Asheville Training

What a year it's been. With 2006 right around the corner, I can't help but think back to all the moments that made the 2005 race season such a memorable one. Here's a look back:

Boring base training aside, my real 2005 season started with a reunion of old teammates and close riding companions down in Asheville, North Carolina; the definitive Mecca for road training. Asheville was fantastic, as it always has been in years past, complete with great roads, great weather and best of all, great friends. Liz (finally!) got to join me this year and we had a great time together. After an overload week of bike and run training, I returned to the Northeast ready to race, and sure of a strong racing season to come.

My first race this year was the Shamrock Duathlon in Glastonbury, CT - my old stomping ground. I remember traveling to Connecticut for the weekend to pre-ride the race course with my good friend Sebastian who had made the comment: "if this is your 'easy' pace, your competition is in a lot of trouble". Confidence boosted, I slept soundly that night... Until I woke up to 45 degree, windy and raining weather on race morning. But despite the horrendous weather conditions on race-day, Sebastian's assessment of my bike strength was pretty close to the mark, as I dominated the race and kick-started my '05 season.

I was on a roll as I saw more success at the local Saratoga Duathlon. I remember the day of the Saratoga Du being one of the first truly hot and humid days here in the Northeast. Saratoga Springs, NY is a great town - several times this year I would do long bike rides up and around the Saratoga area, meeting Liz for coffee at the Starbucks on Broadway. Those rides, which I started in March (when the wind was blowing and the snow was flying) were some of my favorites of '05. The hard work certainly paid off, as I again walked away with a podium spot at Saratoga.

The Grafton Lake off-road triathlon and the Pine Bush sprint triathlon came around mid-season. I saw decent results at these events, but did not break into the podium spots. Don't get me wrong, I was very pleased with my performances, and in both events I found myself feeling strong and fast... But I was simply not strong and fast enough to place. And so after the Pine Bush triathlon, I took a step back from training with a week off from working out altogether, and re-structured my training for the remaining races of the season.

The Canal Cup was a great event to aim for an overall win. The format was as follows: 10k run on Saturday followed by a bicycle road race on Sunday - the fastest combined time for the two events would take home the Cup. For this event, I had focused the majority of my mid-season run training towards 10k performance, and the results paid off. With temperatures in the 90s and humidity to match, the hilly 10k race didn't yield any PRs, but I did manage to pull a second place spot. I had another ace up my sleeve too - my good friend and former road racing teammate, Tim, was in town and was ready to play domestique for me during Sunday's road race. Unfortunately, race morning found me under-recovered and blown from the 10k. I was barely able to walk down the stairs comfortably, let alone race at the front of the pack (with or without a domestique). Tim, on the other hand, had great legs that day, and so he went on to dominate the road race, and I wound up taking third overall in the Canal Cup competition. It was a lousy road race and a disappointing way to follow-up a stellar 10k run race, but having Tim around made it one of my 2005 highlights for sure.

Determined to win a triathlon, the Skinnyman race in Central, NY was my last big chance. Things lined up quite well going into this one - I had a full week of taper, fresh legs and extremely high motivation to win. The entire weekend was fantastic in fact, as Liz and I stayed in a snazzy bed & breakfast directly across the street from the race start and transition area. That day, I wound up having a great swim (though perhaps in retrospect slightly conservative), a strong bike, and a super run... Yet in the end, it was only good enough for another 2nd place. The pro? A perfectly executed race. The con? Well, I believe my words were: fuel for 2006.

In October I ran a marathon, and though I only treated the event itself as "just another long run" I do believe a slight bit of magic happened somewhere between miles 20 and 23. Without a doubt, I've never had to dig as deep as I did that day. But getting through it opened up the door for the next phases of racing distances. Coming through the chute, slowing the cadence down, hearing the cheers and throwing the Mylar over my shoulders... My season came to a close. Hobbling away from the tape, Liz helped me with a can of ice cold Coke and took my shoes from me. We walked arm in arm back to the car, and I remember thinking that my 2005 season couldn't have ended any better.

To be continued...

Perfection

That's right bloggers - it's time to get back to it. Back to planning. Back to training. Back to blogging. The new year is right around the corner, and it's going to be a good one.

I hope every one out there in blog space, particularly those who frequent The Grind regularly, had a great holiday. In these parts, the stick-shift of life has been jammed forward on high for a while now. After finishing my first block of base training, I submitted myself to another LT test on the bike to gage my power at LT, and compare it to the baseline I established about a month ago. I expected to see a pretty big jump in power output sustainable at threshold this time around, given that my baseline test was conducted after 3 or 4 weeks of minimal riding, and zero structured training (with the exception of a few weeks of transition training). I'm pleased to say, that after only one block of base, my power/weight ratio has increased from 3.43 at baseline, to 4.15 W/kg. Now folks, I need to tell you that I haven't gained or lost any weight either, so that increase in power at LT is strictly an increase in functional power, and for those who want a percentage, realize it's an increase a smidgen over 20%. Hell yes.

