|
|
|
april 4 - april 17 | march 20 - april 3
Quick training recap – yesterday was our first “zero” for the trip. We slept late, flew to Sacramento and drove to our home stay (Jerome and Mary are our hosts). This morning we had an easy start then did an hour ride (including the 3K climb that starts the race course), a fifteen-minute swim and a fifteen-minute run. Tomorrow’s swim is going to be pretty interesting – Today we started our swim around noon with the sun on our backs and after an hour on the bike to warm-up. I was in the water for thirteen minutes with the last six minutes swimming mod-hard to hard (with fullsuit as well as a neoprene cap). Towards the end my arms were starting to lock-up. Coming out of the water, my jaw was seizing and I was having trouble speaking – purple lips as well. I’ll be bundling up for the bike ride tomorrow. It’s going to be a cold race out there. Today was the first day that Baron and I started to feel normal again. Turns out that we did 1500m of climbing last Wednesday in Santa Fe – I was on my road bike and the SRMs were telling me what I already knew (you’re tired, amigo). I’ve brought my road bike for the race and haven’t bothered with race wheels. Baron is now sponsored by Hed and they sent him a very sweet set of their new carbon spoked wheels – something like Stinger v5.0 – very nice and the perfect choice for this course. Some of the guys out there are running the spinergy wheels that appear quite similar. With the new Stingers, they appear to have addressed the issue with the old wheels being quite whippy under higher loads. World’s Toughest Half Ironman is the race tomorrow – Tim DeBoom is here. Have to admit that defending my title with Tim and the Baron in town seems highly remote! Big J is here as well – we saw him at the Lake this afternoon. Mister A is in town, but just doing the swim in a relay. He broke a bone in his hand on a training camp in Majorca – so he’s rehabilitating – Jonas was telling us about an “easy ride” that he did with him. Good to hear that I’m not the only one getting smoked by Viking warriors. Training Our Competitive Advantages While flying to Sacramento, I wrote down a bunch of segment ideas for the next week or so. I’ve got an ‘ideas’ document where I am storing some things that I’d like to share with you over the next little while. In general, athletes that show constant improvement are those that are able to identify and address their key limiters. The idea being to improve these areas while maintaining one’s strengths. Strong athletes that plateau are typically those that focus too much on their strengths. All of us will have had training partners over the years that have been the same speed for a long time. Many of these guys work more hard than smart. In sports, as in life and business, each of us will have a competitive advantage, an aspect of our personal portfolio that we are able to do better than most of our competition. There is a subtle different between this and simply a strength or weakness. I’ll use myself and a few pals as an example... My competitive advantage might be the ability to persist and soak up large amounts of easy paced volume. I can do that as well as most people. So my strength maintenance and limiter elimination strategies probably need to be geared towards this ability. Take Mister A – his competitive advantage might be the ability to tolerate extended periods of steady to mod-hard training. He does that far better than anyone that I know. Likely a result of his mental strength combining with his adolescent athletic background. Take Baron – his competitive advantage might be his mental toughness. He needs a training partner or situation that will get him out training. He finds it tough to self-motivate when he’s back in Sweden. When he’s on the road, on a camp, in a small group – he’s highly motivated to hang in. Now each of us will have blind spots that accompany our competitive advantages. Scott thinks my extreme caution with high intensity is mine. I think that it might be my overall caution that could limit me in a race situation. Like many of my mid- and back-of-pack athletes, we tend to ease off mentally before we blow physically. Mister A, tough to say really, he works as hard as any athlete I’ve ever trained with – one of the few guys that can out-train me. As an endurance athlete, he’s pretty impressive. His limiter might be the things outside of training – nutrition, stretching – the little extras. I’m not sure. Like all my Swedish Buddies, the Doodes are darn impressive. Baron, his blind spot might be the same as his competitive advantage. His toughness, he could be too tough at times. His profile is similar to many AGers, so tough that they completely nuke themselves from time-to-time. He’s lucky to be training with a partner that’s a little weaker than him (me). If I was just a little stronger than him than he might find himself in quite a hole. By the way, just in case you think that he’s a cyborg (more than a passing resemblance), he does get tired, he does have tough days, he does get nuked. He simply prefers not to dwell on it. I am sharing my ups and downs with you on this trip but my strategy is, generally, to keep most of that private. For example, you’ve only read about 10% of my emotional ups and downs. There’s all kinds of crazy ideas swirling in my head – I don’t do all that well in an personal information vacuum – more about that in a future note, perhaps. As an example of projecting our view on the world, Baron frequently tells me that my fatigue problems are all in my head. He has a very strong self-belief that the mind should be able to overcome everything. I think he’s on to something there. I’ve often seen him will himself well beyond what we’d both think was possible. Another risk of the very tough personality might be one’s approach to a skills development. Very tough athletes, often find it difficult to transition between strength and finesse – preferring to increase “power generation” (great for cycling) rather than refining “power application” (essential for swimming). Not really sure about the answers (Doodes, please forgive me for the liberties that I’ve taken) – the examples are more to illustrate my overall point. We have performance strengths and limiters – we also have physiological advantages and blind spots – and finally – we have mental skills and limiters. We need to understand all aspects to build an overall strategy for continuous achievement. Plateaus could be natural, or they could be the result of a strategy that is in conflict with an aspect of our mental or physiological profile. Continually addressing our weaknesses will make us a well-balanced athlete. Ultimately, to achieve superior performance, we will need to understand and exploit our competitive advantages.
That’s all for now,
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Twenty-Six Baron seems to have developed a taste for Country music – he genuinely enjoys it. Pretty surprising for a guy that prefers to ride with Iron Maiden and Metallica. An aerobic maintenance day for us in Santa Fe. Baron kicked off with an hour run, I lasted for ten minutes of that! We then did an easy ride up to the ski area – 40K up from where we parked – took us two hours so we weren’t exactly booking it! The sign said 10,350 feet at the top so it was a solid amount of climbing. My legs felt very flat but it was a beautiful day and nice to be out in the sun. Following the ride, I logged another 15 minutes of running while B hit the pool. I might swim later, I might not (turns out I didn’t). We are on I-25 right now driving back to Albuquerque and a hotel room that Scott Gemmill set us up with – no better way to use reward points! Thanks, amigo. I don’t have much on my mind today – just enjoyed the sun and relaxed. So I’ll share some Baronisms that I’ve picked up over the last few days... Before the Day 23 Ride – “Gordo, remember to put your happy lenses on today.”
Before swimming:
Before the Day 24 Ride: I really like New Mexico and especially Santa Fe – great vibe here (even if I am getting drilled all the time).
