Elevation Correction is a Garmin setting that I had inadvertently disabled when I was training in the flatlands. I recently discovered this function and applied it to the training over the past four weeks and came up with a significantly different number. I'm correcting the climbing figures below. ("Garmin Connect selectively applies corrections to depict a more realistic representation of your elevation experience.")
WEEK 1:
Hrs trained: 7.33 hours
Miles: 79.26
Feet of climbing: 8,510
WEEK 2:
Hrs trained: 11.6 hours
Miles: 133.3
Feet of climbing: 13,525
WEEK 3:
Hrs trained: 16 hours
Miles: 162.5
Feet of climbing: 17,379
WEEK 4:
Hrs trained: 13 hours
Miles: 158
Feet of climbing: 14,760
Very unlike previous training in the midwest my 4-week block miles are down (533) and my climbing is up (54,174). That averages to 101.6 feet of climbing per mile, or an `average' 1.92% incline. Grade Percent Incline And Downgrade Calculator
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Ugly butt ....
I'm sorry, but I've been thinking of that post `title' almost all morning as I climbed from Skull Valley to the top of Iron Springs road. It was `ugly' but ... I did it.
Every time I do that section I say to myself ... "but it shouldn't be so difficult. I've done it before and I MUST be in better shape by now." NOT!
Skull Valley Loop Clockwise
Every time I do that section I say to myself ... "but it shouldn't be so difficult. I've done it before and I MUST be in better shape by now." NOT!
Skull Valley Loop Clockwise
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Temptation .....
Got a late start (12:15pm) at the hottest time of the day (92 - 93). Up, over and back over the mountain again. Rushed back home to finish a project before I had to attend a meeting, eat a late dinner and ... crash!
Training is coming along really well. But I constantly have to reel myself in from doing too much and risk overtraining. A real temptation when you find yourself making significant improvements ... makes me want to push it even harder. BIG mistake ... that, so far, I've avoided making.
Up, over and back over the mountain ....
Training is coming along really well. But I constantly have to reel myself in from doing too much and risk overtraining. A real temptation when you find yourself making significant improvements ... makes me want to push it even harder. BIG mistake ... that, so far, I've avoided making.
Up, over and back over the mountain ....
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Skull Valley Loop Challenge - Prescott, AZ - September 11
Skull Valley Loop Challenge
The Skull Valley Challenge is a 55 mile loop with over 4500 feet of climbing. More than half of the loop takes place on some of the most difficult climbs on the RAAM / RAW route (Kirkland Junction - Skull Valley - Prescott).
This is my Garmin data for the Skull Valley Loop in June of 2010: Skull Valley Loop - June 2010
Many a RAAM / RAW racer report that it was the most unforgiving section of the race.
I'll see you there!
The Skull Valley Challenge is a 55 mile loop with over 4500 feet of climbing. More than half of the loop takes place on some of the most difficult climbs on the RAAM / RAW route (Kirkland Junction - Skull Valley - Prescott).
This is my Garmin data for the Skull Valley Loop in June of 2010: Skull Valley Loop - June 2010
Many a RAAM / RAW racer report that it was the most unforgiving section of the race.
I'll see you there!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
On track. On the edge.
These past 3 weeks of summary data:
WEEK 1:
Hrs trained: 7.33 hours
Miles: 79.26
Feet of climbing: 6,954
WEEK 2:
Hrs trained: 11.6 hours
Miles: 133.3
Feet of climbing: 10,826
WEEK 3:
Hrs trained: 16 hours
Miles: 162.5
Feet of climbing: 14,028
At the end of the first week I felt very fatigued and sort of shocked at how difficult it was to train. I expected the fatigue and was alert to not overtrain.
At the end of the second week I felt fatigued, too. Lots of naps. But it was dawning on me that my gearing was not right. Too many high gears, too few low gears.
Now, at the end of the third week I am pretty much on top of the fatigue and realize that this next week needs to be a week of relative rest. Fewer hours of training.
