Magnolia Road

There are plenty of famous training routes in Boulder, but the one that I appreciate the most is Magnolia Road. "Mags" was probably always famous to some, but it received a lot of attention (on my end at least) after Chris Lear wrote Running with the Buffaloes. Lear documented the University of Colorado's Sunday long runs up and down Magnolia Road. Magnolia starts as a paved road rising above Boulder Canyon, but 4.5 miles up it turns from pavement to dirt and continues for another 7.5 miles to the Peak-to-Peak Highway above Nederland, Colorado. From there you can cross the highway and run another 3K to the the turnaround, but most folks choose to turn around once they reach the Peak-to-Peak highway.

The topography of the run is quite challenging. You begin atop a hill at 8200 feet before descending down to 8000 feet (the lowest point of the run). From there you stair step up to 8700 feet to the highway. If you run from the start of the dirt to the highway and back you will have run 15 miles with 1200 feet of ascending and descending; all of which will be above 8000 feet.

I first started running Magnolia Road in 2005 when I came to Boulder and it became a weekly staple throughout the summer. I often get a strong sense of "supposed to" when I go up there.

Huh?

There are times when I train when I feel as though I am doing exactly what I am "supposed to" be doing to improve. Mags is one of those sessions that only requires that you show up. From there the road will give you the stimulus you need. Should you decide to go out too hard it will send you home humbled, but if you complete it you will ultimately become a fitter athlete.

I have never considered myself to be overly obsessed with data, but I have every split from every run on Magnolia recorded in my log. Yesterday I ran Magnolia for the first time this season and PRed the session by more than three minutes. More importantly, I did it by 'just running' and not by hammering. The splits are only relevant when you have a lot of data to go by (because of the climbing and elevation), but after four years the splits are actually starting to resemble ones from a 'real' run. Hopefully we can expect to see more where that came from as the weeks roll by towards Ironman Canada.

Summer is almost here,

jd

Early Recruitment

This past Friday I ventured to an elementary school in Louisville (right outside of Boulder) to speak to a group of fourth graders about triathlon and health. I was not sure how interested 10 year olds would be in triathlon, but they were very engaging and, honestly, insightful. When I asked them to help me list off a number of factors that contribute to success in sport and life they left me with littles else to add. Their understanding of hard work, nutrition, and health seemed well beyond my own understandings at their age ( and I considered myself to be more conscientious than most as their age). I tried to keep my presentation educational, but more importantly, fun. I was secretly trying to recruit a couple athletes, but I didn't want to come across as pushy!

I mention recruiting because my house recently added a new resident, Australian Triathlete Joe Gambles. Joe is a 26 year old professional from Tasmania who is stateside for six months to race in North America. When he arrived we spent some time asking questions about each other; sports and otherwise. We are still in the process of getting to know one another, but he did tell me a bit about his background (read his website for more info from the link above).

One fact I will pull from his bio is that he raced his first professional race at 16.  I might be one year older than him in human years, but his athletic lifespan makes me look like a little pup. I spent my teen years getting to know Mr. Marlboro.

At any rate, his athletic lifestyle has not deterred his motivation and its pretty exciting to see that someone who has been racing for more than half their life is ready to tackle his training (he puts in 30 hours while working in AUS) and racing. Sport is the life he knows. I'm sure he will continue to do well and hopefully I can learn some things from him while he lives across the hall.

Back to the kiddos...

My hope, current and long term, is to grow the participation of triathlon with America's youth. I'd like to see 26 year old Americans mention that they have been racing for ten years (and still love the sport).

Check back in 30 years and see how that is coming along.

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The Jouney of JD Part Two is now live on Xtri here.

Its May 13th and its snowing in Boulder.

jd

New Website

If you have ever been to this website before, you probably have noticed a few changes since the last time you logged on. The folks at the o2 Group out of Golden, Co are responsible for all the changes. If you have any web needs I would get in contact with them. You will not be disappointed. I know its been a long time since I wrote the first installment of "The Journey of JD" and I apologize for not getting out the second installment in a timely fashion. I got caught up with all of our training camps in March/April and neglected any writing assignments I had given myself.  I received a lot of postive feedback from the first artcile and I promise to have it finished this week. You can probably expect to see it by Wednesday or Thursday on Xtri.

