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.