Iron Distance Challenge

During the month of January, I participated in the Iron Distance Challenge on Serena's team ("Me, Myself & Tri"). Our team did great (final results won't be out later this week, but we were in first place with a comfortable margin as of Jan 24) and I did pretty well, too. My goal was to complete the distances of 4 Ironman triathlons (4 x 2.4 miles swim/112 miles bike/26.2 miles run) in 31 days. As you can see, I made it! (click to enlarge chart):

Not only is the Iron Distance Challenge a great cause (a donation is made to the charity of the winning team's/individual's choice) but the perfect motivator to kick-start the new year.

I had been taking it easy during the latter half of December - recovery/recuperation from White Rock Marathon and lots of well-deserved rest during the holidays. The IDC got me in the pool on January 1 ... and I finished up today with a long spin session to get the final 64 miles that I needed for the bike. (IDC counts stationary cycling at 18 miles/hour so that was 3 hours and 35 minutes on the spin bike!)

I look forward to re-joining my teammates next year for the 2011 Iron Distance Challenge.

Lake Benbrook Half-Marathon 2010

This morning's hilly and chilly Lake Benbrook Half Marathon was pretty tough but I survived and had a decent time to boot.

The temperature was only 30 degrees at the start time, and with a 15+ mph wind, the wind chill was only 16-17.

I had a pretty good race - all things considered - and completed the 13.1 mile course (13.36 per GPS) in 1:57:37 for a 8:59/mi pace (8:48/mi per GPS). My time placed me at 94th out of 217 finishers - and 10th out of 22 in my age group. There were fewer runners than in the last two years - the weather no doubt kept participants away.

This is a PR for me for this course, but that is not saying much since I was just 9 seconds faster than last year and in 2008 I had a DNF due to my nagging ITBS. However, I was proud to have a very consistent pace for the entire 13+ miles. Most of the race was done with 8/1 run/walk. Time taken from start to the course's turn-around: 58:47; time from turn-around to finish: 58:50 ... not quite a negative split, but close!

My run started off okay, but there were a few obstacles. Without sweat to hold my PattStraps (a must for my IT bands on the hilly and often banked roads of this course) in place (and I probably didn't put them on tight enough), I had to stop twice (once for each leg) to re-adjust them. At Mile 1, we hit the expected low-water crossing of Benbrook's park road. Unexpectedly, there was quite a bit of flowing water and no way around it. I tried my best to jump over it, but still got one shoe soaked (brrr) in the frigid water. Not pleasant.

At Mile 5, there was ice on the road and we were directed to go off to the grass to avoid it. Unfortunately, the grass/dirt was wet and muddy so it was still not an optimal path.

0.65 miles later, "Nice Hill" was reached. Having taken a walk break less than 7 minutes earlier, my legs still felt pretty strong and I was able to power up the 75 feet of elevation change (in 0.11 miles) in just over a minute - not too bad for such a steep grade. I just "rode the downhill" (and rolling uphill) to Mile 6.66 (hmm) and walked at the turn-around water-stop.

The return leg was the same as the "out" with the same ice & mud dodging at Mile 8.25 as Mile 5 and same low-water crossing/river at Mile 12.3. Unfortunately, the water flow was worse the second time (maybe extra ice had melted further upstream?) and I got BOTH feet wet - and despite (or maybe because of) being warmed up after 12+ miles of running, my feet were VERY cold after the second dousing ... and my shoes were a lot heavier for being wet.

Luckily, I could already see the Benbrook YMCA (the start/finish was right behind it) and pushed myself to an 8:00/mi pace for the final mile.

So not the most fun race, but I'm glad I got in the required 13 miles for my Cowtown Marathon training plan and I got to see some friends at the start and finish - albeit briefly - we all left pretty soon after the race due to the bitter cold (and wet feet!)

Garmin Connect info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23553989

Official results:http://www.runtimeracingservices.com/Results2.aspx?RaceID=780

Saturday Aqua-Bike, Sunday Blackjack Run & Monday Recovery Swim

I had a solid workout on Saturday morning - a 2,500 yd swim in 48:37 - splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:30.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:55
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:52.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:51
• 5th 500 yds: 9:28

followed by 2 hours and 35 minutes of spin class (avg hr 150 bpm) ...

Then, on Sunday I had the first of my two scheduled 20+ mile long training runs for the Cowtown Marathon.

