Training Log Archive: ebuckley

6x800 handrail legs@4:30-5:30 at Cuivre River. Control picking recovery that was supposed to be roughly equal time, but it was so hot I ended up taking it pretty easy on the recovery legs.

The Labor Day Training session was quite the hit. Thanks to Tom Carr for suggesting the idea and helping to spread the word. I would have been plenty happy with just the original 5 participants, but we ended up having 17. Perhaps we should make this an annual event.

C • Thanks 1

C • Annual event 8

Event: Labor Day Training Camp
 

Setting out tapes for Orange training.

Advanced training at Hawn (1:15). Control picking course designed by Spike. Felt a bit ragged. No surprise. Not nearly as hot as yesterday.

Tiny course around picnic area. Fun, even though I did give away a good 15 seconds (and the win) trying to find the first leg on the map. Tom had a slow run with the map, but then he tried it again (knowing exactly where the controls were) and scorched it in 1:10. I'm not sure I could cover 440m on a track that quick right now.

Route choice course at Cliff Cave (1:7.5) set by Mary. Controls were all accessible via trail, although I did redline one leg. Running some of the older trails was tough as they are getting pretty overgrown and of course everything off trail was thick and spider laden. Fun exercise that required a lot more concentration than I thought it would.

Dinner at Meskerem Ethiopian on S Grand then came home to a little Port and cheese course that Kate had put together. Outstanding.

Chubb Trail. Super hot and humid so I saw no reason to push the pace.

Work from home day (this will be normal for Thursdays going forward - yahoo). Went out at lunchtime for some errands and then a little over half an hour on the trails at Queeny. The singletrack trails at Queeny are really overgrown right now. Not sure if that's due to lack of use or just a symptom of all the rain we had in July. At any rate, I've probably got chiggers now.

Didn't feel particularly motivated, and even less so when I got home to find Kate's friend Kim was over (which meant an opportunity to share some wine). Finally got out the door for an easy jog round the hood at 11:23PM. Felt sluggish, but not particularly sore. Should be able to return to normal training tomorrow.

Could have done a light training session today, but 90 minutes on the massage table seemed like a much better use of the time.

C • Where? 2

Everything hurts. A lot.

Went for a 45-minute walk at lunchtime and that helped some.

After work, I did break a sweat helping Yaya learn to ride without training wheels.

Over to CC Lake and around the bike path at a pace that might have put your average circus clown on a unicycle into difficulty. Then again, if he was a good circus clown, he may well have stayed on my wheel.

Berryman Duathlon. 5 laps. Each lap: 8 miles singletrack with some technical sections both up and down, 1 mile jeep road climb, 3.5 miles gravel road. Alternating with run laps, common transition area for all exchanges.

5 run laps. Each lap 2 miles singletrack, 1 mile jeep track, 1.5 miles gravel road.

Lap 1: Started on the bike. I don't know why just about everybody else started with the run. Seems like a no-brainer to me: it's easier to ride than run without a warm up and if your last lap puts you right up against sunset, it would be better to be finishing with a run. However, subsequent events would reveal that I was the one operating without a brain today, so maybe I was wrong on this one, too.

At any rate, it's been quite a while since I've ridden the Berryman and the technical descent a mile in didn't seem nearly as nasty as I remembered it. I also noted that the trail was blazed "OT". While I knew the Ozark and Berryman do run together for a bit, I thought it was just a really short section. I decided I must be on the wrong trail and went back to the last place I saw a marker for the race (I was really wishing I had brought a topo map with me). Turns out I was fine. The extra distance set me back about 15 minutes, which isn't really a disaster in a race of this length, but it had a disastrous effect on my psyche: I started feeling like I had to catch up and began to push - a very bad idea at the start of an ultra.

The rest of the lap went fine. Legs felt quite good on the run and I was about 15 minutes behind last year's winner, Lullel Hickman, who was setting the pace again this year. (Split 2:02; cumulative 2:02)

Lap 2: Still riding a fairly stiff pace. Cut the rear sidewall on a sharp stone on the jeep trail up to the road. Thought about riding the remaining 4 miles in on the rim, but decided it would be faster to fix it. Tire change took just over 5 minutes, but I didn't have any duct tape with me to patch the sidewall (jeez, have I ever done one of these races before?). Was able to nurse it in without blowing out the sidewall again, but I knew I couldn't take it out on another lap. Run was fine again, slightly slower than the previous lap. Slipped another couple minutes off the lead. (Split 2:00, cumulative; 4:02).

