Addictive Exertion

Premature Exertion

2011-05-18T09:45:00.001-05:00

2011 is off to a fast start, and I'm already slacking in the blog department.

Since my last post, I've lost my job (within a week of the last post, actually), applied to 24 new jobs, interviewed 8 times over the phone, 4 times in person, followed up on all 12 interviews with phone calls and thank you letters, negotiated to job offers and took my now current job, making me gainfully employed once again.

Oh, and all the while, my wife picked up a ton of extra hours at the hospital making me take on the role of Mr. Mom for exactly two months.

The thought of being a stay-at-home used to sound a bit appealing to me...but after this experiment...NO WAY. I couldn't do it full-time (i.e. my wife is amazing, and I don't know how she's done it this whole time). I love the kids with all my heart, and had a blast with them on my time off, but I need structure and a lot more adult interaction and conversation in my life. I thought I could live my life playing LEGOs and watching cartoons and playing hide-and-seek all day long, but no. Just no.

At the turn of the year I had originally planned to ramp up my running and run the Chicago Marathon with a group of friends. A weekend trip. The weekend that I was actually going to commit and register fell immediately after I lost my job, so that plan went right through the floor.

I had also planned on picking up bike racing where I left off in 2009, and that plan was still feasible on a fixed income, so I focused almost solely on riding the trainer in the basement whenever I could steal a couple hours with the kids asleep.

Trainer time. At night. In the basement. Yuck.

But, it was the only way I could log some time in the saddle, and really the only way I could unwind after full days of double-diaper duty and running around creation to do errands. I did manage to get out for a few outdoor rides when the weather cooperated, and one really good 52-mile group ride with my new racing team.

Fast forward to April, the week after I accepted my new job, and I reward myself by going to Ken Woods Memorial Road Race south of the Twin Cities.

At the end of my first year of racing ('09), I did upgrade out of the Category 5's to the 4's. This would mark my first race as a 4. I knew I wasn't in the best race shape, but I was so excited to actually be able to race this year that I just didn't care. I just wanted to wear my new kit and try to hang on and get my heart rate higher than it's been in months for an extended period of time.

The weather was miserable for the morning wave, but luckily the rain/mist ceased for the afternoon wave and the pavement was dry. Unfortunately, our Minnesota Spring didn't totally cooperate though and continued to pound some NW winds at us, making for some really fun hiding tactics within the pack that really didn't help once we got strung out in the crosswind.

Overall the race went well. I didn't hear of any wrecks in our field. We held together the entire first lap until the last long hill approaching the finish completely blew our pack up. I attempted to hang with the front on the attack up the hill, but red-lined about 2/3 of the way up and lost it. Sucked wind all the way past the line going into lap two as I was passed by [what seemed to be] everyone else. Went solo until after the first turn, where one guy came up and passed me, then offered to let me latch on and work together to catch back up. I tried, and swapped a couple turns at pulling, but slammed the wall again when we hit a rolling hill into the wind and then told him to go ahead. I lost sight of him by the next turn heading north, but luckily another small group of three came up and pulled me in.

We ended up working together pretty well to paceline back to our cars.

Finished the 42 miles in just over 2 hours, 41st place out of 47 finishers.

A finish, nonetheless.

Since then, I've done two of the Tuesday Night Worlds / OPUS criteriums; May 10 and last night.

May 10 (TNW #5) was a ton of fun. I started up front, and held in the top ten for the majority of the race. I still wasn't sure of my anaerobic capacity for the season, so I didn't attempt any prime sprints, but was in position to watch them pretty well. After the first prime, I accidentally found myself at the front after we reeled the sprinters back in. I led for the lap across the line, then let others come up around me to help pull again.

Dropped back a bit in the pack, then worked back up by the next prime to position for the finish. With two to go, a couple guys go off the front, so everyone got antsy and started fighting for position. At the bell, I found myself about 13 or 14, so once we reached the top of the hill I found a gap on the right and said "what the hell, why not" and attacked up the right side into the downhill. Got up to the front of the pack (bike meter recorded a top speed of 40.1, I'm pretty sure it was here) with two other guys, but quickly learned that going into a downhill isn't the best place to attack, as we were all a group again by the time we reached the bottom.

Hit the left turn and bottleneck, then rode as a group to the final left turn where everyone stood to sprint uphill to the finish.

I had nothing left, so just sat up and watched. Ended up 17th of 32.

Last night was similar, but our field felt MUCH faster this week with everyone trying to salvage any points they could on the last race of this TNW series.

I went in with a goal of at least trying to get a point or two on a prime, with my sights set on the first, as nobody really attacked last week aside from the front couple guys. As we hit the last turn for the prime, about 20 of us stood to sprint. I was about 8 or 10 back, and right in the middle, so I had no real option other than to stick on the wheel ahead of me and just ride it up and watch the sprint ahead of me.

We all gathered up again at the top, then went roundy-round for the next three laps. About the only excitement here was on lap 4 or 5 when a couple cars found themselves in the left lane as we swallowed them up and passed on the right. Everyone was pretty cautious though, so it was good to see common sense from the group.

The next prime lap was fast. Really fast. All the way around. I was right in the middle somewhere and didn't have any desire to try to fight my way up again, so I just rode around and watched...again.

Then roundy-round two more times to the bell lap. Heading to the line going into the final lap, two guys took off, and I mean blasted off. They were gone by the time the rest of us reached the top. I found a couple little gaps in the middle of the pack on the way up the hill and worked my way up to about the top ten again at the summit and into the down hill.

Remembering last week's feeble attempt of an attack, I held in a bit longer and positioned myself on the left side for something later down the road.

So instead of attacking on the downhill, I wait until we reach the bottom then my brain pulls the trigger and I make a dash for it up the left side right. Went through some of the leftover gravel from the winter plows that hadn't been cleaned from the road yet, but found myself alone with a second or two gap ahead of the pack going into the uphill left turn and bottleneck. I stood to keep it and knew it was all or nothing to hold at this point. I stood and torqued a bit too much on my handle bars and felt a quick skid of my rear tire, but didn't panic and held it up fine. Almost made it up to the last turn by myself, but then hit the wall again and was swallowed up as we turned to head to the finish line.

I swear that line was closer the last 8 times we went over it...

The official full results aren't posted yet, but I didn't even try to put effort in to steal 15th place. Pretty sure it wasn't even a top 20, but it was a fun attack that at least made whoever got those two third-place-finish points try a bit harder to win.

I've overheard a few other people saying that the Cat 4's are really fast this year. There are definitely a few guys that are working the group pretty hard, but it's making for some really fun racing so far.

My goal this year is simply to keep finishing races and learn some more strategy during the race. I feel very comfortable in the pack, which I was nervous about coming into this year, so that's a good feeling. I definitely think I'm in good enough shape to continue to be pack fodder for the rest of the season. I'm still going to try some things here and there and try to figure out something that might stick eventually though. I just hate going on a group ride at the race until the last 200 yards.

I won't be partaking in the Square Lake Road Race this weekend. Definitely some home projects and kid time in the plans. I'm hoping to take in a Buck Hill race or three in the next few weeks leading up to the State Fair Crits (my favorite series).

Sorry no pictures either. I'm terrible about carrying cameras, and when I do I don't really take pictures. There've been quite a few people out with cameras at the OPUS races, but I haven't seen much posting of them. If I find some, I'll share and link 'em up.

Protein Shake in a Bun

2011-02-17T10:23:00.001-06:00

I'm a wimp.

Merely a shell of a hardcore Minnesota athlete. I pride myself in my desire to run outdoors in every season we face here. I try to avoid running during the daylight hours in the summer because I prefer the cooler evenings and night running. Anything above 55 degrees F and I think it's too warm.

Why am I a sham of the self-image that I hold of myself?

Because yesterday, the 16th of February, was my first workout outdoors since Halloween. Not one single workout outside below freezing (it was 47 degrees yesterday).

A coworker and I have been talking about running over lunch for a few weeks after we learned that we both like running and endurance events. She's run 21 marathons in the last 5 years, Boston twice. We finally bucked up and made an official Microsoft Outlook calendar meeting over lunch yesterday, and stuck to it.

Nothing fancy or grueling. We ran a nice 4-mile out-and-back route from the office. We're both pretty much just starting up our spring running routines, so we kept a comfortable conversational pace of about 9:00 min/mi. It was my first run with GPS watch outdoors, so I recorded the run and will post the data after I download and play with it.

We were able to both get back to the office, shower (separately) and get back to our desks within an hour, so we decided that this is definitely doable and are going to reschedule our Outlook meeting to "recurring."

Having taken two weeks off from running, my body didn't totally react well to going from running to sitting in my crappy office chair within 20 minutes, and I think my blood electrolytes took a weird hit as well. Ended up getting a decent little headache, but nothing two little magic blue pills (Aleve) couldn't take care of.

Finished the day at the office, then went to meet the family at the in-laws for a couple hours to watch American Idol (go JC!) and wear out the boys by making a mess and chasing them around with a fun game of hide-and-seek at Grandma's house.

Packed up the kids around 9:00 pm and hit the road for home and realized that I hadn't eaten since lunch, and was friggin' famished.

While the boys were in the back seat of our family commuter/compact car, a manly VW Beetle (at least it's dark blue), attempting to sing along to a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song, I started to weigh my different take-out/fast food options as we drove down 35E.

Lee Ann Chin.
KFC.
Panera.
Noodles.
BK.

Hmmm...they all sounded amazing as we passed the glowing signs.

Before I knew it, our 1.5-year-old was passed out in back and the 5-year-old was already tired of the repetitive beat and was spacing out the window. A crinkle in my plans of stopping for take-out it became, as there's no way I was going to attempt to unload the car to head in to order.

That left drive-thru.

The image of the golden arches were etched in my retinas or something and I had an immediate craving for a burger.

I ended up getting the new Chipotle BBQ Bacon Angus 1/3-pound grease bomb ("Plain," no pickles, mustard, onions, lettuce or ketchup) from McDon's; just give me the burger, bun, bacon, cheese and new sauce please!

I compensated for the grease by only ordering the sandwich, a true test of my late-night will-power if one ever existed.

I'm not going to lie, it was probably the most satisfying, 60-second-prep-time 800 calories and 2,000 mg of sodium I can remember ingesting in recent memory. It definitely had the most flavor in a burger chain burger that I can recall. I was expecting MdD's basic McNugget BBQ sauce on a slightly seasoned meat/filler patty, but I was pleasantly surprised to actually get a bit of zing with the sauce in the aftertaste that perfectly complimented the dunk of ketchup I applied myself (the "burger artists" can never get the appropriate ketchup to burger ratio when they pre-apply it behind the scenes, if they even try to...). The Angus burger "Premium" bacon that they use is well worth the extra few cents they charge as well.

Getting the sandwich alone also left me feeling satiated when I was done, rather than completely miserable if I had also downed a large fry, although those fries would have been delicious...like they always are...mmm...McDonald's Fries...

The only real side effect I've experienced so far, though, was going to bed with a guilty conscience. I decided to set the alarm to get up a bit earlier this morning and crank out a spin on the trainer before work.

Sixty minutes of 6:00 am cadence work and I no longer feel guilty.

Did I seriously admit to cheering for an American Idol contestant by name?!

2011 - A Regained Me

2010-12-05T07:52:00.009-06:00

Yes. That's right. It's been over a year and a half since my last post.

