Boulder Saturday June 25

Here is the last instalment on my Boulder Mega Training Camp Week. We were up at 4am for our Super (50km bike leg) Olympic Race on Saturday morning. The race was 1 hour drive from Boulder, and race start was 6:30am (quite early by even Ironman Standards). The swim went well, after my swim tips on the previous day. I had a couple of things to focus on, and I kept repeating those cues in my mind to keep my swim on track. I started in the last of 5 waves, and thus ended up swimming through 3 of the preceding waves before ending the race (waves were 5 minutes apart). Final swim time was ~26 minutes (1:44 pace), which I was happy with considering the altitude and the swim traffic that I had to negotiate. On to the bike- I felt good. I didn’t bring any Aero wheels, so my split was off by a couple of minutes. Still, I was passing lots of people in spite of not being able to raise my heart rate above 142bpm. I should be able to maintain 160 bpm for an Olympic, but due to the training load of the previous week, I was only able to put out Ironman power as opposed to Olympic Power. Bike pace was ~35kph, so I was happy enough with that. On to the run, the legs took a while to warm up. After 6km and lots of heavy breathing I was finally able to click off consistent sub 5 minute kms. At home I can breathe through my nose at this pace, but that was not the case for me here. Run split was almost 49 minutes (well off of my best pace). Overall I finished in the top third of my AG, which was OK considering the Anti Taper, and considering that this race was a qualifier for the USAT age group nationals (lots of good AG competition). Post race food was great (they had lots of hot, cooked food ready for us in the high school gym). It was amazing how much athletes appreciate small touches such as real food after a race (instead of a dried up bagel…).

Since we were flying home the next day, I managed to convince Ian that we needed on more hill climb for the week (not quite enough training today ). I don’t think he really wanted to go, but the lure of the twisty-turny downhill return was too much for him. These downhills are a blast, and I am concerned that my normal Kincardine “Loop” will be pretty boring to me once I get home (2 hours straight east, no hills, no turns, no cars, - now that I think about it the only excitement is swerving to avoid the occasional pile of horse dung or the very occasional tornado like winds). We hammered the rolling highway (with the 6 foot wide paved shoulder) back to the hotel.

Camp finished with dinner at one of the numerous local brew pubs. Leaving was bittersweet, missing the family at home, but not yet tired of the life of a pro :Swim (nap), bike (nap), run (nap), eat, in bed by 9:30 or 10pm at the latest… Several of the campers are staying at least 1 more week in Boulder, and one is there for 3 months (training for Ultraman). With the altitude, hills (mountains), training facilities I could get really, really fit if I spent a couple on months in Boulder. I suspect the biggest hazard would be overtraining.

All in all, I highly recommend Boulder as a training destination. It is easily one of my favourite cities on the US. Final total for training hours of our week in Boulder was ~30 hours. 99.9 % of that time was far below threshold (Zone 1-Zone 2), so surprisingly my body is not feeling beat up. Farther + Faster= Disaster was an equation that believed when I went into this big week. My training hours were doubled (farther) so in order to avoid overtraining (disaster) I moderated the effort every day (when I could). Good training, good location, good friends, fun times. Time to recover so that I can get get faster...

Boulder Friday June 24

Well, just when I think it can't get any better it does. This morning there was an "optional" ride up Flagstaff Mountain. Of course to a group of Type A triathletes optional means mandatory. They warned us that it was a bit steep at the start. Holy crap they weren't kidding. This ride rolled out from downtown Boulder, and immediately starts multiple switchbacks, and we quickly gained altitude above the city. Eventually the grade levels out from "holy shit" to "damn tough". Then we get to the turnoff for the Amphitheater after which we climb the Super- Flag section. Now that I am acquainted with the local slang any climb that has "super" in front of it is VERY tough. Super flag didn't disappoint. This was the first climb when I wasn't sure that I could (or should) make it to the top. Altitude plus very steep grades made it quite a challenge. I was very satisfied to make it to the top!!!

Next on the agenda was a pool swim led by Jane Scott (Dave Scott's sister). She is a fulltime swim coach. She shortly had us sorted out into appropriate lanes and into a nice workout. She quickly learned most of our names, and nailed all of us for any of our bad swim habits. She had an awesome way of explaining proper triathlon swim form. Really good workout. Matty Reid and Chrissie Wellington were seen on the pool deck at during our session. Cool.

