My photo
Jacksonville, FL, United States
In Life as well as in running the secret is Pace.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Out With 2012, In With 2013

Annual Tri-DRS year end survey

Mine is more of a numbers game


1. What one word describes your 2012 season? Did it play out like you anticipated?

45

Yes... 2012 was the year that I turned 45... and realized that no amount of HTFU could render me indestructible. I am learning to do maintenance on myself... how to rest... etc.


2. What one word comes to mind when you think about your 2013 season?

30

Stated goal for RATS this year... can we do it? I don't know but as Mario Cippiolini once said... "I will do the maximum to be at my maximum"


3. What was your greatest thrill or joy this year from training or racing?

4th

I came in 4th in the B class at one of our local cyclocross races... having my name called and getting a prize was pretty dang sweet


4. What was your biggest disappointment this year from training or racing?

30 (again)

Standing on the Kokopelli trail... 30 miles into the 40 mile day... realizing my will could force my body no further... and finishing was out of the question


5. Did you race at all in 2012? If so, what was your favorite race and why?

RATS - too many to recount http://allaboutpace.blogspot.com/2012/06/rats-part-1.html

6. Do you plan to race in 2013 and if so ,what is your race schedule?

Jetty to Jetty Ultra - Feb
Croom's Fool 50 miler - April
RATS - June
CX Oct-Jan


7. What are you goals for 2013?

Sub 30 at RATS
Win a cyclocross race


But really goals are just daydreams without a plan...

Sub 30 at RATS will require:
Weight at or below 169 (Currently at 182)
Hill training - Saturdays have been dedicated to this pursuit since 1 November
Nutrition and hydration strategy/execution my eternal weakness needs to become a strength
Get healthier as I get fitter (nifty trick at 45)


Cyclocross success:

Fast group rides
Healthy able legs
Obtain some better handling skills

Monday, December 17, 2012

it's really only trespassing if you get caught


A pretty good week around here training wise…  and otherwise


Got in some good runs and possibly more importantly a bunch of flexibility and strength work.

I'd thought to do one more round of the FLCX Cyclocross series but decided against it…  I have loftier goals in the coming months better to focus on improving my fitness and condition as opposed to racing my bike like a 12 year old on a sugar high.

An image of what I missed


I'll be back next year…  hopefully to race the whole series.

Instead Saturday began with 3 hours in the gym… smart solid base training…

On Sunday I had 18 miles planned…  I decided to break it up into two 9 milers.

After getting up and doing some mobility work I knocked out the first 9…  during which my Garmin died at… well…  just before mile 6.


So…  why take a picture of my watch you might ask…  well…  this particular device works flawlessly with the exception that it is unreadable by my computer…

In the afternoon Judi and I went to a spin class after which I decided a run home would be in order…

Here is a map of my route.. 

my route, pace, and obstacles encountered more closely resembled something from Billy in Family circus that it did any type of proper running route.



Cool interesting things encountered:

&1.  A hawk with a frog in his talons
&2.  Crossing a 6" wide spillway at the end of a retention pod
&3.  Entering the back side of a construction site amid piles of debris and tools
&4.  Pretending that I did not see the security guard patrolling the site (I assume he reciprocated)
&5.  Successfully finding a trail that cuts  through the woods across the back side of our local university that I spotted on the satellite image of the area.
&6.  2 miles later finding this blocking my progress
&7.  Wading through
&8.  And finally stealing into the back side of my neighborhood by slipping between the fences.


A pretty fun day…


Monday, December 10, 2012

Building Base

Life is a little slow here…  both with training and with the seasons

We did get our christmas tree up…

I wanted this one:



But the girls talked me onto the 12' model




BTW I am standing on a barstool

I did a kind of grinding workout on Saturday…

60 minute spin
30 minute Stairmill
30 minute treadmill run
30 minute Stairmill
30 minutes treadmill

I got some funny looks and a few questions since I did all but the spin part with my hydration pack on…  and I sweat like a pimp in church.

My PT had recommended that I do shorter runs to keep my hip from getting too tight.. so on Sunday I split my run into a 6 mi AM without my pack and an 11 miler with pack in the evening.

Judi even came along for part of the evening run.


This is the kind of scenery I had to put up with…


Over all a good solid weekend… definitely something to build on.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Mickey Mouse - or a heart?

Probably the least sweaty post run shirt ever…


But is it a sign?

Maybe I would just Love to run the Disney Marathon?  Eh...  probably not


Monday, December 3, 2012

the week - (the weak?)


Lovely graph eh?

I have started logging my training on www.trainingpeaks.com/cowart3

The graph is a nifty byproduct.

By the numbers a pretty good training week… up close…  not so much

Monday – good training day run felt strong

Tuesday – really good…

Wednesday – really good running day

Thursday and Friday – nothin'  too much work and a double sty in my eye


It looked like I'd been punched in the face.

