Weekend Workouts - March 23rd and 24th

Building on our great past weekend, we'll be heading up north for another duel ride option out Lucas Valley.  Sunday we'll run the park for some local trails and some track work to finish off! 

Saturday Ride: Lucas Valley - Wilson Hill - Petaluma
56 and 71 mile options

Rolling out Lucas Valley, through Nicasio and taking on either the Petaluma or Chileno Valley Loops, this is a great time to gauge improvement from over a month ago when we first rode these routes.

  56 Mile Option

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

71 Mile Option

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Sunday Run - GGP and Kezar Edge

Starting at the West Gate of Kezar Stadium, we'll run a moderately paced tour of GGP.  Heading to the beach via JFK Drive, then back up through the park on the trails on the South side of the park.  After returning to Kezar stadium, runners will work on their turnover with some 400 repeats and cool-down.  We will also review some form drills to help everyone improve their injury resistance as well.

7.5 miles plus track work.

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

Participating in M2 Group Events

M2 Group Training members are of course welcome for all rides/runs and events.  Gold Pass members who wish to join in on weekend rides can upgrade their pass $25/month.  10-15 pass members can use a class pass to attend either.  Please email deacon42@gmail.com or mccormack.m@comcast.net for details.

M2 Upcoming Events

M2's first big event for the year was a great one.  Over 20 athletes took on the Half Iron distance in our .5 FE Training Day, and while the day started off a little chilly, it warmed up nicely for a perfect training day.  

Calm waters greeted the group at Aquatic Park, then the sun came out as everyone took on the challenging bike course to Bolinas Lagoon and back.  The run along Marina Green, into the Presidio, and Crissy Field was scenic, but also hard.   We will look to repeat this event later in the year as athletes prepare for Ironman Canada, Tahoe and Big Kahuna!

Special thanks to our volunteers guarding our bikes, along with our bike course marshals.  Muscle Milk came through for our group as well, providing plenty Cytomax and recovery shakes to help fuel us in a long day too!  Thank you!

We are looking forward to our next two events in May and June to keep our athletes in prime shape for the long season leading to Ironman Lake Tahoe in September.

More images from the .5 Fe Training Day can be found here.

May 19th - Amgen Tour of California Ride

M2 is currently finalizing plans and staging points for buses after finding the perfect spot right off the race course in Santa Rosa.  This north route should bring some new excitement with some spectator friendly loops in downtown Santa Rosa for the finale of the race.  Registration site will be up soon so stay tuned!

Ride starts in Sausalito and follows the official route through Stinson, Pt Reyes and north along Tomales Bay, then inland to Santa Rosa after turning on Occidental Rd.  After the ride enjoy watching the cyclists complete multiple laps around Santa Rosa as the complete the final stage of the Tour.

Keep up to date by RSVP'ing to the Facebook event page here.

June 20th - 23rd - Ironman Lake Tahoe Training Camp with UltraU Fitness

Join M2 and athletes from across the country to tackle IM Lake Tahoe course, along with other amazing rides and trail runs.  Huge highlight is the end to end swim of Donner Lake!  All aspects of the camp are taken care of for you.  The only thing you have to do is show up.  Housing, meals, speakers, routes, everything is prepared to keep our athletes focused on training.

Register Here

For news and other information you can RSVP to the Facebook event page here

Camp is perfect for:

#1 The Ironman Lake Tahoe athlete - Swim/bike/run the course, feel the effects of altitude, and put in a big training weekend to jump start your training
#2 Any Ironman Athlete - With other races looming on the calendar including Lake Placid, Canada, and European races, the timing is perfect for a big volume weekend with no worries.
#3 Athletes interested in IMLT for 2014 - If you are worried about investing your money in an IM a year in advance without experiencing the course first hand, this is the perfect camp to attend and gain that perspective.

Weekend Workouts - March 16th and 17th

Amazing weekend planned for everyone this weekend.  Weather is cooperative so get out and enjoy the sun too.  There is still time to register for our M2 .5 Fe Training Day Saturday.  Don't go party too hard for St. Patrick's Day as we have some fun on the Polo Fields planned to get people ready in their aero bars Sunday.

