An Epic Day on the Bike

Last Saturday myself, Sue, and Al went out to ride Rev3 bike course again. I think I've ridden it 5 or 6 times now and each time it becomes less and less daunting....hopefully that means good things for Canada. We finished the loop after a well-paced 56 mile ride. My goal was to ride approximately 5.5 hours. I looked at a map the night before and saw that I could ride up and around Lake Waramaug from Middlebury for a 45 mile loop. I knew I was going solo because Sue was going out for an hour run and Al was having bike troubles all day.

My plans changed quickly in the parking lot when Chris Thomas, Ian Ray, and another friend of their's drove in with the intention of riding the Rev3 course. They were all jazzed up in their orange timex gear and bright orange bikes. Besides being fast, they just looked fast too. I was clearly out of place. Chris could easily be pro and is one of the country's fast age group triathletes, usually winning top amateur athlete at most races he competes in while beating many of the pros. They didn't really know the course well and said they weren't going hard and welcomed me to come along. We had some enjoyable conversation for the first 15 miles but I could tell that the pace would be too fast for me especially on already tired legs. As soon as we hit Rt. 63, they were gone and I was left holding up the caboose. I didn't see them again for quite a while.

My pace really fell off on Rt. 254 so I just took it slow and steady. I knew I was going to skip the out/back and pulled into a little deli to refill and get some more calories......a muffin this time around. I decided to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy my rest and muffin. I had 15 miles to go with a few more hills to climb so the extra rest was nice. Chris comes up and asks if I was okay (he did the out/back). I said fine and soon resumed my ride home. I get to the corner of route 6 and 61 and decide I might try to take a shortcut home.....that was a mistake. I head down route 6, off the rev3 course and connect to White Deer Rock road to a very steep climb.....oh well, what's another climb at this point? I made it back and packed up. Chris came running in. Not only did he ride about 7 more miles than me, he also ran 20 minutes or so and we finished about the same time :)

I clocked a lot of hours, probably around 7, 108 miles of riding, and well over 8,000 feet of climbing. A great day!!

Workouts have suffered big time this week with lots of Rev3 planning........countdown......only 2 weeks to go. I gotta get more sleep.

A Little Training Update

Two weekends ago, it was a guys training weekend in the Hamptons. We sat in traffic for hours trying to get through the city and on the LI Expressway to the Hamptons. We finally get in around 9pm Friday night and we ate pizza and pasta when we got in. We had a big training day planned for Saturday so carbo loading was essential. We woke up Saturday morning and ate a light breakfast and went for a decently paced 50+ minute run before heading to the local YMCA for a swim. We get to the Y and found out the pool was closed. One workout done. We head to get more food.....great bagels and tofu cream cheese. Pig out some more. We suit up with our cold rain gear. It was cold and rainy so we were in for a long day. The plan was to ride for 4-5 hours all over the hamptons. We rode for the first hour in the rain and we steadily became colder and more wet. We decide to explore shelter island. Its a few minute ferry ride each way. Fortunately the rain slowed down and stopped but we were still soaking wet. Fortunately it was getting warmer so we dried out enough that we could feel our extremities. I enjoyed the riding and the scenery, especially has we rode down billionaire's row in southampton.....an incredible out/back of amazing properties. We ended up riding 90 miles and I paced well and finished the last 30 minutes pretty strong. Head out to a nice family style restaurant and pile in more carbs.....wiped out. Wake up Sunday and its raining again. The plan was to head out to the Montauk lighthouse, an out/back with some more wind and rolling small hills. We ride 2:30 hours in the constant rain. I had a slow leak in my rear tire all day and my legs were shelled from the previous day. It was a recovery ride for me. My fingers and toes were numb. Back to the house, take warm shower, put on dry clothes, eat again, and muster up enough energy to run. I decided to play this part by ear. I didn't have much left in me but managed to run 40 minutes with approx. 15 min. tempo pace. Pack up and head home.

This past weekend, I organized a Rev3 course preview day. We had approx. 60 people turn up and it was raining again. We went out in 2 groups and I lead the slower group. There was a huge disparity in cycling speeds so we were forced to stop often to bring the group together. I was constantly traveling from the back to the front all day......a day of intervals, trying to lead the group and help people falling off the pace. There were lots flats and mechanical problems. I got in 56 miles and lots of climbing and topped it off with a hilly 9 mile run.

