Wednesday is Windsday, according to Winnie the Pooh anyhow.
Today the Tucson valley was blessed with a refreshing rain. It was a little overcast as we rolled down to the U of A pool for some draft pack swimming. When we arrived, Russ the Wildcats Swim Program Coordinator, brought the pool temp up by a degree or two. Sometimes little things like that make a big difference. Thanks for the thoughtful consideration Russ. It feels like we're being treated like Kings down here!
Main Set: 4 x 500 drafting steady - mid race pace, 4 x 200 drafting start speed.
Back to the (Mt.) Lemmon home and time for an O so good breakfast: Omelet & Oatmeal.
Soon after breakfast we noticed it was raining. "Let's run now and bike later." "Good idea."
21 minute warm up, 20 minutes steady state, 21 minute cool down. Perfect. I love running in the rain. As we were heading back along Mountain Ave I thought, "This must be Tucson's way of helping us feel at home." It was just like running back home for an hour, a way to fill up on Victoria goodness before we head down to Mexico. What a perfect way to help us appreciate every moment of sun too.
Eat again, nap, feet up the wall, listen to some good music, and it's sunny again. Ride = 1h45 easy spin + 15 minute stop in LeBuzz, a local "cyclist" coffee shop down here in Tucson. Sweetness, now we've had our Arizona coffee ride.
Bath time, dinner time, bed time.
Monday and Tuesdays were great days too. Monday was JP's Birthday. All the best this year buddy. You're ready to rock and roll. Laser Tag & a Birthday dinner reminded me of elementary school style birthday parties. + an easy swim and regen = Monday.
Tuesday started with a solid ride over Gates Pass with some race efforts. 2 x 10 minutes mid-race pace and 4 x 6ish minutes faster than race pace. For our 6 minute pieces we started 1 mile back from the Gates summit and went for it. Approaching the top was an all out effort every time. Awesome. I love working absolutely has hard as I possibly can, then holding it, finding the groove, next it's time to crest the plateau for more climbing.
Nice work Scotty on the 10 minute pieces, and hanging in there up Gates. Andrew, awesome attacks up Gates. That was definitely pack breaking speed. I think it will prove suitable for the Geneva race course.
Afternoon swim with a main set of 20 x 100: 3 on 1:30, 1 on 2:30. I am thankful the order is swim first, bike second, run third. Good swim.
Evening chill out run. Nice.
Ok, back to today. It's almost bed time.
Rest well.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
compass
Sometime we need to wait a little while to find out just how a workout or practice went. In the case of the Shootout ride, I realized my effort level twice. Interestingly enough, neither of these times were when I was actually riding hard.
This morning my suspicions were confirmed. I was working hard. Judging by how my legs felt, I would say that was one of my hardest ever bike efforts. Hamstrings tighter than an E string wrapped one octave up.
Man, that was a fun ride! And the good news is we have one more shot at it while we're down here in the sun. Awesome.
After the ride we went out for a 30 minute spin with the kicks, just to remind our legs of the true story. You can't let 'em escape too easily.
4500 yard swim of the complete flush variety: 1000 warm up, 10 x 100 drill/swim, 1000 pull, 1000 fins/snorkel, 10 x 50 as 25!!/25ez, 200KK, w/d. That's a smooth swim. There's nothing to it, just tune in, turn on, select, and enjoy.
This morning we ran the Tucson Race for the Cure. These events are really special. They let us know about real world survival, and real world desire to live. I am grateful to have been given the chance to participate in such an event.
A big Thank You goes out to the race director and all the volunteers who helped make it possible. Also, Congratulations to the other 875 runners, and over 13,000 walkers out there racing for the Cure.
When healthy living or sporting events are tied in with charity there is a powerful feeling in the air. It's something I'm sure everyone felt at some point this morning. The feeling may have come while standing on the start line, silently preparing, cooling down, or passing out water cups at one of the aid stations. It's a feeling I'm still trying to understand.
It lets us know there is a world, an existence much bigger, much more encompassing than triathlon, running, swimming, biking, any time standard, place, figure, or number.
The clock says bed time. Rest well.
This morning my suspicions were confirmed. I was working hard. Judging by how my legs felt, I would say that was one of my hardest ever bike efforts. Hamstrings tighter than an E string wrapped one octave up.
Man, that was a fun ride! And the good news is we have one more shot at it while we're down here in the sun. Awesome.
After the ride we went out for a 30 minute spin with the kicks, just to remind our legs of the true story. You can't let 'em escape too easily.
4500 yard swim of the complete flush variety: 1000 warm up, 10 x 100 drill/swim, 1000 pull, 1000 fins/snorkel, 10 x 50 as 25!!/25ez, 200KK, w/d. That's a smooth swim. There's nothing to it, just tune in, turn on, select, and enjoy.
This morning we ran the Tucson Race for the Cure. These events are really special. They let us know about real world survival, and real world desire to live. I am grateful to have been given the chance to participate in such an event.
A big Thank You goes out to the race director and all the volunteers who helped make it possible. Also, Congratulations to the other 875 runners, and over 13,000 walkers out there racing for the Cure.
