Updated 21 May 2004

current two weeks | april 18 - april 30
april 4 - april 17 | march 20 - april 3


gRAAM - Trans USA Day Sixty-Three
hilton head island, south carolina

Three hours riding – about 100K, a little under 10K running and a short swim in the sea.

Baron mentioned that we averaged 100K per day across 63 days. Pretty solid when you add the racing, run and swim volume on top. That’s a neat stat. Not a chance of being able to pull that off at home in April/May.

How does it feel to be done? Tired. I’m a little tired. I also tried to sum it up for some friends today…

“When I used to be a mountaineer, I was always much better and going up the mountain than leaving it. For me, the trip was about what happened between the two oceans, rather than arriving at the other end.”

+++++

One of the best investors that I ever worked with was my first boss. A very interesting guy called Jon Moulton. His view on making any important decision was that we should research everything and do all the appropriate studies and analysis possible. After all that (I produced more than a few 100 plus investment reports for him), he’d always go with his gut feel.

Knowledge only has value if shared. People that challenge the norm, challenge conventional views… well, they can be pretty frustrating to deal with. However, they are useful. Just remember to keep all ideas in balance – radicals often fight above their weight (in terms of bandwidth).

All my best teachers, mentors and coaches share one trait – a willingness to change their mind when confronted with new information and a better way. They understand that there is a lot of grey in the real world. Further, they’ve been around long enough to see that what “we know” today could very well be incorrect tomorrow. I love hearing swim coaches with 20+ years experience talk about the early part of their careers and the changes that have occurred in their sport.

Things that haven’t changed, though…

  • It takes a long time to get good
  • Whatever protocol you believe is best – trust it, apply it very consistently
  • There’s no easy way
  • Even if there was an easy way, there’s no lasting satisfaction in that path You’ve probably noticed that across this trip, my writing style changed. Over time, I started telling you what I really think – rather than what I think you need to hear.

    Be careful with applying my raw observations directly to your life and training – they are just that, raw ideas that float to the surface when I am feeling pretty darn tired. They are (and were) intended to give you an insight into what’s really going on with me. They tell you more about “me” than about what I am saying (if you know what I mean). The do represent some of my personal “core beliefs”.

    +++++

    A Little Perspective

    Two days ago, I told Baron to wash up his Marine kit for our final ride. I wanted us to wear the gear out of respect for a few things.

    Respect, for what America stands for and symbolizes. Throughout the world, it’s often seen as fashionable to bag the Yanks (as with most baggings, it typically stems from ignorance or fear). When the chips are down, when our backs are up against the wall – I know the call that I’d want my leader to make.

    Respect, for the men and women of the Armed Forces that are out there dying so that I can ride my bike across their country. The forces aligned against us aren’t all that tolerant of a couple of guys riding around in tight shorts and running topless across major highways.

    Thank you America for hosting gRAAM and helping us across the country. We had a great time.

    +++++

    With all the stuff in these reports, that you read, that others tell you and that you dream up for yourself – at the end of the day, mull it over and go with what you think is best (if you blow it then at least it was your call). There’s no one way and experience is the best teacher that I’ve found. Truth is a pathless land.

    Received some notes congratulating me on my ‘accomplishment’. Thing is, I don’t feel like I’ve ‘done’ anything. Simply grew up a bit, had some fun and logged some big hours. I probably need some time to gain some perspective.

    Elvis has left the building.


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Sixty-Two
    estill, south carolina

    600 straight every 3rd non-free (alt bk/br)
    12x50 (build/easy/fast/non-free)
    2x150 no fly IM
    400 IM
    4x200 free easy
    100 easy

    Never really was the same after the 400IM – 6:45, LCM, without the whole body experience of my pre-IMNZ attempt. Maybe Dave will have some ideas for how I can get myself down closer to six minutes (life goal for me).

    +++++

    Hard Training

    If you’ve been reading these diaries since the beginning then you might be tempted to think that Baron and I train “hard”. Many of us think that in order to achieve anything we need to work “hard”. I don’t see it that way.

    We merely training “appropriately” – we have goals, we understand what it takes, we enjoy the process. Nothing “hard” about that.

    Baron swims a bit “hard” but we’re working on that… couldn’t resist – his method certainly works well overall!

    There’s nothing hard about the work required to follow your heart. Later, or in my book, I’ll write about ‘the source’ – it’s related to my earlier thoughts on quiet power. I see this as a key component of a life with meaning as well as performance in any field. It also draws many things towards us (some good, some presenting challenges).

    Hard, pain, suffering… these words operate against smooth flow of energy and movement. They also give an emotive content to a situation where we want our minds out of the way. We “just train”, “just race”, “just run”, that’s the way we see it – that might not be the way others see us.

    When I “go fast”…

    Swim – the feel of the water against my body, a well-executed flip turn, the smooth break out, holding water the whole way, head position.

    Bike – circles, relaxed power, smooth breathing, relaxed shoulders

    Run – cadence, tall spine, elbow drive, body lean

    All three – the miracle and joy of human movement. If you’ve ever gone from completely out of shape to decent fitness then you’ll understand the pleasure that comes from simple movement within a body that’s doing what it was designed to do.

    There are certain things that are hard for us. However, we are fortunate to be blessed with the perspective that the worst day in gWorld is still outstanding. So the challenges are merely that – a test to see if we are committed to our paths.

    Eating right when we’d rather choose the soft option. When I start to make illogical food (or other) choices it’s a good over-reached indicator.

    Dragging our asses out of bed for another 100/150/200K ride. However, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a choice. It’s merely a bit difficult – by the end, though, it’s very satisfying. The Big Push Day 12/13 combo was one of the best things that I’ve ever done for my cycling.

    That’s a key thing for me. By choosing the ‘hard’ path, the challenging path – that’s where I find all the personal reward and satisfaction. There can be no satisfaction in the easy way – it’s a trap, choosing ever easier paths in a search for personal fulfillment. Weak, overweight, unsatisfied, searching for some meaning, some satisfaction – thinking that circumstance has stiffed us or living in a self-administered haze avoid the fact that we are the source of our dissatisfaction. That’s why swimmers make such good citizens. If I ever have kids then I hope that they like to swim – there’s a lot that can be learned at the pool.

    It’s a rare man that achieves his potential in anything – that’s what makes athletics so much fun. Intermittent glimpses of what possible when we truly apply ourselves.

    It is also a reason why some move through friends, training mentors, partners as their lives and needs change.

    +++++

    The Second to Last Ride

    Good little session on a balmy day! It must have been over 35C on the ride. Toasty!

    Total distance was about 120K – insert 2x40 (first at AeT, second at IM effort) – we used my IM effort today.

    First was 259w with 132 avg HR – however, when I recalibrated the SRMs, I saw that they were reading a little low. Second was a bit more accurate – 268w with 137 avg HR. So odds are that both were roughly the same with heat and dehydration (for me) accounting for the higher HR. Baron didn’t even crack 130 for both of them. I figure his AeT watts are around 300.

    That’s all for now,

    g

    Addendum...

    Came up with an AeT bike endurance test (it's the one that I used to test myself today)
    Ride one hour easy
    1x40 min at AeT on RPE (HR cap is AeT+5)
    ride 20 mins or so easy
    1x40 min Steady on RPE (HR cap is AeT +10)

    Note the caps are not goal HRs, they are ceilings over which you shouldn't exceed. It's easy to ride harder than the RPE target -- aim for an honest effort for an honest result.

    One more rule for Epic training.... "Always crunch".


