This is my 4th year doing Triathlons.
Some people would consider me an experienced triathlete, but believe me I'm still very new.
I do know a thing or two about racing though.
Tomorrow, I'm racing The Trishark classic for the 4th year in a row, and here is what I know. In 4 years of racing, every race has had an obstacle to overcome. It might have been crazy heat, wind, snow, rain, a mechanical issue, or eating the wrong thing, but every race has a story.
And so, going into my 4th race I know better than say "this is the race where everything goes according to plan." Instead I'll be saying "In triathlon, anything can happen. I'll react, roll with it, and keep going. No matter what the race brings, there will be a great party afterwards and I'll be better for the experience."
So, my advice as a "grizzled veteran" to someone doing their first race tomorrow is this. Something unplanned will happen tomorrow, but you'll be prepared. You'll deal with it, and no matter what happens there will be a great party and a new story to tell in the end.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Periodization
This is the first, in maybe several, articles on the science behind training, as I understand it. I think alot of coaches and athletes get periodization wrong, and make it too hard. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. So, lets take a shot at making this a bit easier.
Disclaimer
I'm not an exercise physiologist, or a coach, or even an especially fast athlete. I read alot and I'm an engineer/researcher (computer science) so I do have an analytical mind but that's my only real qualification.
Quick Terminology
In this article I'm going to be talking alot about Endurance, Threshold/FTP and VO2max. While defining those three terms could and has filled a book, here's the cliff notes:
Endurance - Your ability to ride for a really long time
Threshold/FTP - FTP is functional threshold power. Threshold refers to Lactate Threshold. In both cases this refers to the fastest you can go for a "relatively long time." In running this is 10k pace, in cycling it's roughly a 1 hour, all out time trial.
VO2max - Really what I'm talking about when I say VO2max is your velocity at VO2 max, or vVO2max. This is your pace when you're consuming oxygen as quickly as you possibly can.
Working at all three of these intensities is beneficial. Which are most important depends on your goal races, and your limiters.
What is Periodizaiton
Periodizaiton is the practice of progressing your yearly training so that you're in peak shape for your most important race or races. The concept was invented by Tudor Bompa, as a way to vary the training stress placed on olympic athletes. Basically, the concept was to not do the same thing every day, of every month, of every year. Joe Friel applied it to triathlon, and built some specific recommendations for base, build, and peak mesocycles.
It all gets really complicated though, and not incredibly practical for the average age group athlete. So, I'm going to deconstruct it a bit and tell you what I think.
Periodization Deconstructed
Rule 1: Training Should Go From General to Specific
I'm going to make two assumptions here:
1. Variation in training is good.
2. Your body adapts to the specific stressors you put on it:
-If you want to ride fast, you have to train to ride fast.
-If you want to ride for a long time, you have to train to ride for a long time.
Based on these assumptions, your training should be very general in the beginning of your season, addressing improving all areas of fitness. As your race nears, your training should more resemble your race.
Rule 2: Keep It Real
If you're an age grouper, like I am, this is my one caveat. You've gotta work inside your box. Example: I'd benefit from training my bike endurance during the winter. I'd be a better cyclist if I got in a 3-4 hour ride at least once per week in February.
But I don't. That's stupid. I'm not going to ride the trainer, or in -20 degree weather with 30 mph winds, in the middle of winter. So, I let my endurnace go a little. Optimal? No. Real? Yep.
Rule 4: All Blocks Should Include SOME VO2max, Theshold, and Endurance work. The quantity of each is determined by the previous rules and how far away your races are.
That's really it. Periodization means adjusting the "mix" of threshold, endurance, and VO2max work in different quantities, based on where you are in the season.
A Periodization Example
Based on my current best understanding, this is how I would (and do) peridoize training:
Mike finished an Ironman last year in September and took Oct/Nov/Dec easy. It's January and he's ready to start training. His plan is to do several half ironman races in 2012, with the key races being in Sept of 2012. So, this is how I'd build his cycling year.
Block 0 (Survive Winter) 8-12 Weeks
Mike is stuck indoors in the winter. He's willing to rid the trainer for 60-90 minutes before he becomes homocidal. So, we'll do the best we can with that situation by writing lots of intervals to break up the monotony. Those intervals will target mostly FTP power, but also VO2. We'll throw in some sufferfest videos for variety.
Block 1 (Get Endurance Back) 6 Weeks
Mike is finally able to get outside, but where he lives the wind sucks. So, we'll work in some longer rides to build back the endurance Mike lost, but we'll train by hours, not miles, because plenty of his time will be spent riding 7 mph into a 30 mph headwind.
At the end of May, Mike field tested at 3.4 W/Kg FTP, up from 3.2 last season, which is a nice gain. Mike's 3 minute power looks like 4 W/Kg, which, is going to limit further FTP development, so that's a limiter.
Block 2 (General Race Prep) 4-6 Weeks
So, now the weather is nice, Mike has his durability back, and he has some short triathlons in his future. In this general block, Mike is going to do workouts to address VO2max power, FTP power, and Endurance. He's going to focus in on VO2max power, because he knows that's his weakest point.
