Wilson Wet and Wild Duathlon

Race Day! Perfect day, mid-70's, sun, low humidity, tiny breeze. Course, flat and fast (well for some people.)

My goal for this race was quite simple, win. The usual "big shots" were not there, so I figured I had a decent chance. Boy was I WRONG!

Run 1 (1.7 miles): A short out and back along the park roads, with two tiny but steepish hills. I went out strong and felt decent, until the end of the first mile. Then something went just horribly wrong. My energy...GONE! Uh oh...Heart rate was incredibly high, peaked at 223 (if this is even possible) and averaged 192. Something was very wrong (way too high for the beginning of a race.) 1st mile finished at 7:12, .7 at 7:43/pace. I finished Run 1 in 12:34 in 10th place. I was okay with this though, as I knew my strength was definitely in the bike.

T1: :45, eh, okay, I guess, nothing to be too proud of, but I was looking forward to making up some time on the bike.

Bike: (18.6 miles): A very flat course, with only a couple of rolling "bumps". I felt good here, but I held back thinking ahead to the final run. I certainly did not push to my limit, as I had in past races. I finished the bike portion in 53:05/21.0mph, 3rd best bike time, I'm generally pleased with this, but I may have made a mistake here. I certainly could have gained at least a couple of more minutes if I pushed, but really was not sure what was going on with my body. My heart rate was still all over the place, averaging 189BPM (I typically don't average much over 155 on the bike even when going all out.)

T2: :47, not happy with this, I actually stopped ran back to grab my hat, stupid! Regardless of this, I came out of transition in 3rd place, 2 minutes behind 2nd place and 1:30 ahead of 4th.

Run 2 (3.1 miles): Picture this, 18-wheeler cruising down the highway, tires flying off one at a time, and then crashing head on into a brick wall and exploding into a giant fireball. I was running, but I was truly gone. I hoped, in vain, to just be able to run fast enough to hold off the charging racers behind me. Alas, this was not the case, and I fell to 7th. I ran this 5K in 29:07/9:23 pace (ugh!)

Finishing Time: 1:36:21 (7th of 26) My previously chosen "target" who beat me in the Quakerman and then I returned the favor at Tri in the Buff, won and destroyed me by over 7 minutes.

What happened? Well, in a word NUTRITION. I ate like crap all week, while on vacation and it really caught up with me. I started a new way of eating after Memorial Day and it seemed to work quite well; lots of energy, decent weight loss, and improvements in runs and bike races. I'll get more into the specifics in a future blog. However, this week I fell back into the crap routine and paid for it. Lesson learned.

Vacation. Good for the Mind, Bad for the Running.

Didn't get in as much running as I had intended to as I missed my long run (20 miles). I did get in my speed work on Monday and a 4 mile run on Tuesday (both on the hotel treadmill.) Vacation also tends to destroy any attempt to eat healthy. I really tried, but gave up hope about halfway through the week. (Amusement park hotdogs are just too enjoyable.)

Yasso 9x800 (Monday)
Mileage: 8.72
Time/Pace: 1:17:55/8:56
Avg HR: 142
800 Splits: 3:49, 3:46, 3:46, 3:42, 3:43, 3:44, 3:41, 3:45, 3:42

4 Mile Run (Tuesday)
Mileage: 4.00
Time/Pace: 34:36/8:38
Splits: 8:43, 8:40, 8:41, 8:31
Avg HR: 128

Race tomorrow....

Holy Hotness

On vacation...still running...wow it's hot here, see pic. I set out (in the heat of the day) for a 5 mile run. First three miles and change when off pretty well, but in the final 1.5 miles the heat and humidity literally sucked the life out of me, and I ran/walked the rest of the way. Good experience (if I ever do Badwater.)

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 48:08/9:37
Splits: 8:40, 8:41, 8:39, 9:34, 12: 32
Avg HR: 158
Elevation Gain: 9ft (very flat here)
T/W: 100ish/Sunny, Hot, Humid

6 Mile Run & Long Ride

As I ran by a gentleman walking into his office building this morning, he saw me, opened the Dunkin Donuts box he was carrying and asked jokingly, "Want one?!?" Ha!

