Chris Berg

Well, I just got out of the pool from a swim, and let me tell you this, it didn’t go that well.  Today, as Nick Brown might say, I am in a dark place as far as training is concerned.  In light of saying this, I think it would be a good idea to tell you all how I got here today by recapping some possible events that could have led to me not having such a great swim today.

Last week was very much a hard week of training.  Running mileage was up from what it has normally been, and with Oceanside just up ahead, Felipe and I have added some pace work on the bike instead of hill repeats.  For posterity I will post my run from Tuesday here.  Now this wasn’t a particularly fast run, or slow for that matter, but right where I want to be for my Z-2 runs right now this early in the season.  Last year we did a lot of high volume running early on and I think it may have had some lingering effects towards the end of the season.

Wednesday was the usual ride, and once again we hit it pretty hard.  With more people on the ride this time around, I was still able to hold my target wattage range and we finished the interval in a pretty quick time (faster than last week).  I was feeling really good about still holding high wattage and putting in a good time, and was ready to run off the bike.  This was the first in the line of things that might have resulted in a rough time in the pool today.  I was feeling really good, and as a result was running pretty quick for a 60 minute T-2 run.  It was faster than the previous week, and even faster than my Z-2 run from Tuesday.  But I was feeling good, this is a good sign that my legs can run hard after a hard effort on the bike.

The next factor for my tough day today was the Thursday workout.  It was very windy on Blood Feast Island as Felipe and I went to do some pace work.  We each pulled for an entire lap and did so for a total of 8 laps, so we each pulled 4 laps.  Spending that much time in aero-position and not getting out of the saddle or being able to coast really accumulates fatigue quicker than you can notice.  My ride home was slow, and I was happy to get off the bike and into my compression tights.  That night on the track I thought I was going to be hurting, but it wasn’t bad at all.  We did some hard-core speed work, doing 100’s, 200’s and 400’s with plenty of active recovery.  I was running well, and happy with how my legs responded.

Friday I had a swim, which was slow, but I was still on target with my intervals in the main set, just working a little harder to make them.  Saturday we beat the rain and got in a good loop through Elfin forrest, with wattage right on target, it was onto running.  This run was on target for what I wanted to average, but the run itself was pretty up and down and not as consistent as I wanted.

The final contributing factor to my dark place, was Sunday at Black’s Beach.  This wasn’t all that fast of a workout, but the hills are incredibly hard, and it still was a lot of miles, regardless of our pace in the flats.  If you add up these hills, plus my hard day Thursday preceded by a hard day on Wednesday, I think the total fatigue made it hard to get up to speed today in the pool.  Good news, I have an easy spin on schedule this afternoon, which should get the blood flowing and loosen up everything to get at it tomorrow.

This past week was the first week of really high volume in my training.  A lot of time was spent in all disciplines and adding some intensity as well with Oceanside being only a four weeks away from when I am writing this.  In news and notes, I am still growing my beard, it is getting really big.  Also, my race kit sublimation plan fell through, so it will be a screen printed jersey for me this year, and hopefully I can get that all squared away and taken care of.  Also I will update you on my mileage totals for the month of February.

So this week had some longer runs in the works, and I handled the mileage quite well, which I am really happy about.  With an easy spin on Monday after my swim, it was an hour long run on Tuesday.  The pace was on target for what I wanted to do, and my legs were feeling very nice off of the recovery week.  The big event for the week would be the Wednesday ride.  This was the first ride in a long time that the wattage was high enough to really warrant any type of hard effort.

The wattage range for the ride was 260-280 watts for the interval, and I nailed it right at 280 when we finished, and a sub 40 minute time which is pretty good for this time of year, and the amount riders on the ride (less than usual).  The challenge of the workout for Wednesday wasn’t so much the high wattage and intensity of the ride, because that is really nothing new.  The challenge was how my legs would handle the mileage in the hour long run off the bike.  Turned out to be right on target, and I was really satisfied with how Felipe and I were able to run strong after hitting the hard bike interval before.  That bodes well for my early season form and base mileage I have built up.  The bummer about Wednesday was that by the time I was home from the ride the pool had closed so I could not get my afternoon swim done.

