Ok, this is barely a synthesis of business and athletics..
Mostly, it is non-sense, but it's fun.
I can remember alot of strange notes in the breakrooms of places I worked as a teenager/college student; places like Target, Sears Surplus, to name a few.
You know, at the store level the management team aren't exactly Harvard MBA's.
I did work for a women who was Regional AVP of Target at one point in her career (not naming names) and I have to admit I was surprised with this person's effectiveness and efficacy. Email off-line if you'd like to hear more; she and I worked for a large publicly traded Business Process Outsourcing firm at the time, not Target, just to clarify.
Anyway, here is that blog, which I hope you find as amusing as me.
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thorpedo Video clip
Very cool clip from the 2004 Athens Summer Games.
Speaking of which, I have a swim session tonight.
Speaking of which, I have a swim session tonight.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Swimming, funny observation
As I was swimming last week I kept noticing that some of my sessions were awfully slow, yet the perceived effort was about the same.
I really thought I was just more tired on some of those days.
It turns out one of the pools I go to is 25meters, not 25yards and that accounts for the 10seconds each 100 I thought I was "losing".
So, swimming is going just fine I am happy to report.
I really thought I was just more tired on some of those days.
It turns out one of the pools I go to is 25meters, not 25yards and that accounts for the 10seconds each 100 I thought I was "losing".
So, swimming is going just fine I am happy to report.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Week of 1/27
Summary:
Swim- 5 sessions
Bike- 3 sessions
Run- 5 sessions
Monday
Run- Easy 30min jog to Duniway Track, a couple laps and back, done at around noon.. Nice and sunny out, but cold.
Swim-
Swam w/L-Dawg swimmer extraordinare, who correctly pointed out that I have an above the water flaw in my right arm.. Set was non-descript, warmup, drills, continous freestyle, a hard kick set (for me) of 4x50 descending (so going faster each 50), a couple of relatively solid 200s in about 3.04-3.08, which is good for me this time of year, on 45 seconds rest.
Tuesday
Track Session-
Workout was 1200, (400m rest) then 600m, 100m rest, 600m, 400m rest, 600m, 100m rest, 600m.
The runners did an extra set of 2x600m, I had to leave to grab a lane at the pool..
I was fine though 2/3rds of the workout, but the really short rest left me with no punch. This workout is remniscent of a what an old running coach had me doing California when I was training to get in mid 14 shape again.
This was really not a bad workout for me, heck this is what I was doing in the middle of summer rather uncomfortably, and now I can pretty much run these w/out feeling completely drilled.
1200m was 4.02x (?) and the the 600s were between 2min and 2.05..
It was an uncomfortable gear for me to sit in compared to last week, it's obvious that I have a strength issue with mid-range stuff.... when the workout gets smokin hot on the track I feel much better, but it's really hard for me to rachet it down, it's an energy system issue and I need to work on it. I think it might be indicative of aerobic ability.
Oh, and that hard kick set last night I think loaded up my hip flexors.. Hate to make excuses, but I didn't even think about that when L suggested we do a fast kick set. Blah. I felt it in my hips.
Swim-
Went right to the pool directly from the track workout.. Again, fairly non-descript, a good warmup w/drills and kicking.. Main set of 2x100m then 50 2x100 kick 50 2x100; Going fast, but holding good form.
Ok, perceived effort the 100s felt like a low 1.20 which I can do rested, but they were 1.38-.1.40..
Whoa... Yeah, I need to calibrate what days are the hard days better with each sport and stagger them so that I'm able to work on the quality.
Wed
Run- 45min run up Terwilliger and back, nice and sunny out
Bike- 55min Spinervals Aero base builder holding 200w
Thurs
Bike- Dragging today, did 55min of Spinverals Aero base builder... holding 200w during intervals
Friday
Swim- Warmup, drills, Mainset= 6x100, (2x100, kick, and so on) Cooldown
Run- Nice and easy 30min run to Duniway & back
Saturday
Light day, had a run planned, but weather was 34F and rain, so will drop one longer run this week.
Swim- Easy day at the pool, drills, continous swimming
Bike- 35min cont. ride
Sunday
Run- Early morning run from Portland Running Co.; 1 hour 14min w/Matt. Good weather, run went well.
Swim- Swim session w/Lauren. Interesting set, warmup; 4x75 kick w/middle hard; continous freestyle in there; Pull set 6x150; 6,5,3,2,1x50 whatever you like; for me is freestyle!
Swim- 5 sessions
Bike- 3 sessions
Run- 5 sessions
Monday
Run- Easy 30min jog to Duniway Track, a couple laps and back, done at around noon.. Nice and sunny out, but cold.
Swim-
Swam w/L-Dawg swimmer extraordinare, who correctly pointed out that I have an above the water flaw in my right arm.. Set was non-descript, warmup, drills, continous freestyle, a hard kick set (for me) of 4x50 descending (so going faster each 50), a couple of relatively solid 200s in about 3.04-3.08, which is good for me this time of year, on 45 seconds rest.
Tuesday
Track Session-
Workout was 1200, (400m rest) then 600m, 100m rest, 600m, 400m rest, 600m, 100m rest, 600m.
The runners did an extra set of 2x600m, I had to leave to grab a lane at the pool..
I was fine though 2/3rds of the workout, but the really short rest left me with no punch. This workout is remniscent of a what an old running coach had me doing California when I was training to get in mid 14 shape again.
This was really not a bad workout for me, heck this is what I was doing in the middle of summer rather uncomfortably, and now I can pretty much run these w/out feeling completely drilled.
1200m was 4.02x (?) and the the 600s were between 2min and 2.05..
It was an uncomfortable gear for me to sit in compared to last week, it's obvious that I have a strength issue with mid-range stuff.... when the workout gets smokin hot on the track I feel much better, but it's really hard for me to rachet it down, it's an energy system issue and I need to work on it. I think it might be indicative of aerobic ability.
Oh, and that hard kick set last night I think loaded up my hip flexors.. Hate to make excuses, but I didn't even think about that when L suggested we do a fast kick set. Blah. I felt it in my hips.
Swim-
Went right to the pool directly from the track workout.. Again, fairly non-descript, a good warmup w/drills and kicking.. Main set of 2x100m then 50 2x100 kick 50 2x100; Going fast, but holding good form.
Ok, perceived effort the 100s felt like a low 1.20 which I can do rested, but they were 1.38-.1.40..
Whoa... Yeah, I need to calibrate what days are the hard days better with each sport and stagger them so that I'm able to work on the quality.
Wed
Run- 45min run up Terwilliger and back, nice and sunny out
Bike- 55min Spinervals Aero base builder holding 200w
Thurs
Bike- Dragging today, did 55min of Spinverals Aero base builder... holding 200w during intervals
Friday
Swim- Warmup, drills, Mainset= 6x100, (2x100, kick, and so on) Cooldown
Run- Nice and easy 30min run to Duniway & back
Saturday
Light day, had a run planned, but weather was 34F and rain, so will drop one longer run this week.
Swim- Easy day at the pool, drills, continous swimming
Bike- 35min cont. ride
Sunday
Run- Early morning run from Portland Running Co.; 1 hour 14min w/Matt. Good weather, run went well.
Swim- Swim session w/Lauren. Interesting set, warmup; 4x75 kick w/middle hard; continous freestyle in there; Pull set 6x150; 6,5,3,2,1x50 whatever you like; for me is freestyle!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity- Review
In the vein of other corporate "self-help" books, and methods along comes Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
First I'll get my recommendation out of the way: If you live in a Fortune 500 context where you must fly at 50k feet and operationalize that data down to two thousand feet then add this book, along with The World is Flat to your must read list.
Author David Allen has managed to produce a method and model for corporate productivity (and applicable to endurance athletes) that is worth a look, and easier for most of us to implement than, say, the Steven Covey method.
Here are the basics:
1. We must deal with stuff, anything we want to do.
To start we need to collect and describe these stuffs, this is where processing starts, anything that can be dispositioned and acted on in two minutes or less needs to be handled on the spot.
2. The rest of the stuff, emails, marriage proposals, your plan to run a marathon and so forth gets classified and labeled.
It's a bit much to go into here, but he offers lots of tips on the classification/labeling component.
Then you place all these stuffs on a to do list with a very precise description of your next steps.
Sounds simple right?
It is, but Allen contends that what trips people up is that they will have a "to do" list but no clear idea of how to achieve the objectives, and that the ambiguous nature of how to accomplish a task allows us to procrastinate or completely avoid it, while also creating mental dissonance
I'm going to share a personal example, I work for a very large Fortune 100 technology company; we have so many tools, processes and people to get buy in from on a variety of tasks that many times, I will simply ignore a task for a day or so until I have a clear idea of what one step in the direction of getting that task done is.
So, that's a tough example, because, you might argue that it is a systems level issue causing the dissonance. But, the roadmaps are there for me, just not as clear as say, approaching a personal to do list of projects.
