Cross Training - Winter Edition

Cold Creek Trail, Snoqualmie Pass, WAThis past weekend I took "cross training" to the next level:  cross-country skiing!  The kids were at a birthday party all morning so I had some time to myself. With all the cold temps and rain/snow falling in the area a trip to the mountains seemed a better alternative to biking/riding.

I used to enjoy nordic skiing several years ago. As I drove up to the pass I kept having to go back further and further in my memory to find the last time I actually strapped on a pair of skis and hit the trails. Turns out it was 1996, a little further back than I anticipated, and it showed (more on that in a minute).

The drive up was uneventful except that the sun I was expecting turned out to be overcast skies. That turned to light snow flurries near the pass and moderate snowfall within a few hours.

The Nordic Center at Snoqualmie Pass is a great place to try out cross-country skiing. Within 10 minutes of arriving I was strapping on my rented skis and off on the beginner/training loops next the lodge. What a great place to "get my legs under me" and remember my technique. It took me close to an hour to be comfortable enough to venture out on the trails. As it turns out I should have spent that hour on the trail. The Cold Creek Trail (AKA USFS Road 9070), which starts just west of the Summit East lodge, is very much a "green" beginners trail or, as I'm sure the more experience skiers call it, a warm up trail. I could have easily gone straight to the trail and started there instead of the green loops.

Once I did make my way up there on the Cold Creek trail Self-portrait on the Cold Creek TrailI was greeted by wonderful views of Snoqualmie Pass and Keechelus Lake. The snow conditions were perfect for skate-style skiing and the temps were tolerable (20-25F). I was in seventh-heaven. The groomed trail made it so easy to move along even with my sloppy strides. The other people on the trail greeted me at every turn with smiles and a cheerful hello, expecially the long line of young kids out for a XC class.

...except for the fact that my lack of off-season training really started to show after the first 90 minutes. Looking at my GPS profile for the day the data doesn't lie: within just a few minutes on the flat course my heart rate was up above 170 BPM and stayed between 150-165 for most of the day. After only 2 miles on the trail it was obvious that I needed to turn around. The entire loop around Mt. Catherine is 15.5K/9.6 miles. I did need to be home by early afternoon so I turned around for an early return. Wow, am I glad I did. The last mile back to the lodge turned out to be the hardest/slowest time of the day. After only about 3 hours of actual skiing I was DONE. I was at the point where no amount of resting would allow me to continue for the day.

Recovery: Amazingly I was only moderately sore during day 1 and 2 of recovery. Here I am on day 3 and I'm ready to go back.

This was an incredible experience for me, reminding me of days long past when I would camp at Lake of the Woods in southern Oregon with my Boy Scout troop. The memories came flooding back time and time again: how we used to have races down the snow-covered trails, sword fights with our ski poles, and my all-time favorite, tree tackling! Tree tackling, you say? That's where you run up to a snow-laden tree, hopefully no more than 24" in diameter, and try to tackle it so that the snow falls off the tree all around you. Trust me, it's a hoot!

Anyway, now I'm trying to figure out a way to get back up to the mountain again this Friday/Saturday for a repeat performance. If I can only fit it in to my frenetic schedule... }B^)

Training with kids...

My boys have this book called Two Crazy Pigs. It tells the story My 3 Crazy Boys, Issaqua Tri 2009of 2 pigs on a farm that are really silly and slap-happy. OK, they are nuts: they play all sorts of silly practical jokes, bounce all off the walls, and wreak havoc everywhere they go. This book is the embodiment of my children.

While I love my "Three Crazy Boys" as much as any dedicated father they can pose certain, shall we say, challenges when it comes to training, racing, and touring. These challenges contribute to my #1 enemy: consistency, or rather the lack thereof.

Here are some ramblings about how I deal with being a Triathlete, a husband, and a Dad all at the same time.

1. Scheduling

With any family your most valuable asset is time. This incredibly precious commodity is not renewable, expires on a regular schedule, and is very unforgiving. In our family we have it down to a pseudo-science involving an Excel spreadsheet, an online calendar, and my wife's incredibly important daily planner ("THE calendar", i.e. if it is not on THE calendar, it doesn't exist/happen).

