Bare Bones Duathlon

First Race of the season is in the books.  I knew this was going to be tough going in for a few reasons:  1.  I am way out of form when it comes to my running, 2. This was to be my first ride on my TT bike this year & 3. Duathlons suck at the best of times!

Overall I was 2:15 slower than last year and according to my garmin files my bike split was identical to last year.  That's the good news... no slower on the bike.  Given the wind conditions, I probably had a better bike this year.  See below: race time was 2pm...  Seriously mother nature? 1pm CALM, 2pm winds at 27 gusting to 37 full on from the south!

The bad news is that not being able to run all winter means I've got some serious work to do to get into running shape.  I was 1 min slower on the first 5k leg, 45 seconds on the second (plus an extra 30 in transition 1 to make up the 2:15).

Other rookie mistakes to get out of the way today, included a ridiculously long T1 where my helmet strap got tangled and I let the guys I was running with get 30 seconds up the road before I even got on my bike and a seatpost that slid down 4 cm during the ride.  I have got to find a fix for this as it happened at IMC too, I've got it as tight as I can so will have to rig something up to ensure it doesn't happen again.  *Edit see photos above re: what happens to position when your seatpost slides (thanks to Will Pratt for the pics)... first pic is going out, second is a couple km before the finish.

On the bright side, I am 1 for 1 as an 'old guy', taking out my first masters victory.  Also on the bright side, I lit a fire under my butt to get myself run fit over the next couple of months.  Further on the bright side, I am sore today which means I got a good solid workout in yesterday which should help bring me on a bit for Oliver in 3 weeks from today.

Penticton Airport
Past 24 Hour Conditions

Imperial Units  

Date / Time (PDT)	Conditions	Temp (°C)	Humidity (%)	Dew Point (°C)	Wind (km/h)	Pressure (kPa)	Visibility (km)
12 May 2012
22:00	Clear	18	29	0	SE 12	102.2	10
21:00	Clear	20	25	-1	S 19	102.1	10
20:00	Sunny	18	37	3	S 17	102.1	10
19:00	Mainly Sunny	19	36	4	S 21	102.1	10
18:00	Partly Cloudy	24	20	-1	S 25	102.1	10
17:00	Partly Cloudy	24	20	0	S 22	102.1	10
16:00	Partly Cloudy	24	21	0	S 24	102.2	10
15:00	Partly Cloudy	23	22	1	S 22 gust 35	102.3	10
14:00	Partly Cloudy	22	20	-2	S 27 gust 37	102.3	10
13:00	Mainly Sunny	19	32	2	calm	102.5	10
12:00	Mainly Sunny	16	33	0	NNW 8	102.6	10
11:00	Mainly Sunny	14	36	-1	N 8	102.7	10
10:00	Mainly Sunny	13	37	-1	NNE 7	102.7	10
9:00	Mainly Sunny	11	42	-1	E 5	102.8	10
8:00	Sunny	9	48	-1	NE 4	102.8	10

M40-44

Race season is around the corner so it’s time for an update. I am SIGNIFICANTLY behind schedule with regards to training in two of the disciplines, so I should probably keep this short and head out for a run or off to the pool! After being unable to run even a step for a couple of months (which caused a severe lack of motivation to swim as I thought there’d be no chance for any races this year), I’ve been back at it for about 5 weeks now and things are slowly starting to come around. I’ve even hopped back in the pool a couple of times with an eye to having a good late summer triathlon season which will hopefully set me up for a solid build into IMAZ this November.

On the good news front, I feel that I’m in better bike shape than I’ve ever been in, so that’ll need to carry me through any early season efforts until my running form takes shape again (thanks to training with a Powermeter). Further good news is that it usually doesn’t take too long for me to get in ‘decent’ running shape. Hopefully that holds true now that I’m getting older… look out M40-44 Age Group!

