Goals

Another year of haphazard racing and training. Right now I have the time (single), motivation and experience to put something together for next year.

Goals:

1) General fitness. I like almost all Colorado sports (running, biking, climbing, hiking, snowboarding, etc) and a bunch of others (surfing, swimming), so the primary goal is fitness to be able to do all of these. Being able to include weight training, yoga and climbing into my training is important to me.

2) Endurance. Most of the "A" events will be 4 hour up to 10-12, but maybe even a 24 hour race. Getting some base miles in over the winter is critical as well as getting used to some longer days on the bike.

3) Motivation. To make this work, it has to be fun. I want to be able to incorporate trail running, mountain biking, TTH rides, morning runs with the dog and maybe Master's Swim into the workouts.

4) Skills. For mountain bike racing and swimming - technique seems to be holding me back more than fitness. I need to schedule time work on these a bit.

Starting up again...

First cycling race of the year - Frost Bite TT - I'm not in shape yet and definitely wasn't ready for the wind. The race was 1/2 way between Wellington and Carr, Colorado

In Wellington
Wind 9-12mph with gusts up to 20mph. I
In Carr
Wind 20mph with gusts up to 34.5mph

26th
34:51
Adam
Johnson
Fort Collins Cycling Team
Fort Collins
SM 35+_4

Thinking about next season

The 24hrs of triathlon was a great event (like the racing underground/without limits events more each time I do them). Now I need to get motivated for next year...

Thinking about Ironman Louisville. Just need to sign up and get started. This working out 2-3 times a week in a completely disorganized fashion isn't getting me anywhere.

training update

Not keeping up with this...

The weather has been pretty nice the past couple of weeks and I decided that for March I'm going to try and keep the swim volume steady and build up some running miles (April/May to increase bike volume). Can swim 400yd in ~8 minutes right now without getting completely wiped out. Need to do another 1000yd test (last one was ~22:30).

Week of 3/9/2009 - 7:41 hrs

Moday:
swim: 3200yd - long stroke technique and 8x250 paddles/buoy

Tuesday:
run: 4.31 miles, 34 min
bike (trainer) : 10.66 miles, 43 min, 155w avg

Wednesday:
run: 4.39 miles, 34 min
swim: 1600yd - 2x400yd

Thursday:
rest

Friday:
swim: 1500yd - 3x (150,100,50 increasing pace)

Saturday:
bike (trainer): 11.7 miles, 47 min, 161w avg

Sunday:
run: 7.02miles, 1:02

Stress level last week was an 11... Next week getting a bike fit at colo multisport. I moved my seat forward 1cm and have been having cramping in my hamstrings. Definitely need help in finding the right position.

Third time's a charm?

Ok - so I usually have no training plan. I mean to - I really do - but I get sidetracked by work, laziness or tasty beverages on a Friday night. This year - I'm going back and doing the 5430 series again. I did all three of them my first year of triathlon, so will have an easy benchmark to compare to as the courses are the same.

The biggest difference this year is swimming. I've never been able to swim more than 200yd - and even then it was almost a hypoxic workout. My head was too high, elbows too low, swam too flat etc. A couple of different Master's swim coaches told me that the only help they could give me was tossing a life preserver. But - a couple of video sessions and more drills and I swam 800yd the other night (part of a 1000yd time trial that I had to stop in the middle of). So hopefully no more personal kayak escorts while I'm closing in on the cutoff time.

I'm going to count this as week #1 since - if I run tomorrow - it will be my first full week.

Monday:
swim - 2500yds - main set 6x250yd paddles w/buoy
Tuesday:
run - 3.56 miles - 28min
Wednesday:
swim - 1500yds - main set 2x500yd swim
Thursday:
run - 4.9 miles - 38min
Friday:
swim - 1500yds - ~1000yd time trial (800, rest, 200) 22:20
Saturday:
1st ride in months - 26.57 miles, 1:43

Goals this year?
1. sub 5 hr half iron distance
2. 1000yd swim in 20 minutes
3. get comfortable on the bike
4. end of season - ready for Ironman training next year!

New Year

Finally getting some traction on swimming... Hopefully this year I won't have any race where the kayakers follow me around the course (seriously!). I hope to work up to a 5x400m main set, but right now I'm happy to be at 2x400m. It takes me a long time, but I keep movin'.

Soon it will be time to scrape the cobwebs off the bike and start riding. It was 60 degrees today and low winds. It's been blowing shingles off my house lately - so probably not the best riding conditions on the plains.

Maybe this weekend I can get a ride in...

Eagleman

Eagleman was sweltering - 95 degrees and 75% humidity. That compared to the 90 degrees, but only 13% humidty in Colorado today.

