long run in HK

This was my 4th run in hk, the first 3 were
2 miles, 3 miles, and 1.5 miles.
This one was 6 miles.
we went to a park near Sister's house so YY could play on the playground, Sally could Yup, Yup, Yup with her Mom and I could get a long run in. The park was not that big, so I did one loop on the inside trails, then one loop around the outside which ended up around 18 minutes. The next time out I found a bike trail that led to a river nearby so I followed for a mile, then turned around since I promised to check in after 20 minutes. The path was great and I found a shorter route, so on my third time out I took the shorter route there so I could run along the river for a while. This area is newer so it's cleaner and prettier. I finally was able to get into the groove and relax. Then I had to turn around and go back as the 7 days of standing, walking, carrying and holding have gotten to me and I didn't want to get stuck too far away.
Can't wait to load the gps data onto my computer to see my HK runs on the map :-)

hong kong blog

for those interested...

http://thereidsgotohkin07.blogspot.com/

2008 race schedule

Met with the coach last week to go over the race schedule for next year.
so here it is...

02/23 Coach Bubba 20k
03/15 Run for the oaks 5k - goal race < 25 minutes
04/13 Finish strong tri
05/3 white lake half ironman - maybe doing the swim relay leg
05/4 white lake sprint tri
05/17 Surf and turf tri
06/08 4.4 mile chesapeake bay swim
06/29 Kure beach sprint tri
07/13 Muddy Buddy
08/09 Bandits Challenge - maybe
08/23 Sportsplex sprint tri
09/20 Wilmington YMCA sprint tri
10/04 Pinehurst olympic tri
will have to decide what to do after that based on if I decide to do an ironman in 09

Negative splits rock

Met up with some people this morning at umstead park for a run. Didn't know how far, or how fast, but didn't really care. The plan was to just run how I felt. It was cold. 43 degrees and I had shorts and a long sleeve shirt and a fleece sweat shirt. Started off with the faster group. I told them I was going to run with them until I warmed up, then slow down to go with the slower group where I belonged. It was cold and windy, but they were doing 8:30 pace so I warmed up quick in about 5 minutes. I was feeling good, but 8:30 is not for me in the park. So the other group was doing about 11 min pace, a little too slow, but they turned around after 30 minutes and I kept going to the 3 mile mark.
first 3 miles 31:54 / 10:35 pace.
then I turned around and decided to negative split back in hopes to catch back up to the other group before they got back. They had a 1/2 mile head start but I figured I would catch them with a tempo run down the hill to the spillway.
tempo run
1.84 miles 16:38 - 9:03 pace.
Then I hit half mile hill, they had just started up, so I passed them early on. But I didn't want to slow down since the speed was feeling good.
1/2 mile hill
.54 miles 5:40 - 10:26 pace.
At the top I didn't stop and just kept going. It is still up hill to the parking lot where we started, but I wanted to get there by 1 hour to make a 10 min pace for the run so I kept pushing.
finish stretch
.62 miles 6:01 - 9:48 pace.
stats for the whole run
6 miles 1:00:14 - 10:01 pace

Reindeer romp 5k

first the numbers...
total time 26:48 8:37 pace
mile 1 - 8:18
mile 2 - 8:58
mile 3 - 8:50
.12 - :42

So I started off too fast as usual, but I started in the front and at the horn, all the little kids took off sprinting, they made it a quarter mile or so, then they either stopped and walked, or slowed to a crawl, so even though I started in front, I still found myself passing people left and right for the first mile.
The second mile was a lot less crowded as we encountered many hills there were a bunch of parents running with their kids trying to keep them going on this part. My faith in the human race was slightly restored...
Mile 3 started great as we ran by the start and the 1/2 mile downhill stretch, but then the second half was all uphill and very challenging to keep the pace up. Went by 3 volunteers and although they were no where near each other, they were all "almost there". :-)
I like the course, even though it is a little tough on the ankles, but if it grows in numbers it will be harder to navigate.
This is my last race for the year so look for a year wrap up coming soon. I felt really good about my speed for this one and think my "break 25 minutes" goal for the run for the oaks is possible.