Block 3 (Race Build) 4-6 Weeks
Hopefully, Mike has made some improvements to VO2max power at this point. He will have field tested again. As his race gets closer his training will start looking more like his racing. He will continue to do a little work in this area, and a little FTP work, but the focus will shift to getting ready to race the fitness he has. He will start doing more workouts with race pace interval added.
Block 4 (Peak) 4-6 Weeks including taper
At this point, Mike is going to field test one last time and use this information to set his power zones for racing. The vast majority of the work in this block will be based on race pace efforts, with a SMALL amount of VO2 and FTP still mixed in. One other note, when doing race pace work, is to break it up. It's really easy to do so much race prep, that you leave your race on the training course. Don't do that.
Summary
So, my take on periodization isn't the same as the other stuff you might read. Some coaches recommend only low intensity work during certain phases, for example. Others recommend only high intensity. I'm preaching the middle road.
So, said simply...
Disclaimer
I'm not an exercise physiologist, or a coach, or even an especially fast athlete. I read alot and I'm an engineer/researcher (computer science) so I do have an analytical mind but that's my only real qualification.
Quick Terminology
In this article I'm going to be talking alot about Endurance, Threshold/FTP and VO2max. While defining those three terms could and has filled a book, here's the cliff notes:
Endurance - Your ability to ride for a really long time
Threshold/FTP - FTP is functional threshold power. Threshold refers to Lactate Threshold. In both cases this refers to the fastest you can go for a "relatively long time." In running this is 10k pace, in cycling it's roughly a 1 hour, all out time trial.
VO2max - Really what I'm talking about when I say VO2max is your velocity at VO2 max, or vVO2max. This is your pace when you're consuming oxygen as quickly as you possibly can.
Working at all three of these intensities is beneficial. Which are most important depends on your goal races, and your limiters.
What is Periodizaiton
Periodizaiton is the practice of progressing your yearly training so that you're in peak shape for your most important race or races. The concept was invented by Tudor Bompa, as a way to vary the training stress placed on olympic athletes. Basically, the concept was to not do the same thing every day, of every month, of every year. Joe Friel applied it to triathlon, and built some specific recommendations for base, build, and peak mesocycles.
It all gets really complicated though, and not incredibly practical for the average age group athlete. So, I'm going to deconstruct it a bit and tell you what I think.
Periodization Deconstructed
Rule 1: Training Should Go From General to Specific
I'm going to make two assumptions here:
1. Variation in training is good.
2. Your body adapts to the specific stressors you put on it:
-If you want to ride fast, you have to train to ride fast.
-If you want to ride for a long time, you have to train to ride for a long time.
Based on these assumptions, your training should be very general in the beginning of your season, addressing improving all areas of fitness. As your race nears, your training should more resemble your race.
Rule 2: Keep It Real
If you're an age grouper, like I am, this is my one caveat. You've gotta work inside your box. Example: I'd benefit from training my bike endurance during the winter. I'd be a better cyclist if I got in a 3-4 hour ride at least once per week in February.
But I don't. That's stupid. I'm not going to ride the trainer, or in -20 degree weather with 30 mph winds, in the middle of winter. So, I let my endurnace go a little. Optimal? No. Real? Yep.
Rule 4: All Blocks Should Include SOME VO2max, Theshold, and Endurance work. The quantity of each is determined by the previous rules and how far away your races are.
That's really it. Periodization means adjusting the "mix" of threshold, endurance, and VO2max work in different quantities, based on where you are in the season.
A Periodization Example
Based on my current best understanding, this is how I would (and do) peridoize training:
Mike finished an Ironman last year in September and took Oct/Nov/Dec easy. It's January and he's ready to start training. His plan is to do several half ironman races in 2012, with the key races being in Sept of 2012. So, this is how I'd build his cycling year.
Block 0 (Survive Winter) 8-12 Weeks
Mike is stuck indoors in the winter. He's willing to rid the trainer for 60-90 minutes before he becomes homocidal. So, we'll do the best we can with that situation by writing lots of intervals to break up the monotony. Those intervals will target mostly FTP power, but also VO2. We'll throw in some sufferfest videos for variety.
Block 1 (Get Endurance Back) 6 Weeks
Mike is finally able to get outside, but where he lives the wind sucks. So, we'll work in some longer rides to build back the endurance Mike lost, but we'll train by hours, not miles, because plenty of his time will be spent riding 7 mph into a 30 mph headwind.
At the end of May, Mike field tested at 3.4 W/Kg FTP, up from 3.2 last season, which is a nice gain. Mike's 3 minute power looks like 4 W/Kg, which, is going to limit further FTP development, so that's a limiter.
Block 2 (General Race Prep) 4-6 Weeks
So, now the weather is nice, Mike has his durability back, and he has some short triathlons in his future. In this general block, Mike is going to do workouts to address VO2max power, FTP power, and Endurance. He's going to focus in on VO2max power, because he knows that's his weakest point.
