Huffing and Puffing In the Pool

But my times are getting faster so I guess it's worth it. 2,500 yard swim - completed in 53:14 with splits of:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:55.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:16
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:39
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:31
• 4th 500 yds: 10:53
• 5th 500 yds: 10:59

39 seconds faster than Monday's time for the first 2,500 yards. However, I was a little drained and didn't feel like doing the final 500 yards for a full 3,000. Need to work on both speed *and* stamina.

Spin Instructor Gone Wild

Did my first spin class in about three weeks today (the long absence due to knee problems, work, and business travel). The class felt very tough - probably because:

1. I lost some of my "biking legs" due to the long break
2. I felt I had something to prove - "getting back on the horse" - so I pushed hard
3. Leslie wanted to kill us

Yeah, she literally said at the beginning of the class: "I've just finished days of high-altitude training so I'm going to kick your $@#% today." I don't know if she was serious about the high-altitude training, but she was definitely serious about the class.

As you can see my heart rate stayed fairly high the entire time (average was 165 bpm). And right before class, I ran about 15 minutes on the treadmill so I was already warmed up.



In other news, Don and I signed up for the Ironhead Texas Motor Speedway Sprint Duathlon on February 17 (two and a half weeks away). Jarrod and Matt may join us as well. It consists of a 2-mile run, a 15-mile bike, followed by another 2-mile run. This should be interesting since I haven't ridden my bike since November. If the weather is nice this weekend, I'll have to try to get some biking miles in.

Now That's More Like It

Unlike last weekend, I'm feeling very good today after Saturday's run. No pain at all while going up and down stairs. Hopefully, the IT Band is getting better.

Unfortunately, I've decided that I am out on the Cowtown Marathon. I might do the half-marathon option instead if my knee is feeling 100% by then; otherwise, I'll probably do the 10K (if nothing else, it's cheaper - only $20 instead of $45 or $60 for the half/full marathon - and will give me more time to place TNT flyers to get volunteer hours). I guess I'll start thinking about "26.2" in the fall.

Today's workout was a 3,000 yard swim - completed in 1:04:43 with splits of:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:08
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:32
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:49
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:39
• 4th 500 yds: 10:52
• 5th 500 yds: 10:54
• 6th 500 yds: 10:50

1:15 faster than two weeks ago, and about the same as January 7. And definitely faster than my times from 2007. Progress (despite the knee injury).

Lake Benbrook Half-Marathon

I'm very pleased with my performance at the Lake Benbrook Half-Marathon. Unfortunately, I only did about 9.25 miles of the 13.1-mile course, so my official time was "did not finish". So why am I proud of a DNF? Allow me to explain ...

As I slowly heal up from my bout with iliotibial band friction syndrome, the most important thing for me to do (or, rather, not do) is to stop running at the first sign of pain.

Jarrod, Derek and I headed out at a 9:15/mi pace, which was not bad considering the out-and-back course was quite hilly. As we reached the second water stop at the 4.6 mile mark, I noticed that my knee was starting to throb. The pain wasn't too bad, but I had to make a decision. I probably could have continued and made it to the 6.5-mile turnaround point, but instead I turned around and walked back toward the start/finish line.

It was really tough to turn around and see all of the runners still heading out with determination to complete their goal. Saw all of the other runners and a few walkers too heading out to the turnaround. Actually, only a few minutes after I turned around, I got passed by the overall winner (who finished the race in 1:17:38!) After waving to the final walker about 3.5 miles from the start, the walk (over an hour total) got a little lonely. But I resisted the urge to run or even jog - I walked the entire 4.62 miles back to the start. As the lead runners and then the "main competitve pack" (including many Fort Worth Running Club members) passed me, I got to view the race from a different perspective.

In the end, I am really glad I am turned around when I did and that I "stayed the course" by not running on the way back in. Even though I could have jogged to at least the halfway point, if I would have made it that far, my adrenaline/blockheadedness would have kicked in and I would have wanted to run the entire course - knee pain be damned. That could have been disasterous since even walking the entire way back, by about a mile from the end, I could definitely feel my IT band making its presence known.

