Race Across America - June 9, 2010

More Difficult than the Tour de France

There are two versions of the `World’s Toughest Bicycle Race.’ Both versions are considered more difficult and taxing than the Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong said of RAAM: ”Maybe I'll do RAAM one of these years. Am I crazy? Anyone know how many miles a day they avg?” 6:04 AM Aug 2nd, 2009 via Twitter.

The Race Across America (RAAM) starts Oceanside, California, a few miles north of San Diego, Oceanside, California, and ends 3,005 miles and 100,000 feet of climbing later in Annapolis, Maryland. Solo racers finish in 9 to 12 days, averaging 250 to 350 miles per day.

• http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/

The Race Across the West (RAW) is the most difficult part of RAAM, starting in Oceanside, California, and ending 860 miles of burning desert, freezing mountains, and 50,000 feet of climbing later in Durango, Colorado. Solo racers finish in 2.5 to 3 days, averaging 250 to 350 miles per day.

• http://www.raceacrossthewest.org/

RAW is a Race of Truth

This is a Race. Unlike other well-known road races, like the Tour de France, RAW is not a stage race. RAW is a single stage. Once the clock starts in Oceanside, it doesn't stop until the racer reaches the finish line in Durango.
RAW is the second longest endurance cycling race in the United States. The race is essentially a time trial - a race against the clock, sometimes referred to as the race of truth. Unlike the Tour de France, solo racers are not allowed to draft or take shelter from the wind.

Hot, dry, cold, windy, constant climbing, day and night

A series of moderate climbs takes the Racers from the ocean into the shadow of Palomar Mountain near the crest of the Laguna Mountains. Then, not unlike a blast furnace, the temperatures rapidly climb into triple digits during the steep, dizzying, twisty, 3500-foot descent of the “Glass Elevator” into the Anza Borrego Desert.

Desert conditions get even more difficult below sea level along the southern shore of the Salton Sea as rising humidity levels make a mockery of the “at least it’s a dry heat” West Coast mantra.

Brawley, California, is the first oasis with a Time Station and full services between two hot 90-mile sections. These sections take Racers over sand dunes and through Colorado River Valley agricultural communities to Blythe and Parker, then into Arizona.

Three hundred and ninety-two (392) miles into the race the dizzyingly steep Yarnell Grade challenges sleep-deprived and dehydrated Racers with over 2,000 feet of hairpin turn climbing in just under 7 miles. Dead air and 3-digit temperatures accompany the Racers up Yarnell Grade.

The race then follows the mountain route from Prescott through Jerome, Cottonwood, and Sedona to Flagstaff. From there Racers navigate the desert plateaus another 350 miles to the finish line Durango, Colorado, elevation 7,000 feet.

RAW and the Racer – Dan Fallon

Dan Fallon holds several speed and distance records:

• In March of 2009 he rode from Illinois to Ohio, traversing the State of Indiana (151.5 miles), in 7:11:00 (21.04 mph) [Official time: 7:24; 20.57 mph]. (Ultra Marathon Cycling Association)
• http://www.ultracycling.com/records/records2009.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE5HJFYSOcc
• In April of 2009 he rode from Missouri to Indiana, traversing the State of Illinois (153.1 miles), in 7:50:00 (19.54 mph). (Ultra Marathon Cycling Association)
•  http://www.ultracycling.com/records/records2009.html
• In May of 2009 he was the first person to ever complete the challenging Balltown Classic on a recumbent bicycle: 201.3 miles, over 10,000 feet of climbing, in 12:43:00.
• http://www.ultramidwest.net/UM/balltown/UM/baltownw/balltown/baltownw/baltownw/halto

Dan is 64 years old, a husband, father of two sons, grandfather of two granddaughters, and has a fulltime practice as a Clinical Psychologist in Chicago. http://www.licensed-psychologists.com/

POWERFUL NEW TRAINING TIP THAT WILL MAKE YOU FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER LOOKING, IMPROVE YOUR DANCING AND ENHANCE YOUR SEXUAL PROWESS!!!

The next time you train with the brain box (a bag that attaches to the back of the carbon fiber hard shell seat) make sure that it is slung low behind you so that it makes contact with the rear wheel, thus generating resistance that cannot be otherwise accounted for.  

The mystifying rubbing and dragging of the rear tire on the bottom of the brain box will humble you to such an extent that you will either be terribly better or terribly worse for it. 

Sunday I made some changes on the bike just because I'm `itching' for the warm weather (6 weeks and counting, at least). I switched out the front big (55 tooth) ring for a Shimano Dura Ace 56, I lowered the carbon hard shell seat so that it is `way low' ( I haven't got a clue as to how to measure the angle and I hated my geometry teacher, so there!).

