Finding the right saddle

When I got my P2 I moved the saddle from my road bike over. I had been riding an Adamo Century, which was a glorious road saddle. Perfectly shaped, very comfortable. I could ride for hours on that thing.

It didn't work out quite as well on the new bike (or perhaps more specifically the new position). If all I was doing was riding around in the bullhorns I'd be fine, but extended period in the aerobars were problematic. It was almost perfect, but two issues caused repeat problems.

1) The prongs at the front were at too sharp an angle. Rather than curve downward, they abruptly turned down at 90 degrees. This meant that when riding on the nose in the aero position, they really dug in and created quite acute points of pain.
2) The prongs themselves were just slightly too wide. I'd get chafing issues on my inner thighs.

Comparing the noses of the Adamo Century (top) and Dash Stage (bottom)

As mentioned earlier, I had take time off the bike after the season to let my undercarriage heal up. When I put my bike on the trainer and started my base training, the soreness returned. "I can't do this all winter," I thought. I had to find a better saddle.

I knew I wanted my saddle to be noseless and split. But I wanted a saddle that was narrower and had more of a slope to the front end. I considered another ISM/Adamo, but was worried it wouldn't be different enough. I thought about Cobb and came close a couple of times to pulling the trigger on one. The saddle I kept coming back to though, was Dash. They're expensive, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about them. Any other saddle, some people like or dislike, and the consensus is always that saddle choice is highly subjective. But there really didn't seem to be much dissenting opinion on Dash saddles. And I liked the shape, and especially the fact that you can choose your width.

I then discovered that Dash actually sells a "basic" version of two of their saddles. They're heavier, they're not customizable in terms of padding or colour, but you can choose from three widths. Still expensive, but significantly less so that their standard models. Realistically, given the hours I'd be spending on the trainer this winter and beyond, investing in a proper saddle seems pretty important.

Dash Stage (left) and Adamo Century (right)

It took a little while to get the Dash adjusted to the correct angle. And it's still taking time adjusting to the dramatically firmer padding - the Century was super plush. And while the firmness does lead to some soreness after a long ride, it's more a general soreness rather than the acute soreness I'd get from the prongs of the Adamo digging in or the chafing on my thighs. The Dash really is a great shape.

Riding on the trainer in general seems to be less comfortable than out on the road, so I know if the Dash serves me well over the winter it'll be great next summer.

Somersault Awards Reception

Last friday was Somersault's annual awards reception. Three of my four races this year were Somersault events, and having done three qualified me for the Champions Challenge points competition (you accumulate points based on your overall finish in each race), and I finished second in the M35-59 category. I never raced against the guy who beat me, but he was consistently a top five finisher in his races - that's where I'd like to be next season, so it's a good benchmark. He also represented Canada at this year's ITU World Championships in Chicago, and I've been considering whether that's the type of thing that might be a long term goal for me.

Realistically there are lots of faster folks in Ottawa who were not part of the Champions Challenge, and that's due to the overall emphasis the tri community seems to place on iron-distance races. I have no doubt there's lots of triathletes in the city that would dominate the Somersault series if they chose to, but they instead focus on Ironman and 70.3 races. So the fact that I finished in the top ten point-getters in the Somersault series certainly doesn't mean that's representative of where I rank among the city's triathletes.

However, if I had been told last year that I would finish my first tri season 2nd in my age group and 9th overall in the series, I would have been ecstatic. So while the award itself isn't all the significant, attending the ceremony to accept it is part of honouring the work I've put in and celebrating my fitness. It's an important milestone in my journey.

The ceremony also marked Somersault founder Terry McKinty's retirement, and it was cool to see some of the big wheels of the local tri community (Rudy Hollywood, Rick Hellard, Ian Fraser) come out to honour him and reflect on what he's done for triathlon in the region. We're really lucky to have a well-run series of multisport events in the area, that not only allows us to race frequently, affordably, and close to home, but is also so welcoming and accessible to newcomers and people of all abilities. To that end it was also cool to see a well deserving Geordie McConnell of the OTC receive a Spirit of Somersault award. He's done a lot to help grow the sport in the city, and his infectiously positive attitude and general helpfulness really helped me get through my first multisport event back in 2014 when he conducted the orientation session at the National Capital Tri at Mooney's Bay.

Next year's dates for the Somersault series have been announced and I've pencilled in my rough schedule. More on that in the new year when I reflect on my goals for the 2016 season.

Offseason swim improvements

I've been swimming with Technosport this past week, and it's been an interesting experience. I signed up for a stroke analysis camp last Sunday and as part of that camp you get get a week swimming with the club. So in addition to the Sunday session I swam with them Monday, Wednesday, and again this Sunday.

Last season I was pretty happy with how I swam. From just trying to make it through the swim in 2014 to consistently being in the first chase pack in 2015 was more than I had thought possible, given my limited time in the pool. 2 nights a week was all I ever did, and I know this shouldn't be enough to see any real swim gains.

