. I'd be smiling today anyway though.
Yesterday the road to fitness took a detour. Oh well, I'll bounce back. The good news is my trip is shaping up. I've scoured some old blogs and pinged back and forth with people I've haven't met (yet), and I've already got more routes planned than I've got days to ride them. Now I've just got a shitload of loose ends to tie up before I leave, especially at work. I need to make some big progress in the next five days so that I can enjoy my time away and eat, sleep, train (and unfortunately, drive) the entire time. Let's not forget race. If I'm lucky maybe I'll squeeze some of that in this weekend too. I could use a test before I jump into the fire. All this means I should be neglecting the blog. Think that will work? Thanks for reading. Really.
Late morning update - I should not post before I've had coffee. This was supposed to be a shout to all the closet Beastie Boys fans out there. You know who you are. Not specifically you Trackrich, but yo just the same. If this isn't incoherent enough, what do Meatloaf and Johnny Cash have in common? That's right, last night's 90 minutes on the trainer. Don't knock it until you've tried it. What else? To top yesterday's non-stop eating (I think I'm going to stop telecommuting), but no, wait, today in the caf they had...donuts. Plain donuts! This might not be good. Thanks again for reading.
Update again - Blame it on Gewilli (BTW, any relation?)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Ibex PSA
Ibex has wool/nylon/spandex knee warmers on closeout for $20, with free shipping. Mine arrived yesterday. The large are nice and long, and snug at the elastics. My bony knees and non-existent medial quads leave me with a touch of extra material in the middle, but I doubt that I would be able to wear medium. These are sewn in the US, and the front fabric is mostly nylon, the backs mostly wool. Very sweet.
Some might argue that if it's warm enough to just need knee warmers, then it's not cold enough for wool. I'd reply that nobody ever dropped out of a race because their knees were too warm, and you can wear this kind of wool even when the temps are in the high seventies. If you don't believe me, ask John "wooden rims" Allis. And wool is the only fabric that still keeps you warm after it gets wet. Besides that, lycra knee warmers? For the most part they are decorative. Stay warm, stay on the high road, thanks for reading.
Some might argue that if it's warm enough to just need knee warmers, then it's not cold enough for wool. I'd reply that nobody ever dropped out of a race because their knees were too warm, and you can wear this kind of wool even when the temps are in the high seventies. If you don't believe me, ask John "wooden rims" Allis. And wool is the only fabric that still keeps you warm after it gets wet. Besides that, lycra knee warmers? For the most part they are decorative. Stay warm, stay on the high road, thanks for reading.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Just because
Tuesday quiz:
a) What is the name of this pass?
b) What race/year is this?
c) Who took this photo?
d) What team website was this photo taken from?
BTW, the only part I know the answer to is d. Thanks for your involvement.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Du-Run-Run
Just a boring training post. No Charge Pond for me Saturday, as it was snowing and cold out. Not sure if they had it or not. By the afternoon things were looking better and I got a few hours in on the fender bike with some solid strength-endurance stuff over in the Sharon hills. Didn't get done until 7 pm. Sunday I fought off lingering last-minute temptations to run New Bedford. I knew I wasn't mentally into it well enough to push through a race like that with any meaningful fervor, so I let my cheap gene take over and stayed home. Instead I decided to jump the gun on the Long Island boys and stage a mock duathlon on my own.
In 2006 I did a couple of du's, including the Pinnacle Challenge Double. For 2007 my running game was stepped up, and I'd planned on several, but only ended up completing one. In neither year did I do any specific preparations for these, pretty much winging it. This year, I have done a few bricks, both run-bike (usually on the trainer after dark) as well as bike-run, generally 5k runoffs post-long ride. Never have I attempted the full run-bike-run sequence in training. During the cold weather, such a workout is a bit problematic, as the sweat worked up on the first run obviously could make the first few miles on the bike quite uncomfortable. Sunday it was up to 39 degrees by 10 am though, so I laid out all the clothing I'd need and gave it a shot. I decided to go for the full long course distance ala Carrboro. This should be interesting...
For the first run I tried to dress fairly lightly, but I wasn't brave enough to go in shorts. Just running my standard around NRT and the Clock Farm trail loop, right away I felt good and hit the first mile in 7:06 or something. The next two were about the same, and then I started to think of the long miles ahead and backed off a bit. I ran right to the door of the house, ending with 5.1 miles in 36:20 or so.
T1 did not go as quickly as I'd hoped. I was overheating in the house, and had to make a typical morning post-coffee nature break, and also reset my GPS because it lost the signal. I have no odometer on the fender bike, so I planned on using the GPS for the entire workout. Fortunately, once I reset the receiver, the first part of the workout was still in the watch's memory. I rolled out of the driveway 12 minutes after ending the run. I was chilly but not too bad.
My plan was to stay in zone 2 for the first hour of the ride (by HR) This meant 131-140 bpm. After that I'd try to pick it up. Of course, I hadn't planned out a route or anything. Heading south on 138, I think I had a tailwind, because I was flying. Relatively speaking of course, as this was the fender bike. I averaged about 32 kph for the first half hour, and not much less than that for the second. In Taunton I cut across the Lake Sabbatia dam (you may know this one from the 6 o'clock news, as it's a trouble spot during heavy rain) and over to 140. Here I made a dumb move of extending my loop to the west. I was thinking 1:36 on the bike would be about right, and did not want my mileage to come up short. Well, it didn't. I also got a lesson in du-preparation. Experienced multi-sporters might see this as obvious, but it's much easier to hydrate on the bike than it is while running. I did not bring any liquids on my run, and only drank a small amount during T1. A large and a small wb on the frame of the bike would normally be plenty of fluid for a two hour ride, but coming on the heels of a 5 mile run, the first bottle was gone early. To make a long story a touch shorter, I pretty much ran out of fluids 20k from home. I did not want to muck up my brick with an extra pit stop, so I forged ahead.
