Trainer Confessions

Check Engine Light

Theories on Fatigue

One of the interesting take aways I got out of reading "Hell on 2 Wheels" was the author's summary of the various studies on fatigue and pain thresholds.  Most people can't tolerate the pain associated with having their hands in ice water for more than a minute, and I bet the majority of the readers of this blog get fatigued after laboring through just two of my paragraphs.  Yet the somehow the hardy souls who race across the US can endure unimaginable pain and can transcend the all consuming fatigue for 8 to 12 never-ending days.  So how can they do it?

I know nothing about cars and don't care to learn about them either.  Yet for some reason after digesting the information summarized in "Hell on 2 Wheels" I've packaged it all up in the following car analogy.  Those few who do succeed at the RAAM are those who can somehow keep the "Check Engine" light from ending their ride.

The RAAM isn't just a fun adventure ride; the guys who end up on the podium hold a pace that most causal riders couldn't sustain even for an hour!  Most engines would go kaput if taxed at even a fraction of the power generated by the likes of 5 time RAAM winner (and now tragically deceased) Jure Robic.  So clearly one element in avoiding the dreaded check engine light is to have high-powered, uber-efficient engine.

And of course, regular fueling and maintenance are essential -- it doesn't matter how fast and powerful a rider might be if they neglect to fuel up regularly with high-octane gas.  Upwards of 8,000 calories need to be consumed per day to propel them across on their trek!  Those that don't consume enough and/or the right calories don't last very long without an engine malfunction.

But of more interest to me were the scientific studies highlighted in the book that focused on what people did once that check engine light inevitably started to flicker.  There are some that try their best to place duct tape across their car dashboard.  If a check engine light can't shine through the duct tape, then there's no indication that you're in trouble and you keep speeding along.  That's a risky approach if you ask me, and odds are that you'll ignore something that results in a catastrophic failure of your engine (and the tales of the RAAM are littered with such disastrous endings).

There was also information shared on strategies to calm yourself once the check engine light began to shine.  Rather than immediately panicking and pulling to the side of the road to call AAA for service, the successful riders were able to do things like tapping their fingers or creating mental images of success.  These techniques either distracted or calmed the rider rather than let the warning signs consume their brains and force them into an immediate reaction.  (I've since employed the finger tapping technique myself over the last week.)

The thing that I found the most interesting though were the theories on what causes someone to through the towel in after too much suffering with the check engine light on.  Some have theorized that it is strictly a biological function -- once a specific condition occurs in the engine (notice how generic that condition is -- I know nothing about cars!) and it starts emitting smoke, you have no choice but to immediately pull to the break down lane.  But others have theorized that there isn't a fixed threshold that would trigger one to throw in the towel, but instead, there's an active decision making process taking place in the brain evaluating the return on investment achieved by incurring more suffering.  

If you are out on a Sunday morning drive with no obvious destination (e.g. a training ride without any structure), then the ROI on continuing on with the check engine light on is low, and you'll pull immediately off the high-way.  However, if you're 10 miles from driving to your big job interview, you might decide to pass by the service station even though the check engine light has been on for the last 30 minutes.  Perhaps the engine melts-down before you get to the destination (and you in fact kept going beyond the biological fatigue threshold/trigger), but your brain decided that the goal is worth the chance you're taking.

End of the Road

So why the extended dissertation on fatigue?  My check engine light has been shining brightly over the last week.  Over the last 12 weeks I have gone to the gym to pulverize my legs three times a week (in addition to my riding of course).  Each week I've added either more sets and/or more weight to my reps, even during supposed "rest weeks" (where I cut back on the cycling, but not the gym).  The muscular fatigue never ceased, and only grew.  

By Wednesday of last week, I seriously toyed with the idea of actually skipping a work-out.  And yesterday, as I slowly worked my aching legs up the stairs to the gym, my legs felt as limber as steel beams.  I am almost embarrassed to say that I started thinking of ways I might want to "cheat" on reps and sets to ease the suffering.  If I had to go again to the gym today, I imagine that old ladies could push more metal than me.

There's no doubt that I had reached a point where I decided I could no longer ignore the check engine light, and I needed to get off the weight lifting highway and shut things down.  I feel as if even looking at an image of a barbell right now would hit me with enough force such that I collapsed in exhaustion.  

Fortunately that won't happen, as yesterday was the final day of lifting for the winter training plan given to me by Coach Bobby.  But I have to wonder -- did the Coach give me such a perfect plan that truly took me to my limit of fatigue?  Or, did I become so fixated on the check engine light because subliminally I knew that I was at my final (weight-lifting) destination and that there was no return on investment for additional suffering?

In any case, I'm certainly glad to now have the gym work-outs in the rear-view mirror.

Building the foundation

Tough, but not that tough

"Cyclists equate suffering with excellence, and its widely believed that those who can endure the most punishment will rise to the top of the heap."  That quote from Hell on Two Wheels (by Amy Snyder) was still fresh in my mind yesterday morning, and I'd be lying to you if I said it didn't factor into my decision to forgo the option to ride on the trainer to instead don two or three layers of cycling clothing and face the brutal temperatures outside.  A little part of me was convinced that only the hardiest of riders could muster the willingness to brave the bitter wind and cold of yesterday morning.  While it wouldn't allow me to rise to the top of the heap, I stepped out into the icebox with a mental image of me finishing Battenkill ahead of a few races who opted to spin in more comfortable conditions.