Despite having to run all by myself (just me and my MP3 player) in my neighborhood, I ended up running 21.25 miles in 3:25:45 (a 9:40/mi pace). I'm happy that I kept a fairly steady speed for the entire run - the first 7 miles were at 9:26/mi pace, next 7 at 9:32/mi, and last 7.25 at 10:03/mi - so I slowed down, but not horribly. In addition to that I am now very familiar with the roads of my community - it's amazing that I was able to run so far and yet I was never more than 1.5 miles (as the crow flies) away from my house (in case of emergency) and (for the most part) I didn't double-back on any of the roads - i.e., I didn't do a 10 mile run and then just turn around and do it in reverse.

Afterwards, I tried my first post-run ice bath. I filled the tub with about 8 inches of water. Dumped all the ice that I had in the freezer (probably about as much as one of those big bags from the grocery store) into the water and hopped in. Brrrr, it was really cold. I could only stand to keep my legs in the water for about 10-20 seconds at a time and then I had to pull them out for 20-30 seconds for some recovery. I "dunked" them about 20 times - so probably only about 5-7 minutes of total "ice bath time" (15 minutes is recommended) but that was all I could take.

I have to admit that despite the pain and discomfort during the actual bath, my legs did feel better afterwards (maybe just from being out of the cold :-). And the next day I definitely felt less soreness in my legs than my previous 20+ mile runs. So I will have to keep going on these ...

Today, I was originally planning to take a well-deserved rest day, but because of a last-minute business trip coming up (which, by nature, usually equals rest days), I decided to squeeze in a recovery swim this afternoon. It ended up being one of my fastest 2,500 yd swims to date. Total swim time was 46:55 (I think that is a PR??). Not bad for a day when I was originally just going to sit on the couch. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:10
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:29
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:34.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:25
• 5th 500 yds: 9:17

So my Iron Distance Challenge totals through today - Swim: 11.65 miles, Bike: 357 miles, Run: 83.65 miles. Three full Ironman distances complete - need 91 bike miles and 21.25 miles by this weekend (Sunday evening) to meet my personal goal of four. Not exactly sure when I can get them in, but I'm going to try my best!

Clearing the "Swim Watch" memory

The 100 lap memory of my Timex Ironman "swimming" watch is full. Going to save the splits of my longer swims for posterity/future review.

Fri, Nov 06: 2,000 yds in 42:10.5 - not a very fast swim, but was at the end of a week of solid workouts.

• 1st 500 yds: 10:30.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:46
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:44
• 4th 500 yds: 10:10

Mon, Nov 09: 1,500 yds in 31:37

• 1st 500 yds: 10:33.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:40
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:23

Sun, Nov 15: 2,500 yds in 47:29 - good swim, might be a PR for this distance. For the last two sets of 250 yds - I alternated between breast-stroke and freestyle for each half-lap/pool-length. Followed up the swim with a 65-min spin session. :-)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:15
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:31.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:35
• 4th 500 yds: 9:39
• next 250 yds: 4:52.5
• final 250 yds: 4:36

Mon, Nov 23: 1,500 yds in 31:35 - recovery swim after 20.5-mile run on Sunday

• 1st 500 yds: 10:31
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:27.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:36

Tue, Nov 24: 1,500 yds in 30:53 - another (short) swim day; still recovering ...

• 1st 500 yds: 10:17.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:27
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:08.5

Sat, Nov 28: 2,500 yds in 48:45

• 1st 500 yds: 9:29
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:41.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:55.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:05
• 5th 500 yds: 9:33.5

Sat, Dec 05: 2,500 yds in 49:32

• 1st 500 yds: 9:39
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:53
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:07
• 4th 500 yds: 10:08.5
• 5th 500 yds: 9:44

Mon, Dec 07: 3,000 yds in 57:49 - a training PR for this distance ... until Jan 18 (see below)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:28
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:37.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:37.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:42
• 5th 500 yds: 9:53
• 6th 500 yds: 9:31

Sat, Dec 19: 2,500 yds in 49:24

• 1st 500 yds: 9:31.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:44.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:04
• 4th 500 yds: 10:14
• 5th 500 yds: 9:50

Mon, Dec 21: 2,000 yds in 38:05 - squeezed in a quick lunch-time swim before our evening flight out for the holidays :-)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:22
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:30.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:45
• 4th 500 yds: 9:27.5

Fri, Jan 01: 2,500 yds in 53:44 - Happy New Year! My pace was not that fast, but I was back to wearing baggy swim trunks for this swim and it was my first workout in a several days (and first swim in almost two weeks) due to vacation/holiday.

