Leadman in February

Yep, haven't really been writing about personal training for a while, due mostly to the work-related promotional things like running clinics, training programs, and the running tours/camps in Italy.  Also, I went through a pretty dark few days after the Temecula race and broken ribs and injured thumb/hand.  I was forced to take 4 days off after the race and, like most athletes, I felt my season slipping away and it was only January.  I forced myself back on the bike on January 24th, my first day in my new "home" (really a shack/cabin) situated at 8,625 ft elevation.  Coming from 0 ft elevation in the Bay Area combined with broken ribs and the inability to hold the handlebars with my left hand, lead to some interesting rides with wretched pain, trying to gasp for thin air with shallow inhales, so as not to feel the sharp jabs from the ribs, and useless left hand on 40 mph descents from 9,500 ft.  The ribs are improving and a little less painful.  The thumb and hand is still very limited in its range of motion and fairly useless.

Heading out at mile 72 for my final lap at Temecula.  Note the one-handed riding.

I'm impatient with some things and it really comes through with myself.  I've cut casts off broken limbs to race, had exposed knee cap bone and chin bone from a heinous crash in the Tour de Michigan cycling stage race and lined up the next day gauzed up with blood oozing and nerves shattered, but I finished all the stages and tour.  Went down hard at Temecula at mile 22, got up and continued another 60 miles with one hand and bent over from the sharp pain of broken ribs.  I don't like to wait and will usually opt for the physical pain of getting back to training and racing quickly over the mental mud pit of inactivity.  Sometimes this is stupid but I can't help it.

All photos: Tan

Aside from the impatience, I had built a good three months of cycling base and am reluctant to let that slip away.  So, I was back on the bike for some very humbling rides at altitude.  Then a nice little weather front moved in with 30+mph sustained winds and pretty chilly single digit temps, so I bumped up the date to begin my running stage of training.  I intended to start back up with running on Feb 1, anyway, so starting it three days early wasn't a big deal.  I've run every day since then and it's been laughable, like any reintroduction to running after a two month layoff is.  I've been in this situation so many times that I actually enjoy the process of *trying* to hold down the effort and plodding at very slow paces.  I know it won't be long before I'm feeling stronger on the run (end of Feb...) and then the magic happens; the meshing of strong cycling and strong running.  I've had one or the other but not both concurrently in a very long time.  Once that meshing occurs, the focus shifts to specific training for Leadman.  I'm registered for a lot (understatement) of racing in April and May, all hand picked for how they translate into Leadman preparation.

That, along with my daily training at 9,000-10,000 ft will pay off.

I'm not naive enough to believe I will win Leadman merely because it's not a very well attended event and is typically pretty shallow with anywhere from a handful to a couple dozen finishers.  There will always be someone faster, younger, stronger.  I see that Travis Macy is doing Leadman.  Travis is in another stratosphere than I am in terms of athletic ability.  He's naturally gifted, works hard, and is 16 years younger than I am.  He still has to run the Leadville 100 miler to win, though.  I can only focus on doing the best I can every minute of the series and not worry who else is racing or how they are doing. Frankly, I prefer to be the dark horse.

Off for another slow motion run.  Have a good weekend.