The wind wasn't in my favor at the end of the ride either. And I'd strayed further from home than originally planned. After maintaining 30 kph for the first 90 minutes, I pretty much ran out of fuel, both literally and figuratively. So much for picking it up at the end. It wasn't too bad though, and with the help of a few Clif Blocks, I maintained about 26 kph for the end portion of the ride, finishing up with just under 63k in 2:12, ~28.5 kph. T2 went a bit smoother than T1. Even taking the time to quickly mix up and dring a bottle of Clif Shot, the second run started just 9 minutes later. Retracing the exact route of run 1, I was pleased to see the splits come out virtually identical, beginning to end. It did not feel that fast. My legs were spent and I barely had the confidence to hurdle the chain gate separating NRT from Stonehill's property, but I did. And I made it, both times. The final time was exactly one second longer than the first. Weird. I wanted 3.5 hours total, exclusive of transitions, so I kept running past the house for a few minutes, kinda OCD like.
The total ordeal took 3:52, and was exactly 50 miles, just over 80k. I'm glad I did it. If I make it to Carrboro, I now have a little more knowledge and a lot more confidence. After refueling with two home-cooked meals of my own creation, I even managed to summon the energy to finally go out and buy a new dryer! Lint brush be gone! Thanks for reading.
In 2006 I did a couple of du's, including the Pinnacle Challenge Double. For 2007 my running game was stepped up, and I'd planned on several, but only ended up completing one. In neither year did I do any specific preparations for these, pretty much winging it. This year, I have done a few bricks, both run-bike (usually on the trainer after dark) as well as bike-run, generally 5k runoffs post-long ride. Never have I attempted the full run-bike-run sequence in training. During the cold weather, such a workout is a bit problematic, as the sweat worked up on the first run obviously could make the first few miles on the bike quite uncomfortable. Sunday it was up to 39 degrees by 10 am though, so I laid out all the clothing I'd need and gave it a shot. I decided to go for the full long course distance ala Carrboro. This should be interesting...
For the first run I tried to dress fairly lightly, but I wasn't brave enough to go in shorts. Just running my standard around NRT and the Clock Farm trail loop, right away I felt good and hit the first mile in 7:06 or something. The next two were about the same, and then I started to think of the long miles ahead and backed off a bit. I ran right to the door of the house, ending with 5.1 miles in 36:20 or so.
T1 did not go as quickly as I'd hoped. I was overheating in the house, and had to make a typical morning post-coffee nature break, and also reset my GPS because it lost the signal. I have no odometer on the fender bike, so I planned on using the GPS for the entire workout. Fortunately, once I reset the receiver, the first part of the workout was still in the watch's memory. I rolled out of the driveway 12 minutes after ending the run. I was chilly but not too bad.
My plan was to stay in zone 2 for the first hour of the ride (by HR) This meant 131-140 bpm. After that I'd try to pick it up. Of course, I hadn't planned out a route or anything. Heading south on 138, I think I had a tailwind, because I was flying. Relatively speaking of course, as this was the fender bike. I averaged about 32 kph for the first half hour, and not much less than that for the second. In Taunton I cut across the Lake Sabbatia dam (you may know this one from the 6 o'clock news, as it's a trouble spot during heavy rain) and over to 140. Here I made a dumb move of extending my loop to the west. I was thinking 1:36 on the bike would be about right, and did not want my mileage to come up short. Well, it didn't. I also got a lesson in du-preparation. Experienced multi-sporters might see this as obvious, but it's much easier to hydrate on the bike than it is while running. I did not bring any liquids on my run, and only drank a small amount during T1. A large and a small wb on the frame of the bike would normally be plenty of fluid for a two hour ride, but coming on the heels of a 5 mile run, the first bottle was gone early. To make a long story a touch shorter, I pretty much ran out of fluids 20k from home. I did not want to muck up my brick with an extra pit stop, so I forged ahead.
The wind wasn't in my favor at the end of the ride either. And I'd strayed further from home than originally planned. After maintaining 30 kph for the first 90 minutes, I pretty much ran out of fuel, both literally and figuratively. So much for picking it up at the end. It wasn't too bad though, and with the help of a few Clif Blocks, I maintained about 26 kph for the end portion of the ride, finishing up with just under 63k in 2:12, ~28.5 kph. T2 went a bit smoother than T1. Even taking the time to quickly mix up and dring a bottle of Clif Shot, the second run started just 9 minutes later. Retracing the exact route of run 1, I was pleased to see the splits come out virtually identical, beginning to end. It did not feel that fast. My legs were spent and I barely had the confidence to hurdle the chain gate separating NRT from Stonehill's property, but I did. And I made it, both times. The final time was exactly one second longer than the first. Weird. I wanted 3.5 hours total, exclusive of transitions, so I kept running past the house for a few minutes, kinda OCD like.
The total ordeal took 3:52, and was exactly 50 miles, just over 80k. I'm glad I did it. If I make it to Carrboro, I now have a little more knowledge and a lot more confidence. After refueling with two home-cooked meals of my own creation, I even managed to summon the energy to finally go out and buy a new dryer! Lint brush be gone! Thanks for reading.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Friday Triple Play
Eat more, do a face plant, and bike commute. WTF? First up is the sequel to yesterday's post and those from earlier in the week. Sorry if this doesn't really fit the template. I think it's close enough. As I said a few days ago, lately my workouts have lacked spark, and I've been unable to push my HR up, despite relatively moderate training volume. Sure, last week was 13+ hours, but that was on the heels of several mundane 7-8 hour weeks, as well as a three day in a row rest break. Something is not right.