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Sixty-One
    aiken, south carolina

    Wasn’t sure how this workout was going to go. I was feeling pretty good for most of yesterday. Had a false start at one school and also had to negotiate with the facilities manager mid-session. Went like this…

    FM – Ya’all CAN’T be here!
    B (rippin’ it) – Talk to him, I’m running.
    G – I’ll be right there, sir.

    FM – Eye, got signs everywhere. No Tress-passin’
    G – Well, that big sign says open to the public.
    FM – Eye, don’t care what that sign says, I put up them other signs yisterday. We be sprayin the grass tamarra!

    G – Oh sorry about that. That gate over there was open.
    FM – That was the mower man. Told him to leave it open last night.
    G – We didn’t want to cause any problems.

    FM – You ain’t from ‘round here, are ya?
    G – Nope, we’re from Canada.
    FM – That’s a long way. Just passin’ through, eh?
    G – Yep, riding to Hilton Head tomorrow.
    FM – Well, ah guess it’s OK. Just head out that same gate. Ya looked liked ya needed a break anyhow. See ya.

    My session went like this..

    Concrete Track
    Low 80s, moderate to high humidity, light to moderate winds
    Two Miles Easy
    Two Miles AeT, 3:51/3:55/3:57 -- avgs 141/142/143
    Three K AeT+10, 3:46/3:46/3:46 -- avgs 151/152/153
    Four Strides

    8x800/200 -- hr is ending
    1-4 & 7/8 2:43H (157,161,163, 167 & 163, 167)
    5 -- 2:45, 169
    6 -- 2:47, 171

    Not sure why I popped the HR on 5/6. It was pretty hot, maybe I was dehydrated RI was mid 50s to around a minute on the 200, HR might have got a little under 150 but not all the time

    2:44 is 34 min 10K pace, I think. Pretty solid aerobic numbers. Morning weight was 78KG. You know, I am aerobically faster and more powerful than I've ever been. I know that light is useful but it can't be the whole story. Baron thinks that I am lighter than I think I am (not sure what that means, it’s the same scale as last summer).

    A little bit about why I like this session so much.

    First up, I need at least a mile to warm my legs up. During big IM training, it can take a 30 min spin plus the two miles for me to get rolling. Even though I was shelled a couple of days ago, I was pretty fresh (on my standards) for this session.

    The warm-up is 10.6K including the strides (and their RI). It lets me check in on my key metrics of AeT Pace (steady state) and AeT+10 Pace (what I like to call max steady state). It also gives me a big dose of running that is at (or above) IM pace/effort. It does it in a way than supports and enhances my run endurance, cardiac capacity, and leg turnover. Also, if I have an inability to get to LT then that is a clear indicator of a substantial training fatigue.

    I’ve been doing this session (in various forms) for over a year – I two years ago, I used to do Yasso 800s at a much faster pace but now feel that protocol is sub-optimal for IM (too fast, not enough volume, too stressful). The numbers above represent my best yet performance for this workout.

    While a variation of this workout is useful. When I review most athlete’s training performance vis-à-vis their workout performance, they would simply be best riding more and doing the 10K warm-up section as a week day aerobic test set. Why? Because most folks are running IM so far from their AeT pace that their true limiter lies in steady state bike fitness. So they are simply getting themselves tired for no benefit if they did the main set above.

    The track also provides a good opportunity to experiment a bit with cadence and body position – quick light cadence, controlled speed, relaxed speed, long spine, tall balanced athlete.

    I’m glad that I have some sea-level data to benchmark against my Boulder numbers.

    +++++

    Ironspeed

    We threw the Baron on the track this morning. I was a little nervous because he’s a real racehorse and you never know what will happen on the track. However, it was a unique chance for us to get some data when he’s heading into a race.

    15 min easy
    30 min goal IM Pace
    15 min goal IM effort
    5 min bring it a little over LT
    10 min easy

    AeT Pace (140) = 3:40 per K, 5:54 per mile
    Max Steady State (150) = 3:33 per K, 5:40 per mile
    Total session was a Half Marathon run in 1:18:40, 145 avg

    +++++

    We said good bye to Ben today – like Barry, he found the track session challenging. Muscular fatigue possibly combining with the beginnings of a sore throat made it tough for him to elevate his HR. I’ll let him tell his story but I will give him _respect_ for making it the whole way!

    Well done, Amigo.

    I’ve extended an invitation to him to come out to Boulder and hang for a bit. Maybe he’ll come out for more action. He reciprocated with an invite to hang at the spacious Casa del Travis during the September Hell Camp.

    +++++

    After we dropped Ben at the airport. Baron and I headed to the pool. We each had our own lane in a VERY fine 50m pool – Augusta Aquatic Center if you ever get to town. Very nice, $4 for a swim.

    LCM with sleeveless wetsuit
    400 easy every 4th back
    4x100 on 1:30 (1:25 to 1:20)
    4x50 on 1:00 (40 to 32)
    20x100 on 1:40 (first 10 avg 1:19, second 10 avg 1:17/18 – all three stroke breathing)
    450 easy (booted out due to lightning)

    No lightning rod on the roof so we were evicted part way through the final 1K steady finale!

    +++++

    B.D.Gae

    Buh-duh-gay! What’s buh-duh-gay? Baron drills gordo across Europe. Even when nuked, I’ve been enjoying this trip. My life might not always be “fun” but it’s certainly rewarding.

    At first, we were thinking about Rome to Mockfjärd but that seemed like a long way and I’ve been to Northern Germany in April (wet!).

    Next year is Baron’s Zofingen focus year so I was thinking that some climbing might make sense. Also, this trip started getting a bit ‘old’ around eight weeks so, perhaps, that’s a decent length for an extended tour.

    So right now, we are considering Gordo’s Latin Extravaganza – start with a swim in the Atlantic (Portugal or Spain) and then rip every major Southern European Mountain Range. Skip the camping and go the pensionne route, perhaps.

    I’ve done some riding in the Alpes Maritimes in May before – that would be nice. We could also do Epic France recon and bag most the grand tour climbs (Spain, France, Italy).

    Just an idea, for now.

    +++++

    Final Thoughts

    Not much left to go. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

    Had a little bit of Krishnamurti run through my head over the last few days. “We can never be deceived if we don’t want anything.” So true, whenever I feel deceived then I try to look to what I was seeking to possess in the situation.

    Shaka,
    g


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Nine & Sixty
    elijah clark state park, georgia and
    aiken, south carlina

    Well, I didn’t write yesterday because I was back in the hole and feeling a bit grouchy. Didn’t really want to have to write about it and relive the fact that I was nuked.

    Anaerobic hills on the bike tend to hit me hard, it’s always been that way. Same thing for group rides with radical pace changes.

    Chose to bail out of the swim this morning – just 2K SCY before I pulled the plug. Then rode 110K easy and mellow – did that solo.

    I did, however, have some time to think when I was out there feeling smoked and present you with…

    Gordo’s Rules for Epic Training:

    1 – Always report distance in KMs.
    2 – Always report climbing in feet.
    3 – If you are bilingual then feel free to switch back and forth between mph, km/h, min per mile, min per KM, F/C and any other combination you can dream up.
    4 – Never wear the same pair of bike shorts two days in a row.
    5 – Remember, it was your choice to do this.
    6 – No matter how bad it is, it can always get worse.
    7 – When the going gets tough, the tough hit the Dr Pepper.
    8 – Just take it.
    9 – Every day is a new day.
    10 – Fatigue is your friend.

    Perhaps I’ll come up with more.

