The Amazing Orca Bag

In the big box of gear that I got from Orca as my first shipment of sponsorship product, I got something that I was not expecting, but that ultimately turned out to be one of the most exciting items I received. It was a high-capacity, single-compartment, waterproof, roll-top bag! A lot of hyphenation, but it is what it is!

I was going to make my first Orca gear post about my Alpha wetsuit, but I've gotten so many compliments and questions about the bag, that I decided that it definitely warranted a post of it's own. It seems that many triathletes like the sleek styling, but bike-messenger/utilitarian feel of the bag, as demonstrated by the massive amount of bag-lust it's causing. So! On to the good stuff. Aside from it's sexy lines, why is it so awesome?


I can seriously put everything I need for a full day of training in the bag, and I don't have to take time to evenly disperse things through 5 different compartments, which ultimately become black holes, swallowing up different pieces of apparel throughout the week. With this bag, I can stuff everything I need for my long ride in the bottom, then on top of that, put the stuff for my run, and then my swim, or any variation on that order depending on the order of my workouts for the day.

Packing List: (this all fit in this crazy bag!)
Cycling shoes     base layer        heavy gloves           running shorts    wallet
leg warmers       arm warmers    light gloves              tech-T shirt        gels
bibs                      jersey               warm shoe covers   water bottles     shot bloks
knickers               vest                  rain shoe covers       swim brief        odwalla bar
socks                   rain shell           cycling cap              drag suit            Helmet (on outside)

All of this gear used to be spread out through 2-3 other bags which made walking anywhere an extreme pain, and I was always bumping in to people and dropping the various bags at inopportune moments.

The nice thing about the bag, is it doesn't appear obscenely large, as many transition bags do, especially when measuring side-to-side. This makes it great for wearing while cycling, and it has a waist strap to keep it in place and distribute some of the load to your hips. The roll top also makes the bag considerably smaller when you don't have it completely chock full, so it's almost like getting two bags in one. The water-proof nature of the PVC is definitely a plus as well for outdoor carrying in Portland.

Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with the bag, it's nice and simple, but incredibly functional. Perfect for the time crunched, but style conscious athlete. If you want one, talk to Scott or myself at the Lounge, maybe we can order some up :)

Sick day.

So I've been sick the last few days with some sort of stomach flu or food poisoning, and luckily it was mild enough that I only missed one day of training. However, it made me think about a lot of the times in the past that I have made silly mistakes when I was sick, especially because I was very tempted to cut corners to get back to workout this time around.

I thought I would break down into some quick bullet points my experience with sickness and training in case anyone hasn't experienced all of them first hand. And even though you may pick up something new, most likely you're a very driven, hard-working endurance athlete and you'll have to actually experience these things for yourself. That's how it was for me anyway :)

1)REST... It can't be emphasized enough, if you feel terrible, just stop. You really won't perform as well even though you're putting in the effort, and what's more, you won't be able to recover from the sub-par work you did. I figure every day you push through probably adds 2-3 days on to your sick time because of the added stress you put on your body. More sick=less workouts overall.

2)Sick days don't count as rest days... This is one I actually slightly blew this time around. I missed my run on Sunday, so I thought I would swap my 30 minute swim for a 30 minute run on Monday and call Sunday my rest day. Luckily, I had alterior motives besides just getting in a missed workout, I needed to see how a foot support from my chiropractor worked on very short run, and I wanted a quick test of my digestive health before our speed workout. These helped distractme and I didn't just add my 2 hour run in,(even though I was tempted) and kept the total minutes the same.

3)hydrate...When you're sick it's very easy to get hydrated because your body is burning up water trying to fight off your illness, especially if you have a fever. Vommitting also dehydrated you at an alarming rate, and you are less likely to drink if your stomach is upset. Coming into workouts after getting dehydrated over several days of sickness is a sure way to have a disappointing performance.

