Nick Brown

Today was the first of two days off I’m going to take this week.  Technically, it was unplanned, for which I’m sure Felipe will give me grief.  (At least he’d better give me grief, that is his job) I was supposed to ride to work and swim this morning.  However, I had a rare opportunity at work, which made it worth driving the TT bike in and sacrificing my swim.

Eric Rehberg, the guy who convinced me to volunteer for Superfrog, had arranged for David Greenfield of Elite Bicycles and Lars Finanger and Todd Carver of Retul (motion capturing bike fit gurus) to give a bit of a fit clinic to some Navy Special Warfare triathletes.  I helped Eric find a place to hold the clinic, and in return they spent their last few minutes today working with me.  David’s lecture was very good, but I had to leave for much of the day (I do have a job) and only spent a brief session with the guys in the late afternoon.  We didn’t make any major changes to my position (good news for my own “fitter” and friend, matt simpson, also in attendance today).  I learned a lot and I’m thankful for David, Lars, Todd and Eric for their efforts today.

So tomorrow morning I’ll squeeze in the swim I missed today.  I’ll spin on the trainer on Tuesday (as always) and get a taste of running afterwords.  Wednesday I’ll probably ride to work and back, at a very, very relaxed pace.  I’ll also swim again.  Thursday will be my 2nd goose egg, and Friday I’ll wake my legs up just briefly on the bike and on the run.  Oh yea, I’m taking leave from work on Thursday and Friday to get some personal issues squared away before race day.  Felipe, if you don’t concur with my from the hip changes, you had better speak up.

I’m not in the funk I was yesterday.  Also, today on the drive home from work my legs itched.  The weather was awesome (typical here) and I found myself wishing I was riding my bike home.  Or running a trail somewhere.  I hope my eagerness to move is a sign that my fitness is good and that I’ve prepared smartly.

I was pretty beat when I got home from Superfrog today (no I didn’t race, read my post below).  But as soon as I got in the door I changed into my running gear and headed back out the door.  I ran my “1 hour” loop that drops down into rose canyon, then climbs up into UCSD and circles the campus before bringing me home.  Once I warmed up the mornings fatigue was gone and I felt pretty good.  I was on cruise control, running easy and focusing on stiff legs and my foot strike.  8.17 miles, 1:02:28, 7:38 min/mile, 150 bpm.  Once again, my numbers are a confidence boost.  This time last year I was running that pace at a higher heart rate on my pancake flat loop around Mission Bay.  Time for rest…

I volunteered to help out with the Superfrog and Superseal triathlons today.  This pair of races is still very much a “grassroots” event run by Naval Special Warfare.  The organizers know me from work and since they are aware that I have race “experience” I was suckered into being the one and only bike marshal or judge.

Manhood left in the car for the morning, I did my best to act like an authority figure from the back of a Harley.  As much as I tried to monitor the whole course, I was the only set of eyes watching out for drafting, blocking and littering.  An hour or so into the race, when the multi-lap course was full of triathletes, I resigned to follow the three leaders.  A notable lead three at that.  Luke Bell, Chris McDonald and Lars Finanger had all shown up to race while in town for IM Oceanside 70.3 next weekend.  My feminine perch was a great place to watch three world class triathletes throw down a very fast bike leg.

They were definitely working together, taking turns at breaking the wind.  But they also respected the two bike length separation distance that Superfrog founder Moki Martin had asked me to enforce.  Obviously there was still a draft benefit to sitting seven to ten meters off of a rear wheel.  Legal Drafting.  I don’t know how I feel about that yet, but I can’t claim that they were breaking the rules.  Because technically, they weren’t.

Afterwords I had a chance to talk to Luke and Chris about their races and I asked both of them to compare spacing or drafting during today’s race to that of other, more established races.  Both claimed that today’s race was very clean.  Chris explained how a 7 meter front wheel to front wheel rule leaves only about 5 meters of a gap between triathletes and can really become 4 meters w/o risking a penalty.  Luke explained how drafting varies depending on the race host country, and how he’s seen lines of as many as 20 triathletes working together without being penalized.