More later,

JD

Tucson Camp Wrap Up

The second Endurance Corner Tucson Camp has come and gone and I felt it was a great success. We had a wide range of abilities at the camp, but everybody stepped up and made it happen for themselves. All of the athletes extended themselves, but none of them buried themselves. Perfect.

A quick recap of the days since last post:

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Wednesday: Oro Valley Day

Athletes ran in the morning and were then transported to the Oro Valley Pool where they were given the swim set of:

5 x 500
4 x 400
3 x 300
2 x 200
1 x 100

Gordo cracked the whip on me and made me swim:
400 easy
60 x 100 on a 1:30,25,20,15 pattern
200 easy
200 IM
200 easy

Both sets proved to be challenging, but achievable. Once again, we had several athletes say that this was the longest swim of their lives so far. Pretty cool to see what people are capable of in a group atmosphere.

After swimming the crew had lunch in the park and then headed out for a solid 50 mile ride back home which finished with a summit over the east side of Gates Pass.

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Thursday was the key run day of the week. This camp is primarily focused on cycling and swimming since we feel those are safe ways to overload yourself aerobically, but we still believe in maintaining a long run (even if shortened).

We headed out to the east side of town to run the Cactus Forrest Trail; a rolling trail with great views on either side. Most of the folks opted for one loop of11 miles, but several logged 2:30+ out there in the morning sun.

After running we had a shake out swim and then an afternoon off to regroup.

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Friday was an easier day for the campers aside from the morning swim. I'm pretty sure we doubled the lifetime volume of butterfly for several of the campers.

After finishing the day's workout the camp decided it would be a good idea to race Gordo and I (I had a 10 sec head start) in a 400 IM where they each served a 50 yard leg (8 x 50) on two teams. Given the fact that I have never done a 400 IM I tapered for the event by showing up late and only warming up for 500 yards. The campers put together a strong team and beat us both. Good on them.

This particular moment of the camp made me very happy. When you see everyone get excited over friendly competition it really brings you back to the core of sport. Its a "race you to the flagpole" type of moment. Quite special.

The campers rode and ran easily after swimming and then lounged for the afternoon. Before dinner we had the pleasure of listening to a presentation by Robbie Ventura about time trialing, triathlon, cycling, pro racing, announcing for Versus (formerly OLN), and many, many other things.

Robbie is a true professional; from his time as a pro bike racer to his time now as a coach and founder of Vision Quest Coaching in the Chicago area. I want to publicly thank him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to head down to the EC Camp to present and train a little (he is racing Ironman Canada). Thanks Robbie!

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Saturday: Kitt Peak Day.

Big Day. 20 miles flat; 20 miles false flat; 12.1 mile climb @7-8%, descend, 40 miles home the same way with less than favorable winds.

The day opened up with a solid handful of flats along the Ajo highway, but Mat and I were keeping up with everyone and swapping out wheels as fast as we could. Things kept rolling and soon enough the campers were approaching the base of the climb. Robbie was leading a solid group of athletes with Gordo soling a few minutes back. It had the excitement of a bike race and everyone was quickly filling bottles at the aid station in order to hold their gap.

Things became much tighter at the top, but Robbie showed everyone a thing or two with a MONSTER descent. Then it became a chase to catch Robbie with a group trailing behind. Unfotunately a flat ended his attack, but I know everyone had a lot of fun working to make up ground.

The second group of riders summited successfully and then regrouped at the bottom for the return trip. From there they worked together in style cruising home in a pack along the Ajo Highway

A big day and a successful day for all.

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I am going to send out a second public thank you to all the campers, coaches, and the amazing support crew for helping us make this such a special camp.

We are working to finalize dates for next year and we will be adding a second camp in a different location which we will announce in the near future.

I hope familiar and new faces can make the venture next year. We all had a fantastic time.

Until next year.

Thanks,

JD

Endurance Corner Tucson Camp #2

Endurance Corner is back in the desert Southwest helping another group of athletes "live the dream." Its the morning of Day Four of the EC Tucson Camp and everyone has excelled when given their challenges on Days 1-3. Once again, we have the privilege to work with competent, driven athletes that understand the 'work' component of success. No one here wants a shortcut.