Saturday – okay… it went like this:

&1 -Self-Spin 30 minutes
&2 - Spin class 55 minutes
&3 - ;Stairmill 25 min
&4 - Uphill treadmill 25 minutes
&5 - Then just before dark another quick 45 minute bike ride.

And had this very nice bottle of wine:



Sunday – set out at 0545 with my pack.  Did a walk/run for 3 hours 15 miles legs hurting a bit by the end.  Never felt easy…  I never felt good… not a single mile faster than 10:45…  just a slog… 

Good news I guess…  I didn't really feel too wiped out after…  and I feel good today.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Weekend update


First off…  Garmins.

I own a half dozen of these little machines… 

The 405 is missing….  I put it on my kitchen counter last Sunday after my long run…  I have not seen it since
The 305 will not power on
One of the 205 will not synch to my PC and the other will only charges if lash it to the charger
The 301 works okay…  and has the longest battery life…   but reception is spotty sometimes.
"an idiot and his machines…"

Oh yeah…  the weekend…

Started with a holiday party…  I know in the middle of November…


A bunch of lawyers and bankers…  wild party crowd…

Saturday was more cyclocross

And beer…

A nice video of the mudpit and the GoPro copter crashing...



Sunday morning found us doing some Florida Hills


Which brings us to today…  my first day as a coached athlete.


Let's go!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Back in the day

Although I was but a 1st Lieutenant

Yours truly was Captain of the Florida National Guard Marathon Team…  back in 1999

 

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Tropical Cyclocross

We went to Miami because Judi had a conference at a hotel in Coconut Grove.
racing the shadow of my bike
I googled around a bit to find a group ride nearby and found a cross race instead….  5ish miles from the hotel
the veiw of Biscane Bay from our Hotel
I broke my derailleur hanger the week before and lucky for me a replacement came in the mail on Thursday.  I replaced it that night but…  shifting was not working too well.  I hoped to find a mechanic at the race who might be able to help me out.

Found the race…  and headed to registration.  A 10 year old girl was in charge…  and within minutes I was signed up for 35+ and Men's 4 and felt assured that this would be okay and that I would have an hour between the two.

No mechanic…  shifting was front derailleur only and iffy
the flyover
1st race:

Not just 35+ but P/1/2 as well…  I felt like an idiot in my t-shirt (forgot to pack a jersey) and cycling shorts amid all of the serious looking dudes in skinsuits.  I almost just walked away before the gun… 

But I stayed…  last into the first corner in my granny gear and pretty much held onto the back of the pack for the first lap…  flyover was fun…  course was okay..  but with only decent handing skills and no ability to use my power I ended DFL and 2 laps down after 60 minutes.

I cooled down a bit and started to eat a sandwich when I heard the Men's 4 call-up on the loudspeaker.  WTF?  It seems that my advisors at registration had encouraged me to sign up for back to back races.

2nd Race

Granny gear sprint slated me last in the sprint for the first corner…

2 laps in I miraculously get my chain securely into the big ring…  worked my way up a bit higher than mid-pack by the finish.

Post-race:

So tired…  splitting headache… but grinning from how much fun I had.

I don't often wear shirts...

But when I do…  they are tanks!


Big thanks to Jeff Campbell for sharing


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

MAF Test

I'm just about half way through the Maffetone book  but I thought I'd go ahead and do a pre test.

And since I am in essence starting over.  I thought a weigh in was in order as well…



I did the test on a treadmill at the Y @ a 1% incline.  I figured this would allow me to have constant test conditions even when it's 95F outside next summer.

Warm-up 10 minutes

Mile 1:  8:38 (132 BPM)
Mile 2: 8:46 (135 BPM)
Mile 3: 9:03 (135 BPM)
Mile 4: 8:54 (136 BPM)
Mile 5 9:00 (135 BPM)

Cool down 10 minutes

I guess I'll do this test every 2 weeks as I begin to implement my new training strategies…


Friday, October 26, 2012

CX Series Finale

Last night was the 5th and final race of our series…  the first 4 had been progressively better

Race 1: 5 crashes
Race 2: no crashes
Race 3: 6th place in the 4/5 division
Race 4: 4th (and in the money)

Optimism and excitement were high…

Being near Halloween costumes were encouraged.

Triathlete was what I had decided on…  but I had decided to forego the aero helmet…  it was just too hot for that.

We got their a bit late…  and Judi volunteered to sign me up and get my number while I did a warm-up lap…. About halfway through my lap I ran over a stick..  not much bigger than a pencil.

*SANP* *CHINK* *GRRRR*

I came to a halt pretty quickly pedals would not move and something was in my spokes.

That "something turned out to be my derailleur.


