The Open Road

It seems like forever and a day since I started a post with a picture from a ride. But with the sun shining and the temperatures nearing the upper 40s here in the Northeast, it proved to be a perfect day for whipping out the camera-phone mid-ride for snapshot or two.

Today was a good one. Rolling out west and keeping things flat for the first hour or so, I cruised through little town by little town until it was time turn things up a notch. Swinging north and heading up one of my favorite little climbs, I stopped near the top to take the above picture of the farmhouse and to grab a little bite to eat. The only problem was that I was a little light on the packing today and somehow left my food behind. Not really an issue, I thought, as I could surely find a coffee shop to grab some sweets. Alright, so coffee shops really aren't a dime a dozen up in Nowhere, NY... But Stewart's Shops are! And though I was tempted to take in a $0.99 milkshake made up from some fresh Columbian Coffee ice cream, I kept it real and stuck to my 3 Musketeers bar. Probably the better decision, as it wasn't quite warm enough for an icy cold milkshake today.

Stepping out of the Stewart's, some guy came up to me and asked if he'd just seen me a 1/2 hour or so ago climbing up High Road. "Yeah. That was me." I told him, a little nervous I had pissed off a local by riding in the middle of the farm-road or something. "Damn! You're motoring! I saw you climbing up those roads like they's was nothing! And here ya are now all the way here at the Stewart's!" He went on to ask me if I was training for something. I told him I was a local triathlete, and to this he replied: "You got a heck of a start on the summer I'll tell you that!"

Looks like he knows a little something.

I rolled for a little over two and a half hours today, and it was supremo. The power numbers were right on, and I felt good the whole way... Much stronger than I did this time last year, which is always a strong motivational factor going into the later winter months. With one weekend workout completed, I'm looking forward to the next. And so I'll be looking forward to enjoying three of my favorite things tomorrow: Coffee, Pancakes and The Long Run.

Thanks for reading, and keep'em turning.

Fuel For The Slow Burn

Welcome to Base 2 Loyal Grinders. After a very relaxing week of rest and recovery with an LT power test thrown in for good measure, this past Monday saw things off with a solid 2600m swim workout and some heavy-duty, muscular endurance-styled work with the weights. Tuesday we got up on the rollers with the tri bike, again, feeling it out and getting it dialed in. I feel pretty good on it, at least so far as I can tell from riding the drums, and I know once I get those final tweaks in on the road this spring it's going to be a perfect machine for the long-course.

I'm not sure how exactly this happened, but someone must have snuck into my house, all tip-toe-like, and filled my trusted DS Trainers with cement without my knowing. You see, Wednesday brought around one of my big workouts: around about 90 minutes of sub-LT tempo pieces on the bike immediately followed by 45 minutes of sub-LT tempo running. The ass-kicker of it was the big power I was putting out on the bike (compliments of my latest power "test scores") which on the run that followed, caused my leg turnover to feel major s-l-u-g-g-i-s-h. Or at least I thought... Reviewing the data afterwards, the numbers were right where they should have been. But, I was positive there was cement in my shoes. In retrospect, it was probably just the 30 extra pounds of lactic acid in my quads.

Today greeted me with a swim workout where I concentrated on "force". So, lots of laps with the pull-buoy and paddles, lots of kick-sets, and plenty of FS thrown in there to keep the form up. I spooned out 2700m this morning before work, and then another go around with the weights this afternoon. Thump.

Yessiree Bob. Base 2 is where the magic happens. I can't wait to blow the circuits on that power meter next time I go toe-to-toe with it.

Another thing that goes in hand with Base 2 is an added riding day on the weekends. Now, in addition to the long run on Sundays, I can look forward to a long ride on Saturdays. And with the weather being so favorable here in the Northeast, it's going to be great to get outside a little earlier than usual this year. And while there's still a bite in the air, rest assured you can find me at a coffee shop at all the halfway points of my spring rides.

Who knows, maybe we'll bump into each other?

Keep it easy.

The Boys In Blue @ www.thepaceline.com

You know spring is right around the corner when Big Blue takes to the roads in Solvang.

