Week #5 - Workouts

Base period #1

Week #5 - ( 10.0 hrs)
Week of 12/11: (28 weeks until Ironman CDA)

Monday: Workout #1: 10 mile (PM)
Tuesday: Workout #1: 1850 yard swim (Drills + Swim)
Wednesday: Workout #1: PW -Gym (AM) week 3 of 4
Thursday: Workout #1: 5 mile run (PM) – Balboa Park during lunch hour
Friday: Workout #1: 2200 yard Swim (PW) + Workout #2: Gym (PM) Power exercised week 3 of 4)
Saturday: Workout #1: 56 mile Bike (IM CDA on the Compu-Trainer due to rain)
Sunday: Day Off

Week #4 - Recovery Week Recap

When it comes to strength training, I’m in the second week of my power phase. I am planning to do a total of 5 weeks of power exercises. These exercises include leg squats, leg curls, lat pull downs, rows and dumbell press. Each exercise is done with three set of 8-15 reps with a load of 30%-60% maximum determined in the Maximum strength phase. So far, I am feeling strong.

The swim is starting to pick up a little. I am currently swimming twice a week and doing a lot of drill work. The second workout during the week is where I am working on my endurance.

The run is going well. I did a 1 mile time trial on the treadmill (forgot cold weather cloths). I was able to pull out a 6:30 mile. At a max heart rate of 158 bpm.

The bike is also progressing. I completed the 30 minute time trial (CP30) with a sustained average of 165 WATTS.

Overall, I feel the recovery week went well. I kept my frequency, lowered the volume and because of that I feel stronger and refreshed.

Week #4 - Recovery Week (Proposed Workouts)

Base period #1

Week #4 - Approx (8hrs)
Week of 12/04: (29 weeks until Ironman CDA)

Proposed Workouts: Approx 25% reduction with the same frequency.

Monday: Workout #1: 1850 yrdswim-drill work (PM) #2: Run Marker (1 Mile Test @ zone 3 or P.R.E.) (PM)
Tuesday: Workout #1: Gym - Week 2 of Power exercises (4:30 AM)
Wednesday: Workout #1: 5 Mile run (Run drills) (PM)
Thursday: Workout #1: Bike Marker (40 min warm up + 30 minute (TT) CP30-Critical Power Marker (PM)
Friday: Workout #1: Day Off - Watch Girls while Mom is at a Seminar
Saturday: Workout #1: Swim Marker 1850 yrds (PM) + Gym Power exercises after swim
Sunday: Workout #1: Bike easy 25 miles (AM)

Week 3

Base period #1

Week #3 - ( 11.0 hrs)
Week of 11/27: (30 weeks until Ironman CDA)

Monday: Workout #1: 8mile easy Run in the cold AM rain Workout #2: 2000 yard swim
Tuesday: Workout #1: PW –Gym (AM) week 1
Wednesday: Workout #1: 33 mile Bike (PM) - 20 mi flat + 13 mi hills (3000 ft ascent)
Thursday: Workout #1: 5 mile run (PM) – Old Road Loop
Friday: Workout #1: 2200 yard swim (PM)
Saturday: Workout #1: 55 mile Bike (Tour de Valley+Mulholland) + 2 mi transition Run
Sunday: Day Off - Family Day (Xmas lights)

Week 2

Base period #1

Week #2 - (11 hrs)
Week of 11/20: (31 weeks until Ironman CDA)

Monday: Workout #1: 6mile easy Run Workout #2: 1300 yard swim
Tuesday: Workout #1: MS –Gym (AM) week 5
Wednesday: Workout #1: 4 mile run (AM) – Chuck E. Cheese & back
Thursday: Workout #1: 20 mile Bike (Thanksgiving Day) – (AM)
Friday: Workout #1: MS – Gym (AM) Workout #2: 2000 yard swim
Saturday: Workout #1: 57 mile Bike (Tour de Valley+Mulholland)
Sunday: Off

My Heart Rate Zones & Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Zones

My heart rate zones by age (not by testing of Max heart rate or VO2 Max):

My age in 2007: 36 yrs
My average resting heart rate (RHR): 51 bpm (beats per minute)
My Heart Rate Reserve (HRR): 220 - 36 (age) - 51 bpm (RHR) = 133 bpm
My ___% Heart Rate = [HHR X ____%] + (RHR)

50% Calculation: [133 bpm x 0.50] + 51 bpm (RHR) = 118 bpm
65% Calculation: [133 bpm x 0.65] + 51 bpm (RHR) = 138 bpm
80% Calculation: [133 bpm x 0.80] + 51 bpm (RHR) = 157 bpm
87% Calculation: [133 bpm x 0.87] + 51 bpm (RHR) = 167 bpm
92% Calculation: [133 bpm x 0.92] + 51 bpm (RHR) = 173 bpm


