A wet and rainy Wednesday

Hello. Today's post is sponored by the letter "R".
- R is for rain, and rest, and recovery. It's also for respect.

On this rainy day I'd like to point out that in this writer's opinion, the greatest task that each endurance athlete has to undertake is the practice of staying injury free. Nothing, well almost nothing, will ruin the most well-planned, best-intended, training schedule than an injury, especially one that could have been prevented.

Over the long course, a training plan is divided up in to periods. Each period has a particular goal, be that base building, or strength training, or peak building. Within each period there's a rest. Rest is necessary to allow the body to recover from whatever you were training it to do.

Even within a set, say a track session, rest is built in. Respect it. If your prescribed set is 400 @ (name your pace), followed by 1200 @ (name your pace), with a (X:XX) rest in between, respect the rest interval just as you would your pace interval. IT'S NECESSARY.

What's that you say, you have an easy week on your schedule? Then, TAKE IT EASY!!! Rest, recover, SLEEP.

That's all I got. See you next time. Anyone out there want to sponsor this blog? I think I'm running out of letters in the alphabet.

I'm an irongeek

Here I am, in the afternoon post workout, errands all done and I'm watching the 2007 Ironman World Championships from Kona this past October on NBC. From Chris McCormack powering his way through the run to win his first Ironman to the final age-grouper to finish at midnight they are champions every last one of them.

Stolen lines, ironically the two letters that you have to remove from impossible to make it so, are I and M; IM as in Ironman.

have a good afternoon. -dean

'Tis a beautiful Friday

For whatever reason I decided to walk to work today. I got an early start, bought a cup of coffee and a bagel from a local coffee shop and made my walk down by the beach and up an urban river trail to work, which is pretty much right off the trail.

It reminded me of something that gets left out more often than we should let it. The world moves pretty fast and this is mostly out of our own design, not so much that of the world. We cut up our days in to work, sustain (eat, sleet), recreat(ion). Recreation time is time that we use to re-create who we are, waking rest and recharging. This is usually the first thing to go when we get busy and overwhelmed. Commuting edges it's way in to this time as well. To that end we drive as fast as we can to cut down on the perceived time lost between the activities that we participate in. This becomes the norm and our lives are hurried merely as a matter of course. We hurry from one place to another, from one appointment to another, from one person to another, a hurried attempt to get it all in before we miss the next thing on the calendar.

I'm guilty of this too. I freely admit to being an over-scheduled volunteer-itis afflicted adult. Which makes what I did this morning all the more valuable.

I got to slow down. I got to slow down to the ambulatory pace of a human being. I was able to allow my body, mind, and all of my senses to experience life and the world around me as they were designed to, as opposed to how they were conditioned.

I thought about how much more I was able to see, much like riding my bike over, around, and the same streets that I drive on, how much more I noticed of my surroundings.

Long story short, it was a three and a half mile urban hike. Good coffee, ocean breeze, and I got in to work awake, calm, and somehow a little more prepared for the hell that Friday would be. I'm taking a break now to write this post, hoping somehow that the same peace of the morning will enter my afternoon.

Just how far do we train here anyway?

One of the most significant collective stats that my friend Doron shared with me my after our first ironman was just how much distance we had covered in training. He used a number that I can barely fathom at this point, and wondered if we had been on the same training plan.

This year I want to see how far I end up traveling on my "trip" to ironman. To that end I've been logging my workouts in a personal workout log as well as the one that we are given access to through the teamintraining ironteam.

There's even a nifty map that shows how far I would have gone across the country.

Swimming - Study through Youtube

If you're going to study swimming from videos you really can't get better than youtube for good free stuff. And if you're going to look for technique I say watch some professionals.
The first few here are of Ian Thorpe.



What I like here in this video of Ian Thorpe is the clear shot of the catch (the hand entering the water), and how much of his arm you can see pulling his body through the water. Note the bend in the elbow and the shape of the arm motion through the pull. (Above & Below)



2006 Commonweath games trial (200m)(Below)
Time 830 - Action Starts at 3:10
Check it out, the arms aren't moving especially fast, it's all pull power, form in each catch, pull, and overall body positioning. Smooth.



