Bike Volume...

I'm currently building a decent base for the upcoming season. My objective this spring is to really increase my bike fitness. To do that I have scheduled two large blocks of volume training in during my base period which will take me through April. These blocks include two separate weeks of intense mileage. Not intense effort, but mileage. I have taken some vacation from work to help accomplish this plan. In essence I'm truly laying the foundation for this summer during the next two months.

In order to get what I want out of these "camps" I am trying to make sure I enter each block with an appropriate base so I can properly absorb the volume. Again, intensity will not be high, just volume. Last week was OK, this week should be better. I think I'll end up around 8 hours on the bike. What's the point to all this? I want to have a killer run in Penticton. I also want to have a hell of a bike. The stronger I can get on the bike, the better I will be able to run off of it. And as you can see below, Canada is one of the more challenging bike courses on the Ironman circuit!




I'm pleased with how my fitness is progressing so far. My running is slowly starting to improve. Swim feels OK, but I will need to get in more meters in March and April in preparation for Boise in June. Overall, I'm very excited for these next two months. My only real concern is the weather! But it's not like I have control over that piece. Thanks for reading...see you out on the road,

-T

Running...

Why do it? I hate it. Never have much cared for it. I have chronic asthma, maintained by a crazy amount of medicine. This (asthma) helps make running hard for me. And as we all know, running is hard to begin with! So again, why do it? Originally it was to lose weight. Then it became essential to competing in Triathlon. But as I finished up my Sunday run to hit my first 30 mile week since Arizona I had some other thoughts on the subject.

1) The feeling of finishing a run, regardless of distance, is enough to get me out of the door some days.

2) I don't like sprinting. I like the rythm of running. Of getting into a pace and holding it...for hours at a time.

3) I like the pain. I hate the wall, but I also love the wall. I train hard to get to that point in a race when everyone is redlining and I'm able to continue. I enjoy seeing how long I can push my body through that pain.

So, I guess I'm kind of hooked. Running is still my least favorite of the the sports I train for, but I don't suspect I'll be stopping anytime soon! I had a pretty good week of training, including that first decent week of running mileage that I've had in a while. I'm happy with where the fitness is and look forward to the upcoming season. Thanks for reading,
-T

Lance vs. Lieto...

Fun stuff. Lance Armstrong (well if you don't know who Lance is...) was in Kona. Chris Lieto (Pro Triathlete, 2nd @ Ironman World Championships 2009) was in Kona. The two happened to ride by each other on the Queen K yesterday. Lance has become somewhat famous for using social media (Twitter and Facebook) to gather people together for bike rides when he is traveling the globe. This time, he tweeted to all, including Lieto, that the two of them (he and Lieto) should race a TT tomorrow (today)...and whomever else could make it should come as well. Lieto's reply? Classic triathlete response..."Lance, make it 9:30am, I need to get in my swim at the pier first." Game on!

They picked what many believe is the most challenging portion of the Ironman course (mile 85 to 100) for a quick, tailwind friendly, 14 mile race against the clock. Lance went first, Lieto 60 seconds after, and the public that showed up to ride as well went off in 60 second intervals behind. Lieto is the premier cyclist on the Ironman circuit. In fact, he blew the field away at Kona on the bike and wasn't caught in the marathon until mile 23. Ok, I'm blabbing. Who won? I posted the video below. They say the time difference was 15 seconds...but later the post was 9 seconds. Lance also talks/jokes some more about his desire to race Kona. Anyways, just thought it was super cool. And I should say...I'm a HUGE Lance fan, but I was cheering for my man Chris. Hard to determine if he actually swam first...at the end Lance does say that Chris put in a 3 mile ocean swim prior to the race...would not surprise me at all! Enjoy.

-T

Olympic Spirit...

There I was this past Sunday...screaming at the television. Watching a horror movie? Duck game perhaps? Nope, I was watching cross country skiing! Nordic combined to be exact. And there was Johnny Spillane...entering into the Olympic arena leading the race with a matter of meters between him and the Gold medal. The funny thing was I wasn't yelling or screaming because Johnny was going to win America's first ever medal in the Nordic Combined. Nor was I yelling because he was about to get caught. I was...well, relating. You see, I'm not a doctor, coach, cross country elite athlete but I can recognize when someone is dying. And Johnny was dying quickly.

Mr. Spillane held on to second place and proudly put on a silver medal a short while later. Good on you Johnny! It's interesting though...I find myself glued to the television for both the summer and winter games. I can't get enough of it...well some of it like volleyball or luge I really don't care to watch. I realized on Sunday why I get so involved in the Olympics. It's because I too have devoted unbelievable hours of my life to the pursuit of athletic achievement...mostly swimming competitively growing up. As a teenager it was not unusual for me to spend over 20 hours per week in the pool. Morning and night...6 days a week. It's what we did, it's what I did.

I was good, but I was never Olympic material...most aren't...that's why the Olympics are the best of the best in these various sports. So on Sunday I felt for Johnny, both sadness and happiness for what he must have felt like in those few seconds between leading the Olympics and then somehow managing to hold on to second. I've found other things in life beyond athletics, but ultimately I did return. And I couldn't be happier. I'm healthier, happier, better at work, and have met some wonderful people. Plus, I don't have to wait 4 years to complete in my version of the Olympics...for instance this year my Olympics will be held in Canada. A little town called Pentiction...the race will involve 140.6 miles. Wish me good luck, and if you think you see me start dying out there...please start yelling! Thanks for reading,

-T

Valentine's Day...