Run-AM
Mileage: 6.00
Time/Pace: 51:46/8:37
Splits: 8:39, 8:45, 8:43, 8:43, 8:41, 8:13
Elevation Gain: 121
Avg HR: 139
T/W: 66, sunny, cooler than yesterday

Bike-PM
Mileage: 29.82
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 1:43:22/17.3/38.2
Elevation Gain: 1544 ft
Avg HR: 127
T/W: 74, sunny

5 Mile Run

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 42:58/8:35
Splits: 8:44, 8:42, 8:42, 8:44, 8:05 (!)
Avg HR: 142
Elevation Gain: 132 ft
T/W: 77/sunny, humid

6 Mile Run/ Bike Intervals

Morning Workout:
Run
Mileage: 6.00
Time/Pace: 52:16/8:42
Splits:8:39, 8:48, 8:45, 8:46, 8:44, 8:32
Avg HR: 140
Elevation Gain: 46 ft
T/W: 68, sunny

Afternoon Workout:
Bike Intervals: warm up, 3 minutes at all out pace, 1 minute easy spinning (6x), cool down

Interval/Mileage/Sp/HR

1) 1.21/24.2/136
2) 1.19/23.8/142
3) 1.15/23.0/144
4) 1.21/24.1/145
5) 1.19/23.7/144
6) 1.18/23.5/144

Totals
Mileage: 17.82
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 58:45/18.2/28/4
Elevation Gain: 191 ft
Avg HR: 125
T/W: 75, sunny

Taper Week

This week is a reduced mileage week. No speed work or long runs, just easier paced base mileage.

Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 43:19/8:40
Splits: 8:44, 8:46, 8:47, 8:45, 8:16
Avg HR: 145
Elevation Gain: 54ft
T/W: 76, humid, hazy

8 x 800 (3:45)

Speed Work.

Splits/Avg HR/Max HR

1) 3:41/141/148
2) 3:43/148/153
3) 3:44/150/155
4) 3:46/152/156
5) 3:41/154/158
6) 3:42/156/160
7) 3:43/157/160
8) 3:34/158/163

Totals (with wu/cd)

Mileage: 8.59
Time/Pace: 1:20:21/9:21
Avg HR: 143
T/W: 71/sunny

18 Mile Run

Want to know the secret to getting up at 4am to do a long run? Before you go to bed think about how great it is to get up early and get out there. Think about the cool air, watching the sun come up and being alone with your thoughts. When that alarm goes off, you'll jump right out of bed and hit the roads.

Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 3:00:13/10:00
Avg HR: 139
Elevation Gain: 367 ft
T/W: 69, dark then sunny

Splits
1-4 (10:17): 10:14, 10:15, 10:12, 10:18
5-13 (10:07): 10:04, 10:05, 10:06, 10:02, 10:06, 10:05, 10:00, 10:06, 10:04
14-18 (9:57): 10:00, 9:47, 9:45, 9:45, 9:11

17C Owego Time Trial Race

Race night. 10 mile TT. I was feeling very strong this evening, even though it was a bit hot and humid out.


Mileage: 10.04
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 25:47/23.4/29.5
Elevation Gain: 110
Avg HR: 157
T/W: 85/sunny, humid

8 out of 18.

3 Mile Tempo

My tempo pace I was looking for on this run was :30 slower than my best 5K pace, or 7:35.

Splits: 7:39, 7:35 ,7:32

Totals (with wu/cd)
Mileage: 5.00
Time/Pace: 42:59/8:35
Avg HR: 147
Elevation Gain: 100ft
T/W: 72, cloudy medium humidity

3 Free Hours and Nothing to Do...

Why not take a little ride?

There is a loop on the Route 17 bike route in Broome County that I have been eyeing for weeks, but haven't had the nerve to try it. I've done parts of it, but never the entire loop. You see it's over 50 miles in length and has some pretty decent climbing. Today lined up well, though, so I figured what the hell!

