Category: cycling

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The Germany Journals (Ger-nals?) Part 3

See Parts 1 and 2 if you haven’t read them yet.

DAY 9:

Still more rain and cold that morning – it was starting to really get to me. It was either pouring or drizzling all. the. time. We managed to while away the morning knowing we had a game plan for after the midday nap – Jack’s Fun World – an indoor playground built in an industrial warehouse space – it was HUGE. I started calling it “Captain Jack’s” after a song Shark Boy had learned at daycare – especially because it reminded me of another Captain Jack Song.




The place was filled with ball pits, climbing structures, trampolines, slides and such which were included in the admission as well as things that costed a surcharge – bumper boats, video games, mini-golf, and those stationary rides you find in shopping malls like cars, trains and helicopters that shake when you put coins in. To my utter disappointment Shark Boy wanted nothing to do with the former attractions and insisted on the latter (I refused to spend an extra cent). It’s not that I found that kind of preference shocking in general – I probably would have done the same thing at his age – but it seemed so out of character for HIM.

After a meltdown about me not springing for mini-golf clubs (how does he even know what that is?) my low-blood sugar detector went off, and we got both kids some ice cream. That seemed to do the trick – he was into the ball pit and climbing structures in is usual way – seemingly teleporting from one end to another – and generally taking years off my life as I’d lose sight of him every few minutes.




He’d give us another example of his over-abundant energy levels before the night was out. Our hosts, my father-in-law and his wife had the idea to have dinner at the local resto-pub – it’s a short walk away from the house. Shark Boy got a chance to show off his new bike and his ability to ride it, while my father-in-law opted to spare himself from the rain and make the short drive. We crossed the street, put him on the bike, pointed him in the direction of the restaurant and off he went. I was carrying the Lightning Kid and I lost sight of him quickly. It took me a good minute to realize that our two ladies who were walking ahead of me had no idea how far ahead he’d gotten and when they started trying to catch him they’d be far too slow. I dropped the Lightning Kid off with his grandfather at the restaurant then took off at my top speed. I was in jeans and running shoes and I went full out for 600 m before I even saw him. His grandfather’s wife had asked a jogger (with a better head start than me) to stop him. He was already at a major intersection when normally his habit was to stop at every crossing.



I was too winded and angry to muster a good scolding or punishment so I put him back on the bike back toward the restaurant with instructions to stop when he reached his mother. He ignored that and blew right by her. Another sprint for me and bike privileges revoked – my idea to throw the bike into the river was not taken seriously by anyone. I guess I should have been grateful to do some speed work – but safety first, especially for the kids.



DAY 10:



I guess the night cooled off any bike-related anger. My father-in-law, a.k.a Opa wanted to take Shark Boy on a longer bike ride. We planned to meet in town; my wife, the Lightning Kid and I would go in by car – while Opa and his wife would take Shark Boy through the forest on the bikes. I had my reservations but if they wanted to take on the challenges of a preschooler, more power to them. I told him not only to listen to when they told him to stop, but to ask them to stop if he was getting tired.



They ended up taking a wrong turn in the forest looking for a pen where wild boars are kept (not so wild, I guess) and long story short – they rode 10 km. He’s three and a half. He’d been riding a bike for less than a week at this point. He even had too much spare energy to sit still in a chair at the restaurant were we all ate lunch together (“Weil” – aptly name since service took a “while”). Fortunately we were seated outdoors (the weather was finally warming up – in fact the intense sunlight took some getting used to) in the pedestrian area of town so he could run around.




We ate Flammkuchen and afterwards we went to an Italian Ice Cafe that had a Spaghetti Ice Cream so good it made the last one I had in Bad Homburg seem like hot garbage.



We got home and put the boys down for an afternoon nap and I took that as a cue to get a run in. Shark Boy’s achievements of the day inspired me to go long – I skipped my *Burbathlon* antics to taake a route along the river Havel. I needed my hydration pack along since lunch had made me thirsty, but that also let me take my camera long to get some pictures from the riverbank. 12.5 km – my longest run since the *Chilly Half-Marathon*. I had a respectable pace that I liked, though I think I missed the negative split.







DAY 11:



German Hay Fever seemed to have been worse than the home brew and the Lightning Kid was still experiencing lots of wake-ups and still consistently getting up at 5 AM. These two factors had me too tired to do much on my morning walk with the Lightning Kid beyond a few toe-touching type light exercises and some triceps dips.

Get two of every animal…





The weather turned so nasty that hail pellets are overflowing the gutter. The day’s Saving Grace (or saving throw, for you geekier types) is a date night at a nice Italian restaurant.



DAY 12:



We take a riverboat cruise from Tegel back to Heiligensee – keeping a 1&1/2 year-old safe, yet happy on a boat is a lot of work but a mid-day snack of Berlin Currywurst knocks an item off the ‘must-eat’ list…



My allergies were starting to kick into high-gear… the congestion from hay fever relegated me to the couch for snoring but it works out since I’m better able to greet my brother and his family when they arrive late that night: Let the Games begin!