    ++++++

    True Indicators of IM Fitness

    Somebody asked on my board. Here’s what I came up with…

    Swim – 2K best effort, LCM, time
    Bike – AeT Watts – haven’t come up with a good endurance test, yet
    Run – AeT Pace, as well as 50 min for distance with HR <= AeT

    ++++++

    I decided that the trailer restroom was looking like a Van Halen concert toilet. Baron earned his captain’s Suite (yet again) and sorted that out for us.

    ++++++

    Interstate Aquathon

    You’ll like the photos of this. We swam to South Carolina this morning. We had a series of strategies to get our shoes to the other side…

    Version 1 – I tied my shoes in a bag then put a strong rope on them and dragged them. Quite a bit of resistance when I tried it out.

    Version 2 – Ben bagged his shoes and used them for a pull buoy. Also included a couple of gels and sunglasses.

    Version 3 – Baron simply duct taped his shoes to his back. Simple but effective!

    Version 4 – I grabbed the tape and made a very workable pull-buoy with my shoes.

    We headed out on the swim, about a mile down to the bridge on the Georgia side. Ben was taking on water and we quickly dropped him (but waited for safety reasons). Baron was swimming great.

    G – Dude, I’m not used to this pullbuoy, my back is getting sore.
    B – You’re lucky. I’m not used to shoes taped to my back either!

    The bridge had a series of supports that were about 30m apart so we sprinted the pillars. Not a bad workout.

    Then we hopped out of the water and ran a little under 10K to the trailer.

    The ride was gentlemanly and we took about three hours for a little over 100K.

    Feeling much better – guess I wasn’t so deep in the hole.

    Take care,
    gordo


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Seven & Fifty-Eight
    athens, georgia

    It appears that I am feeling the effects of an appropriate training stimulus. Bit run down and plenty of warning signs on all fronts. Pretty much where one would expect to be at this stage of a specific prep period (I’m sharing the Baron’s program for Brazil).

    Three Day Training Summary

    So Day 56 was:

    SCM swim
    400 straight every 4th non-free
    4x100 relaxed alt IM with Free
    4x50 descend to a good effort
    Then (12x) continuous 100 IM/150 free

    Ben swam great for that set.

    Then we hopped on the bikes for about 195K of riding through the hills of North Georgia. We didn’t take the most hilly route but the route was solid – Topo estimated over 3,000 meters of climbing.

    We inserted 2x40 mins IM effort. Baron wanted me to lead and we decided that I would try to do Baron IM effort to assist him. That meant that it would be at least Half IM effort for me (tempo to strong tempo). In order to get myself in the frame of mind to deliver, I had to put my own concerns to one side. I stepped up to the plate…

    Interval One was an average of 277w but that’s pretty deceptive as the first half contained a long descent as well as a few stop lights. We were riding into a headwind and the second half had some sharp rollers. I decided to big ring the whole way so the back half averaged 293w (drilling it).

    Interval Two was an average of 280w into the wind and through long rollers. On the rolling climbs I would see to keep the watts over 300 and once our speed was over 40kph, I’d back off into the low 200s. Very even with 280w average for the second half. Interesting how much time over 300w is required to average 280w.

    The intervals are interesting to me because my LT power has been stable for 2-3 years but my tempo power has risen considerably. I did a sprint tri 2.5 years ago and had average power (dead flat course, drilling it) of 280w.

    After interval #2 Baron and I both agreed that we were The Men (you had to be there). I’d put Baron’s steady state/IM effort at 300w now. Nice to see the training working for him.

    The last 90K of the ride was lots of climbing – Ben ran out of food and I handed mine over. Had to assess him Strike One for bonking 40 mins after a refueling stop. In hindsight we should have all pulled over to refuel. I ended that ride very, very depleted and 48 hours later, am pretty darn tired (of course it might simply be the training – track session/race sim ride/sprint tri).

    Day 57 Training

    An hour of easy cycling, a sprint Tri and a an easy 2.4K LCM (that’s a long way without turning once you’ve gotten used to SCY).

    Sprint Tri

    Swim – Ben led the swim and I sat on his feet. We exited the water one/two with Baron just a few seconds behind us. That boy can crank in the short stuff.
    T1 – Crap transition from the IM dude, Baron and Ben rolled up the road.
    Bike – stripped out the low wattage period when I put my shoes on as well as the final coasting on the bike leg. That yielded an average of 306w and an average HR of 150bpm. A rolling course with a lot of time over 400w (10-20s bursts) as well as some periods in excess of 500w. I counted 16 peaks/rollers that were well over LT wattage.
    T2 – better.
    Run – ran tempo to hard tempo, not sure of the split, focused on cadence and elbow drive.

    Nice race. Baron crushed the course record, Ben finished second, I earned bronze. Everyone was great to us (even the local guys that finished 4/5/6). Ben and Baron managed to put over a minute into me on the bike. Ben led most of the bike – that boy can crank – his years of bike racing are still in his legs, eats up the hammer and recover stuff. The committee will have to take into account his outstanding performance in the event that a strike-worthy situation arises again.

    Day 58 Training

    Woke up four times last night – two for full body massive night sweats and two for hysterical coughing fits. Also ate a massive bowl of cereal pre-bed. Think my body/mind might be trying to tell me something…

    Rode 110K easy pace finishing off from Day 56 to Athens. Easy pace with a little steady – lots of coughing but no sore throat. This cough is a weird one, turns up in the evening and morning.

    Declared the rest of the day OFF and decided that we will make tomorrow easy pace all day. Got a “well done” from Baron for leading the ride and not going crazy. That’s two in three days – he must be feeling chipper.

    General Observations

    Lots of people live in Georgia and most of them drive trucks.

    Ben asked me how I am able to focus so well when riding. The secret is an appropriate level of training fatigue and Jimi Hendrix.

    I think Baron has decided that I might not be so weak after all.

    It’s nice that BnG managed to avoid blowing up a good friendship.

    Running support is a tough job. Wy gets as nuked as we do. Fortunately, we have been on different fatigue cycles. She’s saved us on a couple of occasions.

    Baron and I agree that after Day 13 of The Big Push, regular fatigue doesn’t have the same meaning any more. This trip has certainly moved my personal boundaries of discomfort and removed much of the emotive content of physical fatigue.

    It’s nice having Ben along to be able to benchmark ourselves a bit. The reader benefits, as well, because I have pretty much exhausted all the topics that I wanted to include in my book! All that remains is taking the random, fatigue induced chronicles and wrapping some structure around them.

    Four days of riding left and, yes, I am counting them down.

    I’ll miss the Baron once this is all over. He’s a highly entertaining guy. Much different than what many see when they meet him. You need to see past the Action Man façade.

    Think I have a few good years left in my body.

    America is much more than what the world sees in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Riding across the country is a great way to experience it.

    Good Samaritans have out-numbered the yahoos by at least ten to one. You get what you give – a good frame of mind means that most of the noise in others’ heads rolls right past us.

    Life is a choice, choose wisely.

    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Six
    winder, georgia

    Swim Camp
    As part of my quest to come out of the water, even, closer to the action. I’ll be doing swim camp for the first three and a half weeks in Boulder.

    My weekly schedule in Boulder until June 27th.

