Learning, learning, learning

The profound performance of so many athletes at Sebring this year is inspiring and exciting. 

In conversation with one of the winners he told me that his coach had him substitute intensity for duration.  That is, train in tempo and threshold levels for a shorter period of time.  Although one would be skeptical of this method it worked extremely well for him and for a few others setting distinguished records last week.  He and at least one of the 24 hour RQ winners never trained for more than 3 hours during any one training session.  And look at the stunning result!

Honestly, that is good news for me.  The next several months have been coming at me like a tsunami.  Reconstruction of our house, relocating to a temporary living quarter, being onsite as much as possible during the reconstruction, laying the tile and laminated floor on both levels on my own ... and then fitting in relationships and training?!!

I'm planning to do several ultracycling events this year.  These, in and of themselves will be time and energy consuming.  So I'm going to try to follow the intensity v. duration plan.  There are two local training courses I am anticipating using for this work.  The first is right out my front door.  Over the mountain and back again.  34 miles and as many feet of climbing  The other is what is called the `Air Park.'  the Air Park is comprised of an industrial park and a medical complex.  Spikey and demanding.  One can easily spend 3 hours building both open road skills and hill-climbing power.  Spikey climbs and open road course

Maybe I've clicked to a way to reduce the size of that tsunami. 

Terrain ... terain ... tr ...tr... TRAIN

My patient and loving wife remarked the other day "You're really training hard!" 

Thickheaded Scot that I am I responded: "Not hard.  Consistent.  Better." 

(Nothing passes without some resistance.  Could be the `blood.')

Having committed to doing a 24 hour race in Texas in mid-April (Bessies Creek 24) I'm afforded an external structure in my habits and thought.  Some day I'll have the courage of a Buddhist (let the present percolate into your consciousness).  But for the moment I'm a willing servant to the simple distraction of a carrot in front of my nose.

Bessies Creek 24 is a 21 mile loop course that you keep riding until the 24 hours is up.  BC24 has 80 feet of climbing each 21 mile loop.  And I live in mountainous terrain where I climb 80 feet just to get the mail!

Racing on flat terrain is completely different from climbing 5,400 feet in 54 miles.  To assume that mountainous road cycling translates effortlessly to the steady pacing of a full day of balanced and steady effort is ... a bad assumption.

So.  What am I to do in my training?

Fortunately, though there is nary a level lick of road in these parts ... I've been granted a favor by my new found cycling friend, Mike Cash.  Several months ago he took me out to the Chino Valley Loop.  Just 12 miles north of me there is a rare high plateau in these parts:  Chino Valley.

Today I delighted in several loops of about 9 miles each for just under 3 hours and 44 miles.  Flat! 

Flat Training # 1
Flat Terrain # 2

With the discovery of this local flat terrain added to the steeply challenging hills and mountains ... this is training terrain!

Consistency.  And balanced hard work. 

BC24 here I come!

Complete Blood Count: What is normal for endurance athlete?

This is a great resource for those of us wanting to get a sense of perspective regarding laboratory reports we get on blood tests. 

My frustration with the plethora of `data' and virtual absence of `information' with my most recent lab report generated this. 

WebMD - CBC Interpretation

Doctors with a `'God' complex

(Oct 2014) I wrote the blog post about the doctor with a god complex in May of 2012.  Since that time I've met many physicians who more than favorably balance the equation.  That is, they are humble, conscientious and place a premium on listening.  I'll refer you to a recent New York Times interview with one of them:   Dr. Laurie Glimcher

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

ME: 

(May 2012) New to this area I sought out a doc just to have one on hand in the event I needed one. This guy came well recommended by some acquaintances. I met with his Nurse Practitioner a few weeks ago Monday. She takes my history (did a decent good job) and set me up to see the doc himself that Friday.

You know the drill. They get you undressed and cloaked in a butt exposed `gown.' This of course, has nothing to do with setting the scene so that the doc is top dog and the patient is a vulnerable sot. -;

The guy comes in, doesn't even look at me. Sits at a little table and opens his laptop. Starts barking numbers and concludes: "We're gonna put you on a diet. Your BMI is too high." 

I tell him:

• I lost 20 lbs in the last six months;
• ride 200 miles and climb 18,000 feet on a bike every week;
• that muscle is heavier than fat;
• I no longer eat meat; 
• refer him to the BodPod results I submitted when I met with the NP; 
• and inform him that the BMI is a 19th century metric for people half our size when the average male lifespan was 48 years.

He ignores that and keeps looking at his laptop. Then he says that the prostate exam and full urological workup I had just last May (biopsy that showed NO evidence of enlargement or cancer) was worthless and that nothing is as good as ... and then he just sticks his index finger in the air and waves it.

I didn't respond because this was so stump stupid on his part that I was (believe it) speechless.

I tilted my head, smiled, got my Irish up and said "... and then what? A biopsy and blood work that I just had 6 months ago?!"

He then slammed down his laptop and said: "I'm not accepting you as a patient. I'm not going to argue with you."

I was, again, taken aback and surprised at the crude arrogance. Then he tells me to get dressed and a nurse will tell me what to do next.

