Nirodha sacca

Mark - I think the streak hit 19 days before we got 24hr without rain.  It has rained every day since that 1 day break (I think it was Monday?).  I'm not a fan of gloomy, rainy Mays.  Nope nope nope.

Oz - He got a mild one for growling at me - it was a play growl, but a growl nonetheless - when I tried to grab his toy last week.  I don't blame him for it, since it was a new toy and his dog-friend Julie had been hogging it during playtime, but still.

Speaking of Hamilton, he's cuddling next to me as I type this.  He's started cuddling up every morning after breakfast.  Kind of cute.  Here's him with his dog-friend Julie:



Julie looks absolutely derpy in this picture, but she's normally very cute. She's a Beagle/JRT mix, aka a monster. Hamilton looks pretty normal (derpy).

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So, training! Last week ended well with some smooth, easy runs, a killer group ride (I swear Fabian Cancellara joined us, or at least his doppleganger) and Hamilton's first run! 1.1mi around the apartment. He did pretty well and immediately passed out for a few hours after. Aileen ran with him Tuesday (another 1.1mi) and we ran with him together yesterday.

M - 7mi easy
T - 5.8mi recovery
W - off
Th - 1hr10min ride to work + 1hr ride home + 3.5mi (1.1mi with Ham) recovery run

Got 9 on the docket today. 

A beagle/JRT mix?  Oooo, that is a hand full.  As long as Hamilton knows that you and Aileen are the top dogs, there won't be much problem and he'll always be nice and worn out after a run.  How's Aileen's work going?  Work on your hurricane food and supplies, fwiw.

Doing good on the runs.  Mom would be proud and might show up to take him for a run!

Enjoying watching your progress as you get back into running...also enjoying the dog reports/photos.

Any hints/suggestions as I prepare for my 1st Century ride on June 11th.  I haven't been able to catch up with any of the other local riders for a group ride so all my training has been solo.  I worked my way up to a 75 mile ride today and I'm looking forward to tapering.  I'm a bit nervous about the group dynamics...

Hope you enjoy a few rain free days.

Nancy,

You won't have any problem completing the century.  My wife and I and another couple did a couple 2-3 years ago and while it's a long day, it's not that difficult.  They generally have multiple stops with food so you get some breaks.  It's not a race so make your pace comfortable.  Are you doing the ride with someone?  If not, I'm sure you'll settle in with a group.

My biggest complaint was the riders that banzai the downhills.  On the Palm Springs ride there were a couple of pretty serious downhills 15-20 miles in and multiple people went down hard.  They apparently slept in, started late and then rode crazy fast and some crashed.  Not fun at all.  Then there will be the heavy riders that you will pass going uphill and they'll smoke you going down only to pass them on the next climb...

Relax, take it easy and enjoy.  Completing the 100 miles is not that difficult but there is no doubt that it is a long day in the saddle.

Oz - Hurricane food/supplies?

Nancy - What Tim said. I would add that with a 75mi ride under your belt, you have more than enough in your legs to complete the century. If you end up with a group, there are 3 really important things to remember.

First, be predictable. Most often, this just means hold your line (don't swerve, don't brake suddenly, etc).
On a similar note, number two, communicate. If you are going to do something, say it or point it out.
Third, keep your head up. Don't just stare at the butt of the person in front of you. Like driving, try to see what's up the road.

Now, more detailed stuff...

With drafting, you need to be within a couple feet of the wheel in front of you for it to be any use. You also might need to be off the wheel to the left or right, if you have a crosswind. Do not overlap wheels until you're EXTREMELY comfortable riding in groups (ie you'd be able to take a hand off and put it on the person's back/butt to keep them from swinging into your wheel). It's easier to draft well if you don't look at the wheels, but keep the person in soft focus while you look up the road. If they stand up out of the saddle, their bike will lurch backwards momentarily. Yours will do the same. Be aware of that (especially on climbs) and don't follow too closely.

If you end up in a nice little group and people are taking turns pulling, YOU DON'T HAVE TO. If you find yourself at the front, it's perfectly acceptable to just pull off (in the same direction anyone else has been doing). If you do want to contribute, try to keep the pace even, and only give about 30 seconds to a minute of effort at the most before rotating. A lot of people who are new to group riding tend to do "hero pulls" and hammer for 5 minutes before blowing up and falling off the back. You're much more useful to the group if you stay well within your limits.

If you notice that the line in front of you is getting shorter and you don't want to end up on the front, let a bike-length gap form when you see someone coming down the line and tell them "go ahead." They should take the gap (but they might not). If you're the last in line and someone's coming back past you, it's nice to say "last wheel" to let them know it's time to catch on.