Winter Wonderland

Rule number one when planning a trip into the backcountry of the Adirondack High Peaks: Things will never go as planned. You can all save yourselves some time and just trust me on this one. You might say I have some experience in the matter, and this most recent excursion up north proved no differently.

As we do annually, my good friend Ross came to town for a trip up to the mountains for some solid hiking in the heart of the Adirondacks. Over the holidays we had sketched out a fantastic backcountry ski/snowshoe/hiking route along the western valley of the MacIntyre Range followed by a traverse up and over Alogonquin Pass and into the cold banks of Colden Lake to crash for the evening. In this plan, the following day we would hike out through Avalanche Pass and make our way back through Marcy Dam, out of the thick of it and ultimately to the car, just in time to drive ourselves to the Noonmark for blueberry pancakes and coffee. This was Plan A.

Fast forward to Thursday night where Plan A quickly fell by the wayside as temperatures all week have been in the 40s, and were predicted to reach the 50s on the days we'd be hiking. Trail reports indicated significant issues with flooding on account of which, and our Plan A route called for a total of 10, yes count'em, 10 stream crossings. Alright. Plan B: Assuming a completely different approach, we'd hike in through the Van Hoevenberg and make our way up to Lake Arnold, a high lake and perfect place to crash for the night, before summiting Mt. Colden - a High Peak yet to be claimed on either of our respective hit lists. Yes indeed, Plan B was a solid one, and we were going to saunter outta there with yet another successful climb in our bag. Ahem.

Friday morning, after stepping out of the Loj area and onto the trail, it was nothing but fast, bare-boot hiking all the way to Marcy Dam. Snowshoes and crampons were faithfully with us, but the conditions wouldn't require them for another couple thousand vertical feet. While deep in conversation, we both casually looked up at the Blue Blazes and concurred to press on and begin the climb before stopping to shed layers and having a bite to eat. At this point, let me tell you folks, we were hauling up this approach like never before (and there have been plenty "befores"). Sure, we'd have the occasional grunt to one another, but for the most part we both settled into our zones and continued upward; taking in the scenery, the scents, and the exquisite burn of climbing.

"Rossy - Lunch at the lean-to just beyond the bridge?" I asked, recalling the lean-to that sits right after the stream crossing on the way up to Lake Arnold.

"Sounds good" Ross responded easily as we continued to ascend.

But the bridge came and went, and it wasn't too much beyond this point that I first thought to myself: "Self: Do you remember climbing this much just beyond that bridge before reaching the lean-to?" Negatory. Could it be we were off-course? No way.

"Hey Ross, you remember climbing this much after the bridge?"

"Not really. But it always feels farther when you're climbing."

Good point.

45 minutes later: "Ross. We're off course. Pull out the map."

Yup, no question about it. We were at 4000 feet elevation on our way up to Mt. Marcy; a climb very familiar to both of us but which neither of us noticed as being the wrong climb for our intended approach. This, people, created a problem. Here we were approaching the treeline, with full packs and a desire to be approximately 2 trailess miles west from where were standing. The real pickle was the fact that there was hardly a salvageable option from that point. Sure, we could summit Marcy, but we would either have to turn around at the summit and back-track, or go over it and camp, putting us entirely on the wrong side of the range for our return trip.

"Ah-Hah!" I proclaimed, as I noticed a miniscule "connecter" trail jutting off our present course which, if we could find the damn thing, would put us back to where we needed to be with minimal problem. Hence, Plan C was officially hatched and in place.

Begin Innner Conversation: Now, is this connecter trail in front of us, or behind us? Hmmm... Perhaps I'll consult my trusty GPS... My GPS which I left in my house, under the stuff sacks and pile of gear deemed unnecessary for this trip. Argh! Strike 1. Okay, how about we guess based on our elevation... Yeah. Uh, behind us? Yes, it must be behind us, we must have passed it. Let's go back until we find it.

