Recovery mode and Refining the Plan

i am in full on recovery mode this and it feels good  I was stoked to have monday off of work hit the trails with beth.  i kept it super mellow and beth was dropping me all over the place!

the trails are in perfect condition right from all the rain we've had.

beth killing it up a climb... before making the turn and dropping me.

on wednesday i got in another mellow mountain bike on my local trails.  with the rain we've most of the miles i have been getting over the last couple of weeks have been on the road, and as much as love my tarmac sl2 and riding with my friends on the road, riding in the dirt is what it's all about.

the climb up

view from the top

heading back home

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my race schedule and trying to trim the fat.  there are a lot of races i want to do but I don't want to be racing every weekend... unitl CX season at least.  i want to race, have fun with friends outside of training and racing, be at as many of the beth's races, as possible, and just have fun riding my bike.  i really do like the training as much as i like racing.  in some ways i like it more.

so on monday i was ready and waiting on the computer for the clock to 8am (9am MST) so i could try to get into the Park City Poing 2 Point.  it will be the 2nd year for the race and it's said to be harder than leadville.  78 miles, 14,000 ft of climbing, and 90% of it is on single track!  there were only 143 slot available when they opened registration.  luckily i was able to snag one before they were all gone.  it ended up taking about 5 hours to completely sellout.  i am stoked that ryan, slater, monique, keevin, and sean all get in too.  labor day weekend is going to be sick.

later that night i also locked up my spot into Vision Quest on march 20th.  originally i was trying to get a slot into Counting Coup after missing registration, but i was willing to take a slot into either race.  i was contacted by a guy wanting to sell his Vision Quest slot and i jumped on it.  go big.  so instead of 44 miles with 8000 ft of climbing i will be tackling Vision Quest and it's 56.5 miles and 11000+ ft of climbing.  i did this race back in 2007 as a training day and then did Counting Coup last year, again, just a a long training day.  this year i plan on racing.

so getting into these two races has changed things up a bit and confirmed some things for me.  outside of racing i have a lot going on this spring and summer with beth's races, family visits, and work and pretty much figured that actually competing all the necessary races to makes runs at the Kenda Cup West Series and SoCal State series would be pretty tough, if not impossible.  So I am choosing to put more of my focus in the into the longer endurance mountain bike races with the big one being the PCP2P on labor day weekend.  I still definitely plan on racing XC MTB as well but i  will pick and choose races, no series'.  I just want do well enough at one of the Kenda Cup qualifiers so I can get slot into the "invitation only" championships in mid september.

the long riding i have been doing the past couple weeks really made me realize again how much fun long epic days on the bike are.  racing for 4-8 hours as opposed to 1.5-2 hours is a lot more gratifying i think and makes all this training more worth while.  so simply... big training, less racing, but longer/harder races.  that's the plan for now.

after september it will still be all about cyclocross.  i am really looking forward to my second season of that and trying to compete with the pro/1/2's.

some good food stuff going on this week too... on monday night beth and I headed to colleen and justin's for dinner and beth made a killer side dish.

Asian spiced, roasted kabocha squash.  this was her second attempt and making this type of squash and it was really good.

the spices

ready to roast

ready to eat

on tuesday night beth had a track workout and i was on my own.  i had some trader joe's curry chicken breast tenders and decided to make a mega veggie chicken curry stir fry.

i cooked the chicken in it's own pan

and the veggies too (broccoli, brussel sprouts, onion, mushrooms, carrots, red bell pepper, zucchini)

while they were cooking i made a sauce using course ground dijon mustard, yellow mustard, organic tamari, stone ruination IPA curry mustard grilling sauce, and rice wine vinegar.  once the everything was cooked i put them all in the same pan and added the sauce.

dinner time!  i topped it with some sunflower & pumpking seeds

getting through it... barely.

wow... i can't believe i got through that.  i just finished up the biggest 3 week block of training i have ever done... and i am feeling awesome!  don't get me wrong.  it was HARD!

when cody proposed this last block of training i was kind of apprehensive. i told him to send me the schedule so it could start planning.  getting in this many hours, working full-time at a demanding job, and just living life is not easy... at all.  i really wasn't sure if i could pull it off.