Lap 3: I didn't want to risk the new chain on the Epic with the old freewheel on the backup wheels, so I switched to the hardtail. Fortunately, the trails were in good shape, so it wasn't much slower. The main disadvantage was that I couldn't spend quite as much time in the saddle so my back started getting stiff. During the transition to the run, I started feeling a bit nauseous. Upped my electrolyte intake from 2 to 3 tablets/hour and took a little more time in transition to get down some chips. Ran OK once I got moving again. I was now up to second place and had taken a little bite out of the lead, but was still a full 15 minutes out. (Split 1:58, cumulative 6:00).

Lap 4: Discounting the time lost on the lap 1 blunder, Hickman and I had basically gone dead even for six hours, so I concluded that the only way I was going to catch him was if he blew up and I didn't. Employing the strategy of control what you can and forget what you can't, I switched into "don't break" mode. I took a longer transition to get down some more food, and took it a bit easier on the technical sections of the bike. However, the damage from the early pace had already been done (compounded by a day that was getting plenty warm), and by the end of the bike, I couldn't get any more food down. I was still able to drink, so I continued, but the fuse had been lit: once you stop eating in a long race, it's just a matter of time before very bad things happen. Brought back another couple minutes on Hickman. (Split 2:11, cumulative 8:11).

Lap 5: Figured 13 minutes was insurmountable and third place was quite a ways back, so I knocked the pace way back to try to keep from bonking. Didn't really work. Halfway through the singletrack I was still pedaling OK, but really having a hard time staying on line. Felt quite a rush of relief when I arrived at the jeep road without tossing myself over the bars. At transition, Karen Holtman offered me some Cytomax, which is just about the nastiest stuff I've ever poured down my throat, but it stayed down, so that was good. Maintained an easy jog for the run and was quite shocked when Hickman came by on the bike just half a mile from the finish. Apparently the heat and early pace had been a bit much for him as well and he really folded on the big climb on jeep road. The gap at the finish was only 3 minutes. (Split 2:27, cumulative 10:38).

Trying to do the last bike leg any faster would have been a really bad idea (and it was still faster than the first bike lap), but I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't find anything for the final run. My split for just the run was an hour and all the other running laps were under 50 minutes. I'd attribute the bad pacing to simply being stale (it's been over a year since I've done anything ultra distance), but I think the real problem was that I overreacted to the early mistake and pushed when I should have relaxed. Rookie mistake and an unfortunate one in an event where the body was clearly up to the task.

Still, running and biking the Berryman trail is about as fine a way to spend a day as you can come up with so I'll get over it.

C • technical descent 4

Powerline cut to CC Lake and back. Mostly grass, but enough to run through all the gears and enough bumps to make sure the rear suspension was working.

The prospect of eight hours of singletrack on a hardtail was enough motivation to finally put the Epic back together again (a mere 15 months to the day after breaking it). New rear derailleur, cable, hanger, chain, cassette, pedals, brake pads, tubes, and tires. Nothing like racing on untested equipment. I guess I'd better bring the hardtail along Saturday as a backup. With any luck, I'll get in a short test ride tomorrow.

Easy lunchtime jog between midtown and downtown. Ran on grass through the parks, but didn't quite make the 50% threshold to qualify as a "terrain" run.

In to work in the 60.

Rode over to Carondolet with every intention of doing the crits, but after 75 minutes my legs still hadn't come around, so I decided that whipping two dead ponies four days before an ultra would be counter productive at best. The goal for the day was depletion, not destruction.

So, out Grant's Trail and southwest to Fenton via Weber Hill, north along the river to Valley Park and a more or less direct route home from there. Nice night, fun ride, and by the end of it I had put in nearly two hours in the big ring, so it wasn't completely void of effort.