Thursday Felipe and I hit the gears heavy for our Thursday hill repeats, and then it was off to the track for intervals.  This interval workout would also really be the first intense work on the track in a long time.  The workout went well and I was happy to hitting my splits faster than I expected.  Friday was just like Monday, and I was able to swim and take an easy spin on the bike.

The weekend was a little silly, I went out for my long run on Saturday because of a storm, and apparently a really important tsunami warning, that turned out to be a tide swing likened to that on a full moon.  So after a big hype about that, and some rain I was still in good form from the run.  Sunday Felipe and I did the Elfin forrest loop before once again seeing how my legs would react to a longer run off the bike.  This time, I was able to get into the pool for a light swim in the afternoon but not before watching the gold medal hockey game (hoo-ray Canada).

That was it for the week, at the end of February my totals for workouts are: swimming – 56,543.285 yards, cycling – 716.778 miles, running – 123.01 miles.  Swimming and running were up from last month, while cycling was down, there were some rain outs, and some routes cut short due to those flat tire issues that plagued me a week or so ago.  That about wraps it up, some tidbits, I have some new tri-shoes, replaced the chain and cassette on the QR (Blackfire) and now it is running even more smooth!!  See you back here next week.

This past week was pretty tame as far as training.  It was a good week for recovery after running the half marathon a week ago.  My legs were tired from running, and an easy swim was what I needed the day after.  There were some other happenings during the week which I can talk you through.

This week, I finally was able to set up my Mac to run Windows so I didn’t have to run between my old beat up PC and my Mac to download my SRM power data.  Once I got it working though I realized that my USB cable is ka-put which means I had to order a new one from SRM which should be in this week.

Also I put my good friend Adam in charge of designing my race kit for this season.  It looks really good and hopefully he gets the final layout done and we can place the order this week for delivery before Oceanside so I can have it for my first race of the season.  When I get a final draft of it I will make sure to post it for your viewing pleasure.  Trust me when I say it is a winner.

This weekend was a really weird experience riding on Saturday.  I texted Felipe in the morning saying the roads were still a little wet so we decided to wait an hour before starting our ride.  I waited and got my things together, looking forward to a long ride on the new CD0.1 from QR.  However, it starts pouring rain as I am about to leave.  Sure enough though, it stops after 5 minutes, and I ride to Felipe’s anyway.  Then we waited for Sean (back from injury) to meet up with us to ride.  He shows up and then sure enough we are leaving and then it is raining again.  We decide to put in some time on the trainer as not to lose time, and when it clears up we can ride again.  After an hour on the trainer we are on the road, and decided to hit up the Wednesday loop.

On the way back, I get a flat tire.  This week was terrible for me in terms of tires.  I flatted my tubeless last week, then switched to normal clinchers until my new tubeless stuff gets in.  Then I pinch a tube changing them from tubeless to regular clinchers.  Then I flat on Wednesday which was a slow leak I didn’t notice until I got home.  Then I changed it before Saturday, and then of course it flats again.  Now, today went well with no flats, and I have enough tubes to supply a small army.  These things happen in waves so I am alright with it, better than in a race!!

That was it for this week, so in the next week look for a successful order of a racing kit, and a SRM cable in the mail.  Also I am scheduled for some big hours training this week as well as a parental visit too.  Busy times, but looking forward to it!

This past Sunday was the second time I have raced the San Dieguito half marathon.  It was only my third half from a dead start (not on the end of a 70.3 race), and I am pleased with how things went.  Details of the race are below.

I woke up and headed over to Felipe’s to pick up him and Michelle before we set out for the course in Rancho Santa Fe.  Having already picked up our numbers the day before at the zoo that was the race expo, we were already set up by the time we got to the actual race site.  Other Breakaway members were in attendance as well as some familiar faces from races over the years.  Ian, who had beaten me in OC International and destroyed Kona this past October was there, and I was hoping to be able to run with him most of the race.  High profile pro women were also in the field as Kate Major (multiple podiums in Kona, and numerous race wins) as well as world champions Michellie Jones and Joanna Zeiger.   bief chat with Joanna before the start indicated she is still getting in some base miles and was just looking to get some fitness.  I set myself up metnally to run somewhere between 80 and 85 minutes.

