CdA Bike Course CompuTrainer..

So I was able to finally meet up with Dave who is the Pres. of the Las Vegas Triathlon Club and also happens to have a CompuTrainer with the CdA course.

Once getting to Dave's house he was cranking away and coming up to the 25 mile mark. As I was checking everything out I was a little nervous looking at the course and the profile of the hills that were about to start. Dave offered for me to jump on and try it out so we changed out our bikes and got things set up.

I started from the 25 mile mark just before the rollers start. It didn't take long and I was cranking up some hills and back down the other side. I rode for an hour which took me through mile 40 and gave me a good idea of how this part of the course feels. It's not super hard but there are a few 8-10% grades that are going to make you work for that Finisher's Medal.

My thoughts:

- There will be lot's of shifting during the part of the course.

- It will be important not to go too hard on the first loop as you will pay for it on the 2nd.

- Keep up Nutrition during this part of the course.

- Even though the avg. speed will not be that fast through this section, keep moving and don't get frustrated.

I will be heading back to Dave's house this weekend to ride the full course loop and get a better feeling.

rockon`

Elevation profiles from Brick..

Here is my ride profile from the weekend, just had to post it.

The run profile is on the right. Geez I hope this is getting me ready for CdA...

rockon`

and that's the way it was....

(movie anyone?) From Friday's post I had a great weekend of training planned out and as it turns out I pretty much got it done with a few alterations. So let's get straight to it and talk about the other stuff in a minute.

Saturday morning I was up and out the door by 6am. It was a little colder than I had expected and luckily I had decided to wear an extra long sleeve shirt as I had been watching the weather and knew it was going to be a little colder than normal. What I didn't expect was it to be THAT COLD. I started off and after about 10 mins my hands were pretty cold and I was wishing I wore my biking tights instead but I decided not wear them as I figured it was going to be too warm later on in the day. I headed out to to Red Rock and it was pretty cold but I kept going and I was feeling good. At my usual stop, the gas station and turn around, I refueled and noticed a couple of other cyclist and they were getting ready to head out. I went to the bathroom and took off and just a mile down the rode I see them pulled over on the side of the rode working on one of the bikes. As I slow up I ask if everything is OK and they said yes there were just adjusting the seat. By this time I am just about to stop and I unclipped my left foot, as usual, and then make a full stop next them when all of a sudden I start to lose my balance and fall to the right with my foot still clipped in. I said Wow, I'm falling and one of the girls fixing her bike seat lunges out to grab me but TOO LATE! Down I go!! BAM! They both asked if I was OK and begin to help me up. I said yes, and laughed and introduced my self. (It was pretty comical!) Next thing I know the other gal recognizes me and asks if I rode with the TNT Group a few weeks back out at Lake Mead, I said Yea! And then I recognize them as well. Hey, what's going on? Sorry to crash next to you as I was trying to offer help, lol. They fix the seat on the brand new 2008 Fujui Aloha! Nice bike I said, of course. We take off down the road and I ride with them for a little while when all of a sudden it begins to rain. Not just a little rain a nice big down pour! So the group slows and they decide to turn around and head back but I have to keep going and press on in the nice down pour. After a few mins it stops but the damage is down, I am totally wet and now it's really cold. As I head back into town from Red Rock I decide to finish up and not push riding wet and get sick (Jenn has been sick, but that's another story) I finish up the ride with 50 mins. Not too bad considering I was wet and cold.

Sunday morning I was out the door for a nice little 10 mile run. Pretty uneventful and not much to report here. Now I was planning on swimming in the afternoon but that did not happen as the pool changed there holiday lap swim and there was like 1500 kids in the pool so I was SOL,

Monday, I was out the door at 6:30am and the weather was PERFECT! I went out on the far loop first and than headed back to Red Rock and than back home. Pretty good ride although I seemed slower today at the 56 mile mark. I had a flat tire while riding at about 28mph. I finished up the ride at 90 miles. Once back I changed T2 and headed out for a little run. After about 8.18 miles or 1 hour 35 mins I was finally done. Total workout time today: 7 hours 7 mins.! YEAH!! Great training I think and a Great deposit into the Bank of CdA, which is about ready to be cashed in!