No, I didn't crash the bike and lose my typing fingers (well, close...). No, I haven't been without electricity or internet. And most importantly: No, I haven't been doing absolutely nothing therefore having nothing on which to report.

Here's a quick recap since my last post:

2009: Finished the year with 12 bike races, a sprint triathlon, and our second annual Ragnar Relay. Nearly all smaller, local weeknight criteriums, with one local "major" weekend criterium on the 4th of July. Ended up crashing out of two of them, and in a row, no less.

The first was the aforementioned 4th race in Northfield. It was a fast Cat 4/5 race, but I was hanging on quite comfortably to the front group (which consisted of the majority of the field, to be honest). At exactly the halfway point, the guy in front of me hit the brakes for some unknown reason on a left turn and slid out. My panic button went off and I did the same and laid the bike down on its side, with the knuckles on my left fingers landing first. Scraped 'em down to the bone, and got a nice burn going up the forearm filled with road grime. Picked up and rode down to the starting line and asked to be granted my free lap to re-enter, but they suggested I talk to the medical tent instead, so I was pulled. Nothing major except for torn and blood stained bar tape, a few rips to the jersey and bibs and a lot of gauze for a couple weeks...and about a half-size larger ring size, according to my wedding band that can't be taken off my finger...

Took a week off, came back and entered another weeknight local crit. Got tangled in a corner somehow and went down on the left side again. This time was much slower, but ended up falling on the same knuckles and messing them up again, but no additional damage except a bit more fear in corners...and a random tire mark on the top of my helmet.

Finished off the road bike season with my biggest success being winning a prime during my last race, but totally blowing any energy I had left and ending up 13th during the next final lap (but it was a good learning experience).

The sprint tri went very well, finishing third in my age group. So well that I convinced myself to upgrade to the Olympic distance this last summer of 2010. I came into this summer with the most dedication to triathlon training I've ever done, mainly focusing on lengthening my endurance. Ended up finishing 12 out of 17 total (yes, a very small, and honestly disappointing field; something which I hope to help by joining the board of the race organizers for 2011). My swim totally killed me, and I never felt I could recover through the rest of the race. Came out of the water dead last. Swam off track on the out and back course a couple times, and ended up half-assing it by treading/breaststroke for a portion in the middle once I realized I was last anyway. My inability to recover showed most in my 10k run time of almost 56 minutes, whereas I'm usually a sub-50 minute pace. My Time Trial on the bike portion improved from the previous year though, raising my average pace despite riding twice as far. Either way, I came in with soft goals and not really knowing what to expect, and finished with a smile on my face, so it was still very rewarding, fun, and another learning experience.

Ragnar was probably the highlight, enough so that I don't think I'll attempt to write much on it except for the fact that it's, by far, the most fun endurance event I've ever participated in. On a personal side, I ran my 3 legs with an average pace of 7:45 and a total of just over 15 miles. Our same team ran it again in 2010, and I improved to about a 7:30 pace over 17 miles.

2010 didn't allow me to ride any bike races save for one short mountain bike race at Buck Hill in May. Finished 21 out of 71 over a short, but really fast 3.3 mile track on the side of a ski hill.

Since the last post, I've switched jobs twice. From the fall of '09 through this last September I took a position that consisted of regular travel. Was supposed to be 1-2 days a week, but of course it ended up being pretty much twice that on a regular basis. When it was announced that we were going to be asked to solidly be on the road 5 days a week for the next couple months, I pulled the plug and started the new job search, and ended up landing back in the office, with minimal travel, but pulled off an essential promotion at the same time at a smaller company, and I'm extremely happy and ready to get back into a regular training and racing schedule.

Which leads me to my first post of "regained me."

My wife and I had our third child in September 2010. Look back a couple posts, and you will see that is our second child in a year and a half, and our third total. Life, as I ever imagined it, has completely changed yet again. The cliche of "switching from man to zone" when referring to the jump from two to three kids is probably the most accurate I've heard. Currently going on the fourth month of averaging about 5 hours of sleep per night. My wife also ended her 3-month maternity leave a couple weeks ago and is back to working nights. It's a tag-team effort to raise the family, usually working opposite shifts, but we're making it work despite wanting to kill each other on a regular basis. If it weren't for her sacrifice of even more sleep than I during the week while I'm at the office, we'd be paying a double mortgage just to cover day care. This way we can still claim to be a double-income family and still raise a family without daycare.

Yes, it's crazy. Yes, we're delirious with sleep deprivation. But yes, we can still hold regular lives and do some fun things while we're at it.

I won an entry into the Leadville 100 MTB race last year through Lifetime Fitness. I was pumped. Wife was pregnant. Leadville race-day was at 36 weeks of her pregnancy. I fought like hell to convince her it was a good idea for me to drive myself solo to Colorado to climb a mountain on a bicycle while she stayed home with two kids under 4 and at the [clinical] term of her pregnancy. The pregnant woman won the argument, and I went all summer training my arse off only to be left with sending an email to the race organizers to withdraw my entry a couple weeks before the race (I held out to the last minute leaning on what little hope I still had that she might cave and give me her blessing to go play).

So, this huge disappointment was a big turning point for me. After getting over the anger of not going to the race and torturing myself by looking at everyone's pictures from the race on facebook, I decided that it really was the right decision not to go that year. It was bad timing on my part. I needed to realize that the fam comes first. Playing on my bike is just a hobby, and really doesn't mean anything. I shouldn't compromise my family to go ride.

But, this doesn't mean that I can't keep playing or riding. I just need to find different ways to fit it in.

So, I think the turn that my writing is going to take is somewhat related to the topic on which several books have been written. Notably, The Time Crunched Cyclist.

I need to let my hobby grow, but not at my family's expense.

I'm going into 2011 with a different outlook, but still hope to compete back at my 2009 level of activity.

So, here is the basic outline of my 2011 goals:

-Complete one Olympic distance triathlon
-Complete one organized cycling century ride
-Complete 10+ local cycling races
-Complete one marathon

I've got dates set out for most of these, which I'll outline in a later post when I set up an actual racing schedule. The majority of my writing on here will be related to race reports, but I'll also write about an interesting training ride. I'll also use this as a way for me to write about how I'm fitting exercise and racing into life without significantly altering "real" life to accommodate it.

After all, it's just for fun.

Massacre on Machinery Hill #2

2009-06-17T10:47:00.006-05:00

A State Fair Affair: Massacre on Machinery Hill
Minnesota State Fairgrounds
St. Paul, MN

Race Date: June 9, 2009

Cat 5 race number 5 for me.

Cloudy night, and a chance of rain, but it was still dry for our race.

Lined up right on time. The field filled with pre-registration, so we had 50 lined up.

Again, had a bad clip in, but got in and stayed in the pack.

Snapshot of the field going through turn 3 after the zig-zag right after the start.

The field held together for the majority of the race, until the last few laps when the pace picked up a little, then a few off the back and we started to lap a few stragglers. Very uneventful, even for the primes. I never really put myself in a good position to contend for any primes, but felt very comfortable sticking where I was at in the pack. I stayed right in the top 10 to 20 for the whole race.

The only notable event happened on the last bell lap signaling last lap. There's a few hundred feet after the line before turn 1, which is a zig-zag right-left turn.

At the bell, everyone stood to get to the front, and we went about 10 wide through the zig, then the left side inevitably scrunched, and about 4 guys went down on the inside of the zag. I was more to the right, so it didn't affect me much, and the others in the middle didn't really swerve or brake, to my surprise, so we didn't lose our pace.

We held a steady pace through the lap, then at the final turn, everyone stood to sprint, as the leader was only about 10 lengths ahead of the group of about 30.

I held low and just spun my way through the middle. Clinched 13th, but could have probably got a top ten had I stood a little earlier. It was a very fun and fast finish.

I didn't meet either of my goals set from the week prior, but did do much better, so that's a positive in my book.

Next post will be the race report from the Fairmont Triathlon, five days after this race.

Massacre on Machinery Hill #1

2009-06-05T08:23:00.012-05:00

A State Fair Affair: Massacre on Machinery Hill
Minnesota State Fairgrounds
St. Paul, MN

Race Date: June 2, 2009

That's right. It's been just over a month since my last race. My excuse:

Son #2 was born on May 6 at 3:15 am. Baby's healthy. Mom's healthy. Big brother is adjusting to having a second little person in his space. And we're all a little sleep deprived, but doing very well, and are very happy.

I took two full weeks off of work, and a little over one full week off of the bike. I'm not going to lie, it was great.

But, I hopped back on and was still able to get some decent mileage in May. The break also brought about the discovery of my transmission going out, so I've been commuting to work by bike daily, which is where the majority of my mileage is now coming from (~25 miles a day; more if I extend a ride).

I targeted the Massacre as my return to the pursuit of Category 4. This would be my fourth race ever, leaving me six more before I have the ability to upgrade.

After figuring out the logistics of being able to take the (now) family car (a VW Beetle...for two adults and now two car seats) by myself so I could fit the bike in the back, I made it to the race in time to watch the start of the final NVGP Qualifier race.

When the race flyer was posted a few weeks ago, I knew that this was a race series that I wasn't going to miss. Just a quick glance at the Cat 6 guys' site and the race flyer made me pre-register for the whole series, thus committing myself to going to all of the races.

And I wasn't disappointed.

The 1/2/3 race was very exciting to watch...if you consider the winner winning by over a half a lap, and gapping the entire field for the last 8+ laps. Something like half of the field was pulled before the race was half over, leaving just the lead pack and a few stragglers going for about a half hour, chasing the eventual winner. He put on quite a show, and made it look easy.

The Cat 5 race lined up next. At registration, they said that Cat 4 riders could register for either the Cat 5 or the Cat 3 race, thus making them both mixed category races. I'm not sure how many 4's actually lined up with us, but there were a few comments as we lined up from others on the sides pointing out "sandbaggers," mostly in jest I'm sure.

From the moment I stepped out of the car in the parking lot, I thought this was the most organized and well thought-out race yet. For one, they had an emcee at the start/finish, both announcing the race, and heckling and joking with racers. It made for a much more organized and relaxed atmosphere, in my opinion. Everyone knew what was going on, when to line up, who was doing what, how far into the race we were, and which jersey/kit was the announcer's favorite (mine, by the way). Secondly, it was an actual closed course, with barricades at intersections and everything. From what I have to compare to thus far, it was very comforting to see.

But, what really put the icing on was the ninja wailing on his axe at the start. The pre-race announcements told us that there would be surprise "ninja primes" throughout the race. If you crossed the line and the ninja was jamming on his electric guitar, it meant you just won a ninja prime, and will receive a four-pack of adult beverages after the race. But, in addition to playing during primes, he also played some Stairway to Heaven during the race announcements, and a few other random licks here and there. A much different atmosphere from the roundy-round OPUS where the only sounds you really hear are other riders warming up on the outside of the course yelling "Bus coming on your right!" (the OPUS course was/is not closed to traffic).

The course itself was different from what the flyer posted. Apparently the Fairgrounds staff started doing some roadwork on the north end of the original course, grinding out some potholes in the corners. They hadn't been filled yet, so racing over 3-inch deep grooves wouldn't have been pleasant.

Half of the course was now moved down to the warm-up area, making a 180-degree hairpin turn leading back up a slight uphill to the finish. From a spectator's standpoint, it was a pretty good arrangement, as you could see the entire course from the start/finish, making it much easier to watch and follow the race.