Day One was the same as the last round for those following along. The route headed South to Madera Canyon and back. It essentially breaks down into 60K of flat(ter) riding, 7 miles of gradual climbing, and 3 miles of rock star, rough road, steep grade climbing to 5400 feet. Then you turn around and do everything in reverse order. In our case, the final 60K also included a tailwind so everyone rocked it back home (Ryan more than anyone). After riding most athletes headed to the pool for shake out swim before hitting dinner at the Endurance Corner Headquarter (ECHQ).

Day Two started early with a swim at Archer Pool at 6:00 a.m. (Jonas would not have approved of such an early time). The main set of the day was:

500, 5 x 100
400, 4 x 100
300, 3 x 100
200, 2 x 100
100, 1 x 100

Gordo saw my swim time at Playtri and said "enough of that young man" and slapped a 1:15 base on the distance intervals and 1:20 on the 100s and told me to get to work. I made it.

After swimming the group had breakfast and headed (in a car) across town to Udall Park to get ready for a ride up Mt Lemmon. We all rolled out together and had a mandatory regroup at the Mile 0 Marker of Mt Lemmon Hwy. Everyone proceeded to get their mojo together and then attacked the 21 mile climb summiting at 8000 feet. All the campers summited with style and returned down to Udall park for a quick transition run (in this case, quick also means "fast" as some folks were definitely getting after it). After regrouping we headed back to the mainland of Tucson for another stellar dinner at the ECHQ.

Day three served as a regroup day for some; a shorter day for others. The crew headed to the pool for another early swim and then it was back to the hotel for a 9:00 a.m. rollout. About half the folks headed out on a 40 mile route which included several handicapped 'races' along the way. Our group took a mellow venture up and over Gates Pass, returning via Ajo and Mission road. The afternoon was a bit of a lounge fest at the ECHQ, but everyone still got out for a pre-dinner run.

Today we are headed to Oro Valley for a BIG swim (the 'biggest' in the case of some). It looks like its going to be another stellar day here with plenty of sunshine for everybody (KP would approve).

Until then,

JD

Playtri Race Report

Friends,

Many of you have not heard from me in quite some time as I have been off the racing radar for over five months. My offseason passed nicely and I have been building into the season ever since the new year in January. This past weekend provided my first opportunity to get a glimpse of my race form. Ahmed Zaher and his crew at Playtri (www.playtri.com) put together a great Half Ironman last year so I felt it would be a good choice again for an early season marker.

The race takes place in Irving, Texas on an urban circuit very closely situated to the Golf Course used in the Byron Nelson PGA event. Race morning was clear and cool, but the wind was already starting to pick up. Last year's event was no stranger to wind and I expected little else this year. It is simply too hard to avoid on the Northern Plains of Texas.

The swim start was too quick for me to latch on to any feet and I ended up cruising along solo for the most part. I definitely lacked the 'hurry up' for the swim start and found myself FIVE minutes down on Brandon Marsh and James Cotter who exited in just over 22 minutes. I knew Marsh was a great swimmer, but thatwas a bit ridiculous of me to give up time like that.

Nevertheless, I thought I could work to chip away at their lead and after that you never know what could happen. The course suited me well with more technical turns and lots of wind so I did my best to take as much time out of the leaders as I possibly could. Around mile 40 I got a split of just over two minutes and so I kept things rolling.

I managed to come off the bike around 2:30 down on Marsh and Cotter, but considering their run skills I was not holding my breath on a comeback. I settled into my own tempo and made sure I was running quickly enough to hold off a fast-paced Brent Poulsen. I held my position running a 1:21:31 and finished up in4:07:xx.

I was satisfied with my day and my effort. I am glad I had the chance to go up against some quicker guys as it gives me a better understanding of where I stand at this point in the season.

Until next time,

JD

Racin'

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I'm pretty sure I picked one of the better weekends to leave Boulder.

I'm headed down to Texas this evening to race the Playtri Half Ironman on Sunday in Irving. I'll be speaking at the expo around 3:00 on Saturday if you happen to be around. It should be a fairly informal session so if you want to come by and chat please do so.

