Left the sunshine for rain...

We got down to Tucson on Saturday after flying into Phoenix and driving 100 miles or so south. I am never flying United again! They charged us $175 one-way for our bikes...and we booked it as an Air Canada flight!! Anyway, that's my rant for today.

It seems unseasonably (?) cold and wet here. Last year we got spoiled with an entire week of sunshine and heat, but this time is a little different. Yesterday it rained on and off and was a little windy. We had a 70-min easy run and bike later in the afternoon with 4x15 min just sub-threshold as a main set. Today the heavens opened and it was like a tropical storm with the amount and ferocity that the rain was falling! They don't worry too much about drainage here apparently and just funnel all the storm and rainwater into a channel - one that we ran through this morning as a recovery run! This afternoon we were dodging all the roadside pools of water on a 80-min run as: 20min ez, 25min steady, 15min 10km pace, 10min 5km pace, 10min ez.

Today we hit up the pool in the morning and I was AMAZED when I saw a familiar face. I roomed with a lady from back east down in Oz in September (along with a couple of other people). She and a group from Canada were there, at the same pool! Such a small world! By the time we got out the pool it was basically triathletes, mostly Canadian too.

Here are some pics from the camp so far:

Our small collection of nike footwear - missing a pair (between 5 people)


Tyler showing his pipes...no wait, that would be his forearm


Pics on the fly - goofs


A sunny pic from the first day - asking directions because we got lost


Derek has bigger legs after all...damnit! Annnd he can make a mean face

"we nailed it"

Awesome line from A night at the Roxbury. Kind of how this week and the latter part of last week (with the exception of saturday...) has been going.

Recovery weeks are great! All the hours and hard work - the workouts that have sucked, and the ones that have felt great - are paying off slowly. My body is learning how to feel pain and push through it, knowing that I can go past the limit and still finish strong. Swimming has been great, biking has been good, and running has been really good compared to last year.

A year ago from now I would have stopped/given up/ not pushed it going the same (most likely slower) paces than I am right now. Yesterday we had a steady run with 5 x 3:30min intervals at a 'steady' pace. The goal was to run a km in 3:30 (i.e. holding a 3:30/km pace). Basically it felt great, I felt super relaxed and tried to focus on breathing and keeping my leg turnover higher if I started feeling fatigued. We ran down to 3:19 pace feeling relaxed. Last week was the ~750m loop hard efforts and they averaged around 3:14-3:16/km. I hope that I can translate this into a good race time!

Today is ridiculous! I've left waaaaay too much to do today before leaving in the early hours tomorrow morning. If there were a degree in procrastination, I'd be a first-class student!

Off to run errands!

Feel this

That's right, feeeeeling the water again...woohoo! Today and yesterday were good sessions in the pool in terms of that word that we all throw around: FEEL. It felt SMOOTH, effortless, and time and meters went by so fast. The last two days the body has hurt a bit as this is now a recovery week, but today it's feeling a bit better (knock on wood...!!).

ALSO, we're headed to the sunny desert land they call Tucson in 3 days!!! SOOO stoked for the sun and a change of scenery, but also for all the guys going down there. Last year we spent a week in Phoenix and made the day trip to ride Mt Lemmon in Tucson. There are some cool rides up in Phoenix but the city is so massive (sprawl!) that it takes time to get to those nice riding areas. First piece of business in Tucson is to find a coffee shop!

In a few hours I am going to re-attempt the FPT test that I blew up on at the weekend. Let's just see how it goes...

Only a few more training sessions and even fewer sleeps now!

Take 2 in a few days

Went for an easy run today through downtown and along dallas road today. Windy down there and made it more like a walk, even though I was "running". Looked something like this:

Just a little windy...

The FPT test didn't go so well this morning. I think the legs have a bit of fatigue from this week and the last 2. Will try to do it again Wednesday on more rested legs. I could really feel the fatigue just running easy in the afternoon.

Just watched the women moguls...wow, those top women looked amazing!

Getting down to it

Hmm, I'm slacking on the whole music thing every week, so here is a late instalment. Heard it on the radio for the first time in a while today.



The official start was also a sad and tragic start to the olympics. I don't know if there are really words to describe something so horrific.

Dreams are made for realising.

Into the last few days now of the 3rd and final build week before a recovery week and then training camp down in Tucson. Thursday saw the first hard training run of the year. I realised that I work harder and am more focused when I'm not joking and talking. Go figure. Noa has definitely put together a great group of guys to train with this year!

Functional Threshold Power test on the bike tomorrow. Should give a good idea of where I need to be training going into training camp. Update to come.

Power

Power is such a great thing - it gets you from A to B. Quantifying it is even better because you can measure progress so easily. I'll be the first to admit that I have been terrible at following my power and progression since I got the tool.

I sent my srm away to get a new battery and for a recalibration last week. Today was the first ride on it since I got it back (which took no time at all - they sent it back within a few days of receiving it!). Anyway, I was really excited to see that my power output has not only increased but maintaining it feels so much easier than a year ago (or even 7 months ago). Go get yourself a powermeter if you are thinking of doing some upgrades to your bike! Check out Speed Theory in Vancouver for the Quarq and the Powertap.

Another week in the bag almost. Missed a couple of swims in the morning this week but made them up later in the week. The body is holding up, although I definitely felt the legs on todays long ride. Only 2 more weeks until Tucson training camp!

Winter Olympics

I saw something on the news tonight that is plain and simply, STUPID. A protestor stating that more and more people are being "inspired to be arrested" through their protests. The Olympics start in 11 days. Don't protest, be supportive. Protesting at this point is pointless.

Support the athletes that have given up years of their lives and made numerous sacrifices for maybe only 1 run on the slopes, or 1 round of hockey, or to stand on the podium.

I have no plans to head to Vancouver to spectate as it will definitely be manic (I'm not so good with crowds), but I support all the athletes.

Found a new song (new to me...). Snow Patrol is awesome.