re - disconnected

So I ran today,
it was 38 degrees so I brought my gloves, a head band, my sweatshirt with the hood, and my mp3 player since I was going to be solo today and I haven't done a run solo over 30 minutes in I don't know how long.
I arrive at the start location and go to get my gloves out and I only have one. doh! well it's not that windy, so I can just put my hands in my sleeves until I warm up and it should be fine, so I grab the mp3 player and leave the headband since it doesn't work too well with the earphones which I why I brought the unibomber hooded sweatshirt. I start walking and notice that my mp3 battery is completely dead. It somehow got turned on and drained. Oh well, put that back in the car, and start to think I shouldn't be running today. Nothing seems to be going right and I'm tired from only 5 hours of sleep and it's 38 degrees and I'm wearing shorts with no gloves.

Well I somehow convince myself to just go ahead and I'm sure I will feel better about it later. So off I go. about 1/2 mile into it I realize I should have worn the headband as it's much better than the unibomber hood and since I don't have the earphones I don't really need to the hood. When is this going to get better again?

Anyway my plan was 2 mile warmup from the car to the water fountain, then mid tempo to the top of cemetery hill, then 1 mile easy back to the airport over look, then 1 mile plus at race pace on the downhill back to the park entrance which leaves 1/2 mile cool down back to the car.

About 1 mile into it, I see a doe cross the trail in front of me, not in a panic or stressed out like the deer usually are, it is taking it's time. It goes about 50 feet into the woods, stops, then turns and stares at me as I go by. Not wanting to be rude, I try to start a conversation. "So nice weather were having isn't it?". She just keeps staring at me. Of well, "Have a good run!" and I turn my attention back to the leaf covered trail. It took about 2 miles to fully warmup which worked out perfect as that was when the mid tempo part started. Now I'm feeling better, going at about 9:20 pace, nice and warm I can start to feel my fingers again, but my knees and ankles are still numb. 6 minutes of that and it's time to turn around and jog a little. About 1 mile back, heart rate back to normal feeling good, I can now feel my knees, I'm sure my ankles will be next :-). Pick up the pace on the slight down hill to 8:45, now I breathing hard, but everything seems to be working right so I keep that pace to the park entrance and then a nice easy cool down jog back to the car.

See I was right, I just went and it did feel better, now for some coffee :-)

Triangle Turkey Trot 8k

Not a lot of time for this one, so only a quick summary will have to do...

Official times
Chip Time - 45:22 9:07
Gun Time - 45:54 9:14

1 mile fun run, Lilyan ran almost the whole way, except for a couple short rides in the jogger, and one shortcut :-). During this part that I was using as a warmup, my legs were cramping from the yard work on Wednesday so I didn't have much hope for the run.

After the fun run, I had to go to the bathroom, but all the port o john's were across Cary Parkway in the IO sports parking lot. So I had about 6 minutes to run over, go, then run back before the start. I decided to go for it. that was a good decision. But just as I get back, I had about one minute to rest and talk when the horn sounded.

mile 1
1.03 miles, 8:31 / mile, 158 ave hr
It took me about 35 seconds to get to the start line, then it was extremely crowded, but the sidewalk was clear so I hoped up to the sidewalk and took off. I wanted to do about 9:10-9:15 pace, so 8:31 was a bit fast...

mile 2
1.01 miles, 9:04 / mile, 166 ave hr
now right on pace, Melisa passed me here saying she was going to try to do 9 min pace, but she was gone in a matter of minutes and I didn't see her again. She ended up with an 8:53 pace

mile 3
1.00 miles, 9:06 / mile, 170 ave hr
still right on pace even though this mile and the last were mostly up hill.

mile 4
.97 miles, 8:49 / mile, 171 ave hr
This mile was awesome as we finally got a nice long downhill to recover so I picked up the pace and tried to relax.

mile 5
1.05 miles, 9:24 / mile, 173 ave hr
This mile was really tough, so much for a negative split, but I finished strong and got a 2 minute PR for an 8K, woo hoo

one more race for the year...

