Hot weather, ride and swim

Yesterday was another record breaking day, today will be no different. For anyone who doubts climate change, please come and visit us. This is our second week of new records here in Northern California. Every year we come closer to having a San Diego climate.

Once again, the heat came as a result of strong North-Easterly winds on Wednesday night. All night long winds were howling and thrashing everything in their path. I went on a 40 mile bike ride Thursday morning and for the first time in my life I thought the wind was actually going to blow me over. When I came down from Marlborough Terrace onto Norfolk I got hit by a strong side-blast that almost blew my bike from under me. The Griffen has two substantial "wing" surfaces and it is quite sensitive to such crosswinds, but this blast was stronger and more powerful than I had ever experienced.

Today it is warm but far less windy. I went swimming this morning and for the first time in my life I swam 4,000 yards, all free-style, non-stop. Furthermore, I felt fine afterwards. Earlier whenever I would swim 1.5 miles I would feel trashed. Clearly something is improving. These long swims do help and I should have known this. It is what I do in biking and running. Only it never occurred to me to try to swim long.

Sometimes it is difficult to see things that are too obvious. In previous years I would feel good when I swam 3/4 -1 1/4 miles freestyle, and many times I would take a break after every 1/2 a mile. No more. 

I am not sure if I swam faster, but I certainly swam easier. And I felt better too.

Rules and recipes

I think it is useful to explore this topic some more. It is surprising how many people don't know the basics of training. Maybe that is another reason why recipes are so enticing. People don't know where to start. Yet the rules are quite simple, and the shorter the race the easier it is to prepare for it. Speaking of short races, one key mistake beginners make is not to warm up adequately beforehand. Short races are high intensity from start to finish. Unless you are properly warmed up, you may find that you get dropped near the start. You may then conclude that your training was inadequate. That is a mistake. Good diagnosis is needed before treatment starts.

Before training you need to ask yourself, where am I? What kind of shape am I in? Have I been sitting around, watching TV, or am I able to run a 5K or maybe a 10K without much preparation? How is my weight? Do I need to lose some pounds or am I fine? Knowing where you are and where you need to be is key. No good training program can be designed unless you know those pieces of information. Since everyone is different, there are tons of potential recipes to choose from and chances are none will fit very well.

It is just as easy to design your own program from scratch as it is to try to fit a ready-to-wear recipe that you found in a magazine. Divide your training into two phases: building a base, and adding intensity. It is best not to confuse these periods.

During period one you need to get several things accomplished but getting comfortable with the distance and the duration is the main goal. It is also the time to get your weight corrected if necessary. During the second period you need to focus on intensity and work very hard to get your physiology up a few notches. You also need to leave enough time to recover. For a short race a few days is fine, for endurance events, you may need to taper for two weeks or more.

It is always easier to work backwards from race day. It is also best to stay flexible and be ready to adjust your plan should you progress slower or faster than anticipated. You need to review your plan periodically and see where you are. Are you on track to reach your goals? If not, adjustments may be needed. More about that later.

The lure of recipes

People love recipes. Detailed, step by step recipes. Recipes to cook, to lose weight, to gain muscle mass, to get faster, to get more endurance, you name it. Recipes and lists of recipes. The seven habits of successful people, 10 things that will make you run faster, swim faster. These are the headlines that sell books, magazines, CD's and the like.

The ostensible reason is to save time. It is said that modern humans have precious little time. They are busy creatures, too busy really. Busy working their jobs or raising their families. Too busy to take time out and learn something new. Unless it is fed to them in bite-size, ready-to-consume pieces. Preferably illustrated with pictures, photographs, and diagrams. Not too much reading material because we don't have time for all that. Can't slow down now. Yup, there goes my cellphone! Got to take this call!

Lazy is perhaps a better word. Not one we like to hear but probably one that is closer to reality. Too lazy to read, we need a shortcut. Someone who read it for us and now feeds it to us step by step. Too lazy to try something new. God forbid that we would waste our time on something and not get results. Too lazy for hard work and always looking for a shortcut. A secret formula. A magic potion.

We are eager to believe that those who make it have some secret sauce. They know something we don't. There must be some ritual, some incantation, some drug, some gadget that these guys know about that I don't. Maybe it is the power meter?

Coaches often take advantage of these trends. They shroud themselves in secrecy. They adopt ritualistic routines. They force athletes to do bizarre drills. Much like doctors who prescribe special diets for some people. The magic of placebo is not to be underestimated. Drink 10 glasses of water a day. Eat five servings of fruit. Do this seven times, not six, not eight, seven! You got to do it right otherwise the magic won't work!

Today's workout: a 3,000 m swim. All freestyle, non-stop.