Right about here is where I need to thank my man .n. out in S-town for getting me to fully commit to the power-based training philosophy. The proof is certainly in the pudding.

Mmmm... Pudding.

So. Yeah. The numbers coming back from my recent LT test sure help in keeping the motivational torch aflame . I've had some really great workouts lately as well - lots of long trail runs and bike rides, despite the horribly damp and dreary weather here in the Northeast. Good swimming, and tolerable weight sessions have also been in abundance, though the weight sessions seem to be getting quite long these days, and increasingly more challenging. More on this in an upcoming post. But, with zero worries in the world (read: no work) and plenty of fresh coffee always on tap, this holiday vacation has been nothing, but nothing, but good.

"Hey Joe - is the picture at the top of this post one of your new Cervelo you built for your upcoming long-course races?"

It sure is. I spent a few days building it up piece by piece, like a mad-scientist (pun-intended), getting every little thing right on it. People have said before that I'm a bit fanatical about how I build up my bikes... Well. Ummm. They're right, and this was no exception. In the end, it came out as light as my road racing bike without totally breaking the bank (not an easy feat!) and as aero as a knife-edge. The wheels, as many of you astute bike-hounds will notice, are simply training wheels. I haven't yet finalized my decision on race wheels for the upcoming season, but I can tell you they'll mostly likely be from these folks. And don't worry. More pictures will follow.

Now, with only a few days left before the new year, I'd better start thinking of some really good resolutions.

Keep it easy.

2006: In-Coming

Just a quick note on the eve of Christmas to thank all you readers of The Daily Grind for your continued interest in my ramblings. I hope everyone out there is enjoying their holiday season, and are just as excited about the upcoming year as I am.

Friends, thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays.

Sorry, No Autographs

It’s amazing. Every day I get thousands upon thousands* of letters asking me all sorts of information about the specifics of my training program. Curious minds want to know, and so I was thinking about this and with so many details to cover, I thought it’d be fun to randomly pick a letter from my fan mail bag and answer whatever question came up. So I picked a letter out of today’s pile that I’d like to share with all you fans of the Grind. Here’s a transcript:

Dear Joe, my name is Natasha Bellhumperdeelotsa-dah-dah and I’m the President of a sorority at a rural, Upstate, New York college for European exchange students. First, I wanted to let you know that every Friday night, my fellow sorority sisters and I gather around the computer (with great anticipation) to read The Daily Grind and to follow your training and racing progress throughout the year. You’re such an inspiration to all of us here on campus, and we anxiously look forward to the day we catch a glimpse of you in the summer months as you cruise by our womens-only campus while on one of your training rides. Hang on…

Sorry about that, I had to take a break from writing to open up a window… it was getting peculiarly hot in here. Anyways, my fellows sisters and I would love it if you could detail some of the workouts you did during your Base 1 phase of training which, we believe, recently concluded. We were particularly interested in your periodization schedule and breakdown of time on the bike versus time running, swimming and weight training. We know that this is your recovery week, so we’re hoping you have a little extra time to personally respond to our letter. Thanks, and as you so often say: “keep it easy”.**

Wow, that’s a great letter, and I thank you for the supremo question. I'm always happy to talk training! This year I’m focusing more on Base than ever. Why? Because I need the extra bike and run miles earlier in the season for the Half Ironman races. So in fact, I’m actually doing two blocks of typical Base 1, followed by two blocks of typical Base 2 before transitioning through Base 3 into my Build phases. Even though the two Base 1 and 2 phases follow one another, they still progressively build volume over their respective mesocycles. The other side of the argument is that I’m looking for big increases in cycling economy, namely, power at LT - the big weapon on race day for the long-course events. Hence, the majority of my workouts on the bike over the off-season are comprised of long efforts slightly below and slightly above LT. Here’s an example of a bike workout, which was done as extensive endurance, aimed at keeping my max power only as high as 75% of P(LT). Other bike workouts that were done during that particular week put me at long efforts as high as 90% P(LT), but no higher. Similarly, at least in the Base 1 phases, running will follow a similar pattern, like this, which was actually done as intervals and at a slightly higher effort, but still sub-LT.

Is this confusing?

Anyhoo. I am indeed in the middle of a recovery week. And in the process of letting my baby toe heal up. I will be doing a swim TT test tomorrow, and a bike LT test on Friday. During the last week of training in my first Base 1 block, I racked up 14 hours of training for the week broken down as: 4.5 hours biking, 3.5 hours running, 3 hours swimming and 3 hours of weight training. As we progress through the off-season, time spent on the bike will continue to increase faster than time spent on the run. Swimming and weights will likely remain constant.