Block 3 (Race Build) 4-6 Weeks
Hopefully, Mike has made some improvements to VO2max power at this point. He will have field tested again. As his race gets closer his training will start looking more like his racing. He will continue to do a little work in this area, and a little FTP work, but the focus will shift to getting ready to race the fitness he has. He will start doing more workouts with race pace interval added.
Block 4 (Peak) 4-6 Weeks including taper
At this point, Mike is going to field test one last time and use this information to set his power zones for racing. The vast majority of the work in this block will be based on race pace efforts, with a SMALL amount of VO2 and FTP still mixed in. One other note, when doing race pace work, is to break it up. It's really easy to do so much race prep, that you leave your race on the training course. Don't do that.
Summary
So, my take on periodization isn't the same as the other stuff you might read. Some coaches recommend only low intensity work during certain phases, for example. Others recommend only high intensity. I'm preaching the middle road.
So, said simply...
- Training Should Go From General to Specific
- Keep it Simple
- Do what you can and want to do, and don't burn yourself out if this is a hobby
- All phases should contain VO2max, Threshold, and Endurance components, in varying quantities, based on how far away your races are.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
2012 Illinois Half Marathon - 1:45:11
This
is going to be a crazy race report, it's more about my life than my
race. It will be a complicated read, and it tells a story 6 weeks
long, but I'm telling the story this way because racing and life are
so often just perfect analogs of one another for us crazy few
endurance athletes.
Pre
Race
Lana
and I woke up at 4:30, in a Red Roof Inn in Champaign, after running
a 5k the night before. Completing both the 5k and the half netted us
a special award, so we duffed the run the previous night.
Breakfast
was peanut butter and honey on white bread. Then off to the races.
It was stormy morning, and the temp was in the high 40s. The wind
was about 20 mph SSE. The rain cleared before the 7am start.
I
met my friend Mark and a coworker of his before the start. He was
planning on pacing his friend to a 1:44:xx finish. My PR for the
half was last year's race where I ran 1:46:34. I knew that if I had
a PR in me for today, it would be small and hard fought, and my plan
was to stick behind Mark as long as I could and see what happens at
mile 10.
The
national anthem was sung, we smashed up to the front of our corral,
and we were off. After the first mile, my legs already hurt, but I
was still conversational. A long winter of aerobic base training my
run seemed to have left me with a big aerobic engine and a body
unaccustomed running hard. This was going to hurt. Races are, and have always been where I fight against
myself.
4
Weeks Prior, Wednesday
“I'm
very sorry, but you have a leak in your aortic valve my friend.” A
few weeks prior my low heart rate earned me a trip to visit a
cardiologist. Then there was a 24 hour halter, a stress test, and
echo, and a few EKGs. It was all a big joke. I exercise, I have
awesome lipid levels, my resting heart rate is in the low 30s, I'm as
fit as people get. But then it wasn't a joke anymore. I had a
leak...in my heart.
“That's
not good” was the only response I could muster. My new
cardiologist gave me the gist of it. It's mild to moderate, whatever
that means. Maybe I've always had it, or maybe it happened recently.
Maybe it will never get worse, or maybe it will. Maybe I'll need
open heart surgery someday. Maybe I'll need a valve replacement that
comes from a dead person, or one from another place in my heart...but
maybe it would be a mechanical valve that would require me to live
the rest of my life on blood thinners. Increased risk of bleeding.
The end of my days on a racing and competing. Maybe. Or maybe
nothing. Or maybe nothing until I'm 80. Where do you go from there?
Where
I went wasn't a great place. Worst case scenario. Plan for the
worst. Identify the weakest link. Mitigate risk. But that didn't
work here. The cold analystics that I apply to engineering computer
systems maybe applies to a population of cardiac patients, but not a
single person. I'm the single point of failure, the non redundant
node. Nothing I could do. Where do you go from there? Where I
went was to the lobby. I texted Lana. I had fought so hard to get my life back, to come back from where I was to be here. And now this. I sat down and cried. I was
totally overwhelmed.
Mile
2
I
stuck by Mark. My legs warmed up a little bit and I felt a little
better. I never had that “wow, this is easy” taper feeling
though. I didn't want to think about how bad it was going to get
when the suck found me. For now I just tried to live in the moment.
I'd worry about mile 2, mile 13 was a lifetime away.
4
Weeks Prior, Thursday
I
didn't even want to get out of bed. I went between panicked,
resolved to fight, ready to quit, and back again as I analyzed my new
condition. I learned about it, thought about it, and tried to wrap
my head and my emotions around the situation. But I did get up.
That morning at 5am I did a 2x15 minute bike ride at 95% Threshold.
When it got hard I quit. I can count the times I've walked away from
a workout on one hand. This was one of them. I was afraid my heart
would quit. I'd need to monitor my blood pressure daily now. It was
sky high suddenly. I was a ball of stress.
Mile
4
My
lungs were starting to work a little harder, my legs were feeling
better. I was still in this. I choked down a gu and picked up a few
cups of water as we turned into a head wind. Mark was dropping the
pace just a little bit, doing a great job leading us towards a 1:44
goal.
3 Weeks Ago
Every
morning I wake up, stand in front of the mirror, and brush my teeth.