Broken derailleur hanger…  race over

Well..  the bike was finished for the night but I got a second chance

One of the RDs lent me his 29er

It was a bit too big for me but…  I was grateful


The race went pretty well… here's a couple of action shots from my pal Chris




After a few laps I started having shifting problems on his bike too…

I ended up a lap down but… 

There is nothing like riding a bike around in the mud…  jumping over stuff…  getting dirty and drinking beer.

already looking forward to next year

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Movie Review - The Levi Effect


Let me preface this….  I am a huge cycling fan

I start watching cycling in February with the Tour of Qatar… and all the way to the Japan Cup in October… heck I even follow Pro Cyclocross in the Fall

I started competing in triathlons in 1997 and following cycling at about the same time.

I am no casual fan of the sport…  I compete in the sport (albeit at the lowest of levels)…. and one of the two dozen people in the metro Jax area that shelled out $25 ($12.50 per ticket) to see a cycling documentary.

Only it wasn't

The movie was wrapped fore and aft with another (very poor quality) video of the actual screening where Levi and an emcee spoke about the movie.  In the end there was a panel including McDreamy and Tommy D.

The movie started out well..  in Butte Montana and a 13 year old's dream to be in the Tour de France like his hero Greg Lemond…  and oddly enough chronicled his ski racing days more completely than it did his cycling career.

The movie all but completely skipped 1998-2010 (aka the doping years) although it did include a tearful recollection of how and where he was when he was summoned by the Feds to testify in the Lance Armstrong case.

The movie then focused on the 2011 and 2012 tours of California and Levi's Gran Fondo..  good stuff…  some good behind the scenes stuff here too.

My final impression was that it was just a tad self-indulgent…  and definitely not the "untold story"

 a couple of other reviews from different perspectives:


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Back in the day

Almost 13 years ago now…

I was DFL coming out of the water...


Check out the shorty shorts….


I need to go back there… 

Maybe for the 20th anniversary

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Gonna buy five copies for my mother

It ain't the rolling stone…  but…

That's me in the lower right corner.

What's even cooler is my friend Beth as Pocahontas in the upper left.



Friday, October 12, 2012

Advice given.... advice taken


I received some interesting and thought provoking insight from my last post.


And while my initial reaction was that of… "hey I've got aerobic base!!!"

I did get to thinking…  and thinking some more….  I have basically stagnated for the past couple of years…  going backwards even.

Maybe I should listen…  and it is always wise to learn…  and take in fresh ideas..

So to that end:

I've already started reading…  and learning.


Monday, October 1, 2012

Too Much

Sunday 0830 – I'm chugging along 11 miles into what is supposed to be a 16 mile training run at ~9 mpm

The legs aren't there…  my pace is somewhere around 12 minutes per mile I have recently decided to cut it short a couple of miles…  more in the interest of time than anything else….  That decided I have a few minutes and begin to try and assess how I got to this point and in this condition.

Well..  I felt tired when I got up… maybe I've done a bit too much…

I begin to review:

Tuesday was a pretty easy day… just spin and lift… But Wednesday…  that was "tempo day"… an 8 mile run… and despite the 90F heat I managed to nail the first 3 miles of Tempo and only sliding a bit on the last two… that workout kinda wore me out…  then on Thursday I didn't train all day I was "resting" (aka fasting for and having  a CAT scan done to try and figure out the source of my lower abdominal pain)

With the scan taken care of…  I had grabbed a bite to eat then headed over to the park for the cyclocross race….  Now anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I'm a pretty easy going laid back kind of guy…  but anyone who has ever ridden with me when "it's on" (race, hard group ride, etc) will also attest to fact that I get a bit…  um…  relentless…  I tend to go until my teeth go numb… 

Friday was supposed to be a "recovery run"  but in the sad state I was in after Thursday night's cross race…  7.5 miles in the heat was pretty much all I could do…

Saturday was easier…  just a two hour ride…  and an hour of weights

In the immortal words of Britney Spears…


Yep…  I do the math as I trudge along trying to hold a 12 minute per mile pace…. I have once again over done things a bit…

When will I ever learn?  Any half-baked training plan has recovery time built in…  I think I just need more days in the week…

But since that isn't going to happen I'm just going to have to focus on training smarter….  And just in time because this is my "recovery week".  I'm going to ratchet things back…  shorter and easier workouts…  at least until cross on Thursday…

Is it just me or does anyone else have difficulty finding time to recover?

September Totals

Swim –haha
Bike – 476mi
Run – 162 mi
Strength – 290 minutes

Good solid month…  and really the legs are pretty good.

