Two Hundred Seven

Good summary of some recent events...

Mike,

This is great! I don't have issues with any of your suggestions. In particular, I'm thrilled to hear about Mike joining the crew.

I believe my training is on track. If anyone is interested, a spreadsheet outlining some of my objectives is posted at:

http://www.sabertoothsalmon.com/adventures/2007/RAAM_Training.xls

During my prep phase, I allowed myself some flexibility to deviate from the schedule so I could do things like cyclocross. Now that I'm in my base phase, I'm trying to focus and stick more closely to plan. Weather, work, and social obligations still get in the way from time to time. I believe the most critical months will be February to mid May. That's when I plan to be doing regular 200 mile long rides leading up to 500+ mile weeks during the peak phase. My priorities now are staying healthy and injury free, getting stronger and more flexible, working on my diet, and getting the miles under my legs so my body can withstand the high mileage and intensity to come.

I'll have two new "single-speed" bicycles for RAAM. So the bikes should be in excellent shape for the race. A few weeks ago, Ira Ryan (http://www.iraryancycles.com/) told me that my bike was the next one on his schedule. Sacha White (http://www.vanillabicycles.com/) is building the other bike. He's ordered the tubing and has been doing some prototyping for a lean climbing/'cross bike. For now I'm still riding the Country Road Bob everywhere, almost always with panniers. Now that I've got my "Bob Boltz" from Phil Wood, I've started pulling a Bob trailer too.

I received a Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddle a few weeks ago. For the most part I think it's great. The cutout does it's job very well, if you know what I'm talking about. However, I think my sit bones land square on the sides of the saddle where the frame supports the leather. I don't notice it if I'm wearing shorts with padding or if I have a padded cover on the saddle. But with nothing but a thin pair of trousers between me and the rawhide, I can feel the metal frame.

I've started looking into medical power of attorney forms. Here's one example:

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/estate_planning/medical_power_of_attorney.html

As the author points out, I might be able to get a form from a local hospital.

I should get the results of a blood test back soon. So I'll get some feel for whether my cholesterol levels are a problem too. I've got a book that was first published in 1985 called "Eat to Win - The Sports Nutrition Bible", by Dr. Robert Haas. Many years ago I followed the advice in the book for quite a while and noticed improvements in my blood chemistry. I don't think this is rocket science, really. Basically, I need to lay off the salt and sugar, eat lots of raw vegetables, plenty of whole grains, and a moderate amount of lean meat and low-fat dairy. I'll talk about these things more with my doctor.

I think we can start developing some lists soon - at least an equipment/check-list and a to-do list. I can post copies on my website.

Thanks again, Mike!

John

"Jacob, James M" wrote:

The last week, and the next three are going to be just insane here at Purdue. The fact that you haven't heard from me doesn't mean I've been ignoring the race, just that I've had to budget my time, and emailing has gotten the short end of the stick.

1. Yea. blood pressure of 130/80 is a problem for someone riding as much as you are. That is exactly what my MD told me too. I have some suggestions that have worked well for me. I'll pass them along later. For now, take a look at the Sports Nutrition info on the UMCA web site. I think there are a couple of good books.

2. Paul and I swapped phone messages all Thanksgiving week-end, but never were able to get together. We'll have to make that work as soon as I get my grades in.

3. I have a commitment from Mike Smolinski to join the crew (with your approval). He is one of my seniors, a Purdue cheerleader, and state wrestling high school champ. He'll handle all of the electronics (radios, cells, laptops, communication cards, handheld and pc based gps and programs, audio, and lights) as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... . I know no one with his level of enthusiasm. So, he'll be "in your face" cheering us all on, all the way.

4. I have made contacts with the Nutrition and Sports department, looking for a trainer/sports physiologist, someone to monitor your performance and adjust food, drink, effort level, sleep, ... , to keep you at the desired performance level, as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... We MAY even be able to do urine, sweat, saliva, and blood sampling on-the-fly. There are several candidates here, one a bike racer and mechanic, and another is a nationally known researcher and marathoner. I should have an answer shortly after the end of the semester.