I left a few minutes later and pondered deeply as to what this meant. Finally, I found another doc. A few days later I sent this idiot the following letter:

---

Dr. X:

I understand your prerogative to decline accepting patients.

I am in agreement with you that it is better that you recognized what would certainly have been apparent at a later time. Being most generous in my description there is an incompatibility between us.

Candidly, I was surprised and am mildly distressed at your behavior.

Having been the Clinical Director of a psychiatric hospital for abused and neglected children and adolescents I have many, many times been reminded of the importance of listening to my patients and staff.

It is my conclusion that you emphatically failed your profession in this regard.

---

So, my advice to all of us: don't be intimidated by physicians who are so arrogant that they suffer from a God complex.

From a psychological perspective such people lack confidence in their ability to maintain a interactive and candid relationship with the client / patient.

More, several recent `gold standard' research reports conclude that arrogant and self-absorbed physicians have a much higher `fail' rate and more malpractice allegations than others.

Word to the wise.

 

 

`Tentatively' easing into 2012 Cycling Event plans

These past six months have `informed' me of how erratic my training had to be.  I pretty much expected that but granted myself the luxury of being optimistic.  Much of what I had intended to do in the way of `training' was interrupted by mundane but important other matters.

I have a hopeful grasp on what is practical and realistic for me in the way of training and events over the next calendar year.  So the switch from ebullient optimism to practical realism ... I don't like it!  (If you set your goals only so that they're `realistic' it takes all the headiness, the unknown, the surprise out of things.)

My training will, perforce, have to be local in order for me to have any sense of fidelity to a plan. And I've been fortunate enough to be introduced to a variety of training surfaces and terrain (hills, mountains, flats, short [25 mile] courses that include flats and lots of short, spikey climbs).  Local short course    So this permits a rational plan for development of cycling skills and physical development.

I've had bike destroying accidents on one of my recumbents that has required a great deal of expense and mechanical work.  I'm not the best mechanic so it has taken time.

On the other two recumbents I've made pretty comprehensive changes in the gearing, cranks, and drive-train.  Again, this has caused me to spend a fair amount of money and experience many delays due to finding the time to do the mechanical work.

At this point all my recumbents are operational and can be ridden at the point of selection.

I'm even intending to dust off my upright bike for local and short trips.  I'll not need to do any mechanical work on the upright because it is, at worst, dusty.

In my next post I'll offer some detail as to the local training courses and a few of what I call `performance events.'  `Performance events' are what the training is all about.

"Great Leader" Sports Nutrition Products

I just ran across a piece I wrote a few months before my RAW 2010 attempt.  Somehow my email address got out to the world of snake-oil merchants and I got so fed up I posted this, below, to a few cycling related discussion groups:

GREAT LEADER SPORTS NUTRITION PRODUCTS

"Expensive Urinite:" Improve your speed 300% while keeping your heart rate under 85 bpm. Scientifically formulated and tested at a secret underwater independent North Korean humility `Great Leader' sports lab. Trust us!  

Easy to swallow, non-chewable, tasty seaweed flavored powder dissolvable in simple yak milk. 16 oz irradiated `repurposed' nuclear centrifuge cannisters @ only $175 each. Money back guarantee if you live that long. 

"Swell Gel:" Dance up hills in happy bliss doing `silly circles' around your grunting competitors. All ingredients in Swell Gel have been personally and individually used by "WADA" scientists and carry their official ` thumbs up with a wink' photo. Unlike other sticky, gooey, gag-me-with-a-spoon gels Swell Gel is snorted by riders. No sticky white residue. 

"Secret Power Suppositories"  For the `daring' competitor, the one who isn't cowed by wussy WADA rules or spy camera crews. Enormous weiner sized slick suppository jam packed with EPO, epinephrine, testosterone, and a veritable plethora of fast acting 'roids. Nobody will know that when it looks like you're just scratching your crotch you're actually inserting a "Secret Power Suppository" up your keester.  

Guaranteed NOT to grow an inch of hair on your shoulders and arms by the end of a Stage.  

Be the first to finish, knowing that when you get off your bike and your knuckles are dragging at your feet you'll have a long night of bike groupies wanting to know you better.  

Amaze your friends when your voice drops from falsetto to alto.

And we promise not to insult your intelligence by selling for dollars what you could buy at your grocery store for pennies. Because WE KNOW you want one of our "GREAT LEADER" T-shirts to prove to your buds that you're one serious, baaaddddd-ass cyclist!

What is the `baseline?'

I started getting serious about cycling around 1996, as a way to not get too unbalanced with my job. 

Periodically I'd complete a training or competitive event and feel sore, beat up and fatigued.  I'd wonder if my `age' (50, at the time) caused me to be less resilient and to experience limits and physical consequences that I would have shrugged off 20 years earlier. 

I'm no further down the road with this question, sixteen (16) years later, now that I'm 66. 

As I increased the challenges and cycling demands on myself I'd feel the `consequences' from these efforts.  And still I'd wonder: "Would I feel this beat up if I were 25?"

