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The 5/3 Monster Brick

By: Marvin Tabangay
07-09-2011
bike, run, training

This morning’s workout was the infamous “5/3 Monster Brick” that our coaches have been telling us about (meaning 5 hours bike, 3 hours run). I chose the picture above because you know what? The monster was probably more afraid of the IronTEAM than we were afraid of it. We were a bunch of fearless teammates who will take on whatever the coaches give us!

The coaches intentionally chose Westlake Village because of the expected heat this weekend, which will simulate what it will be like on raceday for us Vineman racers. For the Louisville team, they had to even wear cotton shirts under their normal gear because it will be even more humid & hot over there. Yikes! I was really looking forward to this workout because it was the last major build of the season, plus I installed my new 11/28 cassette last night so I wanted to see what difference it would make (it made a HUGE difference in climbing). The majority of the bike course was all that we’ve seen before, so the biggest variant was the heat, so our hydration strategy had to be dialed in. I actually felt really great on the bike – I even got up to 42mph at one point, a new season high! In the 5 hours, I managed to ride in about 78 miles, which wasn’t too bad considering all the hills 7 heat.

It was the run where everything started to break down. I don’t know exactly what I did wrong. Maybe it was the lack of sleep the previous few days? Maybe it was not enough water? Maybe I didn’t set up the nutrition on the bike well enough to power my run? It just wasn’t my running day. I felt tired early on, and was I really bonking at mile 5?! I did quite a bit of walking, as this was probably my most difficult feeling run of the season. I was so hungry that my stomach was growling. I even yawned at one point. Really?!? I talked to my coaches and they said I probably didn’t have enough carbs. That’s something I’ll have to double check, and it really goes to show how important calculating nutrition is, especially on really hot days, where things can go really bad if not planned correctly. Through the aches and pains, I eventually got through the 16.5 miles with life-saving SAG stops by teammates Traci and Elizabeth, then a moving SAG by Kristi who helped with my hunger with some yams that she had in her bento box. If this was a true taste of what’s to come at Vineman, this definitely humbled me a bit, as I can’t take things for granted and really have to pay attention to the details. Oh, the weekend isn’t over yet! Open water swim + run tomorrow. Bring it!

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11/28 Cassette

By: Marvin Tabangay
07-06-2011
bike

Ahh yeah! Finally installed my Shimano Ultegra 11/28 rear cassette! I used to have an 11/25. If you don’t know what it is, it’s the rear gears for my bike, and the numbers indicate how many teeth in the low and top gears. I’ve had it for a few weeks now but never had a chance to put it on my bike because I didn’t have the correct tools. I wish I had this going up Piuma the other week, but I can’t wait to give this a try on those hills in Westlake! I wonder what the extra 3 teeth will help me, but I do know for sure, on some hills we’ve faced, I sure was wishing there were just a little bit more when I was climbing!

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Vineman Training Weekend Pt. 1

By: Marvin Tabangay
06-27-2011
bike, swim

Friday
Most people will venture out to Santa Rosa for a little wine tasting, but no, not the IronTEAM, we drive up there to get a preview of what’s to come in a few weeks. We got a taste of the Vineman 70.3 and the Full Distance triathlons! Starting on Friday, I met up with some teammates in the valley and we trekked the long, scenic route up north because some of us have never been there. Pictured above was our pit stop at Big Sur. Such beautiful ocean views! I can imagine why the Big Sur International Marathon is one of the top races to do in North America. Although it was nice and scenic, the drive took about 10 hours! We were unfortunately stuck behind some slow trucks on the cliffs, then took the necessary gas/food exits, so that was pretty much day 1 until we got to the Hilton for a little debriefing of what’s to come from our coaches.