5. I am also talking with our Nursing school, trying to get an emt, or ER nurse; someone to massage your legs and back and neck, dress your wounds, deal with Shermer neck and swelling, help monitor your health (not just performance), and to make the "He's going to the ER NOW!" decision, as well as drive, navigate, feed, run errands, ... .

6. My goal is a crew of 6, with one leaving in Indy and Xiang filling that spot.

7. In a perfect world, our errand car would be another van, set-up as much as possible just like the follow van, so that if your Honda fails, it's simple and quick to change vehicles and keep you moving while the "errand" folks deal with the dead van. I'm still thinking about that. Help?

What do you think?
How are you doing?

J. Michael Jacob (Mike)
McNelly Professor College of Technology, Purdue University

Two Hundred Six

Today was a wake up call. Actually, the alarm went off yesterday, but I pressed the snooze button.

At work, I earned a $25 American Express gift card just by going to the health clinic to have my blood pressure, height, weight, and percent body fat measured; and to have a couple vials of blood drawn for some blood tests. I'll get another $25 after I fill out an online survey and meet with a health coach. Anyone who doesn't take advantage of the opportunity either believes they're in excellent health but too busy to bother (sounds like a contradiction to me), or they're in denial.

I'm never sure what's going on inside my body. (Kinda hard to see in there.) On the outside, I don't think I look too bad given the hand my parents dealt me. If you've been following the blog, you know that I get a fair amount of regular exercise. But for a few years I have been liberal with my use of fatty dairy products, salt, and red meat. Coffee is one of those on again off again things. My alcohol consumption is very moderate. So what's it all add up to?

Well, yesterday the "nurse" (was she a nurse? "health specialist" - how 'bout that?) took my blood pressure using my left arm. I wasn't paying much attention until she seemed a little surprised by my numbers. The top number ("systolic" - just looked it up) was 130 (I think). I'm not sure, but I believe the diastolic was around 80. My friendly health specialist thought we should check the other arm to be sure. When we did, my systolic pressure measured 123. So what's the logical thing to do? Cross out the higher number and go with the lower one! (Make sense to you?)

Today I decided to check again. There's a machine in the cafeteria that measures blood pressure. I checked both arms (it was a bit awkward with my right arm, because the machine is set up to measure your left). Both times my systolic pressure measured 130: pre-hypertension!

After watching one of my RAAM videos a few times, I've started thinking about how hard RAAM can be on the kidneys. Now I'm thinking about my blood pressure too! What would I look like without all those miles under my legs?

Time to start watching what I eat...

For dinner I had a microwaved baked potato, a bowl full of raw veggies (tomato, peppers, carrot, celery, and cucumber), hummus and artichoke/jalapeno dips, some fresh pineapple, and a banana. It tasted pretty good, actually.

Cold turkey!

Two Hundred Five

Tuesday: Rode from home downtown and back to get my replacement Frog bearings from Joshua at Cyclepath. Rain.

Wednesday: 20 minutes easy spinning during lunch followed by some stretching.

Thursday: 27 mile loop late morning. Rain. 1st Turkey Day dinner.

Friday: 27 mile loop in the evening after Julia and Xiang got back from shopping. Dark and wet.

Saturday: Off. (Spent the day helping prepare our 2nd Turkey Day dinner.)

Sunday: Rode from home to Forest Grove, south on 47, then south on 99W through McMinville and Corvallis. Met Julia and the kids on their way back from dropping off Xiang in Eugene. Very wet and windy until McMinville. Then the rain let up. The sun even came out for a while. About 100 miles.

Today: 20 minutes easy spinning during lunch. Then stretched. Snow flurries.