Off to the races,

JD

Still snowing

My folks came from Crested Butte to visit me this past weekend and they told me that Crested Butte had received 399 inches of snow as of last Friday. I just checked the onthesnow.com report and CB received 8 inches yesterday; bumping them over the 400 mark.

Apparently even the hardcore of the hardcore are priming for summer and have had enough of this winter.

Its amazing how there can be such discrepancies from season to season. Last year the resort barely had enough coverage to make to closing ski weekend and this year they could keep it rolling to Memorial Day from the looks of things.

Its snowing in Boulder today as well. That is somehwhat annoying, but fortunately I will be racing in Texas this weekend (www.playtri.com) so my training will be on the lighter side. I'm looking to get a good snapshot of my fitness this weekend so I'll be incorporating plenty of rest and recovery all week long. I am probably going to need it after my three day crash course in (hard) training over the weekend. Sometimes I need a strong push to get my body and mind ready for the demands of racing again. I've been on the sidelines for almost six months so my race readiness might not be in line with my actual fitness. I guess we'll see.

More in a couple days,

JD

Tucson Camp and April

I apologize for a lack of correspondence via blogging for the second half of the Endurance Corner Tucson Camp. I was busy making sure everyone was logging 30+ hour weeks and recovering well. I am confident that everyone got a nice overload from the training camp and can go back to their respective areas of the country with a slighlty higher level of fitness and a recharged passion for training and racing. It cannot be easy for some to go from sunny Arizona back to winter (I drove through snow coming into Boulder yesterday afternoon), but maybe spring will be just around the corner and the training can step up a notch.

Now that the first (of two) camp has passed I have had a little bit of time to reflect upon the athletes, the camp, AZ, etc.

I think the athletes that attended the camp probably do not give themselves nearly enough credit. The speed of the athletes encompassed a rather wide range, but the fitness to maintain their speed was a constant among them all. As Mat and I sagged the final ride (100+ mile Kitt Peak ride; including the summit) we mentioned that everyone finished, not only the day's workout, but the entire week, strong. It can be a dauntly task to ask an athlete who is accustomed to low double digit weekly volume to knock out 30-40 hours of training, but they all rose to the occassion.

One of the catalysts behind the execution of said volume was the cooking support that we had. More than half the campers mentioned to Brooke and Russ that they had "never eaten so healthy before." Its amazing what you can do with your body when it is properly nourished and its unfortunate that so many of us can overlook this. I think many folks see food and exercise as cancelling one another out ("exercise to eat"), but as athletes we need to keep a better perspective. Quality nutrition nourishes and fuels us for the demands we repeatedly place upon ourselves. Investing in better food choices in an investment in yourself (in life and athletics).

Additionally, it shouldn't be assumed that healthy food cannot be tasty as well. B+R assured us all of that!

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April is finally here and hopefully so is the wamer weather. I'll be kicking off the season in less that two weeks at the Playtri Half Ironman in Irving, Texas (April 13). I raced this race last year and finished second to Todd Gerlach of Austin, Texas. I found it to be an exciting early season race so I'll be returning for another round. I hope to see some of you there.

All the best,

JD

EC Tucson Camp Day Three

Day three of the Camp was meant to be a bit of a regroup day; at least in terms of cycling mileage.

The day kicked off for most folks with a morning swim main set of

500, 5 x 100
400, 4 x 100
300, 3 x 100
200, 2 x 100
100, 100

After knocking out the swim everyone headed back for another stelllar breakfast before rolling out for the day's ride. One group opted for a mellow 30 miles and a second group went for slightly more miles at a good clip. Mat, Gordo, and I headed up the longer route and Mat reminded all of us (again) that he responds quite well to altitude (as he put in big pulls down here in AZ). I was rolling along second in line telling Gordo that we should probably nickname him "The Responder" given the way he rides down low.

After finishing up Mat, Jonas, and I went for a quick easy swim since we (minus Jonas) missed out on the morning fun. Jonas offered up a nice mellow drill/swim set and followed up with some stroke pointers for both of us.

