A Solid Week of Cycling in Tucson

Enjoying the fantastic weather in Tucson!

So following my marathon in Phoenix I figured I would take the opportunity to put in a solid week of base cycling in Tucson. Seeing as the objective of the week was to put in some Base cycling I elected to travel with my Argon 18 Gallium Pro. If I was in a build portion of my season then I would have probably opted for my Argon 18 E-118. Tucson is a fantastic area for cycling and it is where many Professional Triathletes and Cyclist spend a portion of their off-season. The coolest part of Tucson is there are cyclists literally everywhere. You could literally ride with a different group every day of the week.

I headed to Tucson on Monday afternoon and was thankful to be able to spend the week at Dave Woodruff’s pad.

My accomodations for the week! Tough Life!!!

Here is a quick run-down of the week.

Monday

Squaw Peak Climb with Jonathan Coffen (1:00)

Easy Swim at Oro Valley Aquatic Centre  (0:30)

Tuesday

No drop hill ride with Oro Valley Cycle + 2hrs of easy riding heading up towards Twin Peaks. (4:20)

Easy/steady Swim at Paloma Country Club (0:50)

Wednesday

Easy ride with Leo Carillo - Oro Valley to Saddlebrooke Community (1:50)

Fast swim at Oro Valley Aquatic Centre (1:00)

Steady ride out Tanque Verde to Redington Road (nice little hill climb with switch-backs at the end) (1:30)

Thursday

Mount Lemon Ride – Road from Dave’s to about mile 12 on the climb (3:00)

Easy 2km Swim at Paloma Country Club (0:35)

Another 3+hr ride to Pistol Hill and included a loop of Saguaro National Park – Cactus Trail Loop (3:20)

Friday

Gates Pass Ride (4:10)

Saturday

Twin Peaks with Dave W. (3:30) I was considering riding the “Shootout” all week but given how sore my legs were I wasn’t convinced I wanted to suffer through a hard ride. In retrospect the legs actually felt good for the first time all week.

Dave W on his way down from Twin Peaks.

Total trg for the week…

Swim – 4 swims, 9.8km, 3hr

Bike – 7 rides, 622km, 22hrs, 7,900m elevation gained (25,000ft)

Run - 0

Other – 1 x 1hr hike to Squaw Peak

Total 26hrs.

A special word of thanks to Dave Woodruff for opening up his home to this crazy Canuck.  And now it’s time to get back to the daily routine and the “normal” weekly schedule.

Rock n’Roll Arizona Marathon – 2016 Race Report

Gear all set for the RnR Arizona Marathon: (Compressport Visor - 2012 Kona Edition, Rudy Project Agon, CF Singlet, Brooks Shorts, Compressport ForQuad, Compressport R2 Sleeves - Cdn Army Run Edition, Compressport Racing Socks V2 Fluo, and Brooks Pure Connect 2s)

So in order to start getting myself back in race shape for 2016 I decide that I needed an early season race to get me motivated. I selected the RnR Arizona Marathon due to the typical ideal temperatures, the relatively flat course, and the fact that John and Sue Coffen lived in Phoenix. John and I had finished the 2012 IM Coeur d’Alene race together and have remained in touch ever since. 

I flew into Phoenix on Friday the 15^th to allow myself a couple days to acclimatize to the slightly warmer weather. Spending the weekend with John, Sue, and there kids was a blast. They made me feel like a member of the family and I even got to go and watch Jake (their oldest son) soccer tournament. 

Race member was a breeze. John dropped me off right near the start around 0700 hrs. There were no lines for gear check and the Brooks VIP porta potties meant no line-up for the rest room. The race start at 0750hrs and the weather was nearly perfect with the temperature hovering around 6 degrees C with a slight breeze out of the East. 

The race started right on schedule and I quickly settled into a good pace. There were a few other athletes looking to run a ~2:40 so I was thankful for some early company. The opening couple kilometers were run at a little slower than my goal race pace. At around 5km into the race I decided I would bridge the gap up to Brian Folts who I knew from last year’s results had run a sub 2:40. I ran the next ten or so kilometers with Brian. There were a couple more athletes a little ways up the road so for whatever reason I decided I would bridge the gap (in hind sight this was probably a bad move). 

Over the next several kilometers I successfully bridged the gap and proceed to run with Tom Clarke.