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What’s A Taper?

WRONG.


This always happens.  I get about 2 weeks out from a race, and if I mention it to anyone who’s familiar with structured training, they’ll say something along the lines of “Oh, you must be in Taper”.  Tapering means decreasing the training volume prior to a race to allow your body to be its best for race day but that means you have a high volume of training to come down from…
While I can say I stayed active on vacation, I can’t claim to have kept up a triathlete’s regimen either.  Too little swim and bike, and even the running I did was kind of lacking.  I took an honest evaluation of where I’m at, and having done 10 km and 12.5 km recently, I’m pretty happy with my run shape.  I haven’t swum recently, but there were no real problems there on 2.4 and 2.6 km training sessions, so I think a 1.5 km sanity check swim where I swim the entire distance straight through, preferably in open water will do.

That left the bike.  I said I was going to increase bike performance by increasing bike training volume and intensity.  While I think I increased the proportion of bike training in my overall schedule, I didn’t exactly set the world of fire with the bike this pre-season.  Luckily, I was able to get out for a ride this Saturday.


The first half felt really good.  I kept looking down and seeing cadence over 90 RPM, and I felt like my moving average speed was 30 km/h or more (if you account for stopping at stop signs or traffic lights, average speed goes way down).  I was using 360 degrees of my pedal stroke to generate power (at least it felt that way – spinning as opposed to mashing down on the pedals).


Split
Time
Moving Time
Dist
Elev Gain
Elev Loss
Avg Speed
Avg Moving Speed
Max Speed
Avg HR
Max HR
Avg Bike Cadence
Max Bike Cadence
Calories
1
10:39.3
9:29:00
3.97
27
7
22.4
25.1
36.7
149
209
77
109
120
2
10:13.9
9:32:00
4.61
10
8
27
29
38.5
154
168
82
101
135
3
10:31.0
10:05:00
4.76
13
12
27.2
28.3
38.4
157
170
83
110
142
4
10:55.7
10:21:00
4.77
10
10
26.2
27.7
43.4
154
173
81
108
134
5
11:32.6
10:16:00
4.74
12
12
24.7
27.7
43.2
152
168
83
109
128
6
16:03.1
16:03:00
8.05
16
18
30.1
30.1
41.8
157
170
86
106
205
7
15:56.2
15:54:00
8.05
20
18
30.3
30.4
41.6
162
172
87
112
210
8
7:29.5
7:30:00
3.74
0
28
30
29.9
43.5
152
168
80
106
64
Summary
1:33:21
1:29:10
42.69
108
113
27.4
28.7
43.5
155
209
83
112
1138


I did notice that all that tended to go away as my resolve and concentration waned in the latter half of the ride.  From the stats it looks like I was able to correct the backslide in intensity.  I wanted to fuel this training ride at the last minute but didn’t want to use up my gels, so I gave a Clif Shot Blok (courtesy of Darwinian Fail from the FitfluentialTO tweet-up) a try.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take one or more, usually it’s a gel every  45 minutes or so. After checking the website FAQ, it looks like I’d have been better off taking the whole pack of 3 blocks. Whoops.

Anyway the goal was to hit 40km or 90 minutes of riding whatever came first, and I’m happy that distance was achieved first (though not by much).  I still need a sanity check brick workout to test out my legs coming off the bike.  This sort of sanity check “untaper” training isn’t recommended if you’re at a new distance; I’m getting away with it (so far) because I’m sticking pretty close to my general conditioning and even I’m not stupid enough to try and build up in the last two weeks…

Sunday’s ride was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s… we went for our first bike trip as a family. Only the Lightning Kid wasn’t propelling himself. Shark Boy and my wife both tried out new bikes. I was expecting to go slow, but I still wasn’t prepared for how slow, I honestly couldn’t go slow enough and balance the bike at the same time, and with the Lightning Kid in the Chariot getting impatient and squawking at the frequent stops (when he should have been napping), it was more of a mental exercise in patience than a workout of any kind. That’s OK though, we do these things almost as a proof of concept, to keep up good active habits as a family and the speed will only increase from here.

Do you observe the taper?
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A Training Plan For Me

When I started making my plan to do a half-marathon at the beginning of the year, I wanted a plan that would build up my running endurance with a lot of cross-training, and I came up with (somewhat wonky) plan.   What I should have done, was gone digging in my bookshelf for this:




The Runner’s World Guide To Cross-Training.  It’s got great information on why cross-training is important for runners, some good strength exercises and stretches, but what I was most interested in was the sample programs they have.  I looked at the Advanced 10K/Half-Marathon Program:



DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6
DAY 7
WEEK 1 BASE 1
EASY X
EASY RUN
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 2 BASE2
OFF
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 3 BASE 3
EASY X
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 4 BASE 4 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY RUN + STRIDES
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 5 BASE 5
EASY X
EASY RUN + STRIDES
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK6 BASE6
EASY X
EASY RUN + STRIDES
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 7 BUILD 1
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 8 BUILD 2 RECOVERY
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 9 BUILD 3
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 10 BUILD 4
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 11 BUILD 5 RECOVERY
OFF
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X STRENGTH
5K RACE
WEEK 12 BUILD 6
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 13 BUILD 7
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 14 BUILD 8 RECOVERY
OFF
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
WEEK 15 BUILD 9
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 16 BUILD 10
EASY X
MP RUN (10)
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 17 PEAK 1 RECOVERY
OFF
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
WEEK 18 PEAK 2
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 19 PEAK 3
EASY X
MP RUN (12)
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 20 PEAK 4 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI RUN
EASY RUN + STRIDES
EASY RUN OR EASY X
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON
WEEK 21 PEAK 5
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR RUN | STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 22 PEAK 6
EASY X
AT RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG RUN
WEEK 23 PEAK 7
OFF
AT RUN
EASY RUN STRENGTH
MI RUN
EASY RUN OR EASY X
EASY RUN OR EASY X
ENDURANCE RUN
WEEK 24 PEAK 8 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY RUN
EASY RUN AND/OR EASY X
EASY RUN
RACE PREP
OFF
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON


Some definitions for this plan –
X REFERS TO CROSS-TRAINING OF SOME KIND (BIKE, ELLIPTICAL, SWIM, ETC.)
EASY=30 TO 60 MIN AT RECOVERY PACE
FARTLEK=40 TO 60 MIN WITH 6-10 30 SEC SPEED BURSTS
AT RUN=12 TO 40 MIN (NO MORE THAN 20 AT A TIME) OF WORK AT ANEROBIC THRESHOLD
SI RUN=SPEED INTERVALS 8-12X
ENDURANCE=MODERATE TO HIGH FOR 1 HOUR
LI RUN= 4-7x LACTATE INTERVALS 4-5 MIN AT AEROBIC CAPACITY
MP RUN= MARATHON PACE
MI RUN=MIXED INTERVALS (SPEED AND LACTATE)
STRIDES=4 TO 6 SPEED-INTENSITY RUNS OF ABOUT 100 YARDS, SEPARATED BY RECOVERY JOGS

It’s not worth going into too much detail in this plan, since what I really need to work on is my cycling.  I’m coming down from half-marathon conditioning, so my running should take a back burner.  What if I could take that plan and substitute a bike ride or spin for every run?

If I do a simple Find-Replace on it, and change the word “RUN” to “BIKE” and change the STRIDES Drill with Tabatas, I get this:


DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6
DAY 7
WEEK 1 BASE 1
EASY X
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 2 BASE2
OFF
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 3 BASE 3
EASY X
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 4 BASE 4 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY BIKE + TABATA
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 5 BASE 5
EASY X
EASY BIKE + TABATA
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK6 BASE6
EASY X
EASY BIKE + TABATA
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 7 BUILD 1
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 8 BUILD 2 RECOVERY
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
FARTLEK
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 9 BUILD 3
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 10 BUILD 4
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 11 BUILD 5 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
5K RACE
WEEK 12 BUILD 6
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 13 BUILD 7
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 14 BUILD 8 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
WEEK 15 BUILD 9
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 16 BUILD 10
EASY X
MP BIKE (30)
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 17 PEAK 1 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
WEEK 18 PEAK 2
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 19 PEAK 3
EASY X
MP BIKE (35)
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 20 PEAK 4 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE + TABATA
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON
WEEK 21 PEAK 5
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 22 PEAK 6
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
WEEK 23 PEAK 7
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE
WEEK 24 PEAK 8 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE
RACE PREP
OFF
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON


Now I have a 24 week program for bike performance that shouldn’t leave my swim nor run in the cold.  Is that what I’ve been doing?



First of all, if the Bracebridge Triathlon is my big target, I have less than 24 weeks (I started playing with this in early March!) and the program should look more like this starting this week.


Mon
Tues
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
Week Ending on Date
WEEK 1 BUILD 1
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
5/5/2013
WEEK 2 BUILD 2 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X STRENGTH
5K RACE
5/12/2013
WEEK 3 BUILD 3
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
SI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
5/19/2013
WEEK 4 BUILD 4
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
5/26/2013
WEEK 5 BUILD 5 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
6/2/2013
WEEK 6 BUILD 6
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
6/9/2013
WEEK 7 BUILD 7
EASY X
MP BIKE (30)
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
6/16/2013
WEEK 8 PEAK 1 RECOVERY
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
10 K RACE
6/23/2013
WEEK 9 PEAK 2
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
6/30/2013
WEEK 10 PEAK 3
EASY X
MP BIKE (35)
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
7/7/2013
WEEK 11 PEAK 4 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE + TABATA
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON
7/14/2013
WEEK 21 PEAK 5
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE OR X + OPTIONAL EASY X OR BIKE | STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
7/21/2013
WEEK 22 PEAK 6
EASY X
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X STRENGTH
LONG BIKE
7/28/2013
WEEK 23 PEAK 7
OFF
AT BIKE
EASY BIKE STRENGTH
MI BIKE
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
EASY BIKE OR EASY X
ENDURANCE BIKE
8/4/2013
WEEK 24 PEAK 8 RECOVERY
OFF
EASY BIKE
EASY BIKE AND/OR EASY X
EASY BIKE
RACE PREP
OFF
10 K RACE OR HALF MARATHON
8/11/2013


Looking back at April, I seem to be on a bike (usually my trainer or a Spin Class) about 3 times a week, with a swim and a run or strength session (including Crossfit).  The Long/Endurance rides are probably the biggest gap, and overall training volume could be higher (what else is new?)…. but I’m not too far off the general profile of what’s laid out.