Zone 1: (50%-65%) ------ (>118 - 138) bpm------RPE: Warm up-ability to talk easy.
Zone 2: (>65%-80%)------ (>138 - 157) bpm------RPE: Go all day-(3-5) word sentences
Zone 3: (>80%-87%)------ (>157 - 167) bpm------RPE: Race pace-(1-2) word sentences
Zone 4: (>87%-92%)------ (>167 - 173) bpm------RPE: Hard pace- Only Grunts sounds
Zone 5: (>92%-100%)------ (>173 - 184) bpm------RPE: All out pace- Only wheezing

The Start - Base Period #1 - Week 1

When constructing my Annual Training Plan I broke my season into the following categories:

1) Transition Period: Off season
2) Preparation Period
3) Base Periods
4) Build Periods
5) Peak/Taper Period
6) Race Period
7) Transition Period: Next Off season

I started my Transition period off season period after racing “Breath of life” Olympic distance triathlon on June 24th 2006.

Two months later, I started my 13 week Preparation period on August 14. I keep my overall volume low and concentrated on easing myself back into structured training. I initially focused on 5 hours of training a week and slowly stretched it to increase my endurance. During this period, I spend one hour in the gym twice a week developing my strength. I spent 4 weeks doing Anatomical Adaptation “A” exercises and 4 weeks doing Anatomical Adaptation “B” exercises. The purpose of these two phases are to strengthen tendons, ligaments and small stabilizer muscles. After the Anatomical phases, I started my 6 week Maximum Strength phase after being sick for 2 weeks.

This phase is used by athletes to build up to a maximum strength is some of the key large muscle groups. These exercised include Squats (legs), Leg Curls, Standing Lat Pull Downs (back), Rows (back), Dumbbell Press for the chest.

This long preparation period allowed me to smoothly transition to my Base 1 period.

I started my 8 week Base 1 period on Monday November 13th. Week (1 of 32) until Ironman CDA.


My first week looked like this:

Week of 11/13: (32 weeks until Ironman CDA) - week #1 (9.5 hrs)

Monday: Workout #1: 5mile easy Run Workout #2: 1500 yard swim
Tuesday: Workout #1: MS –Gym (AM)
Wednesday: Workout #1: 18 mile Bike (PM-Computrainer)
Thursday: Workout #1: 3 mile easy Run (PM)
Friday: Workout #1: MS – Gym (AM) Workout #2: 2000 yard swim
Saturday: Workout #1: 43 mile Bike (Tour de Valley) with 2 mile transition run.
Sunday: Off

PumpkinMan Club Championship with my Dad

On October 15th, my (60-64) year old age group Father and I participated in the 2006 Land Rover PumpkinMan Olympic Distance Triathlon. This race was also slated to be the 2006 Club National Championship venue. My TRI Club made a GREAT showing by producing nearly 180 participants from L.A., but we came up a little short to a TRI Club out of Missouri called COLUMBIA MULTISPORT.

After the race, the L.A. TriClub had a party at the Hard Rock Casino's Pink Taco restaurant.




This was the view from my 7th floor room at the Hard Rock Hotel.




This is My Dad and I just after he finished. He was 4th in his age group.






Doesn't the sky look heavenly. This is Lake Mead at 6:45am. One hour prior to our mass swim start. How often does a guy get to do such a challenging event with his father? What a treat for me!



This race was all about my Dad. I raced while having a 3 week old lingering cold and completely sucked ass. One the other hand, my Dad kicked ass! He had a consistent swim, a solid bike ride and a predicted run. The clock doesn't tell the story... he finished with a time of 4:48. Way to go POP!



Now that this Race and season is over, my NEW FOCUS will now be on Ironman CDA. My official Base level training period starts on November 1st. The game is on.....!

My Inspirational Heroes - My Motivational Flames

I have two inspirational Heroes. My first hero is my oldest daughter Katelyn and my second hero is my Cousin Seth. These heroes stoke my internal motivational flame and give me the inner strength to push through difficult times, overcome the seemingly impossible and to persevere in whatever challenge I take on or whatever challenge life throws at me.

Today, Katelyn is a beautiful and healthy three year old Girl full of life, love and innocent wonder. Unfortunately, her life didn't start out that way.

Each year about 2% of this countries birth population or about 500,000 babies are born premature (<37 weeks gestation). 6% of these 500,000 babies or less than 1% of all births in this country are before 28 weeks gestation. UNFORTUNATELY, for my family, this is where Katelyn's amazing story begins.