The suffering was constant for the entire ride.  It was cold enough (started at 8F and when I finished it was 15) to shut down my powertap.  I was on a point to point ride mostly headed to the Northeast, which kept my nose pointed directly into a steady headwind throughout the ride.  It was windy enough to slow me down by 30 minutes, extending my suffering and making what should have been a 3.5 hour ride into a 4 hour trek.  

I'd be tempted to call myself a hardman after fending off frostbite for four hours, but Hell on Two Wheels didn't just inspire me to do the ride.  The story of the "endless discomfort" endured by the competitors in the Race Across America kept me from glorifying my toughness.  I put in a paltry 4 hours in some modestly cold weather to get from CT to MA; the truly tough RAAM racers overcome almost unimaginable pain and suffering as they trek literally almost non-stop for 3000 miles over 8 days!  There were a few points during yesterday's ride where the suffering got me thinking of calling the Mrs for a rescue pickup, but each time the dreams were dismissed as I quickly put my suffering into proper context by thinking of how bad things really could be.

Base

So while my ride yesterday won't be regaled by authors as some feat of human perseverance, it does go down as the final ride in a six week base block for my 2012 training plan.  The strength required to tough it out on yesterday's ride was buoyed knowing that a rest week was to be my reward at the conclusion of the ride, and there was no way I was going to finish the 1,300+ mile training block with a whimper.

And now that I have today off from work, and only about 90 minutes of exercises planned for the day (50 minutes of lifting at the gym, and then 30 to 45 minutes of light spinning afterwards), the extra time available to me after finishing a big base block has me looking at numbers of course.  Unlike race season where I can easily gauge my training plan's success (or lack thereof) by how well I finish, or perhaps also by whether or not I broke a Personal Record, assessing progress during the base season requires me to dig deeper into the mounds of data.  For a numbers geek like me, its a fringe benefit to the suffering investment made during the winter months.

So the question I sought an answer to was this.  Up until two years ago, I trained following a plan of my own creation.  Last year I trained with a coach for the first time, and a few months back I switched to a new coach, Bobby.  Am I better off now with Bobby than I had been last year, and two years ago when I was alone? 

I first tried to look into a comparison between this year and last.

The chart above plots the number of hours (y-axis) that I logged over the last 28 days for this season (blue) vs. the same 28 day period last year.  The time spent is chunked off against the Wattage recorded (x-axis).  I logged about 5 more hours of training this year as compared to last year (52 to 47), but what had me most interested was the distribution of hours.  As you can see this year I've spent many more hours doing "endurance" paced rides (for me that's between 170 and 190 Watts).

On the surface, you might conclude last season had me more focused on Muscular Endurance (ME) as the highlighted by the slightly larger red bars above 225 and 250 Watts.  But what the chart above doesn't show is that this season, in addition to the ME cycling efforts, I've also been beating up my legs for upwards of 2 hours of leg & core work at the gym every week since the start of November.  It's all been recorded in my notebook, so unfortunately I can't show you a chart that would highlight the added weight, reps, and intervals that have accumulated over the last 10 weeks of lifting.  

I also chose not to show you the veins now visible on my legs.  While the appearance of blue lines on my legs that look as if I have an interstate map now tattooed on my legs might be great evidence of progress, showing you pictures might cause me to lose the PG rating for this blog.

So why am I so focused on assessing my time spent during Endurance rides and building up my Muscular Endurance?  A look at my "Top 15" chart offers some insight.  In 2010, when I trained according to my own plan, I tended to focus exclusively on getting big numbers on my max 5 minute and 30 second power.  As you can see below, many of my Top 15 best 5 minute & 30 second entries (the green and blue lines/dots) still come from 2010 rides.  However, come race time I rarely was able to call upon that strength as I found myself struggling just to hang in and endure.

Despite moving to a coach designed program in 2011, I failed to wipe clean all of my Top 15 5 minute and 30 second PRs from 2010 as I had anticipated.  However, I did nearly wipe clean the 2 hour (red dots/lines) and 1 hour (yellow) PRs because of a heavy investment in a solid base.  And that investment in building stronger muscles and more endurance ensured that I rarely wilted during the many ups and downs during the 2011 racing season, and that in turn played a big part in my Cat 3 upgrade at the conclusion of the 2011 season.

So am I better off now than I was this time in 2011?  One early sign of progress compared to last year is that I've already notched a few Top 15s for 1 hr and 2 hr (and even 20 minutes, the black) during interval work-outs.  I have to imagine that if I'm doing that now, and without even focusing on setting records, there's no telling what I'll put up once racing starts in March!

Using My Brain

Sub-Story

Just finished up reading "We Might As Well Win", the true story of how Johan Bruynell led two different riders, Lance and Alberto, to Tour de France fame, supposedly without the aid of performance enhancing drugs.  I'm not a literary critique, so I won't offer any commentary as to how well the book was written.  But for me, a person whose TdF viewing was limited solely to snippets shown on Sports Center, it offered up enough light entertainment to distract me from the seemingly never-ending endurance rides done perched upon the trainer.

While I whipped through the book at pace that paralleled the speed of my whirling pedal strokes, most of what I read went into my brain and then flowed right through just as if it was water passing through a sieve.  But there was one nugget that proved to be meaningful enough to lodge itself more permanently.  Before Johan embarked on leading others to cycling greatness, he had modest success competing as a professional cyclist.  He never had the genetics to put him into the elite category, yet despite competing against far more gifted riders, Johan was able to win a few big races and stages (even holding TdF's yellow jersey for a day), and he proved himself to be an invaluable teammate.