If I’m honest, I probably won’t be getting any closer to the strict lines laid out by this program in the run up to the race season, but it’s nice to have a reference to consult in terms of what I can/should do.  I think working on the bike is the way to go for me: my swim seems strong, and working my legs on the bike will pay dividends into my run, so that I don’t have to do it as often overall (though I can’t neglect it completely).

Besides not having a plan at all, what’s the craziest variation on a formal training plan you’ve ever had?

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Guide: Getting (Back) On The Bike

I took my first outdoor bike ride of the season today. The weather was sunny and not too cold, so I enjoyed myself, though I know I’m rusty. Still the opportunity gave me a chance to think about the little things that go into having a successful ride, especially when 1.) cycling is not your strength and 2.) you’re pressed for time. I have a few blogger friends who are transitioning into triathlon this year and I thought of the things I could tell them to help them have less hiccups. Alternatively, if you’re not a total novice, but (like me) you lack confidence on the bike, this may help you.

Getting a Route

I used a route that I’ve been using for a couple of years now. I was hard up to find a route I could train on without having to drive to a rural area; otherwise most of my training time would have been eaten up by traffic lights and traffic fights and be a lot less safe. I wanted to know what other cyclists were doing, so I looked at the online website for the Garmin app. All (publicly published) rides in my area were visible on a map; apps like Endomondo, DailyMile etc. could offer similar functionality.

Essentially, it’s a 4km route that I can do multiple times to get rides of 20-40km. It’s in an industrial area, so there’s little to no traffic on weekends (especially earlier in the morning), it’s nearby, so I’m not far from home should I be needed, or, should I need help myself (I could walk home if something catastrophic happened to the bike while leaving me OK), and it’s more or less flat. While I didn’t do it this way last time, the better direction seems to be clockwise; this makes most of the turns right hand turns which is safer (assuming traffic drives on the right side of the road – sorry U.K. and Australia etc.!). If your route (like this one), comprises both lefts and rights, remember the order of preference when putting the route together.

  1. Right turns are preferred to lefts.
  2. A left at an all-way stop is better than a traffic light.

While driving to a rural area is a preferred way to have long uninterrupted rides, the time cost for the drive and for putting the bike onto/into the car etc. makes it less appealing.

Handling the Ride

Since this isn’t a commute in heavily (or even moderate to lightly) driven roads, some of the safety guidelines might be a little… flexible.  I’m not going to tell anyone to break the laws of the road, but if you approach a four-way stop and can see for hundreds of meters in all directions, you might not come to a full stop and say… roll through the intersection.  Let’s face it, on our training/racing rides we don’t have a full complement of lights, mirrors and such, because they cause drag and extra weight.  So we’ve already made some compromises on safety choices.  If you pick a route that spares you from most of the dangers of traffic, you should be able to safely reap the benefits and keep moving at a more useful speed.
Having said that, you still need a few guidelines and tips to stay safe:
  1. Stay alert.  Scan the big picture for what’s going on, and yet don’t ignore what’s about to come up under your wheel.  A pothole, or skid-worthy gravel could ruin your day almost as much as a collision with a car (but not quite).
  2. If you find yourself having to stop (or slow down to a great degree), GEAR DOWN.  You want a lighter gear that you can start in again easily (more on this in point #4).  Your bike doesn’t stop on a dime and you should have enough time to descend down the gears assuming you followed rule #1.
  3. Here’s some help if you are new to “clipless” pedals (that attach to your shoes) or toe-clip pedals (with the little baskets to hold your feet).  A lot of people panic a little at the notion of not being able to get their feet out in time.  Figure out what your ‘lead’/favourite foot is (which would you kick a soccer ball with? Which foot would catch your balance if you were pushed suddenly from behind?  Or maybe you’re just better at releasing that foot).  Now, pull that foot out before stopping, and when the bike is about to stop, lean to that side – usually leading a little with your head is enough.  Your lead foot should be able to touch the ground when the bike is on a lean, and you won’t even need to remove the other foot under most circumstances.
  4. If your other foot is still clipped in, get the pedal to the 10 o’clock position (or somewhere between 9 and 12 o’clock).  When it’s time to start again, you’ll be able to simply push down on that pedal; let’s face it, though you should use all 360 degrees of the pedal’s cycle, the easiest is the push down.  Since you’re in a low gear, you’ll get a nice push for little effort.
  5. Keep turning the pedals without clipping in your foot (or feet) that were removed.  Once you’re up to a decent speed, your balance will be better, and you won’t be steering all over the road when you have to concentrate on clipping your feet in.

