Carmel to San Luis Obispo. Long day in which we got through 135 miles. Started and ended in the rain. Pretty cold day.

After getting lost in the Marina trying to find Vic’s place, then getting lost in Daly City, and jumping on the freeway to get to Pacifica (SCARY!), we finally got into sort of a rhythm albeit against headwinds. Included getting lost, I ended up cycling ~110 miles, Rahim powered thru ~15 miles, and Mike did ~125. Very hard cycling day. Day 2 and 3 recaps will come soon.

I’ve already signed up for 4 triathlons for 2010 and if I want to do well there needs to be a change in my training. This year I will be incorporating yoga along with more stretching and core workouts into my routine. I’ve been seeing Adolfo at Avanzare SF, will keep running on the Alter G at M2, while checking out yoga classes at the Presidio YMCA, making more use of a foam roller, the stick, and a tennis ball. Also, here is a link if you are interested in learning more about Kinesio tape. I used to get taped up when I went to the Chiropractor in Japan and it’s becoming popular in the US now.

What has become an annual tradition, I joined members of the Golden Gate Triathlon Club in a dip in Aquatic Park. I crazily swam without a wetsuit. Warming up post-swim proved to be a problem.

M2 Revolution recently got a weird looking treadmill called the Alter G. As fate would have it, it would be around the time when I would be needing a way to run while recovering from my first ultramarathon.

The Alter G is a great way to recover from a  race or from injury without putting running on your full weight. I was able to keep a 6:00 pace for 25 minutes while varying the body weight percentage from 85% to 90%. Towards the end of the workout I started to get tired but overall it was amazing to be able to go that fast a week after running a very hard and long race. Next time I try it out I will definitely make sure I don’t have to go to the bathroom as it puts a lot of pressure around your midsection.

There have been quite a few articles written about this treadmill that is based on NASA technology.

Video of my experience during the NFEC 50 miler

NFEC Data from my Garmin 305

This morning I took a VO2 max test at Breakaway Performance to measure my aerobic fitness and get some heart-rate numbers to have more efficient workouts.

For those of you unfamiliar with this test, here’s an explanation from About.com: “VO2 max, or maximal oxygen uptake, is one factor that can determine an athlete’s capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. VO2 max refers to the m

aximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. It is measured as “milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight.”

Du

e to problems with my heart-rate being transmitted I started the test 3 times so by my third time, I was quite warmed up. I had followed all the rules regarding food, caffeine, and alcohol intake so as to get the best results possible. Basically, I was told:

• 1 full day of rest – active recovery
• No alcohol the day before
• No coffee 12 hours before
• No food 3 hours before

I’d been meaning to get a test like this taken over the past year but due to my schedule I wasn’t able to get it done until now. It actually came at the perfect time as I’m training for a 50 mile trail race with lots of elevation change and a lot of my workouts involve keeping my heart-rate at a certain level.

So on with the test. It happens on a treadmill with me wearing a mask that will measure my oxygen utilization. We started at 3 mph with 0% incline and gradually increased it until I was almost ready to pass out at 8 mph with 12 % incline. For 10 seconds I was at 14% incline but that wasn’t going to be sustainable. I will look more over the data I received from this test and fine tune my workouts so that they are more efficient.

The numbers I’m focusing on mostly is the 157 heartrate which is when I’m most efficient. I’m also happy that my VO2 Max was 69.8. I believe the average for somebody of my height and weight is 44.0. I was told that a ridiculously fit pro will be somewhere around 85.

Just in case you were wondering (as I was), here is the breakdown of the difficulty of my first ever  50 mile ultramarathon that is happening on Dec. 5, 2009. On the website, their advice to runners is, “Participants are encouraged to train for repeated uphills and downhills of several hundred feet at a time.”

That’s a lot of stars. Gonna be a doozy.

Oh GGTC, you’ve been good to me. Now it’s time I give back. Training for races is fun and all but those post workout drinks is where the glue is. You get a chance to take off the spandex, do your hair up, and meet people in an element where it doesn’t matter if you’re an elite, novice, or somewhere between. I promise that nobody will get dropped at a social I’m in charge of.

I’m all for really intense workouts but more importantly I need a place to recoup those lost calories whether it’s in the form of a beer, chocolate milk, or some sweet drink that the Sponsorship director hooks us up with.

As Social Director, I plan on putting in the effort I pour into my training into running successful socials, Wildflower Training weekend, year end parties, and so on. I plan on having an open ear to the types of socials you’d like and also the different organizations you’d like to have them with.

Being Social Director isn’t just about putting on parties and I look forward to applying the experience I gained from being on other non-profit boards such as being the Vice President and Treasurer of the JET Alumni Association of Northern California and from being an advisor on the Asia Society Young Professionals Group. Together I look forward to 2010 being a great year of successful races and memorable socials. It’s all about balance. I also plan on making more use of technology and social networks to:

- create GGTC promotional videos

- Create content for FB and our events pages