Various

I think Boulder is experiencing the Bizzaro (sp?) Winter. We had a pretty mellow February followed by a warm three weeks in March that allowed me to ride my bike almost anywhere. Then the days of winter returned with that 18" dump on the last week of March and now they are calling for 10-24 inches tomorrow. I want the moisture (droughts are much, much worse), but rain might be more welcomed at this point. For anyone racing the Haystack TT on Saturday... ...they said it would be a go if there wasn't snow on the road. Good Luck with that.

I went for a run this morning north of town on my usual secret route. I was chugging along doing my run/walk thing when I happened upon a few Kenyans that were out laying it down on this damp morning. I got a chuckle as I cut one my walk breaks short when I saw them round the corner. I proceeded to PB a 400 as they went by just so it looked like I was doing a long run at their pace (I still fell short). But I digress...

Mr AC has written a fantastic blog this week following his two week trip. Its funny because I was intending to ask him to write an article specifically aimed at the "science of recovery." In other words, what does it actually mean to recover. We might know what it feels like to be recovered, but most of us without Ex Phys degrees probably don't actually know the specifics of what happens in our bodies after we stress it repeatedly.

You can read the blog here. (But be polite and finish reading my blog first).

Recovery is a tricky thing. We all need it to improve, but where do you draw the line on when you want to push through fatigue instead of rest? To be honest, I'm always tinkering with that line. I am an experiment of one and I always want to know how much I can tolerate so that I can maximize my fitness. Unfortunately, I occassionally have to get more tired than I would like to know that I need to cut a bit out on the next round.

What I had not done enough of, until recent years, is proactively help my body recover. Its not enough to hammer away and then sit around and wait to bounce back. Ultimately, I was selling myself short on what I was capable of doing. What really got me working more effectively to promote recovery was moving to Boulder full time. I have been coming to Boulder (and altitude) since 2002, but I only moved here full time in the Spring of 2007.

I know that living at 5500 feet affects my recovery and the amount of work that I can do. Living at sea level seemed to allow me to be slightly more aggressive with my training, but doing the same here left me FLAT. This made me more conscious of how (and when) I placed my key sessions in a week and what would be required of me to bounce back. If I overdid a session, a day, or a week, I had to pay for it.

Learn how to listen to your body and then help it to recover quickly. I like playing Uno and throwing cards, but that's just me.

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I'm now part of the twittering world like many of you. If you follow along you can find out fun things like what I had for dinner or whether I got final jeopardy right that day (or both!).

www.twitter.com/justindaerr

-jd

EC Tucson Camp Recap

Here is how the week broke down for all of us in Tucson: Sunday: Campers arrive throughout the day. No organized training, but some folks snuck out for a run or spin before dinner.

Monday:

Half the camp woke up early to get in a swim before the day's ride. The other half organized themselves for a 7:45 a.m. roll out (the early swim group rolled at 9:00 a.m.). The Monday route was an out-and-back to Madera Canyon. It begins with a false flat on Mission Road for the first 50K, then meanders through Green Valley, AZ before turning towards the Madera Canyon Park. From there the ride begins to climb gradually for 7 miles before hitting a a steep 5K climb to the turnaround. Then you go back the same way you came.

I was not along for this ride as I had some work to do at the Camp HQ, but it seemed as though everyone had a good ride. I took a group of athletes, that rolled out at 7:45, to the pool for an easy 2-3K recovery swim in the late afternoon.

Tuesday:

Mt Lemmon Day. We all piled in the vans and drove across town to Udall Park for Day Two (Udall Park sits about 5-6 miles from the Mile ZERO marker of MT Lemmon). We had a neutral roll out to the base of the climb, regrouped for photos and drinks, and then embarked on an epic 21-mile climb topping out just over 8000 feet. The time to the top varied for each athlete, but everyone made their way up there (this is a serious climb whether you are from Colorado or the Gulf Coast flatlands).

