Bright Angel Fault Line
A sweet looking overhang
Staring straight down at the Colorado River Gorge
We saw 4-5 deer right on the side of the road, then they all crossed the road in front of us
What a view!
The Little Colorado River Gorge
Another shot of the Little Colorado River Gorge
This crevice is the Bright Angel Fault line
I wanted to hike down this trail.....but we didn't have enough time today
Another view of Grand Canyon
This is a wicked trail that heads down to the Canyon floor, check out the switch-backs
Looking Down on the Canyon
If you look close, you can see the tractor trailer that flipped on the I17 on the way to Phoenix
Another scenery view from the race park
Jill Savege, on our course ride the day before race
The rest of the guys (L to R) Jordan, Colin, Simon, Kyle
Simon's dog Clooney.
The start of the run...Colin, myself, and Jordan
Heading out of T1
A couple of my many scratches from the cacti, etc I encountered on the trail
Jordan striking a pose the day before the race
Scenery from the race siteWell....the first race of the year is over first. Let me start off by stating my dislike for duathlons. I mean, come on, where's the swim?
This was a great race to open the season, with 13 elite men toeing the line. Included in this group was last year's 3rd place male, Lewis Elliot, as well as our group from Flag. The race distances were 5.34km/33km/4.56km
It was a bit chilly at the start, about 8 C. The first run started out quick, but I managed to catch a couple of the guys that started out a bit too quick, coming into T1 in 7th place, 1:10 down on Simon and Kyle, and 15 sec down on Colin. The beginning of the ride was rough, with it taking a bit of time to get the legs going. Jordan went flying by and the way to the fastest bike split, and riding his way from 8th after the first run to leading off the bike with a 25 sec lead on Simon. I entered T2 in 7th place, and tried desperately to hold on to the last money spot, but got caught with about a km to go, ending up 8th, 8 seconds out of some $$.
1st Simon 17:19/50:32/14:32 1:23:47
2nd Jordan 18:46/48:30/15:32 1:24:23
4th Kyle 17:26/51:57/14:25 1:25:10
5th Colin 18:16/51:05/14:46 1:25:28
8th Dano 18:32/54:24/15:30 1:29:43
On the women's side, everyone was in the money. Kirsten came 2nd, Natasha 4th, and Jill 5th.
Results to the race can be found here.
Joel, sporting his new BAMF sweatshirt from the group, cutting his birthday ice cream cake.Well, today's focus was a hard treadmill run.
75' in total (9.75 miles) as:
20' warm-up with a few pick ups
8 X 3' hard, 3' ez
warm-down
#1-4: 10.0 mph, 1.5 % incline
#5-6: 10.5 mph, 1.5 %
#7-8: 11.0 mph, 1.5 %
I had to cheat a bit on the last one and pull myself forward on the treadmill a few times.
An easy 1000yd swim afterwards, and a nice steam session finished up the workout.
The day was completed with an easy 60' spin on the trainer once I got home.
another view further down into the Crater from saturday's ride
a photo of the map showing the National Monument area we rode in.
Wed turned out to be a tough day! A 6000m swim that included some fast pulling (felt good today after yesterday's disaster).
500 choice
9 X 100 (kick, drill, swim X 3)
40 X 50 on 50' every 5th fast
200 easy
4 X (400 pull, 100 easy) (5:10,5:00,4:55,4:45)
200 kick, 200 easy
The last 400 pull was a fast one...held on until 200, then fell off a bit. Simon and Kyle went 4:37...smokin!
Next up was the workout of the day, a 2.5hr ride, with 2 X 8km TT efforts. We rode a rolling course, with a breeze out of the south (into our faces for the climbs).
I ended up riding slightly faster on the 2nd round, maybe I knew how to pace a bit better?
1st round: 12:40, 38.5km/hr, 313W
2nd round: 12:35, 38.8km/hr, 323W
Joel then "allowed" us to do another 8km loop, this time as a team TT. It was Simon, Kyle, and Colin setting the pace, with me hanging on for as long as possible, same with Kirsten. Kirsten fell off as we were flying down the highway, and I fell off once off the highway and into the climb at the end. I ended up coming across about 15 seconds behind the three....I was shattered after that.
An easy 30' run was the last workout of the day.
Tuesday brought 6000m in the pool.
We were scheduled for 5000m today, but ended up with 6000m. With the way I was swimming today, I definitely didn't need that extra 1000!
5 X 200 SKIDS (swim, kick, IM, drill, swim)
5 X (25 fast, 25 ez, 50 fast, 25 ez, 25 fast, 25 ez, 75 fast, 25 ez)
2 X (100,200,300,400,500) getting fast for as we moved through the set
400 warm-down
The wheels for off for me after the 300 the first time through the main set. I just couldn't catch any water, and quickly went backwards compared to everyone else. My lats were on fire. Oh well, another one of those days.
The second workout of the day was an easy 60' run. I felt like crap on that run as well. Nice to see that both workouts felt like that today.
Guess it's better to get the crappy days out of the way early in the week, as we're racing the Desert Duathlon in Phoenix on Sunday.
This morning we had the opportunity to have Phil Wharton speak to us again. He was going to run through some more stretching routines, however, due to President's Day, the pool wasn't open at 6:30 when we got there.
Instead, we headed over to the coffee shop and Phil talked to us regarding nutrition. He went over the good nutrients that athletes must take in for optimal recovery, as well as vitamins,etc.
Here are a couple random points he gave us:
He didn't really like Whey protein. He suggested hemp protein, hemp seeds
"Superfood"
He talked about Paula Radcliffe drinking it after each workout, lots of
greens (wheat grass, etc.) Hemoglobin and Chlorophyll are very similar in
structure - I think the only difference is their central atom (in hemoglobin
it's iron, whereas in chlorophyll it's magnesium).
He also said it's important to choose high alkaline foods post work-out to
balance the acidity in your body.
For the swim, Joel ended up giving us some goal times for 200's that we'd have to hit to get out of the last 2000m of the workout.
We warmed up with 600 swim, 8 X 50 drill
4 X 400 pull
Then 2 X 200 swim
Next was the get out 200. My get out time was 2:16.9
I felt great on the 200. I made the get out time, going 2:11 (1:04, 1:07). In fact, everyone made their get out times, so we all just warmed down afterwards.
Total workout was 3400m.
A 60' spin on the trainer ended the day. This week is toned down a bit, as we're racing the Desert Duathlon this Sunday down in Phoenix.
Today's long run was supposed to be 2hrs, but my legs were in real rough shape following the 130km ride the day before. I went for 90' instead. I did two different loops through town here, and then I headed down and back the Urban Trail.
