Update the blog.

Man, it's been awhile since I've even been on blogger, let alone posted something new. Think I lost some motivation for a few weeks, bad weather, bad moods, not training enough, etc etc. Then I get busy with work, a few long distance training classes so another few weeks go by, still no posts or even visits to some of my favorite blogs. I can imagine how pathetic this will get in the summer months! WOW.

So, training update; I've been training hard, longer sessions than '08, and my March '09 totals so far this month are equaling my entire March '08 totals. I've started doing some hill drills on the trainer, man, those are leg blasters! Good article from the April '09 Triathlete Magazine, the 300th Issue. The main focus of the article was training for extended out of saddle time and even seated, lower cadence training. The last trainer session consisted of a 2+ hr ride, with out of saddle "intervals", starting at 1 minute, rest, up to 2 minutes, rest, up to 6 minutes continuos out of saddle pounding in a big gear, like 14, 15 or 16t. Legs were blown up after this session. The article also plans out how to train for low cadence, hammer training or a mix of out of saddle then seated hammering. This seated and combo training requires you to block the front wheel up, simulating elevation. I have not tried the seated/standing combo drills yet, but I will next week one night, when the weather is supposed to go to crap again. But, did these drills help in the real world?

Yeah, I'd say. A buddy of mine and I went on my 17.6 mile out and back the other day; now there are a few rolling hills on this route, and normally I'll get out of the saddle and pound on those pedals. This time, I could stay seated on one of the last tough uphill sections, and I had one gear left to spare. The legs feel much stronger, and it is early in the year yet.

Today, I got out for a 2hr 3min ride. Did 35+ miles, averaged 17.2 mph and felt good, despite the cold (it was about 33 deg when I got home, with a WC of 25!). I also ran the new front Aksium wheel with the new Conti 4000 tire for the 1st time-not the rear wheel, as I haven't swapped out the cassette from old to new rim (yet). I got the new tools I need for this today, and will do so over this weekend. I also reserved my bike shipping box at the LBS, next pricing out how much it will cost to send there and back! I've also got to figure a good way to send about a case of beer (bottles) from the local brew houses to my buddies' place in VA, we need to have a few and give a few to his local garage that is letting him use a van/trailer to haul us and our bikes/gear to Charleston SC.

YTD totals: So far, so good. I am down to T minus 6 weeks until I fly out and get ready for the 1,000 miles. So here we are:

25 rides
time in saddle-30 hr 6m 53s
21,000+ kcals
HR- 142 avg 172 max
speed 17.14 avg 37 mph max
117 road miles

I'll try to shoot some pics on one of these rides and post some here. I'm working on getting a Milwaukee news outlet to do a story on our ride, and we will need to gear up for the interviews and scene shots anyways.