Pardon the scientific notation on the numbers, but here's a graph that shows the mountain biking has gotten a bit more intense this year.

Total for 2012 was just a bit more than 100k feet climbed. This year as of mid-August is already as much more than 2012 as 2012 was more than 2011. Getting in regular weeknight rides accounts for most of it.

Still doing the swim and bike these days. The dog can't run with me any more so running isn't going to happen unless there's something specific to train for. Here's the new, regular Tuesday night after work bike ride. >> Click any picture for the full size version <<

Numbers version:


 Track version:


Mmmm, graphs version:

This is what it looks like when it is all for fun, and there is no race on the calendar. Started a new job in July. Most of the runs/swims were in the first 6 months of the year. Only in recent weeks have I found a pool that is convenient to hit on the way to/from work and swimming should become more regular again. The dog getting old is a problem for the run stats. He was such a great trail run partner. Year in review: Road rides: 6 Miles: 138 Feet: 13,500 ft/mi: 98 MTB rides: 45 Miles: 602 Feet: 105,000 ft/mi: 175 We ride some steep, and we leave out the flat get-there-and-back stuff! Runs: 42 Miles: 145 Feet: 13,800 ft/mi: 95 Swims: 16 Miles: 11.25 Feet: 0 ft/mi: 0 Gotta learn how to swim uphill.

Swam in a salt water pool tonight. It is on my way home from work. Technically, it is on my way to work as well but that is less likely to be important. It was nice. The pool was not crowded and there were no denizens hanging around in the locker room. Time to cancel the Y membership.

Working out is good for you. So having shot bottom bracket bearings that make lots of your pedaling energy disappear as friction must also be good for you. Makes it more of a workout.

Aaaand a new job has pretty much officially closed out the racing season this year.

Ad hoc workouts continue.

Priority number one is figuring out how to get weekday runs back in the mix around the new working hours and commute. Hmm.

Running as self-medication

It goes like this. Inactivity feels good for a day or so. Then you start feeling tense. Pretty soon you are constantly stretching or shifting or adjusting yourself trying to loosen up and relax. Running makes that go away. Tired muscles feel good. In order to accommodate an aging dog, I've been doing shorter, lower intensity runs. These aren't overly taxing on either of us, so it occurred to me to increase the frequency. It turns out even a 20 minute run has persistent benefits. Turns out some of those benefits are mental. This comes as no surprise to many. Now we just have to figure out a routine with a few different trail routes in the mix to keep things from getting boring.

Can run slow now. This is an improvement. Srsly.

Used to be if I tried to stay below the aerobic threshold, steep hills meant having to walk. Now I can actually jog up hills (slowly) and keep a relatively low heart rate. Presumably this means I can build more aerobic base now. The dog likes it. He can sniff around more and still keep up.

Still doing the swim bike run.

For no apparent end other than self amusement. Haven't signed up for a race this year yet. Weird weather is making it seem like it is still winter and not already past the start of the season. Found another steep downhill trail and ran a 7:08 mile last week. Woo. Was holding back too since I had to turn around and run back up the same hill to get home.

Turning potential energy into kinetic energy.

All it takes for me to be able to run a sub 7:30 mile is a trail with 350 ft of descent.

First concern was not to trip and fall. Second was not to go out too hard and be dead on my legs when the trail turned uphill again.

Everything went as well as could be expected.

Need a race to sign up for

Looking for something in latter half of April. Preferably offroad sprint tri. Having a race on the calendar is the best motivation and I need it right now. Nothing appealing has turned up so far.

Mountain biking turns out to be good for your running performance.

Just took the dog out for a run on a 4 mile route. Thought we were just cruising along but it looks like it was about 10 seconds off a PR, and you can be sure I was trying hard on any PR that was set a few years ago.

These 2, 3, 4 and 5 hour rides that are becoming fixtures of the weekend are definitely bringing up the overall volume per week and it is no surprise that is a benefit. They are very un-boring too, which is a plus.

Like so:

Mountain Bike Video at Wilder Ranch

Zone five beats rule five after a while.

That's what I came up with after today's ride.

