Life

I'm learning that the difficulty of training for a big event is the training lasts for so long. Months! Meanwhile life goes on despite the training and finding all the time to get out and do it is difficult. Just getting home to help with dinner is tough then life happens and says, "Oh yeah, you need to pack and move now too." "Don't forget about... (fill in blank; repeat)." It's just tough to show up every week and every day and get it done. But I've always said that cycling isn't something you do in your spare time, it's something you make time for. I think that applies to all those important things that save our sanity and make living life worth the while. So I make the time.

As the event gets bigger the tendrils of training reach deeper into those other areas of life that were once completely non-cycling. I have to make a point to drink water all day today so I'm hydrated for my ride after work. I have to eat lunch because an empty stomach will screw up my recovery and destroy my next ride and that next ride just isn't optional. It's tough, it's work and it is so valuable, but not how you think. The value is found once I get life done and I find those quiet moments during my ride. Suffering up that climb, or digging deeper during this interval... life and all it's distractions fade like the dream from last night with all those vivid details and colors, but now you can't even recall the gist of it. That's when it gets sublime and you just breath deeper and pedal harder because nothing else matters.

I'm in my second four-week training block from Alison Dunlap's Coaching program and oddly it's getting easier. This block focuses on climbing and climbing strength. It isn't easy but getting up the climbs is. My metabolism is in another gear, I'm eating constantly but still losing a bit more weight. Meanwhile I'm watching all these different physical parameters for the Restwise program and it's amazing how my big efforts show up. Most mornings I wake up and my resting heart rate is in the low 50s or high 40s, but on those tougher weeks I can't even lower it into the mid-50s even if I feel fine. It just amazing to me to see and these subtle changes to my body and physiology over the months.

Well it's Memorial Day weekend and Patsy and I heading up the Lake Tahoe for a break and to see some family. While there I'm going to ride around the lake which is about 72 miles at elevation and we will see how I respond. Even if I suffer, break and need a ride home, it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful rides and will be celebrated next weekend with the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride event, so how can I lose? 


-PW

2009 Leadville 100 Results

1427 riders registered
1230 started (197 DNS)
973 finished (257 DNF)
888 finished under 12 hours
128 finished under 9 hours
This could be tough.

Thoughts and numbers

Still training... My maximum heart rate is still 192 beats per minute (bpm), but my lactate threshold has moved up from 170 to 172 bpm while my resting heart rate is moving down from 52 bpm to 50 or 49... that one seems to be moving around a bit. So far I've covered over 1,000 miles in preparation. I feel good and I'm strong, but now it's the elevation that worries me. It's funny, but my training so far has been guided by the little things that people say. I asked Justin about his training program and he emphasized intensity. At that time most of my rides were moderate so I added a couple intense rides then did the Breakaway Ride and that was definitely intense! Now I'm going to incorporate a couple of mountain bikes races into my program because you just can't simulate racing intensity on a training ride. The Downieville Classic and the Elings Park Bike Festival are now on my calendar. I've always wanted to do Downieville and Elings would be cool because it's in Santa Barbara... I could ride to a race then ride home! Although according to Patsy the event permits are still pending. Bummer. Big Bear would be a perfect race, but due to the late snow season, it's been postponed and not it'll likely be too late for me.

Then the other day Win asked if I've ridden 100 miles on my mountain bike yet. Seems like an obvious thing to try before Leadville, but I hadn't thought of it... So now that is on my plate. And I ran a cross an ad for Alison Dunlap Coaching. Alison was a pro mountain biker and former world champion and now she's parlayed that into coaching... as is everyone. What's different is 1) her program is cheaper, about $60 per month and 2) its more like a training regimen than a coaching program. Each month you get a new 28-Day training block, you do it and then you get the next block. No performance review, etc. They have samples of their programs available for trial so I'm trying the block for +8 hour Endurance events. I'm on the first week and the intervals are killer. Killer painful, not killer good. Well, maybe good, but my legs hurt. There's some weight training involved too so I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in over a year. Developing some upper body strength and endurance will help.

The Restwise is a cool program. Now that I'm more than a month into it the algorithm is more stable and it seems to pick up my harder training days as well as my rest days.The results look like this:

The colors on the graph are different components of the evaluation. The reassurance that I haven't overdone it helps me emotionally, at least. Also the daily assessment of how I'm feeling is a good way to force some self evaluation. So, I like the program.

I've realized why people use Win as a mechanic so much. Yes he's good and you get you bike back quickly, but between working, training and trying to be home for dinner, I have no time to work on my bike. It's filthy which is rare for my bikes, but the other morning I got up early to work on it before work... And I'm not talking about new gadgets or toys, I'm talking about basic maintenance: a new chain, tire and brake pads. Cleaning? No way! If Win were local I would have happily paid him to do it. Alright - back to it.

