Holiday Workouts

It's hard enough to work out during a vacation. It's even harder when you're traveling - my family and I are in the Seattle area for the holidays.

Luckily, somehow I’ve been able to visit the LA Fitness in Bellevue (about 3 miles away from my mother-in-law’s house) a couple times while here. The design for a downtown gym is definitely different from one in suburban Texas – it’s spaced out over four levels:

• 2nd/main floor: entry, Kids Club, cardio equipment, aerobics classroom and weight machines
• 3rd floor: free weights
• 1st floor: locker rooms
• basement: pool and spin classroom

And it was a pretty small & shallow pool - only 3 lanes and probably just 3 feet deep all the way (though Derek says that shallower pools offer more resistance). So the gym as a whole was a little claustrophobic, but everything was workable and I’ll have to admit that the windows/views overlooking the city while running on the treadmill were nice.

Nothing too hardcore training-wise, but if I can just maintain the status quo, I'll be very happy. So far, I’ve done a spin class, some treadmill running, and hit the pool. And my daughter has been enjoying the Kids Club facilities. I had to do something to counteract the big Christmas dinner at my brother-in-law’s house, dim sum, and trips to Old Country Buffet! :-P

Getting Back into the Groove

Monday: Work and a sushi buffet lunch derailed my workout plans. So a "bonus" off-day this week.

Tuesday: Another long run with Derek, Jarrod, and Matt along the Campion Trail. We decided to run "out" for about 35 minutes and then "back" for 40 minutes or less.

I completed 8.82 miles in 1:12:17 for a 8:11/mi pace. (Two weeks ago, I ran 7.41 miles on the same trail in 1:00:29 for a 8:09/mi pace). Today, it took 35:40 to get to my turnaround point and then 36:37 for the return trip. Not too much of a slowdown in the pace, so I am happy.

MotionBased info (map, heart rate, etc.): http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4616087

From the map, it looks like the trail will continue northwest and connect to Sam Houston park so this trail/run might be getting longer in the future!

Wednesday: An hour-long spin class followed by swimming. My heart rate during the spin class was not as high as normal, but I was a little tired from yesterday's run. After spinning, I did 1,500 yds in the pool. It took 31:48 with (decreasing) 500 yd splits of 10:40, 10:36, 10:32 - not too bad.

Thursday: Don left for vacation, Jonathan was sick, and Wilhe had to work from home today. So instead of going to spin class at LA Fitness by myself, I went to swim with Derek, Jarrod, and Matt at North Lake College. I was able to finish 2,500 yards in 51:20.5, which is my fastest time for this distance! Swimming with friends helps keep up your pace. Splits: 9:50, 10:17.5, 10:28, 10:24.5, 10:20.5.

Derek said that the side of the pool that we used (the deep end) made for faster swim times. Something to do with less resistance because we're further from the bottom. Anyway, regardless of the physics, my time was definitely pretty fast. However, Derek was even faster; he lapped me at least three times and finished 2,500 yards in under 47 minutes. Way to go, Derek!

Friday plan: Spend some time on the elliptical trainer.

Saturday morning plan: "Reverse Tri at LA Fitness" - 1 hour treadmill run, 1 hour spin class, 1,500 yd swim.

Sunday: OFF day!

Chilly Weekend

Saturday: I think my plan to skip the FWRC run, though disappointing, was the right one. It was very cold and windy today. So instead, I went to LA Fitness and did some running on the treadmill and most (the first 45 minutes) of the 9:15 AM spin class. Over an hour (7 miles and 900 feet of elevation) on threadmill and a solid workout on the bike. Can't complain.

Sunday: Attended the Santa Scurry 5K run in the morning. I couldn't participate in this event because I was watching Kimberly (note to self: buy jogging stroller), but I wanted to meet up with friends from Team-In-Training (my coach, Todd, was "Santa") and the Fort Worth Runners Club and cheer them on. Plus, the venue was only 5 minutes from my house. Derek did well, running a 7:53/mi pace. Cy from TNT was the official winner of the event, finishing in around 21:30 (all the GPS watches said the course was closer to 3.3 miles than 3.1), and Fiona from the FWRC was right behind him for "second place" and the first female. A few other runners (including Fiona) were faster than Cy, but due to missing signage at the turnarounds they ran a lot further than the actual course. This is the first year of the race, I'm sure they'll get the kinks worked out next year.

The weather actually warmed up in the afternoon - probably hit the mid-50s - so I actually rode a bit with my mountain bike around my neighborhood for about an hour with Kimberly in the child carrier in the back. Not a real workout, but it was nice to get moving and enjoy a respite from the cold.

Actually, this week's weather is suppose to be pretty nice with temps in the 60s - maybe even cracking 70 on Wednesday and Friday. I'll have to try to get in some biking or running to take advantage of the warmth. This week's only plan is for some consistent workouts before Christmas vacation.

Slow Week

Winter weather is getting me down. Cold and/or rainy all week long.

Monday: 2,000 yard swim. Not very fast (44:58), but at last I got it in. I'm feeling very lazy these days. Splits: 10:48, 11:20, 11:23, 11:27

Tuesday: Spin and Run. Was more than 10 minutes late to spin class, so I tried to push my speed/intensity to somewhat compensate. Afterwards, I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill. Started quite slow, but by the end I was running at 8.5 MPH, which I kept up for the last mile.

Wednesday: Too busy at work. Couldn't get to the gym. Just did about an hour on my home elliptical trainer in the afternoon. Didn't wear my heart rate monitor, but it felt like fairly high intensity for most of it.

Thursday: Spin class and then swimming. 1,500 yards in 32:33. Negative splits: 11:13, 10:42, 10:37. It was very nice to speed up for the later laps.

Friday: Had errands to run, so today was an off-day.

I was going to compete in the Fort Worth Tropical 10-Mile run tomorrow, but decided not to because (1) it's too cold, (2) can't get a babysitter for my daughter. So I'll just go to the gym instead - probably run on the treadmill and swim. This cold weather is just beginning. I think I'm going to look for a spin bike or an indoor bike trainer otherwise my biking is going to really suffer this winter.

Run The Rock

Derek, Don, Jarrod, Wilhe and I ran the White Rock Marathon this morning as a 5-man corporate relay team. We finished the 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes - good enough for 104th place out of 575 relay teams. I ran the first leg (6 miles with an overall uphill slant) in 50 minutes for an 8:08/mi pace.

The weather was on the cool side (temperatures in the 40s). We also had a few light showers, but thankfully, the heavy rains (scattered thunderstorms were forecast) stayed away.

The starting line was quite crowded (the 15,000 entry slots were all sold out) but I was able to sneak in near the front with the other relay runners. It was quite a thrill to be in a race that was televised on network TV (the local ABC station covered it); I think I may have been captured at the start at the American Airlines Center/Victory Park. (Jarrod is going to check his TiVo :-)

There were a few annoyances: (1) Had to pay for parking - $5 is actually pretty reasonable, but since there were no in-and-out priviledges, we had to pay twice after using Derek's car for relay exchange point transport. (2) Insufficient bathrooms - huge lines at the American Airlines Center at the start and lines at the porta-potties at 6-mile exchange point (after I had run 6 miles). (3) Ran out of food too quickly at the post-race party - our team did okay since we finished in under 4 hours. But I'm guessing that a lot of people that finished in over 4 and a half hours (at a decent 10:20 pace) missed out on the pasta salads, tomato basil soup, fish tacos, cookies, and sushi that the local restaurants offered (in addition to yogurt smoothies, bottled water, coffee, and beer beverage options).

Overall, though, the race was nice - great crowds cheering you on and a pretty good course. I look forward to running the full marathon sometime in the future.

Course map: http://www.mapmyrace.com/races/DallasWhiteRock2006

The Week In Review

Monday:

3,000 yards of swimming today in 1:07:27. It felt slow - not quite as fast as my 4,000 yard swim last month - and it was a (mental) struggle to keep going after the first 2,000 yards. I may have slipped more during the break than I thought.

Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:38
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:45
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:55
• 4th 500 yds: 11:08
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:55
• 5th 500 yds: 11:29
• 6th 500 yds: 11:37

Actually, now that I review some other past swims, I don't feel as bad. It is on par (maybe a little faster) than the 3,000 yards I did on October 22 and the first 2,000 was faster as well.

I'll just chalk this up to a "bad day" and hope to do better next time.

Tuesday:

Since a bunch of us are running the 5-man relay in this weekend's White Rock Marathon, we wanted to get in a good training run. Rather than brave the roads around work, Derek, Jarrod, Matt and I instead ran the Elm Fork of the Campion Trails. I completed 3.72 miles in 29:40 and then turned around to finish 7.41 miles in just over an hour (1:00:29). Although my pace slowed down after the half-way point, it was a decent run and pretty nice trail. I'll have to come here to run again. The trail continued on past the 3.72 mile mark; I'm curious to see how far it goes.

