Saturday, February 23, 2008

Training for Oceanside...

First of all, I want to say congrats to all of our clients at Results Fitness for making it through the first 3 weeks of the Challenge. Everyone is doing very well and working very hard. A special hello to a Marly Straus, who is now residing temporarily in San Jose for work, working out hard at her home hotel, and who reads my blog on a regular basis. Hello Marly- hope all is well.

Now, training for Oceanside. I have been doing my own Tour of California on my bike (Gonzales) as that innagural ride up north in Ventura really sparked my motivation for getting ready for a strong year on the bike. That is right- 2008- a strong year on the bike. That is the mantra. After that 70 ride on Sunday, I followed it with a 65 mile ride into Simi Valley from my house, riding through Santa Susanna and up through Box Canyon. Not quite Balcom Canyon, but still- respectful if you have ever done it. I also rode a very hilly ride around the SCV- taking Sand Canyon, through Placerita, and back again- up through Sierra Canyon, up San Fernando Rd..and back again. Another 55 miles. I was also doing some solid LT workouts on the indoor trainer, in addition to a few bricks that week (that was last week).

This week, my focus was more on the running, even though I was still able to put in at least 120 miles on my bike outside. I had a great brick the other day- PR'ing my 31 mile loop in 55 degrees, windy SCV weather, followed by a 30 mile run, in which Coach Alwyn Cosgrove said, "it looks like you hurt right now" as I finished at the gym. I liked that- in fact, it did hurt. I had a great workout.

Today, I also had a great workout- with a friend of mine, a talented 9:20 IM athlete, Grant Folske. We ran about 5.5 miles fairly hard, and it felt great. Legs a bit tired from the week, but ready to go again tomorrow- distance. I want to keep at least a 7:45 min/mile pace on my 10+ mile runs and I feel like I could do that tomorrow. I have not done too well with my swimming, but that is the last event that I need to improve upon. So, I am really focusing on what needs to be done- and that is riding harder, and running fast off the bike. LT baby, LT.



CONGRATS TO MY SIS, TAYLOR LILLEY (goducks.com) FOR BEATING UCLA TODAY!!! YOU ROCK! LOVE YOU...

"If I am in pain, I can't imagine how the other people are feeling"

Monday, February 11, 2008

Ventura Long Ride- Awesome!



I had the most amazing ride yesterday with some great riders, in one of my most favorite places- Ventura County. We met in Ventura in the early morning and started our journey just south of Main St in Ventura. We were going to head exactly 70 miles, down to Santa Paula, then to the 150 through Ojai, back to Carpinteria, and then head back south on the 101 to Ventura. It was 60 degrees when we started- only to get 80 or so by the peak of our ride- not bad for early February!



Our group was about 10- 1 joined us 15 miles in. His name is Chuck. He had just ran 25 miles that morning, so that is why he was late. His wife was on the ride as well. Most of the riders in the group are getting ready for the Solvang Century. I was riding Gonzales (my Kuota) for the first time this year- the innagural tri-bike ride. I was not hesitant to get on it again, after having not riding it (just my road bike) since September. I had had a problem with the front deraileur, so that is why I had it retired for as long as I did. But, I finally had my bike shop (Valley Bikes in Newhall- thanks guys!) put it back together for me, and it worked like a charm. My tush is kind of sore today, but to be expected on the smaller, firmer saddle.



The ride was so wonderful, not only because of the weather, but because I rode hard and there was a lot of climbing. I averaged a 145 HR for the entire ride, which was great for me- right where I wanted to be- and up to 175 on the climbs. Through the Casitas Pass, I pushed a bit, and had a LT workout of my own to the summit. I finished hard as we got on the 101 (I was taking pics along the way as well- on the bike---still riding hard, mind you) and finished the last 8 miles in 22 minutes. It was awesome!

Thanks to all for a great ride. Couldn't stay at Anacapa for a beer- next time, though. Thanks guys!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Long Swim Day

Today, Tuesday, I got in the water and swam- hard. I mean, I had 30 minutes and had to get in a good workout. I was reluctant to just jump in and swim 2000 Meters, but I thought that I hadn't done that in a while- swim a set distance for time, that was longer than 1 mile. So, I gave it a shot.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today- about 60 degrees and sunny. The water in the pool that I swim in is fairly warm, but today it felt cooler than usual. Perhaps because I usually swim at night and the air temp is cooler. Anyway, the water was perfect and I had the pool all to myself. Not even a lifeguard no duty.

So, I jumped in, hesitantly as always, and took off. I looked at my watch and 3:05 had just shown up. I wanted to swim a total 2000 Meters- 40 laps, or 80 lengths. My first 500, I set out pretty fast. I thought I would slow it down, just a little. I hoped to swim each 500 in about 7:30, which is my 1:30 100M Interval pace. I am a very consistent swimmer, and cyclist/runner for that matter. I am actually too predictable and I find it sometimes hard to negative split or swim descending sets.

But, I felt good today. I had to get in and out- so no messing around. Perhaps that is why I was swimming so well. After my first 1000, I was at my pace perfectly. Just at about 15 minutes. I wanted to swim the last 1000 in under 15, so that I could do a sub-30 minute 2000 Meter swim. Nothing really to write home about, but a fairly good effort I thought for an afternoon swim alone at a cold pool on a sunny day.

So, I was on my last 250 and thought I would pick it up as fast as I could. I did end up finishing and I looked at my watch- 3:34:28. So I did negative split my 2000 and I felt pretty good about that. Very good swim, very good swim. Glad I made the effort to get into the pool after being out for 4 days. It has been very cold lately, and quite rainy. But, not that that was keeping me out of the pool- but making it quite uncomfortable and cold. If you can, at least try to get into the pool for one long swim a week in addition to your Master's Swim workout or your other Set workout so that you can get a feeling for what a hard, long effort feels like.

Have Fun Training!

Clancy, Mike and I

Clancy, Mike and I
SB Tri Finishers- Nice Tiles!