From there the athletes descended back down to Udall park for a quick transition run. We had lunch in the park following the T run and then headed to Catalina pool for a 2-3K recovery swim.

Wednesday:

The last two days were clearly felt by everyone attending the camp. We purposely designed the camp to begin with two big days to allow folks to get a challenging overload early on. I think one of the greatest lessons learned with this combo is that nearly everyone looks back to day one and concludes that they might have ridden a little two hard. Its only natural to see this within a group setting where everyone is fresh/rested, highly motivated, and (mostly) unaware of each other's strengths.

At any rate;

We started today with an early morning swim at Archer Pool. My lane had a main set of 20 x 100 with varying pace changes (written for DiMarco). We finished up around 3.5K total then headed down for breakfast before our 9:30 roll out.

Wednesday offered two ride options: One of 40K and one of 40+ miles. The 40K route went up and over both side of Gates Pass (not exactly 'easy' but not long). The longer route went over the east side of Gates Pass, headed North on Sandoria Road, East on Twin Peaks, and South to our starting point on Silverbell Rd.

The 40-mile crew practiced some team time trialing tactics after summiting Gates Pass and regrouping on the west side. I divided the campers into two groups with a mixture of ability levels. The first group went off with a one-minute gap on the second group. The object here was to hold off Group 2 until the end of the road, but neither group was allowed to drop any of its members. This forces everyone to think and to use their stronger riders appropriately without overworking the less-powerful riders.

Afer regrouping we headed back to the Hotel at a friendly pace. Some folks opted for a run off the bike while others opted for a nap.

Thursday:

Today began early with a Sunrise run on the Star Pass trail on the west side of town. Most campers ran an easy 40-50 minutes before heading back to the Hotel for breakfast. Following breakfast we piled in the vans and headed to the Oro Valley Pool; North of Tucson. The campers were faced with a challenging swim set of:

5 x 500 (mixture of paddles and swimming) 4 x 400 descending 3 x 300 mix 2 x 200 (first easy, 2nd IM) 1 x 100 choice

5500 total

After the swim everyone had a quick lunch and got their bikes ready for the 50-mile trek home. This ride was primarily flat for the first 35 miles. It then moved to some rolling terrain before finishing with a summit over the west side of Gates Pass. The purpose of today is to give people a clear insight into how swim fatigue can affect your cycling ability (especially in the first hour).

Friday:

Today was the Long run day. We headed to the far east side of town to run on the Cactus Forest trail in the Saquaro East Park of Tucson. The route climbs gently for about 5.5 miles with some rolling terrain on the far end. Since this was a cycling-focused camp, most campers opted for running in the vicinity of 75-90 minutes with varying intensity levels depending on each person's ability level.

Following the swim we headed back to the Oro Valley pool for a 3K+ swim. Then it was back to hotel to rest up for the last day.

Saturday:

Today was the biggest, and most challenging, day of the entire camp. The route broke down as: 40-miles flat to false flat, 12 mile climb @ 8%, descend 12 miles, then ride the 40 miles back to the starting point.

We had a pretty significant headwind to start the day so most people worked together in two distinct groups to shield the wind and keep the pace rolling. Once we arrived at the base of the climb we refueled and went out on one of the best climbs in Arizona. Kitt Peak does not see heavy cycling volume because of its distance from town, but its definitely worth the journey from time to time. After summiting and descending we headed back at a very fast clip. We split 2:15 to the base of the climb on the way out and 1:34 on the return. What a difference the wind direction can make.

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We tried to arrange a week of training that challenged everyone in different ways each day. Most importantly, we hoped to provide a fun atmosphere that allowed everyone to simultaneously bump up their fitness levels as we head into the North American season.

Until next year,

jd

Back In Boulder

Just rolled in from the Tucson-to-Boulder drive. We had a GREAT camp this year: lots of fun campers and perfect desert weather conditions. I'll give a recap in the next 24 hours, but I need to get settled a bit here first. Thanks to Hotel Arizona, Wheels on Wheels, and Sherry Daerr for supporting us each day

Thanks the EC coaches: Gordo, Kevin, Alan, and Dr J.

