Bike Intervals – and a 60 miler

May 11, 2012 in Biking with 0 Comments

Really great ride today – first 60 miler of the season.  Of course, Coach Liz wanted to make it interesting:

60 miles -

jeepers! Am hoping you’re back in the Ozarks today and can ride on some good hills. Keep that HR in check – but after that first hour of warm up, include at ANY point during the ride – doesn’t matter when: (when I say zone 3 here – keep it about 5-7 beats below your LT. It should feel hard but it should not destroy you) 3 x 10 min zone 3 efforts with 5 min recovey between 2 x 20 min zone 3 efforts with 5 min rec Then, the last 10 miles of this ride, I want you to push the pace – finish this hard. It’s ok if this part kind of wipes you out.

OK, no problem finding hills where I live.  In fact, I just rode my favorite route – HWY 54 West from Camdenton and did an out and back.  30 miles to Hermitage.  Look at this elevation chart for today’s ride:

Elevation Chart for Camdenton to Hermitage and back on Hwy 54

Yep – there are good hills to climb.

So, what about the intervals?  Tried to follow the directions as closely as possible.

 

 The even numbered splits are the actual intervals that Liz specified in her workout instructions.  The odd numbered splits are either the warm-up or the recovery periods.

Yes, split 12 was supposed to be 10 miles.  I really wanted it to be.  But fate had other plans:

Flat tire at mile 59.

When this unexpected surprise happens, one can either be upset, or look at this as an excellent opportunity to practice tire repairs in the field.  Changing a tube is not a big deal, and it is good to practice it.  Especially with the Trek Speed Concept because it is not the easiest bike frame to remove the rear wheel and replace.

Finished the ride.  It was great overall and a good confidence builder for both the Kansas City Triathlon next weekend and also the Ironman 70.3 Kansas in June.

Funniest thing happened at my turn around point in Hermitage.  I stopped at the Casey’s c-store to replenish my drink bottles when a man approached and said, “Your bike is REALLY neat!  In fact, your bike costume is REALLY neat!”

Really kind of funny.  As I was refilling my water bottles the gentleman came back out of the store and asked, “Are you one of THOSE cross country bikers?”  No sir, not yet, but will be in 2018!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interval Week

May 2, 2012 in Biking, Running, Swim with 0 Comments

Last week was a great week.  It was a recovery week so the intensity of the workouts were reduced.  That was nice.  It was comfortable.

That changed.

Monday morning.

I opened up Training Peaks and found this workout assignment from Liz:

wah ha ha….recovery week is done!!! : ) An easier run yesterday so we’re going for a harder swim today… :) 4 x 25 – drill 4 x 25 – build Main set: 1600 yards 3 x 200 on 5:15 rest 30 sec 2 x 200 on 5:00 – ouch. 30 sec rest 3 x 200 on 5:15 100 easy

Wonderful.  I’m not a big fan of swim intervals.  Part of the reason is the swim continues to be my weakness.  The other part is I never know which one of me is going to show up in the pool – the one that can can close to meeting Liz’s workout objectives – or the one that cannot even come close.  Monday was a good day.  The Denny that could meet the coach’s objectives showed up.  The intervals were work – but by the end of the session, mission was accomplished.

To help me improve my run, Liz recommended I take some run coaching instructions from John Carstens with the Kansas City Track Club.  We’ve been meeting on Tuesday mornings at the Shawnee Mission East High School track.  John started me out with hill repeats for the first couple of weeks, then some intervals on the track.

Tuesday – “Denny, I want you to run 6 x 400′s – and try to run them in 1:40.  Oh, and you can walk / jog a 400 in-between.”

So, the results were:

1 – 1:39;3

2 – 1:45.0

3 – 1:41.2

4 – 1:37.6

5 – 1:37.6

6 – 1:39.0

Monday was swim intervals, Tuesday was running intervals, I should have guessed tonight, Wednesday, would be biking intervals.

My workout instruction -

ok, we’re testing out the new HR zones today ! : ) 30 min warm up – include 5 x 15 sec and 5 x 30 sec pick ups – make sure you get geniunely warmed up for the ‘meat of the ride’ : 5 x 2 min at 249 watts with 3 min recovery…. Then: 3 x 3 min in upper zone 2 / lower zone 3 – should feel like a tempo effort but not super hard. Recover 2 min between these efforts. Last bit of time, ride easy : )

The great thing tonight was I was able to base my bike ride out of the hotel where I’m staying.  Very convenient.  Warmed up riding south on Mission Road – then got into the ‘meat of the ride’:

First Interval – avg power 260 watts

Second Interval – avg power 263 watts

Third Interval – avg power 248 watts

Fourth Interval – avg power 249 watts

Fifth Interval – avg power 255 watts

Sixth Interval – avg heart rate – 139 – zone 3.2

Seventh Interval – avg heart rate – 135 – zone 2.9

Eighth Interval – avg heart rate – 148 – zone 4.2

The bike ride tonight was in fact, AWESOME.  Really a great ride that I enjoyed tremendously.  Absolutely cannot wait to see what the results of all this will be.  Really appreciate the workouts that Liz is putting together for me.  I am so fortunate.