Apex Turkey Trot 5k

This was my first year doing this race. I arrived at the park around 9, got my packet, put it back in the car, then headed out for a short 10 min warmup. My car was parked about 1/2 mile from the start so I planned to wear my sweatshirt to avoid being cold waiting for the start and to just through it on my car as I went by.
If you want to run a fast 5k, you have to start in the front. I did not know this. So I started in the back to avoid going out too fast. The problem is that it is all run within the Apex community park, and the roads are not very wide. Then after about 3/4 of a mile the route transitions to a walkway around the lake. The path is only wide enough for about 3 runners wide and if you get stuck behind a group that is going slower than you, then you have to wait for the side to be wide enough and safe enough to go by and have to avoid all the other people trying to go by. Let's just say the first mile was very stressful. Other than the sweatshirt handoff to the hood of my car, which went perfectly, there was a lot of not being able to get into a stride without tripping over someone running.
Mile 1 8:53 - Definitely did not go out too fast.
There was a small hill around mile 1 that stretched out the field of "I started too fast" people in front of me, so the next mile was great, the course was bumpy, couldn't even call it rolling and I was passing people so I was happy.
Mile 2 8:41, about the pace I wanted to run.
the last mile started off well, still on the lake, but I knew there was a hill to climb to get back to the start since I had warmed up on that part of the course. When I got to the hill I was still feeling good, but when I got to the top I was hurting so I had to ease off a bit to let my heart rate lower so I could make it to the finish. Then there was a short downhill followed by one more short uphill to the finish.
Mile 3 8:53, not bad for the last mile with that hill.
Then the finish sprint was .12 miles in :54 seconds for a final unofficial time of
27:11.
Picked up up some chick fillet nuggets, fruit and a couple gatorades and was off. The other problem with this race is the course is on the park roads which remain closed until the last walkers finish, so we had to wait to leave. Normally this isn't a problem as I like to hand around afterwards, but we had some XMas shopping to do and I wanted to get going.
Overall I think it's a good race, but wouldn't recommend it if you are in a hurry to leave after, or want to run fast. But great for the family as the Chick Fillet cow was there and there was a guy dressed up as a turkey that ran the course as well. They also gave out finisher plaques to the under 11 kids just for finishing. Maybe when the kid is old enough to make it 3 miles We'll come back to do this one :-)

The 2008 Great Chesapeake Bay Swim

yes I signed up for this. I was looking for a new challenge and I remember my friend Melisa ( with one S ) saying that this swim looked like fun. Well that's not what she said, but translated, that's what it means.
Here is the website
http://www.bayswim.com/
4.4 miles of swimming in the Chesapeake bay, now doesn't that sound like fun?
I entered the lottery because it was free and was on of the lucky ones, they only accept 600, to get picked, so I put in my $250 and now I am committed. At the very least it's another reason to use the pool :-). I have read some of the race reports from last year and if I can quote one of my favorite sayings, it doesn't look that bad.

Cool new route

Today's plan was for me to park at Lake Johnson, Then Cindy would pick me up and we would drive to the art museum to do a point to point route on some greenway that we've both wanted to run. It was a little cold to start, but the sun and the hills quickly warmed me up. The greenway through the art museum was great, they had art and stuff along the trail and the hills were not bad at all. Then we went over the million dollar + pedestrian bridge over the beltline and headed towards Meredith collage. After one more hill, we were on the flat to down hill section down Gorman street. This part the sidewalk was a little overrun and there was a lot of traffic going to the NC State / UNC football game, but we were talking about work and what bugged us about it so it went by fairly quickly. One thing we saw was a pickup truck with a couch in the bed with 3 college kids sitting in it. Didn't think that was legal, but they are in college so anything goes.
Next we turned onto the Lake Johnson greenway and headed towards the lake. Cindy hasn't been running as much lately so we took some walk breaks. the path here was really cool and there were a bunch of friendly looking people and dog walkers. When we got to the car, she stopped and I went to do a couple more miles. I started down the unpaved trail which was advertised as 1.8 miles, I was going to run a mile, then just turn around, but after the first mile of great flat soft path, I decided just to go ahead the do the loop. A quarter mile of so more, I came to a paved path and a bridge. After the bridge, it became more like a trail run trail, but I thought I only had about .75 to go, so no problem. A little while later I came to a fork and one sign said this way no bikes, so I figured I would stay on the main route, mistake #1, followed that until it ended at a steep hill up to a main road. I thought it was Avent Ferry and all I had to do was go up and turn left and I would see the lake, mistake #2, at the top of the hill I saw it was Jones Franklin, how the hell did I get to Jones Franklin, any way I thought I could just turn left and get to Avent Ferry and head back down that, Mistake #3, I started down Jones Franklin and when I went over the beltline I knew I was screwed. I had no clue where I was, so I turned around and thought, I will just head back the way I came and it would be about 2 miles back. When I got back to the trail I saw a nice lady walking her two dogs who told me to go back to that sign and turn right. So finally I was on my way back. But the trail was not well marked and for some reason every time I had to make a decision on a turn I made the wrong one. Finally I made it back and my total was 10.2 miles.
Luckily after I apologized to Cindy for making her wait so long she said she didn't think it was that long since she was checking out the park and the people and the dogs walking their peoples.

