12/10/2006 Adeo Test Day 1 - Long Run

I have in my possession a new toy, the Adeo by MotionLingo. It's not mine, but it is a loaner to test. I owe a big thanks to Brian at Campus Cyclery for giving me the opportunity to test the product. I didn't have any particular plan in mind for testing the Adeo when I found out last week that I was going to get it for testing, but after I've had a chance to play with it for a day, and see all of the features that are available I decided that I have to try as many of the features as possible before I decide if this is the GPS unit for me. Did I mention it's a GPS? I'm not going to go into an in depth explanation of the product just yet. A review is forthcoming If you want that go here to the website, check it out, and come back later if you're still interested.

Today I took it on my Sunday long run. I set it to give me updates every mile. It was a lot of fun to run with it and my iPod Shuffle, alternating between music and the occasional update right through the headphones. It made the run go quickly, and made me wish I had more time to run.

gmap pedometer: 7.64 miles
timex watch: 1:02.25
cool running pace calculator: 8:10 min/mile
avg hr Timex: 165
Total calories Timex: 1108

12/09/2006 Strength & Spinning

Strength Training

I had a bit of an abbreviated strength training day today. I had intended to do a nice long leisurely strength training session followed by a run, but I happened to show up in time to squeeze in a workout and then try out a spinning class with a different instructor. I was happy to give up some crunches to make it to spinning on time. It might not have been the smartest thing to skip warm up though...

JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor = 2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip adductor = 2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor = 2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each sid

Spinning - Strength & Endurance

For the first time I got a chance to try a Saturday morning spinning class. I was actually hoping that the room was empty, and I could just use a spinning bike to do an hour of spinning on my own. In retrospect I'm really glad this class was available. I didn't have any particular plan in mind if I were to get in there and peddle on my own which would have been so boring. As it turned out I took part in a tough 60 minute split strength and endurance class.

We were working for most of the class between 65% & 85% heart rate. My heart rate tends to run on the high side, so when she says to be at 65% I'm usually at 75%. I don't feel like I'm working that much harder it's just how it rolls.

12/7/2006 Core Class & Spinning

Core Zone/Abs Blast

30 minutes of core strengthening/ab blasting goodness. This may be one of my favorite classes this fall so far. A little over a year after starting at the healthplex I can feel and see a massive difference in my fitness level and in my core fitness. I used to dread going to this class because I knew it was going to be extremely painful and difficult, but so far this year it's been....hard, but manageable in a sense that I have an easier time breathing while doing the workouts and my back doesn't hurt nearly as much.

Spinning - Intervals

A 60 minute interval spinning class with some interesting "motivators". I'm not sure how I feel about this class right now. It's definitely a lot different than the classes that Lisa taught, and I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that it's a bad thing, but if Thursday's night class is any indication of how she chooses to "motivate" the class I'm not sure if it's for me. That could be a huge disappointment because Thursday evenings are by far the best evening to do spinning for me.

How is it different? Well let's see, first she concentrates a lot on cadence. That's a little different than other spinning classes in that they would concentrate on heart rate and reaching certain heart rate goals. I know heart rate isn't always the most certain way to measure output. You're heart rate can be effected by a number of different things, but is cadence any better? So you reach a certain cadence, but then you have to use a perceived exertion. I would think that using cadence and heart rate would be better. I don't know if this was just one way of running the class, and she has more tricks in her bag...of tricks. Time will tell.

The other thing that was a little weird was how she chose to "motivate" the class. She would ask you to think about a time in your life when you felt like giving up, but pushed through and didn't quit. This is all fine and well, but she kept harping on it. Think of a situation in your life like medical problem, death in the family, etc. I don't know, you don't really know what people have gone through is spinning class really the place to be digging up your deepest darkest moments of your past? Maybe not so much in my opinion. I just have to see if it continues like that, and if it's for me.

12/7/2006 Looking Forward to '07

As I am looking forward to the coming year I was faced with a decision. I had to make a decision whether I wanted to try something new and do more, or if I was going to work toward getting better at what I'm doing. To be more specific I had to choose whether I was going to move on from duathlons to triathlons and work my way up to an Ironman event. The decision has come down to two factors: time and desire.

The first factor of time is obviously important for several different reasons. In order to properly prepare for the triathlons I'd have to set aside more time for training to devote to swimming. Since I already have a fairly full schedule with family, work, and workout time this time would have to come from out of family, work, or sleep time. I can accept some loss of sleep time, maybe not too much, but I am willing to get up at 5 am for the Master's Swimming that happens on Thursdays and carve out another early morning to do some swimming. However, with my erratic work schedule it wouldn't be enough, so I'd have to take some time from family time to get in as much swimming as it would take to actually get to a level at which I'd be happy performing. My wife is already very understanding about the time I devote to running, cycling, and time spent at the gym. To ask for more just seems selfish.

That brings me to my other deciding factor: desire. If I'm going to be selfish and take the time that it would require to do the work do I have the desire to do it? The simple answer to that question is no. I was pretty excited for a while about doing the triathlons after listening to the exploits of other triathletes on Simply Stu Podcast and Get Your Geek On! Podcast. When it comes down to it though I'm just not that excited about the swim portion of the race. I'm a pretty decent swimmer that grew up around water, but after my one triathlon experience back in 2000 I realize there is a big difference between swimming laps in a pool and being pummeled in the middle of a pack during an open water swim. It's just not that appealing to me. So, if not all that excited about it now, I can imagine how I'll feel by the end of the summer. Why exactly would I want to put myself through something that I wouldn't get at least some enjoyment from doing? There is really no good reason.

After these and other considerations I've decided that at least for 2007 I am going to concentrate on the sprint distance duathlon. I will racing approximately 8 sprint distance duathlons next year culminating with 5 races in the Wheelie Fun Series. The series will be a lot of fun, because it will feel like a real season complete with points standings and prizes. I've been tossing around the idea of doing this since early this year, and I'm very excited about the opportunity to compete. That is only a small part of next year's season as I look forward to a wide variety of races and events including my first marathon!

The marathon is going to be a huge undertaking for next year. I've got my training plan ready to go, but I'll have to make some adjustments to it to allow for my duathlon training as well. It's going to be interesting to try and find that balance between training for the speed I'll need for the shorter sprint duathlon runs and training for the longer marathon distance.

Here are some of my goals for 2007:

1. Sub-4 hour Flying Pig Marathon
2. Sub-20 minute 5K
3. Sub-40 minute 10K
4. 2:30 Little Miami Triathlon
5. 1:20 Sprint Distance Duathlon
6. Top 50 Finish Run Like Hell 5K

The big question is: how am I going to reach these goals? I'm ironing out the details on my training plan, and I'll be exploring more of that through December. I'll officially start my training for the marathon and spring events in January, so I'm using this month as testing and preparation time. I'm trying out a new spinning class, core class, and looking at a new strength training plan. I've also found a new gps gadget that might help keep me motivated over the coming cold months and encourage me to get outside despite the frigid weather. I'm going to take Motion Lingo's Adeo for a test spin hopefully this weekend and next week.

Only 65 days until my first race of '07!

12/5 - 12/6/2006 Strength Training & Cycling

12/5/2006 Strength Training

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor = 2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor = 2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
clamshell crunches = 2 sets w/8lb. ball

12/6/2006 Cycling

It was a good day for a ride yesterday, albeit a little cold and windy, but still a good day. It was about 35 degrees and fairly windy, so I made sure to layer up a bit. Once I got out on the road and warm up it was pretty comfortable for the first hour. After that my toes started to go numb, and the cold started to seep in. I didn't push particularly hard or try to go fast; it was just good to ride.

Odo: 1,895.62 miles
Dist: 21.59 miles
Avg: 14.65 mph
Max: 40 mph
Time: 1:28.25

It was a mostly flat route that wandered around the roads near our home. I did a bit of exploring on a road that I had always intended to ride up but never did. It turned out to be a really tough hill that I can definitely work into my training next year. Speaking of next year I think I'll be using my next entry to lay out my plans for next year. The schedule has come together nicely for what will be a full and exciting year.

12/2 - 12/3/2006 Long Run & Dog Jog

12/2 Long Run

It's a new route for the beginning of a new training season. Well it's not really a new route, but I changed the long run route I've been using a bit. Instead of running all the way up Rt. 132 hill and into one of the subdivisions I decided to lengthen the route across Batavia to spend some more time running in town on the sidewalks. There is also the advantage of another hill with the option to add another hill later. This will work out wonderfully as I start to add on miles. It was a fairly cold morning at about 35 degrees, but plenty comfortable with long sleeves, pants and a light jacket. It was a 7.6 mile run at 65 minutes.

