July Numbers

Just a few items of interest (well, of interest to me at least!) about this month:


• My weight is still coming down. Last month, the lightest I weighed was 159. This month, that number was 153.5! OK, OK, so I weighed myself after a 56 mile bike ride and a 20 min. brick run after, but still! My average weight this month seems to be right around 156, which is 3lbs lighter than last month. Again, my diet plan was not designed to lose weight, but according to Eric, this is all very normal with the new “cleaner” diet and the increased work load.

Weight chart (again) from approximately the time I started my new diet (Beginning of May) through July:

• I started to mix that nasty Colon Pure (probably another BIG reason for the reduction in weight!) with orange juice. I just couldn’t handle it in water anymore and Eric suggested that he mixed his with Crystal Light. Since we have OJ in the fridge for the kiddos, I figured that I’d give it a shot. SOOOOO much better! I can actually drink it without having to hold my nose or my breath. I can’t taste the psyllium seed husk at all. It’s still a bit grainy, but I’ll take that any day!

• My 96.33 miles of running this month would have been good enough for 2nd all time in 2010. It’s only a mere 8.57 miles less than the 104.9 I did in October of that season.

JULY 2010 TOTALS:

SWIM = 17850 yards
BIKE = 554.69 miles (489.36 tri & 65.33 road)
RUN = 82.7 miles
GYM/STRENGTH = 0

JULY 2012 TOTAL:

SWIM = 27000 yards (+9150 yards)
BIKE = 338.63 (-216.06)(All tri)
RUN = 96.33 (+13.63 miles)
GYM/STRENGTH = 1 time

OVERALL 2010 SEASON (Dec 2009 – July 2010)

SWIM = 161950 yards
BIKE = 3926.44 miles (2732.36 tri & 1194.08 road)
RUN = 438.93 miles
GYM/STRENGTH = 14 times

OVERALL 2012 SEASON (Dec 2011 – July 2012)

SWIM = 163803 yards (+1853 yards)
BIKE = 2401.17 miles (-1525.27 miles)(1903.35 tri & 497.82 road)
RUN = 179.41 miles (-259.52 miles)
GYM/STRENGTH = 21 times

Swim Test & New Core Routine

Did a swim test today that consisted of the following:

W/U = 1500 yard swim
M/S = 200 yard swim at max effort (1:00 RI), 800 yard swim @ max effort
C/D = 600 yard swim

The resulting 100 yard average pace (for the 800) is used to approximate my lactate threshold and will be used to determine my base pace for future sets. It’s the same idea as the T1 pace test I did back on 06/04/2010 and then again on 07/13/2010. Before I reveal my most recent results, let’s take a look back at those from 2010:

JUNE 04, 2010:

1st 300 = 3:40 (1:13 per 100 yards)
2nd 300 = 3:45 (1:15 per 100 yards)
3rd 300 = 3:45 (1:15 per 100 yards)

3:43 average

3:43 / 3 = 1:14 average per 100 yards.

JULY 13, 2010:

1st 300 = 3:27 (1:09 per 100 yards)
2nd 300 = 3:39 (1:13 per 100 yards)
3rd 300 = 3:47 (1:15 per 100 yards)

3:37 average

3:37 / 3 = 1:12 average per 100 yards.

Here are the results from today:

200 yards in 2:10 (1:05 per 100 pace)
800 yards in 10:00 (1:15 pace)

So, as you can see, my base pace is still relatively the same even using a different testing method (1:14, 1:12, 1:15). My first reaction is, “What?!?” My second reaction is, “How can this be?!?” Seriously, I feel like I am in a much better place physically than I was 2 years ago. I feel stronger, I’m strength training, I’m (on average) 8-10 pounds lighter, I’ve worked with Frank on my technique (totally revamping it), and I’ve built a fantastic base. What gives? After digesting the data, I replayed those two tests from 2010 in my mind. The reason I’m able to do this is because they hurt so much. I remember gasping for air and becoming weak right around 150 – 200 yards in on every 300. This time however, I didn’t feel like this until the last 10 yards of the 200 and maybe the last 100 yards of the 800. Less fatigue and the same results actually sound pretty good, no?