Ragbrai has days like that. Cross country in high school had days like that... It was pretty rough for me. Normally I'm bad about hydration, but at Eagleman there was no choice. 28oz/hr on the bike and who knows how much water on the run. I'd grab two cups, drink half of one, pour the other one on my head and slowly pour and ounce or two every hundred yards or so to the next rest stop. After I figured out that I needed to carry water from stop to stop, I probably was 30sec/mile faster than the first 6 miles.

Didn't figure out any was to cool off on the bike. Just no where to go. Every time I tried to push the pace - just started to get nauseous and had to back off.

Anyway - disappointing time 6:01:24. Master's swim - here I come... Need a bike fit and some racing flats that won't get as waterlogged as normal running shoes do.

bad riders, bad drivers - be careful

There have been a lot of blogs, news, articles - whatever about spring, cyclists and what the law is for riding a bike...

Today I went out for a lunchtime ride. No big deal, just getting a little exercise. County road 5 is always kind of stressful for all of the dumptrucks and traffic coming to and from Windsor (I-25 is a mile away, but many choose to take the local road). There was a guy in front of me on a felt tri-bike. One of the aluminum ones, think it was yellow and he was wearing a NB Winderful jersey. I'm maybe fifty feet back watching him come up on a couple of kids riding side by side on the shoulder. There's a dump truck approaching us and so I slow down (too many bikes in one spot on the shoulder) and wait for him to pass. This yahoo on the felt lurches past the kids and into the lane... The guy is lucky he didn't get hit. Even though the dumptruck driver didn't give much space, he also didn't run over the idiot on the felt. Good job - dumptruck guy!

Now just when I'm starting to think that drivers are looking out for cyclists on this road - there's a small hill with no shoulder before you get to the intersection. One of those roads where the white line curves away from you because there is no more asphault - only a shallow ditch. Double yellow line on a narrow road. I'm as close to the side as I can get and am almost blown off the road by a semi (probably same company as Mr Dumptruck) that passes me with no space while there is oncoming traffic. Seemingly gunning his engine to speed up the hill and not have to downshift.

I kinda wish I would have yelled at the guy on the Felt for the sake of Mr Dumptruck. I also wish I had something bigger than a semi to put some fear into the other driver.

Be careful out there folks. There are idiots on both sides...

this week

This is maybe my 3rd first week of training? Too many life things going on and having trouble really getting started.

Saturday swam 1100 meters total. Not at one time, in 25, 50 and 75 meter chunks. Hopefully I'll be able to swim 5x400m before the next half-ironman.

Sunday rode for three hours. Pretty slow, hung out with the second group and would slowly chase down any people that rode off the front of the group. I actually got too hot at the end of the ride and coasted in...

Monday swam 750m. Was still feeling it from Saturday. Combination of kicking, pulling and swimming. Just trying to get my endurance up...

Tuesday it snowed a little bit and unmotivated to throw the bike in the back of the truck. So I putzed around and finally decided to go to a spin class after work. Always go too hard in a spin class... I don't really know why, maybe it's the music or just wanting to get done, but halfway through the class I suddenly realized I was breathing so hard I was getting a little dizzy. Easy, easy!

Swim and run Wednesday, Friday. Bike Thursday and Saturday...

Gettin back into it...

Time for the season to start. I'm moving pretty slow these days and need to get motivated. Waterboy is thinking about coming out in a couple of weeks for some riding and to see Buckethead (the guitar player). Then him and Timmers are looking at Memorial Day weekend for a painfest. Both those guys are an order of magnitude stronger than me, so it's time to get to it...

Base fitness? Can ride at 150W for 45 minutes on the trainer before getting bored. 30 minutes on the treadmill with the last mile at 7 minute pace. Swimming - maybe 700 meters/workout. Like I said, not really in shape yet, but it's more motivation and getting a base going than anything else.

So far no races yet, but signed up for triple bypass... Thinking about taking some exercise physiology or sports medicine classes at CSU just to pass the time. Something...

Also saw a cyclist, probably a commuter, that was hit by a car early this morning. Just makes me a bit upset - watch out on the road people!

Triathlon training - take two!

Ummm, last year turned out ok. No major crashes and I didn't drown (or maybe I did and haven't realized it yet). My training took a bit of a nose dive after the half ironman I did. After swimming sidestroke for a mile and running out of water on the bike - I fell apart... I still finished the stupid thing, but I was thinking of putting everything on eBay the next day.