12/3 Dog Jog

It was a Sunday dog jog! It was a good thing I got out to do it, because I was feeling pretty crappy all morning. It was one of those low energy days where I just wanted to lay down on the couch and sleep, and I did for about an hour and a half. . Gracie and I got out and hit the road up and down Filager and twice through Meghan's Run. It was a nice 35 minute run for 3.6 miles. Afterwards I was feeling much better. Gotta keep that up through the winter.

11/30/2006 Strength & Core

Strength Training

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.

Core Class

As I get into winter training mode my schedule is starting to become more clear. Core class is back on the menu...and it is deeeeelicious. There is a new instructor in the class (well new to me anyway), and I like her approach to the class so far. I haven't done a ton of these classes, but I know what I like. At least in the class yesterday we did a mix of aerobic type work with a lot movement and a lot of plank work. They hurrrt so good. I'm going to try to do this 30 minute core class every Thursday along with a spinning class.

11/25/2006 Dog Jog/Long Run

I considered taking the entire weekend off after Thursday's race, but I just couldn't bring myself to do nothing for 3 days. It was a great sunny day outside, low 40's and an expected high for the day of 60 degrees F. How could I let a day like this slip by when we are quickly moving into winter season when there will be less and less of these days. Sticking to my intentions of getting Gracie out at least once a week the morning started out as a dog jog. I found the harness that we bought for Gracie last year that I had completely forgotten about. It was a huge help and made the run a lot easier. Just having it on seems a signal to her not to pull on the leash. I highly recommend picking one up of dog joggers. We dog jogged 2.3 miles that is Filager and Meghan's Run. After that Gracie was wiped out, so I dropped her off and ran the 222/132 loop for another solo 3 miles for what I'll call my long run. The entire run took about 48 minutes.

11/23/2006 Thankgiving Day Race 10K

It's the final race of 2007! It's been an incredible year, and it's a bit sad to see it come to an end, but here's looking to another great year in '07! Before we begin to talk about plans for next year I want to put this year to rest right, not in this entry, but soon. For now it's all about the Thanksgiving Race.

My goal for the race was to keep it close to 7 minute/miles and possibly beat the my 10K PR set in September of 43:41. I had tempered my expectations for this race thinking the weather would be colder, and knowing that there would be friends there that I might want to run with during the race. Mostly I just wanted to have a good time, enjoy the beautiful day and burn some calories, so I could enjoy the multiple thanksgiving meals that I would be attending later in the day.

As with all races as the start drew closer thoughts of hanging out and running with friends disappeared and the call of the race took over. At the start line I decided I wanted to run the best race possible and let the rest take care of itself. During the race I was able to find a good pace, and a steady runner to keep an eye on and pace myself off, and I was using the chrono on my watch to mark my miles. I didn't really dwell on that during the run. I just wanted to keep a pace that was pushed just to the edge of being uncomfortable. It was an incredible run with the following results:

mile 1 & 2 13:08
mile 3 6:56
mile 4 6:56
mile 5 6:59
mile 6 6:44
mile 6.1 1:22
Total: 42:07.58

overall: 412 of 10559
division: 26 of 505
gender: 378 of 5196
Official Time: 42:05
pace: 6:47

For the last race fo the year I was so excited to exceed my own expectations and goals. It looks like 8 weeks of interval training really did payoff in a big way. I will never question the power of the interval again. I look forward to applying what I've learned here to my cycling and running next year.

11/21/2006 Strength Training & Running

Strength Training

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Running

Two days before Thanksgiving Day 10k and one last run. Tomorrow will be a rest day so I wanted to take it easy, but not that easy. I'm feeling edgy and excited, so not doing anything was simply not an option. I decided to hit the gym for some strength traininng and a 30 minute run on the treadmill. I kept the pace nice and easy starting at an 8 minute/mile bringing up to a 7:30 minute/mile after about 1/2 mile and holding that for 3.1 miles. After that I eased back and jogged it in to finish up the 30 minutes.

The goal for Thanksgiving Day Race 10K is going to be 7 minute miles and to have a good time during what is my last race of 2006. I want to end the racing year on a good note.

11/18 - 11/19/2006 Dog Jog & Long Run

11/18/2006 Dog Jog

As winter starts to rear its ugly head here in Ohio it is going to get harder and harder to get myself motivated to get out and run. It hasn't been bad so far, but I can feel the cold weather coming and I am not a fan of the cold at all. This spells bad news for our poor dog Gracie too. Since the winters in Ohio consist mostly of cold rain, a little snow here and there, and more cold rain the yard is almost always soggy and muddy, which aren't very good conditions for an indoor dog. Well the dog doesn't mind so much, but we don't like to have a muddy house.

In order to help Gracie out I'm gonna start taking her on jogs at least once a week. It's not something I'm particularly fond of doing because she is the worst on the leash. She jerks, pulls, tries to chase squirrels and birds and is generally a pain in the butt. It will be good for her though, so I'm gonna take a running day to do this for a while during the winter. On the first day we ran the 3.3 mile route along Filager and Meghan's Run

11/19/2006 Long Run

The Sunday prior to race day I wanted to get out for a run to calm the nerves and relax. I decided to keep it relatively short and at an easy pace. I ran my 6 mile route around Meghan's Run, 222, 132 to Filager in about 50 minutes. It was a nice easy run that left me feeling good about the upcoming race.

11/15/2006 Strength Training & Tempo Run

Strength Training

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Tempo Run

The treadmill tempo run was 3.25 miles. I was pressed for time today, so I didn't get in as long of a run as I would have liked, but I'm happy with the run. I started out with a 8 min/mile pace for the first mile. At beginning of the 2nd mile I ran it up to a 7:15 min/mile and up to a 7 min/mile for about a half a mile. In the last 1.25 miles I eased it back down slowly until I walked the last .25 miles. The total run took about 25 minutes.

11/13/2006 Riding Hills

Another gloriously cold day of riding hills. It was about 39 degrees out and sunny, so it was a perfect day to bundle up and do some hill work. I did the same route that I did last time, but changed the number of intervals. I hit the Benton hill first which is .4 miles long and very steep. I hit this one twice. I then moved on to Rt. 50 hill, which isn't as steep but is 1.5 miles long. This was a two timer as well. After climbing that one for the second time I rode over to 132 hill. By this time the fatigue is starting set in, the cold is seeping into my feet, and I'm starving! I really just wanted to ride up the hill hang a left and go home, but I will not be defeated! I rode the .65 mile hill that is moderately steep twice. After cruising back down I pedaled to 2 miles to the final ascent. The final is the shortest at .3 miles, but what I used to think of as the steepest. If that were the case it should have been the toughest climb of the day, but it wasn't. I cruised up the final .3 miles in the saddle fairly comfortably. It was a good end to a tough ride.

Odo: 1,874.03 mi.
Dist: 24.35 mi.
Avg: 14.61 mph
Max: 38 mph
Time: 1:40:00 (Estimated)

11/12/2006 Long Run

I used what has become the normal 8.5 mile course for the run. It was fairly cool, on the verge of cold maybe high 30's so, I was in long pants and and long sleeved undershirt. I threw on my orange short sleeve running shirt so cars would see me. I was very comfortable for the run, so if we have similar conditions on Thanksgiving I'll probably run in that outfit.

The run itself was great. I was very comfortable the entire time. I was aware of my pace and picked it up a few times just to test the comfort limit. I wasn't pushing hard, but kept the pace up slightly to see how it would effect how I felt and my time. At the end of the run I felt great! Actually I had to reel myself in, because I thought about adding on another mile and half. I convinced myself that there wasn't really anything positive that could come of it in the training. I'll have plenty of time to push my mileage limit starting in January as I start training for the Flying Pig. Feeling that good and beating my previous time by a solid 4 minutes while only raising my avg hr. by 2 bpms. Awesome.

One last thing. I finally remembered to split out the 132 hill. .65 miles at 5 minutes 37 seconds which is a 8:38 pace, with an overall pace of 7:42.


Avg. HR 157
Peak HR 179
Min HR 78
Total Cal 1070
Rcl 1: 39:32.56 Avg HR 153
Rcl 2: 05:37.39 (Rt. 132 hill .65 miles) Avg HR 173
Rcl 3: 20:21.43 Avg HR 162
Total: 1:05:31

11/09 - 11/10/2006 Core, Spinning, Intervals & Transition

11/09/2006 Core Class & Spinning

Core Class

It was my first visit back to core class in a while. Unfortunately I showed up late, because of traffic. 15 minutes of ab burning work is better than no minutes. This was the class that I despised last winter, but knew was very beneficial, so I stuck with it...somewhat. It was actually kind of fun today, maybe it was because I haven't done it in a while, but I think it was more due to the fact that I am in much better condition than I was last winter.