Cold, it's cold, oh crap, it's freakin cold

The title pretty much says it all about my thursday morning run. Woke up early, it was 30 degrees. Ate my normal breakfast and got ready to run. I had a 5 mile easy day on my schedule so I thought I would head over to the subdivison next to mine since their hills are not nearly as steep as ours and I can get a 3.5 mile loop before heading back home to check out the newly paved roads of the new phase that is going in here.
Started off with shorts, log sleeve running shirt and a fleece sweat shirt, ski gloves and a ear band. my hands were fine, other than that, man it was cold. After about 1.5 miles I was warmed up and everything felt good, except I got that feeling of I need to find a bathroom before it's too late. This neighborhood used to have some port o johns every now and then so I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but they must have removed them recently as they were all gone. Now it was a problem. gotta walk, ok, it went away I can run again. oops it's back, gotta walk, it's not going away, I'm 1.5 miles from home and there ain't that much time left. Oh, there is some woods across hwy 50, I'll head over there. ok it's thick in there, ouch, these vines have thorns all over them. Well everything came out ok and I jogged back to finish off my 5 miles, but I now have scratches all over my legs...

City of Oaks Half Marathon

13.1 miles - 2:10:17 - 9:56 / mile pace

This race was on my schedule as a I support running in Raleigh race, not really planning to train specifically for it but since I was doing the Duke half Ironman a month and a half earlier I figured I would have no problem maintaining enough fitness to finish this healthy and happy. I didn't really want to put any pressure on myself since I had done enough of that for Duke, so when race week came and I didn't know what time it started, or where the start was, I figured it might be a good idea to look into it. With that mission complete it was also inevitable that people would start asking what time I expected to do, so I figured I better come up with one. I looked at my old PR from 2004 and it was 2:16 something and then the first half of the marathon I did in march and it was 2:14, so I thought 2:10 would be a good goal to shoot for and coach B agreed :-).

So race morning arrives and it's 38 degrees out, I have no clue what to wear since it hadn't been that cold here in a year. So I knew shorts and gloves, and decided on a short sleeve shirt and sweat shirt on top with ear warmers. Got to the race site half hour early, parked and did a short warmup jog. Felt good and warm. so on to the race.

mile 1 and 2 19:29 - 9:45 / mile
Didn't see the 1 mile mark, so first time I knew I was running a tad fast was mile 2. I felt good, was holding back and wasn't pushing so I figured, just keep going at this pace. I took off the ear warmers at the 1/2 mile mark and the sweat shirt at mile 1.25, had no idea it was 1.25, but found out later when I went to pick it up.

mile 3 9:42 - 29:12 - 9:44 / mile
still feeling good, a few hills start appearing, but nothing bad. People are still packed all around me, but hillsboro street is accomadating us with no problem. My breathing is fine, must be in zone 3.

mile 4 9:48 - 39:01 - 9:45 / mile
coming up on a gel stop for me, plan is mile 4 and 8, take a gel before the water stop, then grab a water and walk for about 1 minute to get the gel and water down. This water stop is much better than the last, the mass of people has spread out more and it's much easier to get in and out without running into or getting run over by the herd.