 

Pretty Special Day

April 29, 2012 in Race Report, Running with 0 Comments

As a grandfather, there are days that really stand out.  I mean, like over the top stand out.  Some time ago Tim asked if I would be interested in running the Trolley Run with Grace.  The response was immediate, YES!  What an opportunity!

Friday night we met for package pick-up, enjoyed a great dinner together, as well as some time on Saturday.

Sunday morning we met for the bus ride to the start line.  As it happens sometimes, rain had moved in overnight and was still coming down.  We were getting waiting to board the bus.

Tim, Grace, and Josh - wet, wet, wet.

Papa and the Kids

Weather was in the mid 50′s, but with the rain, it was cold.  The warmth of the city bus for the 4 mile run felt wonderful.

Arriving at the race start we were able to take shelter under the canopy of a shopping center.  The rain began to subside, and fortunately it quit just as the race began.

The plan was for Tim and Josh to run together, and Grace and I to run together.  We were in the very last start corral.  The announcer started us and Gracie and I were able to begin weaving our way through the crowds. I’ve got to say, Gracie is a good little runner.  We ran our first mile in 9:51, our second mile in 9:59.  About this time Grace needed a little break, so we walked a couple of hundred feet and picked up again.  She only needed on more break about half way through the fourth mile.  Mile 3 was a 10:29 pace, Mile 4 at 10:07.  For a youngster with no specific running training, I’m quite proud of her.

Papa, Grace, and Josh Post Race

I am so blessed with my family.  This was a tremendous day – one that will remain forever in the memory book.

 

Hill Repeats

April 13, 2012 in Biking, Running with 0 Comments

Apparently this was the week for hill repeats…

On Tuesday morning I joined the Kansas City Track Club for their weekly workout at the Shawnee Mission East High School.  Liz thought that the leader, John Carstens, could help me improve my running speed.  John had me do a two mile time trial last Tuesday.  This Tuesday his instruction was simple – see that hill over there?  Go run it:    I will have you doing up to 4×300 on the hill followed by 200 s on the Track !

Delmar Street in Overland Park

This hill does not look like much, does it.  So, what looks like the crest of the hill, is not.  It keeps climbing.  In fact John has a 400 meter distance marked and by the time I ran the fourth 300 meter climb all out, I was really glad I did not have to run the 400′s.  Times for the 300′s were 1:24, 1:22, 1:21 and 1:20.  Then I was able to join the rest of the club for 200 meter intervals on the track.  And learned that they are fast.

The next day, Wednesday,  Liz had a bike / run workout planned.  You have to love it when you read the following instructions in Training Peaks:

Wed: 1:40 brick – back to back running here so keep an eye on the hip…1:10 ride / 30 min run

ride: hills!  Find a hilly route for this one……no time trial today – maybe next week…..
warm up – 15 min or so
8 x a horrible, awful hill that lasts 2-3 minutes in length.  No easy hills on this one : )  Allow yourself to totally recover before going again.  If you’re in KC, Johnson Drive or the north end of Renner is fabulous for these : )  LMK if you want more specific info.
30 min run – on a flat surface.  this is NOT a hard run – easy course, easy pace – just run.
Finding a horrible, awful hill was not a problem.  Liz had the one in mind.  Renner Road where it dead ends at Holiday Drive in Shawnee.  Based myself out of Lifetime Fitness on Renner in Lenexa, then rode my bike north to warm up and find this bad boy hill.

Renner Road - heading South from Holiday Drive

Again, you may not think this hill looks like much.  Let me tell you, round that curve the grade gets steeper, and the hill gets more difficult to climb.  By the seventh hill repeat with my heart rate in zone 5, I was ready for the cool down ride back to Lifetime Fitness.  Curious how the run was going to go…..
“You want to be like a carpet unrolling. Get faster as the climb goes on.”—Chris Carmichael
Hung the bike on the back of my car, put on the running shoes, and headed out on the run.  First 1/2 mile of course was transition, getting accustomed to running rather than pedaling.  The conversion came quickly, and the run became for fun, almost effortless.  Only ran three and 1/2 miles, but it was a really, really great run.

Two good workouts, two good days!