Katelyn was born on August 10, 2003 at 27 weeks Gestation and weighed a mere 2 pounds 9 ounces. In layman terms, she was born 3 months early.

A lot of development is lost by being three months early. Three months is the length of a child’s summer break. With three months remaining to an expected due date, most parents are spending their time thinking about baby names or what colors to paint their child's room.

That wasn’t the case for me and my wife Shannon. We found ourselves speeding down the 405 freeway towards Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills From Santa Clarita. The 15 minute drive felt more like 30 minutes. Shannon cried continuously and was doubled over in pain in the front seat of my truck as she experienced the premature labor pains. Once at the hospital, I scooped her up and ran past the emergency room to the labor and delivery department. Once there, the doctors quickly determined the labor was unstoppable. Our worst fears were becoming a reality… baby Katelyn would be delivered that day. Katelyn's heart rate was quickly dropping and because a natural birth would be taxing for her stature, the doctors quickly decided on an emergency caesarian section surgery.

Before they rushed my wife into surgery they called the NICU at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Burbank and summoned a team to come to Holy Cross Hospital to care for and transfer baby Katelyn to their NICU after she was delivered. Holy Cross did not have its own NICU.

The doctors were very stressed as they prepared my wife for the surgery. They requested that I did not attend the delivery and hurried me to a nearby waiting room adjacent to the hospital's nursery. As I spent a few minutes in the quiet waiting room, my head started to spin. I thought to myself …”what in the hell is going on. This can not be really happening to us. Thirty minutes earlier I was sitting at our breakfast table eating cereal and thinking about how nice a day it was outside and to now find myself all alone in a waiting room worrying about the well being of both my wife and my very early first daughter.” After a few minutes, I left the waiting room and sat in a chair in the hallway. And just as I did, one of the doctors came out of the operating room and ran past me with my daughter cradled in his arms and entered a secured area of the nursery that I couldn't see into or access.



Shortly after the doctor, a nurse came out of the operating room to inform me that I could see my wife in the recovery room. Shannon was still coming off of the anesthesia and was understandably very emotional about what she and the baby had been through.

After spending a few minutes with my wife, the NICU doctor pulled me away to the nursery to talk over my daughter’s situation. He showed me two chest x-rays. One x-ray was completely dark in color and the second was dark in color with a light colored area inside. He told me the second x-ray was of a normal chest and that the light areas where the lungs. He then explained that the first x-ray was my daughter’s and that her lungs were not visible. The x-rays pick up the differences between tissue densities. Normal lung tissue should have a different density than the surrounding tissue but my daughter's weren't. Because her lungs were underdeveloped, the doctor was forced to intubate here.



A couple of hours after Katelyn was transported to the NICU, Saint Joseph’s Hospital called my cell and urged me to the come to the NICU as quickly as I could. A doctor explained that they were having a hard time getting her stable.

Once I arrived, I’d say no less than a six person team was frantically working on her. One doctor took me into a side waiting room. He sat me down like you see on TV and told me, "Right now we have 25 premature babies here and your daughter is by far the sickest one. We are doing everything that we can for her but we are having a hard time keeping her stable. I don't know if you are a religious person or not but if you are and want to baptize her, I would suggest you do it sooner than later." I thought to myself ... “Holy Shit... did this doctor just say she is going to die?” I asked, "Are you doing all you can for her." He said, “We are and we will continue to give her excellent care except right now we have to see how she will responds to what we have done thus far.” Then he said, "Right now everything is in her hands. It’s up to her at this point." I thought, "WOW!... what a thing to say. It's up to her... what a burden to put on a newborn premature baby." Do babies know how to fight or even what they are fighting for?..(I feel that they do.) I asked if I could stay after visiting hours and he said, "You can stay as long as you want." I understood that to mean, we can bend the rules for you because I doubt your daughter will make it through the night.

As I sat by her side, I asked one of her nurses if I could touch her arm or hand and if I did would it bother her machine settings. She informed me that it would be ok and that they gave her a medication to keep her still by paralyzing her body and that she wouldn’t be able to move. When the nurse left, I ran my finger down her arm to the palm of her hand. When my finger reached her hand it closed around my finger tip. For the first time in her short life, she knew she was not alone. We had made a connnection. I told her I felt guilty for wanting her to live if the fight was to painful. Right then, I made her a promise. I told her that she has a family that loves her and wants her to win this fight for her life. I also told her that if the fight was to hard that I would understand and promised stay by her side until the very end. I stayed until 6am the next morning.

By 6 am she had been stable for a few hours. From that point on, I knew she was a fighter and would give it everything she could.