So I ran almost 5 miles without pain and I avoided further injury. That's about as good a day as I could have. Like I said: pleased ...

Discretion is the better part of valor. Better to "lose this battle" to have a chance to "win the war". Only two months to go until the Galveston Lonestar Half-Ironman tri!

Race results (even though I'm not on them :-P): http://www.clinesrunningcorner.com/benbrookhalfres_08.pdf

Business Travel

A haiku ...

In San Diego.

Meetings with vendor all day.

No workout for me.

My knee could use the rest anyway ...

Swimming

I swam 2,000 yards yesterday and another 2,000 today. Nothing special, but at least I have one activity to keep me sane. I need to keep some level of fitness until I can run and bike again.

The knee still hurts, but is getting better every day. I know I can't rush it.

Patience, grasshopper.

IT Band Syndrome

Yep, I think it is pretty clear I have that I have IT Band Syndrome.

No, I'm not talking about the urge to play "Guitar Hero" with four other programmers (although I probably have that syndrome too). IT (iliotibial) Band [Friction] Syndrome is a fairly common knee injury/ailment that afflicts runners. There are several causes of it including ramping up mileage too quickly and running on uneven surfaces or down hills. I was guilty of both of these.

Unfortunately, the only "treatment" at this time is to stop running. After the IT band heals up somewhat, I can try to avoid future injury by stretching and targeted strength training.

Some links about ITBS:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliotibial_band_syndrome
• http://www.itbs.info/
• http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0168.htm
• http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/itband.v2.html
• http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2000/02_00/fredericson.htm

Too Cold To Hold

I still can't run.

Or rather I did run ... but probably shouldn't have.

Jarrod, Matt and I ran the Too Cold To Hold 15K at White Rock Lake this morning. Don did the 5K.

Did the 15K (9.3 miles) in 1:21:05 (8:43/mi pace). The first 6 miles weren't too bad - did the first 7 miles in 60:25 for a 8:38/mi pace. However, my knee really started to act up for the last couple of miles. It took me 20:40 for the last 2.3 miles for an 8:59/mi pace as I hobbled along. Very frustrating to limp cross the finish line - barely winded.

Afterwards, my knee got really stiff (the cold weather probably didn't help) and walking back to our car was a chore. Let's see how I feel tomorrow.

Final results at http://www.runontexas.com/Results/Winter2008/TooColdToHold2008/TooColdMenu.htm

I Can't Run

The big news: my knee is feeling A LOT better today. Yesterday, it was still painful to go up and down stairs, but today no pain at all. Still, I want to stay away from running and even cycling for as long as possible to avoid aggravating it. Hopefully, it will be better for Saturday's 15K race.

So what can do you when you are trying to avoid running? Swim!

3,000 yards in 1:06:01 and 42:55 for the 2,000 yard Half-Ironman swim distance. Splits (last Monday's times in the parentheses):

• 1st 500 yds: 10:41.5 (10:19)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:33.5 (10:44.5)
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:49 (10:33)
• 4th 500 yds: 10:51 (10:47.5)
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:44 (0:34)
• 5th 500 yds: 11:15.5 (10:46)
• 6th 500 yds: 11:06.5 (10:54)

Slower than last week, but still not too bad.

Yay ... but Ouch!

Another 19 miles on my running shoes!

I had my first successful run with the "Ranch View Gang". There were about 25 people - many marathon veterans and a few hopefuls - in the group this morning. We left just after 7:00 from the Panera Bread parking lot for an 8 mile loop, about half of which was on the Cowtown course. Then we did another 6 miles of hill work around the Fort Worth Zoo, TCU, and the surrounding neighborhoods. I was very pleased to be able to keep up with the faster runners for most of the entire 14.25 miles and finished the distance in about 2 hours and 8 minutes at just under a 9:00/mi pace.

