updating

if you've been reading my blog over the last couple of weeks/months it's pretty obvious i have been busy... and the blogs have been kind of lacking. it's like all or nothing. so here are some updates.

first. training.

it's going well. my riding is really coming around and all the group riding is really starting to make a difference. i am regularly putting out more power on a consistent basis than ever before... and it's only the start. my big races are in september and october so hopefully things will keep progressing.

in the coming weeks i will get in more depth on my training on this blog and also figure out my racing schedule for the rest of the season.

second. Vo2 Maxxed.

it's updated. check it out. with all my diet changes i plan on posting quite a bit more over there and getting into more details about my nutrition and work back to getting healthy and hopefully more than ever.

third. beer blog.

it's updated too with my trip back east. check it out. i got to try a lot of beers.

that's it... i am rushing though this too (no surprise!). i have to finish packing and then get up mega early tomorrow to head to sonoma. beth is racing vineman 70.3 for the second time. can't wait!

living it... east coast style.

a quick recap of a rad trip back east... with tons of photos.


our trip back east was a good one and we crammed a lot in a short amount of time. we got is some time on the lake wake boarding and water skiing, some running, hiked/climbed a mountain, tried some new england beers and did plenty of partying. as much as i like traveling to race i do really enjoy not having an agenda and just taking each day as it comes. we stayed really active but it was always fun.

quick recap of the trip.

thursday:
after some long travels and some delays we at beth's moms house on the "pond" by early afternoon and were out on the lake in kayak shortly after. beth and i cruised around and then she went for a swim while i tried my first round of local beers from otter creek. the rest of the day was spent cruising around the lake and then finished up with an epic dinner prepared by Robyn, my future mother-in-law. the cooking skills definitely run in the family. great day.

view from the house.


friday:
beth and i slept in and ran around perkins pond. perfect day. sunny, no clouds, and just great running conditions. after the run we had a quick breakkie and then we hit the lake for more wakeboarding before we had to head up to stowe for the rehersal dinner.

friday in stowe was fun. i met some of beth's college friends, had more great food and drink, and even made it out to the bar for some post dinner fun. it was definitely a late night for me and beth... in comparison to our normal 9:30om bedtime.

martha trying to peer pressure me into taking shots.


saturday:
we were up relatively early and hit the road to head out to mt. mansfield. it was a quick 15 minute drive and then we hit the Long trail. we hiked a portion of the long trail all the way to the summitt. it was rad and definitely longest i have walked/hiked in years. it took 1:20+ to get to the top and about the same coming down. our total time was 2:45 and was a gnarly workout.

views from the hike.

getting the garmin dialed in.







after the hike it was time to get ready for the wedding. the wedding and reception were incredible. during the wedding, while we were in the church, it started raining and by the time we were on the buses heading out to the farm for the reception it was pouring rain. right before dinner and after some of the best hor'sderves i have ever had the rain stopped and there was the craziest rainbow i have ever seen. everybody went out side to get photos... after the photo session it was back to dinner, more drinks, some dancing, dessert, and then beth and i scored a limo ride back to the hotel... again... past our bedtime for sure!

wedding photos.

we aren't always wearing workout gear or flip flops.

rain.


a makers please...


dirty martini(s)


good whiskey and lamb shanks = epic!


post rain rainbow.


sunday:
beth and i got up and went for a mellow run on the stowe rec path. it was a really cool paved path for waling, running, and riding that takes you all through stowe. it was another perfect day weather wise. after the run we checked out and then headed back to the farm for the "hangover bbq". after some smoked bbq we hit the road and were back in new hampshire by early afternoon. i picked up a couple more local beers to sample and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the pontoon boat. we had another killer dinner and then we crashed. both of us were pretty beat from the past couple of days.

beth taking control of the pontoon boat.


my job.


pro.


amateur.


monday:
i was up early for some reason. i got in one more run around the pond and beth got in a quick run and swim before we hit the road for the airport. it was another long day of traveling but well worth it.