My planned ‘races’ (I’ll use the first couple mostly as training days) for 2012 so far are:
May 12th – Bare Bones Duathlon
June 3rd – Oliver Half Iron
July 15th or July 29th – Either Lake Stevens 70.3 or Calgary 70.3
August 19th – Kelowna Apple Olympic
September 9th – Either Cultus Lake Olympic or Vegas 70.3 Worlds
November 18th – IMAZ

Takin’ it to the Streets

Yesterday marked the final session of indoor spins in our basement for this winter season (The workout is below). Sorry but the playlist is proprietary this week it was so good! A slightly dwindling group (we peaked at a dozen and had 7 hearty souls last night), did the following workout:

20 mins Warm-up
12 mins as alternate 1 fast spin, 1 stand, 1 easy x 4
3 easy
8 mins as Alternate L & R leg x 1 min
3 easy
18 mins as 5 x 2 min (2 recovery)
4 easy
18 mins as 15 min tempo build (5 @ 70%, 5 @ 85%, 5 @ 105%), last 3 min back to 70%
4 easy
7 mins as 5 x 40 sec build sprint (40 sec recovery)
8 cool down
105 Total Mins

We finished with a celebratory beer courtesy of Steve… who managed to not miss a single of the 15 sessions (of course his 2 house commute gave him a distinct advantage in his pursuit of the gold attendance star).

Now after doing the same thing for all of these weeks, I’ve got an itch that needs scratching!

So, it’s off to Knox Mountain for some hill repeats with the extra warmth and daylight… Spring is around the corner and I can't wait to be outside riding new terrain.

Until Next Year!

Thursday Night Torture Session

I tortured a bunch of people in the basement tonight... this is what we did and what we listened to.

Workout
20 mins warm-up
9 mins of alternate 1 min fast spin, 1 min stand 'grind', 1 min easy
3 mins easy
6 x 1 mins hard (1 min recovery)
3 mins easy
27 min tempo as (3 min 65%, 3 min 85%, 3 min 105% repeat)
4 mins easy
6 mins of 1 leg drills (alternate 1 min each leg)
3 mins easy
5 x 40 sec. build sprints with 40 sec. recovery
cool down to 1:45

Playlist
Lips of an Angel - Hinder
Outshined - Soundgarden
All Falls Down - Kanye West (Syleena)
Emerald Isle - Whitehorse
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
Dance in Your Car -K-OS
Rumour Has It - Adele
Are You - Alex Cuba
Girls - The Prodigy
Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
Numb/Encore - Jay-Z and Linkin Park
I Got a Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
I'll Go CrazyIf I Don't Go Crazy - U2
Mountain Top - Bedouin Soundclash
In Your Honor - Foo Fighters
Music (Calderone Edit) - Madonna
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Blow - Ke$ha
We Found Love - Rhianna
Love at First Sight - Kylie Minogue
Human - The Killers
Baby Got Back - Sir Mixalot
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
Faith - George Michaels

Bike Workout/Playlist

This week's Thursday Night Bike Workout and Playlist (Both 1:45)

Workout
20 mins warm-up
9 mins of alternate 1 min fast spin, 1 min stand 'grind', 1 min easy
2 mins easy
8 mins of alternate 1 min left leg, 1 min right leg
3 mins easy
10 x 1 min (1 min recovery) last 30 sec. of each one stand
4 mins easy
10 mins hard
4 mins easy
10 x 1 min (1 min recover) first 30 sec. of each one stand
cool down to 1hr 45 mins

Playlist
Sing - Travis
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Welcome to the Jungle - Guns n' Roses
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
Higher Ground - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Me, Myself & I - De La Soul
I'm a Slave 4 U - Britney Spears
Photograph (Live) - Def Leppard
Party Rock Anthem - DJ Enerno Remix (LMFAO)
Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
Toxic - Britney Spears
Sexyback - Justin Timberlake
Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
Fighter - Christina Aguilera
Tonight is the Night - Outasight
Best of You - Foo Fighters
Elevation (Influx Mix) - U2
Billie Jean - Micheal Jackson
Pump It - The Black Eyed Peas
Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots
Starseed - Our Lady Peace
Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones

The ‘Off Season’

Happy New Year folks!

