The Plan: Its NOT About The Bike

The week of Thansgiving I decided to dust off the old Speedo. I had only been in the pool twice since late May. I wasn't in good swim shape at all. I forget exactly what I did that first week, but I was SLOW. Around 6:20 for a 500, and for a set of 25x100 on 1:25 I was only able to do about 1:15s, and I was dying at the end.

Here is what you need to get good in the pool:



Suit...check



Goggles...check



Pace Clock...check

Armed with the three items above, I am making an assualt on the swimming lanes of the local public pool. I feel like I have improved about 8-10 seconds per hundred in the last 10 days. Another 10-15 days and I will be up with Phelps...unlikely.

I do have some goals though. I would like to see if I can go a best time in the 500. Call me crazy, but I think I totally under-acheived in the 500 in the past. That means I have to go sub 4:39. I don't know, we shall see.

I'm going to use a lot of the training philosophy I have learned for cycling and see how well that translates back into the pool. I think swimming 4-5 times per week for 5 months will get me pretty darn close to my goal.

Swimming is sport #1 in triathlon. Plan part #1 is to get me swimming as fast as a swimmer again. I'll let you guys know how that is going.

Part #2 is about running. That blog post will follow shortly. Part #3 is about cycling.

This is fun! Looking to kill it in 2009.

Flanagan

November and I'm Psyched!

I haven't been this pumped up for training in quite some time, especially in November. Being a Southern California native, there is something I truly despise about the winter--COLDNESS!!! It is horrible.

I've tried the computrainer, its OK. Fluid trainers are boring as all get up. Rollers are awesome. Not just any rollers, but free motion rollers from Inside Ride. www.insideride.com

I do not intend to ride outside again until the weather gets better. No lobster gloves, tights, or booties for me. These things are amazing! I just put on my big shorts, pump up the tires, hop on, and GOOD TO GO!!! The time savings alone give a great ROI.



I will probably ride in San Diego at some point this winter, but I don't intend to ride in the cold out here.

Triathlon is three sports. My running is coming along nicely. Last week was 25 miles. This week should be 28. Its getting better, and I generally feel better at the end of the run than at the start. No intensity. I would love to see my weekly mileage get into the 40-50 MPW range by Valentine's day, then I will just hold it right in that nice little range for the rest of the season. Next year I can mess around with the 50-60 MPW range. Then I can do speed work in for the 2011 season.

Swimming is not as bad as it could be. I trained in the pool for the first time in a long time, around 6 months. I did 4x500 with 30-40 seconds rest. 6:11, 6:11, 6:08, 5:59. Yes that is pathetically slow, but it is still pathetically faster than the vast majority of triathletes. I would like to break 10:00 for a 1000 this spring.

All in all, I am "Fired Up, Ready To Go" to quote our president-elect. I wish he would just be the figure-head for the country, giving great "pump-up" locker-room speeches, allowing Americans to do great things, without the government on our backs.



I'm taking up reading again. I plan on watching less TV. I want to further educate myself. I think my first read is going to be Art Laffer's recent "The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom The Economy--If We Let it Happen".

So My Blog Needs a Name-Change...

Maybe I should call it the Roadie/Pro-Tri Countdown? I dunno. Basically I have decided I am going to get my pro card next year for triathlon. This summer I had fun road racing and doing criteriums, but I truly had a "Eureka Moment"at Savageman.

Coming into Savageman, I had a high FTP, but I was certainly overweight--not over-normal-person-weight but over-skinny-ass-triathlete-weight for sure. I was probably 185, compared to the 172 which is my tri racing weight. For this reason I thought I might have a really bad ride.

I just did the relay, but I ended up riding pretty well and held off Chris Martin and Todd Wiley until I blew up at mile 45ish. I biked 2:49, but I think with my FTP where it was and if I was truly at race weight that I could have ridden in the low 2:40s. Basically that means I really need to make the jump to the next level.

I'm signed up for California 70.3 and St. Anthony's. I intend to win both. If you are doing the amateur race, GOOD LUCK ;-)

I will continue to do some road racing as well. I think there is quite a bit of value to ride with true "roadies". Those are the local guys with FTPs between 350 and 400. Those are the guys to ride with. I'm looking to just totally ride away from the Cat 4 field at Jefferson Cup. That should be fun.