Sunday I decided to do an indoor century. I'm crankin' away and finding it much, much harder to pedal. Then I'm smelling something burning. I get off the bike, look around to see what may be burning in my basement.  Nothing.  Then I tried to remember what I had for dinner the night before (methane emissions from an escape valve situated on my backside).  I looked at the bike to see if that was the source of the smell.  Then I realized it: because I reclined the angle of the seat the brain box was sagging on the rear tire ... a `whole lot.' I put my Camelbak 100 oz bladder in the brain box and that seemed to be just enough weight to cause it to sag on the tire.

I got an old tire tube and lashed the bottom of the brain box to my head rest. Got on the bike and pedaled.

Surprise!!! My watts jumped 25% and my HR was about the same.

• Now I know why I was getting flat tires indoors.
• Now I know why my watts were dismally low no matter what I was doing.
• Now I know why it took me 5 years to get through high school!!

Oh! And an added benefit, of course: this STUNNING NEW TRAINING TIP will improve your sex life.  (Not really, but I'm trying to be funny ... and not just embarassed for being so stupid).

I went on to complete a 100 mile indoor training session in very good time and with very good power.  At the end I felt strong, steady and FINALLY like the training is beginning to have the desired effect. 

- d

 

 

 

Too Little Result for Too Much Effort?

" I set a pancake flat course. Mentally, I broke up the training into 3 hour segments. For the first 3 hours I completed 35 miles at an 67 avg watts and 90 bpm heart rate; second 3 hours 37 miles at 76 avg watts at 94 bpm heart rate; third 3 hours 40.21 miles at 89 avg watts at 101 avg watts.

My power and effort increased throughout the training event. At the end I felt I had `plenty left.' This tells me that I have achieved the goal of the foundation phase, i.e., endurance at an aerobic pace. "

The above quote is from a 9 hour indoor session last November. Lately my 4 - 5 hour indoor training sessions have been on a steady incline of between .2% to 2.12%. The incline sessions of that duration have left me very, very exhausted afterwords. It has been `bothering' me that I have been so exhausted, wondering "how can I expect to do 49,000 feet of climbing if I am overcome by 4 hours on a steady climb?"

Well, I think I've found out why I'm so beat: my latest training of steady inclines are unprecedented. And, they don't allow any time for resting, coasting or drafting.

Checking other ultraracer's charts I notice that, while they can put up a 160 - 260 wattage figure in spikes they always drop back down to few or no watts produced.

Fuel, hydration, electrolytes and cramp control

It may change once the weather turns and I can get out of the dang cellar, but ...

On the DF I never had a problem with handling what I ate or drank on long rides. On the recumbent I have to be careful or I experience a real sense of dis-ease.

I used to use a conservative mix of Perpetuem for fuel and an even more diluted mix of Gatorade Endurance powder for water. Doing long, intense (for me), spells of effort on the C'trainer I find a mild nausea coming on after about the 3rd or 4th hour.

I've stopped `spiking' my water with any kind of electrolyte mix and now just drink it straight and pure. I use Hammer Endurolyte pills as needed.

I've begun using just plain maltodextrin in the `fuel' bottle. I mix it for about a two hour need (600 - 650 cals). The maltodextrin I use is tasteless, dilutes to almost the same consistency of water.

Here is the formula for a 16 oz bottle:

2 cups of Maltodextrin*
1 33cc scoop of whey/soy protein
1 Tums pill
8 `pinches' of sea salt

I'll probably eat solids for protein and potassium.

Though my goal was not cost savings I seem to be saving a lot of money for the fuel and water mix that doesn't sicken me and still gives me what I need in the way of fuel, hydration, electrolyte balance and cramp prevention.

* MALTRINQD 500
J.M. Swank Company, Inc.
520 W Penn Street
North Liberty, Iowa 52317
www.jmswank.com

Slow learner

It was 3.6 F this morning at the site of my favorite outdoor loop in Hampshire, Il. Been that way for a while. Supposed to be that way for several more weeks.

Came home Thursday around midnight and got on the C'trainer with the plan of doing 7 hours (doing what I can as early on in the season to become familiar with pushing into the sleep deficit area).

As I posted earlier I've reduced the stages of RAW to C'trainer courses. The DeLorme software calculates the total feet of climbing/descending between two points. I then used another formula to calculate the average percentage grade incline for each RAW Stage.

That is, for example, Stage 1 would be 2.12% grade up for 54.6 miles, Stage 2 would be .68% incline up for 88.6 miles, etc.... Of course, this `smooths' out the peaks and valley gradients. That is, NO RESTING and NO FLAT SECTIONS and NO DOWNHILL SECTIONS. Just a constant, steady climb up for however many miles of each stage.

On Wednesday and Thursday mornings I completed 42 miles of Stage 1 (at a 2.12% constant incline). Took it nice and easy bc I had to go to work afterwords.

Plan was to finish up Stage 1 and start and complete Stage 2 during the wee hours of Friday morning.

