Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Bump in the Slow Road


I'm thinking about a new direction for the blog, based around some lofty goals, but the mojo got jacked by a little injury. Anyone reading this feel free to lob me a couple of thoughts on shin splints. It's in my lower left leg and that little groove between the bone and muscle (Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome?) is super sensitive. I've pretty much shut things down on the running or cycling. I'm not too excited about even doing a lot of walking since I do not want to aggravate and allow this thing to hang around. Only hurts when I run and kinda goes away. . .but returns.

Fire away.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Summer breezin

Watching the TDF has helped dial-in the endurance vibe (along with the crazy mountain running I witness via Hang Nine and Justin Mock). But something else is transpiring. I haven't been watching Sports Center. I am not interested at all in "American sports." Catching a glimpse of the All-star game Home Run derby was so lame. NFL? Who cares. Just recording this trend in my life. When I move to the Italian Alps in the next 5 years, don't be surprised. Btw, how do I pull that off?

The text from a Versus commercial:

"here is the thing that makes life so interesting
the theory of evolution claims only the strong shall survive
maybe so, maybe so
but the theory of competition says
just because they are the strong doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked
that's right
see what every long shot come from behind underdog will tell you is this
the other guy may in fact be the favorite
the odds may be stacked against you, fair enough
but what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test
this is a completely different kind of test
one where passion has a funny way of trumping logic
so before you step up to the starting line
before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking
just remember out here
the results don't always add up
no matter what the stats may say
and the experts may think
and the commentators may have predicted
when the race is on all bets are off
don't be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script take a pass
on yelling uncle
and then suddenly, as the old saying goes we got ourselves a game"
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well, the beat goes on. I wanted 50+ last week. I got in 45 on 5 days of running. Monday was off and Friday was a 3+ hour bike ride. So, it's not just 45, but I was a little disappointed. I could have done more if I felt I had to, but then there's life, the beach (the freakin weather!), cold beer, etc.

Also, I got a little touchy about potential injury on the right foot. The bottom of the front of my foot was getting a little tender and no I do not want any of that shit. Culprit is the shoes. They're worn-out and running on pavement does not help. Besides, although I've been active for months, the build in volume has to be putting a little stress on the feet, etc. 95 in two weeks. That's okay. And the consistency is THE MOST IMPORTANT element, so I backed-off.

And the other culprit (I think where I might have really done the foot no good) was a MAF run mid-day in THE HEAT. So what? No biggie? Well, let's just say that heat kills the "quality" and since I was HR training, I was running very very slowly. And this was a big drag on the body. GZ talked about low HR running having the potential of wreckage (I can't find his comment about that but it had something to do with running downhill). But he did not explain that very clearly. This is what I hope he meant because this is the case actually. If one runs too slowly, the entire gait is awkward, unusual, different and therefore potentially injurious.

Nate Jenkins talks about this very thing in a podcast; during his "shake-out" runs, the pace is so slow that he has to be careful. Kinda rang a bell for me. Heat KILLS the HR training. So, other than some morning runs (and a few mid/late day runs) outside, I've been hitting the treadmill. It's awesome. Since I'm about a month out of Malibu, I will get to some local mountains for a few longer runs and climbs, but the aerobic training just ticks along in the cool of the gym. And say what you want about the fraud or difference of the tready, but I can run and run and not melt-down in the scorching heat.

Take today for instance: Avg. ~8:20 10 miles, avg HR 141. When I was done I was thirsty and my legs felt a couple of twinges, but really I could have done it again. That's MAF.

Race specificity arrives this weekend.

Oh, and Le Tour is pretty lame (unless the Schlecks can unhinge Astana tomorrow).

No I'm not a big fan (I just call them like I see them), but Contador will win more than 7 tours. Word.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

I'm at 26 with about 34 to go.

A big ride scheduled for tomorrow followed by a run and a BIG weekend of running.

This kinda looks like a graph of my week, the peaks indicating some kind of stressor!



Actually, it's a preamble of the next week's (hopefully) total mayhem.

Last week was my first 50 and this week should be 60+. The fatigue that set-in on Monday of this week was hilarious. I knew what it was. Popped out of it today. Let's do this!

A little Chuckie V for the mojo:

"Not only is 'intensity' a relative term (for example, one can train intensely long or, and this is perhaps a better example, one man's intensity may be another man's yawn) but it is also vital to understand that, no matter how high or low we live or train, we, as [mountain runners], are ENDURANCE athletes. Our training must therefore be geared toward training our endurance, not our short-term capacity. Training intensely, despite all its merit to scientists, is secondary to building a motor (and chassis) that can last. Training intensely can help with this, of course, but first comes basic endurance (i.e., the ability to endure). Long and strong baby!"

Boom.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I'm at 30 with a big ride tomorrow.

With the weekend to run 20 miles!

EZ!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The San Diego Padres Suck


I have been a huge fan my whole life. Loved them in the 70s (from what I remember) thru the early 2000s. Always liked the Padres more than the Chargers.

But this new PetCo bullshit is weak.

No need to get into the details. Just wanted to get it off my chest.

They suck.

Edit: Note I wrote this post before last night's (7/9) game. Tim Lincicum almost no-hit the Padres. Didn't quite happen. But tonight, some guy named Jonathan Sanchez just NO HIT them. The T.V. color commentator just noted that it's Sanchez's first complete game (minors or majors). This is ugly. No this is fugly.

I'm wasting my time even writing this.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

It's almost here


Gentleman
. . .if you ask me. I hope we have drama in the '09 TDF. That's all. Lots of drama of which I don't mean drug busts. Get it dawgs. Get it Lance.

And I like this picture of a guy (Hal) doing work with is pal.
Under the radar. Confident (check out that pre-race interview).
And classy.