Nine days out

Yesterday I left my super secret training spot in
Melissa, Tx and headed to my old hometown of Houston,
Tx. I completed my second-to-last race simulation
workout on Tuesday and I wanted to get here long
before my final race sim workout on Friday. I always
try to avoid key training sessions on a day following
travel. The reason I'm doing my final workout here in
Htown has to do with Blake flying into town on
Saturday to drive over to PCB with me early next week.
Blake has been training hard in Madison, WI in the
all-too-early-to-arrive winter; the exact opposite of
my entirely-too-long summer last year in Texas.

Once again I was blessed with a long drive as the
heavens decided to open up and promptly drop every
ounce of extra water they had reserved in the clouds.

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

On Tuesday this week I did a workout as such:

3500 swim with tempo 2k main set;
Start ride within one hour of swim; ride 90 minutes
with 50-60 min at IM-IM+20 power; transition to ten
mile run on the track running steadily.

I didn't have to do the run on the track and many of
you might classify 40 laps of the track at a steady
pace to be just about the worse idea EVER. However, I
had asked my aunt to come out and hand off coke and
water every 4th lap so that I could continuously run
at a certain pace to see how my body responded to that
particular pace (and with race day fueling).

Couple things I have noticed over the past few weeks
that might apply to everyone:

1. It takes about 12 minutes (or two miles) for HR,
PE, and Pace to line up (in training) when running off
the bike. Until then HR is low, PE is low and pace is
high. I was running nearly 20-25 sec too fast to start
this workout and I still felt like I was only running
at a crawl. This sensation could last up to 30-45
minutes on race day depending on conditions, how hard
you/I ride, nutrtion on the bike, etc. Just imagine
how much an a rested, fit athlete could run the first
10K when you throw in a competitive spirit and
spectators. RELAX. Look at Sergio Marques' first 10K
split in Kona. Nearly the same as his final split. The
result? 2:43 and the fastest split of the day. He did
NOT take it out hard and he obviously had the run
fitness to absolutely blast the trek down Ali'i Dr.

2. I tend to pick up the pace once I have nutrition
handed off to me. I need to stay relaxed, get the
nutrition in, and continue. I kept spiking my pace and
HR during the workout when after my aunt handed off
the drinks. I also think its important to take your
time to get those calories in. If you try to rush the
coke/gatorade/water/whatever through the aid stations
you'll likely find that you didn't take it all that
much. Treat that coke like gold and take in small
amounts until that cup is empty.

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

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blah

Blah.

That's all wrote in the 'comments' section in my log
after Tuesday's training. Such is life during a taper.
I seem to be coming around though so life is good.
Life was over on Tuesday, but its back on Thursday.

I didn't get on here to comment on the Aggies' victory
over Mizzou because I was too busy helping Miss
Melissa become Mrs. Melissa over the weekend (cousin
Melissa for those in the know).

My weekend consisted of traveling Thursday, big day
of training Friday, rehearsal dinner Friday night,
Saturday morning workouts, go to church around 1:00n
to be the best damn Usher in the world, watch cousin
get married, take pictures outside church while
constantly checking Aggie game on cell phone, listen
to finish of game in car, announce wedding party at
reception, enjoy reception, go home at midnight, go to
bed, wake up, watch the 12,000,000 inches of raining
falling outside, put on running shoes, run 21 miles in
that dumb weather, watch the Texans 'play football',
hang out with friends, go home, go to bed, drive a
four-hour-drive in six hours because of another
12,000,000 inches of rain, go to swim practice, go
home, look at my watch at 8:15 and decide its time for
bed. Sleep 11 hours.

And for some reason I can't seem to understand why I
feel completely wiped out on Tuesday. HMMMMMMMMM.

But seriously... ....The wedding was great and I'm
psyched she found such a great guy.

The run was miserable though. I have the patience for
about one of those sessions/year. Since the year is
almost finished I figured I had better cash in on it.

Let's see; what else?

I heard on the radio that Brandon Flowers of The
Killers claimed that their latest album was the best
album in the last twenty years. Well I listened to it
three times through on my way back home. Its not the
best album to come out in the last twenty years, but
it did get me to start thinking about what album might
fit that title.

I couldn't come up with an answer. In fact, I wasn't
even bold enought to narrow it down to the top 5
(Weezer's first album would be in there).

I did decide what the worst album in the last twenty
years is: Master P's "Last Don." Awful. You might find
something that is_just_as_bad, but nothing is worse
than that.

