Week in Review!

Going to try do a bit more like Jeff Kerkove, Jeff Paul do and update the blog with reviews of each training week!

This past week was great, the largest training week of the year so far, and it pushed my body to its 4 week limit! Had some great workouts in the pool, on the bike, and on the trails! Total weekly training hours was 16hours. Add 40 hours of work on to that, and it was a great week!

Weekly totals for mileage included: 5.6miles of swimming
112miles of riding
24.5miles of running
Total TSS for the week for the first time since using WKO+ was over 1000TSS!!!! (1013.7)

That last value amazes me, I would have never expected myself to run that much! It has been great, with so many great dirt trails around, elevation changes, etc to keep the mind moving! This new challenge of triathlon is great and I have some amazing training partners Cam Dye, Allen Gardner, Will Kelsay, Kristin Peterson, Mara Abbott, Flora Duffy. I am learning quite a bit and even experience Beau Jo's pizza last night with Will. Extremely good "Mountain Pie" pizza with a hilarious dude!

Finished off the week yesterday with a big ride with former Iowan Jeff Kerkove. He took me up and up yesterday, with almost 6000ft of climbing, all the way up Lefthand Canyon to Ward. Such a beautiful climb and area, look forward to that ride again! Here are some pictures from the day! Check out details here

Descending Left-hand Canyon from Ward
Fresh water spring in Ward!! Tasty Water!A little hidden secret in Boulder (Bow Mountain Road) Hard packed dirt road climb!

What motivates you?

While switching my focus to a full triathlon schedule this season as well as doing quite a few road races, time management has been becoming a huge item on the docket since starting my full time job as an exercise physiologist/coach at FasCat Coaching. My week is full of early morning and lunch time workouts to get in all I need to. Luckily, This leaves my evenings very open, not that I am tearing up the town right now, I just go home and read and I am getting very caught up on episodes of The Office, Homeland, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men.

My typical Monday for example starts at 4:30am as I get up to go swim with Grant and the others at Rally Sport Fitness. My recent training weeks have been roughly 15 hours of training, with this week being the largest with a potential volume of 17ish. Splitting all three sport disciplines keeps the mind at ease and fully motivated!

When it comes to motivation, I have always had a self-doubts about myself. This probably stems from being younger and carrying a "bit of extra weight" as a young kid. Now, however, I get asked often if I am sick and need to eat more (thanks Grandma and Grandpa :)!!!). So I try and find many forms of motivation to keep my brain thinking positive thoughts about training and trying to be the best I can.

In swimming for example, I took 2 years off after Luther and now just getting back into 5k workouts in the pool, my strength and form are a bit off. Luckily, I have a great coach helping with my stroke and fitness. Running is also getting better and better everyday, with my largest run being 80minutes so far, no injuries or problems (knock on wood). Cycling is what it is, after having come to altitude, the power output drops by 20-30watts due to the 4500ft difference in altitude and lack of O2! So, positive thoughts are required constantly, and it is something I am really starting to become passionate about. I am currently reading Macca's"I'm Here to Win" which tells about his start and failure/success in triathlon.

Also, was searching around on professional cyclist Michael Barry's website and found this picture of the Sky training camp in Majorca. Another man of seemingly disturbed positive thinking and mental problems is none other than World Champion Mark Cavendish. Always described by the media as "overweight" and not good enough to be a true champion, he always finds a way to silence his critics. Maybe this is why? This print out on his top tube is a great inspiration.

So, as for right now, the motivation is there, and the long days seem short thanks to some good support in the area. Really excited to get started racing this year, even though the first race isn't til May with the Kansas City 5150.

As for a tentative 2012 "Big Race Schedule"

May: Kansas City 5150
June: Boulder Sprint Triathlon
July: Boulder 5150
August: Wisconsin Dells Rev 3 Olympic
August: Peregrine Charities Olympic
September: Hyvee 5150 Championships

And then mix in hopefully road racing in April-September and a full cross-season during the fall!

Enjoy your time in the pool or out on the open roads, it can be some of the best times of your life! Live life to the fullest and have no regrets!

Training Update

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update on life here in Boulder. Not much of a social life yet....hope that picks up soon. Not real exciting sitting at home on Friday/Saturday nights doing nothing but reading and watching seasons of tv shows! Unfortunately, all of the friends in Colorado live 1hr + away and makes it a bit tougher to see. Gotta get Karl to stop doing his school work and hang out more!

