Drive-thru Daiquiri or Beignets, why not both.

That's a salty taste in the mouth, and I don't mean from Lake Pontchartrain. The theme for the weekend followed the Sergio Leone classic, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

A general overview to set the scene: Over 3000 participants (counting relay athletes), made the largest 70.3 series race in the history of the sport and possibly the largest transition area at the University of New Orleans. The bike course takes you out to the bayou - where the road was populated by a dead snake roughly every mile, a lot of tall grass and murky water. The run followed city streets through an empty park and down to the French Quarter to the Jackson Square finish. Great race management and organization, now lets get to the interesting stuff.

Squeezed into the wetsuit and waded into the 70deg water awaiting my swim wave start. Real calm and focused at the start, positioned myself on the outside - plenty of open water in front of me, and quickly settled into a pace. A few individuals established themselves early in the swim and I couldn't stay on their feet. Dodged plenty of lap traffic from the swim waves already in the water and swam a solid swim leg PR in 31:16.

Quick transition and hopped on the bike. The wind made its presence known from a cross-wind and tail-wind on the way out of town and a nice smack you in the face head-wind back into town. Regardless of the wind, felt effortless on the bike, rode hard, but never felt I was getting myself into trouble, the HR stayed low, legs felt great and I was continuously passing everyone throughout the bike. Ended up dropping a bottle from a broken bottle cage bolt (?) and could never recover hydration wise from missing my sweet concoction of sports drink - ultimately my fault for not picking up enough water at the bottle drops on the bike course. Obviously the pace slowed back into town, kept my HR and effort pinned around a similar exertion level, came into transition at 2:25:03 bike leg - 6/186 in my AG - immediately said to myself, this is your run, let's see what ya' got. I knew at roughly 3 hours into the event I set myself up perfectly for a PR day, worst case run scenario, I still figured I would PR by 5 minutes.

The first mile went great, immediately settled in, legs were fresh, only a few HUGE problems - body temperature was way up there coupled with an unquenchable thirst - both manifested from the poor hydration on the bike and the mid 80deg temp's and humidity - ouch. Run pace continued to slow, and I could never quench the thirst - downing at least a cup of water, sports drink or a mix at every aid station. As the pace slowed I began to lose focus looking for any excuse just to walk a few steps. Dehydration...I had nothing in the tank on the run, stumbled across the line finishing at 5:03:06 for 27th out of 186 in my AG; and 190 out of 2319 overall.

On paper those results don't look to bad. However, I know what I am capable of on the run, the overall time is 18 minutes off my current PR (which I have hit twice) and a good 25 to 30 minutes off my goal for this race. Lessons learned, feed the dynasty.
-A.

Wort the wait...we shall see.

First race of the season this Sunday.

Nothing quit like a welcome back to a busy week at work falling smack during a race week - better now than later.

Regardless pray to the duathlon god's this one stays a triathlon, thunderstorms and the body of water in general could contribute to the bacteria level. Looking to get an open water swim in some random lake on the side of the road in Alabama on the way down.

Check back for the race reports.

Compression Garments

Short version: placebo
Long version: Got bored at the office and decided to research the performance and recovery effects of compression garments - you know, the ridiculously priced tights, stockings and leggings from 2xu, skns....which, by the way - hospital caliber for one third the price at mall-wart. Anyway, several different testing situations - cycling time trial, explosive activities (jumping, squatting...) and consecutive day activity - covering a variety of groups - trained cyclists, rugby players and other team sports. The goal - do compression garments decrease exercise induced muscle damage, and hence, enhance recovery; and do compresssion garments worn during activity increase performance.

Give it a thought........................yes, you are a sucker for marketing and advertisement.

NO physiological benefits and NO performance enhancement. Wait, wait, wait: what did you pay for: Reduced levels of perceived muscle soreness, that's right placebo effect.

What is to come from all of this:
#1 Do not wear your stockings with shorts, in public. period.
-A.

Something to Talk About

Preparation and Attitude. You attitude determines your preparation. I am routinely hard on myself, and it all boils down to sleep. Why do I drink a pot of coffee in the morning, well - Jack Bauer is saving the world one hour at a time, and it just so happens to be every Monday night. Which leads me to dragging into the locker room, late, half asleep; change of attitude - less than 4 weeks to New Orleans, standing in Lake P., feeling a pee or 2, or 3 more before the start, bam focus, the fastest race of your life. Be realistic.

