4/28/2007 Commuting

The first commute of the year is finally done. All the anticipation over the course of the spring, as chance after chance at commuting was washed away by rain, or sudden chilly turns in the weather was finally ended on a beautiful Sunday morning. By the time I got home I was reminded of all the things so great about commuting, and all those things that I could really do without. The best thing about commuting is that wonderful burst of energy after a great ride to work. It beats a great shower, caffeine, or just about anything else for great ways to get the mind and body in full swing.

Dist: 25.19 miles
Avg: 15.78 mph
Max: 32.1 mph
Time: 1:35.45

The commute home reminded me of some of the things that I don't particularly care for in bicycle commuting. First is the stiffness that comes after riding then sitting all day at a desk, then trying to ride again. That stiffness never seems to fully work itself out during the commute home most days. Then there are the drivers. It wasn't so much an issue on a Sunday commute, but just being out there reminded me of how inconsiderate and dangerous people driving home from work can be, especially in the dark. That was the final bad thing about the ride, except for the sore butt, was finishing up the ride in the dark.

I was prepared for the possibility that I would be in the dark with a headlight and a taillight, but it was still not so much fun. This won't be something I will do very often as the days get longer, and most of my commutes will hopefully be a little earlier. Thankfully, I won't be doing it very often.

Dist: 25.16 miles
Avg: 14.89 mph
Max: 28.4 mph
Time: 1:41.23

All in all, it was a great commute, and I look forward to getting in a lot of miles this year by way of commute.

4/25 - 4/27/2007 A Couple Medium Recovery Runs

4/25/2007 Neighborhood MRR

In breaking with my usual routine I wasn't able to get out for my daily run until the late afternoon. It always feels a little odd when that happens, and I never have a great run unless it's really late into the night. I guess it shows I am either a true creature of habit, or creature of the night. I'm a little of both I think, especially in warm weather.

I was a bit stiff during this run, and never felt like I was at 100%. It was one of those days when the legs never quite loosen up fully and it feels like running on stilts. It was still good to get out and run my trusty old 6.5 mile route with the nice long hill to break it up. The 56 minute run of 6.5 miles averaged out to a 8:36 pace.

4/27/2007 Lunken Airport MRR + 3 VAPs

Another afternoon run that I had to squeeze in after getting off work. This time I headed over to Lunken Park for a nice flat run on the loop. In order to make up for my 3 VAP's that I missed the other day I did 3 1 mile VAPs starting at miles 1, 3, and 5. 7 miles. It was a fairly cool day with temperature low to mid 50's and overcast, which is perfect for running. On the flat course I was able to run the 7 miles in 56 minutes at an 8:00 pace without pushing too hard.

I have started making the detailed preparations for the Flying Pig, and one thing I know for sure is that I'm not wearing my gray running shorts. They are doing some serious chafing. I'm gonna have to come up with an alternative between now and Sunday. It might be a pair of Underarmor tights, or ideally a new pair of shorts with the seamless tights sewn in to the short.

4/24/2007 Cycling The Evil Twins

There is something truly wrong with looking forward to a ride that is called The Evil Twins, and is 30 miles of nothing but hills. There must be something wrong with it, but I'm not sure what it is. I was loving every minute of it. It was perfect riding weather with temps starting out in the mid 50's and climbing to the mid 60's over the course of the ride, and sunny, gloriously sunny.

This is only the third time that I've done this particular route, but I want to use it more this year. I feel like I could benefit from some serious hill work, which is all this ride is for the most part. If I could work this ride in a couple times a month to build some endurance that would be great. I would also be better prepared for the Hilly Hundred come October.

Dist: 30 miles
Avg: 14.34 mph
Max: 45.6 mph
Ride Time: 2:06.52

4/22/2007 Tempo Cycling

I'm trying to get some sort of regiment going for cycling. This would be my tempo cycling day. I tried to keep my tempo between 18 and 19 mph for stretches of the ride. It was a fairly flat route to Milford and back, so it was well within reason to keep that kind of pace, and for the first 16 miles I was pretty successful. After that I began to fall off, but that's okay. Hopefully I will be able to work on that.