Thanks to all the campers: Josh, Tony, Michelle, Chuck, Celina, David, Tatiana, Dan-O, Kevin, Tim, Flip, Laura, Richard, Larry, and Craig.

More later,

JD

Spring Crash Training

article crossposted from www.xtri.com... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last month I wrote an article outlining a fairly simplistic, moderate workout schedule for indoor cycling. It was motivated by the sight of snow falling outside my window and the realization that my training was fairly limited. Since then, the daylight hours have increased, daylight savings has added an hour of afternoon daylight in North America, and Boulder (and much of the U.S.) has been experiencing exceptionally warm temperatures. It appears as if it’s time to ride again.

March is a popular time for cycling/triathlon training camps. Folks are headed all over the country (and even world) in search of opportunities to grind out some miles and get the feeling of being fit again. However, in reality, you do not need a fancy location to ride lots; all you need is time. If you have time, you can put in the big miles right out of your front door.

Here are some tips to help you successfully insert a cycling overload into your plan.

First of all, don’t get overly concerned with the actual structure of each day aside from making a decision on what days are designed for recovery. If you are using one seven-day cycle (commonly referred to as a ‘week’) then I like to do: two days on, one day off; three days on, one day off. If you have more time to train I suggest using the 2/1 approach throughout the cycle. It might be tempting to do more, but you will keep the quality of your riding up by allowing periodic rest days.

Here in Boulder we have a nice mixture of flat terrain to the east and mountains to the west. When I do 2/1 cycles, I start with a flat steady-state ride on day one and follow it up with long extended climbs on day two. This allows the terrain to challenge me on day two (when I’m starting get tired) without having to think too much about it. However, you do not need to live near the mountains to have similar challenges. It just means that you will have to focus your efforts on day two so that you do not fall into aimlessly spinning out miles (what I call “touring” as opposed to “training”).

What about swimming and running?

I personally believe that you should maintain your normal frequency with both sports, but allow your volume and intensity to be focused on the bike. I tend to almost always swim and run before I do any riding so that I avoid skipping sessions because of late-day fatigue. I finish my easy frequency sessions first, then ride to my heart’s content for the rest of the day.

How much recovery do I need afterwards?

That is going to vary depending on what awaits you when you finish your training camp. If you have a lot of obligations following the training camp (particularly with work) then I would be very flexible for the entire week that follows. If you can be proactive with your recovery needs, then allowing 3-5 days should be sufficient. One of the reasons I suggest using the 2/1 cycle is to avoid extended recovery following the camp. You want this cycling overload to build you up; not break you down.

Now get out the door and ride.

Airline Fees

I recently compiled a list of airline fees for flying with bikes when I was sending an email out today. I thought I would repost here for anyone that doesn't regularly travel. UNITED AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 175.00 for bike case 125.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

AMERICAN AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 150.00 for bike case 50.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

NORTHWEST AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 175.00 for bike case 90.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

DELTA AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 175.00 for bike case 90.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 100.00 for bike case 100.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

US AIRWAYS

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 100.00 for bike case 50.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

FRONTIER AIRLINES

15.00 for first bag 25.00 for second bag 75.00 for bike case 75.00 (additional) for each bag over 50 lbs

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

no fee for first and second bag 50.00 for bike case 25.00 (additional) for bags weighing 50-70 lbs 50.00 (additional) for bags over 70 lbs

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If it seems like Southwest is substantially cheaper than everyone else, its because they are.

Happy travels,

jd

Weekend Recap

The Arnold Sports Festival has come and gone and it was quite an experience. I had yet to attend the Arnold for EAS in past years, but I made a point to be there this year. The Festival itself is a consumer show for nutrition/fitness/sport companies combined with Athletic events including Bodybuilding, Strongman, Gymnastics, Power lifting, MMA, UFC, etc. While it is a consumer show; I also see it as a trade show as all the big guns in the fitness/nutrition are launching and pushing new products. EAS was introducing an additional Myoplex lined called "Myoplex Strength" that has different ratio of carbs:protein. I was pretty happy to see this as I think its better suited for endurance recovery needs. In the past I have combined the normal Myoplex blend with Rice Milk, but it appears that won't be necessary any more.

