Soledad!

Today I had some hill repeats scheduled. Since the local trails are all still wet and closed, I figured Mt Soledad would be my best bet. It gets steep in spots...

Really steep...Puff...puff...puff...

Obligatory handlebar shot for Allison. Note the super-bling S-Works Quick-Step gloves I'm flossin'. ;) Thanks to B&L for the freebie!

Heading back down the hill after my second repeat, I noticed some guy jogging up and it looked like he was dragging something...

As I caught him I noticed he had TWO tires on a chain and was draggin them UP the hill. What?!

His shirt says "Boston" and "Kelley" with a shamrock in the middle. I guess he's training for the Boston Marathon. James totally needs to do this for the Pike's Peak 1/2 he's doing. LOL!

Windy on the way up every time. A little foggy, but 360 deg. views of SD anyway.

Looking North towards Black's Beach and UCSD:

...and South toward Mission Bay and beyond.

A great day to be on the bike and a lot of good work done today. I even saw Trevor heading up as I was heading down after my last repeat. I was going too fast to snap a pic, though.

Living in San Diego rocks!

Shakin' it up!

So the first Build week is out of the way and I'm friggin' drilled. I haven't been this tried in a long, long time and sometimes I forget just how hard you work during this point of the season. Whoa.

This week, I moved some workouts around so I could spend more time in the pool and running since those are clearly my weak points in races. A few posts back I mentioned that if I could bridge the gap to the front swim pack, it would mean more time saved overall since I'd be drafting off fast guys on the bike. So into the pool and off to the running track I must go...

I managed over 12k yards in the pool this week and almost 30 miles running. All good stuff and bound to help out when it comes time to race.

Sunday, I hooked up with "The Mann Show" at Daley Ranch for some MTB fun. Only it just hurt since Justin and Allison killed me all morning long...then took off after an hour, D'oh! No worries, I cranked the tunes and just "zoned out". By the time I hit the 3-hour mark, I was ready to call it a day as my left quad started cramping. I was determined to get the work in, though, and it felt better after a quick stretch. Random trail photo...

So next week is more of the same...pain and fatigue. I'm racing the Bonelli US-Cup race Sunday against Justin (who kicked my ass the last two times I rode with him) and possibly James. Already a stacked field! I feel sorry for the other racers showing up! :D

Look Out!

I had a small collision in the pool this morning...

Me and another swimmer ran into each other: he was circle swimming (down one side, back the other) and I was sticking to the left side. We're both at fault: I should've been circling too, but he should've split since I was in the lane first. Stuff happens.

~

Speaking of swimming, I need to move up a lane since I'm getting 8 seconds rest between sets and should get no more than 5. That means I'll only get 3 seconds rest when I move up, though. Time to suck it up , I guess.

~

I picked up some Chamois Butt'r last week and it's good stuff. No more saddle sores or "Monkey Butt" on long rides or wet rides. It also has an interesting cooling sensation...TMI?

Mom and Dad came down last week as well and dropped off a belated Xmas gift.

Dad says he cancelled it, but they seem to have sent it anyway. The ball is really good for working out my hip and the book tells you what areas to work on depending on what symptoms you have. Since the kit was so late, they included some free NUUN (good as an electrolyte replacement and pretty tasty) as well as a Zorrell tech T-shirt. Cool.

~

Last thing: I sold my Vision Quest spot. I've been thinking about it and the "race" doesn't make sense in the grander scheme of my season. With the money I got from selling the spot, I'm can do a few of the US-Cup XC races instead. It just makes more sense when I look at my training and race schedule for me to do shorter, high intensity races instead of a 7-8 hour epic.

~

I'm really excited about racing some of the US-Cup series! It's been too long since I've raced XC and I miss it.

~

E.

Testing, 1...2...

My first fitness check of the week was a tempo-pace 5k.

I dropped 2 minutes off my time compared to the last meso-cycle. Holy crap!

Sticking with the 21 and 7 meso cycle over the 16 and 5 for sure. Whoa!