Then Rightcoast compares me to my superstar teammate and chronic borderline anorexic The Cronoman. Of course I scoffed. Just the extra puppy skin permanently stowed around my mid-section from my fat days amounts to more excess poundage than the intrepid warrior has on his entire frame. But then I took inventory of my recent symptoms - unexplained lackluster performance, dizzy spells, occasional binge eating due to ravenous hunger, inability to concentrate or even think clearly... holy shit, I am turning into Marro. Could I be starving myself? Kind of hard to believe. Even on my rest days I take in at least 3000 calories. I know, I keep track. On workout days it's closer to 4000 or even over. Maybe my timing is bad.
As an experiment, Wednesday afternoon I headed to the vending machine, and instead of settling for a Zoe's bar (priced at $1.75, but the machine is programmed wrong and will fork it up for just 75 cents), I went with both a Snickers bar AND a bag of Cheezits. That's 600 calories total. This was around 4:30 pm. I went to Elite a few hours later and had my best workout of the year. There was a class going in the studio room when I got there, so I started in the gym with an hour of lower body weights, step ups, jumping, squat thrusts, etc, then headed up after the class for my normal plyo. I should have been exhausted by then, but I was still going strong. Too strong in fact. The cornerstone to my plyo workout is to take the 20 lb Plyoball (biggest one they have), hold it like a basketball jump shot, squat down, and leap straight up, thrusting (huh-huh) the ball at the ceiling. Repeat 20-30 times.
I was getting so much height that I had to make sure I was between the ceiling fans. Sometimes I try to catch the ball, but with the 20 pounder, if I don't catch it just right, it takes a toll on the tendons in my wrist, so usually I just let it fall to the floor. That extends the rest between tosses by a second or two, but makes up for it because I have to bend over and pick up the ball. They have no air in them, just sand, so there is no bounce. I did one set of twenty, then did some other stuff, then went back for one last set. After six tosses, BOOM, sand flying everywhere. The ball had split open. Ooops. It's a signal. I turned it in at the front desk, put on dry clothes and left. The parking lot was well lit and I had the sledge in the car, so I finished up with forty swings on each side. The extra food seems to have done me proud. Maybe 75 kg is where I belong. 74 if it's the week before Green Mountain maybe, but 73 is probably not a good idea. Live and learn.
Thursday I again upped the food intake a bit. I'd ridden the trainer for a half an hour before work, but at 6 pm I was suited up and ready to go run the hill. I hadn't made it over there since the thaw and was anxious. The woods were not bad at all. There was some mud and erosion damage from the melting, but all in all the main trail was in good shape. I got to the base of the access road, hit the timer and went up. It seemed like it was taking forever. There were even a few boarders riding the small patch of remaining snow on the ski slope. I pushed hard at the top, but only got my HR up to 165, yet stopped the watch at 7:37, by far my best ever time running. That's an 8:30 pace on a 9% grade. Hell, last week it took me six minutes on my friggin' bike.
On the way down I tried to really run in order to get used to downhilling. It was getting dark when I hit the fireroad, but not nearly as bad as the last few times I ran here in the fall. Coming up the grade from the low point on the path, I was flying and feeling great. I kept running hard down the steep trail that comes out behind the state police horse stables. Uh-oh. I tripped on a rock and did an over the bars style Superman takeoff. Boom. Ouch. Big ouch. My knees both got whacked really hard, and one of them managed to bounce up into the back of the other thigh. I just got right up and kept running, before anything had the chance to make like Archie Bell and the Drells from Houston Texas and do a little thing called the Tighten Up. Biggest concern was: Did I tear my brand new tights? Looks like no. Finished the run, 8.9 miles in 1:10, 7:50 pace, but since it included lots of muddy trail, a steep-assed hill, and a faceplant, I'll take it.
Last but not least, I rode my bike to work today. Woo-hoo. Surely the earliest in the season I've tried this. My commute is a piece of cake though, 42 minutes driveway to driveway. Got here early too, so I had an omelet, bacon, and a muffin. And I just had a Snickers bar, and it's only 10:15. I've got to do this more often. Thanks for reading.
Then Rightcoast compares me to my superstar teammate and chronic borderline anorexic The Cronoman. Of course I scoffed. Just the extra puppy skin permanently stowed around my mid-section from my fat days amounts to more excess poundage than the intrepid warrior has on his entire frame. But then I took inventory of my recent symptoms - unexplained lackluster performance, dizzy spells, occasional binge eating due to ravenous hunger, inability to concentrate or even think clearly... holy shit, I am turning into Marro. Could I be starving myself? Kind of hard to believe. Even on my rest days I take in at least 3000 calories. I know, I keep track. On workout days it's closer to 4000 or even over. Maybe my timing is bad.
As an experiment, Wednesday afternoon I headed to the vending machine, and instead of settling for a Zoe's bar (priced at $1.75, but the machine is programmed wrong and will fork it up for just 75 cents), I went with both a Snickers bar AND a bag of Cheezits. That's 600 calories total. This was around 4:30 pm. I went to Elite a few hours later and had my best workout of the year. There was a class going in the studio room when I got there, so I started in the gym with an hour of lower body weights, step ups, jumping, squat thrusts, etc, then headed up after the class for my normal plyo. I should have been exhausted by then, but I was still going strong. Too strong in fact. The cornerstone to my plyo workout is to take the 20 lb Plyoball (biggest one they have), hold it like a basketball jump shot, squat down, and leap straight up, thrusting (huh-huh) the ball at the ceiling. Repeat 20-30 times.