Felipe and I decided to play the race by how I felt.  Having only been running for 5 weeks this year, and additionally not doing much speed work at all, I did not know what to expect from myself, but new that 85 was doable, and 80 was in play if I felt good.  The start went off, and a kid next to me fell down immediately.  He got back up and seemed to be alright.  I kept on running, watching the eventual winners take off, while I maintained position in the main pursuit group, which included myself, Ian, Kate, and some other friends.

The first mile is all downhill, and you gain a lot of speed before heading into some rollers for the rest of the course.  It was around mile three, that Ian became distressed on a downhill and had to pull out of the race.  Rumor has it, he blew out a quad muscle, combine that with the fact he was not well to begin with and it wasn’t worth it for him to continue.  I pushed on, with my new friend Young Oh.  He and I were working well together, although he didn’t speak a word of English.  Around mile 6, my left shoe became untied, and I was forced to stop and tie it.  Young Oh pushed on, and when I regained my stride I was running right next to Kate Major.  I decided that I wanted to push on, and regain my position with Young Oh.  I did, and by the time we had hit mile 7, I was back with him and a runner from Team BSK.  Kate was still about 20 meters back, and we were haunted by the sounds of “first place female” the remainder of the race.

On the way back to the finish I was able to see some of my friend from Breakaway who were out there pushing it real hard.  Felipe, Luke, tall Dave, Ramon, Joe, Kathy, you get the idea.  Our group pushed on, and then we hit the 5k to go marker, and the BSK runner took off, and started to push hard.  Young went with him, and I was paying the price for pushing it earlier to catch back up.  I was running only 5 meters off of them, but they were pulling away.  It was around with 1.5 miles to go that I beleive I became distressed from only having 5 weeks worth of miles in my legs.  My abs cramped up, and I jammed my fingers into my psoas to stop to cramps.  They subsided slightly, and I pushed on watching the two runners pull away.

The last mile is all uphill, and I was struggling to hold pace, as the cramps returned and with a vengeance.  I was forced to stop, and stretch out the stitch.  During this time, I was passed by around 5 competitors, including Kate.  I was “chicked”, and all credit to Kate for running incredibly well.  I regained my composure and hit the finish line.  My time per my Garmin was as shown here.  The end of the day saw me in 22nd overall position and 4th in my age group.  Not bad considering the circumstances, and lessons learned for racing in the future.  This week is recovery for me, with less miles running.  Thats all, until next time everyone.

This week as a great week in training.  I was able to get my new bike built up and dialed in, I tried something new on the track during intervals, and did a fun little loop for my run on Friday.  however, the week was not without it’s lowlights, as rain relegated me to the trainer for my Saturday ride, but things dried up enough for me to be on the road Sunday for hill repeats.

Monday we changed up and went out for hill repeats doing the “Thursday Loop” to accomodate some schedule changes among the riders.  It was a nice change of pace for the week, but it really put into perspective how taxing that ride is once we got in the latter rides of the week.  No records were set, and no jerseys were won or lost as we still kept it heavy in our gears and mashed up the hills staying seated, but still putting on the hurt throughout the loop.  Because of this, I moved my Monday swim to Thursday in a flip flop of workouts that Felipe and I discussed before making the swap.

Tuesday I got out for a nice run in the morning.  I did a different loop that normal, just to switch it up.  I liked the loop as it added some more elevation gain than usual, additionally I saw some parts of the village that I rarely run through, and I liked the look of it.  Perhaps I will do this loop more often.  I was a tad slower starting out, and that might have been the hills from the previous day still in my legs.  My swim afterwards was nice, and I enjoyed the sunshine while in the pool.  I have been changing up some of swimming now, trying to build some speed in addition to my base and results have been very pleasing.  That afternoon, Matt Simpson and I tackled building the new QR CD 0.1 frame.  It was nice to put together after salivating over the frame through the weekend.  I did over an hour on the trainer that night, and was stoked to get after it on Wednesday.

The loop Wednesday morning was nice, first time in a long time we got to do the loop, due to rain and other factors.  The bike rode really nice.  It was responsive and stiff, and after I was off the bike, noted the small changes that I needed to make to be perfectly dialed in my position to maximize efficiency while riding.  Felipe and I ran out and were joined by Joe for our T-2 run.  An easy swim in the pool that night capped off Wednesday, and Kristen and I headed to Michelle’s to meet her and Felipe for a nice meal that was superbly prepared by Michelle.  Felipe also explained to me how Olive Oil and Olives work, and I really appreciate him clearing that up for me.