Wednesday:

Another swim day. Had a big meeting in the afternoon, so I only had time to do 1,500 yards. Splits: 10:41, 10:46, 10:43 - kept the speeds fairly steady.

Thursday:

45-minute spin class and then I stayed on the spin bike for additional 30 minutes. As you can see from the graph, the spin class was pretty tough and Leslie only gave us two real breaks - aside from those, my heart rate was at 160-170 BPM. After the class ended (at the 43 minute mark), I was tired and less motivated so the breaks came more (about every 4 minutes).

I can't believe that it has been over a week and half since I've been on a bike (spin or real); the spin class in PA last Sunday was the last time.

Friday:

More swimming - resting my legs for Sunday's run. 3,000 yds in 1:06:36 - a little better than Monday. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:32
• 2nd 500 yds: 11:19
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:16
• 4th 500 yds: 11:02.5
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:46
• 5th 500 yds: 10:47
• 6th 500 yds: 10:53

USAT Rankings

Since my 2007 triathlon season is over, I surfed over to usatrankings.com and took a look at my scores.

As you can see, my performance steadily increased over the season. Hopefully, that will continue into next year.

So what do these numbers actually mean? It's kinda complicated. The USA Triathlon web site has a few pages explaining how those numbers are calculated, but here is how I understand it:

A triathlete's score for an event is the hypothetical "par time" divided by the participant's finishing time and then multiplied by 100. The "par time" is determined by some crazy techniques of looking at the scores and times of people who have done the race both in the past and this year and then doing some averages and other stuff. I understand it but can't easily explain it (see the links below). However, what I can do is use the Monster Tri as an example:

First, the formula

(par time) / (my time) = (my ranking) / 100

plugging in my numbers

(par time) / 71.5167 minutes = 0.676521

which, after a little math, means that USAT has determined that the par time for the 2007 Dallas Athletes Monster Sprint Tri is 48.38 minutes (or 48:23). Note that it is VERY difficult to meet (or break) the par time; the winner of the Monster Tri did it in 58:20 - so even that lucky person only scored a 82.9371!

If I get my scores to crack into the 70s next year, I will be very happy.

USAT Ranking info:

• http://www.usatriathlon.org/Membership/Rankings/FAQ.aspx
• http://www.usatriathlon.org/Membership/Rankings/Rankings%20Criteria.aspx

TNT Transition Clinic

Today was quite busy. After a 10K race in the morning, I only had about an hour to relax at home and then pack up my bike and the rest of my tri/swim gear for a Team In Training clinic on transitions at the Carroll High School Aquatic Center.

They call transitions the "fourth discipline" in triathlons and even though I've done a few tris I know I still have room for improvement in this area. After a "classroom" (if you can call it that since we were in the natatorium lobby) session on how to set up a transition area and other topics, we did some mini (really mini) triathlons with emphasis on the transitions. 200 meter swim in the pool, a 0.5-mile bike around the rear parking lots and a 0.25 mile run in the front parking lot. We did three of these.

The first iteration I got off to a slow start in the pool since I did about 100 meters of (too) fast warm-up before the timed start. Finished the swim in about 3:33 - thought I hit the "LAP" button on my watch but I guess I missed. T1 (swim-to-bike transition) was a little slow, my helmet was turned the wrong direction and the straps weren't laid out. Felt rusty on the bike (it's been 2 weeks since I'd been on it!) and there was a fairly stiff head-wind. Looked down at my bike computer to check my speed - oops, not on yet, need to hit "START". T2 (bike-to-run transition) was better/smoother. A little trouble with the race-belt, but that always happens. About 100 yards into the run: PAIN - major leg cramp in my right calf - OUCH - flashbacks of when it happened in early in the summer during swim-run sessions at North Lake. Stopped to stretch/massage and limped around the parking lot to finish up. Time: 9:55. Coach Todd says "Good Job," but I know better. More stretching and massaging of my calf.

Second iteration: Before jumping back in the pool, I took two SaltStick tablets and gulp some water. No messing around. Coach says we can do a 100 meter swim this time but I still do the full 200 to better compare my times. Finished the swim in 3:23 - faster than the first time but I am the last one out of the pool - everybody else just did 100 meters. T1 was fairly smooth until I got on my bike ... oops, forgot to stick it in low gear. Back into the transition area for a fast T2 and a decent run. I was second to last because of the longer swim, but my time was 9:13. Much better.

Last time: Since I was almost dead last for the second go-round, I didn't have much time to rest before getting back in the water. So the swim was pretty tough but I still finished another 200 meters in 3:28. Everything else went smoothly and with a final sprint for the run, I completed the last nano-tri (too small to be "mini") in 9:14 (just one second slower than the prior one and I actually finished in the middle of the pack).

Things I learned:

1. Practice makes perfect. I need to make a "transition area checklist" to ensure I don't miss anything.

2. It doesn't matter how short/fast the "race" is going to be, I better take some SaltSticks or risk leg cramps. :-(

3. Swim cap and tri-shorts definitely improve my swim times. On Friday, even for my early laps I had trouble going faster than 55 seconds for 50 YARDS. Today, I averaged 52 seconds for 50 METERS. So I'm glad to know that I am definitely handicapping myself during training, which is my plan so that I can have an easier time of it on race day.

4. Regarding nutrition and other things, don't eat/drink/do anything on race day that you haven't tried before. Interesting example: shaving on race day (or the night before) might be a bad idea if the swim is going to be in salt water (like my Galveston Lonestar Tri!)

5. The small amount of time that can be saved by having bike shoes already clipped into the pedals is not worth the danger of getting bare feet/toes injured by bike gear (e.g., near amputation incident in River Cities Tri earlier this summer). Umm, yeah, I will do T1/T2 with bike shoes ON for the foreseeable future.

Don Zetnick's Winter Run

Don and I ran in the Don Zetnick Winter Run 10K on the UTA (University of Texas - Arlington) campus this morning. Despite cloudy skies and a raindrop or two, no downpour ensued. In fact, the weather was very nice for running - cool, but not too cold; no sun = no sunscreen needed.

The race itself was decent but could have been better. First, the not so good: the 10K race started over 30 minutes late! - 9:46 AM vs. the scheduled 9:15. We were at the starting line around 9:00 so we waited over 45 minutes before the gun. Also, the course only had ONE water stop (that was hit twice on the nearly out-and-back route).

On the plus side, the UTA campus had plenty of parking and the Maverick Activities Center had a lot of room for registration and the awards & door prize activities. The trophies were pretty neat - miniature penguins (the 1K kids' race was called the "Penguin Waddle"). Decent pre-race (bagels & coffee) and post-race (pizza, bananas, sodas, Smart Water) refreshments.

As for my running, I did pretty well and got my first sub-50-minute 10K since my college running days. I ran pretty hard so my heart rate, as expected ,was quite high - an average of 175 BPM for the entire 10K but closer to a 181 BPM average for the second half of the race. I finished the 6.2 miles in 49:20 for a 7:57/mi pace, which is about a minute faster than the Run Off at the Ranch 10K last month.

My goal of a sub-8:00/mi for a 10K has been met!

Back In The Pool

First time I have swum since Sunday. 2,500 yards with splits of 10:44, 10:49, 10:43, 10:52, and 10:52.5 ... with various breaks in between.

All in all not bad, but Don was totally kicking tail. He was sets of 550 yds (approx 500 m) for each of my 500 yd sets - and doing them in almost the same time. Don has definitely recovered from his clavicle injury suffered back in July!

This is a good thing, though - now I have someone to push me to go faster in swimming. :-P

The weather for tomorrow is still iffy; will check the radar in the morning before heading down to Arlington to ensure the rain is going hold off until after the 10K has ended.

Post Holiday Weigh-In

Not too bad - I only gained 1 1/2 pounds after a week of Thanksgiving meals & leftovers, Chinese and sushi buffets, and too few workouts. Even with this week's setback, I've still dropped over 30 pounds (32.5 to be exact) from my "before weight" back in April. In addition, my blood pressure has dropped as well. I guess this exercise thing actually works ...

A few workouts this week after the LA Fitness session on Sunday. 55 minutes on my mom's 20+ year-old stationary bike on Tuesday - average heart rate = 152 BPM so I guess it still did its job. Yesterday, a quick 30-minute jaunt on the elliptical trainer after the flight home from Philly. Today, some swimming at lunch time.

If the weather cooperates - it might rain (and I'm such a wimp) - I plan to run Don Zetnick's Winter 10K tomorrow morning.

Different LA Fitness (and State), Same Workout

Cool. My LA Fitness membership is nationwide so I was able to use the branch that is very close to my brother's house with no problems at all.

A 60-minute spin class and then a 1,500 yd swim. I was a little tired after the cycling (and a little rusty after the heavy meals) so my first 500 yards was a disappointing 11:17.5, but I was able to speed up for the subsequent sets (10:54 and 10:48) and competed the full 1,500 in almost exactly 33 minutes.

