1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
i put together a little video of this week's airport ride... marc's stats say we averaged 24.1 mph over the entire 58 miles and 29.2mph over 28 minutes heading back into town w/ 2 traffic light stops
1 year 2 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
It's that time of year. Time for some good old huffin' and puffin' on the roads south of Atlanta. In spandex. With a bunch of dudes and some ladies. That's right... it's time for the Airport Ride!
A few days ago weather.com had me scared about 29 degree start temps but in the end we had a moderate 45-53 degree range to work our magic within. Big groups kept cresting the bridge on Peters Street just before 10am. By the start we had more than 4,000 cyclists in attendance. Give or take 3,900. (I have no idea how many people there were... but it was a big group.)
First few miles were chilly. I got up near the front to warm up but that was just silly and I ended up working too hard. Mr. Linenberg waxed his tri bike and was laying down the law off the front with a small group.
After the nature break at 11 mi I tried to settle into the group but there was a bunch of sketch riding happening so I abandoned the pack for the open road up front. Which means I ended up working too hard. Which is just silly.
At the split I went for the long loop and the ride got more organized. But there were a lot of attacks and it was hard to "sit in" at all. One dick clown took a left turn on a blind sweeping corner in the oncoming lane. And a car showed up to the party. I'm not taking credit for saving his life but if I hadn't realized what was going on and gotten out of the way he would have at the very least collided with me and at the very worst died a horrific death. I accept credit cards.
Finally we made it to hwy 29 and things got logical. Paceline. Rotate in or sit back. I was lovin' it. Marc made his way to the front for some sprint action.
Before I knew it we were back on Peters St. 2:36-ish had elapsed and the 2010/2011 Airport Ride season was officially in swing.
Marc, Dana, James, Mark & Konnie (a single entity and comma-ed appropriately), the guy with the HD Hero camera (hey, post a link to the facebook page if you get a chance)... and a ton of other people. Good to see everybody. With my non-season season I'm not burned out and am feeling interested in jumping into more than the usual 2-3 Airport Rides that my life usually permits.
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Hung with the group and today they were a little more animated than they were last week. "The German Guy" was present along with numerous other notables which made for a faster dynamic. Marc Crouch was there, pushing on the sprints and breaks. I got a little too aggressive in the first third, toned it down for the second and had strength to follow a fast post-light catch of a lead group. Overall happy with where the legs seem to be given the short time I've been on a bike since the Great Sick of Oh Ten. After the official Tucker Ride Marc and I did some loops at the mountain and then rode back to Tucker. 55 mi total, a little under three hours which is about what I wanted to do today. Airport Ride kicks off next week. How will my leg sticks fare? Only they know.
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Beautiful day for a Tucker Ride. Mark and Konnie, Jeff Blau and others were in the group. Overall the peleton was chill which was nice as I get back into riding. Was able to stick with the group until the end and only felt like I was in trouble once on Farmer. Nice day. Nice ride.
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Windy today. But warm. Things even out.
Kept the laps around 14:45, about 20mph. Did 10 of them. Then found a new way to climb out of the basin to civilization through a neighborhood. Nicer than climbing up Johnson Ferry Rd with side mirrors tickling my ears.
Took about 2:53... a little less than I wanted but I have a 4p commitment.
1 year 3 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
For many months this image has summarized my triathlon comeback efforts:
But in the last three or four weeks I've been enjoying the evening rides down at Columns Drive. And that's kind of been taking the "wedgie" out of "comeback".
I'm starting to recognize the regulars. Starting to see the groups that develop. Starting to understand the turnaround conventions, etc. I ride from home and generally drivers have been kind to me, the occasional pickup truck notwithstanding. I've gotten rides in most days in the last couple weeks. A day off here or there as the legs accumulate fatigue.
Fatigue is a wonderful feeling after so many months without training. As fatigue has built, and fitness has been gained I'm back to reasonable heart rates with some more daily workout pain. A good thing as it'll force my body to adapt.
It's still early in the comeback process. I'm seeing hints of progress. But no breakthroughs... yet. I mean, I pwned that 73 year old dude on the mountain bike with the "I (heart) Chicken" t-shirt. But, you know, I haven't even tried to measure myself against anybody yet. My confidence is fragile but growing as I try out mini groups, breaks, intervals, etc. Turns out I can still do all these things and recover without a massive coronary. That's nice.