After my swim test, I headed up to the Pain Cave to get "schooled" on my new core routine.  Here it is:

** is new exercise or modified

Band:
Side Steps
Monsters
** Giants
Bosu: (band above knee)
Squats with weight hold for 5"
**Moguls with or without weight 45"-60"
**Front box jumps (go to higher box) band above knee land soft in running position (mid foot)
**"Runners" band above knee in "crunch" position

No Band:
**Hamstring curls with stability ball (two leg work toward one leg)
**Side Dips(instead of step ups)
**Knee Drives (bench with 2 risers)
Squat Jumps with curls
**One Leg "skaters" with or without weight
Planks

This is a 2 time circuit 2X12.... At times schedule may cut it down to 1X through.

Introducing Beta Alanine & Kre-Alkalyn

Per Eric’s advice, I started two new supplements, Beta Alanine & Kre-Alkalyn, on Tuesday.

Here is some additional info on Beta Alanine from WebMD:

• Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid. Non-essential amino acids can be made by the body, so they don’t have to be provided by food. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
• Beta-alanine is used for improving athletic performance and exercise capacity, and building lean muscle mass.
• How does it work?
• Beta-alanine is an amino acid. In the body it is converted to other chemicals that can affect muscle.

Kre-Alkalyn is basically Creatine with a pH buffer that allows it to work more efficiently than regular Creatine when it enters the body. According to a Kre-Alkalyn site:

• Ordinary Creatine supplements, with low pH level (below 6.9), allows for the almost immediate conversion of Creatine into Creatinine. This is why you have to "load" on traditional Creatines: your body is only able to absorb a small fraction of the total Creatine you are ingesting. In order to reach any appreciable level of Creatine in the blood and muscle, you have to take high amounts over long periods of time.

In other words, I don’t have to take 8 pills per day to receive a small amount of Creatine. I only have to take one or two pills.

What is Creatine, you ask? Well, according to WebMD:

• Creatine is a natural substance that turns into creatine phosphate in the body. Creatine phosphate helps make a substance called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP provides the energy for muscle contractions.
• The body produces some of the creatine it uses. It also comes from protein-rich foods such as meat or fish.

Finally, according to Muscle & Strength.com:

• The effectiveness of creatine supplementation is well known. Creatine increases lean muscle mass, boosts strength, and provides you with more energy during intense workouts. Combine the effectiveness of creatine with the fact that it has no side effects, and you have a recipe for a best-selling supplement. It can’t get any better then this, right? Wrong. New research is revealing a synergistic, beneficial relationship between creatine and the popular bodybuilding supplement beta-alanine. The combination of creatine and beta-alanine just may be the best kept secret. This stack yields muscle gains, and improved strength and endurance.

The wildest thing about taking the Beta Alanine, is that within about 20 minutes, a tingling “pins and needles” sensation pulsates over different parts of the body. It’s not very intense, and it doesn’t last very long, but it is definitely a trip. In the medical arena, I guess it’s called “paraesthesia”

A pic of the two bottles of the brands I bought:

UPDATED on 08/29/2013:  It seems as though there is a fair amount of traffic directed to this particular entry about Kre-Alkalyn and Beta-Alanine, so I figured that I would update this post with a link to another entry that has even more information, reviews, and follow-ups about this stack. Kre-Alkalyn / Beta-Alanine / Optygen

More Track Work & A Brick

I haven’t been on the track this many times (3) since my freshman year in high school or maybe even since the 8th grade! The first was my initial run test with Carlos and Sue, the second was for a workout called, “Tempo 20” where the main set was to do 20 minutes between a 7:30 pace and a 7:45 pace (I managed 8:08), and today was for a workout called “VO2 max test + 1600 meter test (Z6)” I gotta tell you, right off the bat, that description got me real nervous….REAL nervous! Here is how it was supposed to go down:


After a warm-up that included some sprints and drills, I was supposed to do 4 laps (1600m = 1mile) at max effort. The notes clearly say, “YOU HAVE TO BE GOING ALL OUT” After this, there was a 5 minute recovery followed by 6 minutes @ max effort. The purpose of running the 6 minutes was to find the distance I cover during that time frame and to find the average pace during. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!!! After the 6 minute “sprint”, I had another 5 minute recovery before starting a 6x400m set at the average pace from that 6 min sprint.

