A few awesome days.
Something new on Wednesday, something true on Thursday, and something new times two today.
Wednesday's ride was the typical Wednesday ride, but with added intensity (something new). Set number 2 (of 3) had a build up to what felt like just above my lactate threshold. Good ride, and a good flush swim, which left the legs feeling well appreciated and happy.
Long nap, legs up the wall, eat, and sleep some more. Much appreciated recovery.
Thursday was fairly light. I would like to thank whoever invented fins. They made Thursday's 12 x 100 set much more recovery like. Treadmill run, 5 x shakes, back to the fort, then something true ;).
In the evening during the OBRec shift we further established the Oak Bay Recreation Centre for High Performance, experimenting with HR's to prepare John Miller for his race across the Sierra. Definitely big-time-hard-core-raise-the-bar-max-the-envelope-go-big-or-go-home intense.
And today. Just one more to go. Remember those 40 x 50 swim sets on 40/50, or 20 x 50, or whatever it happened to be? Remember when there's just one more to go? Ok, I'm going to do a really good job on this last one. It's the last one. Only one more to go. Here we go. Last one. Go -
Before the last repetition of today's bike set, I noticed the same sort of feeling. Only one more to go. The only difference being the 50m swim piece takes approximately 30 seconds (well above race pace), while today's main set was 3 x 70 minutes (@ race pace).
The thing is, both are exactly the same. Time really becomes irrelevent. It sounds kind of lame I know, but seriously, it's exactly the same thing. One more to go.
One is one.
One more to go.
Sweet ride, smooth run, flush swim, and a great day start to finish. Plenty of lessons learned, along with some decent fitness. Now it's time to absorb a little of both.
Rest well.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wicked Westerly Wind
Wind is awesome.
There is something comforting about a westerly wind storm, something familiar. What could possibly be comforting about a wind storm? Who knows. Perhaps it's the excitement factor which is really the most reassuring. It's cool to know there is something happening, something going on, something out there which we are a part of, something which is right now making it's Self heard.
It's as though we can really see, hear, and feel the world's air being alive. Of course it's always there, always alive; the wind just makes things more noticeably obvious.
Wind is awesome.
Good swim today. The legs had a few thoughts on the weekend of adventure, so it was an arms and torso focus sort of day.
Elizabeth, our Yoga instructor, speaks of the bodies lines, connecting links going from tongue to toe. Today there was connection from the ulna's olecranon process to the iliac crest. I think this is good. Either way, it seemed to save the legs.
Back to the rollers on the bike for some technical practice. High cadence, single leg, no hands, all the good stuff. Good spin.
Treadmill run of the tempo type. Lately I have been considering the energy systems engaged during activity, and keeping this consideration present in my mind throughout practice. It seems to help. Kick off the shoes and spin around the fields to wake up gastroKnemius, among others.
Early sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a sweet one.
Rest well.
There is something comforting about a westerly wind storm, something familiar. What could possibly be comforting about a wind storm? Who knows. Perhaps it's the excitement factor which is really the most reassuring. It's cool to know there is something happening, something going on, something out there which we are a part of, something which is right now making it's Self heard.
It's as though we can really see, hear, and feel the world's air being alive. Of course it's always there, always alive; the wind just makes things more noticeably obvious.
Wind is awesome.
Good swim today. The legs had a few thoughts on the weekend of adventure, so it was an arms and torso focus sort of day.
Elizabeth, our Yoga instructor, speaks of the bodies lines, connecting links going from tongue to toe. Today there was connection from the ulna's olecranon process to the iliac crest. I think this is good. Either way, it seemed to save the legs.
Back to the rollers on the bike for some technical practice. High cadence, single leg, no hands, all the good stuff. Good spin.
Treadmill run of the tempo type. Lately I have been considering the energy systems engaged during activity, and keeping this consideration present in my mind throughout practice. It seems to help. Kick off the shoes and spin around the fields to wake up gastroKnemius, among others.
Early sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a sweet one.
Rest well.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Nachoooooo
Ok, we're going to start slow as there is a lot to cover today. It was an eventful day in an epic sort of way.
In the beginning there was Cafe Awasa and immediately I noticed something unusual. What could it be? It's a smell, and it smells good. It's the coffee. Hey, I can smell again. The head is finally clear. Sweet start.
We met up for a group run at the Lakes for an 8am start. The workout: 20 minutes warm up, 70 minutes race pace target HR, 15 minutes warm down. Today was the first time I've done the long hard run following a long hard ride the previous day. The plan was to notice how the legs react to TT time. Be aware of this.