Kicking too (Below):


Freestyle swim video from the 2004 Olympic games


Just for fun: Men's World Record 4x200 Freestyle


Link to this Blog Post Swimming - Study through Youtube

Tri Saturdays - Just a ride in the park

I love Saturdays. Friends of mine sleep in or do brunch or even go skydiving. Me? Well me and mine go out for bike rides. Yup, you heard me bike rides. For the two races that the Los Angeles Chapter of Team in Training "IronteaminTraining" participants will have either seven or almost ten full months of training to tackle the Wildflower Long Course (a half iron distance triathlon) and/or Vineman (a full iron distance triathlon). Today's mission was simple, ride as a team for the first time. So with a little parking lot assessment of equipment, and bike handling ability the team set out on a short hour/hour-and-a-half~ish ride around Griffith Park from the Los Angeles Zoo.

After an easy five mile warm up the lead pack upped the ante and the group spread out over the 17-mile course.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1430246

If you were there this weekend it was great to see you. No worries about anything at all we have months (and I mean MONTHS) of training to go. If you weren't there you missed yet another opportunity to join us at Portos Bakery and my favorite part of almost any training day, lunch.

In the words of one of my coaches, it was a good practice; Nobody drowned. Next week it's off to Santa Monica for some Westside riding. See you then -dean

(link to this blog post - tri-saturdays-just-ride-in-park)

2007/2008 Ironteam - first practice

It's a new year, a new season, and a whole new race. This year Team in Training has decided to field a team of athletes for both the Wildflower long course, a half iron distance, as well as Vineman a full iron course, and have both groups train on the same team.

Wildflower (2008 link not posted at the time of writing) an annual favorite of triathletes is a race to aspire to. Just think, a lake swim, hilly ride, and an awesome run through beautiful central California (Lake San Antonio, CA just up from the 101 freeway from Paso Robles).


Vineman is a full iron distance race in beautiful Sonoma, California. (Think wine country, and you'll get the idea.

At the first practice we took to the pools and as always there's a great mix of people. Some who've been swimming for years with graceful effortless strokes and people who have just now taken up the sport. Have no fear however, my first year we had a guy (some of you out there know him) who couldn't swim a stroke, and still finished the swim well under the cut-off time just from coming to practice and hitting all of his workouts (and a little extra tutoring).

Tomorrow we will have our first team run. Should be fun. We're about 40 strong as a group and that'll give everyone someone else to run with as the season progresses.

On the whole we're a lucky group. We live in an area that affords us the ability to train year-round, have enough loony people to train with, have a group of great coaches, and will raise a significant amount of money to fight cancer and fund patient services. I feel proud to be here.

Thanks for reading, drop me a note if you feel so inclined.
-dean
(link to this blog post: 2007/2008 Ironteam - first practice)

New starts at odd times

Let's take a look at what's going on for me this year in the world of endurance sports. I'm probably not a beginner anymore, though there's still tons to learn. I've completed a handful of half marathons, a half iron distance triathlon, a couple olympic/international distance triathlons, two full iron distance triathlons, and there still seems to be room for more. In the world of triathlon we're coming to the end of the racing season with many locations having held or are nearing their championship event. For me and several friends of mine we're starting true base training in prepartion of another "going long" season.

For me this will be a focused year, trying to get the most out of training and the least amount of skating that I've done. And by skating I mean going through the motions without purpose. Laying this out there today, I'm not going to qualify for the big race in Hawaii, not this year, and probably not this decade. But this year is for reaching down and seeing what I'm capable of doing. Setting new PRs at all my distances and having fun while that happens.

I'm also helping out with Team in Training again this year as a mentor. We'll be going to Vineman in Sonoma, a full iron distance race as well has taking many to Wildflower for the long course, a half iron distance race. I look forward to introducing them to you as the season progresses.

I'm also working with the LA Tri Club to increase the club's presence at local races to support our member athletes from beginners to elites, and to recruit new members.