Allen would suggest that if such an item is on a daily to do list you would have a concrete action associated with it, such as "call to set up meeting". Allen suggests that by leaving the to do lists open ended you have white noise haunting you with how you intend to accomplish these tasks and they actually distract you from the task itself.
Allen also suggests that without this organization you begin to accumulate mental pollution; an inbox full of undispositioned email, or again, objectives without clear pathways to achieving some final disposition.
What's my take on this?
O.k., I like his approach and model, it resonates against my own experience.
For instance, if I can't easily get a task done; I must have a concrete plan around the actions. It's something I've always done, but not consistently.
His personal approach to getting things done is to make it as simple as possible; that's not to say everything is simple, but here is an example of how I interpret that:
When I go to work in a new place (which is more frequent than the average person due to consulting) I'm always asked what I need. I'm given a catalog and told I can have whatever I need and to feel free to order as much as I like.
Sometimes there is another consultant engaging the client w/me. That person invariably orders extraneous desk items that adds little, if any value to getting work done.
To contrast, I have an uncluttered desk, only what I need on it to getting things done. I only place on my desk what is actively pertinent to getting tasks accomplished. It sounds simple, but again, this rolls up into Allen's concept of mental pollution. If you have a magazine for pleasure reading, personal mail or toys on your desk they distract from the tasks at hand.
So, how does this really apply to athletes? It's more simple for us in endurance sports than we ever imagined, we need plans that allow us, in my opinion, to check a box (do a workout) and move on.
For instance, if your week calls for a long run, a hard interval session and a series of maintenance runs, you map out the days, where and when you will do it, either put it on paper, on a word doc or an XLS sheet- what method you choose to track is unimportant as long as you actually commit to a tool, and then track whether it got done or not.
It sounds so simplistic, yet, I know many people who are very successful in business and in sports who don't have any method.
They have so much mental bandwith that they succeed in spite of their clear disorganization. It is a waste of their talents and time that they do this obviously, and while most of them know this is an issue they don't have a clear plan to approach the problem.
A little ironic isn't it?
First I'll get my recommendation out of the way: If you live in a Fortune 500 context where you must fly at 50k feet and operationalize that data down to two thousand feet then add this book, along with The World is Flat to your must read list.
Author David Allen has managed to produce a method and model for corporate productivity (and applicable to endurance athletes) that is worth a look, and easier for most of us to implement than, say, the Steven Covey method.
Here are the basics:
1. We must deal with stuff, anything we want to do.
To start we need to collect and describe these stuffs, this is where processing starts, anything that can be dispositioned and acted on in two minutes or less needs to be handled on the spot.
2. The rest of the stuff, emails, marriage proposals, your plan to run a marathon and so forth gets classified and labeled.
It's a bit much to go into here, but he offers lots of tips on the classification/labeling component.
Then you place all these stuffs on a to do list with a very precise description of your next steps.
Sounds simple right?
It is, but Allen contends that what trips people up is that they will have a "to do" list but no clear idea of how to achieve the objectives, and that the ambiguous nature of how to accomplish a task allows us to procrastinate or completely avoid it, while also creating mental dissonance
I'm going to share a personal example, I work for a very large Fortune 100 technology company; we have so many tools, processes and people to get buy in from on a variety of tasks that many times, I will simply ignore a task for a day or so until I have a clear idea of what one step in the direction of getting that task done is.
So, that's a tough example, because, you might argue that it is a systems level issue causing the dissonance. But, the roadmaps are there for me, just not as clear as say, approaching a personal to do list of projects.
Allen would suggest that if such an item is on a daily to do list you would have a concrete action associated with it, such as "call to set up meeting". Allen suggests that by leaving the to do lists open ended you have white noise haunting you with how you intend to accomplish these tasks and they actually distract you from the task itself.
Allen also suggests that without this organization you begin to accumulate mental pollution; an inbox full of undispositioned email, or again, objectives without clear pathways to achieving some final disposition.
What's my take on this?
O.k., I like his approach and model, it resonates against my own experience.
For instance, if I can't easily get a task done; I must have a concrete plan around the actions. It's something I've always done, but not consistently.
His personal approach to getting things done is to make it as simple as possible; that's not to say everything is simple, but here is an example of how I interpret that:
When I go to work in a new place (which is more frequent than the average person due to consulting) I'm always asked what I need. I'm given a catalog and told I can have whatever I need and to feel free to order as much as I like.
Sometimes there is another consultant engaging the client w/me. That person invariably orders extraneous desk items that adds little, if any value to getting work done.
To contrast, I have an uncluttered desk, only what I need on it to getting things done. I only place on my desk what is actively pertinent to getting tasks accomplished. It sounds simple, but again, this rolls up into Allen's concept of mental pollution. If you have a magazine for pleasure reading, personal mail or toys on your desk they distract from the tasks at hand.
So, how does this really apply to athletes? It's more simple for us in endurance sports than we ever imagined, we need plans that allow us, in my opinion, to check a box (do a workout) and move on.
For instance, if your week calls for a long run, a hard interval session and a series of maintenance runs, you map out the days, where and when you will do it, either put it on paper, on a word doc or an XLS sheet- what method you choose to track is unimportant as long as you actually commit to a tool, and then track whether it got done or not.
It sounds so simplistic, yet, I know many people who are very successful in business and in sports who don't have any method.
They have so much mental bandwith that they succeed in spite of their clear disorganization. It is a waste of their talents and time that they do this obviously, and while most of them know this is an issue they don't have a clear plan to approach the problem.
A little ironic isn't it?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
2008 Presidential Elections...
Well, it's probably not apparent what my political views are.
Dr. Phil has some interesting guests..
And well, I think Joel Mchale may have confused one of them for another person.
Dr. Phil has some interesting guests..
And well, I think Joel Mchale may have confused one of them for another person.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fit to a fault on campuses
This is an interesting article. I suppose it was only a matter of time before the pendulum swung the other direction.
My context and perspective is obvious, so it should come as no surprise that I very much disagree with this approach.
In my view, it is the philosophy that young adults need their habits policed that bothers me, it's another instance of campus administration over-reaching with somewhat misguided objectives.
Some other interesting observations:
Notice that one of the administrators mentions that the physical ideal is becoming smaller and thinner; implicit in that is that the trend may somehow be linked with negative obessesive compulsive disorders.
Could it be that our society is actually raising healthier teenagers who then get to a college campus more thin and fit than in the past?
Needless to say, I was not impressed with some of those remarks.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/01/19/fit_to_a_fault_on_campuses/?page=2
My context and perspective is obvious, so it should come as no surprise that I very much disagree with this approach.
In my view, it is the philosophy that young adults need their habits policed that bothers me, it's another instance of campus administration over-reaching with somewhat misguided objectives.
Some other interesting observations:
Notice that one of the administrators mentions that the physical ideal is becoming smaller and thinner; implicit in that is that the trend may somehow be linked with negative obessesive compulsive disorders.
Could it be that our society is actually raising healthier teenagers who then get to a college campus more thin and fit than in the past?
Needless to say, I was not impressed with some of those remarks.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/01/19/fit_to_a_fault_on_campuses/?page=2
Monday, January 21, 2008
Week ending 1/20/08
Quick Summary:
3 Swims
3 Bikes
5 Runs
Getting there!
Monday- 1/14
Wow.. Really dragging today. I guess sleeping on the floor while I wait for the bed was a bad idea. I'm more sore from that the ride yesterday and my allergies went haywire.
On tap was a run/swim day, and I did only swim.. Something like drills, some 100's, a kick set and more drills and continous swimming
Tues- 1/15
Swim/run on tap today. Spent the better part of the morning running down some errands, then back to work.
I had a late conf call that impacted my pool time; so the swim was like yesterday, but mildly shorter.
Swim:
I went right from the pool to the track where I joined the local runners for my first session back in ages.
Run:
session was- 1000, 900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400m w/some slightly off-kilter rest in between that alternated between short and long. Mid 80's on most of these..
I fronted the first group for the whole thing, so I'm clearly fit running-wise.
Wed 1/16
Definitely an active recovery day
Run- very easy 30min run to Duniway and back.
Bike- Steady while watching a movie, 45min holding about 200w..
Thurs 1/17
Run- 45min easy up Terwilliger
Bike- 55min, Big Gear Strength DVD
Fri 1/18
Run -31min easy, Duniway
Swim- zilch, swim team was at pool
Bike- Getting started DVD- blend of Threshold watts and big gear threshold watts
Sat 1/19
Run- Easy 30min
Sun 1/20
Snowshoe (I guess this subs in as a run)= 2.5hrs
Swim- Hit the pool right when I got back from the mountain, 2 sets of 400s in low 6min and that was comfy, some form changes I made recently must be making an impact..
3 Swims
3 Bikes
5 Runs
Getting there!