Am I cocky about where I want to be in the next 5-7 months? I guess. In all honesty, it is more confidence than anything. The last few years I have really done a half assed job of training. 4-6 weeks of consistent training got me in the mix with the top amateurs. I have a feeling that 6+ months of consistent training will get me in the mix with the pros, at least in triathlon.

I intend to take a trip to the wind tunnel this winter. Two hours costs $800. The ROI on that is a no-brainer. Win a few TTs and higher podium finishes in triathlons certainly pays for that in a hurry.

So this serves as my press release ;-) I'm serious about kicking some ass next year.

I will leave you with this video. I held off Bjorn to "The Wall" at Savageman and was the first one over the uber steep part. I have no clue how he made it up the hill with that gearing. He was riding 56/42 up front and had a 23 in the back. My smallest gear was a 39/27! HA. Going up the wall this hard certainly played a role in my implosion later in the day.

2 for 1 Deal

So today gets two blogs. Yesterday's Coppi debacle and today's Turkey Day Success.

The course today is referred to as Tradezone. Its a 1.3 mile loop with three turns and pretty much completely flat. This is the same course as my first crit ever. I did the 3/4 race a year and a half ago at when they do the training series out there. I was scared to death of the intensity of criterium racing, and I ended up getting spit out the back.

Fortunately times change.

There were 5 premes for the 15 lap (20 mile) race. On the second preme--Lap 4 or 5--the first guys to the line kept riding hard to initiate a break. The break wasn't perfectly represented, but there was a Route 1 Velo guy there, and they had 8 to 10 guys in the race. The started to look good, and I was sitting in the pack. I sprinted to get a gap and to bridge up. I bridged the 15 or so seconds in about 2 minutes. Two other guys tried to come too, but I rode them off my wheel, and they never made it. Bridging up took 450 watts for 1:50. I got the gap with a 1275 watt initial burst.

Its usually a good thing if some guys try to bridge and don't make it. Only strong guys try to bridge up, and if they can't make it, then the breakaway has some potential.

Our breakaway of 5 guys worked phenomenally together. Nobody attacked. We were smooth, and it was pretty awesome. There was even another preme and we all agreed not to attack for it. Fortunately it was my turn at the front, so I "won" that one...sweet. It ended up being about $60 in gift certs....nice!

I actually felt really calm in the break. I never felt fatigued. I was worried I might have trouble after the hard bridge attempt, but it was not an issue. I took my turns at pulling right when I got there.

The final lap came around and there still hadn't been any attacks. I decided I wanted to win. I was going to attack with a barrage of hard sprints until I got a gap. First sprint was with 1.1 miles to go...1240 watts max; 970 watts for 13 seconds. I got a few bike lengths, but they had me marked. We regrouped for 10 seconds, then someone countered. His attack was not as hard as mine. I countered it with 910 watts, then he slowed as I was on his wheel. 10 Seconds later, we rounded the 2nd to last turn (1200 meters to go), and I gave it the gas. Nobody countered! It was a long way to the line, but I held them off. I won by a solid 50 meters...stoked! The cool thing is that gives me points towards both a Cat 3 and Cat 2 upgrade. Final haul to the line was 452 watts for 1:30 and a max of 1050.

I won all kinds of stuff. I won a frozen turkey, a hybrid/commuter bike!!!, about $50 of nutritional products, and another $60 in gift certs. I made out like a bandit!

It hurt lots, but it was awesome! Pretty much flawless execution. Sorry for the lengthy post, but thanks for reading; I'm pumped!

Almost forgot. I also did the Cat 4 race. It was 90+ degrees with crazy humidity today. I didn't cramp, but I just didn't quite have it in the finale. I finished around 10th or 12th or so. Really looking forward to some huge success next season.

Coppi

So I'm obviously back from San Diego. It was great to ride out there. I basically obliterated my legs each day I felt good, and I took it easy on the days my legs needed to rest. Listen to the body, track training markers and metrics in Cycling Peaks WKO+, get a boost in fitness.

This weekend was a big weekend of racing. Giro di Coppi--a 50 mile hilly Road Race--up near Frederick and Turkey Day Cat 3/4 and Cat 4 races the next day. For those of you who know the lingo, I had a nice pop in TSB coming into the weekend. I was ready to rock and roll.

