Hello trainer my old friend, I've come to sweat on you again...

...the sounds of silence.  More like the whirring, buzzing, humming of an indoor fluid trainer and fan.  This was my Sunday, following a very enjoyable and spirited Saturday. 

Saturday kicked off the 2011 season with a fantastic team ride.  It may be the closest we get to a training camp this year.  I got in almost 70 miles and felt good.  I am starting to think that I am more fit now than I was during the race season.  Could it be that I need to adjust my in-season training to include some cross-training or gym time?  I think so.

Last off-season was an excellent POWER building experience.  I saw some awesome numbers.  However, The body weight went up due to a lack of planning.  Additionally, the training plan needed to be tweaked to match my strengths and weaknesses.  Specifically for muscles, my hip adductor complex is WEAK.  My hip flexors are also WEAK.  Those two areas are being moved to the begining of the gym routines; hit them while you're fresh.

Part 1. The "Half Full Tri" Bike Split: Heart rate and elevation data. The dehydration curve.

Howard County, Maryland is not a flat place.  A 56 mile time trial (ok, it was part of a tri) through the area was hilly.  Posted here is the heart rate and elevation profile.  Garmin data indicate about 4000 ft of up-down, up-down, up-down. (click on the graph, it is massive)

The temps were cool enough, however if you examine the heart rate you will see a general decline in heart rate over the 2 hour and 41 minute effort.  This is a mistake on my part for several reasons.

1. Better hydration the days before was needed.
2. Better hydration during the effort was also needed.
3. A negative split, or at least a steady effort, is what I wanted.

Lessons have been learned.

Finding Motivation (and keeping it)

How was your season?  Is it over?  Mine was "ok" after stopping training middle of 2009, I have been training for about 10 months now.  My race season is over and I feel good about it.
How did your season go?  I did a good job of balancing life and training/racing.  I never really felt screwed or trapped either way, although real life demands are always surprising.  I finally got over my initial WATTAGE infatuation and returned to the basics: self-talk and breathing.  I got the opportunity to re-learn the art of time trialing.  It really is challenging for me to have the right effort at the right time for an hour.
So in the middle of September what are the important goals?

• Maintain continuity of training.
• Continue weight loss.
• Cross train.
• Get back to the gym for the "transition phase."
• Monitor injuries:  I have been wrestling with Achilles Tendonitis, it gets inflamed quite easily.  

What are some good ways to stay motivated?

• KEEP IT FUN, KEEP IT NEW!  Sign up for running events, or multi-sport events (mine are: The Nation's Triathlon, Savage Man Tri, Army-10 Miler, Half-Full Tri). OR find a fellow blogger who is similar in talent to you and swear that you will beat him or her in the next multisport event (Half-Full Clydesdale?  MINE!)
• ACCOUNTABILITY: Keep talking to your buddies about training and racing. (check out my team's blog)
• VISUALIZE:  Listen, we all lie to ourselves constantly.  The trick is to tell yourself the best lies.  One way to absolutely trick your mind and your body is to use your imagination.  Pick an event from next season and decide how awesome you will be.  Imagine that until part of you thinks it has actually already happened.
• GOALS: Set the date and time for your next off-season power test.  With races out of the way you can spend the time and effort to do this.

New aero helmet?

Apparently, at a recent Brazilian fashion show, they decided to get down the runway with the least amount of drag.

Non-race report ToWC. People and interactions from my angle.

I met some people this weekend that I really enjoyed meeting.  I also got to say hello to people I don't get to see very often.  I found the general mood of folks this weekend was great, no whiney attitudes.  I think Joe really sets the tone for such an awesome weekend, well done!

