Friday, October 29, 2010

Lowering expectations.....

So, the OBX Half Marathon is two weeks out and I'm scheduled for my last long training run this weekend.  Not looking likely to happen based on the fact that I can hardly breathe; am coughing-up a lung and have the chills .  Bugger!

Maybe it's time to stop thinking about any specific time objective and just worry about having fun and finishing? 

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blech! The Only Thing Running Is My Nose......

Tried to go for a run this morning, but it was a no go based on the fact that I seem to have contracted some sort of late summer cold.  Very congested and sneezing like crazy.  Damn, Damn, Damn!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Doh! I'm an Idiot!

Went for a 5k run this morning and was really sluggish over the second half.    I guess I could blame residual jet lag from last weeks business trip, but it's much more likely because I stayed-up late last night watching recorded sit coms with She Who Must Be Obeyed; drank the best part of a bottle of wine and then was stupid enough to stay up even later to watch the end of the meaningless (to me at least) Monday Night Football game between the Giants and the Cowboys (OK, I admit it, a small part of me does enjoy watching the Cowboys struggle!).  Basically I'm becoming a Homer....


Why do I do this?   I'm an idiot!   Time to set and adopt some new mid week life rules to cover Monday through Thursday (I'm not a complete masochist - weekends are sacred!).

Here goes.  New Rules:

1.   EAT BREAKFAST!    I often skip breakfast, which is just ridiculous!


2.   GO TO BED EARLIER!   There's really no reason to be staying up until midnight.


3.   NO ALCOHOL (unless we have guests!).  There's really no reason to chug a bottle of wine just because it's Tuesday!




Time to stop being a Homer!   As added incentive on rule number three I think I'll get a jar and everytime I successfully go an evening without drinking I'll add the price of a half bottle of wine or three beers to it.  All proceeds go towards new winter work out gear.

I'll report back on progress!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ah.... that's better!

Went for a 7.5 mile run this morning and averaged 10:10 per mile over a hilly course.  Finished with both legs and lungs feeling fine.  A very different experience from last week, when I think that the work on the bike trainer the day before turned my legs to mush.  Feel that I could have kept that pace going for a lot longer - would equate to around 1:12:06 for the half marathon distance - not too bad.

Will train lightly on the bike until after the OBX half marathon and start Jorge's winter bike training program in late November.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Back on the Horse

I have spent this past week on a business trip to Europe - a couple of days in Liverpool for a board meeting followed by a couple of days in and around Hamburg to meet with one of our collaborators.   Long week and very happy to be home!

I enjoy my international trips and always take my work out gear, but find it very difficult to actually do anything!  Generally there are dinner engagements every evening and I find that my craving for sleep seems to quickly overcome any desire to get up early and exercise.   This week all I managed was 45 minutes on the treadmill on Tuesday morning in the Liverpool Hilton (which happens to have one of the best gyms I've ever seen in a hotel - and I've seen a lot!).   Ah well.....

On the plus side I managed to eat pretty well.  I didn't go too crazy on my old favorites while in Liverpool and the food around the Baltic coast is designed to be eaten in  moderation - how much eel, zander and pickled herring can you eat?  

A light week now and again is probably good for me, but now it's time to get back on the horse and do some serious work. 

Albert Dock in Liverpool
Hamburg

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Uh oh!

Went out this morning for a run intending to do about nine miles.  Took one of my normal routes around Virgil Road in east Durham County.  Hilly but not as steep as my regular 5k hill loop.

Everything went well for the first four miles - crusing along at around 9:30 pace and enoying the sunshine and the scenery.  For some reason though somewhere during mile five my legs just decided that they didn't want to go anymore.  I had been drinking Accelerade and had a Hammer Gel at mile four, so it wasn't lack of fuel.  Lungs also felt good - it was just my legs!  Shortened the route slightly and kept going slowly to finish about eight miles, but was at 11 min plus pace when I finished - ugh!  Heart rate was only in the 155-160 range, so plenty left in the tank.

The only thing I can think of is that the bike workout that I did on the trainer yesterday took more out of me than I realised. 

On the plus side I did keep going and ran for a total of 1 hr. 17 mins, but it's disappointing.

I head to Europe on business this evening - will be taking my workout gear, but maybe it's a good excuse to give the legs a bit of a rest?

