Tag Archives: cycling

April Miscellania

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• The wife got me with a pretty good April Fools, said the new car “wasn’t starting in the morning” and “we should have someone look at it.” I had to return serve. So a few hours later I told her “Good news, the NYT is reporting that young trendsetters are dying their hair gray.” She laughed heartily until I said “April Fools!” That fact that it wasn’t a joke, is now the joke. That’s just the multi-layered way I roll.

• Got some rare direct blog feedback at dinner last week. One of my sibs said indignantly, “Why should anyone care about the details of your fitness routine?!” I explained those posts are primarily for Lance. Consider them optional, not required reading. Lance NEEDS to know how hard to work to maintain his running and cycling superiority.

• So here’s my indignant sib-adjusted fitness report for March. Battled a micro-tear in one calf and then threw my back out lifting/twisting dumbbells to and from the rack without my legs. Lost about a week. Swam 23,900m; cycled, 340; ran 97. WOM (workout of the month) was a 33 mile ride and 2.25 mile run with my 22 year old uber-niece who is about to kick some serious butt at the College Nationals Triathlon in Texas.

• March Madness update. The WSJ computer and I are currently in sixth or seventh place out of eleven in the office pool. If Duke wins, I will probably end up on the podium, but no one remembers who came in second. The first five participants don’t even follow college bball. I’m actually glad computers apparently can’t quantify something as complex as a 64 team tournament. It won’t be the same when it goes to 96 teams. Classic case of less being more. Of course this year I wish it had been 196 because then UCLA might have qualified.

• This recent David Brooks essay is one of my favorites of his of all time. Brooks got killed by the most recommended commenters. I found some of their comments perceptive, but most of those were of the “Look at me, I caught you being inconsistent” variety. No one is always perfectly consistent. Many of the most recommended comments struck me as weakly argued, mean-spirited, knee-jerk liberalism. I’m a liberal, but not a fan of knee-jerkism of any variety. Very easy to criticize especially so indirectly. I give Brooks credit for courage. He knows he can’t win when it comes to most NYT readers.

• Personal record for blog readership in March 2010; however, no reason to get carried away, you’re still a member of a select group. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, people never comment on my personal finance posts, so I think I’ll retire that thread. Even though readership is up, commenting is not. Maybe I’m not angry enough? Maybe I need to tap my inner-Glenn Beck. Also, for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, I can’t get many readers to follow the small number of links I sometimes include. Case in point, you didn’t even open the previous Brooks’ link did you? I know everyone is pressed for time and I appreciate the fact that more people are at least logging on and skimming posts.

• Turns out I was exaggerating when I wrote that I’d pay anything for an iPad. I have not ordered one yet not because I wanted to read the reviews that were just published and let the application/software dust settle a bit. I anticipate buying one sometime before the summer equinox, but as a card carrying late adaptor, if so moved, I reserve the right to postpone the purchase indefinitely. Not owning one won’t stop me from adding “Sent from my iPad” on the bottom of my emails. Faux tech cache. Sometimes I amaze myself.

• Speaking of email, publicly admitting that I suck at it in my last post proved cathartic. Oddly, it inspired me to turn over a new email/internet leaf captured in this sticky note. Three days later, I’m stickying to it. Now email is not the boss of me, I’m the boss of email!

The note doubles as a logo cover, sorry Apple

February 2010 Fitness Notes

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Wasn’t the symmetry of February 2010 off the hook? Every month should start on a Monday, have four weeks, and end on a Sunday. Miss it already. Positive Momentum readers are like the children of Lake Wobegone, so someone draw up a new calendar with a leap week or something.

Swam 26,700 meters. Did not re-up for the second Masters session of the year so volume ebbed. Last Masters practice was a time trial and I set three personal records since I had never swam the “events”. 25 free, 13.1; 25 fly, 15.2; 25 breast, 18.1. 100 free was slow, 1:05 something and 200 free was so slow I can’t seem to recall it. 100 IM was slow too, something like 1:21. I’ve written nine workouts, three with a sprint focus, three middle-distance, and three distance. I rotate through in a sprint, middle distance, distance rhythm. Nine, the third distance workout, is a time trial. A “circuit” will take a month now that I’m only swimming 2x/week. Eliminates the “wonder what I should do today” pre swim meditation. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing the workouts. I didn’t see the kind of improvement in early February that I thought I would from the January increase in volume. I thought I would be able to hold 1:19’s for ten 100’s (short course yards, I convert totals to meters) on 1:30, but I was doing 1:21-1:25 on 1:35. My guess is I need to incorporate resistance training or what we once called weight lifting. There are a few problems with that though. One, even though I lift very light weights and concentrate on form, I somehow usually tweak my lower back. Two, if my Squeeze finds me any more alluring, I won’t get anything done. I think I’ll risk both and see if that’s the missing link.