Given my own middle of the pack genetic make-up, you can imagine that the sub-story of Johan's cycling career held my interest long after the sweat had dried from my trainer work-out.

Playing Chess and Riding a Bike

While I'd like to think that I have at least a slightly above average intellect, a race official's starting whistle consistently acts as an off switch for my brain.  Once the race is underway, there's very little of what I'd call intelligent thought going through my brain; any processing cycles are of the more primative kind.  I am aware that I am in a race, on a road (usually) with lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, and there are people swarming around me.  

I process all of that information and react to it just as stampeding gazelle would.  How do I best react to what I see to use up as little energy as possible to safely get me to the grasslands ahead of us without falling victim to the cheetahs and lions lurking on the perimeter?  I'm making quick decisions in response to the situation I find myself in; myopically focused on that precise moment in time.  No forethought as to how a decision now might impact the rest of the race, and no historical information collection adding to what might have been already lodged deep in my brain to the point it was almost instinctual.

By contrast, Johan raced as if he was the Deep Blue chess-playing computer system.  While truly elite Grandmasters could still beat Deep Blue back in the 90s, the Gigabytes of available information armed the system with enough decision-making input to pick off all but the best of competitors.  Johan raced with his brain as much, if not more, than with his brawn.  He studied every nook and cranny of the race course before the whistle blew; he constantly scanned the pack making mental notes of how each of the racers he saw were performing throughout the race; and he knew exactly who was in the break away and after considering a few key factors could instantly, and with amazing precision, predict if and when that break would become a threat.  Even while the pace of the pack eased and his body could rest, his brain was racing, taking in what he observed, and continually evaluating the next three or four moves that might get him closer to a checkmate.

So in addition to all of the training I'm putting my body through this winter to help me compete as a newly minted Cat 3 in March, I'm wondering if it is possible start training my brain to stay in the "on" position to help close that gap genetics already opened up between me and the lead 3s.  

Perhaps I can start within a few winter group rides, not to get a competitive advantage against friends and teammates, but just to begin to learn to use my noggin while riding (I can already chew gum while riding!).  Normal group rides for me are led by someone else much more familiar with the area, so my brain is normally in complete relax mode, unburdened with the need to pay attention to anything but the essential safety warnings.  Maybe I need to test my powers of observation on such rides, and then jotting them down afterwards to incent the brain from slipping into "off" mode.

While I'll likely give it a try, I'm still wondering if the pressures of an actual race effort, when my legs will be coursing with lactic acid and my lungs ablaze with fire, will force my brain to shut down any ways.  Perhaps I haven't been lazy in not remaining mentally engaged during races, but rather, the course and competition are so challenging that there's just no spare energy left in reserve to keep the brain running in addition to the body?

And it still remains to be seen as to whether or not all of my hard work will get me to a point where the gap between me and those far more gifted than me would be closed by adding brain power to the mix.  Its quite possible that if I can train my brain this winter, I'll be playing chess by myself come race day as the grand-masters leave me behind.  An active brain might result in more informative race reports posted here, but I'm pretty sure you might find the write-ups from someone alone and off the back pretty boring!

What's in store for 2012?

Now What?

Early last week when I surpassed 10,000 miles for the year, I added the final feather to my cap in what will go down as quite the memorable year.  Just a couple of days later, I opened up my wallet and let the Battenkill promoter pull out $84 as part of my first race registration for the 2012 season.  The act of closing down 2011 and then setting the first target for 2012 gave me reason during the ample free-time this week to ponder on what I wanted to get out of cycling in the year ahead.

Believe it or not, I could imagine a possible future where I would walk away from cycling, at least at the commitment level I now dedicate to the sport.  If I ever can't give a good answer to the question "what is it that I want to get out of cycling next year", or if the answers I come up with somehow pale in comparison to other things I'd want to accomplish in life, then I could see myself flipping a switch and redirecting myself to some other endeavor.  At various points in my life I was (amongst other things) an aspiring body builder, a die-hard New England sports fanatic, and career consumed work-aholic.  For various reasons the motivation driving my dedication to these all-consuming endeavors fizzled, and each time I finished that chapter of my life, and I never looked back. 

The good news though for the few of you who follow this blog is that it didn't take much thought to generate a healthy list of solid answers to the question I posed to myself, so there's no chance that the "off-switch" getting flipped anytime soon.

Racing

Spending time thinking about my racing goals actually gave rise to the thought that I could in fact some day flip the switch to the off position.  In 2011 my goal was clearly defined, and I built a path that eventually got me my prize, a Cat 3 upgrade.  I ended that quest at the final race of the season, so as of right now I have NO experience competing as a Cat 3 and lots of question marks as to what I can now do competing at this elevated level. 

Am I genetically gifted enough, mentally tough enough, and not yet too old such that I might expect to one day win a Cat 3 race?  If I work hard enough, could I conceivably aim to upgrade to Cat 2 at some point?  Or did I just barely reach up the ladder to the next rung, and I'll forever struggle to hold my grasp and not fall backwards to the comfort of Cat 4 competition where my unshaven legs and my sub-1000 W maximum power record are less likely to hold me back?