My previous two track sessions were at a Horizon High School which is about 25-30 minutes from my house. Recently, I found out that a high school (Cactus Shadows) about 8-10 minutes from my house has a track I could use, so I hopped in the car around 4:50AM and drove off into the pre-dawn, humid, morning. The only thing missing (or so I thought) was my trusty iPod. For some reason, I couldn’t find it and had to get going. Of all the days I could have used some up tempo techno/dance music, this was it. After pulling into the parking lot, I quickly scanned the perimeter for where to get in. Within a few minutes, I quickly realized that there was no “real” entrance, rather a small opening between two locked gates. Apparently, the grounds crew keeps a chain locked around the posts, but keeps it open enough for people to fit through. The idea is to keep bikes and other vehicles out. I started to gather my stuff when I realized that I had left my HRM strap at home. Hopefully Carlos wasn’t interested in any HR data today, because he wasn’t going to get it! I approached the opening in the gate, passed my stuff through to the other side and started to squeeze through. The chain quickly restricted the gate from opening any further and stopped me in my tracks. A few more futile efforts to get through and I was looking for an alternative. The only thing that presented itself was to scale the 8’ chain link fence, so that’s exactly what I did. The metal was slippery from the morning humidity and I had visions of slipping the entire time, but fortunately, I made it safely and was able to get after the task at hand fairly quickly. A quick side note; two more people showed up and neither of them could fit through the gate either. They too had to scale the fence, which had me questioning current trespassing laws and if we weren’t actually supposed to be there. Well, it was too late to quit, so I forged on with my warm-up. Here is how the meat of this went (Keep in mind that while the track is 400m, I didn't start/stop each lap precisely the same time, hence the discrepency between time vs. average on #'s 1 & 4):

• 1600m covered with a 6:21 pace
• Covered 0.87 miles (for a 6:51 min/mile) in the following 6 minute run
• 400 #1 = 1:44.9 (6:40 pace)
• 400 #2 = 1:45.2 (6:43 pace)
• 400 #3 = 1:47.3 (6:51 pace)
• 400 #4 = 1:43.1 (6:45 pace)
• 400 #5 = 1:45.5 (7:02 pace)
• 400 #6 = 1:43.5 (6:46 pace)

You know, for me, I was pretty pleased with these results. Back on June 30th, 2010, Erik timed my 1 mile run at 6:44 when we had speed work on the soccer fields by my work. Is a 20 sec decrease good? Is it bad? I don’t know, but it sure felt good to go fast….even if only for a mile.

I warmed down, scaled the fence again, and got back in the car. On my way out, I ran into James, who was just setting out for a run of his own. We made some small talk before parting ways. After getting home, I quickly changed out of my running gear and into my cycling stuff right there in the garage. I had to knock back a big gear, low RPM, 5x5 set that lasted 1 ½ hours before my training day was over. With about 10 minutes left in my ride, Kristi and the kids pulled up next to me (on their way to start their days) and shouted some words of encouragement. I always love when that happens, especially on the tail end of a brick.

Here is what Carlos had to say when I sent him the data:

"This is really nice work on the whole workout and it is probably good that you left the HRM at home.  Now we use this data to set up your pacing! You are on your way to faster running!"

TTT Race Report

Carlos and I met at James’ house at 4AM so we could head down to Saguaro Velo’s time trial race in Arizona City together. Before I get into a race report/recap of the day’s events, I need to set the time machine back to Friday.

