Grit! - Just doing it....

Signs of the season.....

 Modified Tempo Rides

The roads and trails across the Valley are as bad as I've seen them for this time of year. Considering how mild and warm the winter was, I'd expect the conditions to be far better. There has been so much utility construction over the mild winter, everything is all chopped up. The normal early season tempo ride would generally consist of a lot of highway miles, with several backroads along the way. This still is a pretty fast pace - even early on in the season.  The conditions are definitely not suitable for the road bike, but very well for the hardtail. I've learned the lesson about trying to add too much climbing into the tempo ride so early. It turns into more of an endurance ride - which can come a bit later. Tonight was nearly 3-hours of cold and getting colder, continuous grinding. The stats aren't ideal, but better than what I had only a few days ago. I do manage to get a few miles of dirt on this particular course, with my return speed on that stretch pushing a pretty solid race-pace. I wouldn't say I bonked, but I could feel a difference right around the 2-hour mark. Part of this is likely due to a couple minor adjustments in cleat and saddle positions that are needed. Weather permitting, I'll try this again within the next 5-days.

This sign is only at MP22 - you get the picture.

Where does desire meet success?

Seeing the signs over on SR39 this evening really makes me yearn for those days going up and over the top. The snow gate on the west side is only 15 miles up the road from this sign. MP44 - well that math is pretty simple. The camp ground is just under 26-miles, with the snow gate on the east side just shy of 34-miles. I could go on about all the landmarks and mileposts, but that is a series of memories from many years of riding this road - all the way to Woodruff and back. Some of those have been very long days that spanned from complete heat exhaustion to freezing, trying to outrun torrential summer storms. As much as it costs physically (and emotionally), I need that experience to drive my success - however I may measure it. There are days when it seems like an eternity trying to get past each landmark. There are also days when my soul finds peace with being up there - and away from everything else. I never ride it with anyone else and have a lot of time to sort through things in my head. Sometimes I solve engineering problems in my head - which has been very fruitful on some stressful projects. Other times I contemplate relationships - both personal and professional. There is no cell service most of the way after you get past Atoka on the west side and the end of the powerlines on the east side. I often see a lot of wildlife along the way - making it special in it's own right. Most every time going over and back, I think about how I would write about that particular adventure. So many times it sounds like "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street", but by the time I get home it is all boiled down to the "horse and cart". When all is said and done, success isn't measured out in standard units, but rather the satisfaction of overcoming the thing that always pushes back.

Recovery with Intervals

Tomorrow will be an indoor spin session early, focusing on cadence. Hopefully being in the office all day, I can also get a couple sessions of spring and balance work. The next day will be early intervals with hills in the evening - weather permitting. I also need to work on the bike - both doing maintenance and upgrades. I'm also thinking about tearing into the road bike and completely redoing all the cables and guides. The key is to stay diligent without causing damage - plenty of rest. The diet side of things is doing better. Rides shorter than 3-hours don't require much in the way of fueling, but more on the hydration side of things. Keeping things clean - or at least cleaner than before. A ton of protein and some "good" fats. Creatine is only at about 10-12 grams daily, which seems to agree with my system. At the moment its not about total miles, but weekly hours and relative intensity. Maintaining 9 - 12 hours per week with moderate intensity seems to be a good combination for now. Mixing it up - even better.

Click here for "Sad ol' Love Song"

Ride HARD!

Answering the question...

 

One of the updated Porpoise Stickers

Finding the soft spots...too many to hide.

My work schedule being erratic at times, makes for a interesting training combination - if you can even call it training. Gone are the days when sacrificing a little sleep for early morning spin sessions was more advantageous than not. Sarcopenia being what it is, getting more rest is a necessity. When I can fit two mixed sessions in one day, the recovery seems to take a bit longer.  This was very obvious on Tuesday when I had setout for an intended 3-hour tempo-ride on the hardtail. The previous day started with intervals on the Airdyne, followed by cutting brush, burning and spraying - oh, with several hours at my desk. Monday night was a set of last minute hill repeats - on the usual 1/2-mile grind. After a solid 6-hours on my desk Tuesday morning, I took off for the afternoon to get that intended 3-hour tempo ride in the books. The new course involves a pretty good climb that I didn't include in the tempo rides of years past - which was a mistake. I could feel the fatigue in my legs when making that climb, but pushed through. I was feeling heavy on the trail over to Middle Fork and really couldn't hop the bike. Add to this a few unplanned distractions and it turned into a mediocre ride in the wind - calling for a bailout at just under 2-hours. It's very clear there is some ground to regain - using something different.