Distance: 24.77 miles
Avg: 16.51 mph
Max: 32.5 mph
Time: 1:30.02

4/20 - 4/21/2007 Yasso 800's & MRR

4/20/2007 Yasso 800's

It was time for a change of scenery for the Yasso workout. I didn't feel like running up and down Filager Rd. 15 to 20 times, so I took this show on the road. I headed out on Filager toward Rt. 222 as a warm-up and then started the watch about 1/2 mile into the run to start the intervals. The 10 x 800 with jogs in between took me into Batavia. Once in town I ran some laps around town with intervals of 3:30 each. With a few left I headed back toward home which posed my biggest challenge of having an interval going up the Rt. 132 hill. I held my own on the hill, but had to slow to a walk/jog to finish up the hill after the fast run. It's all good, because I was able to finish up strong on the last two intervals.

4/21/2007 Medium Recovery Run

This run falls somewhere between MRR and SRR but I'm calling it MRR. I ran my old 4.25 mile loop in 36:24. It wasn't exactly a quick run, but still felt challenging after a day of intervals.

We are quickly closing in on marathon day. Things are starting to fall into place, as I feel I'm right on track with my training. Aside from a little lower back pain, and the occasional knee and hip pain I'm feeling healthy (knock on wood). I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do for nutrition during the race. The only thing that I feel could derail me there is if we have a sudden spike in temperature and it turns out to be a hot day. Hopefully the fact that it's so early in the morning will help offset that possibility. The only thing left to do is get my packet for race day, and figure out what I'm going to wear and play the waiting game.

4/17/2007 SRR + 2 VAP's

My workouts are probably going to be a little spotty this week. With the two losses in the family I'll be very busy attending to family business. Let's just say that it is not a very good week. I'll most likely not be doing anything on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll push back the final interval workout, skip the SRR and go from there. Such is life.

I kind of screwed up this day's workout. I was supposed to do 3 VAP's, but only did two. The workout was a 27 minute srr in the neighborhood, with two VAP's that were 4 minutes each. I was still feeling a little stiff after the colossal effort that was the half marathon. I'm starting to get jazzed about the marathon as it is drawing close. I just wish the weather would shape up, so I can get out and ride my bike more during the taper period.

4/16/2007 Strength Training

5 minute Dynamic Warm-Up:
(All done Across Basketball Court and back)

• Lunge Twists
• Side Lunges
• Walking Knee Grabs
• Toe Touches
• Butt Kicks

Workout:

• Medicine Ball Toe Touches - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Medicine Ball Twists - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Supermans - 2 sets x 15
• Walking Lunges - Width of Court with 15 lbs
• Ball Leg Curls - 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Step-Ups - 15 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Chest Press 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Row 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Lat Pull Downs 35 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Bicep Curls (seated) - 20 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Bench Dips - 2 x 15
• 4 way Shoulder - 5 lbs 1 x 20
• Fly
• Front Shoulder Raise
• Lat. Shoulder Raise
• External Rotation

4/14/2007 Loveland Challenge Half Marathon

Dedicated in memory of Howard William Westphal. My great-uncle died yesterday at the age of 97. He was truly an inspiration to me in so many ways. Most of my memories of him were of him in his retirement from the Navy. I spent many summers at his house mowing his grass, learning about short wave radios, trains, and how to grow old gracefully. He walked 5 miles a day for some 36 years along the same route that I frequently run my long runs. I don't often feel religious or spiritual, but I felt like he was with me today.

This race was truly a last minute call. I had really resigned myself to skipping it and just doing my own 13.1 mile Goal Pace Run next weekend. Even as I went to bed last night I had no intentions of getting up this morning. The weather was supposed to be cold and rainy; not exactly ideal conditions for running a race or so I thought. Then something strange happened. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and just knew that I had to do the race. I don't remember having some dream that prompted the thought or flash of intuition. It was just there. I knew I was going to roll out of bed in a couple of hours and get ready for the race, and so it went. At 5:30, with no alarm clock to wake me, I rolled out of bed knowing full well that it was dark, cold and just crap outside and got dressed for the race. It was the best decision I could have made.