My training schedule had me doing an easy 30 minute recovery run with the following instructions: Comfortable pace with good rhythm. Don’t let slower speeds impact your form. I also had a 30-60 minutes recovery ride with the following instructions: Just spin in small chain ring. Purpose of the workout is to keep bike frequency and to flush lactate from previous workout. For the recovery ride, me, James, Carlos, and Ben decided that we needed to get together and practice for the TTT on Sunday. None of us had ever done a TTT before and we wanted at least one ride to figure out specifics and to discuss race tactics. After the ride, James was going to be serving breakfast while we all watched the Tour de France. Since I knew that I wouldn’t get my run in after the ride, I headed out around 4AM and took care of business. Once back, I quickly changed into my cycling gear and rode the 4 miles to James’ house. The four of us quickly saddled up and were out on the road within minutes. The next 1 ½ hours was pretty comical. We were trying different rotations, we were discussing what order we should be in, and were doing it at very slow speeds. This was also the first time since IMAZ2010 that I wore my aero helmet….I was the only one to do so. So, there I was, rolling at an average of 16.2 mph with an aero helmet on looking super cool (sarcasm intended). After practicing, munching on almond banana pancakes, and heading back home, it was time to go to work. Once there, James called me into his office to show me that he Googled “Team time trialing” and ended up with an article by Bobby Julich and the Sky cycling team. Seriously?!?! We were actually Googling for info on how to TTT. Wow.

OK, back to the TTT. We got to the staging area and met up with our 4th teammate, Ben Gherardi, and Crhis Bergeron. Chris was going to do the 20K solo. After surveying the scene, we quickly realized that we had forgotten chairs to sit on and one of those tarp contraptions that you set up to provide shade. The Faster team was set up directly across from us and had everything down to trainers to warm up on, fans to cool them off, and bike stands to work on any last minute adjustments. What did we have? How about a bench seat from James’ truck and a 2x4 supporting the back hatch:

We then decided to try and at least get the bench to unfold so that we would have a back rest. No such luck:

While we were registering, we found out that there were only two other teams and that we would be going off 2 minutes apart. Our start time was 7:36 and we were the last team to go off. After returning to our self proclaimed “Redneck Set-up” we pumped tires, filled bottles, and took one final look around before heading out to warm-up. I noticed that we were the only tri guys there and the rest of the participants were roadies. How could I tell? Well, we were the only four with hydration systems on the back of our bikes and were pretty much the only ones in sleeveless tri jerseys. Almost all of the other athletes had on skin suits and their bikes were clean from rear bottle cages and/or flat repair kits. Anyway, we ended up making our way out onto the main road and started to warm up. Since there was a cross wind, the topic came up of which way we should rotate to help hide from the wind. Really?!? We are about to take off for a 40K race and we are STILL trying to figure it out?!? After about 6-8 minutes, James indicated that we only had about 4 more minutes until we were supposed to start. Since we were about a mile away from the starting line, we had to hustle our way back. As we were rolling up to the start, the team in front of us was just getting ready to go. They only had 3 guys on the start line (the minimum) because the 4th was “MIA” (probably meaning, “Still in the can”). Anyway, they took off without him and he had to catch up. He wasn’t that far behind, but did have to waste precious energy getting there. Now it was our turn, “Two minutes” said the starter. The only other thing I could remotely hear was James saying something about how we were going to catch the team in front of us by the 10K mark. “One minute.” Now a few butterflies started to creep in. “30 seconds.” Now I was focused on the disappearing team in front of us. The clock started beeping every second along with the starter, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!” I rolled forward and tried to clip in my right foot when, all of a sudden, I feel James pushing me from behind. He was already clipped in and helping me out. We were now off! I would learn later that Carlos started off in a gear too big, so he dropped back while we took off. He had to spend some precious energy trying to bridge a gap that had opened. According to my Garmin, my HR went from 135 to 175 in 57 seconds and stayed there until about 18 minutes in where it spiked to 184. At this point, I knew I had to do something to try and bring it back under control or it was going to be lights out for me. After I took my 30sec pull up front, I knew that I had to let James (who was next in line) pull in front of me when he pulled off. By doing this, I would get an extra 30sec of rest AND have a rider bigger than Carlos in front of me before it was my turn to pull again. It worked beautifully as the HR chart shows my HR dipping back down to 175 over the next 3 minutes. We were working great together and were putting some serious time into the team in front of us. When they appeared, just down the road, it was like putting a rabbit in front of a coyote. The event referee saw how well we were doing and ended up riding just ahead of us in his motorcycle. He gave warning to the other team that they were about to be passed and to give room to let it happen. Eventually, we passed them like they were standing still. Now we were hunting down the team that started 4 minutes ahead of us. It wasn’t until the turn-around that we saw them. They looked impressive, but we weren’t that far behind. Pretty soon, the referee came back and was riding along side of us. I would later find out that he was yelling that we were crushing it and that we looked strong. He escorted us up to the first team and then told them the bad news. He indicated that it was now safe to pass and we did with me on the front. We put some more time into that team and crossed the finish line in 1st place. I stopped my Garmin a bit late, but it indicated that we covered 25 miles in 57:02 (26.3 mph).  Afterwards, during a bite to eat at MiMi's Cafe, we agreed that we could have gone harder since we all had plenty left in the tank.  We also all agreed that this wasn't bad for 4 guys that have never done this before either.