Time for the NLCS.

-jd

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Damn Jayhawks

Actually those Jayhawks are alright. I didn't think I
would live to see the day when I would be glad to beat
Kansas (in football, of course), but such is life. I
actually flipped when the deep snapper screwed up and
caused a safety. I turned the TV off and headed out
for a ride. Seemed like it was too nice of day to
watch the Ags crumble. They ended up pulling it
together while I was away so maybe I'm on to
something.

Not sure why I write these football reports since
they're about as boring as they come, but Saturdays
are my easy days and just about the only time I seem
to sit behind a computer with no real intentions.

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

I was riding my bike on FM 121 just outside of Gunter,
Texas on Tuesday when a truck grazed me so closely
that I actually freaked out. I yelled out of
fear/surprise and not simply in retaliation or
anything like that. AND the nice gentleman then took
it upon himself to flcik me off. I was so pissed off
that I found myself absolutely DRILLING IT (to quote
my amigo Macca) to catch him.

I didn't catch him. Apparently cars travel a bit more
quickly than bikes.

Suddenly all those jokes BB and I have made this year
about short life expectancies didn't seem so funny
anymore. Its one thing to deal with close calls. Its
another to deal with people who intentionally do it. I
wonder if he would have stopped if he had actually hit
me...

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

Tomorrow ends the major bulk of my build towards
Ironman Florida. Almost everything has gone according
to plan and tomorrow's BIG day of training will
finalize that.

My fitness is coming together nicely and hopefully the
next few weeks' rest will bring out more improvements.

-jd

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Damn Raiders

Man, that hurt. But I knew it would happen. You don't
give Leach and his offense two minutes to finish you
off. You_just_don't_do_it.

I was reading an article in the Dallas Morning News
yesterday morning about the Ags' loss to Tech. The
author mentioned that Franchione and his staff had
downplayed Tech as a rival. The author responded with:
"You are right, they're not a rival. They just beat
the Aggies." Touche. And I hang my head a little lower
every year.

You guys can hop onto www.texags.com to get a game
summary if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

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

Training went quite well this week and I got a little
redemption for the previsouly washed out weekend.
Everything pretty much went according to plan this
week and the weather cooperated nicely for some of my
harder sessions.

This upcoming week looks to be a bit challenging with
higher volume and warm weather throughout. I could
look at this in a positive light. The weather in PCB
at Ironman Florida will probably not be any warmer (if
it is, it will be a rough day) than what I will face
this week. Nevertheless, training in 90+ degrees day
after day gets a bit old once October rolls around.
Time for temperate temps.

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

What else?

Astros lost. I give them credit for making the season
count until the last game, but its a shame they
couldn't have made things happen throughout the
season.

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

Other than that, there isn't much going on. Its kind
of that time of year where life is simple. You train,
you rest, and you race. Five weeks left.

jd

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Damn week

I'm pretty glad last week is over and done with. It
started out well with a great long run on Tuesday. I
was more than pleased with my performance on a 22-mile
run.

That was the highlight. The low points included:

1)my car getting broken into on Tuesday night

2)a failed execution of Friday's track workout because
of fatigue and ridiculously bad weather.

3)My clothes got stolen at the natatorium while I was
swimming on Friday. Drove home in a drag suit.

4)Another failed execution of a workout: Sunday's long
ride.

Frankly, there was little I could about the failed
workouts. I obviously hit a wall late last week and my
body rejected any more hard work that was going to be
placed on it. There is a type of fatigue that an
athlete such as myself can push through, but I suspect
this time it was not that type. This upcoming week is
an important one so I decided to shut everything down
and rest up in hopes of alleviating that fatigue.
Worst case scenario; I wasn't as tired as I thought
and I'm more rested for this week. I don't think
that's the case though. I know me.

All for now. Beat Tech.

-j

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Go Army

Man. I never thought I would be yelling at the tv
hoping that Army won't run over the Aggie D Line and
completely upset us. It reminded me of 1996 when the
Aggies lost to Southwest Louisiana State (now U of La
Lafayette; aka U lala). Frankly I'm surprised the
Aggies won. The trend has not been a favorable one
since I started going to TAMU in Fall 1999. That was
our last season with eight wins. The team showed signs
of life in 04, but that was short-lived.

And so it continues (looks that way, at least).