The first reason it was a good idea was that for some unkown reason after a year of fumbling around with my nutritional needs on race day I finally found something that works. And the winner is...good old peanut butter and jelly on toast. Keep it simple stupid. About 2 hours before the race I had a pb&j and a banana. It settled well, and I felt full all morning. During the race I had one Gu about 50 minutes into the race. It was a strategy that I originally tried during my 20 mile long run. It is the strategy that I will carry to the marathon. I'll have a Gu or something similar about every 60 minutes I'm out on the course.

The second reason that it was a good idea to go out today was that it was a brilliant race. It was the eureka moment that I needed to give the confidence for the marathon. Going into the race I had a goal. All I wanted to do was run a solid 8 minute pace throughout the race. In a way you could say that I failed at the goal, but the result made the failure worth it. At the start of the race I forced myself to slow down and let runners go. I was determined not to chase anyone at the beginning, so I fought the urge to give chase.

I set in at a pace that felt comfortable. It turned out to be about a 7:30 pace, but the important thing is that it was comfortable. I felt so good that somewhere around mile 5 I made a deal with myself. If I was still feeling good at mile 1o I was going to turn loose and finish strong. I should mention at this point that it also helped that I fell into pace with another pair of runners that were keeping a similar pace. One fell away within a few miles but it was nice to have someone to watch as the miles rolled. I'd let him pull up away from me, then I'd pull him back in with a surge, and fall back again. I'd do this every couple of miles just to keep him close.

The first 6 miles of the race were on the roads, so the terrain varied. We'd run a couple of hills, through some dips and all the usual ups and downs typical of the roads in the Loveland area. By mile 6 though we dipped down to the river and entered the Loveland bike trail. We reached a point in the course where we turned around, and headed back to the finish on the bike trail. From then on it was a flat straight course on the bike trail. This was perfect conditions to turn it on at the end.

At mile 10 I felt fantastic. Actually it was shortly after mile 9 that I started to pick up the pace. I felt like I was coiled and ready to strike and the waiting was killing me, so I gradually picked up the pace until mile 10 and then turned it on. From this point on the race was pure bliss. I was doing something that I had failed to do in previous races up to this point. I was kicking it and passing people at the end of the race. The end result was an awesome 6:58 pace for the final 5K and a second place finish in my division. This was a race I had low expectations going in, with modest goals, and it turned out to be one of the best races I've run ever, and a great learning experience.

Bring on the Flying Pig!

Avg HR: 165
Peak HR: 176
Min HR: 88
Total Cal: 1410
Lap 1: 6 miles - 44:50 Avg HR: 165 - 7:28 pace
Lap 2: 4 miles - 29:29 Avg HR: 165 - 7:22 pace
Lap 3: 3.1 miles - 21:36 Avg HR: 170 - 6:58 pace

Official Results:

TIME: 1:35:55
PLACE: 16
PACE: 7:19
DIVISION: M3034
ENTRANTS IN DIVISION: 12
PLACE IN DIVISION: 2
GENDER: M
ENTRANTS IN SAME GENDER: 76
PLACE IN GENDER: 14

4/12/2007 Yasso 800's x9

The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week. We went from wonderfully warm temps in the 60's and 70's back down to the 30's and 40's with days of rain and sometimes flurries. The weather has been utter crap. It's been tough to get out and run outside in between storms, but I managed to get out and squeeze in some speedwork in the drizzling rain.

The 9 yasso's I did on Filager were at 3:30 with 3:30 jogs in between. The 3:30 time seems to be working out pretty well. I don't hit the 1/2 mile mark every time, but I come close, and sometimes exceed it by a bit. These speed workouts are really paying off as I found out today at my first half marathon. woo hoo!

