make it 29

for my birthday earlier this week, i mixed up the training routine a little bit. the day included:

29-mile ride on Computrainer, 29x400 intervals on Monarch Rd, 29x100 steady in the pool

my legs are still a bit sore today as i haven't had much speed work so far over the winter. half of the 400's out by the Res were into a very strong headwind so i was going nearly 2-minutes on reps INTO the wind and 70-seconds running with the wind.

Emily met me at the pool and swam the 100's with me and she was circling me like a tiger shark on a turtle.

many thanks to all you facebook friends and for those who gathered at Sherpa's.

Site of the Day

Red Bull always finds unique ways to market their snorting good energy drink, but when you're half the can size of your competition, you've got to outsmart them. For this particular event, Red Bull is sponsoring an epic cycling and triathlon camp from the southern tip of Sweden to the most northern tip. It will be led by none-other-than UltraMan World Champion Jonas Colting and über-biker and past Wildflower winner Bjorn Andersson. It runs two weeks between May 17 - 31st and includes personal coaching and all the Red Bull you can drink. Check it out here (www.tosweden.se) or by clicking on the blog title.

Big man with dance skills

The Svein Scale

In one of my earlier posts this week, I provided a link to a NY Times article on Garmin Slipstream pro cyclist Svein Tuft. It talked about the burly Canadian and his fitness adventures leading into his life as one of the premier cyclists in North America and the World. The article was one of the more inspiring stories I've heard in some time and I while out on run earlier this week, it had me thinking about some of the adventures, or misadventures, I've had so far. In no way does it stack up on the same scale as Svein's pursuits, but nonetheless I wanted to write these down.

The summer after my senior year of college, a cross country teammate and I rode our bikes from the Canadian border lining Glacier National Park in Montana down to Juarez, Mexico. We rode beefy mountain bikes (mine a neon Gary Fisher purchased on Ebay) and towed Trail Bob bike trailers loaded with 80-pounds of supplies including food, tent, clothes, water purifier, and even a trail map. Our route followed the Continental Divide and all in all took 40 days to reach El Paso, TX and Juarez. My companion's parents met us in El Paso and provided a ride back to the Midwest. Perhaps overwhelmed with everything I had seen during these 40 days on the road, I asked them to drop me off in Joplin, Missouri and over the next two days road my bike into southwestern Iowa, finally ending in my hometown Decorah, Iowa. This was the trip that made me realize I still had a strong competitive drive and gave me the confidence to begin training for triathlon and my first Ironman race.

The next year I moved to a suburb of Brussels, Belgium and while there met another American who turned out to be a very strong cyclist. Mike worked for Guidant in their International office in Brussels and had been there for two years. He invited me to ride with a local Belgian team and told me I HAD to race the Tour of Flanders citizen race (this takes place on the same course as the famous Classic race only one day before the pro race). I took his advice and rode the longest 287-kilometer route (they also offer a 150-km and 75-km choice) which features old jagged cobblestones, including over 20 short and steep cobblestone climbs! My hands and feet were raw and worn after this day of adventure and at one point I had to hand over a few precious Euros for a calorie dense Belgian chocolate pastry to jolt me out of a near BONK.

Biking up on the Peak to Peak Highway with Fred Dreier in a blizzard, taking refuge in our then-boss's house in Nederland to warm our hands and feet, only to have to leave again and descend down Canyon in the same blizzard with Eldora ski traffic bunched up behind us.

In October and November after moving to Boulder, my housemate Brett Cody and I attempted Longs Peak but were unable to complete the trek as snow drifts had covered up the marked trail signs and we found ourselves free climbing up a route we thought would lead us to the summit. We made the wise decision to turn around and try it another day. For me, the next attempt was the next day. Having researched the route after our unsuccessful attempt from the day before, I returned to the trail head at 5am and power hiked up to the Keyhole and up the Trough to the Narrows. At this point, there was so much snow on the mountain in the final 100-meters up to the summit that I used my gloves to punch hand holds in the soft snow and kicked my hiking shoes into the snow as foot holds. Luckily at the top were two others who had ascended the same section up to the summit with climbing equipment and I asked them if they would mind if I follow their path back down. I used their hand and foot holds to complete this tricky section and once I got back to the Trough I was able to slide down on my snow pants using a stick for steering and slowing down. Cody and I hiked Pikes and Elbert that same month.