For now I accept it, but I feel kind of dirty for doing so.  Why should the three leaders work together while the 4th man struggles on his own? (Mitch Hall today….sorry dude!)  Is that the penalty he pays for not getting out of the water soon enough?  If triathlon was truley a measure of the best combined swimmer, cyclist and runner wouldn’t there be no such penalty?  If triathlon was truley a measure of the best combined swimmer, cyclist and runner wouldn’t the swim be longer and the bike shorter?  Maybe triathlon isn’t a measure of proficiency across three disciplines, but a struggle to cross a predefined distance, following predefined rules, as quickly as possible.  Racing’s racing but fair is also fair.  My head hurts.  I don’t know the answer.  Does this last paragraph make any since at all?

It was a real pleasure talking to Luke and Chris.  The aproachability of world class athletes at low key events like Superfrog bring a lot of charm to triathlon and endurance sports.  Luke was nursing a strain from today’s race.  I hope it doesn’t prevent him from racing Oceanside this weekend.  I’ll be rooting for both Chris and Luke….but I won’t hesitate if a flat tire, bonk or other misfortune gives me the chance to run them down.  I guess racings racing after all!

Today Dave, Chris and I headed down to Fiesta Island for one of our last race pace efforts before Oceanside.  Since I don’t have a power meter, I’ve been limiting my “tempo” or “race pace” efforts by perceived exertion and by heart rate. From what little experience I have, I think I want to race the bike portion of a 70.3 at 161 to 170 bpm.  I tried to limit myself to those two extremes during our time on Fiesta today.  When it comes time to race, perceived exertion will always overrule heart rate.  Once recovered from the swim, I plan to race just one step beyond comfort.  The run is a different story.  It will hurt.

Anyways, back to today.  Chris and I both did our best to keep our faces in the wind the whole time.  We were side by side for the first two laps, but in the last four he put between 30 and 60 seconds on me.  In good conditions I did six laps, 24.7 miles in 1:01:49.  I had averaged 24.0 mph and 166 bpm.  It was only a year and a half ago that I would have been excited holding 23mph for half that distance in an all out effort.

After riding home at an easy pace, I did 30 minutes of tempo run.  4.58 not-flat-at-all miles.  6:33 min/mile at 167 bpm.  640 ft of elevation gain.  My running has really been comming along.

I don’t think I’ll hold 24mph for the Oceanside course, it is by no means flat and calm like today’s ride was.  I was a bit quick on the bike for race pace.  In hind sight, I would have rather held an average heart rate of about 162.  I hope to run faster than 6:33, but we will see.  Regardless, I think I met the intent of the workout today.  Now its time to go stir-crazy resting up.  I’m excited.

Car Head

Bicycle Shame

If I’m not posting, its probably because I’m overwhelmed.  Such was the case over the past three weeks.  My routine became wake up, train, work, train, “oh my god its 8PM and I have to get up in 8 hours to do this again”.  The whole balance thing I’ve written about before, it tipped way towards training and everything else was suspended in mid air, out of reach.  Not good.

Sleep.  So critical.  When I plan out my next base and build phase I’m going to pay attention to where the workouts fall to ensure I don’t sacrifice rest.  At least 7 hours a night, preferably 8, from now on.  Sleep deprivation is almost respected in my military circles, but it just doesn’t fly if your trying to develop as an athlete.

A Social Life.  I’ve always been a bit of a loner, but I want what social life I used to have back.

Work.  Well that was there to.  I can’t really let that one go.

But I’ll never stop moving.

Anyways, Once again, I resolve to do better w/ the whole blog thing.  I don’t care if anybody out there actually reads it, but I like the idea of having a journal.  And since my handwriting sucks, the blog will have to do.

Chris,-nothing from you.  I forbid you from posting on this page until you get a job.  Nytro doesn’t count.  It has to be for more then 4 hours a week.