It's also nice just to have this regimen in my life again. Work has been hectic. Moving homes has been a lot of work. Copperheads are slithery bastards. Without fitness the stresses were adding up. Now I feel like I'll have a chance at the end of the day to blow off steam.
No running lately. I mean, a few little treadmill efforts here and there. I'm at about 173 lbs, a far cry from 158 lb race weight. I can feel it when I run and I'm in no rush to get back to all 3 sports.
I was up at All3Sports today (I know, that was the best segue ever!) Picked up some 80mm tubes. See, here's the thing about Zipp valve extensions... they blow. Missy (I think... I'm horrible with names) said Hi as I checked out. Always a great experience up at All3Sports, the greatest triathlon shop in the universe*!
Rode for 1:50 today. 35 miles. Took it easy. Heart rate around 135 bpm most of the time. One flat tire, annoying. Spotted Ashley Folkes who I used to spot all the time out on the Silver Comet during my daily workouts when I lived over there. He's lookin' fast, as always. Community question: why does he get a 365 day/year six pack but I work my ass off in the gym for months to achieve a four pack? I'm writing my senator... and considering some airbrushing for key workouts.
Also saw a dude in a weight vest, aerobars. Like his style. I may have to break out the old weight vest one of these days! I asked him what's up and he said "sometimes you have to go old school to get fast!" Love it.
Core strength still low. Need to get back into some sort of routine. The situps I'm doing between burrito lifts aren't quite cutting it.
Also need to work on the diet. It's out of control and I need to drop some poundage. With the increased training demand I need to focus on protein again.
Upcoming goals? Marc wants me to be on Airport Ride Day 1. Hoping I can do that. Not sure though. Would have to start some weekend longer rides over the next few weeks. Which isn't unreasonable.
I just want to continue to build smartly back into some reasonable volume, drop some weight, add running and swimming back into the mix and then destroy the women's 20-25 age group in the spring. Goals are important.
Did I mention the weather today. Perfect. And the blonde triathlete with a flat tire walking back to her car agreed. She was heading up to All3Sports at 6p and had to make it back to the car. I offered tubes, etc but she was Ok without them. Hope she made her bike's play date at the All3! Carbon fiber can be moody when it doesn't get its social time.
So that's it. Still keeping the boring daily workout reports off of the homepage to keep the signal-to-noise ratio slightly higher than it would be otherwise. Click Triathlon on the left side nav if you need to fall asleep quickly. Joereger.com... better than Ambien**.
Over and out. Wait, that's not my sign-off. Peace. Nope, that's not it either.
Valve extensions blow.
* known universe. i can't exactly vouch for the quality of All3Sports in the unknown universe. ** dear Ambien, please don't sue me.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Thought I had a nice little window to get a ride in. I did not.
Issued by The National Weather Service Atlanta, GA 5:48 pm EDT, Mon., Sep. 27, 2010
... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 PM EDT FOR NORTHEASTERN FULTON AND EASTERN COBB COUNTIES... IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL... FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY!
Whoops. I got one nice loop in at Columns and then the bottom fell out. Over the course of 30 seconds it went from sunny to a big storm. Climbing out of Columns there were sheets of rain, crashes of lightning and chunks of hail. All complemented by rush hour traffic. I've ridden in a lot of storms. This one was up there on the intensity scale. Attached is the radar... big red blob and I was smack dab in the middle of it.
In a way, selfishly, it was exactly where I wanted to be. In another way, considering the kiddos, it was exactly where I didn't want to be.
One kind gentleman offered me a ride. I was about 2.5 miles from home but stretched (or shrunk) the truth and told him I was only a mile away. Being in the storm is kinda cool. I think we score points for this sort of thing, don't we?
Ping. Ping. Ping. That's the sound of hail on spokes during 25 mph gusts.
Clunk. That's the sound of hail hitting my helmet.
So it was a short but memorable workout today. Love the epic stuff. Really enjoying getting back into the swing of it.
Yes, Heather chastised me, called me names and mocked me in Spanish.
Jeff Caplan was working out in the same area. Here's what he said about it:
Tonight was one of the more interesting runs I've ever had. 20 min into it I was face down under a bench by the Hooch trying to avoid getting hit by lightning and also avoid quarter-sized hail. It was pretty cool afterwards -- there was so much hail on the ground it was like running in snow!
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Enjoyed yesterday's ride so much I headed back for more. Legs felt even better the second time around. I wanted to see what Columns was like on a weekday evening. Not much different. A few more people. But no peletons or anything. Near the end there were some triathletes.