Conclusion: It is harder to ride a constant upgrade than it is to ride the actual rolling or spikey real course. Which, I am concluding, makes this an even more valuable training activity.

Unfortunately, yesterday (Friday) morning I felt very good starting out the 7 hour training session. I wound up rachetting up my pace (watts and heart rate), moving quickly into the deep anaerobic zone. After 45 minutes of this I realized it might be wise to back off a bit. Unfortunately, that was too late.

I was totally fried by the end of the second hour of training, despite the fact that I finished TS#1 in 1:12:00. TS#2 has an avg gradient of .68% for 88.6 miles. It took me 2 hours and 48 minutes to cover 38 miles, for a total of only 4 hours indoor work.

Disappointing in that I didn't complete the 7 hours of planned training, hoping, as well, for a hundred miles of indoor work. But, another lesson that I've been taught dozens of times before but never quite learned: pacing.

I was exhausted after 4 hours. Spent. Wasted. Pissed off and down on myself (again).

But I'd rather learn these lessons beforehand than during RAW.

Down now, again, on the C'trainer for 3 or 4 hours. Nice and sedate, this time.

- Dan

Indoor Training Induced Psychosis EXPLAINED!!!

So the Race Across the West (RAW) has 15 stages over 860 miles. All but two stages are around 50 miles each. If you took the road from one stage to the next stage, pulled it out straight and tilted it up to equal the change in elevation you'd get an `average percentage grade incline.'

Following me so far?

This average percentage grade incline includeS the uppy downy changes in between point A and point B, except that it `smoothes' them out. That is, for example, Stage 1 would be 2.12% grade up for 54.6 miles, Stage 2 would be .68% incline up for 88.6 miles, etc.... Of course, in between point A and point B there might be a few stretches of 4% up and 2% down.

Fuggedaboudit!!!

I went to the `navel' academy. That is, like, in `belly-button' navel. Meaning, I find as much meaning in twirling a loop of my hair with my finger while I'm picking my teeth with a ballpoint pen, digging the wax from my ears out with a paperclip and reaching halfway to my sinus cavity to liberate the latest booger, as I stare blankly at the universal `nothing' in my field of vision --- as I do in fighting for world peace.

Alfred E Neuman and J. Alfred Prufrock are my closet heroes.

So --- are you staying with me, reader? --- what I did was ... I did this.

I did the entire RAW route, stage by stage, in average grade inclines.

Then I programmed each stage into the Computrainer.

Starting today I'm going to do every stage of RAW on the C'trainer according to this chart.

Here's the advantage.

First, the C'trainer doesn't have intersections. And it doesn't have weather, altitude, traffic or guys in pickups with rifle racks throwing beer cans at me. No sunlight. No sound. A breeding ground for delusions, hallucinations, messages from Mars, and direct communication from God about the meaning of life.

Second, by programming each stage to have a set grade incline (e.g., stage 7, Prescott, 2.25% upgrade for 50.2 miles I will climb a total of 6,000 feet) I don't have to do any gear shifting. That means I can get some sleep while on my basement trainer.

Third, there are no declines, or downgrades, allowing me to coast. This means that I can achieve the primary goal of indoor training, i.e., exquisite boredom laced with lethal doses of torture, agony and psychological misery.

I'm starting today.

HAH!! You probably think I'm kidding.

- Dan

Whining v. Complaining: the difference

I'm whining. I expect nothing to change because of it ... but just feel better going `wah! wah! wah!' It's pointless, yes. But justified by how it makes me feel. Like scratching an itch.

Complaining is a good thing, though. We complain about problems so that we can make things change for the better.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wah! Wah! Wah!

I was super psyched earlier in the week because the local weather wasn't bad enough that made outside riding impossible. So I planned all week to leave work thursday night and drive about 60 miles west in the rural Illinois farmland. I have a 25 mile loop of almost barren and traffic-free roads. Three or 4 places along the way that I can access for food or emergency if I need it.

Plan was to leave the job around 10:30pm, drive to the 25 mile loop, be on the road around midnight and ride for 9 - 12 hours. Riding in the still dark night is nothing less than ethereal.

Around Wednesday the weather started to change. I was feeling pissy and sorry for myself. Wednesday night the forecast was for 70% chance of snow with 1 - 3 inches of accumulation. Thursday morning it was worse. I had to crap out on the whole plan. Riding in those conditions is a death wish.

BUT ... I liked the idea of training right through the night after a full day of work. Introduces me to what some folks describe as the `sleep monster.' So I changed the plan so that I would come home after work Thursday night and get on the bike -- in the basement -- on the CompuTrainer and train until 9 or 12 noon Friday morning.

This Race Across the West thing. It's going to be as much psychological as it will be physical and logistical.

------------------------------

Things go on in our head during these intense and bizarre events that are nothing like `normal' life. Someday I'll say more about it but, clearly, my thoughts, experience of awareness and physical sense of my surroundings are very different. Like being alone in space and there is no time, no relationships, every second is different from the last ... and may in fact roll us directly into a reality that, if not strange, is certainly ... like you're the only living speck, sweating and breathing in a vast, dark emptiness.