Since I wanted to actually do about 20 miles today (as prescribed by my marathon training plan), after a short break, I started out on the Trinity Trails to get in another 6 miles. About a mile into my second run, I started noticing that my right knee was giving off a twinge of pain. I slowed to a jog and mixed in some walking as well, but the pain continued. Not wanting to do further damage, I turned around at about 2 1/2 miles and walked almost the entire way back (once in a while I tried to jog: Hmm, has my knee loosened up? OW OW! Nope ...). Surprisingly, I could "speed walk" with no pain at all and I probably averaged a 13:00/mi pace for the walk. The pain only occurs when I go from bent to straight and put downward force/weight on it.

This afternoon, while doing some shopping, the pain was definitely still there, although I could minimize (and virtually eliminate) it by altering my gait (i.e., don't bend my knee). Anyway, I think it's just a strain or sprain somewhere. I'm going to try to lay off of it for a few days and hope it recovers on its own. I guess I'll be doing a lot of swimming for the early part of next week. It's disappointing because except for the knee, the rest of my legs and body feel fine after doing over 19 miles this morning.

Hoping for the best ...

Crackers

Tried Kellogg's All-Bran crackers (2 boxes for $5.00 at the store - SOLD!) and decided they're a keeper. 5 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein per serving, and they taste pretty good - especially with some cheddar cheese :-). Not a bad choice in my opinion as far as snack/junk food goes ...

LA Ftiness Reverse Tri

Did an indoor "reverse triathlon" today at LA Fitness. It consisted of

1. 18 minutes on the treadmill (inclined run & walk) - wanted to do 30 minutes but got to the gym late and cut the run short because the spin class was filling up
2. 45-minute spin class - the class was totally full no spare bikes and a few late-comers were turned away. I'm glad we had a good view of the spin bike room from the treadmills on the second floor "cardio loft area" of the gym
3. 1,500 yard swim - finished in 29:15 ... my fastest training swim at this distance

Next time, I'll get to the gym earlier so that I can run 30 minutes (my target would be 3+ miles at a 5-10% incline) and I'll wear my heart-rate monitor and try to keep my average HR at a specific number (although I'm not yet sure what that should be).

My major source of happiness for this workout is my swim speed. As I wrote above, this was my fastest time for 1,500 yards for training. I swam "1,500 yards" for the Texas Man Olympic Tri in 27:05, but we started in the water, it was at the beginning of the event (instead of after 18 minutes of running and 45 minutes of spinning), and I just plain think the open water distance was not measured correctly. My 500 yard splits were: 9:34, 9:47, 9:54.5 ... and my split for 300 yards was 5:46 (on par or a little faster than my sprint tri times). Not bad at all!

I'm pretty sure the main reason for the faster swim times was because I was wearing tri-shorts (to save "transition time" from spin class to the pool). Wow, I can't believe they shaved about 3 minutes (almost 10%) off my normal training swim times (in the baggy swim shorts).

Marathon Training Schedule

Decided I better lay out my long runs from now until the Cowtown Marathon to make sure I'm on track. Here is my marathon training schedule for the upcoming weekends:

1/12: 14 miles with FWRC Ranch View Gang on Cowtown course + hill work
1/13: ~10 miles on Keller trails

1/19: Too Cold To Hold 15K (9.3 miles)
1/20: FWRC Einstein 3 mile & 9 mile runs OR ~10 miles on Keller trails

1/26: Lake Benbrook Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
1/27: rest day

2/2: DRC President's Day 10K (6.2 miles)
2/3: ~20 miles (last long run)

2/9-2/10: The Texas Half OR ~10 miles

2/16-2/17: ~10 miles OR IronHead Texas Motor Speedway Duathlon

2/23: Cowtown Marathon!!! (26.2 miles)

Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good weather – I need all the mileage I can get!

Brand New Week

Started it by doing 3,000 yards of swimming today in 1:04:37. Although my total time for 2,000 yards (the Half-Ironman swim distance) was a little slower than the first half of my 4,000 yards in November (42:23 vs. 41:49), the total for 3,000 yds was actually faster (1:04:37 vs 1:05:04) - so my pace stayed more consistent. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:19
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:44.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:33
• 4th 500 yds: 10:47.5
• Accel Gel & water break: 0:34
• 5th 500 yds: 10:46
• 6th 500 yds: 10:54

Not bad for my first long swim in about a month!