Last Wednesday I rode with a group of really great people through some exceptionally demanding Arizona terrain.  Eighty-one miles (out-and-back) and 7,100 feet of climbing.  This was difficult but the distance and cumulative climbing didn't cause me to have to reach deep into my physical resources.  However, there was a ten (10) mile section on the return leg that was nothing but uphill, grades between 4% and 11%. 

Kirkland to Bagdad, AZ

This `blog' is entitled `Training Blog' because that is how I approach my cycling.  I'm not a recreational cyclist.  My deficiencies in life include being somewhat of a hermit, somewhat of a `driven' personality with enough insecurities that scare me into having to `prove myself' at almost everything I do.  Cycling, for me, is an almost `ultimate' form of staying sane and not letting the demons overtake me. 

So, on that ten mile stretch of road I demanded that I `pound' it, climbing at the highest gear and wattage sustainable.  There were several times when I said to myself `prudence suggests that you not `redline' it, Dan.'  But then there was `Bad Dan' who said `you HAVE more so you must GIVE more.  Otherwise you're just another old fart on a bike ride.' 

And I did give more.  I could literally feel it coming from the marrow of my bones.  And I heard that little homunculus inside of me was saying: "If this is the last thing you do you have to do it." 

Still, I was passed by two riders.  I rationalized being passed by discounting those two riders: "Classic cycling bodies: lightweight, thin and experienced.  One of them weighs 80 lbs less than me and is riding a `feather' bike.  You're `the Man,' Dan.  You're training on your 28 lb, loaded up fwd recumbent.  THEY couldn't do what you do!"

But that isn't the point.  The point is "why, when you know this is going to deplete you, are you letting yourself be so unwise?!"

Today, the third day after that ride, is the first day I feel like I'm among the living. 

Would I have been able, at age 25, to do what I did last Wednesday and not feel completely drained?

I don't know. 

But I DO know, that at age 25 I was still `over the top,' doing things that were way too demanding and unwise. 

So .. the more things change, the more ....

- d

Local Cycling and Training Opportunities

I barely adhered to my intention of making this a `recovery' week.

Last Sunday I completed what amounted to a 110 K time trial in Phoenix. Phoenix Invitational .   It had been a long time since I was on terrain that didn't include miles of annoying downhill coasting and miles of slow but challenging and demanding slogging uphill.  Being able to apply sustained watts over 110 K of flatland was welcome and quite taxing.

On Wednesday, after two days of being off the bike I rode a 53 mile, 5,700 ft of climbing course  (Garmin data: P'cott - Kirkland - P'cott .  Though I purposely stayed at nothing more than 60% max it was still 4 hours and 45 minutes of raw effort.  Felt the symptoms of overtraining so I elected to take the next day off and take it easy on other training sessions the rest of the week.

My friend Mike wanted to get some miles in on his new recumbent so he chose a local training area that, initially, sounded mighty tame: an industrial park with easy loops and flat roads.  About the only thing easy about it, I found out, is that it is `local.'  That is, only a few miles from home.

I accompanied Mike to the course and immediately saw the potential of this area.  The City of Prescott put in the infrastructure for an industrial park near the airport just before the recession hit.  So, the roads are excellent, there are barely 10 - 15 small plants and warehouses.  Ninety-five percent of the area is utterly vacant.  No traffic.

This could be the core of several local club events, e.g., family fun rides, longer timed events (time trials, criterium). 

In my own mind I'm already planning some ultra endurance training sessions ( 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour).  I can park my truck and loop past it every 12 miles if I wanted to.  Keep dry clothes, fluid, food, equipment, etc., in my truck  Plenty of water at numerous locations.  If a problem arose I could get a `spousal rescue' in 20 minutes by cellphone.

The next day I rode this course on my own for about 2.5 hours.  Steep (14%), short (50 meters) climbs everywhere you turn.  About 10% of the course is actually flat.

Here's yesterday's Garmin data:  Jan 7 - Local trainng course

Today I rode another 3 hours in the course.  Great potential for training, competitive events (Time Trial, Criterium).  Here's today's Garmin data:  Jan 8 - Circumference of Training Course - 12.2 miiles

And then a few more hours of `free style' use of this training course: Jan 8 - Using the course for hill training and time

A Spring Classic ... for the fun of it

Yesterday I joined a great group of local roadies driving to an invitational in Phoenix.  Sixty-five miles and just a tad over 500 feet of climbing.  I've done flatter routes but that was flat. 

In my maturity I've come fully into my miserly ways.  Living in Prescott I cannot imagine doing what I used to do often several times each week in Chicago: driving 100 miles to ride my bike.  And though there are great adventures all over the southwest the sense of `weirdness' overcomes me when I send money to people 100 miles away to give me a map, a water bottle, sign liability waivers.  And then spend 3 figures in gas money to drive for four hours ... to ride my bike. 

!?*@##!!!

And here I live in Prescott!!

So I'm resigned to the `loneliness' of the hard core ultra cyclist.  That is, poorly paraphrasing Eddie Merckx, when asked how he came to be so dominating a cyclist, he responded: "Ride a lot."

I'm making up routes and courses that are low traffic volume, good road, challenging and with the occasional water spiggot every 40 or 50 miles.

