Each Year I Wonder....Should I???

Every year after watching the Hawaii Ironman on the computer makes me wonder if I am ready to get back at it. I will admit that every full moon Saturday of October since 1997, I think about my last time there and wonder ...What if? After competing in the Ironman in 1995, I had set a goal to go back and truly race the Ironman. In 1997, I got my chance after having a tremendous race season and training leading up to the race. I was living in Las Vegas and was taking advantage of all the mountainous rides/runs and was in the best shape of my life. I even qualified in my first attempt at the famous Wildflower Triathlon in San Louis Obispo, CA. At that time, it was one of the most difficult half-ironman races around, as the bike had a 1000 foot climb and the run was over hilly terrain and included trails. At that race I finished in the top 5 among all amateurs including beating all professional women including Paula Newby-Frazier, who at that time was a beast in the women's field. I arrived in Hawaii in peak shape and was ready for a great race. I had a goal of finishing in 9:15 minutes but unfortunately I got sick two days out from the race but I knew I had to start. I had my typical slow swim of about an hour and came out about 400th. On the bike, I could tell things were not right but I still covered the 112 miles in about five hours and moved up to about 100th. Starting the run about 6hours and 20 minutes into the race (includes transition times) I felt OK but could tell something was not right. I kept plugging away and by mile 10 was inside the top 50 and gaining. Then around mile 14 everything really went wrong and I was forced to drop out at mile 18 when I was inside the top 40 overall. So the what if???

Now that I have been back on the bike and did run the other day, everyone keeps saying it is time to get back into the game. It is a very tempting thought but for now I will keep you up to date on my bike training. It still is going very well and the back seems to be getting better. It is not as stiff as it was last week at this time. I was able to run one day this week and manage to jog a 5K in 22:00 minutes and the lifting continues and I can feel the power in the pedals already.

New training totals:
Week - 7 rides / 232 miles/10hours 23 minutes/ 22.4mph / 754 feet of climbing
October - 16 rides/ 534 miles/24hours 8minutes/ 22.1mph/ 1650 feet of climbing
2011- 296 rides/ 10,429 miles/ 487hours 31minutes/ 21.4mph
Average Ride - 35.23 miles/ 1hour 38minutes/ 21.4mph

Goals this week:
6 rides/ 200-210 miles/ 9-11 hours
3 days running
2 days running

Only six days of biking, as I will be running in the Mt. Tussey 50 mile relay with one fo my former athletes. I will be a part of a 6 person relay. It is a fun event.

TdO '12

10,000+ Miles For The Year!

With the passing of 10,000 miles of riding for the year, I have officially passed through the typical mileage per year of a car warranty. Wish I could get the same warranty on the body especially with my back acting up over the past week. It has been very stiff like it was after the accident but at least I am not getting the sharp pains I felt after that. The stiffness just kind of came out of nowhere as I cannot recall doing anything different over the past 2 weeks. I am hoping today is a good sign of it is getting better as it has been no where as stiff as the previous 3 days. I will say this (with sarcasm of course) , nothing like standing and moving around a hilly cross-country course when your back feels that still. And riding on a bus that is older than every runner on the team does not help one bit.

Despite the back, training continues to go well. I have switched my training into more of a maintenance mode and I am focusing on getting some decent mileage on the bike but not killing myself. Race season on the road is basically over and if I can get into some cyclocross races I will not need a ton of miles in my training week to be ready for that. I was able to also add two days of weight training into my schedule. It felt so good to get back into the weight. Biking has not adversely affected my back but I have been smart and kept my cycling flat for the week. I am hoping to be able to tackle some mor ehills this week.

Training Totals:
Week - 7 rides/ 225 miles/ 10hours 11minutes/ 22.1mph/ 761 feet of climbing
October - 9 rides/ 302 miles/ 13hours 45minutes/ 21.9mph/ 906 feet of climbing
2011 - 289 rides/ 10,197 miles/ 477hours 8minutes/ 21.6mph
Average per week - 7 rides/ 247 miles/ 11hours 33minutes/ 21.6mph

This week's goals
7 rides, 210-240 mile, 10.5-12 hours of riding
2 days of weight training/ 2 days running (if back is good)

TdO '12!

Another Week And Yet More Rain For Central PA

The crazy weather continues for Central PA and the Susquehanna Valley. It basically rained at some point almost everyday of this past week. I think the longest stretch we went with no measurable rain was 3 days. For the month of September, I believe we had over 17 inches of rain and October has basically started off the same way with rain yesterday and into this morning. It is almost at the point where most people are shocked when it does not rain. Then to top it off the past two days have be unseasonably cool with temps barely making the 50's. Someday soon, I hope the weather pattern will return to normal.