When I do, I'm reminded of my previous life. The 400 pound me is
gone now, but not forgotten. I'm reminded of that person every time
I look in the mirror and see the 20 pounds of loose skin hanging from
body. I carry it with me every day as a reminder. I had something new to carry with me now.
I
spoke to a few other cardiologists, and I got some better news. Alot
of the time, the thing I had doesn't get any worse, maybe it will
never get worse for me. When it does get worse, it's usually when
people are alot older than I am. I was maybe reaching acceptance,
maybe, but I had something new to carry around. I'd need to avoid salt, and take medicine to keep my blood pressure super humanly low.
Mile
7
I
still kept hanging on. It still wasn't easy. I was purposely
keeping my blood sugar higher than normal to take the edge off. My
legs were starting to fail. Before the suck had really found me, I
was in a place where I could no longer will my legs to turn over at
the speed required to stick the pace. Frustrating, but I dug deeper.
The line was 10 miles. I had to make it to mile 10, then I could
gut out the last 5k. Even if I couldn't drop my pace, Mark had
banked us enough time that I could PR. If I could just hold on a
little longer.
2
Weeks Ago
Friend,
uber endurance runner, and cardiologist Dennis tried to ease my mind
about the situation. After talking to him I was reassured. Alot of
the time it just doesn't get any worse. Nothing is for sure in life,
but if the news is that I might need heart surgery when I'm
70...well, who can't say that?
Sometimes
it degrades really quickly, but I'm not sometimes. This is probably
something I did to myself with uncontrolled high blood pressure, when
I was 400 pounds, doing my best to commit suicide by food.
It's
a hard lesson to learn. There are things you can do to yourself that
can't be undone by an older wiser you. It's an obvious lesson, I
suppose. Life is hard, but success for me has always been measured
more by “showing up every day” and less about winning the big
race.
My
mind went to a quote I just saw in a friend's email signature:
“Let
me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine
and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how
tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there
permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as
life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can
get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving
forward. That's how winning is done!”
-Rocky
Balboa
Mile
10
I
made it, Mark was still in sight, but I was falling off the back. He
was dropping to the 7:30s I guessed, and I couldn't follow. I
surged, tried to catch up, and then fell back and recovered into a
sustainable pace. If I could hold on, I could PR.
Mile
11
The
suck finally found me. The seconds ticked by, everything hurt, and
my goal became to get to mile 12 at my current pace. My brain
disassociated with the physical stuff. A PR was still possible. I
couldn't will my legs any faster, so I just focused on trying to be
as economical as possible.
There
may be a day I can't do this anymore. My heart valve might give out.
Or maybe it will be my knee, that was supposed to never work well
again, but it does.
My
mind went to something else I heard, this time not from Rocky but
from Aragorn, in “The Return of the King.”
I
see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day
may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of
wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down!
But it is not this day!
There
may be a day when I can't do this anymore, but that day isn't this
day. Finally I was able to let the suffering in, let it wash over
me, and welcome its familiarity.
And
I got faster.
Mile 12-13.1
Mile 12-13.1
I saw Seth and Ryan (who ran the half in 74 minutes...wow) running a cool down around mile 13. I was in my groove and rushing to the finish. I had just enough to kick a little bit on the .1. I crossed the line in 1:47 gun time, a PR for sure. I walked a bit to cool down but I was a real mess. There was no way I could have run another step.
Finish
It's
no secret I'm not much of a runner. A 1:45 half is nothing special
to be sure, as far as 30-34M goes at least, but today I did pretty good. (And
in the words of Billy Madison “It was hard for me, so back off!”)
I put it all on the table,
there was nothing else left. I
finished running my 5k pace, in complete agony, but smiling, proud of
where I was able to take myself. I crossed the line in 1:45:11 chip
time, 666th
out of 6756.
Splits
1
– 8:11
2
– 8:01
3
– 7:56
4
– 7:56
5
– 7:51
6
– 7:39
7
– 7:59
8
– 7:44
9
– 7:46
10
– 7:59
11
– 7:56
12
- 8:08
13
– 7:53
13.1
– 7:22
The
Next Day
I
regained consciousness at about 6:30. I moved my legs and pain was
reintroduced into the vocabulary of my mind. Ouch. William was
moving down stairs. I was hungry and there was a bowl of oatmeal
with my name on it. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was
my beautiful wife laying next to me. Yesterday I fought against
myself and won. I was up for an easy Sunday morning. I can't help
but feel very lucky.
A
few days ago I told Curt from “Running on Guinness” that
sometimes it's like having two different lives, coming from where he and I were to where I am now. That's true, but also, getting from there to here
has involved so many struggles and hard fought victories, of which a screwed up heart valve is
just the newest.
“my
life has been extraordinary
blessed and cursed and won
time heals but i'm forever broken
by and by the way...
blessed and cursed and won
time heals but i'm forever broken
by and by the way...
i
know that i am meant for this world”
-Muzzel,
Smashing Pumpkins
Monday, April 23, 2012
Getting Away for the Weekend - Rev3 Dells Preview
Wow, it's been forever since I've blogged!