Sure enough I did plateau pretty early last season. My results were good, but I wasn't getting any better after seeing some significant improvements over the first few months of 2015. Ideally I'd be in the pool at least 3-4 days a week, but with two young kids, a job that frequently demands lots of after-hours work, and two other sports to train for, it's just not feasible.

I put in a big run focus in September and October to improve my weakest discipline, and finished off that block with a 5km road race. Then my focus shifted to swimming. I still can't dedicate a lot of pool time, but the offseason is a great opportunity to fine-tune the stroke, hence the stroke-analysis camp.

I got some good feedback and some helpful drills to work on, and by the end of my time with the club I felt more powerful with less effort. Starting off the session with some 3-stroke drill really seems to help me with rotation and lengthening my stroke, so I'm going to work that into every session now.

I'm going to get back to two swims a week, with one session being a speedwork oriented session like I've been doing for the past year, and a session aimed at improving my Critical Swim Speed. I'll try to do a test this week depending on how I feel then get started with the plan. Getting up at 5:30am to swim with the club, coupled with a sick 5 year old and some rough nights with the 1 year old meant I was pretty drained by the end of the week and it was inevitable I would contract whatever my 5 year old had. I've keep it somewhat at bay with vitamin C, echinacea, elderberry, and eating raw garlic cloves - plus taking two days off training. I don't think I'll be in tip-top shape for a time trial on Tuesday, though, so we'll see if I get to that or not. In the meantime I'm back to running and the bike training is going well, so I'm full-on into my training schedule now, which last year didn't start until January.

Training with Power

The bike was my strongest discipline this past season, but I know there's lots of room for improvement. My training last season certainly wasn't haphazard - I planned out a periodized approach to the season with a base phase, build phase, and then a race-specific phase. I used videos from Sufferfest and CTXC to structure my workouts and used RPE for my intervals and heart rate training for my easy rides.

It all worked pretty well, and I put down some pretty good bike splits in my races. The only time I ever doubted my biking was in my last race, the Thousand Islands Olympic Tri. Specifically, I was unsure of how hard to go - I didn't want to leave any minutes or seconds on the table but didn't want to overbike and pay for it on the run. I still second-guessed my efforts long after that race was over.

I had planned for a while that this offseason I would train with a power meter, and it's now installed and operating. I went with a Power2Max unit - by all accounts they are reliable, accurate, and are relatively affordable. I didn't have the tool to do the bottom bracket swap so called in Adam from Velofix to do the installation (and take a look at my rear derailleur issue).

I'm using Trainerroad for my workouts and training plans and have a dual screen setup in my pain cave with trainerroad on one screen and whatever I'm watching on the other. Immediately apparent is that there is a significant difference between pacing a Time Trial based on RPE and using power. Keeping a steady, sustainable RPE over the course of a TT for my first FTP test resulted in steadily declining power. It took a couple tries to get the hang of properly pacing the tests, and I can already tell that having this tool is going to help immensely both in training and in pacing a race. It's great to have the power data to both guide my training sessions, and to look at afterwards.

I took some time off at the end of the season to let my saddle sores heal up, and then biked somewhat sporadically in an unstructured manner. I know my bike fitness has suffered a little, but I'm also confident it'll come back and I'll be able to make some gains and hit next season better than ever. The base phase for next season begins this week.

Healthy Eating Part 2 - Lunch

I find wraps to be really convenient foods to eat - they travel well, don't make much of a mess, and you can eat them on the go pretty easily. So far all of my lunches this year have been wraps.

The tortillas are easy to make in batches - I've used white flour but also sprouted spelt flour from the bulk barn (spelt is more nutrient-dense than regular wheat and the glutens break down easier; sprouting activates enzymes that aid digestion, increases vitamin content, and reduces phytic acid).

I've used a few variations on fillings, based on vegan athlete recipes such as those found in Brendan Brazier's Whole Foods To Thrive.

My favourite so far is based on the Indian Spiced Lentil-Hemp Patties found in Whole Foods to Thrive (recipe here). I don't shape them into patties or fry them though, I keep the mixture as is and scoop it into my tortilla.

Another good one from that book is the African Yam and Bean patties (here's a variation of that recipe). Same deal as the Lentil-Hemp patties - I don't make patties but keep it as a mushy mixture.

The common thing here is just trying to get as complete a protein load as possible with some carbs (I always eat raw veg like carrots and cucumbers on the side), so coming up with a wrap filling isn't all that complicated. Rice and beans is a common staple of many diets around the world and works well enough for these purposes too, and leaves a pretty blank canvas for aromatics and herbs/spices.

As with my smoothies, I can make up the tortillas and fillings on the weekend and then have them ready to go for my lunches all week. Fast and easy.

Biking the Gats

The hot spot to bike in Ottawa is in Gatineau Park, but I've never biked there myself as the whole reason I switched to road biking was to avoid having to get in the car and drive somewhere in order to bike. I've wanted to try out the Gats for a while now though, and as I was on my own this weekend, I took the opportunity.