Our field was capped at 50 (as Cat 5 races are supposed to be), and we started right on time with the start of the race noted by a very loud jam from the ninja. For the first time in a race, I had a hard time clipping in, and actually didn't get in until just before the first turn. After the first two tries, I just stepped on the pedal with the arch of my foot to keep forward momentum and to keep in the pack, then finally stepped up and stomped down to clip in successfully.

A few guys went off the front almost immediately. Either they knew there'd be a ninja prime on the first lap (which there was), or they just felt like shaking things up right away, or they were sandbaggers, but either way, they were off. I held my position (about 16 or 17) for most of the race, and actually was able to work a few drafts and took turns with a couple guys pacing each other through the slight crosswinds on the back hairpin.

This was taken about halfway through the race I believe, just after turn 3. I'm the guy to the right/at the back of these three:

Thanks to the Cat6 guys for taking such great pics. Go here for more of his pics of the race.

With a few laps to go, me and one other guy were going back and forth pacing each other over the course alone. We could see the small lead pack coming around the third turn as we headed towards the finish, so we knew they were about a half a lap ahead of us, so we just held our pace to the finish.

One lap to go shot of me (on the right) and "the other guy":

The emcee actually cheered me on as we crossed here. "Here comes my favorite jersey of the night!".

The kit has actually gotten a lot of compliments at the few races I've done so far, ranging from "That's a pretty bold statement" to "That's kind of poseur, yet it's not." At the start, the emcee said he felt it was "So pro, yet so not." It's safe to say that most people get it. I have yet to see anyone else wearing it around here.

The final results ranked me at 21 out of 50. Pretty much all of the races around here are now using chip timing and posting the full lap data online. Shows that only 27 of the field finished 14 laps. I finished about a minute and a half after the winner...about 15 seconds from being lapped had there been more laps.

Again, I like seeing this data after the race, despite the classic racers' opinions out there. I know I need to work harder, but with this basic data, it is nice to see how I'm stacking up in my early stages of racing.

I am seeing progress though, and I definitely feel my comfort level growing within the pack.

My goal for next week is to finish closer to the top yet, stick with the leaders longer, and to actually put myself in position for a sprint for an early prime, just to try it out.

Ken Woods Memorial Road Race 2009

2009-04-29T09:26:00.004-05:00

Race Date: April 25, 2009

This would be my third Category 5 race, but my first long distance road race (as opposed to the previous criterium races).

I showed up plenty early for registration for the Wave 2 starters, about an hour and 15 minute prior to the planned starting time of about 1:30 for the Cat 5er's. Big line for registration, but it moved quickly enough to get back to the car and have plenty of time to get ready.

Something that I've noticed among us new riders is the complete inability to pin a race number/bib on our jerseys so they don't flap in the wind as you ride. In my first two races, I placed it lower on my jersey, right along the under arm seam, about halfway down the jersey. Each time, I still had flapping, and when actually sitting on the bike, it really restricted the stretch of the jersey and got all folded up and goofy by the end of the race.

This time, I placed it a little higher, basically on the lower part of my shoulder. I also used 7 or 8 safety pins placed both around the edge and a couple in the middle of the bib, and really got that thing pinned down. It actually worked much better this time, and will keep the placement up higher.

I was able to get ready to go pretty quickly and decided to take a small ride out to warm up. There was a pretty significant wind blowing from North to South, so it made for a direct crosswind when riding East-West. The sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining like the weather terrorists were saying all week, and it was around 45 to 50 deg F, so it was a really nice day to be out and riding, even with the wind.

Turns out, all the start times had been pushed back, so we didn't actually start the Cat 5 until after 2:00. There was a lot of sitting around, and we actually started about 100 yards from the actual starting line, coming right out of the church parking lot.

My goal for this race was to hang with the pack as long as I could, so I put myself right in the middle at the start. As we took off, we got up to the upper 20's mph pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I was at the very back of the pack, but comfortably hanging on, so I didn't panic. I tried to creep up a little in the middle before our first turn, but only made it 3 or 4 spots then just held.

Held until the corner anyway. At the turn, we turned right so the wind was at our backs. The leaders caught the wind before anyone, and kicked it down right away, causing us at the back to start the accordion right away to sprint to catch up, but we all made it. I put myself near the centerline of the road to try to push up the side, and made some progress back to the middle and held it for the whole stretch with the wind. There was a lot of braking actually as we went over the slow rolling molehills at about 32-34 mph, and there was a lot of moving around too.

Leading into the second turn, we all slowed quite a bit as it was at the bottom of another roller, and people seemed to be pretty white-knuckled heading into it. As soon as we hit the apex of the turn, everyone stood to sprint up the hill and there was an immediate stringing out and everyone was trying to catch up and reform.

We all reformed, but word came up that a guy went down coming out of the corner. Someone said his pedal broke and he went down, but I didn't see nor hear it. On the back side, the wind was coming from right to left, and I got trapped on the right side by accident. I tried to swerve into the pack to recover from the uphill sprint, but couldn't make my move, and found myself hanging on the back after about 2 miles. There seemed to be an attack at the front as it felt like we just kept gaining speed, and I lost it right away and couldn't hold the back.

Went solo with the pack just out of reach until the next turn - back into the wind - when I lost them as they slowly creeped away.

I wasn't the first to fall off the back and was soon reunited with a guy from the IC3 team. He said "Let's go catch 'em," and I gladly took his invite to take turns pulling. The two of us soon caught another straggler in a Rock Racing replica jersey and invited him to join. After a couple rotations in the pace line, and teaching the third guy not to sprint when it's his turn to pull, we formed a nice group and held a very nice pace through the rest of the first lap. When we hit the big 1-mile climb before the finish line, it was kind of every-man-for-himself, but we regrouped pretty quickly at the top and kept working it around the first turn.

We were passed by 2 of the leaders of the Women's 1/2/3 group and their support car right at the turn, and they cruised well ahead of us in no time.

We held the group together through the third turn up into the wind and twisted and turned through the way back, battling the cross and head winds the entire way. Our third Rock guy fell off for a while, but rejoined us after about a mile. We were soon passed by two more women, but then started to encounter a couple Cat 5 men stragglers again. The first was a Tonka Cycle guy. He was sitting up, just spinning slowly, and showed no interest in joining up. The second was another IC3 guy, and he gladly joined saying that the guy he was previously working with (the Tonka guy) gave up. Turns out he was a junior and wanted to try the Cat 5's today for a challenge. As he gave up, I guess he told the IC3 guy he wished he had stuck with the juniors, as they were only doing one 21-mile lap.

At one point on the back stretch, there was a curve in the road that turned us heading east for a mile or two, making for another cross wind from the left. After taking my pull, I dropped back on the right side, out of the wind, then grabbed onto the back. Because of the wind direction, we really had to overlap wheels quite a bit to make the draft worth it. We were pretty much riding 3-abreast, with each others' handlebars right behind each others' hips. As I was grabbing onto the back, I had to spin a little faster to get into the draft. I'm not really sure what happened, but I think the crosswind grabbed my front wheel and pushed my body off-balance to the point where I felt the need to turn left to catch it. Well, I couldn't turn left due to the wheel-crossing, so I had to pull up and actually brake. As soon as I cleared his wheel, I was able to swerve and catch my balance, but felt like I was almost going down. My wheels actually skipped a little as I swerved. Yep, I was almost that guy that took out the back of a three-man paceline. But I didn't, and I caught back up without any harm done, aside from my bruised ego.

The four of us worked pretty well up the back stretch until we hit the last couple miles. At that point, we started to approach the last big climb, and the fourth guy decided to drop us, and did so quite quickly. At that point, we all went for ourselves again up the hill, and at the top, it was just me and Rock together. He latched on behind me for a bit, and I then dropped back to make him take a turn. As soon as we crested the last little false flat, the finish line came into sight. Rock dropped back to pull a draft off of me, so I hit it a little harder as I didn't want to pull him all the way in.

He did as I thought, and jumped with about 100 yards to go, but I held and stole 41st place from him. There was no standing sprint or arms in the air, but it did feel good to have that little competition at the end. We both sat up as we crossed and pounded fists. Pretty sure we both felt the same way: it's time to train harder.

So, 41st out of 50 starters. 42 miles in 2 hours, 4 minutes. About 21 mph average.

I completed my goal of finishing, but really wish I could have held onto the pack longer. I'm learning more and more the importance of being up front. Had I been closer to the front, I would have avoided a lot of the braking-and-sprinting accordion effect at the back, and been able to ride steadier and save a lot more for later. I didn't need to sprint as hard as I did up the hill out of the second turn either. I would have been better off saving a little more and hammering down after the top of the hill to catch up.

I learned a lot by being in an actual race paceline, as small as it was anyway. All three/four of us learned how to communicate to each other, and had a great chemistry going for the majority of the race.

I think the game breaker was the fact that I rode with my saddle bag the entire race (sarcasm/vanity alert). As we lined up at the start, I noticed that I completely forgot about my bag under my saddle. I then looked around to see if, by chance, anyone else felt the need to keep theirs on. I did see one other, and it was actually bigger than the one I had on, but it was just the two of us. In hindsight, I had plenty of time to ride back to the car to drop it off, but I wasn't sure how long we actually had, and I didn't feel like it anyway. Probably didn't make much of a difference, aside from making my experience level that much more obvious as I got spit out of the back, but there really wasn't a need for it in this race.

It was a successful race for me overall, but I'm really getting a gauge of my cycling fitness ability relative to other local racers. I have a lot of work to do to get competitive, but I'm definitely not getting discouraged. With a little more fitness, and a lot more knowledge on when and where to use it, I think I'll be able to hang a lot more.

I missed the LSC Crit series this week (didn't think that the pregnant wife would appreciate watching a bike race on our second wedding anniversary), and probably won't make it to the Marty Road Race or the LaCrosse Criterium this weekend due to my wife's work schedule and kid duty.

I might head up to SJU to watch the UMLL playoffs on Saturday, but that will be a spur of the moment decision. It sounds like the LSC Crits are getting pretty rough already, so I'm not sure if I'm going to risk it again, but as of right now, my next race would be next Tuesday at OPUS. I'm thinking I'll just show up at the starting line and hang at the back to get my 4th start on the books, then just get a good few laps at the back to avoid the wrecks.

The wife and I are expecting baby boy #2 any day now, so that will also play a factor in which races I sign up for.

LSC Criterium Series at OPUS #2

2009-04-22T11:45:00.006-05:00

Race Date - April 21, 2009

My second race ever.

I showed up for registration at about the same time, but found an even longer line. LSC seemed a little more organized this week, and their computer was working for registration, so the line was moving a little faster than last week. New numbers handed out, and chips for chip timing.

I was back at the car by a little after 5:00 and was able to get my bike assembled and ready to go by a quarter after.

I really wanted to get a longer warm-up in this week, as I definitely wasn't warm last week at the start. I was able to get 3 laps done on the course before lining up. Found out that the course is 0.89 miles, and that there was a pretty strong head wind on the back downhill section.

Everyone was lined up and ready to go at 5:45 sharp, but the officials had to wait for a printed line-up of the field. This actually took until 6:00, so we all stood there at the start for 15 minutes, one foot clipped in, the other cramping up. The officials went through the pre-race instructions much clearer than last week. He also stated that we had too many people in our category this week, and that next week they'd only accept 50 registrants. I'm not sure how many people lined up, but we had to have been close to 50, if not a few more. Make sure to get there early next week.

