Transition

The title of this post encompasses my mental and physical state at this stage of the year, plus my current location in the yearly training cycle that shares the name of those descriptive attributes. This is always a difficult time of the year for a dedicated and competitive triathlete to navigate, but also an important one. I am a little more than 5 weeks past my final and marquis race of the season, my "off-season" and time away from training is over, and now I am into what can best be described as the transition phase of the macrocycle. This is often a time when you are tempted to start training hard right out of the gate, and start laying down some serious volume in anticipation of the year to come - however this is the last thing that should be done and in the end patience is key. This is the time to recharge the batteries while getting active again and getting back into something of a routine. Now make no mistake, this is not the same sort of routine as what one would find in June or even February for that matter, but it is a routine nonetheless and important to get back into the daily habit while having some fun. Fun has consisted of some masters swim meets, crazy swim relays for charity at practice....., trail running, mountain biking, cold morning barefootin'....., and even some crossfit. The crossfit has been the most notable addition to my routine, and this has been due in large part to my brother Chris' suggestion and also my desire to work on my all around strength for next season. I have yet to get too crazy with the olympic powerlifting component, but have been doing some rowing, wall pushups, pullups, pushups, jump roping, and my new favorite full body move, the thruster. I hope to learn some different routines and get into it a bit more to help build some full body strength and explosiveness that I hope will add some speed and enhance my power for next year. In the meantime though, I am trying to get back into the habit of frequent morning runs, evening swim and bike sessions followed by lifting, and then weekend adventures and even another swim meet this coming Sunday. That and some Dirty Dozen recon with (for) Jocey this coming weekend, as the Thanksgiving weekend tradition of the Turkey Trot + DD is just around the corner! In any case, the fitness is returning and I am having some fun starting to push the limits again, so the transition is in full effect and just what the doctor ordered. If all goes as planned, I will head into the start of my base training very shortly with more strength and motivation than ever. That first race of 2011 will be here before we know it! Good evening all-

March into April, centuries and a swim meet

The last 3+ weeks have been very busy training and getting ready for the quickly approaching start of the 2010 season. With the exception of last weekend, the previous three weekends included a minimum of a century ride and then at least a sixteen mile run, with Easter weekend as the biggest of them all with a ~111 mile ride followed up with a 20+ miler. All of the rides and runs have been extremely solid for me, with HR's at a good IM to HIM intensity level, with high average speeds and paces considering the time of year. Not surprising though, considering the typical company. Three and a half weekends ago, the meeting place was at North Park on the day of the Just a Short Run races. Here I met up with Chad, Matty Mo, [Cousin] Nate, and Joe V. Here are the IM ladies, getting ready to start their own ride.
This Saturday started first with a 3000 yd swim, and then the guys and gals headed out separately, and in the end Chad and I got in about 101 rolling miles with a speedy transition run on Lake Shore Drive. This capped nearly a 7 hr training day. Below, Chad, Matt, and Nate cruising up a short climb just north of Evans City.
About a mile or so later, stopping to fix Nate's slow leak flat before bombing down 528 into Evans City.
Sunday we had about a 16.5 mile run with some solid ironman effort intervals at the Schenley Park oval, doing 5 X 5k descending with Joe and Chad. We started these at 7:20 pace and finished up at 6:40 pace, trying to force the legs to run long on tired legs as this is the name of the game. The following week saw a little mountain biking on my local trails in addition to normal training sessions, and here I am showing off my cycling affiliations of Sewickley and Ballou Skies as I am slowly covered in mud.
The next weekend (4/3) I met up with Joe on his 40th birthday for a speedy century into Ohio, West Virginia, and back into WPa.
Joe cruising down Quicksilver Rd in the Midway region,
And yours truly a couple miles later on North Branch Rd.
Stopping at the 100 mile mark for visual confirmation that Joe's ultimatum of 20mph or faster had been observed for his bday ride.
Checking in in my driveway, noticing that the avg speed appears correct, but that I missed some miles when navigating my way across the Sewickley Bridge and through all of the lights and traffic in town.
Map of the tri-state century, which was my fastest ever in training, and maybe even including races, to date. I can't wait to try that with the Zipps...
Easter Sunday started off with congregation at the Church of the Sunday Morning Long Run, doing 20+ miles on the Montour Trail and finishing off with a dip in the creek (Run).
Natural ice bath = free. Not paying for party ice = priceless. Creek slime/stink = I could have done without.
Joe suffering through the last couple minutes of his 20 minute soak.
Once I got home on Easter, finding my basket left by the Jocey bunny.
Crosstraining, walking my family's horses, or rather them walking us around the neighborhood.
From left to right, Jack (jiggy), Oakley (oaktown), and Nessie (brown-ass).

