Well February is almost over. Hard to believe we are
almost in our third month of 2006. That means races
aren’t too far away so I decided to give a run down of
how things are looking so far.

Might as well go in order.

SWIM++++++++++++++++++

I’ve been pretty pleased with my fitness improvements
since Jan 1. I think I’ve finally established a
reasonable base from the past two years of higher
yardage. It made it much easier to return to swimming
comfortably within a few weeks. I’ve been putting in
around 20-22K each week for the past 5-6 weeks and
there is quality in at least 70% of those yards.

Boris had a hard time finding his stroke once he
arrived in FL, but this week is an entirely different
story. He swam some lifetime bests on Monday and
backed it up with a hard 4K main set on Tuesday. Looks
like my alledged ‘edge’ in one of the disciplines is
gone. Oh well. Our cycling and swimming (at least what
I have seen so far) is very close so it will be great
to keep each other honest day in and day out.

He has a considerable edge in the running dept.

BIKE+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I haven’t ridden that much so far. Last week I rode 18
hours, but that was 10 hours more than my biggest week
in 2006 (or maybe eight, not sure). Most of my rides
have been pretty steady while working the rolling
sections. Since there wasn’t much volume I usually
kept it smooth and steady from the get go on most
rides. Last week BB and I rode well on M-R and had a
damn fun ride on Sunday with Marc which included some
hard riding, especially at the finish.

My Powertap was sent it to be overhauled so I’ve been
riding blind for the last eight weeks. Frankly, I
enjoyed easing back into things this way since there
is nothing to guide you but your intuition. I think
thats a great way to find your legs again before the
first round of real training begins.

I did get the PT back yesterday and I did a ride this
morning with 2+ hours at 150-155 HR which is a rough
estimate of my AeT. My FTP HR (or LT, AT) is right
around 173-175 so this workout is 20 beats below
threshold. I averaged 238 watts for a 2:10 main set;
so it seems as though my bottom end is ok. I imagine
the top end has detoriated, but maybe not. I will
certainly find out soon enough.

RUN++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I haven’t run many miles either because of an early
season focus on strength. By strength, I mean
weightlifting as well as plyometrics. I have done more
leaping, skipping, jumping, etc in the last month than
I likely have in my entire lifetime before that. If
nothing else, it certainly has improved my hip flexor
strength tremendously. Hopefully this will help lay
the foundation for some better running in the months
to come. I have logged 2-3 50+ mile weeks, but
everything has mostly been moderate as far as
intensity is concerned. Other weeks have only been
around 40 miles (and sometimes less than that).

I did run a 10K last weekend and finished in 2nd (out
of probably 20 total?) behind Boris. I have only run
one other standalone 10K before so this was a PR with
a 35:14. I was pretty pleased with it since it was a
rolling course and it was within a 33 hour training
week.

I’ll be running the Tampa Half Marathon this weekend
so it might give me another (and probably better)
insight to my current run fitness, especially if the
weather holds out. I will be pleased if I manage to
stay within 10 sec/mile avg of Boris’ finishing time
(assuming he races well).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So I guess that’s a pretty decent snapshot of how
everything is going. I still have a long way to go,
but I am in a better position that I have ever been in
the last week of February. I’ll be racing fairly
frequently from now until late April so that I can be
in better form for MIM and Buffalo Springs.

All for now, more to come.

jd

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Let’s see if I can tie all of this together.

I was having a conversation with Boris tonight about
pet peeves. I asked which ones he had. Nothing jumped
out at first, but when we started brainstorming a few
‘issues’ came out that we had in common.

-Driving in the left lane too slowly, littering, using
the word “carb” (that’s just me), people who don’t
tread lightly, etc.

“People who are critical about things they know
nothing about.”

That came directly from BB and frankly this is more
than simply a pet peeve, in that, it is (or certainly
should be) universal.

Early last week I was having a conversation with my
mother about the coverage of the Olympics. More
specifically, I was critical (or actually ‘worried’)
about how the other networks were competing hard with
NBC. American Idol, Grey’s Anatomy, whatever is on tv.
All new episodes, all at the same time as the prime
time coverage of the Olympics.

Now, I understand that other networks can’t roll over
and play dead. Perhaps one network shouldn’t be able
to cover the Olmpics in their entirety. Maybe they
should only get certain events. I think this would
help raise the bar on the overall quality of tv
coverage as each of them would get the chance to tap
into the heart of America’s prime time every few
nights.