It’s hard to believe that we’re already through one block of training. I know it’s only been 6 or 7 weeks of structured training since the big end-o-season break, but where did all that time go? It seems like just yesterday I was finishing up the marathon and looking forward to a few weeks of nothingness. I can barely even remember those weeks of nothingness now! How about all you folks out there? What have your recent workouts been like?

Keep it easy.

The fine, but fun, print:
*A slight exaggeration.
**A completely fabricated, self-inflating, ego-boosting, figment of my whacko imagination. But certainly one which was fun to write!

December Popsicles

Almost there... That's right folks, almost in full-on, without question, never-change-out-of-your-pajamas, sit-by-the-fire-with-a-cup-of-Peets, care-for-nothing-but-sport-family-and-relaxation, vacation.

The start of this weekend was Friday, when the Gods of the north country blew in an ice storm not to be forgotten. Indeed, it was pretty slick out there. The simple act of getting out of the car, in fact, took me three times longer than usual on account of being completely freaked out by walking on ice. That's Freak-Ed. Out. Because it was only 3 years ago or so that I slipped on a sheet of ice walking to my car and broke my upper arm bone in half. Ironically, that bone is called the Humerus. Yet it's not funny, like "Humorous". Not funny at all. And so, sufficed to say, I hate ice.

Luckily, the ice storm didn't hamper any of my workout plans for the week. I wrapped up my first block of base-training this past weekend. Friday night was a delightful 2 hour ride on the trainer (Guh. Thank God for DVDs) followed by a 1.5 hour trail run on the crunchy white stuff on Saturday. Today was all about lounging, and this coming week is all about recovery. Oh, and the timing couldn't work out better. In typical Joe fashion, I was running around the house last night trying to do about a hundred million things at once when I "stubbed" three of my toes on one of our dining room chairs while racing between the living room and kitchen. Now. When I say "stubbed" let me set the scene properly by saying Liz heard the "thump" and the "crack" from the other room, and thought that I had somehow cracked one of our chair legs. Thankfully, the Pottery Barn chair held, but my little toe certainly did not. Without a doubt, this little piggy that went whee-whee-whee all the way home found itself broken from this antic. Yeah, I broke a toe last night, and let me tell you folks, it ain't fun. But, I can walk, and I can run, and with a little bit of Advil (roughly 10,000 mg), I can cram my foot in my cycling shoe and get'on up on the trainer no problem. So, training goes on, and it's just one of the (what I'm sure will be numerous) whacky stories going into the 2006 season.

Speaking of 2006, I can't believe the holidays and new year are right around the corner! I don't know about all you blog-folk, but I'm thrilled. It's been an exciting, eventful, and accomplished 2005. And with vacation right around the corner and an entire stock of coffee beans waiting to be brewed up, rest assured it's going to be one fine-diddly-dandy Noel.

Keep it festive.

Holidays In The City

Friday night saw Liz and I sharing some scrumdiddlyumptious coffee at a local cafe after I had finished up some business before the weekend. Loaded up with fully leaded super-premium, I came home to squeeze in a 2 hour ride before calling it a week. The ride was good, but the coffee was better. It was the end of a long week, and I was glad to see it come.

Saturday morning I was actually pleased to hear the alarm because it signaled the start of a weekend of partying down in New York City. That's right. For Liz's birthday we decided to spend the weekend down in the city, with plenty of good food, lounging and coffee. We were also there to see The Man and Co. perform at the Garden. Yes, another DMB show for the V's because we're officially the largest fans the band has. Really. The weather was a bit brisk for walking through the city but that didn't stop us. And though we were aiming for dinner in a cute Italian restaurant down on Mulberry, we settled for Thai in Chelsea. The food was great, the show totally rocked the lid off the city, and breakfast the following day of pancakes, cappuccino and almond pastries was to die for (yes, one of those food items is technically on "foods to avoid when aiming to stay lean through the off-season" list, but we'll turn the other cheek) .

And of course, no trip to NYC at Christmas would be complete without a stroll around Rockefeller to check out the tree, the ice skaters and the countless holiday decorations scattered about the streets and parks. Yessir, it was one phenomenal party-like-a-rock-star weekend. And not it's time to get back on to it.

Check out more pics of the adventure here.

Snow Danger, Like Joe-Danger

No, I haven't been in grade school for quite some time now, but there's still that thrill of waking up in the wee hours of the morning and running downstairs to see if school's been cancelled for the day on account of the overnight snow storm. My Friday morning went a little something like this:

Around about 4:30 I woke up a bit restless and decided to roam around the house and check outside the windows for the "big snow" that was supposed to come in. Sure enough, lots of fluffy white stuff was illuminated as it fell by the street lights. Ahhh, very good, I thought. Winter is, without a doubt, here. And so after taking in the pretty scene of fresh snow falling on asphalt (the streets, as opposed to cedars) I decided to climb back into bed for a little while and wait for my alarm clock to go off - something I do quite often (hold this thought, refer back to it as Point A when directed).

