December 2016: Training Ramblings......Spain!

December was the real start of getting some base training in prior to the New Year and kicking off the 2017 season.  The last part of the year had been minimal in terms of "training" more of just "exercising" so some structure was needed and in a twist of fate it also coincided with an unexpected Christmas trip to Spain to visit Sarah's parents.  Unfortunately Sarah's Dad had been diagnosed with cancer in the Fall and it was a good time to head out and help them out as well as visit for the holiday period.  Too many cooks in the kitchen and all that meant that Sarah took her parents to the daily treatments while I headed out on the bike for a few hours.  Although having visited the Costa Blanca on a number of occasions in recent years, this was the first time that I had decided to rent a bike and get some serious mileage in.....a training camp of sorts!  The bike left a little to be desired but for less than $100 for the week, an aluminium frame with 8-speed shimano served me just fine especially as I ended up abusing it for over 350 miles in that week.

As the photos below show I had a great time riding and was able to ride a different route every day with some variety each day. The Costa Blanca south of Alicante doesn't have any real mountains but has some decent elevation if you go looking for it as well as some great rolling roads through rural villages with very minimal traffic. With it being late December the temperatures started off in the low 50's and ended up at the mid-60's by the middle of the day.....would I go back for a more riding here even if the in-laws weren't here, for sure!

Recovery Day coffee ride to Catrel

Orange groves everywhere

Rural roads without cars for miles

Does it goes to 11? Nope just the 8 speeds!

Good and empty roads

This was the day I saw Pro rider Edvald Boasson Hagen on the road

Gas station Belgium waffles!

Cabezo de la Plata....6 miles of climbing stuff!

Shall we climb?

It wasn't all riding...

Christmas Day with the In-Laws....#selfietime

So the week away gave me a great boost of not only riding a ton but being in Spain with Sarah....perhaps three of my favorite things!  Onwards and upwards as we move into the New Year and 2017 goals!


What I am drinking this month:

1562 Roastery: Ethiopia Sidamo Guji. Tasting Notes: Brown sugar, caramel, pear, floral. Sourced From: Keffa Coffee

December 2016 Total: 757miles/53hrs 17mins/2825 TSS
Swim: 4.5m/2hrs 20mins/ 152 TSS
Bike: 667m/39hrs 42mins/ 1803 TSS
Run: 85.8m/10hrs 55mins/ 849 TSS

January 2015: Training Ramblings.....Consistency is the Key

With the cross season over and Winter settling in, there isn't a lot to report from the month of January. For me it is really about getting some consistent training logged especially building the run and swim up again after a hiatus during the Fall. My biking fitness was high coming off the cross season so the plan was to maintain on the bike and build the rest so that come the early Spring I am in some kind of shape to race triathlons.

In late January Sarah and I got away for some Sun, Sea and Sand in Aruba for a week...as always it was great to relax and get away from everything, it's a plus that you can run in shorts and t-shirt in 85 degree weather and swim in the outside pool!

One Happy Island.....Aruba 2015!

Building on December I logged a steady 10hrs running and all at a steady pace, no intervals or anything as of yet just plain old base building to get ready for some harder stuff in February and beyond.  The swim grew a little...it's easy to grow from nothing, so even the 2.5hrs in January is a start. February needs to be better!

Good news on the bike was that my January FTP test came out at 308w (95% of 324w) and my Vo2 tested at 355w (for 5mins). These are both all-time highs which goes to prove that cyclocross and quality hours rather than just volume can work.....now is the time to maintain that and build as the Spring approaches.

I have also been looking at the racing calendar for 2015 and trying to figure out some races that would be fun to do.  It is all still up in the air right now but I have signed up for two races: Cranky Monkey 6hr MTB race on March 28th, which is local at Rosaryville State Park and then the Xterra East Championship in Richmond in mid-June.

Not quite as warm as Aruba.....MTBing at Rosaryville State Park

There will definitely be a mix of road and off-road triathlon's this season, riding the MTB will be great skills work for cyclocross in the Fall and it's just plain fun to run and ride off-road.