Other Tips

  • Eyewear.  Protect those eyes – when you’re going faster, the dust blown in by wind is dangerous.
  • Inflate those tires.  If you can’t read the PSI rating on the tires, at least make sure they feel basically rock hard to the touch.  Riding on soft tires wastes tons of energy.
  • Bring a water bottle.  It’s not just the effort that dehydrates, but the wind blowing into your mouth, down your throat contributes too.
Have you picked up any tips or strategies that can help those of us on the road who are less than Tour De France worthy (no, doping doesn’t count)? What do you wish you had known when you were first getting started on the bike?
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The Lance Armstrong Thing

Last week I linked to the Top 10 Sport Science Stories of 2012… Lance Armstrong’s fall was #1.

As I write this, the Lance Armstrong/Oprah interview has not aired yet, though people on the internet already seem to know that he has admitted to doping.  I wanted to do a write-up on this situation (and it’s impact on triathlon) when the USADA first revealed its evidence against him but I didn’t get around to it, and again before 2012 was out I wanted to do a post as part of a end-of-year review.  I’m a little late on that score, but this interview and new revelations will freshen it up a little.

Sifting through all the evidence brought by the USADA is more than some paid, professional journalists can handle, so I don’t like my chances at all.  Still, at this stage, Lance Armstrong’s guilt of using performance-enhancing substances seems to be a foregone conclusion, so let’s run with that.  Though I’d bet his defenders are getting harder and harder to come by now, as the court of public opinion was convicting him, I still saw statements like:

“It’s a shame the state of the sport gives these athletes the need to cheat”


Others would question if it’s really cheating when so many other advancements in our understanding of human physiology (and cycling technology) make things possible today that weren’t before.  Still others point to Livestrong and the good it does against cancer – attacking Lance Armstrong is akin to attacking Livestrong.  His tale of beating cancer (as detailed in It’s Not About the Bike) has inspired so many people, and they worship him as a hero.

This is all garbage.

It’s true that in sports, to succeed is to win.  Athletes who want to get paid need to win, and winning means being better than the others – if the others cheat, you’ll need to cheat or else you go hungry, right? Wrong.  In a world of adults with free will, you make choices and you’re responsible accepting the consequences of those actions.  Need to get paid?  GET A JOB.  Those of us sitting under fluorescent lighting, waiting out the clock till we get a chance to do the same thing professional athletes get to do all day – PLAY GAMES – have little sympathy for those pros.

Should doping really be considered cheating above and beyond the enhancements that can be achieved through better science and medicine available from technology and nutrition?  I’ll give you a hint: if you have to hide what you’re doing, it’s wrong and dishonest, and even worse, you obviously realize that.

And Livestrong?  I’ve got a pair of shorts from them that I really like, and their website is a great overall resource for healthy living and fitness.  What they aren’t doing it curing cancer.  This expose from Outside Magazine purports that they’re in the business of building ‘Lance Awareness’.  Let’s call that accusation the worst case scenario, but if they’re not funneling money into research, then what?  Building awareness?  How much more aware of cancer can we get when it touches the life of 1 in 3 people.  Someone you know is in a fight with cancer or has been.  There is a small space of work in the war on cancer in terms of support services and coordinating them to best help cancer patients.  Personally, I think these services vary widely from location to location and might be better served with local organizations, but if Livestrong can help, more power to them and I wish them well.

As a former cancer patient who won his battle, Lance Armstrong has inspired a lot of people but the hard truth is – fighting cancer involves a lot of luck.  Do you think everyone who has succumbed to the disease simply didn’t ‘want it bad enough’.  That they didn’t put enough effort in?  Certainly not taking your own steps in a cancer fight (making it to chemo treatments, improving your own nutrition, etc.) lessens your chances and not every cancer battle has the exact same adversities, but lauding those who make it without incorporating humility and acknowledging that luck, fate, the universe or God played a significant role is a smack in the face to those who weren’t so lucky.

I read a book once, The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.  In it, the future society has taken on a Victorian moral code, telling them right and wrong along those old, puritanical lines.  In that world, hypocrisy isn’t so bad; they look back at our society where hypocrisy is one of the worst sins, because the only moral code is the one each individual makes for him/herself.  That’s the world we live in – make your own moral code and live by it.

Imagine a rock star.  He womanizes, does drugs, smashes hotel rooms, that sort of standard, rock star stuff.   It’s expected and we as a society won’t condemn it that much.  When the televangelists of the 80s behaved in similar ways, it was a big deal – because their whole image and message was the exact opposite.  If our imaginary rock star recorded Public Service Announcements decrying the use of illegal narcotics, and recorded preachy songs while supporting a drug habit, we’d be pretty incensed.

Which bring us back to Lance Armstrong.  If he’d kept mum about doping like the average rock star does about drug abuse, it would have been one thing.  But no, he’s “the most tested athlete in the world” (obviously those tests are essentially meaningless), and investigations into his doping were “witchhunts”.  The charges were “baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity.”  And of course his famous Nike commercial: “I’m on my bike,… what are you on?”