Here's one from my front door:

1. Prescott to Bagdad: 67 miles
2. Bagdad to Yarnell: 56 miles
3. Yarnell to Congress: 10 miles
4. Congress to Wilhoit: 29 miles
5. Willhoit back to Prescott: 17 miles.

Total miles: 178
Likely climbing: 12,000 feet

Start half an hour before daybreak to be advantaged by daylight.

No fee. 
No sag. 
Self-support. 
No club affiliation. 
No course `certification' or `sanctioning.' 
YSYD (you're stopped, you're dropped). 
No rando organization. 
No getting your card stamped or signed. 
A complimentary burial on the side of the road for DNF'ers. 
No T-shirt. 
No goofy set of safety pins with a number on some sheet of linen. 
No subsequent internet hounding by profit-mongers wanting to patronize you with "Hilly Hell" mantras. 

Who will know you did it?

You.  Only you.   

Not so Bad news and some Very Good news

Well, let's start with the ...

Not so Bad news. 

Sebring is out for me this February.   The logistics and cost just don't justify it.  5,000 mile round trip driving (I'd be taking two bikes and lots of gear so onliest way I'd do that is with my trusty Ford Ranger).  Gas, lodging, food, etc., would put it easily into the $3K range.  I can (and will) put that money to much better use in my neck of the woods.

Very Good news:

I'll be getting two `Time' and `Distance' courses measured out here to be considered for official sanctioning for the UMCA.

Time courses can be used for 12 hour and 24 hour events;
Distance courses can be used for 100 mile, 200 mile events. 

The Prescott Cycling Club will be heading up the course measurements and submitting them for sanction and approval.  We're expecting to complete the measurement process within the month and submit the data and materials to UMCA. 

Each course

• Has almost no traffic;
• Few and no intersections;
• Is flat;
• Almost straight as an arrow;
• Has an excellent shoulder (wide, no rumble strip, minimum road debris).

Course # 1:  

• 50 miles: Aguila to Brenda, AZ, on Highway 60.

This course is almost entirely on the RAAM / RAW route.  In the AZ desert, with elevation from to 2160 feet to 1350 feet above sea level.  The temps are what you would expect: 100 - 110 F range 8 months out of the year.  Tolerable the other 4 months.  No snow.  Ever.

Only two or three intersections going west and one intersection coming back east.  All can be navigated well by a crew that drives ahead to make the transit safe and fast.  A few towns (3?) from start to finish on the 50 miles.  Aguila is about 60 miles from Phoenix. 

Course # 2:

• 25 miles: Paulden to Ash Fork, AZ, on Highway 89.

This course is not on the RAAM / RAW route and climbs from 4400 feet to 5100 feet through National Forest on good and well maintained roads.  At these elevations some snow can sometimes be a factor but it is also a more temperate climate all year long.  The thing about the `National Forest,' though, is that the terrain is mostly scrub desert.  No intersections.  Again, this could be both a `time' or `distance' course.  Ash Fork is about 40 miles straight west on Interstate 40 from Flagstaff, AZ.  

The road cycling community in the Prescott area is active 12 months of the year.  And more and more serious cyclists are seeing the terrain and climate as being ideal for training. 

Also, Prescott is considered one of the premier mountain bike locations in the country.  What with the mountains, several National Forests and well maintained roads and trails it is nothing less than a hidden jewel. 

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

If Muhammad can't go to the mountain then the mountain will have to come to Muhammad.  

When I consider the time and money I would sacrifice to drive from my house to Sebring ... I'd rather build a Sebring out here. 

You'll be hearing more soon.  Stay tuned. 

The `b'ness' end of things

A few days ago I was out for along ride in the lower elevations.  Rolling desert rocky terrain below the snow line, waaay out into the unpopulated AZ ranch country.  Fewer than 3 vehicles on the road per hour. 

Rolling along after mile 25 on an out and back I needed to find a place to do my `b'ness.' 

I spot a break in the Juniper and Cottonwood trees and brush to the side of the road and pull over.  As I'm crouching my way through the brush it opens up into a completely empty green and brown grazing pasture.  The pasture is only about 50x50 meters and abuts a steeply rising rocky hill for about 800 feet. A quiet `spot' of beauty in nature.

There is a wide gate to this fenced in area.  The gate has a heavy lasso-type rope holding it closed against a strong post with firm barbed wire in either direction.  I look around carefully to assure that no one is there and that there are no horses or livestock that will charge at me. 

I open the gate and move off to the left about 10 yards behind a copse of big Manzanitas.  I proceed to do my `b'ness.' 

As I'm gazing at the immense beauty and noticing the utter quiet and silence my attention falls to the copious evidence of horses having done THEIR b'ness here, too. 

When I'm finished and get myself all ready to return to the bike ... it hits me: 

I turn to see if MY b'ness is bigger than the HORSES b'ness! 

Once again I am confirmed in my ability to hold my own against mother nature's best :)

Confidently and filled with utterly pointless hubris I let myself out of the gated pasture and resume my biking. 

I'm still feeling `proud' of the `b'ness' end of things.

Irrational and myopic ... but so, so human. 

(I wonder if there will be a horse that returns to the grazing pasture and ... does the same thing).