4/11/2007 Short Recovery Run

This short recovery run bordered on a medium recovery run. I pushed it a little harder than I usually do on the short recover runs and went a little further. It didn't feel that much more difficult, so maybe I'm just getting stronger and a "short" run isn't what it used to be. I know a long run isn't what it used to be. I did a .25 mile warm up and 3.5 mile run with .25 mile cool down for a total 45 minute run time.

4/10/2007 Strength Training

5 minute Dynamic Warm-Up:
(All done Across Basketball Court and back)

• Lunge Twists
• Side Lunges
• Walking Knee Grabs
• Toe Touches
• Butt Kicks

Workout:

• Medicine Ball Toe Touches - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Medicine Ball Twists - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Supermans - 2 sets x 15
• Walking Lunges - Width of Court with 15 lbs
• Ball Leg Curls - 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Step-Ups - 15 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Chest Press 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Row 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Lat Pull Downs 35 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Bicep Curls (seated) - 20 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Bench Dips - 2 x 15
• 4 way Shoulder - 4 lbs 1 x 20
• Fly
• Front Shoulder Raise
• Lat. Shoulder Raise
• External Rotation

4/09/2007 Long Run

The big one was finally here. The 20 mile long run that I had been worried about for a while. With some of my workouts not feeling so good lately this workout concerned me. If I couldn't hack the longest of the long runs it didn't bode well for the marathon in my mind. I'm dealing with some doubts obviously.

The long run I wanted to do would have taken me through some familiar long run territory around my town with similar terrain to the flying pig course. Unfortunately due to scheduling it just wasn't meant to happen. I had to do the long run on a park running path; a 1.25 mile path. That means lots of laps, and monotony right? Well, as it turns out it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The short laps allowed me to bring a water bottle with me and just leave it along the path instead of carrying water or dropping water off along the route before the run.

The long run route included a lead in path of 1 1/16 mile followed by 15 laps of 1.25 miles followed by a run out the same lead in path of about .6 miles for a total 20.5 miles that took 2 hours 44 minutes for an 8 min/mile pace.

Avg HR: 148
Peak HR: 174
Min HR: 79
Total Cal:2409

I didn't set out to run at any particular pace. I just ran at a pace that felt comfortable, and it did feel comfortable. I felt like I could have easily finished the last 6 miles or so of the marathon at that pace, which is a very encouraging sign. At that pace my heart rate hovered in the mid 140's until I got to around mile 15. From that point my heart rate started to do a steady creep upwards, but nothing out of control. I finished around the mid 160's which is typical for a race pace.

The path itself is flat to rolling hills. There are no major climbs, but it is a consistent group of small rolling hills. It was perfect for a long run of this type. The weather was cool in the high 40's and overcast.

4/08/2007 Short Recovery Run + 2 VAPs

I'm playing some catch up here with the last week's worth of entries. I'll probably keep them short and to the point. On the other hand I do have the advantage of hindsight to work with here. Coming off the heels of a very successful half marathon today I can see the advantage of doing this workout where I could not before.

I have consistently run my races in a haphazzard manor up until this point. I would come out fast and hard pushing it the entire way. In the end I would struggle to finish strong. Even if I had a good time it would frequently leave me feeling defeated or frustrated. Today I had my eureka moment. Today I turned it around finally. I forced myself to come out slow and throughout the race I would surge forward a bit for 400 meters or so testing how my legs felt and then back off. Those short surges left me with lots of gas at the end of the race to put in the best kick I've had ever. I'll talk more about that later, but the point is I think part of this turn around was due to this type of workout.

It was a typical short recovery run of 3.3 miles on Filager and Meghan's Run. The difference is that it included two 4 minute, 1/2 mile vap's. From easy pace I would pick it up to a pace that was just above my comfort zone for the 4 minutes and then back it down. Excellent workout.

4/06/2007 Y800 to the Power of 8

Early morning on the treadmill to get in my Yasso workout. I did 8 Yasso 800's at a 3:30 pace with 1/4 mile jogs in between. I wanted to do the full 3:30 but time was short so I went with the quarters. I felt really good during this workout which was a nice sign as the marathon is getting close. Only one month until the big day!