Sprinting for the finish:

After the finish:

Photo Shoot With Dave Cruz

If you want to read my recap of an event that has absolutely NOTHING to do with IMAZ 2012 OR with my training, then by all means, please read on:

When Frank Sole asked me if I would pose for a picture to be hung on his swim studio / training facility wall, I quickly agreed. The photo shoot was to be done by Dave Cruz at his studio just a few minutes from Frank’s place. When I confirmed the date with Dave, he also indicated that I needed to bring EVERYTHING that I use to train and compete with. Not wanting to leave anything behind, I loaded up 3 different cycling helmets, my tri kit, my bike, two different pairs of sunglasses, two different running caps, goggles, swim paddles, swim suit, running shoes, shirt, and shorts. Did I forget anything? I headed over to his studio not know what to expect since the only photo shoots I’ve ever done have been at places like Sears or Portrait Innovations where the photog acts a fool and tries to get the kiddos to smile for a family pic. As I pulled up to the strip mall, about 20 minutes early, I parked right in front of a place called Xpleo Media. I quickly found out that they are a website and graphic design company that allows Dave to use the back room as his studio. I walked in, still dressed in my shirt and tie work attire, and told the first guy I saw that I was there to see Dave. He walked to the back of the room and poked his head through a slightly opened door. From what I could see, the room was completely dark with the exception of a glow from two huge flat screen computer monitors. Dave immediately came out to greet me, but seemed a bit frazzled. “You were scheduled for 4:00PM, right?” When I told him that I could just wait in the lobby, he emphatically said, “No, not at all, come on in!” I walked into the darkened studio and leaned over his shoulder as he sat down at the computer to finish up his previous appointments photo (another triathlete for Frank’s collection). Once that was over, he asked to come out to my truck to see what I had brought to the shoot. After showing him my goodies, he indicated that he would like to shoot me in my running gear. At this point, I let out a little chuckle and told him how ironic that would be since me weakest discipline is, in fact, running. After learning this, he quickly changed focus and you could see the creative juices begin to flow. He helped me bring my stuff in and turned on the studio light before I started setting everything out. He immediately zeroed in on my tri kit, road helmet, cycling shoes, and my bike. He told me to go ahead and get changed in the bathroom up front and he’d start getting the shoot ready. Shortly after I entered the bathroom, I could hear a low rhythmic base thump coming from someplace. At first, I thought there was some kind of exercise class next door or an audiophile was driving through the parking lot. It wasn’t until I returned to the studio that I learned that it was the playlist on his computer. “What kind of music do you like?” he asked. “I’ll put it on so we can get in the mood.” I told him that what he was playing was just fine. The tracks were dance, house, and techno. After a good 20min of fussing with the equipment, he finally asked me to get onto the set. A couple more flashes and a few more adjustments and it was go time.

The studio:

I took a pic of where the actual shoot took place (you can see the tip of the black cloth background laying in the bottom right), but for some reason, I can't upload it.

We brought in my bike and he started to click away. With techno bumping in the background, he kept telling me to pose this way and that. If I was “too posed” or too “stiff looking”, he told me to walk away and come back. The second I was back in place, POP! POP! POP! Three more flashes. He got on a ladder and was on his back, he had me smile, and he had me look intense. After 169 flashes, we were done. I changed clothes while the pics were downloading and then sat down behind those two big flat screens. We narrowed 169 pics down to about 13 in just over a minute. We narrowed those 13 to 3 and then quickly settled on one…..