Thursday, as mentioned before, I got to swim instead of ride.  I felt a little weird, and my workout was a little sluggish.  I was still making my usual interval, but was having to work too hard to be going that slow.  I pushed through, and set my sights on the track workout that night.  I decided that if you want to run as fast as a track runner, you need to be in the mindset of a track runner.  That being said, I purchased a pair of track-spikes to run intervals in.  I know it might seem excessive, but it felt great, almost like being barefoot, and I was flying through the interval without really thinking about what was on my feet.  If you are wondering what I was wearing they are the Nike Zoom Matumbo.

Friday I had my cool run loop.  I changed things up again, wanting to hit some hills, and gain some elevation.  Also my calves were tight, and I thought that going up hill will help stretch them out, and make sure I get some work done in them.  I liked this loop, but my make some changes to it, and see if I can stretch it out to be around 90 minutes instead of 80, try to get more climbing in if I can.  The swim Friday night was amazing!  I was really flying through my set, and swimming on a level that I haven’t been at since high school.  I was really stoked about it, but not so stoked about the rain coming down as I got home.

Saturday on the trainer was boring, but needed to be done, so for posterity, here is the run I did off the trainer.  Sunday we did some hill repeats, and a short run after.  That about wraps up my training log for the week.

The new bike is great, I really am looking forward to putting in the long miles on it this season.  The half marathon is next weekend, we will see if I am up for going 81 minutes like last year, but with limited speed work being done, and mostly base miles being put in, we will see how it goes.  Check back next week for the race report, which might be delayed because of some other activities on the 14th.

This is my new bike, “Black Fire”.  Instead of writing about it, and then posting photos, you can now see for yourself while I briefly describe everything that is on the bike.

This last week was a “recovery” week in my training, which basically meant a little less swimming and a lot less running.  Still this week saw some days plagued by moisture, and that even added more “recovery” into the mix.  In addition, I have received somethings in the mail, and while they are still not finalized or put together, I promise that they should be completed this week and pictures will be up for your enjoyment.  I also must confess, I messed up my Garmin data for my T-2 run on Saturday, so that will be missing from this weeks report on training.  Some of you out there may be wondering what some of my lingo is for, and I will briefly explain that now.  T-2 is a run after a bike ride, also known as a “brick run”, LSD means “long slow distance”, and Z-2 means an aerobic heart rate/conversational pace.  That being said, here is a brief run down of the week.

Monday was a super easy swim, and I got to sleep in a bit and enjoy the day.  I caught up on some things around the house, and hit the grocery store with my sister pretty hard.  We did make some really good chicken burritos that night for dinner with some home made guacamole.  Tuesday was a bit of an adventure.  After getting in my swim in the morning, I felt really good and relaxed ready to hit turbo that night.  Right after warming up on the training it starts to rain, hard enough that my tire is slipping on the spindle of the trainer.  Myself, Tall Dave, and Matt decided just to bail on the trainer and get our run in before things get worse.  Of course about 5 minutes into our run, the rain completely stops.  So my trainer ride was cut short by about 20-30 minutes, and I did my nice and easy 20 minute run.  The rain however, continued at night and some of the streets were wet for the morning ride on Wednesday.

Felipe shot me a text message saying hold off until 8 for the ride, as opposed to 7.  This way some streets will dry up more before we get to them.  I show up at Felipe’s ready to ride, and he isn’t feeling too well, and Luke didn’t have time to ride that morning so I departed alone.  I met up with Lauren and we rode on to meet Gary on the coast.  The three of us started the interval as usual.  Lauren said her legs were shot about 10 minutes or so into the ride, and she said push on without her, so Gary and I continued.  At the end of the ride, I was actually right on target for my wattage range for the ride, and was feeling really good about nailing that, and keeping my face in wind the entire loop.  I got back to do my run and headed out on my own, feeling pretty good, and pushing it a little bit, but not too much.