now we're back in socal... but only for a couple of days. we are leaving super early on friday for Sonoma and the Vineman 70.3 (beth's racing). i am looking forward to hitting the Bear Republic brewery/brew pub... just more good times!

it doesn't get any better...

i really hope everybody had a as good of a holiday/training weekend as we did. i am in the middle on hard training block right now and the extra days off work always make it easier to get stuff done.

thursday was a normal day with hill repeats in the morning and working after. the riding went very well and i am sustaining higher power than i ever have before up the climbs. on friday i met up the the Celo Pacific crew for a long, holiday ride. my plan was just log a lot of miles and not really push the pace. the group was solid and we got in the 70+ miles, plenty of climbing, and all through inland north county on some roads i have never ridden before. there were some pretty strong guys and luke came out too so there was definitely some work done. i rode to and from our meeting spot so once was all said and done i had 95 miles on the day. i felt really strong throughout the entire ride. i have made some pretty significant changes in my diet and i really think i am starting to notice the difference... both in and out of training/racing.

friday night ryan and sarah crusied down from huntinigton and we were all up early to head to temecula for some 4th of july mountain bike racing. this was the second race in the Racers and Chasers Summer Shootout series and at a new venue, the cahuilla motorcross park. Robert and his crew have spent the last couple of weeks cutting a bunch of single track out there and their hard work paid off. these races have small fields, especially on saturday due to the holiday, but are always a good times and a chance to put in some race pace work.

we got there in time to pre-ride the 4+ mile lap. it was a pretty tough course. it was 95% loose single track and it wasn't fast. a lot of tight turns and sharp corners made it really hard to get in any kind of rhythm. after the riding the course i wasn't too stoked on racing it... just not really my kind of course but was stoked for the beth and sarah because it was great chance for them to work on their technical skills at "race pace".

race photos from chan photography.

the cat 1 race was 3 laps and even though it was only 4+ miles a lap it wasn't fast. it took me about half of the first lap to really get into the race. at first i didn't want to race but then realized it was a great opportunity to work on weaknesses... and this course exploited them all. so i just dug in and put in a solid race. the whole team raced well. beth won her category with sarah taking second. ryan got 2nd in his and i was able to hold on for 4th. not my best day, but with 95 miles the day before and not having my head in the game at the start i was stoked with my effort on the day.

the champ. killing it!


switchbacks.

done.

the ladies on the podium.


i didn't think 4th place would get called up to the podium so i wasn't prepared. i had to borrow annette's vest! i think it fits pretty well


after the race we headed back to carlsbad and to the good times started. we contemplated heading to the beach but opted to not deal with the gnarly crowds and traffic that holiday weekends bring and ended up heading inland to Stone Brewing Company for some lunch and of course epic beer! this was beth's idea... yeah... she's awesome.

the garden at Stone.

we had a great time and had some great food and beers.

me and ryan. me with a man sized stone ruination draft and him with a child sized alesmith yulesmith. come see me!


after Stone we head home, hung at the pool and watched the opening stage of the TDF. i can't think of a better way to spend the 4th!

sunday, of course, was more good times. i got out the door around 8:15am and rode down to Del Mar to meet up with Beth... she was doing an ocean swim. after she was done swimming me, beth, mary, and laura head out for a mellow ride through rancho sante fe. the weather couldn't have been more perfect. it was one of those days where i felt like i could ride all day. i rode with beth back to del mar and then headed back north. by the time i got home i had another 4 hours in the saddle. a very solid end to the week.

we were only home for about 30 minutes and then it was off to the beach, which was actually not very crowded, to lounge and play some bocce ball with Kirsten and Marty. Good times!


so that's was the weekend. now 3 days of work and then it's off to Vermont and New Hampshire on Wednesday night to visit Beth's mom and also attend one of her best friend's wedding. it was also serve as some good recovery time from the block of training I am finishing up. 5 days off the bike. more good times ahead! can't wait.

just another thursday... with a lot going on!