the first two weeks were easy (relatively) even though i had to deal with some weather.  i was knocking out the rides and feeling very motivated.  then the third, and biggest, week came around.  my body was still feeling great and attribute this to my recovery and daily nutrition (thanks Fluid and Feed the Machine/SportMulti).  mentally is where it got tough. most of my miles were solo and it was starting to wear on me.  i didn't admit this to any one but cody, but i was kind of cracking.  i was having conversations in my head on my rides mon-wed on how/why i should cut the ride short or bag it... but i didn't.

pushing yourself and trying to reach a new level of fitness SHOULD NOT be easy.  i think you have to reach beyond your limits and get uncomfortable... tired, sore... but not injured. that's the thing... it was ALL mental.  the plan was working and my body was handling the stress.

thursday morning i had breakthrough 3 hour ride and felt like a million bucks. and then crushed myself with 6+ hours and 8300+ ft of climbing on the mountain bike friday.  saturday beth and i did the 80 for Haiti ride and it was a tough with a lot of headwind and some tough climbing.  i finished off the week with a mellow 4 hour ride on sunday, which i broke up by going to watch beth and some friends finish up the san deiguito half marathon.  the weather was perfect and i felt great.  i thought i was going to have to push through the ride but that was not the case.  i had a great ride and when i rolled back into the garage i was amped to be DONE!

grinding into the head wind on hwy 80.

 my 80 for Haiti teammates.

after the sunday ride i spent the rest of the day lounging and hanging out with beth.  we hit alehouse for a couple of beers and then headed home I cooked up a rad v-day dinner. 

grilled steak and veggie salad.

fitting after a long week on the bike.

finding time... barely.

another weekend of "questionable" weather in so cal but i didn't let it keep me from logging some miles and completing the biggest training week (time-wise) i have ever done.  i kind of don't how it happened... it just did.  cody is definitely challenging me and i am really looking forward to getting through this next BIG week and then dropping the volume a bit.  i am itching to start doing some "hard" workouts and getting ready to race.

the hardest ride of the week wasn't my cross ride on saturday where i headed out and got in 3 hours in pouring rain and 20-30 mph winds, no, it was sunday's long road ride.  i met up with denner on sunday morning and the plan was for 5+ hours with plenty of climbing, but keeping it mellow.  the roads were still wet and there were still some lingering rain clouds but we charged anyway.

right before we hit the climb at lake wohlford it started to rain and the wind came up.  the rain didn't last too long but the temperature dropped and the wind beat us down the rest of the day.  on woods canyon rd i got chased by a huge pit bull but luckily i was on the road and able to out run him pretty easily.  all of this sounds pretty standard but when we hit lilac road is when things go interesting.

denner had never ridden out there and i told him we were taking lilac to 395 and didn't tell him that there was one turn we would have to make.  he wanted to hammer ahead and dropped into his aerobars and went for it.  when i hit the fork in the road i wasn't sure what to do because i didn't think he knew to make the turn.  so i stayed on lilac and into places i have never ridden before.  after plenty of miles i saw a sign that said "Paved Roads Ends in 300ft."  sweet.  in a couple of seconds was descending a dirt road and heading into the Pala indian reservation. at this point i knew denner had made the turn but it was too far to go back.  so i kept on.  i had a vague idea of where i was.  riding around the reservation was sketchy to say the least.  all dirt roads, no one around, and some wild dogs.  after a while i could the see the 76 and casino and new how to get home.... and then 2 big ass dogs came bolting up a driveway and were chasing me down.  i was freaking out... yealling and screaming while trying to accelerate up a dirt hill.  i thought for sure i was about to be mauled but they gave up chase just in time.

i finally made it to the 76 and took it all the way back to the coast, and then headed for home.  I ended the day with 90 miles in the bank and just stoked to not need rabies shots!

here's the route.  one i will never be taking again.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/24212052

saturday beth and i will be doing the 80 for Haiti ride on in east county.  it's for a good cause, it's a killer route, and pretty much how you would expect us to spend a valentine's day weekend... and then the lil monster will be backing it up with the San Dieguito Half Marathon on Sunday.  the training she is putting in continues to blow me away and motivate me.