So I rode in the basement this morning. Did a hundred miles. Got a flat tire, had to change it out. A few other mechanical things that interrupted the straight-on riding. Wet, sweaty. I commonly feel like a slug of mold on the bike. Somewhere around 8:30am I felt the difference between stress and strain creeping up on me (physically) so I capped it off.

I'm gonna do this every Friday, I think. Good training. A way to `use' time without taking it from my wife, kids or work.

So what do you say to someone who says: "Oh, you ride a bike."

- Dan
_____________________________

http://raw2010.blogspot.com/

Loud training

For a little entertainment I mapped out the Prescott to Sedona AZ route for RAW/RAAM a few years ago and loaded it onto the CompuTrainer. Because it fit into my training plan I drew up a previous `performance' that I did on this route in 2005 on the DF and raced against myself today.

It wasn't long before I let my `previous' self race ahead of me knowing that I planned to be on the trainer for 2 hours today and probably 4 tomorrow, that I wasn't mashing myself up in training these days like I used to back then, and that my `previous' self was only riding for 1:30:00 hours.

As I/we/me moved into/onto Mingus Mountain, up towards Jerome I started gaining on myself. I always do better on the hills. But so did `me' of 4 years ago, so I never really caught myself.

If I race against myself for a longer period than I set the previous performance the previous `me' continues on at the wattage `me' was doing when `I' stopped the last time. It turned out `me' was doing 322 watts up the mountain at that time four years ago (gulp!).

I laughed outloud when I saw that I was racing against a `me' doing a steady 322 watts. My wife came down, wondering if she was finally going to cash in on my life insurance.

A few minutes later, as we were getting to the top of the route, in the city of Jerome, AZ, the totally wacky feature of DeLorme courses had me climbing a hill with a 45% incline. Of course, the electromagnetic load generator will register inclines only as steep as 15%. Thereafter it just pretended that the other `30%' incline didn't exist. And I was crawling up a 45% hill in my 30x34.

Another loud laugh that had my wife stomping on the upstairs floor to keep me quiet down there in the basement.

Honestly, the workouts on the `virtual' courses are sort of fun and entertaining but in no way are they as challenging as when the C'trainer is set at just ergometer mode. For example, set the resistance at 160 watts and push. Very hard to do for long.

Organizing chaos

One of the more certain aspects about preparing for RAW is that a change in one area of my life affects many other things.

I've been on a rational weight loss program for almost a week now and find that some of the foods I've selected in the program don't agree with me. That is, in my case, they're too `heavy.' I'm not used to so much turkey meat. So, I'll be investigating different options for meeting the Carb/Protein/Fat mix in the diet.

As I increase the number of hours and intensity of the training I need more sleep and rest. One of the pleasures of my work is in spending evenings with couples and other clients. I've always allowed myself to stay later if the therapy process is working well. And this has resulted in getting home later. I try to get up to spend time with Annie, my wife, so I wind up squeezing sleep time out of my schedule. I'll have to be more time-constrained at work because I'm not going to give up the time with Annie.

I often wonder if some of the effects of training have to do with age or just that ... I've not done this kind of training in my younger years. I've ridden dozens of multiday hundred mile and more rides and have run many, many marathons. I recall feeling tired from these events but ... there is that thing that many endurance athletes do: we forget the pain almost immediately after a difficult event.

I do know that I've got to a) limit my work, b) be flexible with my diet, c) be more disciplined about my sleep, d) not take any of the time away from my relationship with my wife and kids and grandkids.

RAW Goals

1. To finish
2. To finish first in age group.
3. To finish first on a recumbent
4. To finish among the top five.
5. To finish first.
6. To first among all platforms (upright, recumbent, tandem, etc), first among all age groups, first among all solo riders.

Unconscious

Until I was around 55 yrs old I used never to `sleep.' I had two states: wide awake and unconscious.

Then I got old. Mother Nature switched out the `unconscious’ for `more-or-less sleep maybe for 3 hours at a time twice each night.’

Since mid-November I now have three states: wide awake, more-or-less asleep, and unconscious-dead-to-the-world. This blog entry is about regaining `unconsciousness.'

My training has progressed so that I’m spending more time on the bike (indoors, of course) and am slowly ramping up the intensity. Comfortably ensconced in the functional delusion that `age is just a number’ I expected to maybe take a longer than usual (20 minutes) early afternoon nap before I began my workday.

Last week I slept through the 20 minutes and woke up 2 hours later with a slight drool. Over the week I’ve been having stronger and deeper sleeps (aka `unconscious’).

I’m o.k. with that. It makes sense. Just another learning experience.