Your preparation determines your outcome. Analyzed my underwater swim video - front quadrant swimming, Grant Hackett freakin' amazing. Hit the pool for drills, drills and drills, early vertical forearm. Attitude, attitude, attitude. Mediocrity is too easy. Be realistic. Goals for the race posting soon.
-A.

Lean and Mean

Headed to the track earlier in the weak for an easy run, drills and to break in a new pair of trainers. After a warm-up started out striding the straights and easy run on the curves. Then out of nowhere, he appears, the man, the myth, the legend: Fritz.

Who is motivating who? I come around him the second time and there he yells, "lean and mean, lean and mean" and we have ourselves another new motto: "feed the dynasty" and "lean and mean". Coming from a seventy-four years young man referring to himself as older than Benjamin Button, and re-starting his life at his age, he continues his run around the track, ask about the intervals and workouts, and offers a thanks for the motivation.

Now get off your ass and do something.
-A.

And the Oscar goes to...

Random things encountered and experienced since the last posting:
1. Training with power is amazing, reading instructions is less than amazing.
2. DZnuts is the only chamois cream for proper mainTAINTanance of the perineal area.
3. My sister makes amazing guac, must be something about NORCAL.
4. Demetri Martin = freakin' hilarious.
5. Biggest Loser, need anymore be said.
6. I have a serious man crush on Anthony Bourdain.
6a. bloggers block......forgot....no more mental notes....Train Smart
-A.

The Need for Speed

The new power tap is on order - watch out - going to rock out, coming to a triathlon near you. Who says you can't stimulate the economy (or just reward yourself because you don't have a retirement account anyway). Chose a good week not to blog, ice storm hits, fall behind in work, nicely coinciding with an increase in feeding the dynasty, and rediscovered why Goose Island Honkers Ale makes for a great recovery drink, yet disappears way to fast.

Check out the big wave surfer documentary Riding Giants - excellent for a motivational trainer workout. And/or Pumping Iron bodybuilding documentary about Arnold - lets just say Michael Phelps isn't the only famous athlete/celebrity hitting the bong.
-A.

Southern Hospitality

Found some other photos of Southern Cross. Here I am finishing the race, a slight uphill to the finish line after the cross section, right into a barn with heaters, chili, cookies and Yazoo beer (brewery in Nashville, TN). Other reports rolling in indicate the second half of the climb (after the sharp right turn at the volunteer truck) is not considered a route or even attempted by the locals.

Race Report

The rain began to fall as we awaited the pre-race meeting. Mulberry Gap, GA was a beautiful setting, tall old growth forest, most notably the pine-outdoor-forest-trout-clear stream smell. The race started with a "parade lap" through the cyclocross course and then shot out onto the first downhill gravel/mud fire road section. (On the drive down, Hank and I decided to ride together, have fun, ride a hard steady effort, but don't race.) The amazing streams and scenery made you forget for a moment you were screaming downhill, around fast turns and depending on you line - getting mud thrown all over you. The downhill led to a short road section and then onto "the climb".

"The Climb"
The climb started gradual - seated climbing, easy to spin gearing - the pace we settled on was challenging and shortly we began to pass a few riders here and there. At lower elevations on the climb the terrain was reasonable - a compact dirt gravel road, interspersed with potholes. I checked my HR periodically and made sure I got in some nutrition on the early portion of the climb, there were a few mental lapses where I told myself I was going to hard (especially not having any way to calculate where on the climb we were) but Hank was there encouraging me to get on his wheel and on we went. The climb began to level off, the temperature was dropping and we approached a volunteer vehicle - assuming this was the top of the climb - wrong, wrong, wrong. Sharp right hairpin turn - the road shot straight up (and so began the section only passable by 4 wheel drive vehicles - as told by the race director at the start). The climbing continued, I was searching for every gear possible, out of the saddle pumping hard - this continued: the climb would level off, you would tell yourself you were at the top and sure enough, straight back up you go. One section we rode through fog with about 20 feet of visibility going up, up, up. other sections there were small streams of water in gullies from erosion and melting from the snow and ice at the summit.