During Katelyn’s near 3 month stay in the NICU, we learned that all premature babies have to fight for their lives and battle through a whole slew of physical obstacles. During her total stay she had 7 blood transfusions. Within the first week, Katelyn had to have a heart surgery to close a valve so she could properly circulate her own blood. Katelyn suffered from respiratory distress syndrome. Because her lungs were underdeveloped, she lacked a protein that would kept her lungs from sticking together. Because of that doctors used ventilator pressure for nearly 4 weeks to keep her lungs open and to breathe for her. Parents quickly learn that the ventilators are a double edged sword. They are good in the beginning because they help keep your child alive but they can also cause injuries as well. Because of the initial high pressure, Katelyn suffered a collapsed lung. Other worries included Lung scaring, chronic lung disease, possible blindness and hearing loss. Fortunately, for all of us, Katelyn came off one of the mightiest ventilators without any problems. Today, we joke that she has hearing problems but in reality it’s just her being a typical hard of hearing three year old. The doctors thought for sure she would need glasses but her eye problems cleared up by age two.

During the first few weeks in the NICU the doctors check your child for brain bleeding with an ultrasound machine. Apparently, some bleeding is ok and the brain can absorb it but excessive bleeding can cause pressure on the brain and in turn can cause brain damage or cerebral palsy. Luckily for us, we never experience brain bleeds. Other babies unfortunately weren't as luck. Some that appeared to be doing well would take turns for the worst and never recover.



As things settled down for us, the NICU become our second home after a long day at work. We often stayed late into the night to read and talk to her as she rested.



As she got stronger, we were finally able to hold her after a month of the ventilator.



When she finally can home she also came home with sleep apnea and medication to help control it.



When a child is born prematurely, the portion of the brain that triggers the breathing response is underdeveloped. And we learned that until the brain fully develops, your child get to sleep with apnea monitor electrodes attached to her chest for almost a year. The monitor sounds like a smoke detector when it goes off. And it only seemed to go off at 3am. You haven't lived until you have been jolted out of bed by that booming sound and realize that in two seconds you are fully awake and running for your child's room ready to do C.P.R. until she comes back to life or until paramedics arrive. Fortunately, for us the alarm did its job and we never had to do C.P.R. I never knew what to expect as I entered her room. Conversely, after I left her room, I knew to expect no sleep... I’m talking about a complete adrenaline rush and a pounding heart rate for hours after the fact.


Today, Katelyn is a healthy and happy 3 year old. She is a head strong girl that likes things done her way. I am proud of her! She fought for her life and because she was successful there is a BIG WORLD out their waiting for her to make her mark it.

She has taught me that none of us have real problems if we have our health and the love and support of our families. She has given me perspective on what it means to have a bad day. When she was in the hospital, a bad day wasn’t failing to finish a race or getting a desired finishing time... a bad day would have been if Katelyn couldn't keep up the fight to live. I remember sitting next to her bed at night when she was in the hospital. I would say, "Come on Katelyn... you can do it!"

Ironically, these are the same words she uses when she see me during a race. She says, "come on Daddy... you can to it. Go Daddy go.... you can do it" And Boy... I've got to tell you.... Life doesn't get much better that! THANK YOU KATELYN!!!




My second inspirational hero is my cousin Seth(lower middle)who is in the U.S. Army. Seth has been in the Army for many years and is preparing for is second deployment to Iraq or the like. During his first tour in Iraq, I learned about the extreme climate conditions (hot and cold) he had to face as well as his live and death combat situations. (Due to reasons of National Security and my Aunt I can not disclose any specific information about him. That includes what he does or where he is or might be going). To me, none of that really effects his hero status anyway.



As a Soldier in the U.S. Army, he doesn’t get the option of going or not going to a hostile zone. He doesn’t get the option of avoiding deadly missions. He has literally no control over his immediate day to day life. He has accepted his duty to the United States and is doing his job without complaint.

He is up early, out late, in the cold, in the heat, no shower, army food, no food, bunk, no bunk, mission or no mission. Because Seth accepts these unpleasant conditions without complaint, I feel that I shouldn't have any complaints when it come to my triathlon training and the conditions that surround it. He is the one who get me out of my warm bed at 3am to train before work when I’m tired. Seth is the one that gets me to do all the other seemly unpleasant things like heading out on a cold bike ride or jumping into a cold pool or Pacific Ocean. When I am facing these unpleasantries, I think to myself... don’t be a PUSS! Get your butt out of bed, and get your ass on your bike or into that water. A little voice will say to me, "You think you are to cold or tired. It must be nice to feel sorry for yourself. Seth doesn’t have the option of being to cold or tired. Get up, get going, jump to it."