Cycled 226 miles, 73 outdoors. Our winter has been the opposite of the eastern U.S. and Western Europe, unusually mild. It’s so nice to see a light at the end of the indoor cycling tunnel. Two weeks from Daylight Savings Time when the outdoor cycling season officially begins for wusses like me. I like where I am for late February/early March. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m an indoor 6 and an outdoor 4.  Thoroughly enjoyed a brilliant 40 miler with Dano and Lance on Sunday.

Ran 112 miles. Frontloaded the month a bit, weekly totals were 32, 32, 22, 26. Can’t wait for more daylight. The team is running well, holding 7:30’s while discussing the difference between triple lutzes and axles. Well, most of the team. Principal entered the Witness Protection Program probably for some malfeasance at his place of employment. Health Care Analyst somehow forgot that you run a cold into submission. Trooper continues to recycle the “hammy” excuse to avoid Saturday long runs. In contrast, Architect manned up (pun intended) and ran in shorts on a 27 degree morning, Highway Chieftain took a dive for the team on a darkened trail, and Hair Care Sales Manager was nails as usual. I seemed to have picked up a new nickname while in Spokane, Adolph, I’m guessing because I impressed the team with my knowledge of World War II Germany.

And in related news . . .

• My brothers co-authored a book about my steriod use, but I filed a cease and desist order and kept it from seeing the light of day.

• Last indoor cycling session, 250w avg, 75 minutes, 20.4m, 1,104c.

• Luckily for Armstrong, I was not selected to ride in the Leadville 100 in Leadville, Colorado in August.

• There’s building momentum for a repeat Olympia Half Marathon in mid-May. Nothing else on the calendar.

• I’m undecided on what Olympic event to begin training for, the summer 400IM or winter 50K cross country. Seventeen suggested figure skating. Not sure how I didn’t think of that myself. I will see if my sister is up for training with me for a run at Ice Dance gold in Sochi.

Tech Notes

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Personal record for links in this post.

By the time you read this, I hope Steve Jobs will have changed personal computing again with Apple’s long awaited tablet. I invest in vanilla bond and stock index funds, except for one stock, AAPL. Wednesday night, I expect the value of my AAPL shares to be flat or slightly down due to the Obama-effect, unrealistic, unmeetable expectations. More importantly, I’m hoping the tablet makes reading even easier and more enjoyable, makes flying more tolerable (via a mobile library or t.v./movie viewing), is as simple as a toaster to use, and enables me to reduce my personal tech footprint. Bonus points if it drags me into the 21st Century cell-phoning, texting world.

I recently purchased a desktop computer which, four or five years ago, I swore I’d never do again. At that time, I didn’t factor in my worsening vision. One complication is keeping the university’s laptop and my personal desktop in sync. Apple’s MobileMe program was okay, but I didn’t want to pay $100/year for it. So I resorted to thumbdriving, which is a hassle. Then I read this. Love it. Hard to believe the Late Adaptor is cloud computing. Check it out if you’re digital life is out of sync.

I also joined the DVR-world recently, Tivo more specifically. What was I thinking trying to watch t.v. without Netflix and Tivo? To quote my previously brilliant/illuminating review, “love it.” One unintended benefit. Fourteen is watching a lot more t.v. That translates into worse grades, which translates into a less expensive college. Genius. Sometimes I amaze myself.

The New York Times has announced plans to charge nonsubscribers for some content in about a year. Others have tried this unsuccessfully and I predict this effort will fail too. There’s simply too much competition, meaning substitutes. Tonight in the tub I’ll read an article from GQ and the Atlantic Monthly. That reminds me, I also hope the tablet is water proof.

Lastly, if you fancy yourself a runner, swimmer, or cyclist, check this blog post out. The triathlete author is a blogging and technology savant.

Fitness Update

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Swimming. I’m not a joiner so I surprised myself when I signed up for the January/early February Masters swim team session. Paying extra to swim with other people? New year/decade kind of thing I guess.

I’ve been getting in about 3-3.5k three times a week. 10k, a regular day in the life of a “swimmer”, a solid week for me. Got some grief for not signing all the way on and buying a team suit before the big meet on February 6th, but I was proud of my excuse, “I’m a triathlete disguised as a swimmer.” Same reason I kick with fins!

That’s a versatile one that I’m ready to use with the cycling team.