There's alot going on, and there have been some new pretty big challenges for me of late. More on that later. For now, this is about the awesome weekend Lana and I had last weekend.
It had been a while, and we've been pretty beat up, so Lana and I decided to get away for the weekend. And this was a perfect weekend to go try out the Rev3 Dells course.
We loaded up the car Saturday Morning after breakfast and drove up. After stopping for lunch, and getting to the hotel, we got on our bikes around 2. We changed in the hotel public bathroom in the lobby, which meant I got to parade around the lobby as spandex man! Good times...
I covered the bike course here, if you're interested.
After the bike we cleaned up and went over to a restaurant called the "House of Embers" which was pretty good. The food was cooked very well. Lana had steak, I had salmon, both were pretty much perfect. They limited things like free refills on drinks and charged extra for alot of the sides though, which I suppose was supposed to be "upscale" but came across to me as cheap. Also, the plating was a little wierd. My salmon was a big plate with a piece of salmon and .3 carrots. It looked a little empty. Lana's main was a steak, covered in a demi-glace. No vegetation, potato on a seperate plate. It was odd. Anyway, enough iron-chef, the food was good.
That night we went to the hotel bar to get a drink...because you can't buy a bottle of wine in the dells after 9pm. That place was a treat. I asked to see their wine list. Here it is, from memory:
White
Riesling
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Grigio
Chardonnay
Red
Cabernet
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Shiraz
Descriptive huh? I thought so too...but hey, I'm on vacation. I'll play along. So, I order a glass of mystery Pinot Noir. I got Pinot Grigio. Ok, maybe I didn't say the right thing, and hey, I like Pinot Grigio, so whatever. Round 2. This time, I'm determined to get a red! So, I ordered Cabernet. The bartender ALMOST poured me a flipping Chardonnay. This time I stopped him before he could charge me $5.00 a glass for that over oaked crap, and asked again for Cabernet. Finally, the juice was red.
Folks, I'm starting to think Wisconsin has it out for me. The last time I was here I woke up with the flu and had to do an ironman. This time, I show up, ride 56 miles of crappy hills, and then find out all the wine in this place is white! Uncool Wisconsin, uncool.
Ok, so anyway, the next morning Lana and I ran the run course. I wrote up an overview of that here.
After that, we hit up Paul Bunyon's which is an all-you-can-eat kind of breakfast place. I remember going there when I was 7, and so does my mom, so it's been there virtually forever... You know, the food was good. And all-I-could-eat was ALOT after this weekend. I seriously chowed down, and it was great.
Sitting there after putting in two hard days, chowing on pancakes and coffee made it really feel like a normal summer, which is very welcome.
After that I took Lana to Pearson's Indian Trading Post and shopped around for a bit. I remember it being a huge, vast collection of junk, souvenirs, and knick knacks, so I figured it would be a good opportunity for Lana to do the shopping thing. After training all weekend, I think I owed her some girl time. :) Around 2pm we pulled out, got home, and did shopping/chores. Back to the grind!
It was an awesome weekend away though, we had a great time and I'm excited to see Lana race this first half. There's lots of promise for this race season!
There's alot going on, and there have been some new pretty big challenges for me of late. More on that later. For now, this is about the awesome weekend Lana and I had last weekend.
It had been a while, and we've been pretty beat up, so Lana and I decided to get away for the weekend. And this was a perfect weekend to go try out the Rev3 Dells course.
We loaded up the car Saturday Morning after breakfast and drove up. After stopping for lunch, and getting to the hotel, we got on our bikes around 2. We changed in the hotel public bathroom in the lobby, which meant I got to parade around the lobby as spandex man! Good times...
I covered the bike course here, if you're interested.
After the bike we cleaned up and went over to a restaurant called the "House of Embers" which was pretty good. The food was cooked very well. Lana had steak, I had salmon, both were pretty much perfect. They limited things like free refills on drinks and charged extra for alot of the sides though, which I suppose was supposed to be "upscale" but came across to me as cheap. Also, the plating was a little wierd. My salmon was a big plate with a piece of salmon and .3 carrots. It looked a little empty. Lana's main was a steak, covered in a demi-glace. No vegetation, potato on a seperate plate. It was odd. Anyway, enough iron-chef, the food was good.
That night we went to the hotel bar to get a drink...because you can't buy a bottle of wine in the dells after 9pm. That place was a treat. I asked to see their wine list. Here it is, from memory:
White
Riesling
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Grigio
Chardonnay
Red
Cabernet
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Shiraz
Descriptive huh? I thought so too...but hey, I'm on vacation. I'll play along. So, I order a glass of mystery Pinot Noir. I got Pinot Grigio. Ok, maybe I didn't say the right thing, and hey, I like Pinot Grigio, so whatever. Round 2. This time, I'm determined to get a red! So, I ordered Cabernet. The bartender ALMOST poured me a flipping Chardonnay. This time I stopped him before he could charge me $5.00 a glass for that over oaked crap, and asked again for Cabernet. Finally, the juice was red.