Trial and Error - Overrated

In my earlier post about "I JUST DON'T LIKE IT" I complained about my preference for beating my head against a brick wall despite the fact that I know that the brick wall will win. This doesn't have a thing to do with old age. It's just been an old unsuccessful and overrated way of doing things that I've developed over a lifetime into an `art form.'

As Forrestt Gump would say: stupid is as stupid does! Meaning what I do may be stupid but I, the person, am not be stupid.

So why have I used my head as a battering ram against bricks?
--- Basic lack of confidendence in myself.
--- Fear of failing.
--- `Manly' drama about being `hard headed' and stubborn.

[O.k., here's a little psychology:

If I physically exhaust and injure myself (just ride thousands of junk miles for hundreds of hours - the UMCA Indoor Challenge!) and (predictably) fail at an event there will be droves of nice people who will soothe me by saying I gave it a `good try.'

BUT if I risk doing a smart thing (periodization training) and still fail to win at an event people will judge me as being `smart' but `just not good enough.'

The `big dumb brute' method at least gets me patts on the back for halfway killing myself as an unguided missile: "Ready! Fire! Aim! :) Lot's of sympathy and drama.]

Sandy Earl (http://community.bikefriday.com/staff/sandyearl) is a 40-something woman (http://triathletediva.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html) who rides the recumbent (http://www.2010raamblog.com/) and has registered to ride the recumbent in the Solo category for RAAM 2010.

She and Larry Graham, Paul Carpenter, John Schlitter and several (several, several, several) other's I've been fortunate enough to meet in person or online are generous to a fault in sharing their `brains over brawn' way of training to win.

I'd first like to thank them here. And, second, I'd strongly urge others of us reading this to follow the links to them to learn how to win, not just place.

- Dan

Weight Loss Plan

Plan is to go from 200 lbs to about 175 - 165 lbs from Dec 1st, 2009 to June 1, 2010.

I've posted the diet here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsQblJfC4sZndDFsQTFDc3U2QkRmTXV6ZmJPMmNzeGc&hl=en

I Just Don't Like It!!!

I just don't like having to read books, articles and training materials about how to become a better cyclist. I'd rather dither, avoid, procrastinate or jump on the bike and ride a lot or ride hard (or ride hard a lot).

Despite my so-called `advanced degrees' and educational pedigree ... I got them / did it pretty much with the hope and expectation that somebody as thick headed and slow minded as me MUST have something on the ball if I could get so many diplomas. I didn't think it would just prove that I'm a slow learner with the mousey hope that instructors would take pity on such a hard-working but reeeeallly not very bright guy (who did all his homework ... even if it was in crayon).

At this point I'm not sorry I got the degrees. But I don't have them because they were things I just picked up along the way as I burned through life in a brilliant intellectual fervor. (Did I spell `fervor' right?)

Nope. I did it to prove to myself and others that I wasn't stupid. (Jury is not only still out but the jury is reported to be MIA!) But, still, the evidence is not quite persuasive to that outcome (especially since I have a hard time getting off the right floor on the elevator of my 3-story office building).

I applied the same blunt-force-trauma approach to bicycling. Until now (dammit!): ride hard and lots and you'll be one of the big dogs.

Well,I AM one of the big dogs now. About 40 lbs bigger than I should be. And, though my DNF's are few I've had more than my share of DFLs (dead f*****g last).

RAW is not the biggest challenge I can think of in cycling. But is big enough to injure my ego (source of all motivation in the land of `Fallon') reeeeallly bad if I do poorly.

So, my doing RAW is not the heroic challenge of doing `the hard' thing that `real men' pursue. It is the fundamental and perpetual insecurity in my own worth that scares me into pulling myself inside out for "one more tiny bit of evidence" that I'm not a lazy, stupid slob.

The whole thing scares the crap out of me. (O.K.! I get it! We're back to the `fear and greed' model of why people do things. And THIS has taken me 64 years to realize?!!!!!!)

Cartwright Field Test Data

The Carmichael (trainright.com) Field Test (http://trainright.com/info.asp?uid=1265) is an 8 minute `maximum sustainable effort' baseline measure performed on an indoor trainer. Carmichael recommends that the Field Test include two 8 minute efforts separated by a 5 minute recovery period. The key measures are heart rate and watts (and rpm, which I don't use).

I completed a Field Test Thursday, the 26th, on the recumbent. I hadn't done a Field Test since February of 2007, and at that time it was on the upright bicycle. (All my field tests were done on a CompuTrainer that was calibrated to reflect accurate wattage/power).

The results of the current Field Test are very, very satisfying in comparison to the previous ones. (Here is a link to an Excel spreadsheet with the FT data:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AsQblJfC4sZndExxcHpPQVpBU085cVRKOG1kdkZ6Wnc&hl=en


First, in past FTs the result of second effort was always less strong than the first. Today's FT was the opposite: the second FT was stronger.