Speaking of suits (product pimping alert), the other day I was marveling at how long I’ve been wearing my polyester Speedo Endurance jammers. If I had known about these a decade ago, I wouldn’t be driving a Honda Civic.

Flashblack to the first practice of the New Year. I’m hanging on the wall during a rest interval when all of a sudden, the magic jammers up and quit. A fissure of biblical proportions, just tush and water.

When I got home, my best friend who has a lot of friends on the team demanded I tell her exactly what I did next. So of course I had to embellish it. Truth be told, I timed my locker room dash perfectly and kept my privates out of public view. I had a backup suit and was back in the water with only the coach knowing how close a call everyone had.

It’s important to make a good first impression.

Cycling. See my Christmas present to myself below. Now when the rain or snow is blowing sideways I kick on ESPN and laugh at Mother Nature. Oh, the seven? That’s my Lance Pharmstrong impersonation for Lance. Notice the blurred feet, serious power.

Today’s numbers, off a run, 849calories, 219 watts avg., 28.8k in 1:05. 30m warm up followed by 4 on, 3 off. One benefit of the new bike, I can now be a watts geek.

L, G, and I entered a lottery for an epic ride/race that’s not in Washington State. We entered in that order. I may not know until mid-August if signing up was the result of positive or negative peer pressure.

Running. Taught all day Saturday most of the month so my posse is in more disarray than the Democrats. Missed the Saturday 10-milers. Solid week-day routine though, about 25m/week.

The Week that Was—11/16-11/22

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11/16 M T W R F SA SU Total
S 4,000

 

1,500 p/b 22:05

300kick

300drills

18×100

3rdIMon45

25’s/35’s

500 c.d.

 4,000
C 17 1:05

 

55/10

 17 1:05

 

50/15

 34
R 7.7 1:01:30

 

5hillrepeats

 6.3

5k 21:20

 

6:57,52,42

 6.3 10.5

 

1:20:51

7:43

 31

S—22:05 for 1,500 (scy) isn’t fast by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s faster than I would go without the paddles and buoy. I have no kick normally and the buoy I use could double as an ottoman. It lifts my hips almost like a wetsuit and so I don’t sink quite as much on my awful flipturns. So adjust accordingly. The 18×100 set was a lot easier than normal. Oh yeah, doh, I’ve always done them on 1:40. Five seconds makes a big diff. Not all of us can hammer out 10k weeks in the water like Lance.

C—The bad news, looks like I’m going to come up about 50 miles short of my 2009 goal. The good news, new p.r. for miles in a year.

R—Solid pre-race week. Not sure yet whether to “take what my body gives me” on Sunday in the Seattle half or force myself into a more challenging than normal pace per mile or some combination of the two. Please advise.

Week that Was—10/5-10/11

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10/5 M T W R F SA SU Total
S 4,000

1k, 15:12

300k300d

3,200im40

4,100im50

5/4/3/2/1pb

4×50 100c

 4,000
C 20

1:15

indoorspin

 35 solo

1,189’ 18.9

 55
R

7.3 1200×4

5:00, 4:54, 4:52, 4:45

 7.7

1:00+

 5

solo sun

38:30

 10.4

1:20:30

 30.4

S: Tuesday I was planning on spinning for an hour and swimming for 50 minutes, but I forgot my cleats and didn’t even have tennis shoes, so I extended the swim. Great workout, but as with scoops of ice cream, two mediums would have been better than one large. I can actually do 50 fly now without drowning, pretty impressive huh. Maybe I should go after A’s 100 yard fly time. In related news, J swam an awesome 100 breast at Thursday’s meet. Dropped seven seconds.

C: Thursday’s 75m spin felt like twice that. Kept it light and easy. Read the paper cover to cover, listened to music, reread the paper. Maybe I should go to three shorter sessions. Sunday’s ride was spectacular. Sunny, mid-50’s, and I felt pretty good as a result of the forced end of season taper. I’m proud of the progress I made in cycling this season. Took a small step. I’m stronger, but not strong. To reach my 09 goal for total miles, I’m supposed to do 300 this month, but I’m on pace for only 200ish.

R: Felt Sunday afternoon’s windy bike ride on the way to the track on Monday morn, but the Human Supplement wouldn’t let me coast. He’s gone from loathing to luving the track in three short weeks. Middle of pack splits, but the final 1200 was hard. What to make of Double S? He met us on the way to the track, disappeared for the bulk of the track workout, and then reappeared for the final, most difficult split. He blamed g.i. distress, but basically he Couged it until his conscience kicked in. We’re granting partial credit. Friday’s run was like Sunday’s ride, spectacular. Ran mid-day, sunny, mid-50’s, went topless for probably the final time of 09. Too much information? Stored lots of Vitamin D, skin cancer be damned. Car drivers were incredulous which was funny. Saturday’s run was fun. I attribute the huge turnout to Friday’s email describing the flattish out and back route.

