M2 Revolution May Playlist

Still waiting for someone to actually buy one of these songs from Amazon so I can afford to buy a pack of Gu or soemething;)  Went a little random with a few songs and found a Euro Hip-Hop group for a few too.  Let me know what you think!

Fitz & the Tantrums - Moneygrabber


Rusted Root - Send Me On My Way (very random for spin class)


Ludacris - Roolout


Guns N' Roses - Paradise City


Downsyde - Some How


Weezer - Everybody Get Dangerous


Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise


Bloc Party - Banquet


Downsyde - Fortune & Fame


The Crystal Method - Name of the Game


The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize


Fatboy Slim - Renegade Master


Duck Sauce - Barbra Steisand


Downsyde - Life Speed


OK Go - Here It Goes Again


Franz Ferdinand - This Fire


Fatboy Slim - Gangster Trippin'(Possibly the best album cover every)

Flowing

To go with the flow or create your own........?

I'll start this off by saying I had a serious "Type A" personality moment this weekend.  Probably warranted with two weeks out from an IM, but I don't think that I made a big of a deal of it, I just went my own way when the agitation level hit critical. 

You can find this situation when you involve other people into training.  There is always the choice, yes everyone has a choice, to be lead or to lead.  Most of the time I can sit back and wait on stragglers, or problems to get resolved before a training session, but Saturday was not that day.  I rode an extra 10 miles to get to the ride start that was going to go 93 miles so my ride was well over 110, for a very long day planned. First people were showing late, then forgotten shoes, then people not ready, after 20 minutes past ride start time it was enough for me after one last pause for something I said screw it and just took off.

Instead of continuing to build frustration, it was better for me to go it alone.  Nothing would be worse than fuming in the saddle for 6-7 hours when you should be concentrating on you effort and the road ahead of you.  Now, there may be some consequences to this action, such as perturbed training partners, but people have goals and if something is stopping them from achieving it then you have to find that limiter and correct it.  This was my longest ride of the year leading into Texas and making a century ride into an all day expedition was not what I was looking to do as I had another massive 20+ mile run the next day to recuperate for.

The camaraderie and support of group training is a powerful thing and I truly believe in it, but some days you just have to cut the cord and go it alone for your own benefit.  It sounds selfish, but the alternative is probably much worse in that the negative vibe I'd be giving off would spread and cause everyone to have a bad day.  The lesson for the day, don't drag everyone else down if you can't deal with a situation.

Heading my own way actually made for a fun time.  Still got my 100+ miler in with massive hills, and ran into others who got lost on their shorter version of the ride and helped them back home.  Found some sun and calm weather to cap off a spectacular Solo Century ride.

Wildflower Triathlon Festival!

 While I raced in Oceanside a month ago, the real start of the tri season for everyone in NorCal is Wildflower.  So many people put this on their schedule due to its location, 2.5 hours from Bay Area, and atmosphere, "Woodstock of Triathlon!"  Fits pretty well with everyone in the Bay.

Great setup for the weekend

Down at Lake San Antonio Recreation Area, Tri-California puts on one of the best race experiences in the country with different distances, mountain bikes, kids races, and a music festival to keep everyone entertained.  A lot of preparation goes into this weekend for the participants as well since you almost have to camp (car camping), and bring everything you need for spending a few days and racing.

This was my third year, so I was probably a little over confident (new lesson learned later), but took Friday off work to have a chill day down at the lake and get my normal pre-race mini triathlon in.  Getting in late Thursday wasn't a problem, and had the campsite set up and ready for bed by 10:30.  At SF Tri we have an "Advance" team that goes down and sets up everyone's tents a few days early so we have a dedicated group campsite.  Dan, Faith and Paulo deserve some huge credit.