Monday- 1/14
Wow.. Really dragging today. I guess sleeping on the floor while I wait for the bed was a bad idea. I'm more sore from that the ride yesterday and my allergies went haywire.
On tap was a run/swim day, and I did only swim.. Something like drills, some 100's, a kick set and more drills and continous swimming
Tues- 1/15
Swim/run on tap today. Spent the better part of the morning running down some errands, then back to work.
I had a late conf call that impacted my pool time; so the swim was like yesterday, but mildly shorter.
Swim:
I went right from the pool to the track where I joined the local runners for my first session back in ages.
Run:
session was- 1000, 900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400m w/some slightly off-kilter rest in between that alternated between short and long. Mid 80's on most of these..
I fronted the first group for the whole thing, so I'm clearly fit running-wise.
Wed 1/16
Definitely an active recovery day
Run- very easy 30min run to Duniway and back.
Bike- Steady while watching a movie, 45min holding about 200w..
Thurs 1/17
Run- 45min easy up Terwilliger
Bike- 55min, Big Gear Strength DVD
Fri 1/18
Run -31min easy, Duniway
Swim- zilch, swim team was at pool
Bike- Getting started DVD- blend of Threshold watts and big gear threshold watts
Sat 1/19
Run- Easy 30min
Sun 1/20
Snowshoe (I guess this subs in as a run)= 2.5hrs
Swim- Hit the pool right when I got back from the mountain, 2 sets of 400s in low 6min and that was comfy, some form changes I made recently must be making an impact..
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Getting things Done on a January Saturday
Well, I've been culling my thoughts on this book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - I'll have a snap shot of it some time next week.. It's very applicable to endurance athletes.
On that note, I did not get much done today. I did manage a workout though.
Socializing takes a toll on me, it's pretty impactful on my time.
Currently, just taking of stock of progress today, in my second/third full week of early winter base building I'm dropping weight, but feeling plenty healthy. With the exception of today, very tired.
Anyhow, one hurdle to Getting things Done I think, are "treats"- ice cream, carbs, alcohol and the like- all of these have a real tangible negative impact on us. I realize that's a pretty obvious observation, yet, when we celebrate and socialize we consciously pollute the engine.
Yeah, I wouldn't put cheap gas in my old car, but I'm just fine with limiting my ability to absorb work via over indulgence.
While I'm not one for resolutions, I have made strides here in the context of athletics. It may seem pretty boring to focus continously on the end results of our efforts by examining process, but until we can do that consistently, then we'll sell ourselves short of acheiving our goals.
"Treats" are static, white-noise that mire the path to the acheivments. Sure, we need to enjoy ourselves, but not at the expense of results.
Anyhow, some folks have asked very specifically what I'm aiming to acheive..
I'm putting it out there.
Ironman Canada:
Swim = 1 hour-ish
Bike = 5.15-5.30
Run = 3.15 - 30
That nets around 9.30 to 10hrs; puts in me a position to potentially grab a Kona slot which I will gladly take.
I used to say, live everyday like you mean it. That's my mantra for the athletic context this year, and it is an exciting time.
On that note, I did not get much done today. I did manage a workout though.
Socializing takes a toll on me, it's pretty impactful on my time.
Currently, just taking of stock of progress today, in my second/third full week of early winter base building I'm dropping weight, but feeling plenty healthy. With the exception of today, very tired.
Anyhow, one hurdle to Getting things Done I think, are "treats"- ice cream, carbs, alcohol and the like- all of these have a real tangible negative impact on us. I realize that's a pretty obvious observation, yet, when we celebrate and socialize we consciously pollute the engine.
Yeah, I wouldn't put cheap gas in my old car, but I'm just fine with limiting my ability to absorb work via over indulgence.
While I'm not one for resolutions, I have made strides here in the context of athletics. It may seem pretty boring to focus continously on the end results of our efforts by examining process, but until we can do that consistently, then we'll sell ourselves short of acheiving our goals.
"Treats" are static, white-noise that mire the path to the acheivments. Sure, we need to enjoy ourselves, but not at the expense of results.
Anyhow, some folks have asked very specifically what I'm aiming to acheive..
I'm putting it out there.
Ironman Canada:
Swim = 1 hour-ish
Bike = 5.15-5.30
Run = 3.15 - 30
That nets around 9.30 to 10hrs; puts in me a position to potentially grab a Kona slot which I will gladly take.
I used to say, live everyday like you mean it. That's my mantra for the athletic context this year, and it is an exciting time.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Doing some cross training tonight
I may be headed out to do a little a dancing tonight as a form of off season cross training...
I also need to be careful about how many juice boxes I have...
I also need to be careful about how many juice boxes I have...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Running is my passion
I grew up in Eugene in the early 80's, I love Track and Field.
I spent most of my twenties pounding the kind of intervals that leave your stomach raw from the effort afterwards.
I loved every minute of it.
I'm focusing on running pretty frequently this year for a whole variety of reasons, but mainly because I should be running significantly faster in races, and I'm doing fine, so it will just take a little more effort on my part..
Love this video too- hey, it's running related.
I spent most of my twenties pounding the kind of intervals that leave your stomach raw from the effort afterwards.
I loved every minute of it.
I'm focusing on running pretty frequently this year for a whole variety of reasons, but mainly because I should be running significantly faster in races, and I'm doing fine, so it will just take a little more effort on my part..
Love this video too- hey, it's running related.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
iPhones are pretty cool...
First of all, I don't have an iPhone, so let's get that clear.
I have a Nokia.
I have a Nokia.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Running, Riding, Walking, Blading and Whatever around town
I've lived in alot of active cities for a guy in his mid-30's. Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder and SF Bay to name a few of the big ones. Heck, I grew up outside of Eugene during the tail-end of the running boom.
Every year a few magazines vote on which city is the most active, most bike friendly, cleanest/greenest city, and so on. The voting for that stuff is pretty laughable, it's the same ten or so cities in the running every year. On top of that, it's usually not fair to throw small cities like Boulder, Durango or Eugene into the mix, the scale is so far off compared to say, Portland, Oregon that any real, measurable comparison makes little sense even when you use the "per capita" qualifier.
Mildly tangential here but why even bother chatting about this?
I raise the subject because it's a policy issue that touches people in endurance sports by way of use of the infrastructure (as starting point).
Anyhow, my lifestyle in each of these cities was different also, for obvious reasons, when I was younger and in the military, I was stationed in San Diego. Later, my first job out of undergrad took me to SF Bay; when I lived in Boulder I was post-grad school and commuted to work over an hour each way. The one thing that remained the same in what appears to be a semi-nomadic lifestyle is that I've been active. Go figure.
When I lived in San Diego I was stationed on a base in Point Loma, not far from the city. I was a sailor learning how to operate decades old radio equipment and in my spare time, aside from drinking (alot) legally at the age of 19 on the base bar, I would sometimes run from the base on a nice path that I could step onto from the west side of the base.
It was pretty awesome actually, the path ran at least the length of the bay shore all the way into downtown San Diego, near the famous old sailing ship whose name I forget and is moored for all the tourists to see. The area and base, as a point of trivia, has multiple landmarks where the film "Top Gun" was filmed. In fact, I was stationed on this base for over a year and lived basically near all the areas it was shot in.
Needless to say, it was less glamourous for me.. And Kelly McGillis, the blonde love interest- I never dated, in spite of the rumours.
Anyhow, the path is pretty narrow, there are parking lots adjacent to parks along it because of the great views; hopefully you get the picture. It's also used by alot of people.
In Seattle there is another path just like the one in San Diego called the Burke-Gilliman trail and it is about 60 miles total, the difference is that it's not in a sunny place. Seriously. Alot of it actually runs along various lakes, small creeks and rivers. It's also heavily used.
Portland has a system like this, but mostly relies on organically grown byways that people have traditionally used as bike and pedestrain friendly streets. Boulder and Eugene are alot like Portland. The funny thing about these cities is that if you go and use the systems intended to move around town sans a car, it's highly likely you will be with cars; and for the most part the incidence of contact with other people on bikes, blades, etc. is pretty reduced.
SF Bay has none of this, I'm not kidding, there is no sembalence of multi-use trail system.
Strategic vision or lack of it shaped all of these approaches to creating these solutions for folks that attempt to exercise, recreate or commute around their respective cities. I don't have a preference for any of the solutions. Each of them has its pros and cons.
For instance, Seattle's Burke-Gilliman has so many cyclists on it that the path actually has a speed limit of 15mph, which is rarely obeyed. Cyclists ride it in full Tour de France team kits on carbon race bikes, with get this: bells.
They have to contend with toddlers learning to ride their bikes. They also deal with joggers (triathletes?) equipped with fuel belts, ipods and other accoutrements to distract them from the fact that they are running too slow to lose any weight. This is compounded by consumption of a Luna bar while running 13 minute miles.
