SalsMiles2

Monday Jan ran 6 miles, Tuesday she biked 15 miles, Wednesday a run of 7 miles, all beginning around 6am. Wednesday night will be a swim, shorter than normal as she begins to do a mini-taper for the Tinman Triathlon on Saturday. There is an interesting article in the June 25, U.S News & World Report , on exercise and specifically on triathlons. An interview on Karen Smyers, a 45 year old pro triathlete, was fun to read. Karen's biggest workout days are usually Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday she will bike up to 130 miles, then run 3 miles. Sunday she will run 15-20 miles, which would be tough after the long bike ride.

Probably not the best way to ride a bike, looking at the pavement up close, arms stretched out, seeing the rear tire straight up in the air. Once Jan knew I was only bruised and my bike was okay, she had a nice laugh. Apparently I didn't look too graceful flipping up towards the handle bars, arms and legs spread out. Fortunately I was going very slowly making a turn when I hit a hole off the shoulder of the road. The result was just a leg bruise. Jan ran 11 miles and swam almost 2 miles on Saturday. On Sunday, a beautiful day for bike riding, we rode the 6 villages route . I went 76.5 miles, she completed her scheduled 80 miles by going around our block several times. The route is 66 miles, but we did an extra 10 miles around Churchville. Our overall mph time was pretty good, faster than the cutoff time for Ironman. The roads were in pretty good condition, not too much traffic except for .5 miles on rt. 31, and only a few barking dogs that scared the heck out of us, but didn't ...

According to the 66 miles or so of the bike route I just mapped, the elevation gain so far is over 3,000 feet. The map is located at this link . If this map tool is correct, the course is quite hilly. I did not map the entire course since it just loops back around.

Training of course. Today, Friday, was 42 miles on her bike with Eileen, another tri-newbie-nut. After a few hours rest they drove to Canandaigua Lake for an open water swim with RATS . So I might see Jan after 9pm, about an hour before I fall asleep!

Some facts about the 50+ mile ride Jan and I went on last week that included the Wanderer route from the Highlander tour near Bristol Mtn. and Canandaigua Lake. 1. I will have a link to the Veloroutes site with this map soon. User error prevented me from saving it the first time. Doh. 2. Some neat stats - the hill on West Lake rd. leading to Seneca Point rd intersection was 1.5 miles, with a grade up to 10% and 521' of elevation gain! Pretty good hill. 3. Bopple Hill, which we chose not to ride, is about 1 mile, up to 18% grade and 575' gain! 4. Heading north from Naples on rt 12, there is a hill of 2.1 miles, with 599' gain and up to 10% grade. So, our route was 3300' or so of elevation gain in 52 miles. Mild by the Lowlander or Highlander rides, but not bad.

At Veloroutes I have created two new routes thus far. One is for the 56 miles of the Tupper Lake Tinman. Use this link to get to the map, which includes an elevation chart. This site seems to work much better than the USATF create a route site. I have a lot of problems with the elevation profile not working all the time with the USATF site. The Tupper Lake course is not perfect, but I think I got it pretty close. The course has a total elevation gain of 2,795' over the 56 miles. It won't be an easy ride. The second route I created is 66 miles and includes riding through Spencerport, Churchville, Bergen, Holley, Kendall, Hamlin. It is called " 6 Village Route ". Total elevation gain is 1,481', which is comparable to the Louisville Ironman course. Veloroutes also includes a mph indicator for each map, so you know how long the route should take for several different speed levels.

Too tired to wake up and run, Jan's only training on Wednesday was a 2 mile swim in the pool after work. Thursday morning Jan ran 6 miles before going to work.

Jan was running by 5:30am this morning, seven miles, trying to avoid the heat of the day as the temp is expected to be over 90 with a high dew point. She also biked 20 miles indoors after dinner.

Saturday was a six mile run on the canal path followed by a 2+ mile swim in the pool at Brockport. Sunday was an indoor bike ride of 35 miles to work on maintaining consistent speed.

We drove to Canandaigua and Kershaw Park on the lake. I had mapped out a bike route of about 50 miles, down towards Naples and back, incorporating much of the Wanderer route from the September Highlander cycle tour. We added a 10 mile loop south of Bristol. This was a beautiful route along the west side of Canandaigua Lake with great views, especially after a few of the long (1-2 mile) climbs. We stopped at a scenic vista overlook on County Route 12, after one torturous climb of two miles and more than 700' of elevation gain. We could see the entire lake below us. In the distance, somewhere far, far away, was the northern end of the lake and Kershaw Park. A scant 25 more miles to ride. At the intersection of rt. 64 and County rt 32 we took a food break at a convenience store. Seems our favorite refueling snacks now are Hostess fruit pies and gatorade, lots of sugar and we can pretend it's healthy. Crossing the intersection onto rt 32 we hit another long hill, a 300'+ clim...

