Basic Week

Here is a pic from a while back when I was down in Wanaka for the Challenge race. That's Bevan James with me. You can hear him in all his raspy glory on the Ironman Talk podcast. I hosted the show with him that day while Johhny Newsome was out hammering the bike. Doing the podcast with Bevan is always a huge laugh for me!


I'm still down in New Zealand taking advantage of the nice summer weather and long days. The week after Epic was a bit of a recovery week for me. I wanted to take a some time to let things heal up so I could focus on my next task at hand which would be consistent weeks of training. I don't really enjoy these kinds of blogs because I find talking about training in too much depth to be boring and unnecessary for my blog. But since this is going to be my first year racing pro and my first year with an actual coach I figure I would take time once and a while and break it down.


I meet with Gordo, my coach, after Epic and we came up with my game plan for the rest of my time in NZ. The plan was built around the idea that I will be racing Wildflower in May and then Ironman CDA in June. Of course everything I am doing right now is built first on the idea of health.


Gordo is not a coach that is going to give you workouts on a daily basis. His philosophy, which I strongly believe in, is doing the same "week" for blocks of time and then building off of each block. I like that because it lets you have a set schedule and you can then manage the rest of your life around it. I am amazed at how well this process works for me. I have not been doing it like this for very long and already can't figure out how I trained before this.


Here is what my week looks like:

MONDAY-
Rolly swim (He is the squad coach) >6K.

JZ workout (Joanna Zeiger hooked me up with a really good gym routine that helps me not only build some strength but also ads to my flexibility issues. Gordo has added to that routine as well.)

Optional 90-180 Brick. Mostly I will just commute on the bike to the pool and do a 30 min run. If I am too tired I ditch that so that I can be sharp for the rest of the week.

TUESDAY-

Rolly Swim >4K

Gorges ride. That is one of the long rides we have here in CHC. It takes you out to the base of the hills for some rollers and then has a really nice long stretch that is a good hour 30 of either nasty head wind or sweet ass tail depending on the weather. I have yet to get a nice piece of tail. The ride from my place is 165K

Easy run 30-45 min. I don't really run straight off the bike yet. I like to stretch and refuel first.


WEDNESDAY-

AM run 30 min

2hr flat ride. I ride with Dave Dwan one of the crew guys from Epic and we head over to sumner for a nice coffee shop ride. I really enjoy a nice coffee on the beach in Sumner!

PM run 30 min

Yoga.


THURSDAY-

Rolly Swim >4K Make this a day where I go a bit faster. I either lead my lane or jump up a lane.

JZ workout.

Easy 30 min run.


FRIDAY-

Rolly Swim >5K

Ride to Little River. This is the ride we did first day of Epic but we went past to Akoroa. The ride is between 3-4 hours depending on where I start. It is pretty flat but the winds can be really hard and the road surface is rough as.

Easy 30 min run.


SATURDAY-

Ride to Corsair Bay. This is a bay just past Littleton. I ride to Sumner and then take Evans Pass (steep climb but short) over and then put on the Blue Seventy for a 2 loop swim in the bay (30-45 min). After the I go for a 30 min run and then ride back.


SUNDAY-

Ride Long Bays. This is a ride that has a nice flat section to start and then climbs a bit and then goes into rollers followed by an hour of flat.

Easy 30-45 min run

Yoga.


So there it is. I repeat this week until I leave. I am going into my third cycle of it tomorrow. Of course there are variations to it when weather forces you to change the day. If I have to miss something I don't "tack" it on to the next day or make it up. I just carry on with my week. Being anal just makes life miserable and a miserable life makes for poor racing.


There is nothing complicated about my training. I am working on making sure that I understand that and don't "think" about it too much. So many people obsess on their training, which is fine if it works for them, but I would rather not be that way.


I am rebuilding my website now and will try to get things updated with in the next few weeks.

Cheers,
bdc

T'was a Tri Geek Weekend

Okay there is so much to talk about I am not sure where to begin. I think many of the tri geeks out there had their heads exploding this last weekend with IM Canada, IM Louisville, IM Korea and Chicago Tri going on. I must admit that I was a bit geeked out as there were so many of my friends racing.





A huge congrats goes out to everyone that raced. There was a zero drop out rate among everyone I knew racing. Chris McDonald threw it down in Louisville to take his first overall IM victory. That was super sweet! Justin Daeer executed the PERFECT 9:00 hour IM. Billy Edwards managed to put together another solid race with a 9:18 at Louisville. Who does he think he is? Hillary Biscay? IM CDA, IM LV and then going to race Hawaii! I say Billy should just go lay down some law in Wisconsin too LOL!



Dr. J and Little Bro Jon got it done out there. The big question everyone is wanting to know is what was said during "the pass?" Jon was out of the water about 8 min quicker and then they biked identical times so somewhere on the run Dr. J made the move! Gotta love that sibling rivalry haha. We are also wondering about the JD/Gordo pass. The G man didn't have the race he was looking for, but shit happens. I still find it extremely impressive that a bad day is a 9:04 race for him. Good on him for not giving up!



I think Marylin Mac Donald (Not sure if I got the last name right Mc or Mac?...won't matter soon enough lol) had the fastest female bike split up in Canada. No wonder she was giving the guys such hell on that second Wiggins ride!



