Monday, August 27, 2007
Update and Product Of the Month
Overall I had a good training weekend. Due to some work constraints I had a couple of days off toward the middle of last week so I felt fairly good going into the weekend. Saturday, I was up at the crack of dawn for my scheduled 2000 yard swim out at Oak Mtn. After that I rushed over to meet a group leaving for a ride from one of the local bike shops. This is a “no one gets dropped” ride, but it typically turns out to be fairly fast paced and difficult. About 13 miles into the ride, I was leading the pack and started to slow down for a turn. The guy behind was turned around looking back and didn’t see me slow down. Our wheels met and a clash of spokes and skewer knobs ensued. We both stayed up right, but our ride was over. Both of our wheels were warped due to the bent spokes. We both laughed it off thankful that we were ok, but down deep inside, I was truly thankful that my ride was over and that I could go eat. A bacon egg and cheese sandwich was on my mind after that. After a pick up and quick visit to the bike shop, we were both good as new.
Sunday started with a 45 mile ride. A small storm rolled in plenty of clouds and humidity, but no real rain. The clouds made for nice cover from the normal blistering sun. Following the ride, I made a quick change and knocked out 10.5 miles. Legs felt great, endurance felt great. I can attribute Sunday’s success to two things, fresh legs and nutrition. One day it’ll hit home how important nutrition is and that I need to practice it every time I train. It makes such a difference.
With that, I give you my Product Of the Month – The Gatorade Energy Bar. They carry 260 calories and 46 grams of carbs. These stats are great, but the reason I picked this bar as my P.O.M. is the ease at which I can open the wrapper while on the bike and that the bar itself is easy to chew. I’ve struggled mightily with opening sun-warmed Powerbars only to find out that the biggest struggle would come in chewing it up enough to get it down my gullet. Nothing gets me out of breath quicker than trying to chew and swallow something while on the bike. The Gatorade Energy Bar’s consistency is like that of a rice crispy cake, but watch out, an errant piece of rice crispy can get stuck in your throat causing worse problems. Solution.... flush with your favorite beverage. That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
New CD and Update City
Update, update: still focused on one more 1/2 Iron on Sept 30th. The workouts are a little more focused and a little more intense. I'm currently nursing some tired legs. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Tonight was the regular Tuesday night group ride and it was pretty obvious I was a little tired. I kept falling off the back and having to fight my way back up. It's embarrassing, but just the way it goes sometimes.
For the last year or so, drivers and cyclists have been in a small war here in The Ham. Cyclists are fighting for their rights to share the road while drivers are writing into the local papers to complain about cyclists taking over the road, blocking traffic, and failing to obey stop signs. Cyclists are writing in as well complaining about careless drivers endangering their lives. Tonight I was able to see examples of both. It's ugly and scary at the same time. Near misses and could've beens are too close for me. I'd love to see our city designate some funds for bike lanes along less traveled roads. Believe me, in Alabama, we have 'em.
With major apologies to my summer loving wife, I think I'm ready for some cooler weather. I do recognize that this undoubtedly means that I'll have to face the torture of my Lauren's cold toes in bed each night, but it'd be worth it to feel a bit of a chill in the air. Until this past Friday, The Ham had seen 10 consecutive days of 100+ degrees temps. I don't want to hear anyone chime in from AZ about their temps. You choose to live in the desert, and you get some mountains and the grand canyon. So no complaining. It's not supposed to be like that here. There's no reason for it to be hotter than what sweet tea can cure. It's the South. That's just the way that it is.
Until later, my best to you all. Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 20, 2007
TAGGED
Job's I've Held: Cook at KFC, Nursing Assist in an ER, Runner for a law firm, YMCA, Dental Assistant, Insurance Agent (current)
Movies I can Watch Over & Over: Snatch, All Tom Hanks movies, Gladiator, Old School.
Guilty Pleasures: TCBY, beer, hotdogs, hot wings
Places I Have Lived: I've pretty much stayed in the Birmingam, AL metro area (that sounds so boring)
Shows I Enjoy: Lost, Heroes, Survivorman, Dirty Jobs, History Channel, The Office
Vacation Spots: Glacier National Park, Banff N.P., Perdido Key Beach, Appalachian Mtns.
Favorite Foods: Did I mention TCBY?, Chicken and Dumplings, Pork Chops, Real Mashed Potatoes, Coffee (it's a food item right?)
Websites I Visit Daily: SI.com, Tri-fuel, Raceathlete, all of the blogs on the right, Forbes.com
Body Parts I have Injured: Broken Arm, busted eardrum (current)
Awards I've Won: A few podium finishes this year, perfect attendance award in 8th Grade, that's about it.
Nicknames I've Been Called: D, Big D, Ronald Mc Denton, (My full name is Ronald Matthew Denton)
Friday, August 17, 2007
Look closely - I don't remember this guy
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Thoughts During Training
When my training has been more focused on sprint distance races, my mind is usually focused on the burning in my legs or my lungs. I'm focused on making it to the next light pole on a sprint or staying under a certain time in the pool. My mind goes numb to conserve energy that my legs might need you might say. It kind of shuts down, and that's good to some extent. But now, since distance is more of the focus rather than speed, my mind has woken up and has started stretching it's "legs" again.
Lance Armstrong, who one might say was one of the fiercest competitors in cycling, was asked what he thought about during those long training rides. He replied, "Well, I think about the bike and my ride." That's not me.