Race Report: Advanced Radiology MaxTrax Duathlon

April 8, 2012 in Race Report with 0 Comments

Had a blast yesterday!  Participated in the Advanced Radiology MaxTrax Duathlon in Columbia, MO.  This was not on my ‘official’ race schedule (Sorry, Elizabeth!) but this is the 5th time I’ve done this race in the past 6 years.  It is always a fun event, and kind of a ‘season opener’ for the multi-sport events.  I ran it this year just for fun, to kind of see where I am on my bike and my run, and to kind of get the cobwebs out with race logistics.  Also wanted to have a nice evening and dinner out with Stella on Friday night while we went up to Columbia for packet pick-up and to play.  This race is also the very first multi-sport race I ever did – back in April, 2007, so of course, there is a special affection for this event.

The race has changed in a couple of ways over the past several years.  Mark Livesay, Race Director and owner of UltraMaxSports who owns the race, has moved the location of the race to the Darby Ridge Elementary School on the north side of Columbia and therefore the run is now all within a subdivision rather than on a park trail.  The format of the long course for the race is a 1.5 mile run, 15 mile bike, and a 3 mile run.  The bike course remains exactly as it has been over the past 6 years, the new and old start locations are both on the same course.

This is the first race with the new Trek Speed Concept 9.8 that I purchased last December.  I’ve been able to get some mileage on it, but there is nothing like getting the bike in a race situation and seeing what one can do.  Last weekend I spent some time washing the bike, mounting the Zipp wheels, cleaning and lubricating the drive train.  Mounted it on the car Friday afternoon – we were ready to go!

FIrst road trip for the new bike

After arriving in Columbia and visiting the UltraMaxSports Store for race registration / package pick-up, we went over to the local Trek bike dealer, Walt’s Bike Shop to do a little shopping.  Inside the store we ran into a former employee of Dan Dougan’s OZ Cycle Shop in Lake Ozark where I buy my bikes.  We had learned earlier in the week that Dan and Nicole’s son, Cameron, had been rushed to the hospital due to a medical emergency resulting in the diagnosis of beginning onset of diabetes.  What we did not know was the hospital was in Columbia.  When we found this out, we rushed over to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia to visit with Nicole and Cameron.  Found them in good spirits, Cameron was doing very well, and Nicole was showing what a great mother she is.

Race start was 8:30 Saturday morning.  When one normally wakes at 5:00 am, that leaves plenty of time to make final preparations, relax, warm-up, and get ready.  Stella and I enjoyed a light breakfast in the hotel, then I went out for an easy 1.5 mile run to begin the warm up routine.  Packed up and arrived at the race site about 7:30.  After picking up the timing chip, all that was left was setting up my bike in the Transition area.  Doing a duathlon is SO much easier than doing a triathlon.  Mount the bike on the rack, add sports drink to the front hydration system, position the bike helmet, place the bike shoes, DONE!

 

Set up in Transition. Let's Roll!

So, 7:45 and nothing to do for another 45 minutes.  Temperature was about 45 degrees with a mile breeze from the South.  Stella and I decided to wimp out and go back to the car to keep warm.  45 degrees is a great temperature for running, can be cold on the bike.  Temperature was so to be warming into the 50′s as the morning progressed.  I decided to wear a bike jacket for the first run leg and the bike leg and strip it off in T2 when I was ready to put an all out effort in the second run.

Stella caught this picture during the pre-race instructions given by Mark.

Receiving Race Instructions

As you would expect, the young guys in shorts and sleeveless shirts, the old guys with winter jackets on.  Right at 8:30, Mark set us off.

Leg 1 – Run 1.5 miles, 10:24, 7:09 min/mile pace

The race started well and I was positioned close to the front so I was in the mix with the real Type A’s.  Within about 2 blocks we made a right turn and began a long down hill run into a subdivision.  I looked at my Garmin, saw a 6:XX pace and thought, “Oh, mercy, this is going to cost me.”  Of course, there is that old adage, whatever goes down must come up.  And  this was no different.  We reached the bottom, enjoyed a short flat run, then had to make the climb back up to school.  With only a 1.5 mile run leg, it goes FAST!  I do not think I’ve ever run this fast of a pace in a race.

Running into T1

T1 – 1:51

Elizabeth will read this and wonder, “WHAT in the world was he doing for 1:51 in T1?  Enjoying lunch?”  It is a long time for a race like this.  Should be easy – run in, remove run shoes, put on bike shoes, put on helmet, grab bike, GO!  Well, this is one of the reasons I wanted to do this race – work out the cobwebs.  As I was running into T1 I grabbed my race belt to rotate the BIB to my back side for the bike ride.  Unfortunately, I should have grabbed the race belt with both hands on either side of the belt buckle.  Like a goof, apparently I just grabbed the right side of the belt and ended up pulling the strap completely out of the belt buckle.  To be honest, I’m not really good in these kind of stress conditions.  Fortunately, I had put my bike right at the end of the bike rack near the fence, Stella was standing there and with her magical fingers put my belt back together.  Sometimes, it is just those little things a wife will do…..