That’s all for now,
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Twenty-Four & Twenty-Five I’m writing this Tuesday morning from Santa Fe. Yesterday was an easy 130K from Socorro to Albuquerque (4 hours, 500m of climbing). For those of you tracking distance, our little winter adventure the day before was 136K, 5 hours, 1200m of climbing, about. For the exact details hit clasbjorling.com – Baron is a far better record keeper than me! I really wanted to get in the truck yesterday. In fact, I think that I even told Wy that I was going to get into the truck. Baron must have heard (or sensed that). Somehow he knows what to say in order to get me rolling again. I was seeing stars as we headed North out of Socorro. Thankfully, there was a light tailwind to start us off and I started my mantra “keep it over 30, keep it over 30”. 30 being 30km/h – the speed that I figured would enable the Baron to let me stay at the front at my own pace. Turns out that he was feeling pretty shelled to. The wind moved around a bit, we warmed up, we sped up and we made it to ABQ. Didn’t run, didn’t swim, had a nap as soon as we arrived. It was a pretty standard day for a couple of shelled guys. If I was in Christchurch then I probably would have rested. Baron and I were talking about the quality of the bike training that we’d done for the last few weeks. We are starting to see some benefits coming through – even totally wasted we were rolling along at 34 km/h on the flats – that used to be steady-state training pace for me. We figure that Mister A must have logged years of training the way that we’ve done for a last few weeks (mostly solo for him, that’s tough mentally). No wonder he’s so strong on the bike, he’s out-trained everyone for a long time. Bike Position Interestingly, Baron and I have materially changed our positions in the last few weeks. As my wingman says... “All it took was a few days of serious pain and my body adapted. No problem.” That’s been our experience. Baron’s probably dropped his front end an inch since we started. That’s a lot and he looks much better on his bike now. He plans on moving his set-up back-up a bit for his next key race – an interesting point – he wants to reduce the stress on his body so that he can run well and be very comfortable. For IM, his view is that the ability to hold the aero-position is more important than the actual aero-position. I agree. gRAAM Thread We decided to drive up to Santa Fe last night. Baron did the driving and I cleared through some email on my machine (Kris, I’ll get you comments on your plan soon!). I was in a jovial mood so I decided to check out the Slowtwitch thread on my trip. I was soon chuckling to myself and eventually laughing out-loud. Baron asked what was up and I said that folks seem to be taking us more seriously that we take ourselves. To answer the questions that I remember... Coaching – What’s it worth? What’s your time worth to you? I charge what my time is worth to me. As for what it’s worth to others? That’s really for them to figure out. I do a fair amount of pro bono with my website – I do that because I like to help folks, my choice, not altruistic in my opinion. Nationality – I race for the country where I live. I’m a permanent resident of New Zealand and have owned a house there since 2001. I don’t control the data entry of race directors or the media. I used to spend a lot of time correcting folks but they still got it wrong. So now, I just let people enter what they want. Tax Status – That one brought a laugh. Triathlon is a passion of mine. The idea of hiding cash from the tax man by changing country of residence on race applications... well, reality is somewhat different. Last year, I might have made enough prize money to cover my race fees. For those of you that care – I filed in Canada when I lived in Canada, I filed in the UK when I lived in London, I filed in Hong Kong when I lived in Hong Kong, I file in New Zealand now that I live in New Zealand. Trying – Baron and I aren’t trying to be anything. We simply are the way we are. Being able to see the joy in the simple aspects of daily living – for me – that’s a key to personal satisfaction. We see the humour in the senselessness of what we do (at least I do). It’s pretty entertaining to us. Part of the reason why I am keeping these journals is so that I can remember a lot of this stuff. Baron is a very funny guy – he’s serious when he says that death is the only good reason for missing training (that’s what we are up against if we want to out-train him). Each day is gone as soon as it ends. At some stage, I might want to look back on what will be a unique period of time in my life. An Elite Mindset – the single greatest trait that I’ve seen is a deep satisfaction in doing everything possible to achieve one’s objectives. Also, an irrational obsession with achieving their stated objective (evangelical fanatics). Also, a willingness to exclude/forgo other distractions/pleasures/obligations that might interfere with achievement of one’s objectives. Not the sort of people that you’d necessary want to marry your daughter. Exactly the sort of people that you’d want to get you out of a jam. But I don’t think that I am typical in our sport – my performance/background isn’t typical, so one would expect my make-up to be different from most other elites. So in reading my stuff you get insight into my mind-set and my view of the Baron’s mind-set. I can also share what I see in my elite training partners, my coaches and other elites (in life) that I’ve come across through my travels. The rubber comment was a classic. Yes, I seem to be quite comfortable with long hours on the saddle. Molina says that I’ve got the toughest nads in triathlon. The longest ride I’ve ever done was 13 hours in the saddle and I used a skinsuit with a long sleeved jersey over top. Saddle fit is more important than short selection. Minimize pelvic movement for happy miles. Somebody was speculating that if they were me then they’d have it made. Perhaps, but you aren’t me and never will be. Leave it to me to be me. It’s taken me 35 years to get comfortable with being me. I’m sure that I do a better job at it that you would. I wouldn’t want you messing me up. Longing to be something other than what we are – that is the main source of personal discontent that I’ve seen. In order for me to make any meaningful changes within myself, I’ve first had to become comfortable with what I am (or was). Then through that personal acceptance, I am able to become more conscious of the decisions that shape my life. The folks that understand what I am saying here are probably the ones that least need this insight. Self-acceptance => Self-confidence => Self-awareness I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with successful entrepreneurs and businessmen – I’ve yet to find much of a co-relation between wealth and happiness. The strongest co-relation seems to be between passion and satisfaction. If we have a passion for living our lives in alignment with our personal objectives – if we do that with integrity – then satisfaction results. For me, satisfaction is far more important than happiness. Happiness is transitory, satisfaction is deeper. A life worth living will not always be fun, however, it should always be rewarding. Not really sure if that was what folks were looking for but there you go. Why? Lying in bed last night I was thinking through why I write these little updates. I mentioned above that I like having a record of the trip but there must be something deeper that has me happily typing on my machine well past midnight on some nights. Scott’s the same way at Epic. When I’m out on the road, riding along with my companions (fatigue, anger, power, misery, despair, joy, nature, Baron…), they inspire me to write in my head. Aside from a day like yesterday (where the fatigue leaves me totally flat-line), I am normally eagerly waiting to get to my machine eat night so I can “get it out” of my head. For me, writing is a big release. Something bothers me, I write it down and then it leaves me – a coping mechanism. I guess I simply like the mental game of writing. Trying to capture the way that I see the world – of course, I do have to edit quite a bit because my view of the world is pretty extreme and prone to mislead when taken out of context. My view can be pretty bent and that’s likely why some of it only makes sense to me and my crew. It was neat for me to read Sam’s report that compared his remote vs actual impressions of me. Maybe there is an evangelical element – not about religion, more about sharing some of the things that helped me improve the quality of my life. When I was in my 20s and I used to write – there was an element of sharing how great that I thought things were “for me”. But now, I’ve seen that what works for me doesn’t really work for many other folks so that’s receded. When I write about philosophical viewpoints, those are more for me than for others. I am trying to remind myself of items that I believe are important for me to remember. I’m constantly slipping in and out of achieving my own advice to myself. Why the trip? When I thought up this trip, I thought that it would be a fun way to get in shape. However, reality has turned out to be completely different than what I expected. My partner is a complete animal and I am forced to face my limitations on a daily basis. I wasn’t exactly loving that aspect for the first couple of weeks (see Tony and Me below). However, now that I’ve settled in – now that I’ve accepted myself – it’s a lot better. I didn’t really plan on the depths of despair that I’ve been dealt but I am getting a lot more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Baron’s also eased off on me. So long as I am trying, he’s OK with me. Perhaps he sensed (or read) how close I’ve come to completely cracking. Achievement What does it take to become world-class at something? Tough thing “world-class” – sounds pretty darn proficient. Maybe a better question would be what does it take to become an expert at something?