I rode from home and did two loops yesterday. Four loops today. First loop at an average of 20.5 mph and avg heart rate of 160 bpm. Second loop about the same. Third and fourth loops I slowed down to save energy for the climb back home... managed 19.3 and 19.4 mph on about 153 bpm. Not bad given how out of shape and overweight I feel.
Can't stress how much I enjoyed being out on this ride. I've been somewhat consistent for about a week and a half now and it's starting to get fun again.
Columns isn't as brain-free as the Silver Comet. You have to watch for runners coming at you and cars behind you. But it's better than Johnson Ferry Road.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Rode from the house to Columns Drive and then did some loops. Not many people out there but I can tell how that circuit could become ultra competitive. More so than the Silver Comet where when you pass somebody you're not likely to see them again. Good ride, first in the neighborhood. Lots of hills to/from Columns, including the monster just west of Columns on Johnson Ferry. I like the idea of parking at Sope Creek, doing some laps on Columns and then going for a trail run.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
This neighborhood is absolutely horrible for chill runs. The hills are just miserable. They turn every run into a grind session. A few months from now I'll love the leg strength this will develop. Right now, I'm hating it. Set the alarm for 5:30a. Snoozed it for 30 mins because of those darn hills!
I've been consistent with the workouts this week. Only missed one day, work overtook my time. Besides that I've been getting 45-ish minutes of stationary bike and/or running in. Not quite my goal of an hour a day but not bad considering where I'm coming from lately. The week was very busy but I managed to fit it in... that's a good sign. Overall I'm happy to be back in motion.
Not yet feeling any of the benefits of the workouts. Just soreness and fatigue. And not the "wow, I rocked that workout" fatigue. More like the "i suck" fatigue. I keep longing for those days of being in IronShape. This is no time to be watching pace or power output. Things are ugly and all I can remember are the days where I'd go twice as fast or output twice as much power at any given heart rate.
I'll just keep grinding them out for a while. I can tell already that I'm going to need to mix things up more. I'm not yet familiar with the new neighborhood workout spots. Columns drive is about two miles away. Sope Creek trails. Some trails by the Chattahoochee. To be honest I'm not ready to workout around other people yet. I tend to get too competitive and right now that could cause injuries. I need to grind out aerobic work for a month or two before attempting to integrate back into the endurance community.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Set the bike up outside today. Nice morning but I have a headache and sitting on the bike inside wasn't looking very attractive. Baking in the sun shouldn't have sounded more attractive but, alas, it did. Nice change of pace, I suppose. This ride for Mr. Carriere who's on me to get out on a long ride with him.
1 year 4 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
One hour dragging myself around the hilly neighborhood. If yesterday's run was euphoric, today's was painful. Hills and residual soreness don't usually make the best of compatriots. Still, it was nice to be up on a crisp cool morning that required a long sleeve shirt. I explored a new area and got caught with a long downhill halfway through the run. Which wasn't really the problem. The return uphill was.
Nah, I was looking at hedges. Lots of freaking hedges around this neighborhood. Some trimmed, some not. Last weekend my father bought us a hedge trimmer. Well, to be fair, I tricked him into it but that's another story. So I spent a couple hours contracting poison ivy while butchering the living hell out of our hedges. Stepping back to look at the horrendous result I realized that it's not hedge trimmers that kill hedges, it's people that kill hedges. Hopefully I absorbed some hedge trimming wisdom over the course of the run today.
What I did definitely absorb was a sh*t ton of hills. Holy tamole. Up, down, up, down, up, down. I ran back to my mom's old neighborhood and attended every single cul-de-sac trying to find the back road to Lower Roswell. These hills will make me strong.
Lots of fathers packing the minivans and SUVs for some sort of holiday weekend travel extravaganza. I didn't get the memo but the uniform is clearly plaid shorts and tucked in polo shirt. With boat shoes. To be honest I'm loving the trend that boat shoes, Ray-Ban Wayfarer and other 80's standbys are coming back into the mainstream. It's nostalgic and I'm on board with it.
The only goal I was on today was one hour of running. I've got Paul Carriere smacking me around via text and email so it's time to start devoting some time each morning to some run and bike action. At the risk of failing, I'd like to publicly state my desire to do an hour of aerobicness each morning from here until, well, eternity. Hoping to jump start this mutha as we head into some cooler weather. I'm even gawking carbon frames on eBay that I can't afford again. That's a big step!
Always love the morning runs. Starts the day out right. Have a great weekend everybody!
