Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wicked game

Not the hypnotic Chris Isaac song, the video of which has him trying to look cool while being blown off by some robo-bitch looking model. No, I'm referring to this thing of multi-sport training. In and of its self, it's not so bad. But when you mix in a real job, social activities, and all the family responsibilities (not to mention house selling efforts), it can become difficult to get everything in.

I guess, on some levels, I'm providing myself some excuses for some training plateaus. Other people are more busy than I, yet they find time to train. So, it must be about capturing the opportunity to get the right training in, and flexing the schedule around needs and available time. I really need to do this with my cycling, and in a hurry. Though I already had some hints, I became grossly aware at Langley Pond that my abilities on the bike aren't where they should be at this point in the season. The big hill on the route should have been no problem, and I should have been able to average at least on more MPH on the course. This is frustrating.

What I think I can attribute this to is three things:

  • Preseason focus was on running; my aerobic fitness improved, but strength decreased
  • I haven't been putting in NEARLY the necessary bike mileage in the last couple of months
  • I've been taking it too easy, opting to spin up hills rather than attack, on the rides I have done

So, yesterday I went out with the goal of punishing my legs. I got a nice ride in at lunch, and stayed in the big ring (compact 50 tooth) with a wide ratio cassette. Not super hard core, but at least I didn't make it easy on myself. And there were some damn tough hills on the route yesterday. I returned feeling pretty wiped out, but still giving 100% efforts with a finishing sprint. Sure my average pace could have been a bit better had I taken some hills easier and saved energy, but that wasn't the goal. I find a lot of benefit in doing lactate threshold cycles, where I get up to max effort, then allow a recovery, and repeat. It aids me in recovering faster from hard efforts, so I can charge up the next hill effectively.


Hopefully I can organize my schedule appropriately and keep this level of effort up. There's a lot of season left to improve upon.

Oh, and I forgot to give props to Nick in my race report. Last year we were racing pretty closely, only because I was doing very well on the bike and run, making up for how much time I gave him on the swim. Well, this year not only is he a better swimmer, he's gotten really good on the bike, and his run is improving very rapidly. Nick would have won our AG, had it not been for all the import racers. Way to go, Nick! He's also the one, along with swim mentor and friend Pam, that put a boot in my butt and got me to HTFU about swimming, which has proved very beneficial. It's not so much like slow drowning any more. Thanks man!

**UPDATE**

Okay, I was reflecting on my "problem" and remembered what I came up with last year: focus weeks. I would take each week and do a bit extra of one discipline (no, Marcy, not dominatrix/submissive stuff), and rotate through them, always keeping sort of a core routine or minimum. I'll have to develop that again for this year.

Oh, and for Marcy who was hoping for some boob and pee pee action ('cause she's a sick puppy):

13 comments:

Mendy said...

I was wondering what this post was about when I saw that picture. You're gonna disappoint Marcy.... :-)

Yup, you nailed it. You're running has improved a lot, but gotta start getting on the bike more. It IS so very hard to balance it all. I'm now suffering on runs more than I am in the pool. Man, to find the time. It's just gonna get that much more for the next 20 wks for us... :-)

Long bike ride for you this weekend.

Nick did do great!

Jess said...

Belated congratulations on the race!

I don't know how you triathletes do it. Seriously. It's a lot to do. For me, it's a lot with just running...I mean, I've also got a full schedule of beer drinking and burning dinner.

Marcy said...

LMAO at Mendy!! It's sooooo weird that you bring up that song because just last night while I was flipping through the channels that song came on and I thought "HOLY HELL looking back at this vid now, it TOTALLY SUCKS ASS!" AHHAHAHAAA And yes Mendy is right, I'm really bummed that we don't get to see any boobies or pee pee action in this post :P

I was going to say something similar to Jess. Running is enough for me, I don't know how you lunatics fit swimming and biking in there as well LOL

J~Mom said...

Geesh David it's so tough to balance all of this. Sounds like focus weeks are a great idea. Maybe I will try that as well on the next go around. You are doing awesome though and don't beat your self up!

Ok, question...shhhhhh..don't tell anyone...I never use my big ring on my bike. Can you tell me why I would use it if I am always riding on flat? Or maybe when I should use it? I want to use it but don't feel I 'need' it.

Unknown said...

It is very hard to juggle all the training, especially with three sports to keep up with. Never lose sight of why we do this though...it's supposed to be fun!

Lily on the Road said...

Sounds like lessons learned. Hard to 'do it all', you're on the right road, just remember the important stuff....

Eric said...

Frickin' hilarious! I'm going to have to meet Marcy some time! She sounds like a pretty cool chick!

I think balancing all the training out is easy if you start at 5am! Right? I KNOW you love those early morning runs!

Marcy said...

OH. MY. GAWD!!! Do you have some sort of secret recording device in our house? Seriously homie, too weird! Keira and I were playing Wii Play "Charge" the other day (yeah, just put in my nomination for Mom of the Year now :P). Basically you ride around on a cow and knock down scarecrows. Anyway, the view is from behind the cow so you see the utters, right? And Keira goes "What's that? Is that the cows boobs? It's gotta a lot of boobs Mom, right?" Ohhh Lordy! Thanks for the not so pretty visuals LMAO!

Gotta Run..... said...

It is crazy to think how "some people" are able to fit more effective workouts in our crazy life. I am realizing that by having a pre-packed gym bag I can pretty much fit odd workouts in no matter what box of time I have.

Being prepared it key. Now ain't we smart :)

Sounds like you crushed your legs good. MACHINE!!

And the cow images are .... well... something I won't soon forget.

teacherwoman said...

I HEART this multisport training business... but I agree... juggling it all can be quite a challenge in itself! :) You are doing great!

nwgdc said...

sorry...i gotta ask: HTFU?

(Hurry the F Up?)

I'm not hip with the texting terms...but I'm learning. Thanks mostly to Marcy.

David said...

The "H" is for Harden. It's a term in constant use on slowtwitch.com.

A said...

Get that schedule worked out -- you've worked waaaaaay too hard to let your training suffer for lack of juggling talent! Thanks for all the advice, too. Have a great weekend!