A big weekend ahead......preparing to get myself motivated.

Bronx Biathlon

I had heard about this race for a few years now. Its a no frills race. I was planning on doing it last year but it rained so I bagged it. No excuses this year. I was coming off a recovery week so the timing was perfect. Spring finally arrived last week....actually the weather skipped spring and went directly to HOT summer weather. The forecast was for hot sunny weather Saturday and Sunday. I went for a 3 hour hilly ride Saturday. I was a bit dehydrated from the ride since it was hot so I wasn't feeling fresh. Oddly I was kinda of looking forward to testing my fitness. I wasn't feeling very speedy. It was hot and humid already....not my favorite race conditions.

The first run is 2.8 miles, mostly flat. Start slow as I like to do and settle into my pace and get stronger as the run goes on. My target was the first place female and I slowly gained on her the whole run and finally passed her right before transition. I get on my bike fairly quickly and spin the legs at high cadence to once again settle into a good pace. Once again my target is that first place female again :) Oops, she transitioned quicker than me. Pass her again. My next target is Rodney, hairdresser to the stars. Pass him. We exchange a quick chat. The great thing about this race is that they close down a 4.5 mile stretch on the Hutchinson Pkwy.....very smooth road with a steel grated bridge we go over 4 times. I can't imagine riding over that section when its wet out. The rest of the ride was uneventful. There was myself and two other guys that exchanged places for the bulk of the ride. I ended up in the middle coming into T2.....feeling good. Got onto the run quickly. I started slowly to find my legs and it was much hotter now. The guy behind me came by at a pace that was too fast to keep up with. I caught the guy in front of me within the first half mile. I was passed by one other guy who once again was cooking. Its an out/back run so you could see all your competition ahead and behind you. I finished feeling strong. First run pace 6:22/mile and second run was 6:40/mile. Biked 23.3 mph at 273 watts. Finished 15th overall out of about 200 people. Sue was 2nd female and had the fastest female bike split. Unfortunately I was 6th in my age group...no podium for me :(

I bet I had at least 40 pounds of body weight on the 14 guys ahead of me. Now, if I could just lose 15 pounds, I would be running in the 5's.....that's what I want.

Big training week ahead. Swam 4,000 yds Monday and biked 1:50 on the computrainer today. Boys ironman training weekend in the hamptons this weekend. I will need a massage next week :) Not sure which race is next.......we'll see.

A Hard Week ended with a Half Mary

Only one swim this past week but just got done with a nice 4,000 yd swim this morning and felt like I could have kept going for another hour :) The weather here in CT this time of the year is all over the place. We have some nice days and a lot of not so nice days so getting outside is not very predictable which means I need to juggle my schedule around. I got in 3 trainer rides this week...7 hours on the trainer.....spells torture. I had a 3 hour trainer ride on Saturday and I had a great 1.5 hour ride, then the rest was blahhhhhhhh.....it sucked. I averaged 240 watts for 1.5 hours and felt really strong. I was holding back too, knowing that I had a long way to go. My ego got in the way because I was riding with some other guys so I challenged myself to kick some butt. Mission accomplished but the payed the price after the fact....oh well. Sunday (yesterday) I planned on running in the Danbury half marathon but only as a training run. My legs were pretty shot from the 3 hour trainer ride the day before so I just wanted to run in my aerobic zone, keeping my HR under 150 which is a comfortable pace for me but definitely not racing. There was a 2 to 3 mile stretch somewhere around mile 8-11 that the hills come and keep coming. I felt strong going up the hills but my HR definitely went into anaerobic but I was sure to try to recover on the downhills. I ran steady the whole way and decided to run strong for the last two miles. Finished 1:39 with a 7:30 pace. I have a sub 1:30 half marathon in me....just need to lose 10-15 pounds and find the right course. Cooled down with another 2 miles so got in 15 miles....nice long run. Mission accomplished. Another decent week ahead!!!

A little update

Not much cookin these days. I think Ironman training started this week. Swam 6,000, ran 30+ miles, and biked about 120 miles. A little wiped today but feel strong. I'm on my way. First bike ride outside this year (other than racing in Miami) yesterday....went on a nice 3 hour hilly ride. It was a good one. Felt strong and had good energy and endurance. Definitely need to work on increasing my power to weight ratio. Its taking me too much power to get up hills which isn't sustainable over a long period.....guess what that means??? LOSE WEIGHT. It will make my life so much easier when I go up those hills and Richter Pass and Yellow Lake will be easier too.