Sunny and crisp

Yesterday was a photographer's dream. It was sunny and the Bay was so clear you felt like you could touch the city from the Oakland Hills. The kids were off from school, not sure why, but they were. Alistair and I went on a mountain bike ride in Redwood and Chabot. We rode a good 30 miles, going out Redwood east to Pinehurst and Bort. Then riding the single track on the Meadow to the Stone bridge and back. Then up on McDonald, Redwood west and on to Sibley.

We decided to go down Sibley to the other side of Old Tunnel. They recently opened the trail for bicycles and it is a nice bumpy descent. Near the bottom it was quite muddy and there were a few creek crossings filled with water. Quite fun. Then we noticed you could go up the old road into Sibley -no cars, but bikes and pedestrians are OK. Although I had never done it, it sounded better than riding Fish Ranch.

The road goes up for quite a while and then links to the trials that go to the mazes. So we added another 1.5-2.0 miles and a whole bunch of climbing that way.

Today, it was a bit warmer still so I decided to go for a long run. I ran to Montclair and then up Shepherd. I added a little extra at the end for a good 11 miles. I haven't done this run for a while and it showed. By the end of it my legs were quite tired. It is not just the distance, there is a serious amount of climbing too. And some of it is quite steep. It took me about 1.5 hrs. 

I will start working on my running more to prepare for Boston. I would love to run a 3:15 or better, but anything that qualifies me for next year is Ok with me. We'll see how it goes. I will probably go to Europe before Boston and in two weeks I am going to DC. The travel could mess up my schedule, but so could the weather for that matter. We'll see how it goes.

Clouds and sun

Yesterday was damp, cold and rainy. I went to the pool and swam 2.05 miles. I had to stop briefly around 1.75 mi because of a cramp in my foot, but it cleared up rather quickly. I swam for about 1:15 minutes in all. There was hardly anyone there.

Last night Barbara and I went to a party and we stayed up until midnight. I probably drank a bit too much while there and my stomach was a bit upset around 1:30 AM. I noticed Barb suffered too so maybe the food was the culprit? I am not sure. I seem to have very little alcohol tolerance these days. A drink or two and I am floored. More than that and I may lose my supper.

This morning I went on a 41 mile ride with Alistair. We rode to Castro Valley and stopped briefly at the golf course. We rode for 2:40 and took it easy on the down hills. It was pretty chilly going down Redwood and I was happy to be wearing a wind jacket, which I kept on throughout the ride. On the home stretch we encountered some drizzle but not enough to get wet. I burned over 2,000 calories on the ride according to Ergomo. My average power was 200W and my normalized power near 260.

Rain

Well we needed the rain. It also brought an end to a spectacular week of sunshine and warmth. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of a few years ago where January and February were warm and sunny, followed by non-stop rain in March and April.

Yesterday and today I did my standard 45/35 (yes it is now 35) workout. I "ride" 45 minutes on the stationary bike and run 35 on the treadmill. I have been riding harder than before, always covering 17 (imaginary) miles instead of 15 before. I also run harder and faster, and both yesterday and today I finished 4.0 miles in 30 minutes.

All of that has been going quite well with minimal residual problems.

Speaking of problems, yesterday Alistair was hit by a car and crashed on South Pinehurst road (South of Canyon Rd) at around 4:10 PM. It was a hit and run accident on the descent, and the driver of the black sedan never looked back or stopped. Alistair is an experienced rider and a fast down-hiller so the car must have been going at some crazily unsafe speed. It is pretty hard for a car to keep up with a cyclist on that twisty descent.  

Some apparently feel they have something to prove and they try at all costs to stay with cyclists or even pass them. We received several reports from other riders who have experienced problems on that road in the afternoon, when anxious commuters are dying to get home.

In general the whole Redwood-Pinehurst area is becoming quite dangerous and unsafe. During the week, motorists try to use these roads to avoid the congestion at the Caldecott tunnel, and on weekends, tens of motorcyclists turn the area into an ad hoc racetrack.

Apart from some minor damage to the bike, and several patches of road rash and torn clothing, Alistair was unharmed. We tried to file a police report but so far that has been mired in red tape. Without a good description of the car, there isn't much we can do.

More swimming

Yesterday I swam two miles, all freestyle, non-stop. Not the fastest swim but a decent pace. Yesterday was another record setting day, although it was getting cooler than the week before. Today started overcast, with slight showers in the afternoon. It is definitely cooler now and we won't be setting any records today.

I took the kids to the pool and swam 1.5 miles non-stop but at a pretty fast pace. Although I did not time myself, I definitely swam harder and faster than yesterday. I mostly kept up with Alistair who is a faster swimmer than I am. (Once again) I feel like I am getting faster. I can surely swim faster over shorter distances, but the improvements never show at longer distances. Maybe this time it will be for real and hold up at Ironman distances.

I appear to have gained some weight over the holidays. Fewer hours and shorter rides do make a difference, and all the "partying" and lounging around at the JPMorgan meeting surely did not help.