-PW

Breakaway Ride, Thousand Oaks, 2010

Wow! That was a great day. Despite starting with a solid headache and stopping once for mechanical/pee/water, I finished 23 of the 311 riders who did Medium length course.

Just the numbers here:

• I finished my first trip up the Rock Store climb in 17:33. Not earth shattering by any stretch, but my previous personal best was about 19:30.
• I finished the whole event in 4 hours, when I was hoping for 4:30 or better.
• I avoided one water bottle at +30 mph, one CO2 cartridge and barely missed the guy in front of me touching wheels in a pack and hitting the pavement. Oddly, I just watched him go down and didn't flinch, which likely stopped a possible chain reaction with all the riders behind me. The rider was okay.

Without shame I grabbed every passing wheel I could and sat on in their draft to save energy. I think that really made a difference; physiologically or just psychologically, I don't care. I'll be using that tactic in Leadville. "You want to lead? No problem - I'm good right back here buddy." Also, Hammer Nutrition's liquid only energy plan worked beautifully. I saw way too many people stretching, rubbing out cramps and bonking out there... as I rode passed. And a big thank you the CycleTo.com for the free entry! I also made a donation to the supported funds to help out. If you'd like to help with a donation you can donate any amount here: http://www.active.com/donate/breakawayride2

All my numbers in detail: http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/detail/805846198

I'm not fast, but I'm faster then I've even been and feel great.
Thanks for reading. -PW

PS: Patrick Dempsey? No show due to "injury."

Oops! Nevermind.

This whole heartrate/overtraining thing has been stressful. So yesterday, with pent up frustration, I went out for a short, but hard ride. I wanted to see exactly what my maximum heartrate is right so I headed up Las Canoas Road which has a nice 11-12% section. I pushed, my heartrate responded so I pushed harder and it kept climbing. By the top of this climb which usually kicks my butt, I was out of the saddle, third gear, in a full sprint! And my heartrate is fine. My heartrate monitor is fine. I max'ed out at 192 bpm, which is exactly where is was 3 months ago. The only thing that is different is I'm fit. I'm in shape. Thus my body doesn't have to work as hard for the same output. I'm chalking this up to operator error. Stupid operator.

-PW

The luck rolls on!

For training motivation I've been considering entering a couple organized cycling events, like the Mulholland Challenge. These are non-competitive events where hundreds of riders come together and ride a course with full support, including rest stops, bathrooms and water stations. They're fun, but cost money because they're usually fund raisers. One ride I was considering was the Breakaway Ride where to support cancer research you follow an actual stage of the professional Tour of California race. $125 gets you in with a tshirt, support, lunch after, etc. $150 get you a jersey and for $500 you get to rub elbows with Patrick Dempsey, whose mother had ovarian cancer. It sounded cool, but I wasn't convinced to spend the cash. Then I ran across a link from George Hincapie on Twitter about a drawing for a free entry. Signed up, forgot about and yup, I won. Free entry!! So I'll be out there Sunday following Stage 8 of the TOC for extra training. It might rain, but all the routes are familiar and as Michael says, I need the miles. Oh! And since Win is supporting the event, I'll have my own personal support crew on course. Sweet!

In other news, my allergies are finally controlled!!! Woo hooo!!!! Thanks to a great optician and a new allergy drug called Xyzal. Praise God for Xyzal!! I'm sleeping, I'm mostly breathing well and my eye are not itching!!! And as far as I can tell I don't have any side-effects. I'm not tired, my skin isn't dried out and I feel great. The rest and recovery time has really helped too - I rode a bit and felt really strong. Peace!

-PW

Forced rest.

I have been off the bike for a week now. Last week, with signs of overtraining, I went really easy. On previous rides, I noticed my anaerobic threshold (AT) and maximum heart rate has dropped significantly. Those can be early signs of overtraining and are certain signs of not recovering enough or overreaching.

This week, zero miles to date. So March saw almost 300 miles total, more than February, but less then I'd been aiming for. Now my allergies are winning and I'm doped up on herbs, OTC, Rx and steroids to try and control them. Wednedsay my left eye swelled half shut. I've been indoors as much as possible since. Fun. I want to ride, but maybe the forced time off is what my body needs and this is all a blessing in disguise. An itchy, painful, annoying disguise. Time will tell.

Still no coach, but I have signed up with Restwise. Daily I input data from my resting heart rate, hours slept, to how my energy level is and even the color of my urine. Restwise takes all this data and helps determine my level of recovery and suggests whether I should continue training or if I should take a rest day. Most of the data is simple and subjective, but it's interesting and the gadget to measure my resting heart rate and oxygen saturation (SP02) level is pretty cool. It'll be interesting to see how the numbers change as training resumes. So, I have a new toy at least. And now wheels too, for my MTB. Shimano 29er mountain wheels. They're nice and I can't wait to mount them and get some milage in. In due time. Until then I'm going to rest, enjoy Easter and keep getting my butt kicked in Words with Friends by Patsy. Fun.

-PW