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Avia Wildflower

The Wildflower triathlon is next weekend. Five of my mentees will be tackling that race, while the rest of us continue on with training for Vineman in July. As this was the last long swim for the Wildflower team, the goal was to head out from The Shores to The Cove.  A two mile swim, round trip — a big step for some.

The day was wonderful — lots of warm sun. But the ocean wasn’t playing the same game as it was rough and swelly though there was good visibility in the water.  The group had to battle 6 foot surf and a fairly deep set of breakers.  And once out, the swells were large and frequent with a lot of chop. 

I swam out with some of my Mentees but some turned back after 500 yrds or so because of the chop and swells.  I stuck with Mahsima who pushed on another couple hundred of yards before it was too much.  In all we got in about 1500 yards or so, not nearly the 3500 yards that was our goal.  Considering the conditions, it was still a good swim and definitely a challenging workout.

Other team-mates made it all the way to The Cove and back! Great job for them!

Capping off the day was a fundraiser BBQ.   Burgers, Hot dogs, chips, tea, and desserts.  All  the stuff to nourish the body after a long swim!  All this work and fun to support an important cause!

We were joined by our Honored Teammate Alfred Duron.  He is doing great so far and it was wonderful to talk with him!

 It is a week until Wildflower so we held a practice triathlon for the teams at La Jolla Shores.  This is the opportunity for everyone to run through what race day is like and to nail down everything so they can have the best race possible.  Racks were setup, race numbers applied, and the course was laid out.  The Olympic distance team was doing a long “Sprint” triathlon, while the Long/half-ironman teams were doing basically an Olympic distance event (except for the swim was limited to about 500m).   The practice tri started at 7am sharp and teammates began arriving as early as 6am to get setup and to get into the right zone. As I was taking pictures, I didn’t do this practice. I already have a number of triathlons under my belt and I decided I will do a ride later.

Getting ready

Time for the start

Out of the water

Transition to the bike

Run transition

Strong finish!

After everyone completed the practice tri, we all had a nice breakfast put on by the Coaches, mentors, and support staff!

Post-tri breakfast and pre-Wildflower talk

Around noon I decided to head out for a ride up the coast. I did 28 miles in 2 hours, going from La Jolla Shores to Encinitas and back. I wanted to go to Carlsbad, but there was the Encinitas Street Fair going on, so I cut my ride short.

As this was the last serious run for the Wildflower team until the race in less than two weeks, the goal was to run 7 miles or so.  The scheduled run was through Torrey Pines State Park with some trails and then the hill down to the beach.

Torrey Pines State Beach

The weather was a little bit cooler than it has been,  but it made for a great run.  Off the trails, the view of the ocean was incredible. Torrey Pines is such a great place to run and bike.

The group started out at a fast pace, but things settled into about a 10 minute mile.  That was a bit too fast for me, so I dropped back and settled into about a 11:30 minute mile.

Made my way down the hill to the bottom, and then turned around and made my way back up.  At the top, I continued to where we started and forgot to make a second pass on the trails.  My mileage ended up being only 5.65 miles instead of the 7 miles that everyone else did…

My fitness is getting better and the run felt ok overall.  My HR remained high while heading back up the hill, but it is not as dramatic as it has been on previous runs.

Wednesday means spin and swim night.  I missed last week, so I really needed to make it to this one.

Coach Trent wasn’t available for spin and Mentor Alan filled in and ran the drills.  50 minutes later and I am glad it is over!  I just loaded up the data from my Forerunner and the Spin profile is very interesting.  My HR really tracks the speed which mostly changed when we shifted gears as part of the routine.  Max cadence tonight was 140 rpm at around 10 minutes in.

Spin Profile

Only had a 15 minute break and then it was time for the pool.  It was cooler out and the water didn’t feel warm enough, but after a while it was comfortable. I got through 1100 yards of drills and laps and it definitely hit me pretty hard.  My shoulder didn’t hurt like it did after the ocean swim, so that is good, but my body is really tired now.

Tomorrow will reveal how hard the workout was on my body when all the soreness hits…

It was another picture perfect day at La Jolla Shores, making for a spectacular ocean swim.  I have been really looking forward to these lately.  The water was relatively calm, decent visibility, and the water in the low 60s.  With the bright sun and the 85° air temperatures, it would be hard to ask for anything better!