And that is why I have such a low opinion of him: he cast himself as some kind of angel while casting aspersions on all his peers, while being no better than them.  And now, he’ll probably hope to regain some credibility through confessing to Oprah Winfrey.  You won’t be worshipped any-more, Lance.  This society worshipped you, they worship winners, and now your victories are tainted.  This society doesn’t worship integrity, even though, apparently, it’s just as hard to achieve.


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The Week in Links: SCIENCE!

Here are some of the best links I came across this week…




The Top Ten Sport Science Stories of 2012

#1 is the Lance Armstrong Fall.  I’ve been wanting to write about this, and maybe the upcoming interview with Oprah will freshen the topic somewhat.  Sport Science is fascinating since there are so many claims when it comes to fitness and what does and doesn’t work, that it takes rigorous analysis sometimes to debunk some of the myths.  Plus, it’s an intersection of my nerdier interests and my jock-ier interests.

The jaw-dropping benefits of cross-country skiing

A great article by Alex Hutchinson (who’s a great source for clearing up the claims of various studies) about why Cross-Country Skiing is such a superior form of exercise. 







13 Fitness Trends to Watch for in 2013

It’s always nice to see what the new frontiers of fitness are going to be.  I’m especially excited about Primal and Parkour based exercise programs (which could stand to become more mainstream and accessible), Brain-Based Exercise (which overlaps with the former) and Cross Disciplining.  You know what combines those? Burbathlon!  Also the rise of online fitness and video will help with these.  Who knows, maybe Iron Rogue will be providing video this year…

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Gear Corner: Electronic Media in the Home Fitness Centre

With the off-season in full swing, we’re looking at contending with less daylight, and colder temperatures – the temptation to cocoon is overwhelming.  Still one of the things you can do from the comfort of your home nowadays is train/exercise/workout.  There’s tons of articles and posts about what exercise gear to equip your home with (and I may write one myself soon enough), today I’m going to talk about options for electronic media.  Whether you’re on a bike trainer, watching a workout DVD, or simply want tunes while you exercise, you’ll probably need a way to play media.  What kinds of tech could you use? Warning: this might get a little technical; leave a question in the comments if something is unclear.

  • Tablet computer.  I managed to balance my iPad quite nicely on my aerobars while I was on the bike trainer.  I used Netflix to watch a TV show (can’t remember which one) for some slow spinning, then switched to the Bit Timer app for a Tabata to finish.
  • DVD Player (& TV of course).  There are Workout videos for strength, toning, cardio, as well as Yoga, Pilates and Biking/Spinning.  You can play music CDs or even watch a your favourite TV show while on the trainer (or treadmill or elliptical if you have one).  Personally I don’t use my workout videos as much as I’d like, and watching TV is something I prefer to do when there isn’t other noise (like my own grunting, or the whir of my bike) to interfere with my enjoyment of it.  This option is honestly a little primitive (no Internet?) by today’s standards.
  • Laptop.  It usually has a connection to the internet so Youtube videos of workouts and techniques (and there are more and more of these nowadays), plus playing DVDs and CDs is generally no problem.  It could have a music collection on there, or simply display a workout you got from a blog or website.  I’m a little nervous about having the laptop around exercise equipment – I have visions of sweat in the keyboard or it simply getting broken.  It’s a little hard to find a good spot for it, but it’s still a great option.
  • Home Theatre PC (HTPC).  Ah, the Cadillac option.  For a while I had a PC with a quiet case hooked up to the home theatre/TV, and it was bliss.  This thing had a video capture card (for recording TV) and was running MythTV.  MythTV is free software that implements PVR recording (provided you have that capture card I mention) which automatically flags and skips commercials.  So, a PVR that I don’t pay the TV company a rental fee for, and I never see commercials.  I also had music and some exercise videos ripped onto the hard drive, so when I wanted a Yoga session, I could press play without waiting for the DVD to spin up and be read – instant access.  Unfortunately, the motherboard of this machine blew and replacing it meant basically rebuilding the machine from scratch.  I wasn’t willing to put in the time, effort and cash, so I found a cheaper alternative.
  • Home Media Player – These aren’t fully fledged computers, more like hard-drives that have network capability and the right drivers for streaming/playing various media.  An Apple TV might count in this category.  The one I’ve been using is the Cirago CMC3000; it has video capture capability so I can record shows, but it’s not as good as the MythTV because I have to manually program what time to record without an on-screen guide – it only records what the set-top box is playing (meaning I have to program the set-top box too to be on the right channel at the right time).  The MythTV had its own tuner so I could just pick say, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and it would tune the correct channel at the right time.  Still, I’m using it to record shows and fastforward commercials, so that’s good.  It can stream media from my desktop and through third party software I can also play Netflix on it.  If I rip my workout DVDs to my computer, I should be able to stream them from the Cirago, or even simply copy the files over to it; it can be a network mapped hard-drive too.