Martin Strel , a 53 year old Slovene swimmer, recently completed swimming the Amazon River (3,278 miles) in 67 days. He averaged about 50 miles a day and says he couldn't have done it without drinking a bottle of wine a day. ''Wine, by me,'' he says, ''one bottle a day must be. If it keeps you a little drunk, that's good.'' While swimming, he means. While doing the thing that makes him a world-class athlete. ''You have to be a little drunk.'' Keeps his mind off what might be underneath him in the water, he says. Which does help explain it. " (NY Times 6/3/07). Jan read the article and now I have to stop at Mahan's before going to the pool tonight. She's ready to try Martin's training method.

Five mile run at 5:30am. Intervals at track, around 5k pace, at 6:30pm. 800,1200,1200,800. 85 degrees. Wednesday night will be a 2+mile swim at the pool.

This weekend was great for training and building my confidence (Jan was already pretty confident). Jan swam 2 miles in the pool on Friday and picked up her bike with the new aero bars attached and a lightweight Louis Garneau helmet. The helmet weighs about the same as a feather and is more aerodynamic than the boxy thing she used to wear. Saturday morning Jan ran 16 miles, then biked 26 miles with Eileen. On Sunday Jan and I biked 56 miles, the Tinman distance. Our course was flatter than the Tupper Lake area, but at least we did all the miles. In three weeks Jan just needs to do a 1.2mile swim, 56mile bike and 13.1mile run all in one day. No problem.

A photo of Jan and co-workers from the Penfield Post as they were walking at lunch time. Jan is the person in the middle.

I'm having a difficult time drawing the line between "gentle" encouragement of Jan's Ironman endeavor and being thought of as an overbearing bully where whatever she does in training isn't enough. Yes, she has trained over 8 hours in the past six days. Yes, she will be doing some massive swimming, biking and running this weekend. But I still worry about whether it's enough to make the time limits at the Tupper Lake Tinman in three weeks and Louisville Ironman in twelve. So, I sometimes feel that if I'm not going to push her, who will? Yes, Jan is obviously self-motivated and highly competitive. But even the best athletes usually need an extra push now and then, don't they? I can't imagine being a real coach and a husband or wife of the athlete you are coaching. That seems like an absolute no win situation. Something would have to give in the relationship. It's one thing to coach, push an athlete to do an extra interval or two, have them get ups...

Jan's photo is on the front page of the June 3rd Penfield Post , but not for triathlons. She was photographed while walking with co-workers of Paychex during lunch time. Paychex employees had the opportunity to participate in an Eat Well-Live Well campaign to promote better health. I will try to scan the photo in, I can't find it on the Post's web site.

Rochester is blessed with several excellent bike shops. Jan purchased her road bike from The Bike Zone , on Long Pond rd. in Greece. The owner and mechanics seem really knowledgeable, back up what they sell and take the time to talk things over with us (I am not being paid for this plug). After today's Tri, Jan took her bike in for a gear and brake adjustment. Jan is getting a new, upgraded, sprocket at cost. For her birthday, which is in late June, we ordered a new aerodynamic helmet. Soon she should be getting aero bars. The hope is that all of these changes will assist in making Jan faster and maintain the speed longer. Becoming comfortable with her bike shoes and pedal clamps or whatever they are called, will also help.

Jan had to check-in by 6:30am for this morning's Pittsford Tri . Jan set a pr in the pool for 300 meters, finishing in 5:49. The bike around the hills of Mendon, 15 miles, took 52:40, about 17mph. The 5k run was 30:15. Probably the 40 mile bike ride the day before had some effect on the run time. Training partner Lou had a great race, taking 12 minutes or so off of last year's time. Eileen, another friend, confidant and training partner, had a great swim and bike leg, but was unable to run due to a chronic injury. It's interesting that all three, who really began swimming in earnest last summer and have swam a lot together the past year, finished with pr's and within 20 seconds of each other.

Friday night was a 2+ mile swim at the Brockport State pool. Saturday Jan and I rode our bikes on the roads to Long Pond, then picked up the paved Erie canal path trail to Pittsford. Jan got her race package for Sunday's Pittsford Triathlon . After a bagel and orange juice at Bruegger's, we headed back home. The heat, 88 degrees, didn't bother her, but I struggled the last 10 miles. The ride was 39 miles. I lost almost 5 pounds, Jan lost just 1/2 of a pound. It's a good thing the heat doesn't have as much effect on Jan. The Tinman race and Louisville Ironman will probably both be hot days.