Friday: nuttin. total recovery day.
Saturday: rode an easy 12 miles with the sprinters. should've done more, but was swamped by chores at home.
Sunday: long run, on my own because i forgot to set my alarm to run with the team at 8. just went out to campbell park and knocked off 90 minutes at L1-2. bit slow; think I only covered 7.5-8 miles.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
uvas canyon loop 9/6
I decided to go for a ride last Thursday, despite the smoke in the air from the Plumas and Coe wildfires. I resolved to stay out of the hills and keep it sorta long and sorta flat to mitigate the effects of the ashy air.
I drove over to Almaden Lake Park and set out toward Santa Teresa at about 440pm. I'd mapped out a modified version of the Bailey loop so that it was about 10 miles longer. I headed south out Santa Teresa for a long, flat spin to warm up my jello-y legs.
Now...Santa Teresa is notorious for becoming a wind tunnel in the late afternoon, but I can never seem to remember which way the wind usually blows. It seems like I battle unrelenting headwinds everytime I roll out there, whether it's north or south. I figured I'd be okay, since the last time I was out there the wind was markedly worse as I headed back home (north).
Holy shite. Whatta headwind! It was worse than the winds at Wildflower back in May...and I'm not even in long course shape anymore. Seriously, I was spinning along at a moderate-high gear, and I was making about 12 mph on flat ground. By the time I got to Bailey, I was feeling a little wiped. My right trapezius was screaming bloody murder, having not had much time to recover from shouldering a heavy backpack over Labor Day weekend.
I hunkered down into my drops to get as aero as I could and kept grinding my way forward, getting buzzed by the occasional jerkoff in a sports car or F-150.
8 miles...9 miles...10 miles...11 miles... I was getting a bit demoralized. Shouldn't the turn be coming up soon? The headwind was fierce, and I kept having to squirm around and rub my neck to make it feel better--it was STINGING.
Finally, I rolled up on the turn to Willow Springs Road. I pulled around the corner and stopped for a drink and to much a few sport beans. As I set off again, I sighed with relief. No wind here; I was headed between some hills. The climb up to Chesbro reservoir was winding but not at all steep. I was only passed by a few cars, including one of those stupid stretch Hummer limos. Huh?!? When I reached the reservoir, my jaw dropped. I could see why CaliMan had been cancelled earlier in the year...it was dead empty! Only a few puddles and there. Eek. I turned right and skirted the eastern edge of the reservoir, and then turned right onto Uvas road.
After a brief flat spin followed by a short climb, I was rewarded with a long, smooth descent. I relaxed and actually went kinda fast...for me, anyway. I looked up at the sky to the west. The sun was beginning to set behind the smoky haze, making a weird fireball above the horizon.
Uvas turns into McKean before it hooks back up with Almaden. At Almaden, I started to feel the right knee a little bit...but not so much that I was overly concerned. It was okay out of the saddle. In fact, it is the worst now when I'm getting started from a dead stop in the middle of the ride, but other than that it's okay.
I spun comfortably down Almaden back to the park and my car.
31.5 miles in 2:04:00. A bit pokey, but not bad.
And you know what? I didn't even need to ice my knee. :-)
I drove over to Almaden Lake Park and set out toward Santa Teresa at about 440pm. I'd mapped out a modified version of the Bailey loop so that it was about 10 miles longer. I headed south out Santa Teresa for a long, flat spin to warm up my jello-y legs.
Now...Santa Teresa is notorious for becoming a wind tunnel in the late afternoon, but I can never seem to remember which way the wind usually blows. It seems like I battle unrelenting headwinds everytime I roll out there, whether it's north or south. I figured I'd be okay, since the last time I was out there the wind was markedly worse as I headed back home (north).
Holy shite. Whatta headwind! It was worse than the winds at Wildflower back in May...and I'm not even in long course shape anymore. Seriously, I was spinning along at a moderate-high gear, and I was making about 12 mph on flat ground. By the time I got to Bailey, I was feeling a little wiped. My right trapezius was screaming bloody murder, having not had much time to recover from shouldering a heavy backpack over Labor Day weekend.
I hunkered down into my drops to get as aero as I could and kept grinding my way forward, getting buzzed by the occasional jerkoff in a sports car or F-150.