that's all for now... not much extra time right now but here's some random photos.

my "go to" meal.  veggie/egg scramble.  everything we have in the fridge with eggs.  i think this one had eggs, spinach, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, niman ranch ham steak, sweet potatoes, turkey bacon, red peppers, and almond cheese. i usually eat with corn or brown rice tortillas.

 serverd.

i didn't take this photo.  beth must have. it's our fridge.... it's where we hang out.

bringing it back...

i have totally let MY beer, and OUR food blogs slide... but i want to bring them back.  i just don't have the time to work, train, live life, and keep up with 3 blogs.  so i am just going to do what i used to do and put it all up on here.  i am sure my "training only" posts get boring and monotonous any way.

so from here on out i will going to start posting food/diet related stuff of what i am eating in and out of training and also some beer reviews. i have been cooking a lot and also always on the search for another good beer (the hoppier the better). Here's some recent stuff to start with.

Moroccan Stew.  Beth made this on tuesday.  there's a lot in there... chicken, tomatoes, olives, carrots, onions, garlic, almonds, and more.  it was really good and she also made some cauliflower rice to server it with.

a go to meal.  grilled salmon with a Dijon mustard/dill sauce and roasted veggies in a balsamic & grainy Dijon mustard all over spinach.

On wednesday night i got home a bit early had some time for a "bonus" ride.  i hit the trails along the rail road tracks in cardiff for fun 30 minute cross ride  i can't wait for day light savings so i can start knocking out some more rides like this.

killer sunset.

after the ride and before dinner i finally got to the try this beer.  It's New Belgium's brand new, just released, Ranger IPA.  I'll admint when i first read about them making a year round IPA i was a little skeptical.  first they out on colorado (sorry JP and GZ) and while they do make some good IPA's in the mountains they are also a lot of let downs and just a differenty style than the hop bombs coming out of california. so after hearing about this months i arrived in stores this week and i snagged a six pack and had a taste.  kind of blow away.  it is good... really good.  the taste is kind of like a stone ipa, which in not a bad thing.  i am looking forward to having more of these and stoked that it will be easy to find.

a good start to 2010

so the first month of 2010 is in the books.  it's been a great start to the year.  just being married, new years in mexico, a killer party for our birthday's/wedding with all of our friends at wine steals, and a lot of good training both solo and with good friends.

this week has flown by which is always a good thing... at least work wise. everything seems like it's clicking.

i am definitely starting to feel the affects from my base and strength training. thanks to the strength classes at Rehab United I feel like my overall body and core strength is improving... rapidly. As a group we have been working really hard and as much as I get beatdown during the workouts i really look forward to them.

Next week they are offering free classes.  I high recommend anybody in the area that has ever had any inclination to try one of these classes to show up.  These workouts WILL make a difference when it comes to your racing and training.

I am also seeing gains on the bike which is what it's all about. the big gear work is getting a bit easier and i am getting up the climbs faster. I have two more weeks of base phase training after this week and they will be BIGGEST (in terms of volume) weeks i have ever put in on the bike back to back. if i can make it through and recover the benefits will be huge!

here's a screenshot of a "big gear" climb i did this week.  tough one!

Thursday afternoon i headed to Rehab United for a tough work out and then hung around afterwards with Trevor and the Skinfit crew to help promote Skinfit at the Triathlon Club of San Diego monthly meeting.  It was fun catching up with people I haven't seen in a while and talking with people about Skinfit.  Skinfit is hands down the the best gear I have worn in training and racing.  there is no way i could ridden in the conditions i have this year with out the baselayers and outerwear.

Friday was a mellow recovery day and I hit Encinitas Alehouse for happy hour with friends.  i was stoked when we got there that they had Green Flash Le Freak on draft... a great belgian IPA.

saturday was beth's b-day and she headed out to east county to ride with her friends and i got in a solid ride too.  i met up with trevor, eric, brandon, and phil and knocked the longest ride i have done this year.  great ride and a lot of fun.

i hit it again on sunday with Trevor, Jim, Phil, and Brandon.  I got in 80 more miles.  Great ending to a solid week of training.  I think it's the most miles I have put in a week.  The only bummer is that it was all the miles were on the road.  with the rain we've had the trails are still pretty torn up and I don't want tear them up any more.  I can't wait to get back on the dirt. 