Saturday - M2 .5 Fe Training Day

Great prep for Oceanside, Wildflower or mid-season IM's!

Starting at Aquatic Park, we'll swim one or two laps, or as much as you are comfortable with.  Your bikes will be safe under the watchful eye of our volunteers.  From AP, we'll ride over the bridge to the end of Bolinas Lagoon and back on Highway 1.  T2 is located in the security of the M2 Studio.  Changing into your run gear, the run takes you along the waterfront to Lyon Street Stairs, back down through the Presidio, up again along the Ecology Trail, then returning to the Studio along Chrissy Field and Marina Green.  

Cytomax and Muscle Milk will be on hand providing fueling and recovery options!

Sunday - Polo Fields TT Practice

With some tired legs from Saturday, or fresh legs looking for a hard workout, head over to the Polo Fields to practice riding in your aero bars, or TT bike before your next race.  This offers a safe environment to play around with your positioning for the fastest, and most comfortable options.  Uber biker Chris Phipps will be on hand to offer advice and show off what the aggressive TT position would be.  Yes, he is tied for the Strava KOM for the Polo Fields as well.
  

Participating in M2 Group Events

M2 Group Training members are of course welcome for all rides/runs and events.  Gold Pass members who wish to join in on weekend rides and runs can upgrade their pass $25/month each.  10-15 pass members can use a class pass to attend either.  Please email deacon42@gmail.com or mccormack.m@comcast.net for details.

Weekend Workouts - March 9th and 10th

After a stellar weekend for the group climbing Tam and taking home some hardware at Alcatraz and Merco, its time to stretch the distance once again and build our endurance.  Weather should cooperate and warm up nicely for the weekends events.

Saturday Run - Tennessee Valley Repeats - 8 - 12 miles

Meeting at the gravel parking lot 50 yards on your right after turning onto Tennessee Valley Road.  The group will take a warmup run up to the Tennessee Valley parking lot, and proceed to perform an interval workout comprised of overspeed training along Tennessee Valley trail to the beach, and then working the gradual climb back up to Fox Trail and left to the camp ground.  Two repeats is 12 miles, so pick you poison on the distance.  



Sunday Ride Option 1 - MV - Hwy 1 - Pt Reyes - Nicasio - Fairfax
58 Miles

Climb to Pantoll for a warmup and descend to Stinson where we'll regroup briefly and practice pacelining along the Lagoon and Highway 1 up to Pt. Reyes Station.  Returning through Nicasio and Fairfax with good varied terrain to continue building fitness and endurance for the final charge up Camino Alto and back to Mill Valley.  Add a bonus 10 miles by doing Paradise Loop!

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Option 2 - MV - Hwy 1 - Pt Reyes - Nicasio - Fairfax - Alpine Dam
70 Miles

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Participating in M2 Group Events

M2 Group Training members are of course welcome for all rides/runs and events.  Gold Pass members who wish to join in on weekend rides and runs can upgrade their pass $25/month each.  10-15 pass members can use a class pass to attend either.  Please email deacon42@gmail.com or mccormack.m@comcast.net for details.

Big weekend in the cold!

Saturday saw an amazing climb up Mt. Tam in the sun, but the excitement was for the brisk Sunday all around the bay with Escape from Alcatraz and the Merco Cycling Classic going off.  Definitely a change to Escape in March compared to June.  

Javier Gomez Noya came to town and took over the race, and some fireworks in the Women's race with Heather Jackson chasing down US Olympian Sarah Groff in the final miles.  Big M2 finish came from Mike Vulanich who charged through the race to grab a podium spot with the 2nd fastest Amateur Sand Ladder and Run splits of 1:58 and 48:25!  Mike has been putting in some serious work to get here and there should be more big things coming.

Great day out there for Darin Layman, Lindsey Kasnick and Illiana Figueroa for taking on EFA as well.  

On the other side of the Bay the Merco Cycling Classic saw some more impressive results.  For the Hilltop Road Race, Alessandra Sales took a 500 m sprint to claim the win over Cat 3/4 at the end of the 48 mile race.  Another new rider in the studio, Megan Alderete, too Second as well!  Nick Kreeger of Squadra too the win for Cat 4 to close out the weekend.