One thing I did realize now was issues with my back. When ever we do bosu ball work it kills my back. I thought it was just because of my weak muscles, but I realize now that is not the case. I'm going to talk to the instructor, and modify the workout or find out if it is a problem with my form. I don't want to hurt myself.

Spinning

60 minute Endurance Class
This was a bittersweet return to spinning class. The spinning instructor, and fellow multisport athlete, is leaving the facility to start her own business at another location. I'm very happy for her, but I'm also sad to see her leave. She help me set up the program I'm using for training, and has been a huge source of information and motivation for me. I owe her so much for helping get my ass moving over the last year.

That leads me into the topic of transition. I am moving into a new phase of my life in physical fitness, and racing. The last year has been all about changing my lifestyle, losing weight, and building a base. I think we can say that the base is officially built. Now I need to figure out where to go from here. I kind of know what my goals are for the next year: marathon(s) and triathlons that will lead up to a half Ironman in '07 and Ironman Louisville in '08. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to get there. I know I'm on the right path in getting started on the swimming now, because that is going to be my weakest leg. Over the next 2 months I'll be putting together a new workout plan to meet my new goals. The big challenge for me is going to be to take my time, not get started too early, so I don't get burned out by next spring.



11/10/2006 Running Intervals

I did my intervals outside for the first time today. Well, it's not the first time I've done intervals outside, but the first in this particular program. It was a much different experience than doing them in the controlled environment of the gym treadmill. On the treadmill I set the pace and am forced to keep up with that pace, or slow it down. I'm always hyper aware of the speed at which I'm running. On the road all I had to rely on were my experience with the stretch of road that I used and the trusty stopwatch/hrm. It was an interesting experience, and it will be useful for future interval training sessions. I now know that on flat ground I run the 400 in about 90 seconds give or take a few seconds, so if I want I don't have to run up and down Filager. I also learned that I can't count. I was supposed to do 10x400 this week, but due to my ADD mind I ended up doing 11x400 according to my stopwatch.

Avg. interval time: 1:30
Total Time: 52:38

13 days to Thanksgiving Day Race!

11/08/2006 Strength, Tempo, Swimming

Strength Training

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Tempo Run

The treadmill tempo run was 4.5 miles. I started out with a fairly easy 9 min/mi pace and worked up to a 6.5 min/mi pace. I reached the top speed at 1.5 miles and held it to 3 miles. After 3 miles I tapered down until I walking at 4.25 miles. A quarter mile walk finished off the run that took about 40 minutes.

Swimming

Because strength training and running just wasn't enough I decided to jump into the pool for some laps. I did 20 laps with no breaks mixing up the strokes: 4 crawl, 4 breast stroke, 4 side stroke, 4 backstroke, 4 crawl. It was really tiring doing it after the strength training and the run. It was encouraging though that I felt fairly comfortable in the first 5-6 laps. I was really concerned that I would not like the swimming at all. I'm not really sure where that reservation was coming from, because I've always enjoyed swimming.

I will be swimming with the Masters Swim Team which is very exciting. I had a chance to talk to the swim coach yesterday to find out if it would suit my needs. He is a very nice guy, and encouraged me to come in and check out the sessions. I will be able to get the coaching and motivation I need to make this a good winter of training. The other cool part is that they make some trips to East Fork Lake to do some open water swimming during the summer. perrrrrrrfect.

11/5 - 11/6/2006 Long Run & Cycling Hills

11/5/2006 Long Run

As I'm getting closer to the Thanksgiving Day Race I'm getting pretty excited about it. The 8.5 mile run is getting easier, so I know with the workouts I'm doing I should be able to improve upon my 43:41 PR. One of these days I'm going to start splitting out 132 hill, so I can start working that hill over.

8.5 mile run
Avg HR: 156
Peak HR: 240
Min HR: 84
Total Cal: 1129
Time: 1:09.47

11/6/2006 Cycling Hills

Cycled the new hill course that I started using last week. Unfortunately the computer wasn't working, probably because of the battery, but I was able to get the information I needed from the gmap-pedometer. I did the same route that I did last week, but not the same number of climbs per hill. I may not know the exact stats on the ride, but the legs know...oh yes, the legs know.

Dist: 18.3 miles
Avg: 12 mph
Time: 90 minutes: This is an estimate, as I didn't time myself.

11/2 - 11/3/2006 Swimming & Running

11/2/2006 Swimming

It's my first day at getting back into swimming. I'm going to try and get in to do swimming at least twice a week. Hopefully I'll be able to swim with the Masters Swim Team, so that I can have some structure in my workouts, get some advice and coaching on stroke, and some much needed motivation.

The pool I'll be working in is 25 yards per lap.

For my first workout:
5 laps freestyle warmup
2 laps each of side stroke (right & left), breast stroke
5 laps with the kickboard
5 laps freestyle
2 laps backstroke (legs only)

45 minutes

11/3/2006 Running

This was a 3.3 mile run along Filager and Meghan's Run. I wasn't shooting for any particular speed. It was just a run.

3.3 miles
Avg. HR 153
Peak HR 176
Min HR 71
Total Cal 444
Total Time: 28:22

10/30 - 10/31/2006 Tempo, Strength & Intervals

10/30/2006 Tempo Run

A nice steady, easy pace around Meghan's Run. I then picked up the pace going down to 222 and held that pace until I got back up on Filager. I lost the timing and heart rate info since I've been slacking on the blog a bit lately. I ran it in about 38 minutes and it's approximately 4.3 miles.

10/31/2006 Strength & Intervals

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Intervals + no music = no fun. I did my 9x400 week, which took about 33 minutes and 4.1 miles. It was fun going up and down between 5-6 miles per hour and 10-10.5 mph. I do find it interesting to do the intervals on the treadmill. It really forces me to maintain the paces instead of just running on the track or road and trying to maintain. It's definitely still more fun to run outside, but I think the treadmill is more productive for building speed, when working alone.

I guess time will tell..

10/27 - 10/29/2006 Run Like Hell & Cycling

10/27/2006 Run Like Hell

It was pouring down rain up until the start of the race. It was by no means cold, but cool enough that the drenching rain could be really uncomfortable if it were not for the excitement at the starting line. Despite the rain hundreds of people showed up, some in costume, for the Friday night race. The best costume I saw this year was the couple that ran as babies in baby walkers. They were awesome with the diapers, bonnets and these huge walkers made from pvc pipe.

The course is rolling hills, not a single inch of the course is flat. You are either going up hill or down hill. Despite the tough course and the crummy weather I ran a very good race. I would say great, but I was really hoping to achieve two things in this race, and I did neither. First, I wanted to finish a 5k this year with a sub-20 minute time. I didn't quite make it, but with a time of 21:21 I am happy. Actually, it is a 5k PR, so I should be really happy. Next year I'll be shooting for sub-20's. The other goal I was shooting for was to finish in the Top 50 men. I missed the 50th spot by a couple of places and 14 seconds! I knew I was going to be close, but had no way of knowing exactly where I was during the race. I ran the best race possible that night, so it's all good, but 14 seconds! It's now on my list of goals for next year.

Mile 1 – 6:27
Mile 2 – 7:18
Mile 3.1 – 7:35
Total: 21:20

10/29/2006 Cycling

Cycling hill repeats. Started with .5 mile hill on Benton seated, moved on to Rt. 50 hill a 1.2 mile hill not very steep grade, seated. Rt. 132 hill twice, steeper than Rt. 50 hill but shorter at .5 miles. First run seated, second half seated then half out of saddle. Finished up with Filager Rd hill very steep, but short at .35 miles. This was done in the saddle.

Odo: 1831.3 miles
Dist: 20.02 miles
Time: 1:24.29
Avg: 14.2 mph
Max: 36.6 mph

10/25/2006 Running Intervals

Hmmm...it seems that I was a little off on my calculations for the 8 week program leading up to the Thanksgiving Day Race. I was using the Yahoo! calendar and counted a week twice in the switch from October to November. It throws me a little off in my training, but I wasn't really following the schedule very strictly anyway. It's all good, that just means I'll only get up to 11x400 on my intervals. C'est La Vie.

