Training ride

April 5, 2006

So here I am, approaching 40, a fair-to-middling cyclist with 30-mile legs, occasional surfer, non-runner, whose knees are in horrific shape due to lingering sports injuries. So what’s on my To Do list for 2006? Why, a Triathlon, of course!

Now, don’t misunderstand me; I know I’m not ready for an Ironman-type test (1.2 mile swim, 100 mile bike, 26 mile run). We’ve all seen the Gatorade commercial where the Aussie’s legs give out on him within sight of the finish line in Hawaii. He was a highly-trained athlete in peak condition, and I’m… not.

Fortunately for me, there is what is known as a ‘Sprint’ triathlon. Distances vary, but are usually in the neighborhood of 400meter swim, 15-mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I’ve targeted a couple of possible events in mid to late June, so I have a couple of months to train.

I’ve been riding my bikes on- and off-road as much as the cold wet winter (by SoCal standards) will allow. My typical road ride is about 25-30 miles over rolling terrain with an average speed of 16-17 mph. I usually feel pretty good after these rides, but haven’t tried running after any of them, or swimming before. I have started running on the treadmill in the gym, and my pace is pretty sad so far. I am just about to start swim training. I used to be a strong swimmer, but have not done much recently, so it will be interesting to see what my capabilities are.

April 6, 2006

Last night was my first night in the pool (25-meter? lap pool at 24hr Fitness). I got in the pool after a 10-minute bike session and some shoulder weight training. First run was 4 lengths at a pretty fast pace, but I was winded. After catching my breath, I swam two more lengths and had to rest again. After getting my pulse down around 100bpm, I swam a timed four lengths at a slower, sustainable pace and completed it in two minutes.

Conclusions?

1. Lots more training is necessary.
2. I need better goggles. The ‘aqua-sport’ mini-mask I was using was pretty leaky.

April 9, 2006

Decided to meet up with DMc for an organized ride with the regional Colavita club. Per Dan, a good group of folks who ride a nice easy training pace and make sure nobody gets dropped. They do long distances, but Dan planned to bail out after 30-ish miles. Sounds like my kind of ride.

Got out of bed at way-too-early-o’clock, made coffee, ate a Clif bar, and hit the road at 7am. My provisions were a couple of litres of water in my camelbak, a bottle of Accelerade, and the emergency gel of unknown vintage in my pocket. It was chilly (42 degrees) but sunny, and promised to warm up to 65 by mid-day. I had my summer shorts, knee warmers, head cover, full gloves and jacket. I have GOT to get some winter-weight shorts or tights. My ‘frontal coverage’ was inadequate in the morning chill...

Got to the meeting place at Yosemite and LA Ave at 7:25. Met a few of the Colavita riders and some associates. Nice people, all. No sign of Dan, however. Hmm.

We rolled out about 7:40, and turned east. Oh joy, Santa Susanna Pass road, my fave. Made it up without too much trouble, and had a nice descent down the other side. The club riders were keeping a pretty solid pace, so I did my best to keep up and not get in anyone's way. I was told the group was planning an 80 mile loop, but some of the riders were turning back at 20 miles for a 40-mile out-and-back. Sounds good to me. Well, as my odometer turned over 23 miles, nobody was showing any signs of turning around, so I told the rider ahead I was going to head back. We were at the 5 freeway, heading north, so I knew we were farther afield than my comfort zone. I turned around and headed back toward Balboa and Rinaldi on the north side of theValley. Found Rinaldi and a mini-mart. Sweet! I needed the Banana Muffin Bar I bought, with a Gatorade chaser. With my batteries recharged, I burned up Rinaldi back toward Topanga. Once I reached Topanga, I knew I had to deal with the Santa Susanna Pass again, which I've never ridden westbound. I only stopped once, but near the top, there was a shih tzu or some similar fuzzy dog that was obviously lost and wanted to follow me for a while. No tag on the pup, and nobody around that might have been an owner, so I kept pedalling. Made it over the top and started the fast descent. Descending SSP road toward Simi is one of my favorite things to do on a bike. It is fast and twisty with good sightlines, and usually light traffic (at least at the times I ususally ride). Made it to the bottom and felt really good that I wouldn't have to climb any more hills. Easy flat ride back to the casa, and I had 48 miles on the day, which is a record for me. I made a game effort to put on my running shoes and go for a run to the nearby school running track, knowing I would have to ride then run on raceday, but my legs were not having it. End total: 48 miles on the bike, .2 miles running. :)

4/20/2006

Joel and I decided to do a morning ride from our office. We met up in the parking lot at 6:30am. It was about 52 degrees when I left Simi, so I figured I'd be OK with my Nike jacket, full gloves, head wrap and knee warmers. It must have been about 40 in Agoura. Brrrr! We decided to do an out-and-back on Agoura road to Las Virgenes. I was freezing my jewels off, but it was a good ride otherwise. I was out in front on most of the climbs, but I think Joel may have been taking it easy. We finished with a loop around Westlake Lake. 19 miles in approx 1:15 of ride time. Good way to start the day. I would have paid dearly for a hot tub to thaw my toes, but had to make do with the showers in the locker room.

4/22/2006

Today was a good day for a mountain bike ride. Met up at Chesebro with the usual suspects around 9am. Day was cool and cloudy. Felt good climbing up the hills. Pretty much cleaned the big wall, just stopped at the very top. Rod had an outstanding fall halfway up, balancing his bike on its bar and seat as he fell. We turned around at Shepherd's Flat, and were cruising down, having a blast. I was dancing and jumping the trusty Hollowpoint over every rock and root, and squirreling-out in the sandy patches.

