recovery week in full effect!

view from a morning spin on the coast.

this week is a recovery week and i'm taking full advantage. in years past i hated rest weeks/days and always just wanted to keep pushing. this lead to me missing a lot of good time with friends. i was so focused on my training and racing that i blew too many invitations to hang out and have good times with friends. eventually my friends stopped calling...

since this year i am taking a more relaxed approach to my training and racing, and i don't mean this like i am not training and racing hard, but i needed more a balanced year after 3 years of razor sharp focus on racing... and weeks like this are what it's all about.

i still have been riding and running but no group rides this week, no intervals, just keeping the body moving and it feels good. it's fun to hit the trails and roads with no agenda other than to ride or run.

monday i hit the padres game with a killer crew including trevor, matt, sarah, jim, brandon. we had a blast... probably too good of a time for a monday night but it was worth the price i paid on tuesday morning. it was good day... and night of baseball and good beers... and as and added bonus the pads actually got a rare win!

i had some more good times wednesday night at bestawan in cardiff with gordon, matt, brandon, and more... it's my new favorite spot.

on thursday i met up with toby at lunch for 6 mellow miles on the trails. he works right by me so i am hoping we can a lot more miles in the future.

this week came at a perfect time. i just threwdown some hard weeks and the next two weeks are probably going to be the most challenging yet so letting my body and mind take a step back feels good.

There should more good times on tap for the weekend too... on saturday morning i will be heading up to Oceanside for Surf Monkey to watch Beth race the 5k run as part of a relay team for Lululemon. We have a lot of friends racing too and I had some thoughts about doing the 5k too but I have the third race in the XC series up at Rim Nordic on Sunday. i am hoping to have some good legs and that me and Griffith can pull of another 1-2 in our category to get some solid points for our Celo Pacific team. Beth is heading up with me and there's a chance she may race too.

that's it.

time for some rest... i earned it.

i just finished the biggest, most challenging training block i have ever put down on the bike... and I ended with hard week. one thing i am really liking about just focusing on the bike is the ability to back up days and weeks with out totally shelling my body. i know that hard training is taking it's toll but my body feels better than it has in recent memory. i know a lot of it has to do with my low running volume (2 days a week) but I think a lot of it has to do with a smart training plan and better nutrition/diet.

this week was tough with a lot of solid riding, a couple of runs, and even got in the pool a couple of times. the swims were barely workouts. i just hit the pool a lunch, under sunny skies, and banged out 1500 yards as 500 swim, 500 kick w/ board & fins, and 500 pull w/ buoy & paddles. it's a great recovery technique and great to get out of the office at lunch and cool off.

on thursday i hit the swami's ride and wasn't feeling great but got through it with a solid effort. a couple of months ago it took everything i had to hang in the front. it's nice to see now that even when i am not feeling like a million bucks i have still have the juice to hang.

friday was rough. my legs felt like junk. i had an ez spin on the schedule and just cruised down the coast and the legs felt better the longer i rode. the rest of the day was about recovery. i made sure to eat plenty and "flopped" in the pool at lunch.

saturday it was on. i was looking to really challenge myself and start getting in some solid base miles for the the 50 mile MTB race on 10/3. I am usually pretty good about getting my long rides but don't necessarily work hard during them. so saturday morning ryan cruised down and we rode up to meet the Celo Pacific crew for a hammerfest through camp pendelton. as we rolled on to the base i was kind of nervous... i wasn't feeling it and didn't know how the legs would respond when the ride really got going. luckily i came around.. quickly as I really didn't have choice.

the group part of the ride was really solid and i worked hard. i was on front a lot and took a lot of pulls. after we got of off the base ryan and i hit a liquor (not for beer) but to fill out bottles and slam a coke. then we got in some more miles in inland carlsbad. i ended the day with an up, over, and back of san elijo and twin oaks valley rd (each at about ~ 10 min climbs), and then charged double peak rd. solid day.

i dedicated my saturday ride to jake peavy. the padres traded him on thursday and he was one of my favorite pads since he got called up. i just hope he gets to pitch in some games that matter.


view from the top. never gets old... especially after 5 hours in the saddle.