Swim Coach Robbie (who is part fish)

As we are two weeks out from the Wildflower race, the goal today was to go as far to the cove as possible.  From The Shores to The Cove is approximately 1 mile each way, making for a long 2 mile swim.  Some of us weren’t quite up to that distance yet, so our target was about 1/4 mile out from The Cove to give us a 1.5 mile swim.

Clowning around...

It was a long swim for me.  I started out fairly strong, going about 300 yards or so before getting my bearings.  There was a gentle swell and current and I quickly got into a groove.  35 minutes later or so and I was nearing the turn around.  

The way back in seemed much longer and I had to stop more often to catch my breath.  I know that I need a lot more work on my swim, so I wasn’t surprised I was feeling tired.  What concerned me more was that my right shoulder was already getting sore and I still had another 1000 yards in…  Another 40 minutes and I was back to the shore, feeling generally good, but with a sore shoulder.  Talking to Robbie, it is clear that I am powering my stroke much more with my right arm than my left — this is happening when I rotate to breath on the left.  I don’t do bilateral breathing but I am going to have to conquer that someday soon.  Maybe next season.

The water looks so perfect!

Go Team!

Coach Trent called this our “Epic” ride and it really was a great one. 37 miles for the Vineman team and 50 miles for the Wildflower Long course team.  Wildflower team had long left before I arrived at the meet-up point as they had to get an early start.

We gathered at Otay Lakes Reservoir to go over the ride, cover some important safety tips and nutrition. As this was a strength workout, the profile of the ride was gentle rollers and flats for the first 10 miles out, then a 7 mile, 2100′ climb up Honey Springs Road, then turn around and head back down. This is out in east San Diego county near the US/Mexico boarder so there really isn’t much there. We arranged for SAG at the half-way point so we could stock up on water and food.

The ride started off at a fast pace, burning up the first 8 or so miles at an average of 18.5 mph (fast for me).  The elevation gradually increased until we reached the start of the 7 mile climb.  Digging in, we made the slow ascent. I was doing fine for the first 4 miles or so, but then my heart rate really was getting up past 90%.  I was definitely getting tired and had to stand a lot during the climb to keep the momentum.  It was hot and I was sweating out a lot of salts.  I used Cytomax for this ride and I felt ok for the first 15 miles, but after working the climb, the Cytomax was tasting a little too sweet so I might need to dilute my second water bottle a little bit.  The climb was a bear but eventually we made it to the top — I only had to think of our honored teammates and what they deal with everyday to get the mental inspiration to make it to the top!   We took a quick photo, then flew down what we slogged up…

Robbie makes it look easy...

 Going down was a blast, and I fully recovered, while flying down at 35+ mph.  The elevation vs heart rate graph from my Forerunner 305 shows how difficult the final bit to the summit was, but how easy the trip back down!

We followed the ride with a run — I only put 2 miles in after getting some serious cramps.  I need to work more on my nutrition on these long and hot rides and I am wondering if the Cytomax contributed to them.

After a bite for lunch, we met at the U.S. Olympic Training Center for a special tour and to meet with some of the upcoming Olympic triathlete hopefuls — Steve Sexton, Jen Spieldenner, and Ethan Brown.  We watched a very inspiring movie then went into the Athletes’ village — normally restricted to the general public.   A special thanks to Coach Trent for helping arrange this wonderful event!

Athletes' Village At US Olympic Training Center

Steve Sexton, Jen Spieldenner, and Ethan Brown talking about hopes for 2012

Pictures of the day were added to the gallery.

Go Team!

Today was much nicer than yesterday. Sun was out and it was warm — very much the weather that San Diego is know for.  And with the water temp at 62°, it was looking to be a great day in the water.

Coach Sam asked me to kayak today as the turn around point for the swim.  I would have enjoyed the water, but kayaking was still a good day!

The workout was to practice swim entry and exit by running into the water simulating a race start, swim out to me (250 – 300 yrds off shore), swim back in, exit as in a race, run out to the seawall, and do it again for a total of three sets.