Real World Training

If you could be exceptional at either `intelligence' or `persistence' (not both), which would you prefer?

Sounds like a question I'd get from St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.  I'd probably get sent to hell `Express' for trying to negotiate a little of both. 

I'm about 70 % persistence, 20 % slack-jaw stump-stupid, and maybe 10% intelligence. 

When my clients saw all the degrees on my wall I'd try to lower the shock factor by telling them: "I'm educated waaay beyond my intelligence."  And, frankly, I think its true. 

I just kept going to school.  Didn't - WOULDN'T - stop.  I went to middling colleges and universities and they were happy to take my tuition as long as I didn't present as a potential embarrassment as an alumnus. 

Back to Training. 

After several depressing days of indoor training and a few shocking days of absolutely lethal outdoor training in the freezing, windy, icy, twisting mountain roads I figure out a real world training prospect for the cold months.  Drive down to a lower elevation and train. 

The snow line is about 5,000 feet.  I trained on rolling and challenging upgrades of 6% for 6 miles at 4,000 feet today.  It was windy, cold and wet.  But manageable due to the absence of crazy twisting descents and icy roads.  It was also in the mid-40's.

Dressing for the wind and wet requires `shell' clothes and some thin wool jerseys.  Made all the difference.

Training at lower elevation 

More tomorrow. 

Vocabulary lesson

I didn't expect to get a vocabulary lesson in my training ride today.  But I did. 

Mid-day it was relatively warm (50's) and brilliantly sunny day up here in AZ mountain country.   I got out for a training ride at 1:30PM.  At it's height the sun is low on the horizon, just 10 days from the solstice.  It gets dark fast.

I rode south, up a smooth and twisty road (White Spar/89) into the Bradshaw mountains in the Prescott National Forest.   The road hangs off the eastern side of the mountain. 

Melt Ice: At 6,100 feet the sun is intense on the snow.  The snow is piled in berms on the east side of the road and it covers the forest and sheer walls on the west side of the road.   When the sun beats down on the snow it melts and water washes across and down mountain roads.  When it hits the road it is a barely visible shade of grey as it freezes again

Shadow Ice: When the road is already wet from melting snow but the setting sun, low on the southern horizon, casts patches of spikey shadows on the wet road.  The shadow water freezes thin and slippery while the sun exposed road is dry and firm.  It makes for a corduroy pattern of icy road and dry road.

Sand Slip: In Illinois they spread salt on the icy road.  Out here they use sand and pumice.  Sometimes the sand/pumice mixture has the same color as the road.  It requires eagle eye vigilance on climbs, descents and turns so that you don't slip out and go down.

Sand Mine: That's when all three of the above conditions apply.  The road looks just a little sandy but it is actually ice thinly covered by sand/pumice. 

Update: 12/12/11:

Cloudy and raining today and nobody out this way thinks its o.k. to ride in this weather. 

So ... I rode.

Us hardy mid-westerners don't really know the difference between sunny and warm, and wet and cold. 

I added a few words to my vocabulary today: 

• Rockslide;
• Sleet/rain/snow (all one word);
• Fog;
  
• Mountain wind;
• Windchill;
• Hypothermia.

When I got home I realized that, though this is Arizona, it is winter and I'm riding in mountains.  I immediately got into a tub full of scalding hot water for half an hour.

• Time to swap the sandals for shoes and toe warmers.  
• Balaclava.  
• Rain gear.  
• Big honkin' flashing lights and irridescent ribbons all over me and the bike
• long pants
• shells over my gloves
• helmet cover.  

 So, what is this language with so many new words: Mountainese?!

One learns `road handling skills' in such conditions.

Or not.

Too much

Over the last several days I've put in a fair amount of miles and lots of climbing.  At least half of that is in the Prescott National Forest.  The other half is what geologists call the `transition zone' between the high Grand Canyon plateau and the low Phoenix desert.  Lots of sky, mountains, rolling hills.  Vast panoramas of drop-dead gorgeous terrain. 

Today's training comprised 70 miles and god-knows how many thousands of feet of climbing.  The contrast between the beauty of the natural environment was held in stark relief against the many never-before-seen by me roadside shrines to motor fatalities; the dead skunk, dog, cat, critters, and their bloody remains smeared across the road; the monstrous RVs pulling trailers of off-road 4-wheel toys; and, finally, another tragic automobile accident with almost certain fatalities.  The accident appeared to involve a car that went off the 2 lane road and down a steep embankment, rolling over and over before coming to a stop.  Multiple State Patrol vehicles, fire engines, ambulances and a helicopter.  Traffic backed up in both directions for a mile.

The contrast makes my head hurt.

Pictures of the terrain on which I train

The first is a link to my Picasa picture albums showing, first, the short and steep roads I use for `Hill Repeats' and, then, pics of the 34 mile, 4,600 feet of climbing out and back, up and over, course from Prescott to Wilhoit.  Prescott to Wilhoit and back

The second is the latest Garmin data and graphic of the Prescott to Wilhoit and back course.  Garmin - Prescott to Wilhoit and back

Season and transitions in training

Second week of November in the Arizona high country.  Living close by a ranging national forest and what geologists call a `transitional zone.'  Prescott is a smallish town on the edge a growing metropolitan area both east and north of us. 