The EAS expo itself was quite impressive. It was put on by the same company that manages my website: the o2 Group. They had a basketball court (half court) surrounded by bleachers on either side with jumbotrons bordering the celing all the way around. The MC from the Pro Beach Volley Ball tour was on hand to run the show and he kept the folks at the expo really into things.

EAS had JD (me), Mark Weir (MTN Bike), Jen Perez (triathlon), Brady Quinn (QB for Cleveland Browns), and Matt Hasselbeck (QB for Seattle Seahawks) on hand for appearances on each day of the event (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Dick Butkus was also there on Friday with his son promoting their project, I Play Clean ; a nonprofit organization promoting steroid-free youth athletics.

Each day we showed up and did an interview and Q+A with the crowd. Following that, we would do various competitions with members from the crowd that resulted in cash, schwag and product giveaways.

It was definitely a unique experience to interact with a different crowd and atmosphere like this. I'm happy to have been aligned with EAS for the past four years and its exciting to see their future on the endurance side of things (as well as their continued success otherwise).

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I'm now in Houston getting ready to speak to the Houston Triathlon Club. The evening will include a brief chat about my own training and racing, a chat about putting together a successful season, and an interactive session of Q+A for as long as people have questions.

Then its one more day of visiting some friends and family before heading home to Boulder on Wednesday morning.

cheers,

jd

Its been a slow crawl back on the training wagon, but I'm finally getting moving again. I got pushed out the door after getting a bike fit from the folks at Retul. They made some changes to my seat height and my right cleat and then asked that I go out on a few rides to see how it felt. Since I had done zero rides in up to that point it was a bit of a bold request. After going out on a few test rides I actually found myself training again (I had been swimming and running; just not riding) so I figured I'd just roll with it. I was very appreciative of the help the folks at Reul provided for me and I would suggest using their system for anyone that wants a formal fit.

Christmas Fit.

Joe Friel often uses this term when he speaks about athletes that are rocking the house in the offseason. Suggesting the need for an offseason (and a break from being fit) is pretty much the genereal consensus that most coaches/experts suggest (the length of time and structure might vary amongst those folks). However, after taking a pretty solid break (3 weeks OFF, five off the bike, and two more weeks very easy) I can see the temptation to stay fit. Nevertheless, the time off gave me the chance to catch up on a lot of things after being gone from home for ten weeks.

However, I'm going to have to leave again because of a couple things:

This coming weekend I will be attending the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio on behalf on EAS. I'm not exactly sure what I will be doing there just yet, but I'm looking forward to it at any rate.

After the weekend trip I will be in Houston, Texas speaking to the Houston Racing Triathlon Club on March 9th about how to put together an effective training program (as well as a really informal Q+A about anything that interests the folks attending). If you all happen to be in the area please stop by and check it out; its free.

You can get more info here.

All for now,

jd

Indoor training

It seems fitting to chat about indoor trainer workouts on a day like today. I am staring out at several inches of freshly fallen snow here in Boulder, Colorado and I doubt my bike will be leaving the living room today.

 

I grew up in South Texas so using a wind/fluid/compu trainer was not really part of my training protocol. I think the only winter gear I owned in college was a pair of arm warmers. I have since moved northwards to the hills of Colorado and adapting to a new winter climate has forced me to change the way I train. When I lived in warm winters, it was never a challenge to fit in a normal training load on the bike in February; so when I moved to Colorado several winters ago I was confused with how to handle my training.

 

Initially, I figured that I would just do what I normally did; just inside staring at the wall instead of outside in the sun. Well, that did not work out too well so I had to rewrite my training plan. I knew that the weather would turn favorable in March and April so I simply wanted to come up with a few sessions that help make the transition to normal training easier for me. After a trial and error period, I eventually settled on three weekly indoor sessions (none of them long) that I felt would accomplish this goal.