We hit a newly-wet section of the rock garden, and I attempted to wheelie over a small water-crossing transition. I'm not sure what happened, but I think my front end compressed and just stopped dead. Next thing I know I'm over the bars landing on my hands, and rolling into the rocks. I was concerned I'd broken my wrist, but upon inspection, it was still in the correct number of pieces, and properly aligned. I got up and checked myself and the bike for damage. Lots of bruises and scrapes, but nothing major. My initial contact with the ground was in soft dirt, so that helped. I got back on and we continued on our way. Finished up the ride and grabbed some lunch, then home to work on my and Paolo's town bikes (swapping his too-large frame for my too-small one).

(epilog: Could barely walk the next day. Up and down stairs was a real challenge, and if I stopped moving for any length of time, I would quickly stiffen up. Looks like Sunday will be a rest day. I was planning on doing a swim/run brick, or possibly even a simulated Gym Triathlon. Guess that will have to wait a week.)

4/24/2006

Still pretty sore today from the tumble. I did 15mins on the exerbike, and some back and biceps work. Got another MTB ride scheduled for after work tomorrow.

4/25/2006

Weather was cool and cloudy, but the rain held off. MTB ride up Chesebro most of the way to Shepherd Flat. Felt pretty good, but definitely stil feeling the effects of a longish, crash-filled day Saturday. I did clean the smaller 'wall' we ride up. Didn't get a chance at the second, larger one.

4/27/2006

Decided to do a 'brick' tonight after work. A Brick is essentially two of the disciplines one after the other. Because the bike is my strongest discipline, I decided to brick a run and swim. Even though in a race the swim comes before the run (with the bike in between), I decided to do it run > swim so I wouldn't have to take the time to dry off in between. At this stage, I'm not too concerned about simulating race conditions, more about building a base, and getting my body used to doing more than one of these activities at a time.

I got to the gym, changed into my running gear, and there was actually a treadmill ready when I was(!). I set it up for Distance Mode, set the distance to 3.1 miles, and started warming up at a fast walk (3.5mph). After a couple of minutes, I bumped it up to 5.5mph, then 6.0. I was planning to get to 15 minutes before slowing to rest, but as I got near, I was near 1.5 miles, so that became my new target, which I should reach at about 17:00. As I neared 1.5 miles, I said to myself, 'Hell with it, we're going to 20:00 before slowing!' By the time I got to 20:00, I knew I had to slow and recover a bit. I took it back down to 3.5, and checked my HR. It was at 161, which is 89% of my max. I walked for a couple of minutes, then took it up to 6.0mph again. I decided I was going to up the speed at the end as if I was sprinting for the finish. At 3.0 miles (0.1 to go), I started upping the speed to 6.4...6.5...6.6...6.7...finish! I completed the 3.1 miles in a bit over 35 minutes. Not bad, considering it's the most I've run since high school.

Now on to the swim. I changed into my bike-short-looking trunks, grabbed my goggles, and headed for the pool. The pool is 'heated' but when you're warm from the treadmill, it doesn't feel very warm. I got in the water, adjusted my goggles, and hit the Start button on my watch. I knew I wasn't up to the full 400m (16 lengths) at once, so I was going to shoot for 200m at a time. I started on a steady but fairly easy pace, which I was able to sustain through the 200m, but I did need a breather when I finished. My time for the first 200 was 3:38. Once my breathing was under control, I got ready for my second 200m. I started this one a little slower than the first, so I wouldn't be as out of breath. I felt comfortable through the first 175m, so I decided to really kick through the last 25. I went for it, touched the wall, and had a time of 3:44. Not bad considering how slowly I started.

I felt pretty good after the workout, not really tired at all. Next day my knees were a little sore and my calves were feeling it a bit, but overall, I'm confident I can finish my distances strong with some more training. One thing I really need to do is get some ocean swims in, as that will be very different than swimming laps in a pool.

4/29/2006

Is the weather ever going to become Cali-esque? They promised us clear skies and 70s, and Saturday dawned grey and cool (surprise!). I dutifully climbed on the bike and headed out. I took the reverse of a route my buddy Dan had shown me - a variation on my Moorpark loop that includes all of Tierra Rejada and goes further west into Moorpark. It was typical crappy SoCal spring weather (have I mentioned how much I hate our weather this spring?). I felt really strong, and didn't use my granny ring until I got to the bottom of the Norweigan grade, climbing that short hill toward Moorpark. My ride was uneventful and productive until I crossed Madera on Easy, and my bike felt like it had a hinge in the middle of it. I was pedaling and looking at the rear end, half expecting the frame to break in half. I suddenly realized the rear tire looked much wider than it should. Shit. Flat. I had my repair kit with me, but I had used my CO2 canister to fix a flat a couple of weeks back, and was concerned it didn't have enough pressure left to get me home. I pulled the tire, found the hole (tire and tube sliced by something on the route), and repaired it. Sure enough, the CO2 canister stopped way short of getting me up to the 105 psi I usually run. Probably about 40 psi. I babied it to the nearest bike shop (where I was planning on going anyway - headset bearings for my townie), and the kid happily filled up my tire. Got back home for lunch. 27.7 miles at a 16.7 average over rolling terrain.

My tires were due for replacement anyway, so I spooned on some Conti 2000 700x25s. The stock Kendas lasted about 900 miles but were starting to get flat in the center and very susceptible to cuts. Also, not impressed by the Vittoria tubes I have in reserve. One of them suffered a pinch flat while I was mounting the new tires, and I am very careful. They may be great for small, light riders, but I'm not concerned about saving a few grams on my tubes, when I weigh 205 on a good day.