Okay, wrong decision. Strike 2 and 3. We back-tracked all the way to the lean-to at Marcy Dam where we sat, eating lunch and debating our next course of action. We'd just had a phenomenally good hike, but one without destination. We essentially just completed an exquisite day-hike, but with 50 lbs of completely unneccesary overnight gear strapped to our backs. Good off-season training, ceretainly, and there was still room to be bold: we could always "start over" and hike another 5 miles up to Lake Arnold from where we were. Or...

Plan D: Beers in Lake Placid?

Yes sir. Beers in Lake Placid was our final plan that we were able to execute flawlessly. Other than the treat of rolling into town on a flat tire after hiking out, things pretty much went like clockwork from that point of the trip onward. Laughing over our typical luck and reveling in another day in the mountains together, we took pride in putting in a solid 10 miles of backpacking; complete with some serious quad-busting climbing, and the finest eats in Lake Placid at the Pub. But perhaps best of all, we added yet another fine chapter in the long book of Joe & Ross hiking debacles. A book we reference often.

Good times? Yeah, you can go ahead and bet the farm on it. And while you're at it, check out more pictures from our day right here.

Keep it easy.

Ol' Faithful

There it is folks - The Clunker. The Clunker was built-up 6 years ago as my "winter" bike and has served it's purpose like no other machine. It resides on the trainer in the super-cold months here in the Northeast. It pushes to the front of the line to be the first bike outside in the late winter, willingly subjecting itself to the sand and the salt on the road while my race bikes stay nice and cozy inside. Yes, there have been times where I've cursed The Clunker; like the time the bottom bracket started seizing up mid-ride making every pedal revolution about as smooth as one of W's speeches. Or the time when the right STI froze-up and locked me in my 25t, giving me the options of running 2 gear combos over a 40 mile ride... N may remember that one. But every year I painstakingly measure and double-measure to replicate the geometry of my road racing bike so that the transition in the Spring from The Clunker to the real machine is as painless as possible. And in the summer months, The Clunker comes out from hiding when the rain is pouring and there are miles to get in.

Today The Clunker and I spent some quality time together while we put the legs through another LT test. That's right bloggers. I'm in the middle of a recovery week so that must mean it's time to baseline the power levels again! One of my season goals was to break the 300W mark for power at LT by the end of base training. Well, if you've been following along the Grind Chronicles, you'll know that I just wrapped up Base 1, so I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through base training... And I was hungry for expediting the realization of that goal of breaking the 300 mark tonight. Indeed, all day I was simply fixed on busting right on through that 300W barrier.

Well, fast forward, and I'll spare you the little, itsy, bitsy details and just jump to the chase: After downloading the data tonight, I learned that I tested at 295W for power at LT. Argh! 5W! Come on!!!

Okay, seriously, there's plenty of reason to be pleased with these results. That's still a good jump from my last test (+6%), and a huge jump from my first test this off-season (+34%). So upwards and onwards with the power. But next time, people, let me just tell you right now that I have a date with the 300s.

WTF?

Alright. When it hit 40 for the first time this off-season, it was energizing and unique. Once it dropped down to 30, we all knew the winter months were here, and we all eagerly awaited those first snow flakes to fall. Trail running in the snow and 20 degree temps epitomizes off-season long runs to me, and so I embraced the days where we saw those conditions as well. But... People... 10 degrees? Sorry. 9.5 degrees and wind? The hairs in my nose froze just walking to the car this morning. Brrrrrr...

On another note, I made a new header for up top o'the blog. Hope you like it.

Southern Paradise

That's it everyone. It's over and done with. The 2006 race season Base 1 work is completed, and I'm now looking forward to kicking the feet up for a week of rest and recovery. My week ended well, with another strong swim on Friday and an hour and a half of easy zone 2 work on the bike in the evening. I should also add that during the bike workout on Friday, my RPE was that of zone 2, but my wattage was up by about 20W from P(z2). All good.