Saturday Swim
Day 2 was the main reason why we went up to Santa Rosa – to test out the course! In the morning, we did a bunch of car/bike shuffling at the high school and on to Johnson Beach, where we will be doing our swim. The coaches set up bike transition racks for our convenience, then it was off for a lovely swim in the Russian River! The “slower” swimmers got a head start (which I’m a part of). The water was amazing! I was so used to the cold, salty, & rough ocean, that this was a sweet departure. Temperature was perfect, and the best thing? It was shallow! Shallow enough to stand. It was tough at some parts because I couldn’t even extend my arm all the way (I shouldn’t anyway). It was nice to be shallow enough to see the river floor so I could get a sense of how fase (or slow) I’m going. My open water skills have improved, and my nerves are much more relaxed. We were supposed to swim the full 2.4 miles by looping from the start to the “Big Green Wall”, which I missed! I was with another teammate and we kept on swimming past it – wayyyy past it! I was wondering why no one passed me up yet? I turned around sooner on the second loop to offset my mistake, but eventually finished! Of course, I was one of the last ones out because almost all the bikes on the rack were gone!

Saturday Bike
After the swim, we had an opportunity to test out the full 112 miles on the bike! The course was two loops through the beautiful vineyards of Santa Rosa. We passed by so many wineries that it was so difficult to resist temptation to stop and get a drink! The course was exactly what people described – hot, relatively flat but rolling hills, bumpy, scenic. It was true test of endurance, but more importantly a test with my nutrition and hydration. I tried something new though – Honey Stinger Waffles. It’s very tasty, but doesn’t have much calories, which I’ll be needing. It’s best to try and fail on this new product now than on raceday! There’s a big hill towards the end, but it’s nothing compared to some of the hills we’ve conquered during training. The bumpy roads masked within the shadows of the trees was a challenge. I lost 2 water bottles because of it! Overall, I was feeling great after I eventually finished the 112 in 7:20 hours. It wasn’t painful, it wasn’t overly difficult. It’s manageable if I set up my nutrition and bike strategy well. I now know how 112 feels, so that completed my puzzle of the IronTEAM unknowns.

THEN, just when you thought it was over, we had to do a 6 mile transition RUN. Yes, a run. My legs were so heavy! I was still able to run here and there, but slower pace nonetheless. It was a preview of what’s to come, but I felt overall good about it. It’s still a little crazy to think I’ll be running 26.2 after the 112, but it’s great to know that really is within arm’s reach!

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The Infamous Piuma

By: Marvin Tabangay
06-18-2011
bike, run, training

One of the things I remembered from conversations with last year’s IronTEAM participants was an odd word called “Piuma”. I didn’t know exactly what it was or what it referred to, but I just know it related to one of the practices. Now this morning, I finally knew what it meant. It’s a road out in Westlake (or in the vicinity of), called Piuma Rd. I checked the the bike route the night before and there it presented itself to me, in the elevation chart. What the! 2,000ish feet climb over the course of 8 miles?! Well, last year, people did this climb before Wildflower, so I can see why people complained about it last year. Yes, it was one crazy climb though! It just would never end! This one made Nasty Grade look like a baby. It didn’t get super steep like Nasty, but it was just super long. The descent was fun, but oh so scary! Imagine going down 30+ mph AND having some turns. I’m not that comfortable on the downhills yet, so you know I was pumping my brakes like crazy! Just when I thought the climbing was over, towards the end of the course, we did more climbing! The heat was coming in pretty strong too!

After all that, I felt surprisingly OK, but of course, my legs were heavy. What was next? A 12 mile run! Oh my! The ride took approximately 4:15, then the run, which were 3 loops around Westlake streets circling the lake, took 2:30. I took a bunch of walk breaks on this one, which will probably simulate what I’ll be doing on raceday. Heavy legs and heat are no bueno! This practice was definitely one of the toughest to date!


The Route

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E.T. Goes to San Diego

By: Marvin Tabangay
06-11-2011
bike

I first heard about an IronTEAM ride to “San Diego” last year when my roommate Carlos was on the Team. He was documenting his experience, and this video was one of the first to spark my interest in joining the team:

Ever since then I’ve been looking forward to this ride! It’s really crazy to think that we rode our bikes to SAN DIEGO (Del Mar to be exact). Our route took us from Anaheim to Del Mar, passing through parts of the OC ride we did a few weeks ago, to the San Onofre boobies (see below), Camp Pendleton Base, Oceanside, Encinitas, and more.