I was getting so much height that I had to make sure I was between the ceiling fans. Sometimes I try to catch the ball, but with the 20 pounder, if I don't catch it just right, it takes a toll on the tendons in my wrist, so usually I just let it fall to the floor. That extends the rest between tosses by a second or two, but makes up for it because I have to bend over and pick up the ball. They have no air in them, just sand, so there is no bounce. I did one set of twenty, then did some other stuff, then went back for one last set. After six tosses, BOOM, sand flying everywhere. The ball had split open. Ooops. It's a signal. I turned it in at the front desk, put on dry clothes and left. The parking lot was well lit and I had the sledge in the car, so I finished up with forty swings on each side. The extra food seems to have done me proud. Maybe 75 kg is where I belong. 74 if it's the week before Green Mountain maybe, but 73 is probably not a good idea. Live and learn.
Thursday I again upped the food intake a bit. I'd ridden the trainer for a half an hour before work, but at 6 pm I was suited up and ready to go run the hill. I hadn't made it over there since the thaw and was anxious. The woods were not bad at all. There was some mud and erosion damage from the melting, but all in all the main trail was in good shape. I got to the base of the access road, hit the timer and went up. It seemed like it was taking forever. There were even a few boarders riding the small patch of remaining snow on the ski slope. I pushed hard at the top, but only got my HR up to 165, yet stopped the watch at 7:37, by far my best ever time running. That's an 8:30 pace on a 9% grade. Hell, last week it took me six minutes on my friggin' bike.
On the way down I tried to really run in order to get used to downhilling. It was getting dark when I hit the fireroad, but not nearly as bad as the last few times I ran here in the fall. Coming up the grade from the low point on the path, I was flying and feeling great. I kept running hard down the steep trail that comes out behind the state police horse stables. Uh-oh. I tripped on a rock and did an over the bars style Superman takeoff. Boom. Ouch. Big ouch. My knees both got whacked really hard, and one of them managed to bounce up into the back of the other thigh. I just got right up and kept running, before anything had the chance to make like Archie Bell and the Drells from Houston Texas and do a little thing called the Tighten Up. Biggest concern was: Did I tear my brand new tights? Looks like no. Finished the run, 8.9 miles in 1:10, 7:50 pace, but since it included lots of muddy trail, a steep-assed hill, and a faceplant, I'll take it.
Last but not least, I rode my bike to work today. Woo-hoo. Surely the earliest in the season I've tried this. My commute is a piece of cake though, 42 minutes driveway to driveway. Got here early too, so I had an omelet, bacon, and a muffin. And I just had a Snickers bar, and it's only 10:15. I've got to do this more often. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Package Too Big
We're talking meat here. No not that. Although I can't seem to get the message across to Irisovitch Jevon, Allie Holt and the rest of the spammers either, the problem today is the meat packages from the market. Ever try to feed a family of one?
Once upon a time, I could not be bothered cooking meat at home. The sports nutritionists used to tell us wannabee athletes to live off pasta and rice cakes, with small amounts of other stuff every few days. Getting the other stuff "out" like at a restaurant or lunchtime sandwich stop was no problem. Neither was boiling water and making two pounds of pasta at home. Fast forward and now we've learned that doesn't work out so well, especially when you're no longer churning out 300 mile training weeks and are approaching the dark side of Book-em Danno, he's Five-O. Despite being intelligently designed (obviously!) I'm not one to resist my own personal evolution, and thus continue to participate in the learning process of life. A few years ago I drastically reduced eating in restaurants, nearly eliminating the practice. This proved to be a very effective way of curbing excess eating.
While still not doing my own hunting and gathering, at least eating at home requires some level of effort beyond just ordering and paying. Of course, the food business has made all sorts of easy to prepare options for us at home too. This is what is known as "processing" of the food, and it's been brought to my attention that this is bad. So we have the FDA labels on the food that are supposed to tell us whether or not the food is "good, "bad" or somewhere in between. Yet some food does not have a label at all. When I was calorie logging over on the throughth3wall challenge at buckeyeoutdoors.com, the nutrition coach pointed out that these were the foods we should eat. Her words went something like "forget about reading the labels. If it has an FDA label, don't eat it."
Now I'm not here to pile my three cents worth on to the eat only natural, whole foods bandwagon. I'm a practical person, I think. Practical = Lazy. More (or less, depending on your viewpoint) than that though, I'm not an extremist. I can agree with, and pursue a concept without getting fanatical or evangelical about it. And this has been the recent direction of my approach to eating. Which brings us to the oversized packages of meat. Eating more protein, and fresh meat in particular, is something I've been focusing on, and I believe it's helped my athletic performance. Fresh meat does not have an FDA label, right? The problem is, why do I need to buy eight chicken thighs, or three steaks, or four hamburgers? They're making more work for me. Now I have to also buy some of my own packaging, split the stuff all up, freeze some of it, remember to cook the rest before it goes bad, remember to defrost the other portions when I want to eat them (which increases the likelihood of a hungry solobreak saying "Fuck that, three bowls of Nature's Bosom Blueberry Tree Bark with Hemp and Ground Squirrel Shit will have to do for dinner tonight), and then clean and sterilize the entire kitchen counter/sink area because it just had uncooked meat all over it. I just want to eat, not work out again. To be continued, but in another direction... Thanks for reading.
Once upon a time, I could not be bothered cooking meat at home. The sports nutritionists used to tell us wannabee athletes to live off pasta and rice cakes, with small amounts of other stuff every few days. Getting the other stuff "out" like at a restaurant or lunchtime sandwich stop was no problem. Neither was boiling water and making two pounds of pasta at home. Fast forward and now we've learned that doesn't work out so well, especially when you're no longer churning out 300 mile training weeks and are approaching the dark side of Book-em Danno, he's Five-O. Despite being intelligently designed (obviously!) I'm not one to resist my own personal evolution, and thus continue to participate in the learning process of life. A few years ago I drastically reduced eating in restaurants, nearly eliminating the practice. This proved to be a very effective way of curbing excess eating.