Today tested the mettle just a little bit during the long run. When I left the house this afternoon it was 55 degrees and dry. I knew it was supposed to rain a little bit, so I pulled on an extra layer up top just to keep the core warm in the event of a downpour. An hour into the run, all was fine and dandy... I was on the trails today enjoying the unusually green landscape and taking in the surrounding scents of mud, stream water, bark and melting snow. But suddenly, and without warning, the clouds that had been looming all day finally tore open, their bellies spilling a super-fine mist of freezing rain down on the trails and on me. Over the next 45 minutes, the temperature would drop by about 15 degrees and the wind would pick up by about 10 mph. Indeed, today was a tough 2 hour trail run, as it'd gone from October-like conditions, to February-like conditions right smack-dab in the middle of things. It took a half of an hour soak in the hot bath and an enormous mug of tea to warm myself back up. And now, tonight, it's supposed to drop to 15 degrees. Good miles today, but tough conditions, and I'm definitely ready to rest.

Over the next couple of days I'll be prepping things for Base 2 training which starts in a week. I'll be looking to add more muscular endurance-type workouts into the mix, along with some higher heart rate stuff (LT-centered) and specific trainer work on my tri-bike to get my position dialed in. I'll also look to bump up my weekly ride volume while maintaining my already-established long swims and long runs; This is where my new year's resolution to ride outside more in the late winter months comes in. As usual, I'll also be conducting an LT test later this week to check my latest power values.

The picture at the top of this post was taken in Asheville, NC last April where I joined some old cycling teammates and good friends for some quality pre-season training. Asheville has long-served as my first "test" of every year, and last year I was absolutely thrilled with my personal performance while putting in the miles down there. Asheville training usually happens in April, and my Base 2 and 3 phases have always been where all the hard work begins in preparation for the season. Right now, I have to say that my training has progressed thus far exactly as I'd wanted it to in view of this season's goals (and I'm far beyond where I was last year at this time). I know that the upcoming months of Base 2 and 3 are going to add new challenges, but hang on folks, cause I think it's going to be good.

Thanks for reading.

Go Figure

Can you people believe this weather? It was in the 50s here today! Here! In the northeast! Seriously, this is tres bizarre for this time of year. As I walked to my car this afternoon after work, I was suddenly filled with that pang of adrenaline rush that usually comes more regularly during the first couple weeks of March. Yes indeed, that old familiar high where I step out of my office, feel the warmth of the 45 degree sun and know that I have exactly 3 hours to go home, kit-up, mount the lights, and head out on a ride until the sun (and temperature) drops. Yessir. Right about during those first few weeks of March you can pretty much find me rolling home by flood light, wrapped in fleecy layers head-to-toe to stave off that early spring, after-sunset freeze every night during the week. And that rush, that one I get between my office and my house during my afternoon commute, that's because 45 degrees feels like balmy Florida after a Northeast winter. And that's exactly what it felt like today.

But... I didn't ride. A lot of my fellow bloggers out there wrote about cutting work early to sneak out for a nice run or a long ride to enjoy the freak weather today, but not me. No, I enjoyed the weather just fine, but when the temps are this "up and down" (uhh, check out the high on Sunday) I inevitably wind up catching a cold from the fluctuations. So I just kept things in check, and went about my regularly scheduled indoor workouts today.

Here's something: I like to eat a big salad for lunch. That's right. Lots of greens, lots of fresh veggies, a little grilled chicken on there for sustenance - all topped with a bit of vinegar and fresh ground salt and pepper. Healthy, fresh, and lean - Just like me. And so I'm in the "big salad" line today at work and I can't help but notice that there seem to be a number of "newbies" in front of me. You know what I'm talking about: The New Year's Resolution-ers. Now, I'm all for "starting anew" and making "resolutions" especially where health and fitness are concerned... But come on people! You're not real salad people deep down inside! And you're taking up valuable space in my "big salad" line. Anyways, I was one person away from being served when I couldn't help but listen to the guy in front of me requesting (on his salad, mind you) "fried chicken please miss, no veggies whatsoever, crumbled blue cheese... No ma'm, a little more please, and gimme some gallons of that there creamy blue cheese dressing."