It was our “recovery week” for the Full Vineman team, so we had to dial back the effort, and made it more of social (but not to social) ride. We rode in packs, but still respecting all the rules of the road. I had my fun using my bike bell here and there, then we tried to have conversations when we can, so the time actually flew by pretty quickly. We had two SAG (Supplies & Gear) stations along the way to switch out any bottles or special needs, so that was a nice break as well. We rode through some neighborhoods near Oceanside which reminded me of E.T. (see the main image of this post) and its chase scene. Since it was technically still training and not some easy ride down south, I still tried to challenge myself and practiced my aero position, letting go more on the downhills, letting the turns take me, and I squeezed in a few speed bursts, especially on the tarmac of Camp Pendleton.

So the actual ride was 80 or so miles, and there was an optional extra 20 miles to the Torrey Pines area near SDSU in La Jolla if we wanted to top off the 100. By the time I got to the turn, I actually felt really good to continue for another century, so I did! 5 minutes into it, my watch beeped to warn me it was time to take in some nutrition. So I reached down to get my second water bottle, and NOPE, it wasn’t there! What?!? Did I drop it along the way? I didn’t hear anything! Hmm… do I keep going without any nutrition? I’m already 80+ , and there’s another SAG at 90. Should I keep going? Well, my sister used to live in La Jolla and I kinda remember how hilly it was. It was a recovery week, so I decided to turn back, and not to push it, especially with no water or Accellerade! That would be stupid. I already passed 100 last week, no need to do it this time. We all eventually made it to the Del Mar Hilton safely, and when I gathered all my gear at the parking lot, guess what was in my bag, the extra bottle full of Accellerade I thought I dropped. Doh!

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First 100+ Mile Ride

By: Marvin Tabangay
06-04-2011
bike

Just last week, I hit my 100 Mile Weekend milestone, but this morning, I hit 100 miles on a bike in a single practice! 102 to be exact, in 6:02. The schedule was to do 90 mile minimum or 6 hours, whichever comes last. We started on Ocean and San Vicente, odd birthday years went first, even numbers went up to 4th st on San Vicente (a little backward), just to break up the chunks of groups. The route took us from Santa Monica up PCH, a little detour up Encinal Canyon for a mile, continue north on PCH until it pretty much ended as a small highway (it begins to be a major freeway after thaht), exited Los Robles, headed east towards the Camarillo Outlets, then back.

I felt really great throughout the ride – it’s probably a combination of what I ate last night (chicken & brown rice), planned nutrition, and my improvement in overall fitness week by week. I was able to push myself by speeding up with intervals, and take advantage of the downhills. It’s scary but exciting that I feel more comfortable just letting go and enjoying the ride. As far as nutrition, I didn’t change anything I consumed, but I did change a setting on my watch where it would beep every 15 minutes to remind me to drink and/or eat. The worst part of the ride was in the Los Robles area, where nasty headwinds occurred heading back to PCH. I was wondering why I was going 30mph outbound, but going against the headwinds held me back to 11mph-ish. The ride back on PCH felt like it went by pretty quickly, as it felt a little routine. At times I would just enjoy the views of the ocean, birds flying in formation, cars zipping by – the whole experience of it.

By the time I got back to Santa Monica, we did our usual Amalfi Loop (Amalfi is a famous bike/run street here). After riding 90 or so miles, those hills were just torture, but we handled it. We circled the Brentwood Golf Course, and did a few out and backs to top over 100 miles! Oh but wait! Practice was not over. A 30 minute run immediately followed, and man oh man, my legs were not cooperating! I was running at a pretty quick pace at first (around 9 min), then 11, then 12ish. Here was my one and only thought: “How am I supposed to do 26.2 miles after a 112 mile bike ride?!” Things eventually stabilized, and it wasn’t too bad after all. It’s so weird I tell ya… but loving every minute of it!

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First 100+ Mile Weekend

By: Marvin Tabangay
05-30-2011
bike, training

Last weekend was a monster one because it finished build week 2 of 3, before we do another recovery week.