Toddlers and runners face near certain collisions with future Tdf cyclists (with bells) who strangely choose a heavily used path for what appear to be some form of intervals on their bikes.
Contrast that with Portland. Bike City USA, or something like that.
I can't complain I lived there a long time. I've trained there as an athlete on a bike for the better part of five years. But Portland unlike Seattle doesn't keep cyclists, runners, bladers and the like safe from traffic, because their isn't much multi-use path. Sure, as a cyclist, you can pretty much drill it on your morning commute and not worry too much about putting your front wheel into a soccer mom's behind. The downside, (and it's become pretty apparent lately as I think the city may literally be approaching a critical mass of users on the bicycle by-ways) is that there are more and more accidents involving cars and non-motorists.
On one hand, you ride safely but annoyed & other the is bliss until a driver cuts you off causing an accident.
Let's get back to strategic vision.
In Seattle's case, they were able to convert a ton of rail beds to trails in small towns that developed into bedroom communities for companies in the area and link the trails. This was mostly luck that enabled this; the trail system is actually an impediment to light rail development in some ways because voters can be swayed with a pro-bus/status quo argument of "we already have green infrastructure"; no one knew Microsoft would grow as it did or that Boeing would spawn these vertically intergrated partners between it Seattle and Redmond.
Portland has no public strategic vision for the this, the measures are on balance reactionary. Portland gets kudos from Bicycling Magazine for having signs in downtown encouraging not cyclists to use a path but people roller blading too. I like the attitude the city council has to foster a culture where everyone is encouraged to exercise and get around without a car, but it isn't strategic, it is tactical.
This is the issue with all of the cities mentioned is that we have policy details being added to a flawed overaching policy/strategy. Projecting growth in Seattle circa 1973 when nobody could envision a community that grew east vs. north/south (to accomodate Boeing's growth) was improbable.
Who knew that "software" would become an industry that required a fraction of the space to engineer/deliver vs. the aerospace industry in the south sound?
As far as anyone at that point knew the computer industry was mainframes and technology was aerospace. It would not have been reasonable to anticipate such growth. The city was small, people did not have to worry about much traffic, and, if they decided to ride a bike from an outlying community into the city the highways were literally small lightly used country roads.
Net, I'm not sure there is any "right" answer on these policy issues.
Every year a few magazines vote on which city is the most active, most bike friendly, cleanest/greenest city, and so on. The voting for that stuff is pretty laughable, it's the same ten or so cities in the running every year. On top of that, it's usually not fair to throw small cities like Boulder, Durango or Eugene into the mix, the scale is so far off compared to say, Portland, Oregon that any real, measurable comparison makes little sense even when you use the "per capita" qualifier.
Mildly tangential here but why even bother chatting about this?
I raise the subject because it's a policy issue that touches people in endurance sports by way of use of the infrastructure (as starting point).
Anyhow, my lifestyle in each of these cities was different also, for obvious reasons, when I was younger and in the military, I was stationed in San Diego. Later, my first job out of undergrad took me to SF Bay; when I lived in Boulder I was post-grad school and commuted to work over an hour each way. The one thing that remained the same in what appears to be a semi-nomadic lifestyle is that I've been active. Go figure.
When I lived in San Diego I was stationed on a base in Point Loma, not far from the city. I was a sailor learning how to operate decades old radio equipment and in my spare time, aside from drinking (alot) legally at the age of 19 on the base bar, I would sometimes run from the base on a nice path that I could step onto from the west side of the base.
It was pretty awesome actually, the path ran at least the length of the bay shore all the way into downtown San Diego, near the famous old sailing ship whose name I forget and is moored for all the tourists to see. The area and base, as a point of trivia, has multiple landmarks where the film "Top Gun" was filmed. In fact, I was stationed on this base for over a year and lived basically near all the areas it was shot in.
Needless to say, it was less glamourous for me.. And Kelly McGillis, the blonde love interest- I never dated, in spite of the rumours.
Anyhow, the path is pretty narrow, there are parking lots adjacent to parks along it because of the great views; hopefully you get the picture. It's also used by alot of people.
In Seattle there is another path just like the one in San Diego called the Burke-Gilliman trail and it is about 60 miles total, the difference is that it's not in a sunny place. Seriously. Alot of it actually runs along various lakes, small creeks and rivers. It's also heavily used.
Portland has a system like this, but mostly relies on organically grown byways that people have traditionally used as bike and pedestrain friendly streets. Boulder and Eugene are alot like Portland. The funny thing about these cities is that if you go and use the systems intended to move around town sans a car, it's highly likely you will be with cars; and for the most part the incidence of contact with other people on bikes, blades, etc. is pretty reduced.
SF Bay has none of this, I'm not kidding, there is no sembalence of multi-use trail system.
Strategic vision or lack of it shaped all of these approaches to creating these solutions for folks that attempt to exercise, recreate or commute around their respective cities. I don't have a preference for any of the solutions. Each of them has its pros and cons.
For instance, Seattle's Burke-Gilliman has so many cyclists on it that the path actually has a speed limit of 15mph, which is rarely obeyed. Cyclists ride it in full Tour de France team kits on carbon race bikes, with get this: bells.
They have to contend with toddlers learning to ride their bikes. They also deal with joggers (triathletes?) equipped with fuel belts, ipods and other accoutrements to distract them from the fact that they are running too slow to lose any weight. This is compounded by consumption of a Luna bar while running 13 minute miles.
Toddlers and runners face near certain collisions with future Tdf cyclists (with bells) who strangely choose a heavily used path for what appear to be some form of intervals on their bikes.
Contrast that with Portland. Bike City USA, or something like that.
I can't complain I lived there a long time. I've trained there as an athlete on a bike for the better part of five years. But Portland unlike Seattle doesn't keep cyclists, runners, bladers and the like safe from traffic, because their isn't much multi-use path. Sure, as a cyclist, you can pretty much drill it on your morning commute and not worry too much about putting your front wheel into a soccer mom's behind. The downside, (and it's become pretty apparent lately as I think the city may literally be approaching a critical mass of users on the bicycle by-ways) is that there are more and more accidents involving cars and non-motorists.
On one hand, you ride safely but annoyed & other the is bliss until a driver cuts you off causing an accident.
Let's get back to strategic vision.
In Seattle's case, they were able to convert a ton of rail beds to trails in small towns that developed into bedroom communities for companies in the area and link the trails. This was mostly luck that enabled this; the trail system is actually an impediment to light rail development in some ways because voters can be swayed with a pro-bus/status quo argument of "we already have green infrastructure"; no one knew Microsoft would grow as it did or that Boeing would spawn these vertically intergrated partners between it Seattle and Redmond.
Portland has no public strategic vision for the this, the measures are on balance reactionary. Portland gets kudos from Bicycling Magazine for having signs in downtown encouraging not cyclists to use a path but people roller blading too. I like the attitude the city council has to foster a culture where everyone is encouraged to exercise and get around without a car, but it isn't strategic, it is tactical.
This is the issue with all of the cities mentioned is that we have policy details being added to a flawed overaching policy/strategy. Projecting growth in Seattle circa 1973 when nobody could envision a community that grew east vs. north/south (to accomodate Boeing's growth) was improbable.
Who knew that "software" would become an industry that required a fraction of the space to engineer/deliver vs. the aerospace industry in the south sound?
As far as anyone at that point knew the computer industry was mainframes and technology was aerospace. It would not have been reasonable to anticipate such growth. The city was small, people did not have to worry about much traffic, and, if they decided to ride a bike from an outlying community into the city the highways were literally small lightly used country roads.
Net, I'm not sure there is any "right" answer on these policy issues.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Workouts Week of 1/13/08
Tuesday 1/8/08
I woke up feeling terrible with work and meetings, I sometimes come around but I just had a low level fever all day.
So, in between my meetings I went to the grocery store with my mother because it was the best way for me to get some activity. Not to bag on my mother, but it had to be the slowest trip I've ever had in the grocery store, well there are some exceptions.
We're in the store, she's shopping for veggies and I'm not sure if she's talking to me, herself or the produce.
My mother (in NY Italian Staten Island, not Brooklyn accent): "I really like grapes for my parrot. Cookie (the parrot) does real good on a diet of fruits and seeds, she wants to eat everything, but you'se can't give her potato chips, they'ze will kill her."
Me: "Hmm, well I guess we should be careful then."
My mother: "Awww, they don't have any grapes darn it. You know, when they're outta season they just aren't in the stores here in Oregon. You know in Arizona they's always have grapes, maybe they get them from Mexico. Arizona is so much more senior friendly than Oregon, they really take care of their senior citizens there."
Me: "Oh. Hey, I'm going to get and buy a frozen pizza Mom, uh- how about I meet you at the checkout lane."
Anyway, I never did feel any better so I just worked all afternoon and took the day off.
Cookie didn't get any grapes either for what it's worth.