1 year 6 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
I woke up at 6am and started to work. That didn't feel right so I looked outside and decided to go for a run. I haven't been running much lately and in fact this is my first run in the new neighborhood. Lots of hills. I took it easy and ran for about a half an hour. Nice to get out. I've missed running.
1 year 6 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Marc invited me out. I've been missing riding but haven't found any motivation to get back out there. Le Tour seemed to get me in the mood. Wheels down at 8am to beat the heat. Although Marc and Matt were still getting ready so I left about 15 minutes early.
Woody's - Clockwise from the Rockpile... Woody's first. It was an effort just to get all the gear from the hundreds of boxes still littering our house. Hooking the heart rate monitor and gps up was somewhat foreign. I started climbing. Didn't feel too bad. Tried to take it easy but the heart rate wanted to be at 150bpm+. Fine... there's not much you can do about that... you have to turn the pedals over. The Woody's climb was uneventful. I enjoyed being out there. I figured Marc would catch me before the top but I made it. Flew down the backside to the store, bought some gatorade. Marc bought some insulated water bottles so I copied him... they were working well.
Wolfpen - I hate the ride between Woody's and Wolfpen. Wolfpen climb was uneventful... did a little out-of-seat on the steeper parts. My descending skills are definitely tentative right now. I braked hard on the hairpins but took the softer turns hard.
Neel's - Surprised I hadn't been caught I continued up the backside of Neel's. By now the heat was starting to come out and my heart rate was sitting at 160bpm and there wasn't much I could do about it. Still, I was very surprised at how well my legs were handling everything. I mean, 7 months without a ride or run. After six years of big training. I figured something odd would happen. Made it to the top and had a dream... a dream to make it to Turner's Corner before Marc caught me. So I descended. And the heat continued to rise. On the little climb near the bottom I really started to feel the heat. I probably went a bit too hard down the mountain... should have coasted but I really love those descents. And I made it to Turner's Corner.
Neel's Part Deux - A couple minutes after turning around to climb Neel's again Marc and Matt caught me. The plan was to go back around the other way... Neel's, Wolfpen and Woody's back to the car. I was still in high spirits when Marc left me to climb at his own pace. But the heat was upon us and by the top of Neel's I was melted. Heat exhaustion. Power draining from my legs. I knew I would have to turn around and head back to the car the short way. Luckily Marc and Matt had waited for me so I could tell them and say goodbye.
The Worst .8 Miles - I hate that part between Turner's Corner and the Rockpile. Hate it on a good day. Melting in heat, 3.5 hours into my first ride in months... well, I really hated it. I kept watching my GPS. I swear the last 1.2 mile climb took me forever. The last .8 miles just stuck there. I've had my share of explosions and deathmarches back home. I no stranger to distance dilation. But this was something else.
Once I got back to the car I felt fine. As I write this, the next day, I have no soreness at all. I'm motivated to keep getting out there. Thanks to Marc for the invite. I'll have to get back into shape so he doesn't have to wait for me so much.
1 year 7 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Haven't ridden the bike since 2009. Holy batmans batman. I always tend to look for something epic to boost me back into things when I experience a lull. Last week I geared up on Tuesday planning a 23 mile run on zero running for 6 months. I'm an idiot. Luckily I was also very tired from a long work night and snoozed my way to long run self-destruction. Which rhymes.
Today was an uncharacteristically low key start back at it. I walked by the bike, now covered in dust, and noticed that it was 6/1. That seemed like a reasonably elegant day to start riding again (I loves the maths) so I threw on the bike shoes and spun up ye ole CompuTrainer (they should spell it Comp-u-trainer... and add an o-rama to the end of it.) Surprisingly, I held 220 watts for most of the ride. Yes, I calibrated.
I think back to many of my I'm-overtrained-no-I'm-not workouts where I struggled to do the same power output. Kinda funny. It took me a long time to shed the expectations and simply reset my fitness clock. Setting ironman PRs is a fun ass pastime and one I hope to get back to some day. But with the fog of ironWar filling the air it's hard to gain perspective... a week without a megaworkout seems like a life-threatening affair when, of course, it isn't. Plenty of room for logical vs. emotional self-analysis. But not today.