Quick update on what I’ve been up to:
- Struggling with an Achilles problem while running
- Riding the trainer with my new power tap toy
- Trying to find the motivation to get back in the pool on a regular basis
- Hoping for better snow conditions up at Telemark
- Living vicariously through my ‘Snowbird’ wife
- Walking Max 3 times a day so he doesn’t have the energy to eat another plate of ginger snap cookies
- Working
- Laying out plans to build my first bike

Most of this has my typically uninspired at this time of year (I cannot wait for these days to get longer), so I’ll focus on the last point.

A bike build is a daunting task for the mechanically disinclined (me). But I’m up to the challenge and looking forward to the process. There are so many decisions that go into a project like this so I’ll try to keep my blog updated on these along with my progress towards Ironman Arizona and hopefully the 70.3 World Champs in Vegas.

I am planning to build another road bike as I have some spare parts lying around the garage and would like to stop bike commuting on my current road bike. That’s as far as I’ve gotten on the decision making front. And I’ve already spent a LOT of time researching this project. At some point I’ll have to pull the trigger on some further part purchases and start getting my hands dirty.

First up is the Frame. It’s a tough decision. I’ve been scouring e-bay, classifieds and bike sites looking for the right frame at the right price. If anyone has any ideas or old frames lying around their garage they’d be willing to part with at the right price, let me know :-)

TRANSITIONS

If I hooked you with the title of this blog thinking you’d get tips on how to shave precious seconds off your triathlon times, I apologize. If you’ve ever looked at my transition times: 1. You are a major tri geek as even I don’t really look at them & 2. You’d be aware that I am in no position to be doling out such advice. Rather, I’m going to rattle on about a far more important transition in the life of an athlete: Retirement.

The spate of recent suicides by hockey players unable to find comfort in their post athletic endeavors has brought this topic to mind. A recent conversation with my wife about how few Canadian athletes avail themselves of tuition support has re-enforced my desire to say something. If only one athlete reads this blog and gets either a wakeup call or sense of comfort, it will be worth the effort of personal introspection (if not, reflection has its own rewards).

Moving from the life of a full time athlete into the ‘real’ world is not easy. It has not been easy for any athlete I’ve spoken to. It was not easy for me. You will miss things about your sport and the sense of identity that it brought you. You will struggle to find a new identity which brings you the same sense of satisfaction. I will let you in on a little secret… YOU WON’T! Satisfaction in life will be derived in different realms and you need to be prepared for that. The sense of satisfaction will be different. You will be drawn to thoughts of returning to your sport to re-capture your identity and sense of purpose in life. You may have success if you choose to do so (I didn’t), but you need to be aware that one day you will still need to move on. Even Michael Jordan had to move on after his efforts to find renewed sense of purpose (I doubt batting a career .202 could compare with all of those rings and MVP trophies). He has since bought an NBA franchise and a motorcycle racing team which no doubt fill his days with a new purpose. There will be a difference between you and Michael Jordan… ‘Resources’! You will not likely be running out and buying an NBA franchise after surviving on government support for years (If you do think you can afford one on $1500/month, no matter what that dude on craigslist tells you, the Vancouver Grizzlies are no longer for sale).

Most of us have to work very hard to find a renewed sense of purpose. Be assured that most of us do. Be prepared that it will not always be an easy road. Your athletic past will help you to deal with obstacles and deliver you to the foot of your new path with tools that most do not possess. Take advantage of these tools and the other programs in place to assist in your evolution (seriously… a FREE university education is an unbelievable benefit… at least consider using it). Put a plan in place; be aware that there is a high probability that plan will change (several times). The fact that you have a plan will make for a smoother transition.

Now after my rant/lecture, I will let you in on another little secret… Life after elite sporting endeavors is more rewarding than you ever thought it would be! You will seek and find new challenges and you will succeed and fail as you did in sport. You will set new goals and learn there is more to life than you previously believed. You will be awakened to a plethora of possibilities. You will feel a more complete sense of satisfaction by being successful in entirely new arenas. You may, for example, get that education, have a successful career, learn to do a flying bike mount after a 22 minute swim (next on the list) or possibly even learn to write your blog without a blatantly obvious attempt to bring it full circle at its close.