I wasn’t feeling great and shortly after seeing John and Chris (a friend of John’s) for the second time around the 30km mark Tom was slowly able to pull away. With about 9km remaining my legs were really starting to hurt and I knew I needed to dig deep. It was at this point that I was planning on taking my second Gu Gel, but it had unfortunately fallen out of my shorts earlier in the race. I opted for a Glukos Energy Gel at the next aid station. I knew if I could hold on and run 4:00/km I still had a sub 2:40. Everything was fine until I made the left turn onto East Van Buren street with 5km to go. It was a slight uphill and to make it worse we had a headwind.  My pace immediately dropped and despite my best efforts I could barely hold 4:16/km.

In the closing kilometer I watched as both Andrew (finished 7^th) and Brian Folts (finished 6^th) passed me.  Clearly they had both paced the race better than I had. I finished 8^th OA and  2^nd in M30-34 with a time of 2:41:09. I was a little disappointed to not go sub 2:40 but I guess I will have to save that for next time. My splits were 1:18:49 (first half) and 1:22:20 (second half).

Post Race Recovery Ride wih John.

The next morning John tool me for a little hike up Squaw Peak. My legs certainly didn't enjoy the hike, but the view was awesome.

Looking out towards Phoenix

John explaining the laydown.

Afterwards I looked up the trail....and this is what it said.

Trail #300 - Summit Trail
Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation: 2,608 ft. - 1,400 ft. (hikers gain more than 1,200 feet in elevation on this trail)
Hiking trail only
Difficulty: Extremely Strenuous and Difficult. Long rocky segments with possible drops and exposure.


And now I am in Tucson for the week (instead of recovering) riding all the awesome routes.

Looking forward to 2016!

Well 2015 was most certainly not what I had envisioned, but looking back it was a great learning experience.  Totals for the year were Swim 347km (110hrs), Bike 6851km (219hrs), and Run 2315km (166hrs). The numbers are a little lower compared to 2014 due to not racing Ironman and focusing more on short course in 2015. 

As I turn the page to 2016, I am excited to set out on another year of training and racing. Besides training and racing, I’ll be the race director for the St Albert Road Race in April, continue as the Long Course Triathlon Coordinator for the Canadian Armed Forces, and continue to coach a select few athletes towards their goals in 2016.

As for my goals:

#1 – Go sub 9hrs at Ironman Arizona (S 59:59, B 4:50, R 2:59)

#2 – Go sub 4:10 at Calgary 70.3 (S 28:30, B 2:15, R 1:20)

#3 – Upgrade to CAT 4 at the Tour of Bowness

My volume goals for 2016 will be Swim 780km, Bike 10,000km, Run 3000km. With the exception of the swim these are similar numbers to what I’ve done in past years racing Ironman. 

I think I’ve finally convinced myself that I need to spend more time in the pool. I just finished a solid month of swimming in December: 31 swims in 31 days for 84km swum during that period of time.

I've been mixing it up a little this winter with some Fat Biking. The kids love being pulled around in the pulk (I'll post a couple articles later this winter on my pulk/attachments and the kids Charge Cooker 20" and 24" Fat Bikes.)

 

Calling it quits for 2015!

Well it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride both mentally and physically the past few months and I have come to the realization that I just need a break. About a month and a half ago I was informed that I would be going to the field with my unit on exercise this fall. That sent me on a bit of a roller coaster ride mentally as I had my season geared to really peak at the end of September and into early October. I had planned to race the ITU Std Championships (Age Group) in Chicago, Superfrog 70.3 in Coronada, CA and finally the Draft Legal Triathlon at the CISM World Military Games in Korea. I had worked my butt off the past 12mths to prepare for the big challenge of making the CISM team and then getting the chance to represent Canada at those games. Additionally I had targetted Superfrog 70.3 as my A race of the year to obtain a Military Slot to Kona in 2016 (though I hadn't decided yet if I'd go back...but it's nice to have the option). So after that decision I simply just lost my mental edge. I resigned myself to racing until early Sep, enjoying the field exercise, and then regrouping and refocusing for 2016.

Well sometimes the body has other plans. About three weeks ago, the week prior to going to Kelowna I had some chest pain on my left side. I went to the Doctor and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. He prescribed some anti-inflamatories and recommended a little rest. The chest pain subsided and I thought I was all clear. While in Kelowna I felt the same chest pain but it felt distant so I wasn't overly concerned. Well this week it came back with a vengeance, but this time on the right side of the chest. I went back to the Doctor and the response was "well it's nothing that'll immediately kill you so let's wait it out a few days". The Doctor recommended not racing this weekend so I decided to wait it out. Well as of this morning its still very uncomfortable and becomes even more painful with exertion. So rather than risk it tomorrow at the Edm ITU Race (Std Distance) I figured it's best to heed the Doctor's advice and rest up.