We start with the "can't move/miss them" items such as school, recitals, cub scouts, etc., add-in family events like baby arrivals, baptisms, and reunions, followed closely by the kids' sporting events. From there I have an idea where I can shoe-horn in my long rides, triathlons, foot races, and bike tours. It doesn't leave me a lot of time and I do a lot of hand-wringing trying to figure out which race to do.

I was marveling at DCRainmaker's race schedule the other day (A race a month? Seriously Ray?): wow, what would it be like to train/race without kids again? My tri career started when my twins were 4.

How do I choose my races? It all starts with an Excel spreadsheet

• List all races/rides/tours (RRTs) I have ever done or want to do arranged by date (i.e. brainstorming).
• Highlight the RRTs that I REALLY want to do again. I have yet to do a RRT that I have crossed off my list.
• Line those dates up with all the other family/school/church/scout events and you end up with... 3 triathlons, 1 century, and 1 week-long bike tour.

After this process is over some of my favorte RRTs don't make the cut. This year the Issaquah Tri had to be cut due to a family event, even though I have done this race 4 years running. My 9 year old was understanding but disappointed (he loves the Kids Tri).

How do I fit in training? When ever I can. It usually ends up being early-morning or lunchtime workouts with the bulk of it as bike commuting.

2. Training

When my kids were really small training was actually easier: they weren't communicating yet and I could very easily strap the twins into the double-jogging stroller while boy #1 rode his bike behind me. Have you ever tried to do hill runs pushing 40-50 pounds of giggling/wiggling cargo? Talk about a workout!

For bike commuting I'll write a more extended version of this later: I live 9 mile from work. My route takes me down a big hill, across a valley, and then up another big hill, then reversed 8 hours later when I go home. this happens 2-5x per week depending on schedules, weather (I don't ride when the temp is under 32F), and, of course, illnesses.

3. Illness

My kids dutifully bring home from school, play group, church, and the park every bug and germ known to man. Boy #3 has this annoying habit of putting a finger in BOTH nostrils and seeing how far he can... nevermind. When school is in session is gets 10x worse. I can count on 1 hand the number of "well" weeks I have had since last Labor Day. My off-season training has been terrible, thanks to both illness and injury.

How do I deal with it? I don't, really. At least I don't deal with it very well. I have resorted to an interesting combination of Mucinex-D, Ibuprophen, and, my favorite, NyQuil. The Mucinex and Ibuprophen allow me to function during the day and even commute via bike. The NyQuil knocks me over and allows for a minimal night's sleep (notice I didn't say "acceptable" or "decent"?).

What I usually end up with is an inconsistent but tolerable off-season, and, when school lets out and the illnesses subside a little bit, more regular training and actual progress during the summer. I did prove this works last year when I upped the ante and did my first Olympic Tri.

Summary

As you can see I have a long way to go. My race schedule is always written in pencil and open to modifications as our dynamic schedule evolves. This year is not very old but I already see better progress than last year.

Have you dealt these issues? Reply below with your comments, I'd love to hear how you deal with these issues.

Cat6 riders

One of the guys at work pointed me at an article from the NY Times Blog that addresses an issue I didn't know existed: commute racing.

...Or what some people "think" is racing but they don't realize they are doing it. Or maybe they know they are doing it but aren't officially racing. In the article they go as far as to call it "cat6 racing". If you know anything about bicycle racing you know about the various racer classifications of cat 1-5. With this in mind the reference to cat 6 references how slow and outside the normal racing structure this actually is. Yes, it's a joke.

When you get at least 2 guys together in some type of moving contraption (car, motorcycle, bicycle, horse, you name it) there will inevitably be some type of josteling for position, posturing, and even racing. It's just how guys think. We are wired to think that...

1. ...every time we get in the car we are driving in the Indy 500, even if our commute is 3 miles long.
2. ...when we pull up to a light with another bike we have to show how fast we can climb a hill.
3. ...when someone pulls up next to you on a motorcycle that is louder than yours, you rev your engine a bit to liven things up.