I woke up this morning to a gnarly storm which cut the
electricity in the house. I sat in bed thinking about
how awesome my long ride was going to be... ...on the
trainer. I have no problems riding in the rain, but
there are flood warnings throughout the day so I don't
think I can get much quality out the door. Plus, my PT
would stop working early on (b/c of the rain) and
Coach J has put structure throughout the whole ride.

I have not used the trainer much this year, but I do
think it is a valuable tool for controlling conditions
for higher intensity sessions. Most of my intervals
have been longer (and more moderate in intensity) this
year (10-40 min) as my cycling training has been
prioritized less while my running has been emphasized.

However, my cycling has continued to improve
throughout the year despite a cut in volume. I
honestly believe it has as much to do with last year's
training than anything else. Seems like my fitness
improved very early on this year after a rest in the
offseason. I guess the body needs the time to get past
the deep fatigue that 10 months of training will do to
it.

Well I'm just procrastinating at this point. I'll get
on that trainer and stare at the wall.

j

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watching wisco

I'm sitting here watching IMW right now. My buddy
Chris is running in first place as we speak and I
would love to see him pull this off. Keep it up buddy.

Last weekend I raced in upstate NY and managed to a
win. I traveled all day Monday and got right back into
things on Tuesday. I don't have any races planned
between now and IMFL. My goals for this race are the
only priority at this point.

My primary goal is to qualify for Kona which would
require a top 5 finish (assuming no roll down).

My second goal is to run under three hours in the
marathon.

While my run goal is secondary; I believe it holds the
link to goal number one. Running <2:59:59_and_racing
well otherwise, is what it is likely going to take to
get a Kona slot.

Currently Joe and are training for 2:55 (off the bike)
run fitness and I still think I'm a ways away from it.
However, I do feel as though everything is beginning
to fall into place. My forced rest in July (from knee
problems) is allowing my form to come on at a nice
pace, but its hard to tell how far I will improve from
now until Nov 3. I ran well in last weekend's race;
probably the best I've run all season, but IM running
is different. It involves the 'all day pace' and that
ADP isn't quite where I need it to be, but its coming.

Here's a brief look as to what this week included:

Monday: off for travel

Tuesday:
8 mile run in the a.m.
3800 yd swim at Masters; pretty mellow
Late afternoon ride, 2:05, 40 miles.

Wednesday:
Morning run, 30K; very steady descending throughout
the second 15K loop.
Afternoon spin 70 minutes; very easy

Thursday:
Morning swim 5K; main set of 1000,800,600,400,200
descending from 1:15 pace to 1:13s on the 200s. short
rest
5 mile run shortly after
Afternoon ride with 2 x 1 hour at IM-IM+ power. 100K
total

Friday:
Morning run with Vo2 hill repeats. 8 miles total
Midday swim; very easy for 2500.

Saturday:
Morning Masters; main set 18 x 100 varying intervals
from 1:30 down to 1:10. felt mediocre at best
170K ride beginning 90 minutes after swim. 2 hours
easy then 2 x 30, 3 x 20, 15, 12 10 minutes at HIM-10
to HIM watts. five minute recoveries on longer stuff
with 3 on the shorter.
quick T run of 15 minutes.

Sunday: morning run. 30K. Easy mostly, steady at
times. Just cruised.

Volume is moderate with exception of running, but
that's kind of the idea: Run more (and faster) to run
well.

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Back in Tejas

Howdy. Howdy from Texas.

Some folks emailed to ask me why I didn't race 5430. It was not the result of an injury, but for personal reasons. Those who knew me before triathlon know that Camp Longhorn was a huge part of my life and every year they host a weekend of 'Alumni Camp.' When you combine the number of weeks I spent there as a camper and counselor I believe it adds up to 52 weeks/one year. May not seem like too big of deal when you consider the amount of time I've probably spent watching Jeopardy in my lifetime, but it was/is. My sincerest friendships originated when I was a kid in Houston and at Camp Longhorn. They are the best kind of friends. The friends that allow you to fault.

So my stay in Boulder ended once again. It wasn't really the summer I was looking for, but I did manage to walk away with some good memories and a little fitness. I originally intented to leave at the end of August, but I was only willing to drive to Texas once.

My setup in Texas is much different from Boulder or even Clermont. Those places offer a triathlon culture. Melissa, Texas does not appear to be the next frontier for triathlon. The training is good (it was better two years ago before so many roads were worked on), but its solo. I swim with a squad in Plano, but that's the limit of training partners here in Collin County.