Given the right road conditions, the bike is the last thing that's on my mind. Now I do have my days where I just relax and listen to the easy hum of my cadence or my foot falls, but mostly I'm hashing out conflicts, thoughts, or unresolved issues. I've come up with few blog topics along the way as well. Some have been published, and some were better kept to myself.
After sinking myself deeply into training for the last year, I have learned that I'm able to be a better husband after my workouts. Be it for feeling like I've accomplished something for the day, or because I've been able to clear up my head. It seems to take the edge off a bit. Whatever the reason, training has become a psychiatrist's couch for me. Thoughts, feelings, heartache, the good and the bad all find their way to the table. Training has been good for the heart (and gut) as well as the soul.
Now, I have been lucky in that there are very few "issues" that have come my way. For the most part, my life and my marriage have been fairly charmed. I praise God for that. That's His doing not mine. So as of late, my thoughts have generally fairly light hearted.
So, I'm really interested to hear what the general consensus says about where their mind is during training. Are you solely thinking about the task at hand or are you pondering the latest twist on last season's Lost? Are you focused on pace and cadence or are you bouncing around ideas on relationships or matters of faith? Give me a few words if you feel comfortable or just answer the poll on the right. As always, thanks for reading.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Right Now, This Doesn't Sound Like Fun At All
Throughout the triathlon season my training schedule is continually changing. During the early part of the year my coach, Joe Friel, and I focus more on strength training and skills. I still spend a fair amount of time on the road, on the trails and in the pool, but the overall intensity of the sessions is low. After a solid strength foundation has been established I begin to ramp up the volume of my training along with the intensity. During this Base period of training I am swimming, biking and running nearly twice as much as in the previous Prep period. Strength training is no longer the primary focus, but is instead put into a maintenance mode. Aerobic volume has now become the number one priority. The Base period of my training ended this year before I headed off to Boulder, Colo. on Memorial Day weekend. Throughout this summer I have been incorporating more challenging sessions that revolve around race-specific intensity. No week looks identical to the last, but the following weekly schedule is fairly close to what you might see me doing during the 2005 summer in Boulder.
Monday: Today is a longer aerobic day, but the intensity doesn't generally leave me feeling wiped. I start with a 4-5K session in the 50-meter pool followed by a 45-60 minute aerobic run. After eating and possibly napping I head out for a 3-4 hour ride in the Boulder flats.
Tuesday: This day's main goal is some faster running on the track. I do some sessions that involve much faster running than I would ever see in an Ironman, but it helps my overall run economy. I also swim 4-5K afterwards, but it usually involves some easier sets. I end this day with strength training.
Wednesday: My favorite day: 5K in the pool with some harder efforts, followed by a 5-6 hour ride in the mountains. Lots of climbing and plenty of beautiful scenery.
Thursday: Lighter day. Normal swimming, easy two-hour ride and an easy 45-60 minute run. Friday: I tend to do my longest swim and run of the week today: 5-6K in the pool with harder efforts and a two-hour run in the hills in the afternoon.
Saturday: Very, very little. The main purpose of today is to recover.
Sunday: A two-hour ride with 90 minutes of higher intensity riding followed by a 30 minute tempo run off the bike. In the afternoon I may do an easy swim before doing it all over again on Monday.
Amateur? When does he work?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Mountain Lakes Sprint - Race Report
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Two Tough Days
Monday, I do believe I was possessed by someone else for my swim. I made it over to the gym at lunch and knocked out 2000 consecutive yards at race pace. Don't know how or why I did it, but it felt great. As I mentioned to some of you in the past, I've been at war with swimming this year. I've hated it like the Middle East hates peace. Now I love it like a fat kid loves cake. Going back after it today for some intervals.
Tuesday started out with an easy hour run and ended with the Tuesday night group ride from Homewood. There was nothing easy about this ride. Somehow I missed the group and ended up riding with another Age Grouper who's preparing for IMKY. The dude was a beast. He was easily 42 or so and kicking my tail on the bike. It was impressive to watch. After the long run and hard ride, my legs were toast and ready to rest. Powerbar's recovery drink and an ice bath did wonders to aid my recovery.
Despite all of that, my highlight of the day was meeting up with ZBuck for lunch. We met over at DREAMLAND for some 'healthy' ribs and sweet tea. It's always good to hang with that guy.
This weekend is Alabama's USAT Sprint Championship in Guntersville. The race sells out each year with about 890 participants and all the big boys show up. Should be a fun event, but it's going to be freaking hot! This is my last sprint of the year so looking forward to going out hard.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 06, 2007
All Good Things Must Come to an End
For the most part, I treat the mornings down at the beach like a mini training camp. I'm usually up and out the door fairly early so as to beat the day's heat. Lots of swimming, biking, and running filled the menu until 9:00 am or so, then it was strickly relaxation time. I cued Lauren in on my formula for recovering, "Why run when you can walk? Why walk when you can sit? Why sit when you can lay down? Since you're laying down, you might as well sleep." And that's what we did.
Lauren completed her goal of finishing the final book in the Harry Potter series while soaking up the sun as well. I would have completed Soul Survivor by Phillip Yancey, but Jack Welch's "Winning" got in the way. Well that and those darned naps.
Overall a good weekend. We both feel refreshed, but are desparately hungry for another trip down. Now, it's back to work and back to life. (This is the point where Molly would break out in that "Back to Life, Back to Reality" song)