Yesterday I switched out some gears (from 11-25 to11-34 cassette) on the rear wheel of one of my bikes and rode a triple crank (60-39-30). My training ride today was significantly improved because of it. Lots of climbing, mostly in the 4% - 7% range with some 11% - 14% climbs.
Previously on the longer 7% climbs my speed would be paced in the 5 mph to 6.5mph range. Now, with the improved gearing I'm steady in the 7 - 7.5 + mph range for long periods. Tangible proof of improved fitness and better gearing.
Pacing was good. Within my capacity. Fatigue was not as overwhelming as it was the previous two weeks.
WEEK 1:
Hrs trained: 7.33 hours
Miles: 79.26
Feet of climbing: 6,954
WEEK 2:
Hrs trained: 11.6 hours
Miles: 133.3
Feet of climbing: 10,826
WEEK 3:
Hrs trained: 16 hours
Miles: 162.5
Feet of climbing: 14,028
At the end of the first week I felt very fatigued and sort of shocked at how difficult it was to train. I expected the fatigue and was alert to not overtrain.
At the end of the second week I felt fatigued, too. Lots of naps. But it was dawning on me that my gearing was not right. Too many high gears, too few low gears.
Now, at the end of the third week I am pretty much on top of the fatigue and realize that this next week needs to be a week of relative rest. Fewer hours of training.
Yesterday I switched out some gears (from 11-25 to11-34 cassette) on the rear wheel of one of my bikes and rode a triple crank (60-39-30). My training ride today was significantly improved because of it. Lots of climbing, mostly in the 4% - 7% range with some 11% - 14% climbs.
Previously on the longer 7% climbs my speed would be paced in the 5 mph to 6.5mph range. Now, with the improved gearing I'm steady in the 7 - 7.5 + mph range for long periods. Tangible proof of improved fitness and better gearing.
Pacing was good. Within my capacity. Fatigue was not as overwhelming as it was the previous two weeks.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Two Speeds: Race and Stop
The plan was to ride the 34 miles and 3,700 feet of climbing to and from Wilhoit. But I sensed even before I started that I was on the edge of the dreaded `over-training' factor. So, ten miles into the ride I turned around and came home. Two minutes after I got in the door an enormous monsoon storm roared and exploded overhead for about 45 minutes. Instantly the temp dropped 20 degrees. The experience of these past four weeks has been intensely physical, tangible, sensual. Among the many changes I expected on retirement the one that is most poignant is that from semi-sedentary daily life to full-on physical intensity interrupted by complete and total sleep. The metaphor I have used to describe my life has been that I have two speeds: race and stop. Strange to enter the domain of the elderly and find that it is no longer a metaphor. It is reality.
20 miles = up and down
20 miles = up and down
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Classic: Skull Valley Loop
It wasn't pretty ... but it WAS: 4,519 feet of climbing in 56.29 miles.
Skull Valley Loop - 08-10-2011
I was fit for about 40 of those miles. The rest were done with a pact with Satanl that if I finished I'd name all my future children after him. HA! Future children?!!
Skull Valley Loop - 08-10-2011
I was fit for about 40 of those miles. The rest were done with a pact with Satanl that if I finished I'd name all my future children after him. HA! Future children?!!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
(Re)Balance
Almost a year ago I entitled a post `Balance.' Had to do with balancing job, family, training, private time, time to do nothing. I didn't and still don't know anybody who can do it all well.
Now that I'm retired I have a new set of factors that don't include `job' and a few other things. The transition, for a type A kind of guy, needs to be considered well in advance or you'll experience the `Wiley Coyote Syndrome,' i.e., the absence of demanding schedules and professional adulation will make you feel like you ran off a cliff and the bottom dropped out from under you.
Action Defines Us. And it requires structure, initiative and determination to re-manufacture relevant meaning in one's life.
I'm experiencing two important discoveries. First, spending more time training on the bike takes a toll on my post-training energy. At this point in my training the naps become more frequent and my sleep is deeper and more satisfying. Second, I'm tempted to put non-training things off until later. Part of that has to do with the post-training fatigue. A fair amount, though, has to do with a sense of anxiety about `change.' I don't entirely understand, yet, what that anxiety is about but it's getting clearer and clearer --- that's what maturity helps with: one works on a thoughtful `response' instead of just `reacting.'