    M – Dave Swim/Gordo Weights -- Run One
    T -- Dave Swim / Ride Sugarloaf / Run Switzerland Trail
    W -- Gordo Track -- Dave Weights/Swim -- Massage
    Th -- Dave Swim / Ride Three / Run One
    Fri -- Dave Swim/Gordo Weights -- Massage
    Sat -- Scott Carp LCM -- Ride Three Flat -- Run 1
    Sun – Ride then Run Magnolia -- Massage

    Six Swim Squads -- 8 hrs
    Four Rides – 9 hrs
    Six Runs -- 9 hrs
    Three Strength -- 3 hrs (that's a big change from zip)

    Scott wants me to get a mountain bike and “commute” to my high altitude runs. I might do that or use my cyclo-tourist bike (road frame). He also wants me to consider riding longer on Saturday – we’ll see how I go. The first phase to June 13th will be quite mellow. All high altitude runs will have a cap of 145 bpm – last year that had me moving very slowly for the first three weeks (of course that might have been the weight as well).

    Note – I wrote the above on Day 55. Didn’t really manage much after that.


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Five
    chattanooga, tennessee

    Well, I achieved one thing today, I learned how to spell Chattanooga!

    Had a sleep in, couldn’t figure out why I needed to do that until Ben explained that he’d been throwing stuff on me all night to prevent me from snoring (what a guy). Tomorrow is a 190K race simulation ride – just might have to enforce the asterisk on his keister.

    We all coffee’d up and I took advantage to catch up on some work that had accumulated. Baron hit the road solo for his final race simulation run.

    Ben and I rode over to meet Tony Horton @ GPS, a local school. I introduced Ben to Ironman speedwork, gordo-style.

    Two Miles easy
    Two Miles AeT (140) -- 6:13, 6:26 -- looking at K splits (3:55 to 4:03)
    Four Strides
    12x600/200 -- focus on turnover build to high 150s (157-159 achieved)

    Felt better than last time. 27C, cloudy and real humid -- sweat pouring off me so perhaps that elevated HR a bit. Legs felt good. Quite a bit of speedy work in that main set. Didn't clock the times on the 600s. Planning on 8x800/200 for the main set on Wednesday in Augusta. Will do earlier in the day to reduce heat stress. Goal for the 800s is to build to 162-165 after the first couple and time them.

    Ben did great and I took the liberty to offer him some run tips.

    After the run, I ate breakfast – Ben found a tick on himself – and we headed over to the swim.

    Nothing flash today in the water but a good session considering the run.

    400 every 4th back, 4x100 as 25 fly/75 free, 4x50 descend 1-4
    4x200 steady on 10s RI, 2x100 IM on 10s RI
    800 steady, 2x100 IM on 10s RI
    4x200 mod-hard on 10s RI, 2x100 IM on 10s RI
    5x100 IM on 15s RI

    My fly is certainly improving. SCY proves a great opportunity to learn to improve strokes. Even my breaststroke seems to be getting better.

    Rode easy home for a total of 1:35 easy riding.

    That’s all for now,
    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Four
    chattanooga, tennessee

    The Ride

    It was a nice ride today. Two hours out there, no rain, cloud cover, moderate humidity and light winds. We all rode solo.

    First hour easy pace with some pick-ups to warm-up

    Main Set A:
    12x 30/30 first 30s around 375w, second 30s easy pace – interestingly the HR never cracked 140 despite avg cadences over 100 for the “on” segments.

    Main Set B:
    Then big gear intervals
    #1 – 8 mins, incl 6 min climb on aerobars, avg cadence around 50, TT pos’n, shifting allowed
    #2 – 8 mins, mainly flat, moderate with cadence around 50, incl one short climb on 30s when I went under 30 rpm for a bit, TT pos’n, shifting allowed
    #3 – 12.5 mins, climbing, 3.3K, moderate grade, first two mins shifting allowed then 55-11, extended periods of <30 rpm cadence
    #4 – mixed terrain, left it in the 55-11 for about 20 mins – was pretty cooked from #3

    Really achieved something with #3. …just not sure what. Real grind-fest. Sat up holding the bullhorns for all of #3 and discovered that the SRMs don’t pick up under a cadence of 30.

    Enjoying having my watts back with me. Have also noticed an increase in cadence at higher speed/powers.

    +++++

    The Swim

    We ended up running a little behind schedule (I led the lads astray for the second day in a row – today’s error didn’t involve a 350m re-assent) so our swim time got squeezed. Probably not a bad thing. My cough is lingering a little, no sore throat though (that left after 24 hours).

    Ben had set the goal of a 200 fly for him and me. Baron, very wisely, pointed out that he’d done it (meters) at Epic. Nothing for him to prove.

    After a 15 minute warm-up, Ben set off 30s before me. I cracked at 135 yds (I’d also cracked at this point in Arizona). The cracking was more from the anticipation of the pain to come than the actual pain of the 3rd 50. Ben stuck with it and logged a 3:18 – bold move for a guy with a previous distance PB of 50 yds.

    I cooled down and felt a bit flat. Hopped out of the pool and wandered over to the hot tub. Reclined in the heat and mulled things over. One swim, a short swim, one goal, was I committed, it didn’t hurt that bad.

    Mulled for about three minutes and decided that I wanted another shot at this, maybe.

    Wandered back into the pool. Sat on a bench and Ben asked if I was getting back in. I said “maybe”. Mulled for another minute and decided to attempt it again.

    Two breaths on every turn (Ben thinks not until the first 50 was over but I’m not so sure). 3:15. Now that I know what it’s like, I think that I’ll be better able to handle it next time.

    Baron noted that swimming is nice because I cracked after two minutes and not seven hours. All I needed was five minutes for another shot, not five months. So true – glad that I went back for seconds.

    +++++

    The Massage

    Had an awesome massage at Nirvana Massage. The lady had amazing hands. I was so relaxed that Baron accused me of getting dodgy massage. He’s got the same lady at 4PM tomorrow so we’ll see how he finds it.

    Planned out our training until we hit the Atlantic. Decided to offer Baron some training suggestions so the pre-race nerves don’t cause him to drill himself every day. I think we are both comfortable with the plan. Quite a bit more riding than before IMNZ but we haven’t come this far to go short.

    That’s all for now.

    g


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Three
    monteagle, tennessee

    Beautiful riding today and the reduced volume has enabled us in increase the steady-state quality of our training. Also, I don’t have the same fear of stepping it up because even if the Baron drills me then it’s only 20-30Ks to the end of each stage. We’ve been riding 40-70K pieces.

    We had our first decent climb in weeks today – about a 15 min job and I sat just on threshold watts the whole way with some surges well past LT watts. Got the SRMs back on the Trek and enjoying the watts. Baron doesn’t like me with watts because he says that too much information is bad for me. He also accused me of drilling it pre-lunch – “hey, only 284 watt average”. He hates that stuff – he’s got nothing to counter (yet, I’ve given him my power-tap on a loaner).

    Ben continues to do great. Riding very smart, holding a wheel if required, riding tough over the climbs and rollers. Got his tunes out today and has also been working "The Bucket" quite heavily at meal time.

    No swim today, 100 Vasa for me and 200 for Mister B. We ran 10.5K to kick off the day and I did a bit on an aerobic TT for the last fifteen minutes. Pretty solid pacing – 6:09s.

    We’ve heard about a Sprint Tri in Athens on Saturday. We are trying to work our way into the race. Two weeks out from our goal races so a perfect time for some quick stuff. We’ll put Ben on the no-taper-taper for that – at least 4K swim, 180K bike and an easy run the day before.

    Yesterday morning before the ride… “Guys, I’ll just be riding easy today.”*

    *…unless I feel good.