So I guess that's it for this year. It's been a great year with lots of great results and a lot of firsts (Draft legal triathlon racing, CAT5 Racing, winning the M30-34 division at IM 70.3 Calgary, and of course being a Race Director). It's not how I would have scripted the year, but it's been a great learning exerperience all the same.

Thanks to my loving wife for putting up with my frustrations the last few months you are truly an amazing blessing.

Thanks to the great sponsors/supporters: Argon 18, Element Cycling & Multisport, Compressport Canada, and Z3ROD (Jonathan Kisiloski).

And of course thanks to my family, friends, and team mates for all the support!

Best of luck to the Cdn CISM Triathlon Team as they race in Korea! I'll be cheering you on from home.

Alberta Provincial ITT & TTT Championships

United Cycle Open Team in Action: Me, Kevin, Ben, and James

So this year I decided to do a little bike racing and I decided that the best way to cap it off would be to compete in the ITT and TTT Championships. To be honest I wasn't overly keen to race the TTT as part of the United Cycle Team as I felt going in that I would be the weak link. The other guys on the UC Elite Team are all CAT1/2 and then there is me...CAT 5. (Note: CAT1/2 = semi-pro and CAT 5 = beginner). James Dean convinced me that they needed one more guy to round out the team so I agreed to participate a few weeks back. The UC Open Team would then consist of James, Ben, Kevin, and myself. We had managed over the past couple weeks to organize a few rides but every time only three of the four could make it out. Finally last Thursday night we were all able to make it out together.

The ITT & TTT this year was organized by Juventus and the race director was Bruce Copeland. The race was hosted out of Miquelon Provincial Park with the actual route being an out and back course on Spilstead Rd (Township Road 494A) with a small out and back section on Range Road 205. The ITT course was 30km with the TTT course being twice the ITT course less the out and back section on RR205.

Saturday afternoon was the ITT with the first cyclist departing at 1600hrs. I was fortunate to be starting fairly early and at 1631hrs I was off. Going into the race I was hoping for calm conditions but it was most definately not the case with moderately hard winds out of the SE. This meant a head wind on the outbound section and a tailwind on the inbound. The course was mostly undulating terrain, but was relatively flat with about ~300 feet of elevation change over the 30.5km course. I was optimistically aiming for 280W average power but decided I would go out conservative and aim for splits by quarters of 270, 275, 280, and then give it all that I had left for the last quarter. When I realized I would have a slight tail-wind on the return leg I altered that plan slightly aiming for 280W outbound and then aiming to just hang on for the last section of the course.

CAT 5 Awards:  Me(2nd) and Jason Dyk(3rd) (Absent Andre(1st))

In reality I was closer to 290W for the first 10min and then settled into an almost constant 270-280W for the remainder of the course (with slight changes due to the undulating terrain). The resulting output was 275W Avg, 275W NP, a VI of 1.00, and a time of 41:52 for an average speed of 43.7km/hr. Pretty much spot on of where I expected I would be (best case I estimated 40:00 and worst case was 45:00). Even better, after the results were posted, I was 2nd in CAT 5 (20s slower than Andre Ratte) and had a faster time then everyone in CAT 3 and CAT 4.

Stew, Shauna, Rick, Travis, me, Kevin, Ben, and James

UC entered two teams (1 x Open Team and 1 x Mixed Team)

The TTT on Sunday was nothing short of fun, but at the same time it hurt like hell. Having never done one before I didn't really know what type of effort I should be putting in at the front but figured a good estimate was probably 10% greater than FTP so about 300W pulls. (FTP is currently ~270W). There was a slightl breeze on Sunday morning but this time it was more from the SW. We tried to echelon ride for the first loop and it took me a bit to realize that wasn't really working. Just prior to the second outbound turn-around (15km to go) Ben had a flat which left only three riders for the last portion of the race. I was seriously suffering during the last 10min, but we managed to hold it together for a time of 1:11:54 for the 54.6km course which worked out to an average of 45.6km/hr. We were fourth overall in the Open Team Time Trial which we were satisfied with. 256W Avg and 264W NP.

And we are off!

Heading out for the second loop!

Overall a great weekend of racing...if only there was more road racing this year! A bit bummed that I can't upgrade to CAT 4 this year, but I guess that'll have to wait for another year. (Five more points to go!!!)

Photo Credit: Anita