C • 'More or less direct route ... 2

Felt sluggish all morning so I decided to do a quick and easy jog down to the arch and back at lunch. Nice day to be out, but it didn't help much; I almost fell asleep in a meeting with my boss later in the afternoon. I'm pretty sure she didn't notice (and even if she did, she'd think it was funny).

Still giving the legs a break (that'll change tomorrow), stayed on the flood plain trails at Castlewood. First time out past the train tunnel since the floods so I didn't know what to expect for conditions. Pretty much the same as yesterday: lots of sand near the river, but the trails are generally in pretty good shape.

Did come off on one log crossing. Not really a fall as I put a foot down while the bike went out from under me and landed in an awkward split (low scores from all judges). Hopped back on real quick and learned that my Father-In-Law was telling me the truth a couple weeks ago: now that "the boys" are untethered, they sometimes end up further afield than you expect. Hit the seat and YOWSA! What are you doing under there? No real harm done, but it sure got my attention.

Power line cut to CC Lake to Katy to Bangert Island, which is finally above water again. A couple loops around the perimeter and then back home. Other than a few sections of deep sand (and even those are ridable), the trail doesn't seem to have suffered much from the flood. Good fun to ride such fast singletrack after fighting with the rocks on the Chubb. After a tough day yesterday, this was pretty much exactly what I needed - both mentally and physically.

Warmup.

SLOC Memory O at West Tyson (1:10). Map at start, #7, and #11. First 7 were White; the rest were Orange level. Ran well, but when I got to 11, I looked in the reentrant and didn't see it. As I had no map (obviously), I had to conclude that I was remembering the wrong reentrant. I checked a few nearby, but wandering around a loose skree slope isn't my idea of a good time, so I went back to 7 and checked the map again. This added something like 2K to the course (not to mention the climb over the main ridge), but at least I now knew that it really was supposed to be in the first reentrant I checked. When I got back it was there, but you couldn't see it from above because it was hung right up against a drop at the top of the reentrant. Should have trusted myself more and scrambled down to make sure it wasn't in there, but the woods are so open on that hillside, I didn't figure there was any way to place it that wouldn't be visible from quite a ways off.

Anyway, can't let one little 30-minute mistake ruin the day! It was still decent physical training and the other 13 controls were hit cleanly. First time I've done a woods meet with the HR monitor. I was reasonably sure that I run O meets at around 80% maxHR, now I know. I have no idea what I'll do with that information.

Then I rode the Tyson side of the Chubb, plus the low-water route to the second tracks crossing. Didn't push too hard - wanted to get a feel for the effort next weekend. As I haven't ridden technical rock in quite some time, there were more than the usual number of dabs, but no falls.

Flint Quarry to the tracks at a mellow clip then hammering back on the Chubb in 26:17, which is pretty stout coming in the 4th hour of a workout. Warmed down on the new connector to the lower lot and called it a day.

So, the plan was to get back mid-afternoon and then take Kate and Baby-O on a picnic that would culminate in some mini-golf. Baby-O's never played it, but I'm pretty sure she'd have a good time. Unfortunately, Kate's not feeling too good when I get home. We've already told Baby-O there's a surprise coming to her tonight, so I'm stuck with coming up with something that qualifies as a "surprise". I could just do the golf, but I'd rather save that for when Kate's feeling better.

So, literally taking a page out of one of her favorite books, Clarence and the Great Surprise, I decide we should hike up the ridge at Castlewood and have our picnic atop the cliff. Of course, as soon as we get to the park, she spots the playground and says she wants to swing. I suggest that we should do the surprise first since that involves hiking and she might be too tired if we wait until later. I still haven't told her what the "surprise" is, but I think she's putting it together herself. Much to my surprise, she agrees without any argument.

This is no trivial hike for a five year old. It's basically the first 15 minutes of my hill running from Friday. I convince her not to run along the stream so she'll have enough energy for the big climb. Up we go with nary a complaint the whole way. When we get to the top, she starts running (I told her she could once the climb was done) and promptly dumps it in the loose limestone. Up she pops, still no complaints. We get to the overlook and I don't even have to tell her. "It's the Great Surprise!" she yells, "Let's have our picnic now."