    This morning before the ride… “Ben, I know that I was going pretty fast over the rollers yesterday but that’s the fastest that I ever ride.”**

    **…unless I feel good

    This afternoon after nailing the 5K climb and riding solid steady for an hour into the base… “Ben, I just want you to know that’s the hardest that I ever ride.”***

    ***…unless I feel good

    This evening… “Hell, I’m going to drink a litre of coffee and do some big gear work tomorrow.”****

    ****…unless I don’t feel good

    Anyhow, he’s getting well versed in my idiosyncrasies. He’s still smiling so perhaps he’ll be able to put up with me – he’s got pets and kids, that’s good practice for the randomness of gWorld.

    On the climb I was scared to back off. If I didn’t keep the tempo up then I was convinced that Mister B would come around me and really drill us. Later he told us that it was close but that he knew that I would fold so he decided to simply let g-be-g. Good to have a soft street-rap from time-to-time..

    Had a wild RV Park last night – Ben will fill you in on that.

    Baron’s talking about riding alone tomorrow – that means FAST! New music in my MP3 player. Only 65K – that’s a true “no fear” stage. Ben wants all of us to try for a 200 fly in the afternoon. I’m tempted to go for it.

    OK, that’s all from here. The riding around here is awesome – narrow shoulders and lightning storms aside – the terrain is fantastic, a classic ride today (or perhaps, I am just fresh enough to see something other than the white line).

    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty-Two
    chapel hill, tennessee

    Back on the road! Many thanks to our Nashville host, Rob “the Rock” Allison.

    Yesterday’s training was an easy 16K ride (x2) to/from my massage and a 1500 yd swim pre-massage (1K every 4th bk then 5x100 as 25 fly / 75 easy free descend fly to max).

    Last night we welcomed Ben on the gRAAM (Barry if you are reading then he needs his tips). Ben is a great swimmer (beat me out of the water at IMNZ) so I felt that we needed something special to kick off his time with us. A oneliner!

    Warm up with 2x100 then 50x100 on 1:30 SCM, 100 easy c/d

    I led and held 1:25s for the first 40 then slipped to 1:26s for the last ten. Ben was on good form and sat on low 20s for the whole set. Leaving “few seconds less” than ten second behind me. Seeing as we can’t poop him out with freestyle, we’ll have to move onto the IM/Free continuous combos and see how he copes. That or get him to start leading – that sorted Barry out early on.

    On the run Ben was introduced to one of my many idiosyncrasies. Perhaps he’ll share with you in his writings. Right now we are stretching, chilling and waiting for Mister Baron to finish off cooking us breakfast.

    The post-swim run was 16K of rollers done easy pace with a little steady and two aid station breaks (for me – Gatorade and Dr. Pepper). It’s hot out there already and the humidity is high.

    Man, we’ve been rolling for a long time. I think that we are all looking forward to having the trip completed. Ten weeks without a fixed abode – that could be a PB for me.

    One more thing for the Colorado set. Here's my Basic Week for Boulder (after my swim camp period)

    Mon
    Swim & Strength
    AeT Res Run -- 90 mins
    EZ Spin 2

    Tues
    Swim
    Ride 3 Hills
    PM Off with massage

    Wed
    Track (20K total volume)
    Dryland & Easy Swim

    Thurs
    Swim
    Ride 3 Flats, Big Gear Main Set
    Run 1
    Massage

    Fri
    Swim & Strength
    Ride 3 Hills
    Run 1

    Sat
    Scott Carp LCM
    Ride Long
    Run 1

    Sun
    Long Run up High
    Massage

    Breakdown…
    Swim 5 squad and 1 easy // 7 hrs
    Bike 5 // 17 hrs
    Run 6 // 8-9 hrs
    Strength 3 // 2 hrs
    Total 34-35 hours

    I consulted with Scott and will be skipping the Stroke & Stride series.

    ++++

    Periodization

    Some thoughts that I was going to post elsewhere but decided just to write here instead of starting a debate. Complex periodization works but so does the simplified version explained on my tips page (The Four Pillars and Beyond the Four Pillars).

    I think that the longer the event, the less periodization tends to come into it. With my experienced IMers, we are moving more and more towards relatively simple three week cycles that have 3-7 easy days at the end of, and 2-3 easy days within, the cycle. There is some periodization on the strength work and we vary the steady-state quality of the long stuff. Aside from that, I find that it's more and more simple. With novices, BOP, MOP athletes -- I go even simpler with a Basic Week that's repeated with a little fine-tuning.

    With myself, I go the most simple of all! That week above is my year round schedule. From time to time, I’ll vary for gEvents, races or sport specific focus periods. However, these are using more for mental freshness reasons than a physiological basis. Two or three crash cycles per annum as well as three to five periods of being fairly heavily over-reached (not planned).

    I think that we run the risk of wasting energy when we try to over-think it. I see a lot of folks really getting stuck into minutiae that become a distraction from the few key points that really matter (consistency, rest, strength and AeT endurance).

    ++++

    The Ride

    Nothing special to report on the ride, 93K, 2:42, lots of rollers and some headwinds. Tonight we are staying at an RV Park near Chapel Hill, TN.

    It’s a real pleasure to arrive at 5PM and not be totally wasted. I even managed to get a little bit of work done. Excellent! I think that we are going to enjoy this reduced volume period. A few days of this and we should get pretty darn fresh. The Baron rightly pointed out that he’s only got two risks for the rest of the trip: (a) doing too much; and (b) going too hard.

    Not sure if I shared my totals from The Big Push…
    Week 1 -- 2
    Swim 23 -- 24.6 K yds
    Vasa 400 -- 200 reps
    Bike 974 -- 1069 Ks
    Run 90.4 -- 90.0 Ks
    Baron was higher for the bike and run – at least 100K of running each week.

    I told a buddy about the results from the week and he commented that I am a “beast” now. The strange thing is that doing that massive amount of work has left me much more centered and relaxed than I can remember being for a long time. About as far as I get from beast like.

    …but I know what he meant.

    gordo


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifty & Fifty-One
    nashville, tennessee

    Taking the weekend off gRAAM to catch up on work that’s built up over the last two weeks of drilling it. Some lessons from The Big Push – none of which will be particularly surprising to those that follow my writings over the last two years:

    Protocol – the simple act of doing is far more important than what you do. Endurance sports become simpler the longer the event – most of the folks debating protocols, position, gear, etc… are completely wasting their time – exercising the mind in a manner that has no true bearing on their performance. I suspect that my observations apply on the shorter endurance events as well but the scientists really get stuck in on the shorter stuff. Still, the best short course coach I know (John Hellemans) is a straight forward guy. It’s taken me a lot of research and a lot of miles to see the truth that lies in his simple manner.

    Fatigue – fatigue is the endurance athlete’s friend. We spend most of our time living with and managing fatigue. When I pick-up most athletic writings, I can be left with the impression that we should always be trying to go fast and never get really strung out. I think the better message is learn how to get tired the right way. The fundamental goal of IM training should be to create a body that is highly resistant to fatigue (or highly used to delivering steady-state endurance performance when tired).

    Training Tired – elite coaches and elite athletes need not be afraid of training when shelled. There are some serious health risks that need to be observed in certain circumstances. However, because it is primarily an AG sport, I think that some triathlon coaches appear to be reluctant to push their elite athletes to the extent that the single sport coaches undertake. I come back to elite run and swim training as a source of inspiration.

    Performance – Top level results are available to anyone who builds up to my training and dedication levels (not an easy thing, I accept, but that’s the limiter, not genetics, not training protocol, not athletic background). The Baron’s results show what happen when you combine the same protocol with some talent (boom!). In most areas of our life, we are operating far below our potential. It’s up to us to decide if we want to be great and if we want to do what it takes.

    Results – most of us get the life and the results that we deserve. Time and time again, that thought would come back to me when riding. The mind is always looking for a short cut, an easy way. Know that every short cut, every movement away from our goals – is a weakness, a distraction.