4/05/2007 Strength & Short Recovery Run

Strength Training

5 minute Dynamic Warm-Up:
(All done Across Basketball Court and back)

• Lunge Twists
• Side Lunges
• Walking Knee Grabs
• Toe Touches
• Butt Kicks

Workout:

• Medicine Ball Toe Touches - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Medicine Ball Twists - 8 lb ball 2 sets x 15
• Supermans - 2 sets x 15
• Walking Lunges - Width of Court with 15 lbs
• Ball Leg Curls - 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Step-Ups - 15 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Chest Press 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Seated Row 45 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Hammer Strength Lat Pull Downs 35 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Dumbbell Bicep Curls (seated) - 15 lbs 2 sets x 15
• Bench Dips - 2 x 15
• 4 way Shoulder - 4 lbs 1 x 20
• Fly
• Front Shoulder Raise
• Lat. Shoulder Raise
• External Rotation

Short Recovery Run

This was a very quick 2 mile short recovery run on the tread mill in 16:30. Nothing very exciting here. move along

Past, Present and Future Duathlon Preparation Part 1

As I'm quickly approaching the beginning of duathlon season I've been thinking about a new training program to transition out of marathon training and into duathlon training and racing. I'd like to build on my current running fitness, and experience from last year to have a great year of racing this year. As I was floundering a bit to get a hold on what I would like to do for a new plan I got a message from a friend on SparkPeople. She is considering her first duathlon, and wanting some advice on her first race. This works out great for me. I think it would be helpful for me to take a look back, review what I did last year and decide what the next stage is going to be. So, thank you Barb for helping me move to the next stage and I hope this will be helpful for you.

Now, that is out of the way let's get down to business. Barb, I think you have some very reasonable goals for your first race, and I think you will surprise yourself and exceed those goals. You definitely have a good fitness base from all the cycling, so working in some running shouldn't be a big problem as long as you don't have any problems that might cause you pain from running.

This is the "program" (I use the term program very loosely here) that I used last year adjusted by what I've learned over the course of the year. It worked very well for my first year of racing even though I wasn't always able to stick to my workouts like I would have preferred. It sounds like you have a good handle on how much running you want to do by what you wrote to me, so I'll just give you the focus of the runs. You'll find you improve a lot faster with some well defined focus for each run. Time is always an issue, so the key is to stay flexible, and if you can pull off some "two a days" like you mentioned in your message to me it will be helpful.

Keep up with the cycling and add 3 to 4 runs per week if you can fit them in.

The 1st run is a tempo run to get you used to running the speeds you want to achieve. If you want to alternate walk and run that is great. It sounds like you are already close to running the whole thing which is good. My suggestion would be to run 1K then walk approx. 400m and run another 1K until you reach your distance goal of 5K or longer. Phase out the walks a little at a time each week.

The 2nd run is intervals to increase your speed. For a 5k distance 400 meter intervals will work well. Start with 4x 400 meter intervals with an equal time of a walk or slow jog in between. So, if you run a 2 minute 400, slow down for 2 minutes breaks. Add 1 additional each week up to the week before your race.

The 3rd run is brick day. You said you've been doing a few bricks already, so keep it up. It doesn't have to be a long run after the ride. It's just to get your legs used to that feeling of getting off the bike and going straight to a run. I approached these days with a race distance bike ride followed by a 2 mile run straight off the bike. This is important to get used to, because if you don't you'll get a nasty surprise on race day in the form of leg cramps.

The 4th run is long run. If you can only fit in three runs alternate this with your tempo run. Run 8K to 10K at a slow pace. Keep your pace 1 to 2 minutes slower per kilometer than your race pace. You should be able to carry on a conversation during these runs as a point of reference. The long run will help build endurance.

Hopefully this will give you a good starting point on which to build a plan leading up to your race. To address your question: "How much harder is it to do 2 5km runs with the bike in between?" I'm not sure how to answer this question. Thinking back to the very first duathlon that I did I would say that it was very hard, but I think I wasn't very well prepared. I doubt that I did any brick workouts before hand. The hardest part is the first kilometer of the second run. After a hard effort on the run and bike your legs will probably be very stiff. If you're feeling stiff off the bike walk it out and work into the run slowly.