A nice hearty breakfast and the Sunday paper followed.
I then sat back and watched the Daytona 500 until it was time to go swimming. It's great that NASCAR is back!
The swim turned out to be a nice loosen up workout. 5400 in total.
300 swim, 200 kick
3 X 500 (pull no paddles, pull, swim)
5 X 300 (2 pull no paddles, 2 pull, 1 swim)
15 X 100 on 1:40 (1-5) (5 pull no paddles, 5 pull, 5 swim)
200 kick, 200 swim
Wupatki Crater Scenery
Taking a quick pit stop in the crater
Descending into Wupatki Crater
Passing Sunset Canyon
The boys starting the climb back up
Today was our long ride day. A 50' run in the morning, then get ready for the ride at 11:45am. Since the roads up in Flag were dry, we decided to ride up here today, rather than Sedona. Simon led us out towards Wupatki Crater.
Here are a good link, that describes the beauty of the crater.
This link here shows the route that we rode to get to the bottom of the crater. We entered from Flagstaff on the bottom of the map, and rode past the Bonito Lava Flow, and then all the way down Loop Road to the visitor center at the bottom (4900 ft).
It was at this point that we stopped to re-fuel, and get ready for the climb back up. During the climb back up, we had a little duel going on, with points available at the Visitor Center at the top, as well as the final parking lot just before the highway.
The pace on the climb was pretty consistent until we caught up to Will and Natasha. At this point, Jordan started to pick the pace up. Will continued to climb with us, as the pace quickened. At one point (with Doctor Jones dictating the pace on the front) I got dropped by 25m, and it took all I had to bridge the gap (hammer a slight downhill, and TT back into the group).
At this point I think I got a 2nd wind, and felt good again. I soon realized that we were close to the visitor gate house, as we crested a short steep climb. I made a bit of an early lead out for Kyle and Colin, with Will and Simon taking the top two spots through check-point #1.
Kyle and Colin though got retribution for our team as they took the top two spots up to the parking lot. We climbed a little over 2000 ft in 30km, in a total time of 67'. My average power for the climb was 270W.
From there, it was another 30km back into Flag and home. Grand total for the day was 4hrs 15' in the saddle, 130km in total.
A painful swim this morning.
5800 m broken up as:
3 X 800 (swim, pull, 8 X 100 on 1:35)
3 X 400 (swim, pull, 4 X 100 on 1:30)
3 X 300 (swim, pull, 3 X 100 on 1:25)
3 X 200 (swim, pull, 2 X 100 on 1:20)
3 X 100 (swim, pull, 1 X 100 on 1:15)
400 warm down
I just couldn't get moving in the pool this morning, just one of those days. We had a very informative stretching session with Phil Wharton from Wharton Performance, who has helped over 500 Olympians. Very knowledgeable guy when it comes to stretching. Changed my views on how stretching should be done. He specializes in Active-Isolated Flexibility.
A 45' easy run was next up, followed by a 90' spin on the trainer. A much needed Epsom salt bath ended the day.
A busy/tough past couple of days.
Wednesday :
We started out the day with a 6000m swim.
400 swim, 400 pull, 8 X 50 drill, 400 Kick
2000 swim, descend by 500
100 easy
10 X 100 on 1:40 (50 build, 50 easy)
2 X 500 (1 pull, 1 swim)
300 easy
We were supposed to head down to Sedona for the workouts, but it was raining down in Sedona, so we opted to stay in Flag, and do Thursday's treadmill workout instead, and head to Sedona on Thursday.
The treadmill workout was 80' as
20' warm-up
3 X 3' @ 9.5mph/1% incline w. 3' easy jog in between
4 X 2' @ 10.0mph/1% incline w. 3' easy jog in between
5 X 1' @ 10.0mph/3% incline w. 1.5' easy jog in between
10' warm-down
That's a really good workout, a tough one! That'll have to be a keeper.
The last workout was an easy 1000 swim to loosen up.
Thursday:
An easy swim this morning, 3000m mixed. Nice and easy, just get in, and get it done.
We then headed down to Sedona for our workouts.
A 90' negative split ride, straight into a 65' run (40' easy, 15' tempo, 10' easy)
The ride went well, felt pretty strong today. The power numbers for the 45' hard effort (280W) were higher than the last time we did the workout, which is a good thing. The run on the other hand wasn't so good.
My legs were fried once we got to the run. In addition, I was having a few stomach problems on the run, even a quick pit stop didn't help too much. Oh well, it's over with.
Tomorrow is a long swim, an easy cross ride, and an easy run. There will be an Epsom salt afterwards as well.
OK,
we had perhaps the most epic ride I have ever been on today. We met at Late For the Train and headed out towards the mysterious Schultz pass. This dirt road that climbs forever, has been a nemesis of Mr Simon Whitfield's since last year here. Today we decided to climb as much of it as was possible. We figure we made it about 4-5 miles up, until the snow just got too deep for us to continue. Simon figures we were at about 8500 ft, so we climbed 1500 vertical feet.
Joel had been trailing us in the van, but he wasn't able to make it up Schultz's pass, as the road was closed to vehicles. We descended back down and met Joel at the bottom. A little food, then it was back on the road, and up Hwy 180 towards the Snow Bowl.
Once onto the road to snow bowl, we climbed, climbed, and climbed some more.
The climb to the base lodge at the top is basically a 10km climb at roughly a 5-6% grade. The base lodge we climbed to was situated at 9500ft (2500 ft vertical gain). What an epic ride. It started out with a dry road at the bottom. As we continued to climb, Jordan and Kyle disappeared in front of me. Soon, we started to ride into some snowflakes. Joel and Greg were ahead in the van offering support as we continued to climb. Soon enough, I saw the 5 mile sign, and knew that it was only about 1 mile to go. This is when it started to snow a bit more. Once the whole group got to the top, it was really coming down. The girls hopped in the van, while the guys put on any warm clothing they could from the back of the van, and got ready for the descent.
I had on a base layer, and a cycling jacket for the climb, then added a warm vest, and a rain jacket for the descent. Luckily I also had dry warm gloves that I changed into. By this point, the road at the top was completely snow covered. Once everyone was ready, we started descending.
On the descent, my hands were frozen, despite warm dry ski gloves. It got to a point that it was tough for me to squeeze the brakes. Add to that, the blowing snow as we started out, which turned into a freezing rain mix half-way down. I had ice particles frozen to my glasses, as well as my shifter cables freezing underneath my bike (from the kick-up off the road) so I couldn't shift gears (not that I needed to). I constantly kept alternating shaking my hands to try to get some feeling into my fingers. Luckily I didn't crash on the way down (it must have been quite the sight for Joel and those in the van watching us descending).