Second, my average HR for today's FT was 10 bpm less (147bpm), for nearly the same watts, than in 2007 on the upright (157bpm).

Third, I finally have confirmation that my power capability on the recumbent is the same as on the upright.

Fourth, the fact that I was able to do better on the second FT on the recumbent than on the upright suggests that ... I'm doing something right.

Fifth, the 2007 FT was completed in February, 4.5 months into a fairly good indoor training program. The current FT was completed at the beginning of the indoor training program.

Training for Heat

This morning I read a post from a person who did the Race Across the West last year but had to drop out after about 300 miles due to the fact that she stopped sweating. Sweating is what allows us to keep from overheating and helps us avoid heat stroke. Her report was that she had ridden several hundred miles in triple-digit heat and that this did her in. She was very, very wise to make the right call to stop, disappointing though it was.

I know the heat of the low desert and the thin air of the high deserts of the first 1200 miles of RAAM.

I'm still training every day dressed in multiple layers of clothing and without a fan. I noted today, when I was doing intervals that brought my HR into the 150's, that the heat had a cumulative effect of reducing my power output.

People say that we can adjust to heat in a few weeks. Maybe. But that seems like it is just one more stressor to the body when ... the body has enough stressors.

So, I'm going to continue to overdress and not use a fan.

Moving from `Foundation' to `Preparation' phase

From aerobic and long hours to anaerobic intervals, aerobic maintenance and long hours. Today I loped for 1 hour at about a 110 HR, don't really know the watts. Last hour I did intervals like this: 5 mins at 180 watts with 10 min rest. Did 3 or 4 of these and then switched to: 1 min at 200 watts and 2 minute rest. Probably did 6 or 7 of these.

Intervals: I found this short article interesting and useful. Offers rationale for intervals as a training tool and a way to spice up an indoor training program.

http://www.cptips.com/intervl.htm

Tomorrow I'm going to do a 2 hour lope at under 120bpm and then stop and do two Carmichael Field Tests to get a Baseline reading of my power. I'm curious.

Learnings and refinements

O.K. So now I've learned that riding uppy downy CompuTrainer courses may be fun but it doesn't lend itself to a measurable training program. Pushing time and watts does that. And I can do that on a straight flat course for which the ergometer was meant.

So that led me to a decision to stop fooling myself by setting the C'trainer at 250 lbs thinking that this would give me a `better' workout. Instead, I've reset it to a conservative 180 lbs, the weight that I'll probably start RAW at. If I'm good at a sensible weight loss process it will be more like 165 - 175, but....

There will be a time when I'll want to do extended climbing at 7% for a few hours but that will come later.

And finally, I'm going to begin constructing workouts that include intervals (20-30 mins `on' at 85% effort, 5 - 10 mins rest, and over and over again) and target watts (120, 125, 130, 140) for extended periods of time (several hours or more).

Training is not just training. It is an unfolding education.

Building a Training Plan, or `How to be a Bicycle Monk'

C'trainer. 4 hours. Flat. Avg HR 122; Avg Watts 118.

Though the CompuTrainer can serve as entertainment to help with motivation for long hours on the indoor trainer )with all the courses and visuals) it's primary value is as an ergometer.

In my training I'm looking for units of measure (weight, HR, watts, mph, distance, etc) that I can build a plan on, something that allows me to measure changes over time. I can't do that with resistance that simulates inclines and declines (CompuTrainer courses); too variable to measure change.

So I've been training on a `pancake' flat course that goes on for a hundred miles and more.

`Nickel' blocks. One hour has twelve 5 minute `blocks.' I'm finding that the only figure that really counts on long distances (short distances, too) is `watts.' (And then there is this thing called `power to weight ratio.' I'll work on the `weight' end of that come January.)

Several times over the past few weeks I've broken up the training hour by `blocks' of 5 minutes. By varying target watts and target heart rates I can build a measurable training plan, a plan that records outcomes.

Today I broke each hour into 9 consecutive blocks of HR between 110-120 bpm and 3 consecutive blocks of 160+ watts. The first 9 blocks holds HR constant and the watts varies. The remaining 3 blocks holds watts constant and the HR varies.

By modifying the ratio of HR to Watts blocks and target HR and Watts ... I've got the basis of a plan I can build, modify and learn from. And this is where `Periodization' comes in.

PERIODIZATION - RIGID OR FLEXIBLE?

Classic Periodization is a rigid system that may get results for those willing to put the rest of their lives at risk while they sacrifice everything for their sport.

Given the many other demands on my time and the limits of my body I am simply unable to get up every morning and `do' what my training plan has scheduled for me. (For example, I rode 9 hours on Friday and spent all day Saturday dozing off in between movies that I more or less watched.)

So I conform to a `flexible' Periodization strategy. The days, or even weeks, vary from the plan schedule but the overall compliance is spot on. At least that is how it is working out thus far.