Do you understand where you are directing your energy? A good way to start is to look at where you are spending your time each day. Is your time directed at the areas of your life that bring your satisfaction and goal achievement? Is your goal to be a world-class channel surfer? Cyber surfer? For me, TV and Internet are large potential time drains. I really need to watch how much time I spend there. Seven or eight years ago, I wasn’t happy with my situation. For me, things didn’t improve until I refocused myself away from wishing things would change to taking proactive steps towards changing. We each have our time (and energy) draining patterns and habits – for some of us, it might be staying up late, for others dwelling on the past – the successful people that I’ve worked with do their best to keep themselves focused on the items that move them towards their goals. In thinking back, there wasn’t one major event that happened, one major effort on my part. Rather it was a lot of small changes and decisions that happened over a long period of time. Another ramble! Oh yeah, this came to be on my run this afternoon (20 mins easy) – if my writings appear simple and repetitive – perhaps they are. Maybe these traits are key aspects of achievement, or, at least success in the fields where I’ve done OK. Being Soft Sure writing a lot today. I do that when I am smoked – suppose this is how I mentally unwind (Baron eats ice cream). Another thought from my run this morning. I really love the slightly hypoxic effect that I get from running at altitude – Santa Fe is over 2,000 meters and the lightheadedness reminds me of the Rocky Mountains calling me back. Magnolia Road and the Switzerland Trail – running in the footsteps of champions. Something that I’ve noticed from my circle is that many think that I am too easy on everyone – other folks, not them of course. That got me thinking that perhaps I am too easy on myself. I was talking with Mister A back in February and I told him that I thought I was very conservative in life. He seemed a bit shocked – “I’d call you a lot of things but conservative isn’t one that springs to mind”. I told him that from the inside it seems to me that I only train, race and live just hard enough to achieve my goals – not harder. I never really try to extend myself. I simply draw up a plan, stick to it and slowly move towards my objective. There have only been a few times in my life where I’ve said “screw it, **** pacing, **** strategy” and just go. Those have mostly been breakthrough experiences. I suppose many of us are haunted by the fear that we aren’t doing enough. Not sure what all this means – just noticing that the people that I support often feel like I support others too much. On TV last night a reporter talking about Sting said, “with great wealth comes great responsibility”. Perhaps, but it seems more accurate to say, “with fortune, comes responsibility” …and I feel that I’ve been very fortunate. It’s like one of my favourite quotes from the Tao Te Ching, “need little, want less”. So long as we are satisfied living below our means, we will always be wealthy regardless of our situation. That’s something that Molina pointed out to me when comparing NZ with the US. In general, Kiwi expectations are lower than American ones – a point highlighted to me during the gRAAM Prologue when I watched San Diego High School kids driving home in $50,000 SUVs. I also think that wealth is best characterized separate from the standard measures – last summer, I felt far more satisfied living on a mattress on a buddy’s floor in Boulder than I ever did staying at the Regent in Bangkok. For many years, I strove to achieve in areas that were defined by others. I’d go on fancy vacations and simply want to run trails the whole time. It wasn’t until I figured out (then followed) what I wanted for myself that I started to find some sort of peace. Got a bit off track. Oh well. Tony and Me “Who put this thing together? Me! That’s who.” – Tony Montana, Scarface Physical fatigue is a given for an endurance athlete. So far, I think that the toughest part of this trip has been the mental fatigue associated with daily training with a guy that is stronger than me. For the first few weeks, it was really tough to be waiting to get drilled day after day. Tony would keep popping up in my head. Tony thought the situation was very unfair and was aggrieved on my behalf. Tony makes me smile because the part of the movie where he says that quote is when he’s spinning out of control. For me, it appeared to be a bit of cry for things to return to the way they were in the beginning – but it was too late for that. At the last Epic Camp, I did a lot of training by myself. I don’t think that I was ready to accept the reality of my training partners all being stronger than me. So, at one level, I pretended that it wasn’t happening and trained alone. Training alone on this trip isn’t an option. Baron won’t even ride in front of me most days (knowing that I move faster at the front). So I’ve been pushed from behind daily. I think the experience has been good for me. I’ve improved my training performance and become a bit more mature, perhaps. For now, Tony’s stopped popping up in my head. Off for a swim – I expect that we’ll end up with about and hour of easy to moderate swimming. Back from the swim – indeed it was an hour. We did some min/max work – my set was SCY, 10x50 on one minute – my score was 69, avg of 16/17=33 strokes across 36 seconds. Interestingly, I tried to see how low I could get my strokes after – the best I could do was 32 stroke and that was at a time of 42 seconds. Then I went max – that was 32 seconds with 33 strokes. So, for me, I think this shows that there is little technical danger from swimming faster. Exactly what Scott told me a while ago. g
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Twenty-Three Shaken or Stirred This doesn’t really relate to my day but it’s something that I was thinking about this morning. Ever notice some folks in our lives that tend to feed us dissonance? I guess we all do it from time-to-time – I spoke about spreading disharmony in Week One when I wasn’t at the top of my game. I suppose that folks are simply passing along some of the noise that’s it their brains.
G, did you see that? No actually, I didn’t and I’ll be sure to avoid it now that you’ve pointed it out to me. G, no problem, here’s what they wrote/said... Thanks, now I feel much better. A wiser person would say that these folks provide us with the opportunity to move beyond the opinions of others. Some days I do better than others. It’s OK We had a late start this morning. With the thermometer at 4C and rain being blown against the trailer walls, I wasn’t exactly itching to get out there and get drilled. Here’s what I put on...
Neoprene balaclava That’s basically everything that I’ve got. That’s a ten-out-of-ten set up for me. I also had a large breakfast after an evening spent reloading from our previous day’s adventure (three dinners). We rolled out at 10:30 into light rain and a moderate headwind. One of the last things that I read before leaving was written by a very good friend of mine. He was basically letting a guy know that “it’s OK”. The recipient had missed his goals and my pal was trying offer comfort. Trouble was, he did it by saying that he missed nearly all his goals. I know my pal won’t mind me pointing a few things out:
Goal 1 – qualify for Kona (done twice) Those are some of the bigger ones that hit me as soon as I read his post – with a bit of mental effort I could blow the list out to at least ten achievements. So, I am riding uphill at about 15km/h, getting drilled and I think to myself that, basically, a lot of what I do is simply tell people “it’s OK”...