While still not doing my own hunting and gathering, at least eating at home requires some level of effort beyond just ordering and paying. Of course, the food business has made all sorts of easy to prepare options for us at home too. This is what is known as "processing" of the food, and it's been brought to my attention that this is bad. So we have the FDA labels on the food that are supposed to tell us whether or not the food is "good, "bad" or somewhere in between. Yet some food does not have a label at all. When I was calorie logging over on the throughth3wall challenge at buckeyeoutdoors.com, the nutrition coach pointed out that these were the foods we should eat. Her words went something like "forget about reading the labels. If it has an FDA label, don't eat it."
Now I'm not here to pile my three cents worth on to the eat only natural, whole foods bandwagon. I'm a practical person, I think. Practical = Lazy. More (or less, depending on your viewpoint) than that though, I'm not an extremist. I can agree with, and pursue a concept without getting fanatical or evangelical about it. And this has been the recent direction of my approach to eating. Which brings us to the oversized packages of meat. Eating more protein, and fresh meat in particular, is something I've been focusing on, and I believe it's helped my athletic performance. Fresh meat does not have an FDA label, right? The problem is, why do I need to buy eight chicken thighs, or three steaks, or four hamburgers? They're making more work for me. Now I have to also buy some of my own packaging, split the stuff all up, freeze some of it, remember to cook the rest before it goes bad, remember to defrost the other portions when I want to eat them (which increases the likelihood of a hungry solobreak saying "Fuck that, three bowls of Nature's Bosom Blueberry Tree Bark with Hemp and Ground Squirrel Shit will have to do for dinner tonight), and then clean and sterilize the entire kitchen counter/sink area because it just had uncooked meat all over it. I just want to eat, not work out again. To be continued, but in another direction... Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Running Wrapup
This shows the past 180 days of running time by HR zone, with each column representing a 30 day segment. If you click and zoom you can probably read the detail. I'm not sure of the exact mileage, but if I assume an average pace in the mid 7's then it would be about 480 miles, which works out to just over 18 miles/week average. The biggest 30 day period looks like it might have been 100 miles or so. The down period in the middle included planned rest around the holidays after medical issue #2.
The good news is we can see that for the two periods with the highest volumes, one of which was the most recent period, the HR zone makeups were quite similar. The Nov-Dec period when was I was really reaching a peak and was quite fit. I may have been a bit fatigued then, as that timeframe also included a small number of cyclocross races. In the recent period, I haven't had much run race mileage, so there's no 5C red zone, but everything else looks OK. The January period did have a lot of races, such as the Millennium Mile and the Bristol 5 miler, so there was some high intensity in there.
I'm not sure what the next month or two will hold for running. I'm going to try to keep it up a little bit, but mostly it will be hill runs on the trails near work and mini-bricks at home on the weekends. My race schedule is still shaping up but I think I'll be working in at least two duathlons. Right now the focus is on bike racing though. The "real" season starts in just 19 days... Thanks for reading.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Simple Life
Not a lot of drama around here this year. March training got off to a good start with my highest volume week in months, mostly cycling. Friday night I had my best plyo workout yet, almost hitting the ceiling fans a few times with the 20 lb plyoball. I wish I could bring the sledge into the gym, but I can't, so I freaked out the neighbors with an 8 am ax murderer practice session in the back yard Sunday. In between on Saturday I got in almost five hours in the rain, solo of course. And I wasn't even the least bit uncomfortable. Ibex wool rocks. Now I see they even came out with bibs. Anyone got $250 spare laying around to buy me a few pair? Size L please.
Sunday I skipped the local running races. I don't know, maybe I'm a bit burnt on the running. I've been at it for six months straight, save for a week here and there for the medical issues. That's by far the most attention I've ever given running. The bike season starts so damn early, I feel like I need to transition now. I'll probably take up the running even earlier this fall too, maybe late August, so there will be plenty of time for it then. We'll see. Tonight I'm going to run the hill and see if that motivates me. Running on the pavement just hasn't been making it for me lately.
The rain was gone Sunday, but it was colder and friggin' windy. After my backyard workout, I again went out on the bike. One of my core training beliefs is that you should not waste yourself in training. It's best to finish every ride feeling like you could have done a little bit more. You'll recover faster and make more out of the next workout, which is how this entire training thing is supposed to operate. Saturday I felt like I stuck to this idea. At 4.5 hours it was pouring rain, but I was already wet, the temps were over 50, the roads were deserted, and I was still well-fueled from a half-moon stop at Ward's (I might get used to this) an hour earlier. The temptation to push the ride out to five hours was quite strong, but I thought of the above principle and how well it's worked for me in the past, and besides, it was only Saturday. If it were Sunday maybe I'd have stayed out, but instead I headed home, ending the day with just 112 rain-soaked kilometers on the fender bike. During my post ride routine I felt unusually fresh, and looked forward to a hard follow up day.