Then Chris and Liz came out for a little pre-Ironman training and a little beer drinking before shutting it down for the lead up to Kona. They taught me about salt tabs (wow - how did I survive without these) and leading with your armpit when you swim - or at least, that's how it makes sense to me. Swimming is one of those zen things. Kinda like breathing through your eyeball - I don't understand that either...

Since it's December and I don't have anything planned until June, I can take it easy, work on my swim stroke and build my knees up before putting on heavier miles. New road bike and some shiny new motivation for this year!

Big Sky Duathlon

Woke up at 4:30am - ugh to drive down to a little town east of Denver called Bennett. This was the location of the 2nd in the Mile High Duathlon series. After passing the airport I wondered if I would either drive off the end of the world or see a girl with red shoes and her little dog too? The town actually reminded me a little bit of northwest Iowa with the small towns and people curious as to what all the fuss is about...

Back to the race... Smaller field than the Barkin' Dog, but still has some crazy fast people. Started off 30 seconds after the elites with all of the men 39 and under. It always sucks sprinting out the first 1/4 mile and then having to dodge through people as they ease off on the gas. Eventually getting some clean road, settled into a nice pace over the 2.5 miles at 14:29.

Rode the tri bike for the first time in a race today. I think I was kind of amped a little high because of that - no more excuses - just ride and go fast! It was a little windy, a few rollers and a great day for a ride. Exited the transition area with two other guys and they were out and gone in a few minutes. Then the steady stream of one person passing every five minutes or so. Gotta get stronger on the bike. Intervals, climbing, anything to push that next higher gear.

The second run was a little more interesting this time because my legs were pretty wiped. Smaller steps for the first mile, trying to pass a guy I named the "pirate". He wasn't wearing a frilly shirt and a patch - just yelling Aarr! back and forth with a little kid before the race. Hit an open stretch and was able to open the stride back up again and catch a few guys that were ahead of me. Decent 2nd leg 15:28 so about a 6:10 pace. The 2nd elite woman finished directly ahead of me and said thanks for pushing her at the end of the race.

I wore a heart rate monitor today and it was at 180bmp for pretty much the entire hour. I think I might explode if I do a longer race! Gotta figure out how to push a higher gear and mellow out a bit. First year of racing - may not have as good of a base as needed...

Tired... Need to take a nap.

Barkin' Dog

Drove to Denver this morning at 5am to race the Barkin' Dog. First ever multisport race! It was actually a lot of fun. Kind of milled around waiting for the race, watching all the elites do wind sprints to get warmed up.

We got started and people were serious from the start. Some sprinted out to get a clear path while others ducked and weaved a bit. It felt fast, too fast. Quickly brought back down to reality when we hit the one mile marker at 6:20. Took the foot off the gas and tried to stay mellow about it.

Transition to the bike leg was pretty good. Already kinda sweaty so had a drink, put on my shoes, helmet and took off. Within a few minutes of leaving the transition area I thought a car was passing me! Turns out it was a guy on a disc wheel - I'd heard about the noise they make, but never heard it up close (I want one now). Bike was good - kept getting passed by guys with aerobars and discs, but managed to pace a little bit off of another roadie a ways ahead until we got up to the dam - and then - one word - bugs! Seriously, so thick I thought I didn't need a gu because of all the bugs I was swallowing (felt like it was raining). Luckily - the return trip was relatively bug-less! Kept pushing on the bike - got passed by some of 40-49 guys, but a pretty decent ride overall.

The second run - that's where the pain sets in. First the legs were kind of numb and wobbly, then burning a little bit, then the lungs burn a little bit and maybe a mile into it just startnig to get tired. We passed the turn-around on the first leg and I seriously wanted to just turn around and go home... But we still had another road to cross, a downhill (knowing that we had to run back up it!), another road and another downhill - then the returning uphill. I just kind of relaxed and kept it at a decent pace.

Fun race overall - plenty of water and snacks. 1:33 something... Maybe 12th place in AG?

Hail...

Plink pa-plink plink PLING! That was the sound of my ride yesterday. It was kind of dark and rainy in the morning when a group ride I was thinking about was leaving - so I decided to trust the weatherman (bad idea) and ride after 10am. No rain after 10am - all done... Stupid weatherman...

Anyway - rode up rist. Actually not too bad. A little cold, the batteries on my watch died, but a nice climb. Got up to the top and saw a few gray clouds, but they didn't look bad. Had a little to drink and screamed down the back side of Rist. Maybe 20 minutes later it starts raining. Not too heavy, but enough to make me slow down a bit going around the curves. Then tink. Uh-oh... Tink. The incessant reminder that something potentially bad was going to happen. Tink ... tink - tink, tink, tink, tink, plink, plink, pa-plink... These little bombs being hurled from the sky kept getting bigger and more rapid. Hiding my fingers under the bars, hating all of the vents allowing little pieces of ice to zap me in the top of the head, keeping my glasses pushed up so I wouldn't lose an eye!