It was interval day, and I went back to the treadmill to do the run. I used my heart rate monitor this time to do the intervals. When my heart rate dipped back down into the 130's I'd pump it up for another fast 400. It worked out pretty well instead of just doing 400 up and 400 jog. I really felt the workout take it's toll in the last couple of 400's. Very cool. It was 8x400 that took 33:36 and ran me a little over 3 miles.

It's a day of rest on Thursday, and then on to The Run Like Hell 5K race Friday evening! We'll see if these intervals are paying off.

10/19 - 10/23/2006 A Quick Catch Up

10/19/2006 Intervals

Week 2 of the training program bumps me up to 7x400 intervals. Check it off as completed in about 30 minutes

10/21/2006 Tour of 222

This ride was great. It was cold (about 34F) when I left around 7:30 in the morning. It was foggy too, which made visibility a little spotty, but not bad. It warmed up over the course of the morning thanks to a clear sunny day to about 54F by the end of the ride, still cool. I stopped along the way at a convenience store for a bathroom break and something to drink (love the starbucks bottled frappucinos for a shot of caffeine). I also picked up some beef jerky. I'm not usually big on beef jerky, but you can only eat so many clif bars and gel and the salty just sounded good. It was a bit of a chance if it didn't set well in the stomach, but fortunately it did. It's nice to have a variety of food options on a ride.

Dist: 69.02 miles
Avg: 16.41 mph
Max: 38.4 mph
Time: 4:12.24

10/22/2006 Long Run

I finally got around to revisiting my long 8.4 mile route. It was a good long run..that's all...

Distance: 8.4297
Time: 1:13:03
in zone 30.06 (152-171)
avg hr: 149
peak hr: 174
min hr: 82
total Cal: 1090


10/23/2006 Strength Training & Tempo Run

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

I did a 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill. I started out nice and easy at 10 minute/mile pace and worked up to a 7 minute/mile pace by the 1.5 mile mark. I held the 7 minute/mile until mile 3 and then geared back down and jogged out the last mile.

10/17/2006 Strength, Tempo Run & Thanksgiving Race Thoughts

Strength Training

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 100 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Tempo Run

It was feeling like a tempo run type of day today. It doesn't feel right to start off the running week with intervals, although I guess there is no reason that I couldn't do that. It just feels good to ease into the week with some tempo running, crank it up with some intervals, and bring it on home with the long run at the end of the week. I am totally a creature of habit. It runs in the family...thanks dad. I decided I'd run 4 miles today and do a couple at near race pace. I decided to do it on the tread mill since it was pouring down rain and I was at the gym anyway. There were some treadmills that I'd never tried before, so I decided to give them a whirl, and they turned out to be very cool. They had a nice display with an oval "track" to show distance, some good information and two little fans to keep a little cool. That is my biggest complaint about the hamster wheel workout, dead air. ugh. Anyway I started out at a nice easy 9:30 pace and eased it up a little bit at a time until I reached a 7:00 pace at the 1 1/2 mile mark. I held that pace until mile 3 and brought it back down to the 9:30 pace to finish it out. I didn't give myself quite enough time, so I ended running around 3 3/4 miles with the cool down. I was happy though with the effort, and let it go at that.

I've settle on a training schedule that will take me through the Run Like Hell 5K at the end of October and to the Thanksgiving Day 10K Race at the end of November. It's going to be the advance training schedule listed on the race site. It's the three workouts I listed above each week: tempo, interval, distance mixed with strength training and some cycling. I already know I can do the distance I just want to improve on my speed a bit, but not overdue the running. I don't want to burnout or injure myself before the race. I still wonder just how much running my knees will take before something starts to give. At some point this winter I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to work in some swimming into my schedule. Who needs sleep really?

10/15/2006 Sunflower Revolution III

Sunflower Revolution 08
Originally uploaded by ABIker.

This was an amazing ride which capped off an outstanding weekend for cycling. Saturday I hit the swap meet that took place in conjunction with all the other fun events in Loveland. I didn't really know what I'd find, but I had a clear idea of what I was hoping to find...winter gear. I got so incredibly lucky as I was able to score some sweet compression tights, long sleeved undershirt (both new with tags), gloves, and jacket for the price of a pair of cycling shorts. It was so awesome to get that gear, and just in time for the Sunflower Revolution!
It was a wonderful metric century ride on some rural roads where we got to enjoy all the colors of fall. It was such a nice change of pace to be able to enjoy the ride at a leisurely pace. I got to chat with some really nice people and take a few photos along the way. This ride will definitely be on my calendar for next year.

10/13 - 10/14/2006 Shakin' the Post Race Blues

I've been experiencing a dip in my motivation over the last couple of weeks. I think it was a bit like post-partum depression. I've been so looking forward to the Little Miami for the last year and now that it is finally over I felt a bit....down. I was going to say let down, but that is not exactly right. It was just a lull in the schedule and I wasn't sure where I was going with my training or what to prepare for next. Everything is starting to come into focus as the fall events start to roll in. I feel that I've been so focused on improving this year and going faster, harder, longer, that it is just time to kick back a little bit and enjoy the fruits of my hard work. Not that I'm going to stop working hard, but I'm going to just relax and take it as it comes. I've got some big plans swimming around in my head for the next two years to think about too! Maybe Iron Man?...

10/13 Interval Running & Cycling

I'm not a big fan of tread mills (hamster wheels), but it was quite cold this morning. I decided rather than fight the dark and cold, I'd slide on over to my mom's place and use their club house tread mill. It really wasn't bad at all. I hit it with 6x400 that took about 25 minutes.

Cycling

Rick twisted my arm and talked me into riding this evening. It went a little like this "Hey, man we riding tonight?". Me: "Hmmmm I'm kind of tire....F^&k it, yeah let's go." I don't do a whole lot of riding in the evening, so this was a nice change of pace. We didn't get out on the road until after 7 pm which didn't leave a lot of time to ride before dark, but we made the most of it. I decided to take him on the short loop out 222 to SW Corner Rd to Benton and on home. It's a nice little 11 mile route with a challenging hill right in the middle. I could have made it easier for him, but for me if there isn't a good hill challenge it doesn't feel like a ride at all.

Dist: 10.96 miles
Time: 45:58
Avg: 14.3 mph
Max: 34.2 mph

10/14/2006 Long Run

I never thought of myself as a distance runner of any kind. In high school I'd run 400's, 200's, and 4x400 relay. I got into running in my adult life by way of 5K's and didn't really think I'd run much longer races than that. This past year I've found the 10k's were some of my favorite races. Now I'm looking forward to my first marathon in the spring and my long runs have become my favorite part of my workouts. On this particular run I would have actually liked to run longer, but the bike swap meet was calling my name. More on that later, as for the run it was 6 miles in 51:50. For a training run at a "slow pace" that' s outstanding.

10/9 - 10/10/2006 Strength & Tempo Run

10/9/2006 Strength Training

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Running

It was the first day of my 8 week training program building up to the Thanksgiving Day 10K Race. I'm still not sure what I'm working toward exactly which has been troubling for my motivation. What is it that I want to get out of this race, or what do I hope to achieve? Do I want to push for a better time than my 43:41 for the Mercy Metric? Do I want to just chill out and enjoy the run with my friends that are going to be there? I'm going to continue on the program at least until I make up my mind. I ran 3 miles in about 28 minutes. It was mostly flat on Filager and Meghan's Run.


10/10/2006 Tempo Run

I was feeling stiff on my run today. It was to be expected after a double dose of strength and running yesterday. It still doesn't make it any easier knowing that it was going to be hard. When I'm stiff like that I think of it as running on stilts, because that is kind of what it feels like. I decided to push on through though and hit it. I went to Central Park by Aiden's school to do the run on the jogging trail. I started with a slowish pace and pumped it up in the middle mile and held that pace until the last 1/2 mile. Very scientific, no? I forgot to start my watch, so I don't have an exact time, but I figured it was about 27 minutes for the 3 1/4 miles.

10/6 - 10/8/2006 Strength & Cycling

10/6/2006 Strength Training

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

10/8/2006 Cycling

It was the type of day that I just didn't want to go home. I started out going on a 20 mile ride that quickly doubled...and then some. I wasn't pushing hard or keeping track of time, mileage, average speed or any of the other little details that I tend to obsess over. I was just enjoying the ride. I could feel the autumn in the air. Even though it was a very warm 75 degree day there was that undercurrent or feeling of cold weather coming. On the loop I was riding there were several places that I could've cut the ride short, but everytime it would come time to make that decision it was a no brainer. I just wanted to keep riding! I also wanted to get in a long ride in preparation for Sunday's Sunflower Revolution Metric Century ride. A chance to ride with Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter Phinney, Sweet!