Wednesday 1/9/08
I had a random errand to run for work about 45min away, and then meetings all morning.
Definitely feeling better this morning and back to good
Late afternoon- 30min and change run, little out and back in the rain..
Evening-
Spinervals Aero Base Builder: This DVD is suppossed to be Zone 2/3 level watts or heartrate, and it's two hours. I usually only do one hour, which is what I did at about 180w avg.. Most of the time holding 200-215w for the intervals.. Rests were short, 15-30seconds..
It felt fine and easy, which is how it should feel. I think just riding outside a few times in the last month has made a serious difference in muscular endurance, (but probably not aerobic endurance) I have been so much more comfortable spinning about 70% of my Functional Threshold Protocol.
Thursday 1/10/08
You might be wondering why I'm not swimming. I think the pool out here in McMinnville, Oregon made me ill. I'm skipping the swim all week until I get into Portland on Saturday and doing a clinic then. More on that later.
Afternoon:
60.x min run, out and back again past some beautiful farm fields and wineries. It really reminds me of running around the country side when I was a kid. Yes, I ran for miles as a kid. I might have some problems with exercising or something.
Anyway, I felt great. I think it was prolly a touch under 8min pace which I figure will be my Ironman pace, but I'd like to it drop a bit; I have some pretty interesting stretch goals for the marathon.
Friday 1/11/08
I had another really restless night of sleep.. More stress lately than I'm used to. Fortunately after working all day I started to feel o.k. in the late afternoon and managed to motivate myself for a swim at the McMinnville aquatic center, better this time around, there were lanes and no kids in the way.. Spent an exciting Friday evening hanging out with my mom. Tommorow is moving day.
Saturday 1/12/08
Moving day.
Up early to get moved *back* into my old building in the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Done in no time flat and with an afternoon free I went thrift store shopping for kicks off NW 23rd... I do like Portland for alot of reasons, and one of them is that in this area of town I get to check out all the city archetypes. People watching is always fun. I feel like a fly on the way because I'm not really an archetype, I'm just moving through life free of that sort of contextual boundary for the most part. Notice I said for the most part.
Late afternoon- Did a 30.x min run to Duniway w/some laps around the track to pad the total time. Shock of shocks, it is Jan, and I ran in shorts here in Pdx.. Not less than a week ago I was living and working in Redmond, Washington (Seattle) and totally suffering in the cold *every* damn run.. It got old. I'm really glad to be done with that place.
Early Eve:
Swim Clinic- Swam at Dishman pool in N Portland.. Just another community pool with too many kids peeing in it for the most part. I haven't been to a group clinic and was shocked that I was seeded in the fast lane.. I guess I'm not so bad anymore. Clinic was mostly drills focusing on balance, nothing real new, but it did get me to think about some things differently again. Drilling correctly is hard, drilling in the fast lane means that you need to do it with some oomph.
Post swim- Had some dinner at Pastini with a couple of friends (Sean & Andrew) and talked wine, women and song. Mostly wine and women. I'm mostly happy to have some real food. I haven't eaten like that since I left Redmond.. I guess that's one thing I miss about Redmond. The cooking was pretty good up there.
Sunday 1/13/08
I joined the Portland Triathlon Club last night. I guess I am joiner now, not normally my style. I got talked into it post clinic.. The membership director thought I was actually was a member but, uh, not. Anyhow, she sweet talked me out of twenty nine dollars.
Bike Ride today:
Meant to get out around 11-ish but errands kept me busy.. I also drove to where I was going to ride w/out my cycling shoes and had to turn around and go back to my place to get them. Can we say idiot?
Speaking of which New Jersey is taking the word "idiot" out of its constitution in reference to the mentally un-well or less able.
That really bothers me, I actually know plenty of people who still need the label as they meet most criteria to be declared an "idiot".
Maybe we'll just use frigtard? Not to be confused with Regfrigerator-tard, but frig as a euphemism for another f word.
Anyhow, I haven't downloaded the ride yet because I'm still in my riding gear but basically rode 2 hrs/36+miles... For the most part I worked harder in terms of wattage output to go slower at a place I have ridden a gazillion times, so plenty of benchmarks to choose from for sure.
Edit- Downloaded the file this morning (monday) and it looks like I did a whopping 19mph, that's actually o.k. typically it is 20-21mph avg. Also about 8.x+ slower.
Winter base training is interesting, you have to be real careful not to let ego get in the way of accumlating time in the activity. I guess what I mean is that I think base training is a time that we cultivate the ability to absorb work downstream. When we enter base training our memories tell us that we can ride x route at y speed, but in reality we probably can't.
Right now, we can't absorb much work in terms of time (intensity yes, but only in shorter bits) because we haven't been outdoors much and maybe we're topping out at around an hour to hour and a half in terms of the longer sessions we did in the off-season.
That was definitely the case for me.
Anyhow, I feel good. I rode at a place called Sauvie Island. An rural island basically in Portland with a 12.x mile loop around it that is very flat, this time of year it's also windy. I once rode around the island 9 times to approxiamete riding an Ironman bike leg.
I am not always too smart, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I digress. Portland was sunny & warm for this time of year, if I were in Seattle this weekend I would have been stuck inside or xc skiing to get base aerobic work in... Thankfully I am not in Seattle!
Sauvie was perfect. Views of Mt. Hood, snow covered foothills, the colors of the island were bursting and there were many cyclists clad in winter gear also pedaling around.
I woke up feeling terrible with work and meetings, I sometimes come around but I just had a low level fever all day.
So, in between my meetings I went to the grocery store with my mother because it was the best way for me to get some activity. Not to bag on my mother, but it had to be the slowest trip I've ever had in the grocery store, well there are some exceptions.
We're in the store, she's shopping for veggies and I'm not sure if she's talking to me, herself or the produce.
My mother (in NY Italian Staten Island, not Brooklyn accent): "I really like grapes for my parrot. Cookie (the parrot) does real good on a diet of fruits and seeds, she wants to eat everything, but you'se can't give her potato chips, they'ze will kill her."
Me: "Hmm, well I guess we should be careful then."
My mother: "Awww, they don't have any grapes darn it. You know, when they're outta season they just aren't in the stores here in Oregon. You know in Arizona they's always have grapes, maybe they get them from Mexico. Arizona is so much more senior friendly than Oregon, they really take care of their senior citizens there."
Me: "Oh. Hey, I'm going to get and buy a frozen pizza Mom, uh- how about I meet you at the checkout lane."
Anyway, I never did feel any better so I just worked all afternoon and took the day off.
Cookie didn't get any grapes either for what it's worth.
Wednesday 1/9/08
I had a random errand to run for work about 45min away, and then meetings all morning.
Definitely feeling better this morning and back to good
Late afternoon- 30min and change run, little out and back in the rain..
Evening-
Spinervals Aero Base Builder: This DVD is suppossed to be Zone 2/3 level watts or heartrate, and it's two hours. I usually only do one hour, which is what I did at about 180w avg.. Most of the time holding 200-215w for the intervals.. Rests were short, 15-30seconds..
It felt fine and easy, which is how it should feel. I think just riding outside a few times in the last month has made a serious difference in muscular endurance, (but probably not aerobic endurance) I have been so much more comfortable spinning about 70% of my Functional Threshold Protocol.
Thursday 1/10/08
You might be wondering why I'm not swimming. I think the pool out here in McMinnville, Oregon made me ill. I'm skipping the swim all week until I get into Portland on Saturday and doing a clinic then. More on that later.
Afternoon:
60.x min run, out and back again past some beautiful farm fields and wineries. It really reminds me of running around the country side when I was a kid. Yes, I ran for miles as a kid. I might have some problems with exercising or something.
Anyway, I felt great. I think it was prolly a touch under 8min pace which I figure will be my Ironman pace, but I'd like to it drop a bit; I have some pretty interesting stretch goals for the marathon.
Friday 1/11/08
I had another really restless night of sleep.. More stress lately than I'm used to. Fortunately after working all day I started to feel o.k. in the late afternoon and managed to motivate myself for a swim at the McMinnville aquatic center, better this time around, there were lanes and no kids in the way.. Spent an exciting Friday evening hanging out with my mom. Tommorow is moving day.
Saturday 1/12/08
Moving day.
Up early to get moved *back* into my old building in the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Done in no time flat and with an afternoon free I went thrift store shopping for kicks off NW 23rd... I do like Portland for alot of reasons, and one of them is that in this area of town I get to check out all the city archetypes. People watching is always fun. I feel like a fly on the way because I'm not really an archetype, I'm just moving through life free of that sort of contextual boundary for the most part. Notice I said for the most part.
Late afternoon- Did a 30.x min run to Duniway w/some laps around the track to pad the total time. Shock of shocks, it is Jan, and I ran in shorts here in Pdx.. Not less than a week ago I was living and working in Redmond, Washington (Seattle) and totally suffering in the cold *every* damn run.. It got old. I'm really glad to be done with that place.