In closing, each hero motivates me in a different way and I thank them for that. Seth motivates me to get started when events are uncomfortable and Katelyn's life and death struggle keeps me motivated during difficult patches while training, racing and living life.

Ford Ironman CDA Countdown

I'm sure as the Race get closer I will start to look for a snooze bar on this watch.

Ford Ironman CDA Countdown

CompuTrainer - Indoor Bike Training

I would like to introduce you to the two newest gadgets in my arsenal of triathlon training tools. With many thanks to the Triathlon Gods, I have been blessed with a CompuTrainer bicycle trainer and an Edge 305 Garmin GPS bike computer.

You might be asking yourself, what is a bicycle trainer?... let alone a CumpuTrainer? A bicycle trainer is a rear wheel bike stand with a load generator that engages the slightly elevated rear tire of your personal bike. The load generator provides spinning resistance to simulate riding on the street. The trainer essentially allows any bike to be used as an indoor stationary bike. The amount of spinning resistance produced from this type of trainer is a function of the gear size being pedaled and the riders cadence (RPMs).



Conversely, the CompuTrainer's load generator is controlled entirely by a home computer and product specific software. The 3-D CompuTriainer software allows a rider to select from a complete menu of pre-loaded courses. There are short and long courses with many kinds of terrain and even famous race courses such as Ironman Hawaii and Tour de France Stages. After a particular course is selected and launched within the program, you are ready to ride or race the course by yourself or against a ghost rider. The ghost rider can be programmed to ride next to you like a friend. Or the rider can be programmed to perform at a certain Watt level or can be programmed to be your previously saved effort on the same course.


While ride a course, you are able to see the course unfold in front of you on a TV or computer monitor. The screen displays the profile of the course, watts, heart rate, cadence, % grade, speed, distance, & overall time. The ride feels very realistic since you are on your own bike. As you start up a hill the load generator increases its resistance just like a riding a real hill. When the terrain flattens out the resistance becomes easier. This continual change in load requires you to change gears like riding outside on the street.



As an added bonus the 3-D software has a split screen Spin Scan that analyzes your pedal stroke efficiency. "SpinScanTM Pedal Stroke Analyzer is an exclusive feature of CompuTrainer that helps you increase power and efficiency. The multi-color torque graph represents one full 360° revolution divided into 15° segments. The left/right leg percentage power splits give you the feedback needed to pedal in "circles". It will identify "flat" or "dead" spots in the pedal stroke where optimal power is not transferred to the drive train. The ATA (Average Torque Angle) displayed on the Polar Graph helps you adjust your position for optimum power."

My second training gadget is the Edge 305 GPS bike computer by Garmin. The Edge 305 GPS computer can be used to record key training routes and or courses from either a bike or from a car. After the GPS information is captured, it can then be down loaded into onto a computer and then saved as a course file that can be ridden anytime you want from the comfort of your home. This is a nice benefit to have if the course is far away or if the weather outside is foul.



I will use the bike computer in the near future to record the "World's Toughest Half" 56mi bike course in Auburn California (350 miles from my house). Next years race will be on May 20th. Having this course on my computer will allow me to train in Auburn anytime I want during the cold winter months from my warm L.A. home. Additionally, I will also be training on the pre-loaded Ironman Coeur d'Alene course in preparation for that race on June 24, 2007.

Food for Thought & Inspirational Quotes

1. Before you can accomplish something huge you must first see yourself doing it.
2. The Toughest distance you must travel in any triathlon is the distance located between your ears.
3. When faced with physical challenges, do you see your limitations or do you see your possibilities for improvement.
4. There are no shortcuts to fitness; it takes a long time to get good.
5. Overall, ironman-distance racing is not about being fast. It's about being able to swim smart, ride strong, and run tough.
6. Superior race performance results from what you do, not how much you do.
7. Success is correlated to the duration and intensity of your key sessions, no your total volume.
8. Work smarter not harder.

Hansen Dam 2nd Annual Sprint Triathlon - Relay

The Hawthorne Placers (Shannon, Richard and I) showed up at the 2nd Annual Hansen Dam Sprint Triathlon at 6:15am (approximately 1 hour before the race start).

Shannon and I are posing by the the "Swim start" sign. If you look over my right shoulder you can see a Huge shark fin... do you see it ... look again.... psych.

Shannon & Richard work out their pre-race stratagy.... Ride fast, Run Fast.




Another look at the swim venue. The swim was listed as a 500 yrd swim, however my swim split time suggested more like 600 to 650 yrds. I completed the swim in 13 minutes.




The water was a reported 83 degrees so I elected to swim without my wetsuit. You may need to put on sunglasses if the glare from my white skin is to much.