Thursday, I was once again on my own as both Felipe and Daniel were committed to prior engagements.  I did a modified hill loop, that was slightly shorter than usual, with only a little less elevation gain.  I felt that it was alright to do given the recovery week and all.  That night, with the infield at the track dried up from the rain, and everything on the track cleared off, I was able to be on the track doing intervals for the first time since before the holidays!  The set was pretty brutal, at 16 x 400M (from lane 4) with 10 pushups in between each 400M, no rest.  I kept an honest pace, being my first time back at the track, and us triathletes aren’t really known for having crazy muscle mass for pushups.  I felt good, was averaging 90s which is slightly under a 6 minute pace per mile, and was surprisingly getting it done through the pushups.  However, the next day, my shoulders and triceps were letting me know how they felt about the workout and I was pretty sore, and some of it is still lingering as I write this post.

Saturday we hit the 78 climb loop, which rounds out to be 80 miles from my house door to door.  It was an interesting ride, and I will try to be nice here about it.  Some rider was not riding within the spirit of the ride and was riding off the front before we start the interval, then once the interval started this rider would shoot to the front on down-hills from the back, and also shot off the front from the back on one climb, only to be passed by the group shortly after.  This strategy did not work, for once we started the long steady climb on the 78, this rider was off the back.  The up and down pace caused the wattage to be super high for the interval.  On the way back on the 67, we passed a group of guys, who were really cool.  They politely sat on the back of our line for a while, and then they asked us if they could take pulls before hopping in the line.  Two of the guys were really strong and helped keep the tempo of the ride up.  They handled their bikes well and were well mannered riders.  It is a rarity, because most people see other riders pushing hard, and they turn it into a contest, while these guys just wanted to get some work done on the bike and work together.  That made the ride bounce back from the on and off again rider from before.  Of the bike I did my usual T-2 run, and still felt pretty good. (this was the data that I messed up so no Garmin).

Sunday was a nice and easy effort running along the coast in North County.  It was nice to run somewhere different, and with RAMON!  A good friend who is always a pleasure to have on any rides or runs we do.  The run was nice, and we were all feeling good even breaking out into song on the return trip towards Solana Beach.  Songs sung included, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brick House (from Tall Dave), Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Felipe even was starting a t rap while Ramon was doing his best “human beat box”.

As promised though I can now provide you with my numbers for the month of January.  Now, keep in mind, I had two days off during the month, and the rain/wet weather relegated or cut short roughly 6 rides, and I was not running for first week or so of the month and eased into mileage.  But here they are, swimming: 53,240.57 Yards, cycling: 845.13 Miles, running: 113.48 Miles.  despite being three days shorter, February should see these totals be higher, except maybe for swimming, we’ll have to wait and see.  Catch up here again next week!

It was indeed a wet and wild week that just passed here in San Diego.  With rainfall on everyday Monday through Saturday morning, there was a lot of indoor riding to be done, as well as soggy runs, and this goes without saying but wet swims.  Being relegated to my trainer was not as bad as I thought it would be, and getting wet on the run is something that I don’t mind at all.

I am still getting my swims done as per usual.  On Monday though my legs were still “dead” from the century ride and hill repeats on the weekend.  Coming off the walls I had no spring, and I was working pretty hard to make my 1:15/100yd. interval.  The Day followed with a spin on the trainer for about 60 minutes to loosen up my legs with some active recovery.  The legs still felt a little mushy afterwards, but I was confident that Tuesday would be a better day, and it was.

I had my token 60 minute Tuesday run, with wet roads and some sprinkles I headed out that morning.  I decided against socks, because I figured they would just become saturated and having them on would be like bringing sand to the beach.  About 30 minutes into my run, I really was regretting not wearing socks because it wasn’t that wet out, and I was feeling some blisters coming on.  With that in mind, I decided to kick off my shoes and hold onto them as I continued to run on, barefoot.  This two mile interval was really fun, my pace didn’t slow that much, and if it did it was because I had to pay more attention to what was on the road.  The feeling was really cool, and there were no ill effects during the run or afterwards.  I was really happy with how it turned out and may add some more small barefoot intervals into my workouts, perhaps I will do some shorter runs completely in my Vibram Five Fingers.  With more rain in the schedule, I stayed home and did an interval workout on the home trainer with a set from Felipe, and beforehand I had gotten my swim done for the day as well.