The official also noted that we'd be racing 9 laps this week, rather than 6 like last week. I was actually excited about this, as I didn't think it would be such a fast pace as the first night.

We waited for a bus to clear the hill at the start, then the whistle and clicks and we're off.

I lined up a little closer to the front this week, and was glad I did. The start wasn't nearly as fast as last week, and I actually found myself and others coasting quite a bit in the middle of the pack all the way around.

I only took one or two peeks over my shoulder as I moved around a little in the pack, and noticed that we held pretty much everyone in the pack through the first lap.

The second downhill sped up a little, and I caught a nice draft, staying tucked right in the middle of the lane, about 10-15 back. There was a lot of shuffling going on, and a few gunners up the side.

As we approached the bottom of the hill on the back, and went into the slight right turn going back up, there was a lot of crunching on the right side, and quite a bit of accordion-effect from the reaction. I was actually proud of myself for noting this coming through the next lap.

3rd lap was a bell lap for points, so there was even more shuffling going through the back after we crested the hill. A few shakers going through each turn, and a lot of braking going down hill made for a slower decent for my position actually, but everyone came out hard at the bottom of the hill going into the right turn again.

I positioned myself towards the left of the field to avoid the right side crunch, and was still in the top 25 or so, when I witness my first crash on the right side. Later accounts told me that the right side crunch drove a guy pedaling into the curb of the median on the right side. All I could see through the pack was a blur of blue going superman over the median, and the terrible sound of his bike tumbling behind him. This caused a major pile-up on the right side, and a huge accordion effect swaying left.

The guy directly ahead of me locked up his rear wheel which skidded sideways out to the right, causing me to do the same out of instinct. I'm not totally sure what exactly happened, as it happened so fast and I had tunnel vision, but for some reason, my left side was totally clear and my wheels grabbed concrete again and I shot out onto the grass. If there was a curb on my side, I would have been down, but luckily there wasn't and I was able to ride through it. I actually unclipped my left foot as I skidded, which surprised me. I'm not sure if I did it intentionally or if I just torqued it enough as I twisted through, but either way it kind of shocked me when I realized I hadn't gone down and was able to pedal back into line.

As people funneled through the pile-up in a couple single-file lines, several guys were hooting "Go, go go!" and led the charge up the hill. As I filed back into line, the entire pack was strung out going all the way up the hill, with the very front sprinting for the line for points. I latched onto a wheel and stayed in line as the string was really pumping to stay caught up to the pack. The guy I was following actually sat up and slowed halfway up the hill as we were passed by several others, so I jumped off him and went on my own. I had to stand to sprint up the hill to catch some the riders ahead of me, but eventually joined up with a small string.

A couple of us formed a smaller pack that was trying to catch up, but nobody really held together going around.

I came across the line solo on lap 4, with the rear end of the lead-out string in sight, but just as I crossed the line, wreck number 2 unfolded right ahead of me. I didn't see the cause of the wreck, but one of the juniors was face down at the top of the hill, and his bike took out a couple others around him from the pack. It seemed like a really weird spot for a wreck, as it was at the top of the hill. My guess is that some handlebars hooked or something and they just got pulled over.

Either way, this strung out the string of chasers even more, and many guys just sat up and pedaled slow through it.

I could no longer see the lead pack, so I just went solo for almost a whole lap, trying to find someone to latch onto/work with, but all that I could find was a couple of stragglers that were being spit out the back of the pack and were now sitting up on the hoods and going solo.

Three riders from the second crash steamed by me in a nice pace line with about two-and-a-half to go on the back side, and I tried to catch the back of them but couldn't accelerate when I needed to and I lost the draft.

My legs were really on fire, and I was really trying to catch up around the back turns and the main front stretch up hill, but I never caught anything. I stood to sprint up the hill for a couple laps towards the end, but just sat and spun for the last two laps.

The rest of the race was a time trial solo effort for me, but again, I didn't get lapped, and finished the race without actually going down.

Final race stats:

Distance: 8.01 miles
Race time: 22 minutes
Average speed: 21.8 mph
Placing: ?, but finished

I think that had the initial crash not happened and thrown me off the course, I probably could have held with the front pack longer, but my sprint to get back into line after coming to a near stop going up hill really burned a lot of matches, and I never really recovered enough to accelerate when needed.

I really liked the longer distance though, as the speed was a lot more manageable, and the field didn't spread out as fast. It seemed that the field was blown apart by the end of the first lap last week, and it never slowed once.

I also learned a lot more this week by sticking with the pack longer. The zone that you have to get in, being aware of the wheel that is just inches away from yours, and bumping elbows through turns was quite a rush. The whistling and humming of everyone wheels while you're tucked away out of the wind is really a cool sound. It was really weird to see the delay in the pack when approaching turns as well, everyone waiting for the guy ahead of them to turn, then turning to fast, over-correcting, bumping a little, braking, then getting back into line. By lap 3, I think everyone in the pack really learned how to hold a much straighter line going all the way through the turn though; at least until the wreck, but I blame that on higher speed coming through the left hand turn leading into the right turn, and people gunning for the front to set-up for the points sprint up the hill.

I think my longer warm-up really helped me this week, and hope to get there even earlier next time to make sure I get into the race, and to get an even longer warm-up.

My one complaint, though, is the whole chip timing thing. Everyone was required to pay for the chips ($2 extra) to race, unless you have a rented chip, which still boggles my mind as to how you go about renting one (and no, I haven't really looked into it yet, but haven't seen it advertised anywhere). Anyway, coming from a running background, in my mind having a chip means that your times and splits are recorded for the entire race. I was actually a little excited to see where I stack up in the field, despite the whole racing mantra of "if you're not first, you're last." I do realize I wasn't in any position to score points, and this series is won/lost by points, but what was the point of the chips if they are just going to post only the point-scoring racers? I saw no difference in the way the results were posted, and I paid two bucks to reiterate the fact that I didn't score any points. It was a little frustrating, but as a newbie, I'm sure I'm just over-reacting.

My wedding anniversary is next Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure that going to a bike race isn't the ideal date night for most couples, so I don't think I'm going to make it to the LSC Crit next week, but plan to make it there again the following week, and hopefully make the rest of the series.

I am planning on racing the Ken Woods Memorial Road Race on Saturday though. It's about a 21 mile course, and the Cat 5's do two laps. Sounds like they usually have pretty bad luck with weather, and the forecast looks a little shaky right now; predicting showers. Our race starts at about 1:45 or 2:00 in the afternoon, so the temperature shouldn't be as cold as the recent morning temps, but I'm planning on going either way, so it may be a very wet race report next week.

Overall goals for this race is to just hang on and finish. It'd be nice to hold with the pack for the whole race as well, but we'll see.

I realize that my posts are lacking in the visual aid department. I actually brought my camera last night, but didn't take it out of the car as I thought it'd look kind of funny having a camera in my jersey pocket on the course. I have been hunting for pictures on other blogs and club websites though. I actually noticed quite a few photographers around the course last night, and I know that I was in a bunch of shots early on, so hopefully I can hunt some of them down and get ahold of a couple. If any of my [few] readers out there know of any leads, it'd be cool to see them.

Update on April 24, 2009: LSC has made the chip results available for download. Guess I'm just a little impatient...

Results here on Bikethrow.com.

They're a little tough to read after the first wreck in lap three, as a few guys took their free lap and rejoined the lead pack, therefore the chips state them as being a lap behind the lead group, when in fact the rules allow you to take a free lap in the case of accidents or mechanical failures.

Turns out I started 21st in a field of 50 exactly (they did cut off registration at 50). I stayed in the 30's up to the wreck, then I dropped to 41st as I crossed the line after the crash in lap 3. I was stuck there for 2 laps, then pulled up to 35th in lap 5, and held that spot until the last lap. Finished 36th overall. I was 15 seconds from being lapped by the race winner on my final lap.

I know there has been a lot of discussion since the race about the need (or lack thereof) for chip timing, but I will put myself in favor of it. Purists see it as a waste of time, taking away from the true meaning of bicycle racing where there is only one winner. As a beginner, and not really having any idea what kind of shape I'm in (aside from a few group rides), as mundane as these details of the race are, it really does help me know what I need to do to get with it and learn what I need to do to make myself competitive.

As you can see, I've got a ways to go.

LSC Criterium Series at OPUS

2009-04-15T09:09:00.004-05:00

The Loon State Cyclists (LSC) club hosts the season-opening Criterium (crit) series here in the Twin Cities (Minnetonka) for the first few Tuesdays of the season. Last night was the first race.

I've had April 14th marked on my calendar for 4 months. It was on my mind for most of the hours spent on the trainer in my basement this winter, and on nearly every mile since getting outdoors on the roads a couple weeks ago.

My very first bicycle race. Category 5 (Cat 5, aka the "Crash 5's"). I've been constantly reading online racing forums for hints and tips on racing and group riding, and to be honest (if you can dig through the most of the BS and sarcasm that embedded throughout) it was very helpful leading up to the starting whistle last night.

Throughout the workday I couldn't stop thinking about the race. I ate pretty light, but also kept a pretty high carb intake throughout, and was sure to hydrate properly all day. I couldn't wait for 4:30 to come to head out.

Race Report:

4:50 PM - Arrive at the registration parking lot at the same time as many other cyclists.

4:55 PM - Begin unloading the bike from the back seat and putting the wheels back on. I got a pretty good deal on a used Yakima roof rack a few months ago, but haven't put it on the car yet. I can't wait to get it on, as it's a pain in the ass to take apart the bike everytime I want to bring it somewhere.

5:00 PM - Change from my "business casual" work clothes into my Unattached Rider(TM) kit in the front seat of my car. I'll usually change at work before leaving, but I didn't want to risk getting caught in the wonderfully planned traffic system in the west metro.

I wore the Unattached kit for the first time on a long ride with a buddy last weekend to get the feel of it. I actually thought is was a very comfortable kit, and the bib shorts treated my rear quite well on the 44.9 miles. I wore a full-covering base layer on the ride over the weekend, and the kit went perfect with the all black layer. For the race, it was about 63 degrees F in the parking lot, so I dared and went with just the bib shorts and short sleeves with an under shirt base layer. Worked perfectly for the conditions. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of myself in the kit, so no modeling yet. But I'll be sure to post some as I get them.

5:05 PM - Walk over to the registration line. Find it to be very low moving. It didn't help that I was two people back from the Junior racing team, who felt it necessary to allow the whole team join in as they showed up. We honestly didn't move for 15 minutes. Luckily, the organizers had enough brains to hand out the necessary waivers as we waited in line, so once up to the desk (aka open hatchback on a minivan) all we had to do was hand them our money, write down our name and license number, and grab a race bib number. Number 579. No safety pins though. This is where all that experience from running races came in handy; I packed a few safety pins in my tool box. Note to self though that a few more won't hurt, as my number still flapped in the wind a little.

5:25 PM - Ride a couple miles around the OPUS Complex for a short warm-up, and to get to the starting line. The campus is intertwined with one-way roads, so it was really fun to see all the cyclists burning around, warming up and chatting.

5:35 PM - Arrive at the starting line. I had a very short warm-up, and hit a couple short hills to get the blood flowing, but I really had no idea what was in store for me, so I played it safe and stopped at the start line to conserve as much as possible as other riders kept riding the course.