Friday and good weather seemed to be blessing us, but the wind was howling.  A group of us went for a quick run and then we walked (no driving allowed down the hill) to the Expo for a little swim warm-up and packet pickup.  The water was almost warm enough to be comfortable with no wetsuit.  I finally got the chance to try out my TYR Torque speed suit.  Very cool, but WAY different feeling in open water as I'm expecting the wetsuit lift.  Back to the campsite after the long hike back up from the lake and time for a short bike ride to make sure everything is working right and to keep loose.

Dinner time, some socializing as everyone gets into the park and time for bed.

Adam, Tim and Dan

Race morning!  Fire down some coffee, bagel with peanut butter and honey, final bike check, and off to transition.  Got in early enough to avoid the big backup and found my nice well marked spot.  I love that Tri-California gives you a designated spot on the bike racks.  Transition set up and time to do some "business".  Mulling around to find some friends from Scottsdale and others from the bay.

Dwight and Lewis from Tri-Scottsdale

Tim Dan and I go off for a little warm-up run and then down to race start.  Its such a scene here as the boat ramp forms a HUGE natural amphitheater for everyone to see what's going on and cheer.  Your nerves and excitement start up and when its your wave start, mass chaos ensues with the narrow water entry and sprint to the first buoy.  Trying to stay wide to the first buoy, I keep my shit together better than last year where I freaked out for the first time.  Felt so much better in the water and heading to the turnaround I had a nice rhythm in the water and cruising through the earlier waves with good sighting.  No real drafting opportunities, but a huge 4 minute improvement over last year and a minute faster than Oceanside!  Swim time 31:23. (32nd AG) Much better than when I freaked out in the water last year.

Courtesy of Loren Geller

Through T1 smooth and onto the bike.

Heading up out of the lake, I try to control my effort with my Power Tap.  Such a great purchase.  Got passed by a lot of people charging the hill, I'd see many of them later:)  No reason to try to crush a hill right out of the water, besides, my coach preaches consistent effort, no matter the terrain.  My goal was to hit 300 watts average for the ride, which meant trying to hold 320-340 watts on flats and climbs.

The temperature was perfect, but the winds were not.  20 MPH head winds coming out of the park, with the worst just before our major turn onto Jolon Rd.  Speed down to 15 mph for the last two miles.  Some draft packs started forming ahead of me and just on que, the Referee bike!  Never so glad to hear the motorcycle roll by and the packs disintegrate and I go cruising by. (Ref's were doing their job, you can see a huge amount of penalties in the results)  Making the turn onto Jolon and now time for some wicked cross winds.  My new deep rim Williams 85 mm wheels were holding the line fairly well, so no worries in that aspect, but when I take an arm out of aero to try to get a drink or food, not feeling so good.  Definitely lead to some inadequate fueling on the bike.  (might opt for an aero bottle with straw next time in winds)  The ridiculous part of the ride started when a military convoy and 18 wheeler rolled by the other direction.

Having to hold on for dear life as we get hit with 50-60 MPH wind blasts off the trucks while dealing with 20 MPH cross winds was INSANE!  I didn't see an 18 wheeler coming later, and when the wind blast hit me I screamed like a little girl while I tried to regain control of my bike.  The guy in front of my looked back and we both let out some calming expletives and laughed it off so we wouldn't think too much about how dangerous the conditions were today.  There were reports of a cyclist running a rear disk that was picked up off the ground!  He was airlifted out and I'm not sure what the injuries were, but I did see someone with an obvious broken collar bone.  Crazy day in the wind.

Getting near Bradley and turning into the hills, finally out of the wind (no real tail-wind all day).  Approaching Nasty Grade and I had made up nearly all the time on my buddy Dan (fast swimmer).  Got to within 100 yards as we started climbing and held it all the way up.  I thought I'd get him on the down-hill and then flats if need be, but after cresting Nasty, he took off down and I never got close on the bike again.  Nasty Grade isn't that bad as long as you take a smooth effort into it.  Its protected from the wind, so it heats up a bit, but that about the worst.  Coming down off Nasty is another story.  There is an ambulance stationed there, and with the winds, very dangerous.  Flying down into head, and cross winds as the road turns, I'm still pedaling and not much chance to let gravity do the trick.  I've gotten up to 50 MPH on this downhill before, but not today in these conditions.  Capped out at 44.5, boooo! Bike time: 2:43:32 (14th AG) Slightly better than 2010, with harder conditions. Averaged 295 watts!