on sunday beth and I headed up to the OC to hit the trails with ryan and sarah. we rode all the way through el morro and out to crystal cove. it was a killer ride and beth & sarah were on fire. i was on beth's wheel on one of the long single track descents and she was killing it... seriously! she was taking some killer lines and flying. i was just laughing the whole way down, loving it!

she loves it!


beth rushing the descent.


blown away with beth's riding.


our route took us down to the beach... in a gnarly community with multi-million dollar homes... must be nice.


our crew down at the beach.


beth liked the the beach a little more than the steep climbs!

climbing.


the beach.


team teall heading back to crystal cove and the trails.


this was the longest ride that beth has ever done on the dirt and i think it's the longest ride sarah has ever done... and they both killed. it's so much fun riding with them.


we got in 22.5 miles with about 4,000 ft. of climing on a hot day. solid.

the bonus part of the ride came when ryan bet me 4 x 22oz's of Union Jack IPA that I couldn't clear one of the last, steep climbs in my middle ring. well... i did and now am waiting for the epic brews! great way to end the ride!

so yeah... the last 3 weeks have been awesome on the bike and have definitely been building on my fitness and strength on the bike. the next week is all about recovery and Rim Nordic #3 on Sunday. it's awesome to hit a recovery week when you really feel you need it... and have earned it! my sister was in town and we ended the weekend with some killer mexican food and some margaritas (probably the first one I have had in almost 10 years... seriously). good times.

totals for last week:
training time: 20:51
Road bike distance: 206.5 miles (4 rides)
MTB distance: 44.13 miles (2 rides)
run distance: 13.31 miles (2 runs)
swim distance: 3000 yards (2 swims)
strength: 2 core, 1 upperbody

last 3 weeks.

revamped race schedule

training this week is going well. i made a game time decision on monday night to pass on the tuesday's swami's ride. the legs were still feeling sunday's race and i may have had too much of a good time at pizza port hanging out with the beth, coach, and a killer crew. i just didn't think hammering a group ride was the right call. instead i just got in some endurance paced riding on the road and then later in the evening had solid trail run with beth... and felt great.

trevor providing much needed coaching tips.


so i kind of rearranged my week and nailed a hard MTB session on wednesday morning. I pr'd my race loop (helltrack) even with taking a face first digger on the final descent.

so right now my training is going really well and with everything that happened over the early part of the season I am kind of feeling like things are just getting going for my season. i did race quite a bit in the spring but not up to my potential. i was just digging myself into a hole. now that things are back on track i am filled with motivation to end my season strong.

one of my goals is to race well at the Rim Nordic series and do what I can to help the Celo Pacific team take the team title. Then my A race for the end of the season is the recently relocated US MTB Cup Unification Race at Bonelli Park on 9/20. so that's where my focus is but i will also be doing some more fun events through the late summer and early fall/winter.

one thing i am really stoked about is the Dirt Dog XC series. I will be running for team BSK... with a bunch of fast dudes and ladies. this series will definitely help me get back in running shape and it's just a lot of fun. the distances are short so even with my low volume of running over the past couple of months i should be able to get through the races and build on my performances as the season progresses. the finals are on 11/14 so i have plenty of time to get into shape before then.

there are some more bike races out there too. on 10/3 i am going to race the inaugural Socal Fat Tire Epic 50 out at vail lake in temecula. it's 50 mile mountain bike race and i am pretty stoked about it. I am training more for shorter races so seeing how long i can hold on should be fun. i think we'll have a pretty big crew out there. I also want to try my hand (and legs) at some cyclocross this fall as well. it's something i have wanted to do the past couple of years but my foucs on Xterra Nationals and Worlds has kept me from it. there are also some later season mtb races that i hope to do with beth. the more racing she can do the better so she will be prepared to tackle some Xterra races next year.

and if that wasn't enough... there's the 2010 Xterra Trail Run series that kicks off on 9/26 at Point Mugu. I still have some unfinished business with those races and definitely plan on racing a few of the 2010 series.

so much going on...

so below is the updated race plan... it's kind of like a wish list though as opposed to an actual race schedule. these are just things that have sparked my interest... and i haven't even seen the cyclocross schedule! The only things that are 100% are in Red. i still have some things in the works so there me some additions and subtracitons before all is said and done. so in some cases there are races on back to back days on the same weekend. that likely won't happen. i will pick between the two.