Note that your effort will be less steadily doled out the farther back you are in a group. You're more prone to yo-yoing, especially if it's lumpy. Best place to sit is 5-10 bikes back from the front.

If I were you, I'd try to find a group that's about 2mph faster than your usual pace and sit in (don't take any pulls) for at least the first hour. People will be excited and will be riding harder than normal for that hour - they'll settle in. I rarely do any work in the first hour of a group ride - I'd rather be fresh to pick up the slack when the big guns are starting to suffer. If you start to feel like the pace is too hot, remember, there will be other groups behind you, so don't suffer too much trying to hold on. Save your energy for the next group down the road.

Have fun!

Thanks for the input Tim and Mike.

I'm planning on a ride, not a race so we're on the same page there.  I feel that I'm adequately prepared for the distance...or at least as prepared as you can be for your first century...marathon...or whatever.  It's the group dynamics that have me nervous as I've never done any riding with a group.  I'm hoping that the friend that recommended the ride is going to be able to ride with me.  She is a very accomplished rider but great about slowing down and riding or running with us mere mortals.  She has a conflict but is trying to make it fit.  I also realized that a friend I made through the local triathlon is registered.  I'll connect with her the morning of the ride as well.  My daughter is planning on going with me to ride a bit of the course and have lunch with me but mainly being there for support before and after.

Thanks again for the input...it's very helpful. 

The event is called Strawberry Century and finishes with strawberry shortcake.  I'm looking forward to the ride and the strawberries!

Thanks again and sorry to hijack your blog Mike...

"If I were you, I'd try to find a group that's about 2mph faster than your usual pace and sit in (don't take any pulls) for at least the first hour. People will be excited and will be riding harder than normal for that hour - they'll settle in. I rarely do any work in the first hour of a group ride - I'd rather be fresh to pick up the slack when the big guns are starting to suffer. If you start to feel like the pace is too hot, remember, there will be other groups behind you, so don't suffer too much trying to hold on. Save your energy for the next group down the road."  Great advice, Mike.


Exactly what I did this morning on my first ride with the local tri club ladies.  On their advice and it was quite helpful.  On the way back (two of us only riding for 2 hrs), I did take on some of the pull duties with help and instruction from the woman that I was riding with.  I had a chain/derailleur issue so she wanted to make sure I had no breakdowns.  It was fun and I enjoyed the quicker pace especially since it didn't feel quicker.  I do find that I ride better in a lower cadence - so that is where I am staying.

I don't have any plans to start cycling anytime soon, but the suggestions on tactics and etiquette were fascinating.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:"If I were you, I'd try to find a group that's about 2mph faster than your usual pace and sit in (don't take any pulls) for at least the first hour. People will be excited and will be riding harder than normal for that hour - they'll settle in. I rarely do any work in the first hour of a group ride - I'd rather be fresh to pick up the slack when the big guns are starting to suffer. If you start to feel like the pace is too hot, remember, there will be other groups behind you, so don't suffer too much trying to hold on. Save your energy for the next group down the road."  Great advice, Mike.


Exactly what I did this morning on my first ride with the local tri club ladies.  On their advice and it was quite helpful.  On the way back (two of us only riding for 2 hrs), I did take on some of the pull duties with help and instruction from the woman that I was riding with.  I had a chain/derailleur issue so she wanted to make sure I had no breakdowns.  It was fun and I enjoyed the quicker pace especially since it didn't feel quicker.  I do find that I ride better in a lower cadence - so that is where I am staying.

 Thanks for weighing in Michele.  It's interesting that you're happy with a lower cadence when biking.  You run at a high cadence don't you?  I tend to have a slow cadence when running, biking and even swimming!  I've always been advised to increase my turnover but haven't successfully made that transition.

Once again...sorry for hijacking your blog Mike and we'll try and get this conversation moved over to my blog.

I do appreciate all the suggestions though!

Nancy - No problem.  

Last note on riding - a cadence of 90-95 (per leg) is most efficient.  I can't do low cadence work unless I've been riding a ton, because it wrecks my knees.  YMMV.

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Capped off the week pretty nicely for a total of 33.9mi running.  Normal group ride was cancelled due to rain, so I bandited some event that closed half the freeways in the city for bikes and swung home with a massive group of never-been-in-a-group-ride riders.  Glad I didn't pay the $65 entry, because the motorcycle cops were pacing the ride at about 15mph and stopped for a solid 20-30min on the 14th Street Bridge.  Fortunately I was able to double-back and find an exit near the Pentagon to get home.  

