IM Wisconsin Training Keeps Rockin' Along. I didn't intend to take this long between training updates, but some things just always seem to come up to delay me. So, without further ado, here's a quick rundown of my training since last Wednesday:

Wednesday, March 21

I already mentioned the bike workout today, but I also swam at 7:00 PM. It was a fairly good workout . . . not too hard, but certainly not an easy coasting workout. We warmed up with 800 meters alternating 50 swim, 50 drill, then 50 swim, 50 pull, then 50 swim, 50 kick, all done twice and followed up with a 200 easy swim (for a total of 800 meters). Then, we did a short main set of 2 x (5 x 100) meters followed by 8 x 25 meters. The 100-meter sets were done with one length fast and 3 lengths cruising, alternating the length that was fast. For instance, the first 100 was 25 fast, 75 cruising. The second was 25 cruising, 25 fast, 50 cruising, and so on. The 5th and 10th 100's were done all fast. The 25's were done the same way, alternating which one was done fast. It was tiring! We finished up with an easy 500-meter pull for a total distance for the workout of 2500 meters. Not a ton of volume, but certainly a good workout.

Thursday, March 22

I did a 25-mile bike ride today. The weather was pretty iffy, but I did manage to get out after work with Hao, who was in town for a Continuing Legal Education Seminar. We met down at Hwy 360 and MoPac and rode most of the 30-mile Jack Brown Cleaner's loop that is the majority of the ATC Saturday Morning Taco Ride. We rode pretty easy and with very little intensity just to get miles in and chat a little bit. Although, I will say that my legs were pretty fresh and when we hit the big hill on Hwy 71 on the way up to the Jack Brown's cleaners (the half-way point), I put the hammer down to see how quickly I could climb the hill. My top speed on that climb was abou 19.7 mph . . . and I was climbing out of my saddle for much of the way. No doubt about it, that Colnago is a speed machine!

Afterward, Hao and I had some wings and a beer at Hooter's downtown. We tried Plucker's first because their wings are A LOT better, but the place was packed because of the first night of the NCAA Sweet 16. The wait for a table was 18 parties long and we were starving! We only had to wait 15 minutes at Hooter's, and although the wings aren't as good there, they were good enough!

Friday, March 23

I actually got two workouts in today. I rode the bike at lunch with Jason. We did our 25-mile or so ride down 360 to the bridge and back. We rode fast, but tried to spin out much of the ride since we wanted to save our legs for the Taco ride the next day. The wind was pretty fierce, though. We had gusts that felt like 20-25 mph. When I got back to Pure Austin, I did a quick mile on the treadmill just to keep my feeling for the initial run-off-the-bike transition.

At about 4:30 PM, Hao called and said he was done with the seminar and was going out for a ride. He said I could join him or not. His new bike was being built, but was not done yet because the guy he bought his components from sent him the wrong bottom bracket cups. He needed Italian-threaded, but they sent English-threaded. So . . . he was out there on the Cannondale again.

Anyway, my legs were feeling okay (a little tired, but not bad), so I left work at 4:45 and met him at the same spot as yesterday to do the same ride. This time, we went "slow and low" as Hao likes to say, since we'd be riding the Taco ride the next morning. It was an enjoyable ride, and though it threatened to rain, it never did.

As a side note, after this ride, I was up over 400 miles put on the new Colnago in less than 2 weeks! I love that bike!

Saturday, March 24

Ah, the Taco Ride! I have missed the competition at that ride! Although I'm hardly one of the top riders, it's fairly easy to gauge the other riders comparable to me and I love competing with them! Today's ride was great! There was a huge group because there were no bike races this weekend. Plus, a reporter from the Statesman was there to do a story on the ride. Hao made it there, and so did Jason, as well as a guy named Andrew, whom we met on last week's ride. So, I had quite a few folks to chat with before we got rolling.