    I should inventory what DVDs I have… maybe that’ll help inspire me to play them.


    Let’s see what’s there:


    That’s a little embarrassing… some are still in the plastic!  Let’s hope the season is kind to me and the videos!  If I wanted to add to the collection, I thought I’d share that Beachbody let me know that they have some new products.  Of the ones they mentioned these were the most interesting (N.B. without having tried these products, I cannot endorse or recommend them, I am merely linking to acknowledge their existence).

    • Les Mills Combat: They have Les Mills classes at Goodlife Fitness, where I’m a member.  My favourite group class is Body Combat; the cardio burn rate is unparalleled, and it’s a heap of fun, scratching my martial arts itch.  I haven’t found a class that meets my schedule lately, so having one at home would be pretty attractive.
    • Insanity Asylum Volume 2: The Insanity series are unique in that they offer drills that are meant to increase actual athletic performance (speed, power, agility, etc.) rather than simply build muscle or burn fat.  They would probably be more useful for a performance minded multi-sport athlete.


    I hope that gives some of you some ideas…. what kinds of electronic media are you using to stay in shape?

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    How I Rolled This Weekend

    So many ideas for new posts, so few opportunities to get them done.  Some of these ideas will take a little research, so for now, I thought I’d just tell you about the weekend, or at least the fitness/active parts.

    We celebrated both boys’ birthdays with a kids party this weekend, and for some of the parts of the weekend, we did a little divide and conquer with the boys.  That (and the beautiful weather) gave me my first opportunity to go for a run with Shark Boy in the Chariot.

    I hadn’t been doing a lot of running these past weeks due to 1.) work schedule 2.) trying to manage my Achilles tendonitis, but I do have the end of season 5 Peaks Trail Run coming up, so it was good to get out there again.  Taking it easy, and not a long distance, but at least I was running.


    Getting Shark Boy to ride in the Chariot involves stopping at a park so he can play a bit, it’s just part of the deal.  It had rained that morning, so the equipment was wet, and I had done a little upper body strength work the day before, but I got some squat and lunge variations (and a few inverted rows) done on the playground equipment.  No one was there to see, but Shark Boy seemed intrigued… maybe I can rope him into doing workouts with me in the future!

    I also found out that he would have preferred to ride behind the bike instead of being pushed while running, which set us up to go biking the next day!

    While I’m still annoyed at how Bike Trails in Mississauga can dead end or even worse, spit you out onto busy roads without a means of connecting back onto a bike network, I managed to put a small ride together in limited time.  That time was subtracted from with, you guessed it, another playground visit.




    Hope you had a good weekend too…  Days are getting shorter and colder, so get out there while you can!

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    The Father’s Day Weekend

    I just wanted to touch on what a fantastic weekend I had.  Training was a big part of that, but let me take care of some interesting incidentals.

    While my wife took Shark Boy out kayaking, I walked around with the Lightning Kid dipping our feet into the water, when all of a sudden what should I see?  This:

    Godzilla?

    The most huge snapping turtle you would dare imagine! It swam away from us and spent the afternoon poking its head out from under the dock.  Later that day, I got to do an open water swim, but believe you me, I gave that section of the dock a wide berth when getting into the water (I later read that snapping turtles are generally docile in the water, the snapping occurs when they’re confronted on land.  At any rate, he was gone by Sunday).

    Here’s the swim (take my word for it, it was all in the water!):

    I hadn’t done any training in about a month at least, and my technique was garbage.  Yet somehow I managed the second best time I’ve ever done at the distance of 1500m (a pace of around 2:20/100m).  How is this possible?  The only explanation I can come up with is my new TYR Hurricane Wetsuit that I won last year.  Even though I know I’m under-trained for the Muskoka 5150, this gives me a lot of confidence.

    For Sunday, I was hoping to get a good training ride in.  Rain was threatening the whole day, but when opportunity knocked (a.k.a Shark Boy took a nap), I was out the door.  Then I had to come back because I forgot the key to unlock my bike from the bike rack.  Oops.

    I selected a route that would take me along Highway 35 between Dwight and Dorset.  Here I found my fitness and endurance lacking.  I couldn’t believe how low my average speed was, but I did note that I got faster after the turn around; I had been climbing overall, and the downhills obviously added to the average speed.  In fact, it occured to me at the turn-around that I hadn’t paired my new Garmin with the bike’s cadence and speed sensors.  That data was missing but they paired with the watch fairly quickly and seamlessly (more review material coming soon).


    Besides just getting out there and riding, it also gave me a chance to scout out and plan new riding routes.  The old road (South Portage – which has traditionally been part of the Muskoka triathlon) seems to have a lot of construction and unpaved patches.  I know what I’m going to do next time.

    I didn’t quite manage a 40km ride like I would have liked, but it was enough to build from.  Next time will be better.  Also, since the day didn’t quite have enough activity (and because I was jealous of my wife), I took Shark Boy out in the kayak on Sunday.

    It was a lot of fun, and I hope to make a tradition of it every time we’re up North.  It might even be good training for the Logs, Rocks and Steel if I get to do it.