The 5 of us regrouped at the bottom, and trued to get some feeling back into our hands. After about 15 seconds of doing arm circles, I started to get some blood flowing into my fingers. Man did that sting!! It was back onto the bike, and get home as quickly as possible!!!
The ride turned out to be about 4 hrs in length, with a rough total of 4000 vertical feet climbed.
All that's left for the day is a 50' run on the treadmill later tonite. We can't get into the FAC between the hours of 4-7pm, so we're heading over at 7pm to run. There will definitely be a hot tub and a steam bath after the run. A fitting end to an Epic Day.
View of the pool where we swim, if only we could swim yards.....
A tough swim set kicked off the hard week of training.
400 swim, 200 kick
16 X 50 on 55" every 4th fast
100 easy
8 X 400 w. 20-30" rest (the last 4 were on 5:30)
The goal of the set was to descend every two 400's, so #1 and 2 the same speed, #3 and 4 the same speed, but faster than 1-2, etc
#1-6 pull (5;15, 5;15, 5:07, 5:08, 4:55, 4:55)
#7-8 swim (4:55, 4:45)
200 kick, 200 swim to warm-down
We handed in a urine sample this morning, to monitor our hydration levels. We got the results back today before riding, and it turns out I was really dehydrated when I gave my sample this morning. Guess I've got to get the fluid/electrolyte levels up a bit. We'll be giving samples the rest of the week, so it'll give me a chance to better my levels.
Boy was I stiff on Sunday.
That 5km took a bit more out of my legs than I thought it would.
An EASY 30' run sunday morning to flush the legs out, a 90' cross ride in the rain, and a 5000m swim to end the day. I don't remember too much of the swim, other than the fact that there was lots of pull involved.
Today turned out to be a bit of a recovery day as well. 3000m this morning in the pool as follows:
400 mix
8X50 kick
8X25 swim
2X 400 IM
8X25 swim
800 Pull
200 easy
The group did blood work after the swim to monitor the effects of the altitude on the body thus far. We all went out for breakfast afterwards, and the last workout of the day was a 60' spin on the trainer.
Watched 24 tonight, it's about time it started to get interesting.
Tomorrow we are back to some harder training...the rest of the week is pretty solid.
Tues:
Swim 5000m
Cross ride 2.5-3hr
Run 50' easy
Wed:
Swim 6000m
Ride 90' neg split in Sedona
into a 65' transition tempo run
Thurs:
Swim 3000m
Run 80' on treadmill
Swim 1000m post run
Fri:
Swim 6000m
Ride 90' cross
Run 50' easy
Sat:
Ride 4hrs
Run 50' easy
Sun:
Run 2hrs
Swim 5000m
Here is a link to the front page of the Sedona Red Rock News, with the start of the article on the Marathon.
for some reason, this guy thought he'd ride his bike in the parking lot, in the back of his truck for all to watch.
Jordan showing off his medal from the half marathon.
Jill and the newspaper article about our group and the Sedona marathon. Jill is in the picture that accompanies the story.
The half marathon winners...Simon Whitfield and Jill Savege
Colin, Joel, and Adam after our intense game of soccer while waiting for the half marathon awards to begin.
Friday was a short 3km swim, a 40' run with 6-8 X 50m strides, and a 60' easy high cadence spin on the bike.
Now, onto today's festivities.
We headed down to Sedona to run in the 2nd annual Sedona Marathon.
Simon, Adam, Jordan, and Jill ran the half marathon, while Kyle, Colin, Kirsten and myself ran the 5km.
We received free entry into the race in exchange for some Q&A with the local press. We answered some Q's for the local paper, the Sedona Red Rock News. They did a good write up on the event, and the group, unfortunately they don't have a link to the story up yet. If I can get a copy, I'll try to get it on here.
It turned out to be a great day to run. Joel told us not to expect much more than a hard effort of running today. No fast times were expected, as a result of the altitude (4500 ft) and the fact that we were slightly tired this week.
It was a great day all around in both the Half and the 5km. Simon and Adam dueled it out at the front in the half, finishing within 1' of each other, and Jordan ran to a solid 5th place finish. Jill took the women's overall win, finishing 6th overall.
1st Simon Whitfield 1:13:06
2nd Adam Campbell 1:13:53
5th Jordan Rapp 1:20:42
1st Jill Savege 1:23:17
Link to results here.
The 5km went off 5' after the half marathon runners, which in hindsight, wasn't the greatest idea. Within 2', we were catching up to the tail end of the half marathon, and we ran the first 3km weaving in and out of all the runners. We went 1-2-3 on the men's side, and Kirsten took the women's overall win (7th overall)
1st Kyle Jones 15:44
2nd Colin Jenkins 16:22
3rd Daniel Wells 17:07
1st Kirsten Sweetland 18:34
Links to 5km results here.
Overall, I'm happy with the 5km time this early in the season. went through mile 1 in 5:11, missed the 2 mile split, and went through 3 miles in 16:31.
We warmed up for 20' and did a cool-down run of 40' after the race.
The day finished with a 90' ride in Sedona, the legs were a bit stiff.
Here's a course profile of the 5km, that climb in the last mile was a killer!
There were lots of photo's taken during the race (none by Joel unfortunately as he was out on the course on his bike) but once the race photos are put on-line, I'll try to get some up. They should be posted by Sunday night.
I've run some altitude adjustments based off the NCAA guidelines for the race elevation and these would be the rough equivalent sea level times
Kyle: 15:22
Colin: 16:00
Dano: 16:44
Kirsten: 18:08
Only one workout today....a 60' easy run
Well, that was the plan at least. I went and ran with Adam, Kyle, Simon and the Flag running group this morning. Somehow I ended up running with our three, as well as two of the flag runners. The pace started out good for me, but soon turned into a tempo run for me (easy for them I assume) A period of 20' with the HR up around 175. Definately working up a good sweat!
Turned out to be a good run though. A nice piece of tempo running for me, then a bagel afterwards.
I lounged around the rest of the day, played some playstation, had an Epsom salt bath, and ending the night watching Survivor and CSI.
Another great day of weather in Flagstaff. The high hit roughly 55 F !
Today's swim session had a common theme...1000's
6X1000 as follows
1) as 5X200 (swim, kick, IM, drill, swim)
2) 2 X (6 X 50 w. band on 55", 2 X 100 build swim on 1:30)
3) 1000 swim (switch off lead within the lane)
4) 1000 pull steady
5) 1000 swim (6 person draft, switch off every 100)
6) 1000 pull
Suffice to say, my lats, and triceps were slightly tired once we got out of the pool.