Early Eve:
Swim Clinic- Swam at Dishman pool in N Portland.. Just another community pool with too many kids peeing in it for the most part. I haven't been to a group clinic and was shocked that I was seeded in the fast lane.. I guess I'm not so bad anymore. Clinic was mostly drills focusing on balance, nothing real new, but it did get me to think about some things differently again. Drilling correctly is hard, drilling in the fast lane means that you need to do it with some oomph.
Post swim- Had some dinner at Pastini with a couple of friends (Sean & Andrew) and talked wine, women and song. Mostly wine and women. I'm mostly happy to have some real food. I haven't eaten like that since I left Redmond.. I guess that's one thing I miss about Redmond. The cooking was pretty good up there.
Sunday 1/13/08
I joined the Portland Triathlon Club last night. I guess I am joiner now, not normally my style. I got talked into it post clinic.. The membership director thought I was actually was a member but, uh, not. Anyhow, she sweet talked me out of twenty nine dollars.
Bike Ride today:
Meant to get out around 11-ish but errands kept me busy.. I also drove to where I was going to ride w/out my cycling shoes and had to turn around and go back to my place to get them. Can we say idiot?
Speaking of which New Jersey is taking the word "idiot" out of its constitution in reference to the mentally un-well or less able.
That really bothers me, I actually know plenty of people who still need the label as they meet most criteria to be declared an "idiot".
Maybe we'll just use frigtard? Not to be confused with Regfrigerator-tard, but frig as a euphemism for another f word.
Anyhow, I haven't downloaded the ride yet because I'm still in my riding gear but basically rode 2 hrs/36+miles... For the most part I worked harder in terms of wattage output to go slower at a place I have ridden a gazillion times, so plenty of benchmarks to choose from for sure.
Edit- Downloaded the file this morning (monday) and it looks like I did a whopping 19mph, that's actually o.k. typically it is 20-21mph avg. Also about 8.x+ slower.
Winter base training is interesting, you have to be real careful not to let ego get in the way of accumlating time in the activity. I guess what I mean is that I think base training is a time that we cultivate the ability to absorb work downstream. When we enter base training our memories tell us that we can ride x route at y speed, but in reality we probably can't.
Right now, we can't absorb much work in terms of time (intensity yes, but only in shorter bits) because we haven't been outdoors much and maybe we're topping out at around an hour to hour and a half in terms of the longer sessions we did in the off-season.
That was definitely the case for me.
Anyhow, I feel good. I rode at a place called Sauvie Island. An rural island basically in Portland with a 12.x mile loop around it that is very flat, this time of year it's also windy. I once rode around the island 9 times to approxiamete riding an Ironman bike leg.
I am not always too smart, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I digress. Portland was sunny & warm for this time of year, if I were in Seattle this weekend I would have been stuck inside or xc skiing to get base aerobic work in... Thankfully I am not in Seattle!
Sauvie was perfect. Views of Mt. Hood, snow covered foothills, the colors of the island were bursting and there were many cyclists clad in winter gear also pedaling around.
Went to a swim clinic last night...
Pretty exciting Saturday night, eh? Ah, such is the life of a single endurance athlete!
I'm always inspired; no matter how bad my swimming *actually* is I always figure I can swim like this:
I'm always inspired; no matter how bad my swimming *actually* is I always figure I can swim like this:
Thursday, January 10, 2008
So.. Is there something the matter?
Later in life Alex would be diagnosed as mildly retarded.
"Loud noises!"
"Loud noises!"
Hmm, I wonder if this explains things..
I mean, there are *some* similarities right?
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-01-09-spider-man-marriage_N.htm?se=yahoorefer
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-01-09-spider-man-marriage_N.htm?se=yahoorefer
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Riding Cat 5 this year
Yeah, I decided I would ride a lower category for bike racing this year. The reactions from my bike racing friends are stronger than when I've told them about some meaningful thing in my life that was not bike racing like:
Me- "Hey, I have this new job opportunity, but it might impact my life this way."
Friends- "Oh. Hmm, well which one pays more?"
Contrast that to the reaction of me racing a category down:
Me- "Well, I think I'm racing in Cat 5s this year. It'll be a nice change, less stressful."
Friends- "Dude, what!? You can't do that. You have to Cat up dude, and race in the 3s and stuff so we can all go and do Crits together and then you can ride on our team at stage races."
Riiight.
It's pretty funny how ego extends to something like bike racing in a small state like Oregon. Not to belittle the bike racing scene, it's great and competitive but I started thinking about whether I would (should) even bike race in addition to triathlon with Ironman on the calendar, and if I did, how many races I would do and what kind of racing it would be. (Time Trials vs. Road Racing, or both)
Originally when I started bike racing my goals were much different than they are now. Initially they were:
Cat up as soon as possible. Finish top ten in a stage race. Get a new bike, And then get another bike for kinds of racing I haven't yet identified to be enjoyable yet, but get it anyway just for posterity's sake.
Well, now I've realized that without complete dedication to riding everyday like a bike racer I might not be competitive and even if I did ride everyday and dedicate myself to bike racing I would be just another guy. It's hard to face, but I'm not going to out sprint anyone, not going to lead a break, and I'm not quite the climber I thought I was against pure cyclists. Major bummer.
That said, I have become a fair cyclist none the less as it applies to endurance cycling. It's far less exciting, but the upside is that it's something that I can be somewhat competitive at, for instance riding Seattle to Portland taught me alot about my talents. I had plenty of punch in my legs all the way through the ride, I was actually amazed by it because I didn't think I would. After 120miles things get odd on a bike, but I was still pushing the hills and riding hard if a pace line swooped by.
O.k. so, why ride a Category down?
Well first of all, what are categories?
In cycling there is a ranking system used to determine skill, fitness and experience; if you start bike racing you usually start at Cat 5 and attempt to work your way to Cat 1 which is essentially pro but that's mildly debatable.
Regarding riding down a category: In my case I'm more fit than I have ever been, and I've never really had problems in Cat 4, then again, I don't do much in races, don't take chances, just ride in the middle and hang on. Last year in my only road race I wanted not to get dropped or be OTB (off the back) as I was in first race my rookie race a year prior. I managed to get dropped a mile or so from the finish line which was a victory compared to the year before.
The case for racing Cat 5 is pretty straight-forward: The races are usually shorter and that is a good thing because: I'm not tired from racing all day, I can go do other things the rest of the day instead of hanging around a bike race, I can take some chances that I might not take in a Cat 4 race and still finish with the group, and even if I don't then no worries!
Me- "Hey, I have this new job opportunity, but it might impact my life this way."
Friends- "Oh. Hmm, well which one pays more?"
Contrast that to the reaction of me racing a category down:
Me- "Well, I think I'm racing in Cat 5s this year. It'll be a nice change, less stressful."
Friends- "Dude, what!? You can't do that. You have to Cat up dude, and race in the 3s and stuff so we can all go and do Crits together and then you can ride on our team at stage races."
Riiight.
It's pretty funny how ego extends to something like bike racing in a small state like Oregon. Not to belittle the bike racing scene, it's great and competitive but I started thinking about whether I would (should) even bike race in addition to triathlon with Ironman on the calendar, and if I did, how many races I would do and what kind of racing it would be. (Time Trials vs. Road Racing, or both)
Originally when I started bike racing my goals were much different than they are now. Initially they were:
Cat up as soon as possible. Finish top ten in a stage race. Get a new bike, And then get another bike for kinds of racing I haven't yet identified to be enjoyable yet, but get it anyway just for posterity's sake.
Well, now I've realized that without complete dedication to riding everyday like a bike racer I might not be competitive and even if I did ride everyday and dedicate myself to bike racing I would be just another guy. It's hard to face, but I'm not going to out sprint anyone, not going to lead a break, and I'm not quite the climber I thought I was against pure cyclists. Major bummer.
That said, I have become a fair cyclist none the less as it applies to endurance cycling. It's far less exciting, but the upside is that it's something that I can be somewhat competitive at, for instance riding Seattle to Portland taught me alot about my talents. I had plenty of punch in my legs all the way through the ride, I was actually amazed by it because I didn't think I would. After 120miles things get odd on a bike, but I was still pushing the hills and riding hard if a pace line swooped by.
O.k. so, why ride a Category down?
Well first of all, what are categories?
In cycling there is a ranking system used to determine skill, fitness and experience; if you start bike racing you usually start at Cat 5 and attempt to work your way to Cat 1 which is essentially pro but that's mildly debatable.
Regarding riding down a category: In my case I'm more fit than I have ever been, and I've never really had problems in Cat 4, then again, I don't do much in races, don't take chances, just ride in the middle and hang on. Last year in my only road race I wanted not to get dropped or be OTB (off the back) as I was in first race my rookie race a year prior. I managed to get dropped a mile or so from the finish line which was a victory compared to the year before.