i have changed some things up on my blog... layout, links, etc. GZ should appreciate the new header photo.

after the race on sunday. so stoked to be done... and on the podium! (thanks to 623 tries for the race photos)

training got off to be it of an expected rough start this week after the hard effort/race on Sunday. Monday was all about resting. I slept in a bit, got a massage and adjustment after work, searched for and found the Stone's 13th Anniversary brew (it was released on Monday), and cleaned the bikes. just a pretty mellow day and good for the body.


tuesday i was back on the bike and hit the early swami's ride. i new right away that i didn't have great legs but I rode ok. about halfway through the harder part of the ride and after working pretty hard for 40 minutes i decided to just sit in and not dig myself into any deeper of a hole. i have a big weekend of riding on tap including the Racer's and Chasers race on saturday. it's a very low profile race for me, just a training day, but beth will be racing and ryan and sarah are coming too. it's going to be more about getting out, having a good time on the bikes, and then heading back to carlsbad for some 4th of july good times.

i haven't been talking about it much but I have been running a bit. pretty much just twice a week for 30-60 minutes. i really can't remember that last time i ran more than an hour or over 8 miles. i just want to keep the muscle memory and still plan on having some fun with Team BSK at the Dirt Dog XC series that starts at the end of august. so i am running just enough for to maintain a little bit and i like the cross training and not just riding all the time. i have been feeling good on my runs and just been running 100% on trails.

wednesday morning i got on the trails and just cruised. no intervals, just riding. the sun was out before 6am when i headed out. hopefully this trend will continue. i love early morning rides sans arm/knee warmers. now that's it's july i am hoping the june gloom is gone for good.

from the ride. i downloaded Picasa 3 and have been messing around with it... reminds me of my old photoshop days.


my training grounds.


in my last post i mentioned a new sponsor... and it's a good one. a couple month's i came across a new product at jimbo's: Nuttzo. it's a an omega 3 multi-nut butter made from valencia peanuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. i was way into it after one taste... same with beth. anybody who knows us knows we like our nut butters. we ALWAYS have at least 3 to 4 jars in our fridge, it's usually a couple different kinds almond butter, peanut butter, and recently sunflower seed butter. so Nuttzo was perfect!

after trying Nuttzo I found out it was local company and got in contact with the owner, Danielle (in the video below). I told how much we liked Nutzzo and how I had been using it my pre/post race meals and snacks... it's awesome right out of the jar. We worked out a sponsorship agreement and I couldn't be more stoked. So beth and I will be fueling with and representing Nutzzo out at the races this year.

Check out the Nuttzo site for more information and also check out the incredible things they are doing with The Project Left Behind Foundation. Danielle's off to Nepal next week!

it seems i had a casualty at the rim nordic race. i didn't notice this until I got home. thankfully the guys at crank bros. are going to fix it. good company. gordon swapped the ti spindle to spare pedal that i had so i am back in business without adding too many grams (i know f'n ridiculous).


finished.


heading out on the bike now for some hill repeats... good times.

Rim Nordic #1 Race Report

First of all I can't thank all the people that left me comments and sent me emails regarding my last post. I got a bunch of great information and a lot of positive feedback. I know I made the right decision to get that stuff out there and I'll definitely share my progress. Thanks again.

So the weekend was a good one. Saturday I was up and met Danielle from Nutzzo (mine and Beth's newest sponsor... more later on this) to pick up the best nut butter (race fuel!) out there I headed home and hit the road with beth. when i woke up my legs felt like junk but as soon as I hit the road they came alive. beth just cruised with me for bit doing her pre-race spin and then I headed out for more miles on my own.