8 miles...9 miles...10 miles...11 miles... I was getting a bit demoralized. Shouldn't the turn be coming up soon? The headwind was fierce, and I kept having to squirm around and rub my neck to make it feel better--it was STINGING.
Finally, I rolled up on the turn to Willow Springs Road. I pulled around the corner and stopped for a drink and to much a few sport beans. As I set off again, I sighed with relief. No wind here; I was headed between some hills. The climb up to Chesbro reservoir was winding but not at all steep. I was only passed by a few cars, including one of those stupid stretch Hummer limos. Huh?!? When I reached the reservoir, my jaw dropped. I could see why CaliMan had been cancelled earlier in the year...it was dead empty! Only a few puddles and there. Eek. I turned right and skirted the eastern edge of the reservoir, and then turned right onto Uvas road.
After a brief flat spin followed by a short climb, I was rewarded with a long, smooth descent. I relaxed and actually went kinda fast...for me, anyway. I looked up at the sky to the west. The sun was beginning to set behind the smoky haze, making a weird fireball above the horizon.
Uvas turns into McKean before it hooks back up with Almaden. At Almaden, I started to feel the right knee a little bit...but not so much that I was overly concerned. It was okay out of the saddle. In fact, it is the worst now when I'm getting started from a dead stop in the middle of the ride, but other than that it's okay.
I spun comfortably down Almaden back to the park and my car.
31.5 miles in 2:04:00. A bit pokey, but not bad.
And you know what? I didn't even need to ice my knee. :-)
swim 9/5
400 warmup
8x50 drill (25/25) 15"
8X50 kick L2 15"
1x800
...and knocked off the 200 cooldown because i had a client.
8x50 drill (25/25) 15"
8X50 kick L2 15"
1x800
...and knocked off the 200 cooldown because i had a client.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
end of summer
Ah, so end the days of summer.
I have not posted in a while. I was out of town for a week because of the death of my grandmother, followed by a planned backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail.
My own training has been a bit sluggish, but coaching has been going well.
I enjoy working with the team on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It's a small group of people (about 30 or so) and attendance has been sparse, but I expect that to change now that Labor Day has come and gone. We just started our first build phase and added our first brick workout last night. Everyone is doing well and most are proficient swimmers...unusual for a group of complete beginners. I love answering questions about injuries and strength and conditioning. Yesterday a guy on the team asked me if I felt like I was still at work when I came to practice. I realized I hadn't thought of it before, but the answer is no--it's just too much fun!
I now have to get a bit more serious about my own training; I've got an half-marathon looming on the horizon. Last night I did a timed 2 miler after a decent warmup and some speed drills. I still suck, but not as badly as I'd thought. I ran a 17:26, mile 1 in 8:22 and mile 2 in 9:04. Pretty crappy split, but I have some time to improve it. I'll fit in some hill work tomorrow, a long run this weekend, hopefully 7+ miles, and maybe some mile repeats or a pyramid next week at the track. I guess, in retrospect, I don't have to feel too bad about my timed 2 mile run...after all, I was recovering from hauling a 40# pack around at 10k of altitude for 4 days!
Sigh. Off to swim a bit.
I have not posted in a while. I was out of town for a week because of the death of my grandmother, followed by a planned backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail.
My own training has been a bit sluggish, but coaching has been going well.
I enjoy working with the team on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It's a small group of people (about 30 or so) and attendance has been sparse, but I expect that to change now that Labor Day has come and gone. We just started our first build phase and added our first brick workout last night. Everyone is doing well and most are proficient swimmers...unusual for a group of complete beginners. I love answering questions about injuries and strength and conditioning. Yesterday a guy on the team asked me if I felt like I was still at work when I came to practice. I realized I hadn't thought of it before, but the answer is no--it's just too much fun!
I now have to get a bit more serious about my own training; I've got an half-marathon looming on the horizon. Last night I did a timed 2 miler after a decent warmup and some speed drills. I still suck, but not as badly as I'd thought. I ran a 17:26, mile 1 in 8:22 and mile 2 in 9:04. Pretty crappy split, but I have some time to improve it. I'll fit in some hill work tomorrow, a long run this weekend, hopefully 7+ miles, and maybe some mile repeats or a pyramid next week at the track. I guess, in retrospect, I don't have to feel too bad about my timed 2 mile run...after all, I was recovering from hauling a 40# pack around at 10k of altitude for 4 days!
Sigh. Off to swim a bit.
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