Ocean Swim

Once I was settle off shore, I kicked back and tried to maintain position as best as I could — there was a fairly decent onshore current and a moderate breeze kicked up the chop a bit.  Even with the swells, the visibility was great and you could see the bottom 40 feet below.  Mentor Brian brought out Tony’s camera, so I took the opportunity to take some great ocean swim shots.

Tony bobbing in the waves

Such a lovely day to be in the ocean!

Brian almost swam into that seagull!

Woke up to fairly gray skies and damp from a previous nights rain.  Today was the transition practice for the team and we were gathering at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.  This was an important training session for the team!

I arrived a little bit late and most of the team was gathered around coach Sam to go over the rules of triathlon.  The heavy overcast made for a cool day and there were occasional sprinkles.

Rules such as drafting, how to rack your bike, and the requirement of bar-end plugs were covered. Sam shared tips on how to have a smooth transition and what you need to prepare for to have the best race you can.

I was riding with the Vineman team today, so we got started before the Olympic distance team – the plan was to swim out past the breakers, swim back, then run up to the transition area and head out for the ride.  However, most of us elected to not get into the water as the waves were big and rough. The few brave ones that went in got tossed around and discovered how strong the current was.

Gray day in the waves

After getting tossed, the Vineman and Wildflower long teams headed out for the ride. Wildflower had a tough 51 miles on tap, while the Vineman team was looking at around 35.  The ride started out fairly nice and we made good time from Encinitas up to San Marcos.  Good pace and it was looking to be a great ride.  We broke out into smaller groups as we all have different paces.  I was riding with Jodi when we were hit a brief shower on Palormar Airport Road, but it as more of an annoyance than anything. But once we turned onto Racho Santa Fe, were dumped on with a heavy downpour.  And of course, we were going down a fairly decent hill…

Flying down a hill where the roads are suddenly slick results in panic! The rain stung like little tiny needles and I couldn’t see more than 10 fee in front of me. Fortunately, we kept our cool reduced our speed and eventually met up with other groups huddling under a tree in a fleeting attempt to stay dry.  I was cold and soaked and no longer having a good day.  Coach Trent elected to cancel the rest of the ride as it was very iffy.  We debated the best way of getting back to the start and eventually we made our way through the rain.

Down another hill and Robin got a flat, so we all stopped to assess.  She had to SAG out as she had a large gash in her front tire and it wasn’t worth it to try to salvage.

Robin is in the pink jersey

Eventually the rest of us got back onto road to make our way to the start.  Once we got near the coast, the rain stopped and the sun was actually out.

Overall the team didn’t have a great day with a few members having falls due to slick conditions or other issues.  SAG was busy today…

I stumbled across Cycling Performance Tips while researching the accuracy of my Garmin Forerunner 305’s estimates of calories burned.   Reading through Exercise Physiology – Energy Requirements of Bicycling was very enlightening for me.  I understood many of the mechanics of cycling already, but this article provided much more detail about how everything works together and I had no idea about things like Thermic Effect and the advantages of front shocks.  In essence, to determine the energy requirements what really matters is:

• the weight of the cyclist and equipment
• the distance
• the terrain (flat versus hilly)
• the speed of the ride
• headwinds or tailwinds

Ultimately I was able to make a better assessment of my caloric needs while training. I now have the conclusion that the Garmin gives a fair but inflated estimate and that things such as HR really don’t play much in how many calories are burned during an activity.

I had a solid 5 mile run last night.  Though I struggled to get started, I felt decent during the run.  After, I nourished my body with a good ration of whey protein, carbs and fats, and called it a night.  Everything felt in order.

In the middle of the night I had to get up for work to do some things for a few hours.  I started to feel a little bit sore, but nothing really unusual.

This morning I woke up feeling like I was run over by a bus.  I am sore in the usual places, but I have a different kind of soreness in my shoulders, back, and arms. It even hurts inside my rib cage.  And sneezing seems to be torture as it sends shocks of searing pain through out my body.  This isn’t the normal muscle recovery soreness and it isn’t injury soreness, it is something different, like a little gnome is standing behind me repeatedly pounding me with a baseball bat.

The pain has dulled somewhat now, but to top it off, a throbbing headache has set in.  I am avoiding Ibuprofen as it has negative effects on fitness recovery but I might have to give in if this headache gets any worse.