 

The first session I came up with is what I call the “One Minute” session. This session is fairly straight forward: I ride one minute repeats at a solid effort with 2-4 minutes of easy spinning in between. When I lived in warmer climates, I would ride along easily on my base rides, but there was always a hill, a traffic light, or some variable that forced short bouts of higher power output. When I just sat on a trainer spinning aimlessly, I felt that I was missing this fartlek training. I always build my effort throughout each repeat (and each workout) all while allowing myself as much recovery as needed. The first session I do usually includes 4-5 repeats with 4 minutes of recovery. Over 4-6 weeks, I build to 8-10 x 1 minute on 2 minute recoveries. (Note: I would advise against attempting a new one minute power PB each week. Do that in a bike race.)

 

The second session of the week is what I call the “Over Under.” This workout is found in nearly all of the indoor training plans I have seen (so we’re either all right or all wrong). It involves doing repeats with a gear that yields a cadence of 55-65 at a moderately hard intensity. I typically begin by doing 4 x 5 minutes of BIG gear work (typically 53 x 13-11 gearing) with 2 minutes of recovery in between intervals. I eventually build to doing 5 x 8 minutes (two minute recoveries) over the course of 4-6 weeks. That takes care of the “Under.” The “Over” component is accomplished at the end of the session when I ride continuously at a cadence of 100-110 in an easy gear for 10-20 minutes. With a session like this, I have trained ‘over’ and ‘under’ my comfortable cadence.

 

The final session of the week is the “90/30” session. You can do this session based on feel or with power (I use power). Heart rate is less relevant since the efforts are short(er). In this workout, I ride 90 seconds ‘on’ and 30 seconds ‘off’ continuously 4-6 times through, coupled by 3-5 minutes of easy spinning in between each 90/30 set. I repeat the 90/30 set 3-4 more times as I progress over 4-6 weeks. For the 90 seconds ‘on’ I typically start around 80-85% of the previous season’s FTP (Functional Threshold Power; or 40K power) and I gradually lift the power to FTP as fitness returns. This session allows me to accumulate a fair amount of time at (or near) FTP, but it does not involve a lot of time with a high heart rate.

 

When I first began to train through ‘real’ winters, I always feared that I was behind the rest of the triathlon world. However, what I have since found is that I begin to come on form at right time of year and I do not require a major midseason break like I used to. This time of year can cause a lot of anxiety because we all want to be fit, but patience and persistence will pay off nicely when it counts.

A week in the hills

The Swedes were way ahead of the X Games: 1996 That video still impresses me even by today's standards. These days the X Games builds Halfpipes with walls as high as that 1996 Quarter in Sweden. Nevertheless, watching Ingemar hit that after a snowmobile tow was pretty fantastic. It was on the cover of every snowboard mag at the time (we didn't have youtube and the net was young) and it set a new standard for going big.

Terje hit a quarter in Norway some years later that was huge:

terje going off

That's about all I have for today.

jd

Offseason....

Most folks are beginning to start thinking about this season. I, on the other hand, have shut everything down for the time being. I'm currently in the third (of 3) week of my offseason. One primary difference from this offseason to year's past is the complete absence of exercise. I have done little more than walk over the last 17 days or so. I wanted to allow my body a good break after making it run through 3 Ironmans in 21 weeks. I actually finished the last race without feeling mentally taxed, but I won't be racing until the summer. "You have to rest some time." I have not committed to any races for this coming season just yet. If I can avoid the hiccups of last May and June then I should appear in more events than 2008. In the short term, I'm focused on directing a training camp for long course triathletes in late March/early April. We have a couple slots still open so if you want to jump start your fitness this Spring then check out the link below:

Tucson Camp

I'm headed to the mountains this week for a couple different reasons and when I get back I might just go for a jog.