Here's a quote that `splains it better:
"The term cybernetic describes the science of control and communication in which feedback from the output of any system is used to modify the input to the system. -- http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_82_A_PageName_E_ArticleSiffPeriodization

So this can be done without a CompuTrainer, right?

C'trainer. I used the DeLorme / Racermate software to construct the Assault on Mt Mitchell (AMM) (102 miles, 11,000 ft of climbing, most of it in last 30 miles). Since Tuesday I've been putting in 2 hours per day completing what I could (without wasting myself before I go to work).

Today I rode miles 77 to 90.33 and the average grade was about 6.5 - 7% with several 9's, 10's, 11's, 12's, 13's and 14's thrown in. Avg HR was 141 and the avg watts came in at just under 145. It was hard. It was 13.3 miles of nonstop climbing - no break (unless you call a few hundred yards at 2.8% a 'break').

I set my weight on the C'trainer at 50 lbs more than I weigh (200) and use a double (49/55) upfront and 12/28 in back. Spent a lot of time in the 49x28. Really fried at the end.

The grades on RAW will not be as steep as the 7 - 14%ers I did today. And when I hit the switchbacks and the grades DO get into the 7 - 11% range it will be only for a short stretch. But ... this work needs to be done.

Tomorrow I finish up the remaining miles of AMM and try to put in another 5 hours on the C'trainer for a total of 6 indoor hours of riding.

Good weekend ...

Last Friday I had planned 3 or 4 hours on the indoor trainer but I found myself napping at every free minute. Finally concluded that I "must be tired" and stopped fighting it.

Saturday I spent a productive morning doing life's responsibilities (work, chores, bills, correspondence, telephone calls, family stuff) and then got on the CompuTrainer for a planned 4 hour workout. I broke each hour into one 45 minute easy lope at under 120 bpms and then the last 15 minutes at 160 watts, whatever that got me in bpm. Felt great afterwords. Good strategy for long indoor workouts.

Sunday weather predicted to be exceptionally warm for November in the midwest. Packed up the bike and drove 45 miles west of Chicago, to Hampshire, to do 75 or 100 miles. I'm getting to know many of the roads in this area now so I allowed myself to `make up' a 100 mile route on the fly. My plan was to keep the bpm in the 120 range and do whatever speed that got me on the flats, the hills and into the strong south wind.

Wound up doing 101.39 miles in 6:01:00. Heart, lungs and energy level were strong throughout the entire ride but my legs decided they wanted to stop (they didn't) at 95 miles. Sort of funny but it is proof that I've not done this mileage recently. Good to be back on track with this.

Here's a link to the ride via my Garmin 705: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/18340050

Being (ir)responsible

It has never gone away! No matter that I've ridden bicycles of one sort or another for 60 years. Still ... when I'm riding the bike I ALWAYS feel that I'm short-changing something else in my life for this selfish little bauble of riding my bike.

Happened again yesterday while training indoors. I'd get about 15 minutes into the training and my mind would wander to all the things I have to do (in life!). It has gotten so bad that I now have a little handheld microrecorder on a chair next to the bike so that I can record items for my `to do' list. It helps me `let go' of the myriad little things that I know I have to do. And it creates a pretty good `to do' list for me.

Another way I'm fighting of the `(ir)responsibility monster' is by doing my indoor trainings much earlier in the morning. I usually don't expect to be on the job until around 1:30pm (to 10:30-11:00pm). I used to daudle in the morning after I woke up around 7:30am or 8:00am. Have my coffee, read my email, pay a few bills, read the news. I'd be ready to wander down to the `cellar to spank Igor' (i.e., ride the C'trainer) around 10am. And from there I would find myself in an uncomfortable hurry until I got to the job.

Now ... I'm on the bike no later than 9am. Sometimes earlier.

What this amounts to is being more disciplined, spending less time waking up and daudling. But it's worth it.

I really don't know what to call these things so I'll try to give a clear description.

Spending long hours on the indoor trainer is hard enough but I've found it a real nuisance to have my hands gripping the handlebars the entire time. After all, I'm not `steering' the bike when on the trainer. Of course, if I'm shifting gears one needs to have hands on the handlebars.

I find it so very, very different from open road outdoor training. That is, when outdoors we need to change gears AND steer and balance the bike.

I try to observe and `steal' from other riders as many good ideas and techniques as I can. John Schlitter is my very favorite victim when it comes to this. I'd inspect photos of him and his bike to see how he does it.

One of the first things I stole from John was his setup of Zefal Spy Mirrors on both sides of the handlebars. What a difference that makes!

Another thing John has convinced me to do is to ride with the brainbox even during races. (I've tried every conceivable way to carry water and stuff tightly wrapped around the seat. And what I've learned is that it is virtually impossible to access this stuff when you need to because there are so many cords, straps and ties to undo.)