5:40 PM - Riders begin to line up. I join them.

5:45 PM - Race officials begin taking head count, then tell us that there are actually a few people that are still registering, so we will be waiting about 10 minutes to start. I had lined up about mid-pack at the line, and struck up small conversation with the two riders at my sides. Turns out it was the first race ever for all three of us, and chuckle about warning those behind us. Half seriously of course. As the official finishes the head count, we overhear him say "over 50," so it was a pretty decent field of riders.

5:55 PM - Official blows the whistle. The race starts. The only noise you can hear is the clicking of cleats into pedals for a few seconds, then it's off to the races.

I heard several accounts of the exact distance of the course, ranging from .89 miles to 1.1 miles. Unfortunately, the last thing on my mind after the first lap was to look down to see how far I traveled, so I'm not really sure of the exact distance. I'll get a better read next time on a warm-up lap.

The course in on a paved, two-lane, one-way road, with all left turns except for one dog leg right on the back, almost oval. Think NASCAR with hills. It's situated on what feels to be a little valley on a hill, so the front side is uphill that peaks on a turn, then downhill around the back side of the course, leading up to the slight right turn that starts the uphill turn back to the start/finish line. The line itself is situated about two-thirds of the way up the hill, so the sprint laps are all up hill.

Off the start, I passed quite a few riders, most of which didn't clip in as fast as I did. I actually surprised myself with the quick clip-in, as I was sure my nerves would make me miss once or twice. I nestled in about 20-25 back in the front pack. The speed was in a constant acceleration all the way down the back stretch. My computer logged a max speed of 34.7, and I'm guessing that came in this first lap, as I shifted to 53x12 on the first lap to try and push it. That'd be the last time shifting into that gear.

I held my own on the first hill climb and the second descent, but the second hill climb really started to string people out. I was still "connected" to the lead pack by a short string of riders, and held that spot through the 3rd hill climb, at which point almost all of us leading stragglers started to space out.

I was able to keep my pace for the rest of the race, but definitely couldn't gain ground on the lead pack. I went solo for pretty much the rest of the race, just pushing my legs and lungs to the max. My only close encounter came somewhere in lap 4 when a rider from the Gopher Wheelmen club was looking down at his gear selection on the back right turn heading into the uphill. He started to stray into my line, which was already about 3 feet from the left curb, and there was another guy trying to pass me on the left as well. I held the line, but he didn't see himself pinching me. The guy on my left put his hand on my hip to tell me to hold my line, which I did, and he shouted (respectfully actually) to the other guy, who in turn corrected, but was too winded to respond verbally.

In retrospect, it would have been nice to pair up with someone to just ride, but from my memory, I don't remember anyone really holding a solid pace for the rest of the race. I don't recall many people passing me after about halfway through lap 4, so, had the results been recorded for the whole field, I think I would have had a decent placing overall, but who knows.

I didn't see the lead pack until approaching the start/finish line. They were all sitting up going over the top of the hill, so I'm thinking that I wasn't more than a minute behind them, but again, I'm not really sure.

The race took under 15 minutes. So assuming that the course was about a mile, we paced at about 24 mph over the whole race. Fast in my book.

My goal to finish with both wheels underneath me, in one piece, and without being lapped was accomplished. So one race down, 9 to go to meet my short-sighted road season goal of achieving upgrade status to Category 4 (need 10 mass-start races to upgrade).

Time and my results will tell if it will be worthwhile for me to actually upgrade to the 4's when the time comes, but either way, that's my goal.

Next race is the same thing next Tuesday. I overheard someone say that they add a lap each week as daylight becomes more available, so it might be a little longer.

What I learned:

-There are a lot more bike racers around here than I thought.
-My bike handling skills are much better than I thought they were, judging on a few others around me.
-My comfort level in a high-paced group was very high as well.
-I need to learn to hold the rider's wheel in front of me a little closer to take advantage of their draft better.
-I need to save a little more on the downhills to recover for the uphill.

Goals for next week:

-Finish right-side up again.
-Start closer to the front.
-Find a wheel in the lead pack and hold it longer.

I've caught the bug, and I like it. Can't wait for next week.

Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon

2009-04-08T14:56:00.003-05:00

Sunday, March 8, 2009
Lifetime Fitness - Eagan, MN

I've been putting off the blog, so checking in with a race report.

I went into this race to use it as a training day, and to see where I'm at with my level of fitness. The difference with this triathlon to the common triathlon, is that it is time-based, rather than distance-based. A "normal" tri consists of a person swimming, biking and running certain lengths, and then ranking that person against other competitors based on the time it took them to complete those distances.

This tri consists of a set time for each leg (10-minute swim, 30-minute bike, 20-minute run), then ranking the results based on the distance traveled. What's nice about it is, you know exactly when you're going to be done. The bad part is, that using indoor equipment (spin bike and treadmill) can create variables that may skew the results, primarily on the bike.

Knowing this, I do take the results with a grain of salt, but I still feel that I'm meeting my fitness goals rather nicely.

On with the report:

3:30 AM - Still awake at a couples' baby shower in Eagan. This was definitely not the plan, but it turned out that the shower-turned-party was a lot more fun than expected, so I decided to just go with it.

We went to a bar in Savage earlier in the evening that had a live cover band. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries at about 9:00 PM, and drank two beers, two captain cokes and one jag bomb. There was a very loud cover band playing, and they were really fun, so I didn't feel like going home early for bed. I didn't get drunk, by any means, but I definitely was not sober when we left the bar.

We went back to the hosts' house in Eagan, and opened up the taco bar leftovers. A few of us turned on some Wii Sports, until we discovered the ping-pong table downstairs.

After a double's double-elimination tournament, and then a single's tournament, all with just the guys on teams as most of the girls went to bed, I decided that it was probably a good idea to get home to get the bar smell off of me, get some water, and maybe a short nap before my planned arrival time of 7:00 AM.

5:45 AM - Arrive in the garage, head upstairs and pack the tri bag, set two alarms and take a short nap.

6:10 AM - Get a text from my bro-in-law (BIL) saying that our time has been pushed back until 8:50. Short response text saying I'll be there at 8:30. Reset alarms. Back to sleep.

8:30 AM - Arrive at LTF, sign in, change into swim wear and sweatpants, and head to the sauna to warm up and stretch while watching the wave of swimmers already in progress in the pool.

They arranged the start times by waves. The pool in Eagan has 5 narrow lanes, and they put 2 swimmers to a lane, so each wave can have 10 swimmers. They had 1 volunteer per lane counting pool lengths swam for the swimmers. Everyone received a nice swim cap for the race too. I got a blue one.

9:45 AM - Head out onto the pool deck and struggle to get the swim cap on over dry hair. I don't normally swim with caps, but triathlons require them, so c'est la vie. Actually, after this race, I've decided to start using them more often to get the hang of them. They actually do help a little too...at least through placebo effect, making you think you look like you know what you're doing.

9:47 AM - Jump in and do two warm up laps. Goggles fill with water twice, but I figure I'm just a little jittery and don't think twice about it.

9:50 AM - Whistle starts our wave. I push off the wall and my goggles immediately fill with water again. I realize that my swim cap is pulled down too low on my brow, causing my eyebrows to squish down and mess with the seal on my goggles. I didn't dare take of the cap all the way, knowing the trouble that would ensue in trying to get it back on, so I decide to just flip the front of it up an inch or so. Push off the wall again and all is well.

10:00 AM - Whistle blows. 19 pool lengths. I was gunning for at least 16, which I did in my own 10-minute test earlier in the week. I lost count, so it felt good to hear I beat my goal!

10:10 AM - They gave everyone set transition times to avoid running around the club. Ten minutes for transition 1 (T1), so I changed out of my jammers and into some tri/bike shorts and shirt and headed upstairs to the spin studio. Because the bike wave is 30 minutes, the wave before us were still spinning. They had two rows of spin bikes facing each other, so we were able to use the empty row. I get the bike all adjusted and clip in for a quick warm up to get the legs ready before the transition time was up.

The part I was concerned about going into the day, was how they were going to measure distance traveled on the spin bikes, as they don't have computers or odometers on them. Also, they resistance on them is manually changed, allowing for variation between bikes.

The answer to the first question was pretty obvious: they mounted simple bike computers onto the bikes, with the sensor measured equally on the spin wheel.

But for the second question, apparently the spin instructors came in beforehand and each took turns on each of the bikes judging and adjusting each of them to "feel the same" all the way down the line, then they just taped the knob so it couldn't be moved. We had no choice but to accept their judgment.

Now, my biggest goal was the bike portion, as that's what I've been training the hardest and most for since last fall. I wanted to do my best, even if the results were a little skewed, just to see my name towards the top of the standings.

The whistle blows right on time. The spin instructors take turns on some other bikes while on the mic and basically guide us through a miniature spin class. They made it very fun actually, cheering us all on, and throwing in some interval spins just to make us push ourselves harder. The resistance wasn't set at a very high level, relatively speaking, so it really came down to who could spin the fastest for the longest period of time. Time went very fast, and before I knew it, the whistle was blowing.

I was gassed. I really pushed myself hard, and had to sit for a minute to let the blood circulate back to my head. I unclipped and headed out to the treadmill.

10:55 AM - The whistle blows to start the run. They had volunteers wandering around helping people get set up and making sure we all kept our feet on the belt at all times. We could set the speed and incline however we wanted, but couldn't step off the belt unless we hit pause and stopped recording distance. I got up and running pretty quickly and held an 8:30 pace for the first few minutes, then slowly increased the speed throughout the rest. I felt very loose considering the bike portion, so with about 8 minutes left I upped the pace to about 7:10 and went for it.

I don't normally check heart rate, but my next big investment will be a decent heart rate monitor to help with training. But as I was running on the treadmill, I took one or too grabs on the handle bars to check the heart rate, just out of curiosity. The max I found was 184 with about 3 minutes left in the run. A little higher than I was expecting, but kind of fun to find it.

The whistle blows, and I end with 2.63 miles. Averages out to just under an 8:00 pace, which also beat my goal of 8:00 or better.

As I walked away, I realized that I didn't drink any water except while biking, and I definitely felt it. Probably should have taken at least 3 or 4 swigs while running. Good notes for next time.

The results took a few days to come out, but I ended up 5th out of 60 total participants. Much better than I was expecting, but deep down that's about where I wanted to finish.

Here's the rest:

Overall: 5/60
Men's Division: 4/23
Men's Open Division: 3/14

Breakdown by leg in the Men's Division:

Swim: 4/23 (19 pool lengths; 25 meter lengths)
Bike: 1/23 (15.6 "miles")
Run: 4/23 (2.63 miles)

That's right. I won my first bike race!!

Turns out, I "rode" 15.6 miles in 30 minutes; 0.4 miles farther than anyone else. Mathmatically, that turns into 31.2 miles per hour, which I highly doubt I could hold on a road bike outdoors for 30 minutes. But, it felt really good to blow that goal out of the water this early in the season.

All in all, it was a really great time, and most importantly, a very well-organized race. All the volunteers and LTF personnel were very friendly and helpful, and made great cheerleaders.

The bike race season officially starts on my calendar next Tuesday, so I'll have much more regular entries starting soon.

Let the endorphin flow kick into high gear!

Stoked!