Settling down nicely now, even though I move into a new place at the end of the month. Will be moving in with Erin Kummer and her boyfriend Bryce. She was an Xterra World Champ a few years ago and is now gung-ho on the cyclocross and moto-cross scene. Really cool people, had a chance to visit their condo and get to know them at a pizza joint (Proto's) the other evening, and very excited.

Speaking of good places to eat, Boulder is full of them!! Boom Yogurt Bar is absolutely awesome for recovery, offering about 90% locally made frozen yogurt, regular yogurt, Breeze Bars, fruits, and even some locally made chocolates. Another place I tried recently was the ModMarket. This place offers some amazing salads, sandwiches, and brick-oven pizza! Again, all made fresh and with a majority of locally made items! They also seem to have a great catering ability in the Boulder area, and so I would recommend this if you need a catered event!

Work is going well and we recently just completed the UC Boulder Cycling Team Camp this past weekend. Put in quite a few hours at FasCat Headquarters doing VO2max tests on the riders. Some very gifted riders on the team, and looking forward to coaching them to a national championship this year in Utah! Finished off the camp with a great ride today, where I climbed up 4 mile canyon for the first time.

In my own world, just finished up the largest volume and TSS week of the season! Swimming is getting better, but after 2 years out of the pool, it is taking a while to get the power and efficient stroke back (if I ever had one?). Cycling is what it is, off-season power is where it is, and looking forward to some interval training to ramp up that FTP. The aspect that is really impressing me is the running! The mileage this week was over 20miles, and it is by far the largest volume ever I have run. Ended off the week with a great 10mile run yesterday on the trails of Boulder Valley Ranch.

Check out details on Strava

First race of the year is the Kansas City 5150 race in May. An olympic distance of 1miles swim, 24mile bike and 10km(6.2mile run). It wont come soon enough in my book. Until then, it is full on training and in April, I will be doing quite a few of the road race in the area. Some cool spring classic type races with dirt roads/steep punchy climbs/ etc.

Need to get a camera to start taking some pictures of the amazing rides/scenery in the area. Until then.

Life, Training, Support!

Cheesy title? Probably! But it is the truth, slowly but surely falling in love with the Boulder area!

Has been a great first few days here at FasCat as a coach and physiologist. I owe Frank a great deal of thanks for the opportunity to pursue my career dreams!

We are just starting out our indoor cycling program. A 12 week program designed for those athletes looking to increase their threshold and training fitness for the early races such as Boulder Roubaix, Tour of Gila, etc. Have been doing a few exercise tests as well! Using my edumacation to its fullest!

It has and will be an amazing experience working with Frank and the rest of the staff. Leading edge scientific knowledge/testing and coaching will allow for the best training programs to be made. As we all know, recovery is an important part of training and at FasCat we have the great opportunity to use Norma Tec SpaceLegs. I have yet to use these, but will be using them very soon as I have discovered the all knew feeling of fatigue in the legs undertaking 3 sport disciplines!

Also have been ramping up the training for the upcoming season! Swimming is starting to come back around as best as possible with the altitude difference. Should take 2-3 weeks to be acclimated and be ready to have a workout ceiling higher than 70%. Cycling is coming along as well, still feel as though I am riding with the brakes on however! The riding out here is unbelievable as everyone already knows. Even the shortest 1 hour rides are full of scenery and climbing. Running is a completely different enemy however! The mental side of running has passed, but the physical challenges remain! Working hard on my efficiency to gain the most speed I can for the lowest amount of effort. It will come around before too long! Plenty of people around who are helping me along the way! The hours and intensity are starting to pick up a bit.

For the upcoming season, I have the pleasure of landing some great sponsors to help fuel the training, racing, and lifestyle!


GU, Breeze Bars, and Mix1 are going to help fuel all the training and competitions. Very excited for Breeze Bars (made in Boulder by Coach Grant Holicky and his wife Breeze). Very tasty, delicious and healthy alternative to the very syrupy alternatives on the market now days! Mix1 is going to provide the great pre/post workout protein needed to help the muscles recover from 2-3 workouts a day!

Carroll Composites will be providing the race wheels that will carry my bike and I to some blazing bike splits during the races! Having never used carbon wheels before, it will be a great experience!

Looking forward to the next few months! Until next time! Keep pursuing your goals and dreams and train hard!
"Cry in the dojo. Laugh on the battlefield." -- Samurai Maxim