I am really absorbing all the training i am doing right now and it feels good.

some random photos from the week.

BBQ Cobb chicken salad with grilled veggies.  one of my favorite meals.

Recovery week... kind of...

the weather this past was as gnarly i have seen since moving back to socal in 2003. it rained monday-friday with gnarly wind, thunderstorms, and even some hail. I just saw on the news that encinitas got 5.51 inches of rain. people were acting like it was the end of the world. i actually like the rain and while it's not a good thing when it comes to riding/training you just gotta deal with it and do what you can... and not stress.

so when i saw the forecast last weekend i talked with cody and we decided to make this week a recovery and not try to force anything.... just get on the bike as much as i could when the weather permitted... and maybe get on the trainer (hopefully not!).

I am very stoked to say that I was able to get on the bike everyday last week... and all outside. I heard everybody talking about trainer sessions or bagging workouts but I rode my cross bike in the rain, wind, and mud and had a blast. getting the cross bike was the best purchase i have ever made cycling wise. if i didn't have that bike i of have had to resort to the trainer (nightmare!). I also got on the mountain on tuesday before the gnarlier storms came our way.

some rainy day photos


then the weekend came and the rain tapered off. beth parent's, my in-laws (stoked just typing that) came into town for a quick visit. on friday and the wife and I threw a little post-wedding, pre-birthday party at Wine Steals in Cardiff. we wanted to party with all of our local friends who we have loved to have come to our wedding but the travel and holidays made it pretty tough. the party was mega fun. friends, family, good wine and food... perfect.

the ladies


the family


on saturday the weather finally cleared and i was ready to leave the cross bike in the garage and get on the road and pretty excited to ride with Dr. G... father-in-law. i spent the week putting my Orbea back together and getting it dialed in for him. so me and beth took him on a tour of north county and it was a good day on the bike. after 2+ hours they headed home and i hit the hills for a bit before heading home.

unfortunately the "in-laws" had to hit the road early sunday morning around 930 i hit the road with the wife... i actually tried to talk her out of riding to just lounge and watch football all day, but she's training for an Ironman, and eventhough it may be a longshot, i am willing to do everything i can to ensure me a Kona vacation in october. so i manned up and played sherpa for her 4 hour ride. after it was over i was glad she got me out there. it was a super nice day and good ending to the week.

as much as i like racing, riding hard, hitting the moutains and dirt with my friends on the weekends, i really enjoy the times on the road with beth. not many people get to share their passion for sports with their significant others... and i know i'm lucky. 4 hours of good times and ending with coffee is the perfect sunday to me.

beth reaching into her bag-O-snacks


so yeah... it was suppose to be a recovery week but some how i ended up with 22+ hours of training time and 277+ miles of riding... sorry cody... just doing what i can.

a good couple of weeks...

yesterday i finished up what was probably the best 2 weeks of training i have ever done on the bike. i got in a a lot of quality workouts and the balance with recovery was on the money. I got in some big days in the mountains with friends, some strength interval sessions (ILT's, big gear climbing), plenty base miles, and also 4 (2 ea week) functional strength workouts at Rehab United. I am just following the plan cody has set out for me and things are rolling... they way it should be.

the classes at Rehab United are really going to make a difference. I have never worked so hard in the gym. it's not your standard strength workouts. it's sport specific and a bunch of exercises i have never done before or even thought of doing. the class wrecks me. during last thursdays workout i really thought i wasn't going to be able to finish, but brandon and brian motivated me and we knocked it out... and i was crushed (in a good way).

the first mtb race of the season is 2/28 and if i can keep things rolling the way they are right i should be ready to go.


the highlight of the weekend (definitely not the bolts game, so disappointed) was getting up into the Santa Ana's for a lot of climbing in the dirt. Ryan and i met up early and knocked out a sick route. there is so much riding up there and route options that you never have to do that same thing twice. i felt pretty good considering the big gear work i did the day before and it was a perfect day.

ride snacks. trying to stick to "real" food on my long rides. trail mix & dried mango slices


come see me!
3:57, 35 miles, 6959 ft of UP!


on another note... beth was in AZ for the weekend and made a list minute decision to jump into the Rock N Roll half marathon in phoenix.... and she pr'd.
Result
her training is going well and i think i am getting more excited for her Ironman in may than she it!

week summary.