The gym was a little bit crowded with post-Thanksgiving exercisers - I had to share a lane in the pool - but a great workout nonetheless. I feel good and ready to tackle those leftovers. Turkey sandwich anyone?

Holiday Week Training

Happy Thanksgiving!

Training definitely tailed off this week, but at least it wasn't at a dead stop. I was able to get a few workouts in at the beginning of the week: on Tuesday, a 45-min spin class with Don, Wilhe, and Jonathan followed by 30 minutes of inclined walking on the treadmill (2 miles + 1,050 ft elevation gain); on Wednesday, I took an hour-long spin class and followed that up with an extra 15 minutes for a solid 75 minutes of cycling.

I had hoped to swim at LA Fitness Thursday morning before heading out to the airport, but ended up needing the time for last-minute packing. Enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving meal with my family in Pennsylvania on Friday. Followed that up with a 2-hour lunch session at a local Chinese buffet on Saturday. I did do about 55 minutes on my brother's elliptical trainer on Saturday morning before chowing down, so we'll just call that a "recovery meal". :-)

There's a branch of LA Fitness about 6 miles from my brother's house (where we're currently staying) so hopefully I'll be able to get in a swim or spin class tomorrow or Monday. Also on the agenda, doing some shopping for cold-weather running gear.

Finishing up the Tri

Did a quick swim today. 2,000 yds in about 45 minutes. Set splits: 10:45, 10:51, 11:14, 11:25.

So I have successfully completed all of the portions of a Half-IronMan triathlon in 51 hours and 15 minutes. My time can only get faster from here. :-)

Weekend Brick

Two big events in one weekend. Am I crazy? Maybe. Happy? Definitely. I was able to slog through a 76.5 mile bike ride and a half-marathon in a 25-hour time period (9:00 AM Saturday through 10:00 AM Sunday) and today I actually feel pretty good.

I tried to pay close attention to recovery - stretching and muscle massage after the events, immediate recovery drinks (Accelerade in my cooler), and getting serious carbs and protein in post race meals - and I think that really helped. A few aches and pains: a sore back (probably still lingering from 5 hours on the bike), minor blisters on the toes and (ironically) sore hips and lower abs ... from where my hung-too-low-and/or-too-tightly Fuel Belt's water bottles were rubbing for nearly two hours!

On the plus side, my legs, knees, and ankles feel great. For the last few long runs, walking down stairs was quite painful "the day after"; not the case, today! Walking is no problem and I'll definitely be up for spin class tomorrow (though I may be there by myself with the short Thanksgiving holiday week). However, even if I were a girl, I don't think I'd be wearing heels. :-)

Mote In Motion

I ran the Fort Worth Runners Club "Mote In Motion" half-marathon today. It was a very nice day and the course was pretty flat - just two places with hills where the Trinity Trail went under (and back up) road crossings. Completed the 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 53 minutes (8:37/mi pace) which is about half a minute faster than the DRC Half. Not too shabby considering that it piggybacked on yesterday's 76.5-mile bike ride. Also encouraging: my average heart rate for today was 166 BPM, compared with 174 BPM for the DRC Half.

Before and after the race, I met the coordinators of the Team In Training Fort Worth Marathon team. They were signing up people for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and spring events. Something for me to look into next year if I want to do more running. :-)

Plus, the Soy Joy rep was there and giving away boxes of "close to expiration date" bars (she gave me a box of Mango and a box of Raisin Almond).

So I got to run a half-marathon, received a finisher's medal, had some refreshments, and took home 24 Soy Joy bars for an $8 race entry fee (plus $15 FWRC membership fee). Greatness!

MotionBased link: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4468441

Denton Turkey Roll

Don and I rode the 71-mile route of the Denton Turkey Roll Bike Rally today. Jarrod was there too but only had time to do the 35-mile route due to family commitments. We arrived at the North Texas Fairgrounds at about 8:00 and picked up our packets and long-sleeved T-shirts. The weather was still a little on the chilly side but was warming up quickly so no armwarmers or overshirts were used even at the beginning of the ride.

There was a pretty good turnout - probably 750-800 riders - due to the nice weather and no other scheduled races with which to compete. Because we were lolly-gagging too much at the car, Don and I got to the starting line a little late and began the ride in the middle-to-back of the pack. We were surrounded by many riders of varying ability so we carefully manuvered towards the front. Along the way, we said hello to some families doing the shorter routes as well as a group of TNT-ers. ("Go Team!", I shouted)

Even with taking it slow in the beginning, Don and I had done 19 miles at the 1:00 hour mark. However, the pace definitely slowed down after that. We hung together until the last rest stop (about 61 miles and 4 1/2 hours into the ride) and Don SAG-ed it back. I ended up doing 76.44 miles (about 7 miles extra - the 71 mile route was probably about 69.5 miles) in almost exactly 5 hours (4 hours and 30 minutes of ride time).

The start of the ride had smooth roads, but FM 455 had a lot of chip-seal. Marion Rd and the route all the way up to Lone Oak Road and Ray Roberts Lake was also fairly smooth. We'll have to see if we can add some of those roads into our "Denton TNT Loop" bike training ride route.

At the 32-mile rest stop in Era (about half-way), we grabbed some barbecue sandwiches before turning south. We didn't realize that as we headed into Bolivar that we had ridden right past Jarrod's house (his mailing address is Sanger so didn't realize that he was so close to the route) - we could have stopped by and said hello. :-)

The entire way from Era to Krum was pretty tough. We had a decent head-wind coming at us from the south and the chip-seal roads were rough. After the last rest stop in Krum, I picked up the pace (didn't want Don to wait too long at the finish) and the road conditions were much improved as I headed back into Denton. Back at the Fairgrounds, we had some delicious hot dogs off the grill and some ice cold water before making the drive back home.

Route map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=4460522

Additional MotionBased ride info: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4460522

Ride Review:

• Course: 2/5 - mix of good roads and not-so-good ones; Era to Krum was chip-seal and no shoulder; course was well-marked; no traffic control except at the start - riders on their own for the potentially dangerous left turn onto FM 455.


• Rest Stops: 2.5/5 - very limited selection - some bananas and cookies; barbecue sandwhiches at the half-way stop were the lone standout; later stops and the finish line ran out of Gatorade; stops were easy to see from the road


• Logistics: 3/5 - Denton starting line meant that we didn't have to drive too far and 9:00 AM let me sleep in a little more; good web site and follow-up email after registration; no issues with race day packet pick-up - but packet was weak; only $20 for pre-registration; parking at the North Texas Fairgrounds was plentiful and post-race meal of hot dogs


• Overall: 2.5/5 - a pretty bare-bones ride and the route was not the best, but I will probably do it in the future if the weather is nice because it is close and there is an option for a 70+ mile ride at the end of the season

Tough Training Week

This week seemed to go by very slowly from a training perspective. I must be looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday. That or just too much other stuff going on outside of tri training ("no ... there isn't anything outside of tri training") - work, kids, travel planning. Sigh.

On Monday, I didn't feel like heading to the gym so I just did an hour on the elliptical trainer at home. Somehow I managed to reset the "tripometer" about 40 minutes into it so I have no idea how "far" I went, but the pace was pretty good and my heart rate stayed between 160 & 163 BPM after the first 20 minutes.

On Tuesday, the normal spin class with Don and Wilhe. Afterwards, I tried to do some swimming but my arms and shoulders were very sore - either from the long swim on Sunday and/or some (what I thought was) light weight training on Monday evening. I did 500 yds (of freestyle) in 11:35 - which is quite slow for me these days, especially for the first set of the workout.

So, as an experiment, I did another 500 yds, but this time with a modified breaststroke - alternating one stroke/kick underwater and the other at the water's surface. Surprisingly, I completed the set in 10:28, which is actually a pretty good time regardless of stroke. It is nice to know that if/when I have to use breaststroke for open-water swimming (for sighting, etc.) that my swim time really does not suffer much, if at all.

Wednesday was not planned to be an off day, but it just ended up that way due to work. Meetings conflicted with spin class at lunch time, too busy to hit the gym in the afternoon, too tired and harried with the kids to do the elliptical trainer in the evening. Murphy's Law.

Thursday, I got back on track with a spin class and 1,000 yds of swimming. 500 ys splits: 10:48, 10:37. Much better ...

Tomorrow will be another off day because I have a lunch meeting and I'm resting up for a busy weekend - the Denton Turkey Roll 71-mile bike ride on Saturday and the FWRC Mote In Motion half-marathon on Sunday. Hopefully, those events will make up for slacking off this week.