Odo: 1667.6 miles
Dist: 47.09 miles
Time: 2:56.08
Avg: 16 mph
Max: 44.3 mph

10/2 - 10/3/2006 Recovery & Strength

10/2/2006 Recovery Ride

It was a nice recovery ride Monday after the race. I was gonna keep it short, but it was such a nice day I just kept riding. Active recovery, baby, active recovery.

Odo: 1620.3 miles
Dist: 30.13 miles
Time: 2:07.28
Avg: 14.1 mph
Max: 35.6 mph

10/3/2006 Strength Training

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/20 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

10/1/2006 Little Miami Triathlon

In the first 10 minutes of the kayak stage of the race I knew it was going to be a great day on the course. My stroke was as smooth as it ever had been, the river was running high, and it was a beautiful sunny morning with the mist floating up over the water. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect morning. The kayak section went off without a hitch. I maintained a good stroke the entire trip with only some minor pain in my right shoulder as I got tired toward the end of the run. My goal was to finish it in an hour or under. I got out of the water and clicked my lap button on my watch at 59:29 going into the first transition.

For some reason in all my planning and dreaming I did not even begin to consider the time it would take in the transitions. These aren't the kind of transitions I'm used to for the duathlons, where all I had to worry about were my shoes and helmet. Getting out of the kayak my shoulders were tired my hands were tired from holding the paddle and my legs were wet and stiff. I had brought my own paddle so I had to deal with breaking it down, putting it in the bag changing shoes, zip tieing the bag shut and moving on to the run. It was a completely different experience. It wasn't so bad though, I whipped through it in about 2 1/2 minutes. It is something that I will account for next year and prepare for a little better.

Going into the run I was full expecting some stiff, cold legs after sitting in the kayak for an hour, but much to my delight the transition was smooth and I got off to a good start. I caught my first mile at about 8 minutes and pushed it up for the 2nd mile to 7 1/2 minutes and kept trying to nudge it up as I warmed up and found my stride. It was a beautiful run. Instead of dreading the miles and fighting to keep my stride and pace I found a very natural solid pace and cranked it out all the while keeping an eye on my time and adjusting my pace. I can feel the interval training already starting to work in my favor. I caught Dave, who started 2 minutes ahead of me, at about the 4 mile marker. I was happy to see him doing to so well, because he was concerned that he hadn't done enough training and thought I'd catch him early in the run. After passing him up I started to focus on the task that was coming up, The Hill.

At the end of the run is a Hill, not a Hill but The Hill. This isn't a normal hill you'd run up in any road race, this is a full on hiking trail that goes straight up the side of a steep hill. I'm no expert on grades, or how steep a hill is, but I don't think I'm exaggerating to say it's a good 16% grade or more. I decided to take The Hill like I'd take an extremely steep hill in cycling. I geared down and walked at a quick pace on the up grades. On the flat spots I'd pick it up to a jog, but it was more about conserving energy and making it up with lots of gas for the bike. The goal for the run was 45 minutes. I topped The Hill at 43:26. Absolutely Perfect.

I slowed myself down in the second transition and walked to my bike taking time to catch my breath, take some drinks of water and eat half a banana. It was 3 1/2 minutes well spent. I wanted to be focused and relaxed for the ride. There are a couple of things I'd like for transition next year. I'd like a stool, or bucket to sit on while I change shoes, and a stand to put my bike on. The transition area is in an open turn around where you can either lean the bike on a tree if you get lucky or lay it in the grass. It's not a big deal to lay it down, but I'd like to have my bike upright with the bottles in the brackets and everything ready to go.

I truly underestimated the bike course. For some reason I thought I'd be able to whip through the bike course at close to 45 minutes. What I didn't take into account was headwind, and exhaustion...but mostly headwind. The course is very flat with some rolling hills, so there were no major climbs to sap me, but the rolling hills took there toll and the head wind...suuuuuucked. I was still feeling strong despite these things until the 11th mile when my biggest fear came to fruition. My left calf muscle began to twitch. No, not again. The cramps were coming, and it wasn't a matter of if at this point, but a matter of when. They did come at about mile 14. Luckily it wasn't severe and I was able to coast and stretch and massage them out on the bike. While it didn't put me off the bike it definitely slowed me down. damn.

The race stats: distance: 17 miles avg: 18.6 mph time: 54:46

It was a solid effort and I set the time to beat for next year amongst my friends. I came in a full 10 minutes faster than the fastest time last year and 16 minutes faster than my time. I was all smiles at the end of the race, and plans have already started swirling around for next year.

After I was done I rested grabbed something to eat and drink, chatted with some friends then headed back out on to the bike course...backwards. I decided to ride with Rick the last few miles of his race. I knew he'd appreciate it. I cruised back out on to the course and worked my way back about 4 miles before running into him. I turned and towed him in the final 4 miles to help him finish out strong.

Odo: 1,590.2 miles
Dist: 26.85 miles
Time: 1:57.23
Avg: 13.7 mph
Max: 25.8 mph

9/30/2006 Final Prep for Little Miami

The clothes are layed out. The race number is secured to the strap and layed with the clothes. The Clif Shots flavors have been chosen (orange cream, strawberry, and mocha). The bananas are secured to prevent cramps. The bike was taken out for one final ride to loosen up and listen for any problems.

Odo: 1563.2 miles
Dist: 9.83 miles
Time: 39.22
Avg: 14.9 mph
Max: 30.1 mph

The bike was then cleaned and prepared. The tools, pump, helmet, gloves were secured with the bike so I can grab them later on and put them in the car for the early start. The hydration plan is ready. I've gone over the course map; particularly the kayak part on gmap pedometer so that I can pick out some points along the route as markers for distance. That is the worst part of the race being out in the kayak and having absolutely no clear indication as to how many miles I've travelled or how far there is to go. I can add it to my list of reasons to seriously consider GPS technology for racing and training.

The plan for the race is to get up at 5:30 and get something to eat, bagel, maybe some eggs for breakfast. I'll then get my items secured in the car and head over to my buddy's house that is also racing and pray that he is ready on time. Hopefully we'll be on our way by 6:30 and arrive at Fort Ancient by 7:30. That will give me an hour to set up my bike, maybe cruise for a minute and make any last minute adjustments, get my kayak and paddle secured, and stretch. Start time is 8:34 am. Now it's just the hard part. I wait.

9/29/2006 Getting Ready for Little Miami!

After a few days off for rest, and mostly to spend a lot of time at work and driving back and forth to Florence I was able to get out and do a little running this morning. I just wanted to do enough to loosen up and see how my neck, back and knees were feeling after a couple of chiropractic appointments. I ran about 3 miles in approximately 25 minutes. I forgot to start my watch so I'm not entirely sure. It just felt good to get out and run at a nice easy pace.

I had my first visit with the chiropractor on Wednesday. Ever since I pulled a muscle in my upper back last week my neck and left shoulder haven't felt quite right. They've been a little stiff and achy. Instead of risk doing further damage I decided to seek help. It was quite an eye opening experience. Of course I'm out of alignment and I have lots of little issues from old injuries in soccer and a car accident, but all in all the body is in pretty good shape. He suggested a couple visits a week for about 6 weeks, or one visit per week but it will take longer. After that I can continue with well visits if I'd like, and I may just do that because going in there after a long day of work and getting crunched, cracked and rolled by this massage table felt quite fantastic! If it keeps me healthy enough to keep competing, riding and running for a long time it's well worth it.

My favorite event of the year is finally here! The Little Miami Triathlon is in 2 days and I am totally stoked for this race. Well, I was totally stoked for the race because of many reasons one of which was that a good friend was supposed to come into to town and compete in the race. He has since had to bail out, which is a bit of a letdown, but I'm still 97% stoked.

I've been thinking about this race for a year now and have some high expectations on my performance this year. Last year I was just starting to see improvements in my conditioning, and I was riding a borrowed hybrid bicycle. It was still a lot of fun, but I was at a disadvantage. Even with my disadvantage I still pulled in a time of 2:59:48 meeting my 3 hour goal.

I'm setting a goal this year for 2 hours and 30 minutes. I've thought about dialing it back a bit and setting my expectations a bit lower, but I really think I have it in my to make that mark. I've met most of my goals this year, and this is a big one for me so I'm gonna set my sights high and do my best. The deciding factor will be in the first leg. I can pretty accurately determine what my run and bike time will be based on my experience on the course and knowing my fitness level right now, but the kayak is my weakest event. I am more prepared this year for the kayak than I was last year, but I'm still not good in the kayak.