2009-03-03T12:25:00.002-06:00

I have the absolute worst case of cabin fever right now.

Two weeks ago, nearly all of the snow had melted. The roads were clear (still had sand/gravel on the shoulders, but no ice), we saw 40 degrees one afternoon, and I swear I thought I could see buds forming on the cottonwood trees in our front yard.

I nearly switched the rear tire on my bike back to the road tire to take it outside for a ride, and I was seriously thinking about commuting into work a couple times.

But alas, the weather terrorists on Channel 9 were right last week and we got nailed with about 7 inches of snow, and we're back below freezing.

The roads are pretty clear, considering the mess that they were in last week, but the melt/refreeze that happens every day makes some pretty nasty ice slicks on the shoulders, so I'm still spinning away in the basement and at class, not moving anywhere.

I've actually seen significant gains in my (perceived) power and endurance lately. I've extended a few spin classes by showing up early and making the ride go for about 2 hours total. While on the trainer, I've been able to shift up to the big chainring (53 tooth) on my longer intervals comfortably.

But all I want to do is get out on the roads and ride. Ride hard!

I'm just feeding the fire inside of me by reading online racing forums and racer blogs from people in Texas and SoCal that are already racing outside (which reminds me that I need to update my blogroll...).

I've watched a few amateur races recorded from helmet cams that are posted on YouTube.

I've penciled all the local races that have been posted so far into my calendar (I'll post a list of my planned races and results as they come in soon), and even talked with the wife to "get permission" to make it to them, which, clearly, could have been the limiting factor in my little plan. Luckily, it didnt' take much more than presenting it as a replacement to my weekly hockey night. I think she definitely senses my excitement for it (or maybe she realizes how crabby I get when I don't get some serious exercise every couple days...). She is even planning on coming to some races. It really is great to have that support.

But, since the first true outdoor event isn't until mid-April, I've got to keep finding other outlets to unleash this competitive drive inside of me. Hockey is winding down with just 4 games left. Playoffs appear to be out of the picture for the team again this season, but after four seasons we're a completely different team (literally and figuratively).

Like I've said before, I am still planning on doing a couple triathlons on top of bike racing, so I've been able to get in some noon-hour swim workouts in a couple times a week. I've been laying off the running doing no more than 1 or two short runs a week. I still enjoy running, but I'm finding cycling to be much more enjoyable lately.

I'm planning on doing an indoor triathlon this weekend at my gym. It's a time-based race, rather than a typical distance-based race, so it's scored drastically different.

It's going to be a 10-minute swim, 30-min bike and 20-min run, with set transition times to allow for safe transitions around the club. The race officials measure the distance traveled over these set times, and your distances are ranked against other racers. After everyone finishes, your placing for each event/leg is given a numerical score based on a curve (longest distance gets highest number of points, shortest distance gets lowest number of points).

Your total score gives you your overall placing among the other racers.

My bro-in-law is planning on trying it this weekend as well. It's the perfect setting for people just getting into it or wanting to learn more about the sport. It will be his very first triathlon of any sort, so he's jumping in to check things out. If he likes it, he said he'll think about taking the leap and buying a road bike. If not, he still gets the competitive feel of it, without the major up front investment of the bike gear.

I'm really excited for the race, but I'm treating it more as a "where am I at" fitness litmus test heading into the season. My game plan right now is to push myself in the swim and bike, then just run as my body tells me so I don't hurt myself (specifically my knees) on the pounding conveyor belt of monotony.

I promise a race report. I'll bring a camera, but doubt there will be much opportunity for photo-ops.

Spinning 101

2009-01-29T12:28:00.005-06:00

I finally went to my first spinning class at the gym this morning. I picked up the group fitness schedule a couple weeks ago and marked today's class as the one I would join. I knew nobody, and the only thing I knew about the instructor was that his name is Rich. I hadn't sat on a stationary bike at the club yet, so I wanted to arrive early to figure out how to adjust everything and, more importantly, get a bike. The desk personnel told me that nearly every class has been packed, and that they had to turn people away more than once.

The class started at 5:30 AM, but I showed up at 4:55.

It was officially the earliest I had awoke since my son wasn't sleeping through the night, but getting out of bed was surprisingly easy. I didn't even get to bed until well after 11 PM either. It may have been that I've been psyching myself up over the class way too much. I'm not sure, but either way, as I type this, I'm still wide awake, and feeling good.

After walking through the main aerobic studio, past a middle-aged man performing martial arts in sweatpants and a polo shirt in front of the mirrored wall and exhaling very forcefully with every "strike," I opened the door to the spinning studio to find two other early risers. Both greeted me, even while warming up. Very welcoming and friendly so far.

From talking with friends that attend a class at a different club regularly, I knew that my mountain bike shoes with plain old SPD cleats would work with their pedal system. I was tempted to just wear my running shoes, but after trying a few pedal strokes, my shoes were way too soft, and I was sure that my feet would be really sore by the end of class. I dialed in the bike adjustments to shadow my road bike as best I could, and I actually think I got pretty close. I may have even discovered that I like my seat a little higher after trying a couple different comfortable heights.

I did my own light spinning while practicing changing the resistance and tried to relax a little from my new environment anxiety.

Soon, who I assumed was the instructor walked in and pulled a bike to the center of the room. The bikes were arranged in a semi-circle around the front and center of the room, with the sound system against the front wall. The instructor adjusted his bike quickly: Clink, clink, clink, and quickly grabbed a mixed CD from his bag. He is a middle-aged man, I'm guessing mid to late 50's, probably around 5'7" and around 150 pounds. He had a hat on and a very bright smile. He knew the other two cyclists on the other side of the room, and they began discussing a class they had last night.

Soon, there were about 10 of us all spinning slowly and going through our own warm-up routines. Not many people were talking, but almost everyone said hello as others strolled in.

Before I knew it, the room was packed, and every bike had a rider. The instructor hopped on his bike, turned on his mic, and started spinning crazily. I didn't see anyone copy his cadence, but he was cruising. He began guiding us through a very fast workout, probably 5 minutes total. Had I not showed up early, I probably wouldn't have warmed up entirely before starting the actual workout, but he probably took into account the fact that almost everyone there had been pedaling for 5 to 10 minutes already.

As we end the warm-up, Rich mentions that he is going to switch up his routine from the last couple weeks, and I hear a couple Uh oh's from behind me. I have no idea what this means, or the effect it's going to have on me, but I take their word that they have been showing up for the last couple weeks and are familiar with Rich's classes.

As luck would have it, being my very first group spinning class and all, Rich goes on to explain that he's going to throw a random hill climb workout at us today, with no warning of "hills" as we "approach" them.

He wasn't kidding either.

Something that I wasn't used to, nor good at on the real road, is standing and mashing the pedals. Well, instead of the typical interval workout that I've been doing in my basement, Rich's intervals consisted of alternating sitting and standing at a resistance where you are able to stand and pedal, but still be able to keep the cadence up. He called it jogging, but it felt more like a stair climb.

What I found most difficult about it was the fact that, unlike standing out of the saddle on the road bike, you can't pull the bike back and forth with your body, allowing you to keep your weight centered. On the stationary, you have to exert quite a bit of upper body strength to balance yourself while churning out the hills. I'm pretty sure my core muscles will be more sore than anything else due to this; not that it's a bad thing!

We did do a hill climb that was long and steady where we alternated sitting and standing with a higher cadence, also known as my preferred method for climbing.

Rich ended the workout rather abruptly, but gave everyone the option to keep going on their own cool down. Because he sprinted us to the finish, I needed to take a few minutes to wind down the heart rate. Most people just stopped and did a quick stretch. A few just hopped off and walked out without wiping down the bike or anything. Mental note for wiping everything down next week.

I felt that the workout was quite similar to being on the road, something that I was concerned about heading into it. The club posted a video of another class to get a glimpse of what goes on, and it seemed more like an aerobic class than a cycling class, pedaling to beats and yelling and counting. I won't discount that type of workout yet, as I haven't done it, but I do picture myself liking Rich's format a little more.

Another positive: just having someone tell you to do something that burns makes a big difference in how hard you push yourself. I knew this before. Really I did. But I thought I was able to push myself hard enough at home by myself. I'd feel the burn, go a little harder, then a little longer, then recover. But Rich, oh man. I was burning 5 minutes into the ride, and then he made us go harder. It was great. He even put mental images in our head of chasing down the leader of the pack in a group and racing to the next telephone pole up the hill; things that can be parlayed out onto the road quite easily.

I'm already looking forward to next week, and am actually tempted to grab a class early Saturday morning. But I think I'll pass this week to let my body soak it in a little more.

I also need to see how I feel tomorrow morning; the true litmus test of physical ability.

Securian Frozen Half Marathon, St. Paul, MN - Race Report - 24 Jan 2009

2009-01-27T10:37:00.011-06:00

3:30 PM - Day before the race. Receive an email from the race director informing all pre-registered racers that the race has been shortened to half the distance due to the extreme weather forecast. Reports were coming in of overnight temperatures in double-digits below zero Fahrenheit, with added wind chill factors making it feel well below -25.

So the race course is now a 1/4 marathon, or basically a 10K (10.25 to be exact). I find this somewhat disappointing as I've been mentally preparing for a big challenge. But deep down, like every other race I've ever done, I feel that I probably haven't trained as much as I should have to meet my goal of better than an 8:30 pace for the 13.1 miles, and it will probably be more enjoyable this way.

On the way home from work, I stop at the gym for a quick dip and stretch in the hot tub to loosen up a tight groin from hockey earlier in the week. Head home and have a healthy supper of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.

6:30 AM - Morning of the race. Alarm goes off and I only hit snooze once, then roll out and take a hot shower to wake up and warm the body up for the last time until after the race. The race starts at 9:00, and I need to drop off my son at the in-laws as my wife works nights and needs to go to bed when she gets home at 8:00 AM.

I eat some toast with peanut butter, with a small glass of milk, and another glass of grape juice. Son has his eggo waffles and we get dressed and head out the door.

7:30 AM - Arrive at the in-laws. Plans were to meet my brother-in-law there and I'd drive to the start of the race. Father-in-law offers to drop us off at the starting line. I decline at first, as I had some plans for after the race to meet some people at the Bulldog for some post race beers. He insists saying that I'll never find a parking spot. Not being in the mood to argue, I accept...at which point he heads downstairs to shower. Not in the playbook, and definitely not excited about his decision.

7:51 AM - Morning news reports a temperature of -11 degrees F, with a 10-15 mph wind out of the northwest.

8:00 AM - Original planned arrival time to the race. Actual time that my father-in-law turns off the shower.

8:10 AM - Habitually late brother-in-law strolls in.

8:15 AM - Actual time of departure from in-laws.

8:40 AM - Arrive at the race packet pick-up in the Securian building. No lines, swift pick-up and pin on the race bib without any snags.

8:45 AM - Head to an upper level of the Securian Building Atrium to get above the cold drafts to stretch lightly. I decide to buy a race t-shirt now, instead of after the race. I like the technical shirts that most races offer now, so I find it hard to pass them up.

Pull the shirt on over my under shirt, put my jacket back on and start the layer finalization.

8:52 AM - Race announcement stating 8 minutes until race time. I strap on my face covering (a small fleece scarf with velcro enclosures; I really like it!) and pull on the mittens.

8:54 AM - Start walking towards the door to head to the starting line. Surprised to see so many people staying inside until the last minute.