Without any concrete evidence under my belt in Cat 3 races yet, I don't even have guesses to any of those questions.  So for 2012, I won't be targeting a specific accomplishment as my end goal.  There won't be any pressure to produce lofty results like I had in 2011.  Instead, I'll be signing up for lots of hilly road races (like Battenkill) and two stage races (Tour of the Catskills and Green Mountain Stage Race) in search of answers. 

I'll also be picking the brain of my new coach.  If the first few months of training with him are a good indication of what's in store for 2012, I'll not only be learning quite a bit more, but I'm guessing that I'll also increase the odds that the answers to my questions above might come back quite favorable.

Giving Back

While I can conceive of a situation one day where I might decide to flip the switch on racing, I doubt I'd ever lack the motivation to continue to ride as the bicycle allows me to pursue other life goals that I'm sure will always remain important to me.  While GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has accurately pointed out that we humans exhale CO^₂, and I bet you he'd also agree that cyclists generate even greater quantities of these greenhouse gases as we power up and over the hilly roads around my house, he and I would likely disagree on any policy or program that would attempt to get more people out of their cars and off of their couches and onto the ultimate in Green transportation -- the bike.  Furthermore, given the stranglehold Big Oil and Big Coal have on the decision-making in DC, I'm afraid that way too many of those in charge right now would scoff at any attempt like mine to use my bike to encourage action to be taken about Global Warming by participating in the Climate Ride for the 2nd straight year.

In addition to raising money and awareness as part of the Climate Ride, I'm hoping to find ways in 2012 that I can give back to the cycling community and to get more people out on a bike.  I'll be looking more closely at opportunities in my backyard (Glastonbury Bikeways), in the state of CT (Bike Walk CT), and nation-wide (Rails to Trails).  However, if anyone knows of a volunteer opportunity that opens up, or if someone is looking to start something brand new to cut down the car miles and increase the bike miles, PLEASE drop me an email!  I'm looking to help, and I have to imagine that there are some people out there looking for people to help, so I'm confident I'll be able to make a connection or two in 2012 to give back and make a difference.

Family Cycling

And of course there's yet another reason I hope to keep the wheels turning on my bike for years and decades to come -- spending time with Mrs D and the girls on the roads and trails in CT and exploring new parts of the country as well.  Though most of my exploration time will be done on my own, I'm excited to plan at least a day of family cycling while out in Tucson AZ on our February family vacation.  The Tucson family vacation will also double as 2012's winter training camp for me, where I'll tackle such climbs as Mount Lemmon.

Mount Lemmon's never-ending climb

I also intend to add a family bike ride or two to augment my summer-time training camp as we return to the White Mountains of NH for the 5th consecutive summer.  And if the girls don't tire of me and/or the bike, I also hope to plan another couple of weekend bicycle adventures like we completed in 2011 (one on Cape Cod, and another to the coast of CT).

The only challenge though that I see with this plan (aside from the monstrous climbs that the NH and Tucson offer) is that by mid-summer it's quite possible that the Desmarais girls may reach a point where they outgrow the caboose of "the train".  While they both still appreciate the rest afforded to them when they get to ride in the bike trailer in between stints spinning on the tag-along, I doubt I have much more than a year to go before one or both of the girls find that their feet start poking out the trailer's cramped quarters.  So...yet another goal for 2012 will be to find a great deal on a tandem so that when 2013 rolls around, I can list on next year's goals to get the girls comfortable riding something like this! 

Photo by Joe Angeles 

 

Climate Ride – why is it important to you?

[This post is somewhat off-topic & on Global Warming, but given that it ties back to the Climate Ride, it does belong here on Trainer Confessions.  What you see below is the text I intend to send to a few local news papers for inclusion in the Letter to the Editor section.  If you see any text that could be improved upon before then, please let me know.  And of course if you want to make a donation to the Climate Ride, please follow this link.]

When I signed up for the Climate Ride (a charitable 5 day 300+ mile bike ride to support sustainable solutions, bike advocacy and environmental causes) a few of my cycling friends thought it was a way for me to indulge my passion for cycling.  While there might be an ounce of truth behind such thinking, without question my primary motivation is help convince others to take action to avert the worst of what man-made Global Warming has already set in motion.

A long time ago, I once associated Global Warming’s impact with Polar Bears and glaciers – things in faraway places with only indirect consequences to my life.  In recent years as I learned more, I felt compelled to take Green actions as part of my parental duties; not only did I want to raise happy and healthy children, but I also wanted to make sure they inherited a livable planet when they grew up. 

But as I look back upon the increasingly numerous climate disasters in 2011 (unprecedented droughts, floods, and heat waves that impacted people all over the globe), it now has become clear that action is needed to make changes NOW and in my lifetime.  Global Warming isn’t something bad that could happen at some point in the future; it was one of the factors in 2011’s record setting number of Billion Dollar weather disasters in the US (a cost that doesn’t account for the devastation incurred to the hundreds who also lost their lives in these events).

But why doesn’t everyone realize this?  Why do you rarely hear news coverage of Global Warming, except for when it snows out during the winter and Fox News decides to roast Al Gore once again?  Why is it that all of the leading GOP presidential candidates even go so far as calling Global Warming a hoax perpetrated by greedy scientists looking for grant money?

And why is it that when I asked someone recently for ideas on how to raise money, they responded by saying “Global Warming isn’t like raising money for Cancer.  Everyone knows someone whose life was threatened (or worse) by cancer.  Global Warming just doesn’t impact as many people.”