Ba-Beep, Ba-Beep, Ba-Whack. Out of bed. Giddy. The dog was up with me, excited about something, she didn't know what, only that "dad" was more excited than usual at this hour. I threw my glasses on and ran down stairs to turn on the television. And there we sat, Ginger and I flipping from channel to channel, watching each channels "school closing" ticker tick on by. One by one the school's were rolling by... Would the school's in our neighborhood be closed? I couldn't stand the suspense! Tick. Tick. Tick. There was so much snow outside, they had to be closed! Tick. Tick. Tick. When are they going to get around to the N's and S's?!?! Tick. Tick. Tick. Almost there... Almost there... And... YESSSS!!! School's closed!!! That means NO SWIMMING THIS MORNING!!! Whoo-HOOO!!!

Back to bed I went, tuckled up in the depths of my down and my fleece. The dog, curled up and relaxed again. The alarm clock re-set for a later bat-time and bat-channel. It may not be a snow-day from work, but there's still that thrill of having some affiliation with a school and waking up to see it closed for the day!

Of course... It did kind of suck that I missed my swim session, as I wound up missing the previous day's as well. On that particular morning, I awoke around about 20 minutes before my regular time. Wide awake and eager to get up and get in the water. "No, no, no Joe. Just close your eyes for a little bit longer. Relish these moments before the insanity of the day begins." And so I did. But funny enough, it wasn't my alarm clock that woke me up later that morning. In fact, it was the sun light. "That's so weird" I thought as I came to, "I haven't woken with the sun since summer."

(Refer back to Point A)

And so my thoughts continued: "Geese, that sure felt like a lot more than 20 minutes of extra shut-eye. Hmmm... Let's see, what time is it? Oh sonnova!" So sure enough, my alarm clock never went off because some idiot (namely, moi) forgot to turn it on the night before. Brilliant. Not all was lost. I did manage to set a new land-speed record on my way to work, as I had a grand total of 20 minutes to wake up, get showered, get dressed and get to work.

Note to self, and to all of you: Alarm clocks work best when set to "on".

Nothing Finer

...It Begins. That's right boys and girls. I finally started building up a new bike for the upcoming season. After (literally) a year of scrutinizing over which frameset would serve as the perfect foundation for my new triathlon race bike, I finally settled on the Cervelo P2-SL. It's the perfect blend of aerodynamic tubing with a geometry perfect for my freakshow long-legged, body. It's lighter than most, and it's nimble. Like me. As you can see, the stock fork from Cervelo had to go, as the Easton EC-90 Aero, which is full carbon from the steer tube to the dropouts, offers a far superior alternative. It will be a gradual building process during the off-season months, but rest assured that you, Oh Loyal Followers of The Daily Grind, will be updated frequently.

In other news, I wanted to hand out the usual Kudos. This time to Tammy, Steven, and A.Maria for going out on a limb and posting their big goals for 2006 in response to my last post. Come on... I know there are more of you out there in blogger-land biting your fingernails, thinking about the race season next year. Go ahead, post your goals, share your thoughts and join the group! Oh, and while I've got the bag of Kudos out, I'd also like to forward some traffic over to Lucas' new blog. Lucas dropped me a line after reading some of my coaching comments over on Beginner Triathlete and we started chatting a bit about sport. As it turns out, we'll both be competing at the Timberman 70.3 this year, and so at least right now I know for sure there will be one person I know on the sandy beach the morning of August 20th.

Last week was the first real week of base work. Lots of miles on the bike without moving a single inch, plenty of swimming, healthy amounts of running, and a side order of weights work. Needless to say, by the time Saturday's hour plus trail run came around, I was feeling it in the body. But within only a few minutes of romping, I found my base rythym out on the trail, and once again enjoyed that stateless dreamscape of running. The trails were covered with only the lightest sprinkles of snow, and my mp3 players seemed to know exactly what songs to put out... Even on shuffle mode. Sunday was even better, as I perfected my surfing technique on the sofa and in front of the television.

This morning found me in the pool working on technique and, yup base. I routinely swim at one of two pools in my immediate neighborhood. Both are high school pools, and both are very nice. But one chooses to save costs in the winter by keeping the pool temps slightly below ideal, while the other chooses to save costs in the winter by keeping the shower temps slightly below ideal. And so every morning I have to make a decision: Cold pool? Or cold shower? This morning, I chose cold pool. Brrrrrr.

Stay warm out there.