Folks, I'm starting to think Wisconsin has it out for me. The last time I was here I woke up with the flu and had to do an ironman. This time, I show up, ride 56 miles of crappy hills, and then find out all the wine in this place is white! Uncool Wisconsin, uncool.
Ok, so anyway, the next morning Lana and I ran the run course. I wrote up an overview of that here.
After that, we hit up Paul Bunyon's which is an all-you-can-eat kind of breakfast place. I remember going there when I was 7, and so does my mom, so it's been there virtually forever... You know, the food was good. And all-I-could-eat was ALOT after this weekend. I seriously chowed down, and it was great.
Sitting there after putting in two hard days, chowing on pancakes and coffee made it really feel like a normal summer, which is very welcome.
After that I took Lana to Pearson's Indian Trading Post and shopped around for a bit. I remember it being a huge, vast collection of junk, souvenirs, and knick knacks, so I figured it would be a good opportunity for Lana to do the shopping thing. After training all weekend, I think I owed her some girl time. :) Around 2pm we pulled out, got home, and did shopping/chores. Back to the grind!
It was an awesome weekend away though, we had a great time and I'm excited to see Lana race this first half. There's lots of promise for this race season!
Rev3 Dells 70.3 Run Course Preview
So, I figured I should follow up my bike course preview with a preview of the run course. This one is short and sweet compared to the bike. Here's the low down...
Overall Impressions
The run course is...you guessed it...hilly.
Details
Out of T1 you're mostly in the city until you hit County Hwy A at about mile 1.62
County Hwy A starts a long long uphill section at probably 4% - 6% grade? The course is mostly an out and back run, so you get to run back down again later.
12/23 The course turns back on to 12/23 at around 2.5 It's a downhill to 13.
At US 13, which is the main road over the river and into the downtown dells area. It's mostly a gradual uphill after the bridge
At about 4.5 miles your through downtown and, after a brief reprieve there is a short ascent, and then a descent until around mile 6.
We only wanted 10 miles so we didn't scope out the out-back on vine to mile 8, we turned at mile 5. For the rest, imagine everything I just said, except backwards. :)
It's a pretty straight forward, but not easy, run course and I imagine it will be pretty cool running through downtown on race day.
Overall Impressions
The run course is...you guessed it...hilly.
Details
Out of T1 you're mostly in the city until you hit County Hwy A at about mile 1.62
County Hwy A starts a long long uphill section at probably 4% - 6% grade? The course is mostly an out and back run, so you get to run back down again later.
12/23 The course turns back on to 12/23 at around 2.5 It's a downhill to 13.
At US 13, which is the main road over the river and into the downtown dells area. It's mostly a gradual uphill after the bridge
At about 4.5 miles your through downtown and, after a brief reprieve there is a short ascent, and then a descent until around mile 6.
We only wanted 10 miles so we didn't scope out the out-back on vine to mile 8, we turned at mile 5. For the rest, imagine everything I just said, except backwards. :)
It's a pretty straight forward, but not easy, run course and I imagine it will be pretty cool running through downtown on race day.
Rev3 Dells 70.3 Bike Course Preview
Lana and I were able to "get away" for the weekend and did an impromptu course ride of the Rev3 Dells 70.3 race. After seeing the course online, it looked pretty legit, so I was really curious to see what it had in store.
I'll recap the weekend in another post, and keep this to "just the facts" on the course.
Overall Impression
Pretty hard. Probably a 7/10 on difficulty. Somewhere between IMOO and Dairlyand Dare. The hills are harder than IMOO, but the overall course is only half the distance. The course lacked the steepness (and length) of Dairyland Dare, but had climbs that were longer overall.
For the most part the asphalt is in great shape. There are some roads where that isn't the case (bluff rd, tower rd).
The climbs on the course are no joke, especially for us flat landers and heavier cyclists/non climbers (I'm a member of both of those clubs). I went around 2:45 in Steelhead two years ago I think on 78% FTP. I'm estimating my bike split on this course would be between 3:00 and 3:15 at 80% FTP (which may be too big of a chunk) even after having improved my FTP by 52W over those two years.
One other note on power...pay no attention to mine below. I was in scouting mode, drafting 90% of the time, climbing stupid hard the other 10%. Don't use me as a pacing example please, or if you're in my age group, do this exactly. :)
Gear Selection
I'm putting this section in to help people choose how they setup their bikes for the course:
Lana rides a 650 with a standard crank, typically paired with an 11x25 and is a strong cyclist. For this course I switched her 11x25 to an 11x28, and she was appropriately geared, only having to exceed FTP a few times on the big climbs to continue to make forward progress.
I ride a big person bike (700) with a compact, typically paired with an 11x25, and I'm also a strong cyclist. I was lazy and kept my 11x25. I was under geared, and had to ride the big climbs at 120% in places to make forward progress, which would have hurt my run. I'd ride a bigger climbing gear at the race.
Details:
0-15.7 - Lots of rollers as you leave the dells and head towards Baraboo. Like IMOO, this is a course where you need to play chess with the hills and shift appropriately to maintain momentum.