We plop down on a reasonably flat slab of limestone and spread out our meal. There's no wind, but the temperature isn't much over 80 and the humidity is lower than it was earlier today. We sit and chat and watch all manner of transportation go by below: a bass boat on the river, a train right below the cliff, some mountain bikers on the flood plain trails, and a hot air balloon gently moving over to West Tyson. A couple hikers come by, but we pretty much have the spot to ourselves. Baby-O compliments my choice of nourishment (peanut butter sandwich, cucmbers, and some cheese for her, not anything she'd normally complain about, but not anything that generally draws raves, either).

After eating and a particularly vexing round of I spy ("Something green", she says. Really? In the woods? In Missouri? In August? Which of the 10,000 green objects within 20m might you be looking at?), we head back. She must be getting tired, we're well over 3 miles, but all she can talk about is how great the surprise was and how she wants to come back. She plays on the swings for a bit while the sun sets and then concedes that we should be getting back home. She wants to listen to music in the car, and after reviewing options, decides on Here Come the ABC's by They Might Be Giants which, if you're forced to listen to kid music, is about as good as it gets.

We get back home to find Kate feeling somewhat better. While it was a bummer for Kate, I have to say this was the best time I've had yet with Baby-O and the feeling appeared to be mutual. There are a few days that I play over in my mind on a pretty regular basis. This will be one of them.

C • Nice story. As you say, one... 4

Easy ride on the flood plain of Castlewood then some modest effort on the ridge trails.

Immediately followed by some repeats up the ridge. Lone Wolf@5:00; Steps@3:40 (1:40 for the actual steps); River Scene@2:40; Gazebo@2:44; all with 4-5min recovery.

Seemed like decent efforts, but I'm still a bit miffed about the HR (avg and max are just for the intervals). Should be at least 10 beats/min higher.

In to work.

Legs felt soft all day, so in light of yesterday's results I decided to bail on the long run despite favorable conditions. Rode home instead, spinning the 60.

In to work.

3xHe Man Big Ring Loop@6:27, 6:17, 6:25 with 4:00R. 20:00 warmup in the 60, then back home relatively easy. HR is for the intervals only. Last one was probably better than the second, but I had to wait for a car at the left into the final climb.

Was hoping to get some idea of how well I was turning big gears from this one. I'm not sure I got an answer. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with the splits and I was doing it in reasonably big gears (84 on the ups, 89 and 95 on the flats). However, the HR would indicate that the legs were the limiting factor, and that shouldn't be the case for efforts of this length.

Three possiblities:

1) Legs are off, but the lower G is compensating. This is certainly true at least a little bit. Simply putting on a pair of pants from a few years ago is ample confirmation that there's been a reduction of lean mass.

2) VO2Max is so much higher than it was that the leg muscles can't keep up. Well, that would be nice, but if that was true, I should be turning in better running times.

3) Legs are fine, just tired. Maybe that extra hour of base was too much after all. My volume has been a bit high the last couple weeks and it's been plenty hot (although today was "only" 90).

Not really sure what the implications are for time trialing. I guess I'll have to haul out the TT bike and do some flat intervals on the flood plain. Unless #3 is the correct answer, I may be going a cog bigger on the back for Millstadt.

In to work in the 60. Left a bit late and got hit with a bunch of lights. Other than that, it was a quite fine morning to ride.

Was going to come straight back so I could get a jump on grilling dinner and give the legs a rest (two tough days coming up). However, the minute I stepped out the door I knew that this was not a day to be squandered. Figuring an extra hour of base wouldn't do me in, I spun home via Grant's Trail enjoying the finest riding weather so far this year.

The original plan was to ride a lap of Lost Valley easy and then run the Lewis trail (which is hard even when you're trying to go easy). I decided it was too hot for that so I hit the loop at Lost Valley a bit harder, then took the Katy out to Matson Hill. I was all set to blast Matson Hill, but I realized that I wasn't that far from Augusta and the wineries were still open for another hour and a half. So, I kept on going and got in a tasting at Mt. Pleasant where they poured me way too much Port, and I sure wasn't going to waste that. Nor was I going to let that incident dissaude me from stopping at Augusta or Montelle. So, back on the Katy, feeling just a bit lightheaded, but not having any trouble since the "trail" is just an old railroad bed and even Baby-O has no dificulty riding it.

