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.