After swimming we headed up to the EC HQ to run a nice easy 10K on some local trails. The scenery in the Saquaro West Park is really beautiful at this time of year and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The abundant moisture in the spring has left areas green that might not be otherwise.

Day Three closed out as every day does: Eating and Socializing. The conversations lasted a little longer than the previous two nights since most folks expended a little less energy throughout the day. Dr J headed up an informal discussion on bike fits and plenty of people we able to add valuable insight or offer questions.

Day Four is meant to be a balanced mixture of training with an emphasis on swimming. Some of the athletes might be heading into one of their biggest swim sessions of their season (or life??).

Until tomorrow,

jd

Endurance Corner Tucson Camp Day 1 and 2

The EC crew is hosting the first of two training camps here in Tucson, Arizona. Even though I lived in Phoenix for two springs ('04 and '05) I have never trained in Tucson (which is a much higher profile training spot). Yesterday was the second day of the camp and it included a summit up Mt Lemmon (21 miles and 6000+ feet of elevation gain). I had always heard about this ride, but (as mentioned) I had never done it.

I learned a couple things on that ride yesterday:

1. It takes a long time to climb Mt Lemmon.

2. Early season climbs over 20 minutes are quite tiring no matter how long I have been doing this.

I think all the campers (encompassing a wide range of abilities) felt a great deal of satisfaction after reaching the 8000 foot summit. I don't care who you are; 6000 feet of continuous climbing is challenging and should not be taken lightly. All the athletes reached the summit at ease and then cruised down the mountain to finish off with a short run off the bike.

As we transitioned to a run in Udall park we came across Bobby McGee (World Famous Olympic Running Coach) who was going through his famous drills with the Resident Triathlon Team (here on a training camp). Nice to see a cross section of athletes and lifestyles in one place. You know what they say about great minds....

After finishing their runs the athletes regrouped and headed up Star pass to the EC HQ for another one of Brooke and Russ' famous dinners. No one left hungry and everyone left happy (its close to the slogan: "Come Hungry; Leave Happy."

Today is a regroup day (for some) that includes an early morning swim; a moderate ride; and a midday run that ranges from short to long (10K to 10 miles)

More updates tomorow. I'll get some pictures posted as well,

JD

A to B

A lot is going on in JD's little world and so this blog will have to be short. We are finalizing all the preps for next week's Arizona camp and so any downtime I actually have is spent SBRing instead of writing down my thoughts for the week.

I only want to mention one quick point about a conversation I had this week. A buddy and I were talking about how different people approach training, particularly those who are either 'all in' or 'all out.' This is not limited just to training hours, but to diet, alcohol, sleep, etc. For many, if they cannot do things "right" they choose to not do them at all.

I have continuously seen this with Long Course triathletes who believe that anything that isn't long, hard or stressful is not worth their time. They would just as soon 'take a zero' instead of logging 30 minutes of exercise that day. To them, triathlon cannot exist without the above.

I don't necessarily have these same issues. Part of that is a result of being in the sport for over seven years and knowing that any and all adaptations take a (very) long time. The second reason, and the one I want to expand upon a bit, is that I always see myself progressing forward; only the speed at which it is happening is what changes.

Lets make this visual. Take a line with two points. At one end is Point 'A,' at the other end is Point 'B.' Point A represents the first day you ever set out to improve as a triathlete and Point B is the best you could ever become.

A-------------------------------------------------B

In my mind I am always traveling from left to right. If I need a day off or when I go into the offseason I do not see myself as moving back towards the left; I merely stay at the same point on my path to B. I think this perspective allows me the flexibility to listen to my recovery needs better than others as well as maintaining a mentality that every session counts not matter how little the impact.

Don't let the complexity of life get in the way of your path. Keep things rolling and exploit the moments when you can speed things up a bit.

See you in AZ,

jd

Xtri Article

You can read my latest article on xtri here.

jd

Kristy Gough

Kristy Gough was tragically killed this past weekend on a training ride in Northern California. You can read the specifics on xtri.com here: http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=4538&CAT=24&xref=xx

The photo above was taken in 2004 in Kona, Hawaii; probably 2.5 weeks before Kristy went on to be the Top Female Amateur in Kona. I met her at Epic Kona that year and trained with her (and others) for the three weeks preceding the race. I have not seen her since those three weeks, but I still remember her well. I remember her personality and character more than her athleticism, which is a great sign considering how accomplished she was athletically.