The first 25 or so weren't too bad even with the tough hill in the middle (773 ft). I rewarded myself at the mid point by stopping at a gas station and purchased a Rice Krispies Treat and Vitamin water (about 550 calories total that I'd more than burn through before the end.)

Miles 30-40 were borderline miserable...riding this distance I've noticed three very irritating sore spots. In order of annoyance....

1) Saddle- wow! sore ass!
2) Toes-Kept going numb
3) Back of neck, upper shoulders, from holding my head up.

Miles 40-53- mostly downhill and a familiar part, enjoyable.

Another new experience, and overall a good time.

Mileage: 53.52
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 3:06:41/17.1/42.4
Elevation Gain: 2294ft
Avg HR: 128
T/W: 77/cloudy

3.5 Mile Run

Mileage: 3.55
Time/Pace: 31:02/8:44
Splits:8:49, 8:48, 8:44, 4:39 (8:27 pace)
Avg HR: 138
T/W: 66, cloudy

Lactate Threshold

Speed.

I want to run faster. I want to bike faster.

Today, I did some research about time trial training and found some interesting articles and training programs that focus on lactate threshold. The idea is to do interval training at or slightly above your lactate threshold to build strength and speed.

Here's how the program told me how to calculate my LT, using a heartrate monitor.

1) 15 min warm up, cycling through all of the gears 90RPM.
2) 30 min bike at as fast a speed I can sustain for 30min.
3) Take the avg HR for the last 20min, this is my LT.

Results?!? LT = 147 BPM.

I did this on as flat of a section of road as I could. What I found was I was trying to maintain an even burn in my legs while keeping the cadence high. Also, interesting to note was my avg speed: 22.4, right about my pace on my last TT, where I was riding as hard as I could. Hmmmm....

7 Mile Run

A bit tired after yesterday's run, but got out anyway. Very thick, humid air this morning.

Mileage: 7.00
Time/Pace: 1:01:52/8:50
Avg HR: 149
Elevation Gain: 69 ft
T/W: 72/sunny, humid

7 x 800

Speed work today. I've had a bit of a head cold the past few day and bailed on my scheduled race. Feeling better this afternoon, I decided to do some speed work. Yasso 800's, and I lowered the time to 3:50 per repeat. Here's how I did...

Split/Avg HR/Top HR

1) 3:32/148/155
2) 3:45/155/158
3) 3:47/156/161
4) 3:48/158/162
5) 3:45/161/165
6) 3:43/162/166
7) 3:40/162/166

My splits were all under my goal, this felt good though, so I went with it. I only felt like I was really pushing in the last repeat.

Totals (with warm up/cool down)
Mileage: 7.83
Time/Pace: 1:09:55/8:56
Avg HR: 151
T/W: 85/sunny

1/2 Year in Review

I bailed on my bike race tonight...mixture of crazy hot temps and case of the sniffles (wah!) So, instead let's take a look at the goals I set at the end of last year...

My Goals for 2010

1) Run a marathon. I've run two so far, and am planning on at least two more this year, Rochester in September and Philadelphia in November.

2) Run an ultra. Haven't done this yet. Not sure where I'm going to fit this in.

3) Get a Bike. Check! I'm loving my Cervelo P2, you all should get one!!

4) Compete in a duathlon. Check! Check! Two third place finishes, and a couple more coming up!

5) Run 1500 miles. I'm at 601.78 as of today. I'm currently on pace for 1156, mostly due to my injuries. I'll get as close to this number as possible.

6) Get weight down to 180. Currently at 186, getting close! Diet change has been a huge help.

7) Run a sub 7 minute mile in a 5K. Getting close here too, my best in 2009 was 23:00 (7:26 pace), but my best time in 2010 is 21:53 (7:05 pace).

I am adding one more goal at this point...

8) Run a sub 4:15 marathon...

Short Little Ride, Big Hill

Short bike ride today, wasn't really feeling it. I did get myself up one decent sized hill (6% grade).