Despite the gorgeous weather, we headed up to FAC to run indoors on the treadmill. We needed the treadmills to focus on the speed intervals of our 3-2-1 workout (w. 2' easy in between).
70' run broken up as:
30' easy warm-up
Round One
3' @ 9.5 mph, 1.0 % incline
2' @ 10.0, 1.0 %
1' @ 11.0, 1.0 %
Round Two (switched to a different treadmill (lower top speed) after the other shut down)
3' @ 9.5, 1.5 %
2' @ 10.0, 2.0 %
1' @ 10.0, 3.0 %
Round Three
3' @ 9.5, 2.0 %
2' @ 10.0, 2.5 %
1' @ 10.0, 3.0 %
This is a fairly tough workout, but it's a good one, as the speed gets progressively faster, as the intervals get slower. The legs felt a bit heavy today, hopefully the recovery week helps.
Wow....
I'd have to say this was the warmest day we've had in Flagstaff. When we went riding at 1pm, it was knee warmers, and could get away with short sleeves. Nice for a change :)
Another morning in the pool, it seems the Japanese team just keeps getting bigger every time we head to the pool. 5300m, though it went by pretty quick.
800 choice warm-up
800 steady pull (hold under 1:20 per 100)
8 X 100 on 1:25 (1:12-1:13's)
400 swim
400 steady pull (hold under 1:20 per 100)
4 X 100 on 1:20 (1:11's)
300 swim
300 steady pull (hold under 1:20 per 100)
3 X 100 on 1:20 (1:09, 1:10, 1:10)
200 swim
200 steady pull (hold under 1:20 per 100)
2 X 100 on 1:15 (1:09's)
200 warm-down
The cross ride in the afternoon was great. We re-visited a few roads/trails that we rode a couple weeks ago (when it was about -20 C) and it was such a change to ride them with out snow on them. Mind you, it made it harder, as it's a bit easier to ride on the snow (traction wise) than the mud. Nice and mucky by the time we got home. We found a new way of getting home, as we rode through a field, hopped over a barb-wire fence, and found the highway we were looking for to get back home.... 2:15 ride in total.
Today was an active recovery type day.
We slept in a bit this morning, as we weren't into the water until 10am.
3000m of fun in the water. 800m warm up and then some fun competition events, and a relay.
The only other workout of the day was a 40' easy run. The weather has warmed up nicely, and I was able to run in shorts today as it was 50 F when I headed out the door. Sure beats the wacky weather we have experienced so far here.
Totals from Week Four:
Swim: 26,000 m
Bike: 7.5 hrs
Run: 7 hrs
Well...the Bears just couldn't do it tonite. I guess Rex was playing for Indy or something to that degree.
We ran a squares pool here, and Kirsten won $45 of the $50 in the pot. She got lucky with the missed FG at the half, and Peyton's decision not to kick a FG at the end of the game.
Today was our long run of the week, 1:50.
We headed halfway down to Sedona, parked and headed out running. We started out up the main road, and then dipped into a side trail. It was a bit muddy, so Kyle, Jill and I turned around and let Simon, Adam and Jordan go that way. We came back to the car, dropped off our pants (it was warm, and shorts were the only thing needed). from there we ran down another trail and continued running downhill for 43' (close to 1000 ft change in elevation) before turning around the head home. Coming back was tough, uphill the whole way. I tried to keep my HR in my long run zone (165 bpm)
We headed back up to Flag, had a bit of food, and it was off to the pool for our bumped up swim so we could watch Super Bowl later on.
5100m in the pool, broken up as follows:
300 swim, 200 kick
5 X 300 pull with band w. 20" rest
5 X 300 pull w. 20" rest
5 X 300 swim w. 20" rest
100 easy
The group came over for Super Bowl, a good time watching the game. I exhibited outstanding willpower and stayed away from the beer, even though Simon brought over some beers for the game (I think he did this to tease me) :)
I made my Joe Wray beans for the game, Kyle, Colin and Adam had some and enjoyed them. The whole group got to enjoy them in the 4th Q as I had some world class gas!
Tomorrow is a recovery day, 3000m swim and a 40' run.
It'll be a quick blog tonite, I'm beat from the ride.
Easy 30' run this AM to wake up, loaded up the trailer later with the bikes and headed down to Sedona for a warmer ride.
Out along Hwy 89A towards Cottonwood, Clarkdale, then the climb up towards Jerome. We ended up climbing 15km (48') through Jerome and continuing up the Hwy towards Prescott. Jordan, Kyle, and Colin went off the front, and I just tried to stay on Simon's wheel. Going through Jerome was amazing....a little tourist town, tight roads, great feeling riding through it. From Jerome, we could see Flagstaff to the North.
Once we reached the top, we grabbed some warmer clothes from Adam who provided support on the ride (Thx Adam), re-filled the bottles, and began the fun descent down.
Stats from the climb:
approx 15km
48 min
294 W average power
18.3km/hr
I had a feeling that climb was going to come back and hurt me later in the ride, and I was right. At about 82km or so, I fell off the back of the group, TT'd behind Adam in the car as he pulled me back up to the group, and then fell off for good around 85km. It was a long, lonely ride back into Sedona for me! I was a hurting unit.
Total ride was 3:31, 104km, avg power 202 W, 29.4km/hr
Dinner, Epsom salt bath, and bed.
Sunday brings a 1:50 run followed by a 5km swim at 12:30. We moved the swim up from 4pm, so we can watch the Super Bowl. I'll be cheering for Da Bears.
Another solid day of training.
I awoke this morning to one of the coldest mornings thus far in Flag. It was -2 F (-21C). That made for a brisk 30 min easy run this morning. The usual stretch and breakfast before heading to the pool followed the run.
Two main sets awaited us at the pool.
400 swim
200 kick
Main Set #1
6 X 400 pull w. 30" rest (1-3) (5:20, 5:05, 4:55)(5:15, 5:10, 4:50)
200 easy
Main Set #2
2 X (3 X 200 (1-3) 3 X 50 (1-3), 250 ez)
First round was pull (2:40, 2:35, 2:25)
Second round swim (2:48, 2:35, 2:30)
The last workout of the day was a 65' run broken up as 40' base, 15' hard, 10' ez.
We headed out towards the airport to run on the roads out there, not as much traffic.
The 15' was hard. This was our first real hard prolonged effort while running here at altitude. My heart rate hovered up around 175 for the whole period (felt higher though). The legs were hurting a bit today, but that's OK...means I'm working hard!