Its hot here. 105 in the middle of the day. That's manly weather and I should probably mention that to balance this emotionally frontend-loaded blog. North Texas (and the hill country) are in a pretty severe drought and everything is brown. Fortuntely my aunt and uncle live far enough from the heart of the DFW metroplex to avoid the heat trapping of the city. I would imagine it gets 5-10 degrees cooler at night out here with the lack of concrete.

Speaking of which, I need to get out the door before the oppression begins.

Keep it real,

jd

Epic Riding

I had all these grand ideas about training in Boulder this summer. One such idea was a two-week swim, bike, run tour of Colorado. Unortunately I was sidelined with a lame knee and I missed out on said adventure... ...but not completely. Mike Larsen pieced together a one-day grand tour yesterday and my knee had been healthy for a couple weeks. I decided to join them.

The route:

Rollout of Amante Coffee in No Boulder at 5:30 a.m.

*Ride to Lyons, Colorado
*Climb 16 miles from Lyons to Estes Park
*Enter Rocky Mtn National Park from Estes, climb to 12,500 ft via Trail Ridge
*Descend down to the Frasier Valley and ride onto Winter Park (112 miles at this point)
*Climb Berthoud Pass to 11,500 ft
*Descend Berthoud to Idaho Springs
*Climb Oh-My-God Rd (dirt road) with 2,000ft+ of vert
*Descend dirt/pavement to Central City (165 miles at this point)
*Climb out of central city to Nederland
*Descend Nederland to Boulder

Total distance would be 205-210 miles with 15,000ft+ of climbing

We started with seven riders and everyone stayed together to the base of the Trail Ridge climb. I knew it was going to be a long day when we crested the Trail Ridge climb in four hours. After four hours of riding (and over 3,000 KJs) we had only covered a little over sixty miles.

After several cups of coffee we headed out to descend into the Frasier valley. It was a cold day in the mtns so we all loaded up our jerseys with newspapers, brochures, toilet paper, etc to stay warm while descending. This was one of those situations where I was glad to not be the leanest athlete.

I had to pullover shortly after starting the descent since the housing on my RD popped out. Luckily some biker dudes were around to loan me some tools and I was back on the road. The rest of the descend was interesting as Mike, Josh, and I maneuvered through a number of bikers since we can descend techanical descents more quickly than cars and motorcycles. Kind of sketchy really.

The next 30 miles after the descent were fairly uneventful. We had a nice pace line going and made good time all the way to Winter Park.

The next segment of the ride included the ascent of Berthoud Pass. The climb passed by uneventfully, but we were starting to get rain at the summit. We bombed down trying to get out the rain, but everyone got soaked. We re-grouped in Idaho Springs and now folks were cranky, cold, and hungry. The group had now dimished to just four riders (others had planned pickups).

Next on the list: climb Oh-My-God road; a dirt road with 2,000 ft+ of climbing over 10K. Climbing dirt doesn't really bother me, but it was starting to rain. Climbing on the dirt, in the rain, on a tri bike, did concern me slightly. Josh and I cruised up the road in the rain and interestingly enough, this was the best I felt all day. I guess I just really like to open it up in hour ten. When we summited, it was raining pretty significantly and now we had to descend on the dirt, in the rain, on the tri bike. I was a little concerned, but soon enough we made it to Central City.

We are cold. We have been riding almost 170 miles at this point. We are still far from Boulder. Its almost 6:00 in the evening. We are running out of daylight. It is raining and cold. We are sitting in a casino drinking free coffee while stuffing our jereys, shorts, jakets, etc with entire setions of the Rocky Mountain News. We are quite a sight. We are laughing hysterically at the situation and making a real freaking mess. The Casino folks were quite accomodating so if any of you all tell me you lost your rent money at "Doc Holiday's", I won't feel_as_bad for you.

At this point we are a bit concerned with the weather and lack of daylight. We finally cratered and called a buddy who lives off Magnolia Rd to shuttle us over to Boulder Canyon so that we could finish the descent. We started climbing Peak-to-Peak Highway for the time being and as it turns out, we managed to warm up and the weather atually started to improve some (oh well, guess we might have been alright). About thirty minutes later said buddy arrived and shuttled D and I to his house off Mags. We then hopped back on our bikes and finished the ride into Boulder. I rolled back to my door at 7:30 in the evening; over 14 hours from when I rolled out. Ride time was slightly over 11 hours with just under 300 kilometers in the bank.