15.7-16.8 - This is the first real climb, into Devil's Lake State Park. It's just under a mile, and the grade varies between 5% and 8% with occasional spikes into the 10% range. The descent is clear, straight, and nontechnical.
16.8-23.0 For the most part we're back to rollers here. County Road DL is a treat after the first climb.
23.0-25.0 The course turns from DL to Bluff road and there's a golf course on your right. This signals the start to the hardest of the three major climbs. There are a few brief reprieves, but for the most part this is a 2 mile climb. The course goes from 880ish feet to 1500ish feet, and most of the time you're at between 8 and 12%. It's very long and somewhat steep.
25.0-28.5 For most of this section you're descending, but the descents are technical and include lots of blind corners. A roadie might do well on this section, but this triathlete is going to take this area slow and avoid being dead. I forget the name now, but there is a hill on the IMOO course where there are lots of hay bails stacked. It's like that, but worse. It's mentally tough too, because you know you're losing momentum being careful. I expect some carnage here on race day.
28.5 to 33.0 Rollers.
33.0 Beich road marks the start to the last of three big climbs. It's short by comparison to the other two, at only a mile long. It's also the steepest by just a tad. There is a section where we were grinding at 12% for quite a while.
The descent on this climb is also somewhat technical, or perhaps we were just mentally fried at this point. Not knowing the topography of this route, my spirits were a little low at this point. I was thinking "good lord, this is going to take forever on race day!"
35.0 After the descent you quickly find yourself on County W and then Highway 33 (36.5ish). This is, in my opinion, the flattest spot in all of Wisconsin! Honestly, flat isn't even correct because it's slightly downhill until mile 43. We were able to spin fast, put our heads down, and make up some time here while recovering our legs from the big climbs.
43.0 and 53.0 mark some steep short climbs, but for the most part you're home free.
I'll recap the weekend in another post, and keep this to "just the facts" on the course.
Overall Impression
Pretty hard. Probably a 7/10 on difficulty. Somewhere between IMOO and Dairlyand Dare. The hills are harder than IMOO, but the overall course is only half the distance. The course lacked the steepness (and length) of Dairyland Dare, but had climbs that were longer overall.
For the most part the asphalt is in great shape. There are some roads where that isn't the case (bluff rd, tower rd).
The climbs on the course are no joke, especially for us flat landers and heavier cyclists/non climbers (I'm a member of both of those clubs). I went around 2:45 in Steelhead two years ago I think on 78% FTP. I'm estimating my bike split on this course would be between 3:00 and 3:15 at 80% FTP (which may be too big of a chunk) even after having improved my FTP by 52W over those two years.
One other note on power...pay no attention to mine below. I was in scouting mode, drafting 90% of the time, climbing stupid hard the other 10%. Don't use me as a pacing example please, or if you're in my age group, do this exactly. :)
Gear Selection
I'm putting this section in to help people choose how they setup their bikes for the course:
Lana rides a 650 with a standard crank, typically paired with an 11x25 and is a strong cyclist. For this course I switched her 11x25 to an 11x28, and she was appropriately geared, only having to exceed FTP a few times on the big climbs to continue to make forward progress.
I ride a big person bike (700) with a compact, typically paired with an 11x25, and I'm also a strong cyclist. I was lazy and kept my 11x25. I was under geared, and had to ride the big climbs at 120% in places to make forward progress, which would have hurt my run. I'd ride a bigger climbing gear at the race.
Details:
0-15.7 - Lots of rollers as you leave the dells and head towards Baraboo. Like IMOO, this is a course where you need to play chess with the hills and shift appropriately to maintain momentum.
15.7-16.8 - This is the first real climb, into Devil's Lake State Park. It's just under a mile, and the grade varies between 5% and 8% with occasional spikes into the 10% range. The descent is clear, straight, and nontechnical.
16.8-23.0 For the most part we're back to rollers here. County Road DL is a treat after the first climb.
23.0-25.0 The course turns from DL to Bluff road and there's a golf course on your right. This signals the start to the hardest of the three major climbs. There are a few brief reprieves, but for the most part this is a 2 mile climb. The course goes from 880ish feet to 1500ish feet, and most of the time you're at between 8 and 12%. It's very long and somewhat steep.
25.0-28.5 For most of this section you're descending, but the descents are technical and include lots of blind corners. A roadie might do well on this section, but this triathlete is going to take this area slow and avoid being dead. I forget the name now, but there is a hill on the IMOO course where there are lots of hay bails stacked. It's like that, but worse. It's mentally tough too, because you know you're losing momentum being careful. I expect some carnage here on race day.
28.5 to 33.0 Rollers.
33.0 Beich road marks the start to the last of three big climbs. It's short by comparison to the other two, at only a mile long. It's also the steepest by just a tad. There is a section where we were grinding at 12% for quite a while.
The descent on this climb is also somewhat technical, or perhaps we were just mentally fried at this point. Not knowing the topography of this route, my spirits were a little low at this point. I was thinking "good lord, this is going to take forever on race day!"