Decent run overall. Legs felt pretty good and I was happy to be running in the rain, a nice bonus. Rainy runs are among my favourite.
Thanks for a sweet run.
Freshly picked Mackintosh apples for the drive home and massive bottle of sugar water.
Home for a lunch of leftovers: Arctic Muskox, Ratatouille, Polenta, Dill Potato Soup, and a cup of extra potent green tea. Feet up and a 25 minute power snooze.
Throw together a kit for this afternoons cross race.
Jalapeno and I rolled out of the house around 1:15 for a good warm up before our 3:15pm start. Now this is where things become interesting.
I was a little unsure how the riding legs would feel at effort, and knowing there would be plenty of this to come, I kept the warmup fairly easy but of substantial duration (about 70 minutes).
Ride out to Juan de Fuca, loop the lagoon, back to register, and pre-ride the course. On my way up one of the steeper climbs I literally pulled the handle bars right off, cracking the carbon steer tube in half. No joke. Just pure torque from the arms managed to crack this thing climbing the hill.
Wow. That was very lucky. If I were descending when the steer tube broke in half, that could easily spell impalement.
Well, maybe this is a sign that today was not meant for me to cross race. Carry Jalapeno back to the race course.
"Hey dude, that's harsh! Do you need a bike to race on?"
"Yeah, totally man that would be wicked. Are you sure that's cool?"
"Yeah, man. Let's swap the pedals and get you ready to race."
Big time shout out to a dude named Hichem. Thanks mano, I owe ya one.
This was sign enough for me that today would be a racing day.
Off the start I kept it pretty chill. As chill as things can be for a cross race. Feel out the new ride. Feel out the course.
1 Lap in and this is too easy. Legs feel pretty good. I'll kick it up a notch.
There was one super steep pretty long hill which a few riders could make it 1/2 way up. In this situation, I always choose to run. For me, this is just simply faster and there's no point riding with 35 cadence only to stall in about 30 seconds.
The hill was my place to move. I dug in there pretty deep and found myself running past a group and into no mans land. Dig the flats, run as fast as possible over the barriers, and chill where it becomes technical (bmx track).
The next time up the hill I found myself coming up on Norm Thibault (wicked awesome race, thanks for putting it on) and a dude who I think is called Andrew. These guys are pretty technically proficient cross riders.
I thought, "Hey, I might actually be in this thing. May as well give'er a rip."
Storm the hill. Run fast. Run past.
On the way back down, I heard one of the Berg's say, "Come on Killer, you're bringing back in the leaders." Cool. This is good.
Dig in. Dig in. Dig in. Next time around the BMX loop Russell had one of a few Technicals right in front of me. Roll past. Ok. Here's a chance to pull right up. Let's make this hill flat.
I managed to reach a new max HR this time up the climb, beating my previous run max by 2bpm, and cycling max by 12bpm. Sweet.
On my way up I heard. "Your fighting it out for second with Russell!"
Really? I'm actually in this race.
Next lap. "Your pulling in Jeff Kabush!"
For real? Jeff Kabush? This is going pretty well.
Next lap. Barriers. Somehow, after 6 or 7 laps of running the barriers with ease, I managed to forget of there presence and rode straight into one of them. Crash. Over the bars, and over one of the barriers.
Up. Faster. Quick transition. Run. Hop on the bike. The front wheel isn't spinning. TacOOOOed.
Seriously tacoed front wheel. We're talking 2 inch difference from 6 to 12 o'clock. Well that's an easy fix. Just disengage the front brake and keep going. 2.5 laps to go. Hang in there.
Hmmm. . . my balance seems a little off. Probably a mix between fatigue and the wheel. Wobbly front wheel was a challenge for sure, especially climbing, and through the mud.
Now the descent. A serious descent with only a back brake. Should I get off and walk/run the descent? Are you kidding me? What kind of lame question is that?
Just what all the Mt. Doug Papaya practice last year was for. Lock up the back wheel and hang on for dear life. One of the more sketchy moments of the day for sure.
You might think that no front brake factor would make things faster. It in fact makes things quite a bit slower. The wobbly factor also contributes to an overall decrease in velocity. Fortunately, both these things increase the fun factor.
A bunch of the other guys sailed past on the swervy muddy bits with about a lap to go, and that was that.
Awesome, fun, sweet, epic race. Wicked cool and definitely one of the funnest races I've ever been a part of.
Now batting .667 for the Most Aggressive Rider. Sweet.
Thanks for a wickedly awesome day.
Big week on it's way. Time for sleep.
Rest well.
In the beginning there was Cafe Awasa and immediately I noticed something unusual. What could it be? It's a smell, and it smells good. It's the coffee. Hey, I can smell again. The head is finally clear. Sweet start.
