The past couple days here in Tucson has been highlighted by three great rides.
The first was on saturday starting at 7am by the university. The shootout group ride rolled out with about 30-40 riders but probably doubled in size during the first 30' as riders joined up. By 45' in the pace had picked up and the pack was stringing out. I felt very good and moved to the front to do some work. The work was fun and having teammates up their to work with made the 100k go by quicker than an hour on the trainer. Simon took the first hill sprint, kyle was right up in the mix for the second hill sprint and I was able to get 4th in the city limit flat sprint. No grey wolf sightings but perhaps this weekend.
Monday I put on my TT extensions and do some steady state riding at the base of mt.lemmon. At the beginning of the month I had my bike position fitted by Noa Deutsch of PT Performance. She did a great job of fitting my road bike for both ITU and 70.3 racing. The Retul technology she used gave more optimizing feedback, instant feedback, than imaginable. I feel more powerful, fluid and comfortable climbing, time trialing, and sprinting than ever before. Getting back to the steady ride, i felt like a vulture as I circled lemmon's base. Not having climbed it to that point in the camp I was looking forward to taking on the 26miles asap.
So today on the schedule was Mt. Lemmon. From synder and catalina hwy to bear canyon (12.5miles) we did a mass start TT. Climbing right off the bat i felt good and ACDC gotvthe blood flowing. At some points though I think the blood was flowing a bit too much to my legs in fact as I almost took kyle out with a dive bomb swerve. I continued to not think straight when simon, kyle and I reached the the 12.5 finish. I was convinced it was another mile or so up. Nope, my brain was just in sleep mode due to the lack of blood as i just mentioned.
AP has returned to Ontario so we are one less in the house. It was sad to see him go as he was a great teammate and a handy sports almanac to have when watching march madness or any sport to that matter. No worries though, we will see him in a couple weeks back in Victoria.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Back on Track
First track workout on the year for the group went down today at Tucson high just off the UofA campus. Nice track, especially for an inner city school. Twelve quarters on short rest. Great run for everyone as an introduction to some speedwork. AP and AMac nice running guys.
Yesterday we rode the shootout ride. About 100k in 2:45. THe pace was quite good at some parts, but no grey wolf...must be den dwelling at the moment. 50min run off the bike which felt pretty good and then we hit the road for Phoenix.
WOW! Nice city. THe hockey rink and the football stadium are side by side. The football stadium dwarfs the rink in comparison but the rink has a great sort of village surrounding it that makes showing up early for the game very entertaining. My camera battery died after one photo, go figure. THe game itself was dismal for the nucks...2 own goals made for a 5-1 shelling....BUT check out the cbc highlights here. At about 2:28 who makes an appearance? None other than yours truly and co.
2 weeks till 70.3 Oceanside
Yesterday we rode the shootout ride. About 100k in 2:45. THe pace was quite good at some parts, but no grey wolf...must be den dwelling at the moment. 50min run off the bike which felt pretty good and then we hit the road for Phoenix.
WOW! Nice city. THe hockey rink and the football stadium are side by side. The football stadium dwarfs the rink in comparison but the rink has a great sort of village surrounding it that makes showing up early for the game very entertaining. My camera battery died after one photo, go figure. THe game itself was dismal for the nucks...2 own goals made for a 5-1 shelling....BUT check out the cbc highlights here. At about 2:28 who makes an appearance? None other than yours truly and co.
2 weeks till 70.3 Oceanside
Friday, March 20, 2009
Golden Corral
One place that needs to be visited each and every time a visit to Tucson occurs is the Golden Corral. Similar to the old Bonanza's that once existed in Canada, this place is an all you can eat restaurant with added features such as a steak bbq and an in house bakery. Full pictures of the throwdown into my stomach can be viewed on my flickr
Other news from the camp is I shaved my head to cope with the heat here, Scotty did a good job. Has made a great difference, especially when running in the heat of the day. Gates pass has become a great friend. Three threshold workouts up that bad boy backside.
Our group is working well together, everyone is encouraging and motivated to get the work done here in Tucson and it is showing. Tomorrow we hit up the shootout group ride which heads out at 7am! A base run to follow and then it is off to Phoenix for the COyotes Canucks Game! Tickets were cheap and it is not too far so look out for some skinny trikids on CBC saturday night! C-A-N-U-C-K-S!
Check my flickr account for more photos from the camp.
Other news from the camp is I shaved my head to cope with the heat here, Scotty did a good job. Has made a great difference, especially when running in the heat of the day. Gates pass has become a great friend. Three threshold workouts up that bad boy backside.
Our group is working well together, everyone is encouraging and motivated to get the work done here in Tucson and it is showing. Tomorrow we hit up the shootout group ride which heads out at 7am! A base run to follow and then it is off to Phoenix for the COyotes Canucks Game! Tickets were cheap and it is not too far so look out for some skinny trikids on CBC saturday night! C-A-N-U-C-K-S!
Check my flickr account for more photos from the camp.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Back to the Desert
Arriving in Tucson wed night reminded me of how cool this place is. From the red landscape to the green cacti forests, to even the air. It feels great to be back.