    “All it takes is one totally obsessed guy and you’ll be second every time” – Molina.

    Commitment – these 14 days showed me what’s possible when I remove all distractions and focus solely on athletic performance – this diary is (at times) a distraction but I think that it’s a useful record of this period for me.

    Gains – The training numbers are only a part of the story – a lot of the benefits will be mental (not just for racing, I think that I gained some valuable perspective so far – whether it’s here for the short or the long term, that’s up to me). We went far beyond what we expected to achieve and, you know, it wasn’t really that bad. Still, I don’t think that this kind of training is possible without a good wingman (Baron) and a solid support crew (Wy).

    Those that can, do. Those that can’t, debate it on the internet.

    Winning – I think some folks place an excessive focus on winning, possibly even on performance. Perhaps that’s what it takes to actually win – to escalate it to a very high level, an extreme level. For Barry and me, it’s more about the journey. With winning at such a high level of importance, I often wonder if the athlete actually enjoys the journey. I think that ultimately, more satisfaction arises from enjoyment in doing what it takes. But perhaps, if doing what it takes is so difficult, then perhaps, the only enjoyment that can come is through winning? For me, it’s about enjoying the journey, enjoying the crazy situations that I find myself in.

    The people that care the most about succeeding are some of the most (and least) successful that I know. I think a main differentiator is “quiet mind” – the least successful folks have a lot of noise in their minds. The successful folks have learned either to quiet the noise or to shift their attention towards a task orientation. Baron is very task oriented, as am I.

    The Middle Way – I like to think that there are people that were moderate and successful. Masters of the middle way – I am quite far from the middle way, however, my immoderate life has moderated my mind. When I actually get to know my potentially moderate role-models, well they turn out of share a lot of characteristics with some of the more immoderate folks that I know (mainly me). It’s there, below the surface. It’s probably why we have such a clear rapport. I’ll avoid naming names so they can keep their cover stories intact.

    I seem to have a bit of intolerance running these days (or feisty at a minimum) – always a good sign that a little rest is in order!

    That’s all for now,
    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Nine
    nashville, tennessee

    An easy run of 6.1K (gotta love the detail with Baron training). Then about 3.5 to 4 hours or rolling riding to Nashville – about 110K or so.

    I ended my training camp with this swim SCM – 2x100 warm-up. 40x100 on 1:30 holding 1:23 or better for #1-10 and 1:22 or better from #11 onwards. This performance would have been a very solid effort last January. Now, it was simply some “work” at the end of my biggest fortnight of training.

    To me this shows: (a) frequency and technique dominate fatigue for swimming; (b) the benefit of a high volume steady state training program is that our steady pace increases – the body simply becomes used to giving out a decent steady-state level of power output; (c) it’s possible to do some solid training when shelled (I guess this whole last week was about that point).

    I also had a thought about the goal of IM training. Think that I touched on that a while back. For me, the primary goal seems to be to create a durable body that is aerobically fit and resistant to fatigue. If I think about my qualities throughout my fitness ‘career’, that’s probably how I stacked up. So I’ve likely got some biases and blind spots around that assessment.


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Eight
    camden, tennessee

    In the end, we were a bit tired to be much entertainment for Andy, but we left him a couple of souvenirs to show our appreciation of his hospitality.

    We didn’t exactly rip out of bed. I managed a weak jog to the pool. The swim was even more lackluster. After 2,000 yards, I nearly fell asleep in the water (not a good sign at all). I managed to squeeze out 3,000 yards, but the last 500 was done in broken 25s at easy pace. Not pretty. I got out of the water and sat in the hot tub for a bit (memories of cracking post-Epic NZ #2).

    I shuffled back to Andy’s place, where Baron and I conferenced and agreed that the overall run distance was 5.5K.

    We had 180K on the ride agenda and I was starting the day highly whipped. Fortunately, we had tailwinds forecast, but there were a heck of a lot of rollers heading my way. I drank a half litre of gordo-brew, straight-up – nothing happened, not even a ripple in my system.

    ++++

    So what does one think about when riding, totally wasted? Here’s a selection – as you can tell, I wasn’t feelin’ the love the whole way…

    Jimi and me – hey, there’s a lot going on in the background of those songs. He’s laughing and joking the whole way through. Kinda like a my training days.

    Dolan – Tom “Mr. Swimming” Dolan trained 100+KM per week in the water for an event that lasted four minutes. How could anybody reasonably expect to perform a 8-9 hour TT on a low-volume program?

    Track Sessions – Who’s %^&*$#@ idea was that anyhow? I’m blown to bits and for what? …and the guy tells me to eat light at dinner. Man-o-man, isn’t he reading my reports? Eat light?! Bet he’s drinking a beer right now.

    Training Regime – OK, you come and sit on my wheel for two weeks and then we’ll talk training protocols. Far easier to talk than to do what it takes. Two weeks in my big ring and counting.

    Mr. Andersson – The guy chose the large jersey. I had the medium with me and he waived it off. Then he diss’d my gift on my site? Sponsor management? Dude, you can just mail that jersey back to me and I’ll find another home for it.

    Lance – People diss the guy on the pride he has in his preparation. I’m shelled to s&*# and I’m a wee minnow compared to those guys. Everyone trains hard at the top? No way, only a few people truly apply themselves in ANY endeavour. The ability to persist beats ability. But they wish it was the other way. They wish that there was an excuse, any excuse, to avoid personal responsibility.

    Scientists & Experts – I bet I couldn’t find one expert to agree with my training today but, I bet I could find a dozen world champions.

    Coach – Don’t fool yourself. Coaches don’t make athletes. Athletes make athletes. Structure, motivation, objectivity, belief. The nature of a session? Doesn’t matter. JFT.

    Fatigue – We’re looking for a new kind of fatigue out here. Something deeper, a pure fatigue. Not one of those bush league fatigues. A whole new kind of fatigue.

    Balm – You know, that balm I put on my nads is probably going to be the highlight of this day. The menthol aspect lasted for at least forty minutes. That was nice. My only action is medication for my bag – all part of the elite triathlete lifestyle. Funny old life I lead. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

    Rights – What am I doing out here? I am exercising my right of self-determination. Perhaps just self-termination.

    Tri Mags – It would be pretty thin if you simply put JFT on the cover then ran the adverts. So much time, so much energy, so much money spent on items that have nothing to do with true performance.

    I can’t really remember if those were before or after lunch. I do remember that we had 105K on the clock at lunch and my hands were shaking badly on arrival in Bells, TN.

    B – I think that we should ride an extra 30K if we feel good.
    G – More than 200K?
    B – Yes, a good idea?
    G – Why not.

    So we headed out at 4:30 pm for a second leg of 125K, or so. Somewhere out there I got tired enough to simply relax and resign myself to my fate. Just like the winter storm day. Only this time it was different.

    Baron was so shelled that he was pouring water on his head to keep himself from swerving too much. I think we were both beyond caring and feeling – we were simply going to ride until we got to the end or cracked. Neither of us expected to crack, but you can never really be sure.