Nights are cold and dark.  Days are typically sunny and warm.  If and when it snows it tends to melt away within a day or three. 

Gone are the days when starting a training ride at 7:30am promised 70 degree temps, pushing into the 90's by midday. 

Hill training several times a week for two or three hours.  Following loops into the national forest and back.  In the gym cross-training for several hours a couple of times a week.  One or two long rides into, through and out the other side of the forest every week. 

Outdoor training includes both front and rear wheel recumbents, and the upright Airborne Zeppelin ti bike. Indoor training includes Concept 2 indoor rower, the elliptical and a recumbent bike on the LeMond Revolution indoor trainer.  Calisthenics, situps, pushups and pullups. 

Consolidation, strength and balance are the training goals for the cold months. 

Heading into winter and exciting riding

October 19th and I'm feeling like I'm just getting started on my cycling season.  Last year at this time I was putting on the weight, dealing with rain, wind, cold, traffic, urban density and congestion.  This year I'm working my training plan and tracking significant week to week improvements. 

I've never had the opportunity to focus on cycling as much as now. 

Today I got in a 20 mile 1,800 feet of climbing training ride `after' I did the finances, met with the plumber and made some phone calls.  And I got back in time for a fried chicken lunch with our neighbors in our Common House.  Our cohousing neighborhood and community ... 

Took a nap, reviewed the training plan and confirmed that I'll be attending some great cycling events here in the SW this winter. 

• I'm stoked about the 200 K brevet (Heart of Arizona) with the Bullshifters Cycling Club this November 5th;.
• I'm focused on training for strong and fast hill climbing in a rational and thoughtful way;
• I'm targeting the Sebring Bike races in Florida next February 18th and 19th, the 24 hour non-drafting RAAM Qualifier event.

These are just a few of the great things I can train for and accomplish with `performance' in mind (not just `survival.')

I'm fortunate and lucky.

Ownership and attribution

I just sent a comment to the spam folder.  The author of the comment did not identify him/herself and made claims without attribution of sources.  Finally, this person made personal insults (not to me).

One of the reasons I blog and welcome comments is to further dialogue and questions.  Unsubstantiated claims and uncivil comments that do nothing to support dialogue will be deleted. 

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those with one.  Those having an axe to grind or who are working out issues for which they should seek treatment can start up their own blog or pedal their tripe to listserv's that allow it. 

If you don't like what is said here don't read it. 

Another Roadside Shrine

Coming north on White Spar Road (89A) from Wilhoit to Prescott, AZ.  As one leaves Wilhoit there are signs warning drivers of dangerous mountain curves and grades ahead for the next 14 miles.

Here is a Garmin recording of one of my training rides on White Spar between Wilhoit and Prescott.  Wilhoit - Prescott: Road Shrine Row  You can zoom in to see for yourself the twists, inclines and descents.  For most of the route the road hangs off the side of the mountain with a wall on one side and a steep drop off on the other side.

Seven weeks ago I had just turned around at Wilhoit to return to Prescott on a training ride.  Less than a mile up the road I saw several people, motorcycles and a few cars at the lip of the cliff on a 90 degree ascending (4-5%) turn.  A motorcyclist had miscalculated his speed and the angle of the turn and rode right off the cliff, falling about 20 yards into a steep ravine filled with brush and cactus.  Foolishly his mates pulled him out of the ravine.  As I stopped to offer some aid it was apparent that this fellow was nonresponsive and quite likely dead.

A few weeks later I noted a `road shrine' cross and fake flowers planted in a pile of rocks.

Today I was barely out of Prescott and into the mountain grades to Wilhoit when I was passed by 3 or 4 emergency vehicles and an overhead helicopter.  About two miles up traffic was stopped.  I rode past the stopped traffic to see the helicopter slowly ascending and on the way to some hospital.  The police turned me back stating that they would be taking pictures and surveying the site for some time to come.

About an hour later I concluded the road should be clear and resumed my training ride to Wilhoit and back.  As I passed the scene of the accident I saw the destroyed motorcycle and metal and plastic on both sides of the road.  There were no tire skid marks.  But there were several fresh white gouges in the road.  And I am assuming that the motorcyclist was going downhill too fast for the curve, oversteered, lost control of the bike and s/he and the motorcycle went end over end until they came to the road barrier or mountain wall.  It was a bloody mess, with two squad cars parked nearby.

Returning later to Prescott past this accident scene I saw a tow truck attempting to collect the many pieces of motorcycle.

I myself have gone down twice on this same road at speeds greater than 35 mph.  Lots of road rash.  Some stitches.  About $800 of total damages to the bike.

Those of us surviving our bad judgment have a deep respect for the dangers of the road.

I'll be looking for another road shrine at that location soon.  How deeply sad.

HA!! Two Speeds

Speed # One:  All out race!
Speed # Two:  Dead stop!

Conclusion?  Delusional thinking and denial of the reality of dealing with time and anxiety.

Ha!!!

