Training Update November 1 - 20, 2009

Not yet "officially" training for 2010, but trying to keep fit and not put on too much weight. I weighed myself Monday night and was shocked to see 150.5. That may be the heaviest I've ever been and a good 10 pounds over my ideal racing weight. I guess I can't eat unlimited cookies & chocolate covered pecans & almonds without consequences.

Though the 150.5 was an after dinner weight and when I rechecked on Tuesday morning I was down to 148. So, I'm still a good 8 pounds over where I want to be. Until I get back to 140 I'll be skipping all between meal snacks & desserts and cutting back on the beer. :-(

I've also been taking lots of days off lately and haven't been on the bike much at all, but that will be ending soon as I need to be burning more calories.

Here's my November training summary for the 1st 20 days:

Nov 1 - 8.5 mile (65 min) run
Nov 2 - 5 mile (35 min) run
Nov 3 - 1 HR M2 Spin Class
Nov 4 - 5 mile (35 min) run
Nov 5 - 6 mile (45 min) run + 1 HR M2 Spin Class
Nov 6 - 5 mile (35 min) run
Nov 7 - Lead bike for NCAA DII Western Regional XC - about 90 min of riding.
Nov 8 - Hills of SF ride - about 4 hours, but very easy for the most part
Nov 9 - 90 min spin class at M2
Nov 10 - Off
Nov 11 - Easy 4 mile (30 min) run
Nov 12 - 5 mile (35 min) run
Nov 13 & 14 - Off
Nov 15 - Easy 1 hr ride
Nov 16 - 4 mile (30 min) run - Led spin calss @ M2 (80 min)
Nov 17 - Off
Nov 18 - 5 mile lunch run with final 2.5 @ 6 min pace (33 min)
Nov 19 - 6.5 mile lunch run (50 min)
Nov 20 - 5 mile lunch run (38 min)

Hopefully all this running will pay off at the Turkey Trot next Thursday.

More off Season Stuff

Congratulations to the new NCNCA officers: Lorri, Michael, Tad & Bob!

I'm not too bummed about losing the Treasurer election to Tad. I'm sure he'll do a great job and I'll find some other way to help out with the NCNCA BOD.

I haven't been on my bike since LKHC #4, (11 days now!) which I think is a record for me.

I have been going to a lot of M2 Revolution spin classes though and will be teaching my first class on Monday November 16 at 6:15 PM. This will be a free introductory class for people who want to come see what M2 is all about.

I've been running more and did an 8 mile run Sunday and a tempo run yesterday with 4 x 5 min at an unknown pace that felt really fast. I think I'll go to the track next week and find out the truth.

Here's a schedule things I'll be doing in the off season:

Nov 7 - Saturday - Lead bike for NCAA D2 Western Regional XC race at GG Park
Nov 8 - Sunday - 17th Annual Tour of SF Hills - 9AM At Marina (SF) Safeway parking lot
Nov 9 - Monday - M2 Spin Class 6:15 (80 min class)
Nov 10 - Tuesday - New Balance Excelsior running workout

Nov 14 - Saturday - Timing the Run Forrest Run 5K in Monterey

Nov 16 - Monday - Leading Intro Class - Spinning with Power at M2 - come join us!

Nov 21 - Saturday - SF Bike Expo at the Cow Palace - need to find some cheap parts
Nov 22 - Sunday - Pacific Association Cross Country Championships at GG Park - will either be lead bike, or could be talked into racing though I would probably be one of the last 10 finishers since I'm only 39.9 years old and have to race open.

Nov 26 - Thanksgiving - Don Dooley Memorial Turkey Trot & Alumni World Championship Cross Country Race at Crystal Springs in Belmont. - 9AM

Nov 27 or 28 - Some "Epic" training ride of some sort somewhere in the Bay Area

Nov 29 - RUN WILD - 5K or 10K - GG Park - If I haven't given up running my then.

Dec 9 - 4PM - Dentist Appointment

Dec 13 - Sunday - Christmas Relays - 4 x 4.6 mile run around lake merced - If the open team needs me I can run.

Dec 19 - Saturday - My 40th Birthday - Will either ride Tam, San Bruno, Hamilton, Diablo, or possibly all of the above if I can fit it in.

Dec 20 - Sunday - My Masters Running debut at the Miracle Mile in GG Park - 1 Mile downhill - If I can't break 5, I will quit running.

Dec 24 or 26 or 27 - San Bruno Hill Climb Training Ride

January 1, 2010 - San Bruno Hill Climb

I'm running for NCNCA Treasurer

I've decided to try to get into cycling politics at the local level and am running for NCNCA Treasurer for 2010. Click here for my candidate statement.

Win or lose though, I plan to be more involved with the NCNCA.

As for the off season, I'm enjoying it so far. I'm getting caught up on things at work & at home while doing a little running, a few M2 Revolution spin classes & some of the Low Key Hill Climbs to keep from getting too out of shape.