Later in the day we had a 1.5 hour talk with Chrissie. What an awesome ambassador for our sport. We all got a lot out of the session. She is as tough as she is nice, which is an interesting combination. Gordo told a story of how Chrissie showed up for a Dave Scott swim workout 4 days after a breaking a rib. She completed the 5km workout and kept her normal position in the "elite" swim lane. Gordo was talking to her but she ignored him until after the workout. Apparently in the mental state that she was in to deal with the pain, she basically blocked off all of the world and was effectively deaf to the world.

"Super" Olympic race tomorrow. 1.5km swim, 50km bike, 10km run. We'll see how the Anti taper goes. I am hoping that I can generate many more red blood cells overnight.....

Boulder June 23

Well, it has been a busy couple of days here in lovely Boulder. Yesterday was an easy day (for training) but was super valuable. We had a 2 hour session at the track with Bobby McGee. Bobby is one of the most well respected run coaches in the world. He has coached many straight up runners, and many triathletes, including top ITU stars. He was a wealth of knowledge, and experience. I paid for a 30 minute personal session with Bobby. I had hung around the track for a while waiting for my turn, and he was not afraid to point out peoples run flaws. When it was my turn we talked about my shoes, running injuries, huge calves, and open running race times vs triathlon run splits. Then he watched me run, and I was surprised (shocked actually) when he said I had a good long course running style. He gave me some pointers on how to improve my style, and some great tips on how to change my training program to make me a faster runner overall, and how to change my training cycle to enhance my running. Lots of out of the box thinking and stuff that I have never heard or read. Totally awesome.

Next up was our Retul bike fit. We drove 30 minutes to Denver and had a fit with Todd Carver, the founder of Retul and the guy who has done most of the pro cyclist and triathlete fits in the USA. Good enough for Normann and Lance... Anyway Todd was fantastic. He made some major changes to my seat position, height, cleat position and Aerobars. I was surprised at how many tweaks he made to my position, but the end result was well worth it. This was my first ever real bike fit, and Todd is a true craftsman of bike fit. Todd tweaked Ian's position also, and I was happy that Todd used a hammer and a dremel tool to "tweak" Ian's bike stem and bar pads. The guys at camp like my position. There are two guys named Mike in camp. They call me the "Low Mike".

Today we did a 2km swim in the reservoir (one of 3 weekly supervised, life-guarded, measured 1km course swims per week here in Boulder). Following that we did a 105km bike ride, again up into the mountains. Today was the first time since we arrived that I felt like I could push some good watts. Everything went well up until 8000 feet when again it got much harder to hold the same power due to the thin air. On the descent we came down with Angela Naith, an up and coming triathlete pro. She can go uphill like the wind, but Ian and I dusted her on the downhill. We waited for her at the bottom of the hill, and we hammered the rolling hills back into town at 40kph. Later Angela said that she was surprised how fast guys like us can go. I wonder if she really meant how fast old guys like us can go... We think this girl had loads of talent, nobody at the camp can climb faster than her.

Well, thats all for tonight. Time to chill and relax. Bike and coached swim tomorrow, then Olympic Triathlon race on Saturday. I think that we are doing and Anti-Taper for that race, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. BTW that is Gordo in his speedo for all of you girls out there...

Well, Epic day here in Boulder. First an open water swim in the reservoir. I did 1km, Ian got a bonus 1km on me. Followed right after by a monumental bike ride. I don't get worried about many rides, but I was dreaming about this one all last night. After rolling out we started the 15 MILE climb that would take us to 10,000 feet elevation. The air is really thin up there. The grade of the climb was a very nice 5-6% up until the last mile when it turned into a painful 12%. I don't know what was hurting more my legs or my lungs. We got very close to the snow, as seen in the pictures. It was damn cold up there, but the views were awesome. Of course there was an Awesome downhill! The descents are really nice, curvy but not too scary. Total climbing was 8700 feet vertical. I did a bonus 2km transition run, and Ian watched my gear. Of course there was a refueling stop with a mandatory beer to celebrate life.

I have tried to post a video of the downhill scenery. Fingers are crossed...

Post again tomorrow. Tired boy tonight- Yawn....