I take forever to get ready for races. I'm not really sure why. Its just one of the things I know about myself. I have learned how to deal with it, but I have to make a concerted effort to be early for things. I was on the wait list for Coppi. This meant I didn't get to register until registration for pre-registered riders closed--15 minutes before race time. I had to use the little boys room, but I didn't want them to give away my wait listed spot, so I decided to do that stuff afterwards.

Well, to make a long story short, it took me about 90 seconds too long to register, hit the boys room, get my number on, and to put my number on my spare wheels for the support truck.

THE RACE STARTED WITHOUT ME....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I chased really hard. I had to catch up 90 seconds. I thought I could do it. I got within 30 seconds, then I missed the first turn on the course. That put me back at about 2.5 minutes. I got it back to about 1 minute, but I couldn't close it any further. I ended up just riding really hard by myself for an hour. I made a deal with myself that if I didn't catch the pack after an hour that I could go home.

Power Junkies...309 watts AP, 342 NP. Its hilly out there, so that explains the variability. Probably could have done a bit better if I didn't bury myself the first 10 minutes...good workout. Terrible race result.

What will the Crits at Turkey Day bring? My legs feel great.

I think I killed Patrick...

I gave Patrick, my brother, my old Giant TCR2 Road Bike after I got my Soloist. We went out for a ride last weekend, and Patrick obviously enjoyed it, and it seemed like he had quite a bit of potential. Today wasn't supposed to be a killer ride for me, so I suggested we go out and cruise around for 2 hours.

I guess I sort of forgot how long a 2-hour ride is for a "green" cyclist. San Diego is hilly, so there really aren't a whole lot of places to hide. Patrick was a trooper, but he's hurting big time now. Poor guy. Give him a year or so, and he will be a dominant force on the bike. Neither of our parents is super strong on the bike, but their genetics combined seem to give the right recipe :-)

I've got some good pics, and I will post them later.

During our ride today we rode with some dude from Credit Agricole. He had the full kit on, and his legs were massive. I'm only going to assume he is actually on the team. The irony is he was sitting on Patrick's wheel for a mile or so. I still can't get over how HUGE his legs were...insane!

Page Valley Road Race and Product Reviews

You know how blogging goes. When the race doesn't exactly go as planned talk about something else or just wait a long time to blog about it.

I felt like I had great legs, until a couple of km from the finish. Then the twangs of cramping started to creep up on me. Course was hot and hilly. I just didn't have it for the final hill of the multi-lap 11 mile circuit. Ended up in 14th place. Good position, bad legs...so it goes for another road race.

I'm going out to San Diego for about 10 days. Bringing the bike, and I'm going to ride some good mileage. That should help to get me some great legs for the final road race of the year. Hopefully can have a good hit out that weekend.

So now for the fun stuff. I have some new toys.

1. Rollers from InsideRide.com These things are awesome. I have done VO2 Max intervals on them, and they feel so much better than riding on the trainer. The rollers are in the pic below. No I don't ride with an aerohelmet indoors on a regular basis. This was just to get some photos of my aero position. Notice what a difference it makes to make sure the helme is oriented correctly. Probably going to make a few changes to try to be even more competitive in TTs next year. Rollers are a little hard in the aero position, but Emotion Rollers from Inside Ride have these protective bumpers on the side, so you don't fall off. THEY HELP LOTS!!! Maybe it is a good thing I have a helmet on while learning how to use rollers...ha.

I will have to post some videos of these rollers when I have a chance. They are totally amazing; they are unlike any other rollers I have ever seen.

The BIG BIG BIG News? Look at this picture!!! What is new? Hints:

• Its Red
• Its Black
• Its Carbon Fiber
• Its pretty much awesome!
• Its fully equipped with Dura Ace
• I HAVE A SOLOIST CARBON...Woot Woot!

This is from Saturday's pre-race tune up ride down at Hains Point. I met up with Lindsey and her friend Caroline. They are both training under Paulo Sousa www.pstriathlon.com . They should both turn some heads this fall. Look for Lindsey and "The Slice" to dominate in Dallas, Vegas, and Clearwater. Rumor has it that Caroline (photographer) is planning to dominate on a Cervelo in Hawaii. I can't argue with that bike choice!

So my previous post had one picture. This one has two. I'm still a technological dinosaur compared to today's teenagers, but I'm working on it!

The Bat

So here is a picture of the bat that was killed by my aerobars last weekend...

Legs getting some nice rest today in preparation for Page Valley Road Race tomorrow.