UPDATE
Cycling test: 1:24 faster for the two-climb test set over last time; with my front brake rubbing on the second one because the dish on the front wheel is off and I forgot to undo the brake.

So over a 6.78 mile climb, I'm at least 1:24 faster. Nice.

Swimming my butt off pays off:

as in dropping another 5 seconds off my threshold pace from last test.

I've gotta keep this momentum going into my Build Phases that start next week. Just gotta.

E.

At 7:10 AM...

...I enrolled in the last class for my undergraduate degree. In 16 weeks (finish out this Quarter and one more to go) it'll all be over. Yeah, I'm counting down for sure.

Then I gotta get a job or somethin'. Not sure what's worse. Ha!

New Stuff!

Friday night I stripped the bike almost down to the frame and replaced the bottom bracket, chain rings, chain anc cassette. Turns out I need a freehub thanks to the cassette digging into it and the chain rings were unplanned, but severely needed.

Good thing I didn't try those repars at home: the drive-side bearings had rusted to the crank spindle and it took me over an hour to wiggle it off; millimeters at a time. Sucky. So was the Thai food from the local place on campus. Blecch!

Sunday, Luke, Allison and I hit up San Juan trail...in the pouring rain and mud. What better way to break in the new drivetrain? We had a much longer route, but pulled the plug before even reaching the top of San Juan...just too f-ing COLD. the descent was nearly unbearable: I kept having to stop and relieve myself thanks to the cold and let my hands warm up enough that I could tell how hard I was pulling the break levers.

My new drivetrain was ghost-shifting on me, which really pissed me off. When I got home and cleaned it, I could clearly see the derailleur pulleys were so worn that they were no longer doing their job of keeping the chain where it should be. The result was the chain rubbing on the derailleur cage and ghost-shifting at high chain angles. It's always something.

Today, I started a recovery week. The Base work is DONE and it's time to let my body rest up for the intensity to come in the Build phases. I took my first day off since November...it rocked.

If you look to the right, you'll see I picked up MY FIRST sponsor ever. I've rocked Rudy project stuff for years and I'm stoked to represent their products.

Sweet.

E.

I Can't Go Outside Like This!

Yeah, um, so the new UCSD Cycling Team kits came in last week and they look FABULOUS!

FAIL!!!

The colors are decidedly...um...er...feminine?

I'm torn because it's the most comfortable stuff I've ever worn (Capo Forma), but the colors are just...HIDEOUS!

I think this pic says it all...

This is what happens when you let roadies design stuff. AAARGH!

Taking the Plunge

No, not the famous hill on the Xterra Maui course, but my own coaching business.

Terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Cross your fingers and let's hope I get someone willing to pay me. :D

Training's been going fairly well: this past block was run-focused and I'm seeing some great improvements in my pace at aerobic HR zones - sweet!

I ramped up the cycling intensity over the last two weeks and my legs are less than happy with me, but I know the work I'm purtting in will pay off in the long run.

Speaking of cycling work: a group of us did a Counting Coup pre-ride yesterday. I was n the middle of a high-volume week, but knew I had a solid ride in me if I stayed on top of my nutrition...no such luck. I ran out of "snap" about 1/2 way through and suffered through the rest of the ride - just one of those days.

I could certainly feel yesterday's ride on my long run today: slogging it out for 90 minutes is never fun, but I got it done. The recovery swim felt better than any of my swims all week...strange.

Yeah, swimming didn't go so great this week: I bailed on my Monday swim 45 minutes in due to lane overcrowding (6 people!). I was so focused on not hitting someone I wasn't focusing on my stroke, got mad at the situation and got out. No more 6 AM Master's. Wednesday we did a one-hour swim. I wasn't physically ready for anything of that nature and lost count after 2100 yards; a complete waste of time. Friday I swam by myself and just mindlessly ground the yards out. Meh. Today felt way better and I have no idea why. *shrug*

So check out the coaching site, let me know your thoughts on it and wish me luck!

One more week and then some recovery. Thank God because I'm thrashed right now.

E.