Week that Was—9/14-9/20

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9/14 M T W R F SA SU Total
S 3,000

1k 15:38

2 500’s 7:24

600 kick/drill

6x100im

1:40’s on 2

100 c.d.

 3,000

1k 15:32

2 500’s 7:24

300 kick/drill

8x100im

1:40’s on 2

200 c.d

 6,000 √
C 41 team 63 nice 104 √
R 7.5 57:30 6.8 54 10.3 1:20:33 24.5 √

S: Basic week. Nothing spectacular unless you count the comment made by a woman I shared a lane with who said my butterfly looked great. Wait, was she hitting on me?

C: Feel good right now. Should have entered the Vuelta after all. Again nothing spectacular, but a respectable late summer/early fall week. Line of the week, from Lance as he went around me, “BYRNES, YOU”RE BLOCKING AGAIN!” And that was before the Huskies beat the Trojans. Now he’ll be completely insufferable.

R: Routine week. Detect a pattern? Beautiful morning running in mid-September in the Pacific Northwest. Mid-50’s, mostly clear, perfect.

Race Report. . . Woot Woot!

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The breakfast. Wonderful strawberry/banana smoothy, and a bit later, a chocolate Powerbar. A bit of Infinit mixed in.

The swim. Felt a little pressure. Less from the Cutter Battle Royale, more from my lady friend who said she wanted to see me exit the water first. Torched it. Smallish geezer wave of about 40 people and it’s never a strong swim crowd so I start in the front. Picked an absolutely perfect line and sighted best ever. First time in my life I didn’t swim an extra meter. Saw several people to my right on the inside where I’m usually stuck. I was stronger and had a better line so ended up in front from early on. Loved it, completely open water, like I was by myself in my “home” lake. Started to swim into the previous wave about third through, but that wasn’t a problem since they were fairly spread out and a bit off-line. Never really broke my cadence and hit the shore with a solid 30-40 second lead on the second geez. Tossed cap and goggles to my lady friend and began 200 yard run to bike transition. Last few years I’ve been putting shoes on for the semi-rough run up which meant watching a train of people pass me after pulling them through the swim. Decided to streamline things this year. Sensitive dogs held up just fine.

Swim to bike transition. Sucked as usual. Gave everyone about 45 seconds. Fought to get the wetsuit over my calves despite the Bodyglide, put socks on (sensitive dogs) which few do, couldn’t get helmet strap buckled. Comedy of errors. Still exited the park in the lead and held it for a few miles.

The bike. I rode well. Dropped over two minutes from last year’s personal best and averaged 21.2 mph. Got passed by about six-seven guys over the thirty miles, but two were working together, so I’m not counting them even though the race officials consciously chose not to enforce the drafting rules. All of them were on tri-specific bikes with serious race wheels. Not sure how much time I give up on my road bike. I don’t even use aero clip-ons. Got passed for the last time around mile 22 and the timing was perfect. I went with him, sitting about 50 meters back, working harder than I otherwise would have. I was a bit worried I was working too hard, but they shortened the run to 4.3 miles and I figured I could still run for 30+ minutes.

Bike to run transition. Sucked as usual. Gave everyone a gift of about 20-30 seconds. Don’t have speed laces so it takes a while to put the rabbit’s ears into the holes. Lower back was tight, as were my hammies, heart rate was way too high, so I wasn’t in a great frame of mind at the start of the run. Took the first downhill at about three-quarters of a mile to get the h.r. back down to a manageable level. Run was fairly uneventful until my right hammie flared at mile 4. Had to stop and stretch it out for about 15 seconds. I had been closing on a 27 year old (who I was ahead of by 9 minutes since he was in wave 1) but wasn’t able to overcome him after stopping to stretch. After getting the right hammie to work, left quad started to go. Managed to hold it together to the finish. A maximum effort.

Here’s the link to the results.

I have to decide whether to commit to racing more often and leveling the field by purchasing a triathlon bike and race wheels. Not terribly motivated to commit more time/energy to the sport. I’d actually like to talk to a sports psychologist about it if anyone has a recommendation.