The case for racing Cat 5 is pretty straight-forward: The races are usually shorter and that is a good thing because: I'm not tired from racing all day, I can go do other things the rest of the day instead of hanging around a bike race, I can take some chances that I might not take in a Cat 4 race and still finish with the group, and even if I don't then no worries!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Workouts 12/31/07-1/6/08
Monday 12/31/07
I'm just completely dragging today, not sure what deal the is, I suppose it's lack of sleep. It was sunny and I kicked around the idea of riding, but I ran late with some errands over ate at lunch took a brief nap and decided on a swim. I have not been sleeping well lately either.
Swim- Light set, again 5x100y on 2.00min send.. doing them between 1.25-1.31
Bike- Relatively light set, 30minutes on the trainer watching E!. Felt much, much better than the previous two sessions, even with lingering fatigue. 176w avg.
Tuesday 1/1/08
Got a good nights rest; I slept well.
Run- 58min steady run, feeling pretty good. It was a bit windy but other than a good run.
Wed 1/2
Today was the first back to work, just a couple of conference calls with the client.
Took care of an errand in the morning.
Evening:
Swim: 6x100 on 30 rest @ 1.25-30... I finally felt good again, I think I would have been o.k. to 8 or so, but after that I would have dropped a bit.
Bike: Indoor trainer session; 35min Chris Carmichel DVD; mostly zone 4 riding; did 240-260w for those efforts. On the zone 5 efforts did 270-295 and supra max efforts, all over the board from 330 to 398. It felt good, I am feeling back to good for some reason, it must be more sleep that is doing it for me.
Thursday 1/3
What a day. I didn't sleep well again last night. I felt great after the trainer ride, but it was one of those nights where you are turning ideas over and over; I was fine until lunch, then, for whatever reason, felt a bit dizzy, distracted and bonky. I'm not working out enough for that to be happening, I'm sure that my light dinner last played a part in that. I had to put down plans for a run; I took a very short nap at the end of the day after wrapping up work.
Swim- Very light, just some paddle work, kick boarding, and continous swimming. Around 30min.
Friday 1/4
Last day/night here in Seattle (Redmond), WA. Pretty surreal. On one hand it is a good place to do some good riding, but net, it's not very bike friendly. I have to admit I am relieved to be leaving. It has taken an unreal amount of motivation to train and race in the Seattle-area. The weather is just a tad rougher than I'm used to and as a result, I play catch up in spring with the training volume, which is not my pref.
Evening- Run/Swim Combo- 30min at 7.55 pace on the Tready then right to the pool for paddes, drills, 6x100 at 1.20-30-ish on 30sec rest.
Sat 1/5
I'm in Oregon, McMinnville to be exact. Long, rough day of moving; such an idiot- I nearly ran my car out of gas for no good reason. By the time I got here I needed to unwind because I was stiff from driving so I put of working out until later. Took a nap and felt much better.
Eve- Steady trainer ride of 30min.. Holding 200w, some efforts of 240-260 for 2min.. No "breaks"- not a hard workout, but I needed to do something and it got dark.
Sun 1/6
Fairly busy day with errands; I had some xmas gifts to return (don't ask) and needed to get all dialed in to work remote here for a week. My mom's guest bedroom has become my office for a week, and I'm mildly disorganized, so any plans I had for a long ride (2hrs or so) went out the window as it started getting dark and late in the day.
Late Afternoon- Run my typical out and back route on some country roads that head west-ish and north-ish in the greater Yamhill county area, they are chip seal so riding and running on them is usually interesting. Felt good even into wind at 39F and light rain. I suppose I was floating along at about 7.50's or so.
Evening- I cannot for the life of me, ride my trainer in my mother's house. She has two Siberian Huskies who are dumb as dirt. These nice looking dogs want to check everything out. I have to constantly watch them to be sure we don't have a Vet Emergency room situation on our hands. Tommorow I move out into the garage for any other rides this week. Did 30min steady at about 180-200w
JTT
I'm just completely dragging today, not sure what deal the is, I suppose it's lack of sleep. It was sunny and I kicked around the idea of riding, but I ran late with some errands over ate at lunch took a brief nap and decided on a swim. I have not been sleeping well lately either.
Swim- Light set, again 5x100y on 2.00min send.. doing them between 1.25-1.31
Bike- Relatively light set, 30minutes on the trainer watching E!. Felt much, much better than the previous two sessions, even with lingering fatigue. 176w avg.
Tuesday 1/1/08
Got a good nights rest; I slept well.
Run- 58min steady run, feeling pretty good. It was a bit windy but other than a good run.
Wed 1/2
Today was the first back to work, just a couple of conference calls with the client.
Took care of an errand in the morning.
Evening:
Swim: 6x100 on 30 rest @ 1.25-30... I finally felt good again, I think I would have been o.k. to 8 or so, but after that I would have dropped a bit.
Bike: Indoor trainer session; 35min Chris Carmichel DVD; mostly zone 4 riding; did 240-260w for those efforts. On the zone 5 efforts did 270-295 and supra max efforts, all over the board from 330 to 398. It felt good, I am feeling back to good for some reason, it must be more sleep that is doing it for me.
Thursday 1/3
What a day. I didn't sleep well again last night. I felt great after the trainer ride, but it was one of those nights where you are turning ideas over and over; I was fine until lunch, then, for whatever reason, felt a bit dizzy, distracted and bonky. I'm not working out enough for that to be happening, I'm sure that my light dinner last played a part in that. I had to put down plans for a run; I took a very short nap at the end of the day after wrapping up work.
Swim- Very light, just some paddle work, kick boarding, and continous swimming. Around 30min.
Friday 1/4
Last day/night here in Seattle (Redmond), WA. Pretty surreal. On one hand it is a good place to do some good riding, but net, it's not very bike friendly. I have to admit I am relieved to be leaving. It has taken an unreal amount of motivation to train and race in the Seattle-area. The weather is just a tad rougher than I'm used to and as a result, I play catch up in spring with the training volume, which is not my pref.
Evening- Run/Swim Combo- 30min at 7.55 pace on the Tready then right to the pool for paddes, drills, 6x100 at 1.20-30-ish on 30sec rest.
Sat 1/5
I'm in Oregon, McMinnville to be exact. Long, rough day of moving; such an idiot- I nearly ran my car out of gas for no good reason. By the time I got here I needed to unwind because I was stiff from driving so I put of working out until later. Took a nap and felt much better.
Eve- Steady trainer ride of 30min.. Holding 200w, some efforts of 240-260 for 2min.. No "breaks"- not a hard workout, but I needed to do something and it got dark.
Sun 1/6
Fairly busy day with errands; I had some xmas gifts to return (don't ask) and needed to get all dialed in to work remote here for a week. My mom's guest bedroom has become my office for a week, and I'm mildly disorganized, so any plans I had for a long ride (2hrs or so) went out the window as it started getting dark and late in the day.
Late Afternoon- Run my typical out and back route on some country roads that head west-ish and north-ish in the greater Yamhill county area, they are chip seal so riding and running on them is usually interesting. Felt good even into wind at 39F and light rain. I suppose I was floating along at about 7.50's or so.
Evening- I cannot for the life of me, ride my trainer in my mother's house. She has two Siberian Huskies who are dumb as dirt. These nice looking dogs want to check everything out. I have to constantly watch them to be sure we don't have a Vet Emergency room situation on our hands. Tommorow I move out into the garage for any other rides this week. Did 30min steady at about 180-200w
JTT
Friday, January 4, 2008
2007 Off Season Training Summary
The 2007 season was a strange one in that I never raced a single long-course event, I planned on doing SOMA Half Iron in Phx but I had work commitments that kept me from doing it.
I finished things off with a sprint Tri (last weekend in Sep) in Enumclaw, Washington called Black Diamond, and fwiw, things went pretty well. It's the second time I've raced with a dragging brake pad and I think added another minute to my bike spilt pretty easy. Clearly I do moronic things or I'm just forgetful, I thought I'd checked the damn brakes before I racked the bike. Live and learn.
Oh, that and I thought it would be cool to race with this aero helmet that is no longer "legal" at bike races or triathlons in the United States. You might be asking if I committed a crime of some sort, I was hoping that maybe wearing it would at least qualify me for a citation, though I could have been disqualified if a race official checked it out. The helmet is pretty cool, it is a Briko- a very Euro Trashy Italian job of a helmet that looks as cool as it is illegal. There is no padding at all inside, just some straps to hold it on my head. I looked pretty fast and maybe dangerous to my fellow competitors, or maybe like a dork.
From October until these last two weeks I did the following:
-Two bike intervals sessions a week, usually a mix of Zone 3/4/5 level watts, which for me is 230, 245-250 and 260-280 measured via Powertap.