Now, why do the Olympics lose out in ratings to
American idol? Why, in contrast, are the summer
Olympics so popular?

Well, first of all, the summer Olympics are, well, in
the summer. TV Networks are not exactly in the meat of
their fall or spring series. More can be seen during
the day, Americans know and relate to a higher
percentage of the summer games, Americans win more
medals, more countries are involved, etc.

Now, what else might be causing the lack of interest?
Well, I certainly think that some sports journalists
might shed some light on this.

How about the fact that leading sports journalists
directly_criticize_the games. I heard Skip on Cold
Pizza say that any game “that doesn’t involve a ball,
isn’t a sport.” I think he also said the Astros were
going to win in six so I don’t take much stock in his
thoughts. (FWIW, your team will lose if he picks them.
Always happens to me).

And forget about Gumbel’s recent comments on how the
winter games are a complete bore (amongst other
criticisms). “Mike and Mike” in the morning talked
more about next year’s super bowl (which is 50 weeks
away) picks and about Barry Bonds’ possible retirement
than anything else this morning.

And they aren’t talking simply about what they_want_to
talk_about. They are speaking about what their
audience wants_to_hear_about.

I don’t want to get too much into what I think about
what each journalist has specifically said about this
year’s games or about winter sports in general. I just
want to get back the point: “many folks are critical
of what they do not know.” You would think a sports
journalist might help to inform ignorant audiences
about the games instead of playing the “my dad can
beat up your dad” card.

Its like telling a NASCAR diehard that all they watch
are “people making left turns”; or telling a cycling
fan that cycling is nothing but “riding a bike”; or a
runner that all they do is “put one foot in front of
the other.” Oh, and how many people understand how
anyone can watch 162 (not including playoffs) 3+ hours
games of baseball a year. I’m sure a baseball fan
could give you a million reasons. I know my buddies
that love the Astros certainly can.

The games that come on each night (for two short weeks
every four long years) are a small glimpse into
something great. If you can put aside your cynicism
and look past all the commercialization you will see
something common in something that might be so
foreign. You can identify with the athletes, and fans,
that live and breathe their sport.

And even if it still a bore… …you still need to
learn why you don’t like what you don’t like.

jd

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“The faster I get, the more I think I suck.”

I mentioned that to Boris (Blake) the other day. I
suppose on the surface I sound like an insecure
teenager (or adult for that matter) searching for
reassurance. That isn’t/wasn’t my intention.

The above quote came from me joking around a bit and
is actually said out of respect for the athletes that
are (much) faster than myself.

In 2002 I took a summer internship with Inside
Communications (Publishers of Inside Tri, Velonews,
Ski Racing, and all Velopress books) in Boulder,
Colorado. Before arriving I think I had come to a
point where I felt I had it all “figured out.” Pretty
funny in hindsight really. I came from Texas where AG
and overall placings were fairly decent for me. I got
to Boulder and had my ass handed to me around every
corner. Even the slow lanes at Masters and the
recovery rides were too much for me to handle.

I like to think that I rarely speak in a cocky tone
(unless you are close to me) as it relates to
triathlon, but I imagine my self-love thoughts peaked
before arriving in Boulder that summer. Since then I
have learned (well, sort of learned) what it takes to
knock off each minute of an Ironman finish. Like
losing weight, the initial pounds fall quickly, but
the final ones take some (ok, a lot) of work. Every
year of training has topped the previous one, both in
terms of intensity and volume, and yet, the road is
still long.

Soooooo, as the years go by, I start to have more and
more appreciation for what the top guys and gals in
this sport (or any sport) have had to go through to
get to the top. I often think about Dick Jochums when
I think about this (read “Gold in the Water” for the
allusion).

I can see him standing over me on the pool deck.
Metaphorically, I just finish a main set that took
five and half years (or in some ways, all my life). He
looks down at me and says:

“Good Job.”

I start to pat myself on the back and he says…

“Now do it again. Only this time, do it with a little
pep.”

Success comes to those who stick with it.

-jd

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Last Thursday was my birthday and some of my friends
asked me what I wanted to do.

“Go to Disneyworld.”

I had not been to any theme parks since I was thirteen
years old and I wanted to ride some roller coasters. I
decided to take advantage of the fact that I am
currently living near a huge conglomeration of such
places. We agreed to go to the ‘Island of Adventures’
after I found out that “Disneyworld” was not the only
park in the area. I never realized there were several
separate parks with different rides and such. Shows my
ignorance.