• 1st 500 yds: 10:22.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:45
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:57.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:58.5
• 5th 500 yds: 10:40.5

Sun, Jan 03: 2,500 yds in 49:25

• 1st 500 yds: 9:26.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:49
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:02
• 4th 500 yds: 10:14
• 5th 500 yds: 9:53.5

Tue, Jan 05: 1,000 yds in 20:39 - not a bad pace for following an hour of spin class

• 1st 500 yds: 10:27
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:12

Fri, Jan 08: 1,000 yds in 21:07 - this was following a 7-mile elliptical/treadmill run

• 1st 500 yds: 10:44.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:23

Sun, Jan 10: 2,500 yds in 49:20

• 1st 500 yds: 9:24.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:54
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:01
• 4th 500 yds: 10:12
• 5th 500 yds: 9:49

Sat, Jan 16: 2,500 yds in 49:50 - I don't know why my weekend morning swims are getting slower?!? I had even taken yesterday off. :-(

• 1st 500 yds: 9:50
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:01
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:59
• 4th 500 yds: 10:04
• 5th 500 yds: 9:55

Mon, Jan 18: 3,000 yds in 57:14.68 - I believe this is a training PR for this distance! What a change from Saturday's swim - and what a great time considering that I did that 2,500 yd swim + 2.5 hours of spin on Saturday, and then 14.5 miles of running (including a 15K race) on Sunday!

• 1st 500 yds: 9:08
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:20
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:34
• 4th 500 yds: 9:52
• 5th 500 yds: 9:51
• 6th 500 yds: 9:30

Ahh, now the watch memory is cleared - all ready for more!

2010 Too Cold To Hold 15K

Good run(s) today. Beautiful running weather. 5 miles before the race and then the Too Cold To Hold 15K for a total of about 14.5 miles.

My "warm-up" run went pretty well. My route was west across the northernmost bridge of White Rock Lake and then south down the west side of the lake - past the 5K water-stop & turnaround - and then back to my car. My was a little faster than I had originally planned and a little longer than my Garmin stats recorded. I had mis-read (or mis-recalled) the race information and thought that it began at 8:00 AM (the start time was actually 8:30) so I only took one walk break and really picked up the pace on the return leg. 4.94 miles in 43:36 (8:49/mi pace). But like I said the distance was actually a little longer - I had to reset/restart my watch after 0.25 miles because my heart rate monitor wasn't working correctly.

The Too Cold To Hold 15K had a new course this year (and the 5K did as well) - it was an out-and-back from Norbuck Park down along the east side of White Rock Lake with the U-turn just past the Arboretum. Coming back, there was a small deviation and we went up the hill at Winfrey Point before rejoined Lawther Drive.

Unfortunately, because of my mis-timing, instead of getting back from my workout run and then immediately starting back up on the 15K, I had almost 30 minutes of down time after dumping my fuel belt, soaked shirt and empty gel wrapper. In the morning air, I cooled down quickly, but luckily, there were multiple outdoor patio heaters placed around the registration area (NICE!) so the wait wasn't too uncomfortable.

I ran the first mile with Serena at a relaxed 9:30/mi pace before speeding up. I really felt great during the run - a lot less tired than I thought I would be after already putting in 5 miles. I didn't do my normal run-walk intervals though I did stop and walk for about a minute at all of the rest stops (except for the first one where I only slowed briefly). At around Mile 7, I calculated that I did about an 8:15/mi pace for the rest of race I could break 1 hr and 20 min. I came very close (my official time was 1:20:02) and had a sub-8:00/mi pace for the last half-mile+, but didn't quite make it. Oh well.

My final result of 1:20:02 put me in 200th out of 719 overall (137th out of 268 men and 34th out of 52 in my age group). From the results, my official 5K splits were

• 1st 5K: 27:35.74 (227th place)
• 2nd 5K: 26:23.25 (181st place)
• 3rd 5K: 26:02.21 (177th place)

And here are my splits (yes, I'm really digging the consistent pace and strong finish :-):

I am very happy that my time for the 15K was only 2 min, 20 sec off of my PR (which I set at last year's race). The almost perfect race conditions - mostly cloudy (the sun didn't come out until near the end of the race) yet not too cold nor windy - really helped me today. They also helped Lee (2nd place in his age group and 12th place overall) and Serena (a new 15K PR). Woo-hoo!

I'm probably going to take it easy this week, running-wise. 20 miles on the schedule for next weekend - less than 6 weeks until Cowtown! :-P

Miscellany:

• Garmin Connect info (5-mile warmup): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22586508
• Garmin Connect info (15K race): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22586543
• Full race results: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2010/TooColdToHold002/TooColdMenu.htm