-Plenty of running. I planned on doing the Seattle Half Marathon in a decent time, but switched to a different shoe in early October which caused me some pain; I had to give it a couple of weeks to heal. One of my feet is very sensitive from the wipeout I had at Blue Lake two seasons back. I am stuck wearing neutral Mizunos apparently, but by mid Nov the feet were fine.
-Light Swimming. I didn't want to feel like I was being pushed too hard over these last few months and the pool makes me feel that way if I get in and do intervals. I did some light intervals of course, but no really long and/or fast sessions.
-Weight lifting. In college I went from being an o.k. distance runner to a decent middle distance guy from one season of lifting. I had so much more speed and acceleration. I keep kicking around the idea of doing this again, I don't know. I have been lifting light weights and I have some bands, but I don't think I will commit time to it now that the off-season is done.
-XC Skiing. I am idiot. I bought XC skate skis that I used once. I can't see using them much more going forward, and I can't bring myself to sell them.
JTT
I finished things off with a sprint Tri (last weekend in Sep) in Enumclaw, Washington called Black Diamond, and fwiw, things went pretty well. It's the second time I've raced with a dragging brake pad and I think added another minute to my bike spilt pretty easy. Clearly I do moronic things or I'm just forgetful, I thought I'd checked the damn brakes before I racked the bike. Live and learn.
Oh, that and I thought it would be cool to race with this aero helmet that is no longer "legal" at bike races or triathlons in the United States. You might be asking if I committed a crime of some sort, I was hoping that maybe wearing it would at least qualify me for a citation, though I could have been disqualified if a race official checked it out. The helmet is pretty cool, it is a Briko- a very Euro Trashy Italian job of a helmet that looks as cool as it is illegal. There is no padding at all inside, just some straps to hold it on my head. I looked pretty fast and maybe dangerous to my fellow competitors, or maybe like a dork.
From October until these last two weeks I did the following:
-Two bike intervals sessions a week, usually a mix of Zone 3/4/5 level watts, which for me is 230, 245-250 and 260-280 measured via Powertap.
-Plenty of running. I planned on doing the Seattle Half Marathon in a decent time, but switched to a different shoe in early October which caused me some pain; I had to give it a couple of weeks to heal. One of my feet is very sensitive from the wipeout I had at Blue Lake two seasons back. I am stuck wearing neutral Mizunos apparently, but by mid Nov the feet were fine.
-Light Swimming. I didn't want to feel like I was being pushed too hard over these last few months and the pool makes me feel that way if I get in and do intervals. I did some light intervals of course, but no really long and/or fast sessions.
-Weight lifting. In college I went from being an o.k. distance runner to a decent middle distance guy from one season of lifting. I had so much more speed and acceleration. I keep kicking around the idea of doing this again, I don't know. I have been lifting light weights and I have some bands, but I don't think I will commit time to it now that the off-season is done.
-XC Skiing. I am idiot. I bought XC skate skis that I used once. I can't see using them much more going forward, and I can't bring myself to sell them.
JTT
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Aero Helmets, Altitude Tents and ex-girlfriends
What do all of these have in common? Well, obviously not much at first glance. But I was thinking about what was extraneous to training and racing, and wondered about the gear and people that support endurance athletes.
First I should I mention that from time to time ex-girlfriends will be mentioned and I want to be clear that it isn't anyone person in particular, it's a synthesis, a composite if you will of all the lovely women in my life. And, I'd like to take another moment to mention proudly that they all supported my crazy sports stuff to the fullest; each and everyone got up early in the morning for races, drove home from events when I was too shattered, etc.
There is one that will always stand out. She's the one who supported me in my first Ironman, I owe alot to that person and I feel as I owe her a debt of public gratitude whenever the opportunity presents itself. The race was trying, I nearly didn't finish because of mechanicals, and when I saw her in T2 after 112miles of riding and worrying that I would have to bail because my bike was messed up I felt I had a new lease on life that day.
Anyhow, as I progressed as a cyclist I once asked the ex what she thought of those crazy pointy aero helmets the likes of Lance Armstrong and other tour riders wore. She said very honestly that they were dumb and that if I ever bought and wore one she would break up with me.
No kidding here, but low and behold about 6 weeks after I bought one she actually broke up with me. And the funny thing was that I'd had a birthday a couple of months before and begged for one like a little kid. Well, she wasn't having any of that and so I was my own.
I think her point was though when I asked her about them was that I didn't need such a device, that it wouldn't make much of a difference and given the cost/benefit it was a silly purchase. Regardless of the actual cost/benefit I'd like to ponder how much we "need" training devices and what that perceived need really is.
Another instance involved altitude tents; you know those tents you put in your bedroom to simulate a higher altitude, you sleep in them so that your blood hematocrit rises and your ability to function more aerobically is enhanced. I just stumbled on one on eBay at a really low price; new they cost big bucks, but used they aren't a bad purchase to spend money on when compared to say, a new race bike.
I asked an ex about getting one, mostly in jest, but also to solicit feedback on how crazy I might be becoming. I am going to paraphrase here, but basically she said if I got the altitude tent the likelyhood of having regular sexual relations would be sharply diminished.
And, I'm paraphrasing here very, very heavily.
So much for the altitude tent.
So, what do we really need to train and race? We need some basic equipment (regardless of our sport), time to train and some level of external support (however minimal that is).
It seems that there is a threshold of performance in sport where the requirements placed on our resources becomes such that the need for more than basic support (equipment, time and personal support) is almost a neccessity.
I would argue that at some point, regardless of an athlete's actual race speed, if they have crossed this performance threshold (let's define it as a person perceiving themselves as a competitor) acquiring buy-in from a spouse, gf, significant other, life partner, etc. is pretty much a requirement and the other stuff he can flex on.
Have I needed additional levels of support and resources as I have grown in athletics? Yes. I think that sometimes the tendancy among endurance athletes is to have an arrogant loner mentatlity that they can go it alone; but there should be no harm in leveraging friends, family or the occasional significant other for help. You will train and race better with a wholistic cadre of upgraded tools and a closer relationship with your personal support network.
JTT
First I should I mention that from time to time ex-girlfriends will be mentioned and I want to be clear that it isn't anyone person in particular, it's a synthesis, a composite if you will of all the lovely women in my life. And, I'd like to take another moment to mention proudly that they all supported my crazy sports stuff to the fullest; each and everyone got up early in the morning for races, drove home from events when I was too shattered, etc.
There is one that will always stand out. She's the one who supported me in my first Ironman, I owe alot to that person and I feel as I owe her a debt of public gratitude whenever the opportunity presents itself. The race was trying, I nearly didn't finish because of mechanicals, and when I saw her in T2 after 112miles of riding and worrying that I would have to bail because my bike was messed up I felt I had a new lease on life that day.
Anyhow, as I progressed as a cyclist I once asked the ex what she thought of those crazy pointy aero helmets the likes of Lance Armstrong and other tour riders wore. She said very honestly that they were dumb and that if I ever bought and wore one she would break up with me.
No kidding here, but low and behold about 6 weeks after I bought one she actually broke up with me. And the funny thing was that I'd had a birthday a couple of months before and begged for one like a little kid. Well, she wasn't having any of that and so I was my own.
I think her point was though when I asked her about them was that I didn't need such a device, that it wouldn't make much of a difference and given the cost/benefit it was a silly purchase. Regardless of the actual cost/benefit I'd like to ponder how much we "need" training devices and what that perceived need really is.
Another instance involved altitude tents; you know those tents you put in your bedroom to simulate a higher altitude, you sleep in them so that your blood hematocrit rises and your ability to function more aerobically is enhanced. I just stumbled on one on eBay at a really low price; new they cost big bucks, but used they aren't a bad purchase to spend money on when compared to say, a new race bike.
I asked an ex about getting one, mostly in jest, but also to solicit feedback on how crazy I might be becoming. I am going to paraphrase here, but basically she said if I got the altitude tent the likelyhood of having regular sexual relations would be sharply diminished.
And, I'm paraphrasing here very, very heavily.
So much for the altitude tent.
So, what do we really need to train and race? We need some basic equipment (regardless of our sport), time to train and some level of external support (however minimal that is).
It seems that there is a threshold of performance in sport where the requirements placed on our resources becomes such that the need for more than basic support (equipment, time and personal support) is almost a neccessity.
I would argue that at some point, regardless of an athlete's actual race speed, if they have crossed this performance threshold (let's define it as a person perceiving themselves as a competitor) acquiring buy-in from a spouse, gf, significant other, life partner, etc. is pretty much a requirement and the other stuff he can flex on.
Have I needed additional levels of support and resources as I have grown in athletics? Yes. I think that sometimes the tendancy among endurance athletes is to have an arrogant loner mentatlity that they can go it alone; but there should be no harm in leveraging friends, family or the occasional significant other for help. You will train and race better with a wholistic cadre of upgraded tools and a closer relationship with your personal support network.
JTT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