I know first-hand of cancer’s far-reaching impact; I lost my half-brother to the disease when he was still just a child.  Cancer takes the lives of tens of millions of people ever year, so unquestionably those raising money for cancer deserve the support they receive.  But why can’t I convince people that the same is true for man-made Global Warming, which already is impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people, and within a decade or so could be impacting all 7 billion members of the human race?

The comparison to cancer got me thinking a bit more as to why too few people today feel there’s reason to take Global Warming seriously.  Many decades ago, the scientific evidence on smoking was indisputable; if you smoked scientists proved that your odds of getting life-threatening cancer sky-rocketed.  Yet highly skilled marketers and lobbyists funded by the tobacco industry cast just enough doubt on the science, and as a result, millions of people dismissed the warnings and continued to smoke.  Big Tobacco’s profits continued to swell, even as people’s lives were ended by cancer.

Today Big Oil and Coal are following the same game plan to protect their record breaking profits, even going as far as using some of the very same former Tobacco marketers and lobbyists.  For example, even as the people of Texas continue to suffer through an unparalleled drought, the successful marketing and lobbying campaigns funded by millions of dollars of coal and oil money have the governor of that state, and presidential hopeful Rick Perry, declaring that Global Warming is a hoax and that there’s no reason for Texans to question the doubt as anything other than a natural occurrence.

It took millions of deaths to finally bring the end the influence of Big Tobacco.  Absent of their money and messaging, now you’d be hard pressed to find someone willing to challenge the science connecting smoking to cancer deaths.  Unfortunately today Global Warming science, now backed and supported by virtually every major scientific body, is still not widely known or believed by significant portions of the country.   Much like the chain smokers of the 60s and 70s whose health was on the decline, today we see the worsening signs of Global Warming, yet we fail to believe the science that would give us a path away from our terrible addiction.  I just hope that it won’t take the deaths of tens or hundreds of millions before we finally break from the shackles of the influence of Big Oil and Coal.

And that is why I signed up for the Climate Ride again this year.  It’s for a cause that’s deeply important to me, and now I hope that you might find a reason to think that it’s important to you as well.

 

Just another day in a cyclist's life

A whopping 400 miles!

I remember in 2005 being a bit proud of myself at the end of summer of my first season of riding (note that I don't have riding seasons now -- there's no beginning nor end to when I ride).  I had logged a whopping 400+ miles and I was exuberant over my accomplishment when I informed one of my managers (Julie) in the EMC² office.  She was an avid cyclist so I thought she'd appreciate the significance of such a big number.

She did smile, but in retrospect I think it have been just a case of her being polite out of respect for my position.  I was a director of Quality Assurance at the time, soon to move into director of Engineering, with my sights set on VP titles and beyond.  Needless to say that my career was pretty important to my self-identity.  I viewed my work title as partly defining who I was, and the title shed some light down the path of life and what I wanted to be.

A lot has changed since then.

The Meaning of 10,000

I do admit to having a bit of pride in now crossing 10,000 miles for 2011, but not too much.  I celebrated the less than momentous occasion for all of about 2 minutes this morning.  Partly because it was a milestone achieved at 5 AM in frigid temps.  Had I celebrated for any more time than the 2 minutes it took to shoot this photo of the moment, I'd have lost to frostbite some essential body parts required for me to cycle again.

The main reason though that I didn't pop open a bottle of bubbly is that its not like winning a race or climbing some monstrous mountain peak.  To be honest, it is not really an accomplishment, other than the fact that I am able to put in lots of hours on the bike.

Yet the number 10,000 does have some significance to me.  First, it served as a reminder that I'm darn lucky to have the time to rack up so many hours of enjoyment out on the bike.  I'm in a pretty special situation right now with work/life balance, my health, and the support of Mrs D and the girls.  You don't get to 10,000 miles without those key ingredients and for that I consider myself both lucky and extremely grateful.

Second, I do take a bit of pride in how I've been able to get many of the hours in w/o infringing upon family time.  While I'm certainly lucky with the situation I now find myself in, you also don't get to 10,000 without lots of dedication and determination.  I'm certainly not the toughest guy in the world, far from it.  However, you don't get a whiff of 10k living in New England while trying to maintain a decent balance with work and the family unless you can tough out a lot of early morning work-outs, either in the basement or in nasty weather.

But perhaps the reason I now find 10,000 of such significance is that it served as a sort of stamp on the paperwork to officially change the way in which I define who I am -- I'm a cyclist now!  I'm clearly no longer defined by work; that chapter of my life is closed, at least for now. If a stranger were to ask me what I do, my first response of course would be a dad, but quickly followed by "I'm a cyclist".  To be honest, if I ever have to look for a new job now, my path up the career track would only a secondary consideration in the job search.  Of primary concern now would be how I could fit cycling into the equation.  Would the company's location allow me to commute by bike?  Or would they offer the option to work remotely, allowing me to use commuting time instead for cycling?  Or maybe would the new job somehow do something to support other cyclists?  If so, then let's talk about future career growth and benefit packages if time permits during the interview!

So if you asked me what I did today, I might not even mention the 10,000 miles (OK, that's a stretch).  My response should be that the day was nothing out of the normal; just another day in a cyclist's life.

Climate Ride 2012 -- I'm in!