Mileage: 7.56
Time/Pace: 25:00/18.1
Elevation Gain: 367
T/W: 75, sunny

16 Miler

I woke up this morning at 4am to try to beat the heat and get my long run for the week in. Whew...still almost 75 and humid this early! There is nothing like running early though. I had the streets pretty much to myself.

Mileage: 16.00
Time/Pace: 2:41:09/10:04
Mile 1-4 (10:19): 10:19, 10:18, 10:19, 10:18
Mile 5-12 (10:09): 10:04, 10:07, 10:12, 10:09, 10:08, 10:07, 10:09, 10:08
Mile 13-16 (9:59): 9:53, 9:57, 9:47, 9:04
Avg HR: 134
T/W: 74, dark then sunny, humid

Tri in the Buff Duathlon

Another great race day. I was very excited for this day, being my 2nd duathlon in as many weeks. Still on my high from placing last week, I went in hoping for another good performance. The big competition were two men who have competed at the national level and qualified for the world duathlon championships. I had no intention in beating them today, but I was gunning for "best of the rest". A total of 30 athletes registered for this race, but only 18 finished with a time.

Today's course was slightly longer than last week's; 5K run, 40K bike, 5K run.

Run 1: My goal was not to start out too fast. I was aiming for 7:30 splits. I did head out a bit faster for the first mile, but reigned it in for the 2nd and 3rd. I entered the transition area in 7th place.

Mileage: 3.12
Time/Pace: 23:04/7:24
Splits: 7:14, 7:30, 7:29
Elevation Gain: 32 ft
Avg HR: 161

T1: :59, not thrilled about this and came out of the transition area in 8th. Also, I forgot to grab my Cliff Shots that I had laid out, so no fuel for me during the bike. I was worried on how I'd hold up.

Bike: I love the bike. I feel like I'm just flying. The course was two loops with a decent hill halfway through for a total of 25 miles. Plenty of downhill as well. I push as hard as I can with a fast cadence until my legs can't burn anymore, before I gear down. I caught and passed all of those ahead of me except for the "two studs". I was the 4th fastest bike time (3rd fastest apparently dropped out before the end).

Mileage: 25.05
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 1:11:02/21.1/31.9
Elevation Gain: 404ft
Avg HR:156

T2: :52, slightly better, but again (WHOA!) wobbly legs. I did remember to grab my Cliff Shots and ate all three packs during my final run.

Run 2: Goal here was to get under 8:00/mile, if possible. My legs definitely were beat and I fell a bit short of this. 4th best run and good enough to hang on to third.

Mileage: 3.09
Time/Pace: 24:54/8:02
Splits: 7:50, 8:11, 8:13
Elevation Gain: 32
Avg HR: 161

Total: 2:00:52

The Battle for Third
Last week, I missed 3rd overall by about 1:30 to the overall female winner. As my luck would have it, she was racing again today, so I set my sights on beating her (I knew I had no realistic chance on tracking down the other two.) I finished the first run about :21 ahead of her, but she had a much better T1, which put us neck and neck getting on the bike. I was able to open it up and grab a :35 lead going into T2. She gained again in T2, another :09, so I had to hang on to a razor thin :24 going into the final 5K. I was able to hold off her late charge, as she was only able to trim :04 off of my lead, coming in :26 behind me. I'm sure she had no idea this battle was going on, but for me it was truly motivating, so my hats off to her!

So, for the second week in a row, I've won something!! I again didn't stick around for the awards (had to show an apartment), but they will be shipping. I'll snap a pic for all of you when I get it.

Route 38 Time Trial Race

Time Trial night...cool night, very flat course, a bit of wind for the first 5 miles. Legs feeling very sluggish from my hills last night.


Mileage: 10.08
Time/Avg Sp/Top Sp: 26:36/22.7/27.0
Avg HR: 184 (much higher than I'd like to see)
Elevation Gain: 65 ft
T/W: 60, sunny, wind

16 out of 24

This route was very similar to the one I did two weeks ago, I did that in 27:09, so despite (or is it in spite?) my sluggish legs, an improvement.