8/9 - Rim Nordic MTB #3 - B
8/22 - Dirt Dog XC - wild duck 5k - C
8/30 - Rim Nordic MTB #4 (final) - B
9/5 - Dirt Dog - Balboa 4 miler - C
9/20 - US MTB Cup Unification Race - A
926 - some options this weekend. undecided.
- Xterra Trail Race Point Mugu
- Dirt Dog XC - Bonita Stampede 8k
10/3 - Socal Fat Tire Epic 50 - B
10/17 - Dirt Dog XC - Couger Challenge 8k
10/18 - Incycle Cross Country Challenge
10/31 - Dirt Dog XC - Cuyamaca 6k
11/1 - Mt. Sac Fat Tire Classic
11/14 - Dirt Dog XC - USATF San Diego Open Championship 4 Miler
11/21 - Southridge 18th Annual Challenge (XC MTB)
11/26 - Xterra Trail Race - Topanga Turkey Trot
12/13 - Xterra Trail Race - Crystal Cove

so yeah... that's a lot of racing. there is no way i am doing them all.

Proof: Rim Nordic #2 Race Report

like i said in my last post... my training is working and sunday was some proof. i think my training has a lot to do with it but also my revamped diet.

i had solid week of training (and some gnarly things going on at work) leading up to the race. i hit the swami's ride on both tuesday and thursday and then took friday and saturday pretty mellow. on saturday morning i headed out to lake hodges for a mellow ride and did some exploring. i rode a lot of stuff i have not ridden before and was pretty stoked with how my legs felt.

views from lake hodges.


sunday morning i headed up early to running springs to meet up with ryan and sarah. i think i had my new favorite pre-race meal on the way up: gluten free waffles (mesa sunrise are my favorite) with an banana, Nuttzo, and agave nectar. solid clean fuel... and no wheat or gluten.

ryan had not ridden (and it was his first race since moving up to cat 1) up there so we registered and then rode a lap of the course. I also picked up my "VIP" number plate. the folks are Rim Nordic know how to do things right.

the lap was a little shorter (7.5 miles as opposed to 8 miles) than the first race but still played out the same... plenty of steep climbing and a lot the loose, techinical descending. they claim that this is the hardest XC race course in southern californina and i have to agree.

my race started at 11:50 so 45 minutes before ryan and I started warming up. the legs were still feeling good so i was ready to race. i got on the start line to see the usual fast dudes that i have been racing all year. it was small field but everybody was fast... and all have beaten me at some point this year... and some a lot more than others! i personally think it's harder to race when the field is small. there's no place to hide! once you get dropped and the leaders are off the front it's usually game over...

on the start line the race director was giving us the pre-race briefing and told me I looked like the one of the Schleck brothers and told the other riders to watch out for me. this got me stoked, and eased the tension... i love the shcleck brothers. definitely my favorite riders in the tour.

when the gun went off i made sure not to get dropped and was sitting 3rd wheel as we hit the single track, right behind my teammate Griffith (who won the first race, kicks my ass regularly, and just killed it up at the big bear shootout 2 weeks ago), with Marco Arocha from Team Sho-Air leading us up the initial climb. i was happy just sitting in with these guys.

we were rolling but they both got away from a bit on the first descent. i just lost focus. lame. as i came around the 90 degree corner at the bottom of the first descent I saw that griffith had taken a spill and Marco was getting away. i started hammering and closed the gap to marco and sat on his wheel. griffith was back up and riding but still a ways back from us. this is where some team tactics came in! i was feeling really good and could have went around marco on the climb but I didn't want to pull a "Contador" and leave my teammate behind. so i just sat on marco's wheel, recovering, and waiting for griffith to get back to us. by the time we got to the fire road griffith was back and I was feeling good. that's when i went around and moved into first place and put the hammer down!