What???? is with this belt?

OK, the belt issue resolved, shoes changed, grabbed the helmet and put it on my head and realized that I made a super dumb mistake and failed to unbuckle the head strap.  Dumb Guy.  Remove the helmet, undo the strap, put the helmet back on, buckle it, and then, finally, grab the bike and begin running out of T1.  WOW.  But, that was the purpose of this race – to recall all those little things that call cost TIME.

Leg 2 – Bike 15 miles,  47:25, 19.4 MPH Average Pace

Off on the bike and decided early on that I was going to go all out on the bike.  Only 15 miles and I wanted to see what I could do.  And since this would be a hard ride in the 45-50 minute range in race conditions, hopefully the data from the Quark Power Meter on my bike and the data downloaded from my Garmin would give Liz the info she would need to establish heart rate zones and power zones for my training in the next few months.  Kind of an extra bonus from this non-scheduled race that has no real importance in my schedule for this year.

The Trek Speed Concept was proving to be a lot of fun to ride and it was handling well.  Much smoother ride than my Cervelo P3C.  At the recommendation of Tim Ray from Maplewood Cycle in St. Louis, I have the drivetrain set up with a 170cm 50/34 crank and a 11/28 cassette on the rear wheel.  For a guy my size with a 30″ inseam, Tim thinks the compact crank is the best choice and the cassette gives me the ability to hit the flats hard and have an easy gear for the hill climbs here in Missouri.  So far, it is working well!  I found I was able to climb the hills on this course without much difficulty, and felt like I was flying on the flats and the descents.  There was a young gal that was also riding a Trek Speed Concept that would pass me on each hill climb and then I’d pass her on the flats or the descents.  We played tag for the entire 15 miles.  She had the advantage of her light weight to help her on the hill climbs, I had the advantage of an additional 50 pounds of weight for the downhills.  Love that gravity thing.

At about mile 5 the chain began skipping on my rear cassette.  It would never leave the gear it was on, just kind of start to leave, causing a gap, then come back.  Kind of like a skip.  Fought with this for a couple of miles, both with the chain in the large ring and the small ring, did not make a difference.  Finally was able to reduce the frequency of it happening by ‘feathering’ the right shift lever between the gear stops.  Time to get out the book to learn how to make the necessary adjustment to fix this.

In short, I rode as hard as I could for the 15 miles.  It has been a long time since I’ve been able to ride at this pace in a race.

T2 – 1:00

OK, this is more like it. Run in, hang the bike, drop the bike shoes, put on the running shoes. And out!  The only thing I added was stripping of my bike jacket.  No idea what the temperature was at this point but knew I’d be more comfortable for a three mile hard run without the jacket than with it.  Off it came.

Leaving T2 - Beginning a fast 3 mile run!

Leg 3 – Run 3 miles, 23:37, 7:41 min/mile pace

This run was exactly the same as the first run, but 2 laps.  As I was leaving T2 I was trying to figure out how exactly I wanted to begin the run.  I had pushed myself pretty good on the first run, pushed myself real hard on the bike so I was just not real sure what I had left in me.  Cleared the crowd as I was passing the finish line area and made the corner around the school building where I noticed about five dumpsters.  Took an unscheduled pit st0p behind one of the dumpsters, then back on the course.  Grabbed a gel out my shorts pocket, consumed it quickly, then began running.  Felt really good so decided to go as hard as I could and see where I ended up.  Turns out – had no difficulty handling the three miles at all.

Summary

This was a great early season opening race.  Was reminded of the dumb mistakes one can make.  More importantly, learned what I can ask my body to do.  Of the five times that I have run this race, this was my fastest time.

Over the past couple of months Liz has introduced a much different coaching approach than I have been accustomed to.  In each of the three triathlon disciplines, she has been introducing speed work, namely intervals.  Assigning intervals on the bike.  Sending me to a track to do running intervals -something I’ve never done before.  And of course, her personal favorite, intervals in the pool.  10 x 100′s on 2:30′s?   I do not know how many times I have read my workout instructions with the admonition, “This is going to hurt!”  WHAT?  Why?  I’m a long course guy!  Why am I doing speed work like that?  Now I know.  She has a plan and it is making a difference.  Winning my age group in this race is proof.

Coach Liz - "If it hurt, mission accomplished!"

 

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