"Life Viewed From a Bike" is the title and you can find the link here: http://viewfrom2wheels.blogspot.com
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Friday, January 30, 2009
New Plog: "View From 2 Wheels"
Just a heads up/notice to those folks that visit frequently here. I have started up a seperate blog where I'll simply be posting pictures from my adventures astride my bike.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Mauna Kea: reintroduction to altitude
*preparing for the assault. And, yes, those are in fact armwarmers*
I rolled around for a bit to get the legs ready and I felt good despite being at 6500 feet. I still was without my SRM so the effort was to be another round of "going by feel" (it's driving me nuts). Six rounds of six minutes on with a minute easy. The sign at the base of the climb says 6 miles to Onizuka Visitor Center. That was the goal. I mean come on... it's just six little miles.
Rounds one, two & three go by well. I check number four off the list, but by now I am getting hit with a double whammy. Altitude and steep road grades. Back home I always see the bottom fall out from my watts around the 8000-8500 mark. Mauna Kea was no different. The road grades? For the entire duration of the 5.3 miles of road that I managed to end up covering the average gradient is 9.5% The last two miles of that 5.3 miles are 14.5%. Round five goes by. Everything burns. The recovery interval is spent clipped out standing. 10 seconds to go I clip in, three, two, one, GO! I alternate between staying seated and climbing always being mindful of the effort I am giving (suuuure, riiiiight, yeah i know... I really need my watts back). I have two base layers, a jersey and fleece armwarmers. Five minutes go by. At the same moment that sweat is pouring out of me like a faucet turned on high I am freezing cold. 41:00 flashes across the watch. DONE!!! I quickly clip out and crumble into a heap on the side of the road. GASPING for any small amount of oxygen that might be present. Finally I muster the energy to open my eyes, stand up and look around. I still can't see the visitor center. The road gets steeper from this point on. The clouds are moving in (thick fog). The wind is picking up. And all of sudden I am very, very, VERY cold.
I descend down. The chill that grips me is the chill that you feel when you have underdressed on a 20 degree morning in Texas with thick humidity and it pierces right through you. This was no extremity cold this was my core temp going arctic. Finally back at the car I sit on it's leeward side, spread out on the asphalt in the sun (3000 feet lower now). Trying to soak up any heat that I possibly can. This is Hawai'i, right?
Chalk another one up on the board of life's awesome experiences. And of course another great workout.
*********************************************************
Kona Camp is quickly coming to an end. I have one more day here and then will be departing on the red-eye back to the mainland tomorrow night. Despite the shin splints and subsequent aqua jogging over the last few days I have been very pleased with the work completed and know that I've given myself a nice little kick start to getting rolling on the upcoming season. Looking forward to getting faster and very excited about my ITU debut in April. But between now and then there is a lot of hard work on the docket. Can't wait to get home., see the mountains, breath the Rocky Mountain air and get some snowshoeing in. Till then...
Mahalo and Aloha.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
A most AWESOME day at the office
A little pictorial here from my day at work yesterday. An absolutely AMAZING day.
Started off with a run up on Mana Road with super soft dirt so it was gentle on my shins and calves. It was 55 degrees, with strong winds and sideways rain. I only had my running singlet and by the end was VERY chilled. Hit the SBUX in Waimea for some coffee and warmed up at the fireplace. The rain just kept coming down errrr sideways (...as KM puts it "Waimea is the land of the sideways rain") so went down the mountain just a bit and started my ride from there. Descended down to Kawaihae (10 miles in 14 minutes - smokin' fast descent) then rode half way to Hawi before starting my VO2 reps. I _NEED_ my powermeter. Doing those things on RPE SUCKED. I need to KNOW!!! Finished the last one just as I arrived in Kapaau (next town past Hawi) and right at the foot of the King Kamehameha statue. Conveniently located across the street was an ice cream stop so after a little bit of spinning out I stopped for some crackberry action as well as a scoop of coconut and a scoop of blueberry heaven. Perfect!!! Jumped backed on and spun over to the pool just to see what it was like and ran into none other than my training buddy from 3 years ago, Tim Marr. Tim placed 15th last October at the world champs. He was BLUE after getting out of pool (it's VERY cold) and we spun around a bit before parting and I took off UP the hill to ride over the Kohalas back to Waimea. I have been wanting to do this ride for four years. The very first time I drove on it I knew that I would not be satisfied 'till I had the chance to tackle it whilst on the bike. It was an incredible ride and the pics below hardly do the views justice. The ride was great until the last 8 mile descent in to town. With no wind this may have taken 15 minutes tops but with 30+ sustained cross winds with gusts even higher it took me the better part of 30 minutes to get down... but hey... it just added to the excitement and gave more to weave for the story of the day.