Finishing up the bike with two more climbs, yes, two more after Nasty.  Nobody really remembers them, but if you go after Nasty Grade too hard, they can destroy your race.  Back into the park, keeping under control and down to the lake and T2.

3,700 feet elevation gain

Our of transition and along the lake, my legs felt great, what didn't was the extra weight I was carrying as I discover I ate too much, the day before and not too well.  My dinner was and other meals were good, but sitting around the camp site, all those sweets people brought were too appealing and chocolate covered pretzels and other things didn't quite make it through me.  You can actually see a bit of a belly on my in the race pics.  Fortunately I could hold a good pace, even with the brutal bike we just went through.  Passing quite a few people I catch my buddy Dan whose day was nearly over due to a back spasm.  He we smart and pulled back the pace (had some good times with the college kids testing a new hydration system), and I'm proud he finished, even in a lot of pain. You can tell why this race is called "Woodstock of Triathlon".  

Getting to the top of the two steep climbs before the sweet downhill at mile 6 and time to let the legs loose.  This is the first time my legs have felt good enough to take a downhill like this at Wildflower.  Feeling good I could carry the momentum back into the park and into the campgrounds where Golden Gate and SF Tri clubs where cheering everyone on.  So happy to see everyone and I end up charging through, catching the next group in the 30-34 division.  Heading to the out and back section, my quads start to cramp up and I have to pull back on the effort on the hill before descending to the turnaround.  I thought my race day might be over, but the cramps subside while I cruise the mile downhill and start the uphill climb.  This is the most brutal part of the day.  Tired and exhausted, with the temperature rising.  One of the guys running with at the top of the hill says "So this is where the shit show starts huh?"  And he is exactly correct.  A lot of people end up walking this hill after the long day, but I had some time to make up.  Once you get up the hill, there is one more little climb left then a mile downhill to the finish.  There is no reason to hold back so charging the hill I went.  Cresting the hill, my legs could still open up for the long downhill I was dreading with my quads on fire.  Nothing left to lose and I lean downhill and start into my old X-country mode and let it fly. 

1,280 feet elevation gain

Coming into the finishing chute I knew I could have had a better day with a few better decisions, but Wildflower is such a fun event.  This was the first time I enjoyed the finish with a huge smile on my face even while pushing hard to the finish.  Happy with my progress in different parts of the race, and knowing what I screwed up on, its a lesson race.  I met a few of my goals, so I'll take it. Run time: 1:34:01 (15th AG) Slight improvement in time from last year.

Finish Time: 4:53:37 - 46th overall, 11th AG, 4 minutes 7 AG places better than last year!

Tri-Cal does some really cool stuff now, upping their game with free finish video's from their You Tube feed.  Here's mine at about 2:30 into the video.  The one thing I need to do is figure out what the imbalance in my running is that's causing me to be stiff on one side of my body and flail on the other?

Time for one more big week of training , a nice taper (EVIL!) then out to Texas for Ironman.  Feeling good, and a bit nervous.

M2 April Play List #2

After posting my last play list I was inspired to rip together another one to good review at class last night.  Happy too, since I'm teaching class and didn't want a bust of a music collection distracting me.  This last one may have tapped me out for a bit though.  Music is getting expensive, and this music came thanks to a great gift my sister gave me, $50.00 iTumes card, that was lost on my desk for the past few months, but just found!  Thanks Ash!

My brother deserves credit for my love of NIN and Rob Zombie type music. There is always a problem trying to find the good recordings from that time though. Putting old files like that into a play list makes it either too quite, or the next song nearly blasts the speakers out. Luckily guys like Trent Reznor and Rob Zombie were a bit ahead of the game with the recording quality and, embarrassingly, it is becoming "Classic" music and a lot of old tracks are being re-dubbed to improve play on modern devices.