    …perhaps that’s why I did this trip. Because I wanted the knowledge. Yeah, that’s good to know. This could be as close as I’ll be able to come. My personal sixty quarters. Shared with the Baron. The same knowledge but different. I wonder if he understands? He certainly understands but he’d be no more able to explain it then I can. When you have the knowledge you don’t really need to explain it. You just lean back and smile while everyone else hangs at the Mad Hatters Tea Party. Molina has it, sure, but why is he telling me to eat light as well. Is he playing some kind of joke on me? I’m way past simple bean dip fatigue – isn’t he reading these reports. Maybe he’s taking me on the next step. Just keep riding…

    …Guess it’s like the quiet power only deeper. If only a few have the knowledge then I wonder why so many of them don’t have the quiet power as well. Perhaps it’s difficult to transfer it across an entire spectrum. Flashes of enlightenment. Wonder how long this will stick with me. Probably be gone tomorrow. But it was nice while it lasted. Keep on riding…

    …it’s not the insanity of cities, or the silliness of debate – it’s the total futility of everything. To fight every battle as if it was our last, all the while knowing that it’s really one big joke. A lot of warriors get the first bit but miss the second. Keep on riding…

    We rolled into our campsite as darkness fell. Wy asked me a question and I said something along the lines of “I’m OK”. She noted that my reply wasn’t convincing but how to explain without sounding offensive or strange. My own vision-quest exploring the depths of fatigue.

    I think we are going to make it, but who’s idea was that track session?

    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Seven
    memphis, tennessee

    Reviewed my track sessions from last year and I appear to be well ahead of last year. Way ahead of last year this time. This is pretty exciting for me because I did ZERO track work over the winter.

    Anyhow, Scott and I have another moderate session planned for next week and then we’ll do my standard (20K) “track” workout to see where I am at. That will be about a week and a half out from Triple T. Should be a good indicator for me.

    Baron says that there’s no way that I am ten pounds over race weight. He thinks it’s more like six.

    We said good-bye to Barry this morning. Over the next couple of days, I expect that he’ll pull his thoughts together on the experience for InsideTri.Com – should make interesting reading. We threw everything we could at him and he just kept bouncing back. Fourteen days of monster training is really the furthest that I’d recommend anyone goes so it was probably for the best that he headed back to Oregon – even if it would have been nice to have him along.

    Season Pacing & Race Preparation

    Some of you might be getting fired up reading about these entries. I’d urge caution on trying to mimic the training that the Baron and I are laying down. To be honest, we are a little surprised ourselves that we are surviving. Yesterday, I wrote this to one of my crew that frequently does big day training and is aiming for a late season peak.

    Patience -- it's a long season so don't extend yourself "way out" in May. Keep it rolling, keep it fun, keep it large but... keep it reasonable (for us at least).

    Tempo -- aerobic tempo is a waste of time for you, me and everyone. When you leave your steady zone you need a reason to be out of there. Big Gear, Strength Hills, Race, TT -- probably the only reason for Tempo bike and run work. Otherwise you are having fun going fast but simply making yourself more tired -- not more fit.

    Weeks -- No more than 12-14 "on days" without a 3-5 day recovery cycle. Even with that you should have 2-3 easy days in the on-cycle. Otherwise you won't get the recovery that you need to bounce back from the outstanding training you are laying down.

    Also yesterday, I sat down with Steve (our Little Rock host) and talked through my thoughts on the training that he needed for his first Half IM at the end of the summer. Key points that might be relevant to you:

    Basic Week – build a basic week that is “doable” within your life and agreeable to your wife (husband).

    Consistency – repeat the basic week for 15 weeks.

    Key Workouts – plan a sane progression of volume for your key sessions.

    Intensity – insert blocks of steady into your longer workouts. Learn _even_ endurance workout pacing.

    Swim Goal – get comfortable with swimming 1.2 miles without using a lot of energy. What you do is far less important than simply swimming 3x per week every single week for 15 weeks.

    Bike Goal – build your long ride up to six hours to train your body’s aerobic system.

    Run Goal – stay healthy, run 90 minutes once a week, run off the bike for time management and consistency. Slow down and aim for a consistent period of pain-free running.

    Focus – ignore all the various ideas and tips that everyone throws your way. Repeat Your Week. Repeat Your Week. Once you finish the race, you’ll have some data and will know more about whether you enjoy training and racing long.

    Sammy came up with a great term that I’d like to share with you. No doubt the sports scientists will beg to differ but (deep down) I kinda get a kick out of their attempts to save the world from it’s own ignorance.

    Lactate Bruising – the dead legged feeling from smacking out the intensity early in a TT, race or workout.

    I’ve often noticed that any sustained periods over LT will have a big negative impact on late workout or race performance. That’s with my own training. For Racing Long, I’ve extended that observation to “take some time to give a REALISTIC assessment of your average race intensity for the whole day. Bear in mind that your medium of movement becomes less dense as your day progresses. So, you’d better have a clear reason for exceeding average race intensity, especially in the first third of your day.”

    ITM Riding

    Baron does a pretty good gordo-imitation. Get him to show it to you some time. He’s especially good at imitating my run form and when I’ve had a lot of coffee.

    The conditions today are what Baron calls “I’m The Man” riding. We had favourable tailwinds and he was content to let me set the pace all day. So I get fired up on cola and Dr. Pepper – sit up front, ride 40-43 KM/h and go…

    Hi! I’m gordo…
    I’m _THE MAN_...
    I’m going lower…
    I need a 58…
    I feel GREAT!...
    And on…
    And on…

    And I laugh out loud and sing along to my MP3 player.

    Baron does a good imitation of that. Makes me smile. Unless my back’s locked up – which hasn’t happened for a while.

    Andy From Memphis

    Andy rode out into a MONSTER headwind to meet us. He’s also set us up with his wireless network, a couple of spare beds and a sweet pad! An excellent set-up and very much appreciated by the crew.

    There won’t be a State Line photo for entering Tennessee. If you’ve ever driven the I-40 bridge into town then you’ll understand our reluctance to stop…

    A – You wanna stop?
    G – Dude, it’s hammer time – get me out of here!

    Top Three scary situations for the trip.

    Didn’t run

    Swim was SCY and courtesy of Steve’s club (one heck of a nice guy)
    200 fr, 200 alt by 50 bk/br, 200 IM, 200 easy, 50 kick/100 fr/50 kick
    15x150 fr on two mins arriving on 1:55
    100 easy
    4x100 IM on 1:40 arriving on 1:30
    5x200 on 2:50 arriving on 2:40

    Ride was 250K over about 6.5 hours of ride time. Flat, hot and humid – we were grateful to have Lance ride us out of Little Rock to make sure that we got on our way.

    That’s all for now.
    g-man


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Five & Forty-Six
    little rock, arkansas

    Before I get to today, I remembered a story from yesterday.

    Yesterday we did our swim in Fort Smith, AR. It was an old-style athletic club where the staff called everyone by name (except us we were guests). The boys slipped into one lane and Wy slipped into another. Wy was sharing her lane with an older gent. He’d probably been swimming sidestroke there for years. Every Sunday, minding his own business cruising up and down his lane.

    Typically, Wy is a quiet, retiring lady, but give her a little slip of paper with a swim workout on it and transformation takes place. One of her sets was 8x75 as 25 fly, 50 free. We were standing at the end of our lane watching her crank towards the sidestroker…

    Wonder if she sees him?
    I don’t think so?
    Here it comes…
    BOOM!
    She clocked him real good.

    Wy claims that she merely clipped him. It looked like a “clocking” to us. So perhaps it was a “cuffing”. Anyhow, after that the side-stroking gent was hugging the wall real close.

    ++++

    It was another solid day out there. 2000 yd open water swim, 100 reps vasa, 12K running, 155K on the bike and then 3000 yds in the pool to finish it off.

    On the bike ride, we hooked up with Lance and Steve (our Little Rock hosts). After we’d been riding for a bit, I needed to pull into a service station for a break. I did my thing in the Gents and was walking out when I ran into Barry.