Sunday Swim

Did my second "Ironman" swim today. My time was a little faster than a month ago - I completed the 80 laps (4,000 yds) in 1:27:36 - shaving about 2 1/2 minutes off my time. Here are my 500 yd splits - the times in parentheses are from the Oct 12 swim:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:13 (10:47)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:19 (10:42)
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:28.5 (10:37)
• 4th 500 yds: 10:48.5 (10:48)
• Water break: 0:54 (0:37)
• 5th 500 yds: 11:04 (11:23)
• 6th 500 yds: 11:18 (11:41)
• 7th 500 yds: 11:13 (11:43.5)
• 8th 500 yds: 11:19 (11:45)

So except for the set before the water break and the break itself, I was markedly faster than last month. I'm also pleased that my 2,000 yd split time dropped by over a minute (65 seconds to be exact). With any luck, I'll be able to do the swim part of the half-Iron (1.2 miles - 2,000 meters) in 40 minutes.

While I might not be "swimming like a fish" yet, at least I'm no longer a beached whale ...

Run Off at the Ranch

Don, Wilhe and I ran a 10K today (and Jonathan & Alexis and my family did the Fun Walk), but the Run Off at the Ranch wasn't much of a race. The right elements were there - organized by RunOn!, ChampionChip timing, after-race festivities including bounce houses and petting zoo for the kids, and a live band (who didn't sound half-bad) - but unfortunately only 13 people showed up. We talked to a race official afterwards, and he conceded that there wasn't enough promotion and the race length (10K instead of a 5K) probably hurt turn-out since the location was far from "traditional" runnning venues. All the families in Sendera Ranch probably just wanted to sleep in on a Saturday morning!

Aside from the turnout, it was hard to complain. The weather was fantastic (in the low 70s). The out-and-back course was very nice - mostly following the "hike & bike" trails of the Sendera Ranch community. There were two water stops (which were each hit twice) but they could have been spaced out a bit better. They were at Mile 2 and Mile 2.9 (and thus Mile 3.3 and Mile 4.2) - I would think that Mile 1.25/4.9 and Mile 2.5/3.7 would have been better choices.

My pace started off way too fast - I was third in the pack and trying to keep up with the 18-year-old who ran a 6:00 mile - but settled into about a 7:30/mi pace. That was still a little too ambitious since I was pretty tired at the half-way turnaround point. It didn't help that there was a little bit of a hill right after that (around Mile 3.5) and I got passed by the third-place finisher. I ended up being fourth overall. I know it's only out of 13, but I'll take it anyway. :-)

I ended up completing the 6.2 miles in 50:21 for an 8:07/mi pace. I was hoping to break 8:00/mi but I'm definitely getting faster regardless. Full race results at http://www.runontexas.com/Results/Fall2007/RunOffattheRanch2007/RanchOverall.HTM

As a "report card", right now, I'm running at the following speeds for these distances

• 5K (treadmill - no incline): 7:07/mi
• 5K (at end of Monster Tri): 8:02/mi
• 10K (today): 8:07/mi
• 15K (FWRC Labor Day): 8:53/mi
• 20K (Tour Des Fleurs): 9:03/mi
• Half-Marathon (DRC Half): 8:39/mi

So I think my current running goals are:

• 5K: 7:30/mi (or faster?!?)
• 10K: 8:00/mi
• 15K: 8:15/mi
• 20K/Half: 8:30/mi

Next weekend, I'm planning to do another half-marathon with the Fort Worth Runners Club (FWRC Mote In Motion). It may be tough to beat the DRC time, though, since Fort Worth's Trinity Trails are hillier than White Rock Lake and it will be the day after I do a 71-mile bike ride (Denton Turkey Roll), but I'm going to try it anyway!

Almost Recovered, Back for More

It took about 2 days for the leg soreness from the half-marathon to subside, but overall it wasn't too bad. Actually, I think I felt worse after the eight mile training run from last Tuesday.

This week seemed to fly by from a workout perspective. Maybe it's because I didn't do any running :-P ...

On Monday, I had a quick (though not planned to be) swim. Unfortunately, the pool at the gym was closing at noon for minor repairs and upkeep, but after a little pleading, the maintenance guys let me get in about 21 minutes (and 1,000 yds) while they set up. I was planning to go further but as it turned out I was already pretty tired after the abreviated swim. 500 yd splits: 10:24 and 10:29.

Tuesday was a spin class and a treadmill walk (my legs were still too sore to run). Almost the same as last Thursday - 4 MPH for 30 minutes - 2 miles completed at 10% incline - 1,050 feet of elevation gain.

Wednesday was another spin class. Very tough - my heart rate were averaging below 150 bpm but felt much worse. The lack of a true recovery day after the DRC Half is catching up to me. Thought about doing some weights afterwards, but in addition to being tired, I had too much work to do so just went back to the grindstone.

Last night I went to bed at 9:00 and didn't get up until 6:00. So I got a really good night's sleep (I usually average 5.5-6 hours per night). Did a spin class with Don and Wilhe (Jonathan didn't show up - boo!) and then afterward swam 1,000 yds. Felt really good. Sleep works wonders. 500 yd splits: 10:11 and 10:20 with a 1:24 break in between.

Friday is an off day, and then I'll be running "only" a 10K (Run Off at the Ranch) on Saturday. My family will be coming along to cheer me on and do the 1 mile fun walk. Additionally, I think I've convinced Don and Wilhe to join me and Jarrod may even show up too. Looking forward to some nice weekend weather and a good run.

(Half-)Marathon Man

Andy is happy. Very happy.

I ran (and finished) my first half-marathon today - Dallas Running Club's "The Half". The course started at the north end of White Rock Lake and wound through the scenic tree-lined Lakewood neighborhood on the west side of the lake, went over the bridge paralleling Garland Road by the dam, past the Dallas Arboretum and Winfrey Point to finish line at Norbuck Park.

I completed the 13.1 miles in 1:53:21, which is an 8:39/mile pace. I was 603rd out of 2,541 finishers overall and 80th out of 189 in the men's 35-39 age group. It feels good to be in the top 25% for my first half-marathon. Also, my 1:53:21 time was just one minute slower than I ran the 0.7 miles shorter Tour Des Fleurs 20K (12.4 miles in 1:52:19) about 6 weeks ago.

Jarrod and Derek also ran the half-marathon and finished in (sub-)10 min/mi average paces and Don ran the 5K (his first!).

The weather was very nice for running. It was a bit cool in the morning so we all had on long sleeved T-shirts and sweat shirts at the start. However, I warmed up rather quickly and shed my tee before Mile 2. But even by the end of the race it was only in the high 70s which made for almost perfect conditions.

I was actually very hungry before the race. I had eaten a Clif bar on the drive over, but I guess it wasn't enough. Luckily, Leah (our TNT Tri Coordinator) was manning the Team In Training tent at the race and had some bagels and pastries available for a quick noshing. So delicious ...

After a slow start due to a mob of people, I settled into a steady 8:15-8:30 pace. I was surprised and a little worried - my target was 8:45-9:00 - but I felt really good and decide to just go for it. I kept it up pretty well even in the hilly Lakewood neighborhoods, where I was running 7:30-7:45/mi down the hills. It wasn't until I went up the hill near Garland Road at Mile 7.5 when I started to "hit the wall" and my pace slowed appreciably. Luckily, the last five miles of the course just followed along White Rock Lake and was almost completely flat. So even though I was really drained I still kept a 9:15 pace until the finish line.

Here is the elevation chart of the course. You can see where the hills of the Lakewood area started around Mile 3.5 and the steep hill just before Mile 8 and the (relatively flat) remainder of the route on the east side of the lake.

MapMyRace has a good map and elevation chart of the course: http://www.mapmyrace.com/races/DRCHalf2007/

Here were my 5K splits:

• 5K split: 26:28 (8:26/mi pace)
• 10K split: 25:47 (8:15/mi pace)
• 15K split: 26:28 (8:27/mi pace)
• 20K split: 28:52 (9:13/mi pace)
• Finish 0.7 miles: 5:59 (8:38/mi pace)

I was happy that my overall pace was below my target, but I was lucky to have not dropped too much after starting off much too fast.

Here is a chart of my heart rate during the run. It was a pretty steady for the entire run, You can see where I took a longer break at the Mile 8.5 and 11.5 water stops with a push during the last 1.1 miles for a strong finish.

After the race, Derek, Jarrod, Don, and I grabbed burgers and bottled waters (Ozarka was a sponsor of the run) and also picked up some snacks and sodas from the Team In Training booth (being part of the team has its perks :-). We grabbed a picnic table under a shade tree and ate our lunch while reveling in our accomplishment.

Race results -
http://www.runontexas.com/Results/Fall2007/TheHalf2007/TheHalfMenu.htm

Speed From Necessity

Took my daughter with me to the gym today - she stayed home from preschool because she had an morning check-up at the doctor's office.

However, I totally forgot that the "Kid's Club" closes at noon on Fridays, and when we arrived at the gym it was already almost 11:30. So I only had 30 minutes to do a quick swim (and shower). Due to the lack of time, I tried to really push my speed and ended up doing 1,000 yards in 20:42 (10:12 for the first 500 and 10:30 for the second 500). Which is my fastest 1,000 yds in training to date ...

