TrainingPeaks member profile: George Vargas, former Marine, current ultra cyclist, and coach

George Vargas went from over a decade of service in the Marine Corps to a career in the private sector, where he gained almost 30 pounds in just over a year. “After spending 12 years in the US Marine Corps I left the Marines and pursued a career in the private sector.  My jobs were mainly desk jobs which were vastly different than the high rate of physical activity required as a Marine.  My last tour of duty in the Corps was a Marine Drill Instructor.  I weighed 145 lbs.  One and half years of being in the private sector and I had gained almost 30 lbs.”

George decided not to simply settle into his new routine. “I dusted off my old (1989) steel Bianchi and started riding.  I also started running again.  The pounds started to come off as I did 5k's, 10k's and  half marathons.  But then I developed chronic shin splints and no matter how much time I took off of running they would return when I began running again.   It was at this point that I decided to focus on the bike.  It was 1999.”

Unfortunately, George suffered a setback a couple of years into his cycling career. “I rode for almost two years and then had a really bad crash on my bike in 2001.  I broke a finger and jammed my neck pretty bad in an endo.  I was off the bike 8 weeks for medical reasons.  But simultaneously I started a new career and really couldn't spare the time to ride.  Well, you guessed it: a couple of years later I was up to 185 lbs.”

Once again, George made the decision to change the way things were going in his life. “At this point I had had enough of this fluctuating weight and quality of life.  I had heard of these crazy people that did Ultra distance cycling.  I had never done more than a century in my own riding.  These Ultra Cyclists were doing 200 milers and then some.  I decided to make it my goal to complete three double centuries in one year from the California Triple Crown series.  I signed up for the Grand Tour which had 100,200,300,400 mile options.  I was registered for the 200 miler but got talked into doing the 300 miler by a tandem team on mile 65 of the event.  I suffered and suffered but after only 8 weeks of being back on the bike from a two year lay-off I completed that 300 miler in 23 hours.”

This time, it stuck. “I was hooked.  Since that first Ultra in 2003, I have done 19 other double or triple centuries, I have done numerous unsupported events of distances ranging from 125 miles to 375 miles and was either the first finisher or top 5.  I have also completed the Furnace Creek 508 (508 miles, 35,000 feet of climbing non stop Ultra Cycling race) on three separate occasions once on a Fixed Gear .  I was a top ten finisher of Trans Iowa (only 55 finishers out of 200+ racers in the last five years)  and 2007 I completed Race Across America as part of a two person team.”

Training for this kind of event is long, steep, and largely solitary. “I train alone mostly. A good percentage of my training miles comes from my commute, which is 65 miles one-way.  I do this about 2x a week or as much as 3x a week.  Sometimes I take the train for one leg of the commute.  I either get 95 miles a day or 130 miles a day for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I then spend the weekend climbing in the mountains of southern California.  I listen to my iPod quite a bit.  Many of my long training rides as I get closer to my goal event, the Furnace Creek 508, are 12-15 hours long (150-180 miles).  I also use a Polar 625x to track elevation gain because I need to keep on task of how many feet of gain I accomplish per week.  Some weeks I climb as much as 30,000 feet.”

George started using TrainingPeaks to help him make sense of all his data. “I own a Power Tap, and I started using TrainingPeaks because I found Power Agent to be lacking, specifically in comparing workouts. It is a good simple-to-use software but it is lacks in providing easy-to-read historical data.  TrainingPeaks allows you to see weekly and monthly data at a glance.   It also provides much more options to customize your charts.  As a cycling coach, it provides invaluable data to keep your client on the right path of progression without over-training your client. The Performance Management charts are great tools to use for comparing Acute Training Loads and Chronic Training loads. I use TrainingPeaks for my own personal use and my coaching business, and would strongly recommend it to a friend – and I have!”

His season this year is going well so far, although his training has been limited compared to last year, making data analysis and effective use of time even more important. “I have had a great 2009 season thus far.  My training time is more limited than last year and I really need to make every hour of training count.  Using a power meter and then analyzing the data in Training Peaks makes my training more effective.  My goal this year is to finish the Furnace Creek 508 in under 36 hours.  My PR is 37 hours and 34 minutes.  My top ten finish at  Trans Iowa, a completely unsupported 320 mile gravel race, was  a true example of using the power meter to pace myself for the almost 32 hours of effort required to finish this race. In June, I completed a 300 mile event, without being crew supported within 20 hours a new personal best.  The power meter was THE reason I was able to dose my efforts throughout the day and the night.”

George races for the Orange County based Team Sho-Air. You can read more about George on his website at www.epictrain.com and on his blog, www.epictrain.blogspot.com.

Comments

[Ryan]

What a great article, i never even knew this existed, to find an ultra in Australia is my new goal!