Two Hundred Four

I decided to do my long ride on Saturday instead of Sunday due to the weather forecast. I only rode about 100 miles (25 mile loop, 50 mile loop, 25 mile loop). On the 25 mile loops, I didn't take any food or water with me. On the 50 mile loop, I took a bottle of Ensure Plus, but it was spoiled. I didn't realize it was bad until I had a mouth full. That was gross. I intended to do one more 25 mile loop, but I didn’t get back on the bike after turning on the TV to see how the Michigan vs. Ohio State game was going. I only watched the last two minutes of the game, but the TV was like a drug tempting me to stay in the house instead of getting back on the bike. I’m not too worried about it at this point in the game. There are 29 weeks to go, and I have to maintain a positive attitude about training. I don’t mind being a little behind schedule as long as I’m healthy and well-rested.

I took Sunday off. This morning I hit the road at 10:30 for a couple of hours, because it was nice outside, and I’ve got meetings tonight that last until 6, and then David has Boy Scouts, so there won’t be any time to train when I get home. I added about 2.5 miles to my usual “25” mile loop by going to the end of Jackson School Road and turning around by the lumber mill. This afternoon I took a 15 minute break and stretched in the gym.

For the past week or two, I’ve been eating oatmeal with dried fruit every day for breakfast (not the instant, full-of-sugar kind). I’m also trying to eat more vegetables and less meat. In Danny Chew’s post-RAAM interview with Jonathan “Jock” Boyer, Chew asks Boyer about the differences between racing at age 50 vs. age 29. Boyer’s comments about diet are very interesting:

“I had without a doubt higher watts in 1985 during the RAAM. The equipment factor was for sure a handicap. In this year's RAAM, I had the best bikes and equipment available, and was able to take advantage of that aspect. My VO2 was not significantly lower, but I feel my efficiency has improved especially in my last 2 years - due primarily to my organic, healthful diet and supplements. I think that my real metabolic health is superior now than in 1985, just then I had more strength to dig into. I could not afford that luxury this year, and even learned quite a lot in my nutritional needs and supplements, and would change quite a few things that would enable me to extend my stamina and strength. The RAAM is a fascinating event that stresses every system that out body has, and keeping each system at it's optimum is so crucial, each choice we make in diet, hydration, clothes, and equipment has such an impact on them, it's critical we make the right choices.”

Two Hundred Three

According to my training plan, this is the first week of my base phase. (The last three months were the prep phase.) Last Sunday I went to the 'cross race in Estacada instead of riding long, but since then I've been hitting my milage targets. I used Google Earth to estimate the distance I've been riding. It turns out that the route I followed Tuesday-Thursday is very close to the 25 miles I planned to ride. I woke up around 4:30, had breakfast, rode the loop, cleaned up, had second breakfast, and then rode to work. Wednesday and today I worked out in the gym. I did legs both days and upper body today. I've also been sqeezing in some yoga here and there. The forecast is for sun Saturday and wind and rain Sunday, so I think I'll ride long on Saturday. I started using my new Selle An-Atomica Titanico saddle late last week. The rails on that thing are LONG. I'm still experimenting with the fit, and I haven't ridden that far on it yet, so it's a little early to pass judement.

Two Hundred Two

Saturday I rode to the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove and joined the Oregon Randonneurs for a 100K. It was fairly dry at the start, but we were TRES soaked by the end. We finished in Verbort. I had a couple of sausages, a hot cocoa, and some coffee at the sausage festival before riding home. I rode with John Climaldi for a while out to Snoozeville but couldn't keep up. He was too strong for me. I finished in a small group including Nate Armburst, who took some neat pictures.

On Sunday, David, Lara and I headed out to Barton park for 'cross. David and Lara rode in the kiddie 'cross race for the first time. I rode in the single speed race again. The course was REALLY fun. Some rain, lots of mud, water, steep hills - the works! I rode all of the technical stuff, including the ditch. The first lap, I hesitated at the edge of the ditch and decided to dismount and run it. On the second lap I watched someone else ride it, so I gave it a try and almost made it up the other side. The third lap, I took it full speed and rode it all the way through. Hugh Gapay was there with his son. We chatted for a while before the kiddie 'cross race. There are so many familiar faces at these races. It's great!