Went out for 8mi this morning.  Left ITB niggle is back.  Probably due to my speedwork intervals with Hamilton last night.  Poor guy had been cooped up most the weekend due to rain and absolutely sprinted his heart out on our run.  Lots of sub-6 efforts.  Probably wasn't a good idea, but the dog needed it.  Keeping an eye on the knee for the rest of the week.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Went out for 8mi this morning.  Left ITB niggle is back.  Probably due to my speedwork intervals with Hamilton last night.  Poor guy had been cooped up most the weekend due to rain and absolutely sprinted his heart out on our run.  Lots of sub-6 efforts.  Probably wasn't a good idea, but the dog needed it.  Keeping an eye on the knee for the rest of the week.

Good run, and good that you got Ham out for some fast work. But it sounds like you might want to work on those glutes to ease up the strain on the ol' ITB.

And I'll just stay in the chase vehicle, so I can watch all the goings on with Mark.

Niggle seems to have cured itself.  Well, cure is probably an overstatement.  Both ITBs give me a little pop every couple weeks.  They like to alternate.  

Very tired this week.  Still a lot of stress with home life stuff, plus a very high stakes job on Tuesday - at least that one was a lot of fun, though.  Quasi-legal and full of vitriol.  

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M - 8.1mi easy
T - 5.1mi recovery commute home from work
W - off
Th - 1hr20ish ride to work, included a bonus lap around Hains Point and a lot of work around my FTP

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Supposed to be toasty today.  We'll see if the afternoon run comes when I get home.  Riding might be enough.

Last week of work for a while is next week!

Dang, sounds like a divorce mediation...except they're usually not fun.  

Pleased the ITB and you have reached an agreement.

Oz - You're not far off.  Assuming it was a mediation of some kind, the mediator may have been making more per hour than I made all day.  Wat.

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Still plodding along.  Haven't broken 30mpw by much, yet, but I leave for CA tomorrow, so I imagine the mileage will definitely take an upward turn this month.  Kind of a change of plans - I'll only be out there for 5 weeks - so we'll see how the rest of the summer goes once I'm back and training begins in earnest.

M - 8mi w/ 1mi @ LT effort (hill--->flat)
T - 1hr ride to work, 55min ride home
W - 5.8mi easy
Th - 1hr ride to work

Probably no run tomorrow, but big miles coming the next few days.

Just keep at it. You may not be doing huge miles, but you're building a solid base.

You heading to SoCal or NorCal? Ham is going to be so excited with all the new things to sniff!

Mark - Oh, that's another part of the change.  Ham isn't coming.  We're kind of splitting the summer/dog watching responsibilities.  You can probably guess what all the "home stuff" has been about lately off of that.

Man, I killed the mood in here, didn't I?  

Well, lucky for all of you who are waiting with bated breath, what goes down must come up.  I mean, that's probably not true, but in this case, we're very steadily headed towards a good thing.

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So, the story.  

The last two years in VA have been pretty rough on me, mentally and emotionally.  Unfortunately, I'm firmly rooted to CA (or at the very least, the west) and I haven't been able to really find a place in VA.  Work again became increasingly miserable since January, home life turned into a grind, the couch and a laptop became more comfortable than confronting any of this.  After a pretty significant catalyst, we were forced to take a look at what was going on and, more specifically, I realized I needed to figure out what happiness looks like for me right now.  

I got to CA last Friday.  R&R (running and relaxation) has been beyond great, but I've also spent a lot of time thinking about my family in VA and what I want that future to look like.  It took maybe two days to figure out that the future definitely doesn't look like me staying in CA without them, so our plan of giving that a test run this summer started to look pretty silly.  Which pretty much left the point of how to get Hamilton home.  

To make a short discussion shorter, we decided I'd cancel my flight in July, she'd cancel her flight in June - thanks Southwest for letting us reuse the funds later! - and I'd grab a ticket back to VA ASAP.  Her mom's been visiting and leaves the 21st, and the 21st just so happened to be one of the cheapest dates to fly, so the 21st it is.  The plan is to arrive that night and start driving west on the 22nd.  Oh yes, this silly (stupid?) road trip is happening after all.  Without Hams, I would try to make it in 2 days.  With him, we'll see.  Trying to focus less on the destination and more on the journey, to borrow a cliche.  

Fortunately, that week is a cutback week before I start Pfitz 18/55 

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Ran close to 45mi last week.  First time over 40mi since last summer.  Haven't done 2 weeks in a row over 40mi since my ITB injury in March 2015.  Legs feel good, albeit sore from all the elevation I've been tackling.

Thanks for sharing that. I was wondering what's going on.