On Sunday, fifteen minutes into the ride, I already felt like I was on a death march. My fatigue presented a somber reminder of how traumatic the body can find even "base" training at this time of year. I soldiered on into the stiff 25 mph gale, seeking the most sheltered roads I could find, hoping the funk would pass. Making my way over to Moose Hill, I figured I may as well try to force some intensity. Lately I feel like the king of zone 1. Even while running, my HR has been incredibly low. A few years ago during early season rides my HR would hover between 135-155 even when just riding steady. That was understandable, as I was way out of shape and just keeping the bike moving was a big effort. The past few years were not nearly as bad, but still if I pushed it I'd get a response. This winter has been a quite different. It's weird to be out running 6:50 miles and look down and see 136. Riding my bike I often see only two digits. The best reason I can think of is old age. Or possibly fitness? That's what I'm clinging to. I remember watching the telemetry from one of the pro races and Botero was on the front drilling the chase and his HR was 110. WTF I thought. Must be nice. Now I'm not so sure. I thought I'd get a few more years before losing another 10 points off my max HR. Whatever.
So I hit the Moose Hill mini-circuit. This is a loop of just under 3k with a few little climbs, and it misses the main part of Moose Hill. I find it great for short intervals. Start at the intersection of Route 27 and Moose Hill Parkway. The first part of the parkway is pretty flat and can be used for recovery, but if you want longer intervals you can pedal hard. The parkway section ends with a 300 meter climb up to the intersection with Upland Road. Left would take you to the steep part of the hill. Instead I go right, which makes the intersection like a switchback. It flattens out a bit and then you hit a little sprinter's climb. Drilling it here is one of the keys to this workout. A descent past the whaling museum follows, and the road is very narrow, twisty, and sandy, so this is where you recover. This leads into another short 15 second effort on a steep sprinter's wall back to Route 27, where you only stay for 100 meters, descending before turning hard right back onto the parkway. JB, try this sometime before you bail on us and see what you think.
I felt like shit, so the first few times I stayed seated and used easy gears, working on my climbing rhythm. I went easy on the flats and downhills. The first lap was 7:30. Each lap I went faster and faster, and by the sixth one, which was really the only one hard enough to qualify as a "real" interval, I had it down just under six minutes. My max HR was 153. Am I even alive? Well at least I did something, and on top of plyo too. I limped home, and sure did not finish feeling like I could have done more. In fact, 10k from home I just wanted the torture of pedaling 15 kph to end. Oh well. Seven hours combined for the weekend put me at 17 total so far for March, and it's only the 9th. I like where this is going. Thanks for reading.
Sunday I skipped the local running races. I don't know, maybe I'm a bit burnt on the running. I've been at it for six months straight, save for a week here and there for the medical issues. That's by far the most attention I've ever given running. The bike season starts so damn early, I feel like I need to transition now. I'll probably take up the running even earlier this fall too, maybe late August, so there will be plenty of time for it then. We'll see. Tonight I'm going to run the hill and see if that motivates me. Running on the pavement just hasn't been making it for me lately.
The rain was gone Sunday, but it was colder and friggin' windy. After my backyard workout, I again went out on the bike. One of my core training beliefs is that you should not waste yourself in training. It's best to finish every ride feeling like you could have done a little bit more. You'll recover faster and make more out of the next workout, which is how this entire training thing is supposed to operate. Saturday I felt like I stuck to this idea. At 4.5 hours it was pouring rain, but I was already wet, the temps were over 50, the roads were deserted, and I was still well-fueled from a half-moon stop at Ward's (I might get used to this) an hour earlier. The temptation to push the ride out to five hours was quite strong, but I thought of the above principle and how well it's worked for me in the past, and besides, it was only Saturday. If it were Sunday maybe I'd have stayed out, but instead I headed home, ending the day with just 112 rain-soaked kilometers on the fender bike. During my post ride routine I felt unusually fresh, and looked forward to a hard follow up day.
On Sunday, fifteen minutes into the ride, I already felt like I was on a death march. My fatigue presented a somber reminder of how traumatic the body can find even "base" training at this time of year. I soldiered on into the stiff 25 mph gale, seeking the most sheltered roads I could find, hoping the funk would pass. Making my way over to Moose Hill, I figured I may as well try to force some intensity. Lately I feel like the king of zone 1. Even while running, my HR has been incredibly low. A few years ago during early season rides my HR would hover between 135-155 even when just riding steady. That was understandable, as I was way out of shape and just keeping the bike moving was a big effort. The past few years were not nearly as bad, but still if I pushed it I'd get a response. This winter has been a quite different. It's weird to be out running 6:50 miles and look down and see 136. Riding my bike I often see only two digits. The best reason I can think of is old age. Or possibly fitness? That's what I'm clinging to. I remember watching the telemetry from one of the pro races and Botero was on the front drilling the chase and his HR was 110. WTF I thought. Must be nice. Now I'm not so sure. I thought I'd get a few more years before losing another 10 points off my max HR. Whatever.
So I hit the Moose Hill mini-circuit. This is a loop of just under 3k with a few little climbs, and it misses the main part of Moose Hill. I find it great for short intervals. Start at the intersection of Route 27 and Moose Hill Parkway. The first part of the parkway is pretty flat and can be used for recovery, but if you want longer intervals you can pedal hard. The parkway section ends with a 300 meter climb up to the intersection with Upland Road. Left would take you to the steep part of the hill. Instead I go right, which makes the intersection like a switchback. It flattens out a bit and then you hit a little sprinter's climb. Drilling it here is one of the keys to this workout. A descent past the whaling museum follows, and the road is very narrow, twisty, and sandy, so this is where you recover. This leads into another short 15 second effort on a steep sprinter's wall back to Route 27, where you only stay for 100 meters, descending before turning hard right back onto the parkway. JB, try this sometime before you bail on us and see what you think.
