LT Testing

Did my first LT (Lactate Threshold) test Saturday with Stan Watkins of Vision Quest Coaching. LT is one of the key determinants of endurance performance, so tracking your LT helps in designing a training program. Following a program that works you at or slightly above your LT should help increase your LT - and thus improve your endurance performance.

The testing involved riding my bike in a computrainer for 40 minutes and trying to generate the highest average wattage over that time period.

Result for the 40-minute LT: 284 watts.

Ironman 70.3 Kansas, 2009

Ran in Ironman 70.3 Kansas on Sunday with nearly 2,000 athletes. Nice weather for the most part - although it did heat up in the afternoon. My swim was a little sloppy since I hadn't done an open water since last summer and it took me a while to get used to the wetsuit again. Finished in 5:03 (the clock in the picture below doesn't account for the swim offset).

St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival 2009

Volunteered to work the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival on Saturday night. I started the evening working the check-in/entry, handing out the beer guides and glasses that the guests used to sample the beer. Once the big wave of entrants had come through, we moved over to work the honey lager tap.

With around 3,000 people attending Saturday night and 70 beer stands, I was pouring non-stop again this year. No rain this time though, which was a pleasant change. Last year I was standing in an inch of mud.

A portion of the proceeds go to support the Lift for Life Gym, an after-school center near downtown St. Louis.

Tour de Cure 2009

Rode in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure on Saturday over in Grafton, IL. Biked the 100 mile loop with Team Gallop (Gallop, Johnson, and Neumann, LC), who raised over $9,000. Most impressive was that over $5,000 of that total was brought in single-handedly by Don Kelly, an attorney at GJN.

Also there was my friend Phil Bruno who rallied strong helping recruit a huge team of over 90 riders for Gold's Gym. Phil hammered out 100 miles as well.

Thanks to the folks at GJN for inviting me to ride with them and helping put together a great day!


Team Gallop. Photo courtesy Ellen Montgomery

More photos on my Flickr stream.