So I could understand what my pal was trying to do. He was trying to show a little compassion for a guy that had blown it. By now, I am feeling a bit chilly but still keeping it together as we got drilled some more. The temperature was falling and bits of hail were starting to accumulate on my gloves. Clearly not the best conditions for a compassionate piece of writing (I write most of these entries on the road, well before sitting down each night). So when is it not OK? When do we have to take people aside and let them know that they are not living their lives in accordance with THEIR stated objectives. I don’t really know. It’s a very tricky topic but one that each coach, parent, friend, partner, boss... suppose all of us... must deal with at some stage. I can tell you that you can very quickly end a relationship when you place a person in a position where they have to choose between accepting that they aren’t measuring up and you. This blows apart its share of coaching, as well as personal relationships. I’ve experienced both. Telling it like it is, isn’t for everybody. Most the time, it’s best just to let the person know that “it’s OK”. Many folks don’t really want to achieve their goals in any event (personal legend stuff, read The Alchemist for a good description). I suppose part of what irked me on my buddy’s writing was that I know that he’s a lot like me. With us, it’s never OK. Every missed session, every missed stretching opportunity, every excess kilo, nutritional snafu, impolite word, delayed email response... countless things every week – they aren’t OK. In fact, they really bug us and this is EXACTLY why we achieve most of our goals. Another part of what irked me was that I hadn’t swum in two days and if I averaged 20km/h for the 135K ride that we had planned then I’d miss another day of swimming. And missing swimming is not OK for an athlete looking to race well in Kona! So my impression on my pal’s post was a reflection of what was going on inside me. In fact, nearly every criticism that we level, anger that we feel, slight that we experience – all of these, all are reflections of what’s going on inside of us. So I manage to figure that out and by now I am riding on I-25. It’s the most direct route to our destination (Socorro) but there is debris, traffic, wind and (now) sleet. Pretty tough conditions but we are managing to keep it rolling. However, the surface sucks and we are getting smoked pretty bad. I’ve got two bottles of sports drink as well as three bars – not enough for the seven hour ride that this is shaping up to be! I am in a catch-22 situation – slow down to eat and I’ll get cold – don’t eat and I’ll hit the wall eventually. So we compromise with a short stop under an overpass for a pee and a bar. After that one-minute stop, it took a long time to warm-up and we were riding strongly uphill. Pretty slim conditions. I’m mulling this over further... when is it OK? First I think one needs to decide what we are trying to achieve (life goals, personal constitution, religious doctrine, credo or whatever we call it). I like the term “code” because it makes me think of the Samurai and I think warriors make good role models for athletes. Samurai’s are like a few Kiwi’s and coaches that I know – they have their code – some things are OK, some things are not OK. Everything comes back to their code. Don’t set your code (goals) if you are not willing to live by them. Figuring out our personal code, now that takes some thinking. Thinking takes time. In these times, most of us do a very good job at ensuring that we are so over-scheduled achieving our “goals” that we never get a chance to develop our code. Reminds me a bit of the students at school that always appeared to be studying but never got decent marks – too busy working to achieve anything. I try to review things at least once a year – a little more frequently these days with the long hours spent riding alone (Baron and I aren’t drafting much off each other these days). Once we have our code, or even a few simple targets for the next three months. Then I think that “it’s OK” so long as we are acting with integrity in a manner that’s 100% consistent with our goals. That’s why I think that it’s best that goals are honest, achievable and self-chosen. I’ve worked with athletes (and people) that like to work with stretch-goals. Goals that would be great to achieve but are too remote. These athletes are great people, highly motivated, fun to be around – but score poorly in terms of achievement. The members of my crew that tend to out-perform are the one’s that set challenging targets, achieve them and move to the next set of goals. Reading between the lines of my friend’s post, I know that’s what he was trying to pass along. Champions show us what’s possible. We can either fold or get up off our butts and do something (anything). Another aspect of remote goals is that we can’t deeply commit to something that’s too distant, too far out of reach. Four years ago, I think I was a ten to mid-ten IMer. To say that I was going to crack nine hours – that would have been silly. Again, I come back to swimming. The best swim coaches understand that championship performance is achieved through many hours of preparation that slowly build the pieces necessary for success. Millions of little steps towards the final goal. Did you move towards your goals today? Yes? Then, it’s OK. No? Well, if we are constantly getting “no’s” then perhaps we should review our goals or our commitment. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s sure nice to have people tell us it’s OK. But say that to me at the wrong time and I’ll be so hard on myself. I even got a little jumpy when Wy posted about our wake-up time. Deep down, I “know” that I should be up at 5am every morning, answering emails and telling folks that “it’s OK”... This trip has been very good at teaching me about my limits. I was about to encounter a few more. We’d been rolling for about 40K... I don’t wear an HRM or a watch much these days on the bike. I’ve been riding based on effort again. Apparently, the HRM was holding me back and Baron says that I ride much better just on feel – removing my over-active brain from the equation. He wears his HRM and we know our relative zones – so he fills me in after the fact with how my performance was (heart rate by proxy). I do have a speedo on the bike so I can tell when I am getting drilled! And oh we were getting drilled. We had moved to wet snow and the wind was such that the only way to climb effectively was on the aerobars. I’d gotten sick of the interstate and noticed that there was a side road. Half a K from the exit ramp, I discovered a slow leak. Thankfully there was an overpass just past the exit and we stopped to change the tire. Two men, working as best we could. We probably stopped for five minutes, out of the wind, out of the rain but soaked and losing a lot of body heat in the process. Rolling back out, Baron suggested that we place our emergency plastic bags over our hands (change done with gloves on but hands were cold just the same). When a Swede gives me cold weather advice I take it! We rolled for about another 10K, descended into a canyon and rode out the other side. That 10K must have taken close to half an hour. I was starting to feel ice on my bars and the flakes were just sticking to some of the leaves on the brush. I rolled up to the Baron...
G – Hey buddy, if I get another flat then I am going to be in serious trouble We rode a bit more. At the time, we though that it was 80K to the next town.
G – I think we should turn around and get back to town. It’s downhill and downwind. I don’t like this weather. Can you make it another four hours in this? We rode a bit more and crested the hill out of the Canyon. Baron was putting in a heroic effort but we were sitting on 18km/h and stretched out in front of us was endless snow, wind, rain and rollers. Not good. Not good at all. I was poised on the rasor’s edge. If everything went 100% right then I might just get out of this situation. However, if anything went wrong then I was going to be fifteen minutes away from hypothermia and a full body shut down. I’d had five flats in three weeks. 10K ago, I’d punctured without any visible cause. I didn’t have faith in my equipment. We had yet to see a car on this road. There was zero support for 80K. My partner appeared willing to die rather than backtrack or call for help. What to do? I saw a culvert that was sheltered from the wind. I stopped, unclipped, lay my bike against the hill and started to climb in. I am not sure what I was thinking but I do remember my hands being terribly cold. I wanted to get some shelter from the wind, warm my hands and call Wy to get me the hell out of this mess. Suppose I wanted to be OK again!
B – Gordo, get on your bike! Hmmm. That might make more sense than dying in a culvert. I agreed, got on my bike and we turned around. Going downwind I suddenly felt very warm and took off my plastic bags. I remember reading about hypothermic people getting warm. I took the warmth as a bad sign. I was laughing and goofy – the back of my brain took that as a VERY bad sign. We got to the house and it looked a bit scary. There was no guard dog so we entered a sheltered porch that felt really warm. In fact, I think the warmth I felt was simply the absence of heat being sucked from every part of my body due to the wind chill. We knocked on the door while taking some of our wet stuff off. After a few minutes the owner, a Rancher, rolled up and let us in. He treated us like pals that had dropped by for a visit. Threw another few logs on an already burning wood stove and offered us some coffee. I rang Wy up and noticed that my speech was slurring.
G – Do you have a pen? I am thinking to myself that I really should try to be polite here. It’s not her fault that I nearly copped it in a winter New Mexican storm. I’m also thinking to myself that it’s going to be a _third_ day that I’ve missed my swim and why is she reminding me? Maybe I can get one in later? No, can’t do that. Baron won’t move forward in the truck. Wonder if I am going to get a note from Scott? He did say that this was an adventure – hope he understands. Can’t let him down...
W – Not real nice out there. Where are you? The rancher was a real character. Beside the stove was a copy of Shotgun News and he had a somewhat menacing knife beside his table lamp. I was glad that the Baron was wearing his Marine jersey for the second day in a row.
B – So is there a town up ahead? Again, I found myself thinking... who cares about the birds. If they have any brains then they’ll be bunkered down out of this storm. Nice warm stove...
R – Snowing pretty good out there. We talked about a lot of stuff. He was a great host. His place was a hoot, looked a bit like grandma’s attic. Old books, mail everywhere and a few items that must have been keepsakes (like an old electric clock that belonged to his dad – also a rancher, now in his 90s). Wy arrived and I gave my heartfelt thanks to the man that bailed me out of one of the closer scrapes of my 35 years. Back in the trailer, I lit every element on the stove. Broke out my sleeping bag and hopped in. Baron was in far, far better shape than me and made us lunch. I drifted in and out of sleep. Around three the snow turned back to rain and eased.
B – I think that we should ride to the restaurant now. I thought to myself, “How the **** does he know if I am warm or cold?” I thought about requesting that he feel my stone cold feet but drifted back to sleep.