I am still in the middle of a pretty hard training block so I really wasn't in rest/race mode on saturday and the plan was to just train through Sunday's race. So I got in a couple of hours with some good efforts. I really didn't want to head home. my legs felt great and the weather was perfect.


the rest of the afternoon was spent down at the expo for the San Diego International Triathlon to get beth all checked in and ready to go. I was stoked because I got to hang out with Shawn from Avia and his mega fast wife Tracy for a bit and also my homeboys from Breakaway. When we got home Tom showed and then it was off to El Caribe... and encinitas ice cream & frozen yogurt for a solid pre-race meal.

sunday morning we were all up at 430am. beth to head town to harbor island for the SDIT and Tom and I headed up to the mountains. Tom and I showed up got registered and then headed out for a lap of the course. riding an 8.25 mile lap with a lot of climbing hours before the race may not seem (or be) the best strategy, but the course is pretty technical and we wanted to know what we were getting ourselves into. we took it really easy and the course was fun.

tom took off with the other pros at 1130 and my wave started started at 1138. i knew the race was going to be tough because I was lined up with some really fast dudes including Matt, Justin, Marcos from show-air, Humberto from Jenson USA, and my mega fast Celo Pacific teammate Griffith along with some other guys that were ready to drop the hammer.


the start was pretty fast and i was able to hang on. once we hit the single track the climbing started and it got tough. i got trapped a bit behind some slower climbers. i hit the fireroad climb and hammered and got away and moved into 5th and then to 4th. the top 3 guys (justin, griffith, and matt) were up the road. at the turn around at lap two I saw that justin was leading followed closely by Griffith and Matt. I hammerd to get on matt's wheel as we started the steepest, hardest climbs of the course. griffith, matt, and i worked the climb together and then I went around matt and began to pull away with griffith.

working hard with the boys...

once we got back to the fireroad i went for it again and worked really, really hard. i glanced down at my garmin on the bars and my heart rate was about 195 for about 5 mins. I got away from griffith for a bit and caught justin to move into first... but it didn't last too long. griffith caught me on the descent and was able to get pretty good gap on me.

The third and final lap was really hard... the climbing is tough and it was really hot. i was able to hang for 2nd place behind my teammate Griffith so we definitely scored some good points for Celo Pacific. I am really happy with my race and finally feel like i can hang with these fast dudes. i know i still have a lot of work to do to race to my potential but it's good to be able to see and feel and the progress i have made so far this year.

The race.
2:10
24.72 miles
5,000+ ft of climbing
avg HR: 182 bpm
max HR: 199 bpm (gotta love it!)


post race. that's not a mustache... it's dirt.


tom's race didn't go to well as he wasn't feeling good. he actually threw up a couple of times during the race, and much more after the race. unfortunately we couldn't stay for the awards because we was not feeling well, but he came around later on and was feeling much better. i am stoked he came out to race... always a good time!

Beth had a killer race too. she was the first female amateur at the San Diego International Trialthlon, winnig her AG and finishing 5th overall taking down some the elite/pro women! after not really running for 8 weeks it looks like she still has it in her! hopefully she'll carry this momentum into the Vineman 70.3. i am really looking forward to watching her race up there (an hitting the Bear Republic Brew Pub!).

we celebrated sunday night with a big meal at Rimel's and some ice cold Yellowtale Pale Ale.


That's it... another good weekend for the team.

race weekend, coming clean, and making changes...

this weekend is full of racing for us. on sunday i will be heading up to running springs for the first race in the Rim Nordic series and Beth will be racing the San Diego International Triathlon. I just found out my homeboy Tom is coming in town for the race too. So stoked.

I really wish i could be there to watch beth race but for some reason it always seems events fall on the same days... it sucks, but it's something you have to get used to when decided to spend the rest of your life with a fast/competitive chick.

hopefully we'll both have some good race reports to post next week.... now for some real news.

a lot of changes...

I contemplated a lot about this post and if i should really put this out there... but obviously, since you are reading this, i decided to charge it. this blog was started when i started training and racing and has all my good and bad moments thus far... and in my opinion this is one of my worst. i think this will be a very pivotal moment for me in my athletic pursuits as well as my overall health and well being, which is WAY more important. I am by no means perfect when it comes to my training. i have learned a lot through trial and error and this will definitely serve as another learning experience.

