Part II, Big Trainnig Week

Day 4: (photos are of Jonathan and Steve at the top of Camel Back Mountain, Derrick Lee Cubs first baseman and myself in the bleachers)
We began the day by doing 500 repeats at the outdoor pool. The first and fourth swim were straight free style, while the second and were pull and some stroke work. The goal of this 500's is tempo pacing and I always strive for my last 500 to be as fast as my first. The lower altitude and salt water contributed to two of my fastest 500 splits in the last 4 years. It would be so nice to have this facility available back home.
We left the aquatics center and immediately headed to Camel Mountain to tackle the echo canyon trail. At the start of the trail head Jonathan informed us that the trail was "only 1.2 miles to the top". We were ready to bail when someone informed us "it may say 1.2 miles but when you get to the top it will feel like 6.2". We had been told earlier in the week that even people in excellent shape take 1.5 hours to go up and back so off we went. Steve took off running while Jonathan and I hiked. The trail proved to be a challenge and in no time I was breathing harder than I had all week long. There was a series of high steps, boulders which you had to hoist yourself over and numerous other challenges. Bottom line is this was not your ordinary hike. It took us 43 minutes up and 43 minutes to get down. Our legs were spent when we got back to the car.
We went out for a quick bite to eat and then went out for a bike ride to shake out the legs. We found a flat stretch of road that looped through a golf course, around a casino and down a few deserted roads. The ride turned into a bit of a hammer fest for a few loops and was harder then planned. On our last loop I convinced the boys to pull into the Casino. Jonathan offered to watch the bikes as Steve and I went in dressed in our cycling gear and still wearing our helmets and shoes. I sat down at a blackjack table and Steve provided some advice. As we sat down the elderly lady next to me asked me "which planet did you just come in from?". I played a few hands and one of the Pit guys asked "boys may I ask why the helmets are still on?". Steve replied, "easier to wer than to hold". We are convinced the boys in the back were watching us fairly closely. I played one shoe, won $20 bucks in 15 minutes and we were gone. We only road 35 miles today but it was a hard ride given the climb and swim earlier in the day. Total bike miles so far is 200.
This was by far the hardest training day to date. I was toast when we arrived home around 5. We left for the pool around 8:30 and had been in motion most of the day.

Day 5:
Day 5 was a repeat of the first day loop. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and was hungry. I was too tired to head down stairs to get food but couldn't fall back to sleep so I just lay there. I was up at 6:15 to make an early dinner as we agreed to get out the door early since Jonathan had a 100+ mile ride and Steve and I were going to a sprint training game between the Cubs and Giants at 1. I thought the pace was hard from the minute we began the ride and went into survival mode early. There was a lot of climbing and long ascents on this route and I knew I was in for a long day. On top of this I forgot to put water in my front water bottle carrier. Yesterday my front water bottle carrier broke so essentially I was down to one bottle of water (rookie mistake). I asked for a break 1:30 into the ride so I could buy more water and when I got off my bike my back tightened. Fortunately I was able to recover and actually started riding stronger than I had all week.
There is a 9 mile stretch of road that is a 3% grade the whole way. It is a great stretch of road to build muscular endurance but when you are tired and hungry it sucks. I positioined myself in the back of the line and though to myself, it would be better to draft than fall off the back and have a go at this myself. I hung tough for the first 6 miles then "it" happened. Steve made his move and as he went to the front informed everyone "I think Pete is about to crack and I'm going to bury him". I saw him grab a gear and the cadence increased. I said to myself "white on rice" which basically is "stick to him". I stayed with him for a long time and he made several speed increases. He finally sat up and told me "you hung tough, I'm impressed". I was fairly proud of myself until a mile later when he went again. I didn't answer the bell for the second round and finished the last 1.5 miles by myself. The rest of the ride was uneventful and Steve and I made it home in time to get to the ball park.
On the way home we stopped at a Smoothie Store to get something to drink. As is the case you get 3 free ingrediants in your drink. I choose, protein, viatiman C and BEE POLLEN. I'm not sure what happened next but the minute I started drinking my heart started racing ( I think it was the Bee Pollen). I thouhgt I was just tired and dehydrated so I laid down. I dind't feel any better a half hour later so I went downstairs and put on my Heart Rate Monitor. My heart rate was at 145 and I was standing still. Crap, I'm at the top of zone 3 and I'm not doing anything. I spoke with Chris Jules who is a client and an ER Doctor. He asked me some questions and asked me to call him back in an hour. We had just experienced something similar with our son a few weeks back. The questions they asked him in the ER were, are you lighted head? Dizzy? or experience any pain? I spoke to Kathy who has years of experience as Cardiac nurse and she said I would be wasting my time going to the ER but to stay in clsoe contact with her and Chris. That evening I didn't feel very good but managed to go out to dinner with the boys. By Friday monring I was better but still not feeling myself. I managed to swim 3000 yards in the pool but called it a week and went home and packed up the bike.