Climate Ride NYC-DC 2012

May 19 - 23, 2012 | 5 Days | 300 Miles

I wasn't sure if I was going to sign-up for the Climate Ride again this year.  Don't get me wrong -- I wanted to sign up; my experience in 2011's edition was nothing but positive.  It was an extremely well run event where I was surrounded by 149 like-minded cyclists intent to make a difference out on 350 miles (I of course had to add in extra 50 miles to the ride's standard 300) of mostly quiet back roads.  It also was an event that required me to raise $2,400 (which I failed to do, so I had to donate a big chunk of my own money), and that's why I had reservations on doing the ride again 2012.

I had no doubt that I would do the ride again eventually, but I wasn't so keen on going back to the well so soon looking for donations.  I am certain that in my fund raising efforts for 2011, I became so annoying in my persistent reminders and nagging that mail filters had me re-routed to Spam folders.  And I know there were a few people who dug deep in order to support the cause, and now I need to come knocking on their doors seeking their generous support yet again.

So why am I now signed up yet again?

Two great causes

In general, I've had a pretty great stretch recently.  Work has dramatically picked up, giving me ample opportunities every day to feel as though I've made a difference.  Its not just busy work -- I'm involved in things that put my skills to good use, and I regularly see that my efforts have helped to improve things and to help move things in the right direction.

Work isn't too crazy though such that I don't have time to keep up with my training for 2012's racing season.  While I do have to get most of my work-outs in before anyone in the Desmarais household is even thinking of ending the night's slumber, I'm now accustomed to the less flexible work schedule and I'm confident my progress on the bike right now will have me doing well come springtime.

And pretty much all of the other important things in my life (most notably Mrs D and the girls) seem to be headed in the right direction -- onwards and upwards.

But there's one big exception.  One part of my life where I still give myself a big fat F.  While I talk a lot about how little is being done about Global Warming (or Global Weirding as some have started to call it), and I certainly read a lot about how things are unquestionably getting worse, I still don't do a lot..  At best I'm a passive complainer, still searching for ways to make a difference but without much to show thus far. 

So without an idea yet as to what significant actions I can take to do more, I go back to what I do best.  Ride my bike and hope that I can convince people to contribute to two great causes (350.org and Rails to Trails). 

Oh, and if you do make a contribution, you'll be helping me to support two other great causes -- a world I hope my 2 girls inherit without wars fought over ever more scarce resources; a world not ravaged by ever more devastating floods; and a world with a thriving economy based upon local clean tech energy.  So if you want to make a difference and make sure the two great causes pictured below inherit a world worth cycling in, please consider making a secure, tax-deductible donation here.

About the Climate Ride (from their website):

The mission of Climate Ride is to inspire and empower citizens to work toward a new energy future. We use sport as a means to change lives and build an effective, citizen-based sustainability movement.

Climate Ride Program Goals

• Raise money for groundbreaking sustainability, climate, clean energy, and bicycle-related projects and organizations.
• Raise the profile of renewable energy and the green economy among participants, donors, sponsors, and the general public.
• Increase awareness and understanding of the inter-connectedness of environmental issues caused by the climate crisis among participants, donors, sponsors, and the general public.
• Foster a sense of civic duty and participation that encourages engagement with members of Congress, elected officials, and national leaders.
• Promote the bicycle as a viable, carbon-free, healthy, and critical component of a green transportation infrastructure.
• Motivate individuals to take responsibility for reducing their carbon and energy footprint.
• Develop multiple Climate Ride events that galvanize a worldwide network of Climate Riders.

About 350.org (from their website)

350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries.

About Rais to Trails (from their website)

Our Mission
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.

 

 

Failure

Rude Awaking

Tuesday morning was my first interval session of the 2012 training year.  If you needed further evidence that I'm a sadist, I'll let it be known that I actually was quite chipper as I descended the stairs at 5 AM, into the dark basement and then up upon the trainer.  

It had been nearly 3 months without any structured intervals -- my first month of training had me at the gym lifting weights 3 days a week, but on the bike it was strictly endurance paced riding.  And for the two months prior to that, it was all play time on the bike for me.  I was pretty jazzed to get back into the routine of precisely dosed pain for specific durations, so that excitement, plus my 24 oz water bottle of coffee, had me smiling through the first warm-up part of the work out.

The plan sent to me by my new coach for the season's kick-off interval was one designed to tax the muscular endurance system -- 3 sets of low-cadence 10 minute efforts at around my LT for last season (270W, which corresponds to the green horizontal line I drew on the WKO+ chart below).  It sounded like the kinda work-out I'd enjoy suffering through, but the smile on my face slowly fizzled though just a few minutes into the first interval.  I knew I couldn't keep the Watts at 270 at such a low cadence, so I went with a quick (and in hindsight, mistaken) decision to abandon the low cadence goal to at least maintain the Wattage goal.

Just a couple of minutes into interval #2 I had to choose between the Wattage goal and the duration goal, and again, Wattage won out, and I had to pare the effort back to just six minutes.  There was no hint of a smile on my face at that point.

And by the time I barely made it to the six minute mark for the third and final interval...well...let's just say it is a good thing that I'm in the basement and that the girls and Mrs D were still fast asleep two floors above me.  I'm sure I said things that I'd rather not have them hear, or at least I think I uttered some profanity.  I was too deep in the pain cave to recall specifically what actually happened vs. what I might have imagined.