Todays wildlife count:  a wild turkey; a small eastern box turtle; more squirrels than you can count, a nice wood duck family and a large black snake of some sort.  No deer, which is very unusual! (oh, and I can add a possum if roadkill counts!)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Planning for the OBX Half Marathon

So, the Outer Banks Half Marathon is coming up in about a month from now on November 14th.   http://www.obxmarathon.com/Top_Nav/Outer_Banks_Marathon/fpraces_courseinfo.htm   I did the same event last year and finished (with a sore knee) in about 2 hrs 19 minutes if memory serves me correctly.  I think I could certainly have been a few minutes faster if my knee hadn't been bothering me so much over the last few miles.

Anyway, what should I expect this year - should I set myself a target?   I'm a little leery as last year I did only run training in the lead-up to the event and put in several runs in the 10-12 mile range and one 14 miler. This year I have been mixing-in swim and bike training because of my triathlon obsession and so haven't done as many miles.  That said, however, I think I'm probably running faster over my normal run circuits than I was this time last year (I need to check that!).  I definitely need to up the milage over the next few weeks and get in some double digit mile runs over the remaining weekends.  My cardio should be OK, I just need to make sure that my legs (and that pesky right knee!) can take the pounding.

I would really like to be able to break two hours (roughly 9 min 10 secs/mile pace) but I think that it's highly unlikely at this point.  10 minute miles over the full 13.1 mile race would be 1 hour 10 mins 6 secs.   That certainly sounds a bit more like it and potentially an achievable target.  Yep - that's my goal.

So how realistic is it?   There's a nifty tool availabe called the McMillan Running Calculator that allows you to plug in the time you run for any distance and it spits out what it estimates your potential to be at a range of other distances.  You can find it here:   http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

One of the problems that I have is that around where I live there is barely a flat spot anywhere.  This isn't a bad thing in terms of getting a good work out (those hills are good for you!) but it means that it's very difficult to get a good benchmark on what pace I'm running at.  I  know for a fact, for instance, that I run 5k on the coast several minutes faster than I can run my regular 5k "hill circuit" at home.

I ran 6.5 miles today around Barton's Creek and Wood Valley neighborhoods - plenty of hills!   I deliberately didn't push too hard and I tried to maintain an even 10 min/mile pace.  My splits were up and down slightly but my overall pace averaged 10:01 mins/mile over the full 6.5 miles, so I guess that I was pretty close!

My time at 10k (6.214 miles) was 1 hr 02 mins 23 secs.    If I plug that into the McMillan calculator I get an estimated half marathon time of 2 hrs 18 mins 49 seconds - very close to my time last year.  

There's no way that I'm settling for that!!!!, so I guess the question becomes - what time could I run 10 k in over flat ground and if I pushed it?  The simple answer is that I don't know!   I think that 30 secs faster per mile is probably a reasonable estimate (9:30 per mile, over 6.214 miles would be a fraction over 59 minutes).  If I plug a 59 minute 10k time into the McMillan calculator I get an estimated time of 2 hrs 11 mins 17 secs for a half marathon - that looks a bit more like it!

I'm going to see if I can find a flat(ter) circuit this weekend and see what I can do for 10k.  I'll report back!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ooops, I did it again!

What do I have in common with Britney Spears?.....


Well, actually not much, but I did manage to "do it again" today and improve my best time on my regular 5k hill circuit by a full thirty seconds!   After I ran the circuit last week I told myself that I would try to get my time down to under 30 minutes by the time of the Outer Banks half marathon in November - well I did it today!  I'm very happy with the way that my times are coming down so consistently at the moment and am itching to get onto a flat track to see what I can do for a "real" 5k. 



Monday, October 11, 2010

What a slob!

Went camping at Kerr Lake on the NC - VA border this weekend with a host of good friends.  Took my running gear and intended to put in at least one long run.  What was I thinking?  Late nights around the campfire; a few too many drinks; being woken by a friend's car alarm on Saturday (courtesy of his four year old who stepped on his car keys!) and, perhaps more pleasantly, and owl on Sunday.

Needless to say my running shoes stayed in my bag.  Does chasing after about 20 children count as exercise?

That said, some fabulous weather and a little down time should be part of everyone's training schedule.....




Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Progress!

Since the Lake Royale Event on Saturday I have deliberately taken two days off from my workout schedule and then had another enforced layoff yesterday because of work commitments.

This morning, with no great expectations, I went out to run one of my regular training loops.  This one is 5k long, all hills - the same one that I talk about in the post "putting it into practice".  For some reason it felt great from the start.  I really felt as if I was "running" rather than "jogging" or, as is often the case for me "plodding".

Suffice to say I kept feeling good and completely trashed my personal best benchmark on that circuit by awhopping 53 seconds!   Just a week ago I took 42 seconds off my best time before that.  I'm sure the cooler weather and the three days rest helped, but it's really encouraging to see improvement like this! 