This morning started out with another good interval session on the Airdyne, with some a very cold hill interval session this evening. The overall stats indicate weakness in a couple muscle groups, but worse yet - what appears to be a low VO2 max. This will be addressed by doing a couple different types of intervals between the Airdyne and spin-bike. Moderate core and strength work to help with the fast-twitch groups needed for offroad skills. "Skills".....that is an entirely different issue. I have switched back to original SPD cleats and pedals, away from the Eggbeaters I have been using. This is pushing me back into better pedal stroke form - especially on the longer climbs. I need to work on the hardtail, adding the new brakes and getting ready to ride North Fork. The plan is to stay exclusively on the hardtail for all dirt riding through August, mixing in the road bike about mid to late May with faster paced tempo rides. The full sus will be hanging on the wall most if not all of the time again this summer.

"The Gentlemen's Club" - Four Jakes looking for action on tonight's ride.

Huntsman Updates

Looking through the different Huntsman Heroes events for this year, I noticed some pretty awesome stuff. As mentioned in the previous post, LOTOJA parts of Huntsman are way down, but there is one individual that has already nailed it with nearly 50% of the overall event targeted goal. This was the guy I had mentioned last year as well, using his contacts to make a difference. But then over at Little Red, there is an even more impressive story. For those not in the know, Little Red is an all womens ride across Cache Valley. This year they currently have something like 92 Huntsman Heroes participating, with a pretty impressive goal. More impressive and equally inspiring is the one individual that is carrying that torch nearly single-handed. Her story is remarkable and her efforts incredible. I invite you to go out and find her page at the Huntsman Heroes Little Red site. You'll know it when you see it. There will be more about Huntsman and the Porpoise as we move along, but for now go look at this particular individuals page. It makes me feel almost insignificant, but wanting to do much more at the same time.

Long Nights in the Near Darkness

All those years ago when I used to run stairs several nights each week, lifting 4-5 days and kicking not less than 5-nights, I would get home well after dark completely spent. Needless to say my sleep patterns were affected  - laying awake in bed for seemingly hours on end, but still up early on the other end. I had a pretty nice stereo system that included a good turntable, a great cassette-deck and even an eight-track player. I always had something playing as I went to sleep - always to the low light of the main amplifier, glowing across the room. I had "America's" first release on eight-track (from way back). I could plug that in and it would loop all night into the morning - occasionally waking me up with the auto-track changing "click". That soft background crying steel-guitar still takes me back to those evenings. Gerry, Dewy and Dan - three Airforce brats that setout to piss-off the local Britts. I studied those songs learning the cord-shapes on my twelve-string, to the point I would play them laying on my bed - quietly, until I fell asleep. The simple times I let slip away -taking those moments for granted. What did I know? I was young.....

Click here for "Rainy Day" America

Ride HARD!

Goin' Live!

 The "Porpoise" is officially back in the race!

Familiar Places

Too many things have happened in the past two-years to cover in this particular post - but I will do so as the season progresses. That said, there are still some things being "worked out". Setbacks - that's an understatement. A lot of uncertainty for sure - enough that up until only a couple weeks ago there was still not a solid plan to return for another season. I hadn't been tracking what was going on with Huntsman Heroes for the most part, until one evening I went out to the website and noticed there were only 10 participants registered this year. Holy Crap Batman! I remember when we had more than 100 participants. If I remember correctly, during Covid we had a meager 60-something and several of those had to drop out of the race due to travel restrictions in their local areas. Worse yet, the fundraising goal has continually dropped to roughly half of what was raised at the peak not even 10-years ago. Having seen this situation, I hopped right back into "the pool" - as it were. I may have had a few setbacks, but I can still pull this off.

