For Sale: ‘08 Pinarello Prince
Not desperate to get rid of this bike. Just testing the waters to see if she’s drool-worthy to others.
She’s pro-tour worthy and can be yours for the right price.
SRAM Red groupo, Easton bars, stem and wheels. Size 59.5 and a hefty 15 lbs.
2009 Triathlon season complete
Today I raced the Telos Turkey Triathlon in Orem and honestly didn’t know what to expect.
My knee and ankle have been flaring up for a little while now and running has been a pain – literally.
This triathlon was backwards. Meaning it was run, bike swim — being a November triathlon in Utah means it just might be cold outside and the outdoors bike and run might kill a few people after a nice dip in the pool.
But I have to admit I was pleased with the run, all things considered. I didn’t dare push the pace but still carried a 8-minute mile average. Not surprisingly, that left me near the back of the pack during the run. I was passed by lots of people and I must admit it’s kind of discouraging thinking I might be able to run faster, but that I was afraid to do so because of the mild injury.
Of course, being slow on the run means there are lots of people to pass on the bike. And pass them I did.
The bike route was a two-lap route with one nasty butt-kicker of a hill near the end of each lap. Thankfully the tendinitus in my knee didn’t act up and I was able to drill it on the bike. I didn’t go into full TT mode — hindsight tells me I should have — because of the knee, but still passed people in bunches and completely ignored the safety cones on the corners so I could get around slower cyclists. Read the rest of this entry »
Suffering in Italy
I wish this was a post about me taking a bicycle vacation to Italy.
Instead, it’s about me working out on the trainer while watching a DVD.
Because I Ride, I Write is a hugely popular blog – or because someone lucked upon this place with a google search and selected the 47th option on the results list — I was contacted by the makers of Global Ride DVDs.
They offered to send me a DVD to train with and write up a review.
So, as the winter rolls in and I am eventually forced inside for my training, I’ll watch the DVD, crank up the resistance when called for and hit the hills of Italy from the comfort of my living room.
Here’s a description of the DVD from Global Ride:
Enjoy short video clips of magnificent cathedrals and artistry of Italy. Follow that with an extended warm up climb on the Time Trial route of the 2009 Giro d’Italia. The middle climb represents the longest climb in Global Ride DVD history – 30 solid mountain minutes. Finally top off those legs in Switchback hell. Steep and relentless. The cooldown to behind the scenes pics will give an easy finish to one kick a** ride.
Climb on the same road as the 2009 Tour of Italy, Stage 12, that Lance Armstrong called EPIC & Breathtaking.
Sounds like fun.
Never too young
Melissa saw me working out on the trainer yesterday and begged to have a turn.
So, after I was done, I said “Why not?”
And hooked up her new Fuji Ace ‘Race Bike’ to the trainer.
It’s so small the rear wheel can’t even touch the resistance flywheel. I cranked it up to its highest level and it’s still an inch or two away from the wheel.
So she just spins freewheel style.
And she loves it.
She even put a sign on the bike reserving a time today for another ride.
And, if she ever misbehaves, her punishment just went from “Go to Time Out!” to “Get the in the corner and give five intervals!”
Swim, bike, lift – the new triathlon
That seems to be the routine for this week’s workout schedule. Granted, today was the last day of lifting on the plan, but I have to admit it’s taking a little getting used to. I’ve never been a big fan of the weight room – as my hulking physique indicates – but I’m slowly finding my way around.
One thing I am annoyed with is the fact so many people think it’s perfectly acceptable to get some weights off the rack, use some of them and then leave the weights either on the floor or on the machine. Rack your weights people!
10/28/2009
| Workout 1 |
| Swim 1:00 |
|
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| THE PLAN – drop kids off at school and hit the pool with the old ladies doing water aerobics. |
| Workout 2 |
| Strength 1:00 |
| 3 sets/15 reps of each: Squats Hip adduction Hip abduction Lunges Crunches x30 Dead Lift Step-ups Keep the weight light so that your body can adapt. |
| THE PLAN — hit the weight room after the pool |
| Workout 3 |
| Bike 1:00 LowEffEnd |
| Low Effort Endurance. Heart rate should not exceed Slow Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone. This is a conversational pace and the focus is on time in the saddle. |
| THE PLAN – spin on the trainer before the kids get home from school |
One thing I can tell about working with a coach who supplies me with detailed daily workouts is that I’m in desperate need of getting organized. Maybe a little less Facebook and twitter and a little more day-planner.
She’s already a better climber than me
My 7-year-old daughter, Melissa, has been bugging me to sign her up for a bicycle race or triathlon ever since she ran into the house a couple of summers ago and announced “Hey, dad! I taught myself to ride a two-wheeler!”
Every race I enter she asks if there is a kids race she can sign up for, too. Unfortunately, the only ones that fit the bill have conflicted with her schedule.
Still, when I noticed this sweet little ride in the window of the bike shop I couldn’t resist — and the price was right!
It’s a 35cm Fuji Ace.