Here's how my previous three "benchmark" runs on this circuit compared:

September 3rd

September 28th

October 6th


Split
Avg. HR
Split
Avg. HR
Split
Avg. HR
Mile 1
9:46
141
10:13
150
10:01
148
Mile 2
10:05
152
9:53
166
9:42
160
Mile 3
10:02
161
9:56
176
9:24
171
Final 0.2
8:43
164
8:33
180
8:01
173
TotaL:
31:59
152
31:17
164
30:24
159


My notes tell me that I didn't push hard on Sep.3rd, hence the lower heart rate.

More than a minute and ahalf shaved off in a month.  I guess the training is starting to pay off a little.  Now I have to work out how to take this out onto the race course with me!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Inspiration....

Just last Friday our friend Lisa told me that her short term triathlon objectives were to get a podium finish in her age group and to complete a sprint event in under 1 hour 30 minutes.

Yesterday Lisa took part in the Set-Up Events Jordan Lake Women's Sprint Triathlon and crushed it!  She finished second in her age group and finished in 1 hour 21 minutes 17 seconds.  Mission Accomplished!

I'm in awe of Lisa's splits:

750 m swim:        11:34
14 mile bike         44:10
5k run                  23:29

I can only dream of being that fast - awesome!

Lisa became a "triathlon junkie" a little before I did, but has really dedicated herself to training; hired a coach and so on.  An inspiration! - now that I have "got the feel" of what it's all about I'm going to take a page out of Lisa's book and really dedicate myself to some hard work and serious improvement next season. 

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Lake Royale Sprint Triathlon

HUMILITY & TAMPON FOUNTAINS.....  :-)
Yesterday (Saturday October 2nd) was another early start (4:30 am) as I got up to prepare myself for the FS Series Lake Royale Sprint Triathlon.  It was a bit of a struggle to pull my sorry rear end out of bed as on Friday evening we hosted my eldest daughter’s birthday party and we had twelve 8/9 year old girls sleeping over.  Needless to say, it wasn’t an early night!   She Who Must Be Obeyed was particularly galled as the party was arranged for the Friday evening because I had mistakenly thought that the Lake Royale event was on Sunday.  Compared to dealing with twelve grumpy girls my Saturday morning swimming in a lake and slogging up and down hills was going to be a breeze!   No brownie points for me, but a big shout out to my lovely wife for allowing me spend time training and racing.
Because of the birthday party and not wanting to wake the assembled masses, I loaded my bike and packed my bags the afternoon before and left the car outside in the driveway and ready to go.  I slammed down two Ensure’s, retrieved my Accelerade from the fridge and headed out into the chilly morning air.  I’m actually pretty relieved that some nice Fall temperatures have finally arrived here in central North Carolina – I love the warmth and have even learned to enjoy the humidity somewhat, but nothing beats a crisp autumnal day.  The forecast was for sunshine and mid 70s for the high temperature, but it was in the low 50s when I left. 
The 45 min drive to the Lake Royale community (which is east of Wake Forest, just outside Bunn, NC) was uneventful and I was soon pulling up at the gate and being given my parking pass.   Lake Royale is a large gated community surrounding….  you guessed it….  Lake Royale.  Lake Royale is a man made lake created in the 1970’s:- 3.25 miles long with about 13 miles of shoreline and comprising 345 acres.  There’s a large housing community surrounding it.  The race start and transition was located at the pavilion next to the beach area, but this is several miles from the gatehouse and let’s just say that street lights aren’t too abundant – it was pitch dark and I felt as if I was driving into the middle of nowhere as I followed the directions.   Once I was completely sure that I was lost and going in the wrong direction I did finally see a sign that indicated that I was moving in the right direction and I had soon dropped my bike off and driven two miles back to the designated parking area.  From the parking area there was a shuttle service to deliver you back to the starting area.  I boarded the open air shuttle with other hardy “early arrivers” and was soon enjoying (?) the very chilly ride down to the lake.  Both my drive from the gate house and the shuttle ride told me that the course wasn’t going to be easy – the only flat spot around appeared to be the surface of the lake….
Setting-up my transition area was much more straightforward than at the OBX event a couple of weeks back.  This was partly because I now had some experience, but also because the transition area here was much better lit.  By chance my appointed rack was right next to the bike exit, which is good as there’s only a short distance to run in cleated bike shoes while pushing your machine.  Especially good here as the transition was in a hard surface parking lot rather than a grassy area as it had been at the Outer Banks event. 