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    Multi-sport mind: Cyclo-Cross

    “Cyclo-cross (‘cross) mixes the best of road, mountain, cross-country running, steeplechase and endurance cycling.” from the Midweek Cycling Club’s Cyclo-Cross 101 Handbook.

     
     As soon as autumn rolls around, triathlon training in most of Canada gets more difficult.  I think this is most felt in cycling, since it is the most time consuming of the three disciplines, and you feel the cold more when your zooming along that fast.  Somebody came up with the sport of cyclo-cross as a kind of end of season training for road and mountain bike cyclists.

    At first glance, you might have trouble telling the difference between Cyclo-cross and mountain biking (at least, I did).  Indeed they both involve getting muddy – in fact, Cyclo-cross can be performed with a mountain bike.  While I’m no expert, I don’t think mountain bikers dismount and carry their bikes over obstacles in most circumstances, whereas this is fundamentally part of Cyclo-cross.  Overall, it struck me as a little less ‘extreme’ and more friendly to novices since even an old road bike would have been acceptable (though a little tricky).  I’m getting ahead of myself by giving my impressions, first I want to tell you the story of how I ended up trying this out.

    A Cyclo-Crosser jumps a barricade, carrying his bike.  I have a bunch of photos like this.  I have a lot to learn about settings on my camera – especially those dealing with low-light and action photography.

    In spite of (or perhaps because of) a local climate (both physical and cultural) that isn’t the most bike friendly in the world, there is a strong local community of Cyclo-cross enthusiasts.  It wasn’t too hard to track down some riders from the Midweek Cycling Club at Centennial Park one Tuesday to check it out.

    What I saw was a course sketched out with police tape and little flags that went up, down and alongside the less steep parts of the ski-hill and some 40cm barriers to be hopped over.  I apologize for the poor quality of pictures; photography is not my strong suit, and never will be. 

    I spoke briefly with Craig, who was directing the cross riders on how many laps they still had before quitting time, and got a feel for whether I would even be able to attempt this thing.  It sounded like my old mountain bike would be alright, if less than perfect for gripping and steering under some circumstances.  At any rate, I resolved to show up a week later ready to go.

    One week later, I pulled into the parking lot wearing my cycling gear, with a helmet, and an old Cateye light that drew a few laughs from more hard-core cyclists I had to purchase a one-day licence from The Ontario Cycling Association and once my admission for the night was paid, they suggested I hook up with one of the more experienced riders for tips on how to navigate the course.  The usual format for the evening is to spend time at each station in a kind of ‘lesson-circuit’ before participating in a race to finish a certain number of laps of the mile-long course, but they opted to forgo that since it was near the end of season, I suppose.

    I approached a man named Pierre and asked him to show me the ropes.  After a few jokes about how this would turn into a new obsession which would threaten my marriage, he gave my bike (an old hybrid that I use for commutes and more recreational riding with my son) the once over.

    The ‘Before’ shot… even if it is technically an ‘after cleaning’ shot.

    Then we were off on the course.  As we rode, Pierre gave me general tips on bike handling that allowed me to get traction going uphill and around the sharper turns, of which there were plenty.  Every few hundred meters he’d have us stop so he could point out specifics that I was maybe doing wrong, or specifics of the course to watch out for.  In particular, he identified a way of looking where you’re going (not where you are) that helps you balance and set up your turns.  There was one hairpin turn I didn’t make all night – it was set up in such a way as to purposely slow riders down so that they wouldn’t accidentally hit a pipe from the ski hill’s snow making equipment.

    One of the most unique features of Cyclo-cross is barricades, where you dismount, pick up the bike, and hurdle over a 40cm (a little over a foot) barrier (or two).  Apparently I’m not the first beginner to find this aspect the most exciting; good technique however, requires calm grace and not holding your breath as you hop over.

    After a couple of laps, Pierre left me to give it a try on my own, which not only amped up the adrenaline factor, but also took a bigger toll on my cardio-vascular endurance; without the pointer sessions to catch my breath, I could really feel each and every lap.

    The ‘After’ shot.  Notice the mud and grass caked everywhere.

    I found Cyclo-cross to be very different than most of my training rides that I do for triathlon.  The twists and turns demand a lot more mental attention; no more ‘zoning out’.  In fact, bike handing is much more of a priority overall as it becomes a struggle just to stay on the bike.  The slippery grass and mud keep you in the lower gears and higher cadences, while the up-and-down of hills (and the bursts of strength you use to pick your bike up and jump the barriers) make it more of an interval workout than I’ve had in a long time.

    Here’s a video from my last lap (I had my camera helmet-mounted); it’s a little dark and shaky – rest assured I could see fine.

    Describing a cyclo-cross ride in short is easy: it’s the way you used to ride your bike when you were a kid:  Without consideration for destination, appropriate terrain, keeping clean or anything but having fun.  Despite how much fun I had, and my desire to do it again soon, cyclo-cross isn’t threatening to become an obsession to me.  After all, in the multi-sport mind, everything is just cross training for something else!