8:59 AM - Standing about 50 feet back from the starting line. Look around and notice the herd of people just starting to come out to the line. There's no way they'll line up in time.

9:00 AM - No gun. Race director decides to wait for the late-comers. My biggest pet peeve of mass races: waiting for people to line up. Especially when it's below zero. Everyone is starting to hop and shuffle trying to keep warm. I start to feel my toes go cold.

9:06 AM - Horn finally sounds for the start, and, of course, the accordion effect happens three times before we actually spread out and start running.

After crossing the starting line, we run about a block before approaching a steep downhill to Shepard Road. Because it's an out-and-back course, it's nice to see the monster that awaits us in the final quarter mile. Well, nice might not be the word I'm looking for...

View of the hill, looking out from the starting line to where the front of the pack drops off down the hill in front. Picture taken by my friend Jimmy:

The field spreads out very nicely within the first mile. Unlike most races, it seems like most everyone is calculating their pace accurately. Nobody sprinted all out at the start, and nobody seems to be dropping or passing noticeably.

Mile Marker 1 - Exactly 7:50 on my watch, and the pace is very comfortable. I notice that my toes are still cold, and my shoes seem very hard from the temperature. I occasionally curl my toes trying to get the blood flowing again. I chose to wear only one pair of socks, as I usually get blisters on my arches wearing any more. I begin to think that this may have been the only mistake in my attire.

Mile Marker 2 - There isn't a mile marker in sight, but judging from our pace I'm pretty sure of where it should be. I'm assuming a solid 8-minute pace, and the watch just turned 16:00. My toes actually warmed up, and I feel myself starting to sweat a little more. Overall, I feel pretty comfortable. The only skin that was exposed was the bridge of my nose and my eyelids, and those feel warm as well...except for the ice forming on my eyelashes. We were running west on Shepard road, therefore directly into the wind. The cold was causing my eyes to water a little, and the tears were freezing before they could even reach my cheeks. I didn't dare rub my eyes, so I just let the crystals form.

Mile Marker 3 - The race leaders pass us on their way back after the turn around. We clap, cheering them on. They look so cool and make each stride seem effortless. We can see the turn-around approaching, and veer to the left of the road so as to avoid the sweeping turn of everyone else. We confirm with each other that we're not stopping for water, so our move to the left was even more justified as the water stop was to the right. I notice a race volunteer throwing sand down after the water stop. It had already become an ice slick from spilled water. Solid ice about 3 feet wide and 20 feet long. Glad we moved left.

There aren't any mile markers for the remainder of the race. Because we were no longer running into the wind, I thought it should be okay to pull down my face covering to expose my nose and free up my airway a little. I decide to keep my mouth covered to keep my lungs from burning completely with the cold air. The fleece had frozen solid with frost, and I couldn't really move the scarf that much without taking it off completely.

We pass the turnaround for the 5K race, so that makes 1.5 miles left. Our pace has held steady, so we kicked it down just a little for the last mile.

As we approach the monster hill, many people just stop running to walk it. Nobody moves over, so we sidestep a few people and chug our way to the top. It actually felt steeper running down, and I was pleasantly surprised how good I felt on my tip toes running up. My calves were definitely burning when I reached the top, and I didn't feel up to exerting a kick to cross the finish.

The final block is always the best part of any running race. This one in particular, because there weren't more than 50 people along the rest of the course cheering...including volunteers. There were actually quite a few people cheering at the line, and the music was blaring. The race announcer was calling off names of people as they crossed the line. I'm not sure if mine was called or not, but I think I crossed with a small group of people, so I doubt it.

I waddle through the finish chute to get my timing chip clipped off of my shoe. There were about 6 or 7 people on the ground ready to clip, and they were spread out nicely so there wasn't any wait. I hate it when there's a back up of racers just steps from the finish line for something trivial like the race chips.

On a side note: the race chips used in this race were different from any I had ever used before. They were just like a small credit card (about half the size of a normal credit card) and had four holes so you could zip-tie them to your shoe. They were very convenient, and were a lot lighter than the normal circular magnets that I've used before.

My brother-in-law's phone goes off just after we cross, and it's my father-in-law calling to see where we're at. He can't hear himself talk as we're standing directly in front of the speakers, so to resolve the problem, he hands me the phone to talk to him, like I can hear better or something.

I utter something, still trying to catch my breath from the hill climb, and lean against a building to stop and talk and arrange a pick-up. We agree on a spot and I lean forward to start walking, but my hat and shoulder both froze to the marble facade of the Securian sky scraper. It was kind of funny, but I pulled off pretty easily and went inside to grab the post race goodies.

Upon entering, I start to unwrap some layers. I peel off my face covering, and it stays molded in the shape of my face. I turn it over, and my BIL immediately turns away. There's about an inch-long snotcicle hanging off of the mold of my nose. It was kind of awesome if you ask me.

I try to unzip my jacket, but all my zippers were frozen solid. We wander around the line, pick up our mugs and grab a few complimentary energy bars and bottles of water and head out to meet my FIL. He couldn't get any closer than a couple blocks from the finish due to the road being closed and one-ways, so we just decide to walk out to him.

While we're walking, I feel my hat and mittens refreeze. It felt a lot colder now that my heart rate had lowered, and I could really feel the wind biting through my jacket.

We find him parked illegally on the corner of a nearby intersection waiting for us. The warmth is refreshing. We head back to the in-laws place and my FIL makes us some excellent scrambled eggs and my son eats a PB&J with us for lunch.

I decide to change quick and run back up to downtown to meet a few people for a beer at the Bulldog, as my original plan could still be salvaged. I was delighted to find a free parking spot right on the street in downtown, just two blocks from the bar. My friends were there, and I enjoyed a delicious red beer (can't remember the name of it though, unfortunately).

I really enjoyed this race, and plan to do it again next year. It was very well organized, and could accomodate a much larger number of racers. It's a very nice route on a divided highway type of road, with a generally flat (except for the hill at the start/finish) and well taken care of road. Runners utilize both sides of the median, so it never feels crowded along the route at all. Not much scenery despite the fact that you follow the river. Had we run the full course, we would have gotten a little more of the riverside. But then again, it was pretty hard to see anything other than the road directly in front of my feet with ice covered eyelashes.

I'll post more photos soon.

Race summary:

Weather: Partly cloudy. -15 F official race temp. 10-15 mph wind.
Total distance: 10.25k (13.1 miles shortened to ~6.5 miles due to extreme weather)
Race time: 50:28
Race pace: 7:56
Place: 239 of 663

Frozen Half Marathon

2009-01-15T11:06:00.006-06:00

As I walked into my garage this morning to start my car, my digital thermometer read -26 degrees F. My car started just fine, unlike a few others at the office today. Several had frozen batteries. Others just needed to wait for a jump start to turn over the crank shafts. A few others had to stay home with children as most of the schools in Minnesota are closed due to the cold. That's right, not a snow day, or ice, or wind. It's just plain too cold to be outside.

So what a great time to register for an outdoor running race!

I've been planning on doing it for a few months, but I made it official today by registering online for the Frozen Half Marathon in St. Paul.

As I've said before, I have run a couple marathons, and my last solo race (outside of the triathlon and RAGNAR Relay last summer) was a half marathon at Grandma's Marathon in 2007. I paced at 8:30 miles then, and that's what I'm shooting for next weekend again.

I will admit, I haven't run nearly as much as I think I should have. I run, on average, about 4 miles a week. My longest run in the last year was 8.5 miles, and that was back in September.

My total distance during RAGNAR (last August) was about 14 miles, split out over three legs, so I know I have the distance in me. I truly feel that dividing up the mileage over three separate runs over 48 hours was a lot more difficult that running it all at once as well, so I think this should go smoothly.

My reasoning for not running high mileage: I have been cycling on the trainer 2-3 times a week; rotating random interval workouts with 1-2 hour high tempo spins.

I've also done something that I said I wouldn't do again: joined a gym. I joined primarily for the use of the pool, to be honest. I really want to improve my overall cardiovascular fitness, and I saw major benefits last year after just 3 months in the pool, twice a week, 25 minutes sessions. Everything from lung capacity, to anaerobic threshold during short runs improved dramatically last year, and I want to build up a base again and try to work swimming into my weekly routine full time. My first triathlon of the year is slated for June 14, so I have a while before my first swimming race, but I just wanted to get my butt in there and start earlier and get the routine down so I can really put the hammer down this year early in the race and cut a few minutes off.

I'm currently compiling my list of annoying and disgusting observations that I've had in my first week back in the gym, so I'll save that rant for another post, but I will say that, deep down, I missed going to a gym, and am very happy that I signed up again.

My third day in the gym, I did another thing I said I'd avoid with all my might: run on a treadmill.

After just one mile, I immediately remembered why I said I'd never do it again. The clunking with every step; trying to find that right pace setting with slippery buttons; being surrounded by a bunch of other people's clunking footsteps; and most importantly: it's friggin' hot without a fan and not being able to take off your shirt. It's got to be at least 78 degrees in the cardio room, then add all the respiration and perspiration from all the new year's resolution people (item number one of my upcoming list of observations, btw) and it makes for an overly sweaty run. I'm talking steam room sweaty.

I ended up running just 3 miles on the treadmill, and tried another 3 two days later. I came to the conclusion that I'd much rather endure the cold and ice covered sidewalks for my runs. I'm pretty sure I have all the necessary clothes for the 2 hour run next weekend. The one thing I still need to pick up is something to cover my face should the temperature stick around below zero. Anything out of the single digits (above zero) and I can get away without a face covering, but the race starts at 9 am, so I just want to have my bases covered should there be a long wait at the starting line or something.

I haven't been outside for anything but running though lately, and there isn't anything else to report on other than the slow build up of training that I'm planning in the next couple weeks in preparation for spring.

I'll be sure to post a race report of the Frozen Half after I cross the line. I'm hoping there will be someone to take pics, 'cuz as the saying goes, "Pictures, or it didn't happen."

The good news is that I'm planning a small gathering near the finish, and this will be the picture in my head as snot freezes to my upper lip:

There is a possibility that the only pictures you'll see will be me holding a pint of a yummy wheat beer, but I'll do my best to post actual evidence of my pursuit of endorphin release.

Four Degrees

2008-12-08T09:56:00.006-06:00

Fahrenheit.

That was the temperature as I loaded my mountain bike into my trunk yesterday morning. My friend (that is an avid racer) and I try to organize a ride almost weekly. But, as he has three boys, and I have one of my own, plus a wife that has an abnormal work schedule, finding several hours of daylight to myself and making them mesh with his schedule rarely happens.

Yesterday proved to be an exception, though, and we decided a few days prior that we were going to ride, rain or shine.

It turns out that neither of those factors came into play though.

We met one of his teammates down at the trailhead, making a threesome consisting of two very experienced racers and me. My last experience with his team, back in August, ended up with me doing an endo over a ledge onto a river bank, sucking wind for 13 miles of singletrack, a nice gash on my shin from climbing over some fallen trees with my bike over my shoulder, and a new helmet as I crushed mine on a low-hanging branch that I thought I could squeeze under. It was a blast. Really, I mean it!

As we were putting our wheels onto our bikes (needing to disassemble them to fit them into my car) and packing our jersey pockets, the other guy (which is really nice, btw) recommended I put my water bottle in my pocket rather than on the bike frame. The thought hadn't occurred to me, but unless I wanted to actually drink the water and not make a cocktail with the ice from my water bottle later in the day, I felt his advice was good knowledge to take.