Training continues to go well. Now I was forced on to the indoor trainer two times this week because of weather and cross-country meet. The day of the meet was fun as I was on the trainer for 23 miles at 4:30AM so I could meet the team at school to travel to Paul Short Invitational. Most rides this week were flat also. I believe I barely hit 1000 feet of climbing this week. I also reduced some of the mileage and will continue to do so little by little as the year unwinds. This week I will also start back in the weight room and adding some running to the weekly training schedule.

New Training Totals:
Week - 7 rides/ 239 miles/ 10hours 55minutes/ 21.9mph/1,083 feet of climbing
September - 32 rides/1140 miles/ 52hours 12 minutes/ 21.7mph/ 13,996 feet of climbing
Year - 282 rides/ 9972 miles/ 466hours 55minutes/ 21.4mph
Avg Ride - 35.4/ 1hour 39minutes/ 21.4mph

Goals for week:
7 rides/ 220-40 miles/ 10.5-12 hours/ 3000 feet of climbing
2 days of weight training/ 2 running days

TdO '12!

Almost Time To Plan For Next Year's Race Season

I have come to the conclusion this week, that the reality of finding a road race to finish off the season of 2011 is very slim. While I am very happy with the way the few races I was able to enter went, I am very disappointed that I was not able to race more often. Granted, my lack of races early in the season was slightly out of my control. It is always tough to schedule races during the track & field season and of course getting hit by a car will put a damper on plans for several weeks. Despite the lack of races, I am extremely happy about the way my training has been going this year. I know with another 7-8 months of training under my belt, the 2012 season will get off to an amazing start. I am hoping to be out of Cat 5 by the end of June into July. That will mean taking advantage of every weekend early in the spring around the track & field schedule to get some starts.

Training this past week has been very good. We managed to avoid some of the forecasted rain for the week and I was able to get outside all but one day. The only day inside was yesterday and that was because of our cross-country meet and I need to ride before I head to school to meet the team to catch the bus. Of course at 5:30AM when I start riding it is dark!!! I figure I will ease back on the mileage soon to freshen up for the next training year.

New training totals:

Week - 7 rides/ 250 miles/ 11hours 22minutes/ 22.0mph/ 2313 feet of climbing
September - 26 rides/ 947 miles/ 43hours 46minutes/ 21.5mph/ 15,299 feet of climbing
Year - 275 rides/ 9733 miles/ 456hours 00minutes/ 21.4mph
Average per ride - 35.4 miles/ 1hour 39minutes

This week's goals:
245-275 miles/ 11-13 hours/ 3000-5000 feet of climbing

In October I also want to start to add a few days (2-3) of running and resistance training each week. As strong as I have felt on the bike this past year, I know a little more power in the legs will go a long way.

TdO '12!

Running Out Of Chances To Race On The Road!

It is hard to believe that the opportunities to race on the road are dwindling every week. It is also made tougher with my teams racing on Saturdays and it seems that most bike races are on that day. While I did get to start 3 races and have a pretty good showing in each race (minus the crash with the car!), I wish I had more chances to race especially with how strong I have felt on the bike the past month or so. I also know that the crash cost me 4-5 opportunities to race due to recovery and waiting on new bike. While I may not have moved up from Cat 5 this summer, I would have moved up early next spring and not have to deal with a lot of the chaos of Cat 5 races. The year is not over yet and I am already looking forward to a dominating season on the road next year!

Training this week went very well. We did manage to avoid a lot of rain and no flooding like the previous week. The one change was much cooler weather rolled in late in the week and made for a chilly 4045 degree ride this past Friday. It was a welcome change. Today was another beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 50's for most of the ride and bright sunshine. On Wednesday, I had one of best workouts on the new bike. I had two long steady segments during a ride of 35 miles. The first segment was 12 miles averaging 24mph after a 1/2 mile spin I began a 15 mile segment where I averaged 25.03mph!!!! In all I averaged over 23mph for the 35 mile ride.

New training totals:

Week - 7 rides/ 251 miles/ 11hours 38minutes/21.6mph/ 5,344 feet of climbing
Sept - 19 rides/ 697 miles/ 32hours 23minutes/ 21.4mph/ 12,986 feet of climbing
Year - 268 rides/ 9483 miles/ 444hours 38minutes/ 21.4mph
Average per ride: 35.4 miles/ 1hour 39minutes

Goals for this week
250-275 miles/ 11-13hours/ 5000+ feet of climbing

I figure I continue on the series side of training for another 4-5 weeks and then start to drop some mileage and refresh for next year. I think the 2012 season of racing on the road will be a huge season!

