Ode to the Tempo Ride

Wow. With the whole turning 40 (years old that is), the family, and those pesky jobs it has been a while since I wrote something. Those of you that e-mailed me and got no response, I apologize. Here is, at least for now, the latest installment.

The tempo ride. It is what is on my mind. Although I had a great conversation with a friend about over-training and generally about hours logged, that is not on my mind. Maybe I'll have some ideas about that in the near future.

This morning was a tempo ride. Ben has been fighting some kind of upper respiratory/coughing/yucky feeling illness. So, he was not available. Steve S. was going to make it, but (to make matters worse) I had to ride a little earlier than originally scheduled to allow for the boss to get to an appointment. So, out the door I went. Solo on the TT bike.

I'll give you the Garmin link in a second, but I want to explain a few thing about what I call a tempo ride.

First, like all my rides on the TT bike, I start with my shoes clipped into the pedals just like I would coming out of T1. This allows me to practice my transitions several times a week so on race day it is old hat.

Second, when I say "tempo" that mean (to me at least) "try NOT to go slow". It not a full out hammer, but it is right around your race pace. Now, I didn't wear an aero helmet or put on the fancy race wheels. After all, this is just another training ride.

Third, looking at the computer is a no-no. As when I race, I cover the speedo with Duck Brand Duct Tape (shameless plug) and have Mr. Garmin only displaying the time of day. With no way of knowing heart rate or speed I am able to really focus on my perceived effort.

Forth, and finally, it was a very well known route. I used ye old (sticking with the Old English motif) Jesus Route. I'm not sure how many times I have ridden it, but it has been a training staple of mine for at least three years now. By the way, it is called the Jesus route due to all the religious gathering places along the way. Don't e-mail me about the route's name. No disrespect is intended. The name came to me while riding and has stuck.

Anyhow, to the data.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34617813

Some things to note: Mr. Cateye and Mr. Garmin agree. So, the data is pretty good. I did get stopped by some traffic signals at some very inopportune times. But, other than that, my pace was pretty consistent throughout. This is evident by the few peak above and below the average pace on the timing graph.

So, there you have it. My tempo ride this morning. So, to all you e-mailing me for more information on my training: look at the data, study the data, and then go out and get your own data this one is mine and probably should not affect you much if at all.

And, may I make a suggestion? Rather than e-mailing wanting more blog entries, come live the life with us. Drop any of us an e-mail to find out when we are riding next and come to join us. I don't bite at all, Ben only bites a little, and the rest will only bite as hard you you want to be bitten.

Seriously, come join us.

The steed

What a windy start to the day!

Chris and I set out on our planned 75 mile ride as the sun was cresting the horizon. It is a very pleasant feeling to see our friend, Mr. Sun, awake and up. Despite chillier than expected starting conditions, we knew Mr. Sun would warm us up in no time at all. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

As we turned onto Hwy 36 leaving Milwaukee in our dust, we met our adversary for the day, Mr. Wind! Normally, wind is not that big of an issue; however, the wind was blowing from the WSW, which is the same direction we were heading on Hwy 36. Yay for headwinds on unprotected roads! While neither Chris nor I will be challenging for victory on the Champs-Elysees any time in the near future, we are not slouches on the bike. Mr. Wind continually beat us down, forcing us to stay in our small chain rings longer than anticipated. By the time we finally hit East Troy, Chris made the executive decision to turn back instead of battling with Mr. Wind for another 5-10 miles. To this point, we were averaging in the mid-upper 16s. Ouch!

This turn transformed our enemy, Mr. Wind, into our friend. We found ourselves suddenly spinning along in excess of 24 mph with minimal effort. Way better than getting blasted in the face going uphill at 10 mph! This reprieve allowed for us to enjoy the remaining 30+ miles of our ride, taking in some sites never before seen.