Her hands are barely big enough to grip the brake levers and I’ve told her to just ride up the driveway and onto the grass to slow down and step off, using her foot to stop forward motion and prevent a crash.
So far, so good — no crashes.
Now the trick is to find a race she can participate in. She’s a decent little swimmer and has boundless energy. So this spring and summer I’ll undoubtedly sign her up for a kids triathlon and transition — get it? triathlon, transition? — from Racer Dude to Racer Dad.
And the bike will make the move down to my 5-year-old son eventually.
Should be lots of fun.
Of course, the bike will always serve as a back up if things break down with my bikes.
Day One – done
Training with a coach is one thing.
Training with the assistance of a coach while working a job, getting four kids up, fed, dressed and off to school, getting them home, getting their homework done, piano practice done, dinner prepared, swim lessons attended, school function attended, etc. was a little much.
I had to stop midway through the strength/weight training to put out a fire (metaphorical, of course) at home. Not the stellar start I imagined and I’ll have to get the weight training in sometime today. Luckily, today has less ‘other stuff’ on the calendar.
Here’s what’s on tap for Tuesday:
10/27/2009
| Workout 1 |
|
| THE PLAN — It’s cold outside! Not calling the WAAHmbulance, though. Will run in the morning |
| Workout 2 |
| Bike 1:00 MedEffEnd |
|
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| THE PLAN — Work the trainer and watch a movie or something, grab the dumbbells and yoga ball and get it done. |
And here we go
The coach has hit me with the first week’s training plan.
Should be interesting. He’s got me focused and pretty excited. I’ve tried training on a plan and schedule before when preparing for Ironman Boise, but had to skip a day here, tweak a day there, combine days over there and mix and match things to get myself ready.
I’m hoping to avoid that now and utilize the kindergarten block that gives me roughly three hours each morning to get stuff done.
I’ve been told blogs like this one are exercises in vanity. I disagree.
This blog is an exercise in accountability.
When I have no one to hold myself accountable to, I sadly admit, I slack off. I procrastinate and sometimes just avoid work. It’s a character flaw I’m working on eliminating but have plenty of work left to do.
When someone else is counting on me, though, I’m much more likely to follow through. If a friend wants to ride with me and we plan it, I show up. If a family member needs something and we plan it, I follow through.
When it’s just me? I often find excuses.
A coach, I hope, will keep me on the straight and narrow and keep me honest. The blog, likewise, is a place for me to tell the world what I’m planning on doing and then document how that effort went.
That said, he’s the first workout from the coach and how I plan on getting it done.
10/26/2009
| Workout 1 |
| Swim 1:00 |
| Get in an endurance swim workout. Work on efficient stroke. |
| THE PLAN – use an open lane during my daughter’s swim team practice |
| Workout 2 |
| Bike 1:00 HI-CAD |
| High Cadence Repetitions. After a good warm up of 10 minutes, start a 30 second interval by spinning up to your maximum cadence possible. Start the interval at 90RPM slowly increasing to your maximum RPM. Don”t change gears. Take 4:30 for recovery. Repeat 8 times. Finish the remainder of the time no higher the Fast Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone. |
| THE PLAN – I’m teaching a Spin class on Monday. The class will do my workout with me |
| Workout 3 |
|
| 3 sets/15 reps of each: Squats, Hip adduction, Hip abduction, Lunges, Crunches x30, Dead Lift, Step-ups Keep the weight light so that your body can adapt. |
| THE PLAN – Hit the weight room at the gym |
So, as the Joker said, “Here we go.”
My cyclocross season
Cross season has consisted of one endo crash on the BST and loaning my bike to another guy.
That’s it.
I had every intention of racing a handful of cross races this season, even got excited about it.
Then work took me away from the first two races. A family photo shoot took me from another and now my injured hand is preventing me from signing up for the next — the closest one to home — race.
I still don’t have full flexibility in the hand and wrist and it’s mildly painful to squeeze with two of the fingers. Cross racing, though really fun, is kind of hard on the body. Lots of bumps, bangs and ways to force some impact on the bones.
So I’m giving the hand another week of rest. Maybe I’ll get crazy and race on Oct. 31 before the kids go nuts on the candy gathering.
And instead of a 40-minute cross race, I’m going for a 90-mile ride from Salt Lake City to Logan where I will be working the football game.
The road beckons and I will hit it at 7 a.m.
The coach
Today, I met with a cycling/triathlon coach.
Let’s just say he’s got a lot of experience, is one of the top cyclists in the state and I can only hope to be half as Hard as he is.
It wasn’t a major training session. We hooked the bike up to a computrainer and me up to a heart-rate monitor.
I pedaled along for 20 minutes or so to warm up and then he put me through a 25-minute time trail.
He’d write down the watts, the HR, the cadence and perceived exertion.
That all. I didn’t even get up to max effort except for the final few seconds when it was time to ’sprint to the finish.’
He’ll put that data together, use it with a prioritized list of events I want to compete in and devise a way for me to not train more, but to train better.
Some people will just ride more hours to get stronger and improve endurance. We’re going to train smarter. Read the rest of this entry »