That climb in the middle of the elevation graph was a heck of a thing. Sloppy dirt, wet from heavy fog.

What is this thing you call "swi ming?"

First time back in the pool in the new year. Had been avoiding it fearing it would be full of resolution folks but at 8:30PM it was not bad.

Not bad! The theme for the night.

Holiday travel is not kind to a workout schedule.

Two weeks off and one week of it was cheesesteak-a-day diet and oh is that another glass of red wine?

Still swimming yes, but photos at the Y pool.... yeah, not so much.

Now mountain biking, yeah, that's photogenic.

Obligatory shot passing one of Tamarancho's famous signs.

Starting to like that place quite a bit.

What has 5 toes and is black and blue?

My left foot.

No workouts this week. The foot was so bad I didn't even want to be pushing off a wall with it at the pool. Worked on some home projects instead. Got some circular saw skills going!

Thoughts of broken bones faded this morning so it was on with the scheduled weekly ride.

Saratoga Gap. Like so:

The ride is an out and back with a big loop at the far end. We did the loop clockwise and felt like that was the right choice, but you could do it counterclockwise if you are willing to hike a bike about 2 tenths of a mile where the trail climbs over 20% grade. It was a real brake-burner in the downhill direction.

If you are old enough to remember Carvel ice cream cakes you might think like me that the loop is shaped like Fudgie the Whale

You think?

Nice place to ride for a couple of hours on a fine December day. Not too hard, but not unrelentingly easy either. And the price of failure in the tricky bits is pretty low, so it just encourages you to have a go and see if you can get around that rocky switchback or climb up that root staircase.

Annadel again.

Cooler weather makes for more fun here.

Still a workout though. Once again Annadel is where I record an new highest heart rate on a bicycle. 193 this time. Again climbing Two Quarry.

[Click to see original size image]

And yeah, it looks like the new elastic strap for the heart rate monitor needs a bit more tension to deal with the shaking forces in the rock gardens here.

Moving time: 3hr46mi
Total time: 4hr17mi
Distance 25.4 miles
4200 feet of climb. That's gonna leave a mark.

Last time we were here: Annadel two months ago.

This time:

[Click to see much bigger original image]

I got separated from the rest of the group and did a bonus out and back on the lower part of Marsh Trail. Nothing like an extra 3 miles with 500 feet descending and then climbing.

Possibly related to the above detour, we finished the ride in the dark and had to walk a couple of rock gardens on the appropriately named Cobblestone Trail. But that's just what we in the business call leaving more for next time.

Kick drills --threat or menace?

Kicking is hard.

Especially front flutter. I swear if I didn't push off the wall at the start I'd never make it. By about 40 meters in it feels like I've stopped and have begun going backwards. At least, if I keep my head up to breathe. If I lie flat in the water, face submerged, then I start moving just in time to need to breathe again.

This may be a long slow process.

It was interesting to note though how easy normal crawl seems to feel in comparison now. I can do 100s with breathing every 4th stroke (and 50s with every 6th), which is new, and may be pretty useful since it isolates technique. It is also faster than going all-out but breathing every other stroke.

October: breathe right month
November: kick month
December: find a coach month? Might be a bit early.

Return to JMP. Also; trial and error.

Did some loops of Joaquin Miller. Intended to do all descents on Cinderella and climb back up as many different ways as possible. Each time down I'd click a clicker and see if the suspension felt better or worse.

The rebound damping on the Rockshox Revelation seemed pretty fast at a middle of the dial setting so it got cranked up to where it felt like the clicker was actually doing something, 19 of 22 (3 from turtle). That was good but felt a bit slow to reconnect the wheel to the ground over bumps. Took out one click and it felt very good after that.

The amount of time it takes me to get down that trail has plummeted in just a few months. It ain't gonna get much faster though since I think the 15mph limit in the park is a good idea given how popular the trails are with hikers, etc.

It may be time to try Chapparal. Or even to try climbing up Cinderella, which I don't think I've attempted before. My climbing over technical stuff needs lots of work. $2 hill just baffles me so far. Most of the big HR spikes in this graph are trying to go up it.

Oh, and this little dude was hitching a ride with me at the end.