i got away on the fireroad climb and got a good gap. i was building my lead but then took a little spill on the switchback descent. soon enough griffith caught and passed me. this didn't bother me... it's all about the team and us taking 1st and second if possible. it also helped my descending because i just stayed on this wheel and his good lines. at the end of the descent we hit the last fireroad climb of the first lap together. it was time to work together. i sat on his wheel for a bit and then went around and he got on mine.

i was in the lead when we went through start/finish/feed zone and was totally expecting us to stay together. when we hit the single track climb and i put in another hard effort and to my surprise i was riding away from him. by the time i got to through all the single track climbing i was all alone and continued to hammer up the fireroad. this time I nailed the descents and was riding well.

i started the third lap, grabbed a fresh bottle from sarah (thanks sarah! you killed it!), and was feeling great. i just kept riding hard... and scared. i knew if i lost focus the fast guys behind me would quickly close the gap. fortunately I was able to hold on the for the win.

the podium: me in first, griffith in second (not in photo), and marco in third. Team Celo Pacific taking 1st & 2nd again!

the race was really hard but i couldn't believe how good i felt at the finish. last race i was blown but this time i felt like i had the juice to hammer another lap if needed.
the race:
1:50:15
22.5 miles, 3700+ ft of climbing
max HR: 194 bpm
avg HR: 176 BPM

i feel like everything is falling into place right now... the training, the daily nutrition, the race nutrition. it's just all working right now.

celebrating at home after the race!


ryan put in a solid effort and took 3rd in Cat 1 25-29... getting some good point for the Celo Pacific team and earning some beers!

beth's friend heather stayed with us for the weekend and both them raced in the Solana Beach Triathlon on Sunday. they both had great races taking 2nd in their AG's. check beth's blog for her RR.

that's it! another week for training on tap and the we have actually have a weekend with no racing or travel. my sister is coming down and it's going to be nice to have a whole weekend to hang out at home and hopefully hit beach.

oh yeah... one last thing. a couple of weeks i headed down into the garage to head out on an early morning ride and found this on my mountain bike:

yep... beth put her school photo on my stem! it's awesome and of course it's still there.

it's working...

the training that is...

even with all the traveling my training is going really well. it helps that on both of my vacations and stayed very active and was able get in some running and hiking in the northeast and some awesome riding in sonoma. the biggest change that i have made in the phase of training, besides having a solid structure provided by trevor, is sucking it up an hitting a lot of group rides on the road.

I won't lie... in the past I have always been intimidated to hit group rides with roadies. there were many reasons... i wasn't strong/fast enough, fear of crashing and taking others with me, and just knowing it would be really hard. back in the day Jim urged me get in some group rides, so did cody (who just killed it at the Xterra Mountain Cup race!), and now more recently, trevor has done the same.

back in early may i decided it was time to suck it up. i started attending the swami's tuesday/thursday morning group rides and also getting to the Celo Pacific saturday rides when i was around. at first it was hard... and yes i got dropped, but that ended up being a good thing and gave me a lot of motivation. things quickly turned around and i was hanging with stronger riders on the front, taking pulls, almost throwing up in my mouth, and having a lot of fun... maybe too much.

in the 3 months i have been making 1-2 group rides a week and have seen my power number increase dramatically. i havent done an FTP test but the power I am putting out in all my rides from endurance rides to intervals has increased and RPE has decreased at those wattages. the rides are hard and i have seen my HR get up to 197 bpm and power up to 700w (11w/kg)... which are all new highs for me on training rides! I know 700w may not seem like a lot to most people but it's a number i have never hit before. i have seen my max 10 second, 30 second, 1 min, 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, and 60 min power all increase to all new highs just in the last 3 months. i have to think the group riding has A LOT to do with it.


stats from the group section of tuesday's ride... pretty typical.
duration: 1:02
distance: 20.69
work: 639kj
normal power: 246
max pwr: 697
avg pwr: 175
max hr: 197
avg hr: 149

getting to do these rides is like getting to do little races on weekdays. I'm loving it. trevor is now having to keep me from too much group riding and making me stick to the plan.... and i'll listen. it's working.

justin had a good post about some recent testing he did with a power meter... the dude can throw down some watts!