Well, unfortunately I've never been a soul blessed with much of a poker face, as unconsciously wearing my thoughts for all to see has gotten me in trouble countless times before. Evidently I had my tell-tale, squinted eye, furled brow look of disapproval on my face as I watched this guy cart away his 20 lbs of fried chicken and blue cheese, garnished with a leaf of romaine, just as the salad lady (whom I'm sure has a much prettier name) was grinning ear-to-ear, asking me: "your usual Joe?"

It's my last week of my second Base 1 block of training, and I'm hitting things hard and good. I had a great hour and half on the bike last night, followed by about an hour of running at various tempo intervals. Today I hit up the pool and knocked out a smooth 2600m workout in around about 55 minutes. Yeah, for me, I was hauling... And leaving the pool my arms dragged limply on the ground like those of a baboon. As if they weren't punished enough, I put the arms (and chest, and shoulders and back) through the ringer again later today with about an hour and half of weights. Right now, I'm just sittin' pretty, with only a swim, a bike and a long run between me and a rest week. Should be good.

Thanks for reading, and keep it easy.

Deep & Dark

Yes indeed - That ol' black magic's got me in a spin. Answer me this folks: When does a deep, dark cappuccino taste better - Before a long run, or after? Okay, okay. You're right. It's a trick question, because we all know the real answer is both before and after a long run.

It was a good weekend here in the Northeast. The sun was shining bright and the roads were dry as a bone - Perfect conditions in my book for that weekly long run. But looks can be deceiving, as despite these appealing conditions as viewed from my living room window, the mercury never rose above 25 degrees (uhh... Fahrenheit, people). Regardless, I pulled on the layers and headed out for a romp on the pavement. The first half hour was a little tough as I found myself running into the headwind, trying to warm myself up... The problem was that I headed out the door at around about 3:00, so of course as my run went on, the temperature continued to drop, so I'm not sure I can positively say I ever really warmed up. Anyway, it wound up being a good one: 12 miles or so in just a shade over 1.5 hours at zone 2 pace - that included the last 2 miles as cool-down with Liz. Most pleasing.

Sunday brought two things: A complete rest day, and the best Ehf'ing pancakes known to man grilled up by yours truly. The rest was good and needed, but the pancakes were better. That's right. In addition the usual secret ingredients I use to make my typical Sunday buffet of fuel, I threw in some ground walnuts and aged bananas, making the cakes come out like griddled banana bread. Whoa-ho-hooo Yes. Couple that with a few long cups of the French Roast elixir and it was Paradise Found all morning.

Lastly, I thought I'd add a blogroll to the page so that all you faithful readers could check out some of the other blogs I like to frequent regularly. Certainly hitting them one-by-one is a delightful way to spend your Monday morning at work.

Have fun, and keep it easy.

Afternoon Cleaning

I'm guessing by now that everyone out there is starting to trickle back to their jobs and their day-to-day routines after picking up all the confetti and recycling all those wine bottles from New Year's Eve. Myself? Well, I've landed back at work and have gotten back to business as well.

My week in sport started out with some very good bike workouts. As you know, the last time I tested for power at LT, my numbers were on the order of 20% higher than those obtained during my preliminary test right before I began base training. This was a great motivational factor, however, all my bike workouts have been adjusted accordingly (for the new power numbers) and... Damn. They're hard now! Okay, I know, it's not like they weren't hard before, it's just as soon as you start to "get comfortable" with the workouts, it's time to up the power zones again, and then it starts all over. Ugh. Anyways. The bike workouts are good and hard - right where they need to be, and in truth, are starting to feel easier each workout - another very positive sign.

Running has also been quite good, with my weekly long runs hitting the 2 hour mark, and a total of about 5 hours of running per week. My speed at tempo is starting to increase, and my leg turnover is also right where I want it to be. Along with running, my swimming is coming back to me - I had to take a week off from swimming over the holidays on account of the pools being closed. I managed a couple of 2500 m workouts in this week and will be upping those to above the 3k mark in the upcoming weeks. Oh. Speaking of which, I was inspired by all those swimmers out there who always seem to have the best workout structures. That is, my workouts are usually pretty simple (read: boring as hell), like main sets of 15x100s for speed, broken sets of volume, or drill work... But those darn swimmers know just how to break things up during a pool session so that (a) things remain interesting and (b) still serve a specific training purpose (e.g., speed, endurance, etc.). But, where could your Average Joe find such valuable information for himself? Tippity-Tap-Tap on the keyboard and: Eureka! I came across this little gem that has a countless number of awesome workouts arranged in a very sensible manner on a deck of waterproof, poolside cards. I skeh-daddled over to my nearest Borders and found a copy for myself. All I can say is: If you're a triathlete and you don't come from a swim background, you should totally pick one of these books up.