So even though it was a short workout I still feel like I accomplished something. :-)

Ready to Run

I was a little sore after Tuesday's 8 miles. Ankles, knees, and quads were all complaining from being jolted back into service after almost a month off from any long distance running.

However, I forced myself to keep working out. Don met me at the Keller LA Fitness on Wednesday and we did a 60-minute spin class followed by some Subway sandwiches and brainstorming about work projects.

Today, I did some weight training, another spin class (this one only 45 minutes long) and then went to the cardio area to use the treadmill. My legs were feeling much better - almost 100% (except for being tired from pushing around the 45-pound flywheel of the spin bike) - but I didn't want to do any more high impact work. So I just did some walking - 30 minutes at a 15:00/mi pace - so 2 miles total. However, I did set it at a 10 degree incline and racked up 1,010 feet of elevation gain so it will still a decent workout.

Tomorrow will just be some light swimming and then just relaxing Friday night and Saturday before Sunday's half-marathon.

One Last Training Run

I was originally planning to do my usual Tuesday spin class and then hit the treadmill or swim, but since it was such a nice day I decided to do an outdoor run with Jarrod, Derek, and Matt instead. Well, the nice weather was actually just a secondary factor. The truth is, I'm going to be running my first half-marathon on Sunday, the Dallas Running Club's "DRC Half" at White Rock Lake, and I really haven't done much running lately. (I've run two-three times per week but mostly just 30 minutes on the threadmill - no "LSD", Long Slow Distances, for endurance building).

On the downside, I was a little unprepared for the outdoor run: I didn't have any running clothes (luckily, a long-sleeve shirt and running hat were not needed), I wasn't wearing my good running shoes (a few of my toes got a little tender), and I didn't have my Fuel Belt for carrying fluids (so I had to carry my 24 oz Polar Bottle, which was a little heavy/bulky). Luckily, I DID have my Garmin Forerunner 305 watch to keep track of pace, heartrate, and elevation.

Anyway, I ended doing 8.07 miles in 1:12:30, which is a 8:59 pace. So not too bad, both distance-wise (almost 2/3 of a half-marathon) and speed-wise (9:00/mile for the half would allow me to finish in my goal of under 2 hours). Our route (in and around North Lake College) was slightly hilly:

This was actually a good thing training-wise, because our route for the DRC Half will be much flatter. In fact, the course is almost completely flat after mile 7.7. And prior to that, it offers a few hills, but they aren't too steep. For example, there is a hill that goes from 492 ft to 550 ft (58 ft of elevation gain) from mile 4.82 to mile 5.12 (0.3 miles). In contrast, per the elevation profile of today's run, there are several spots with much steeper grades.

A pretty good run and I seem to have survived it well, despite the dearth of long runs in recent times. My left calf is a little sore (not sure if it is a lingering or related problem stemming from the cramp in the same location that I got during last Sunday's Monster Tri) and I've already mentioned my beat-up toes. Oh and my arm/shoulder were a little sore too this afternoon - I think it was from holding the water bottle - but the minor pain seems to have died down. So no harm, no foul.

No more running this week. Tomorrow: spin class and swimming. Thursday: spin class and weights. Friday: swimming. Saturday: TNT "Effort-based Training" Clinic and maybe some cycling with the Team. Sunday: My first Half-Marathon!

Don't Be Scared Monster Sprint Tri

I participated in the fun and not too scary Dallas Athletes Monster Sprint Triathlon today. The race consisted of a 300 meter pool swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run.

I finished in 1 hour, 11 minutes, and 31 seconds for 11th out of 27 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 40th out of 230 total participants overall. (I think a couple of the times in front of me are flawed, though - two people must have only done one loop of the bike course because they averaged 29.1 and 27.7 MPH respectively, which was WAY faster than the rest of the pack). Derek finished strongly as well with a 1:14:08 time and 60th place.

• Swim: 6:02 (1:51/100yd pace)
• T1: 1:39
• Bike: 37:52 (19.0 mph average)
• T2: 1:07
• Run: 24:54 (8:02/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:11:31

Full results at http://www.doitsports.com/groups/results/timers-calendar.tcl?group_id=91 (look for "10-28-2007 / Monster Triathlon")

[Update 10/30: Looks like the results were updated - now Derek and I are in 58th and 38th place. :-) ]

The morning weather was pretty cold - mid-40s. Taking off my shirt for body numbering at 6:30 AM was a little painful. In fact, I was pretty happy that my T1 time was only 99 seconds, considering that I had to take time to towel dry and put on a long-sleeve T-shirt for the bike (it would have been too chilly to not do so).

The pre-race atmosphere had lots of "spooky" music (including the "Monster Mash", Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein") and a fog machine was spewing steam over the pool at the Keller ISD natatorium. I had a good swim - 6:02 was just 17 seconds slower than my announced/goal time of 5:45. I passed several people and was only passed by one. Climbed out of the pool and ran out the exit for T1.

The bike course was surprisingly hilly and the times/speeds reflected that; the fastest speed was 22 MPH - usually there a few people at 23 or 24 MPH. However, the roads were in excellent shape and it was an enjoyable ride.

The out-and-back run course was very nice ... good (paved) park trails with no sharp turns other than the turnaround. I'll have to come here again to do some training runs. The only bad thing was that I had a small cramp in my calf at the start of the run but it went away after the first half mile. I had only taken 2 SaltStick tablets (one before the swim and one at T2), figuring that I wouldn't be sweating very much with the cooler weather. But in light of the cramp, I think I'd better stick to taking at least 3 SaltStick tablets (1-2 before the race and at T1 and T2) for all my tris from now on. My guess is that the SaltStick at T2 didn't have enough time to kick in for the run.

Afterwards, I met up with Derek and Jonathan at the finish area, said hello to Misty (the Fort Worth TNT Tri Team Coordinator) at the Team In Training booth, and we grabbed some pancakes for breakfast and watched the other participants coming through the finish line - especially the costumed ones. We saw a witch, Wonder Woman, "pimp guy", woman in a sombrero, and few others.

It was definitely a nice race (except for the cold) with the added bonus of the venue being less than 10 minutes from my house. I'll definitely do this tri again next year. Actually, since it looks like the Dallas Athletes St. Patrick's Day Tri is at the same location with the same course, I'll be doing that one in March.

Clean Air Bike Rally

This was not really a race or even much of a workout, but it was such a good event that I had to write a review for it.

The Clean Air Bike Rally was a 12.1 mile (per GPS, advertised as 12.5 miles) bike ride through Fort Worth. The main purpose was to promote alternative modes of transportation to help reduce air pollution in the city. It started at 9:00 AM at Trinity Park, wound along some of its roads, then through the Cultural District (passing the Amon Carter Museum and Will Rodgers Colluseum), went up to the Stockyards and then back through downtown (right by the Courthouse) to return to the park.

As I said, it was not much of a race as the Fort Worth police ensured the entire group of 300+ riders stayed together. The course was mostly flat except a decent hill at Mile 2 up University Drive and at the very end which had two hills (one small and one large/steep) for 325+ feet of elevation climbed (albeit with a 150 ft downhill as well) in about a mile of travel.

Since I knew the ride was not going to be fast (it took about an hour and 15 minutes to complete the 12 miles), I rode my "Walmart Special" mountain bike with my daughter in the attached Bell Classic Child Carrier Seat. So the hills were actually a bit of a challenge - my average heart rate was 116 bpm, but I crossed 150 eight times (with 171 being the max for the hill at the end).

After the ride, we partook of the wide assortment of free snacks (M&M cookies were my daughter's favorite; I had some granola bars and a banana) and checked out the booths sponsored by various City of Fort Worth Departments, ATMOS Energy, TXU Electric, and others. We got a bunch of giveaways - Post-Its, letter openers, a compact fluorescent light bulb, some mini-frisbees, and an insulated lunch bag - in addition to the free T-shirt. Definitely worth the registration fee (free :-)

Ride Review:

• Course: 4/5 - nice course through downtown Fort Worth; I can't remember if it was well-marked - there were at least a few signs, but it is almost irrelevant since the entire group had to stay together; good traffic control from the FW Police; the course through the Stockyards was a little onerous, though (basically riding on a narrow winding sidewalk) - so I'm subtracting some points for that
• Rest Stops: 4.5/5 - there was only one "rest stop" on course, but that was just so the second half of the group could catch up; about half-way through there were people handing out water bottles; the pre-/post- race refreshments at the start/finish line were excellent (apples, oranges, bananas, animal crackers, M&M cookies and M&Ms, Nutrigrain breakfast bars, fruit snacks, granola bars, and bottled water)
• Logistics: 5/5 - online registration worked great; on-site packet pickup/registration was/seemed painless; nice T-shirt; and IT'S FREE.
• Overall: 4.5/5 - a great family ride; looking forward to doing it again next year

Good News, Bad News

A week with a lot of positive things, but also some setbacks ...