Eventually - I did hide under a rock/bush alongside the road for the worst of it. It was too much... The rest of the ride, well - it sucked too. A mile or two of slushy ice on the road and just couldn't really seem to get the engine going again after that. Maybe another 45-60 minutes of slow riding in the rain. Builds character, right? Stupid weatherman...

learning to swim...

So everyone kinda knows how to swim, right? We all took some sort of swim classes at the pool when we were little and since there have been no recent drowning incidents in my history - I can swim... And the answer is, well ... not really.

First of all, my flutter kick looks like an egg beater. No movement from the hips, just a random movement from the knees and down. This doesn't help the fact that my body is perpendicular to the bottom of the pool? So - starting from the very beginning:

Drill 1:

Lie on your back (yes your back, we'll get to turn over soon enough!). Kick with your toes pointed - not flexed, but pointed. Tilt your head back so that the water is parted by the highest point and naturally your hips start to come up a bit.

Drill 2:

Lie on your side with bottom arm extended and top arm flat against your side. If you can float easily - your hand/hip should be out of the water - I'm lucky to have my shoulder out... Again, flutter kick, roll your head to the side and tuck your chin a bit to breathe. Try to push your chest deeper into the water.

Drill 3:

Start with drill 1. This one's a bit more difficult to describe. Keep your head in roughly the same place, but rotate the body to something closer to perpendicular. I need to think of a better way to describe this, but it teaches the rotation used in the crawl only on the back instead of the front.

Drill 4:

Start with drill 2 except both arms/hands flush against the body. Flutter kick a few times, then put your face in the water and rotate to the opposite side, far enough that you can breathe, get comfortable and repeat.

Just like in any other sport, tension and being uncomfortable takes a lot of energy. The first four drills and a little bit of work with a pull buoy (moving my hips up!) was enough for me the first day. Not hopeless, but definitely not a swimmer.

Gear review

I like toys... Have liked them since I can remember. Maybe triathlon is just another opportunity to buy more toys!

Anyway -

Bike: Read review after review after review. Everything from geometry to aerodynamics to style and was pretty close to getting a Cervelo Dual when I realized that I could get a p2sl for a hundo more. Shiny red, aluminum, horizontal dropouts to move the wheel closer to the seat tube, an adjustable seatpost to change position and a decent component group. Not the fastest bike (Felt DA or Cervelo P3C), but I'm not the fastest guy either.

Wetsuit: Blueseventy. This one I didn't do as much work on - mainly because I took the advice of a buddy that races and got the least expensive in their lineup.

first week of training

So it's only Thursday and I officially suck. I've been back in Colorado for a month now - so I can't blame it on the altitude anymore. Went out with the guys from work today (AX/A) ride and got dusted once they put in a surge... Riding along comfortably at ~19mph in a pace line, can see people getting a bit antsy and then lost them at 27... I need a week of beer drinking - ahem - "carbo-loading" to ride this fast!

Anyway - this is the first time I've actually started a training program in 10 years... Still working on this

MWF morning (swimming)
MWF noon (jog/tempo run)

Bike:
Sun - long bike ride
Tues - cruiser ride
Thursday - gasping for air

Need to grow quads!

1st post

Blogging? I don't know if I'm really the type to share stories and my life online, but it is a pretty convenient place to keep a training log and keep track of progress. Once you write a goal down - and put it out there for everyone to see - it's really a goal and not just something you might do in the distant future.

Why triathlons? I used to watch the Ironman and marathons on television as a kid. Remember the Wide World of Sports show with that guy falling off the ski ramp? That was my show... I still follow the TDF, watch marathons on TV and am fascinated by any sort of adventure racing.

Swimming - if you saw me in a pool you'd throw a life preserver!!! Would they kick me out of a triathlon for wearing floaties? Basically a rock with arms - my weakest event by far.

Biking - I bought a road bike a few years ago to do this thing called ragbrai. You may have seen us riding along with hawaiian jerseys and a can of beer in hand? If I ever grow quads - I could be dangerous!

Runing - by far my best event. I used to be fast in high school (start humming glory days any time now) - but had a few sub-16 minute 5k's to my name. Also ran a 3:39 marathon last year with playing rugby as my primary training? There's potential here.

Right now? Looking for races and doing some base work (30-45 minute run or bike, 15-20 minutes in the pool, 5-6 days a week). Lurking on ebay for a tri-bike and reading all about bikes, wet-suits, VO2max, heart rate, power meters, nutrition and everything else.