I felt like shit, so the first few times I stayed seated and used easy gears, working on my climbing rhythm. I went easy on the flats and downhills. The first lap was 7:30. Each lap I went faster and faster, and by the sixth one, which was really the only one hard enough to qualify as a "real" interval, I had it down just under six minutes. My max HR was 153. Am I even alive? Well at least I did something, and on top of plyo too. I limped home, and sure did not finish feeling like I could have done more. In fact, 10k from home I just wanted the torture of pedaling 15 kph to end. Oh well. Seven hours combined for the weekend put me at 17 total so far for March, and it's only the 9th. I like where this is going. Thanks for reading.
Friday, March 7, 2008
I feel like such a pussy
Doesn't that sound so much better than "Solobreak goes to the outlet mall?" Even if it doesn't, you might be asking "how are these two statements related Solo?" It's like this, over a period of several years: Boy meets bike. Boy puts misspent youth behind him and gets fit. Boy decides to go to night school. Boy and bike grow apart. Boy grows fat. Boy graduates and gets new job. Boy needs all new clothes. Boy needs 38 waist pants. Boy meets up with bike again. Boy gets fit again. Boy hems 38 waist pants with safety pins. Boy's oversized pants eventually wear out. Boy breaks bank and goes back for more pants, 33 waist this time. Boy can't go to outlet mall and just buy serious stuff, he needs to buy fun stuff too. Boy goes in to the Adidas store. Boy buys running shorts, tights, track pants, and golf shirts. Boy finds selection of size "L" is much smaller than the "XL" he used to need... Boy is in checkout line and sees baseball batting gloves for only $7.99/pair. Boy realizes these might be great for his sledgehammer workouts and buys a pair. Boy gets up Friday morning, puts on his glasses and finally checks his sledgehammer to see what size it is. Boy thinks it's a 15 lb or at least a 12 lb. Boys sees "8 lb" inscribed on the bottom. Boy feels like a pussy. Maybe boy should have bought pink leg weights or wristbands instead of baseball gloves...
So it looks like this weekend might involve a trip to the hardware store to buy a bigger hammer. 8 lb? WTF. It feels so heavy, especially after the 15th rep. At least I don't have a coach who tells me not to do pushups... When I get a 12 pounder, I think I'll give Feltslave a call to get some hockey tape so that I can dress her in black.
One good thing came out of this though. The baseball gloves turned out to be pretty good for driving. Nice and grippy. Plus, the XBox has volume and channel controls on the steering wheel, and they're a pain with clunky gloves. These are thin but not too tight. Speaking of the XBox, yesterday was the first occasion I had to put a bike in the back. Fenders make this chore a pain in the ass, but even with them the bike just fit in. My bikes won't stand up back there though, not unless I remove the seat. It looks like it might be possible if I face it forward, then take out the rear tray so the wheel can sit down in the spare tire well, but that's not so good for day to day use. I guess I'll just go with the standard laying it down method most of the time. At least the tunage sounds better with the seats folded. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go unbunch my panties. Thanks for reading.
So it looks like this weekend might involve a trip to the hardware store to buy a bigger hammer. 8 lb? WTF. It feels so heavy, especially after the 15th rep. At least I don't have a coach who tells me not to do pushups... When I get a 12 pounder, I think I'll give Feltslave a call to get some hockey tape so that I can dress her in black.
One good thing came out of this though. The baseball gloves turned out to be pretty good for driving. Nice and grippy. Plus, the XBox has volume and channel controls on the steering wheel, and they're a pain with clunky gloves. These are thin but not too tight. Speaking of the XBox, yesterday was the first occasion I had to put a bike in the back. Fenders make this chore a pain in the ass, but even with them the bike just fit in. My bikes won't stand up back there though, not unless I remove the seat. It looks like it might be possible if I face it forward, then take out the rear tray so the wheel can sit down in the spare tire well, but that's not so good for day to day use. I guess I'll just go with the standard laying it down method most of the time. At least the tunage sounds better with the seats folded. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go unbunch my panties. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Matinee
On the bike, you friggin' perverts. Today I got out for an almost two hours lunch ride. Twenty-eight degrees before work, f-that, but by 1 PM it was over fifty. I headed over to Quincy via Hillside and Chickatawbut, turned around and came back up. Just a few seconds under 8 minutes to get from the Furnace Brook Parkway to the overlook parking area. Not so great, as I know I've done under seven in the summertime. On to Big Blue.
I just checked this post from last year, which provides some details of my first access road ride of the season for the last few years. Looks like this year's beats the rest by a few weeks! Also in the notes, it says I weighed 80 kilos last year in late March. Wow. Now I'm 76.5 on a bad day. Up I went. The road is in good shape and nobody was up there. I used the granny all the way, and saved something the first time up, hitting the top in 6:15. There was a Smart Car parked up at the weather station too, first one I've seen in person.
I headed down and Freddy Fenders handled the descent nicely. The next time up I again used the granny, as 42x23 would have been a struggle. Shifting on this thing is not the best, and I ground them up a lot, using the 30x16, 17, 18, and 19. This time I held nothing back, and was rewarded with a 5:56. So we still have work to do, but my recovery was quick and after all, this was a lunch ride on a heavy bike with burly tires and wheels. Not to mention last night's 13 mile run (which did not go all that well, and was at a rather ugly 8+ minutes pace for the last few miles as I stumbled home in the dark) was not helping my legs any. Looks pretty good compared to last year, might even be favorable compared with 2006. We'll see in a few more weeks.
No lunch ride would be complete without a trip through the 'pan, even if it was just the very corner for a few hundred meters. I saw a few other riders out too, and got back to work just after 3 PM. Now I'm stuck here until 7:30... Thanks for reading.
I just checked this post from last year, which provides some details of my first access road ride of the season for the last few years. Looks like this year's beats the rest by a few weeks! Also in the notes, it says I weighed 80 kilos last year in late March. Wow. Now I'm 76.5 on a bad day. Up I went. The road is in good shape and nobody was up there. I used the granny all the way, and saved something the first time up, hitting the top in 6:15. There was a Smart Car parked up at the weather station too, first one I've seen in person.