A Bit Fatigued on Friday the 13th

After returning from Alpine, the first item of business was to get back in the pool. Carlos prescribed a workout called, “Aerobic 200’s descending by 100’s” and was 3000 yards in length. The only reason I’m blogging about this now is because of the results of this swim, the results of Tuesday’s bike workout, the subsequent change in my weekly plan, and today’s events.


Here are the notes I gave to Carlos after the swim set:

• All goals accomplished, but felt sloppy and inefficient until the 3rd 200. Seemed to be more out of breath than usual. CRUSHED the sprints and felt strong for those.

And his response:

• Usually fatigue is present after a bout of altitude training.

It wasn’t until I gave him my notes from Tuesday’s 1hr 30min bike ride (called Anaerobic / Cadence Workout) that things changed.

• Couldn't quite get my HR where it needed to be on the efforts. Got a flat 1min into my last 3min effort (lap 23). Finished with a full 3 after I changed it.

Carlos’ response:

• Nice work. You are a bit fatigued. I'm going to scale you back before the weekend.

Wednesday was supposed to be a two-a-day with a hill repeat run and core workout while Thursday was going to be a ride that included 30sec all out, hammer fest, vomit inducing, leg crushing, sprints. To scale me back, Carlos made my core workout 1 set of each exercise (usually 3 sets), eliminated the ride and moved my hill repeats to Thursday.

Today is Friday the 13th and I was supposed to do a 1 hour Bartlett open water swim or 3000 yards in the pool. My morning started at 4:30AM when the alarm went off. After about 10 min, I finally got out of bed and started to get ready. While I was getting my suits on (I wear two, one is a very loose drag suit), getting my gear ready and brushing my teeth, I noticed that our family cat was following me around and talking much more than usual. At one point, I tried to get by her and she attacked my leg! She actually drew blood with her teeth! For some weird reason, it was at this point that I decided to get undressed, bail on Bartlett, and get back into bed. After all, I could just go up to the YMCA and nail 3000 yards after work. The next thing I know, I wake up to our daughter saying, “Is Daddy up yet?” I roll over and see that it is 8:15AM! I fell back asleep for another 3 ½ hours for a total of almost 10 ½ hours! I guess I’m a bit more than “a bit fatigued” since I am STILL yawning and tired as I write this!  Oh and as for why our cat was so frisky this morning, the door to the laundry room, where we keep her food and litter box, was closed and she couldn't get in to eat or go to the bathroom all night.  If I would have gone to Bartlett like I planned, I would have seen this and averted having her pee on one of our bedroom pillows that fell to the floor during the night.  Gotta love Friday the 13th!

Altitude Training in Alpine, AZ

So, it was off to the family cabin for 5 days of R ‘n R over the 4th of July weekend. Typically, there is nothing like lounging around in the cool pines, going fishing on Big Lake, going hiking, imbibing on copious amounts of red wine, consuming a glass (or two) of Johnny Walker Black Label, sleeping in, and spending quality time with the family. This time, much like in 2010, I was in full-on IM training. Of the activities mentioned above, which do you think were the ones that got eliminated? Anybody? Beuller? Beuller? The correct answer is, “sleeping in.” All of the other activities were done, and done well I might add, but if you recall, when I was summarizing my experiences after completing IMAZ 2010, I had this to say:


“You will be in bed a good 2-3 hours before your spouse. If you go on “vacation”, you will bring your bike, running gear, or swim gear.”