Until then,

jd

Challenge Wanaka

Friends, I decided to take a break from the North American winter this year and headed down to Australia (for training) and New Zealand (for racing). This past weekend I took part in Challenge Wanaka (3.8K/180K/42.2K) located in the Alpine region on the South Island of New Zealand. Its an amazing place to host an event with snow capped mountains surrounding you in every direction.

The night before the race had all of us a bit concerned as it began to rain around 8:00 pm. That rained continued all night long and had still not let up by the time we woke up in the morning. Nevertheless, it had begun to back off a bit and by the time the race actually started the rain had been reduced to a light sprinkle.

I hopped in the water about 20 minutes before the start to warm up and the conditions were ideal with flat water. Then, amazingly enough, in that 20 minutes the wind began to pick up and we actually had a pretty good chop when the gun went off. After 15 minutes of swimming there were two distinct packs (me in the second one) working together in fairly rough swim conditions. I was bummed that I missed the split, but I could see my buddy (and eventual winner) Chris McDonald in the group so I knew I would be in good company at the start of the bike.

Everything was going smoothly until about the 3K mark when my swim cap popped off. This might not be a big deal under normal circumstances, but I am currently sporting a bit of a Florence Henderson haircut so sighting became rather difficult. It was about the equivalent of trying to swim with a mop on your head. I exited the water about 30 seconds down from the group, but I hoped to hustle through T1 and catch up. Unfortunately, I did the opposite, and actually let the gap get bigger as I struggled to put on a little extra clothing in the change tent.

I got out onto bike course and was pretty frustrated that I had stumbled so much in the previous five minutes. The bike course begins with a short out-and-back so I could see everyone up the road and I knew that the gap in front of me would be hard to close if they got organized. As we passed back through town and out onto the core of the bike course I got a split of 2:30 to the front group. I started to find a rhythm and was trying to ride a solid tempo in hopes of simply neutralizing the gap.

To my surprise, the gap had come down to about 90 seconds at 60K and by 85K I had actually closed to Luke and Keegan. Unfortunately, Chris and Petr had ridden up the road so I was forced to continue to chase. I finally made contact with Chris and Petr at 120K and soon Chris and I rode off the front. We rode together until about 160K when I had a bit of a bad patch. Unfortunately my bad patch was coupled by Chris having a good patch and he put about 90+ seconds into me coming into T2.

I hustled out of T2 and hoped to try and close the gap before the midway point of the run. I found a nice rhythm, but it seemed Chris had found a better one as he put two minutes into me at the end of lap one (of 2). I kept pressing on in hopes that things might change, but as I neared the 30K mark of the run I could feel the effects of my efforts on the day. I was still holding it together to my best abilities, but it was not enough to hold off Keegan and Petr who both passed in the final 10K of the race. I did hold to finish in fourth place and I also set a new bike course record as a result of chasing everyone all day long.

My decision to race in New Zealand this year was a great one. My first Challenge race was a fantastic experience and I hope to race here again.

Now I’ll be heading home to take a bit of break before starting all over again.

Cheers,

jd JustinDaerr.com

www.eas.com www.javbike.com www.trainingbible.com www.fuelbelt.com www.endurancecorner.com/services/tucson_camp

Wanaka

We made it to Wanaka. It took all of yesterday to do so, but we made it. We flew into Christchurch and drove another 5 hours to Wanaka; arriving at 10:30 at night. Fortunately the drive was quite beautiful and I got to see a new part of the world (one I have always wanted to see). It looks like a great setting for a race with mountains all around and a street lined with pubs hosting the run course. The race begins at 7:00 am. on Saturday which is 1:00 p.m. EST (USA) on Friday, January 16th.

You can see periodic updates at:

www.challenge-wanaka.com

Please follow along in a few days time as I race in NZ for the first time.