It's just how things work with guys. We are competitive. Even if we look incredibly stupid doing it.

Several folks at work took the idea of cat-6 a bit further, adding/subtracting points for various activies such as overtaking a rider in a team kit (points lost if the rider is a woman unless you get the woman's phone number), if the target is a carbon bike and you are on a recumbant, and if you overtook someone who jumped a couple of red lights to gain distance on you. (Thanks Raajeev and Bill!)

I pondered on this for a while and then realized that I was doing this too, to some extent. I ride uphill both ways in my commute. No, really, I do: I live on a plateau. So every morning I ride down a big hill, across a valley, and then up another big hill to my office. Then I reverse that course going home. Climbing those hills I find myself constantly trying to pace other riders. On my bike computer I use the virtual partner in an attempt to best my previous times commuting to/from work. And, yes, I even try to catch and pass people on the flats down in the valley. It gets really interesting on sunny summer days when the fair-weather-riders come out. I help them realize how out of shape they are while passing them on the 520 trail, a 6-8% grade for 1.3 miles. As they see me go by (it's hard to miss 250+ pounds going by at such low speeds) I'm sure they wonder if I'm trying to show off or if I'm trying to kill myself.

I guess it's a little of both.

Breaking rule #2

There are 2 hard and fast "unofficial" rules of triathlon training:

Rule #1: Don't get injured.

Rule #2: Don't get sick.

If you can obey those 2 rules you will be much more likely to stick to your training plan. Injuries can derail your entire season (that's why it's #1) while sickness can make you inconsistent or train less. Both can chip away at your enthusiasm which is critical in any endurance event.

Living in a house with kids makes rule #2 very hard to follow. My kids, over achievers that they are, dutifully bring home every microbe and germ possible. It's easy to see who is responsible for the infection by watching who gets sick first. They usually get a lecture from mom/dad about hand washing, covering coughs, blowing noses, etc.

The latest round of illness was a nasty little stomach virus (most likely a norovirus) came home last weekend thanks to boy #2 (my second oldest). I picked it up last Thursday morning and have been suffering since. The symptoms are beginning to wane but are quite uncomfortable and don't allow for any training. Period. Unless I want to puke my guts out every few feet and pass out. Thankfully this type of virus goes away within 24-48 hours so I'm hoping to be back in the saddle by Monday.

For now it's a liquid diet of apple juice and water. Tomorrow will be toast and crackers and hopefully protein of some sort.

It's cold in January

After a week of 50+ degree days it was pretty darn cold this morning. As I walked out the door the temp outside was 36.4F. I have enough gear to keep me warm but the brisk air can be quite a shock when you are bombing down Sahalee Way at 40+ MPH (1 mile downhill at 10-12% grade).

On the way back home it was about the same temp since the sun had just gone down. The first thing I do on the return commute is drop 300 feet of elevation in the first mile. That can be bone-chillingly cold.

I complain about the cold but it doesn't take long before I have worked my heart rate up into the 130-140 range and I'm toasty warm.

Remember that hill I bombed down in the morning? I get to climb back up it each night on the way home. Tonight I popped a spoke in my rear wheel about 50 yards up that 1 mile grade. After stopping to check for additional damage I rode home a slower and with more rolling resistance than I would have liked (rim was rubbing the brakes). Popping spokes is a frequent problem for me due to my weight (250+). It's typically a failure in the spoke nipple. I think it's time I replaced all the spoke nipples in my rear wheel with brass (strongest you can get). Durability is my goal, not decreased bike weight.

The increased effort added more than 5 minutes to my commute and really drained me of energy. Yet another bump in the road but not enough to stop the train.

I think my cadence sensor is going south. On my long ride last Saturday and today's ride in and back home had issues with the cadence sensor not picking up the speed of the wheel, although cadence seemed to be registering. Replacing the battery didn't help so it seems I may have to replace the sensor. I'll try out my other commuter bike tomorrow which also has a cadence sensor to see if the issue persists.

Happy winter biking!