Big Trianing Week in Arizona

Arrived in Scottsdale on Saturday night. Jonathan Nixon and I were on the same flight. I read part of Bobby McGee's Magical Running book on the flight. I thought long and hard about my "self talk" regarding my body and came to the conclusion I need to focus more on the good things my body allows me to accomplish.

Steve Uccello arrived before us and had the van waiting for us the minute we picked up the bikes. We dropped off everything at the Condo and headed to old town Scottsdale in search of the Memphis/Tennessee basketball game. We landed at the Loco Patron. Excellent food, a perfect view of the flat screen TV and we were on our way. As the night went on the place started to hop. I think the mandatory dress code for the women in Arizona is short black dress and high heals. We left as soon as the game ended and moved on to planning today's ride.

Today we went 60 miles in 3 hours. The weather was around 65 and there was cloud cover most of the day. Arm warmers were in order but I had on cycling shorts and a regular cycling shirt. The beginning of the ride was a lot of stop and go but we eventually got out into a more rural area. The palm trees and views of distant mountains were surreal, like I was viewing something in a painting. There were a couple of steep climbs in the first 10 miles and my heart rate shot way up, so much for holding a zone 2 heart rate through out the day. My back and hip started to tighten up 1 hour into the ride but I focused on how great I was feeling. I lowered my bike seat a tad bit from last season in hopes that it would reduce the stress on my glutes and ITB. In the end I think this was the smartest thing I've done in a long time. Jonathan and Steve were strong all day. I was pleasantly pleased that I could hang all day. There was one 10 mile uphill stretch at about a 2-3% grade. I thought it would never end but I vowed to hang on Johnathan's wheel as he pulled us to the top. With about a 1/2 mile to go Steve came flying by and Jonathan went with him. I was gapped and thought I may get shot off the back. Just before we crested the top I bridged the gap. We flew done the back side and I haven't felt this good on a bike in a LONG time.
When we came back to the condo Jonathan went back out for a 2nd loop, this time reversing the route. It only took him 2 minutes longer!! The guy went 119 miles in 6:02 and there was a lot of stop and go. He also ran 2:30 yesterday!!! He is 6 weeks out from Ironman South Africa and I'm very pleased with his progress. When he did IMCDA in 2006 he had a stress fracture 7 weeks out and didn't run until race week. He went 11:29 on a 97 degree day and I'm confident he can go a lot faster than that.
All and all I've very pleased with how this week has begun. I'll add some photos when I return home. Time for Beer, dinner and a movie.

Day Two.......
Last night we watch Ferris Beuhlers day off. I've seen this movie numerous times over the years and I think I laugh harder each time. The sign of a great movie is that it transcends time and generations.

We began this morning with a 3800 yard swim in the Eldorado Acquatic Center Outdoor Pool (Steve did 4000). For just $2 we were able to swim outdoors in a salt water pool!! Palm tree's, an orange sun rising and 50 degree temperature outdoor.. Pinch me I must be in heaven. I wondered how incredible it would be to swim masters in an environment like this. The temperature of the pool water was perfect and as the sun rose the whole environment was incredible. The Blue Hairs were doing an aqua aerobics class in lanes 1/2 (no confrontations Jay, sorry) and I wondered home many years until I'm participating.

I'm not sure if it was the lack of altitude or being outdoors but I had one of my best swims that I can recall in some time. Jonathan indicated that he swam his 125/yard at the same time he was swimming his 100/m in Colorado so Imagine we were all benefiting from the lack of altitude. I had a great feel for the water, was rotating from side to side and extending my stroke on both ends. I really concentrated on relaxing my shoulders and arms on recovery as I could feel them tensing as we progressed. This made a big difference as we got further into the set.

Home to a big breakfast and now we are relaxing before we head out on the bikes. The sun is out and we are in for an incredible day of cycling.

Day 2 evening: We went 43 today on the bike. The route was mostly on city streets and bike paths. We went through Tempe and the ASU campus and were on the Ironman Arizona race course for a short while. We saw the swim venue and as I have stated in the past, this is NOT my favorite Ironman location. There is no feel to the area that says Ironman to me. The water is green and the run is all on bike paths.