Richard took on the bike leg with honor and valor. He finished his first race in style and with a little energy in reserve. Way to go Richard!

Shannon made up the final leg of the race and finished strong. She tells me that she wants to do the complete race all by herself next year. Bring it on Shannon!

Piuma Route - 45 Mile Hill Ride

Some of the Usual Saturday Morning Valley Ride Suspects: William, Aram, Me & Pix.

We were also accompanied by a new Valley Ride Suspect named Kerri. Kerri was a great sport throughout this very long and seemly never ending hill ride. She never gave up the fight, even when she thought she couldn't go any further up the hill. This was also a new ride for me and I quickly learned that Piuma Road is a continuous 7 mile climb at 4% grade. This scenic canyon road snakes its way to the top of a mountain that over looks the Ocean.

After climbing to the top of Piuma Road we were rewarded with views like the one shown above. The blue area just beyond the far hill is the Pacific Ocean and I think the road directly below that is cuts into the hillside is Topanga Canyon. (I could be wrong)

After completing this ride, I traveled over to the Hansen Dam Aquatic Park to pick up the "Hawthorne Placers" Relay Race packet. The "Hawthorne Placers" - Me, Richard & Shannon will be racing tomorrow morning and will be at the race site by 6:15 am for the 2nd annual Hansen Dam Sprint Triathlon.

Hansen Dam Triathlon - Bike & Swim RECON

Saturday morning at 08:00, my Neighbor Richard and I performed a recon mission and scoped out the Hansen Dam Triathlon Swim Venue and 11 mile bike course. The swim will take place in a small man made lake that appears to be used for boating or sailing lessons (not really sure?). As you can see in the picture below, the water is dead still, no current, no sand and no waves ... unless you count next weekends start waves. The race experience should feel like swimming 500 yrds in a big swimming pool with a bunch of my closest friends.

Please don't turn me into the bike police... I don't normally leave it like that.

After scoping out the swim venue, Richard and I rode the 11 mile bike course. The course is mostly flat, with a couple of rollers, a couple of fast downhill sections and a couple of small climbs. Overall, this should prove to be a very fast course.

The course is essentially one big loop and never back tracks onto itself ...(duh...hence the word loop). After leaving the swim venue, you zig zag on the Hansen Dam Park property until you reach the right hand turn at Osborne St. After a flat section on Osborne, you take a right onto foothill and descend until your reach an easy 2 mile climb that takes you to Wentworth. At Wentworth, you take a right and go down a steep section that goes under the 210 freeway then levels off. Through this section you should be able to carry a lot of speed for the next couple of miles. (note: carry tire changing equipment because the bike lane is very bumpy, pitted and could cause pinch flats. This area also has a lot of sticker bushes on the side of the road so thorns may be an issue as well. Don't be surprised if you see people changing tires along Wentworth.) After one small climb on Wentworth, you head down a 1/4 mile section to a right hand turn at the beginning of the "Dam" bike trail. Once on the bike trail, you climb to a completely flat section on top of the Dam. Once on the Dam, you should be able to carry a lot of speed until you exit the dam area and head back into the Park and T2 area.

My neighbor Richard on his smokin Red Felt Roady

Richard did a great job on the course and is sure to burn up the field on Sunday! Go Richard!!!!!!


Todays Workout: 800 yrd open water swim in Lake Castaic

Still in Transition - (Triathlon Off Season)

Todays workout: 5:00am - (1000 Yard Swim)

Warm up: 200 yards easy
Drills: 2 x 25 under skate , 1 x 50 String finger/fist
Main Set: 1x500 steady
Cool down: 8 x 25 Bi-lateral Breathing

A typical triathlon season usually runs from March through October and sometimes into November. By November, athletes have been training and racing for over 8 months and are ready for a well deserved break. During the following 4 month off season (Transition Period), athletes do various things. Some hang up all their gear and enjoy the winter holiday foods and take shelter from the cooler winter training conditions before starting back up sometime after January 1st. Others are the classical diehards that push on strong and don’t take any time off for mental and physical recovery. Since races don’t typically start until March, athlete will usually start focusing on limiters and weight training (Preparation Period) roughly 8 weeks before starting their base level training for a specific race or series of races.

I have decided to have a 8 week preparation period prior to starting my base training on January 1st. This will leave me approximately 6 month to dedicate to my base, build and peak periods.

In order to get some kind of mental and physical break, I have decided to be very low key with my training and racing between now and October 1st. This two month period is the only time I have to rejuvenate my body and mentally gear up for Ironman CDA (Coeur d’Alene) next June.

During this two month period, I have the two following "Fun" races scheduled:
1) Hansen Dam Triathlon - Sprint Relay.
2) Pumpkinman Olympic Triathlon in Las Vegas - Club Championship.

