Transition

Well, so it's that time of year. For most racers it's "that time of year, again". For me, not ever having trained before, I've never had an off-season. Or a period of transition. Last year I went right from my 12 Hour race to prep and then base shortly after to get ready for 2009.

Transition has been...weird.

Justin and I took a full 6 days off the bike. Instead of catching up on sleep and doing a lot of relaxing, I drank too many beers, too much wine, and fell behind on sleep and rest!

Sunday we got back on the bikes, and also rode Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. The weather has been pretty good this week (low 70s), but windy as all get out!

Monday we picked up some brews from BevMo



I'm ready for my close-up



We chilled and opened the Stone/Ken Schmidt/Maui Kona Coffee/Coconut Porter/Macadamia trilogy Monday with dinner



Now, I'm not a beer connoisseur, so excuse my terminology, but, here goes:

First draw of the acronym from hell beer was...lackluster. For a $7 12oz I expected a lot more. It was smoothe, sort of like a pale beer, and wasn't bursting with flavor. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed. I sat mine down and went back to work finishing up dinner prep. Justin continued to sip at his, and offered that it got better after a few tastes.

He was right. As we got deeper into it, it did evolve and wound up quite flavorful and tasty. Became much more rich and deep as we drank and savored the small 12oz bottle. No, it wasn't becauase we were getting drunk, either, even if it is 8.5%, in 12oz that isn't enough to buzz Justin!

We did get a bit of a laugh about it, since I was asking Justin if "okole" meant "butt" (as noted on Pua's Okole Stuff chamois cream). He asked why, and I said the writing on the back of the bottle ended "Okole maluna" and I couldn't figure out what they were saying "butt" about. He was like, "What are you talking about? Mine ends with cheers." Well, it seems that every bottle has one of 3 text's on it (I'm guessing).



I google'd it, and it actually translates to "Bottoms Up!"

I did very much enjoy the beer when all was said and done, however, at the cost, I think I'd probably choose something else for the next go.

I was sad to find on Tuesday that Costco was out of blueberries. So, back to strawberries I went. Not my first choice for breakfast fruit mostly because they require a lot more prep work than blueberries (rinse and store vs. rinse, chop, clean up chopping materials, store).

I'm also sad that my mug is half-size. Thanks to Jeff for thinking of me, but it seems that Yuba is out of mugs for the year! My loss.



Tuesday we did our normal hour loop. How do you ride when you aren't training? What HR zone do you shoot for? Should you keep your power numbers in the active recovery range? Does it even matter? Yes, I have asked Justin these questions about 10 times this week.



Suffering up a hill anyway



We busted into the Maui Brewing Co. CoCoNut PorTer a few days ago.



It is delish. From first draw it tastes great. Not too heavy like some porters, but definitely a good finish. This one didn't develop as it went on, however, but still highly recommended, and much more affordable than the Stone trilogy Maui Kona nut, etc.

Dinnah



This week we got back into the gym. I'm using Transition as a big building period for the legs. Some people think that weights aren't really that important, but believe me...if you can't one-legged leg press the sled with no weight you probably should be in the gym. Yeah. Sad. But, true.

So, I'm mixing up some plyometrics with some strengthing exercises, and doing a tiny bit of upper body and mixing up the core work as well. Once training starts back up the gym will for sure take a back seat, but for the next 4-6 weeks it's all about growth, baby!

Tomorrow I am finally getting back on DIRT. I haven't ridden off-road since 9/27 and it's about time. Will be on a new (TO ME) bike - Canzo 29! Looking forward to rocking the big wheels again for awhile since my Epic is taking a break from riding until we have a plan for next year. Sunday I think I'm going to see if I can still pedal, and then put more hurt on myself riding the Uno (Dos) Niner somewhere hilly.

I could really use a long day in the mountains to take my mind off some stuff. Hopefully it'll work!