Anyways, here's the new list. I hope you like it. It spans a few decades and a few genre's, so there is something for most everyone. Can't always please everyone.

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work


Dirty Heads - Easy


Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama (trying to get something for everyone in this one)


Two Door Cinema Club - Come Back Home


Ludacris - One More Drink


The Airborne Toxic Event - Changing


Korn - Word Up!


Jet - Cold Hard Bitch


Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor


Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing


Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds


The Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution


Franz Ferdinand - Evil and a Heathen


Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus


Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows


Deadmau5 - Sofi Needs a Ladder


Tiesto & Diplo - C'mon (w Busta Rhymes)-One of the favorites.  Comes in around 45 minutes into class when we hit the most intense parts of the workout.


Steve Aoki & Sidney Samson - Wake Up Call


The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be


Eminem - Lose Yourself


Onyx - Slam

M2 April Play List #1

Have some new music on tap for classes.  I actually get to teach a few, so fun times for me!  Not sure how much everyone else enjoys me up front, and its a bit nerve racking keeping track of time.

If you want to stop by its M2 Revolution.  Fully equipped spin studio with CycleOps Indoor Cycles, Alter G and high speed treadmills, along with Vasa Trainers and Ergometer and more.  Pretty much anything you want to help make you faster in all sports.

Another playlist is in the works too.

Dirty Heads - Believe


Flight of the Conchords - Business Time (yeah, went there)


Adele - Rolling in the Deep


Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks


DMX - Its All Good


Cage the Elephant - Aberdeen


Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself


Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground


White Zombie - More Human Than Human


Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl


Dirty Heads - Morning Light


Deadmau5 - Moar Ghosts N Stuff


DMX - X Gon' Give It To Ya


The Kooks - Do You Wanna (Goldielocks)


Deadmau5 - Hi Friend!


Rage Against The Machine - Testify


Kid Rock - Cowboy


Run-D.M.C. - It's Tricky

Wildflower Training Weekend - SF Tri Club

DAY 1

This time of year is always fun.  My club, SF Tri Club, heads down to Lake San Antonio for a slugfest and debauchery.  Lots of people I haven't gotten to see in a while, and all the new faces to the club were coming down so it was set up for a great time.

Training day weather was perfect at 60-70 degrees, but night time lows were heading down to FREEZING!  We were all doing what we could to stay warm.

Morning came and nasty fog put a delay on our swim until the afternoon.  Swim Art was great to lend us one of their coaches for an overview of the course and swim tips.  He had some great insights to share along with overall ideas for a better race day.The sun finally broke and it was time for some hammering around the Long Course bike.  This was the first time out on my new Williams wheels, and they look sweet, and hopefully they were as fast as they look!  I also go the Power Tap Hub on the rear, so many new toys to play with this weekend.

Swim Art coach sharing wisdom

Anyone who is familiar with the Wildflower Long Course bike route knows its not pretty.  Well, its really amazing scenery, but lots of rollers along with BIG climbs and steep descents.  Road conditions improve every year, but there is one section that just grinds you down around 25 miles.  Wish they would repave it, PLEASE!

I really need to get out on these wheels a bit more to get used to the deep rim on the front.  85 mm takes some hits in cross-winds when you go over 35 mph and it made for some interesting descents.

We had a huge crew from SF Tri, and four or five other clubs doing recon on the course this weekend.  Made for a festive time out on the course and meeting people from all over the place.

My "buddy" Adam decided Nasty Grade repeats were a good idea.

Little crazy on the wattage.  Really good to see how inconsistent things are.  Managed it fairly well on climbs, but really need to concentrate on the flats and rollers to smooth out my effort.