Enjoy the pics. Off to run.
The run started around 2800 and probably was closing in on 3800 or higher when I turned around.
Post VO2 Max reps... yummy.
Started off with a run up on Mana Road with super soft dirt so it was gentle on my shins and calves. It was 55 degrees, with strong winds and sideways rain. I only had my running singlet and by the end was VERY chilled. Hit the SBUX in Waimea for some coffee and warmed up at the fireplace. The rain just kept coming down errrr sideways (...as KM puts it "Waimea is the land of the sideways rain") so went down the mountain just a bit and started my ride from there. Descended down to Kawaihae (10 miles in 14 minutes - smokin' fast descent) then rode half way to Hawi before starting my VO2 reps. I _NEED_ my powermeter. Doing those things on RPE SUCKED. I need to KNOW!!! Finished the last one just as I arrived in Kapaau (next town past Hawi) and right at the foot of the King Kamehameha statue. Conveniently located across the street was an ice cream stop so after a little bit of spinning out I stopped for some crackberry action as well as a scoop of coconut and a scoop of blueberry heaven. Perfect!!! Jumped backed on and spun over to the pool just to see what it was like and ran into none other than my training buddy from 3 years ago, Tim Marr. Tim placed 15th last October at the world champs. He was BLUE after getting out of pool (it's VERY cold) and we spun around a bit before parting and I took off UP the hill to ride over the Kohalas back to Waimea. I have been wanting to do this ride for four years. The very first time I drove on it I knew that I would not be satisfied 'till I had the chance to tackle it whilst on the bike. It was an incredible ride and the pics below hardly do the views justice. The ride was great until the last 8 mile descent in to town. With no wind this may have taken 15 minutes tops but with 30+ sustained cross winds with gusts even higher it took me the better part of 30 minutes to get down... but hey... it just added to the excitement and gave more to weave for the story of the day.
Enjoy the pics. Off to run.
The run started around 2800 and probably was closing in on 3800 or higher when I turned around.
Post VO2 Max reps... yummy.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Kona Update
I had good intentions of posting updates from Kona a little bit more frequent then... oh, say... none-thus-far, but between the heat, humidity, ongoing biz, and the (relatively) large training load I've been slacking. So here we go... the first half of "camp".
The first 4 days here were spent in an effort to dig myself out of the sickness and inactivity hole that December had sent me into. A little bit of SBR was on the docket each day and damn if I didn't feel like total crap on the swim and run. The bike felt great though. Ah, yes... nothing like a camp to kick your a-- back into operating at full steam and on all cyclinders.
Last week got a little more balanced and as the week progressed I was slowly taking to the training. I know that the training is beginning to really roll when the first thing I think about once awake is a run (sometimes this occurs immediately upon waking up and then sometimes it requires the intervention of several cups of java!). One hiccup from last week happened in that my SRM's LCD screen went on the fritz and I had to send it back to CO Springs for repair. What to do without my power numbers!!!