A light workout day...very nice.
This morning was a 3000m swim, whatever we wanted to do. Just get in and get 3km in.
We headed out for some grub after swimming, Simon suggested this place called La Bellavia which has these outstanding Swedish Oat Pancakes!
If you can eat three Oat Pancakes, then your meal is free, and you get a free mug from the restaurant. I only ordered one pancake (filled with banana), and that was a meal itself. Kyle (who can eat like a horse) couldn't finish two pancakes. Jordan made an attempt and ordered 3 oat pancakes, but could only stomach 1.5 pancakes. It's a great deal as well, $3.75 for one, $7.25 for two, and $7.95 for three.
I'll definitely hit that place up again, good value, and a great meal.
I ended the day with a relaxed 45' run on the treadmill at FAC. I was forced inside once again today, as it was blowing snow, and I didn't feel like battling through that. Another good stretch on the Stretch Station, an outdoor hot tub, and a steam session to top it off.
Well,
we started to receive some more snow today (2-3 inches) with another couple inches due by the end of Thurs. According to some locals here, this is the most snow they can remember Flagstaff getting in a long while. Figures it has to happen when we're here to train. That's OK, by Sunday we are supposed to get above 50F, with Sedona hitting 67-68 F by Monday!
Today's training:
Headed to the pool this morning, and put in 5400m.
300 swim, 200 kick
10 X 50 band only, on 55"
800 neg. split.
1500 pull, build by 500's (19:35)
200 easy
800 Pull, neg split (10:20)
100 easy
800 swim, neg split (10:10)
200 easy
Due to the inclement weather here in Flagstaff, as well as Sedona, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Sedona. We were going to ride 3.5 hr with some climbs, but it was a mixture of snow and rain in Sedona, so instead it was onto the trainer.
Joel brought over two of Troy Jacobson's Spinervals DVD's. Kyle, Colin, Natasha, Kirsten and I did two different DVD's for a total of 2hrs of solid riding on the trainer.
We warmed up with Competition 23.0 Time Saver workout A, a 30 minute technique workout. From there, it was onto Competition 22.0 - Time Trialapalooza. This is one tough Spinervals workout!!
This workout is designed to improve your sustainable power output, and includes progressively harder sets (20 minutes / 15 minutes / 10 minutes / 5 minutes) with 5 minute recovery intervals. Tough, tough, tough. But we got through it, with just a few Gallons of sweat expelled. :)
Thursday is a bit of an easier day, a 3km recovery/drill session in the pool, followed up by a 50-60' run with a few accelerations later in the afternoon.
Also, tomorrow night, I'll be watching the St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team play against Georgetown on ESPN. Hopefully they can step up and knock off the Hoyas who sport a record of 15-5 overall and 5-2 mark in BIG EAST action.
Again we had pool time later in the morning, so upon waking up, it was time to hit the road for an easy 30' run. Breakfast and stretching, then off to the pool to swim.
We re-visited a set we did earlier, and I'm pretty sure everyone swam faster today than last time.
400 mix
20 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 Kick
Main Set (best average for all of the 100's)
8 X 100 on 1:40 (1:15's)
200 pull
6 X 100 on 1:40 (1:11's)
200 pull
4 X 100 on 1:40 (1:08's)
200 pull
2 X 100 on 1:40 (1:05, 1:06)
200 pull
1 X 100 (1:04)
Kirsten averaged the fastest for the first 8 (1:11's), and thus had to lead out the lane (we all swam in 1 lane, due to pool space). Simon had the fastest average for the 6 (1:10's), and got to lead, though we moved into 2 lanes. I had the fastest average for the next 4 as we spread out to 3 lanes after that. I managed the fastest average for the next 2, as we then took 6 lanes (they were open by then) and all 6 of us did the last one at the same time. Colin made a remarkable comeback through the workout (1:21's for the first 8) swimming his way down to the fastest 100 at the end (1:02.6). Everyone cracked 1:10 for the last one. A great swim by all.
The last workout of the day consisted of a 70' run with 6 X 3' hard/3' easy running. I headed over to Flag Athletic Club to run on the treadmill with the group, as we've had some snow showers coming through the area throughout the day.
I felt pretty good running for the second time today, running the first 4 hard intervals at 9 mph, with the last 2 intervals at 10 mph.
After running, and a great stretching session on the Stretch Station, I hit the outdoor hot tub, then followed it up with a nice session in the Eucalyptus steam room.
While we've been here in Flag, we have been sharing pool space with the Japanese National swim Team. They are here at altitude preparing for the World Championships March 17 - April 1st in Melbourne Australia.
The one swimmer of note on their team is Kosuke Kitajima who won both the 100 BR and 200 BR at the 2004 Olympics.
Today we started out with a nice and easy 40' run to wake the body up.
After some stretching and breakfast, it was off to the pool for an easy 3km swim.
A bunch of 50's drill, and some pull. Nice and relaxing.
Our last workout of the day was a 90' cross ride. We tried to make our way back over to Walnut Canyon where we ran yesterday, as there would be some good cross riding out there. We ran into some tricky sections of slush, but we managed to find our way out to Walnut, then headed back along Route 66 back into Flag. We ended up at 2hrs, but a nice base ride. Now we've got a new area to go to for some longer cross rides.
Well, since I missed posting yesterday, today's entry will be a bit longer than normal.
Saturday:
We started out with a easy 30' base run. A nice easy loop around the university, then home to stretch. We were considering heading down to Sedona to ride, but the majority of the group elected to stay up in Flag and ride 3hrs cross. Jordan and Jill headed down to Sedona to ride on the road, while Simon, Kyle, Kirsten and I went out to ride cross.
The cross ride was wicked. Simon took us out along some awesome fire roads, along E3 which is a great area to do some tempo running. We were riding through puddles, mud patches, etc..an awesome ride. There were a couple of deep snow patches where a couple wipe-outs occurred, but it was a great ride!
Sunday:
Adam, Kyle, Jill and I met up with Simon and Jordan at Late For the Train to go running. After Simon and Jordan finished up their coffees (or whatever they had), we decided to head out towards Walnut Canyon to go running. We didn't quite go into Walnut Canyon, we parked there, but ran out to the Arizona Trail to do our 1hr 40 min long run.
Here's a link to the Arizona Trail web site, if you look at the map, you can roughly see where we ran (near Walnut Canyon).
What a great place to run! Dirt roads, with a great view of Mt Humphries off to the side. The pace started out nice and casual, as Simon, Kyle and Adam didn't push the pace. Once we turned around at 50' the pace picked up a bit, and I let Kyle, Simon, Adam, and Jordan go, as my HR was at 165 (my long run pace) and I didn't want to go any higher. The run went by quick, and I felt pretty good running.