When healthy living or sporting events are tied in with charity there is a powerful feeling in the air. It's something I'm sure everyone felt at some point this morning. The feeling may have come while standing on the start line, silently preparing, cooling down, or passing out water cups at one of the aid stations. It's a feeling I'm still trying to understand.
It lets us know there is a world, an existence much bigger, much more encompassing than triathlon, running, swimming, biking, any time standard, place, figure, or number.
The clock says bed time. Rest well.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Follow up
Outshot.
I remember a piece of advice I was given when I first started triathlon.
"Just look around at people who look like they know what they're doing and do what they do."
Ok. I can do that. There goes a rider. There goes an attack. That guys taking a pull. I'm going to attack. I'll take a pull. I'll make a brake.
These are are good things to do.and today they led to a humbling experience.
Sometimes it might be better to hang back a bit, watch things happen, save a little, and let 'er rip when the time comes. Naa, that's no fun. Go 'till ya blow. Eventually you'll be able to hold that pace.
Time for a run.
Rest well.
I remember a piece of advice I was given when I first started triathlon.
"Just look around at people who look like they know what they're doing and do what they do."
Ok. I can do that. There goes a rider. There goes an attack. That guys taking a pull. I'm going to attack. I'll take a pull. I'll make a brake.
These are are good things to do.and today they led to a humbling experience.
Sometimes it might be better to hang back a bit, watch things happen, save a little, and let 'er rip when the time comes. Naa, that's no fun. Go 'till ya blow. Eventually you'll be able to hold that pace.
Time for a run.
Rest well.
bReAkFaSt TiMe
It's 4:30AM and you guessed it, I'm too excited to sleep. Today is Shootout day.
Talking with the U of A TriCats yesterday I learned the ride can be more than just 63 miles. Apparently that's just where a group of cyclists turn around. Turn around? I don't think so. If there's a race going on at the front, and I'm any where near it, take a guess what I'll do.
Apparently the entire loop is 110 miles.
The cool thing is I really don't know what to expect. It is said the Shootout is a humbling experience. Sounds like a good time to me.
Yesterday's 1500TT was ok. It's wasn't the split I was hoping for, but a PB none the less. Cooling down after the effort I thought, "This is good news; there's a good reason for more swimming!"
The afternoon fartlek run was a good one. After a 20 minute warm up, and a few intervals, I heard a knocking. It was the comfortable stride. We had a good time for the next 6. Nice running. "This one's for Maz!"
Now it's time to refine the blood sugar levels before this ride. Oatmeal . . . I do believe so.
First I will pour on some po som on to loosen up the calves.
Rest well.
Talking with the U of A TriCats yesterday I learned the ride can be more than just 63 miles. Apparently that's just where a group of cyclists turn around. Turn around? I don't think so. If there's a race going on at the front, and I'm any where near it, take a guess what I'll do.
Apparently the entire loop is 110 miles.
The cool thing is I really don't know what to expect. It is said the Shootout is a humbling experience. Sounds like a good time to me.
Yesterday's 1500TT was ok. It's wasn't the split I was hoping for, but a PB none the less. Cooling down after the effort I thought, "This is good news; there's a good reason for more swimming!"
The afternoon fartlek run was a good one. After a 20 minute warm up, and a few intervals, I heard a knocking. It was the comfortable stride. We had a good time for the next 6. Nice running. "This one's for Maz!"
Now it's time to refine the blood sugar levels before this ride. Oatmeal . . . I do believe so.
First I will pour on some po som on to loosen up the calves.
Rest well.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Drawstring
Something new happened today in the water. I forgot that I was breathing. This is new to me, for you see, having grown up as a land mammal I have become accustomed to breathing at will. I don't often think about breathing while standing on my left leg, or maybe every other left leg step. Up until this morning, breathing has generally been at the forefront of my mind while swimming.
All of a sudden I thought, "When was the last time I took a breath?" Breathing must have just been happening without any effort. Then of course, I tried not to think about breathing for the rest of the swim. One thing is for certain, trying to not think about something rarely leads to our desired result.
After our swim we wandered over to the dive tank for a few jumps. The facial expressions were priceless:
All of a sudden I thought, "When was the last time I took a breath?" Breathing must have just been happening without any effort. Then of course, I tried not to think about breathing for the rest of the swim. One thing is for certain, trying to not think about something rarely leads to our desired result.
After our swim we wandered over to the dive tank for a few jumps. The facial expressions were priceless:
. .
.
O
Easy 90 minute spin and that`s a good recovery day.
Over the next three days we will have a chance to test ourselves in each of our three sports. Tomorrow we have a 1500m TT in the pool. Saturday is the infamous Shootout ride, a longstanding 62 mile group ride here in Tucson. Rumor has it the group starts with over a hundred cyclists and by 30 miles the group is down to 20 - 30 cyclists. A shootout with the local cyclists. On Sunday there is a local 5K Run for the Cure. Good stuff.
Tonight`s dinner is a pork tenderloin. This time I tried butterflying and stuffing it with apples etc. After it`s all cut up and stuffed there`s the matter of tying it back together. No string to be found, but there is a drawstring in my run shorts. Perfect.