    G – Hey Buddy.
    TV – Dude, I’m in trouble.
    G – Just hang in there.
    TV – Lurication bro. I need lubrication.

    I’ve seen a lot of things on Epic Camp but I’ve never seen a guy break out the lip balm for saddle sore lubrication. Needless-to-say, NEVER borrow Chapstick from Barry!

    ++++

    I am starting to show a few signs of being on the edge of over-reached – dinner (very tasty) consisted of three burgers, three beers and some ice cream. That was followed with eleven hours of sleep. Good thing that tomorrow is an easy day, sort of.

    ++++

    Well, there were at least 20 reasons not to do this workout and I could only come up with two to do it: (1) I trust my coach; and (2) I want to win IMC.

    Warm-up with 2 miles easy -- last one was 7 mins on about 130 bpm
    Two miles at 140 bpm -- avg pace was 3:55 per K
    Straight into 150 bpm for 3K -- 11:05, 3:42 per K pace average
    Four Strides with walkbacks
    5x1K goal was 155 bpm as well as high smooth cadence
    Able to achieve 153-157, last one simply aimed for high cadence and ended at 164bpm
    Wasn't supposed to time the 1Ks and didn't, felt good

    Running felt good but a touch lumpy at higher cadences -- good overall session for improving running economy.

    Goes to show that we never know if we don’t try. A solid session when prudence might have skipped. Those aerobic numbers are on par with my best for all of last year. I am 8-10 lbs over race weight and shelled as @#$% right now. Very encouraging.

    SCY Swim
    400 every 4th bk
    2x150 alt by 50 bk/br/fr
    4x50, descend 1-4
    100 easy
    600 -- steady
    2x300 – 2nd 100 IM, 15s RI
    3x200 – by 50 easy/steady/fast/steady – 10s RI
    4x150 – mod-hard, 5s RI (2 mins for me)
    6x100 – on 1:45 (2x) through fast, easy, IM – fast were 1:10 both times

    Baron remembered to swim all of a sudden – not a moment too soon as well.

    43K of easy riding as well.

    Little Rock rocks – great place. Likely due to our outstanding hosts!

    Later,
    g


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Four
    delaware, arkansas

    Quick training update – we felt pretty good today. Like Baron says, “you can have your worst day and then your best day” – no reason.

    I think that we are all finding our groove now – the six to seven hour days are becoming routine and we are getting some good adaptations. Baron was right back at it today after a very, very solid effort yesterday. TT’d the second bike leg and did a bit extra (15K).

    We started with a run that took me just over 50K for the first two days of the week. It’s comforting being more than half way through my run training for the week. Of course, “there’s always more” and I received an email from Scott telling me that it was time to start track sessions. He also anticipated my reply and included “… From reading your updates I’m sure you will think that you are either too tired and/or are training hard enough to not do track sessions.” Damn, he was one step ahead of me. Big G heading to the track on Tuesday. No easy way and Tom had a pretty fine showing in Wildflower.

    After the run we rode about 25K into Arkansas and hit the pool. SCY swim… 500 every 4th back, 5x100 easy to steady, (12x continuous) 100IM/150Free

    Then another 112K to take me to 137K for the day.

    Baron and Me

    Have you been reading Barry’s writings on Inside Tri? I have and I’ve been getting a kick out of them. I also caught a couple of his entries on my board but haven’t been there for a while.

    Best to read my writings about Baron like you would a couple of brothers. We give each other a bit of jip but there is a clear mutual respect and we know when to back off. On the coaching thing, I’d like to make it clear that Baron’s his own man. I facilitate and offer my thoughts when asked but his results are all his doing. He deserves all the credit for his achievements. I think that a trap lies in a coach getting too wrapped up in the performance of athletes that are associated with them. What I see to create in my life is an environment of excellence whereby everyone on the team is supporting and lifting the crew.

    Like me, Baron thinks that he can be tough to get along with. I think he’s pretty easy to get along with but that’s because we have pretty good alignment of interests and goals.

    Oh yeah, Baron and I say thanks for the swims on my board. However, sometimes he just likes to complain a little bit (like me). He understands that I lay out the swim program to give us what we need – I’d make it even more Jockums like if it was just me but there’s no need to be that hardcore.

    On the swimming, we are hoping to get some outside assistance later this summer – I convinced Scott to facilitate and introduction to Dave Scott to help me lift me game. June is going to be swimming, strength and high altitude running for me [at least until Molina bursts my bubble].

    I’ve asked a favour of Baron – don’t do that very often. He’s agreed to come and help me prepare for IMC. He’ll need some base training and doesn’t mind doing the crazy workouts that I have on the schedule. So for those sessions that I mentioned from mid-July onwards, we’ll have some serious horsepower accompanying us.

    Anyhow, so if you catch me moaning a bit in my writings then don’t take it too seriously. He’s a very good training partner and an even better buddy.

    Cheers,
    g


    gRAAM - Trans USA Day Forty-Three
    sallisaw, oklahoma


    gRAAM Day 43 Somewhere near the OK/AR border

    The miles of trials and trials of miles. This sure is a funny way to get one’s kicks. Good thing that I like to train – otherwise things would be getting pretty tough.

    Today was one of those days when we all wished that we were just average guys. Guys that could decide to spend another night at the state park, roll up the road and buy four dozen Coors.

    Motivation wasn’t exactly dripping off the walls of the trailer this morning. Each of us waiting for the other guy to wake up first, the sounds of large rain drops on the top of the trailer. Wind outside, a forecast high in the low 50s.

    Eventually, we got up at 9AM. I think it was close to 10:30 or 11AM when we jogged out of the park. After backing off the running for the last couple of days, my legs “felt great” and continued to do so as I was drilled for two and a half hours of Oklahoma rain and rollers. Good running weather and I managed 33.5K (gotta love the truck verification option). Baron was feeling pretty sparky and ran 38K in the same period – nothing like a near marathon to kick off Week Two!

    Then we hopped on our bikes and rode 137K to a town in Eastern Oklahoma. I’m so shelled right now I can’t remember it – perhaps Wy will fill it in. I know that we are close to I-40 and about 22 miles east of Fort Smith. Near the junction of Hwy 64 and 59 (I think).

    We are all quite up and down these days so I’ve equipped the guys with maps and directions for each day – however – that still doesn’t stop the Baron from getting lost. He made a wrong turn while riding up the road from me and did a bonus 9K. So I got line honours for the first time in a long time. Barry came close but a flat 11K out of town derailed his glory.

    Baron and Barry both opted for the stop-as-little-as-possible ride today. Worked well for them. After three hours of being drilled in the rain (and a close call with hypothermia while fixing a flat, remedied by twenty minutes of tempo) – I decided that it was time for some lemonade and a stretch. So around 100K I pulled in, and Baron pulled on – he just pulled on in the wrong direction. Oh well, it ain’t easy being Superman.

    That’s pretty much it. No real earth shattering thoughts today. Just riding along in the rain rolling towards my destination. Didn’t even bother with riding music today. Just enjoyed the scenery of Eastern Oklahoma. Tomorrow is Arkansas – a new state.

    Oh yeah, we found Baron’s kryptonite – open water. Especially murky, open lake water. The guy did close to 600 reps of vasa yesterday to reduce his lake swim requirement. At least we know that he’s swim limiter has nothing to do with power. He’s a vasa machine – I do have a little surprise for the mainset tomorrow. Hope he didn’t spend it all on the swim bench.

    Close to seven hours of training and my longest run (for distance) of the trip. A good day.

    Take care,
    gordo

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