What a great excuse to head off to Bend for the days with my otter half! We have quite a busy weekend that started Friday afternoon upon arrival in the area. We met up with a potential DJ for our wedding and then we enjoyed a few hours of wine and food tasting for the event. I just have to say, Brasada Ranch is one of the more beautiful places I have ever been. It is just spectacular. The food...on my gosh...the food. Amazing. The afternoon/evening out there was wonderful.

Today after a late start we headed up to the mountain for some cross country skiing. We got in just under 3 hours and had a great time. We got off the beaten path and I had the pleasure of breaking trail for a while in fresh powder...it was so cool! The rest of the weekend will be pretty chill. This was an easy week so today it was great to substitute a ski for a bike ride. I'll get up tomorrow and hammer out 75 minutes or so of running and call it a week. My fitness is slowly starting to improve. With that...about to pop the bottle on some champagne and then off to dinner at Staccato! What a great weekend. Hope everyone is healthy and happy this Valentine's day weekend. Thanks for reading,

-T

Go long...

or stick with the plan? That has been the question as of late. I have a friend that is gaining speed towards the Eugene Marathon. It's great because we will hopefully do a fair amount of training together which is always helpful when you are training. Yet, when I set my schedule for the year, my plan was to only race the half at Eugene. That would mean I wouldn't need as much time off to recover and would be fit and ready for the end of the first half of my season, Boise 70.3. But then there is the appeal of racing the Eugene marathon course again...

The more and more I thought about it, I really wanted to run the marathon. I felt like I left a fair amount of time on the table last year due to my illness. I even started to rationalize that since running is the weakest part of my triathlon portfolio, it would make sense to get another marathon in before Ironman Canada in late August. What to do? Well, in order to solve life's toughest problems I go out for a workout. So I Sunday I took off with my IPOD for a 90 minute run. During my run I realized that it made little sense to race the marathon. I will be putting in similar amount of miles as if I was doing the marathon as opposed to the half, but the recovery time post half will be much shorter. This will allow me to be fresh for Boise and still have the good run base I need heading into the meat of the summer.

So, despite how much I want to race the marathon, I'm sticking to the plan! Half marathon for me. All else is going pretty well. I'm starting to feel better and now just trying to drop some lbs. I spent Super Bowl Sunday installing some new blinds at my house. It is amazing the difference it made! Feels like a new home. Hope everyone is well. Thanks for reading,

-T

Determination...

I went out for a run tonight after work. Was supposed to be an hour. I made it 10 minutes and turned around. My shins were absolutely killing me. Not sure why, happens from time to time...not very often mind you, but from time to time. This time was pretty bad. Hurt enough I actually had to walk a few times. Got home and quickly changed into my bike shorts, hopped on the trainer and turned on the TV. My quads were fairly sore from a pretty hard trainer effort yesterday so I just kept it easy and got in just under an hour.

It was funny though. I was watching the Biggest Loser, on my dvr, and was thinking: Man if I had a coach that pushed me as hard as the trainers do on this show I could really do some things. If only I had someone that would constantly push me beyond my comfort zone when needed. Someone to get me out the door when it's raining and wake me up at 6am on a Saturday to get in a 5 to 7 hour ride. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. That person is me. I was really tired post work today and just getting out for the run was hard. Then to get turned around and still put in a solid hour on the trainer with some core work after...I was pretty damn happy with myself.

Basically it reaffirmed what I already knew about triathletes. The majority of us don't excel because we have a tough coach that is there to strictly monitor our diet and nutrition and constantly push our limits in workouts. We excel because of our determination. Sometimes that same determination can get us in trouble, but most of the time it is what gets us to the start and finish line. There was a moment at the end of Ironman Arizona where my friend Morgan passed me on the run with a few miles left. I had gutted out the marathon and was counting the minutes until I hit that final mile as I knew it would fly by. Everything hurt, but I was proud of the fact I was running, not walking anymore, to the finish. When my buddy came flying by he leaned in and said, "Finish strong Trevor!" It wasn't that it was a profound statement, it was just so perfect for the moment. We both knew what it had taken to get to that moment, 10 hours and 30 minutes into the race. And we both that with proper determination we would finish strong.

I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy start to the new year. Mine has been mixed. I have had some weird asthma issues that I will be getting checked out in the next few days. Nothing serious, but just some constant issues which, I believe, have left me more tired than normal and have limited my effectiveness in some workouts. Luckily this time of year is all about just getting in miles at low HR for me so it hasn't hindered too much. I'm finally swimming a little bit more. Not much, but a little bit. Pushed out a good 4k workout the other day and will get in another effort this week. A few weeks at 10 to 15k and I'll be feeling right in the pool again :) First race is coming up next month. 8k Shamrock run. Hope to get the legs around in time for it. That and drop some of this post Ironman weight. I made it official yesterday by looking at the scale...11lbs since Arizona. Time to get working I guess! Thanks for reading,

-T