Training Run #4

I went for a run today. Every other weekend I have my son. I make it a point not to ride my bike so that I can spend time with him. So today's run we did together while he was riding his little BMX bike and me on foot. Ollie our black Lab mix is slowing building up his base miles. I did the first six miles with my son and Ollie and then dropped them off at the house and ran around the block for an additional two miles.

My left achilles started to hurt at mile 4.1 and my right didn't start to hurt until mile 6.5. Overall I felt good, but Brandy is urging me to take this running thing easily until after Furnace Creek 508.

Total run was 8.2 miles in an 1:19

9:13 pace with a max of 6:58

2010 Cannondale Super Six and CAAD9 1

I finally got a chance to take some pictures of the new 2010 Cannondale Hi Mod Super Six and the CAAD 9 1 bicycles.

Here is the photo gallery for the bikes. Standby for a full review on the 2010 Cannondale Hi Mod Super Six.

My buddy Nico

My friend Nico came by to see me today. I hadn't seen him in about 2 years. He was racing in Europe as part of the Crédit Agricole
track team. Once the team was disbanded he was out of a j-o-b sorry brother. But the good news is now we can ride together here. Welcome back to the States!!

Cool Ollie

Why does the family pet always have to play involuntary dress up?

Warner Loop

Went out for a hard one hour effort. There is a stretch of road where I can "open her up". Unfortunately it's hard to get away from traffic lights but I wouldn't trade living 2.5 miles from the beach for anything.



SCREEN SHOT FROM MY POWER TAP DOWNLOADED TO TRAINING PEAKS SOFTWARE

41 minutes Normalized Power of 244 watts or 3.69 w/kg on flat terrain.

August Month End Numbers

My cycling mileage numbers are less than ever for the month of August as I prepare for Furnace Creek 508. I have been doing more speed work and less volume.






What you see below is the Performance Management Chart from Training Peaks Software.

The pink line is Acute Training Load ATL=Short term effects- workouts done in the last 14 days

the Yellow Line is Training Stress Balance- TSB represents the balance of training stress or how well you have been juggling your training load and your rest periods.

And the Blue line is Chronic Training Load- CTL=Long term effects- workouts done 15 days ago and older

You'll notice that the Pink lines or my ATL kept increasing with spikes during June and July. You will also note that the TSB was closing the gap as the ATL was less and less. My CTL has been rising ever since May 27th. I will now begin a slow taper as I am just shy of one month from my goal event of the year. I do have one last hard weekend left 2 weeks before the Furnace Creek 508.

I should be fit, rested and fresh by October 3rd.

source

I'm a destination runner

I realized or rather confirmed that I just can't run for time. I went out for a run today. As part of my plan to increase my mileage slowly I was scheduled to run 30 minutes. But once I got out on the road I needed some thing or some place tangible to feel satisfied with my run. 15 minutes into my run I was half-way between cross-streets. At that point felt like I hadn't "gone" anywhere. I decided to run to the beach and ended up with 46 minutes and 5.2 miles.

As far as aches and pains my cardiovascular fitness is good. My left Achilles tendon started to hurt 15 minutes into the run and my right Achilles started to hurt about 30 minutes into the run. Let's hope over time those things toughen up and those pains go away. In the meantime, I will put on my Skins Recovery Tights-- I've got a long day on my feet tomorrow.

On my commute-- Aspiring Artist

On the train ride home today a young man named Robin drew this picture of my Cervelo Soloist. Good show Robin!

On my commute-- reflective gear

I did a partial commute this morning. Partial commute means I take the train part of the way and ride part of the way. It almost splits up perfectly 35 miles on the train and 30 miles on the bike. It was just getting light out as I pulled into a Starbucks. Once in side a gentleman approaches me and says "Your reflective stuff works. Man I can really see you a mile away" That's good to know since I leave the house before 5am on my commuting days.

Thank you Nathan Sports for the gear.

I really like the terry cloth ankle bands from Nathan. They are really comfy and very reflective!!





My wheels have reflective tape on them. I don't worry about the "uncool" factor of having reflective tape on my wheels or my bike. I have a family and I need to get home to them. My I present to you Chloe, my Cervelo Carbon Soloist.

New Quest-- Ultra Endurance Athlete

In my new quest to become an Ultra Endurance Athlete I have started running again. I have only run twice in three days and the runs have been really short so nothing that can considered EPIC--- yet. But in talking to a few runners that have come into the store lately I thought it would be cool to broaden my Ultra experience into other sports.

I've always enjoyed running but had to give it up because of chronic shin splints and a groin injury. Before the new millennium I was running 5ks, 10ks and half marathons in hopes of running a full marathon. That goal never materialized because of the aforementioned injuries. That goal is still out there and I eventually would like to compete or complete the Death Valley Cup (DVC). The DVC includes the Badwater Ultramarathon (135 miles running race) and the Furnace Creek 508 (508 mile bike race). Sure it's a lofty goal but why not?

It's been 10 years since I've done any running. My runs have been short and based on time. I went out for two 20 minute runs. The pace was slow about 9:30 for Saturday. Then yesterday, Monday, I ran at an 8:30 pace. I felt fine during the runs but I am experiencing some soreness today-- particularly in my calves. I need to take it really slow. Building my running base must be progressive or I'll risk reinjuring myself.

First running goal will be to run the Lasse Viren 20km trail run in Malibu on December 13, 2009. From there build towards my first marathon.

The running will be done as part of my off-season cross training. The Furnace Creek 508 on October 2-3, 2009 is the goal race for this season.