Lessons Learned:

- Need to take warmer clothing, in case CdA is cold/rainy like Saturday ride was, Gloves, Arm warmers, tights.

- Needed to take more solid food on Monday's ride as I could have easily taken it in and actually needed it, I was hungry on the run.

- The Brick run was good. Lot's of uphill climbing and I was able to keep my HR under control, it was actually better than Sunday's only run.

- I think I will carry my Fuel Belt with a couple of bottle for CdA.

I have ordered some nice CdA goodies that I needed and will post the Porn when they come in!!

It's all looking good towards CdA and although I haven't swam as much as I have liked I am feeling OK.

The movie is Bruce Almighty.

rockon`

to count or not to count..

is the question. With 29 days remaining till the big event, is it still possible to count how many training days we have left? I mean with taper and all built into the following days I feel like I need every bit of that 29 to make it the 140.6 miles!

On tap for this long holiday weekend, yahoo!! no work Monday! So Saturday I will be starting off with the bike and cranking out another 100 + 12 = 112 ride! That's right, going the whole distance this weekend which leads me to what area around my neck of the woods to get this done. I can do the out and back loops that I have rode before and extend it just a little to get the 112 instead of hitting the trainer OR I can head out to the infamous RAGE/SILVERMAN Course and really pay the price. Now the differences are my loops course goes through town and has many stop lights/stop signs so it breaks up the continuous riding and slows you down overall on time but there are many areas for refill, bathrooms and anything else you might need on a solo 112 ride. Now the RAGE/SILVERMAN course is a continuous highway ride with no support at all! I like the fact of continuous riding but not the unsupported part as I can only carry supplies to last about 35 miles and could push the envelope to 56 with an out and back 2x ride but pushing the envelope on the last of the training rides is Probably not a smart thing to do, so with all that I guess I am riding the loops ride! HAHA!

I am looking to run off the bike for a little bit as well and dropping everything off at my house, T2, will also be a good or possible a bad area as the couch might look pretty inviting by that time.

Sunday I am looking to get a longer run in and yes I know it is going to be on tired legs and they are going to feel heavy and I will feel slow and sluggish, Wait.. I am slow and sluggish, ha! and if anything I might actually swap Sunday's run to Monday and go a little longer and get the long swim done on Sunday as Monday the pool will be off limits to lap swimming. Yes, this is sounding better. A little recovery swim, oh yeah right, 4000m, recovery? WTH! and then long 3 hour run on Monday. I think I like this plan.

This past weekend I met Dr. Victor Leach from Biomechanics of Las Vegas at the BBQ and I went to see him for a little tune up and let me tell you something, Dr. Victor has some great stuff going on. He is certified Active Release Technique (ART) doctor and was great enough to work on me and fix some things that have been nagging at me over this long training. This was also my 1st time to experience ART and if you have never tried it I highly recommend it! It is great for any athletes and active people. Thanks Dr. Victor, I am sure I will be seeing you again before CdA.

Have a great weekend all...

rockon`

in review.. 33 days!!

Don't be too hard on yourself Bigun` as you training week was about the same as mine! HA! and that means we are doing just fine on this last little treck towards CdA!

Now to recap my week, I finished it out with a swim of 3000y, bike 125 and run 10 for the week! Now that is not a stellar week at all and I am looking for this week to be better but with work, life, and everything else you just have to do what you can do. Get your long stuff done and stay healthy!!

Even after getting some amino supplements (not amino vital, as i had to order it) I feel a little better but today brings on the tiredness I have been feeling on Monday's as before. Maybe it's mental, maybe it's just me being a Wimp! Either way I have a long swim tonight and with my new Barracuda Triton Goggles I think I will swim FAST!!

rockon`

90+10 = 100!!!

That's right boys and girls. JT done concurred the Century mark. So here is how it went down.