Last weekend was the first break in the Ironman base/build routine, for the annual AMYMSA League Championships. This was held at Clarion University and the Sewickley Y Masters had 9 swimmers attending, 8 men and 1 woman. This was the first time I think since I started swimming for the team that we had enough guys to field two relays. Here we are on Saturday (4/10), smoking the field and setting a new AMYMSA Top Ten record in the 200 Medley relay, 140-179 age group. Mark led off with back, then Bill did breast, I did fly, and Jimbo swam free to finish in 1:44.19. Video of the race, we're in lane 3 -


For the rest of Saturday I did the 100 Free (:54.18), 50 Free (:24.52), and 200 I.M. (2:14.60). My freestyle events were less than stellar, but I was pretty happy with my I.M. Here are all of the guys with the exception of Mark H, at the banquet dinner later that night. Bottom, l to r: Bill W, Bill G, Mark C; back: Jim, Dan, Ben, and me. Photo courtesy of Janine.
On Sunday, here is the same relay team but in the 200 Free relay, led off by Bill, me, Jim, and then Mark. We couldn't quite beat the old SEWY team of yore from 2003, but we posted the 2nd fastest time ever in the league's age group with a 1:33.56. Video below, once again in lane 3.


For the rest of the meet, I swam the 100 I.M. (1:00.30), 50 Fly (:26.43), 25 Free (:11.07), and the 100 Fly (:59.27). Very happy with the 100's, not so with the 50, and indifferent with the time in the 25. Here is video from my 100 Fly. I am in lane 5 with the yellow cap and Orca speedsuit. Bill and some of the other studs beat me pretty handily :(


Last weekend was great and the SEWY men came in 2nd in the team competition to the Cranberry Wave. Though with only 8 swimmers to their 11, winning was a mathematical impossibility, despite our noticeable dominance. We like to think that we were the true winners, if the meet were being scored with a points per swimmer or per capita scoring system. Next year. The weekend was a lot of fun though and the beginning of a taper for the triathlon race season to come. See you at the races!

sunny weekend and slow swim meet

Last weekend brought the rides and weather I had been waiting for since late November/early December of last year. Saturday morning (3/6) dawned cold, but brilliantly sunny. The day had promise. I waited for the temps to warm up a little before I ventured out solo at about 1pm. Some typical training partners had other events on the schedule or were out of town, but I was stoked and wasn't going to let the lack of company bring me down. Plus I had a new gadget to try out in my cadence sensor that was to be compatible with my Garmin Forerunner 305 and also a new water bottle cage that I was going to try out torpedo style between my aerobars. My steed pictured below, just pre-ride.
I set out on the surprisingly clear roads in about 34' sunny temps on a familiar route, starting first into Beaver county, then Butler, and finally back into good ol' Allegheny for a solid 4 hour, clockwise loop over some favorite roads (except route 68) that were just waiting to be cruised on again. Northbound on Spang Rd...
Self portrait on Spang, prior to the incredulous senior-citizens who pass me about 10 seconds later...
Cool view looking west out over some glistening farm plots abutting the PA Turnpike alongside Glen Eden Rd...
When it was all said and done I got in a very solid ride and sufficiently toasted my legs in preparation for the following day's swim meet. Sunday started with a radio interview with Ty, Ryan, and myself, speaking with Rob Pratte and Ted Arneault of KDKA Radio's Black and Gold Sunday. We gave them a great update on the work of Ballou Skies and the upcoming season for the tri team, and other projects that are in store. I did the interview from the parking lot of Cornell High School, and then in was inside for warmups for this last regular season AMYMSA swim meet. After getting in about 1000yds for warmup, it was time to prepare for my first event, the 100 free. Teammates Katherine, Bill, Bill (& coach), and Mark below...
Video from my 50 freestyle - I'm second from the right wearing the yellow cap and getting left in the dust coming out of the turn...

Teammates Bill (closest) and Ben (2nd from left) getting ready to start the 200 back...
Teammates Bill and Jim....
For the day, I did a 54.29 in the 100 free, 24.36 in the 50 free, a 2:18.66 in the 200 I.M., and a 12.01 in the 25 fly. Not too pleased with my sprint freestyle events, but I'm ok with the 200 IM. Training for ironman and sprint swim events is a difficult balance :)
Sunday afternoon I snuck back out on the bike for another 2 hours and brought the weekend to a close. Hypoglycemic here and acting goofy, Jocelyn said I looked like an elf...
This week has been going pretty well on the training front, getting up every morning to run before work and then swimming and cycling in the evenings. The weather has been awesome, but of course it had to be while trapped indoors and now the rains are supposed to come in earnest this weekend. Maybe that will melt away the last of this winter's snow. Train safe and I'll be back blogging soon, god willing and if the cricks don't rise...