Like I said before, I hope this is helpful Barb. Now that you've got me thinking about this I'll also take a look at transitions and fueling/nutrition before and during races. Transitioning back and forth between the bike and run can be a tricky business when the bikes are packed in close together and you're dealing with people coming in and out of the transition area. Nutrition is also key for many reasons, including warding off those pesky cramps.

4/03/2007 Cycling

This is my 1st attempt at speed work for '07. I don't have a training plan in place at the moment, so this was sort of a spur of the moment speed workout. I'm on the hunt now for a training plan that will get me ready for my first duathlon in May. I figure I can start more bike work now and ramp it up during the taper period of my marathon training. That way I can transition after the marathon into a regular duathlon training schedule.

For this ride I did 3 pick ups for 1 mile each trying to maintain a pace of over 20 mph. This was not necessarily the best way to approach this workout but I managed to do okay considering I was pedaling into a headwind at some points. For this type of training I'm thinking it's time to upgrade to the double wireless with cadence. Honestly, how have I gone this long without a cadence monitor?

Dist: 20.6 miles
Time: 1:17.57
Avg: 15.8 mph
Max: 34.7 mph

4/02/2007 Goal Pace Run & Positive Thoughts

I wasn't feeling as good today on the road as I have in previous goal pace run sessions. I never felt like I could hold the pace I wanted all that well. It was a constant struggle throughout the run, and I'm experiencing some lower back pain. All in all it kind of sucked out there today. I finished the 10 miles in 1:23.31 for an 8:21 pace. This is by far the slowest goal pace run I've done all spring, and it is a little discouraging. I talked a little bit about feeling some burn out yesterday and it persists. I'm wondering if the mounting aches and pains in my back and knees might be contributing to this feeling. It might be time to get back to the chiropractor for some visits before race day.

I've been giving some thought to the mental aspects of racing and running lately. Especially since I've been experiencing a bit of burn out. I want to find ways to push back these negative thoughts that creep in during runs that aren't necessarily going as planned. It was good luck that on Simply Stu he interviewed Dr. Stephen Walker about just that subject. It is definitely worth a listen. The first thing I'm going to do to start getting the positive mojo flowing again is to focus on some positives. So, at the end of each workout entry I will post something positive from the workout. Even if I have to pull something small and mundane I will find something positive to write about.

+++Something Positive+++

I learned some good mental tricks to improve my racing by listening to Simply Stu. Stay in the moment during runs. The mind will try to wander and pull my attention away from the task at hand, but stay focused. One trick is to use a tactile method. Wear a rubber band on my wrist during the race. Whenever negative thoughts creep in or the mind loses focuses give the rubber band a snap as a way to take a moment to get refocused.

4/01/2007 Short Recovery Run

Everything got bumped back a day on the training schedule this week after Saturday. Due to a change in work schedule and family coming into town there was just no way I was going to get out to run. It's not a big deal. I'm feeling a bit of marathon training burnout right now, so a movement in the schedule is actually a bit of a welcome relief from following the schedule so rigidly like I have been up to this point. I have a little over a month left, and can't quite get psyched up about the race just yet, but I'm ready to see the end of the run training and get on with the rest of the year. I think I'm more excited about the Tri for Joe following the Flying Pig. It's just the burn out talking. I'll start to get psyched again once I move in to Taper Period.

I did get in my short recovery run on Sunday that should have been the Saturday run. I went out on my lunch break and ran around Clifton which is always a welcome change of scenery. During the 4.25 mile 35:30/ 8:21 pace run I felt pretty stiff which is not unusual after sitting at my desk for 4 hours. It was also very warm, about 75 F, which I'm still getting used to after spending the last 3 months running in much colder temps.

The good thing is after returning to the office post-run I feel great, and am ready to crush the rest of the day.