In related news, Lance swam, rode, and ran hard, but didn’t have his best day. The old man made “the pass” in the middle of the run deep in the woods where his kids couldn’t see it. I felt for him because he was discouraged by his results. But it was fun hanging out with his family afterwards and watching his kids play with one another like a litter of puppies. From the talk on the way home, I know he’ll keep things in perspective. He knows his family’s well being is far more important than how fast he swims/bikes/runs. The best part of winning the CBR. . . he didn’t call me old once all afternoon.

I had my game face on, but didn't want others to know it

I had my game face on, but didn't want others to know it

Washington on the left, UCLA on the right

Washington left, UCLA right

The Week That Was—8/31-9/6

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M—8/31 T W R F SA SU Total
S 4,000

2k-30:55

200×8 p/b

2:55493:10

 2,000 Ward Lake

wetsuit

6+, 9:35, 9:25, 6+

 6,000 √
C 56 2k’ 20.2

peak

 40 solo 1,200’ 18.3 20 indoors

1:08

:30racepace

 116 √+
R 7.3 6.7 9.7 24 √

S: p/b=paddles/buoy and 2:55493:10 means I did my eight 200’s on 3:10 starting with 2:55’s and descending to 2:49’s. That’s short course yards for those scoring at home, but I record total distances in meters. Put differently, I swam 4,400 yards on Monday. Quirky I know, but my log, my rules. Lake distances are about 400m and 600m. Someday I’ll have to tuck the garmin into the swim cap to get more precise distances. Water has definitely cooled off over the last three weeks. I should have swam more in the lake this summer to work on sighting. I get lazy, don’t look up often enough, and inevitably drift to the right of my target. Probably need to have my limbs rotated and balanced. Note to self, the shortest distance between two points. . . .

C: Tuesday’s team training ride was my best of the season. Nice to be peaking right before the Cutter Battle Royale. Six days on, four off is a great formula. I felt strong all night and rode aggressively. Might have been the black jersey. Reeled in a solo break, stayed up front, and punched Lance HARD at one point. When I passed him like he was standing still, he said he turned to the other guy he was on a break with and said, “Oh that’s just an old guy showing off, don’t worry about him, he’ll come back to us.” As they say in football, more bulletin board material! Way fun. Even attacked a commuter with panniers over the final miles. In my defense, he passed me hard after I gently slid past him and said hello. I proceeded to ruin his night and his self image. I didn’t expect to see Lance cleaning his gutters as I rode past his house in the middle of Thursday nights ride. Cocky mother thinking he doesn’t have to train to beat the old man.

R: Should have ran F, but spent the morning planning for a 9a meeting. Meeting went much better than it otherwise would have so I guess I should give myself a break. Also should have ran off the bike once or twice. I did mow after Thursday’s ride. If I jog with the mower, can I can convert the time spent into running mileage?

Fitness Friday—8/21

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8/10 M T W R F SA SU to AG Total
S 

 

   3,100 14:45 1k 

pad/buoy

100son1:40

third IM

(252536)

   2,900 

15:21 1k

 

       6,000 √
C 

 

   49 hills 

el gato

   33 

quick

 30 Paradise 

3k+’

solid

     112 √
R 

 

 6.75   6.25 47     10.2 1:18   23 √

S: Build continues, but will probably stall on vacation next week. Nothing spectacular, just two standard sessions. Swimming alone, so not pushing quite as hard. Meanwhile Lance deserves props for swimming in a small hotel pool. The guy is training with a little more focus than one would expect from a Washington Husky.

C: Fell of twice T near the top of two climbs and got back on both times thanks to assists from a couple of people. Feel good, but not sure why I’m not climbing a bit better. Friday’s climb up Mount Rainier was supposed to be a 75-80 mile effort with considerable elevation, but it was socked in. Foggy, high 40’s at the top, and wet. Not a good combo. Two different rides. The climb up was great. I went hard, set the pace for large parts, and finished second by 30 meters. I was definitely on the edge, pouring sweat despite temps in the 40’s. The descent was miserable. I was cold and because I sweated through my base layer, the additional two didn’t help as much as normal. Plus, since we were riding through clouds, I couldn’t see out of my glasses, my gloves were soaked through, and I was shivering so badly I was wobbling pretty bad. Add in the occasional car and some sketchy pavement and I simply endured the return journey. Strange working so hard to build up all that elevation and then not getting to cash it in. All in all, not enough mileage, but really excellent quality, thus the √.

R: Basic week. Appreciate Dano pushing the pace a bit. In my post-Black Hills victory speech I have to remember to thank him for helping me hold Lance off. Here’s an excerpt from today’s dialogue. Dano is 52, I’m 47. Me, “In five years I don’t think I’ll be running this fast, pause, but then again, you won’t either.” Dano, “Right, I’ll be faster!”