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.)