On the descent, you went screaming down switchbacks for 7 miles. My triceps were sore from not only the climbing, but from the jarring of the gravel road on the descent, I was flirting the line of being in control of the bike, while not really being in control. The race finished back by the cabins, another cyclocross course lap highlighted by an uphill scrambled requiring you to shoulder your bike and use everything you had to get up the side of the beginning of the mountain.


On the drive back a random gas station in TN had Fat Tire.

The hardest and most enjoyable experience on a bike. -A.

What, it's not 2 degrees outside, why not?

Last ride today in prep for Southern Cross on Saturday. Unfortunately, no chance to ride tomorrow, early morning swim, work, then a long drive to GA, hopefully arrive before midnight. I've got laundry and a pile of dishes calling my name, check back later for the race report.
-A.

The Picture - big, small, I don't know you decide

Two weeks of training down in the new year, and the feeling is overall confidence and enjoyment. I look forward to getting in the water - asking coach for more swims - and enjoying both riding outside when the weather seems bad - but is ridable - and running through the snow, ice, rain and whatever mother nature throws our way. Finally got around to registering for New Orleans 70.3, just before the registration deadline, and can't wait to test out the new ride when Time Trial Tuesday starts back up.

Southern Cross is 6 days and a road trip away, looking forward to trying some southern barbecue, hanging out with friends, meeting new people and hopefully riding in above freezing temperatures. Until then, it's business, it's business time, and there are a couple of leftover sierra nevada celebration ales calling my name.
-A.

Roads

Gravel road ride to Lake Hope from last week (me on the left) - not in the pink and yellow, though the visibility paid off when it got dark, minor ill-communication on the return route.

Check out the picture quality of an iphone (not in my possession)
-A.

Trainer Time

Don't forget your booties, it's coooooooold out there! More trainer time is in store for this evening, I do recommend the Conti Home Trainer Tire, besides being bright orange and very flashy, it resists heat build up and break down relative to a traditional used road tire on the trainer, and provides additional motivation to train - how flat will the surface area (of the tire) be, by the time the weather changes - or a least reaches temps consistently above freezing. Last week an easy gravel road ride turned into an adventure - darkness, ice patches, freezing temps, multiple dog chasings, and of course a good dose of hill work - it was all well worth the experience in the end.

A little dissappointed with the Duct Brand Window kit - plastic wrap for cheap apartment windows, used to increase heating efficiency and make you living space more comfortable with less energy...sustainability, green, energy efficiency - yeah!, the stuff stayed put for about 1.5 months - more proof wal-fart is taking over the world or a good reason to ride the trainer to heat your apartment.
-A.

Feed the Dynasty

Feed the dynasty: on a dry erase board in the aquatics center, the current training motto for the winter months - what exactly does it mean? I have no idea. But it is the perfect answer for all things training, or any response when you don't have a good answer or quick witty comeback.

"Hey, what are you doing today? I have a tempo run later, want to join?"
A: No, way, I have to feed the dynasty.

"Dude, this ride is epic."
A: No, we are just feeding the dynasty.

Others news: stumbled across an interesting article on the BCS and why Utah should be national champions.....http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656

Freezing rain in the forecast for tomorrow, time to improve my bike handling skills.
Feed the dynasty
-A

I'm Not Big on Intro's or Goodbyes

New Orleans 70.3 is 13 weeks away and I'm letting the cat out of the bag: Kettle Brand Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips - amazing. My arms feel like Ron Burgundy from my current swim volume - okay, my entire upper body, and gearing up for Southern Cross.

Southern Cross is a 50 mile race in northern GA - includes gravel roads, an average 5% grade 10 mile climb on the above mentioned gravel road, and a few circuits to mimic a cross race (I think?). Found a very steep long gravel hill to climb, while winter training up here in Athens County - what, you don't head north to train for the winter?

Ran into my buddy Craig who is gearing up for a win at the Derby Half Marathon - yes, win, he is that fast. Its good to surround yourself with individuals who want to train, eat, and sleep - in no particular order.

Can't have a blog without pictures, and can't have pictures without a digital camera - the digital shall be returning soon.

Kettle Brand: Salt and Vinegar, don't forget
-A