Boulder Monday June 20

OK- first camp day done. Woo Hoo. Today was an "easy" 90 minute run on a nice trail around the Boulder Reservoir. Easy except for the altitude which makes my 5 min kms feel like 4:30s at home. At least I didn't get dusted on the run, finishing firmly in the middle. I am trying not to let my Ego define my efforts, since it is such a big training week. Going too hard early in the week will make the end of the week suck.

After lunch we met for a 2 hour group ride. Flat they told us except for one hill. I now know that flat is a relative term, Boulder "flat" rides are our hilly rides. Plus there was a bonus headwind that plagued us except for the last 15 minutes. Ian and headed out with the Fast group, and they put some hurt into our legs by the climb. On the way back from that climb were nasty crosswinds, and some painful climbs. I hung onto the front group mostly, but a few times the string broke and I had to catch up.

Mirinda Carfrae was our speaker tonight, and she brought along her boyfriend Tim O'Donnel (currently on the cover of Inside Tri Magazine). Super nice couple! Mirinda has never has any help with her running stride or technique, it is all a natural gift. She has worked hard on her swim, and has cut down from 60km swim weeks to "only" 22km weeks now. As with most pros most of their day is spent either training or eating (fuelling).

Open water swim tomorrow in the reservoir, followed by long tough 100 mile ride. Tough ride with a couple of 15 mile long climbs. Weather will be better up there tomorrow (no snow falling), and I am wondering (worrying) how much tougher it will be once we get up to real altitude (8000 feet?). On boy.

Boulder Sunday June 19 2011

Well, it was another great day in Boulder. We got up a bit early due to the 2 hour time difference from home. We did a solid 2 hour ride up a different canyon today. Plenty of climbing, but a lovely 20 minute curvy descent as our payback. Later after our mid morning nap (er -recovery session), we hit one of Boulder's 30 bike stores which just happens to be 400m from our hotel. Happy fathers day Ian and Mike! Mike is still ahead of Ian in the purchases department due to a parcel of (cheap) shoes that was waiting for us when we arrived at the hotel. I have full confidence that Ian can catch up! I am sure he was dreaming up ways during the second "recovery session" of the day.

Just returned from Camp Kickoff Dinner at Gordo's. Plenty of Pro triathletes for our coaches. Gordo, Justin Daerr, Chris and Marilyn McDonald (Chris has won multiple IM races), Chucky V, and some girl who was an ex US road cycling champion turned pro triathlete. Nice group of campers. Plenty of hard core athletes. Tomorrow we are running in the am and then biking in the afternoon. The big bike day in the mountains has been postponed due to the 12 degree temperature, 40 mph winds and probable thunderstorms- good call in my books.

On our ride today, when we were descending we saw more cyclists climbing the hill then I have ever seen outside of an Ironman race. Holy Crap! They were mostly roadies, since the triathletes were mostly racing the Boulder 5430 sprint triathlon.

Will post again tomorrow. I have included a couple of pictures of Pearl Street, a pedestrian shopping mall. Pretty sweet, and I know a few of you girls who could spend a solid hour or two in the outdoor apparel store for active ladies.

Sunday 19 June 2011
Greetings from Boulder Colorado! Ian and I arrived yesterday, flying from Detroit to Denver, then making our way to Boulder after some fun at the rental car place. We finally squeezed ourselves into a giant black Suburban. Driving this thing I feel like I should be part of a Presidential Motorcade.

First order of business was to buy two CO2 cartridges, and assemble bikes. First impressions of Boulder- it is a very nice. Small city (95,000 population), well laid out, upscale but not pretentious. Bikes everywhere. Bike lanes on most roads. Boulder is snuggled up right next to the front range of the Rockies. Elevation is 5430 feet (more than a mile high) and all of the mountains jut up from Boulder. On the bike, I noticed that my breathing rate was higher, sucking more air to make up for the elevation.




We rode North from Boulder and followed a road that was beside a creek for about an hour of steady uphill riding. Totally awesome scenery. We turned around at the place in the photo to the left, and grabbed a couple shots of the fast creek. The return ride on the downhill was much faster. Ian had to wait for me a couple of times, I don’t corner as fast as he does.


Our tri camp starts tonight with a kick off dinner, then a century in the high mountains tomorrow. Weather forcast is very sketchy, cool, rainy and windy, so I am sure it will be an epic day. I’ll post again when we have more pictures.