The Hansen Dam race is going to be GREAT FUN. The relay team is made up of me, Shannon and my neighbor Richard. I am doing the 500 yrd open water swim, Richard will be racing the 11 mile bike coarse and Shannon with finish up the race with a 3 mile trail run. I can’t wait to see the excitement on their faces as the race unfolds. I’m going to do my best to get some pictures of the event.... stay tuned.

My last race this season is the "Pumpkinman" - Club Championship in Las Vegas. I normally wouldn’t be doing such a late season race with my Ironman race so early in the following season but my Dad is competing in it. This will be our second race together and first Olympic race together. My Dad is soon to be 60 and placed 2nd in his age group in his first Olympic distance triathlon. Truth be told... there were only two people in his age group and he was one of them. With that said, I am very proud of his accomplishments in triathlon. Less than a year ago, he couldn’t swim 25 yards and after countless lessons and hours in the water he is now able to navigate near mile open water swims with relative ease. Way to go pop! So without a doubt, I wouldn’t miss this race for the world.

In Transition

After completing the "World Toughest Half" Triathlon on 5/20/2006, I elected to take a couple of weeks off from training (5/21-6/4) to recuperate from "burnout" and spend some much needed time with my family. The last two months of training leading up to this race were very hard on the family and especially Shannon. I was gone on 4-5 hr bike rides on Saturdays, 1 mile ocean swims and transition runs on Sundays. During the work week, I was in bed by 9pm, up three days at 4am to either swim or run and up one day at 3 am to get in a two hour bike ride. To say the least, we were all ready for a break.

After this short break, I spent two weeks doing light base-transition training (6/5-6/18) and one week tapering for my next race called "Breath of Life" on 6/25. I approached this Olympic distance race (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run) in a relaxed nature and decided to just have fun and not worry about my split times. The race went well and afterwards, the whole family spent a couple of fun hours at the beach.

After the race I spent the next week doing lite active recovery/transition training (6/26-7/2).

The following week I was on Vacation. My parents came down from Sacramento and we spent some time at Disneyland. (7/3-7/10). During this time I did absolutely no training. I forgot how nice is was to sleep more that 6 hours a night.

After my parents when home and the vacation was over, I caught a goofy cold (Disney Joke). I felt run down and had a sore throat for a few days. Blah...blah... blah... you know typical story. After I felt better, I went for a run... then the cold came back for a few more days. Again, I felt better..... went for a run ... then it came back a third time. Dang......What a pain in the butt... I was not use to being sick and missing exercise.

By the week of 7/24, I finally kicked the cold and was ready for full duty. My workouts went as listed below:
7/25 - 5 Mi Easy Run
7/27 - 1000 Yard Drill Swim
7/29 - 35 Mi Easy Bike Ride
7/31 - 5 Mi Easy Run

Race Report 5/20/06 - "Worlds Toughest Half"

Overall finish: 6:59:30 - (189 out of 282) Not including the 30 DNF's.
This is possible evidence of a strong field and even tougher race. Or maybe it just shows that I finished after half of the field.

Age group finish: 28 out of 40 (not any better I suppose)

"First name" in age group finish:
"Jason" Division: 2nd out of 2 (ok....ok... still no improvement)

Swim: 1.2 Mi - 0:41:27 - (34 of of 40)
The water temperature at the start of the race was a perfectly balmy 68 degrees. The swim course began in the water (go figure) at the bottom of a narrow boat ramp. The course heads straight out 150 yards to a buoy at which point you turn left into a 200 yard wide channel of water surrounded by steep canyon walls. You then swim along the near side of the canyon for about 800 yards before you reach the turn around buoy and head back along the far side of the canyon another 900 yard. After you reach the final and third buoy, you turn right and head into shore another 200 yards to the swim entrance/exit area.

I elected to start on land and gave my wave a good 30 second head start. (Why would I do that... well, that's just the kind of guy I am I guess.) This tactic allowed me to have clear and clean water for most of the swim or at least until the second wave caught me from behind about half way through the course. There were no major incidents to report.... just the typical minute or two of bumping, punching & pulling. (And that's only what I was doing) At the exit of the swim I felt Great! I was able to kept my head clear throughout the entire swim and stuck to my race plan of going out easy and staying aerobic.

T1: 0:05:00
I steadily made it to my bike. I shed my wetsuit, put on my bike gear, collected my nutrition & packed my swim gear into my T1 bag so the race volunteers could transport my things cleanly to the T2/finish area for post race retrieval.