In other news, my spin bike arrived today. That was one heavy box (I think the bill of lading said 137 pounds). From the various parts, it looks pretty sweet; however, due to a superhot project at work, no time to put it together yet - will probably have to wait until Wednesday evening at the earliest.

Feeling Good

My legs are a little sore after yesterday's long run, but nothing too bad. Even the near-blisters on my feet have subsided somewhat. My shoulders and neck are a little sorer than I would like - I still need to concentrate on relaxing my upper body when I run. But overall, no complaints.

Also, I should be getting my spin bike delivered tomorrow afternoon. I'm like a kid the night before Christmas. :-)

Necessity is the Mother of ...

... self-inflicted torture?

First, the good news ... no, make that the great news ... I didn't gain any weight over the holidays. Woo-hoo! That is all I was hoping for.

Now, the bad news. Air travel sucks. My family and I were scheduled to fly back from Seattle to DFW Friday afternoon on the 2:50 PM flight. Unfortunately, that flight was delayed until 4:30 PM (due to mechanical difficulties) and then subsequently cancelled all together. (Of course, on a positive note, I'm very happy that the plane troubles were discovered before we boarded or were in the air!) We tried to get on the 4:00 PM flight, but it was oversold and our standby attempt was unsuccessful. So we got booked on the 11:40 PM red-eye flight - to arrive in DFW at 5:20 AM.

Luckily, my sister-in-law was available to pick us up at Seattle-Tacoma International so we weren't stuck at the airport for 9 hours. We all had a nice dinner, did a little shopping at Tar-zhay (okay, Target - for baby food :-P) and the Southcenter Mall, and then back to SEA-TAC (hugs and fairwells - take two).

The 11:40 flight had a couple of delays of its own; it finally left Seattle at 12:30 AM and arrived in Dallas just after 6:00. However, we landed in terminal D of DFW and our checked bags were over in terminal C. Was "fun" lugging our carry-ons and two sleepy kids onto the DFW "Terminal-Link" shuttle bus to reclaim them. We didn't get home until almost 7:30.

Getting back on-topic, in addition to the annoyances of flight delays, our late arrival made me miss my Saturday training run. I was supposed to meet the "Ranch View Gang" marathoners group of the Fort Worth Runners Club at 7:00 AM for an 18-mile run (with a large percentage of it on the actual Cowtown Marathon course). I obviously missed that appointment. Very bitter since I really need to get in some long runs - the Cowtown is less than 50 days away!

However, by some miracle, I did NOT crawl right into bed immediately after getting home. (Sleep is overrated - 3 hours on the plane is plenty. :-P) Instead, I drove to the Keller Natatorium (site of the Monster Sprint Tri) to do some running on the trails around there on my own. I ended up doing about 16 miles (15.87 according to the Garmin 305 stats) on the Keller park trails (which, incidentally, are very nice – 7+ miles of concrete trails and sidewalks with very few road crossings - I can't believe that I am just now discovering them after living here for more than 3 1/2 years) and surrounding neighborhoods.

So after all the bad news, I am quite proud of getting in my longest run ever. The pace wasn't very fast (10:00/mile overall due to a lot of walking for the last 5 miles), but at least I got it in. This way, I still have a fighting chance of keeping up with the rest of the RVG at their next long run.

It's amazing what you can do when you are scared silly about being unprepared for a marathon only 7 weeks away.

Spin Bikes

Squeezed in another workout yesterday. Caught the last 45 minutes of a spin class at the Bellevue LA Fitness and then just stayed on the bike for another 45 minutes myself. I'm quite pleased considering it was after *six* days off.

On a related note, one thing that I recently realized is that the cooler winter weather is really screwing up my triathlon training. While I'm still going to the gym regularly (these pesky holiday/travel interruptions notwithstanding) and I've ramped up my running (Cowtown Marathon in February), all through the summer I was doing 4+ hour/60+ mile bike rides every weekend ... and that hasn't happened since before Thanksgiving.

