I have seen the future....

.... and it is spelled: C-o-n-t-a-d-o-r! Alberto Contador from the Discovery team finally gave me one of those "jump off the couch, fist pumping, yelling" fits after he won the 14th stage of the tour in epic fashion. Dueling it out with Rasmussen throughout the last climb... be bolted around at the line to win in an Armstrongesque move. It was great to see. At the time, it was (for me) good to see Vinocourov get toasted. How any American can not pull at least for an American team rider is beyond me. That would be like pulling for a European team over the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl. Sure I respect many of the European riders.... I was a big Jan Ulrich fan... but I'd never pull for him over Lance or any other American cyclist or even a European rider on an American team. Call me an old fashioned patriot if you like. I'm cool with that. Turning your back on Discovery may be the trendy thing, or the "alt bike culture" poser thing to do... but I'm gonna pull for the Discovery team until they fold or until another American team forms that I like better. Don't tread on me!

Well, well, well. "Vino" got busted. Failed a drug test and now the whole Astana team is out. If I was Kloden I'd be whipping his ass as we speak. What a selfish bastard. Now Kloden is out when he had a legitimate chance of at least a podium spot. The only upside to this is we won't have to see Mr. cocky "Vino" for a while.



Saturday is Hurt, Pain, and Agony. Everyone keeps asking if I'm ready. You're never ready for that. The first 6 miles is a cat. 2 climb. It's tough because you're not even warmed up yet! You're climbing while still burning sugar and carbs. The switch to oxygen hasn't occurred yet. Makes the climb really hard. Then, at mike 50, there is another long hateful climb that ends with an 18% gradient! Brutal. It's still not as bad as Bridge to Bridge. But it's rough. Thank God I still have some training time for that. Then, one those two big rides are done... it's time to really focus on the run and swim.

Hey Jon! Look below at the last post and read about my donut!

Workouts and donuts...

I just ate a freakin huge cream filled chocolate covered donut!!! A member brought it from this awesome donut shop where she's from. It was just sitting there staring at me... taunting me. So I put it out of its misery. It was good. Very good. I feel better now.

Saturday's in July the club is pretty dead in the afternoons. Everyone is at home chillin or doing what I would like to be... outside! Friday I ended up not riding on the spin bike and just ran 5 miles. Today (Sat) I rode outdoors 10 miles with my sons then ran a 5k. Not a bad workout. Tonight... I'm taking Nancy and the kids out for Bar-B-Q! Yeee Haaa!! Tomorrow I'm riding a hilly course. I need to be ready for the ride next week... so it'll be a week of hills leading up to Saturday.

Stuck.....!

I'm stuck indoors today and most likely tomorrow (Sat.) too. I'm running the club by myself so can't leave. I'll do a brick workout today. I'm gonna do 30 minutes on the spin bike followed by 30-minutes on the treadmill. I'll strap on my iPod to keep me from dieing of boredom. I hate indoor workouts. I put together an hour mix of some heavy stuff to keep me charged through the workout. Endorphins and hardcore music mix well :-) I might be able to get outside tomorrow since the club closes at 5pm. I need to do a brutal hilly course Sunday and suffer a little.

Everyday is a good day to SUFFER!

Mmmm mmmm good?

The heat's been unbearable this summer. The mid ninety temps coupled with the oppressive humidity has been awful. I've been trying to up my sodium intake to combat this. An ultramarathon/cyclist friend of mine who runs a Fleet Feet store in town recommended Campbell's chicken noodle soup. The combination of the pasta, chicken, and extremely high sodium rich broth serve as a great ally against dehydration and fluid imbalances. It's worked for me. Try it an hour before a hot ride or run or after your training to put it all back.

It's been a lot of cycling lately. I've thrown in a couple short 5k runs... but I've been on the bike alot. Hurt, Pain, and Agony metric century is next Saturday. I'ts a tough ride with lots of steep climbing so I want to be ready. Then it's Bridge to Bridge in mid September which is really tough. 102 miles with the last 50 all climbing. I'll need the extra training on the bike over the next few weeks for those rides. Once those are done... I'm gonna back off the bike and really focus on the run and swim. I'll be a freakin fish this winter.

I'm down to 185lbs. now. Probably around 11-12% body fat. My goal is 178lbs. at around 8% body fat. I'm on track. It's comin off pretty quick now. I've hit a groove with my nutrition and seem to have dialed in my calories to output ratio to stay strong and still drop fat. I'm pretty darn lean at 178. I hope to be there by Aug 1st.

Happy training kids!

Selling your soul....