Well . . . the warm-up wasn't too bad, but when the lead group hit Southwest Parkway, they took OFF!! I settled in at the back of the lead pack to just hang on until we hit the first big hill, where I knew I'd get dropped. As predicted, we strung out on the first hill and the lead guys dropped about 12 of us who formed into a second pack. All along Southwest Parkway, we kept passing guys fixing flats. Almost the whole first group must have flatted because there weren't many folks at the half-way point when I finally got there. But, before I get to that, I just have to brag a little bit about finishing up the first half:

I gotta say, I was just hanging on to the back of the second group for most of the ride to Hwy 71. There wasn't much of a paceline, so I just sucked a wheel and tried to stay with them. When we got onto 71, I was still right with them and was starting to get my wind back because of the reduced effort I was putting in from drafting. Anyway, right before the big hill climb up to Jack Brown's, there's a huge downhill. So, I'm at the back of the pack, drafting away down this hill. At the bottom, I was in my biggest gear doing a bit over 40 mph, and when I felt a bit of resistance as the uphill started, I got out of my seat and just hammered up the hill as hard as I could. I must say that it was thrilling being in a big gear and just flying past these roadies spinning up the hill. I checked my computer and saw that I went up that hill at a little over 22 mph. Now, there was most likely a bit of a tailwind helping me out, but that's easily the fastest I've ever gone up that hill. I'm usually around 13-15 mph on it, so I was stoked! Really gave me an adrenaline rush!

Now, however, on to the bad part of the ride. I waited for Hao at the cleaner's, and we started back together. Jason and Andrew and some of the others had already come and gone on their way back with the leaders while I waited for Hao. Anyway, we were taking it easy going back, chatting and having a good time, when we came upon Jason changing a flat; so, we stopped and waited for him. However, I really had to get back because Lisa and I had a 10:30 appointment with our pastor to talk wedding stuff, and I was already going to be a bit late because of the ride. So, after Jason fixed the flat, Hao told us his legs were shot and he'd be too tired to gun it home, so Jason and I should go ahead without him. Although we hated to do it, we did because we both had pressing business.

Well, later that day, I was trying to get in touch with Hao, but he wouldn't answer his phone. Around 6:00 PM, he called me to tell me why. Apparently, he got hit by a car again (second time in less than a year) and had been at the ER for much of the day. Thankfully, he's okay, but his bike is shot . . . again. Snapped the fork in half. Seems that he was riding down the shoulder on Bee Caves Road toward Hwy 360, passing the long line of cars waiting for the red light, when a car coming the other direction and turning left into a gas station was waved through the waiting line of cars and pulled right in front of Hao as he was coming down the shoulder. Apparently, the car pulled in front of him leaving him only 5 feet to brake. Obviously, he couldn't stop in time and slammed into the car at about 15-20 mph. Diagnosis is a slightly torn rotator cuff, some major road rash and bumps and bruises, and a slight concussion, but no broken bones or other major injuries. The driver got a ticket and Hao got a ride to the ER in an ambulance, as well as a doctor-mandated 3-week reprieve from biking. On the plus side, at least it wasn't his new Colnago that got totaled this time. Hope you're feeling better soon, Hao!

Sunday, March 25

I rode 30 miles today with a couple of guys from the church. They do a Sunday morning 2-hour recovery ride starting at 6:30 or 7:00 AM. It was an uneventful and slow ride, but was nice to meet Michael and Bill. I think I might try to do this ride on a somewhat weekly basis if I can.

Monday, March 26

Today was a rest day. It rained all day long and I've been neglecting to do an appellate brief I need to work on. I thought about running, but I just couldn't get the motivation to do it. Besides, I think I needed the day off.

Tuesday, March 27

Today was a ride/run brick workout. I rode 25 miles with Jason down to the 360 bridge and back. We took it easy since Jason was feeling a bit under the weather. I had the tri bike out because of potential bad weather, and because I don't want to lose my feel for it. I actually felt pretty good and managed to go almost the whole 25 miles in the aero position with no ill effects on my back and neck. I need to do this at least twice a week to stay with my positioning. When I got back to Pure Austin, I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill at 5k pace. I gotta say, I sweat A LOT! I don't remember being such a sweat hog in the past! I was up to 7:00 minute mile pace and was breathing pretty easily, but the amount of sweat pouring off me was almost astounding! I wonder if that just means my cardiovascular system is getting better because I used to not sweat THAT bad unless I was breathing REALLY hard and pushing myself to the limit. It'll be interesting to see how my recent training affects me at the CapTex Sprint tri this year. I wonder if I'll better my time over last year's when I did virtually NO run training at all. I guess we'll see!