The cold isn't something new to me, as I actually like running outdoors in the winter. So dressing for the weather wasn't a big concern, and I was quite prepared heading into the ride after a quick stop at the bike shop for some bike-specific gear that I didn't already have in my closet (shoe covers and cycling-specific two-finger gloves). The keys to extreme-cold activities are layers and moisture control. The hardest part is figuring how many layers are too many, thus making you sweat and get wet, thus making you cold and wet. Really, it takes just one or two cold workouts to figure out what's right for you. Every body regulates its temperature differently, so I'm not even going to try to recommend what will make you comfortable. Just remember: layers.

My biggest concern was simply how I was going to handle my bike in snow. We've had a few inches of snow in the last week or two, and I've never ridden a bike after the first snowflake. Ever. After letting the guys know this one last time before departure, I was reassured that it wasn't that different than everyday riding, just a little slower. Within minutes I found that this was actually pretty accurate.

After falling 3 times in the first mile of singletrack though, the most apparent difference (other than the cold, of course) was that I had way too much air in my tires. My front tire was sliding all over the place, and I could literally feel my rear tire spinning with each push on the pedals. At the first water crossing, we stopped and I asked the guys' opinion, and they immediately said it wouldn't hurt to deflate the tires a bit. I'm not sure what I deflated them to, but there was noticable give in the sidewalls after I finished, and it made a world of difference in the grip of the trail.

Our plan was to do an out and back along the eastern portion of the Minnesota River Bottoms Trail, starting under the south side of the Cedar Avenue Bridge.

We crossed the narrow foot/bike bridge over the newer section of the bridge that crosses the actual river channel, then wound around the inlets and ponds on the north side of river banks. Unfortunately, as I was concentrating way too hard on balancing for the majority of the first half of the ride, I had tunnel vision and was just focusing on the wheels ahead of me, trying to follow their tracks, so I didn't really keep track of which trail diversions we followed. We did cross a few sections of open creek beds with running water, and a few boardwalks, then looped back under the north side of the new Cedar Ave Bridge and went east for about a mile or two, winding around some of the man-made run-off ponds in the area.

We checked out the ice cover below the old Cedar Bridge with hopes that we could cross the water and join up with the trail leading off of the new bridge and get right back across the river to our cars. We walked our bikes on the ice out through the reeds about 30 feet. No cracks or creaking, but we unanimously decided that it was probably too early in the season to take any chances.

We saw a few others enjoying the quiet trail early on a Sunday morning: a few people walking their dogs, two runners that, incidentally, weren't actually running when we passed them, and a group ride from one of the other local bike racing teams that was fairly strung out along a portion of the trail.

Overall, my first impression of snow-riding was that I couldn't believe I hadn't tried it until now. The trails were in excellent condition, and the little snow cover that we have was already quite firm. I never knew any of the wildlife areas we encountered existed until yesterday. There are gorgeous trails winding all around the "islands" next to the river, complete with trail signs and scenic viewing areas.

As for the weather, had it been any warmer, I definitely would have been too warm with what I wore. I'll probably dress lighter the next time I'm out, just so I don't sweat quite as much, but will most likely pack a light insulatory shirt in a pocket just in case.

My only regret was not taking a camera. I plan to make it out again very soon now that I know what to expect. I'll definitely take more time around the scenic areas, and try to document the beauty of them with hopes that more people will check out the alternative way to cross the river, well, at least half of it...

Speaking of which, the City of Bloomington, owner of the defunct "Old Cedar Ave Bridge," announced that it is currently conducting a feasibility study on the demolition and reconstruction of a pedestrian bridge to reconnect the trail that is now barracaded on either side of Long Meadow Lake (the "pond" on the north bank of the river). I've been following this project for the last year or two as it's made the local news a couple times, and because I've taken to the roads on bicycle a bit more lately. The city has supposedly allocated a couple million dollars for its renovation, but initial studies have pretty much ruled out the possibility of restoration and inclusion in the National Registry of Historical Structures/Places without additional funding...which is pretty much out of the question with today's economy and local city and state budgets being announced.

Not Much to Write about...

2008-12-02T10:44:00.008-06:00

There isn't a lot to write about since my first/last post here. I haven't raced at all yet, as the cycling season is over for the year here in Minnesota.

We had an excellent autumn: several weeks of mornings with temperatures in the low 50's and upper 40's (Fahrenheit), then afternoons in the 70's. I commuted by bike a couple times a week, which I found to be a lot more convenient and refreshing than I ever imagined. It's about 9 miles one way. After a few weeks, I left earlier in the morning and extended the route to add some mileage. I'm fortunate enough to have accessible showers and lockers at work, so getting sweaty is not an issue. I'm not die-hard enough to bundle all the way up and sweat it out in the freezing temps, but I'm really looking forward to next spring. I'd like to shoot for commuting at least 3 days a week. I don't see myself commuting by bike everyday due to activities after work with my son, and my wife works one or two nights a week, getting home around 8 am. If I were to bike to work, I generally wouldn't be at my desk until after nine, and that's just a little too late for my taste (and my boss' taste, I'm sure).

Winter finally came just a couple weeks ago, and with one last weekend ride outdoors (29.5 miles), with the afternoon temperature reaching a high of 33 degrees, I decided to officially switch the rear tire to the bright orange trainer tire. The bike is now mounted into a stationary trainer like this:

The whole set-up:

I've started my own training regimen, that consists of elements snatched and pieced together from different cycling blogs and forums. Right now, I'm taking a shot at intervals, trying to boost my power output. I have no idea what my current power output is, so I have no before/after stats to compare, but I'd like to think that the burn is helping something.

I typically do a 10 minute basic warm-up, consisting of a couple minutes at an easy spin with very little resistance, then slowly build up the resistance (by switching to higher gears) one minute at a time, then take 2 minutes of an easy spin at the end, then hop off for a very quick, light stretch.

The two different interval sets I'm trying are 1x1' (one by one minute) and 2x20' (two by twenty minute) intervals. 1x1's consist of one minute at near-peak exertion, then one minute at a low resistance spin for recovery. I usually start with 30-45 second intervals at first, for 4 or 5 sets, then bump up to one minute sets until fatigue, which is usually after 7 or 8 sets.

For the 2x20's, I typically spin at about 70-80 percent of my perceived exertion (as that's all I really have for reference) for 20 minutes after the warm-up, then take a 5 minute recovery at a high cadence/tempo with very little resistance, then do another 20 minute interval at a slightly higher resistance.

I've already seen vast improvement in my level of comfort in just three weeks of doing these intervals, rotating them every other workout, just two days per week. What's nice about these is that each workout only takes about an hour, including warm-up, stretching, cool down, and stretching afterwards, and I'm pretty spent at the end of each of them. Anything longer than a hour of staring at the wall and out the window, and I think I might go Jack Torrance on my family.

This is hockey season as well, and I'm still playing in a "competitive" men's league once a week. So I've been counting that as some lower body cross training. I also get some short runs in about every other week, and get some high-rep upper body lifting once or twice a week to keep the core and auxiliary muscles in shape for other activities.

Right now, I'm setting my sights on my first bike race for Mid-April, as that's what I'm seeing as the beginning of the racing season around here.

For the record, my goal is to achieve Cat 4 level by mid-summer (which simply consists of racing in 10 mass start races), and entering at least two sprint triathlons this summer. The first triathlon is in late-June back in my hometown in southern Minnesota. Haven't picked out a second yet.

The swimming is going to start sometime in January. That is my worst event in the triathlon by far, and my least favorite for which to train. But I did see progress last winter through my very limited training, so I'm kind of looking forward to tracking my progress this year as I have a little better idea of what I'm doing.

So for now, don't expect many posts. If I come across anything that I add and find interesting or worthwhile, I'll write about it.

Otherwise just assume that I'm spinning away in my basement with my earbuds and playing beer league hockey.

Therapy

2008-10-02T15:27:00.002-05:00

As a self-diagnosed ADHD adult, I have learned a lot about what exercise can do to stimulate concentration, happiness, and regular sleep and digestive patterns. TMI, I'm sure, but I have first-hand experience, and believe that exercise is what keeps me from going postal on my boss who insists on having me embed a functional spreadsheet into a slide presentation using our new 2008 productivity platform for Macs.

Addictive Exertion is about my therapy: exercise; and my never-ending pursuit of sweating profusely. I have found nothing as relieving as getting the heart rate racing above 150 bpm and feeling the burn. Nor have I found anything as addicting as the feeling you get immediately after a great workout where your body was (cliche alert) "in the groove" and "burning all cylinders."

I didn't discover my "addiction" until after college, but in hindsight, it's always been in control of my emotions... I just hadn't taken the time off to realize it. When my son was born, I found that my world was completely turned upside down. This 8 pound 11 ounce new world order made everything else that had ever mattered to me come in a distant second to his tummy giggle. I still kept quite active with a couple activities, but nowhere near what I was used to. It didn't take very long to realize the inverse relationship between my physical activity level and my level of anxiety/tension/depression. I'd have mood swings. My wife and I would argue over simple conversations. My irritability factor seemed through the roof. I needed a change, and needed to promote exercise on my priority list so that I could fit it into my life without de-prioritizing the important things.

I continue to run, but my knees, like so many others', are starting to get a little creaky, and the pain is starting to hang around longer with my long runs. I've gotten back to playing hockey once a week in the winters, and I've noticed a huge difference with that alone. But that leaves the warm months with a void to fill.

After buying my first road bicycle last year, and logging several hundred miles on it this season, I've discovered a new method for exercise that is one of the most addictive euphorias I've ever experienced. I started the spring season with the MN Ironman Bike Ride in late April. I really hadn't done much for training or riding: started spinning on the indoor trainer while snow was still on the ground, and had gotten outside just 3 times before the ride, all of which while not really knowing what I was doing. Started the ride at 35 degrees outside temp, with a little breeze, clouds, and occasional drizzle. My friends that had signed up with me originally had backed out after looking at the forecast. I called them on my way to the ride, and within minutes guilt-tripped them into joining me. We chugged through it, making it the longest ride any of us had ever ridden (62 miles). We went out for beer and wings afterwards, and felt our muscles tighten with each bite.

But, what I quickly realized was that finishing a strenuous ride doesn't hurt like running does. No joint pain. No back pain. I could still walk normally. I didn't wince at the site of stairs. I was just plain tired, and had this warm feeling of endorphins rushing through my cardiovascular system. I couldn't wait to get on the bike again.

My next registered event on tap was a sprint triathlon back in my hometown. My training wasn't rigorous, but had some structure involved, and proved to be somewhat productive. My finish time was better than I had aimed for, and my desire to continue these races escalated exponentially.

I'm hooked.

And having a neighbor that is "extreme" when it comes to the local cycling scene is only adding fuel to the fire. He has talked me into getting my racing license next season (which consists of just signing up and paying a fee) and signing up for some races.

My sketched plan for this web log is to simply hold myself accountable for my training, and to track my progress and how an average joe like me is accomplishing (or not accomplishing) my goals.

I don't have the sparkle in my eyes to "go pro" with this endeavor, nor the interest. I just want to keep myself on the track of sanity, try something that is still new to me by diving in head first, have some fun, and share this addiction with anyone that feels like reading about it.