I'll have to go back next year to make sure I include those 15 miles I missed. Maybe I'll do that section twice to make up for this year.

Good times.

July 13

My computer has become a bit a nuisance lately. You
see, over time, my laptop has gone from
top-of-the-line to essentially living on life support.
My Mouse no longer works, my battery pack no longer
stays on the computer so I have to have it plugged in
at all times, the wireless card is inconsistent, etc.,
etc. I bring this up because my recent blog went caput
after my computer shut down (which I think it did just
for kicks). That particular blog was written just
prior to me traveling to Phoenix for an EAS photo
shoot, a bike fit, and a visit to a PT at Endurance
Rehab.

This photo shoot was not exactly like the last one. It
involved a full body harness, a skinsuit, and odd
facial expressions. I'll sum it up as "Super Hero
Shark Man." You'll see what I mean.

The highlight of these trips always involves the
dinner/socializing afterwards. The creative folks
working on the ads, and the folks at EAS, are always
great company. I also had the chance to meet Larry
Fitzgerald who seemed superhuman when he
single-handedly beat TAMU's secondary a few years
ago. His presence (at the shoot) made the whole
situation seem a bit surreal, but he was quite
down-to-earth and had exceptional class. Most folks
would probably get that impression when they seem him
in an interview and it (most certainly) is not an act.

After the photo shoot was over I said my good byes and
ventured out into the 112-degree heat to head across
town to Bicycle Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ. Coach Joe and
I spent a couple hours there getting the new Javelin
Barolo dialed into a solid aerodynamic (and powerful)
position. There weren't too many major changes from
the past. One of the biggest changes is moving my
cleats as far back as my current shoes allow. We are
trying this in an effort to see if power output is
increased, while calf overload is lowered (double
bonus for triathletes that have to run off the bike).
Joe cited a study about cycling economy having zero
relation to cleat placement so we'll see how it goes.

After my bike fit we headed over to Endurance Rehab. I
am currently nursing some irritation around my right
patella and I wanted to get an opinion on why this
occurred, how I could prevent it, and how I could
expedite the healing. Nothing major to report;
exceptionally tight hip flexors and calf muscles
likely caused this problem. I've decided to rest the
legs until Saturday before attempting to ease back
into things. Keep your fingers crossed.

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

When I travel, I read. I really enjoy to read books
when I travel and when I'm in Sweden (random, but its
really dark and gloomy there). I rarely get the chance
to read books in full when I'm training heavily. Some
athletes seem to have the ability to multitask on top
of their training, but not me. It seems that the only
way I can make it through each day is to focus all of
my mental and physical energy on swimming, biking, and
running. When the day is done I stare at the wall.

Anyway, I read another one of Chuck Klosterman's books
("Killing Yourself To Live") on my flight to Phoenix.
I get a kick out of his writing. I'm not really sure
why. I suppose I can identify a bit with his
quirkiness and his ability to think about (and
comment) on lots of arbitrary (and yet, totally
important) things. There are also moments in my own
life that could possibly be inserted into one of his
books.

One such example:

Some time ago I found myself to be interested in this
one young lady. After talking on and off over the
course of a week or two, we came to a discussion about
music. I am not nearly as hip as might want to be
(again, being hip takes extra energy) and I don't
pretend to be. I could care less about what anybody
listens to. They can be a musical elitist or just like
what's on TRL. I don't care. Actually, indifference is the only thing that typically strikes me as odd.

Anyway, I soon lost interest in her. I never really
understood why (probably because I was tired), but
some time later I started to think about our music
conversation on a long ride.

You see, lady X's favorite band was a band I dislike
(a lot). I didn't mention it at the time, but I did
consciously think about it.

Back to me on the bike.

So I sat there asking myself: "Did I lose interest
because of who her favorite band is? NO... ...Did I? No.
No. Surely I didn't... ....No." I'm not sure if my
subconscious made that decision for me or not. I
(think I) have never let political, social, musical,
artistic, etc. differences ever interfere with my
feelings towards someone, but who knows.

Now, I don't think I can relate to Klosterman's
pattern of thinking (and writing) because I may, or
may not, have lost interest in someone because of
their musical taste. I just think we both would have
asked the same idiotic questions if identical
scenarios presented themselves. We just couldn't leave
it at: "I lost interest."

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

I get a little excited when I haven't been performing
my normal training load. I'll retire from such
verbose, banal postings once I get tired again.