B – I would have been fine if my hands were warm. I think that we should ride to the restaurant. That last comment was greeted with a huge mental “whatever” and a winge, “Yeah buddy, I am weak. In fact, I am the biggest ***** you know. Leave me alone, I am sick of being the weak link in the chain. Talk to me at four.” I consoled myself with two points. First, that I was training with a future champion (if he learns to swim) and second, that our criticisms of others say more about ourselves than them...and with a sigh, I fell right to sleep. I woke up at 4 to the sensation of the trailer moving. It might have been the wind or it might have been the Baron with a little Trailer Ninja revenge. However, I was finally warm again and that felt good. The sun had come out, the storm had blown over and it was a balmy 6C in the shade! I didn’t have any plans for the rest of the afternoon so I announced that I was “willing to try”. Music to the Baron’s ears and he chimed in with the observation that we could always quit later. On the way out of the trailer, I smiled at Wy and told her not to worry, that I’d be “OK” and it would all make sense when she read my report. It was cold and the wind was still rocking but we could ride and Wy was going to wait 15 miles up the road. So we rode. And we made it to the trailer. Baron changed a few clothes, I threw down a liter of rice milk and we headed on. Calculating that 7:30 would be a crux time for us (40 miles and we left just after 5:15PM), I left a note requesting that she follow at 6:45 (she was out running). My music batteries died shortly after that roll out so it was just me, the wind and the birds. Didn’t see any vultures but I did see some nice pink cactus flowers. I don’t remember much of the ride except the sun was out, I wasn’t freezing anymore and I had completely resigned myself to my fate. My fate being to ride until it was dark with a crazy Swedish guy. All was well with the world and I was feeling relaxed and rolling along. I wasn’t making great time and we were just on the edge of having enough daylight to make it to Socorro. After what must have been 90 minutes, Baron rolled up and I sensed he wanted to go faster. I green lighted that and decided to hop on the bTrain. 18 miles to go. An uphill grade, into the wind – I was OK at 31km/h 32km/h hurt a bit but the ride was worth it. At 33 km/h I moved into serious discomfort. At 34 km/h I smiled at the ridiculous nature of my life. When he touched 35 for the second time I was hit by the simultaneous urge to chunder and fill my shorts. Deciding that I’d come too far for that. I rolled out the back. 27/28 was much more my speed. Some times it’s best to simply let the strongest guy be the strongest guy for a while. In the end, it makes everyone feel better. Or perhaps, it’s best to let everyone have a chance at being strong. Scott told me that once on a group ride. Baron lets me set the tempo most of the time. Could be something in that! Ten miles out of town, Baron waited and we regrouped. I was going to get to lead the final ten miles at my pace. This tactic is the fastest way to get most blown people from A to B and works very well with me. A tired athlete never fares well being forced to play catch-up. I checked the time with Baron and realized that we were going to make it! Now I know a bit of what the 17-hour people feel when they realize that they can walk-it-in and still make the cut-off. I was shelled but quite pleased with the way things turned out. In the end, we arrived in Socorro just before Wy. We were on opposite sides of the road talking a few things over and folks had to drive around the trailer. A couple of kids gave us the finger has they drove past.
B – You know. A day like this puts everything in perspective. Nothing really matters to me. But we didn’t – for a moment, we were simply “OK”. g
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Twenty-Two A Few Thank You's Snaps to Francois and May-Lise Modave for hosting the gCrew for the last two days. Francois even went above and beyond by escorting us in and out of El Paso. Thanks Amigo! We laid a couple of JFT caps on them to show our appreciation. “Juste Fait Training” is what I told May-Lise – not sure if she bought it 100% but it seemed a reasonable enough explanation. Also a public show of appreciation to Wingnut and Mitch – our training pals at Twentynine Palms. When we arrived in El Paso there was a full set of Marine Bike Kit waiting for us. As you will see from the photos of this morning’s roll out, Baron and I were clean shaven and looking very sharp in our new kit. Lads, we’ll do our best to bring honour to the gear. The stuff is like automobile body armour – the closest any car got to us today was two meters, not a single honk, not a single bit of hassle. Baron and I can feel the respect that the nation has for you guys and your fellow Marines. Heartfelt thanks, we both feel a lot safer in the gear (and we managed to sort out who got the bibs without a fight... me!). Before we arrived in El Paso, nobody had anything good to say about the place. In fact, we even thought about skipping it based on feedback. It turns out that our actual experience was totally different than we were told to expect. We had a great time and the city appeared to be triathlete friendly (of course, we did miss the 60 mph winds that F-man told us about). Today’s Training 196K, 800m of climbing, 5:20 ride time in very favourable conditions – half hour run off the bike. High quality aerobic training with some extended periods of mod-hard aerobar riding. A solid deposit in our IM back accounts. So what do we think about during the “miles of trials and trials of miles”? Today, I spent a lot of time thinking about a 50K stretch of highway on a Big Island many miles away. I felt strong so I spent the hours building the power inwards and preparing for October. I was programming a relaxed, powerful ride. Baron likes it when I am in this frame of mind – we simply roll along at a good pace and he sits 50-100m back and switches into autopilot. I imagine that he thinks about similar things – he was talking about marathon running towards the end of our run, which was a little cross-country desert expedition (seems he’s got the explorer bug these days). With lightning in the distance and the fact that we were running down a dry creek bed... I took the opportunity to explain how flash floods work. Fear One of the greatest lessons of my time in Asia, and Hong Kong in particular, was to learn the way that successful Asians view the world. They see everything as a game. Life is a big game – fortunes rise and fall – health waxes and wanes – everything is temporary so we might as well make the most of our present situation. While Asians can be highly sensitive to the concept of “face” they are much more comfortable with failure than Westerners. Failure doesn’t carry the same level of social stigma – nearly all the successful entrepreneurs that I worked with have either been wiped out in their careers or come within a whisker of losing it all at some stage or another. Athletics provides a great forum for learning that failure isn’t fatal (nor is moderate to extreme discomfort). Elite swimmers are probably the best examples of fearless athletes – throughout their careers they’ve proven to themselves that their greatest barriers are within themselves. Barriers of the mind – pain, self-belief, commitment, dedication, focus. Yesterday Baron and I were talking about fear. He was having a concern about committing to a race. His concern was that once he committed, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the rest of our trip – I’ve never met a person with more mental strength in my life. Fear of the pressure that he was going to place on himself – the solution seemed pretty clear once we thought it through. We turned it into an opportunity – it was an opportunity to practice dealing with pressure, learning to relax, to enjoy the training necessary to be a champion. Just another step on his journey to be the best that he can be. It’s a real pleasure to be able to play a part in helping someone achieve their potential. For me (and my coaching pals) this seems to be a key source of pleasure from being able to work with committed athletes. The Boys are Coming Back to Town Barry and Ben have signed on for the gTrain. Barry for about ten days starting on April 21st and Ben from Nashville until he “blows”. Gentlemen, bring your “A” games. I can assure you that you’ll have a blast and your lives will likely never be the same again. If we are lucky then they will share their impressions with us. It’s always nice to see one’s self through the eyes of another – a good source of self-knowledge. On that topic of seeing one’s self through another – it appears that Baron has picked up some conversational tendencies of mine. Out of the mouths of foreign training buddies come words that we never should have spoken. Do I really swear THAT much? He used to be such a clean cut boy from Mockfjärd. So if he happens to say, “this is !@#$%^ great soup!” at your dinner table then please don’t hold it against him. It’s all my fault. Who is G? Just a guy, really. You can judge me best from my brothers, my crew and my loves – they’ll give you a fair idea. But don’t spend too much time on me... your time would be better spent smiling at a stranger.