Thursday ap, Austin and I did a bit of all 3. Today it was the whole group starting off the camp proper at the uofa pool facility which now has yet another new pool. We are lucky to be able to use such a world class training venue with a10's cruising overhead.
A three hour ride thru gates pass and saguro nat'l park was a great way to begin the miles in saddle.
Our accomodations are great. Debra has made us feel right at home as one big family. 7 guys in one house is tight as a tiger.
Thursday ap, Austin and I did a bit of all 3. Today it was the whole group starting off the camp proper at the uofa pool facility which now has yet another new pool. We are lucky to be able to use such a world class training venue with a10's cruising overhead.
A three hour ride thru gates pass and saguro nat'l park was a great way to begin the miles in saddle.
Our accomodations are great. Debra has made us feel right at home as one big family. 7 guys in one house is tight as a tiger.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
How many Kids would it take?
After seeing the movie Snowday a while back I have had this discussion with a few people in regards to how many kids it would take to overpower an adult. See, at the end of the movie the snowplow driver (bad guy) is overthrown by school kids, about a dozen or so. I have maintained the attitude that there is no way 12 kids could out muscle a full grown adult and have them succumb to their mercy.
Well this past week I personally got to experience the wrath of a dozen gr.3'ers. It was the last day of coaching this particular swim school group (Pacific Christian Elementary). When I arrived on deck they kept telling me that I was getting pushed in on this last day. Hmmm...' this is the perfect opportunity to test out the Snowday corundum.'
Conclusion: Positive. The kids surrounded me and made short work of getting me in that water whether I wanted to or not. I really tried to prevent it to test the theory but I really was at their mercy. It felt like I was being pushed around by Andre the Giant or something. This set the theme for a pretty relaxed practice to finish off a great time with this bunch!
Post push in, a few things came to mind. I suppose I never took into account gr.3 math and the law's of addition and subtraction. If you add up all 24 little biceps and subtract my 2 biceps you would get a net positive kid bicep's, which were responsible for pushing me in.
Last weekend I went up to Whistler with Marty and Jordan for the 31st Whistler Loppett. It was a 30km skate race and it was my second time doing this event. I love it, good challenging course, competitive skiers, good kids event, and a great wrap up lunch at the Nicholas North Golf Course. The conditions were pretty sloppy, which on the second lap got 2 decent crashes out of me, but not as spectacular as last years. I felt quite a bit stronger on the skis this year and was able to beat a few of the familiar faces from last year. Great weekend, thanks to the Allards and Marty for taking me up, feeding me and having a bed for me at the Tantalus.
The end of this week marked the end of a great 3-week block of training at the centre. By wednesday's tempo run we were all ready for some regeneration over the weekend. This block has been focused on strength gains in all sports from band swimming to hill riding and running to strength work in the gym. Once getting into the strength program routine in the gym I really find it to be a great addition to the overall program.
So This week is back to a build with the Bazan Bay 5k run on the weekend. Then next week, Mar 11th, I depart for a TriCan training camp down in Tucson for 3 weeks. At the end of this camp I am excited to race my first 1/2 iron, California 70.3, in Oceanside, CA. The race will work well as it is close to Tucson and should finish off a great camp full of hard work.
Well this past week I personally got to experience the wrath of a dozen gr.3'ers. It was the last day of coaching this particular swim school group (Pacific Christian Elementary). When I arrived on deck they kept telling me that I was getting pushed in on this last day. Hmmm...' this is the perfect opportunity to test out the Snowday corundum.'
Conclusion: Positive. The kids surrounded me and made short work of getting me in that water whether I wanted to or not. I really tried to prevent it to test the theory but I really was at their mercy. It felt like I was being pushed around by Andre the Giant or something. This set the theme for a pretty relaxed practice to finish off a great time with this bunch!
Post push in, a few things came to mind. I suppose I never took into account gr.3 math and the law's of addition and subtraction. If you add up all 24 little biceps and subtract my 2 biceps you would get a net positive kid bicep's, which were responsible for pushing me in.
Last weekend I went up to Whistler with Marty and Jordan for the 31st Whistler Loppett. It was a 30km skate race and it was my second time doing this event. I love it, good challenging course, competitive skiers, good kids event, and a great wrap up lunch at the Nicholas North Golf Course. The conditions were pretty sloppy, which on the second lap got 2 decent crashes out of me, but not as spectacular as last years. I felt quite a bit stronger on the skis this year and was able to beat a few of the familiar faces from last year. Great weekend, thanks to the Allards and Marty for taking me up, feeding me and having a bed for me at the Tantalus.
The end of this week marked the end of a great 3-week block of training at the centre. By wednesday's tempo run we were all ready for some regeneration over the weekend. This block has been focused on strength gains in all sports from band swimming to hill riding and running to strength work in the gym. Once getting into the strength program routine in the gym I really find it to be a great addition to the overall program.
So This week is back to a build with the Bazan Bay 5k run on the weekend. Then next week, Mar 11th, I depart for a TriCan training camp down in Tucson for 3 weeks. At the end of this camp I am excited to race my first 1/2 iron, California 70.3, in Oceanside, CA. The race will work well as it is close to Tucson and should finish off a great camp full of hard work.
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