Here are the splits I'm shooting for:

6 mile Kayak - 60 minutes
5.5 mile Run - 45 minutes
18 mile Bike - 45 minutes

9/25/2006 Cycling Hills

I tried out some new roads in Northern Kentucky the other day and have found my route for hills! I didn't really know what to expect when I set out on this ride. I really didn't even know where I was going. I just wanted to ride. As I set out it quickly became apparent that I had found one of the most challenging routes I've ridden. Out of the 30 mile out and back route easily 15+ miles was going up hill or down hill. I drove back over the first 5-7 miles of the route to see how long the hills were. On the way out I went down 2 hills and up 2 hills, so on the out and back route I encountered 4 major hills. The shortest of the hills was .75 miles long and the longest was 2.5 miles long. None of these hills were the steepest grades I've ever encountered, but the sheer length of the hills more than made up for lack of grade. I will definitely be using this route in the future to do some hill work.

Odo: 1553.4 miles
Dist: 30.8 miles
Time: 2:11.49
Avg: 14 mph
Max: 35.6 mph

9/24/2006 Adding miles

I decided to head out for a really long run on Sunday. I feel like I can add on mileage to start working toward marathon distance. I ran my typical long route starting in through Meghan's Run, down the hill to 222 to Batavia, back to 132. Instead of turning back on to Filager I continued up 132 to a subdivision at the top of the hill and ran through there and back down to Filager. It's interesting to place the long hill more toward the middle of the run rather than close to the end of the run. It changes the perspective on it. I knew I still had a lot of running to do after the hill so the focus became less on the hill as a final push and more on it as just getting through it to get to the next stretch.

I kept the pacing comfortable and just tried to enjoy the run. The route was 8.5 miles and it took me 1:10.47.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=454907

9/23/2006 Strength and Speed

Strength Training

I really like getting to the gym on a Saturday morning when I can take my time enjoy the workout and chat with some fellow gym members and cyclists. Unfortunately, it's a rare occurence with my schedule, but I was able to do it today. It keeps me motivated to be reminded that I am part of a small community of friends that I've come to enjoy at the gym.

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/25 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Intervals

It was speed work day on the track. I ran into Lisa and talked to her a bit about the intervals on the track, and she mentioned not sprinting on the turns or I might screw up my knee. Of course once I heard that it was on my mind the whole time. I sprinted the straight aways and eased up on the curves extending my stride to make it less steps on each turn. I brought it up to 5x400 with walking in between this time. I walked about 150 meters in between each. The whole thing took about 25 minutes.

9/22/2006 Tempo Running

It was sputtering and spitting rain at 6 am that morning and I really didn't feel like running. Honestly, I was hoping it would just unleash and pour down rain as I stepped outside so I could legitamitely bag the run. I decided to keep it flat and quick. I ran the first mile up and down Filager thinking I'd still bag the run. I turned around and hit the 2nd mile thinking that I might slow down and jog to the end. By the third mile I was feeling loose and hoping the rain would unleash so that I could challenge the pouring rain. It never really unleashed on me, so I finished up a 3 mile run in 25:30 on the all flat part of Filager.

9/21/2006 Strength Training & Cycling

Strength Training

I got up early; I worked out; I went to work. yeah.

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/25 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Cycling

I got out on a nice spin with my buddy Rick yesterday evening. He's been trying to get in some riding before the Little Miami so he doesn't completely fall apart on the final leg of the race. I rode alone for a while before meeting up with him. It was the first time on the back on the bike since the century, and it felt really good. The highlight of the ride was my encounter with "hell hill" on Filager. I rode up the entire thing seated and powering it the entire way. At the top I told the hill "you're just another hill now." So hell hill is no longer. It's just another hill.

I met Rick and we took a nice short flat route of about 10 miles through Owensville and on the flat part of Benton to get in a nice ride before dark.

Odo: 1522.24 miles
Dist: 21 miles
Time: 1:22.34
Avg: 15.2 mph
Max: 36 mph

9/19/2006 Going Long

I had some time today while I was waiting for my daughter to get out of school, so I decided to go to a local park and check out there running/walking path. It was an absolutely stunning day of 65 degrees and sunny. Two days off after the century ride and I am ready to go again. Actually, I hadn't intended to take 2 days off but that is just how things worked out with scheduling. I think it was for the best, because I needed to lay off a bit and recover.

For my first workout I decided to do a nice long slow run. The running/walking trail was flat with a few rolling hills, but nothing major at all. It was the perfect setting to put on some nice long leisurely miles. I guess it was because the course was so flat, or maybe the combination of that and the beautiful day, but I had the best run I've had all year. I put in a very solid 7.5 miles in about 60 minutes. I did start to feel some pain in my knees in the last mile which concerned me a bit. This mileage is a bit above what I usually do, so I'm hoping if I keep at it and I'll get used to the distance. If I don't get used to it that could be a problem for my plans for a spring marathon. Since I was feeling some pain I stopped at 7.5 miles and walked another 2.2 miles for a total run/walk of 9.7 miles in 90 minutes.

9/16/2006 Oxford Odyssey

It has been 2 days since the ride, and I've had a bit of time to digest and mull over my first century. It was a great ride, and a terribly painful experience all at once. The painful part is more or less my fault. I'll get to that in a moment.

First, let me talk about the course. It was okay, but I've ridden better routes. It started just outside of Oxford, OH at a park and went out in 3 separate loops to make the 100 miles. The first two loops totalled a little over 62 miles for the metric century folks. These first two loops were almost entirely flat and we spent 99% of the time staring at rows of corn. It wasn't until the 3rd loop that things started to get hilly. We finally escaped children of the corn hell and got to see some nice scenery as we swept down into some valleys along a creek and back out across some soy bean fields that at least allowed for a view. We rode one nice long descent, some rolling hills, and finally they saved the best for last: a steep climb in the last 5 miles of the ride! It was brutal.

How I brought myself the pain. There is a very simple formula for undoing your training a preparation for a century or any endurance event. Take one excited individual riding said endurance even for the first time. Throw 2 riders in front of him that are a bit above his riding ability for that distance and watch him jump into a line with these two riders and burn up a ridiculous amount of energy and muscle cruising the first 25 miles at speeds between 23 and 25 mph. Speeds at which I would've been thrilled to reach in any one of my duathlons! After a break, while said rider is still feeling fresh, toss in a group of 5 riders that are once again riding at speeds above his ability and watch as her struggles to keep up for 10 miles before fading off the back of the pack. Once you've done this you can sit back and watch as his avg drops from 19.5 mph in the first 25 miles to 18.4 up to the 50 mile mark, and then drift down to 16.1 mph by the end. It is an easy recipe to blow up a silly rider.

There was ass pain, neck pain, and exhaustion in the last 25 miles. I really don't want to focus on that though. Hopefully it will be a lesson learned for my next century ride. I'd rather remember the beautiful, sunny day of riding and meeting some nice people including a couple of great guys from Pennsylvania who I rode with for most of the day.

Odo: 1501.5 miles
Dist: 100.44 miles
Time: 6:13.24
Avg: 16.1 mph
Max: 36.6 mph

9/15/2006 Running

Rick suckered me in to a run Friday night. I was really just wanting to rest that day for the ride on Saturday. But hey, when a buddy calls you up to run, what are you gonna do? He has definitely improved quite a bit in his running over the last couple of months. I let him set the pace, and he set a quick one. I made it my job to maintain the pace for the run. We ran the normal 3 mile route on Filager and Meghan's Run and finished up at a nice time of 21:45. Man I'll probably pay for this tomorrow during the ride. :(

Avg HR: 165
Peak HR: 176
Min HR: 111
Total Cal: 384
Time: 21:45

cyclebration cat 5-1

cyclebration cat 5-1
Originally uploaded by ABIker.

With the upgrade to Blogger beta, I've been checking out some of the new toys and options. Some of these options may have been available before, but they're new to me! I'm working on revamping the blog a little bit, and will probably give it a whole new look sometime soon. I just haven't decided how far I want to take it yet. This blog started out as a little down and dirty way to keep track of my fitness, but as things often go with me I start to see more potential. We'll see...

This is a photo from Newport Cyclebration Criterium races that were held in Newport, Kentucky back in August. I was able to hang around for the first few races and snap some photos. Check out some more through the flickr feed.

9/14/2006 Running

This morning I realized I need a new route to run for my tempo runs. I'm just getting kind of bored with this run, and that is not a good thing. I'm going to crack open the gmap pedometer and work up a new route to keep things fresh. I didn't have any problem getting out to run this morning, even though it was early and I was, and am, fairly exhausted from working late last night.