Bike: 56Mi - 3:44:00 - (27 out of 40)
The "World's Toughest Half" course tests all of your skills.(it did mine) It has long climbs, short steep climbs (including one .4 mile climb at 12% grade at the infamous "LeMond Walked" hill), roller coaster sections and seemingly no flats. This ride is very tough and very Scenic. The overall elevation gain is ~6,000' before you finish the full 56 miles.

The course climbs steadily for the first 21 miles as you pass the T2/finish area at mile 8 and Aid Station #1 at mile 13.6. The next 5 miles are comprised of a down and up section where you can pick up some speed until you reach the 6 mile Bear River loop. The loop takes you down a steep and technical descent to a short flat section adjacent to the ragging Bear River. After you reach this flat section, you have to climb back out of the pit you just descended into. Once out, you back track the course to the finish line with the addition of a 5 mile out and back sections at mile 43. I felt good throughout the entire bike course. My bike training was spot on.

My hydration & nutrition plan was to drink water for the first 30 minutes and then switch to my Accelerade sports drink. I planned to drink a quarter of a 24 oz bottle of fluids every 15 minutes, gu every 45min to an hour, take sodium tablets every hour & eat a power bar if I needed extra calories. Before the race, I decided to carry two bottles on the bike: one of water and another for Accelerade. I primarily trained with Accelerade and planned on retrieving two fresh bottles of Accelerade from my special needs bag at mile 21. The race was dispensing Cytomax .... a product that I've never used.

My nutrition plan began to unravel at the Special needs/Aid Station #2 at mile 21. My Special needs bag never made it from the registration tent. Wow!...now I have lost 480 calories of Accelerade and was faced with having to switch to Cytomax or stick with water and gu. Faced with the dilemma of trying something new on race day, I elected to gamble. What else could I do? I drank the Cytomax and survived. At mile 30, I decided to start on my power bar but to my surprise ... it was gone. I must have left it in T1.... there goes another 270 calories. Oh well I thought and continued to ride strong with an average cadence in the high eighties and low nineties. Between miles 35 and 48, my lower back started to ache a bit. After stretching a little on the bike, I caught my second wind and stayed strong all the way to T2.

T2: 5min
Racked my bike, change into run gear, headed out on run.... and forgot sodium tablets.

Run: 13 Mi - 2:24:03 (24 out of 40) Total run climb is 1,325'

The 13.1-mile run is described as a "scenic and challenging 50/50 trail & pavement mix in the Auburn State Park." The entire course is completely closed to auto traffic and includes stunning views of surrounding mountains, canyons and the river below. The run is broken into two loops.

Loop 1: 1:25:00
Loop 1 is approximately 7 miles long and finishes adjacent to the finish line. (You actually run right next to it .... so close that you can touch the finish line arch). As you leave T2 you head down to a wooded single track trail that opens up to a wider rolling trail that exposes you to the hot sun. (at least it was hot when I came thru). The run was going great until I reached mile two where I believed I started feeling the affects of the direct sun exposure. I started to feel lightheaded and overheated. I made the conscious decision to walk the hills, run the flats and down sections and keep hydrating and "gu"ing. I did that until I reached the aid station near mile 5. Once there, I stopped for about 5 minutes and poured ice water over my head, body and into my hat. By now I've realized that my sodium tablets were keeping my bike company at T2 so I helped myself to some pretzels... actually I helped myself to a lot of pretzels. Once I got my core temperature down .... I felt like it was time to rock and roll. I cruised down the next half mile until I reached the first of two tough climbs. This first climb is called "Dam Wall" (mile 5.5-7) (400' vert climb). This "Dam Wall" is a paved service road that many walked up (including me). The walkers were just slightly slower than the runners through this stretch. My goal was to conserve my energy for the second loop and not to Blow up 6 miles out.

Loop 2: 0:59:03
Once I started the second loop, I felt strong again. The second loop leads you away from T2 in a different direction and straight down a sometimes paved, mostly gravel and dirt road into an area call "The Pit". After you reach the bottom of "The Pit", you head back up the same road then turn left onto a stretch that takes you to the second major climb called "Cardiac Bypass" (10-11.2mi)... (don't you just love these names... there is an actual trailhead marker that reads "Cardiac Bypass".) Once you're revived from heart failure, the rest of the course is essentially flat & mild with minimal elevation change. I felt really good near the end of this final loop after practically running the entire way. The last two miles are a real treat. You get to run on a beautifully shaded water canal trail which is completely flat. It was during this time that I figured I could maybe break the 7 hour mark. I decided to turn up the juice and pushed for two sub 8 min miles and I did it! I came in at 6:59:30. What a feeling to complete such a race! Especially after 5 solid months of training.... all those early morning swims, tough hill runs and occasional 3 am bike rides.