On our final run-in to Waukesha, we encountered a stretch with some wicked cross-wind. Thankfully, I was able to keep my deep rimmed wheels upright on the decent into Frostbite Falloff, whose name does not seem to fit when Mr. Sun has come out to play. We also managed to make a new friend, Polly the Possum. She is a delightful addition to our merry group of critters. You can find her on Cleveland Ave near Hwy 164, in case you want to say "Hello!".

The final stretch of the ride was rather easy, causing us to reconsider if it would have been better to add on those extra 10 miles. Then we remembered, if we hurry, we can still make it in time for McDonald's breakfast. Sausage McMuffin, mmmm! Our final average speed was back in the mid 18s, which is roughly where we expected it to be at the outset prior to engaging in our epic battle with Mr. Wind. Due to the mental beat-down we took on Hwys 36 and 20, no city/county limit signs were contested.

Be sure to join myself and some of the other Emerys' riders at the Milwaukee shop at 7am for a great ride!

Numbers, numbers, numbers

So I'm a numbers guy.  I know it.  I think I understand it.  And, well, I'm kind of OK with it.

Recently, I fell a little behind on my three (Yes, three (3)) training logs.  So, I was updating them all to reflect my most recent training.  "Why three?", you might ask.  "Because", I may answer.  Let's not go there.  I would, most likely, involve a couch and a Rorschach test.

Anyhow, what I found was something a little interesting that I thought that I would share.  First a little back story.

When I was not running, I walked around at about 215 pounds.  I was an active guy.  I was big into kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and lead what would have been considered a very active life.

I started running when I decided that I was getting too old to walk around with black eyes and strange bruises all over.  Off to running I went.  One mile became two, two became four, and quickly ten mile weeks were 20.  If 20 was good, 40 must have been better.  I then walked around in the low 190's

Fast forward to the whole triathlon thing…

Wait, wait, wait (note the use of 3's - It is called a motif).  What does this have to do with your training logs?  Well after they were all up dated, I looked back through the years.  Five to be precise.  And I noticed something.  I have not missed "exercising" in some form for more than five days straight in the past five years (just could not fit the whole three thing in here).  I had four days off for some minor surgery.  I had three days off from some infected blisters (ultra distance stuff is sometimes too long), and I had a number of two day rest periods.  But looking at the pretty calendars on each log, while looking at the years in review there were very few "blank days".

Now I know that all of those days were not 100% efforts.  And, I know that there were a few of them that I was just going out of habit or a sense of responsibility (or obsession, maybe).  But, I broke a sweat and got my heart rate up for all of them.

I noted for the year 2005 my average running pace was an 8:40/mi and for 2009 it was a 7:40/mi.  I also did almost twice the amount of miles in 2009 than I did in 2005.

Heck, man.  Get to the point already.

For me, and I am guessing for you too, consistency in training has paid off.  I now walk around in the 178 pound range, feel absolutely fantastic, and can hang with guys 15 years my juniors.  I guess I am saying that there are no junk miles and there is always a reason to keep your body in motion.  Remember Newton's first law: A body in motion tends to stay in motion.  Let's go out there and get in motion.

Welcome OJ to the menagerie

First of all I would like to formally welcome OJ (Orville Jr.) to our menagerie of critters on the side of the road. It is always good to make a new friend. I just wish the circumstances (for him at least) were better.

This morning's ride went well. A good time was had by all. One flat tire (mine) and rain for the final hour. Oh what fun. Overall time was slower than expected due to the rain, but the decision to keep riding in the rain will hopefully make us mentally stronger in the long run.

Well, it was a good excuse to wash the road bike. I had forgotten that the cogs of my cassette were silver in color and that those orange and green stripes by my bottle cages were not put there by Trek (shameless plug).

There will be an approximately 60 mile ride Friday morning. We'll start from 92nd and Oklahoma at 5:45am. Come on out. We're not sure of the route, or the weather for that matter, but it will be nice and easy with only a few town limit signs to make things interesting. Come on out and join us.