First of all... i have had a really fun last month of training and racing with my new training plan under Trevor's watchful eye. he has me feeling great... and working my ass off!

the month before (end of april/beginning of may) was kind of nuts. the week after the Malibu Canyon 14 mile trail race where I had the "mysterious" quad cramp issue I had a physical exam. the exam was scheduled a month prior (i get one every year) and had nothing to do with what went down in the the race. let's just say that results from my labs (blood work) weren't awesome... and I kind of had a feeling they wouldn't be. i won't go into the exact details (at least not right now) but the test results were pretty well in line with what happens to a lot of endurance athlete's when they push their bodies too far and aren't eating enough. i even had to get an MRI of my brain... luckily no brain tumors! it was/is still some pretty gnarly stuff and I am taking it very seriously.

not mine. just a cool image.


what happened?

i really noticed a shift in the way i was feeling the week after the race at sea otter. the race kicked my ass and I had already put in a huge week of riding... as well as many hard weeks of riding and running in the months leading up to the race. i couldn't shake the fatigue post race and recovery from workouts took a lot longer... but i didn't stop training or even cut back. i also started dropping weight without trying. for most of the year i was around 134-136 and then I plummeted to an all-time low of 129. i just figured i would come around like i always have in the past. my original plan was to peak for the Idyllwild Spring Challenge and the Malibu trail race but with the way i was feeling i bagged that idea and just kept training through them. I had an OK race at idyllwild and Malibu was horrible!

I continued to train a lot and try to find some balance between running and riding. I never found it. I was running as much as a lot of people who train just for running and riding with the same mindset... like i was just riding. i gave no consideration to how much each of the sports was affecting the other, and really didn't care. with no A races, and no real focus i just trained A LOT (too much) and gave very little thought to recovery and just kept logging a lot of miles. i also still have/had the triathlete mindset and felt like i had to get in at least two workouts in everyday. the problem now was that one of the workouts wasn't a swim, which would have given my legs and body a bit of break. So I was just running and riding almost everyday. stupid.

the training is one part of the equation. the other is my diet. the bottom line is that i wasn't eating nearly enough and probably haven't been in quite a while. for the last couple of years everybody tells me that i'm to skinny but i never really gave it much thought... until now. i just wasn't eating enough to fuel my training or recover from the training i was doing. most people know i love food and eating healthy but it's probably too healthy and just not enough overall calories. the result was that i had dug myself into a pretty big hole.

i think one of the reason this happened is that one of my best qualities in racing is my ability/willingness to suffer. when it hurts is when i love it and dig even deeper. unfortunately having to dig this deep in training all the time due to lack of energy/fuel and too much training had a negative impact on my body. when i was fatigued and low on energy i would just "dig deeper" and get through the workout which in turn just broke me down even more. not very smart.

i really needed to get things back on track and get my body back to a good place. so i decided to just focus on one sport and really work hard at it without digging myself any deeper in the hole. when i came down to it I decided to focus on the bike because it's what i am really enjoying more than anything right now, will have the greatest benefit when i return to the xterra scene next year, and just plain and simple it doesn't beat your body up like running does. I just couldn't fathom training for a 3 hour running race (pike's peak ascent) in the state i was in. I was struggling through 90 minute runs and not enjoying them at all.

i think this residual fatigue goes all the way back to last year before worlds. I was over it and tired but i got through it... again with trevor's help. I also had some "bad" blood work back in the fall of '07 before Xterra Nationals and Worlds. It's time to take this stuff seriously.

so for the past month i have been following the cycling focused plan trevor has me on precisely. Resting when he says i should rest, going easy when told, and also nailing some hard workouts... actually taking days off! The balance has been great and I have put together some solid races and training sessions. I have also been ramping up my calories and adding in some foods (bread, rice, more potatoes) had not been eating a lot of in the past while following a pretty Primal diet. I have been feeling much better but still have a long way to go before I am back where I need and want to be... I'll get there. so this will be an ongoing experiment and i can already see/feel some differences after just a month.

with the total change in training focus my race schedule has also seen some drastic changes.... i'll post that next week. lets just say it's going to be a fun... don't worry, there will still be some running races in there.

sorry for getting all serious but i think it was a story worth telling and huge lesson learned on my part! I don't want to forget this and know i can turn in into something positive. i can't wait to see what i can do with a healthy body.

random photo from Sea otter.

a lot of riding... that's all

a huge weekend of riding (for me) and not much else... I am loving just focusing one one sport right now. it makes for a lot of quality work that isn't compromised by the needed recovery of additional workouts.