We met up for a group run at the Lakes for an 8am start. The workout: 20 minutes warm up, 70 minutes race pace target HR, 15 minutes warm down. Today was the first time I've done the long hard run following a long hard ride the previous day. The plan was to notice how the legs react to TT time. Be aware of this.
Decent run overall. Legs felt pretty good and I was happy to be running in the rain, a nice bonus. Rainy runs are among my favourite.
Thanks for a sweet run.
Freshly picked Mackintosh apples for the drive home and massive bottle of sugar water.
Home for a lunch of leftovers: Arctic Muskox, Ratatouille, Polenta, Dill Potato Soup, and a cup of extra potent green tea. Feet up and a 25 minute power snooze.
Throw together a kit for this afternoons cross race.
Jalapeno and I rolled out of the house around 1:15 for a good warm up before our 3:15pm start. Now this is where things become interesting.
I was a little unsure how the riding legs would feel at effort, and knowing there would be plenty of this to come, I kept the warmup fairly easy but of substantial duration (about 70 minutes).
Ride out to Juan de Fuca, loop the lagoon, back to register, and pre-ride the course. On my way up one of the steeper climbs I literally pulled the handle bars right off, cracking the carbon steer tube in half. No joke. Just pure torque from the arms managed to crack this thing climbing the hill.
Wow. That was very lucky. If I were descending when the steer tube broke in half, that could easily spell impalement.
Well, maybe this is a sign that today was not meant for me to cross race. Carry Jalapeno back to the race course.
"Hey dude, that's harsh! Do you need a bike to race on?"
"Yeah, totally man that would be wicked. Are you sure that's cool?"
"Yeah, man. Let's swap the pedals and get you ready to race."
Big time shout out to a dude named Hichem. Thanks mano, I owe ya one.
This was sign enough for me that today would be a racing day.
Off the start I kept it pretty chill. As chill as things can be for a cross race. Feel out the new ride. Feel out the course.
1 Lap in and this is too easy. Legs feel pretty good. I'll kick it up a notch.
There was one super steep pretty long hill which a few riders could make it 1/2 way up. In this situation, I always choose to run. For me, this is just simply faster and there's no point riding with 35 cadence only to stall in about 30 seconds.
The hill was my place to move. I dug in there pretty deep and found myself running past a group and into no mans land. Dig the flats, run as fast as possible over the barriers, and chill where it becomes technical (bmx track).
The next time up the hill I found myself coming up on Norm Thibault (wicked awesome race, thanks for putting it on) and a dude who I think is called Andrew. These guys are pretty technically proficient cross riders.
I thought, "Hey, I might actually be in this thing. May as well give'er a rip."
Storm the hill. Run fast. Run past.
On the way back down, I heard one of the Berg's say, "Come on Killer, you're bringing back in the leaders." Cool. This is good.
Dig in. Dig in. Dig in. Next time around the BMX loop Russell had one of a few Technicals right in front of me. Roll past. Ok. Here's a chance to pull right up. Let's make this hill flat.
I managed to reach a new max HR this time up the climb, beating my previous run max by 2bpm, and cycling max by 12bpm. Sweet.
On my way up I heard. "Your fighting it out for second with Russell!"
Really? I'm actually in this race.
Next lap. "Your pulling in Jeff Kabush!"
For real? Jeff Kabush? This is going pretty well.
Next lap. Barriers. Somehow, after 6 or 7 laps of running the barriers with ease, I managed to forget of there presence and rode straight into one of them. Crash. Over the bars, and over one of the barriers.
Up. Faster. Quick transition. Run. Hop on the bike. The front wheel isn't spinning. TacOOOOed.
Seriously tacoed front wheel. We're talking 2 inch difference from 6 to 12 o'clock. Well that's an easy fix. Just disengage the front brake and keep going. 2.5 laps to go. Hang in there.
Hmmm. . . my balance seems a little off. Probably a mix between fatigue and the wheel. Wobbly front wheel was a challenge for sure, especially climbing, and through the mud.
Now the descent. A serious descent with only a back brake. Should I get off and walk/run the descent? Are you kidding me? What kind of lame question is that?
Just what all the Mt. Doug Papaya practice last year was for. Lock up the back wheel and hang on for dear life. One of the more sketchy moments of the day for sure.
You might think that no front brake factor would make things faster. It in fact makes things quite a bit slower. The wobbly factor also contributes to an overall decrease in velocity. Fortunately, both these things increase the fun factor.
A bunch of the other guys sailed past on the swervy muddy bits with about a lap to go, and that was that.