What I am Drinking This Month:
1562 Roastery: Nicaragua Jose Francisco (peach, almond, creamy, cantaloupe)

January Total: 540.24mile/40hrs 18mins/ 2620 TSS
Swim: 4.84m/ 2hrs 33mins/ 176 TSS
Bike: 456m/ 26hrs 10mins/ 1599.2 TSS
Run: 79.4m/  9hrs 55mins/ 724.8 TSS
Strength: 1hr 40mins/ 120 TSS

October 2014: Training Ramblings......Nuttin but 'Cross

October was all in for 'cross racing, swimming was completely missing in action and I managed a solitary run.  It was all about the bike this month to see how the 'cross focus would pan out.

October saw me race 6 times including the final weekend of Holy week up in Providence, a double weekend of wet local races at Seneca Creek and Tacchino, the big MABRA race in DC and then our own race, ABRT's AACX.  A big month of racing and obviously a big thanks to Sarah for indulging me!

First up in Providence was a double weekend of racing on Saturday and Sunday. This is such a great race and hugely competitive field's in the Master's 1,2,3 on both days. I didn't have any expectations going into the weekend and was starting near to the back due to a) being out of area and b) being low on points.  Rolling around a tight course with multiple flyovers etc with 120 guys is a lot of fun...I ended up mid-pack on both days. It was good to see friends that we don't see too often but also great to spend a day after racing to actually venture into Newport and do some tourist stuff.

Chilling at Providence with Sarah

The following weekend was a weekend of being close but not close enough.  Both races at Seneca Creek and Tacchino were wet races and with Seneca in particularly being a slug fest in the mud.  I had a bad start at Seneca in the Sportif Series and could never get back to 1st place so ended in 2nd. At Tacchino the following day in the Super 8 series I was started further back on the grid on the 5th row as I hadn't raced any of the series to date. Again I moved up through the field and spent a lot of energy catching the front two.  By the final lap there was only two of us and I was done and rolled across the line in 2nd again.  An encouraging weekend for the rest of the season to come!

A rainy blur at Seneca Creek

One of the biggest local races is DCCX held at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in DC. It's a great course and the weather during the week meant it was fast and dry! With a front row start after 2nd of the previous week I knew that things already looked good....no catching up to do!  I had a good start and was sitting 4th as we hit the first set of stairs.  DCCX is a power course that really suits me so not long after the stairs I hit the front and powered through. It was one of those days that I felt great and was really flowing around the course so much so that I was able to take the first win of the season and did so by over a minute!  Bingo, the training and focus on 'cross was paying off.

First win of the season at DCCX

The final race of the month was our own race, AACX hosted by ABRT. We had spent a lot of time over the summer making some adjustments to the course and obviously being able to ride it at the same time. Knowing a course really helps, especially when it is a course suited to your own abilities...a perk of being the race director I guess!  Not only was it a goal race because it's ABRT''s home race but it was also the next race in the Sportif Series which was major focus of the season.  Again a front row start enabled a good placing into the first corner and then it was off to the races. I wanted to be first over the log and onto the climb before it got crowded. With that achieved I was able to gradually increase the lead to win by a minute again.  The video below shows the race and the AACX course (the first lap is probably the most interesting!)

Focused at AACX

With the focus on 'cross for the month of October I ended up with 2 wins, 2 2nd's and a great weekend in Providence. I am well on the way to achieving my season goals for 'cross and am having an awesome time racing. November doesn't slow down with a bunch more races before we finish up in mid-December

What I'm Drinking this Month!

Ethiopia Yirgz Kochere from 1562 Roastery (a great sponsor of AACX)

Ethiopia Yirgz Kochere features direct trade, zero defect from Ethiopia. Notes of Tropical fruit and citrus with a clean and crisp finish.

October Total: 310 Miles / 20 hours 41 minutes

Swim: 0 / ~0 miles / 0 hours 0 minutes

Bike: 304 miles / 20 hours 2 minutes

Run: 5.50 miles / 0 hours 39 minutes