Tuesday: normal 45-minute spin class with Don & Wilhe and then a 5K on the treadmill. Good news - I did the flat (no incline) run in 22:03 (7:07 pace)! I haven't run a 7-minute mile in over 11 years - and this is after 45 minutes of hard cycling! Bad news - the next day my ankle and knee are a little sore - I think the fast, hard runs on Tuesday and last Thursday are too much (for now). I'm going to avoid running for the rest of the week (until Sunday's Dallas Athletes Monster Sprint Triathlon) and in the future limit my fast runs to once per week (the slower runs on an incline seem to give less of a pounding on my legs, ankles, and knees)

Wednesday: 60-minute spin class and 1,000 yd swim. Good news - I tried breathing on my left side for the swim and I didn't swallow enormous amounts of water; will need to keep practicing this. Bad news - the LCD display on my cell phone died (this has nothing to do with working out, but I thought I'd just throw that in :-)

Thursday: Good news - my ankle and knee feel much better. 45-minute spin class and then 1,500 yd swim in the pool. I don't have my splits because I didn't write them down before losing my watch (see below) but I remember them being improved and doing the first 300 yards in 6:03 (almost 12 seconds faster than last week).

Friday (today): Just some swimming today. 15 minutes of freestyle followed by 15 minutes where the "out" lap was a slow breast stroke and the "return" lap was a fast, strong freestyle. I liked that drill - I think it will really improve my speed and strength.

Good news - I got my new Verizon Wireless phone (LG VX8350 - not bad since it was only $30 with 1 year contract - woo-hoo, employee discount and "New Every 2 [Years]" $100 credit) so I can again read the CallerID to avoid junk callers. Bad news - realized that I lost my watch yesterday at the gym - guess I will be getting a new one tomorrow before Sunday's tri.

Oh well, as my Uncle Wan would say, "Don't worry about anything that can be fixed with a few dollars; when you are faced with something that money can't solve - THEN you have a real problem. :-P"

Monday Swim

The now "regularly-scheduled" 3,000 yard Monday lunch-time swim. The total time was 1:07:33 so I shaved 39 seconds off from last week's effort. Happiness. I also moved the break to after the 2,000 yd mark so I could get a total for the Half-Iron swim distance. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:35.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:52
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:04
• 4th 500 yds: 11:16.5
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:41
• 5th 500 yds: 11:31
• 6th 500 yds: 11:33

So I did the 2,000 yd Half-Iron swim in 43:48.5. I also captured an additional split time after the first 300 yds - 6 min, 14.63 sec - this is to get an idea of how fast I will do the swim portion of next Sunday's Dallas Athletes Monster Sprint Triathlon, which will be held right down the street from my house. :-)

I put down 5:45 for my 300 meter swim time. I don't know if I can shave off another 30 seconds but wearing a swim cap and tri-shorts (instead of baggy swim trunks) + a little race-day adrenaline should help narrow the gap.

Kiwanis Crazy Kicker

Just did the Kiwanis Crazy Kicker bike ride today out in Mineral Wells, TX (about 40 miles west of Fort Worth). Don and I did the 65 mile route, Mike & Simone did the 37 mile, Jonathan & Alexis did the 22 mile.

This was one hilly son-of-a-gun. The "star" of the longest 3 routes was "Cherry Pie Hill", and it lived up to its billing with 400+ ft of elevation gain in about 1.2 miles. Picture me and Don chugging along at 5-6 MPH for almost 15 minutes straight. Check out the "Elevation" tab of the MotionBased stats. I know the Garmin ForeRunner 305 isn't 100% accurate in the elevation area, but it says almost 4,000 ft of elevation gain/loss - and this matches well with what Don's (more accurate) Garmin Edge 305 says.

GPS info: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4280509

Weather-wise, the day started out very chilly (it was 60 in Keller at 5:30 AM, but when we got to Mineral Wells at 7:00 AM it was only 48!). Thankfully, the ride T-shirt was a long-sleeve; I actually wore it for the first hour. It was also a fairly windy day. There were times when Don and I were going DOWNHILL and pedaling just to keep it at 13 MPH!

There was nothing special about the ride. The starting line had NO porta-potties - just the one toilet + one urinal bathroom in the park (What were they thinking?!?). The rest stops had friendly volunteers and homemade cookies and pickle juice (from the pickle jar), but no crackers, no Soy Joy/Clif Bars, no PBJ sandwiches, etc. The ride was not crowded, but after the initial "blastoff" and some cones and a cop at the end, there was very little ride support.

Also, the maps need some "truth in advertising" - the "100K/65-mile" route was actually 70+ miles and the "37 mile" route was more than 40. Don and I rolled into the last rest stop (and got "lei-ed" :-) and the tripometer said "60" so I was like "only 5 miles to go, right?" The volunteer helpfully said "oh no, this is the turnaround for the 22 mile route - 11 miles to go!" Bitterness ...

Like I said, nothing to write home about.

But this is one tough, but nice, course. And some of the REALLY steep hills that Mike, Don, and I rode down the 100-milers had to ride UP. If you are looking for a challenge, this is it.

As we were driving out to Mineral Wells, I was complaining to Don that next year I'm "never" going to drive more than an hour for an event, but after doing it, I HIGHLY recommend putting the Kiwanis Crazy Kicker on the 2008 calendar and training all summer long to be able to do the 100-mile in a decent time. Goatneck and Hotter Than Hell have nothing on this ride ...

Ride Review:

• Course: 4/5 - fast fresh blacktop on Highway 4 and 180; other roads were rougher, but manageable; course was fairly well marked and there weren't too many turns (and none on minor roads); roads were fairly straight; minimal traffic control but traffic was not too bad.
• Rest Stops: 3/5 - very limited selection - some fruit, homemade cookies, and water/Gatorade - nothing to write home about. "Real" pickle juice from the pickle jar - Don appreciated that. Stops were easy to see.
• Logistics: 3/5 - online registration broken/missing; no issues with race day packet pick-up - packet was weak (pain reliever tablets and Jolly Ranchers); only $20 for pre-registration; not enough porta-potties (zero at the start/end; only one or two at the rest stops and they were usually a bit of a hike from where you parked your bike); plenty of parking at West City Park considering the number of participants.
• Overall: 3.5/5 - a pretty bare-bones ride, but I will definitely do it again for the challenging course to make for a good "end of season" ride; more bathrooms are a must

Another Workout Week

More of the same ...

Tuesday: 45-min spin class followed by a 5K on the treadmill - completed in 29:08 with 594 ft of elevation gain

Wednesday: 60-minute spin class + 10-15 minutes extra spinning. Some weight training afterward.

Thursday: 45-min spin class with Don and Wilhe followed by treadmill 5K. This time, no incline - trying to gauge raw running speed - 23:22 ... not bad at all. :-)

Friday will be an off day - or maybe some light swimming at lunch - to rest up for Saturday's Kiwanis Crazy Kicker in Mineral Wells, TX.

"Quick" Swim

Another 3,000 yard swim - nearly identical to last Monday's time - just 15 seconds faster at 1:08:12 total. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:51
• 2nd 500 yds: 11:12
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:00
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:53
• 4th 500 yds: 11:10
• 5th 500 yds: 11:23.5
• 6th 500 yds: 11:42.5

I'll need to really polish my technique (and cut down on the midway break) if I want to increase my swim speed much more ...

Run and Ride

Had a TNT Running Clinic this morning. Learned a lot about, and did some drills regarding, arm position/movement, coordination ("A" and "B" skips), and stride. Also did a 1 mile benchmark run (so that our running progress can be tracked over the coming weeks). I ran the 4 laps around the track in 7 minutes and 9 seconds which is probably a lot faster than I should have done it. Oh well, will push hard for improvement.

Afterwards, Derek and I did a 2-hour bike ride starting from 635 & Park Central Drive at the north end of Anderson-Bonner Park in north Dallas. We rode down the trail to White Rock Lake, did 2 loops around the lake, and then biked back to our cars. About 32 miles total in an hour and 50 minutes. The 17+ mph pace was actually quite fast considering that the trail to the lake was winding and there were several spots where we had to stop for traffic lights, stop signs, and/or pedestrians.

IronMan Swim

I wanted to do a long swim to make up for skipping workout on Thursday. I ended up swimming 80 laps or 4,000 yards (2.27 miles) - just shy of the 2.4 miles (4224 yards) swim distance of an IronMan triathlon. It took exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

• 1st 500 yds: 10:47
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:42
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:37
• 4th 500 yds: 10:48
• Accel Gel & water break: (break): 0:37
• 5th 500 yds: 11:23
• 6th 500 yds: 11:41
• 7th 500 yds: 11:43.5
• 8th 500 yds: 11:45

Obviously the speeds slowed down for the later sets, but it was still a great accomplishment. :-)

Happy Hump Day

Yesterday was all leg work with the normal standard Tuesday spin class followed by a treadmill run. For the spin class, Leslie decided that it was going to be a "hard day". Little did she know that every spin class with her is difficult. But she was true to her word, my heart rate rarely dipped below 155 bpm for the entire class. Afterward, I finished the normal 5K in 29:19 with nearly 550 ft of elevation gain. That compares well with previous weeks' times.