Last August at the Metamora 200 I stole another idea from John. After he had finished the 200 miles I took photos of his bike while it was leaning against a post. John was about 20 feet away and calmly watching me walk around his bike snapping pictures. THAT is a confident and generous guy! (If I had any brains I would have recognized that the BEST spying would have been to sit down and try to pick his brains for his training plan, etc....).

John had what looked like leather loops on both sides of the handlebar. One end of the leather band was attached at the top of the Avid brake handle. The other end of the leather band was attached at the end of the handlebar where the shifter was attached. I concluded that this was a way to allow him to keep from having to maintain a strenuous grip on the handlebars for the long hours he rides.

So, the other day when my hands were fatigueing while gripping the handlebars on a 4 hour indoor training session I asked myself: "What would John do?"

I'm a big fan of saving my old inner tubes. I cut them up and use them for almost everything. Amazing stuff.

I cut up an inner tube and zip-tied one end above the Avid brake handle and then looped the other end of the inner tube band to just above the shifter, zip-tieing it there, too. Now when I'm on the indoor trainer I `rest' my hands and arms in the inner tube loop. It has a profound effect on my ability to `bear' the long hours on the indoor trainer.

Oh, John? Thanks again!! And `again.' And `again.' I may as well learn from the best.

CompuTrainer - Getting my `money's worth'

It's been a long time since I used the C'trainer in a structured plan of training. Though I've had a C'trainer since 1996, with the exception of 2000-2001 my use of it was inconsistent, mostly along the lines of `exercise,' or a `good workout.' That has changed now, as I dig in and prepare for RAW 2010.

Almost any workout on the C'trainer is harder than on the open road. Here are a few of my experiences and reasons for saying so:

• I set my weight on the C'trainer as if I weighed 250 lbs, not the 200 I currently weigh. That means that on inclines I have to crank harder.
• The C'trainer doesn't allow me to `coast.' If I stop pedaling, or slow down on declines ... the bike just stops dead! On the open road I frequently `let up' on declines, and often my speed, in fact, increases!
• I can choose to ride popular and well-known courses. For example, I can load any stage of the 2009 Tour de France. Or, I can create a course based on the terrain of favorite rides I've done (e.g., Ride Across Indiana [RAIN]), the RAAM/RAW route from Congress, AZ, to Sedona, AZ.
• I can `save' my performance on a course and then race against my performance any time in the future. I did this today. Yesterday I rode 32 miles of the Florida Ironman course in 2 hours. Today I used yesterday's performance on this course and `raced' against myself, completing 41 miles in 2.5 hours. IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.

So, it looks like I'll be able to structure very high quality training over the cold winter months.

Recline position, breathing and an empty bowel system ...

PERISTALSIS: The wavelike movement of muscles in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that moves food and liquid through the GI tract.

Diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, belly breathing ... is the act of breathing deep into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm rather than breathing shallowly by flexing your rib cage. This deep breathing is marked by expansion of the stomach (abdomen) rather than the chest when breathing. It is generally considered a healthier and fuller way to ingest oxygen.

My curiosity about this issue causes me to risk making some readers feel a little queasy discussing this.

Going back to my first long, fast ride (I later learned it was a `race') on the recumbent at Metamora, IL, in 2008 I found that less than 10 miles into the event I had to rush off deep into a cornfield to ... uh ... take a very serious `dump.' Fortunately, when I ride I literally carry the kitchen sink (toilet paper) to salve my (wrong word) `anal' personality.

I never had this experience riding the upright bike. It occurs ONLY (and without fail!) on the recumbent bike. And I am certain that it has to do with the recline position on the recumbent.

Since that time I've been very, very alert to needing to have a pretty empty stomach and bowel system before I hit the road on a training ride or race. This has required me to literally go on a liquid diet for 2 or even 3 days before an event. In the course of my normal day to day life I honestly can't manage to keep to a liquid diet if I'm doing outdoor training 3 - 5 times each week.

On the days that I hit the road in the early a.m. after a `normal' few days of eating solid food I have to take into consideration the following: I ride for about 4 - 5 miles with increasing discomfort and a sense of feeling `bloated.' This translates to a sense of breathing problems. Like clockwork I have the need to find a port-a-john or gas station to take the `dump.' After the `dump' I'm on the bike and feel 150% more comfortable, have absolutely NO awareness of breathing problems, and find that I can generate far more watts and feel far more `alive' on the bike than before the `dump.'

I've concluded that I am a natural diaphragm breather. I guess I'm fortunate in that regard. But, it clearly implies that, in my case, I have to be mindful of the need to have an `emptyish' gut before I enter a race. As well, in training I have to anticipate and plan for discreet and appropriate bathroom facilities (or deep cornfields) to `take care' of this issue so that I can get on with my training.

I have not heard from other recumbent racers (or even those who ride the less radically reclined casual recumbents) who may also have this ... situation.

(For what it is worth I have no medical problems that would explain this phenomenon.)

- Dan