Shaka,
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Twenty & Twenty-One Come Back Sammy, All is Forgiven As I mentioned a while ago, I’ve had a conversation going with Sam. I opened with...
Got 100 miles with Clas in 30 mins -- wish you were here to protect me! Sam countered with...
Try this:
Based on Sam’s advice...
Three blocks of being half-wheeled later we arrive at the corner. The Journey to Texas Maybe the best way to deal with Baron is simply to give up. That was my strategy today. Low expectations, all day to train and planning on making use of it. But, that’s the thing, you never really know how things will turn out. Once again, we started our day with a run in our direction of travel. A nice way to start the day. 15K in the right direction – Wy met us down the road and I had a leisurely transition to my bike. I left my HRM in the trailer because my game plan was to ride easy and I didn’t want my wrist watch to be flashing “you suck” at me all day. So we started rolling – overnight I’d updated my MP3 player with a new selection of tunes. Some from back in my University days – one of which is a personal favourite, Layin’ Pipe by David Wilcox (highly recommended, it’s about construction, sort of). With my tunes going and my HRM gone all I had was RPE to gauge my effort and I rode along. I started to feel pretty good and, as it turned out, we made good time to the border town of Columbus. Wy had left the trailer in Columbus (while doing her session) and we hopped in for breakfast. Earlier, I’d told Baron that I would likely have a nap there “to regroup”. However, I was feeling “great”. Ever since my 60 km/h tailwind epiphany, “I feel GREAT” has become a saying for us. When you say it, you need to say it like an Eastern Seaboard Princess telling her friends that they look GREAT! For a Swedish guy, the Baron has the accent just right. Catch him in a good mood and he just might demonstrate for you some time. We noticed that there was a ripping wind going straight for El Paso – we’d told Francois that we’d leave at 10:30 but didn’t end up rolling until 11:20. With the headwind that he’d be fighting there was no danger of him arriving early. After about an hour of rolling along in my 55/11, we hooked up with the F-Man for our escort into El Paso. Life was going smoothly until the Baron came to the front and then I plastered myself to his hip and went into survival mode. It wasn’t that bad – I still felt GREAT! It was typical Baron, ride just fast enough to make me suffer a little bit, not so fast that I get dropped and not so fast that I launch an endless stream of complaining. We made fantastic time with the Baron pulling us along at about 50km/h. I logged more than 100K in my 55/11 and three hours of steady riding. Rolling into El Paso, we stopped for the traditional State Line photo and then I asked the guys to take it easy on the Senior Citizens on the ride (being me!). Later the Baron would say...
B -- Good to have you back. Voices From The South Molina shot me an email about my confessions of the last few days. Having logged his share of time on the gTrain, he can certainly relate to the Baron’s situation. “You have an awful lot of time there – just you, fatigue and the Baron.” Fatigue and muscular soreness – the endurance athlete’s constant companions. You wish that you didn’t have to deal with them but, when they are gone, you miss them and wonder if you are doing enough training. Probably how a number of my training partners feel about me. Scott tried to disavow the quote I shared with you (says he might have thought it but was far too polite to say it). However, I got it in writing somewhere in my archives. The Big Finish To complete Day 20, Francois was nice enough to arrange for us to swim at the University pool. Baron spent his time doing some fast 25s and 50s, “for motivation”. I am thinking about repo-ing my Dolan poster that I gave him at Epic Camp. However, I’ve been such a pain in the butt for the last three days – AND – the guy is one of the best friend’s that I’ve ever had – SO – I’ve simply floated an open offer to “talk swimming” when he’s ready. I also know that he reads my reports... I’ve been trying to lead by example... Opened up with 1000 free every 4th back – then changed pools (luxury to have a choice) in a search for cooler water. Opted for a classic Epic Camp set of alternating 100 IMs with 150s free – you do this set continuous. SCY makes is a lot easier because you only have to make 25 yards of fly on each cycle. Nearly one year ago, I attempted this set for the first time (St George, Utah – Vegas to Boulder Trip). It was a killer session and I made it through 12x for a total of 3,000 yards – was pretty proud at the time and Scott didn’t deflate my bubble. Baron needed an example and I was feeling OK. So I figured that I’d go for 4,000 continuous. However, I got through 4,000 and was feeling good so I kept it rolling out to 5,000 continuous. 20x through the cycle – sure, Dolan would have done it in half the time but it made a statement – practicing what I preach about SCY and swim training in general. On the road, it’s too easy to say “I’m tired, my legs are heavy, the swim time isn’t convenient.” Those are quotes from my head and it takes a real effort to maintain the quality of our swim program (and avoid bringing the trip into disrepute). Actually, thinking about it – there’s nearly always a good reason to skip training, skip stretching, skip doing what it takes to achieve our goals – to get to it tomorrow, to take the easy way, to simply have fun and enjoy ourselves. Compromise is the cancer of achievement – Bill Sweetnam. Lying in bed at the end of the day, feeling my deltoids spontaneously twitch and not being able to place my arms anywhere other than across my chest... I knew that I’d placed an appropriate training stimulus on myself. It was the type of set that Jockums might lay down – simple but effective. Night Time Due to circumstances (and not great planning on my part), I had a long gap without food yesterday. As a result, I woke up alone in the trailer at midnight (Wy and Clas were enjoying the hospitality of the Modaves). A liter of soy milk and a box of cereal later... I was feeling much better. The Coffee Run As a result of my impromptu carboload in the middle of the night, I didn’t really feel the need for much in the way of breakfast. I rolled into Francois’ house and was greeted by the smell of fresh brewed coffee (Euro-Brew-Style, strong but not so strong that you get a stomach ache). We headed out on the local trails with Francois’ comforting reminder... “there are too many mountain bikers around for there to be any rattler’s. However, if you go up high, well, then this is the perfect time of year for snakes.” After about a half an hour, we were separated from our host when he stepped on a cactus and had to fix his shoe. We arrived at the highway...
G – Where’d he go? So we headed up to the pass. Baron was feeling curious so we headed down the other side and found ourselves on a trail that led up to the Transmission Towers that overlook the city. Great views from up there. Baron spotted a short cut back down to the valley floor (close to 3000 feet below us). Those of you that know me are familiar with what follows...
Then I heard him...
B – Gordo? Gordo? Gordo? The view in front of me was a massive valley. I couldn’t see anything other than cacti, rocks and shrubs. But I could hear him...
G – Can you see me? Then I saw him, a little ripped spec about six hundred feet below me. I told him not to move and that I’d be right down. I’d found a long wooden staff so I staggered down the rocky slope like Gandalf with my stick. Half way down it broke so I looked more like an old man with two canes. Eventually, we hooked up.
G – You think this counts as being lost? Eventually, we punched out of the valley and found a dirt road that led us to a very nice part of town. A lady was checking her mailbox when a couple of sweaty, bleeding joggers came up and asked for directions. She pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way. Eventually, we got back to Francois’... Total time out was 3:50, Baron is giving me credit for 2:11 running time -- the rest was cacti-crashing. He’s a stickler for detail. This whole thing started because we were worried about not having any hill training before World’s Toughest. At least it wasn’t like our last coffee run – 4.5 hours up to the Continental Divide during 5430 Half IM Race Week. Day 21 Round Up The pool shut early for Good Friday so we missed out on our planned swim. Shows the benefit of smoking ourselves when we get the chance – at least the hammerhead in me thought so. Baron and I grabbed a massage and I am finishing this off at Francois’ dinner table. So we’ve been at it for three weeks now. As you’ve read, there have been a few ups and downs. What I’ve tried to do is offer up an insight into what we actually do. Hopefully, you’ve seen that it’s nothing too complicated. We are a couple of guys that like to train a lot and we spend most of our time working on endurance and strength. Once we get tired, we rest. I’ve had people say... sure Gordo, it’s nice for you. You can train all day every day. Anybody that did that would get decent... and THAT’s precisely my point. Junk hours are the ones you missed – Scott Molina I’ve got a lot more on this topic but 75 emails and Ron Ottaway’s training program are waiting for me to sign off. For years I read about others doing what I wanted to do. Once I took personal responsibility for my life, I was never the same again.