I was soon registered, body-marked (number 146 this time) and chatting to my fellow competitors.  The primary topic of conversation appeared to be the chilly temperatures.  One of the people racking her bike on the same rack as me was a lady called Annie Lux who was also wearing Delta Triathlon gear and looked like a serious athlete with her tri bike and aero helmet.  It turns out that Annie, who was extremely pleasant, is a serious athlete – she went on to smoke the ladies field to finish first by about three minutes in the ladies event in a time that would have put her about 8th in the men’s race – very impressive!   There were several other people there wearing Delta Tri gear, so I introduced myself to as many as I could.  Unfortunately I can’t remember many names, but I do remember chatting to a guy called John in the transition area after the race.   I also ran into Christian Zyburg who lives locally and trains at the same Wood Valley pool as me.  Christian is also a serious triathlete and went on to finish 6th overall.  I’m hoping that over time some of the experience and expertise of people like Annie and Christian will rub off of on this old fat guy.  Unfortunately I can’t turn back the clock and magically become 30 again, but I certainly do have a lot to learn and I’m generally a pretty good study!
Soon it was time to clear the transition area, so I grabbed my wetsuit (water temp. was around 70, so the event was “wetsuit legal”), goggles and swim cap (bright orange again) and headed down to the beach for the pre-race briefing.   I always find it somehow counter intuitive when it’s chilly out but the ocean or lake water is warmer than the air temperature, but thankfully this was the case and it was pleasant to wade out into the lake for a quick warm-up
The swim start area (taken later)
Once the briefing was complete men 39 and under were first to be counted (for safety reasons) as they entered the water and prepared for their start.  My group was next and soon after the younger men were underway we “40s and older” found ourselves lined-up and ready to go.  The swim course was shorter than for the Outer Banks event (500 m vs. 750 m) and I was determined to swim more freestyle this time.   I lined-up inside and to the right and was soon underway.  No real problems.  I got kicked once as we got started, but that’s normal!   I swam a pretty good leg to the first buoy – all freestyle and I kept to a nice smooth rhythm.   Once around the buoy I switched to breast stroke for a while to make sure that I was properly “sighted” on the second buoy.  I then alternated freestyle and breast stroke along the long second leg.  I definitely felt better than I had during the last race and was confident that I was at least “middle of the pack” (if not slightly better) within the 40 plus age group.  It also felt good to pass some of the green caps of the 39 and under age group which had started four minutes before us and, as far as I know, I wasn’t passed by any pink capped 39 and under ladies who started four minutes behind us!  Soon enough I was running out of the lake, pulling off my cap and goggles and peeling down the top of my wetsuit.
                Swim:                    11 mins 18.7 secs.
                                                Pace:                     2:16 per 100m (vs.2:30 at OBX)
                                                Men:                     65th (of 163)
                                                Age Group:         5th (of 10)
 This time there was only a short run from the beach to the transition area.  T1 went pretty well.  I fought the wetsuit for a short while, but nothing too bad.  No problem with helmet, gloves, sunglasses, socks and bike shoes and off to the bike exit.  Mounting was uneventful and I was pleased that I left my bike in a low gear as it was straight into the first hill!
                Transition One:                 1 min 57 seconds
                                                Men:                     70th (of 163)
                                                Age Group:         4th (of 10)
The bike course was very different to that at the Outer Banks event.   The 15 mile “out and back” course featured two very different sections.   The first three miles or so out of transition (and conversely the last three on the way back) featured a lot of “technical riding” through the Lake Royale community.  Lots of hills and sharp turns.  Once out of Lake Royale the remainder of the ride was through open farm land.  I heard several people talking about the head winds on the way out, but compared to those at the previous race these weren’t too much of an issue!
I was determined not to “save my legs” on the bike this time and felt that I pushed pretty well.  Like the last race, I overtook quite a few people, but also had quite a few people absolutely fly by me!  By looking at the marking on their calves, I could tell that at least two of these speedsters were in my age group.  I had obviously beaten them on the swim/T1 but they caught me about two thirds through the outward bike leg.   I felt pretty good about my bike leg when I had finished the race, but very disappointed when I saw the final results (see post mortem below). 
                Bike:                                      54 mins 12.1 secs
                                Speed:                  16.6 mph average
                                Men:                     109th (of 163)
                                Age Group:         10th (of 10) 
As I approached the second transition I pretty smoothly got my feet out of my shoes and pedaled in with my feet on top of the shoes.  Dismount and run to the T2 transition went smoothly, as did helmet off and getting into my running shoes.  No issues in T2.
                Transition Two:                 59 secs.
                                Men:                     70th (of 163)
                                Age Group:         3rd (of 10)            
My legs felt very heavy as I headed straight into the first hill on the run.  Basically there were very few flat spots on the out and back 5k run course.  I tried to keep a good cadence, but knew that I was slow – just couldn’t get my legs to keep turning over very quickly.  I passed a few people but got passed by a whole lot more, again including a couple of guys in my age group, which I found somewhat demotivating!  In chatting to some more experienced folks afterwards it seems as if this is an unusually hilly and challenging run course.
                Run:                       31 mins 50.4 secs.
                                Pace:                     10 min 17 secs per mile (DOUBLE YUCK!!)
                                Men:                     144th (of 163)
                                Age Group:         10th (of 10)