On Saturday, we met in Long Beach, not too far from where we met last time, but right at the border near Seal Beach. We were scheduled to do a 5 hour ride with a minimum of 75 miles. The route took us from Long Beach heading south on PCH until we hit Viejo St in Laguna. We turned around to Avocado St which was about 6 miles in Newport Beach. We were to continue that 12 mile loop until it was time to head back. For the most part, the ride was pretty flat, with some rollers near the far parts of the loops. What really took up time during our ride were the stop lights inside the loop, and the heavy traffic near the bars/restaurants/shops. The shopping area in Newport didn’t have any bike lanes so things got really narrow at times with really rude drivers. I even had to make some last minute calls and turn to ride on the sidewalks just so I don’t crash into other cars. Even one of my teammates got clipped by a car (she’s ok though). There were some nice ocean views, as seen in the above photo, and weather wasn’t too bad either. I was able to practice my aero position on the flats and pushed with some intervals. My overall time was about 5:34 with a rolling time of 5:14, and surpassed my previous bike milestone of 72 to 84.4! Once I got back to homebase, the day wasn’t over, since we had to do 30 minute run shortly after, which was about 3 miles for a daily total of 87.7.

We were supposed to do an open water swim in Manhattan Beach on Sunday, but our coaches made a late night decision and called it off because of forecasted 5 foot swells and rough waters. Whew! We met at the Manhattan Beach Pier anyway and ran some loops to Redondo Beach. We did a little of the chip trail, then the rest on The Strand, where heading south was pretty fast, but whenever we came back north, we were faced with some pretty nasty headwinds. Twice the effort, same speed… ugh. Some of us ran with Coach Jason, who gave some nice pointers on running technique, especially talking about the technique I’m learning from the book, Chi Running, where there’s a forward lean from the ankles, and a forefoot strike with higher cadence. He got me aware of my technique and I tried to apply it on the run. Overall, I was very happy because the run added to a milestone weekend – it was the furthest I’ve ran without any walk intervals – 17 miles!

So if this 104.7 mile weekend was Build 2, what’s Build 3? Bring it!

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The Kindle Trainer

By: Marvin Tabangay
05-26-2011
bike

It’s no question that being on a trainer is very boring, so we tend to multitask by either firing up some Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, or whatever on the TV. Not this time, it just so happens that my Amazon Kindle rests perfectly in between my aerobars! It’s kinda funny though that I was reading a running book (Chi Running) while riding, but it proved to be productive!

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Real Ryder Cardio Core Plus

By: Marvin Tabangay
05-24-2011
bike

This morning I took a special class at the Real Ryder Cycling Studio in Brentwood, CA called Cardio Core Plus. Just as the name implies, it works your core. It’s not your regular spin class because this session incorporated A LOT more turning and balancing. After a pretty tough 50 minute spin with climbs and turns, we dismounted our bikes, and went on mats in the back of the room where we did some crunches, planks, leg raises. It was so tough, I could not finish some of them. You know what? As difficult as it may be, It was my first time doing those workouts, so I won’t quit there – I’ll be back next week!

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Oh Mandy!

By: Marvin Tabangay
04-02-2011
bike

Today was pretty much a mini-triathlon in Santa Monica. After the ocean swim, we biked north on Ocean and did the Amalfi Hills and up to Mandeville Canyon, and popular climbing ride here. We had to climb up “Mandy” twice, and by my facial expression above, it’s no easy feat. It was hard to imagine that this week was even called “recovery.” What the! Coming down the hill, I had some issues with my bike clips not attaching to my pedals. Tried multiple times, and it just would not clip in! Maybe it was a rock, or it was dirty. Eventually, it clipped in, but maybe 80% of the descent, I was spinning on one leg. I was one of the last cyclists in because of this complication, then a 30 minute run was in order. Again, another complication – maybe 5 minutes in, I noticed my run watch didn’t START. Doh! My mileage on the watch said 2666?? Mileage wasn’t increasing, so I was pretty much winging it by the time. Oh well, I think it wasn’t picking up the GPS correctly, so it just bonked on me. It better not do this on raceday! Overall, a lot of learning was done today despite the setbacks on all 3 sports. I can only be positive about it and look forward to the next practice!

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