More later about this topic but it is as relevant to my training as everything I've done in the past. Training has to be what you WANT to do, not something that is an addictive distraction from floating anxiety.
Now that I'm retired I have a new set of factors that don't include `job' and a few other things. The transition, for a type A kind of guy, needs to be considered well in advance or you'll experience the `Wiley Coyote Syndrome,' i.e., the absence of demanding schedules and professional adulation will make you feel like you ran off a cliff and the bottom dropped out from under you.
Action Defines Us. And it requires structure, initiative and determination to re-manufacture relevant meaning in one's life.
I'm experiencing two important discoveries. First, spending more time training on the bike takes a toll on my post-training energy. At this point in my training the naps become more frequent and my sleep is deeper and more satisfying. Second, I'm tempted to put non-training things off until later. Part of that has to do with the post-training fatigue. A fair amount, though, has to do with a sense of anxiety about `change.' I don't entirely understand, yet, what that anxiety is about but it's getting clearer and clearer --- that's what maturity helps with: one works on a thoughtful `response' instead of just `reacting.'
More later about this topic but it is as relevant to my training as everything I've done in the past. Training has to be what you WANT to do, not something that is an addictive distraction from floating anxiety.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Can't learn if you don't try ...
Everything carries some risk.
Those of us who think they avoid risk are, in fact, risking the possibility of a good outcome to an anxiety producing stimulus. Those of us who withdraw from recognizing this, those of us who make our world smaller and smaller by trying to eliminate anxiety live truncated and sad lives.
So, our task is to attempt to improve our judgment as to what constitutes a calculated risk for an outcome that is worthy. How do we improve our judgment? By taking risks, becoming experienced, getting some knocks along the way that motivate us to exercise better judgment the next time.
Today I did what is becoming my usual training run. A 35 mile up and over out and back course with lots of hills, turns, burning sun and threatening wind and thunderstorms. An excellent training course.
Navigating a 2 mile descent to the turnaround point there are many twists and turns in the road. Today I encountered a `crease' in the road surface at one of the turns while doing 35.1 mph (according to the Garmin) and feathering the brakes. My wheel drifted in and out of the crease in the road and I went down, sliding about 15 yards to the sandy shoulder of the road. I got three nice, red skin burns (aka `road rash') destroying my shorts and an arm `cooler' in the process. Mountain training course - Crease in Road
What did I learn?
What a great fellow! Again, he assured I had food and water and even offered to give me `a push' as we were on a 6-7% incline. I thanked him profusely but declined the offers. As for the push I told him that my `ego' wouldn't allow me to accept it. We shook hands and I assured him I would `pay it forward.' I took off and as he drove past me he honked and I waved.
Perhaps more importantly, today, I learned that I need to begin to modify my training program to include short uphill intervals. I was passed by a handful of DF cyclists while climbing the 4 mile elevation to a `rocky top.' Though I am improving my endurance I need now to carefully but deliberately begin intervals.
I'll review my plan to include this 4 mile 3% - 8% series of steady inclines so as to ... go faster.
A good day!!
Those of us who think they avoid risk are, in fact, risking the possibility of a good outcome to an anxiety producing stimulus. Those of us who withdraw from recognizing this, those of us who make our world smaller and smaller by trying to eliminate anxiety live truncated and sad lives.
So, our task is to attempt to improve our judgment as to what constitutes a calculated risk for an outcome that is worthy. How do we improve our judgment? By taking risks, becoming experienced, getting some knocks along the way that motivate us to exercise better judgment the next time.
Today I did what is becoming my usual training run. A 35 mile up and over out and back course with lots of hills, turns, burning sun and threatening wind and thunderstorms. An excellent training course.