M.I.T. Mini Race Report

I borrowed one of those tri all 3 bike cases. If you know what I mean, those things are monsters and can hold a bike, wheels, gear, and even the kitchen sink. Well, so I thought anyway....my bike didn't fit very well. Since I got this new bike recently, it has an integrated seat tube thingy and its longer. I had to take off the rear derailler and the seat and it still didn't fit. I really needed to take off the crankset too but I didn't have an 8mm allen wrench to do so, so I was forced to sort of cram the bike in with little breathing room....not an ideal packing job for a brand new bike. Well, it worked and made it there and back with no damage but I need to make a few changes (like probably having to take the crankset off this time) by the time I travel to canada. Back to the race....

Did the whole day before race reg, swim/bike/run, and bike check-in. This race is only in year 2 and has the feel of a big race.....well, it was big (over 1,000 racers, I think). It was pretty well done. I have a much different perspective as most other racers because I look at the race site from a race director's standpoint as well as racer.

I was excited to see I was starting early (4th wave). Pro men, pro women, elites, then clydesdales/relays/PC went together. It was dark during my warmup in the water which was weird and hard to see. The pros started in the dark but by the time my wave started 10 min. later I didn't have any problems seeing or sighting. I swam well and pretty straight the whole time with only a few minutes of contact. I was happy with how I felt as I established a good rythym. Swam 25min which means the swim was probably short....good by me. Took my time in T1 as I always do, out on the bike and felt good. I was terrible at descending and there was a nice headwind in one direction but I powered through and felt strong on the whole bike ride. I rode by myself the entire first loop never getting passed but continually passing some people. The second loop was super crowded but manageable. Finished strong averaging 22mph. Hit T2 and there were very few bikes in transition...good sign. Off to the run and started with a big guy so I figured he was a clydesdale with me and he was my competition. The run is an out/back so you could see everyone in front of you. This guy was a touch stronger than me and opened a 30 yard gap which I maintained. There are two loops on the run so I wasn't worried because he wasn't gaining on me anymore. I was starting to cramp within the first two miles so I realized I didn't have enough sodium and I underestimated the heat. I hit the Heed at every aid station and was able to control the cramping. I focused on staying relaxed. After going through one loop, my pace remained steady and I didn't see any other big guys ahead of me except this dude. Well, 30 yards became about 10 pretty quickly and I passed him as we started the second loop. He came back to me and I stayed my course to make sure my cramps didn't become a bigger issue. I thought there was a good chance I came in first but you never know. I felt very slow on the run but as it turned out, I was running 7:30ish pace which wasn't too bad. I know I have much faster wheels in me...probably to run sub 7 pace if I was 10lbs. lighter and hydrated a bit better. It turned out I did win the clydesdale division....first out of 40 guys and won by 6 minutes. Would have come in 22nd in my age group out of 100+. A good way to start the season off. Felt good considering I'm not near ideal race weight but the off season training has proven its merits. Pics to follow.

A Few Days To Go To Miami

12 workouts down in 5 days so far this week and 2 more to go tomorrow.....and it felt great. I'm ready to test my fitness down in Miami. My only bummer is that I'm heavier than I want to be right now but I'm heading in the right direction and feeling good and strong. So, as a result, I'll probably feel a little heavy on the run. I think its harder to lose weight when a lot of training sessions are in anaerobic training zones that rely on glycogen (carbs). As I start building more volume and aerobic training sessions become more common, I'm hoping the weight will come off a little easier (it should).

I biked with Isiah Thomas this week at one of my indoor training sessions. Yea, the same Isiah from the Detroit Pistons. Yea, the Hall of Fame B-Ball player. Yea, the former NY Knicks coach. Zeke. Junior. Multiple NBA member of World Champion Pistons. He has aged very well. He looks like he did when he was balling in the NBA. Great guy. We watched the Hawaii Ironman DVD while we biked for 2 hours and he's getting hooked on triathlon, I think. He's aiming to do his first triathlon this year, maybe at the Westchester Triathlon. I'm trying to get him to come to Rev3. He really wants to take pictures with the pros and get their autographs. He volunteered to be my "bike bitch" for Ironman Canada so I guess I'll have to be his at Westchester. I'll have to hold him to it.