Wednesday, were held off on the ride and started an hour later, which allowed us to ride outside.  We stayed on the coast and did not do the normal loop.  It was a nice steady ride, and with killer headwinds on the way back, we were able to get some work done.  Felipe and I trotted out afterwards for a T-2 run.  Our running has been surprisingly in good form, given that the both of us have taken time off from running over winter.  Perhaps this rest has done us some good as we head into a half marathon in just under three weeks.

Thursday I was supposed to make my return to the track for my first interval workout in over a month.  But with the rain coming down still, and lightning in the sky, the infield at the track had flooded and we hung out doing some steady runs of a loop just over a mile by the track.  I cut my workout short, as the right foot was being bothered because I was running in shoes that were finished.  I thought they had one more run left in them, but alas, they crapped out halfway through.  Add another trainer session in on Thursday, and I found myself settling into the groove of not riding outside.

Friday was interesting.  I went out for a LSD run with Lauren.  We started at her place and headed through UCSD north towards Del Mar.  The idea was we would stick to roads as the trails are most likely all mud.  Lauren decided we should check it out just to see how they looked, and it was a good idea.  With the trails being in alright condition we did one through campus and another at Torrey Pines.  I got home and was really looking forward to my swim that afternoon but the pool was closed!!!  The kids had some water polo action going on, so I was unable to get my swim on Friday.  Bummed about that, I set my hopes on riding outside on Saturday.

We did the coast again on Saturday going up to Oceanside Harbor and back.  The winds were not as howling this time around, and it was comfortable to entire way.  I am enjoying the last few rides I will have on Thunderhorse, as a new bike is currently en-route for the 2010 season (I will keep you in suspense, but promise to have pictures up when it comes).  I did my usual T-2 run for Saturday, and that was all there was for me.

Sunday we did the Monday Loop, and Felipe and I did a steady effort for our run off the bike.  The ride was awesome, with the sun out (finally) and no wind, and great guys to ride with.  We pushed pretty hard, and kept the gears heavy, I am really hoping to see the gains of this heavy work shine in my racing this season.

There you have my week in review.  Some notes for you readers out there: Summer, was that detailed enough for you?  Dave, learn to speak a language other than HR so you can “understand” my workouts, but I will tell you wear my HR was, right where it needs to be fool!  The beard is out of control at this point, and getting more so everyday.  This week is a “recovery” week for me, and looks to be pretty mellow.  Until next time everyone.

This week was a great week in training with some weird little quirks and it ended with the 100 mile TTT (team time trial) on Saturday, which I will get to later.  But let me run you down the list of my workouts and quirks.

Saturday after the ride I was off for my first T-2 run since I have been back running.  We did the “78″ loop on the TT bike, holding steady power through out the interval.  The ride is packed with one long sustained climb.  My wattage was a little over my target range, but is alright given the long climbs where power is necessary to avoid falling over.  The run off the bike went like this.  It was quick, and I felt good running, this run was done once again in my ZOOT shoes.  They began to cause me a slight blister on my left foot, but not bad enough to start getting into trouble or anything.  It was off to running again the next day, for a nice 60 minute Z-2 run before hopping the pool for some swimming.  I felt fine, still running in the ZOOT shoes.  The blister got pretty big, but still not bothering me.  I decided to pop it, and it was healing quickly enough to harden up so I wasn’t running on raw skin.

Monday this week was just a swim, and for Tuesday I headed out to run early before I got into the pool to enjoy my last LCM swim for a long time.  Wednesday was really interesting, because as soon as we headed out to ride from Felipe’s place, we got poured on.  We were fed up with riding wet, so Felipe and I abandoned the ride to sit in his garage sitting on trainers for 90 minutes before we went out to do our T-2 run. After this run my foot was feeling a slight pain, and I think it was from trying to compensate for the blister.  So for my run the following day I used my Nike Lunaracer shoes.  These were the shoes that gave me crazy cuts and blisters last year but since, I have had no problems.  These shoes are awesome and lightweight, which is why I went out to get another pair on Friday.  It just so happens, they released the Lunaracer 2, in which they modified the shoe in such a way that the blister causing parts were eliminated, and they were able to make shoe able to carry more mileage by adding hard rubber on the sole as opposed to just the Lunarlite material.