Go Stros,

jd

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Buffalo Springs 70.3 Report

Here is the race report I sent out earlier today.

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

Hey all,

This past weekend I went back to my home state of
Texas to race the Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 triathlon.
Lubbock, Texas had the pleasure of hosting an all star
pro field with the recent addition of a $25,000 purse.
I received my pro card in April, but this was my first
pro race in a high profile event.

I have raced triathlons for nearly six years now, but
toeing the line with such high caliber athletes was a
new experience. My goal for the swim was to get
on_anybody's_feet and hang on. We all had a good clean
start and by the first buoy I had settled onto
someone's feet. The view did not change much for the
next 25 minutes and soon enough the swim was finished.
I set a new PR for that distance so I was certainly
motivated approaching the bike leg.

My transition to the bike was not the smoothest of the
smooth. I needed an extra challenge for the day so I
decided to detroy my sunglasses (by promptly stomping
on them) while stripping my wetsuit. The next hiccup
came at the top of the first climb (the bike course
begins with a steep, short climb) when I had to hop
off and adjust my brake calipers. I must have hit them
in T1, but all was well after that. I just put my head
down (literally, the wind made my eyes water without
sunglasses) and pushed from start to finish. Coach Joe
and I had really worked to get me dialed into
appropriate HIM power on the bike and it showed on
race day. I came off the bike with a 2:19 bike split
(courtesy of Javelin bikes) and was ready to attack
the run.

The run course at BSLT includes several major climbs
and descents that are pieced together with steady flat
sections. I managed to settle into a solid pace to the
halfway point, but the wheels slowly started to fall
off after that. I tried to bring myself back up to
speed, but it looked as though my race mojo had been
spent on the first 63.8 miles of the course. At this
point I just focused on composing myself, limiting my
losses, and getting to that finish line. I crossed the
line in 4:14:20 and 10th overall.

The lowest point of my race occurred in the final few
miles so disappointment clouded my vision of the race
as a whole. I did achieve a number of goals I set for
myself and bested my previous BSLT time by 12 minutes
along the way.

I will be taking a few easy days this week before
starting the process all over again. Boulder Peak and
5430 Long Course are next on the list.

Thanks to EAS, Coach Joe Friel and Ultrafit, Oomph
Triathlon gear, Wheelbuilder.com for providing a super
fast ZIPP 808 wheelset, and Javelin bikes (I have a
new Barolo frame that needs to be built right now so
I'll see you guys later).

Cheers!

-JD

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stamped hands and swim sets

I made it out for a night on the town here in Boulder
for the first time ever. I've spent nearly four
summers here and have never done so. The next morning
I was swimming and the stamps from the previous night
were still all over me. This situation brought me back
to my early years in triathlon when I was in college.
I can remember riding 100+ miles in the South Texas
heat and asking myself why I felt so flat that day.
I'd see various 'X's on my hand/arm and start to
realize why.

As a result I missed BB's 5430 sprint race on Sunday
morning where he finised fourth overall. He still had
a little pep in his step despite a re_donk_ulous
amount of training volume during the first half of the
week. He's getting ready for another 8-9 hour day and
I'm just sitting here typing away as I rest for
Buffalo Springs. Rest is a bit boring, but as we say:
"You have to rest some time; might as well be when it
matters."

And I'm going to need that rest. The start list gets
fancier every day. Lots of fast folks showing up to
the Texas Panandle once a 25,000 dollar purse made its
way there.

So long as I'm resting I'll be sure to catch Sweden
when they play England today. Be sure to tune in if
you have some free time around 1:00 MST.

-jd

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its a touch warm here

Its 9:30 in the evening. Its warm. The thermostat in
our living room reads: 90. Nine. Zero. Toasty. I no
longer sleep upstairs. I've been crashing on the floor
of the living room next to the screen door to the back
patio. Pretty rockin'.

Perhaps you all have picked up on the fact that I'm
back in Boulder. You would be correct. After nearly
four weeks of living in and out of a hospital and/or
hotel room; I'm back in Boulder. My father returned
with my mother (and Aunt and Uncle) to Crested Butte
late this afternoon. My dad is still weak and
extraordinarily tired (guess that happens when you
miss out on food and sleep for three weeks; imagine
that), but he's damn happy to be sleeping in his own
bed tonight up in them thar hills.