You gotta make it happen,
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Eighteen & Nineteen Night Time I think that I’ll keep coming back to this explorer theme. There are a bunch of things that are relevant to our little trip here. Before I got into triathlon, I was a keen mountaineer. Given that I was tied to my desk most of the time, I’d spend many hours reading about other people doing what I wished that I could do. I’d then come up with a plan to climb some mountain or volcano and I’d research the complete history of the mountain and region. Before I climbed in Alaska, I must have read over a dozen books on the topic – Amazon made a lot of money off me. I was also interested in polar exploration. That shares a lot in common with mountaineering – long days, cramped quarters, isolation, bad weather... Almost, none of these writers ever talked about nighttime, when the mind wanders after a day of exertion or after long periods of moderate self-imposed isolation. Part of the reason why I enjoy endurance sports so much is that the physical effort calms my conscious mind and reduces quite a bit of the noise that used to live up in my head. It’s probably a mixture of the training, the time spent alone, the repetitive nature of the movement and the exposure to nature that all result in a calming effect. Throughout my 20s I was overscheduled and overstimulated – not a bad way to be at that age. I learned a lot and had quite a bit of fun. However, one result is that, now, I think that I’ve been burnt out on cities. On this trip, we’ve all had the desire to tear out of the big cities where we arrived. The RV Parks on the out-skirts being more to our liking – wonder how we will find the East? It sure looks a lot more crowded on the maps. Back to my idea, ever since I started endurance sports (hiking, trekking, climbing, triathlon, ultrarunning) I have noticed certain feelings that arrive at the end of some days. After a big, but not massive day, the conscious mind relaxes or is subdued from mild exhaustion. It’s like everything goes quiet and I get a chance to listen in on my true self – my ‘mind’ being too tired to intervene on what I ‘should’ think. Generally, my thoughts are about love and people that I like. At times one can feel quite alone, but mostly, it’s a bit like visiting with old friends. Memories and people floating through my mind and sharing my day with me. Bit of a ramble that one! Training Summary I had to run separate from Baron – he’s burning me out. 55 minutes of easy running around the historical district of Lordsburg, seemed a bit like a ghost town in places. In the desert SW, there are lots of buildings simply abandoned. Our ride was about three hours – I think there was close to 5,000 feet of climbing – I was good for a little over an hour before I blew. Baron did 100% of the climbing on his aerobars, in his big ring. Pretty impressive following yesterday. I managed to ride the whole way in my big ring (55-19 was the easiest ratio I allowed myself) – however – as my Swedish buddy kindly pointed out – there was a fair amount of standing at times! We grabbed a swim in Silver City – my training highlight for the day...
We found a meters pool! SCM. By the end of the day, my internal organs were quivering and my legs spontaneously cramped when I tried to exit the pool (it happens). Even after a massage, I was pretty whipped. Excuse me sir, may I help you? I think that my rest day was hunting me down this morning...
Something that I like to tell my athletes is that often our cravings are better in concept than reality. In this case, I can assure you that a couple of burgers (homemade, of course) washed down with a few Coors. Well, it was everything I expected. Little over two hours of riding, close to 80K (downhill, tailwind, HR didn’t crack 120). Baron left a half hour before me – good thing because he averaged over 45km/h for the ride. He arrived in at the pool to find that the “Y” was the YWCA and the 12-meter pool was full of ladies bouncing around to country music! Looks like I picked a good day to be fried. Not being one to give up, he substituted a speedy 10K run to make up for the lost swim. He’s starting to look pretty ripped. Wonder if I’ll be able to do ANY training with him by the end of this trip. I’ve already been swapping emails with Sammy about my predicament. More on that in a future installment. Rig Update We might not have to ditch the trailer after all. We found a couple of cowboys that repaired it this morning in Deming. We napped and worked on our computers and the dudes did their thing. So far, so good – 6K to the RV Park! We asked what was a good place for a Wednesday night in Deming. The owner, Rod, recommended a local bar and said it was Ladies Night. At the time, Clas seemed pretty keen to make some supplemental income – he’s got the rack and the euro-banana-hammock-swimsuit to go with it. So now I am sitting at the Roadrunner RV Park in Deming, NM – waiting for the dawn. Tomorrow will bring another seven hour day with my training buddy. These are getting quite tough mentally and physically! Coach Note – Scott, no need to worry, I am being dealt an appropriate training stimuli on a daily basis. As it turned out, Baron preferred to have Corn Flakes and Corn-on-the-Cob rather than hit Ladies Night. Not quite textbook but who’s to argue – whatever he’s doing is working very well for him.
More from El Paso,
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Seventeen Bunny-o-the-day So I’ve had this thing going since the trip started where I have spotted a bunny every day. Some days it’s been an inflatable Easter Bunny, other days a tough little desert bunny and on the rare occasion a fluffy very well fed bunny. I’ve enjoyed my bunny spotting. Bunnies exhibit a lot of feminine qualities (in my eyes) – fluffy, cute tails, wiggly noses… my list goes on. I never seem to tire of watching them hop around. Yesterday’s bunny was heading North at high speed from the Mexican Border. Maybe he was chico-bunny, making a bid for a new start. Our first workout today was a run from the RV Park into Douglas. Took a little under 1:40 of easy running, slightly downhill most of the way (about 0.5%). Highway running isn’t the greatest but the Baron did enjoy that we were actually making forward progress from running – he was keen for us to do more of this. Along the way, we saw roadkill-bunny (poor critter). I was hopeful for another bunny later in the day. Mind if I swim fly in your lane? So we rolled into the Douglas pool – quite a nice facility given the small nature of the town.
SCY After the swims, the friendly nature of Latino folks became apparent when the local guys quizzed us about who we were, our trip, our goals and our next races. Even though their English wasn’t great, the lads made a real effort to get to know us. Friendly folks in the border town of Douglas. Wy had headed off for a long ride, so we wandered out of the pool to find the trailer standing by. Breakfast and naps followed.
Before the nap... Considerable Idiosyncrasies
“G-man, you gotta remember that there aren’t many people that can deal with your considerable idiosyncrasies.” We rolled out a half hour late because Baron had an unexpected puncture. Normally, I am responsible for all trip delays – sometimes with a good reason (business), sometimes without (just plain slow). I get a big kick out of a delay being Baron related. While he changed his tire, I discovered that I’d broken another bottle cage – more gear carnage. Swapped that out to get myself organized again. I took the first ten minute pull and we had a tailwind (for the second ride in a row!). It was nice getting a push out of town. However, when the Baron came to the front for his first two turns, I found myself sitting on 130 bpm far too early in the ride. Eventually I had a sense of humour failure...
“This is crazy. 130 so early in the ride. This isn’t the right training for me. !@#$%^ race simulation ride every time I am on a bike. Just ride, I won’t go over 130 for the whole week. Big volume, yes. This is crazy. I’m sick of being tired all the time...”
G – Just go. Ride your own speed, I don’t want to hold you back. What I didn’t know was that the Baron was feeling dizzy at the start of the ride. The guy knows me so well that he never shows any weakness because I tend to feed off it. So Baron rode about 100m behind me. Until I slowed…
B – What’s happening? And then the showers came. Needless to say, the combination of a headwind and cold rain had me feeling very sociable all of a sudden. Slowing...