I still wanted to hit Matson Hill, and taking the gravel road up to the trailhead from the Katy wasn't too terrible, so I gave it a go. The parent in me is somewhat hesitant to recommend technical single track when buzzed, but I have to say it was quite fun and not only would I do it all over again, I probably will. From there it was back on the Katy and the big climb up Hamburg to the car at the Nuke disposal site.

C • Loose as a goose 1

AM Fartlek run at Queeny. Hit the gas every time the trail tipped upwards. HR log shows eleven spikes over 150 ranging from 15 seconds to almost 2 minutes.

In the afternoon I ran some errands on the MTB (on roads!)

In to work in the 60.

Home from work in via a similar route from Tuesday. But without the north city part.

In to work in the 60. 74F felt downright chilly.

Heat's gone, but replaced with some very menacing clouds. Managed to stay on completely dry roads by swinging way north and then over to St. Charles again while the storms filled in from the east. It was a fun show to watch from a distance, but I was glad that I beat them home because when they did hit, they hit pretty hard.

Easy jog round the hood.

In to work in the 60. Took a bit longer than usual to get the legs moving this morning, but once they came around, the second half of the commute was done with suitable vigor.

Hadn't ridden through the Hood in a while, so I took Grand north to Broadway. Then headed west past the airport. About this time I decided that I was already sweating enough that I might as well put some pressure on the pedals. Went over to St. Charles and blasted the cobbles, then hit a few small climbs.

And here it is - the Birthday dinner at Fleming's. Kate had invoked our usual strategy for this quality of meal: let the professionals do their job. She gave the chef and wine steward a budget and told them to do their best. They did.

Olive Tapinade on Bruschetta
Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, Brut Rosé Champagne

Crab Cakes
Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2006

Spinach Salad with Fried Goat Cheese
Hartford Court Pinot Noir, Sonoma, 2005

BBQ Swordfish Fillet
Paul Pernot, Puligny-Montrachet, 2006

Roasted Veal on Rice
Honig Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, 2005

Chocolate Lava Cake
Taylor Fladgate, Vintage Port Quinta de Vargellas, 1988

Joins the list of my top 5 dining experiences and, as dining is pretty much what Kate and I do for recreation, that's a pretty heady list.

C • top 5 6

In to work in the 60.

Back home, also in the 60, but I can't really take credit for a gear restricted workout since I neither pushed on the uphills or wound it out on the descents. Just getting home was enough in this heat. Ambient temp 100F, dew point 78F.

Chubb Trail. Started from Lone Elk and it was really hot and humid along the river so I took it out easy. Got to the tracks in 35 minutes. By then I was feeling OK, so I picked up the pace and did the Tyson side in 55 minutes. Thought about hammering it in to finish under 2 hours (which would have been quite a thing in these conditions), but the combined effects of the heat, effort, and sugar intake mandated a poop break and I decided to just jog it in after that.

Got out early for a ride around St. Charles County. Hammered the cobbles and a few small climbs; everything else was pretty mellow.

Spent the remainder of the day eating and drinking way too much. Since she's still contagious (as is Kate) we cancelled the invites to all Baby-O's friends and just made it a family party. She still had a pretty good time. It was also my party and the haul on the liquid refreshment front was quite special: 2006 Titus Zinfandel, 2004 Amavi Cab, 2005 Hewitt Cab(!), and from Kate, my absolute favorite substance on the planet: 1992 Highland Park Cask Strength Scotch.

3x1000@3:41, 3:40, 3:37 400R. Target was 3:35, but not too displeased given that I was still a bit full from the party and it wasn't exactly cool out.

In to work.

Home via Midland with a loop around CC Lake. Was going to go longer, but Baby-O has chicken pox and now Kate caught it (of course, in the much more annoying adult form of shingles) so my presence on the home front was a priority. Kate's family (mother, father, sister and her fiance) showed up later in the evening for Baby-O's birthday party tomorrow.