Lastly, it's time to get the kudos bag out again. This time around, I want to acknowledge Wil over at Through Th3 Wall who just got herself a new domain and a stellar website with help from Okolo. Wil blogs like the wind and puts the rest of us triathlete-bloggers to shame with her lengthy, poetic posts, and has recently announced a pod-casting component for her fans in conjunction with this guy (you might have heard of him). More kudos for Tammy and Elizabeth as they are a few days away from running the Arizona Rock & Roll marathon out in... uhh... Arizona. Those crazy kids. Running a marathon in January! Finally, kudos to my good friend Tim, or Triple T as I like to call him, for closing on his first house! Get out the spackle and the paint cans bro, and remember those smooth, instructional words of Mr. Miyagi: Paint deh Fence Daniel-san!

Keep it easy.

It's Dynamite

Cervelos are pretty much the coolest bikes ever made. Especially this one.

Happy New Year!

We're off. Two Thousand & Six. And I hope everybody is recovering out there. We've got a lot coming our way this year in terms of sport. I'd say we have at least 2 more months of trudging through the cold and snow here in the Northeast. Realistically, more like 3 months, and that last month is sure to include damp, wet and windy weather - making outdoor training a far cry from desirable. Then there's the pre-season, where we'll be looking for some early sprint efforts like the Shamrock Duathlon in Connecticut and the Saratoga Duathlon up in the Springs to test the legs out a bit. It won't be too long before my first A-race, the Tupper Lake 70.6.

During the mid-season, you'll be able to find me at some of the local sprint races, which I'll use to continue building speed and power throughout the core of the season. This, of course, will all flow into my biggest event of the year (a AA-race, if you will), the Timberman 70.6 in New Hampshire. The Timberman is a 70.6 World's qualifier, as many of you probably know. Sitting here by the warmth of a fire with deep cup of Dark Roast, it's easy to fantasize about qualifying... Will I?

After the Timberman, it's all fun and games, with some middle-distance races throughout Upstate, NY and a repeat running of the Mohawk Hudson Riverfront Marathon. The MHR Marathon is a Boston qualifier, and that may just be another hidden goal of mine.

Closing it up in late October, we'll be focused on one thing, and one thing only: Ironman USA in 2007. I hope you'll be there too.

So, welcome aboard folks. The boat for the 2006 season has officially left it's dock and we're setting into some deep waters. With that, I think perhaps it's best to finish this first post of the new year with a resolution. I could, of course, go on and on about resolutions in all the aspects of my life - but this is a blog about triathlon training and racing (right?), so we're going to keep the scope narrowed to just that.

My big resolution this year stems from the fact that I started this whole endurance sport lifestyle as a pure cyclist. When I was racing on the road, I applied the same ethic to training on the bike as I do to all three sports nowadays. To all the roadies out there: you know what I'm talking about. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow shall keep you inside. No weather is too foul to ride, no conditions are too uncomfortable to tough out. I know this is making some of you, my dear friends, narrow your eyes and twitch your mouths a little bit... But yes, my resolution this year is to get back in touch with my roots from my pure-cycling days and find again that single-sport focus and perseverance that got me to where I am today to begin with. It's become too easy to substitute a run or a swim for that bike ride that has you high atop a wind-swept ridge in February...But not anymore. Cycling is the foundation of triathlon (sorry folks: search your feelings and do the math, for you know it to be true), and toughing out the elements and the challenges associated with training on the bike is all part of it.

Now. Put your noise makers and your sequined hats away. It's time to get back to The Daily Grind.