Matt "the intern" had some issues prior to the race with his calf and wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get it done and he manged to finish sub 11 hours. It's all about gaining experience!

Michael Stone had a 40 min PR in Canada! I told you there were a lot of people racing....



Becky O and Drew Irwin finished really close together. Long day for both of them but they got it done and so many of us know that no matter how fit you are, Ironman can come down to just finishing. Those days are where the life lessons are learned....not on the perfect days. You guys rock!



So while everyone was gone Denny, Marky V and I have been hitting it pretty hard here in Boulder. We have been doing the majority of our training with Macca and upping that run mileage. I don't really talk too much about my training on here so I figured now would be a good time to do that.



I put together a pretty decent block these last two weeks. My main focus has been my running. Because I was out for so long due to the plantar fasciitis I feel it has been lagging. I did execute a solid 1:19 run in Racine for the 1/2 but I fear the IM running is not 100% under me. Even though I felt decent on that rough day at Full Vineman I still noticed higher levels of fatigue than I would like.



My speed is somewhat okay now. I only have one more 1/2 Ironman (Big Kahuna Sept 9th) so I am not really going to focus on speed. The race will be a faster session for me but as far as training, it is all about going long, hills and steady.



Saturday we went out for a long ride. It was a good group that was Myself, Denny, Marky V, Cam, and Macca along with his Aussie crew. Chris Stanton just got into town and came up with us for the ride. That was comedy! As Macca said "He was GOOOOOOOONE!" Poor guy did 112 miles up high on about 4 hours of sleep LOL.



The ride sucked for me in the first bit. They went up part of the canyon harder than I wanted and I had put in a big week of hill running. My legs were "GOOOOOONE" and I thought "FUCK!" I don't want to do this entire ride on my own. Luckily they were all nice and waited for me at one of the early climbs. It was funny because we were on a course that had a diabetes ride going on too and in the beginning I was ridding with the guys but then all of a sudden I blew and was on the diabetes ride with the camel backs, toe baskets and bike mirrors LOL. It was sad.



But then we get to Estes Park and stop at a coffee shop. I am still thinking that I am just going to take the quick way back to Boulder and get home because I feel like crap. But then Macca convinces me to have a coffee. I don't drink caffeine ever and wasn't really keen on it. Scott Molina always used to try and get me to use it on rides but I never gave in. Today was the day I gave in. All I have to say is that caffeine is my new best friend! Not that I will start using it in the AM, but on a ride you can count me in for a cup of Joe! I was a new person for the second 1/2 of that ride. Now I get why Jonas used to always get super excited to ride after his 10 shot espresso followed by a Red Bull LOL! I did get some shit when I put my order in. "Soy Latte please." Hahah



After the ride Denny, Macca, Marky V and I went for a run. It was supposed to be an easy run but some how Macca and I were running close to 5:15 miles at one point! Luckily we slowed down and finished the rest of the run but I was just amazed that I had that great run after such an early day of crap. Denny is running super fast right now too. Fastest I have ever seen him run!



The next day Denny. Macca, Marky V and Stanno went up to Nedderlands to get our long run in. We pushed a solid steady pace and picked it up a bit on the way back. I think we were at about 9,000 feet. The biggest part of the run was when Macca took Denny and I over to the track they have up there. He said that we were going to run 2K at 3 hour marathon pace. Our legs had already run 18 plus miles and the big day prior in them so they were not fresh by any means. Not to mention the 9,000 feet. Anyway, we did the 2K and Macca just kept saying "This is Eaaaasy Mate! EASY!" He really pointed out that there is no reason why we can't execute 3 hour marathons in Hawaii. Granted there is the heat etc but if we go out ON pace we should be able to do it. In fact he said that if Denny and I run sub 3:05 in Kona that he will buy our food and drinks for the rest of the trip! GIDDDY UP!



Cam Wiedoff was on the ride the day before and has sparked our new saying that we all can't seem to let go. In fact a rumor that T-Shirts will be made is going around. When we all got up to Peak to Peak highway and stopped to refuel, Cam starts going off on something and then starts calling everything we are doing "Baby Food." So of course Macca in his raspy Aussie accent won't stop saying "Mate! That's Baby FOOD!" If you see us all wearing shirts in Kona that say that- you will know where it came from!



Denny and I backed up that big weekend with a 1:30 min AM run the next day, with a 4K swim and nice 2 hour spin. I feel good! I am excited to be doing all this running and not have foot pain. I keep a close eye on it because I will go nuts if it comes back. I should take the time to write how I got rid of it. So many people have Plantar Fasciitis that lasts foooooorever....



Okay I have to go swim right now. My swimming has taken a minor hit because I am running so much but I do plan to get that back into the grove before Kona. Lots of pool time for me in the next seven weeks. I find that in the two weeks building up to a race I can still swim pretty long and hard. In fact, if I don't, my swim tends to suck.



So there is a little bit about what has been happening in the training department. Hopefully in the next week or so I will be able to fill you all in on a deal I am working on! Pretty excited about it!!!



Can't wait for the Good Guys to get back into town....although Denny and I think it is a load of crap that Dr. J and Jon are heading back to north south whatever Carolina! That's lame! STAY IN BOULDER!!