0-3

In 2011, I was pretty proud of my training plan success rate -- I can think of only two interval work-outs prescribed by my old coach where I failed to meet or exceed the prescribed Wattages, cadence, and duration goals.  That's probably two misses out of literally hundreds of intervals over the year.

So you can imagine how much of a foul taste was left in my mouth after finishing up the morning's work-out, and I'm not just talking about the normal foul taste left behind after downing coffee from a plastic water bottle.  It only took one work-out for me to rack up 3 big misses in my intervals for 2012! 

Those of you who know me well would not be surprised that failure such as this had me quickly digging deeper, looking for answers. I knew it wasn't a case of me just wimping out.  As you can see by the yellow lines I drew on each of the three intervals below, the rate at which my HR zoomed up to 200 bpm got increasingly faster with each interval.  There's no faking 200+ bpm, so the pain was real, but what brought it on so quickly?

• Last year I had a very bicycle training friendly work schedule, so I rarely did big interval efforts so early in the morning.  Perhaps this morning I encountered a case where the mind was willing, but the legs were still slumbering?
• Also, with the bigger efforts coming later in the day last year, I had a couple of the day's meals in my belly supplying the muscles with a steady supply of energy.  While I did down the 24 oz of coffee early into my work-out, maybe there just wasn't enough juice in the system to keep the muscles pumping?
• Over the last three months nearly all of my riding time has been in the 135 to 155 W range.  Any time spent at 270 or beyond was during brief climbs or sprints.  Maybe I've lost too much fitness and I'm just not ready for such efforts?
• Lastly, I'm now training with a new coach.  While we've met once and exchanged a bunch of emails, maybe we need a longer "dating" period so that he gets to know me better, understand what I'm capable of (and all of what I am incapable of!), and until then his plans may miss the mark for me?

Rapid Response

It didn't take me long to get the answer (or at least an answer).  Within an hour after hopping off the bike, I had downloaded my data and fired off an email with my powerfile to my coach from the breakfast table.  By the time I headed upstairs to start the day of work, I already had a response back. 

After analyzing my powerfile, he pointed out that I completely ignored something he explicitly had called out in an email to me earlier in the week.  What made that even more remarkable was that the email he had sent earlier in the week was in response to a question I had raised myself, specifically to be proactive about the matter that I now ignored!

The plan he had given me had assumed my time would be outside.  When I had asked him earlier in the week if and how I should alter the plan if I was confined to the trainer, the recommendation was to knock 15 to 20 Watts off of what he had asked me to do.  Had I aimed my target at that lower Wattage adjusted for the indoor training, he was confident that I would have completed all three intervals as planned.

So perhaps the real reason for my failure was that I should have had two coffee-filled water bottles, as clearly with just 24 oz's worth of caffeine, my brain was unable to remember the clear directions I had been given.  I'll know for sure though on Saturday when I attempt the same work-out, but this time outdoors and after a bit more coffee! 

Back to (the new) normal

Zombie

I'm now nearly complete with my first month of training for the 2012 racing season.  The two week hiatus I took from all forms of exercise back at the end of October is fast becoming just a speck in my rear view mirror.  And were it not for the evidence documented here on this blog, the Awesome Autumn Adventures I Announced (and for the most part completed) could easily be dismissed now as a figment of my imagination.  I'm back to the normal training regimen, well, perhaps back to a new normal.

Unlike last year's start to the training season, my work-out schedule now needs to revolve around my work schedule.  In no way am I complaining as I still have it pretty good in terms of work/life/cycling balance, but I now need to assess my work Outlook calendar when planning my training, whereas last year I had the luxury to mostly just look at the Weather Channel to pencil in my training time.

As a result, most of my training over the last month has been done in the wee hours of the morning, either armed with lights outside or perched upon the trainer or rollers, often as early as 4:45 AM (and earlier on some days!).  And to maximize the time I can ride without infringing upon breakfast with Mrs D and the girls, I'm often on the bike within 10 minutes of shutting off the alarm clock.  No time for a pre-ride coffee, so instead, I've begun filling up my 24 oz water bottle to get my first dose of caffiene while I'm riding on the bike.

With the early wake-up calls and my uber-efficiencient time between bed exit and when I mount the bike I am guessing that last week I registered about 12 of the 19 hours of training before the girls even began to rub the crust from their eyes and notice that I was gone.  But as a consequence, I now feel like a member of the walking dead.

The New Normal

While my official start with my new coach doesn't kick off until next week Monday, I have been following a high-level four week training cycle that he shared with me back in October.  According to that plan, I'm now in what should be considered a "rest" week.  It is a week in which I had hoped to exit my Zombie-like state, perhaps have the dark circles under my eyes become slightly less resembling of a racoon, and maybe by the end of the rest week lose the urge to take a nap as early at lunchtime.

Unfortunately for me the zombie-like state persisted into day two of the rest week, and I began to question the plan that the new coach had me using.  While riding time is way down for this week, he still has me going to the gym and busting my butt (and my legs).  I had suspected that perhaps this guidance was given to me in error -- afterall, what I had was only a very high-level overview with general recommendations (I haven't started paying him yet, so I was getting the "free" version of the plan), so it seemed plausible that it might have contained an error, or that I might have misinterpreted what he wrote.

So before heading off for the gym once again (commuting by bike of course!) while the girls slept soundly at home, I fired off a quick email seeking clarification.  "Are you *really* sure I should be heading to the gym during a rest week?"