Anyways, I came home to an invigorated Mr Becker. He's
now Mr Becker since he knocked out a 3000m/155mi/10K
day of training yesterday. I told him to go ahead and
run a marathon (or at run to NED), but he wimped out.
The dude has stepped it up with the assistance or
Chris and Marilyn. Those two can be very
inspirational. I spent last May recovering from the
month of April when I was training with them in AZ.

As for my own training; its good and its reduced. Joe
and I wanted a midseason peak so we picked Buffalo
Springs because of timing/course/Texas pride. As a
result, I'm resting in between several key weekly
sessions while my buddies are knocking out some
seriously epic sessions. Certainly a test of self
control, but you 'gotta rest some time.' Might as well
be when it matters.

peace out,

j

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Highline Sprint

Since my stay in GJ got extended I decided to race a
local sprint triathlon yesterday (500m/16mi/3.5mi
trail run).

Since this isn't Boulder, I wasn't worried about
several dozen uber fit triathletes showing up to a low
key race, but I was still ready to drill it from the
get go.

I was fortunate enough to lead from start to finish
with a winning time of 1:10:xx. This certainly was a
good race for my head after a really disappointing HIM
last weekend. I also generated some PB power data
which backs up some results from training this week.
All of this helps as I get everything sorted out for
Buffalo Springs in two weeks.

As I sit here on Sunday morning, I plan to be in
Boulder Sunday evening. I'll let you know if I make
it.

Oh yeah, made the front page of the local sports
section. That's a first.

-jd

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More of the same

Well, I'm still in the Junction that is Grand. My
father was released from the hospital on Monday, but
unfortunately we ended up right back where we started
around 2:30 in the morning in the ER.

Another procedure followed the next afternoon
(procedure #3 of 3) as well as another night in the
hospital. My father has several follow up appts early
next week. Assuming all is well by then, I'll be
heading back to Boulder after four weeks out here on
the Western Slope.

But I'm not holding my breathe. Its not that I am
pessimistic, I just don't care for speculation. Things
are or they aren't. Just like fitness...

Ok, so where I am going with this...

There has always been a lot of talk on triathlon
forums (specifically on G's forum which is the only
one I frequent enough to know what's going on) about
extrapolating race times to guess IM finish times, or
using percentages of FT/LT power/pace to know
appropriate IM riding and running efforts.

Now all of this is fine and dandy, but they are
nothing more than make believe numbers until they come
directly from a race result. Swimming X and riding Y
in order to run Z (which the best IM strategy that I
personally endorse) comes primarily from intuition and
is backed up by the data. An athlete needs to know the
max speed that he/she can hit over and over again
based on how_it_feels.

I guess I get a bit of a kick out of people that think
they can determine their IM run time off a 5K PR.
(don't get me wrong, I use Daniel's charts as well for
training).

So you can ride this hard and run that hard in theory?
Great. Prove it. No speculating, just racing.

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

I've been out here in Grand Junction and I think I may
have stumbled upon a fairly ideal training spot for
triathletes. GJ and Fruita certainly have an
established reputation for their extensive mtn biking,
but I don't know if many folks appreciate this place
as a potential triathlon training ground.

There is plenty of climbing in and around the CO
national monument with steady, steep (but not dumb
steep) grades (and minimal traffic).

Lots of flat options in the farm lands for steady
state riding. Heads way out west to Utah.

Good weather with mild and drier winters. It is warm
in the summer, but the elevation (4600 ft) keeps it
under the century mark for most days in the summer
(and even then its pleasant in the mornings and
evenings)

Tons of trails for running and mtn biking. Flat dirt
road along the canal for steady state running on soft
surface.

Nice track at Lincoln Park.

Smaller population so its easy to get around town and
lots of bike lanes when you are in town.

Low(er) cost of living for Colorado, but growing
daily.

Numerous bike shops.

Local airport with flights to Denver, Phx, SLC, and
(now) LV so its easy to get to some major hubs for
traveling to races.

The swimming is mediocre IMO and is this place's
biggest (but not actually 'big') drawback. In the
summer they have a lovely 50m pool with Masters in the
a.m. (early), but no open swimming with the 50m setup
(switches to SCY). The rest of the year they have
options of a SCM and SCY pool, but they are kept a
little too warm (again, IMO) and lap hours are only
decent at best.

The second drawback would be local triathlon racing.
However, there is a fair amount of racing in Utah (and
the CO front range) to choose from.

Ok, I think the Chamber of Commerce should have to pay
me to continue so I'll stop there.

-jd

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