Training Weeks September 7 - October 3, 2009

I've been slacking on the training blog. I know blogging is dead, but I do this so I can look back after a good/bad race and try and figure out what I did right/wrong.

It's the off season anyway, so I'm not doing anything too long, but still a few hard efforts when I feel like it.

Mon 9/7 - Giro di DF - rode downtown & warmed up about 1 hr. Started slow, moved up, got in a couple moves, 1 solo break for about 2 laps, won a $25 Sports Basement prime, then couldn't get away after that. Seemed like every time I tried to move up some 200 lb guy would try to drive me into a curb. I decided a t-shirt & $20 was not worth a potential hospital visit, so I sat up. Watched the rest of the races & rode home.

Tue 9/8 - Park run 7 miles in about 50 min. Longest run of the year. I was lucky that Brian, Molly & George decided not to do tempo or I would have died.

Wed 9/9 - Spin class - 45 min

Thu - 9/10 - 1 hr polo field ride

Fri 9/11 - can't remember

Sat 9/12 - Lead bike for 3 XC running races. Great workout riding through the sand, soft grass, over the log & up the hill 9 times. Linda Somers Smith (now 48!) beat all the open women and ran faster than all but 3 of the 149 masters (40+) men!!

Sunday 9/13 - easy 45 min ride

Monday 9/14 - 45 min spin class

Tue 9/15 - GGP eve ride 75 min

Wed 9/16 - 45 min spin class

Thu 9/17 - 35 min lunch run + 1 hr eve polo field ride

Fri - 9/18 - 45 min spin class (last spin class for a while)

Sat - 9/19 - easy 75 min city ride with Greg & Nick

Sun 9/20 - Fremont Peak HC - New race. E 1/2, E3, 35+ 1/2/3 all races together, about 30 of us. Stayed together for the 1st 4 miles, then it blew up. I was 1st in 40:02. Try for sub 40 next year.

Mon 9/21 - Lunch run - 35 min

Tue 9/22 - GGP eve ride (hard! - thanks Noe) 75 min

Wed 9/23 - Off

Thu 9/24 - Not really anything

Fri 9/25 - rested

Sat 9/26 - easy 1 hr park ride

Sun 9/27 - easy 1 hr park ride

Mon 9/28 - Lunch run with Patti - 48 min (6.5 miles)

Tue 9/29 - GGP eve ride - hard - just because - 75 min

Wed 9/30 - Lunch run with John & Mark - 35 min

Thu 10/1 - Lunch run with Patti - 5 mi - 35 min with stop to see the bottom of the 2nd @ AT&T park.

Fri 10/2 - Lunch run - 25 min + easy eve ride 45 min

Sat 10/3 - LKHC #1 - Montebello - Drove down with Greg. Warmed up around 30 min. Rode 25:59 for 6 sec PR. The only data I have is from my HRM. Average for the climb was 161 bpm with a max of 177. I don't know what that is is watts or kilojoules.

Also, have to include a link to the You Tube video Karin did of our cat Bou.

Training Week August 31 - September 6, 2009

Monday - Lunch run with Patti - about 4.8 miles in 36 min

Tuesday - Modified GG Pars sprints course - due to Outside Lands clean-up, we had to add about 200M to our usual loop. Still hard as ever though. 1:30 riding.

Wednesday - 45 min spin class

Thursday - 25 min lunch run, 1 hr eve ride

Friday - 45 min spin class

Saturday - easy 30 min ride

Sunday - 1:30 park ride (sunday streets). Added a few hard 1 min intervals.

Weekly totals: 1 hr running, 4:30 riding, 1:30 spin class - 7 Hrs total.

Training Week August 24 - 30

Getting caught up on the training logs.

Monday - came back from Utah exhausted

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - 25 min run (1st run of the year!)

Thursday - 35 min run, 45 min easy ride

Friday - Off (warm in SF)

Saturday - 3 Hr ride to Stinson & back on 1 with Brain & Joe - some moderate efforts on the hills

Sunday - 25 min run - ran a 400 on the track in 75 (now just need to do 4 of those in a row by December)

Weekly totals: 1:15 running, 3:45 riding, 5:00 total

Tour of Utah Part II

Time to get caught up on the training/racing blog.

After the 1st 3 stages we had almost a rest day since we only had a 9.2 mile TT and that didn't start until around 7PM. After we all slept in and had breakfast the team went for an easy coffee ride with our hosts with Marijke on her bike and Alex as lead moto. The rest of the day was spent relaxing until it was time to head out to the Miller Motorsports Park. It was a very warm day, in the high 90's, but we had a nice shaded warm-up area (though none of us had trainers, so we warmed up by riding around the parking lot). The course started with an out and back around the perimeter of the race track, then finished on the track, which was a lot of fun with the constant turning. It kind of made me forget about the pain. Here are the Zteam and selected other results from the TT:

Position	Bib	Name	Team	Time		Gap	Penalty
1.	35	ZIRBEL Tom	BPC	.17'00"	900
2.	5	MCKISSICK Ian	BMC	.17'14"	900	14"
3.	2	BOOKWALTER Brent	BMC	.17'19"	000	19"	1"
4.	36	VENNELL Jeremy	BPC	.17'22"	500	22"
5.	19	ZABRISKIE David	GRM	.17'23"	300	23"
6.	34	JACQUES-MAYNES Ben	BPC	.17'29"	300	29"
30.	56	LANDIS Floyd	OCM	.18'06"	600	1'06"
33.	32	MACH Paul	BPC	.18'10"	000	1'10"
34.	181	ENGLISH Nathaniel	ZTM	.18'11"	500	1'11"
38.	186	WINGERT James	ZTM	.18'17"	300	1'17"
101.	183	LAUE Justin	ZTM	.19'01"	300	2'01"
102.	188	PHIPPS Christopher	ZTM	.19'02"	600	2'02"
106.	185	OWENS Vincent	ZTM	.19'04"	700	...
130.	182	BARBERI Stefano	ZTM	.19'28"	600	2'28"
131.	184	RAMSEY Daniel	ZTM	.19'30"	400	2'30"	1"

Pretty good rides for Nate & Jim. The rest of us did OK, and Daniel didn't have a TT bike, so not bad for him either.

Getting back late from the TT stage followed by the queen stage the next morning was sure to be the toughest part of this race. The queen stage started in Park City with 2 neutral laps around town, then is was off to Snowbird with a few climbs along the way. Oh, and it was about 95 degrees out, so I started with 4 bottles, 2 frozen.

The first obstacle was an unrated climb just a few miles in that was made much harder than it should have been by the attacking off the front. There was a crosswind from the right and I found myself about 120 riders back in the left hand gutter, occasionally having to go around cars that were pulled over to that side of the road to let the race go by. After the climb, we had a lot of fast descending, so it was much easier to stay with the group, and it was pretty mellow until we hit the first HC climb about 50 miles into the stage. The pack really blew up on this climb, and a group of about 35 (maybe they were 2 groups totaling 35) got off the front with Nate in there and I was in the next group of about 20, which grew to about 50 after the descent and we also had Justin and Stefano in there. The descent was long and fairly technical. It was a bit scary seeing it for the first time at race speed, but I got through it and was safely in the pack when we got to the fast gradual descents on the wide roads. Next problem was that I was running low on fluids with about 1/2 a bottle left. I was waiting for our team car to come by, but when it finally did, it was going about 50mph, so no fluids for the 3 of us for a while.

On the next climb, the small Cat3 Traverse Ridge in Draper, David Clinger charged a bit ahead of our group (I think he had some fans there). I was really dying of thirst when a fan on the side of the road gave me a Coke. That really hit the spot! I had about half of it then gave the rest to Paul Mach because it looked like he needed it. After that I was feeling pretty good and got another bottle from neutral support that was enough to get me to the base of the final HC climb to the finish at Snowbird.

As we started the climb I saw what was some guy handing out neutral water, but as I grabbed the bottle I realized it was Daniel who had dropped out on the first climb and hopped in the team car. I guess he had had enough. Too bad since I think he would have done well in the crit.

Going up the final climb, there were several fans with water, which really helped, and the temp started to cool dawn a bit too as we climbed. Justin and I traded leading our group, which disintegrated after a few miles, mostly because the guys just didn't care if they were 40th, 50th or whatever place, they just wanted to make the time cut. I was feeling better on this climb than I imagined I would considering the heat and the length of the stage, (2 of my weak points), and finished feeling really strong, crossing the line in 43rd and moving up to 63rd in GC.

With the long stages over, and only a 90 min crit remaining, we could really relax and enjoy our saturday night. For the first time all week I had a few beers (they were the 3.2% Utah variety) , and spent the evening shooting pool back at the Rossi house with Hunter, Nate & Jim.

The crit didn't start until 2PM, so Sunday was another relaxing morning and a big breakfast. Nate, Jim, Vince and I rode over to the crit course. I got a flat on the way, but we still arrived about 20 minutes before the start, so plenty of time to sign in. We were told at the start of the crit that as long as we lasted 30 minutes without falling too far back we would get a prorated time and be included in the GC results. Jim, Vince and I stayed near the back for the first 30 minutes until Jim pulled the plug & fell back. A few other riders did the same shortly thereafter, but I hung on for another 25 minutes. Being on the back though, the constant accelerations were getting to me and I finally let too big a gap open up and couldn't close it. I rode solo for another 3 laps in TT mode until the official mercifully held up the red paddle and I was pulled and awarded 99th place in the crit and 64th in GC with a total time of 13:14.25. (more than I normally train in a week)

Training week totals: 13:14.25 racing, ~ 2 hours warming up and easy riding - 15:14 weekly total.

Many thanks to Alex and Marijke Rossi who hosted us, to Hunter the DS of Zteam and to Lorachristine for all her organizing and follow car support.

Also, thanks to my wonderful wife Karin who was still here when I got home and hadn't changed the locks. This excessive bike racing is real tough on a marriage. =-)