35.0 After the descent you quickly find yourself on County W and then Highway 33 (36.5ish). This is, in my opinion, the flattest spot in all of Wisconsin! Honestly, flat isn't even correct because it's slightly downhill until mile 43. We were able to spin fast, put our heads down, and make up some time here while recovering our legs from the big climbs.
43.0 and 53.0 mark some steep short climbs, but for the most part you're home free.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Girl I Tell My Secrets To
"Just write about whatever your heart desires" That was the creative writing assignment that lead to my short, brilliant career as a poet. During that time I wrote about 20 individual pieces of poetry, four of which were published by my school's creative writing publication. That's 20%, which ain't bad folks. Mr Meyers, my teacher for creative writing, was asking me to engage upon a flight of fancy, a not necessarily practical idea. But, while my soul may have been that of a poet, my mind was still that of an engineer...and so I wrote about what my heart truely did desire.
I wrote about finding my place, in the entrophy of the world. Significance, meaning, and the lack of any, were always common themes. The bigness of the world I lived in effected me more then than now, now that my apathy has grown as big. It seemed that my writing really appealed to the angst ridden teens reviewing our school's creative writing, or perhaps it just sounded a lot like the Pearl Jam CDs they were listening too while they worked, and I received a lot of accolades for my writing. My most overlooked work though, was a short poem titled "The Girl I Tell My Secrets To."
In that poem, I described a fictional girl. Someone that was as unsure about the bigness of the world as I was. Someone that struggled the same ways I did. Someone that understood me. Someone, I expected I would never meet.
Not so long ago, I was telling my best friend "I don't think it's possible to find someone that can be your mate, understand you completely, and be your best friend." My reasoning was simple. It was too much to ask of any single person, and my experience with women indicated exactly that. I had given up on it all. I had hardened myself to the hopelessness, and removed the possibility, resigning myself to being alone, or at least something like that. Giving up.
But then, when things were at their darkest, there she was, smiling at me from under an airplane, the girl I tell my secrets to... The most beautiful woman that has ever graced a pair of gray sketchers introduced herself to me, and there was no question my life would never be the same. I remember the first time I met her face to face, she was standing in front of a wall, and written behind her was a favorite quote from Keroauc, "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." I'm nothing if not dense, but the writing was quite literally on the wall, and there was no question in my mind that my world was different.
We're beyond compatable. Inevitably when we go out to eat at a restaurant, I always wish I ordered what she did. Neither one of us can pick up after ourselves. We're both triathletes, pretty good cyclists, and pretty average runners. Neither of us like tomatoes, but we both like tomato sauce. But, more important than tomatoes or watts, for the first time ever I can be me with her. I can let my guard down, I can show weakness, I can need help, and I can celebrate victories with her.
My life, as Billy Corgan wrote, "has been been extraordinary, blessed and cursed and won." I never, in that blessed, cursed, and won mess, expected to find her. In fact I didn't think it was possible that a person like this could even exist. But she does... The Girl I Tell My Secrets To. Somehow I met her, and I married her. I count myself beyond fortunate for that.
I wrote about finding my place, in the entrophy of the world. Significance, meaning, and the lack of any, were always common themes. The bigness of the world I lived in effected me more then than now, now that my apathy has grown as big. It seemed that my writing really appealed to the angst ridden teens reviewing our school's creative writing, or perhaps it just sounded a lot like the Pearl Jam CDs they were listening too while they worked, and I received a lot of accolades for my writing. My most overlooked work though, was a short poem titled "The Girl I Tell My Secrets To."
In that poem, I described a fictional girl. Someone that was as unsure about the bigness of the world as I was. Someone that struggled the same ways I did. Someone that understood me. Someone, I expected I would never meet.
Not so long ago, I was telling my best friend "I don't think it's possible to find someone that can be your mate, understand you completely, and be your best friend." My reasoning was simple. It was too much to ask of any single person, and my experience with women indicated exactly that. I had given up on it all. I had hardened myself to the hopelessness, and removed the possibility, resigning myself to being alone, or at least something like that. Giving up.
But then, when things were at their darkest, there she was, smiling at me from under an airplane, the girl I tell my secrets to... The most beautiful woman that has ever graced a pair of gray sketchers introduced herself to me, and there was no question my life would never be the same. I remember the first time I met her face to face, she was standing in front of a wall, and written behind her was a favorite quote from Keroauc, "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." I'm nothing if not dense, but the writing was quite literally on the wall, and there was no question in my mind that my world was different.
We're beyond compatable. Inevitably when we go out to eat at a restaurant, I always wish I ordered what she did. Neither one of us can pick up after ourselves. We're both triathletes, pretty good cyclists, and pretty average runners. Neither of us like tomatoes, but we both like tomato sauce. But, more important than tomatoes or watts, for the first time ever I can be me with her. I can let my guard down, I can show weakness, I can need help, and I can celebrate victories with her.
My life, as Billy Corgan wrote, "has been been extraordinary, blessed and cursed and won." I never, in that blessed, cursed, and won mess, expected to find her. In fact I didn't think it was possible that a person like this could even exist. But she does... The Girl I Tell My Secrets To. Somehow I met her, and I married her. I count myself beyond fortunate for that.
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