Amazingly I got a response to my question while I was still at the gym (talk about fast turn-around!).  When I glanced quickly at my cell and saw that I had a response in my inbox, my thoughts jumped to the possibilty that he'd say "Go home and back to bed Dennis.  No gym work-outs this week!".  Instead, I got a message that included this text: "Only the riding is easy on your winter rest weeks, which is what makes this time of year so difficult on your muscular system. Your heart is resting but you'll be consistently sore until you take an actual rest week in February."

So there it is.  I'm going to be a zombie right through February.  My "new" normal I guess.

Reason to be Thankful

I Was Competing?

When I thumbed through the mail yesterday and spotted a letter from NEBRA, I had no reason to rip open the envelop then and there to excitedly read its contents.  My only vague knowledge of NEBRA was that it stood for New England Bicycle Racing Association, and that they had something to do with publishing the racing calendar towards the end of the year.  I assumed they were sending me some mass mailing about the upcoming racing year, and I therefore dumped the NEBRA letter along with the rest of the bills and junk mail on the counter for later review. 

So you can imagine my surprise when later that day I opened the envelop to reveal a single page of typed text, along with a $75 personal check made out to my name!  Here's the the first paragraph of text in the note:

On behalf of the New England Bicycle Racing Association, I congratulate you on a very successful year of racing.  You have finished in the top 5 of the rankings in your respective category or age group.  If you finished in the top three, you will have a medal enclosed, as well as a check.  Some of you have multiple checks and medals because you moved categories during the year but still had sufficient points to score in the top of both.  

 

As I finished reading the note, I sought out Mrs D to re-read the text aloud for her enjoyment.  And of course as I read it I had a big smile on my face -- who wouldn't be thrilled to receive free money in the mail, along with a note recognizing me as a somewhat accomplished Cat 4 bicycle racer?  

But the smile slowly faded as my thoughts gravitated back to that old saying "Nothing in life is free."  Somehow I must have contributed some money to fund this organization that is now handing me a check, so it was time to do some research.

Who is NEBRA?

My first Google search result pointed me to the actual rankings.  I am a regular visitor to the Road Results website, but this page was totally unknown to me.  Apparently someone created a point system associated with a particular set of New England bicycle races, and the uber-mainframe powering Road Results tabulated your results on this page each time you happened to enter one.  It was done automatically, and at least in my case, without any effort on my part, and even without my knowledge.

My next stop on the Internet brought me to NEBRA's website.  The site looked vaguely familiar to me, so perhaps I had visited in the past when scouring the web for the next season's racing schedule.  If I had been here before, I certainly ignored all of the details explaining NEBRA as I read that content yesterday for the first time.  

After digging around on the site for a bit I'm still at a loss to clearly explain to you how they get funded and how the fit in with USA Cycling.  But I'm guessing that they are getting some money from the race entry fees I pay, plus perhaps some cut of the license fee I send to USA Cycling each year.  It seems as though they are the local arm of USAC with the responsibility to administer the local bicycle racing scene here in New England.  This probably entails establishing the racing calendar, processing license requests, helping to keep the race official ranks filled, enforcing race rules, etc, etc. I found enough evidence on the site to once again validate that "Nothing in life is free", and my $75 dollar check can be tied back to the money we racers pay to USAC each year.  

But later in the day as I spent hours on the road (in a car unfortunately, not on a bike) I had time to reflect more on NEBRA and came to the conclusion that indeed I am getting something for free, and by the time I arrived with the Desmarais clan at our Thanksgiving destination, I felt pretty much like a free-loader.

Pay it forward

If a race promoter was truly out to make a quick buck, I'm guessing they'd be far more financially successful putting their money in the bank and just taking a measly 1% interest CD as opposed to putting on a race.  I'd also be willing to bet that race officials could stuff their wallets far faster spending their weekends moving Christmas packages and taking a check from a part-time job at FedEx as opposed to giving up their weekends to make sure my races are safe.  And while I know NOTHING about what sort of pay the dedicated folks at NEBRA might draw[EDIT: I was informed after writing this post that only one NEBRA staffer is paid, and the rest of the people behind NEBRA do it for their passion for the sport], my guess is that if they were out for a buck, they might be better off investing with Bernie Maddoff as opposed to looking for riches in the amateur racing scene.

Sure I'm paying a good chunk of money each year in race entry feels and a little more in my USAC license.  But I doubt that money does anything more than cover the costs of keeping the sport running.  Most certainly I am getting free of charge countless hours volunteered by the likes of the folks running NEBRA.  I'm not paying a dime for their passion to see the sport flourish.  And I don't do a darned thing to help off-set the sacrifices they make so that each week in the spring and summer I have one or more races to choose from.

The NEBRA note I got in the mail had one more paragraph that read as follows:

We hope the rankings and awards have contributed to your enjoyment of the sport, your sense of success, and your enthusiasm to participate.  As leaders in your cohort, I hope you will act as ambassadors for the sport and help new riders and those with less experience.

I re-read that text late last night, and in an effort to feel just a little bit less like a free-loader, I decided go online and donate my $75 winnings, as well as $75 of my own money to the Rails to Trails Conservancy to hopefully "help new riders and those with less experience".  I don't think NEBRA's rankings and awards will ever influence my desire to participate in the sport, but their unexpected note did remind me of what I should be thankful for.