This morning I did some quick maintenance on the Country Road Bob before work: overhauled the headset, cleaned and lubed the chain, put the rack back on (using blue lock tight), installed a new rear fender, and greased some bolts on the stem.

Today's weather forecast in the Oregonian called for "Pouring Rain". My ride home should be fun.

Two Hundred One

Everything you've been dying to know and then some...

On the Saturday the 14th, I rode about 60 miles with Matthew and then a few more with the rest of the family. We drove the bikes out to the linear state park that goes from Banks to Verbort. I left my allen wrenches at home, so my front wheel wasn't on very tight. We ate apples that were growing along the trail until we were nearly sick and then took a bunch home with us. The 'cross race at Hillsboro was the next day.

My parents flew out for a visit on Tuesday, October 17th. They returned home Wednesday, the following week. Dad was busy as usual building shelves for the closets, installing a new air foil on the van, assembling bookcases, etc, etc. Mom accompanied me to the DMV on Friday, where I took (and passed) a driving test. Yes, I have a driver license again, but I don't use it much. It does come in handy once in a while. After surviving without one for a few months, I feel comfortable managing the responsibility. Sort of like graduating from rehab, I suppose. Saturday we went to a Boy Scout open house at Camp Ireland - very cool place, by the way! Sunday we drove down to Eugene to visit Xiang. Saturday and Sunday mornings were spent at the T-Hills pool for David and Lara's swim meet. Dad and I talked about RAAM and printed out the 2006 route. About half way through the printing process, I realized that we were probably consuming trees unnecessarily. Last year the complete route was provided in DeLorme's electronic format for use with their mapping software and, ideally, a GPS device attached to a laptop.

On the 28th, I rode to Salem. Less than a mile from the house, a strap from one of my panniers got caught on my cog. The fixie won that battle; my pannier is now a little worse for wear. I flatted crossing the bridge in Salem. A few miles later, I stopped at one of those road-side taco trucks for a $4.50 Super Burrito. (Note to self: Resist the urge to consume large quantities of hot peppers.) I met Julia and the kids at the mall for dinner. We had a bunch of coupons for free this and that. I don't think we spent a dime, in fact. Coincidentally, we ran into Joseph. Matthew was coming to pick him up. So we decided to split up. Julia went home while Matthew, the kids and I went to the Hillsboro fair grounds where we all took a ride on a monster truck. For $5 a head, the truck did donuts for a few minutes with us strapped into seats in the bed of the pickup. The girls screamed really loud. It's one of those things I'd do once, but not again. I prefer BIG roller coasters.

The next day I went to the Flying-M ranch for my third 'cross race. I was a little tired, and Matthew commented that I didn't look too excited. I did have lots of fun, though. A few beers during the race boosted my spirits. The weather was great. I had my first ever serving of Chris King pancakes. The Halloween costumes were awesome. Some funky bikes. There was even a tandem. I felt bad that I wasn't able to get anyone to come along with me. The kids would have had a blast.

I got pretty wet riding to and from work yesterday. The forecast is rain for about a week. Last night I hung a piece of 1" PVC pipe from the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom. That room really heats up, especially with a little portable space heater. It's a great place to dry clothes now.

Intel made me an offer I couldn't refuse. This year the company is matching gifts to any 501c3 non-profit organization. Any "Blue Badge" employee can give to a charity of their choice and Intel will donate an equal amount to local United Way programs. It was the perfect opportunity to give some money to the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I mailed my deposit for RAAM today!

I'm still reading Road Fever. I'm also reading a new book about Lance Armstrong by Brad Kerns.

Work has already begun on the Spectrum tandem. Also, Ira tells me I'm next on his list. The amazing Mike Jacob has agreed to be my crew chief for RAAM. Life doesn't get any better than this!