that's it for now. i have the Rim Nordic #2 this weekend... and it's going to be another tough one. the celo team will be in full effect and hopefully we can score enough points to move in the team standings... we are currently in 4th.

that's it. RR to follow.

an awesome weekend in wine (beer) country!

i am back after another whirlwind trip. this time it was up to sonoma county so beth could race the vineman 70.3. it was a super quick trip but we packed in a lot and had a great time. we hit the road at 4am friday morning for the 8 hour drive and headed straight for guerneville (where the race starts). the weather was rad... in the 90's and blazing sunshine. I hit the roads for a quick 90 minute ride through some awesome back country roads and beth got in a mellow run and swim in the river.

photos from the the ride on friday.




my little river rat.


after the ride we drove to windsor to check into our hotel and kept it pretty mellow. beth was starting to get sick so we wanted to do everything we could to make sure what ever it was coming on didn't get any worse. i was able to find some good beers though! lagunitas is one of my favorite breweries and they are located about 20 minutes south of windsor. so all the liquor stores are fully stocked with their beers. i was able to find 2 sixers of the some of their "limited release" beers. full review coming up on the beer blog later this week.


saturday morning we were up pretty early and beth wasn't feeling well at all... and i was bummed. she got sick for vineman last year. so she lounged around the hotel and i headed out for some killer riding. Sarah hooked me up with a great route (she gave me friday's awesome route too!). the ride took me out from the hotel and i rode the vineman course backwards and then hit sweetwater canyon rd and some 20% grade climbs. i was loving it! it was 95 degrees, no clouds, i was sweating my butt off, climbing in my smallest gear, and stoked beyond belief.

photos from the satruday's ride.





ride profile.


i thought a lot on the ride. 4+ solo hours on the bike is good for thinking. the saturday before i was on an epic 3 hour climb up Mt. Mansfield in Vermont with beth and then a week later i was riding some lonely roads through the beautiful vineyards of sonoma county. i love my life... and the fact that i am marrying a woman that not only approves of this lifestyle, but strongly encourages it and makes sure it happens. i'm lucky. i don't need a lot of money or expensive things. to me it's all about these kinds of trips and just experiencing new things. at the end of the day i don't really care about race results, sponsors, or winning. i just want to "live it", have fun, make the most out of every day, and push my body to it's limits in the process.

after the saturday ride i was pretty shelled but we had some fun plans on tap. first we headed up to the high school to drop off beth's run gear and I was able to swing by the Avia tent and hang out with Conrad and Shawn. I was stoked! i haven't hung with conrad since last year in maui. such a good dude. later on we headed up to the Bear Republic Brewpub to meet up the Corbins, luke mckenzie and his girlfriend amanda. i am not name dropping or anything... but it was a blast. good times, good people, and good beers!

bear republic double red rocket ale. stoked.


sunday was race day and we were up at 4am. beth still wasn't feeling good but she did what ever she could and was ready to go to work. i won't go into details about the race as I am sure she will on her blog. she gutted it out and had a killer race and pr'd. i know she's a little disappointed in her time because we know she is very capable of going faster... but after not really running for weeks and being sick i think what she was able to pull off is pretty incredible. i'm proud of the lil monster.

some race day photos.




beth is in there somewhere.


my champ.


after the race we headed back to the hotel and in typical beth and james fashion we chilled by the pool for a while. then we cleaned up and headed to russian river brewing for more good times (and beer!). we met with sarah and her boyfriend and kristen and dan (he's perfect... haha! you had to be there). the beer and food was very good and the company was even better. i think sarah and i may be related somehow... she loves cycling and IPA as much as I do!



she loves it!


pliny the elder double ipa!


the awesome ladies. beth, kristen, & sarah.


oh yeah... after dinner we hit Golden Spoon (thanks for the heads up Kerri) for the third time in 3 days! She loves it!


monday morning we were up early and on the road back to carlsbad. it was defintely a quick trip and packed with good times. now it's back to work and "normal" life for a while.

last thing... i want to give props to all of our friends who raced on sunday and killed it on a tough ass day! biggups to felipe, chris berg, caroline, charissa, tawnee, chris teague, matt dixon, luke walton, dave & brit, kristen, and anybody else i forgot!