The next fall in 2005 while training for IM Hawaii, I took a page out of former pro triathlete, and current multisport coach, and a wild haired adventurer who has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail among his feats, and put in a 14-hour training day consisting of a road bike ride from Boulder to Longs Peak trail head, stashed the bike in the woods, power hike (run when possible) up the mountain, and make the return trip hopefully in one piece. I held my wits together until the final hour of the bike ride back home when I mistakenly called Velo News tech editor Leonnard Zinn (who had loaned me his bike lights for the adventure -- rode up Lefthand Canyon to Ward at 3AM) and asked him if he left a key to the house under the log in front of our house. I thought I was talking to my roommate who I should have known was at work. I made it home but did end up falling asleep in the middle of a BBQ party early that evening. This was a key training day that prepped me for my best finish to date in Kona, 9:19:59 (Emily would tell you my time was 9:20).

The Norwegian version of the popular Ironman distance in triathlon is called the Xtreme Norseman (www.nxtri.com). This is a point to point race featuring a swim in the bottomless and frigid 51-degree Hardangarfjord, a 112-mile bike climbing over 7,000-feet, and another 6,000-feet on the marathon, most of which is on a 9-mile mountain road with 10% average gradient. I don't mind the cold water too much but the air temperature was also cold and I regret not taking the time to pull on knee warmers. Emily, who really is the toughest woman I know, ended up winning the woman's race by three or four hours. I ended up bonking on the hike up the mountain but was coaxed to the finish line by Emily after she caught up with me. In the picture, she is still running while I have been walking for most of the last 9 miles.

We seem to have a knack for racing over challenging courses as we've since raced at Ironman Lanzarote, World's Toughest Half in Auburn and Superfrog Half in San Diego. Last year I completed a few doubles including; 26-mile Mt. Evan's Hill Climb with 8,000-feet elevation gain on Saturday followed with the Boulder Peak Triathlon the next day, and Ironman Canada with a three-man relay team at 24 Hours of Triathlon the following weekend. In just over a month will be heading back to Superfrog again.

These adventures are nearly 100% self-inflicted, but I can say I draw considerable inspiration from human endurance pursuits from adventurers like the late Goran Kropp. Let's hope there are more opportunities in the near future for more sporting adventures with an mandatory rule of always making a round trip out of the affair.

Prepping for Saudi Arabia

In less than one month, Emily and I will travel to Saudi Arabia to visit my parents. The timing of the one week trip falls in conjunction with a KSA, or Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reunion trip for families and friends who once lived in the Aramco Oil compounds of either Dhahran, Ras Tanura (RT), Udilyihah, and Abqaiq. In the last few years, the government has slowly opened up the country for tourists as it was once impossible unless you had a government sponsored visa, or were Muslim, to even enter the country.



This will be the first time in over five years I have been back to Saudi as more time seems to elapse between trips these days. There is a long itinerary planned for KSA reunion attendees, but I'm fairly certain Em and I will steer clear of most of these functions. Unless she begs me to take her on tour buses, guided tours of refineries and water treatment plants.



I'm certain we'll spend our time in better ways, much like the way I spent the fifteen years I lived there; swimming and snorkeling in the Persian Gulf, playing golf on the sand and tar courses, a night or two of camping in the desert, local shopping in Khobar, and nightly shawarma (gyro-like sandwiches) feasts! This will be even better since my best childhood friends, Michael and Bryan Benchich, will be there too. Michael is bringing his wife, Elisabeth, and Bryan claims he is bringing his A-game for a golf showdown! My Mom and Dad are members of the local Dhahran triathlon club and there is even a sprint triathlon in my childhood hometown of RT while we're there. So, Em and I will get some good training in leading into the Superfrog 1/2, which consists of large portions of beach running through the half-marathon!



Writing about these plans gets me excited but I will surely have to remember that what might be awesome for Michael, Bryan and I might be agonizing for Emily. She's been a good sport so far though, even going so far as to work shawarmas into our weekly dinner menu!



Maasalaama (Arabic for good bye)
LF

Talking in your sleep

I just found this notebook where I wrote down a conversation Lars and I had as he was falling asleep one night. He actually started the conversation after the point when he was already snoozing.



Lars: Waiting for them to pack it in?
Emily: Who?
L: Thome
E: Who is Thome?
L: He's on 2nd base- Charles Bartlett.
E: What? The White Sox? We're in bed. You're asleep.
L: No. There is a blackout. Everyone is wearing black and the White Sox are wearing black uniforms.
E: No, we're in bed.
L: No, we're watching the White Sox and Joe Biden riding away on a three-wheel bike up Left Hand.
E: Why is he riding a tricycle?
L: He is riding away from the debate.