Navigating a 2 mile descent to the turnaround point there are many twists and turns in the road. Today I encountered a `crease' in the road surface at one of the turns while doing 35.1 mph (according to the Garmin) and feathering the brakes. My wheel drifted in and out of the crease in the road and I went down, sliding about 15 yards to the sandy shoulder of the road. I got three nice, red skin burns (aka `road rash') destroying my shorts and an arm `cooler' in the process. Mountain training course - Crease in Road
What did I learn?
- To be alert to that curve and crease.
- That I made a good decision in buying cheap riding shorts at Walmart.
- That when something like that happens it is best to take an inventory of your body first, the bike next.
- To do whatever road repairs necessary to safely finish the training course.
- To finish.
- To finish!
What a great fellow! Again, he assured I had food and water and even offered to give me `a push' as we were on a 6-7% incline. I thanked him profusely but declined the offers. As for the push I told him that my `ego' wouldn't allow me to accept it. We shook hands and I assured him I would `pay it forward.' I took off and as he drove past me he honked and I waved.
Perhaps more importantly, today, I learned that I need to begin to modify my training program to include short uphill intervals. I was passed by a handful of DF cyclists while climbing the 4 mile elevation to a `rocky top.' Though I am improving my endurance I need now to carefully but deliberately begin intervals.
I'll review my plan to include this 4 mile 3% - 8% series of steady inclines so as to ... go faster.
A good day!!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Dearth! Calamity.
Not as in `Darth Vader.' Dearth means there is a relative scarcity of something.
There is a `dearth' of recumbent cyclists where I live. Almost, in fact, an utter absence of bent cyclists.
I can understand why, of course. Today, on what is becoming my frequent training run, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104259159 I did 34.75 miles and climbed 3,277 feet at an altitude of 6000 feet. Most of the course was between 4% and 8% grades (out and back so I got what I gave) in just over 3 hours.
When I think of doing 34 miles in just over 3 hours when living in Illinois I'd have probably just sold my bike and taken up recreational drinking til the end. But today there were as many 5 mph uphill grinds as there were screaming 36 mph descents.
--------------------------
During my training today I encountered packs of recreational motorcycles, two and three at a time. They looked like they were loaded up for long distance riding and it appeared to be a motorcycle club probably out of Phoenix going north.
As I returned from the `out' limit of today's course I was going up the Bradshaw Mountain two lane road with numerous switchbacks and sheer drop-offs to the right. About 3 miles into the return I noticed a fellow standing at the bend of a switchback, stationary. Who is that? Why is he just standing there?
As I neared the sharp bend to the left in the road I then noticed about 12 motorcycles, two SUVs and lots of fellows clustered near the edge of the cliff. I was wondering: "What?! Are they taking pictures of the valley below?" Until I got closer and realized that there were two feet sticking up from a stretched out body.
I pulled over and was prepared to help if possible. No need. At least, as I write this there seemed to be no need.
One of the motorcyclists was either taking the ascending switchback too fast or he was not paying attention. In any event he just drove right off the road - no skid marks --, off a cliff and into a ravine about 100 - 200 feet below. His mates saw this and came to his aid ... at least, this was certainly their intention.
His motorcycle was deep down in the ravine among the rocks and brush. He was apparently brought out of the ravine and laid out on a flat section of road. The fellow attending to him was asking him to tell him the day, what date it is. He was laying there motionless, his eyes open, unblinking and dilated. No response. Motionless.
The fellow I saw at the corner of the switchback was calling for help on what must have been a satellite phone (because there is no cell service in this remote location).
I hope that my conclusions about what I saw are incorrect, that he was just dazed and unhurt. But further up ( 30 minutes!) in my ascent into the mountain road came four emergency vehicles including an ambulance.
Pay attention, mates.
There is a `dearth' of recumbent cyclists where I live. Almost, in fact, an utter absence of bent cyclists.
I can understand why, of course. Today, on what is becoming my frequent training run, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104259159 I did 34.75 miles and climbed 3,277 feet at an altitude of 6000 feet. Most of the course was between 4% and 8% grades (out and back so I got what I gave) in just over 3 hours.