I'm pretty sure that this is one of the signs that the Apocalypse is near. Wal-Mart is now selling carbon fiber bikes. Now, of course the frame is a budget, Taiwanese mass-production soulless frame (then shipped to Italy in an attempt to add credibility). The components I have to admit aren't bad... but c'mon! Buying a carbon bike at Wal-Mart?!?! You are permanently selling your soul to the corporate oppressors who lead the redneck army who I'm convinced will one day take over the world and force us all to eat liver mush, watch NASCAR, and wear clothes supplied by cigarette companies while riding Wal-Mart bikes!!! I noticed that there's a disclaimer that says the bikes does not include pedals. I can see it now. Billy Bob: "No pedals?!? All these other bikes have pedals... and where is the daggone kick stand!? I need to see the Manager!" Please.... visit your "soon to be a thing of the past, endangered species" local bike shop and get properly fitted on a real bike... then support it or it'll be gone!






Today's workout is a recovery ride. The 80 miler yesterday has me a little fatigued. I'll just do an easy 17-18 mile spin today with my son Tyler. Tomorrow it's back to the run followed by some drills in the pool. Happy Monday!

80 Miles... heart rate, heart rate, heart rate!!! BPM... BPM... BPM... thump, thump, thump...

Did one of my yearly riding traditions today. Each year I ride from my front door to the end of US 64/NC 90 where it runs into hwy. 40 in Statesville. It's just a simple out & back... but it serves as a great gauge of my endurance. It's rolling terrain with a few long annoying climbs. The kind of climbs that are not terribly steep... but steep enough and long enough to take you out of your rhythm and cause some pain on the trip back. All in all we did 80.3 miles in a about 4 and a half hours. Jon Hogan went with me. His longest ride to date. He did great. My goal today was not to exceed 161BPM and my main goal was to end with an avg. BPM of 147 or under. I fell a bit short. My max HR was 176... but that was only for a very short period while pushing it up a climb. I noticed that most of the time my HR never exceeded 167-168. My avg. for the day was 148BPM... so my overall goal was within 1 BPM... not too bad. Next week it's back up 181. I'll now begin looking for hillier courses. My endurance is basically on track (as good as it's gonna get this year) so now I'll focus on climbing since my two big organized rides this year are practically nothing but suffering climbs. It's tough lugging my 185lbs. around so I better get climbing. last year the last 2.5 miles of the Bridge to Bridge about killed me. I hope to do better this year.

Do what they say, not what I do...

I finally had a good run on Thursday. I listened to all the run coaches that I've read and decided to run slower... and by using ONLY heart rate as my guide. I disregarded pace, speed, time... and just went on heart rate. For me, staying just below my lactate threshold is a heart rate just under 161bpm. This is the point for me that my body is still utilizing oxygen (aerobic) and fat as my primary fuel sources which allows me to build greater endurance. If I go over 161bpm, then my body crosses over its lactate threshold and my body can no longer keep up with the demand for oxygen, and I begin to "switch" and burn sugar and carbohydrate in the muscle for fuel which produces blood lactate (lactic acid) and a burning sensation begins along with labored breathing and fatigue. This can only go on so long before I fizzle out and have to slow dramatically or walk. This is no good. So, my goal is to remain under my lactate threshold during runs regardless of my speed/pace. Logically, as my endurance increases, my pace will also. Once my aerobic base is properly build, then I can work on speed.

I learned a lesson from cycling that applies to my running. I noticed that when I run, I will often push my pace on downhills. I guess I'm trying to make up some time. But when a subsequent rise in the road occurs, I struggle to maintain any kind of pace. Then I thought about how I conserve energy on the bike. If I'm on a hilly course, I will often coast and rest on a downhill to lower my heart rate and prepare for the next climb. This helps me balance my energy to be able to complete longer courses and be fresh at the end. So I began to use this philosophy on my runs. It worked! I relaxed and "coasted" on the downs which helped me big-time on the rises. I often remind myself of the turtle and the hare story. Slow and steady wins the race. Now, while I don't believe that slow and steady "wins" the race, I do believe slow and steady completes the race. For a guy like me who spent a lifetime building fast-twitch muscle and is lean at 185lbs. I'll never be one of those 140lb rolling toothpicks that fly up mountains like a bird. But slow and steady for me works to finish long rides with confidence. And the total sum of the parts equals decent times and less suffering. I'm actually hanging well now with some of the "A" riders. I'll take it. Now if I can just get to where I can hang with the "C" runners and swimmers!

Today is a 77-mile endurance ride. I'm going out with two other guys. Should be fun and a good test of where my fitness is right now. Peace!