Getting back to the campsite, time for a "fun" brick run.  After two miles Dan and Adam drop me like nothing once we hit a hill.  Legs were like lead, hopefully just from racing Oceanside last week.  Grinding away at 7 hilly miles, back to camp, a small bite to eat and a nice swim.

DAY 2

Up early and its a bit warmer than yesterday making everyone happy.  On tap is the Long Course run.  This run is almost constant harassment of hills, but almost all on trails making it nice on the legs.  I'm up for a good pace today, but again, Dan and this time Tim decide to punish and drop me hitting the first set of hills.  Very content to push the pace and have fun anyways, its time to be the teams mobile Photog.  I really recommend people get out to enjoy these trails to run and enjoy outside of the actual race.  Its great countryside and perfect to get out of your comfort zones.

Long Course Run

Long Course Elevation - Started 3 miles into the loop, 1,300 feet gain.

Wrapping up the weekend with a mile swim in the lake.  Finally felt good to get some sun and cool off as the temperature got above 70 for once!  Great weekend with the friends and feeling good about the coming races.

Ironman California 70.3 - Race Report

It was a great weekend down in SoCal.  Broke a few un-official and official rules.  Got to see the parents, the girlfriend and old friends from Scottsdale and Pittsburgh.  Couldn't ask for much more.  Oceanside was my first Tri this year, so my excitement was beyond control.  With some good results in training, and Kaiser Half, I felt good about the race.  The final few weeks didn't go exactly to plan, but I'm happy I took advantage of what my personal life had going, and I wouldn't have changed it.

Friday was a fun day.  Got out for my Dad's mini-tri warmup we always do before the race.  Unfortunately he's injured from the marathon of races last year, but almost all fixed up.  Swam just off the pier watching the surfers catch a few nice waves.  Talked to a few Canadians on their way out who looked frozen, which scared me a little.  Dove in expecting the worst and it was perfect!  Got out and could feel my hands and feet, so no problem for race day.


Next up a little ride to try out the Zipp Disc and 808 my Dad let me borrow for the weekend.  The disc sounds so cool, but weird until you get used to it.  Smooth 7 miles with some accelerations and back to the hotel.

Short 2.5 mile run up and down the strand to cap off a great morning and then to the hotel to put the feet up and chill.  Feeling good, dinner and to bed by 9:30 for the earliest I've been able to sleep before a race ever.

As usual, early to transition and took this creepy picture with my camera.  Looks like we might be marching our way into the light!  Its a long way down into the Marina, but once down there, got my spot all set up and then of course time to do some "business". 


Wetsuit on, everything set and off to the starting corral.  I was amazed at the number of people running through the crowd, either hook sliding into their start, or completely late altogether.  Settling in with my start group (#2 of 3 for M30-34) I find some talkers in the bunch of over anxious nervous types. 


I said I was breaking rules, well there are a few new pieces of equipment I'm using and it almost bit me in the ass.  #1 saved me, my Garmin 310XT.  Using it with the MultiSport function to get all my splits, I was most worried about using it correctly, or having it display the right stuff.  Figuring the GPS would be nearly worthless in the water, but on the bike and run, having all the data after would be fun.  Yes, I'm a geek.

Seeing my family and Whitney put a needed smile on my face.  Milling down through my start group, nerves start up and when the group ahead gets their horn, we have 3 minutes until our start. 


People racing to the start buoy, I try to keep cool and surprisingly nobody is really nudging up to the front once there.  I miss what is said over the PA, but see people reaching for their watches so I figure its the start about to go off, and I'm right.  Firing off the line, I decided early to stay out of the packs for my first race swim.  Last year I had a few mini panics after getting throttled, and the swim is definitely not what I've been able to put much time into so far this year.  Cruising along, I see a red blob when sighting.  Its a little soon for the first turn buoy so I take a longer sight, its a feaking red jet ski with a dude wearing a huge red jacket.  Note to race organizers, no red jetski or red jackets on the race course!  Luckily it didn't take me too far off course, but once we got to the real turn buoy it was a little hairy.  #1 two guys I got to draft for a while completely missed it and out of necessity, and a little kindness, I had to bulldoze them in the right direction.  Not sure they took it this way, but that's what I'm going with.  #2 there was some serious chop making it into the breakwater and my turn buoy mishap caused a good deal of people to catch up, compounding the rough water.  Fighting off a slight anxiety moment, I get back into the groove and make some good progress back to transition.  Surprisingly my GPS kept decent track through the swim.  Pretty happy with a 32:25 for my first Half this year! (50th out of 305)

