It’s GO TIME!!! and BASE TIME

First off I’m thrilled to announce my new partnership with Base Performance supplements. Chris Lieto started this company up a few years ago, so you know they will meet the needs of endurance athletes. They make a great multivitamin and a fantastic electrolyte salt ! If you crampa lot, this is for you. The salt is also great to sprinkle over meals leading up to races. The recovery activator is great to use in addition to your post race recovery drink. It helps facilitate  faster glycogen absorption so you come back stronger! The base amino is perfect for taking care of your muscles during strenuous exercise. If you are looking for something new to help stay healthy and fast all year, Base Performance is where you need to be looking.


Now lets talk training back in Christchurch.
Well, all the base work/miles/volume has been accumulating and I’m starting to see big gains in the ease holding wattage and run pace at heart rate is getting quicker. It has all started kicking in at the right time because the next three weeks are going to be big weeks and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about going long again!
On the schedule Saturday was a 4hr and 30 min ride. I had been eagerly waiting for this weekend workout! There is a great loop called “Gorges” that is 140-150km long. I did this ride on Wednesday as well with Triathlon legend Scott Molina. Scott is still in phenomenal shape and was up front pushing the pace for a good chunk of the ride. I made sure to pick him out when he wasn’t crushing it to ask some questions since he racked up lots of Ws in his career. Great guy and I’m going to see if I can can buy him beer at some point during this trip!
The riding here to me is great because it is very flat and straight. Lots of people may argue this is boring. However, I have crazy mind that hates going down hills or  riding rolling hills because it messes up my average power during sets! I love working hard and pedaling the entire time to burn up more kilojoules. The more kJs I burn the more moro bars/candy and pies I get to eat for my re-fueling! That is how my mind works.
The main set was 6x30’ at high end Z3 power with an easy 7 minutes between efforts. The ride started out going out back behind the airport which is pretty neat when 777 and 767 are taking off or landing right over you. I spent lots of time out here while I was flying and earning my private pilot’s license way back in 2000. Once out of the vicinity of the airport you hit old west coast road which is dead flat and straight for a good 45 minutes but the view is pretty cool.

Once the long flat section is done, you pass over the Waimakariri bridge which is nice sight. You get to parallel the Waimak the entire time on the flat section and gives a very “Lord of the Rings” feel.

20-30 minutes after the bridge you arrive in the small town of Oxford for the refuel break. I opted out of a coffee stop and just bought a powerade so I can get going again. I did have a new bar in the back the pocket that I was wanting to try, and it was worth it! The EM’s Power cookie bar was DELICIOUS!!!. The gal who makes them, Emily Miazga, is x3 winner of the coast-to-coast race here in the south island. It is a race from the west coast to the east coast and consists of Kayaking 67km, Runing 36km, and Cycling 140km over some very tough terrian. I will be using these more from now! Chocolate oat explosion is my favorite.
The beautiful, slick, and fast QR CD 0.1 at the diary.
   
The ride was awesome and I added some more kilometers to finish off the day. Sunday was a very promising run as well.
Hope the training is going well for you all.
JC