Awesome, fun, sweet, epic race. Wicked cool and definitely one of the funnest races I've ever been a part of.
Now batting .667 for the Most Aggressive Rider. Sweet.
Thanks for a wickedly awesome day.
Big week on it's way. Time for sleep.
Rest well.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
October de 4t
Happy Birthday to the G-man himself!
You're looking a year wiser and stronger!
Here's to the double deuce bro!
Pretty sweet day today. I woke up at 3:15 with the cough still lingering. Ahhh. I would really like to do a good job on today's ride. Stumble over to the bathroom, wash the face, look in the mirror. Ok, when I wake up in just under 4 hours I will feel great.
7:00 came and I felt pretty sweet. This time it worked.
The main set for today's ride was 3 x 55 minutes @ speed with a fairly decent warm up. A good breakfast definitely helped the cause. I've been fooling around with positioning on the TT bike, mostly just seat height and fore / aft postion. Today's position was definitely an improvement from Wednesday's, although the adductors & flexors made themselves heard loud and clear towards the end.
Remidy could be: higher + yoga = quite hips.
20 minute HR pace run off the bike. Just find the pace to match a number.
Flush swim at the crystal. Feel good.
1h45 run tomorrow morning with some pace work to wake the legs up before the Juan de Fuca cross race in the afternoon. It'll be another sweet one.
Thanks for a great day.
Rest well.
You're looking a year wiser and stronger!
Here's to the double deuce bro!
Pretty sweet day today. I woke up at 3:15 with the cough still lingering. Ahhh. I would really like to do a good job on today's ride. Stumble over to the bathroom, wash the face, look in the mirror. Ok, when I wake up in just under 4 hours I will feel great.
7:00 came and I felt pretty sweet. This time it worked.
The main set for today's ride was 3 x 55 minutes @ speed with a fairly decent warm up. A good breakfast definitely helped the cause. I've been fooling around with positioning on the TT bike, mostly just seat height and fore / aft postion. Today's position was definitely an improvement from Wednesday's, although the adductors & flexors made themselves heard loud and clear towards the end.
Remidy could be: higher + yoga = quite hips.
20 minute HR pace run off the bike. Just find the pace to match a number.
Flush swim at the crystal. Feel good.
1h45 run tomorrow morning with some pace work to wake the legs up before the Juan de Fuca cross race in the afternoon. It'll be another sweet one.
Thanks for a great day.
Rest well.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Sweet & Short
Two quick thoughts and thanks before bed.
Thought on the last few days: An absolute gift. Thank You.
Thought from Dr. Guan: It's all ok. Great advice. Thanks.
Much more from Heart form.
Rest well.
Thought on the last few days: An absolute gift. Thank You.
Thought from Dr. Guan: It's all ok. Great advice. Thanks.
Much more from Heart form.
Rest well.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
ahhhhhhh.....
finished a sweet morning / afternoon of training.
3 cups of Spiral Cafe organic coffee, followed by 4 cups of Ethiopian level trade were the perfect way to roundhouse kick the day. (I may exaggerate slightly.)
Ok. Bike time. On Wednesday the red workout is bike. Bike the emphasis. Bike the quality. Bike the quantity. Today's set was 50 minute Warm up, 3 x 45 minutes @ race pace HR, 40 minute cool down. The HRM is your master to prevent disaster.
Lesson. . . You can fake the nutrition component on a short course workout of 3 - 4 x 20 minutes. The longer the set, the harder it becomes to fake nutrition.
Homework . . . Figure this one out, and follow the figure.
Flush swim and the stroke comes around after a few faster 50s. Flush and Frequency seem to be working well in the pool. Note that one.
Time to be honest with nutrition and throw the legs in the air for a short while.
Rest well.
3 cups of Spiral Cafe organic coffee, followed by 4 cups of Ethiopian level trade were the perfect way to roundhouse kick the day. (I may exaggerate slightly.)
Ok. Bike time. On Wednesday the red workout is bike. Bike the emphasis. Bike the quality. Bike the quantity. Today's set was 50 minute Warm up, 3 x 45 minutes @ race pace HR, 40 minute cool down. The HRM is your master to prevent disaster.
Lesson. . . You can fake the nutrition component on a short course workout of 3 - 4 x 20 minutes. The longer the set, the harder it becomes to fake nutrition.
Homework . . . Figure this one out, and follow the figure.
Flush swim and the stroke comes around after a few faster 50s. Flush and Frequency seem to be working well in the pool. Note that one.
Time to be honest with nutrition and throw the legs in the air for a short while.
Rest well.
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