Holy Cookie Monster Weekend!

Wow, what a weekend. I had a solid week of training capped off with a 13.45 mile run Saturday morning with Vanessa and Adam. It was a great run. We left about 7:15 in the morning. By running standards, that is considered pretty late. I mean, heck, by eight o'clock it was already pretty toasty outside—mid-80's—with a bazillion percent humidity. The first part of our run was a really slight gradual uphill, followed by an increasingly steep incline. Once we got to mile three, it was pretty much smooth flat sailing to about mile eight. At the turn around is when the run gets a little more challenging. There is two-mile, steady incline that was making us work. Once we got to the top, the challenge was not to let our legs go and shred our hamstrings on the steep decline. The view on the run was spectacular. That is what I like most about going out on these long runs. I am out there, in the middle of these farms and ponds, and long roads with zero traffic. I have my nutrition with me, and my Fuel Belt on, and I am just going. Mile after mile. The sweat starts to drip off my face and onto my sunglasses. I am toasty warm, and all I can think of is how spectacular the scenery is and how much of a rock star (a.k.a. triathlete) I feel like—minus the throwing of televisions out of hotel windows, and not being able to differentiate between night and day.

Adam was so hot after our run that he had to be hosed off by Vanessa. Here he is seen doing his best Flashdance impersonation.

The Three Amigos one last time (for a while anyway)

After getting home, I had to quickly take a shower and get ready to go to my twin's first dance recital. They danced for about two and a half minutes, in which time they pranced, galloped, crawled, and twirled on stage. They were awesome. Stella even snuck in for a picture with the dancing queens. 

Ah, not ready to claw each other's eye sockets out over who gets control over the Magna Doodle, book, or doll.

Just look at those beautiful lines!

Sunday was a lot of fun. It was Father's Day, so while my wifey was at rehearsal from 9:30-1:30, I got to be... a father. Afterwards, she came home and Adam and I got together for a 50 mile ride followed by a 5k. Adam and I had a great ride out to a state park next to Lake Ontario. It was about fifty miles round trip. Cookie Monster (my new ride) was fast, real fast. I know everyone says, "It's not the bike, it's the engine." Yeah, well, true as that may be—I agree there is NO substitute for training—it is the bike a little bit as well. I pushed hard into the wind on the way there, but I never really felt fatigued at any point. On the way back, I averaged a pair of 31 m.p.h. (49.89 k.p.h.) splits on some fast flats. No offense Madone, but I never did that with you. I am excited for Musselman coming up on 10 July. That HIM left be bewildered last year. I had no idea what to expect, no idea at all about nutrition. Seriously, I drank less than 30 ounces of fluids on the bike. What was I thinking? Oh, I wasn't. I have the nutrition down this time around, so I am excited to see if I can knock off some serious time and set a new PR on this course. Our run felt fine. We ran a solid 8:20 pace off the bike. We were not trying to run hard. In fact, a couple of times, Adam and I had to slow each other down because we felt ourselves gradually get faster (oh, and Adam was sporting his Garmin 310 XT, so he knew exactly how fast we were going at every second.) That gets annoying really quickly!

Monday: OFF


Tuesday's Morning Speed Workout: 


2 mile warmup
Fartleks on roads: 10 Farletks at 90 seconds, with 2:00 minute recovery run in between. 2 mile cool down.

Finished my Fartlek's and made Julian's graduation just in time. Congratulations Graduate!

Lastly, congratulations to Luca and his friend Bradley for making the All-Star Team this year. 

Good job guys!

More soon: A cool review opportunity for me, and a GIVEAWAY!

Train Smart!

The Blue, The Build, The Bullet

Something old, something new, Something borrowed, something BLUE. This age-old saying does not merely apply to brides on their wedding day, but to owners of Blue bicycles everywhere. 


Something Old: Me, and riding a road bike in triathlons for the last three seasons.


Something New and Blue: My Blue Triad. 


Borrowed: The talents of bike shop owner Dave Silloway and his cast of peculiar mechanics that work with him at  The Bike Zone  in Rochester, NY


The question was, who is going to put it together. "Why, anyone can put together a bike Mark. What's the big deal?" you ask. The big deal is that my new Blue has an integrated seat post. That means the seat mast is actually part of the frame. There is nothing to slide up and down inside the post. One piece of carbon. One very expensive piece of carbon. Cut the seat mast too far, and well... you're in trouble. Most bike designs alla Trek, Felt have seat masts that slide inside the post. If you mismanage the cut, you are out a $75 piece of carbon, not the entire frame. Frames get pricey, or so I'm told. Why the integrated seat post you ask? Why, aerodynamics of course. I am liable to shave a few millionths of a second off of my bike.