My power meter purchase is going to necessitate new chainrings, so I wanted to assess my gearing and see if I wanted to stick with the compact 50/34 chainrings I have now or go for something a little bigger. Riding in the flatlands as I do, I don't have a lot of opportunity to use the small ring, so it sometimes seems like that gearing is wasted space. I can max out my top end gear, but haven't yet come close to maxing out the low end. So Gatineau Park would let me test both - the climb to Champlain Lookout would let me see if I would actually get all the way up to the biggest cog in my cassette (25t), and I figured on the descent I would be hitting the speeds needed to see if I would spin out in the smallest cog (11t).

So far all the races I've done are pretty flat, but it's possible at some point down the line I try a race in Tremblant or Muskoka, which are pretty hilly courses. Besides assessing my gearing, I also wanted to assess myself. I never train for hills so wanted to see how my legs responded to the climbs.

Lots of people (roadies, mountain bikers, hikers, and drivers) out in the park on this beautiful fall day. Perfect weather and the leaves are just starting to change. It took me about 45 minutes to get up to Champlain lookout from P3. I didn't do a race effort but certainly wasn't doing a Zone 2 ride either.

In terms of gearing, I think my current setup is fine. For some reason I couldn't shift into my biggest cog, so rode the steepest grades at 34/23. I could have used the 25 a few times but don't think I'd need a 28. I got down to 50/11 a couple of times but never got the feeling of spinning out. I could have pushed it harder but descending over 50km/h on a twisty road got a little scary. This is actually where I really noticed my lack of experience with hills. The climb was fine, but I didn't have a lot of confidence going down. I ended up catching a pack of cyclists and stayed off the back of them for the descent, following their lead. I rode all the big descents out of the aero position.

I topped out just under 55km/h, which I've actually done before, but on a much smaller, straighter hill, and primarily under my own power. It's much scarier to coast at that speed than it is to pedal it - I felt less in control. So I don't really know if I'd need a bigger chainring. Based on some calculations I should be able to go over 65 km/h in 50/11 without spinning out (68.3 km/h @ 120rpm). Going to a 52t chainring would get me up over 70 km/h, but I don't know if I'd ever have the opportunity to go that fast (or want to).

In terms of climbing ability, I felt fine. I passed quite a few fit looking roadies and never felt really taxed. Seems like cycle fitness is cycle fitness and I think my tendency to ride at a high cadence and use my gears probably serves me well in hills. So unless I end up doing Muskoka or Tremblant I don't think I need to add hill training to my plan, and even then I don't think I'd need to be heading up to the Gats on a weekly basis.

It was a nice ride though - fun and beautiful. Not sure when I can get there again, but I will be back.

Healthy Eating Part 1: Breakfast

Last year I made a commitment to becoming healthier, resulting in my transformation into a triathlete. In addition to exercise and cutting out alcohol, I also made an effort to eat healthier. I had been cutting back on red meat for years, and cooking vegetarian meals a couple of nights a week. I'd also gradually phased out most dairy.

Over the winter I shifted from cereal (with milk) for breakfast to smoothies, initially using yogurt, then completely dairy-free. I felt better, and while the occasional bacon and egg breakfast was delicious, it made me feel gross afterwards, making it lose its appeal. As I trained for my race season, I learned what I could about the role that nutrition played in fueling exercise and aiding in recovery. In particular, my post-workout eating and pre-race meals became very deliberate.

Over the summer, after lots of reading and thinking about my diet, I've stepped up my nutrition game even more. Reading stuff from people like Rich Roll, Brendan Brazier, and Matt Frazier, the whole-foods vegan philosophy of eating made a lot of sense to me, and I realized I had already been heading in this direction. I'm not quite there in terms of a full-on vegan diet, but I've committed to it for the two meals a day where I'm on my own: breakfast and lunch.

I've been doing the smoothie thing all year, but have now put more effort into making nutrient-dense smoothies that include protein and omegas. Last year it was basically bananas and berries mixed in a blender - now I'm including dark leafy greens and grains/seeds.

NoMeatAthlete has a good smoothie formula. Mine's a little more simple, and rotates a few ingredients around the base of bananas. I include a lot of dark leafy greens (kale, chard or beet greens), another fruit (blueberries or mangos - I buy a bag of frozen organic stuff from Costco), water, and either chia seeds or a mix of hemp and ground flax. I've also been taking advantage of our rhubarb patch this summer but that won't last much longer.

To save time in the morning, eliminate the need to fire up the blender should the baby still be sleeping, and ensure that my greens are nice and fresh, I premake the week's smoothies on sunday. They go in single serving container and into the freezer. I take them out the night before and I'm good to go for breakfast.

I also eat a small bowl of oatmeal (actually more often I just eat right out of the pot) mixed with a tablespoon of almond butter. Then I'm off to work nice and full and with a solid start to the day. And ultimately that's not much different than what I'd been doing on race mornings, and it's always good to avoid giving your body any surprises on race day.

Next, I'll talk about what I'm doing for lunches.