Talk to you afterwards,

j

The Spirit of Competition

Well I tried to upload a photo of Blake, Chris and I from New Years, but the internet thinks that its a better idea to shut my computer down when I try to do that. Soooooooooo, that will have to wait for another day. I have trained many, many miles with Chris and Blake; though this is the first time where I have trained extensively with both of them at the same time. I know there have been a lot of successful hermits in our sport, but it would be hard to imagine training more effectively without the presence of these guys (and the buddies I train with back in Boulder). Surrounding yourself with people that are dedicated to improvement, but still know how to laugh, is pretty crucial to my own progression (and sanity).

The best training partners are competitive at heart, but not in training. However, that competitive nature can come out in other ways. BB, C and I don't race each other in training, but every other moment involves competition.

It started with the hacky sack. We tried to see who could get the longest rally of hits going.

Then it moved to a Beer Mile around the Xmas holidays. I lost. Chris outsprinted BB for the win.

Then it was a long driver contest on the golf course. (I don't play golf, but somehow I rose to the occassion).

Then it came to who could throw the most playing cards into a hat. I hold the record the most head-to-head victories, but Blake holds the record for most cards in one game (16 from a 52-card deck; pretty good IMO).

Then Uno. God Bless the game of Uno. I don't think I've heard more #%@$ talking than with a game of Uno in this household.

The final competition came by us playing head-to-head solitaire on laptop computers. This involves hitting the "deal now" tab at the same moment and then playing to see who can win first. Its not really a great competition since all three players have to be winning three separate games on three separate computers at the same time for it to be a "race," but its fun to try.

until later,

jd

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone. Its best been a memorable Christmas for me down in Australia. I grew up in Houston, Texas so I'm accustomed to having warm weather around the holidays, but 95 and sunny was a new one for me. The McDonald family welcomed several of us into ther home for the holiday and I was very grateful for the invitation. I definiltely like the idea of wearing flip flops and hitting golf balls on Christmas afternoon. That's pretty much the exact opposite of last year when we spent the afternoon building a snowman in Crested Butte on Christmas day. The day after Christmas brought Boxing Day and Marilyn had arranged for a group of us to ride out about 110K to the town of Mt Beauty. From Mt Beauty we had a 30K climb to the town of Falls Creek followed by the descent into town and a picnic lunch at the park.

The gang was pretty groggy from all the festive Christmas cheer, but we still managed to get out of bed on time to make the rollout. The pace to the base of the climb was mellow and social (this was to be a good thing) and soon enough we were in Mt Beauty. Most of the crew stopped for a good helping of snacks, but I opted to keep things light since I wanted to TT the climb.

We got rolling again and I pretty much started to drill to it for the next 30K of the ride. The climb had some breaks in the first 15K, but the last 15K was a constant grade and it even kicked up a bit for the final 5K. I was starting to get a little foggy in the final 15 minutes, but I was committed to the TT so I kept pressing until I reached the summit parking lot.

One of my favorite things to do is TT climbs (both riding and running) and this was definitely a beautiful and challenging one. Its nice to take a break from Colorado and actually have some air to breathe while climbing.

So all that was pretty tiring, but we all decided that we needed to get more tired so on the 27th (next day) we headed to a small town about 110K away from Albury to do the Lake Bannella Triathlon. Its a unique event simply based on the fact that it begins at 5:00 p.m.

Having to start so late in the day was a bit of a challenge for me as I'm more of a 8-5 type of guy when it comes to training, but I managed to get my head in gear around 4:59. I had a couple days out of the pool prior to the race so going hard for 750 meters was tolerable.

Hopping out onto the 20K bike? Man my quads were burning. Fortunately Blake passed me early on and I was able to key off him even though he was slowly putting a couple secs/K on me the whole way. The run that followed didn't feel any better, but I kept it together enough to finish just under a minute behind Blake. I don't get to race like this very often and I had a great time doing so.

We had dinner at a local pub and eventually made our way home around 10:00 p.m. that night. It was nice to have a break from waking up at 3:00 a.m. to do a race.

Now I think its probably time for a rest day as I've managed to stack a lot of stress on myself over the last week.

Until later,

jd