Random few weeks

Well, the last few weeks have been pretty random...some good days and some not so good days.  To begin, I found my seat upon my return from Tucson.  It was right where I left it. 

Well, aside from finding my saddle, things have been hectic with work for both of us.  Everytime we seem to get ahead, some major work needs to be done.  Over the next few weeks, we're going to try to focus a little bit more on ourselves.  On Wednesday night, we ended up going to a talent show for work which showed the vast array of talents a number of the cadets have aside from what we see on a day-to-day basis.  It was pretty incredible to see the talent....and on occasion shocking to see who was behind that talent. 

The weather has been changing for the better here but it is still pretty cool.  One of the highlights of this week was getting out in K-town for a ride.  Regardless of how cool it is, as long as you dress for the occassion, it will be good.  Luckily for me, I have managed to get some Assos gear which has proved invaluable for riding.  The quality is unbelievable and I am so spoiled.  It is very comfortable and awsome quality.

The ride was definitely good.  Despite that one good ride, the rest of the training has not been that great.  I have been having some issues for the past month with my knee and some lower back pain which I have been seeing a physio for.  It's slowly improving but it is definitely on the sllllllloooowwww side.  Beyond that, I have been finding it hard to get out the door to do anything.  This weekend was a total write-off as, aside from work (yes, working) I slept most of the weekend away.  Work consisted of a parade today, in the cold and snow and it was very cold.  I did however, get my first medal so it wasn't so bad. 

Beyond work and training, Amber and I have been trying to plan the next few months with the stuff that we need to get done around the house.  It starts Tuesday with Sears finally getting us a new fridge.  With all the rest this weekend, I think things have finally made a turn.  Amber helped to put together a great salad for dinner which was awsome.   

With some more planning and some focus on ourselves, this week will be better.  Hopefully the weather will be better as it will be nice to get outside.  M

24hrs of Mental Training

Well, just a little update before heading to bed.  This weekend was the 2nd Annual 24hr Bike-a-thon at the College.  It started last year in order to raise funds for the Soldier On Fund which was create to "contribute to optimizing the functional independence of ill or injured CF personnel or former personnel by delivering programs and services and facilitating and integrating opportunities that support their full and active participation in physical fitness, health promotion and sport." 

The event was well organized and pretty fun.  There were only a handful of us that were in for the full 24hrs as most bikes had a group rotating through.  One of those was Tony O'Keeffe who is heavily involved in ultra endurance events.  It was definitely a benefit to have him beside me to talk to and discuss the ins and outs of such an event. 

After a big week in Arizona, my plan was to take it nice and easy so as to not mess the rest of my training up by needing too much time to recover.  The plan was to take a couple minutes every hr to stretch and then change my shorts every 4hrs to alleviate any saddle sores.  The end result was 20hrs 6mins of riding on my Argon 18 E112 to a tune of 363.62km (not a bad total considering I wasn't going very hard).  It wasn't too bad considering that previous to this, the longest time my bottom end had sat on a bike seat was around 8hrs. 

The journey started at 7:00pm.

Not too long in to the evening, I wasn't looking too bad.

A little later on in the evening, I couldn't say the same thing.

24hrs is definitely tough but it is more mental than physical.  Aside from being physically tired which is a result of just not getting to sleep, the hardest thing was staying mentally strong and not giving up.  Around 4:00am in the morning, I went through a major rough patch and thought I would definitely need to curl up in the corner and get some sleep.  Unfortunately this lasted for about 3hrs which I found hard to get through.  Luckily it passed and I managed to stick at it.  I would definitely say this was extremely hard to do but it was worth it.  Aside from some tight muscles and a sore but, everything is pretty good. 

I took some videos so once we get those squared away we'll throw them on.  Until next time, stay focused, the human body can do a lot more than you think.  M

Back to reality.

Well, Tucson is over and it was great.  Started off a little rocky in more ways than one.  Yes, as Amber pointed out, I did forget my saddle and seatpost.  I ended up renting a bike for the Sunday and finding a seatpost and demo-ing a saddle for the rest of the week.  And yes, travelling with a bike is a pain.....350 pains to be exact....$175 each way on United Airways which I will honestly say is one of the biggest scams I have ever seen. 

The weather in Tucson was not what I had hoped for...a little cooler then planned and some rain but the sun came out after a few days.  That being said, the camp was great.  It was the toughest week of training I have ever done with over 30 hrs of training.  Despite the fatigue, I loved every minute of it.  I must admit that when you have a group of people (Coach Noa, Adam, Kamal, Tyler & Derek) that are dedicated to sport and are pretty damn fast, it makes for excellent training and definitely provides a little bit of motivation. 

The beginning of the week was a little bit of a challenge with the change in location...the runs hurt a lot more than usual....but it sorted itself out before long.  By challenge I mean the 70 min run that turned in to 110 mins for myself as I lost the group and took a wrong turn.  A little too long for the first run of the week.  I had been doing a lot of slower runs so the pick-up in pace was a bit tough. 

As for the swimming, it felt a little off and slow all week.  Short course pools in yards absolutely suck.  I am not a fan as there are way too many turns.   However, having Noa on deck was great and swimming in an outdoor pool at the foot of the mountains was awesome and a little cold getting out of the water. 

The riding was great.  Having been stuck in my basement on the bike for the last 3 months, getting out on the roads was a nice change of pace.  The highlight would have to be climbing Mt Lemmon.  Climbing to around 9000' in just over 26 miles is a tough ride.  I did the ride in around 3:05 which is slower than the guys but is a nice base to start from.  I had a tough go with some definite energy problems.  That being said, the ride was beautiful with snow from around 10.5 miles to the top.  From this point on, the temp kept dropping as well.  By the time I got to the top, I was done.  One of best parts of the day was seeing Amber with Noa as I was heading up the hill.  She was initially going to take off for the day.  I'm a lucky guy.

As for the running, by the end of the week, it got a lot better and we headed to Catalina State Park for a long run.  It was a lot more climbing than planned but the scenary was great.  Definitely worth the extra energy. 

It was great to see Noa as well and she made certain to help out a bit with the nutrition.  We will see how that goes in the near future.  I am certain she'll let me know. 

On Saturday, Amber and I headed to Phoenix in the evening so we would not have to make the early drive up on Sunday morning for our 7:20 flight.  Ended up being great as we stayed at A Loft (Starwood) and went in to Tempe for dinner.  It was a nice way to cap off the week. 

That's it for now.  Will post some more pics in the coming days.  Can't wait for the next training trip.  Oh yah.....didn't really think of work which was great.