Rest well
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
comfortable
Today was a comfortable day. We started with a comfortable swim, followed by a comfortable run, and finished with a comfortable bike.
I was relieved to hear that our 4 x 400 drafting set was modified to a "moderate" pace. Moderate feels good. It can be a challenging effort to understand, definitely not easy, and far from hard. It's a pace where you do some work, and feel good the entire way through. It's a perfect opportunity to work on some techincal aspects of our sport with a little bit of moderate speed. Moderate is pretty cool once you start to know her. I think she may be a second cousin to Buzz.
Next is core. Nothing beats core on the U of A pool deck in the sun. I noticed some of the swim teams goals posted on the wall. More on this later, I just need a reminder for next time.
Easy run through the U of A campus, lunch, and it's bike time.
This afternoon was the first time I have really felt comfortable with Sugar Cane. Something clicked. I can remember the exact place and moment in time. Descending a small hill we made a left hand turn, sharp right still descending, slight left, and up a small rise. As I made my way out of the saddle still in the drops, upper body over the bars, it happened. Smooth riding, just doing the dance.
Nice 3hr spin with 4 x 10 minutes building from steady to tempo 1.
Rest well.
I was relieved to hear that our 4 x 400 drafting set was modified to a "moderate" pace. Moderate feels good. It can be a challenging effort to understand, definitely not easy, and far from hard. It's a pace where you do some work, and feel good the entire way through. It's a perfect opportunity to work on some techincal aspects of our sport with a little bit of moderate speed. Moderate is pretty cool once you start to know her. I think she may be a second cousin to Buzz.
Next is core. Nothing beats core on the U of A pool deck in the sun. I noticed some of the swim teams goals posted on the wall. More on this later, I just need a reminder for next time.
Easy run through the U of A campus, lunch, and it's bike time.
This afternoon was the first time I have really felt comfortable with Sugar Cane. Something clicked. I can remember the exact place and moment in time. Descending a small hill we made a left hand turn, sharp right still descending, slight left, and up a small rise. As I made my way out of the saddle still in the drops, upper body over the bars, it happened. Smooth riding, just doing the dance.
Nice 3hr spin with 4 x 10 minutes building from steady to tempo 1.
Rest well.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
ice cream cool down
First an update on the Onion Tactic. I think it has been working! The swelling from my weird bug sting is way down, and instead of half my leg being red it's only a small red circle. I have one more potential remedy if things aren't completely better by tomorrow morning. . . meat tenderizer.
This morning's swim was the best yet. It was a 6K Long Course Beauty with 26 x 100, alternating between 2:10(easy) / and 1:20(fast). I touched the wall after the 1st hard one at 1:10. "Cool, that was faster than I expected and felt easy. Today must be a fast day so I'll try and keep it there." I hovered between 1:10 and 1:11 for the remainder of our 13 hard 100s feeling great. So today I'm happy to say we have a new standard for 100s, 1:10. Starting tomorrow morning the new acceptable standard is 1:09. From there it's only a short trek to where we can see base camp. Excitement builds.
Back home for a couple boiled eggs, a couple slices of toast, sunscreen application #2 and I was ready for a two hour base ride through the south side of TuKson. Nice smooth ride.
Feeding time, nap time, feet up the wall time, more eating time, time for one more sunscreen application and it's run time.
20 base,
8 build to tempo,
3 x drills and strides,
dynamic stretch,
3 x 1K on 6:00, (3:08, 2:58, 2:57)
right into 6 x 200m on 1:30,
10 minutes rest,
3 more K's, (3:07, 2:57, 2:52)
6 more 200s,
10 minute walk home,
5 minutes eating ice cream on sidewalk outside house,
20 minutes kicking soccer ball around as cool down.
my focus was smooth running on the K's and speed for the 200s. Fast is fun!
wickedness.
rest well.
This morning's swim was the best yet. It was a 6K Long Course Beauty with 26 x 100, alternating between 2:10(easy) / and 1:20(fast). I touched the wall after the 1st hard one at 1:10. "Cool, that was faster than I expected and felt easy. Today must be a fast day so I'll try and keep it there." I hovered between 1:10 and 1:11 for the remainder of our 13 hard 100s feeling great. So today I'm happy to say we have a new standard for 100s, 1:10. Starting tomorrow morning the new acceptable standard is 1:09. From there it's only a short trek to where we can see base camp. Excitement builds.
Back home for a couple boiled eggs, a couple slices of toast, sunscreen application #2 and I was ready for a two hour base ride through the south side of TuKson. Nice smooth ride.
Feeding time, nap time, feet up the wall time, more eating time, time for one more sunscreen application and it's run time.
20 base,
8 build to tempo,
3 x drills and strides,
dynamic stretch,
3 x 1K on 6:00, (3:08, 2:58, 2:57)
right into 6 x 200m on 1:30,
10 minutes rest,
3 more K's, (3:07, 2:57, 2:52)
6 more 200s,
10 minute walk home,
5 minutes eating ice cream on sidewalk outside house,
20 minutes kicking soccer ball around as cool down.
my focus was smooth running on the K's and speed for the 200s. Fast is fun!
wickedness.
rest well.
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