It turns out that February 9th is likely the best time
in the entire year to go there. There were no lines
and the weather was perfect. I can only imagine what
that place is like during peak visits… …and
waiting in line during the heat of the summer sounds
pretty rough.

We rounded the day out by grilling some food and
having cake. It was the first day I have taken off
from training in 2006 and I must say it was one of the
most satisfying off days ever. I never had any
feelings of anxiety (that I normally get on an off
day) for one second. It was probably because of the
company. Thanks everybody.

jd

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“Twenty five minutes from now we will still have an
hour left.”

When I was in high school we had to deal with block
scheduling which meant that each class lasted 95-100
minutes long (four classes/day until the middle of my
junior year). This one day my buddies and I were
sitting in Mr. Millet’s Chemistry class and the day
was moving along exceptionally slowly. I looked up at
the clock and only a pathetic 15 minutes had gone by.
One hour and 25 freakin minutes were left. So since
misery needs company I leaned over to my buddy Clark
and said the quote written above. Nothing could have
been worse for morale at the time.

This led to two years of the same ongoing joke until
graduation. Always trying to one up each other by
pointing out demoralizing facts.

I used the same sort of comic relief while swimming
yesterday. After warming up we were waiting for the
pace clock to hit the top before starting a 4K main
set.

“Just think, only an hour until we’re done.”

Luckily I enjoy swimming a lot more than Mr. Millet’s
class (not to take anything away from Millet. He was a
great teacher and taught a great course, but 100
minutes of any class is a bit much without a break).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This past week was a pretty good week of training. I
started swimming at St. Leo University outside of Dade
City, Florida last Monday. The National Training
Center in Clermont is currently overhauling the pool
for the month of February so I got the shaft there.
Luckily I met Coach Cyle Sage at the NTC a few weeks
ago and he mentioned he was the XC and swim coach for
a small university called St Leo. The swim program is
in its first year and a number of the athletes are
from the XC team. Sage comes from a swimming and
triathlon background and has worked with the National
Junior Tri Team.

Given the fact that I dont’t have a pool to use, I
emailed Sage and asked if I could join his squad. He
said yes and the past week was great. I got to have a
coach on deck to give workouts and Sage has already
helped me in identifying some of my stroke limiters.
Even after the month of February is over I will likely
still head over there once or twice/week. I might go
more often then that if it didn’t require me to wake
up at 5:20 and drive almost an hour both ways. That
gets really old, really quickly when I’m training a
lot.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A group of age group triathletes from Atlanta came
down to Clermont this week for a long weekend of
training. They are all IM dudes and they wanted to get
down to some warm weather for uninterrupted training.

Well apparently Mother Nature didn’t get the memo
because Clermont got hammered with rain from Thursday
evening to Saturday morning. In fact, on Friday we
even got kicked out of the pool in Orlando… …the
indoor pool. Nothing like weather so crappy that you
can’t even train indoors. Poor guys. Earlier that day
they put in two hours on the Lifecycle machines and
two hours on the treadmill at the NTC. Then they get
kicked out of the pool.

But the Georgia Dawgs wouldn’t be stopped and they did
they what they had to do. Its always good to know that
you did what you could no matter what the
circumstances.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blake Becker (www.blakebecker.com) is coming to
Clermont on Wednesday to train with me for the
remainder of the year. A little over a year ago I
contacted Blake asking him about his intentions with
triathlon. From his posts on various triathlon forums,
I got the impression that he was in a similar position
as myself; i.e same age, similar goals, similar
background.

A lot of triathletes my age talk about pursuing this
sport to find their true potentional. Its sexy in
theory, but most folks get distracted and lose their
zeal. Nothing wrong with that by any means. I’m just
trying to point out that there is more talk than
execution (and that probably applies to most things in
life).

But Blake was/is different. I knew he had talent,
drive, work ethic, and a serious amount of passion for
this sport. I suggested that he come train with me
when we was done with school (which just ended a few
weeks ago) since we could certianly use each other’s
help (for training, cutting costs, etc). A lot has
happened to him in just the last year and he has stuck
to his goals. He has not taken the easy route and he
knows the path ahead will be even more challenging
than the road he just came down.

Should be a fun season,

jd

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