I was out the door at 6am and riding good. I actually stopped around 20 miles and adjusted my seat back a little and set back out. It actually felt pretty good and I was feeling more comfortable in the saddle. Nutrition was working well, I was using shot blocks and some fig newtons today and as the temperature started rising I was using a good amount of water as I had stopped a couple of time to refill. At 56 miles I was 3 hrs 20 mins and still feeling good but soon after things changed and only made me realize that your body decides how it wants to feel and any time and you are just along for the ride. So between miles 60-80 I had a sluggish time and even though the course was a little hillier it wasn't a reason to be complaining but the burning in my right foot was! Not sure why my foot started burning but after a while it stopped and switched to my left big toe! There were a few times it was burning really bad and I even stopped on the side of the shoulder to just give my foot a rest. Around mile 75 I stopped to move my seat forward just a little as this was the only thing that I changed and possibly caused the foot burning. I did notice that the foot burning reduced and almost went away but I was again fighting the cramped position of the cockpit.

The last 10 miles were great because it is basically all down hill back to my house which gave me a nice little rest to bring the HR down and being as it was getting nice and warm outside I enjoyed the nice coast to the house.

Once back at the house I realized it was pretty dang hot outside as it was after 12pm and although glad to back at my house and able to get inside I was only at 90 miles which meant Trainer time! So I hooked up the bike and cranked out the last 10 on the trainer. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but overall I was glad to be done.

After getting cleaned up and some refueling I caught up with Mr./Mrs. Formulaic at a nice little get together with a lot of tri/runner peeps. I even got to meet Frank Lowery, the RD for Silverman!!! but mostly the exciting thing was I got to meet the one and only Stef!! from bloggerville!! Her and her husband were there and it was great to finally meet her in person!

After getting a few beers and lots of food it was time to head home and get some in door AC rest.

rockon`

sweet!!

The other day I was driving down the road on the way back from lunch and I saw Run Bike Swim, its a small triathlon store and quickly made a turn around to go check it out. It has some pretty good stuff and the owner was really nice. But while there and looking at things I am needing for Cda, I decided to upgrade from my school back pack to TYR Triathlon Bag!!

So one thing off the list.

The rest of the week has been ok getting a couple of things done but mostly worrying about how to bust my fatigue, mental, I'm being lazy, super tired, work is getting in the way of my training FUNK! I picked up some Amino Vital so will see how this works out and the guy the tri store gave me a couple of samples of some other amino recover pills and I bought a Hammer Recovery packet, ever Tried it??

rockon`

lil bug

What next..is what I think as this weekend passes and I seem to have.. no wait, did damn near NOTHING! So let's back track..

The week was fairly good for swimming as I got a good couple of long swims in and 2 short run, I mean short, only 3 and 4 miles. Work this past week was crazy and it actually bumped one of my runs and had me tired and playing catch up all week long, grrrr!!! By Friday I was basically mentally fried.

With the help and motivation of Formulaic, who was on his way to his 1st Olympic!! (Way to Go Buddy!! What a race you had and Elements to deal with!) he helped me change a few things for Saturday and I attempted to hook up with a fellow CdA peeps who has a CompuTrainer for the course and has invited me to come ride it but I was unable to get a hold of the great guy and so that kind of left me hanging in the wind for Saturday. In the morning I got up and was so not ready to do anything so I took my time hoping the great guy would email/call but no luck. So by mid-morning I still had done nothing, the day had started and then it was after lunch where I found myself taking a nap and watching a movie. I didn't even go outside till about 7pm I left for a couple of errands which took me to the book store where I did pick up Triathlete mag and the 25th Anniversary Edition of Triathlete mag. Then came home and I looked through the mags and went to bed about 12am.

Sunday, I was out the door, not really wanting to about 6:30am and ended up riding an hour before I was totally ready to get off so I I did! I then managed to run 4 miles afterwards and felt a little better but still fought through the workout. By the time I was done, I was hungry and just glad to be done. I made some coffee, sat on the balcony and read the mags again and just began to think. The rest of Sunday was spent with mom.

Today, I was out the door and cranked out 6 miles and actually felt pretty good. It was really windy and I actually just enjoyed it as come race day who knows what the weather will be like. As for the rest of the week it has to be stellar!

Now as I was thinking on Sunday I began to wonder where it all started last year and "why" I signed up for IM. There are many reasons but it all comes down to the wire in the next 42 days! I think about what needs to be accomplished in that amount of time and if I can really pull this off. It seems like I need more time but while training I feel pretty good out there. So where does that little bug of Demotivation come from and WTF! I don't have time for that shit. After relaxing on Sunday and enjoying the mags, I put together a little list of things I need to get before CdA and I understand that basically the next 3 weekends are some heavy training days and then it will be taper time and come ready or not, CdA will take no Prisoner's!!

rockon`

BOnkin` the weekend..