This wouldn't be a problem except that I'm doing a half-Ironman triathlon in less than 3 months, and the "Long Slow Distance" (LSD :-P) is critical in building up aerobic capacity. (Note to self: never sign up for a long-distance tri or biking event early in the season; I'll be much better prepared for it in late summer/early fall).

So, as an alternative, I ordered/purchased a spin bike this past weekend: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11229007

I heard some very persuasive arguments about why I should get a road bike trainer instead (cheaper: $250-300 vs $700; log hours on "your own bike") - and I will look into them in the future but these reasons sealed the deal for me:

1. Zero set-up time. Trainer set-up may only take 5-10 minutes, but that still may be 5-10 minutes too much. Convenience minimizes workout inertia.
2. Unlike my road bike, the spin bike will stay indoors so it won’t get dirty. This means that I can put it in any room of my house - i.e., the media room. (I'm thinking "Spin and a Movie" - spin bike + Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy = 12-hour, 200-mile, bike ride!)
3. My wife gave her thumbs-up. She wants something "sturdy" and wants to ride it too. (And if I get a trainer later, we can "ride" together.)
4. It's from Costco - with their awesome return policy, if I don't like it, back it goes. :-)

Hmmm, now I own a $350 bike for races and a $700 bike that goes nowhere. That's so messed up ...

2007 Events

Just for future reference.

• 2007-12-09 White Rock Marathon - Dallas, TX (26.2mi 5-man relay)
  
• 2007-12-01 Don Zetnick Winter Run - Arlington, TX (10K run)
• 2007-11-18 FWRC Mote In Motion - Fort Worth, TX (13.1mi run)
• 2007-11-17 Turkey Roll - Denton, TX (71mi bike)
• 2007-11-10 Run Off at the Ranch - Sendera Ranch (10K run)
• 2007-11-04 Dallas Running Club Half Marathon - White Rock Lake (13.1mi run)
• 2007-10-28 Don't Be Scared Monster Sprint Tri - Keller, TX
• 2007-10-20 Kiwanis Crazy Kicker - Mineral Wells, TX (65mi bike)
• 2007-09-22 Lennox Tour des Fleurs - Dallas Arborteum/White Rock Lake (20K run)
• 2007-09-16 Texas Man Olympic Tri - Lake Ray Roberts: Valley View, TX
• 2007-09-08 Cowtown Classic - Fort Worth, TX (56mi bike)
• 2007-09-03 F.W. Runner's Club Labor Day Run - Fort Worth, TX (15K run)
• 2007-09-01 Honey Tour - Burleson, TX (100K bike)
• 2007-08-25 Hotter Than Hell - Wichita Falls, TX (100k bike)
• 2007-08-19 Take On The Heat Sprint Tri - The Colony, TX
• 2007-07-28 The Goatneck - Cleburne, TX (100K bike)
• 2007-07-21 Too Hot To Handle - Dallas, TX (15K run)
• 2007-07-14 Peach Pedal - Weatherford, TX (100K bike)
• 2007-07-01 Pioneer Power Sprint Tri - TWU: Denton, TX
• 2007-06-23 Cow Creek Country Classic - Waxahachie, TX (100mi bike)
• 2007-06-10 Metroplex Sprint Tri - Joe Pool Lake: Grand Prairie, TX
• 2007-06-02 Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride 2007 (56mi bike)
• 2007-05-19 Cross Timbers Classic (50mi bike)

Happy New Year

It's nice to not have to make a "get healthier, eat better, lose weight" resolution. Better not speak too soon, though, I've been away from the gym for four days. Ouch ...

I did get to do some skiing on Saturday. I hit the slopes at the Snoqualmie Pass Summit resort with my brother-in-law and his wife last weekend. Despite not skiing since March 2005, I got back into the groove pretty quickly and was able to navigate blue (intermediate) runs. Lots of fresh snow and pleasant weather made for great ski conditions. And as I bonus, I ended the day without injury - which is the true definition of a VERY good ski trip!

Happy New Year. Hope you had a great 2007 and will have a fantastic 2008!