Truth be told, not my favorite ride BUT it accomplished what we wanted for the day which was an active recovery day. Jonathan wasn't satisfied with a swim and bike (although he had gone big the last two days) so he went for a run while Steve and I ventured out to the patio to begin a cribbage tournament (I'm currently up 4-1 and I know when Steve reads this it will piss him off because he hates losing in anything, even board games.)

I love spending time with my athletes while they train as it allows me to see how they absorb training and how they live life. Both Steve and Jonathan love life and training. I'm absolutely amazed at how Jonathan has absorbed his last few big weeks of training and remained amazing positive and happy. Most athletes at this stage of Ironman training are spent, Jonathan remains positive, healthy and focused on his goals. You would never know from talking to him that he works 10 hour days and trains 16-20 hours a week. He doesn't talk about his training or what he is going to do, he just does it week after week. And he does so without complaining, We could all learn something from the way he approaches his training.

The weather has been incredible, sleeveless jersey and shorts. Mentally I've stayed focused on being positive especially when my back tightens up. I stayed in the small ring the entire ride today and spun a high cadence. There was a lot of stopping and starting at today and my back flared a bit. A few hours later and I feel great.

Tomorrow we run in the morning and the do a 60-70 mile route. We are going to head out of town to avoid the city.

Day 3:

We all ran in the morning, Steve and Jonathan went longer than I. I ran 50 minutes with 20 minutes tempo in the middle. I'm sturggling to find my tempo zones as my HR goes to zone 4 or staysz low. I need to work on my pacing, breath control and staying relaxed when I run harder.
After breakfast we immediately headed out for a bike. I didn't feel good from the start of the ride. My legs were heavy and I felt like the rear wheel was dragging. I started belching an houre into the ride and finally asked to stop about 1:30 in. I went into the store and bought some gatorade as my Perpetum was mixed two strong. Steve gave me two tums and suggested I drink a coke. I don't drink soda but agreed. We started riding again and about 15 mintues later decided to ride up a steep incline where some very expensive homes looked out over the city. About 1/4 mile in I couldn't turn over as the the rear wheel was rubbing. I told the guys to go on as I went back down the hill. I reset the back wheel and tightened the rear skewer and headed back up hill. This time I had no issues and we did the hill up and over twice. We then headed out on a flat stretch of road and I felt better than I have in several years. We ended up doing 70 miles in some windy conditions in about 4 hours. I was encouraged as my body still feels good.
At night we continued our cribbage match, drank some wine and had a great lasagna meal. We watched Mystery Alaska and had some good laughs at some of the great lines in the movie.

Arizona

The photos above are of my dad, son, sister and her fiance Daveandof my children Nick and Lauren and Dave's daughter Hannah. Karen and Dave were engaged (sorry Big D) on Valentines day. I'm happy for them as I truly believe Dave has had a very calming influence on my sister and I have never seen her so happy.

Vacation?
I'm off to Scottsdale for a week of s/b/r with Jonathan Nixon and Steve Uccello. What seemed like a great idea 3 months ago leaves me wondering what in the hell was I thinking. Nixon is training for Ironman South Africa and just completed a 100 mile training ride in 5 hours and Uccello is 5 weeks out from Ironman California. I'm looking forward to the warm air, sunshine and some male bonding but as I packed my bike last night I kept thinking to myself.. "I'm going to be riding a lot by myself:. None the less I'm looking forward to putting in some good base mileage.

The beauty of all this is that Nixon had a 2.5 hour run today and Uccello raced a 10 mile this morning. For tomorrow I may be safe. The rest of the week will be a question mark. Photos and details of the trip to follow.

Steve has researched the area thoroughly and knows where the bike routes are, food markets, pools and even has us scheduled for a cub/giants exhibition game next Thursday. There is some talk of golf but I highly doubt that will happen.

2007 USAT Rankings

The 2007 USAT rankings are out and I ended up 350th. I've never really paid attention to where I ended up until this year. Kathy was 16th in her age group and earned All American status. I was closer to Honorable mention status than I thought. Had it not been for a very questionable penalty in Boulder 5430 sprint race I would have been fairly close. the rankings are interesting to me. I have to honestly say I did well at some very small races. The Boulder sprint and Sprint National championships probably earned me some decent points but the truth is I don't think the USAT rankings give a realistic picture of where you ranking country wide (I should be lower than 350 in my age group). Look at 2006 for example. For Kathy's three races she took 4th at IMCDA, 2nd at the Boulder Long Course and 15th at the Ironman World Championships. She only earned Honorable mention status and was near the bottom of the listing. In 2007 she takes 3rd overall at Loveland Lake to Lake, second at Boulder Peak and 5430 Long Course and second at Rattlesnake National Sprint Championships. She ends up 16th. In my opinion, 2006 was a far tougher race schedule against tougher competition. To me, the rankings favor the short course athlete who does well.