Here it goes:

Saturday morning I was out the door to meet up with my parents at the Komen 5k. We were going to park in the major parking lot and take the shuttle like everyone else, however, I got a little turned around and ended up parking in the same parking lot that we did for the 5k Santa Smack down back in Dec when S. Baboo, GeekGirl, and there buddy were in town. This turned out to be the smartest move as I beat my parents to the so called check in and later gave them a ride back to their car.

Now we were supposed to meet up with Formulaic but they were running a little behind on the shuttle bus and totally missed them at the race, sorry, Form.

The race was great. A great turn out for a great cause. I lined up on the runners side as I was preparing to run/walk and didn’t want to get stuck behind all the walkers. The gun went off for the runners as the walkers had a 5 minute start behind the runners but this didn’t really happen as everyone took off. Started running for a little bit on the sidewalk passing lots of walkers and then finally made it to somewhat open road. I was run/walking and at one time I was running almost a 9 min/mile pace and I had to slow down. There was lots of people on the course so it made it hard to run. 

Now afterwards I found my dad who was already done with his 5k run and was waiting on my mom as she was walking her first 5k and next thing I know she calls me and ask where we are at and tells me she is back at out designated meeting place!!

Holy cow, mom was fast!! So we went to meet her and then no word from Formulaic so we took off to go eat at one of the casinos.

Now I am not sure what I ate but something didn’t really agree with me and later in the afternoon I was having stomach issues that continued on through the night, ugghh!! So this totally botched my swim, meeting up with Form at the lake or any further running!

Sunday morning I was out the door and on the bike by 6:30am. The ride break down: 1) I went out a little too fast/hard when I started riding with this other biker I caught up with. 2) Due to the stomach issues the night before, I didn’t start taking in nutrition till about an hour well into the ride. 3) Even though I started at 6:30 by 11:30-12, it was hot! Need to start by 5:30am as it was already light enough to ride. 4) Don’t ride out of HR zone as it kills the back end of the ride.

The ride was good and I learned, which is better to have problems now than on CdA day! I still felt achiness in my neck from being in the aero position for so long (need to get this checked) and I was having bike short problems pretty much all day, note to self, stay with the tri shorts, not bike shorts!

I ended with a bonk at 83 miles in 5 hours, 16.5 mph avg., AVG. HR 145, and according to Garmin burned 5600 calories. I think overall better than last week’s ride considering I had stomach issues.

Today, I feel tired and not recovered and am looking forward to the swim tonight to help that out.

47 days left….

Rockon`

Week in Review/Weekend..Month Review

It's Friday and that means some good training, relaxing, and eating for the weekend!

First up, tomorrow morning is a nice little 5k Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure And Yes, Bigun, I will even, well maybe, be wearing the Komen shirt, so can't wait to hear about that one! HA!

Later in the afternoon I should be hooking up with Formulaic and the Mrs. out at Lake Mead for a open water swim and some relaxation. Other than that just get ready for the long bike on Sunday and get some more R.R. in.!!

As I just said Sunday will bring a long bike ride (as Bigun says "It's all about the Bike") and the weather is looking great! No wind! (shhhh, I might jinx myself) and then in the afternoon it will be R.R. time with some food and a nap.

Now being as I had to work 13.5 hours last night! Yes, that totally sucked and it messed up my run for yesterday! But at least this week I have got a great swim in Wednesday night with 3000 years and 2800 of that with paddles. It was an interesting feat to swim with those things but once I got going it was great and the Lat/Shoulder soreness yesterday and today reminded me how great it was, HA!

The month of April kicks out my overall review of my training:

Swim: 16,812 yards

Bike: 244.5 miles

Run: 61.8 miles

Strength - 5 sessions 30 mins each. (core work)

With a Total of 31 hours 32 mins.

Now overall I do not know how great or not so great those numbers are but I do know that May is going to be a lot higher with my bike mileage being probably double as well as the swimming. I did see SWTrigal review and she killed me overall in biking and a little in running but swimming we were both close.

So hope everyone has a great weekend!!

rockon`