The ride on Saturday was interesting.  Using it as just a training ride, myself, Felipe, Karl, and Joe were the four man team to tackle to 100 miles in Ocotillo.  The course profile involved just about 4500FT of climbing of which more than 3500 was done on the way out.  The first 50 miles or so is a false flat at about a 2% grade, and into the wind.  There were a few punchy climbs as well, but for the most part just the false flat.  Our team was in the lead on the course when around mile 35, Felipe had a flat tire.  We stopped to fix it, which isn’t a big deal because flats happen.  While fixing it we noticed his seat was loose.  Upon inspection the entire seat needed to be taken apart and put back together (I won’t say whose flat it was on this forum, but this is not the first time they have screwed up).  That left us standing still on the road for 25 minutes.  That about does it for our groove and chances of setting a course record and winning.  So we rode on anyway getting what we could out of the race.  The way back was faster because of the slight downhill, and the weather cooperated the entire day with desert temperatures in the morning not being too cold and we finished before it got too hot.

Sunday was hill repeats for running.  I used the new shoes I got on Friday for this run and they were great.  My legs still felt some of the ride from the previous day, but I was fresh enough to stay steady.  We did a Z-2 warm up at about 7:30 pace, then got into the hills.  You can see the elevation and everything on the Garmin data, but Adam and I calculated the average grade of the hill to be just over 9%.  However there are flatter sections and steeper sections.  Not a bad workout for the day after 100 miles on the bike.

That about does it for the update.  I am still growing the beard and still tracking my total mileage.  I might post some pictures of the beard soon, but to really appreciate it you need to see it in person.

Tons of information for all of you readers out there.  I have been enjoying my Garmin 405, using it on rides on the road bike (IE without power meter) and for my two runs I have done.  Links will be provided for you to check out what I have been up to in the new year.

First off, this week I was able to start running again.  My first run was this Thursday.  It was the first time I had hit out to run in over three weeks by order of Dr. Runco at SDRI.  My stress reaction should have calmed down and I should be fine.  The first I did in my normal Newton running togs.  The results were mixed.  I was able to hold pace (see the link) and I covered enough ground and felt comfortable.  The somewhat downside was the my foot was still tender towards the back side of the run.  Soon after the run was over I felt fine.  I decided that it wasn’t enough to determine whether or not I should run on Saturday after my ride.

With Friday off from running, I was happy to get out there and run after my ride on Saturday.  This run was also 30 minutes in length. This was done in a pair of ZOOT shoes, which surprisingly felt a lot better than my Newtons.  As you can see it was faster, and longer t make sure I hit 30 minutes.  My synopsis is this, the Newton shoes were designed to make natural running possible in shoes.  By developing the natural stride and doing some barefoot excercises on my own, I have embedded the natural foot strike in my memory, perhaps not requiring the Netwon shoes, as now all I need is something in between my foot and the ground so I don’t cut my feet up.  I have been walking around town in Vibram Five Fingers, a gift from my older brother and his wife for the holidays.  I am hoping to strengthen my feet and prevent any further injuries in my feet.

The riding this week has been great.  Not Garmin data form the Saturday or Wednesday ride as I was using the TT bike and the power meter, my wattage was high for both rides, but I expect that for those rides.  The ride on Saturday was 80 miles, and has a lot of sustained climbs, so wattage naturally creeps up, but it was still reasonable.  Last Saturday during the normal Elfin Forrest 67 mile loop, I nailed the wattage target for the day.  I feel incredibly comfortable on the bike from the increased mileage and hope to hold onto that fitness.  My road bike adventures are documented on the Garmin, and here are the links.  Last Thursday we did the “Monday Loop”, then on Sunday we did hill repeats.  The next ride was the famous KOM loop, note I started at my house and stopped it at the top of the last hill and did not include my trek home.  Friday I did an easy ride to spin out my legs after my swim and before my massage.

I am also keeping track of the distances I do this year, so every yard I swim, mile I cycle, and mile I run will be documented and at the end of each month I will update on monthly totals and year to date totals.  Hopefully you all like the data out there, be sure to click around and look my elevation, splits for the runs and see all the features Garmin has.  It is a really fun tool to work with.

Swimming has been going really well, still holding down the long course meters at the pool this week, but it will go back to short course yards at the start of next week.  It was great to have, and now I will be doing more turns.  I should have some news next post regarding a new bike for this season, and some information on the 100 mile TTT next weekend.  That is about it for now, until next time.