                Full Race:             1 hour 40 mins 16.2 secs
                                Men:                     119th (of 163)
                                Age Group:         9th (of 10) -  OUCH!  This really stings!
                                Overall (Men and Women – I’m not proud!):      152nd (of 251)

The post-race activities were fun (but what?  No beer?) and by this time the sun was up and pleasantly warm. 
One embarrassing story to relate.   I have a new transition bag on the way (basically a fancy rucksack) but in the mean time I have been using one of She Who Must Be Obeyed's bags to lug all my gear to the transition area (you can see it in one of the transition area pictures above).   As I was packing-up after this race I was chatting to the aforementioned Annie Lux as I was pulling stuff out of the bag when, much to my embarrassment, I pulled at a shirt that was “down deep” in the bag and as it came out it was accompanied by….   wait for it….   A giant shower of tampons!  I have no idea if Annie noticed as I quickly scooped them up and hastily returned them to the bag, but if she did she was much too polite to say anything!   Note to self:  check bag for female sanitary items before packing!   Hopefully my shiny new bag will be here soon!
Not the most flattering shot!
Post Mortem
Wow!   I have to say that I’m disappointed!   When I finished I felt that, with the obvious exception of the run, I had put in a reasonably good effort.  I certainly felt that I had pushed and “raced” better than I had in my first event.  I wasn’t surprised that I was last in my age group (50-54) in the run, but I was a little stunned to see that I was last in the bike!
Here’s how I compared in the 50 to 54 men’s age group:


Pos.
Swim
Rank
T1
Rank
Bike
Rank
T2
Rank
Run
Rank
Total
1st
11:25
6
1:32
1
43:31
1
1:04
5
23:37
1
1:21:08
2nd
9:21
3
2:04
5
46:48
3
1:02
4
24:12
2
1:23:25
3rd
8:40
1
1:43
3
48:50
4
1:16
6
26:23
5
1:26:50
4th
9:18
2
1:32
2
46:13
2
0:48
1
29:37
8
1:27:27
5th
12:09
7
2:34
6
50:46
7
1:29
7
24:43
3
1:31:39
6th
13:24
9
2:54
8
49:53
5
0:51
2
24:54
4
1:31:53
7th
12:18
8
2:35
7
52:07
9
1:45
8
28:05
6
1:36:47
8th
10:58
4
3:03
9
49:56
6
1:46
9
31:28
9
1:37:08
Me
11:19
5
1:57
4
54:13
10
0:59
3
31:51
10
1:40:16
10th
14:25
10
3:45
10
51:22
8
1:57
10
29:15
7
1:40:41
Delta vs. Best
2:39

0:14

7:09

0:11

8:16

16:51


OK, so let’s break it down so that I know where I need to focus in my off-season training.
1.  Swim:   I started this adventure assuming that this would be my weak point, but it seems that I’m reasonably competitive in my age group even without doing much training so far.   This comes as a bit of a surprise.  This said, I know that there’s a lot of room for improvement.  I’m going to go to coach Marty Gaal’s Powerstroke clinic later this month and start swimming with his Master’s group to improve endurance in the New Year.   Again notice that the age group winner was only 6th (behind me!) in the swim.
2.  Transitions:  No real issues.  It seems that I’m reasonably proficient and I would hope that I can shave time once I get used to riding without socks and so on. 
The bad news about being “reasonable” in the swim and transitions, of course, is that overall these disciplines contribute least to overall time!
3.  Bike:  This is obviously where I need to focus if I want to improve my overall race time.  I have only been riding seriously for a few months, but I’m a bit stunned at how much faster some of the serious riders are.  The good news is that I love the bike and relish putting in the hours over the winter.  Notice that the fastest four on the bike also took the first four age group placings.
4.  Run:   No news here – I’m slow!   Repeat after me:  More miles; more miles; more miles!  The good news is that, in my training runs at least, I’m definitely getting faster.  It’s all relative I guess!
Time to start planning my winter program!