I just spent the last hour reviewing journal articles on `denial of aging.'  I've even got a book on that subject waiting for me at the Prescott Library.

With the wife gone for a week and being relatively immobile while the knee heals up I've spent waaaaay too much time `thinking.'   Such a waste!  Not my best `muscle,' i.e., from the neck up. 

I preached two mantras in my clinical practice as a psychologist: "Action Defines Us" and "Behavior Precedes Awareness."  One of my patients even went out and got me a ball cap with those phrases emblazoned on it as a retirement memento.

Take my own advice: Think less.  Do more. 

A good deal of the reason I am so active with cycling is so that I can wear myself out.  (DSM-IV-TR diagnosis: Cyclothymia.  Just a tad short of all out mania).  Just a different way of dealing with the same anxiety that creates alcoholics, zealots, workaholics and others among us burning up excess psychic kerosene. 

The challenge of `retirement' is in being able to integrate life's accumulated wisdom and the strengths it brings, and a relative certainty about the trajectory of the future having an ultimate downward slope (unless of course I'm on a 4% downhill descent into Wilhoit on a 75 degree angle left turn doing 36.4 mph on a posted 25 mph speed limit ... then the slope is a right angle, straight down.  I got lucky and am here to tell about it.). 

I really did feel pissed that I came in behind 51 other people in the recent Skull Valley Loop Challenge.  Angry, in fact.  I gave myself no `slack' for probably being among the 3 oldest people racing.  Some of it is good fuel for motivation.  A lot of it is denial of `inherent' athletic/genetic limits and limits imposed on me as a consequence of age. 

Transition.  Age and the time to think about it carefully and with acceptance and courage. A denial of it ... thinking that "I'm different and I'll prove it" can prove futile.  And `resistance is futile.' 

Of course, we all know that the only people without stress in their life ... are dead!

Sermon over.

Chondromalacia and Plantaris Muscle / Tendon

Left knee.  Had nothing to do with cycling.

Definition of chondromalacia patella: (By Mayo Clinic staff)
 
The cartilage under your kneecap (patella) is a natural shock absorber. Overuse, injury or other factors may lead to a condition known as chondromalacia patella — a general term indicating damage to the cartilage under your kneecap. A more accurate term for chondromalacia patella is patellofemoral pain syndrome. 

The plantaris muscle / tendon definition is so tortuously medical-wordy that I won't even try it here.  Essentially, it is a tendon behind the knee that is missing in 7-10% of the population and has little purpose or consequence.  However, when, for whatever reason, it is inflamed or damaged it causes pain and swelling.

I was schlepping 50 lb bags of dirt and rocks for some landscaping of our house and I pivoted on my left leg, generating these two conditions.

In 1989 I had arthroscopic removal of torn meniscus / cartilage in my left knee.  I'd run about 8 marathons at that point and ... that's what happens to some of us.  The cartilage gets damaged.  Since then I've been totally pain free (ran another marathon 9 days after the surgery).  But when I flex that left knee I'd always hear a few clicks and grinds.

Today I rode the bike 34 miles and climbed about 4,000 feet with nothing more than a slight sense of tightness.

When walking it is painful to straighten the left leg because of the plantaris muscle.  And the patella problem is resolving with NSAIDS, careful stretching, alternate heat and cold compresses, a knee band that sort of stabilizes the patella.  I used one on the Race Across the West and the slight initial pain literally vanished in less than 12 hours, never to return.   

Training will probably be on flat stretches for a while, avoiding too much power strokes on inclines.  Though, I still climbed faster than all my buddies today, and without pain.

Prudence, however, suggests reduction of climbing intensity.  So, for the next few / half dozen training sessions I'll be a flatlander again.  Probably a wise change of pace.  

Attention `Excess' Disorder

In graduate school we had to learn how to diagnosis mental disorders.  There is a `big book of mental disorders' that all credentialed folks have to use.  The unanimous experience of I and my classmates was that each one of us had at least half a dozen diagnosable serious psychiatric disorders!

Decades later... no different.  We were right. 

These past two months of cycling in `valhalla' (Prescott, AZ) with more time to ride and train than I've ever allowed myself I've violated my notional dictum: `Be a fanatic about living a balanced life!!'  In otherwords, I'd frequently overtrain by doing too much, too hard, too fast.  Fortunately, I've been able to `listen to my body' and recognize it in a day or two and back off. 

This last `go-round' with overtraining left me wiped out, empty and flat all day after my early morning training ride.  I liked the training ride.  I `hated' feeling flat the rest of the day.  And, of course, my `psychiatric disorder' raised it's ugly head and I started blaming myself for stepping into this familiar hole again.  Then I started making lists of things I have neglected.  Finally, I took two naps instead of just my usual one -- this so that I can pile on the self-loathing for being such a slug and a sloth. 

This morning I looked at my Training Plan and realized that I had abandoned any forward looking Plan two weeks ago.  Instead I was just using it as a Riding Log. 

So now I'm going to do what I am supposed to have been doing all along:

• Identify cycling events that I want to train towards;
• Anchor my training to these events;
• Set short and longer term goals;
• Follow the `Periodization Training' method that has served me so well;
• Live a frigging `balanced life!'