Today, another spin class (in Keller) with a new instructor - a transplant from the Motorola fitness center six miles down I-35W. She seemed to favor the "quick jumps" - 2 seconds(!) in the saddle, 2 seconds standing. DENIED - too much bouncing up and down - so instead I did sprints or cranked up the resistance for standing hill climbs during those segments. However, overall, she was competent and motivating. All is well.

Afterwards, I swam 1,000 yards in 23:13. A decent pace since I was concentrating less on speed and more on form (those TNT swim drills put to work ...)

No lunch workout tomorrow - I'll be attending a day-long staff/planning meeting with my boss and his other managers. If I feel inspired/guilty, I may get on the elliptical trainer at home in the evening.

3,000 is the new 2,000

Did my second 3,000 yard swim session today. I still wouldn't call it "easy", but I am getting more comfortable with the longer distance. I did it in 1 hour and 8.5 minutes which is a minute faster than 2 weeks ago - not a lot faster, but I'll take the small victories too. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:40
• 2nd 500 yds: 11:07.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:11.5
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:59
• 4th 500 yds: 11:13
• 5th 500 yds: 11:28
• 6th 500 yds: 11:41

I'm getting better with breathing every other stroke - it is feeling more natural and I'm doing less "recovery breathing" at the end of each lap. I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to get this distance done in under an hour and be able to cut out the gel & water break(s). This will be necessary when swimming in open-water for the half-iron - no (drinking) water or gels when you are in the Gulf of Mexico!

Raindrops Falling on my Head

I was originally planning to do the Tour de Argyle bike ride yesterday, but Jarrod helpfully pointed out that many of the roads on its 100K route were the same as the Cross Timbers Classic - which I didn't hold in high regard (too narrow and too much traffic).

So Don and I met Jarrod at North Lakes Park to do our 28-mile loop in the Denton/Sanger area. Jarrod's friends, Jonathan (rode with him at the Goatneck) and Scott (did HHH and the Half-IronMan at the Texas Man Tri), were also there - so we had a small peloton with our five-some.

This was the third time I rode this route and each time it gets a little better because we keep making small tweaks to the route to either cut down traffic or find smoother roads. I finished a total of 58.6 miles in about 3 hours and 54 minutes with a few stops (15 mph overall). The riding time was 3 hours and 28 minutes (16.9 mph average riding speed). Not really fast, but there were some decent-sized hills in there (and I tried to do a few of them multiple times to work on my leg strength).

It started raining about 2/3 of the way through the second lap so I rode the last 12 miles in some drizzle and the pace was a little slower. I definitely got wet, but at least the roads weren't completely slippery, so I made it back to the parking lot without crashing (always a nice thing). Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on the end of the ride and nobody (myself included) wanted to do any running afterward. C'est la vie ... or c'est la Texas weather.

Too Much Work

Ack, work was very busy this week. I managed to squeeze in some training, but not too many blog entries. :-P

• Mon: Swimming. 2,000 yds in 46:42 (total including breaks) = 2:20/100m pace. 500 yd splits: 10:38, 10:10, 10:30, 10:40
• Tue: Spin (45-min class) + Run (3.25 mi in 30 min with some inclines)
• Wed: Spin (60-min class) + Weights
• Thu: Spin (45-min class) + Run (3.1 mi in 28:30 with 544 ft of elevation climb) - tough to do spin class three days in a row!
• Fri: Swimming. 1,500 yds in 34:13 (total including breaks) = 2:17/100m pace. 500 yd splits: 10:38, 11:06, 11:13. My split times were slower than Monday, but since I didn't take as much time between sets (averaging less than 40 sec for each break) my 100m pace was actually faster. Not bad for an "off" day.

Tomorrow, I'll be riding the Denton-Sanger TNT bike loop with Jarrod and Don (and maybe a few others). If all goes well, we'll do 2 laps of the ~29mi route and then do a run to complete the brick.

Kellogg's K20 Protein Water Mix Review

Okay, so I'm an impulse shopper. Was at the grocery store a few days ago and picked up a few boxes of Kellogg's™ Special K2O™ Protein Water Mix.

I know that Consumer Reports (and other reviews) have lambasted the bottled variety (too much sugar and outlandish diet claims), but I think the drink mix is not bad. I mixed a packet of the iced tea variety with about 20 oz of water (directions suggest a standard 16.9 oz bottle, but I prefer a lighter flavor) and it tasted pretty good. You can definitely taste the whey protein in it, but it is not overpowering.

Unlike the sugar in the "pre-mixed" bottles, the mix uses Sucralose (Splenda) for its sweetener. So 30 calories, 0g sugar, 5g fiber, 5g protein ... and it tastes okay. And the mix is much cheaper than the bottles: about $4 for 7 packets/servings vs. $1.50 for a bottle. Thumbs up.

(Update: I've also tried the pink lemonade and strawberry-kiwi flavors - not bad, but the iced tea is better.)

Unlearn, you must unlearn

Had a TNT swim clinic today. It was nice meeting my teammates and captains for the first time. The group was actually pretty large because this was a combined workout with both the Dallas and Fort Worth TNT Tri teams.

A LOT of swim drills. I am (was) a decent swimmer, but there is much room for improvement. Lengthening my stroke. Keeping my body more horizontal - i.e., keep head down and kick legs more so that hips won't sink. It was a very informative session, but frustrating.

It reminded me of a time a couple years ago when I tried to learn how to snowboard - I'm a decent skiier and "starting over" (and continuously falling on the ground) was no fun. I ended up dropping the snowboard at the bunny slope and going back to skiing blue diamonds, but for this swimming I have to make the effort to unlearn my bad habits and get better the right way. I guess I will be doing a lot of these practice strokes and kicks in the coming months.

We finished up the swim clinic with a relay race and I was the "anchor" for our team. We didn't come in first, but I got to know my teammates better and it let us end on a high note after 90+ minutes of drills!

Team In Training

This is my first official post for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training (TNT).

As you probably already know from reading this blog, I got back on the "workout horse" this spring. Joined a gym, traded Mexican buffets for swimming at lunch-time, and did some biking and running on the weekends. As a matter of fact, it's been going pretty well, and I have really improved my fitness, lost a few pounds, and even completed a few "sprint" triathlons (swimming, biking and running) and local charity bike rides this summer. Up until recently, I was working out and racing mainly for my health and personal enjoyment, but I have decided that I’d like to do something different this fall and winter. I am going to train for next six months for a Half-IronMan length triathlon as a member of TNT.

Derek (who is now my TNT mentor) has done three events with Team In Training and raised over $12,000 for leukemia and lymphoma research. Jarrod and Jonathan each raised over $2,500 for LLS with their participation in the Texas Man Triathlon earlier this month. It is a great cause and a great experience.

A Half-IronMan triathlon will be a big challenge for me, but nothing like the challenge the people affected by leukemia go through on a daily basis. The North Texas (Dallas and Fort Worth) TNT team will be training and volunteering to raise money and increase awareness about these terrible diseases.

Making the decision to join the team and compete in this event was easy; the race – not so much. I will be swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running a half-marathon (13.1 miles) down in Galveston, TX on March 30, 2008. The Half-IronMan distance will take me between 6 and 8 hours to complete. As a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s TNT program, we will be swimming, biking, and running to assist the organization in its efforts to battle blood cancers. The team’s goals are to complete the training and the event. Beyond that physical commitment to the program, our most important goal is to raise a minimum of $2,600 each. Over 75% of the money that we raise will go directly back to the Society for research, patient services, advocacy, and education in the battle against leukemia and other blood-related cancers.

I will be training and racing this spring in honor of everyone fighting leukemia each and every day. These “Honored Heroes” do not have a choice in facing this disease, but I do have a choice. My choice is to be out there training hard, raising money for cancer research and making a difference. In order to do that, however, I am asking for your help in contributing the money to meet my fundraising goal. Your tax-deductible donation will fund the research dedicated to finding a cure for leukemia and lymphoma. More that 712,000 Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Every five minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer and every 10 minutes, someone dies. But thanks to research funded by programs like TNT, the survival rate continues to rise each year. In fact, leukemia research has been the leader for effective treatments of Hodgkins’ disease, lymphomas and other common kinds of cancer, including breast cancer and lung cancer. Leukemia research is considered to be the window to the treatment and cure for ALL cancers.

You can contribute to my fundraising account by making a donation directly to my online account at http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/Andrien_Wang. Whatever you can contribute matters; however large or small, it all adds up. I greatly appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Birthday to Me

Turned 37 today. Unfortunately, not old enough to move to the 40-44 age group. :-)

Long Swim

Boo-yah! I did my longest continuous swim ever/yet today: 3,000 yards total. It took quite a while (1 hour and 9.5 minutes with a 50 second Accel Gel & water break in the middle) to complete that distance, but my pace was pretty consistent for the entire effort.