I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Tiger come back and win the Buick Invitational, did a 30' easy spin on the trainer, and then we headed over to the pool to swim at 4:30.
A total of 5000m, broken up as:
2 X (200, 2X100 descend, 2 X 50 descend)
200 Kick
5 X 300 Pull descend, w. 20" rest (4:00,3:55,3:50,3:45,3:36)
200 easy
5 X 300 Swim descend, w. 20" rest (4:05, 4:00,3:55,3:50,3:40)
200 easy
400 kick
I felt great in the pool today. I don't know what it is. Maybe not being in the water yesterday. Hopefully that feeling can carry forward the rest of camp!!
Here are the weekly totals for week 3
Swim: 25,700 m
Bike: 8.5 hrs
Run: 7 hrs
Not as tough of a day today, a swim and an easy run.
5000 m in the pool this morning, the same workout that we swam two weeks ago.
400 swim, 200 kick
2 X (10X50 w. band on 1', 200 IM)
Main Set:
3 X (3 X 200 w. 30' rest, 3 X 50 on 1', 250 easy)
During the main set, the goal was to build speed throughout each of the 3 200's and 3 50's.
I felt a little bit better in the water compared to the last time we swam this set!!
We ended the day with a 40' easy base run. Turns out I could have worn shorts running today, it was 48 F when I headed out, and nice and sunny!!
Here is a link to pictures that Joel has taken thus far on the trip.
There are some really good ones in here.
I'll add the photo's to the links to the right for future reference.
Camp Photo's
A day of swimming today.
We started the day with a 60' easy base run. It was a great morning for a run...chilly but no wind! The legs felt a bit sluggish starting out (from yesterday's run) but felt better toward the end. Ran a bigger loop around the back of the university, then a smaller loop through the university and past the basketball arena, then back home.
The second workout of the day consisted of a 2.5hr cross ride. I rode a MTB today, as we're having a problem getting mt old dérailleur cable out of my STI shifter (going to have to bring to the bike shop). The MTB was a full suspension bike, which made it really tough to ride (the suspension made it really tough, as it felt like I was riding a pogo stick). I turned around early, and headed back home to ride the trainer. Rode 90' on the trainer, watching TV. It's a shame, as it was such a nice day out!!
The weather is looking good for the next little while, mid 40's, no snow!!
Ah...what a difference a 40' drive can make! High of 60 in Sedona today, rode in shorts with knee warmers, a jersey and arm warmers!
This morning we swam 5000m in the pool.
400 warm-up
20 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 Kick
6X400 w. 30" rest
200 Kick
12 X 50 on 50" every 4th fast
200 warm-down
The main workout happened in Sedona.
A 90' ride that was supposed to be ridden as a negative split. My powermeter (SRM) was finally downloading properly, so I've got some numbers from the ride. The route we rode was a 20km out and back loop through some rolling terrain. Avg power for the whole ride 223 watts (W) and for the final 45' it was 266W. I'm happy with those numbers.
After the ride we went straight into a 60' run on a dirt road.
The run was broken up as:
10' steady, 10' base pace, 15' tempo, 15' base pace, 10' easy
I felt pretty good running straight off the bike today, it was great weather for running, sunny with a bit of a breeze (except when we had to run back into the wind!)
A big day in the pool today....5700m
A longer warm-up today, then a long main set, and warm-down as follows.
400 swim, 400 pull, 400 kick
2000 - descend by 500's (I was hurting on this one)
100 easy
1000 - descend by 500's (felt good on this one, 12:50, even split)
1000 - hard (crash and burn at 400)
400 warm-down
Joel initiated a points system for fastest 500 splits for each of the 2000, 1000, and 1000. Simon and Colin worked together on the first 2000, which turned out to be a good idea.
Kyle and I then decided to work together for the next 1000, with me taking it out (6:25 at 500) and holding on until 700, then Kyle brought it home. Unfortunately, Colin and Simon came back a bit faster on the last 500 (6:13 to Kyle's 6:20).
The last 1000, I took it out hard again trying to gap Simon and Colin, and hold on until 500 for Kyle to then go, but I fell apart at 400, and Kyle couldn't go with Simon and Colin. Games like that make the workout go by a lot easier!!
The second workout was a 60' fartlek type run. Adam, Jordan, Simon and myself headed out to Buffalo Park to run. Jordan went snowshoeing, and Simon, Adam and I ended up running through the forest in shin/knee deep snow for 70'. A great run, that included a couple bouts of snowball fights as we ran!
We ended the day with a 60' spin on the wind trainer, to keep the legs loose for tomorrow's bike and run workout down in Sedona.
Two weeks of training is in the books.
Here is a recap of the totals from week 2:
Swim: 25.2 km
Bike: 8.5 hrs
Run: 5 hrs
We started out week three with a swim and a run.
I think my swimming is starting to come around now, after two weeks of getting the feeling back in the water. Luckily I have a big background of swimming, so it's coming back quicker.
The workout consisted of a short warm-up, long main set, and a warm-down totaling 5000m (all swims LCM from now on)
200 mix, 2X100, 2X50
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
8X100 on 1:40 (held 1:18's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
6X100 on 1:40 (held 1:16's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
4X100 on 1:40 (held 1:13's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
2X100 on 1:40 (held 1:10's)
400 Pull steady w. approx 30" rest
1X100 on 1:40 (went 1:07)
400 Mix warm-down
I was happy with that swim, as the goal of the set was to get progressively faster as we went through the set on the 100's.
The run was 60' with 6 X 15" pick-ups. A bunch of the group headed off to Flag Athletic to run. Our apartment complex has a workout room, so I thought that I'd try and get my run in on that. Unfortunately it wasn't working, so I headed outdoors for my run. It was a nice sunny day, a great day to run outside. It's so much more refreshing (not to mention less boring) to run outdoors.
I'm getting ready now to watch hour #5 of 24, which comes on in less than 15 minutes. Can't wait!!
Hope everyone is enjoying the blog, I'll try to get those pics from Simon and post them here.
Today's activities included a swim in the morning and a ride in the afternoon.
5000m in the pool this morning, nothing too special, just get it done. Main Set was 1200 pull, followed by 4X300 descend.
The big workout of the day was a 3hr ride. We decided to stay up in Flag today following swimming, so the guys headed out at 130 to ride cross for 3 hours. It was a great ride, but a bit chilly! With the wind chill, it was -16 C when we were out riding. It was the coldest we have ridden in here in Flag so far.