Skull Valley Loop Challenge - Prescott, Arizona

Skull Valley Loop Challenge Garmin Data

The heart rate data are completely wrong. There were power lines that screwed with the HR. And halfway through the race the `grade' function on the Garmin stopped working. 

The last time I did this route was June 17, 2010 -- (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37612893). Climbing gain was 4,079 feet. Still, this beats previous Personal Best by 49 minutes. I was the only recumbent in the event and finished 52st among `around' 150. 

I liked it.  It was fun.  I used some muscles that connected to my coccyx that I didn't even know were there.  Coccyx muscles?!!

Big Bad Bagdad!!

Training in the Arizona deserts and mountains is humbling.  In the midwest there was a farm or a town within spitting distance of most anyplace I was training.  If my unconscious carcass was off to the side of the road I'd probably be noticed within an hour or two by some passerby.

Here, though, the natural threats are dramatically more profound, if not actually lethal.

First, there are the descents and twisty turns.  I was baptized in this danger a few weeks ago by foolishly speeding down a twisty mountain grade at 35.1 mph (posted vehicle speed limit: 20 mph) when I let the bike get out of my control (spooked myself by a crease in the road) and destabilized myself, going down HARD, damaging some bike components and getting lots of bloody and painful road rash.  I'm lucky I didn't kill myself.

The other danger has to do with the dramatic climatic and terrain conditions.  A few weeks ago I left Prescott in the AM when it was 66 degrees.  I rode 44 miles south and descended about 3,000 feet, arriving in Congress, where the temperature was 104.

The solar radiation of the sun at this altitude is dangerously intense, certainly burning the skin and risking pain, injury if not cancer (melanoma).

What humidity?!  Sitting on my front porch, in the shade, for an hour results in passive dehydration.  Training uphill, into the sun, with no wind for fifteen minutes means that I have to drink a quart of liquid with electrolytes.  Training on a relatively flat surface of slight descent can `trick' me into forgetting to hydrate.  Both conditions can cause loss of consciousness or severe disorientation, making cycling even more dangerous. 

Twenty miles between dirt roads leading to ranches three or four miles off the paved roads constitutes a relatively densely populated area :)  So-called `towns' amount to one store and a few dozen mobile homes off on the side of a hill.  Today I had to plan for a source of water (post office has an faucet out behind, near the dumpster) in the likely event that the one store in town was closed.

Things `eat' you out here.  Not little `bites,' like with a bug or mosquito. 

No.  They friggin' EAT you.  Javelinas, mountain lions, coyotes, critters of all sorts that might consider my conscious / unconscious carcass found bounty.  And don't sit down on the side of the road. Snakes.  Spiders. Scorpions. 

Tires.  The road surfaces just eat up road tires.  I've already had one tire literally split apart at the middle of the tread due to the heat of the road and the roughness of the pavement. 

These were just some of the things in the back of my mind over the past week as my training distances and challenges increase.

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Bagdad is a copper mining town 68 miles from my front door.  A two lane state road `terminates' in Bagdad.  There are three little one-horse towns between my house and Bagdad.  The road to Bagdad is paved and passable but it follows some very significant changes in geology, climate and terrain.  From table top mesas to `bottom of the earth' canyons.  Not a 10th of a mile of straight road to nor from Bagdad.  Descents and ascents and descents again, ranging 3,000 feet at a lick and 30 to 45 degrees in temperature difference.

I'll be in a brevet to and from Bagdad in a short time.  

So, this morning I was working on the Silvio and adding long-distance `worst case' gear and equipment so that I could `probably' survive a trip to Bagdad. 

Big, good week.

Here it is Friday, September 2nd, and I know that I've got at least four good months of training ahead of me.  No more of this `dash' to squeeze in as many events as possible before the ice and snow get here. 

This week is Week # 6 of the evolving Training Plan.  I've still got two days before I close out this week and already I've ridden more miles, hours and climbed more feet than any of the previous weeks.  And I'm not tired! 

Because of the distances and climbing I've done so far this week I've trained every other day.  Again, trying to be careful about overtraining. 

Monday I had planned to do hills and mountains but wound up going north toward Ash Fork to get in some flat miles.  Mistake.  Intense traffic. All kinds of crap on the road.  Got a flat tire.  Four and  half hours, 3,451 feet of climbing, 60 miles.  Nice to get in the miles but I felt like I was riding on a crazy highway ... which I was.

Wednesday I rode from Prescott to Congress and back.  Ten hours, 9,504 feet of climbing and 9 hours of riding, with one hour off the bike for food and hydration.

Today, Friday: Good workout. 5,170 feet of climbing over 45 miles. I feel like I'm cheating when flying on the descents but later, on the climbs, I'm paying cold hard cash. Stayed in 39 front ring and 23 rear ring on all climbing (except the two 11% and 14% `pops' at the very end of the training ride). Cadence was typically in the 40's. Climbing HR usually in the teens(except for those last two `pops'). Training goal was to develop capacity for long (4.5 hours) solid grinds, i.e., endurance. Good week of training and rest. 

Here's a link to the rides.  Page back to see the rest.  3 Training Rides this week