2010 Race Schedule (tentative)

so i think i have the race schedule figured out for the year. it's basically just a lot of MTB racing up until september and then it's on to cross. most of the races are local or at least with in driving distance. keeping it simple.

my main focus will be on the Kenda US Cup West Series and the Team Big Bear Socal State Series. Then during the summer I plan on racing the Rim Nordic series again with Celo Pacific and going after the team title. The US Cup finals are slated for September 11-12 and that will likely be one of my last MTB races of the year before I turn my focus towards cyclocross. I will be upgrading to race cross with the pro/1/2's and am hoping to get up to bend for cross nationals.

and that will be the year...

this of course is just a rough draft and i am sure some things will change.

February:

2/6 - Boulevard Road Race, San Diego, Ca

2/13- Tour de Palm Springs (century)

2/28 - US MTB Cup Sagebrush Safari - SoCal State MTB Series

March

3/14 - US MTB Cup Race #1 Bonelli & SoCal State MTB Series

3/20 - Counting Coup Endurance MTB (or VQ), Orange County, Ca

3/28 - US MTB Cup Race #2 Fontana - SoCal State MTB Series

Apri

4/11 - US MTB Cup Santa Ynez Classic - SoCal State MTB Series

4/16 - Sea Otter

4/24 - 8 Hour of Hurkey Creek, Idyllwild, Ca (solo 8)

May

5/8 - The Traverse Endurance MTB, Orange County, Ca

5/17 - US MTB Cup Race #3 Big Bear & SoCal State MTB Series

June

6/6 - US MTB Cup Santa Barbara Bike fest - SoCal State MTB Series

6/20 - Big Bear Shootout #2 - SoCal State MTB Series

July

7/10 - Rim Nordic MTB #1, Running Springs, Ca

7/25 - Rim Nordic MTB #2, Running Springs, Ca

August

8/15 - Rim Nordic MTB #3, Running Springs, Ca

9/29 - Rim Nordic MTB #4, Running Springs, Ca

September

9/4 - Park City Point to point - Not sure of this one yet... bucket list

9/11-12 US MTB Cup Championship Race

Fall/Winter

Cyclocross - SCPS series and Nationals

Team Walsh in Full Effect!

we got back in town last weekend and eased back into normal life and training. then monday it was "ON" for both of us. beth's IM training is ramping up and so is my training. cody had the first specific interval workouts on my schedule since the end of the mountain bike race season last year in september. even though i was racing cross and riding a lot... that is all i was doing. just racing and riding... a lot!

i had a great, big week of training including two awesome strength sessions at Rehab United. I really want to focus on packing on some muscle and strength in the next two months before racing really gets rolling, because once it does there is going to be a lot of racing so i don't think i will have much time to work on building muscle... just trying to hang on to it is going to be hard enough.

i have also been trying some new things with my diet and nutrition, both pre and post workout and i really think i am making some progress. I have been working with the guys at Feed the Machine to really lock my pre and post workout supplementation, and also trying out some new during workout out nutrition that is working really well. i am going into workouts feeling great and recovering better than ever. if i can keep this up i think i can make some huge gains in the coming months.

the highlight of the week (training-wise) was definitely my saturday ride up in the Santa Ana's. I met up with Ryan and Luke and we got to work. we planned a killer route and the weather could not have been any better.

the ride:
4:42, 39.5 miles, 7795 ft. of climbing.


For me last week was pretty much a perfect week of training... in all aspects. If i can repeat this 2010 is going to be good one on the racing front.... i already know it's going to be rad year life-wise with my awesome wife and good friends!



mountains.

The Wedding

I don't really even know how to sum what the past week of my life. it was amazing and 12/30/2009 was the best day of my life! i married the woman of my dreams and having my family (both sides!) and friends meant everything to me. I can't thank everyone enough.




back to work...