Had a good pool workout last night. I didn't get much sleep the previous night and got up early to do 40 minutes of core work at the Y. After work I didn't really feel like doing much but I went to the pool with a friend, who is an awesome swimmer. I push her on biking and running, so it was her turn to destroy me in the pool. Great. What I call my normal pool workout is her warm up. She critiqued my swim stroke and showed me a few drills. I ate a donut before going there so I tried keeping that down during the entire session. My calves are killing me today. It feels like I spent an hour doing calf presses in the gym. Feels good.
Tonight, weather pending, we might do a mini tri. My friend is training for the local sprint tri here so we need to go through transitions, nutrition, etc. If it's raining probably more core work at the gym. I hope to be ripped like Roland soon.
I need some more techno. Do any of you have any to send me?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Visualization
It's not a secret that competitive athletes like to use visualization. What they visualize is up to them: fast start, strong finish, moving in and around certain terrain, etc. I don't do a lot of visualizing while I train... except when I see someone else on the same route. Let me explain.
I don't run or bike with other people, for a few reasons. The biggest reason is that there's no one to go with and that can go at the time of day that works for me. Second, and the least important in my opinion, some people are intimidated because they think I'll go for a 14 mile run or 76 mile bike ride. Well... yeah. Isn't that the point of running and biking? I honestly don't want to say this to be cocky, but running 2 miles or biking 8 isn't worth my time. Sure, if you want to do intervals or hills, then let's go. Otherwise I get nothing out of it and just wasted time I could be doing something else. But if you can keep up, it's on.
Back to visualizationing... when I'm on my road bike and I see someone on my route going in the same direction, I hunt them down and eliminate them. My competitions as a triathlete are solo rides and it's part of what I do to find someone in front of me and pass them. I visualize (and estimate) where along the route I will overtake them. And not just overtake them, but fly by them. Embarrass them. I try to make that moment on a hill- at the bottom, in the middle, or at the crest. If someone passes you and you're on a hill, chances are you're already giving it all you got and the one strong enough to drop you is nowhere within your reach.
Last Sunday I went out early and chose a 64 mile route... just an out and back on my new Cervelo P3. On longer rides like that my HR usually starts dropping to maintenance mode around mile 26-28 and I find a comfortable groove. I got in the bad habit of listening to my iPod while I bike to keep boredom from setting in. So I had my mix going of Breaking Benjamin, New Found Glory, Hit the Lights, Metallica, various techno and some other songs and all is well. On my way back I spotted a peleton of four riders ahead going in the same direction. I had no idea how fast they are going or where their energy levels are. I rode just long enough (at ~22 mph) to know that I was gaining some ground on them. I had two options: continue riding at my pace and slowly gain on them while they see me coming for a while, or drop them. The latter of the two is always the correct choice. I assumed I'd overtake them on a flat right before a large hill, so the main goal was to not die before or on the hill and allow the embarrassment of them passing me right back. I've trained enough to know I can sustain a HR of 202 bpm for 4 minutes without vomiting, so I looked for a 3:30 window to overtake them. As I started to gain speed I fiddled around with my iPod to summon the spirit of Jesse Shoemaker and put the hammer down. The peleton wasn't changing position so I continued increasing my speed, finally peaking at 32 mph. I passed them pretty much where I wanted and had enough time to drop my HR and make the climb ahead without vomiting. (EDITORS NOTE: I would puke at the end of almost every mountain bike race in 2006). That was the end of that peleton.
I don't run or bike with other people, for a few reasons. The biggest reason is that there's no one to go with and that can go at the time of day that works for me. Second, and the least important in my opinion, some people are intimidated because they think I'll go for a 14 mile run or 76 mile bike ride. Well... yeah. Isn't that the point of running and biking? I honestly don't want to say this to be cocky, but running 2 miles or biking 8 isn't worth my time. Sure, if you want to do intervals or hills, then let's go. Otherwise I get nothing out of it and just wasted time I could be doing something else. But if you can keep up, it's on.
Back to visualizationing... when I'm on my road bike and I see someone on my route going in the same direction, I hunt them down and eliminate them. My competitions as a triathlete are solo rides and it's part of what I do to find someone in front of me and pass them. I visualize (and estimate) where along the route I will overtake them. And not just overtake them, but fly by them. Embarrass them. I try to make that moment on a hill- at the bottom, in the middle, or at the crest. If someone passes you and you're on a hill, chances are you're already giving it all you got and the one strong enough to drop you is nowhere within your reach.
Last Sunday I went out early and chose a 64 mile route... just an out and back on my new Cervelo P3. On longer rides like that my HR usually starts dropping to maintenance mode around mile 26-28 and I find a comfortable groove. I got in the bad habit of listening to my iPod while I bike to keep boredom from setting in. So I had my mix going of Breaking Benjamin, New Found Glory, Hit the Lights, Metallica, various techno and some other songs and all is well. On my way back I spotted a peleton of four riders ahead going in the same direction. I had no idea how fast they are going or where their energy levels are. I rode just long enough (at ~22 mph) to know that I was gaining some ground on them. I had two options: continue riding at my pace and slowly gain on them while they see me coming for a while, or drop them. The latter of the two is always the correct choice. I assumed I'd overtake them on a flat right before a large hill, so the main goal was to not die before or on the hill and allow the embarrassment of them passing me right back. I've trained enough to know I can sustain a HR of 202 bpm for 4 minutes without vomiting, so I looked for a 3:30 window to overtake them. As I started to gain speed I fiddled around with my iPod to summon the spirit of Jesse Shoemaker and put the hammer down. The peleton wasn't changing position so I continued increasing my speed, finally peaking at 32 mph. I passed them pretty much where I wanted and had enough time to drop my HR and make the climb ahead without vomiting. (EDITORS NOTE: I would puke at the end of almost every mountain bike race in 2006). That was the end of that peleton.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