I ran the typical 3.3 mile route up and down Filager, back Meghan's Run, and one more trip up Filager to complete the distance. I decided to use my mp3 player to listen to some tunes for a little motivation, and felt like I had a strong run.

Avg HR: 156
Peak HR: 179
Min HR: 71
Total Cal: 440
Time: 27:14

My neck felt pretty good this morning. It's still a bit stiff, but running doesn't seem to bother it that much. It is more holding it in the position for cycling that seems to irritate the muscle that I strained. I also found that switching pillows helped. I think my old pillow was to flat and was putting my neck at a weird angle aggravating the strained muscle.

2 Days til Oxford Odyssey Century

I've been a bit deflated about this ride over the last couple of days. I'm definitely still riding and am excited about completing my first century, however the people I was supposed to ride with have bailed on me so I'll be tackling it alone. It won't be nearly as much fun, but screw it! I've been riding alone for many years now, so this won't really be any different than how I've spent the last 12 years on the bike. bitter much? naaaahhh, just disappointed.

Anyway I'll be spending this evening and tomorrow evening getting some things together for the ride. I need to stop at the shop and pick up some Gu and a new set of tires. My tires are starting to look like swiss cheese after all the punctures from road debris on my commutes. It would give me better peace of mind to know that I'm riding on a nice new sturdy set of tires when I'm in mile 75 out in the middle of nowhere on Saturday.

9/13/2006 Bicycling

After a couple of days of pouring rain I caught a break today and nothing was going to stop me from getting out for some cycling miles! I really wanted to get out and ride to see how my neck was feeling as well. Monday, while I was at the gym, something in my neck popped. Actually, the source of the pain seemed to come more from just above my scapula, but it hurt all the way up through my neck and is not allowing me full range of motion especially looking to the left. This can be especially troublesome when trying to spot traffic over my left shoulder, as I found out today. All in all it was okay, other than trying to look over my left shoulder, for the first 15 miles, but got stiff and sore toward the end. Hopefully with a couple of days off the bike it will be okay for my big ride on Saturday!

Back to the ride, I took the short loop around Rt. 222, to Owensville with the added on trip down Benton Rd. and back. It was a cool, but windy day. I faced a strong head wind on many of the flat stretches. It was tough riding, but I was really happy with how I was able to handle it. Last year or the year before I would've been lucky to hold a 14-15 mph avg. on a good day, but now I was able to keep up a good pace of 18-19 mph in the head wind and keep up the average above 16 mph even with the hills.

Odo: 1400.8 miles
Dist: 28.53 miles
Time: 1:43.17
Avg: 16.5 mph
Max: 36.5 mph

9/11/2006 Strength & Speed

Strength Training

There is nothing particularly interesting about this workout. I didn't bring up the weight on the lat raises today like I thought I might. I did think of a possible idea for bumping it up without going the full 5 to 20 lbs. I'm going to see if they have some 1 lb. or 2 lb. ankle or wrist weights and use those. I don't know if it will work, but I figure it is worth a try.

Elliptical = 15 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/25 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

Speed Work

I cranked out some more speed work today. It is terribly fun to try and run fast after doing strength training....not. It seems to be working out to be the best day to do the intervals though since I'm already at the gym with the track. Today I ran 4x400 intervals with a 400 meter jog in between sets. I'll crank it up to 5x400 for the next two weeks, and probably take a week off the first week of October. After that I'll be ready to kick it up to 6x800 in the first week of the 8 week training schedule for the Thanksgiving Day Race.

Only 4 days left until my first Century ride!

9/09/2006 Running & Softball Tournament

Running

In true Adam fashion now that I've decided to start the 8 week training program for the Thanksgiving Day Race I've kind of become obsessed a bit with it and will probably be starting the basic workouts with 3 day a week runs a little early(Long run, paced run, intervals). It is actually what I should've been doing all summer, but you know how that goes, intervals aren't really that fun, so it was easy to skip those.

I did a long run yesterday. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable runs I've done all year. Using the suggestions for the program I kept my pace fairly slow. It turned out to be a little more of a moderate pace, but I felt comfortable with the pace. I could've easily carried on a conversation during the run, and felt that I could've kept going even at the end of the run. I found the trick for me was to load up the mp3 player with some mid-tempo to slow tempo songs (and a few fast for variety) and concentrate on sort of matching the tempo of the song. It was also an incredibly beautiful morning, so taking my time and enjoying the day was helpful.

Some of the tracks I was listening to while running:


Birds of a Feather - Phish
KT Tunstall - Black Horse & The Cherry Tree
Pickin' up the Pieces - Widespread Panic
High Speed - Coldplay
Saving Grace - Tom Petty
All These Things that I've Done - The Killers
Holes to Heaven - Jack Johnson
Smiley Faces - Gnarls Barkley
Last Tube - Trey Anastasio
Daylight Robbery - Imogen Heap
Shut Your Eyes - Snow Patrol

This was a nice long 7 mile run, and here are some stats from my hrm.

Distance: 7 miles
Avg HR: 157
Peak HR: 240 (have to question this reading)
Min HR: 83
Total Cal: 1048
Time: 1:04.05


I ran my typical route looping through Meghan's Run then down the hill to Rt. 222 to 132 up the hill and back toward home. I did a second loop through Meghan's Run to finish with 7 miles. Like I said I was comfortable the whole time, except for maybe the last mile I could feel my calves tightening up a bit and my right knee aching just a bit. It's not really surprising though for this distance.


Softball Tournament

The softball tournament was a lot of fun. I was able to play in the first two games, before leaving to go to my daughter's soccer game. We had about 20 players, so I didn't get to play a full game in either game. I did get to bat once in each game and pulled a single and a triple. I don't think I'm going to be running out to join a softball league anytime soon, but I'd definitely be up to play if it happens again next year! That's me cracking my triple! woo hoo!

9/07/2006 The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & Commuting

It was quite an interesting ride in yesterday morning, a bit scary even. It's been dark more and more often as I'm leaving which is no big deal. I've ridden in rain plenty of times, and while unnerving at times I can still deal. Yesterday morning it was foggy. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to see the road and worse yet the drivers wouldn't be able to see me. I decided to get off the main route and take one of the side country roads that would get me out of traffic. This was a mistake as I knew it would be darker, but I had no idea how dark and foggy it would be. With no street lights and no lines on the roads I propelled myself through the soup with only a vague knowledge of where the edges of the road were and the turns in the road. It really took all my concentration to stay on the road and squash thoughts of would happen if I hit something or mistakenly made a turn where there was no turn to make.

After I made it back on to the main roads I was at once relieved and thrilled by the ride and being on high alert for the last 20 minutes. It was the first time that day that I brought my own sanity into question, but not the last. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. I made good time.

Morning Commute:
Odo: 1,341.3 miles
Dist: 25.92 miles
Time: 1:38.59
Avg: 15.7 mph
Max: 25.5 mph

The minor ordeal that followed really brought me to think that it's time to check myself in to the nearest mental institution. After a couple hours at work someone pointed out to me that my front tire was flat. That's okay! I was prepared with a patch kit, spare tube, and a pump. Certainly I was covered. Let the series of unfortunate events begin. During lunch I changed my tube out with the spare I had brought along. The change went smoothly, and I spent the next 45 minutes pumping up the tire with my tiny air pump. While it is nice that it's so small and portable it really isn't that practical for trying to pump 100 psi of pressure in to a road tire.

Once I got it pumped up I set it aside to see if it was going to hold air since it was a patched tube. After about 10 minutes there was a sudden pop! and the familiar sound of air escaping. I took a look at it, and the tire was still inflated. Turning the wheel to inspect it I realized I had pinched the tube and the pinched part had inflated and then popped leaving a whole about the size of a contact. DOH! Back to the first tube which was also a patched tube. After examining it I realized the air was escaping from the edge of the patch, not good. I tried to double patch it, but it was just no good, it wouldn't hold air. At this point I probably should've just called it a day, but I will not be defeated! There is a bike shop a couple of miles from my workplace, so after work I got changed, packed up, grabbed the bike, and jogged it over to the shop. Sounded easy at the time, but it turned out to be quite a tough jog, up and down hills, across a college campus, and finally to the shop.

After a quick tube change I was on my way. By this time My shoulders are tired from fighting with the air pump, and my legs are tired from the run to the shop. You know what? It was a beautiful afternoon, so I decided to suck it up, swing on my 15 lb. backpack and take the long way home. It's official I'm insane, send out the men in white coats.