The same held true for this vacation. Here are the workouts that Carlos & Sue had planned for me while I was at 9000’:

Wednesday, July 4th – 30 min easy Altitude Acclimation run
Thursday, July 5th – 2 hour bike ride that included various RPM sets and a 5x5 set in the big gear
Friday, July 6th – 1hr 10min worth of hill repeat runs
Saturday, July 7th – 2hr 45min Z2 bike ride
Sunday, July 8th – 1hr 15min Z2 run

Since I wanted as much family time as possible, I had to knock these bad boys out at the crack of dawn. In Alpine, the temperature at the crack of dawn was between 48 – 50 degrees, so I had to pack some winter cycling gear. Imagine that, winter cycling gear, in Arizona, in July. While the cycling community back in Phoenix was waking up to 90 degrees, I was donning a base layer, jersey, wind vest, arm warmers, bibs, leg warmers, and socks. I thought about wearing my long fingered gloves, but decided not to. My alarm was going off around 4:30 so I could grab a banana, some peanut butter, and a cup of coffee before I headed out. I had the rain soaked roads to myself for about an hours’ worth of riding before any sign of life presented itself. On Thursday, I decided to take care of my intervals on the only relatively flat road around. It runs through town, past Luna Lake, and heads over towards New Mexico. As I was turning a bend in the road, Luna Lake presented itself with a huge cloud of fog nestled around it. I almost stopped to take a picture, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of it long enough to stop. It was beautiful and eerie at the same time. There wasn’t any fog anyplace else. In fact, it was so thick, you couldn’t see the other side of the lake (and it’s not that big). After my warm-up, I got down to business and took care of my intervals. Once those were done, I realized that I had some time left for the rest of my ride. I decided to head back up towards the cabin and continue on the highway up the side of the mountain. Once there, I had to stop and snap the obligatory bike pic with a sweet background. In the background, you can see Luna (just above my top tube) and the road that runs by it:

Once back to home base, I had to get a pic taken of my helmet hair. I don't know what's worse, the helmet hair or the facial hair! Not sure why I had to, but I did and I present it to you:

Saturday’s ride was pretty simple really. Stay in Z2 unless ascending a hill. When ascending, it was OK to slip into Z3 and give ‘em some efforts. I decided to do that same OAB that I did in 2010 and then again with Kristi in September 2011. Only this time, I was going to cut it a bit shorter to fit into my prescribed time. Not much to say about the actual ride that I haven’t already said in my July 3rd, 2010 post (http://dansimaz.blogspot.com/2010/07/06272010-07032010.html), but I did experience a “stop and smell the roses” moment on the way back. It’s one of those events that Mother Nature allows you to check out maybe once in a lifetime, so I had to stop and enjoy. As I was coming down the hill from Nelson Reservoir, doing about 28 mph, I noticed a car parked on the side of the road with somebody looking at the field directly to my right. When I glanced over to see what it was, I saw this:

A herd of about 75-100 elk running at full speed across the grassy field! As the elk in the front grew their lead on the rest of the herd, the ones in the back started talking and bugling. Presumably it was to tell the leaders to slow down since they stopped in their tracks, turned around, and rejoined the rest. For the next 10 minutes, they stood in a huge group and talked to each other. Until that moment, I had never heard elk bugle before, let alone almost 100 of them. It seemed as though they were trying to figure out where to go next, as some took off up the side of a mountain, while others followed along the base. They ran back and forth a few more times producing that distinct stampede sounding thump on the ground before they settled down and I took off. All told, I was there for about 20 minutes before I thanked them and continued on my ride. For the next few miles, I literally said, out loud, “WOW! I will never forget that moment” about 10 times.

My runs were fairly mundane and not very exciting. Just pounding the trails while dodging mud and trying not to slip on wet grass. The only item of note was that I saw, and heard, my first coyote while up there. While coyotes are a daily sight in Phoenix, I had never witnessed one in Alpine. I was running down an access trail with my iPod in when I heard something in the distance. It was loud enough for me to take an ear bud out and listen harder. When I heard the distinct howl again, I immediately turned to my right to catch a glimpse of it running parallel to me. Was it tracking me? Playing with me? Checking me out? Maybe it was none of the above, because after that, the coyote was gone for good.

What a great Independence Day vacation!

Shout Out to David Olsen

Gotta give mad props to David Olsen for his 1st place finish in the Bicylce Blues & Barbeque Omnium this weekend!  Ironman triathlete turned roadie, who woulda thunk it?!?

• July 6th = TT = 1st Place
• July 7th = Crit = 2nd Place
• July 8th = Road Race = 2nd Place

Podium pic after the crit (in red):