4)do NOT go to work!... Especially if you work with a bunch of athletes. This also applies to workouts.. Being sick around people who don't want to be sick is a sure fire way to kill friendship, plus if anyone else happens to have a bug, you are very likely to get it, as your immune system is highly compromised. This is difficult for ultra motivated type-A's because we want to be productive and strong, but I assure you, when you are sick, you are neither productive or strong.

That's all I've got for now, I know this is all easier said than done, so don't sweat it if you mess up one part, but the more of it you get right, the quicker you'll be healthy, so it's in your hands!

I'm going to live by my advice to rest, and go log some hours in bed. Not until after I hydrate though :)

OBRA Road Race State Champs: 1st place cat 4/5

Saturday was the OBRA state championship road race in Silverton, Or.
It was a 53 mile bike race with 4500 vertical feet of climbing, so definitely on the hillier side for a road race.
My objective of the day was not just to win, but to win in a certain way, by breaking away late in the race after saving energy riding in the peloton (main group), and practicing bike handling skills.
I accomplished half of my objective by winning, but I got too excited and broke away after only 14 miles, and rode for the remaining 40 with only one other rider, also named Eric. It was an interesting breakaway, because neither of us really attacked, we just happened to open up a gap on a climb when a weaker rider ran out of energy and the riders behind him were slow to react. We quickly realized what had happened, and Eric shouted "lets go!" Eric turned out to be an awesome guy, strong on the bike, and it was a pleasure to work with him. I also noticed he was riding for Soraz racing team, which has a relationship with Athletes Lounge, my main sponsor, so we stuck together as long as our legs would allow, on to fight the good, but often losing fight of those in a breakaway.

At first, the group gave chase, and it looked like we would stay away for only a short time, but after a few miles of a very strong effort on our part, their intensity lessened, and we began to pull further and further away. By mile 30 we had 1:40sec gap and there was only a group of 6 riders chasing. The rest of the field had broken apart due to the fast pace, and it looked like we had the top of the podium in the bag.

As much as I was suffering, Eric had it worse, due to aggressive riding prior to our breakaway, (this guy was a beast!) and around mile 43, he was unable to hold the pace any longer and it was up to me to take all of our hard work to the finish line. I hoped that he would be able to hold on to his second place position, but the 2 minute gap we had built up would prove to be about 10 seconds short of what was needed, and he was caught at the line by the two remaining riders behind us. I ended up crossing the line 4 minutes ahead of them, after increasing my lead by 2 minutes in the last 10 miles.

I'm extremely happy with my result, winning is always fun, but as I said earlier, the goal of the race was to experience the large group of riders for as long as possible before making my move. So for next time, I will have to be more patient and attack with maybe 10 miles to go, which will make for a more exciting race, as well as a better simulation of the draft-legal triathlon format. I had a blast meeting and riding with Eric, as well as several other guys I talked to during and after the race. Thanks to OBRA for putting on quality events such as this.

Good times! thanks for reading :)

A Day In Pictures

7:30 Using my pulse oximeter to measure my heart rate and the oxygen levels in my blood. This data, along with some subjective "how do you feel" type questions, are put into restwise.com, which gives me a recovery score for the day, indicating my ability to benefit from training.

7:45 I love this poster. Always puts my head in the right space. I've got quotes on my mirror too. I like the constant reminders that I'm trying to do accomplish some pretty lofty goals and I need to stay sharp/positive/ etc. My favorite right now: "Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy." -Mike Ditka

8:00

Inputing restwise data, checking facebook, working on the Pro Team running video. Breakfast is a big bowl of cereal, toast with peanut butter, and a banana.

8:45

Food for the day until I make it home sometime in the afternoon. Two PB&J's, trail mix, shot bloks and gels for workout, odwalla bars, fruit, V8. All my food is weighed/ measured in some way so I know exactly how many grams of carbohydrate, fat, protein I have, and when. Timing and volume is critical in endurance sports so that you can get the maximum benefit from the food you eat, and also to make sure you get enough so that the second and third workouts of the day go well.

