Thursday, June 28, 2007

Life of a Hammer

I've been called a tool before. It's a point I can generally rebut.

Where I have a harder argument is whether I'm too much of a hammer. The fact is I'm all Type A and always pushing myself to go a little faster, push a little harder, catch the next guy, and see up-ticks in measures of this performance against the last.

It makes for really bad training if all your workouts get to be the same intensity. Reviewing my training log is a little concerning at times. Too many Red workouts (intense) and not enough Green (easy). Running slow is absolutely the hardest thing I can do. Well, riding is too. Yeah, and kayaking. Or hiking. Or sleeping. Sheez, I have a problem.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Jaunty jaunting

Sunday was supposed to be a hard run day. Saturday night turned out to be a hard party night. Usually those two create hardships. This was no exception. Sunday was bright and beautiful but I wasn't. I was completely unmotivated and vacillated between "I'll run" and "I'll ride" several hundred times. Ride won out and I mounted the mountain bike for a trip up the Ridge.

The plan fell apart in the first 50 yards. I was tired. And my legs felt like lead. It had nothing to do with the 40lbs of lamb, spinach, shrimp, and desert nor from the 200 gallons of wine, beer, and champagne from the night before. My dogs were barking and I suspect the root cause was last week's big rides. I put in some serious mileage over the week and 50 on Friday alone. So Sunday became a light day.

And it paid off today. The 5 mile flat run went well. I felt rested and fast--splits of 7:11, 7:25, 7:22, 7:25, and 7:59 (a 1 mile slow hill) gave testimony to a rest needed and well spent. It was a nice foray. My route takes me through the bucolic ranch land of Happy Valley, down the gravely abandoned RR tracks, and back home via the twisty, narrow, and ascending Happy Valley Road. The route is amazingly rural and wild. I've often spotted foxes, deer and turkey's along the route. Last week a fox barked a warning (to her pups I assume) while slowly fleeing into the surrounding underbrush. Today, nature blessed me with a rather large and clearly hungry deer tic. I did not oblige it a meal.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

World Naked Bike Ride took place today in London. I was not one of the riders. Had I been so "appropriately" attired on yesterday's ride, I probably would be looking to replace my Dura-Ace crank.

Instead, I set out with temps at 42 for a 38.5 mile ride up Calavaras and back with my Wednesday/Friday regulars. One of the riders, T-Rex, is making huge strides in getting back into riding shape over the last few rides. On the last segment, I was hard pressed to stay with him . His mass biased inertia and growing endurance make for some high heart rate to stay even in his draft on the final miles over the oscillating hills. Climbs are the only thing that save us light-weights from extinction.

Last Friday, Racer-X and I commuted the full way into San Jose and then back again. I logged 58 miles, while he had an extra 16 due to his starting point up in San Ramon. The ride in was fast and we averaged just shy of 18 mph. It was an amazingly fun way to get to work. Traffic on the route until we hit Fremont was non-existent. The morning was cloudless with skies blue and crisp and cut so cleanly against the hills, that it was stunning. We were all a little frisky on the ride up so the pace remained fast and heart rates ran high.

The return, was a tad slower. The afternoon winds were up. Traffic suddenly was part of the scene on Calavaras with a half dozen cars or motor bikes evading the 680 congestion and winding their way through the hills. The climb up Calavaras from Fremont was in stark contrast to the 40+ mph descent of the morning. Racer X got a flat that gave us a breather before the last sharp pitch up the grade where you race against your lungs to see which give out first. But despite a more casual pace, our actual ride time was only 15 minutes longer.

No unusual runs this last week. I enjoyed a few good trail runs on the regular routes. A short exploratory departure into private property to scope out "possibilities" was the only deviation from the normal run week. Tomorrow is supposed to be a long run. Need to figure out where. Might even combine a run/bike segment for extra fun if time isn't going to be an issue at home.

Next weekend is Father's Day. One possibility is to repeat a 25Km run I did 3 years ago in the Santa Cruz area. May have to give that one some serious consideration even though competing is something I usually chose not to do. But the run is a beauty and the race an excuse or at least a motivation to make the 45 min drive over to the trailhead.