The only part of me that got cold were my feet by the end, but i think part of that was from jumping in the snow to take a few pictures! Hopefully I can get the pics from Simon, and I'll post them on here soon.
Well...in the last 24 hrs we received roughly 7-8 inches in total. Everything was covered in snow this morning.
Most of the group headed down into Sedona to do a group long run with a bunch of fast and I mean fast half marathoners from the local running shop in Flag. To quote Simon's blog, "we met up with some "fast dudes" including 3 sub 1:03 half marathon guys, Ryan Shea and Fasil (2nd at the houston 1/2)". So the level of running down there was really fast. Fast enough that Simon and Kyle had troubles keeping up.
Jordan and I opted to go snowshoe running up here in Flag instead. We drove over to Soldier Trail, and headed out for our run. Let me tell you, running for 90 minutes in snowshoes, in 7 inches of fresh snow (a couple sections were packed a bit from some nordic skiers) is really tough!! I couldn't have been happier to finish that run! My hip flexors were on fire by the end of the run. The reason is that you've really got to lift your legs each stride, and that really works the hip flexor area. A snowshoe run like that will be good at building some running strength. I felt like I had run for 3 hrs!! I did some good stretching afterwards, to help the flexors.
Jordan came over and gave me a hand in putting on some new shifters for the cross bike. I now have STI shifters on the cross bike (so the shifting is at my finger tips, way easier).
I ended the day of with a 30' easy spin on the bike, and an Epsom salt bath.
We are swimming Sun AM at NAU, and then we are decided where to ride afterwards, either down in Sedona or up here. TBD.
Well, as I sit here and write, we have a good 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground (with a couple more expected over night). It's funny, because there is a long driveway in the apartment unit right beside us, and all we can hear are cars trying to get up it, and they just can't make it. I don't know why people here don't run snow tires on their cars.
As for today's training.
Today was pretty busy. 5000m in the pool, pretty tiring. 400 WU, 200 Kick, then 2X (10X50 w. band on 50", 10X100 (25 fast, 75 easy) on 1:40, 500 pull neg. split) we warmed down with 400 mix.
Second workout was a 2hr cross ride. Simon led the group out towards Elden Lookout. The climb is about 4 miles long, up a dirt road. We went maybe a third of the way up, and then it became too snow covered to go any further. The descent down was a bit sketchy, but fun!
We ended the day with a 50' run. The group headed over to Flag Athletic Club, but I opted to run outdoors. A loop over to the university, then another loop near the apartment.
We ended the day with the group going to Picazzos pizzeria in town. Lots of different pizza's there, and the place was busy. A great night. Couple people had some wine, and Adam Campbell had a beer, I was so tempted to have one....but I held fast, and stuck to water and a Pepsi.
Thursday was a rest day.
No snowshoeing, no nothing. It was nice!
The highlight of the day was walking over to the car wash and washing down the cross bikes.
The trailer used to haul the bikes down to Sedona...
The start of our run yesterday....
Yesterday was a tough day.
We started out swimming at the University, 5200 LCM.
The main set was 6X400 w. 30" rest. First 4 were pull, the last 2 were swim. Was going along pretty well until the last 400, when my arms wouldn't move at all!
After coming home for breakfast and to get organized, we loaded up the trailer with the bikes to head down to Sedona.
We rode roughly 60', with the last 30' hard. Let's just say the heart rate (HR) was pretty high during that last half hour. Got dropped by the guys on a climb, and had to Time Trial (TT) for a solid 5 mins to try and catch up. We went from the ride into a 70' run along dirt roads. This was the focus workout of the day.
The run workout consisted of 10' warm-up, then 8X (2' solid, 3' easy) ending up with 20' warm-down.
An epsom salt bath after dinner ended the day.
Today (Thurs) is a day off, I might get some snowshoeing in again on the trails in town.
Today was a busy day.
We arrived to the pool to see we were swimming 6000m today. The breakdown of the workout went like this;
warm-up: 400 swim, 400 pull, 8X50 swim with a band
Main Set #1:
20X100 on 1:35, every 5th one fast
Main Set #2:
3X800 (building to fast the 3rd one)
Warm-down: 200 kick, 200 easy
I felt a bit better today, my swim is starting to come around. The speed is coming back for the 100's. I was suffering on the last 800, but I think everyone else was as well.
Following the big swim workout, a bunch of us headed to IHOP for a big breakfast. Stuffed (w. cream cheese) french toast, scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and hash browns. Quite the breakfast!
Workout #2 of the day consisted of a 2hr ride. Colin, Kyle, Jordan and myself headed out on the cross bikes. A good group ride, its in the books.
We ended the day with a 30' easy run. Colin is in the process of making some pretty good chili, can't wait to try some tomorrow night.
We are swimming Wed AM at NAU, then we are going to head down into Sedona again for a bike/run workout. Should be a busy, hard day.
Another great episode of 24 tonight...
Today was the start of week 2 in Flag. We had a bit of a sleep in today, swimming at 9am. 4000m in the pool, as 400 swim, 200 kick, then a mian set of 3X (300,200,100 getting faster for each one, then 4X50 fast on 1') followed by 800m straight swim and 200 kick.
The remaining workout of the day was an on your own (OYO) run of 60'. Most people headed over the the Flag Athletic Club to run on the treadmill, but I figured I'd run outside and get some fresh air. The sidewalks were hit and miss (better on some streets, but crappy on others), and the trails weren't packed down enough to run on.
In and around NAU was a lot better. I only slipped and fell on some ice once while running.
Still chilly here in Flag, and windy today. Supposed to get above freezing later this week.
Thats all for now....
Wow...what a start to the new season of 24! This looks like it's going to be a great season, can't wait until the next two hours tomorrow night! Jack Bauer is the man.
Anyways....today's training :)
It was damn cold this morning when we woke up. -5 F, or -20 C. It was so cold out that it hurt to breath. We loaded up the big Trailer with 9 bikes, and headed off to Sedona for some warmer riding. It was still chilly in Sedona (-2 C when we started, about 4C when we finished), but NO SNOW, which is what we wanted.
I ran 40' once we got there while the group swam at the Hilton Spa, and then we re-grouped, had some food, and headed out for a 3hr ride. We headed from Sedona (4500 ft) along Hwy 89A through Cottonwood, through Clarkdale (3500 ft) and up towards the town of Jerome (5200 ft). Jerome is supposed to be a great little town, and it has lots of history. There is a good page about the history of Jerome here.
The road up to Jerome from Clarkdale is all uphill, and twists and turns. We only rode to the sign proclaiming the entrance to the town, but still to that point it was a good 20' climb. From that point up, the road switch-backed and got steeper. Jordan said we could continue climbing for another hour if we wanted. For another day....