And the road trip back being "silly"? Nah. Epic. And kinda romantic.

Good luck to you three!

Mark B wrote:Thanks for sharing that. I was wondering what's going on.

And the road trip back being "silly"? Nah. Epic. And kinda romantic.

Good luck to you three!

+1.  Took some guts to explain that, so I commend you for it.

The trip will be great and now you have Ham to blame your farts, when in the car.  

Don't forget to check with Mom before leaving, as she might want you to come by, if she's even in Ohio right now.

We all need to so "silly" things now and then so if the road trip qualifies as silly who cares!  I commend you for being willing to make the effort to get things back on track...for all of you.  Best wishes for a successful trip and hope you continue to enjoy your increased training as well.

All - Thanks for the support.  It's been a pretty rough 2 months, but getting a little distance from the situation (and VA) has definitely given both of us a more holistic perspective on our relationship.  And yeah, a bit of capriciousness has been lacking in my life for a long while.  

Oz - But seriously, Hamilton's insides can be downright rotten.  

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With the upcoming OC--->DC--->OC trip, I've decided to change up my schedule a smidgen in order to accommodate 4 days of driving.  Basically using this week and next M/T as a crash week - lots of mostly easy miles - before taking the whole drive off.  Okay, I might run Hamilton a mile if he's going bonkers, but no real training runs.

M - 6.2mi easy w/ 1400' gain/loss
T - 8.2mi w/ 2.5mi tempo + .5mi VO2max (uphill, effort-based)
W - 5.6mi lumpy recovery
Th - 7.4mi lumpy easy

Plan til Tuesday - I'm visiting a loooooong-time buddy in San Diego tonight through Sunday morning:

F - 14.5mi easy in SD
S - 4-7mi easy/recovery in SD + easy ride in SD?
S - 4-7mi easy in SD + SCUBA dive with my dad
M - 8-10mi easy
T - 8mi w/ 3mi tempo 

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So I'm secretly hoping to make it home in 3 days, but I haven't told anyone that yet.  If I can get to Memphis by Wednesday night, we'll be on track.  If it's Knoxville or Nashville, 4 days it is.  Maybe 5.  Who knows, maybe we'll actually enjoy crossing the country this time 

Back from Alaska and Nashville - and I see it has all worked itself out.

If you need to stop in Nashville, let me know.  If you like to sleep on futons or a floor that is - since my daughter just moved to Nashville and they wouldn't mind company - well, not so much you & Aileen as Hamilton.  Seriously, I just drove back from Nashville today to Ohio.

And as for me, Doug, I'm here in Ohio for at least a week and then off to western NY until the end of August when I head back here (Ohio) to do my Half IM on the 21st.  Then I'll be in Ohio until my new townhouse in Atlanta is ready for my return.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Back from Alaska and Nashville - and I see it has all worked itself out.

If you need to stop in Nashville, let me know.  If you like to sleep on futons or a floor that is - since my daughter just moved to Nashville and they wouldn't mind company - well, not so much you & Aileen as Hamilton.  Seriously, I just drove back from Nashville today to Ohio.

And as for me, Doug, I'm here in Ohio for at least a week and then off to western NY until the end of August when I head back here (Ohio) to do my Half IM on the 21st.  Then I'll be in Ohio until my new townhouse in Atlanta is ready for my return.

We were all on our best behavior, even me!

Nashville should have 4 seasons, no state income tax, and a nifty little go to place for Southwest and American, too.  Not sure about the others.  3-1/2 hours from Atlanta?  I know it's 2 hours to Chattanooga.  Even Krystal hamburgers.

Mom - Just might take you up on that.  Our first night will be in Knoxville/Nashville/Memphis, depending on how far we get.  I believe I still have your number, as long as it hasn't changed in the last two years.  I was planning to at least stop in Ohio for a bite/to let you meet Hamilton when we passed through after Chicago (coming back in August), but it looks like you won't be there.  I'll keep you posted on our plans.  Also, HIM?  Dang.

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Mileage came in slightly under what we'd planned this weekend.  Friday's 14 went off as good as possible on a hangover and in usually high temperatures.  Saturday brought a nice 4mi cruise through my buddy's neighborhood.  Sunday brought a goose egg, but that was due to the dive with my dad, so it's fine.  We had a good time, got reacquainted to the ocean and SCUBA gear, and may do a few more dives before the end of the summer.

So far this week...

M - 8.15mi w/ 3mi tempo 
T - 0

Oops.  Lots of stress going into the unknown (flight + road trip) coupled with lots of excitement to be back with loved ones (thanks for the 4am wake-up call, brain). 

Pfitz 18/55 starts next week.