Oh yeah, then there's working, dating, and sleeping that has to get done between all the training, eating, and recovering that is already planned. So like I said last year, I send my apologies in advance.

-dean

Racing and whatnot

There really is something to racing. Whether it's your career as a pro, your gift as an elite, or your passion as an age grouper, racing is a test you abilities on your chosen course. Some people are absolute monsters racing every weekend in some cases and prospering in the standings. I marvel at their fortitude and bow to such commitment. This of course is coming from someone who for the past two years has taken an ironman finish in late June as the end of his season. This year I hope to add just one more race (maybe two) to my schedule by taking on the Long Beach Marathon. A sub four finish would be dreamy, but it won't happen this year. I'm honestly hoping for twenty six 10 to 11 minute miles which puts me at just under four hours. Or in a more optimistic perspective, a new PR, dropping my old time by over an hour. Time will tell if there's enough juice left in my tank to train for this one. I'll let you know how it goes.
-dean

Oh Canada! Ironman Day in Penticton, B.C. Canada

So it's August 26th, 2007. And what would be better than watching good friends finish Ironman? Here we are, we've been watching off and on all day, but now I'm glued to my computer watching the streaming video from Penticton. I'm doing was anyone who knows this distance would be. I'm counting minutes, hours, transition minutes and trying to figure out who's finishing first, and how far from now it'll all happen. Go Kevin & Christy!!! (In no particular order)

-dean

Ahhh... The off-.. err PRE-Season

It's August. I took almost a full month off. That is to say that I took a month off from training for triathlons. I've been to concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, camping, hung out in Hawaii, catching up with friends and family, and every now and then napping. All those things that I apologized for here: ("Apologies in Advance") I seem to have made up for in the last forty or so days.

I've sat on my road bike two or three times for a little less than an hour. I've been running. I even put a goal out in front of me, but my body wasn't ready to get back to it... Until now. It's back to training for me.

I've taken to helping out with the LA Tri Club as the Race Day Support Coordinator. The LA Tri Club has had over 4000 members join in the past six or seven years. I know this because I'm member number three thousand eight hundred something something... If it wasn't written down on a card I probably wouldn't be able to come up with it. Here's the point. When you're training it's nice to have support out there. Whether that be a running partner (Thanks Karen), a riding group, or a group of crazies to charge the surf with at 6am, it's good to know where to find people. LA Tri Club has a massive calendar of member led workouts in addition to a list of clinics and social events throughout the year. If you're a triathlete in the LA/Valley/OC area this is the place to be. The Race Day Support crew that I coordinate is all about bringing that kind of support that we have for workouts, out to the races for our members.

We're looking to support around ten local races throughout the calendar year and we always welcome your help. If you're a member of LA Tri Club come and join us through the club RSVPs. If you're not a member, What are you waiting for?? Join UP! Coming out the race anyway? Come see us at the LA Tri Club tent.

See you at the races!
-dean

Friends of mine in print

If you look at this month's issue of Triathlete Magazine you will see that Janus took out an ad that spans several pages in the magazine in order to recognize participants in their ironman fundraising program. If you look at the top you'll see my friend Doron who raised over $40,000. I'm equally impressed with each of my teammates who raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, all of whom trained with me this past year. Kudos all around.

Race Day Footage from the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene Swim Start

Hello everyone,
As evidence of the start of the day I've posted video of the 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene swim start. This is REAL footage broadcast on local television in Coeur d'Alene and shot live on the morning of June 24th.

It is in fact not my imagination or my memory messing with me. The water was a little rough. See the video below (and the one below that):



Look at the flag on the beach almost dead center in the frame:

The importance of a little eye contact

I've taken to riding my bike to work. With only a handful of rainy days in the last 12 months why not. Luckily I live in Southern California where the weather is forgiving enough nearly year round and my job is flexible enough dress code wise where this is possible. Unluckily people around me, and I mean on the road, seem to be paying less and less attention to the ROAD!!