LONG transition run and out on the bike!  I've heard so much good and bad (flat and fast to massive bike walking hills) about this course, so charging out on the course was really fun.  Out on the course, the first 20 miles went FAST.  I didn't realize it, and I'm glad, but we had quite a serious tailwind helping out.  My computer wasn't working with the 808 on the front, so I was purely going off my Garmin's heart rate for pacing.  Every once and a while I'd switch it to speed and time, and couldn't believe it when I saw we were cruising along at 27 mph at times!  Finished with the flats, we hit the first big hill with a nasty headwind to boot.  This was the hill people sometimes have to walk up if they drop a chain or just die, and believe it or not I saw someone walking up.  That would just be demoralizing and everyone was grinding away in their easiest gear.  Not sure what the incline is there, but its steep!  A few more hills, and tank crossings (wish I had my camera, and back to Oceanside.  The downhills were somewhat of a disappointment since they had a radar gun and a referee monitoring for speeding.  REALLY!  I guess some people just get a little over anxious and can get hurt.  The one official rule I broke was at the bottom of a downhill, with a full head of steam and screaming at the top of my lungs "ON THE LEFT", two guys couldn't hear me to get out of the way so I had to pass on the right.  There was no way I was losing the momentum to two dudes chatting it up side by side and I went screaming by.  Luckily no referee's were around, but I do not recommend doing it again.  I guess I was lucky again when I dropped a water bottle using the new X-Lab wing I put on for this race, so that's two official rules broken.  Felt bad about that one.  It can get dangerous for whoever is behind.

Finished up with a 2:36 bike (18th out of 305).  Respectable, but needs some improvement.  All in all with the headwind and the work I've put in this year I'm happy, but for those who said its on par with Wildlfower's bike course, I'm sorry, no comparison.



2200 feet elevation gain

 
Jumping off my bike, legs wobbled a bit.  After racking, changing, and getting as much Powerade down as I could I flew out on the run course.  Wobbling over with, my legs felt great!  Thanks Focus and Fly and M2, the treadmill and track workouts did the trick.  This became very apparent when someone crept up on me in the first mile from the wave that started 3 minutes after me.  Harold was a cool dude and we chatted for two miles.  He's actually doing IM Texas as well!  This got me worried because he was holding the 6:15 pace I was doing.  After the second aid station on the run, he was nowhere to be found.  My parents, friends and Whitney were all over the course cheering and keeping me going.  Saw a lot of the San Fran tri crowd during the race and we all cheered for each other.  Coming around the first lap and realizing I was golden to break 1:30 run split, my thoughts went to going for broke and seeing what sort of pain I could withstand.  I wanted an even split or better and the only thing running through my head was "Put yourself in a hurt locker" and it was on.  Every time I looked down at my watch and saw 7:00 pace it was time to push again and again.  Two miles left and time for a final push.  In Kaiser, I didn't have anything left at that point, but for this race there was plenty.  Seeing my Dad at about a half mile to go always gets me going and a mad kick developed in my legs and no turning back.  Crossing the line, nearly collapsing, and I got my 1:26 Half Marathon with a near even split! (6th out of 305)

This was a great day out and it helped me learn what to work on for Wildflower and IM Texas.  I was hoping for a better day, but I'll take 13th against a pretty good field.  Thanks everyone for your good thoughts and wishes.  Now its time to get serious on the bike, but maybe a few beers with some friends first.

Nearly fell asleep into my Boddington's