Monday-Thursday were focused on recovery and ended up being good timing as I was also battling an impending cold... i am pretty sure i won. the only day I really felt like crap was tuesday mid morning to wednesday morning. by thursday morning i was feeling good again. i still have kind of scratchy throat and feel like i am losing my voice but the body feels good.

as i mentioned before I took friday off of work to take jaakko out to palomar before he headed back to finland early this morning. beth came out too and we conned a couple more people into joining us. the rest of the crew was made up of katya and paul... and unfortunately we were a bit late and missed matt who ended up charging solo.

the plan was to ride from kit carson park, up to lake wohlford, then climb palomar, descend palomar, climb cole grade, and then head back to the park. i had pretty good legs after taking it easy all week and put in a solid effort up wohlford with jaakko leading me. i just hung on and stayed on his wheel. we regrouped at the top and then headed for palomar.

I was hoping to use jaakko as my rabbit climbing up palomar in attempt to beat my time and watts from last go, but a couple of miles into the climb his back began to lock up and so i was forced to charge it solo. the weather was perfect... for me. it was 80 degrees and sunny. I ended up making it to the summit in the exact time as I did a month ago almost the exact same normal and avg power. I am happy this time because it was pretty much a solo effort. last time i was with a group I had people to chase and it's hard for me maintain absolute focus for over an hour on the climb.

I waited at the top and troops started to roll in... except for beth. i got a bit worried and headed back down to find her. i won't go into the details but she had an epic blow up... check her blog for the details!

we descended palomar and then hit cole grade and i was still feeling good so I pushed again. i was stoked to be done with the ride and back to the park with 4.5 hours of riding in the bank.

the ride.


Saturday ryan and keevin came down and we hit the Celo Pacific ride after getting in hour in before hand. There was solid group and I really didn't know to expect. We rolled out of carlsbad and then on to camp pendleton and once we crested the first hill and regrouped it was hammer time. i was sitting about 5th wheel when a bunch of guys went flying by. I tried to latch on and after a 600+ watt effort i was back with the group and moving forward. I decided i was going to get in the mix and worked hard the entire northbound trip and took a lot of pulls and sat in the front. it was tough and fun. It was more of the same heading back south except this time we got to ride in the rain. gotta love this extreme june gloom.

this is the the group ride and cool down... a lot of spikes.

at the end of the ride ryan, keevin, and I tacked on another hour to give us just over 4 hours and 75 miles on the day. solid. after cramming some food in out mouths and cleaning up ryan headed over to Green Flash for a couple of beers to celebrate the solid effort. it was fun until a bus full of meat heads showed up and started getting rowdy... so we headed out.

Sunday I had 3 hour endurance moutain bike ride on the schedule. After 3 cups of coffee and a solid breakkie i was out the door. I decided to hit the local trails solo so if I was over it or really feeling beat down I could bag it and head home. that didn't end up being the case. i got in a solid ride with a lot of climbing. i didn't nail it on any of of the climbs but just kept in control and pushed some big gears.

now it's monday and the work has definitely caught up with me. my legs were trashed when i got up this morning... a good feeling! so it was a good thing today was a scheduled rest/recovery day because i needed it. I got a lot of work done, got in a fun surf, and got spend plenty of time with FW. tomorrow morning i will be hitting up the swami's ride before work... and that's just the start of a hard week that will end with Race #1 of the Rim Nordic Summer series. I'll be heading up there with the Celo Pacific crew.