Rest in Peace Kristy.

JD

Solvang Day Five and Epilogue

I'm back in Boulder on this Tuesday morning, but I still never recapped the final day of the camp before leaving Southern California. It was a day (and camp) to remember.

The final day was scheduled to be a handicapped race that included the entire camp; both coaches and campers (65 folks). The A,B,C and D groups were divided even further so that we had a D1 and D2 group, C1 and C2, etc. This amounted to 8 groups rolling out across a 16 minute window. Mark P, Gordo, Mat, Gardie, Riley, Stan, and I were in the final group.

The entire camp had a neutral rollout for about 25 miles to the starting point for the race. The race course was a 28 mile out-and-back that had three climbs in either direction (six total) mixed with flats and wind (turnaround was at the Pacific Ocean).

All groups were divided by two minutes except for the two A groups that only had one minute between them. The first A group had Robbie Ventura, Captain Morgan (aka Strong Rob), and Brian Hass so it was hardly 'slower' than our group; it mostly depended on who was going to be doing the work.

Our group started out like the race was going to last about 28 seconds, and not 28 miles. The pace was fast and hard and it took a few minutes for us to calm each other down. Fortunately we hit a climb and the speed settled and our pace did as well.

Except for Gordo.

He started to slowly pull away and we were rather confused as to why he was riding up the road. Soon enough we realized that he was using the first climb to bridge to the first A group before they started descending. He managed to do so and it was a pretty clever move. Once our group ascended the summut we started bombing down the descent to try and take time out of A1. Unfortunately we must have been going too quickly because Mat was out in a tigh switchback (pic afterwards above) and we lost him.

We lost a bit of the wind in our sails at this point and we slowed up to make sure he was alright. We got word that he stood right up and was going to be ok so we regrouped and pushed on. From there we pushed the pace to the turnaround where another crash had dissolved Gordo's group and he was forced to ride solo. G mananed to link up with Jason Shizzler so he had one other rider to work with to the finish line. At this point we had four folks left: Mark P, Gardie, Riley, and myself, but we still had a good gap to make up and not many miles to do it.

It was really fun to see the team dynamics over the next 14 miles. We stayed together on the climbs to make sure we all summitted together and then Riley and Mark P would push the pace in the flats and downhills. This pattern was bringing us closer and closer to the two riders up the road. Gordo had no choice but to do all the pulling at this point so Shizzler was in a great position to be first to the line.

With 2K to go we were getting closer and with less than 500 meters to go our group caught Jason and Gordo and Gardie sent Riley up the road to duke it out for the finish. Riley was out-sprinted by Jason, but I think we all felt a great deal of satisfaction to have done everything we could to be in it in the end. I think all of us (except maybe Gardie) had moments where we felt we could no longer contribute, but we held each other together all the way to the finish.

The photo above Mat is the four of us after this finish. Nice country in the background, huh?

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The Vision Quest Camp in Solvang was a fantastic experience. I learned a lot about myself and about how a camp and its dynamics can bring so much out of its participants. Regardless of ability, everyone had moments in the week where they reached into their reserve and pushed the ceilings the place on themselves a little furhter into the sky. I am pretty certain that Mat is going to come back to Boulder with more confidence in his riding and ability. I don't know every cyclist at the camp, but I know that he stepped it up like few I have ever seen.

Another component of the camp that will stick with me many years into the future was the presence of a guy named Gardoe Jackson. Gardie is a functional strength trainer out of Park City, Utah who is also a Cat 1 cyclist and one of the top 50 cross country skiers in the country.

He is also 40 years old and was easily the strongest amigo at the camp.

His athleticism was impressive, but his positive attitude and impact on others is what is going to last with me. Instead of internalizing his strengths, he spread it out to everyone around him and the entire camp became stronger, smarter, and more positive. I hope I can do the same for others one day when given similar oppurtunities.

Thanks to all the support and coaches in Solcang. I hope to hang with the VQ crew again in the years to come.

cheers,

jd