9:00

 Picking out the bike for the day. I have a draft-legal race coming up in June, so I have to make sure I split time evenly between my road bike and my time trial bike which isn't allowed in draft-legal racing.

9:15

This is where I spend a lot of my time unfortunately, and my gas bill will confirm. It's a 35 minute drive to get in to Portland for training every day, but it's well worth it to train with professional athletes. I stay out the entire day, like any job, and consolidate my appointments so that I only make the trip once.

11:00

Reed College 800 meter loop with the team. Tahir and I just finished up 2 x 2 mile @ 5:25 pace, 15min jog, 2x 1 mile @ 4:57, 4:36. Hard day, but a strong finish and good times!

11:30

It's important to have some fun, and we all love coffee, so we checked out this new coffee shop on the way to the pool, which turned out to be pretty cool, and they had some great beans. What more could you want.

11:35

Partaking. Ladies and gentlemen.. the one and only Chris Boudreaux.

12:00

Swim was just 3k (about 2 miles). Main set: 4x400 (200 race pace, 200 cruise). We jumped in the sauna afterwards for some deep conversation and heat acclimation.

1:15

Finishing off my lunch at the shop. I like to hang out and talk to the mechanics because they have some funny conversations and are the secret behind Portland's triathlon bikes running smoothly. Show your mechanics some love!

2:30

Ready to ride from Athletes Lounge with Chris Boudreaux. So much carbon fiber goodness it's tough to even think straight. It's like walking into a Ferrari Dealership that has every single top-end car in every color and every option.

3:00

90 minutes aerobic. Plenty of time to have some fun! First sunny day we've had in a week!

4:00

My view for most of the ride. Boudreaux leading the way. The man is racing Florida 70.3 in 5 days!

5:30

Going to get put back together. This place has kept me from falling apart for the last 2 years. Not an easy feat. If you have any issues, really do check it out. Dr. Kreger is a great guy, and he knows his stuff like you wouldn't believe.

6:15

Finally back home for the day. Time to unload all the gear.

6:30

Measuring out the home-made-in-the-crockpot-out-of-this-world sloppy joe mix my Mom made. If I had to cook all my own dinners.. well its best not to think about. Thanks Mom! Again, measuring everything out keeps my nutritional intake high enough, and in the right macro-nutrient ratios.

8:00

All showered, getting in some foam rolling and stretching while watching TV. Foam roller is critical when a massage is not available. Today was too busy to fit one in, so foam rolling can accomplish some of the same objectives. Finishing off some pita bread and hummus, and of course hydrating!

9:15 

 

Back where we started. Got to get the 9 hours of sleep :)

Wildwood Trail Video!

This is some footage I shot while the team was running easy on Wildwood trail in Forest Park. It's the most beautiful place I have ever run, and as the video shows, we started in the city at our training facility, and within 10 minutes, we were on miles of beautiful single track trail.

The camera died about halfway through the run, but we saw a bald eagle in a tree on the way back, which was amazing! I really wish I had been able to get it on the camera to show everyone, but now you'll just have to go try and see one for yourself I guess :)

Happy trail running, and enjoy!

Threshold Bike Workout

I did a bike workout the other day that I really enjoyed. I think it's really more focused towards 70.3 racing, but it does have some cross-over for the Olympic distance, and who knows, I could very well end up doing a 70.3 at some point in my life :)

3 hour ride

3x20k @ 85% of FTP

we do the 20k efforts around Sauvie Island here in Portland, because the island road is exactly 20k around, and can be done without stopping at a single stop sign. Pretty awesome!!

My power output should be in the 285-290 range for this workout, but I was feeling good and let it slide up a bit. The important thing was that I was pushing hard, but not into the red zone, remaining somewhat comfortable.

I was able to do the 60k of work in just under 97 minutes, which is close to my pace for my best 40k. This is good news for my bike split this season :)