I'm not certain what the issue is. Driving is fun. It is the transference of a little change in the angle of your foot/heel, to raw horsepower and speed, or drop in speed depending on what your needs are. Perhaps the problem is that cars are just too big, or that there's too much to look at and be entertained by inside the car. Regardless the power and convenience of this powered conveyance is being taken for granted.

As a rider, and now a riding commuter, I have come to one universal truth. It is this: No matter how well I train myself to ride, nor how RIGHT I am in the right of way, when struck by a quarter to a half ton of aluminum, steel, and plastic, that RIGHT of way doesn't mean anything. Nothing that is but an overall loss in the ability to walk, talk, and possibly breathe. I'm not ok with that. But making sure that that doesn't happen is on me.

I have been freed from my car and the shackles of big petroleum companies for my work week. I have been liberated, one might say. And eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It's now on me to watch and make sure that I am safe. To that end a little eye contact is important.

What good is eye contact you might ask? A little eye contact can tell you what a driver is going to do, or better yet what they're not seeing, most importantly you. Riding in traffic is made safer by knowing as much about your fellow commuters as you can. Are they even looking at you? Have they noticed that you too are making that left turn? Are they sleeping?

Looking in to a driver's eyes can make them aware of you. At the very least it causes 99% of people a second thought, which still might be two more thoughts than you would have gotten before. It's harder to hit something that has looked in to your soul BWAHHAHAHAHAHA. I jest, but I'm not kidding. Try it sometime. Walk across the street, at an intersection, look at the driver that was looking left at the cross traffic, notice that they don't see you, then find their eyes. What do you see? Is it shock that you were there, disgust that you're holding them up, disappointment that they can no longer run you over innocently (in the "shoot, he saw me, now I HAVE TO stop and wait" tone)?

Tour de Fr... Denver?

Hello out there. I got an email from one of my coaches and it looks like he's out to ride the Tour de France... but in Denver & LA, minus car support and while working.

http://tourdedenver07.blogspot.com/

Quoted from Coach Gareth Thomas:

With the Tour de France just around the corner, i thought I'd share
my latest mad thought with you......

I am going to attempt my very own "Tour de Denver (and LA)" to
coincide with the stages or this years Tour de France. I figured that
perhaps i can do a third of the length of the tour rides on the same
days with similar profiles to the Tour stages. Near my home in
Colorado I have access to some major climbs and time trial courses so
I figured I could find HC style climbs and routes to match what our
Tour heroes will be doing each day. On my work days in Los Angeles I
can ride the computrainer courses in my office. Of course there are a
few considerations...

1. the altitude in colorado starts higher than the finishes of the
hardest stages of the TDF!
2. it is often above 95 degrees most days now
3. i'll have to do most of it "solo"
4. I have to work and travel during it all

i have no idea if this is going to be an "easy" task or impossibly
hard. No one day is longer than 45 miles but there are many days back
to back and the intensity is going to be way hard.

Anyway, I am going to track my progress on a blog - it should throw
out some interesting info along the way. I'll be riding with an SRM
powermeter so I will provide data from each days ride. I'll be
getting somewhat regular massage and chiro along the way. I am going
to do weight and % fat pre and post Tour and also i am going to lab
test with lactate and VO2 pre & post. So if anyone is interested in

1. also following my stage plan
2. following my progress
3. giving me some encouragement
4. joining me on a ride or 2

then please visit my Blog and let me know what your thoughts are....

http://tourdedenver07.blogspot.com

Watch out Lance, here I come!!

Gareth Thomas
--

Should be a kick. Give it a look and shout out some support would you!

Race Report : 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Bike

This year in Coeur d'Alene marked the first year of an all new bike course. There are a number of reasons that I have heard for this, but they don't really matter to me. The old course took riders out to the Idaho/Washington state line with a fair amount of climbing and had pieces of the ride that in retrospect felt like unnecessary filler. There was a long piece past mile 35/85 (or so) that followed the centenial trail along the highway and caused riders to hit a decent headwind.