G – No need to ride alone in this weather. Exactly ten minutes later we rolled out of the rain... “Thanks buddy. Good work.” …and I pulled away to ride alone some more. We crested the summit and rolled down a valley – it was a slight grade, just enough to get rolling with my 55-11. Pushed that for about a half an hour and then had a flat – think that’s my fourth of the trip. Small piece of wire in the tire – might have dated back to Phoenix.
B – It’s because you ride on the side of the road. That’s where all the @#$% is. We changed the flat and, just when we started rolling, Wy caught us and I was able to pump up to full pressure. Sweet timing. Back to pushing my big gear towards the State Line. Wy grabbed some shots of us on the State Line – seems that I need some more time at my current position. I need to relax my body more so that my elbows drop further (brining my shoulders lower). Just past the State Line, we rolled past the town of Rodeo.
G – Hey buddy, I might just put on some tunes. Hammer Time Note – After the drilling on the way to Catalina, Baron had listened to my MP3 player selection from start-to-finish. No doubt to see what he was up against. I’ve nicknamed it the punishment chip. About five minutes later, I rolled by him to see him pounding down a bar. With a wink I was off... We were rollin’ and I was moving it out through this valley. After ten minutes, or so, Baron rolled up and tapped my watch.
B – 130? Considerable idiosyncrasies... So we dialed it up for the next 50K. No switching it out this time. He was leaving me up front until I backed off or cracked. Big Ring the whole way – you won’t break me... We came up to the final climb of the route and I got down on my bars for some specific strength TT training. I was thinking some highly uncharitable thoughts about my fellow man while muscling my 55-19 up and over – Baron (the little !@#$%^) rolled past me in his 56-15 making it look easy. Over the top...
B – What happened? Did you run out of batteries? So we kept it going. In the end, we averaged 37.5km/h for the day across 165Ks. Pretty solid but I knew that I’d pay tomorrow. My glutes were tight as hell and my internal organs were quivering again. However, no back pain, not a bit despite some solid steady to mod-hard. Rolling into the RV Park...
G – Thanks for putting up with me. I’m lucky to have a training partner like you. More like 10% stronger. My buddy is stronger every day! The Boat That Wouldn’t Float Turns out that our home is falling apart. Wy’s taking it the worst.
G – Wy, I think the front end of the trailer is falling apart. So we go to the front of the trailer and notice that it’s got rubber sealant in the area that’s been a problem for us.
G – Looks like this is an on-going issue.
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Sixteen Baron and I grabbed an early morning run – an hour and we came pretty close to the US-Mexico border. Easy to steady pace. Exploring Baron and I live time and distance on a daily basis. We want to be able to estimate the difference between 4:20 per K pace and 5:10 per K pace. Why? Not really sure – perhaps it’s our own little language. Perhaps a way to pass time during “the trials of miles and miles of trials”. Speaking for myself, I can’t run past a mile marker without giving a little thought to my pace and run form. Just the way I am. My training is more effort based than power, pace, HR, whatever – but I do enjoy benchmarking myself and looking in mirrors but vanity is a topic for another time. Anyhow, Baron and I have discovered that, in the land of the automobile, nobody understands time and distance quite like we do. It’s either a long drive or a short drive. Always amazes me that a lot of people can spend over 20 years in a town and have never checked it out – even back in the day, I’d love searching out new bars and clubs... We get a lot of entertaining directions out here on the road – nobody has missed by more than 100% yet. We don’t need to ride across the USA to go exploring. Even within our own towns there are all kinds of routes and trails to find. Shan’s mum spends a lot of time wandering around Taupo and various towns that she visits. I suppose that’s her way of exploring. One of my favourite easy workouts is the Wherever Ride – head out and ride wherever. I’m pretty comfortable being lost – a little too comfortable at times for my traveling companions. There is a clear transition point when Baron and I move from a workout to “an adventure” – that normally involves my admitting that we are lost and the likely session duration just came close to doubling from the “as marketed” version. Of course there are degrees of being lost from mildly off course to totally !@#$%% screwed. With this in mind, Baron will NEVER agree to a gordo-session that requires favourable conditions for its successful completion.
B – So we run to the pool tomorrow. The Return to Sierra Vista We drove back to Sierra Vista for some SCY lap swimming – the pool in Douglas is an M-F deal and I needed to salvage my week of swimming.
I’ve been swimming SCY for two weeks now. Observations for AG triathletes (not necc. single sport swimmers):
G – I bet Tim is swimming this morning... To be fair, he swam more minutes than me this week – despite a full and proper bike crash. So he is trying. It’s probably highly uncomfortable but he doesn’t believe in complaining (“will it make it better?). Back to brunch...
B – So what is this place?
b-Order – OJ, Pancakes, Toasted Cheese/Egg/Bacon Sandwich with Home Fries
B – So, when was the last time you ate here? On the way back to Douglas, we stopped in Bisbee for a coffee (for me) and a hot chocolate for my ripped wingman. We decided to take the afternoon off. I’d been thinking about a second run but tomorrow is a pretty solid effort so recovery won out. Probably an oversight that I’ll regret when his fresh legs drill me on the final 40K. Volume and my lower sleep needs are my own weapons! We gave Wyanne the night off and sent her into town. After two weeks of camping in the flat-bed of the truck, she was showing early signs of walking pneumonia – a hot shower, clean toilet and heated room at Motel 6 will hopefully have her heading the right direction again. Not long until her trip on the 12th, run camp is coming... As for the Baron and me, I think we’ve come to equilibrium within the trailer. It’s easier with only two guys in here. Things were a bit tense for a few days when we were over-heated, over-tired and over-crowded – of course, that was probably all inside my mind! Tomorrow we leave Arizona – a new state! gordo
gRAAM - Trans USA Day Fifteen Phew! An overnight low of 0.4C and snowflakes in the RV Park. Think we were all a bit chilly through the evening. Baron and I ran up to the pool and that was the best way to generate some heat. Then a 6000yd SCY swim – you can cover some distance if you don’t stop much.
Just over 90 minutes for that effort. Tried to have a nap after lunch but that turned into a short lie-down before a final log on to receive emails. Outbound doesn’t appear to be working – sorry Chris A, couldn’t reply to your note. Hopefully, we get back on-line eventually! There were plenty of showers in the neighbourhood so Baron and I put on everything that we owned for the ride to Douglas. Had to stop 2x in the first 5K to shed clothes. Halfway through the ride, Baron even wished for a bit of cold rain to cool off. I was “just right” and very pleased that we were getting a nice push from behind. Conversation of the day...
G – Hey Buddy, I feel great! Think I need to drop the front end lower... About an hour later – downhill, downwind...
G – I’m the man! I need a 58, this 55 simply isn’t enough for me. Need more gears! What if I run out in Hawaii? After 2:15 and 76K of tailwinds, we arrived at the RV Park ahead of our support – Wy checked out Tombstone, AZ via bike. Our hosts, Roger and Bev, invited us into their place and we stretched on the floor and answered their questions about why anyone would live the way we do. Later (in private), Baron wondered why anyone would live out here – I guess Douglas doesn’t measure up to the metropolis of Mockfjärd. Baron has us dialed into the local country music station this evening. I suppose it’s better than the Mexican stations that he surfed over at the start of his search. So far, he’s been pretty good with finding solid radio stations. However, this time he didn’t quite cover himself in glory. Perhaps it’s his way of wearing me down.
From the high desert... |
main page diary entries trip photos ben's stories barry's stories baron's stories sam's stories hosting gRAAM
    |