Afternoon Commute:
Odo: 1371.7 miles
Dist: 56.33 miles
Time: 3:47.16
Avg: 14.8 mph
Max: 30.6 mph

9/05 - 9/06/2006 Softball, Strength & Speed

9/05/2006 Softball

I haven't played baseball in 20 years. I've only played softball a couple of times since then on co-ed teams. In general I don't have a lot of interest in softball or playing on these types of co-ed teams. When we got the request for players in the interdepartmental tournament at our company picnic I decided to take them up on it. I figured it would be a good opportunity to meet some employees from other areas of the company, and maybe meet a few of the managers and directors. I found out two things at our practice last night. The first thing was, that hitting a softball is fun, and I'm not so bad at it. I thought that I'd get up there and whiff it a few times. It was okay, I was prepared to look like a fool. Turns out, I can smack a big, fat, slow moving softball pretty well. Second thing I learned was that I need to do some more core work. Later last night after practice my lower back was pretty sore. It's really not surprising considering I haven't swung a bat in so many years, but it was a bit of a sign that I need to do some more work to strengthen those muscles up so I don't hurt my back.

I would definitely consider it a good workout. When I wasn't hitting I played centerfield, so I got to run down quite a few hits. Chalk up 2 hours of softball practice as my Tuesday workout!

9/06/2006 Strength Training & Intervals

I had some extra incentive to get up this morning and get into the gym. Today is my father-in-law's birthday, so he wants to go to a buffet for dinner. I'll try to restrain myself, but you never know what's going to happen when faced with all those delicious dinner choices and dessert choices. I'll drink a big glass of water before dinner to try and fill me up a bit. Must. Not. Gorge.

The strength training went really well this morning. Moving up to two sets on the wall sit with bicep curl/shoulder crunches has been really tough. It's not so much the bicep as the shoulders. I was able to complete the first 60 seconds without to much trouble, but that second set is a real challenge. I lasted about 40 seconds today before having to bring the weights down for a moment. I was able to get them back up for the last 10 seconds. I just keep telling myself that it will pay off in the kayak on race day. I'm gonna try to bring up the weight on the lat raises to 20 lbs. I wish they had 17 or 18 lb. weights to make the move up a little easier. Going up 5 lbs. on those has turned out to be a real challenge.

Elliptical = 10 minutes on Fat Burning
JC Bands Lunges with rows, Grey Bands - 12 each side.
Wall sit w/25 lb. wts.
2 sets bicep curls = 60 seconds each
2 sets shoulder press = 60 seconds each
Walking lunges = width of court/back doing lat raises with 15lb. wts
Hip adductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Hip abductor=2 sets/12 reps 95 lbs.
Clamshell crunch w/overhead 8lb ball 2x25

I also wanted to work in some speed work today. I have not been good about doing this part of my running regiment at all. With that training schedule for the Thanksgiving Day Race and what I've been reading in Runner's World I decided I should start working that back in. I need a little more structure to my running program now that I've got my base level of fitness down. Of course in my haphazzard first attempt at using the program I screw it up. For some reason I thought I was supposed to do 800's, but the program calls for 400's. I probably read the 800's in the Runner's World. Anywho I ran on the Healthplex's indoor gym which is 1/6 of a mile and ran 3x800 intervals with a 1 lap jog in between sets.

9/04/2006 Mercy Metric 10K

I wrote: "Last year I finished this race with a time of 52:29. This year I'm fully expecting to bring in about a 45 minute time. I've been training 6 mile runs at about 50 minutes, so maybe it's expecting a little much, but we'll see." - me

Official Results:

Overall: 26 Time: 43:41 Pace: 7:02 Age Group: 3/6 Sex: 23/70

I really could not be happier with the results of this race. I decided that when I went out there this morning that I was just going to leave it all on the course. I was going to push it as hard as I could and hope for the best. It wasn't the easiest strategy, but it paid off in the end. One thing that was different about this race was my focus. I got off to a fast start, bringing in the first mile at 6:41, and I really thought that it was going to hurt me later in the race. Instead of letting myself get down though, when I would feel my breathing start to get ragged, or my stride start to tighten up I would relax. I used the same method that I've been using on the bike. I mentally went through a checklist and relaxed my body and controlled my breathing. I concentrated on the little things that I could control and let the rest go.

It was definitely not an easy race. The race takes place every year at Lunken Airport around the airport and golf course. It is a flat fast course with long stretches of straight path. Along some of these stretches the path is lined with trees on both sides. This makes for some pretty boring running. It's kind of like running in a tunnel where you have no sense of how fast you're going. It made the stretch between the mile 2 marker and mile 3 marker seem to take forever. After that third mile I was definitely wondering if I had pushed it to hard early on. With a 20:41 for my first 3 miles I knew I was either in for a 10K PR or a blow up in the last couple of miles. Fortunately for me it was in those last couple of miles that I caught a break, or more correctly a break caught up with me.


A guy pushing a running stroller comes cruising up alongside me. I was obviously a little surprised at first, because he was cruising along so easily. I gave him a nod and made a comment at how well he was doing as he cruised by and right behind him a guy came along. He said to me "he's my pacesetter". I said cool, and let them move a little ahead. I heard one of them say something about a 7 minute pace. At that I picked up my pace and let the pace setter lead me in to the last mile. I hung with them as long as I could, but fell off a little bit in the last mile or so. Without that little boost though I probably would not have been able to hold that pace until the end. So my thanks go out to the mysterious pace setter that I never caught up with after the race.

Here are my splits from my watch:

mile 1: 6:41 mile 2: 7:04 mile 3: 6:56 mile 4: 7:14 mile 5: 7:13 mile 6: 7:05 mile 6.2: 1:25

With this new personal record I have really set the bar for the Thanksgiving Day Race! It has me pumped though, so with this 8 week training program I'm hoping to bring my running game up to the next level and maybe break 40 minutes.

9/03/2006 Kayaking

With my 10K race coming up tomorrow I knew I didn't want to do anything today that would wear my legs out, but it was a beautiful sunny morning. I couldn't take it! So, I decided to ring up Rick and go do some kayaking. The Little Miami Triathlon is less than a month away! I need all the kayaking I can get, seeing as this is definitely going to be my weakest leg of the race. I've decided to approach this leg of the race like Melanie McQuaid talked about the approach she takes to the swim portion of the triathlon. The approach is to just get through it without losing to much time and expending to much energy. That's not exactly what she said, but it's the basic idea. I definitely feel stronger in the kayak than I have ever before, but I'm still not good. I'm just going to try and relax, stay hydrated and bide my time until the run, and even moreso the bike.

We got in close to 3.5 miles of kayaking up and down the lake in about an hour and a half. This included a few stops to relax, chat and enjoy the morning, the weather, the wildlife of course.

9/01/2006 Bicycle Commuting

All I can say about the morning commute is it was cold, wet, and dark, and I loved every moment of it. Weeeell almost every moment. There was the moment that I almost ran off the road because I couldn't see, and the the other moment when I was almost run down by the driver that wasn't paying attention. But, you know, that's pretty typical. For the most part though it was a good ride despite the rain. I was definitely soaked and began to think that I might need to look for a different route if I'm going to commute in the early morning darkness. It's just too busy on Rt. 50 and the drivers aren't very appreciative on a good day.

1st half of the commute:
Odo: 1288.0 miles
Dist: 25.19 miles
Time: 1:30.20
Avg: 16.7 mph
Max: 28.1 mph

The ride this afternoon replaced rain with wind. I think I prefer the rain, maybe. It was still very cool, maybe mid-60's which is such a shock from the heat that we've had all August. It felt more like October weather. It got me thinking about the end of the riding year. I'm gonna get quite a few miles in for September, but will start easing up in October. I know I'm going to do an 8 week running program up to the Thanksgiving Day Race. That will probably cut in to riding time, and honestly I don't know how much commuting I'll be able to do after the end of September. The weather can be so unpredictable that it might be a lot and then again it could be very little. I am so not a fan of cold weather....so we'll see....

Odo: 1315.4 miles
Dist: 52.57 miles
Time: 3:11.17
Avg: 16.4 mph
Max: 34.2 mph

With the holiday coming up, and the sudden blast of cold on Friday has really gotten me thinking about the end of summer and the end of cycling season. I still have a lot of cycling to do in September and October, but it feels different than pounding out the miles in the summer heat. It's been an incredible summer where I've cycled, and ran for that matter, more than I ever have. It makes me kind of sad that it's coming to an end, but really makes me excited for the year to come. I'm hoping to use this year as a springboard for even bigger and better things next year. Now that I have a nice base level of fitness I want to do some cross training over the winter, so that when spring comes I'll be ready to be more competitive.