Someone Explain Too Me Why I Do This Again?

Last weekend I took my boy (Nick, age 14 pictured above) to the Golf Expo. I have to admit that it was purely a father/son bonding move as I'm not really passionate about golfing. I golf and can put together a decent game from time to time. I can also suck it up pretty good and have no clue how or why I hold the club the way I do, open face, closed face, laying up....... All a different language to me. As my son will tell you, I went to the school of GRIP IT AND RIP IT...

While walking around the expo I made a few observations.
1. There were just as many Chiropractor booths as golf vendor booths
2. The guy who had a fitness booth with signs about improving your core never had anyone there when I walked by.
3. The Chiro booths were well visited
4. A lot of the golf booths gave away beer. There were a lot of guys walking around with Beer.
5. The Hooter girls were there as were many pretty models. Funny, I don't ever recall seeing the hooter girls or models on a golf course.

So I came to the conclusion that golf is a sport which gives you a bad back, you get to drink beer and see beautiful women. No different than triathlons I guess.......

2008 Races

My 2008 race schedule is almost complete.

Karen Hornbostel Cherry Creek Time Trial (7 races 10 mile Time Trail: I've never done this series before. Given my goals for the season this 7 race series will force me to push the envelope a bit earlier in the season then I would like to. Last year I used the duathlon series to have race day like efforts and it was benefecial come my key races. My thoughts are these races will have the same benefit. A bit nervous to go race against the pure cyclists but when I returned to racing last season it was a goal of mine to put knew events on the calendar each season.

Mile High Duathlon Series: Three duathlons for under $120. Well run, great give aways and food. If there was ever a deal in the sport this is it. Great competition and duathlons are wonderful preparation for the full dres rehersal. I used these races last year to gauge my pacing and mental preparation.

5430 Sprint: Only goal is to use this race as a level of fitness in comparison to last years race. If I hadn't received a 2 minute dismount line (what dismount line) penalty last year I would have fineshed top 10 in my age group in my first race back from a 2.5 year lay off.

Loveland Lake to Lake: I raced the Aquabike division last year. This year I'll use this race a as a stepping stone to my key race of the year which is the half in July. Possiblity I may not be able to do this race as my son is in a golf tournmanent in Steamboat this weekend. I'm working on trying to figure out a way for both to happen.

Spirit of Racing Half Ironman: Twenty years ago on the same beach I started my career with a sprint race. What would be more fitting than to compete a half ironman twenty years later?

After Racine I have a few thoughts in mind but will gauge how I feel in July and go from there.

When the Status Quo Changes

We have a very strong Triathlon Community in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Perhaps I'm biased but based on what I have observed over the past few years in terms of results, friendships, training groups, etc I have to believe it is one of the best cities in the United States to live if you are a triathlete.

One of the strengths of our community is that we have (had) a masters swim program which is part of one of the local recreation centers. How many of you can say that you can get to a masters program 5 days a week in the morning, twice a week over lunch and twice in the evenings within 10 mintues of your home? Our masters classes are filled with everyone from your first time danskin type to people who win their age groups in Kona and even a bronze medal olympic athlete.

Recently the individual who runs the program had a parting of ways with the Comunnity Association. Over night, the swimming/triathlon community was at a loss on where to swim and for who. As odd as this may seem, many of the locals had come to relay on the head coach. Let's face it, when you find someone who can push you to the next level by his presence on deck you don't go looking elsewhere. This individual is a close friend of mine and my phone and e-mail have been out of control over the past few days asking me "what they should do?". In times of trouble, the true charcater of people and their ability to problem solve is never more evident. I tend to look at these situations and say "o.k. this isn't what it used to be but there has to be another way in which to make everyone happy." The current class went on but with many distractions and the end result was that it just wasn't the same any more.

Yet the e-mails and phone calls kept arriving. "what do I do? Where do I go? Now what?". The answers to me were simple. A. Either siwm on your own and self motivate B. Find another program to swim C. find a couple of training partners and make a promise to push each other. It doesn't need to be the end of the world. It is o.k. to mourn the loss of a situation but as athletes we need to survive in times when environments aren't perfect. Everything isn't always going to be perfect when we train or race. Anyone can do well when the conditions are well. It is the athletes who can focus in times of trouble that succeed.

Honestly, I'm not happy about what happened either. Persnally and professionally it makes my life more difficult. Am I going to stew over this? No, I'm in the process of finding a work around that should get this individual on deck some time soon. In the mean time, I'm not wasting any negative energy talking about what happened or why, it isn't going to change a thing.