All those blog posts at the end of last season about just enjoying things? I was lying... mostly to myself... kind of to you. When I got sick after the most solid 13 weeks of training ever, just 7 weeks before the big race, I was disheartened and from then forward was phoning it in. I wanted to enjoy things. I even kind of thought I was. But I was deflated. Stacking season upon season, always improving, squeezing seconds and watts out of diet, core strength, sleep time, two-a-days, interval sets, protein powder, plyometrics... it's kinda hard, you know.
Would have probably pulled out of the funk by February but, as you may know, I got mono. And with it every germ that I came into contact with sent me on a one week symptom-fest. I'm still dealing with optimistic infections that my body doesn't kick very easily these days. I blamed colds/flus for a while but that was just a way to avoid what I really knew... that I needed a longer term break from training. As I came out of the mono phase I just went with the flow and didn't push cycling/running. I did some swimming in the mornings... just to get out of the house and burn some stress. Plus, women in bikinis... enough said... mmmmm, women in bikinis.
What was I talking about? Oh, well, lost it. Good bike ride. Did I mention that it felt amazing? It really did. Already looking forward to the next ride.
1 year 9 months ago | Posted to: Training Thoughts
Today I posted another workout. While still eons away from my ultra-obsessed old self, I'm thinking more about training again. One thing I've been focused on is body weight. I think I let myself get too skinny last season. And this may have ultimately contributed to my colds/flus.
When you weigh less you go faster. Basic physics. But there are limits. For me I get faster on the run down to about 158 lbs. But on the bike I can only go down to 165 lbs... below that and I lose quad size which affects bike power.
Over the offseason I was sitting around 162 lbs. Over most of last year (certainly near the end) I was at that point too. I think I was just too skinny.
I don't try to stay that skinny. I just don't eat much. I've never been a big eater. Add in morning coffee and I rarely think about food until 6pm. Combine that with an even moderate workout schedule and I lose weight.
While this is generally a good problem to have I think that prolonged periods of low weight aren't terribly good for me. The body struggles to find resources. The immune system suffers. I eat a ton of whey protein but that's obviously not enough.
So, coming out of the Great JoeSick Saga of Early 2010 I've focused on gaining weight. I've put on about 10 lbs of pure un-performance couch-potato fat! WoOT! I'm at 170 lbs. I think it's a good thing to go back into workouts with some extra weight. I'm going to try to keep my body weight around 170 lbs in training. I can always shed down to 165 lbs for triathlons/cycling and 162 lbs for running events. But then I need to remember to gain the weight back.
Being lighter weight and seeing the speed in workouts on a daily basis is definitely addictive and plays into this.
With work getting busier it takes a concerted effort to, you know, eat stuff. In the end I'm striving for greater overall health. While most of society says less weight is better, we awkwardly skinny people need to be careful about the limits of that equation.
Today I was struck (again) by the power of ingrained thought patterns in training. A little review: in the beginning I went short and hard... after a season or so I learned the power of base training and did a lot of it... after three seasons or so I learned to base train early and then turn towards speed/intensity later in the season... by the fifth and sixth season I was trying to maintain certain speed targets year round.
Which brings us to today. After a couple (few?) good solid years I've had a major lull in training this winter. Thought patterns contributed to this lull and have made it tricky to get out. I'm not sweating it but it's worth noting.
As the season ends I find myself pretty fit with a bunch of speed. I always... always... say that I'm going to take it easy. And then I always... always... hit it hard... every single workout. Which burns me out, spends through my base training bank account and leaves me a heaping pile of not fit.
But why? I know better. I know base training is what I should be doing. Heck, it's what I want to do. The answer is thought patterns.
It's deeper than just "what should i do today?" It's a drive. It's in the reptilian brain. I'll start off-season workouts slowly but I can just feel myself getting pulled into the speed and intensity.
Fast forward through the burnout and bottoming out of fitness to today. I start to get back into it. I have no time goals. No urgency. Just out to enjoy a pre-dawn run. But there's the drive to go faster. It's what I remember. It's the last training memory my reptilian brain has so it pursues it.
I also experience the reverse. When I'm All Base, All the Time and try to switch into the speedwork I find that I have to change my thought patterns dramatically. I go for speed but suddenly find myself at a base exertion.
Being aware of it should help me counter it. But I've been aware of it for a long time. It's a skill. A skill that needs to be honed. Mixing up base with intensity is something I don't do well. I get into one mode or the other. I should try to be more balanced.
I suspect we all experience this patterning in many areas of our life. Food. Work. Relationships. But in triathlon the undercurrents come to the surface a little more obviously thanks to the magic of heart rate monitors and gps. Relationship-o-meter anybody?
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