I bought my first ride—a Trek Madone 4.5—from Dave  (relax wifey, when I say "my first ride—" this is not going to start the purchase of a long string of rides I need for various biking  activities. But just in case you want to get me a really nice present for my birthday/anniversary/Christmas, or you are secretly planning a triathlon shower before Rev 3: Cedar Point, or any other time in our marriage, here are some bikes I would like to add to my arsenal:


Blue cyclocross
A really shiny urban-yuppy single speed 

I asked Dave to build my ride because of his experience, and because he is a rider. More, two of the top triathletes in the area entrust their bikes with him.
Let's meet the dude who built my ride:

Name: David Silloway
Age: Ageless

First Bike: 20" Huffy with motorcycle style banana seat

How did you get into riding: My brother rode BMX with all his buddies, and I wanted to do it too, because I thought it was cool

How long have you been riding: I started racing BMX when I was 13. I've done a couple of mountain and road bike races since then

Favorite Bike You've Ever Owned: A 24" Hutch BMX Cruiser. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time on that bike. I raced it, rode everywhere I had to go. It took me everywhere. I also dig my new Calfee.

How many bikes have you owned in your lifetime: Depending on how you look at it, either 20, or 18,000.
Favorite Ride: Highlander 100 miler. This is a tough ride that works its way through the Finger Lakes area. A lot of steep climbs in and out of the bluff. 
Some cool stuff you might want to know: Red Ribbon Aids Ride from August 18-22. It traverses 420 miles and tours the Finger Lakes region. It is a tough ride.

Beer of choice: Stout. This is  very important. There are two people that I think you should keep very happy. Your bike mechanic, and your librarian. Let's just face it, Dave is responsible for making sure I'm fast and safe. My librarian is responsible for making sure I am free from ginormous fines. Coincidentally, my librarian Gerry is a world-class photographer and took the last picture in this post with my Blue. If indeed you want to get on Dave's good side, I would recommend bringing him a beer. Dave likes Lion's Stout, a beer, I think, I proudly introduced him to.

Now, to the much anticipated bike build. I dropped off the bike for him on a Tuesday and the bike shop was swamped. You know, western New York, short riding season. Everyone wants to get their bikes tuned up and out there to enjoy the tiny window we have to enjoy the season. After the busy weekend, I came back into the store because Dave said he had put my bike together. This is what I saw as I was walking up to the shop entrance:

Now it was time to cut the seat mast—which in its original, uncut, size L position, is well suited for someone, say...8'4. 

I had complete faith in Dave. I was not worried at all. Not even for a minute:

This was after the initial cut. Dave took two more cuts to ensure the right seat mast height.

After the initial cut, Dave made two more. 

All this cutting can make a man thirsty. If you are in and around The Bike Zone, drop in and bring Dave a beer. Good Beer. Like:

Dave likes beer. 

After some cuts, Dave had the aerobars on, and was trying to talk me into giving him the bike:

Okay, here is mechanic Chris with Dave having a rather philosophical discussion  concerning something I had absolutely no idea about. Seriously, they might as well have been speaking in Bushman Click, Sanskrit, or pig-Latin, but they were gravely serious, and were going on and on about casing and wires, and where to cut. In the end, I am glad they took the time to get it right. It would have been bad converting my Blue into a single speed. It would have seemed like far too aero a frame for a commuter bike.

After all that hard work, Dave would love to enjoy a beer, perhaps this one:

Since bringing the bike home on Sunday, I've put in about 150 miles on this puppy. My Blue is fast. I went out for a nice easy ride on Friday with Alexa who will soon be sporting some nice, new, hot pink crankskins on her Cervelo. Nice. Adam and I went out for a nice 56 miler yesterday. I will not even come close to bottoming out this puppy like I did my compact double 50/34 on my Madone. I was mashing it on some straights with the wind yesterday, and I had plenty more gearing to go through.

I would like to thank David Silloway for building my new rig and all the fine folks at The Bike Zone. Dave will soon be expanding The Bike Zone at its new location on 2100 Ridge Road West in Rochester, NY. He sells Trek, Raleigh, and will be selling Felt's in the new location. When you swing by, bring him a beer, like this one:

Remember, Dave:

Beer:

Dave:

Beer:

Thanks Dave! 

Isn't she pretty? Alexa has named her Cookie Monster. What say you?

Giveaway: Check out Kelly's totally cool giveaway at trimommylife!

Train Smart!