I headed down and Freddy Fenders handled the descent nicely. The next time up I again used the granny, as 42x23 would have been a struggle. Shifting on this thing is not the best, and I ground them up a lot, using the 30x16, 17, 18, and 19. This time I held nothing back, and was rewarded with a 5:56. So we still have work to do, but my recovery was quick and after all, this was a lunch ride on a heavy bike with burly tires and wheels. Not to mention last night's 13 mile run (which did not go all that well, and was at a rather ugly 8+ minutes pace for the last few miles as I stumbled home in the dark) was not helping my legs any. Looks pretty good compared to last year, might even be favorable compared with 2006. We'll see in a few more weeks.
No lunch ride would be complete without a trip through the 'pan, even if it was just the very corner for a few hundred meters. I saw a few other riders out too, and got back to work just after 3 PM. Now I'm stuck here until 7:30... Thanks for reading.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Maiden Voyage
Well, it took my entire f*&!ing Saturday, but Freddy Fender is finally ready to roll. Fully dressed, with bulletproof 550 gram 700x28 Conti Contact tires, the completed beast weighs in at just under 25 pounds. Setup for commuting with lights and full water bottles, I know I can get it up over 30. Perfect. Messing with the stupid top tube cable routing and triple front derailleur added quite a bit of time to the build, as did the numerous nourishment breaks. So Saturday I didn't get a ride or run in at all, but since the bike room is on the second floor, the kitchen is on the first, and the roll-away tool box is in the basement, at least I got in about a hundred flights of stair climbing. That's good, because all told six waffles, six biscottis, three bowls of Nature Valley Power Breakfast, some yogurt, a banana, and an apple gave their lives to this effort. At 7:30 pm, when the bars were finally taped and the cages installed, I threw in the towel and called it a day without climbing on the trainer. I just Forman'd a couple of burgers and an onion, cooked up a sweet potato, and retired for the night.
Originally I'd planned on three hours Saturday and at least two more on Sunday, with a run thrown in too. Since the weather sucked on Saturday, I'd have been confined to indoor workouts anyway, but with the sun shining on Sunday morning, it was make up time. Stepping out to dump the trash though, it was freezing! The wind was biting. Fuck. I had to do it though. There was still too much snow to run in the woods, and according to the online weather, it was above freezing outside, but with the wind it sure did not feel like it. But prepare to ride I did.
Now if you're expecting a Gewilli-esque tale of how I retraced the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, continuing on across the frozen Yukon territory wearing nothing but a loincloth, open-toed sandals, and an Ibex beanie, well, you're going to be disappointed. I mean, what is the point of owning three of everything in the Verge inventory if I'm not going to wear it? I went with wool Craft XC kneesocks, a pair of lycra Descente tights with chamois (these are too old to race juniors), Ibex wool tights over those, an SS base layer, an LS base layer, an LS Verge middleweight jersey, topped with a windvest under the Warsaw jacket, which is a combo I've found to be simply awesome for temp regulation. On the hooves I wore my old Carnac MTB shoes and of course booties. Up top I went with the headsweats skull cap, full baclava, and earmuffs on the helmet straps. For the hands, on top of my Ibex wool glove liners went the heavy artillery - The Pearl Lobster gloves. I'm ready. So was the new bike.
Standing up and accelerating out of the driveway, I could tell within a few pedal strokes that I was going to like this bike. When I sat down though, the seat felt a tad high, but instead of stopping to adjust it, I said the hell with it, keep riding. After all, it would have taken me ten minutes to get undressed enough to retrieve the multi tool. Besides that, NegaCoach is a strong believer in muscle confusion theory, especially at this stage of the season. However, not lowering the seat would prove to be a mistake.
The ride was pretty blissful, blasting through the snow melt without a care as the full fenders contained the wheel spray. I kept heading into the wind, basically northwest, even though the roadside snow amounts got bigger the further I went. Heading southeast probably would have brought completely dry roads, but then I'd have had to come home against the friggin' gale. Besides, I had fenders, woo-hoo! I rode most of the Foxboro run course backwards, then loop up through Walpole, pausing briefly to give directions to an upstanding young lady who was trying to make it to the state prison before visting hours ended. Really nice girl...
By two hours my hamstrings were starting to feel the saddle height problem. By 2.5 they were really feeling it, and the glycogen stores from yesterday's massive carb intake had pretty much been depleted, so I headed to Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon for a coffee, delicious homemade half moon, and saddle adjustment, topping off the bottles as well. The bike had been working perfectly, except for an occasional skip in the 30x21, probably either a tight link or a B-tension adjustment. Other than that, no worries, even with my "custom" saddle.
Do you hardcore CX riders miss the old blue plastic Cinelli BMX saddles that everyone used to run? If so, check out my creation. Got an old Flite with a torn cover? Tear the whole thing off down to the base and voila, you have the ultimate in weather proof lightweight saddles. Think it's uncomfortable? Really, it's not too bad. While it may be true that I've been called a hardass before, I didn't start feeling it until 3.5 hours, and I haven't been riding long at all this winter either. I still may replace it though, but for cross, it will be perfect.
I even thought about staying out for five hours to make up the lost ride from Saturday, but a combination of plummeting temps, the dangerous afternoon solar glare, my hamstrings, and the firm saddle made me think better of it. After refueling I headed over to Moose Hill for some repeats on the mini-circuit to give myself a bit of intensity before pedaling home. I ended up right at four hours, only about 60 miles, but on this bike there won't be too many 35 kph averages. Thanks for reading.
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