The Grey Lady

Just got back from the big island of Nantucket late last night. Had a very good visit with my mom, though she did melt down at one point, but we worked through it. Kids had a blast, skimboarding, bodysurfing, digging in the sand, checking out the grey seals, and living the fantasy island lifestyle. Got in three good runs, two with solid tempo for the last mile. Also, was able to get in a great open water swim at Dionis- good head current going out, waves breaking over me, great workout. I did not bring the bike out because we already had so much crap to haul, but thats ok because I will get a lot of riding in over the next four weeks before race #1. Groin feels great, but I still have solid scars and some numbness. More family fun on the near horizon, so I am sure to post updates to any of you gluttons for schadenfreude.

Catching up

Much to catch up on, to those hallowed few who even read this blog: On the home front, the situation is fairly stable with my extended family, though it is certainly in flux. She is in a facility (pretty nice) that is expensive (understatement) and getting the care she needs, but it will be a long haul. As the point person, I have been all over the place coordinating finances, legal things, and managing family stress. She gets out at the end of the month, so then we will be into a new phase of treatment with a new set of problems and potential pitfalls.

As for me, I just got back from a 10 day cycling tour with 27 students and 6 other faculty. We rode from New Jersey, through Amish Pennsylvania, Gettysburg, down to Harper's Ferry, WV, and on to Washinton, DC. It was very cool, camping every night and having the kids take responsibility for cooking for the group. Many miles in the saddle, many MONSTER climbs on my very heavy touring bike to work the legs. I feel like I am in great biking shape now. Last night, Chris and I were filmed by a running guru, and he broke down everything in our stride and position, much like we did with swimming. Once again, humbling how much I have to work on. I have not swum in a long time, but we head out to Nantucket this weekend, for a visit with my parents, so I plan to bring my wetsuit and get some open water swimming in a few times, a long with some great running. Thats it for now....

The Dark Place

My training, and many other aspects of my life, was thrown off last Friday when I received a phone call about a family member who has possibly hit bottom after a long history of substance abuse. It is a heartwrenching situation because there are kids involved, but ultimately it is for the best for her, them, and the rest of the family. After several days trying to tie up all of the pieces so that she can get the help she needs in a long-term facility, I have not had any consistent training, so hopefully life will stabilize for me and my family this week and I can get back to taking care of my wife and kids (and get back to the training!). It amazes me that there are so many public rehab facilities, but they are held in such low regard, and that there are so many private ones that do not accept insurance but are supposedly the best. It really puts tension in an already difficult situation. It is no wonder so many addicts do not recover easily. Anyway, more to come as this situation unfolds.

She's gonna BLOW!

At least, thats what it felt like as I swam a set of 10 x 50s with my stroke cadence metronome in my cap. Of course, it also felt like my lungs were going to explode as well. Still, in many ways it makes sense to use this device, since it is like interval running or cycling. I did the 50s with 20 seconds rest for the first 5, but then I had to up to 30 seconds rest for the next 5. Greg had originally said to do 25s with 30 rest, but I thought that was too short and too long a rest. I may go back to his rec, though. Its all about muscle memory and increasing fitness at speed. I was swimming my 50s at about a 1:20 pace (40 secs each). I then did a 500 that was torture, but by the last 100 I was feeling better. In the parlance of "racing your strenth and training your weakness" I am going to race my swim and bike and survive my runs by building volume. We do have a run coach who has offered to work with Chris and me on position and cadence, so I will likely do that too. Chris and I did a 20 mile ride yesterday, and I definitely need to work on bike fitness...

Tale of the tape

So, I finally was able to get taped in the pool on Friday with Chris. Greg took the tape after two 25 yd passes, and then converted it on his computer/software. What an amazing program! It was very cool to see my stroke broken down, and the harsh reality of what I am doing wrong with my position/catch etc. The big issue he saw with my stroke was in my catch (too vertical) and my stroke rate (too slow). For the next few weeks I am going to swim with a metronome that you wear in your swimcap that beeps out a cadence. I also plan to work with some special arm paddles that reinforce proper elbow height through the catch phase. Other than that, Greg said my stroke looked good, with the exception of my hip rotation being too slow and not leading my stroke but following it. Lots to work on! Still, so many triathletes are bad swimmers that even at my very humble level, I was ranking in the top 5 AG in most races, and I know I can go a lot faster! Thats it for now...

Spinning...

Went for a short ride this weekend to see how my neck would feel after the last ride. Put on the Zipps to test them out as well. Bike rode well, lots of headwind going out, but I motored coming back. My average was low (17 mph) but I think something might be wrong with my computer because I reset the tire size and I may have messed that up. I did not feel any neck issues, so I posted my position on ST and got some good advice (and only a few flames). Put the longer stem back on to get more stretched out, and raised the seal alittle because it was on the low side for comfort. I am looking forward to coaching being over so I will have more time to ride. I can sneak in runs and swims, but riding takes so much longer and I just don't have those windows when I am going full tilt teaching/coaching. The Zipps rode well, but I noticed a lot of chain skip. They have a DA 9 speed cassette on the rear, and I run almost the identical cassette on my Ksyriums, so that should not have been the problem. When I got back home, I noticed the cassette was loose. Not sure why, but I will try to tighten the locknut to see (hope) if that helps tighten things up. The wheels have Tufo tubie/clinchers (giro twix), and I am too lazy to swap them out- but I am skeptical of their traction at the moment. We'll see. Can't wait to ride more!

Plan this week is to do some video finally with our swim coach so he can adjust my stroke/position and give me some drills to work on to break out of the 1:35 rut I am in. Mostly, I think fitness will be the main thing to develop, but if I can hold a better position and get more efficiency from my stroke, that will be great. Weather sucks at the moment.

Another day...

Banged out a few days of running lately, then the weather turned nice, so I was able to catch a 25 miler this weekend. Rode out with a group of rec riders who meandered at an easy 16 mph, then at the turnaround, I hammered 20 mph in the aero position for about 10 miles. I built up my new frame, a fuji aloha, this winter, so this was the first time I really rode hard in the aero position on the road. Sort of a shakedown cruise. Everything went fine, felt great afterwards, aside from a sore neck and upper back from my low front end. Because I plan to only do sprints this summer as I build back up, I should be able to hold the position for 40-45 minutes no problem. This morning I did my usual Monday TT, and I held a solid 1:35 for the full distance without finishing too winded and with negative spliting the last 200. Soreness is almost totally gone, though I do still have the healing ridges, and I do have loss of sensation above my "junk."
Looking forward to more work this week as we get closer to the summer!