The swim is rapidly getting better with each session and I'll be more than ready to lay down some smack on the 31st in a little race against Mz. JZ. ;-)
I know I am out of shape on the bike right now but it really doesn't feel like it. Top end wattage wise I feel fine (sea level aids that tho! :), but with regard to the ability to hammer out the volume, last week showed that I have a ways to go. I should be saying things like "it's nice to be riding outside" but with temperatures in the 70's back home it feels weird to do so. I mean... come on... it was colder here IN HAWAII on my ride on Sunday then it was in CO. So great weather now. February will probably be 20 feet of snow and never get above 25. :)
Running has been a challenge given that this part of the island is nothing but lava rock with no dirt or trails to speak of. There is _some_ soft surface at the soccer fields but it's been muddy. I've made due and got through last week and was pleased to find that by my Monday morning run things were beginning to click (form and fitness wise). I have been working on some posture changes, hips out, sternum up, slight lean, and have been pleased with how this has felt. I am still VERY frustrated with my support time. I seem to SLAP the ground and my foot just stays there. No springy return action to speak of. I awoke this morning to some serious tightness in my calfs and shins and surmise that it might be 1)from the pavement but also 2) from my attempts at getting my feet to "bounce". I know that I'll find a way to improve this but it's frustrating to even have to sit out one day of running. I love it too much!
About to roll out for a hard ride here in a few. It's nice and hot, of course. I've acclimated well. So well to the point that I've been getting cold at night and no long need any A/C but rather a thick blanket! 9 more days of hard work before a return to CO. I'll be hitting up the high country and a hut trip soon after I return and am really really excited about that.
Some pics below as well as in the next post below... they would not all fit into one post :)
The first 4 days here were spent in an effort to dig myself out of the sickness and inactivity hole that December had sent me into. A little bit of SBR was on the docket each day and damn if I didn't feel like total crap on the swim and run. The bike felt great though. Ah, yes... nothing like a camp to kick your a-- back into operating at full steam and on all cyclinders.
Last week got a little more balanced and as the week progressed I was slowly taking to the training. I know that the training is beginning to really roll when the first thing I think about once awake is a run (sometimes this occurs immediately upon waking up and then sometimes it requires the intervention of several cups of java!). One hiccup from last week happened in that my SRM's LCD screen went on the fritz and I had to send it back to CO Springs for repair. What to do without my power numbers!!!
The swim is rapidly getting better with each session and I'll be more than ready to lay down some smack on the 31st in a little race against Mz. JZ. ;-)
I know I am out of shape on the bike right now but it really doesn't feel like it. Top end wattage wise I feel fine (sea level aids that tho! :), but with regard to the ability to hammer out the volume, last week showed that I have a ways to go. I should be saying things like "it's nice to be riding outside" but with temperatures in the 70's back home it feels weird to do so. I mean... come on... it was colder here IN HAWAII on my ride on Sunday then it was in CO. So great weather now. February will probably be 20 feet of snow and never get above 25. :)
Running has been a challenge given that this part of the island is nothing but lava rock with no dirt or trails to speak of. There is _some_ soft surface at the soccer fields but it's been muddy. I've made due and got through last week and was pleased to find that by my Monday morning run things were beginning to click (form and fitness wise). I have been working on some posture changes, hips out, sternum up, slight lean, and have been pleased with how this has felt. I am still VERY frustrated with my support time. I seem to SLAP the ground and my foot just stays there. No springy return action to speak of. I awoke this morning to some serious tightness in my calfs and shins and surmise that it might be 1)from the pavement but also 2) from my attempts at getting my feet to "bounce". I know that I'll find a way to improve this but it's frustrating to even have to sit out one day of running. I love it too much!
About to roll out for a hard ride here in a few. It's nice and hot, of course. I've acclimated well. So well to the point that I've been getting cold at night and no long need any A/C but rather a thick blanket! 9 more days of hard work before a return to CO. I'll be hitting up the high country and a hut trip soon after I return and am really really excited about that.
Some pics below as well as in the next post below... they would not all fit into one post :)
BTW... they are all completely random. I upload them "in order" but they never seem to ever set correctly. Enjoy!
Till next time, Aloha.
Till next time, Aloha.
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