• 1st 500 yds: 11:14
• 2nd 500 yds: 11:28
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:27
• 4th 500 yds: 11:22
• 5th 500 yds: 11:26
• 6th 500 yds: 11:39

In fact, I was very happy with my speed - the pace was actually faster than what I usually do for shorter swims. I tried something new today - I (mostly) only breathed for every other stroke - and this really helped increase my stroke cadence.

Note: one bad thing about swimming for over an hour - you get some pretty stubborn "goggle lines" around your eyes. I looked like a raccoon until about 2:30 or 3:00 (I swam at lunch-time). The hazards of tri training ... :-)

Tour Des Fleurs

The Tour Des Fleurs (which I believe is French for "tour of flowers") race was held at the Dallas Arboretum this morning. I ran in and completed the 20K (12.4 miles) route. The route went around White Rock Lake with a extra loop just before the dam/spillway.

The weather was pretty nice. Not too hot and the course was at least partially shaded. I tried to keep my pace slow so that I wouldn't burn out and I think overall I was successful as my 5K splits were fairly consistent:

• 5K split: 28:01 (9:02/mi pace)
• 10K split: 27:47 (8:58/mi pace)
• 15K split: 27:41 (8:56/mi pace)
• 20K split: 28:48 (9:17/mi pace)

Here are the full splits (by mile):

and my (ridiculously high) heart rate during the run:


As you can see from the chart, I only slowed down (for a significant time) twice - at 6 miles to walk and suck down an Accel Gel and at 11 miles because of a nasty hill that I just didn't feel like running up!

The beginning portion of the course felt very familiar since it was following the same path and direction as the Too Hot To Handle 15K from July. There were over 2,000 people running the race so it was quite congested until the 3 mile mark, when about half the people split off for the 10K route.

The middle portion of the run was uneventful - which is a good thing. My pace stayed consistent and I only stopped briefly at the water stations (except for the 6-mile one) to drink water/PowerAde and dump a cup or two of water on my head to cool off.

Just as I crossed the 15K marker, I heard a few people saying "Hi, Andy!" and saw Derek and Mike & Simone, who were at White Rock Lake riding their bikes. It was a nice surprise (I knew they planned to be there, but didn't expect to see them at all) and definitely gave a life to my spirits for the final 3.1 miles.

Anyway, the race went well and I placed 425th out of 1084 finishers of the 20K route. Top 40% is not bad for my first 20K and my longest run to date!

My total time was 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 19 seconds (for an overall pace of 9:03/mi). If I can keep this pace for another 0.7 miles, I should be able to (barely) finish a half-marathon in 2 hours. So this will be my goal for the Dallas Running Club Half-Marathon in November.

Race results - due to a lost entry form, I am (currently) listed as "Unknown Particip. 2742":
http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/142514_173433_2007.html

MotionBased workout info: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4019743

Recovery

I didn't feel too bad the day after the Texas Man tri. "Everything" was sore - back/shoulders/chest from swimming, glutes from biking, quadshamstrings/calves from running - but it wasn't a super painful soreness ... more like my body just saying "hey, you had a hard workout yesterday - just thought you should know."

I'm thinking the overall good news was due to (1) adequate training for the event, (2) some stretching and muscle massage that afternoon, and (3) good post-race recovery nutrition. Regarding the latter, I (of course) partook of the free pizza at the race site, but the race also had a lot of Accelerade (which has the recommended 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein) available at the finish line and I drank at least 32 ounces of it. After I got home, I had some pasta with chicken and a protein shake (chocolate whey powder mixed with caffeine-free Diet Coke - not bad tasting and quite refreshing).

On Monday, I did a "light" swim of 2,000 yards. Note: I have given up on doing the lap conversions into meters at LA Fitness - i.e., no more 11 laps for approximately 500 meters, it's now just 10 laps for exactly 500 yards - I like round numbers. (Sorry, metric system, you lose again :-P). My plan is to work my way up to 3,000 or 4,000 yards over the next couple months. As for Monday's swim, my 500 yard splits were decent: 10:55, 11:46, 11:40, 11:51. The total time was 47:31 with about a 1:19 water break in between the first and last 1,000 yards.

On Tuesday, I wasn't able to make it to the gym so I just did 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer at home. ("2.06 miles" at the highest incline and resistence levels). Almost like running and no pounding of the joints.

Today, I did a 60-minute spin class and then followed that up with a treadmill run where about half the time it was at the 5 degree incline setting (the rest of the time it was flat - zero degrees incline). The results:

• Time: 44:44
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Vertical climb: 604 feet

Tomorrow, I plan to do another (shorter, 45-minute) spin class and then do a weight training session. Friday will be an off day to rest up for Saturday's Tour Des Fleurs 20K run.

Texas Man Olympic Tri

Woo-hoo, I have completed my first Olympic-distance triathlon! Double the distance, double the fun.

The Dave Scott Texas Man Olympic Tri consisted of a 1,500 yard open-water swim in Lake Ray Roberts (Valley View, TX), a 23 mile bike leg, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run. I finished it in 2 hr and 42 minutes for 18th out of 27 in the men's 35-39 age group ... and 78th out of 179 overall. Pretty good performance for my first time at this longer distance! My goal was to finish the race in under 3 hours and I was able to meet that by a decent margin.

• Swim: 27:04 (75th place)
• T1: 2:41
• Bike: 1:10:40 - 19.5 MPH (51st place)
• T2: 1:21
• Run: 1:00:33 - 9:46/mi pace (114th place)
• TOTAL: 2:42:17

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1534234&pubID=3

The water temperature in the lake was good - not too hot and not too cold - but there were actually some waves as we moved to the first turn buoy (about 450 yds from shore). Open-water swimming is still frustrating with all the swimmers packed in like sardines and running into each other. I emerged relatively unscathed, though - sticking to the outside "lane" helped. Remembering swim exit info from the pre-tri, I swam nearly up onto the sand - only stopping when my hand hit the ground on the downstroke - before jumping up and high-stepping in the shallow water towards the transition area. As I exited the water, I saw Jonathan (the Sprint tri didn't start until about an hour later) and Yvette, his TNT mentor, and gave them a thumbs-up.
The bike was exactly as I expected since I had already ridden the course at the pre-tri. Despite having just swam 0.85 miles my average speed was almost 1 1/2 MPH faster than the week before. Adrenaline had kicked in. I looked for Jarrod and Derek (who did the Olympic tri with me) on the out-and-back part of the course but I never saw them - Jarrod said he saw me, but I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention.

The run actually wasn't that bad. I was worried that my legs would be shot after biking over 23 miles, but after some initial wobbly steps I was ready to go. (I guess those brick workouts really helped.) It was still pretty early (just after 9:00 AM) so the sun wasn't too hot yet. With my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS strapped on - yep, I was the geek running with two watches on his left wrist - I managed to maintain my pace between 10:30/mi and 9:15/mi for the entire run.

The first part of the run took us out of the park and the terrain was generally uphill until reaching the entrance. Then it was mostly flat for the mile on the road outside of the park. After looping back and about to reenter the park, I heard a "Go, Andy" from Don (not "Cycling Teammate Don", but another Verizon coworker that I'd talked to a few times at the North Lake College pool) who was doing the Half-IronMan distance and was just starting the second lap of the bike course. I waved as he whizzed by.

Coming down the hill back into the park, I (almost literally) ran into Jarrod. I was definitely very focused on the run because I barely noticed him until we passed and I never saw Derek at all even though I had to run right past him on the out-and-back course! Definitely in the "running zone".

As the 10K run rejoined the 5K, I got a surge of energy as I realized that I was less than a mile and half from the finish. This part of the course was also mostly shaded so that was a relief. I drank lemonade-flavored Accelerade and dumped some water on my head at the last two rest stops and tried to pick up the pace. After final turn, I sprinted to the giant "Finish" arch that inflated and set up right on the beach where I had started a few hours earlier.

A lot of support for our little tri group at the finish line. I met Jarrod's friend, Jimmy (who lost over 100 pounds this year and was doing his first tri) who had finished the Sprint distance (with a great time for his first outing) and his family, Jarrod's family, Jonathan & Alexis (with the video camera :-), and I had met Derek's family (sister and brother-in-law visiting) before the race.

After finishing, I had a recovery meal of pizza and more Accelerade and watched the other finishers. I saw and said hello to Archie, who I had met at the TWU Sprint Tri and Denton July 4th 5K and ran with at the pre-tri. I also wandered by the Team-In-Training tent and met Leah, the Dallas TNT tri coordinator. (TNT will be an upcoming post.) Then, we all packed up our bikes and gear back at the transition area, and Jimmy's wife snapped a few photos of us - the happy triathletes.

I love this sport.