A Personal Inventory

As time progresses (like it does), I take notice - an inventory of sorts, the friends, co-workers, neighbors and other associates that have been hammered by the "Big-C".  Not to mention those that have been taken by other unfortunate circumstances. I certainly don't dwell on it - at least not for long, as it can really get me into a less than ideal "happy place" in my head. Still, when I consider the raw talent and ability so many of them have had, only to be cut short by unfortunate circumstances of what happens outside of our own control - it stops me cold in my tracks. There is no doubt I tend to waste more of my life than I make the best use of it. I can only imagine what most anyone of them would give to have one more day - another chance, to take one final swing at the ball. Unfortunately, we never truly appreciate what we have until we don't have it anymore. So, I guess taking inventory can be a positive thing, providing it drives us forward - some how.

A clear, warm and windy day at the point.

Training & Progress

In the past eight or nine years, this blog has gone from being about weekly training and event progress, to more often melancholy stories of other people and things - maybe too philosophical at times. As time has gotten on, I've personally become tired of seeing a million (maybe a slight exaggeration) blogs and videos about individual's personal bike training and race experiences. From time to time I will check in on a couple of them, as I found their original story compelling - whereas others just drive me crazy. It's amazing how many different people think that making YouTube videos for a living makes them some sort of sports physiology expert. I'm sure there is something to be said about learning from other peoples experiences, but it is not to say any one person is the same as everyone else - not by a long shot. I've done this long enough to know what works and what doesn't necessarily work for me personally. Age and individual circumstances do matter. Lets face it, what we could get away with in our younger years, we can't even consider as our bodies get older. Speed, endurance and recovery all have to be specific in the schedule. Injury has to be avoided at all cost, while still pressing the outer limits of the pain threshold. As it stands right now I have my work cut-out for me - in a big way. I'm currently having trouble maintaining a solid Zone-3 effort and really need to be pushing more into Zone-4 periodically. The immediate goal will be to improve in Zone-3 & 4, but also to include some minor Zone-5 with speed training twice a week.  As conditioning improves, it becomes harder to hit and stay in those zones for the required times - but that is what conditioning looks like.

Voices from the Past

I'm terrible at taking things and people in "the here and now" too often for granted. This is especially true of those that I looked up to in a way - kind of immortal in my own eyes. Separation has a tendency to allow our memories to be more malleable in how we choose to remember, versus the more harsh realities of life. A few years ago, I would regularly stop by an visit a friend that I've known since little league baseball. I hadn't seen him for the most part, since our college days. Always a physical specimen, he was also a gifted artist - which brought him considerable success professionally. Along the way he was diagnosed with a debilitating disease that literally mangled his body.   The last several years of his life were fraught with daily physical challenges that were unimaginable. Nearly right up till the end he would try to ride his special three-wheel cycle wherever he could. He was always convinced he would someday beat his disease. A year ago, I made it a point to stop and see Reed while he was in the hospital trying to deal with his terminal condition. It's hard to see your friends - brothers, trapped in a hulk of a body that is nearly unrecognizable. Still, every once in a while, you'd see their true-selves come out - a reminder of what was always there. Not too long ago I was watching some videos (home movies) from a vacation we took with a couple of my cousins more than fifty-years ago. These cousins lived in Colorado and I always thought it great when we got to do anything with them. They were always "the cool cousins" as they truly were just that. As things happen, those visits ended only a few years after some of these movies were taken. There they were - as cool as ever. Full of life and somewhat immortal in my mind (as is most anyone that is older than you at 10-years old). Two of them have since passed on having both been in a fight with the "Big-C". I never saw them in that state and am glad for it, as I always want to remember them as the coolest people I would ever have known. One morning while driving out to a job site, I was listening to a SiriusXM program that brought up a Carol King song that instantly reminded me of these two cousins. Sometimes I'm glad to remember things a special way.....

Click here for "Sweet Season"

Ride HARD!