whirlwind weekend

Another weekend of careful universe-balancing moves is in the books. That would be my universe, where family responsibilities meet triathlon dreams, where hot-cakes, cartoons and play time co-exist with obnoxiously long rides and runs, and, now that the weather is nice here in Seattle, swim time with the little fish.

Both Sat and Sun consisted of brick workouts-
Saturday's brick went as follows: a 50mi ride, a 12mi run, followed by lunch, followed by 10min nap, followed by a 1-hr lake swim with the little fish.
Sunday's brick was a little more intense: a 100mi ride, lunch on-the-go, and 1-hr pool swim with the little fish. One thing after the next.

I should add I've been experimenting using considerably less calories, trying to get my body better used to burning fat. So far so good, except yesterday, when I ran out of gas 20mi out, with a nice headwind, a 4-yr old at home, ready to go, and a set pool schedule that waits for no one.

You gotta dig deep sometimes....

jc

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... is this thing on?

I'm excited to announce I've started working with the guys at Potentrx to try and improve my training/racing. If you are in Seattle and are looking for physiological, biomechanical, or muscoskeletal testing (and whole lot more), you should consider the services of the Potentrx team headed by Drs. Tripps and Speck. If you have any questions about my own experience, pls shoot me an email.

Warming it up...

So I had the opportunity to go in to get my VO2 tested. I wanted to obtain data to better fine-tune my bike training and racing. Sean and Wes, super professional yet down to earth, got all the Darth Vader hardware on me, put me on my bike, pointed me to the pain cave, and asked that I go in as far as possible. In I went, no lightsaber. Some 15minutes later, I came out a soggy sweaty mess, seeing spots and feeling a little weak. If they had asked me to keep going for another 30sec, no doubt I would have had to use that garbage can next to the bike.

Uh... guys...? Is it me or is it getting awfully dark in here...?

.

So what did I learn? While the data shows I've done an ok job bracketing racing/training efforts based on my experience, I learned where my little engine is lacking punch and how to improve and do more with what my parents gave me. All in all, it was a great experience, and I very much look forward to having them in my corner.

See how they enjoy watching others suffer? :o)

Thanks a lot you guys!

JC

Burnout & Rebound

This past weekend I was clearly in the valley of post-IM depression, weighed down even more by the dissapointment of a race gone wrong. Zero motivation to keep pushing through training. Having put my (very patient and supportive) family through the rigors of training, to come up empty handed on the day when it counts, well, it made me question decisions, as well as my time management skills (or lack thereof).

So I got off the bike after hardly any work on Sunday, and did a good amount of house work instead, chores I've been neglecting for a long time. I took back the backyard with the weedwhacker, fending off vicious dandelions. After Donovan's bedtime, I opted for a short ez run. I was ready to quit within the first 2-3minutes, my legs feeling super heavy. I stuck with it and very slowly felt the snappy feeling and fast turnover coming back. 30minutes later, my spirits were lifted, and I was happy to return home and spend time relaxing with my awesome wife, enjoying the sunset from our house. We can see the mountain peaks, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Let's see what next week brings.