TJ Woodruff ONLINE

With under five weeks until the NMBS opener, the race season is just around the corner. I’ve been getting in some fun rides and quality training and have seem to have found a good mix. Feeling stronger, having fun, and keeping fresh are all good indications right? It’s been V02 intervals as of late. Wednesday and Thursday my PowerTap bit it, so I was left to guess at what 3 minutes was and then simply repeat that stretch of road. What I intend to be a 7×3min workout turned out to be about 7×4min as I later determined, judging by Intergalactic’s duration over the iPod. I shortened things up for 7×3min (roughly) on Thursday before getting in our weekly CTS group ride on Fridays. Anyone who’s in Tucson and looking for a pretty mellow 50 miles ought to join in; we leave from the office at 8 every week.

Rather than doing the Shootout again I opted for a double day of VO2 on Saturday as it’s hard for me to get enough of these things. Doing 15 minutes of work in the morning and then another 15 minutes in the afternoon made for 30 minutes at or above 400 watts. Now if only I could do that effort without all the recovery built in!

Sunday I got up to Summerhaven riding with Evan whose in Tucson for a couple more weeks. It was cold descending into town at the top, but by the time we’d finished up the fudge from the general store, the winds had warmed the mountain all the way up the Palisades area. It was a fast cruise down the eighty degree warmth that covered the Tucson. This ride never gets old and the five hours goes by quickly with good company out there. Just above Windy Point we ran into Jesse Rient who’s out here for another week, surely making the most of the sunshine.

And now it’s the start of another work week with a three day camp that runs over the weekend. Enjoy the riding. -TJ

Balancing work and training is tough, something I’m sure we all understand and greatly appreciate. The past week was the biggest work week of my life and I lost count of the hours once 70 rolled by – it very well could have been 80 of them… I would have gone crazy if 15 of them hadn’t been on the bike. We hosted the Spring Training Camp and it went off in excellent fashion. Our team of seven coaches really does a fine job of taking care of the athletes every need. Everyone left our camp tired, but also stronger, smarter, and ultimately better prepared for whatever they might find challenging them in the future. It was a great group and we had a lot of fun on and off the bikes. I don’t know that I’d want to do another camp of this scope again soon, but it’s rewarding to pull off so nicely. We’ve got a list of other camps yet to come this spring which ought to be equally successful though done a smaller scale.

Prior to the camp I got in another huge weekend on the bikes. Saturday was my fourth consecutive Shootout+Madera+Helmet Peak ride in four weeks. Sunday we pulled together the fastest MTB group in all of Tucson for an excellent ride. Andy, Jenna, Justin, Sue, Jesse and I battled the singletrack for 4+ hours of bliss in the Redington area. Sue’s got some nice pictures posted from that ride so check them out at her site.

Yesterday Chloe and I got out to ride at 50 year trail after watching the final hour of the 24 hours of the Old Pueblo race. It was a fun place to see some friends – most notably the Spot trio of Melis, Megan, and Jen. 50 year was in superb condition with all of the recent rain fall and since most of the riders around did the race we had the trails to ourselves, only coming across 4 others out there on horseback. This little amount of traffic is unheard of for a Sunday afternoon, but it was a welcomed change for sure. I love riding the stuff there as its always challenging. We covered 17 miles in two hours and fifteen minutes – obviously some slow going technical riding! There are all kinds of drops, rock features, ledges, stream crossings and cacti. More often than not there are three of these challenges all at the same time (cactus are always around). With snow on the peaks higher above us it was great riding in the 70 degree sunshine.

With a normal work week now underway I’m gearing up for some VO2 intervals and some training of my own. With just 40 days until the first NMBS, I best get at it! All for now.

This almost seems to be a fitting title for myself these days. With busy work weeks I’m lucky to get in one or maybe two workouts of any value during the weekdays, so with the weekend comes bigger rides. It might not be the ideal training setup, but so far I’m still improving and having fun with it. I returned to Tucson after the SICI conference at midnight on Wednesday just in time for two days at work. Thursday also happened to be my birthday so it was fun to hang out with good friends. Thanks to Chloe for setting up a little party and to Alex for making homemade pasta noodles.

Luckily we do a three hour Friday morning group ride, so that got me back on the bike after four consecutive days off. Saturday was the third consecutive week that I’ve done the 105 mile version of the infamous Shootout ride. This included the normal ride, plus the out and back up Madera Canyon followed with the return climb up Helmet Peak and down Mission Road. This one makes for a solid five hours in the saddle with a lot of intensity.

Sunday I got out on the Fourstroke to do my personal favorite MTB ride in all of Tucson. It starts off with a 45 minute dirt road climb and finishes with 25 odd miles of desert singletrack that gets progressively more technically challenging. With all of the recent rain, Justin and I had a blast rallying the trail as we enjoyed excellent traction. It’s weird that way here because with the extra moisture, the otherwise loose trail holds together better underneath the knobbies. Some 20+ wet stream crossings later we returned to our starting point with huge half bonked smiles across our faces. Anytime you can rack up nearly 3000 KJ on the MTB in a 4.5 hour ride you’re bound to of had a blast. With zero flats, overcast skies, and perfect temps the ride couldn’t have been better. It’s the rides that take you to the middle of nowhere, wear you down, and challenge you every way imaginable that I love the most. I need to get out on the MTB more often for rides like this one.

This week in the office things are quite straightforward, but with a training camp on the horizon for next week I’m plenty busy getting things in order. Enjoy the Riding,

TJ