TdO '12 - with another 8-10 months of training under my belt by next summer.....we know what the outcome will be!

Flooding And No Race!

Well, what a crazy week it was around here with rain and flooding! From Sunday to Thursday, Selinsgrove received nearly 10 inches of rain and with living along the river and the rest of Central PA getting hammered also, that meant some extreme flooding of the Susquehanna River. It also meant that from Tuesday to Thursday, I was stuck on the indoor trainer. Man, I am already dreading winter training as it can be so mind and ass numbing riding the indoor trainer. The weather did not effect training for the team. We were able to get all workouts although as much as I don't like using the track during XC season, it was the only safe place for the team to workout. This upcoming Saturday, we will be running our annual Ashley Tomlinson Alumni 3 Mile Run. We are expecting a decent amount of alumni as this year marks the 50th season of cross-country at Susquehanna University.

Also due to the flooding, I, as well as many others, decided to not partake in the Milton Harvest Festival 28 Mile Road Race. Milton, PA was hot harder than Selinsgrove with the flooding from the Susquehanna River. For two days, people could not even get into or out of Milton. I had never seen anything like this. Well, the race organizers decided that were going through with the race regardless even though none of them could even get out to see the course prior to race day and even said on facebook " the race was still on even though it maybe a disaster zone." It may have turned out well but that was a chance I was not willing to take given that it was the same organization that directed the race when I was struck by a car because an intersection was no manned. I decided to get a quality ride instead on yesterday!

Training went very this week despite the 3 days on the trainer. I was able to keep some decent mileage but obviously the hill climbing suffered this week. Hopefully we will raise that back up this week. I am still searching out some rides or races to finish off the season then get into cyclocross. Today, I finished the week off with my longest ride on the new bike. I did a 58 mile ride with a few decent climbs at 21.6mph.

New training totals:

Week - 7 rides/ 263 miles/ 11hours 48minutes/ 22.30mph/ 2699 feet of climbing
Sept - 12 rides/ 446 miles/ 20hours 44minutes/ 21.70mph/ 7374 feet of climbing
2011 - 261 rides/ 9232 miles/ 433hours 00minutes/ 21.50mph
Avg per ride - 35.4 miles/ 1hour 39minutes/ 21.50mph

This week's goals
250-275 miles/ 12-14 hours/ 7000+ feet of climbing (& no flooding!)

As soon as I figured some rides or races (if any), I will be blogging about them!

Keep training hard and smart!

TdO '12!!! He should have taken me down this year while he had the chance!

Milton Road Race Almost Here/1st Meet In The Books For SUXC!

Things are rolling along both with my training and the cross-country teams' training. This past weekend the teams opened up at Bucknell University in a non-scored meet with Bucknell, Bloomsburg and Juniata. It was a two loop 3 mile race that includes a couple hills that the runners and to climb twice during the race. Both teams accomplished a few of the goals we had set prior to the meet. Time goals were kind of thrown out the window with the muggy conditions that morning. The team is now off until our alumni run on September 17th. The next major race will be the Dickinson College Long/Short Race on September 24th. On that day some of the team will run a 4K while the rest will run 6K (women) or 8K (men).

Link to meet story and results:
http://www.gosusqu.com/sports/mxc/2011-12/releases/0903_bison_open_recap

My training on the bike continues to go extremely well. This past week may have been one of my strongest weeks on the bike. I had an amazing workout midweek where I had two 15 mile segments at roughly 24mph with just a mile easy spin between the segments. I also got a good amount of climbing during the week with one of my highest week totals in a few weeks. I also did a solid double yesterday and followed it up with a nice long and hilly 54 mile today. I am prepping for the Milton Harvest Fest 28 Mile Road Race this upcoming Saturday. Now I have not official registered for the race but that is just a formality and I will admit, I am kind of waiting to see the weather forecast!

New Training Totals:

Week - 8 rides/ 297 miles/ 14hours 14minutes/ 20.9mph/ 8225 feet of climbing
August - 31 rides/ 1.164 miles/ 55hours 39minutes/ 20.9mph/ 26,345 feet of climbing
Year - 254 rides/ 8969 miles/ 421hours 12minutes/ 21.40mph
Avg per ride: 35.3 miles/ 1hour 39minutes

This week's goals given cooperative weather:
Milton Harvest Fest 28 Mile Road Race
250-275 Miles/ 13-14 hours of riding/ 7,000+ feet of climbing

Course for next week's race:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/22906538

Keep training hard and smart

TdO '12 - Hopefully an Epic Event!