Friday, September 28, 2012

CX

First race of the season last night…

Here's how it went:

Lined up too far back
Ran past half a dozen folks who were trying to mount on the uphill.
Went down on the back side of lap one… wheel washed out in a corner (aka I corner like a 6 year old)
Went down again when my handlebars got caught in the tape…  WTF?
Mechanical on lap 2…  lost half a lap adjusting my saddle
Once I had sufficiently taken myself out of the race with all of those shenanigans I settled down, stayed out of the dirt and mud, and ran off a number of smooth laps.
When I heard "last lap" I gave it all I had and managed to stay with a couple of the fast guys most of the way around..
Once we crossed the line they were congratulated for finishing in 2nd and 3rd  and I was sent off to do another lap (they had lapped me)
In retrospect this gave me the opportunity to continue to move up in the field but…
My azs was done… I mean I was simply dizzy from effort.
I proceeded to run into a tree… crash again in the same corner…  and then again 3 turns later…
At that point I kinda pulled the plug and soft pedaled the back side of the course.

All that said….  The most fun I've had after work on a Thursday evening in a long time…

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Fall Bounce

Nope it's not the new pumpkin scented dryer sheet…



Every year….  There is this particular phenomenon…

It's like magic…

Awesome sauce for runners here in the deep south…

And just yesterday I caught a brief glimpse…

Ya see it's hot here…  like hot enough to make the devil sigh…  from April until October every year…


And if the southern runner will just keep training…  keep straining…  and sweating to near the point of drowning or growing gills in the choking humidity… and keep building the mileage despite embarrassingly high split times….  At harvest time one will reap the fall bounce

Yesterday was just a brief taste…

After months of "easy" runs at a ~11 minute mile pace…  and running faster leaving me wiped out for the rest of the day….  I went out in ~80F low humidity weather…  and knocked out 8miles at a  9:15 pace…  smooth…  easy…  like I had little wings on my shoes

And Fall is really not even here yet…  this is just about to get good.

is it just me?  or do you bounce?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Book Report - "The Secret Race"


The Secret Race is a definitive look at the world of professional cycling—and the doping issue surrounding this sport and its most iconic rider, Lance Armstrong—by former Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton and New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle.

It was a good read…  but one without too many jaw dropping moments…

Yes lance is a good guy to have on your side…  but a douchebag to everyone else.

EPO use rampant in the late 90s and early 2000s…

Transfusions blood doping of choice since the EPO test along with micro dosing EPO, and testosterone…

I kinda had that figured out already… 

What did surprise me was to what he proclaimed innocence: Raced clean at Rock Racing and that he still had no idea how he tested positive for having someone else's blood.

It was also interesting to find out what he's been up to since 2008 when he was suspended for the 2nd time.

But the most important revelation of the book for the general public is that it completely dispels the "everyone doped so the playing field was level" myth.  Better doctor = better chance of wining.

Have you read it?  What did you think?

Haven't read it yet?  Get it.  Read it. It's good.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

My Mountain

So…  I have managed to pull myself out of the feeling old funk… and given myself a nice kick in the azs…

I've done some centering (aka yoga cert training)

And I'm 81 days into my 100 days of cycling…

Most importantly, however, I have a mountain…


It started like this:


My stated goal…  is finishing in under 30 hours at RATS…


Let's break that down…  it's 4.933333333333333 miles per hour

Or about a 12 minute per mile pace… over this type of terrain


Can I do it?  I'm not sure…  it scares me a little bit…

And I like that

"We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope." ~Wallace Stegner

We are going back to that wild country….

What's your mountain?

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Fast Wednesday

It used to be Tempo Thursday….  And that had a nice ring to it but…

But... Thursday is a busier work day…  anyhow…  Wednsday is working out for now.

The last two weeks have been tough…  it's really hard to crush intervals and run hard in the oppressive heat.

Today… not quite so hot and threatening rain




it was  I had it in my head that I could hit my goal pace today… it was also in the pit of my stomach that it would be difficult.

During my warm up mile I could tell that I did not have great legs..  but no major aches or pains either which really is a pretty good status report all things considered.

At the one mile mark I picked it up…  and felt okay…  a quarter mile later when I checked my Garmin it did not report stellar news…  I was a good 45 seconds off my goal pace…. 

At this point I spoke a bit sharply to my legs (inside my brain of course) in a Jens Voigt accented voice "Run Legs!"

My legs responded in the voice of my oldest teenage daughter (the contrary argumentative one…) "We are running dad!"

Hmmmm…  my legs never called me dad before…  that's weird… 

So I decided to  try and ignore the voices in my head and run just a little faster… 
Mile 1 was still 35 seconds over the pace I was shooting for…  I just kept running and trying to stay smooth…  and each mile was just a little bit better than the previous one…  aided no doubt by the nice rain shower we had.

Well…  at least until the last mile…  I slid a bit…  not a bad thing really when my legs get heavy and turnover gets more difficult towards the end of a session, I think that just proves I gave a good effort.

In the end it was still a bit off of my goal but a decent effort nonetheless.

Splits:




Followers