I introduced myself to Brigham L., officially; not because he had an awesome weekend, but because I see him everywhere and we don't really acknowledge each other- but I know people that know him and he is a good guy, so why not?  I was right, good guy.  I also said hi to everyone's favorite Lance L. I got to know my own new teammate really well.  Right after my tt was over,  I met a young looking cat4 who told me very plainly before his TT that he "is very good at time trialing" as if he had to justify his super-sweet equipment.  I was chatting him up because he had the same Garmin I had, he looked pretty serious.  I had my sunglasses off, kept a smile and eye-contact, I try to be nice.  It worked, within a minute of talking to him, he could see that I was not being competitive with him, just friendly.  Another friendly interaction (this is my experience, he could have thought I was dick, I don't know).

Hotel sharing and the Olive Garden.  I had a blast at dinner with my teammates and guys from other teams.  That's how we roll at Bike Dizzle, non-exclusive, inclusive nice guys (hi Judd).  I shared a room with Frank and Sunny, it worked out really well (except for the:  let's make a 20 minute out-of-the-way trip for a latte when SOME PEOPLE have an early start time on the TT because they hate heat and hills; yes, it was a latte).

This weekend had everything about bike racing that I love (photos pending).

Shimano's Hundred Dollar Chain

As you may know "WTF" stands for "why the face?"   The face I am making right now is one of skepticism and wonder. 
Shimano makes a chain where the retail price is $120.  Buying a chain like that would be a waste for me.  If I demonstrated an entire season of good bike maintenance, then maybe.  I have a hard time doing justice to my regular Dura Ace chain.

Officially, "The Shimano Dura Ace Yumeya" and here is the listing from www.Excelsports.com

Yumeya stands for 'dream shop' in Japanese. Meaning a place where the best Shimano components receive the ultimate upgrades to make the best even better.
The 7900 Yumeya is the most advanced chain Shimano produces. Asymmetrical profiled outer links are connected with Titanium-nitride coated inner links for added durability. Almost 20% more stretch resistant. Best chain Shimano makes for 10 speed drivetrains. 
Features: Increased oil retention, Hollow pins, Asymmetrical outer links, 261 gams actual weight 

Church Creek #1: the flat 40k analysis.

Let's get right to it.  My overall reaction to my performance:  "pretty good."   Here is the scenario:
Really hot, about upper 80's and humid like arm pits when I started at 11am-ish.  At the registration table, "Hey, is there, like, uhh, water at the start?"  "Yes, definitely."  When I overheard this I thought I'd be fine.  I got to the start house, where the water was NOT located, with about 90s before my start with an empty water bottle.  My bad.  Let's get to the analysis via quarters:
1st Quarter: about 15 minutes, about 6.2 miles:  AVG HR: 165, AVG W:297
2nd Quarter: about 15 minutes, about 6.1 miles: AVG HR: 164, AVG W 275
3rd Quarter: about 14.5 minutes, about 6.2 miles: AVG HR 168, AVG W 287
4th Quarter: about 13:18 time, about 6.3 miles:     AVG HR 173, AVG W 310

Things I did well that day:

1. showed up rested and fit, relatively.
2. had all equipment perfect (tires, computer, etc)
3. had fairly steady pacing, did not blow up!
4. warmed up well; had really good self-talk (yes, I talk to myself, a lot).
5. crossed the line with pretty high HR, going almost 30 mph

Learning moments from the day:

1. Water, water, water: should have left plenty of time to refuel prior to start.
2. I seemed to have forgotten what efforts of "pretty hard" and "all out" feel like when its time to get my 40k crackin'.
3. Q2: I held back too much, should have been more "pretty hard" effort
4. Q3: I also held back too much, should have been more like Q4, "all out."
5. It only takes a few minutes of loss of focus to screw the day.
6. maybe negative split was too huge (Q2 too slow).

I brought my average speed up a lot (from 24.9 to 25.7) on the final straightaway, I needed more time.  This is where Q2 and Q3 should not have been as low in effort.

There is also a specific Church Creek technique that I forgot to use also that lets you use the wind for smarter pacing.  I will be going back in August to shave off 1:14 to beat my best ever.
2010: 58:07....... 25.7 mph (speed from my data)
2008: 58:32....... 25.4 mph
2007: 56:53...... 26.2 mph (?)
2006:
2005: 57:55 ......25.7mph (won the 4s)