The new course took us out of Coeur d'Alene and in to the town of Hayden. This year's course was quite a bit harder. Though in looking at my polar altitude data from last year and comparing it to this year, it seems like there 4300 feet of climbing (30 miles or so) and last years course had 4600 feet of climbing over the same distance. Though there was 300 fewer feet of climbing I'd say that this course was harder, if only in my mind. I'd say that last year had the climbing over a shorter distance forcing riders this year to climb for a longer period of time.

The biggest change was that the course was far prettier than last year. To the uninitiated this might sound petty, but over a seven hour period having great stuff to look at makes the time that much better. The rolling hills were beautiful, and the long line of riders looked like ants climbing over them.

For me I had the opportunity to talk to several people over the ride. (Most of them were passing me). It was by all accounts, despite being difficult perhaps, a great ride. The weather we had was wonderful, mid 60's to low 70's with a small headwind for most of the ride and a longer stronger headwind right near the end of the ride. If they keep the course the way that it was and you intend to ride this race next year, I'd recommend longer sustained climbing as a large part of your training.

End result, last year 7:50~ish, this year 7:20 (and that's with 12 minutes worth of bathroom stops because of the cold weather and hydration planned for a warmer day).

Race Report : 2007 Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Swim

A year ago I was here in Coeur d'Alene it was summer. The air was warm and the humidity a little higher than anything I'd had trained in. Race day last year brought (see last year's race report here) high temperatures and an introduction to one of the most beautiful courses that I've ever seen.

This year the course brought early spring-like conditions with air temperatures in the low 50's to low 70's, and a 8-12 mile per hour headwind. Of course the more observant amongst my readers will ask, "How can there be a headwind the whole way?" I ask the same thing.

The lake wasn't the smooth glassy surface that I remembered from the year before. Instead we were greeted with an uneven wind chop that produced 1-2 foot white caps depending on the day and time. Conditions were such that as of the race start the swim became optional, with those who wished, an opportunity to work the day as a duathalon beginning the bike at 9:30am. For those of you out there who know me, this wasn't an option worth considering. I didn't come all this way just to bike and run. For those of you who don't here's a little background. I've been around water for a good bit of my life and would tell just about anyone that I'm a fair swimmer. However in open water conditions with a mass of people around me that are kicking and clawing their way forward, I experience a little more anxiety than I'm used to. As a result my swims are a little slower than my pool times would reflect. This time around, the messy conditions did a fair job of seeding the field, pushing those unused to ocean swimming around the course. Many of my team reported finding huge pockets of open water. I was not one of them. I seemed to follow several swimmers who were having a rough time. At almost every chance I had to pass some one would swim cross and close out my path.

That being said I was remarkably more comfortable in the water and despite the water conditions and traffic I finished the swim four minutes faster than last year.

I hear that back in LA while we were in the water rumors were circulating that the swim was cancelled. Rest assured it was not. Though close to 35 people opted out.

Stay tuned, more reports to come.

Touchdown! Home at last!

Yup this ironman is in the books. I'm back in Los Angeles now and I know I still owe you a recap. Stay tuned. -dean

http://irondean.blogspot.com

In the works

I'm working on my race report now. I'm just trying to work all the lactic acid out of my quads. More on this to come. In the meantime congrats to all my Ironteammates. You were awesome out there! I met some new friends on the road too. Congrats to everyone! You are all now IRONMEN (IRONWOMEN too). Much love goes out to Mike Riley, the voice of ironman, as well for once again for sending us out and calling us all in straight up to midnight.

Those words...

I remember this. Sitting at the race banquet, siping my gatorade and watching the inspirational videos. I missed this place. It's more than the town, though I love it. It's more than the distance. It's the whole event, the stories, the lead-up, and my team in training Coeur d'Alene Ironman Team. Most are ironman first timers and are a joy to have spent time with, and have trained with all this weekend.

Love you guys. I'll see you on the course on Sunday. Stay focused, remember all the training, enjoy the day. It's a single moment that takes eight months, and one 17 hour day to create. And when it's all said and done, you'll hear, ''YOU ARE AN I-....'' nah, you'll hear it just fine when you all cross the finish line.

-dean
http://irondean.blogspot.com