At that point I was laughing too hard to keep talking so I had to stop and write it down. I am guessing this happened during the baseball season when the White Sox did, in fact, have a 'blackout' (where all the fans wear black) in their one-game playoff game against the Twins to win their division.

This guy is really cool: Click here

I saw this link on Slowtwitch and my first impression was "WOW! This is one BAMF". If only more professional athletes had the wealth of life experiences to match Svein's, then sporting culture would have more interesting personalities to follow.

commute gone wrong

these past few weeks i've been threatening to make the bike commute from Boulder to our Retül studio in downtown Denver. well, yesterday was finally the day to give it a shot. we've been fortunate here on the front range this past week with day after day of sunshine and warm temps so before another weather change, i put my Elite Joule Pro Carbon to work.

after asking a few cycling friends around town which for a recommended route into Denver, i wasn't left with any good options. i got a bit of a late start and decided to drive out to Superior and eliminate all the familiar riding in Boulder. so with my macbook and clothes packed in my padded Avia backpack, I started up the famous Morgul-Bismarck course from the Kevin Costner movie Breaking Away. on the way into Denver, i stuck to major roads including Hwy 128 past Interlocken golf course, the Rocky Mountain Airport, down Wadsworth Parkway, through Old Town Arvada, down 38th St and Wheat Ridge Cyclery, and finally onto the South Platte River Parkway, past Coors Field and to our studio! the ride down took 1 hr 20 mins. and now for the ride home....

before leaving our studio, i quickly researched the commuter bike routes in the Denver metro area and found what looked like a good route, a path less traveled by cars! with my trustee directions jotted on an old Inside Tri business card secured in my wind vest pocket, i had little trouble navigating through the side streets of Arvada and Wheat Ridge. then, after cruising on the Clear Creek Trail for 5-10 miles, the trail ended and T-d off into a busy highway with no shoulder. stupid me, didn't leave the office until 3:30 and after over an hour of riding, i was still riding around Arvada, easily an hour away from my parked car in Superior! Luckily Arvada has some road shoulders dedicated to cyclists so I was able to ride hard without having to worry about cars. finally, i found a familiar road, Wadsworth Parkway, and linked back up to Hwy 128 and finally McCaslin Blvd and back into Superior. by the time i pulled into the parking lot, it was pitch black outside and it had taken me 2hrs and 25mins to get home.

first things first, i'm investing in a bike light in case future mishaps occur. i'm also researching a better way to navigate through Arvada.

Reunion time

This past weekend Lars and I flew up to Minneapolis to relive my glory days of college swimming. My sophomore year at the U of MN our swim team won the Big 10 championship for the first time in school history. Michigan had been the dominant team for the 12 years prior to our win so it was a pretty big deal.

We flew up on Friday and my friends Terri, Amy and her hubby Brandon picked us up at the airport. We were all staying with our friends Jenny and Chris and their 18-month old Clare who live about 45 minutes from the airport. We didn't want to be late for the big celebration so we went to check out Dinkytown before the swim meet instead of driving out to their house. Dinkytown hasn't changed too much since we left but all the college kids walking around made me feel old.

Amy and Brandon got married 3 years ago and after that Terri came up with the name for our travel club. It had something to do with the initials of all of our names and we made a deal that we would all meet up at least once a year. We haven't all been together since that wedding. This weekend would have been perfect but our friend Beth, one of the captains from the 1999 team, had to move to France about 10 days before we arrived in MPLS.


After the meet we were all pretty tired from all the excitement so we crashed as soon as we got back to Jenny and Chris' house. We woke up super early on Saturday to make it to swim practice in St. Paul. It was just like the old days except that I am a lot slower now. After practice we went to meet some college friends of Lars, Erik and Bo, for some coffee.


The rest of the weekend was spent telling old stories, bowling, getting to know Clare and playing games like Family Feud and Celebrity. I'm happy to say that Lars, Chris and Brandon got the top score on Family Feud with the name of Da Boyz. The best that the girls team could come up with was the 4th best score.

It was great to see everyone and I am looking forward to the next travel club meeting. We definitely missed Beth and hope next meeting we will all make it.

Special thanks to Mat and Kelly for watching our two pooches this past weekend. Here's a pic of Mat tossing the ball for Thorskie. I'd be willing to bet he woke up with a sore arm the next day! And another one making Kelly look much smarter than her boyfriend!