When I think of doing 34 miles in just over 3 hours when living in Illinois I'd have probably just sold my bike and taken up recreational drinking til the end. But today there were as many 5 mph uphill grinds as there were screaming 36 mph descents.
--------------------------
During my training today I encountered packs of recreational motorcycles, two and three at a time. They looked like they were loaded up for long distance riding and it appeared to be a motorcycle club probably out of Phoenix going north.
As I returned from the `out' limit of today's course I was going up the Bradshaw Mountain two lane road with numerous switchbacks and sheer drop-offs to the right. About 3 miles into the return I noticed a fellow standing at the bend of a switchback, stationary. Who is that? Why is he just standing there?
As I neared the sharp bend to the left in the road I then noticed about 12 motorcycles, two SUVs and lots of fellows clustered near the edge of the cliff. I was wondering: "What?! Are they taking pictures of the valley below?" Until I got closer and realized that there were two feet sticking up from a stretched out body.
I pulled over and was prepared to help if possible. No need. At least, as I write this there seemed to be no need.
One of the motorcyclists was either taking the ascending switchback too fast or he was not paying attention. In any event he just drove right off the road - no skid marks --, off a cliff and into a ravine about 100 - 200 feet below. His mates saw this and came to his aid ... at least, this was certainly their intention.
His motorcycle was deep down in the ravine among the rocks and brush. He was apparently brought out of the ravine and laid out on a flat section of road. The fellow attending to him was asking him to tell him the day, what date it is. He was laying there motionless, his eyes open, unblinking and dilated. No response. Motionless.
The fellow I saw at the corner of the switchback was calling for help on what must have been a satellite phone (because there is no cell service in this remote location).
I hope that my conclusions about what I saw are incorrect, that he was just dazed and unhurt. But further up ( 30 minutes!) in my ascent into the mountain road came four emergency vehicles including an ambulance.
Pay attention, mates.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
45 miles, 3800 ft, 4 hours
Going south from Prescott the rider has two choices. One option is to take 89A; the other is to take Iron Springs Road.
89A to Wilhoit has more ups and downs and turns. The rider does have to deal with 6-8% grades but rarely for more than half a mile before there is a `false flat' offering a short respite.
Iron Springs to Skull Valley and back is a course that is dramatically different. Briefly out of town one hits the top of a hill (6,014 ft elevation). From there it is 12 miles of almost full-time decline to Skull Valley. And the rider has to `pay for it' on the return.
The route south to Skull Valley took about 1:25:00. The return took almost twice as long (2:30:00). No false flats. Common inclines of 4-8%, reaching 9-11% briefly. When I am riding a 2% incline I have the sensation that it is `flat' and that I can stop pedaling now.
The reward for getting back to the top of Iron Springs road from SV is an almost 1.5 mile series of declines to the more populated Prescott area ranging from 4-9%.
Today, on the descent I reached 48.2 mph into a headwind.
Heart and lungs doing well. So are the legs.
Here is the Garmin data from today's training ride.
Skull Valley via Iron Spring Road
89A to Wilhoit has more ups and downs and turns. The rider does have to deal with 6-8% grades but rarely for more than half a mile before there is a `false flat' offering a short respite.
Iron Springs to Skull Valley and back is a course that is dramatically different. Briefly out of town one hits the top of a hill (6,014 ft elevation). From there it is 12 miles of almost full-time decline to Skull Valley. And the rider has to `pay for it' on the return.
The route south to Skull Valley took about 1:25:00. The return took almost twice as long (2:30:00). No false flats. Common inclines of 4-8%, reaching 9-11% briefly. When I am riding a 2% incline I have the sensation that it is `flat' and that I can stop pedaling now.
The reward for getting back to the top of Iron Springs road from SV is an almost 1.5 mile series of declines to the more populated Prescott area ranging from 4-9%.
Today, on the descent I reached 48.2 mph into a headwind.
Heart and lungs doing well. So are the legs.
Here is the Garmin data from today's training ride.
Skull Valley via Iron Spring Road
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