Signs of Summer

Summer is coming... you can feel it. Today was 70+... short run without a shirt. Ahhh...

Another sign...

I'm not big on ice cream in the winter. But after a long day riding or a hot run... there is a craving.

Of course tomorrow is suppose to be a high of 45 and snow. Stupid spring. ;-)

Field Test

The CTS field test... throw down for 8 minutes... they take the average power so blowing up doesn't help you and niether does playing it safe and ramping it up at the end. Ohhhh and you get 10 minutes of recovery and you do it again. They take the highest one incase you are too conservative on the first one.

The goal... 400 watts. Last year for the final test 393. Craig yells go and click... click... click... down 3 gears and ramp up to 90+ cadence and see what happens. A little over 400 watts, no just hold it. "One minute in," he yells. 'Keep going, cadence is a little low, but just throw down the power,' I think. "Two minutes in... Three minutes in." The legs are starting to get the lactic acid feel, look at the cadence 88... power 394... 'Pick it up Peterson, 400!'. The cadence goes back up and hovers around 91-92... power 400+. "Four minutes... halfway down," Craig and Lindsay yell out. Motivation is not a problem... the burning legs... they are.... "Three minutes to go," the power is fluctuating... 'Gotta hold it.' The next minute is convincing myself it will get easier once he say two minutes. Two minutes is easy right? "Two minutes to go," some other motivation stuff like "This is where it counts" or "every one's hurting" or some crap like that. My legs are on fire, my lungs have shrunken and this hurts like hell. 'Hammer... go...'. "One minute to go," Now my voice is spewing out the crap, 'One minute, you can do it... don't miss 400 cause you quit... don't leave any chance pick it up!' 420 watts... 415... watts... 410... 'Get it back up!' 415 watts... "Time," Craig yells out and I hit the split button on my SRM and sit up. Spots.... tunnel vision... dizzy... I grab the handlebars, 'Don't fall over,' I think to myself. That thought is quickly followed by 'Don't throw up,' this thought stays with me for awhile.

10 minute recovery where you quickly forget the pain you just endured. I have actually done better on the second effort before. I wondered... 'I saw 400+ a lot... but there were long stretches of not looking and you did see some sub 400... crap....' One thing I didn't know was Nick would not be happy with my cadence. Ok... only shift twice and spin harder... 400 watts at a higher cadence.

Effort number two starts... click... click... 'Ok ramp in up... 94 rpms... 96 rpms... 97 rpms... doesn't feel good.' The next minute is spent realizing two things 1) 97 rpms to hold 400+ watts is uncomfortable and 2) My legs are TRASHED... to spare you the profanity I will describe the next seven minutes as hell. I tried shifting up to get my power and then down shifting to trick my legs into thinking it's easier... didn't work. I tried shifting to a easier gear to get the rpms up and then shift back to get my legs use to that cadence and hold it for higher power... didn't work. Suffferfest where Power Interval range turned into Climbing Repeat range... which then fell to Steady State range. I would try to pick it up... anytime Craig or Lindsay would say something, walk by or I hallucinated something I would try to pick it up, but the legs were dead. "Time," Craig mercifully called out. And I am done.

Cool down, some stretching and drive home. I turn on the PC and download the SRM data. 400... please be 400... thoughts of 399 haunted me... the file pops up and I scan the intervals... Interval... Time 8:00.... Cadence... 90.5 (oh Nick will not be happy)... Power... 405.5!

We won't talk about interval number 2... :-)

Finally

What a day...

Over 70 degrees and went for a 18 mile run. Felt good but I am definitely wiped out now.

Ohh look US Olympic Triathlon Team qualifying races are today. GO ANDY!!!

Julie Ertal out ran Sarah Kortuem (living in CS!) for the slot. Hopefully Sarah gets the 3rd slot

update: Andy gets second. Who would have thought Matt Reed would out run Andy and Hunter. Well onto HyVee for the next race and final race.

Spring in Colorado

Ahhhh spring time in Colorado Springs. This morning was sunny, brisk but not bad. Then the clouds rolled over the mountains. My run this after noon (hill repeats in Palmer Park) started off under overcast skys and ended (45 minutes later) in white out conditions.

Trainer Class and AI

Too tired to write anything... trainer class...

and David Cook is rocking on AI!

Foot

I have a roommate... he eats my food, hogs the bed and doesn't pay rent. I can't blame him he doesn't have a job... so what can I do.


His name is Foot... strange name I know. Jill started calling him that... o.k. the beginning...


See there was this "big bang" and the universe was created... ok not that beginning...


Last winter Jill saw a stray cat limping around. We soon discovered that he wasn't hurt... his back left foot was missing it's toes (vet said he was probably born that way). He has a full leg and a pad for it's heal, but no toes (and claws very importantly!). He doesn't put weight on it usually but moves around just fine. Jill started calling him Foot... it started out as a baby name like Kittlefoot or something but shortened (the way names usually do) to Foot. Well it started getting colder so I let him spend the nights inside and would let him out durning the day. Then one day it was going to be cold and I kept him in. I guess that is the day he "moved in" and he has been here ever since. He has his quirks, I guess I do to, but we get along great and I think he is happy. Here is a video of him relaxing after a tough day.

Life

It's been a really funny day. Guess that is always a good day to start blogging again.

I woke up with a plan... bike 4 hours biking and a 10 minute run. 2 hours into the bike ride thoughts of 1) Finishing my taxes (stupid 1099-Misc form!) 2)A big presentation I have a work Monday morning and 3) Mom and Dad calling about finalizing Hawaii plane tickets were dominating my thoughts. Well the stress level rose and 45 minutes late I hopped off the bike and started my run. 5 minutes tempo and then just jog back was on call and I did that. The ride felt good and the run felt good, but I didn't afterwards.

I showered quickly and drove to work... yes it's Sunday. There I checked the forms I need for taxes and typed up some notes on the 'Statement of Work' I need to present tomorrow. Then it's off to Mom and Dads with Foot (a video to follow next weekend hopefully) for plane tickets, taxes and helping mom with her digital camera... as well as just spending time with Mama and Papa P!

It's 4:00 and I am feeling guilty for getting off the bike early... I was suppose to ride for 4 hours but 2:45 was it on the trainer. I guess it's just a life lesson, take care of the shit you need to when you can, cause you never know when it will mess up something later.