We awoke this morning to see approx. another 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. It was chilly this morning as well (5 F, or -15 C). Since we knew this weather was coming, we headed over to the Flagstaff Athletic Club to run. They have roughly 15 treadmills there, with a bunch of TV's as well. 75' on the treadmill went by pretty quick watching NCAA Basketball (gotta love the mountain standard time). After a stretch on their great stretching machines, it was into their 25yd pool for an easy 2000. I ended off the session at the gym with a nice eucalyptus steam.
The last workout of the day was an easy 60' spin on the trainer. The rest of the day has been spent watching the NFL playoffs. I don't think I'll see much of them tomorrow, as we are heading off to Sedona at 8am to ride the road bikes down there, followed by a run. Looking forward to getting out on the road bike tomorrow.
24 returns tomorrow!! Can't wait to watch it!
Wow....
what a day!
We started out this morning with 5000m (Long Course) in the pool.
400 mix, 200 kick, then 2X (10X50 on 1' with a band on the ankles, 200 IM)
Main Set was 3X (3X200 descend, 3X50 descend, 250 easy)
Then this afternoon, Colin, Kyle, Joel, Simon and I went out for an awesome cross ride! We had about 3 inches of new snow on the ground, and strong blowing winds (45 mph gusts). Made for a really interesting ride. Riding along the Urban trails around town, with the snow covering the ice hidden underneath! I may have to get some better tires for the cross bike... We were out for around 2hrs today.
There have been a couple changes for the weekend due to the weather. We are supposed to get another 4-6 inches of accumulation tonight, if so, I'll try to get a pic posted tomorrow showing what it's like here.
Tomorrow we are running on the treadmill for 75 min followed by a 2000m easy swim. The afternoon entails a 60' easy spin on the trainer (I'll be able to watch the NFL games!)
Sunday we are going to head down to Sedona where it will be a bit warmer, and we are planning on riding 3hrs, followed by a run down there.
This is the weather outside right now....snowing since last night, probably 2 inches on the ground right now, lots of blowing snow.....Colin, Simon, Kyle and I are getting ready to go out for a cross ride in this....should be interesting!!
Today the group went out for a snowshoe at the Flagstaff Nordic Center
It was a great day to snowshoe. The Center is located at roughly 8000 ft. We were out for about a 90' snowshoe, where we hit a max elevation of almost 8700 ft. We ran roughly half of the trek, and hiked the other half. What a great day.
The cross bike that I'm using down here. Simon was kind enough to bring this one along for me to use here. Notice how muddy it is after just one ride! Riding cross is great!!
I drove over the Continental Divide, which separates which way the rain will drain once it hits the ground...pretty cool.
The side of the road at a new Mexico rest stop. Remnants of the storm that went through about a week before.
A highway sign in New Mexico warning that the highway could be closed...
Well..it's Wed already, and I'm safe and sound in Flagstaff Arizona, after 3550km of travel. Spread over Fri, Sat, and Sun, the drive went really well. No bad weather, lots of football on ESPN radio, and some good sights driving through New Mexico. Let's just say that I'm glad to not be sitting in a car any longer. I'll try to post some pictures taken during the drive up here in a couple of days.
The whole group is now here, with the final four arriving Monday evening. Our apartment is pretty cool, a four bedroom unit, with kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. I'm sharing the apartment with Colin Jenkins and Kirsten Sweetland.
The rest of our group includes : Simon Whitfield, Kyle Jones, Jordan Rapp, Jill Savege, Lauren Groves, and Natasha Filliol. Joel Filliol is the head coach, and Adam Campbell is our manager/organizer. Simon drove down from Victoria, as did Joel and Colin. Jordan Rapp drove over from the Rye, NY area, and everyone else flew in.
The three days of training has been interesting. Getting used to the altitude here in Flagstaff (6950 ft) has been a challenge. Even walking up the flight of stairs to get into our apartment is tough! Swimming is the toughest challenge, as the lower level of oxygen in the air, combined with the fact that breathing while swimming is tough enough, makes the first week of swimming or so tough. Your heart rate (HR) is also higher here due to the altitude, and while we have been out riding, you notice it the most while climbing a hill (We've been sucking air up the hills).
The riding we will mostly be doing here will be on Cross bikes, which essentially are road bikes, but with bigger, wider tires (35mm)and most people have disc brakes on their cross bikes (so the mud doesn't collect around the brakes) Disc brakes are located down near the hub of each wheel. Riding cross is totally awesome, we came back yesterday from a 2hr ride with the bike totally covered in mud, as well as a lot of our clothing. Riding on the snow and mud along the fire roads and trails is so much more exciting than riding on the road or the trainer. Simon says riding cross makes you a stronger rider, so I'm hoping he's right!
Today the group had blood work done in the morning (I chose not to do the blood work due to my phobia of needles, and the fact that I'd most likely pass out) to measure their red blood cell levels (among other things) so that they have a base line measurement to compare how the altitude training is affecting their bodies during the course of the camp. We had a 60' ride (Colin and I rode cross outdoors) and the group headed down to Sedona, which is at 4000 ft elevation to swim and run. There's supposed to be a difference between 7000 and 4000 ft, but I couldn't notice it today! Hopefully soon I'll get used to the elevation. We swam 5000m, and followed that up with a 60' run in this beautiful park, that had these huge rock formations jutting out of the group, and trails running all over the place on a red clay surface. What a great place for a run.
Thursday is a casual rest day, we are going to go on a group snowshoe in the morning, and then chill out the rest of the day. We are supposed to be getting a bit of bad weather rolling through the next couple of days, some snow and highs around 32 F. We've had highs of 50-55F thus far, which has been great!! It gets really cold at night here, and then warms up during the day. The upcoming lows are forecast to be about 5 F.
Well...I'm back home and getting organized again. This week is a recovery week for me, as well as a week where I try to determine what is making my knee sore. I've got a massage scheduled for today, and a chiro appointment set-up for Wed. Hopefully I'll be able to determine something from those two visits and be back to running soon! I'm also back to helping out with the Newmarket Triathlon Team Swim program in the mornings.
I'm also looking forward to watching the Masters this weekend on TV....that is the official start of spring!!
Here's what the rest of the week looks like:
Tues:
massage
90' base recovery ride
Wed:
4500m swim
weights
chiro appointment
Thurs:
optional swim
2 hr ride with 10X10'' sprint in the middle of ride
Fri:
4500m swim
Sat:
3 hr ride with 15 X 2' Big Gear efforts
Weights