mile 5 10:16 - 49:17 - 9:51 / mile
The hills are starting now and that combined with my 1 minute walk break slowed the pace, but still on track as 9:55 is the goal and I feel really good. I know the next few miles are going to be rolling, so my idea is to keep 9:55 - 10:00 minute pace, then hopefully pickup a few seconds towards the end.

mile 6 9:55 - 59:13 - 9:52 / mile
Yes there are hills on this course and the long uphill journey back has begun. No problems on the hills so far, but I lost the lady I had been pacing with for the last 2 miles on one of the tougher ones. Leg strength is solid, get a little winded on the steep parts, but recover quickley when it levels off.

mile 7 9:53 - 1:09:06 - 9:52 / mile
Very happy to be maintaining this pace as it's not a labor yet. We are heading towards cameron village and I remember the next hill from the YWCA halloween run I used to do. It's not pretty...

mile 8 9:58 - 1:19:04 - 9:53 / mile
This was the toughest mile so far, I think it was all uphill. I am very happy to maintain under 10 for this one and since I know a gel/water/walk break is just ahead I pick it up a little to try to offset the next miles pace, seeing new faces now as that last mile took it's toll on the group I had been with.

mile 9 10:27 - 1:29:32 - 9:56 / mile
The walk break was perfectly placed far enough from the top of the hill so that I could eat the gel, drink my 8 oz of water, and walk for 40 seconds before the downhill section. Great placement :-)

mile 10 9:52 - 1:39:24 - 9:56 / mile
Now the hard uphills are done, at least that's what I thought at the time... forshadowing, Made it through the neigborhoods, and although it was the hardest part of the course, I like it the most as the people were out in numbers and very supportive of all the runner's. There were some drummers beating a rythm and several people losing their voices as they cheered us on. I think spectator support really carried me through this section on goal pace.

mile 11 9:53 - 1:49:18 - 9:56 / mile
This mile was really tough, I ran by my sweatshirt and thought to pick it up, but decided I didn't want to carry it for 3 miles and would drive by later to get it. It was around there were the nausia kicked in for the first time. This was a gradual uphill false flat and I was trying to get back to 9:45 pace, but I think I over did it. I slowed the pace and about 5 mins later the feeling went away. I picked it back up just a little so I wouldn't barf all over the place and forgot about it. I was still right on track thinking the last mile I could make up the time to break 2:10.

mile 12 9:53 - 1:59:12 - 9:56 / mile
I was barely hanging on to this pace when finally we started to go downhill again. woohoo. I picked it up slightly, but not too much for the second half or it would have been closer to 10. One girl running along stopped to inform me my shirt was on backwards, I told her it was on purpose to remind me, pause to breath and she inserted her own finish "that you got up early?" I was going to tell her the real reason when her running partners watch went off and they stopped for a walk break. Too bad as they were running just slightly faster than me and it would have been nice to pace off of them for a while. The real reason is because it reminds me I want to get a PR for this race and to run faster.

mile 13 10:11 - 2:09:23 - 9:57 / mile
This mile sucked! no other way to put it. I knew I had one mile to go and I knew I was right on pace if I could just hammer out a 9:55 I would have no problem breaking 2:10. But it was uphill the whole freakin mile. I passed a group of spectators talking amongst themselves that is was less than 1/2 mile to the finish so I looked at my watch and I had 4:50 to go until 2:10, so I picked it up a little. Just before the turn onto the finishing stretch I had to slow down a little or my grapenuts, powerbar, and two gels would be all over the road and I figured that would slow me down more than just slowing down a little. turned onto the finish stretch and saw the 26 mile sign for the marathon so I knew I had .2 to go. looked at my watch and it said 2:07:58. That means I got 2 minutes, no problem. I pick up the pace again and I know I am doing around 9 min pace.

mile 13.1 :53 - 2:10:17 - 9:56 / mile
So I see the 13 mile marker and I start the finishing kick, my coach is beside me on her bike yelling for me and I can see the finish right up ahead, someone I think Salman yells go Bill from the other side, I want to go faster, but I think I'm going to die so I just keep up the current pace, where the heck is that finish? I think I started the kick early, but finally there it is.

Didn't quite make the 2:10 goal, but PR'd by a bunch, so it was a great race. especially since I didn't really train specifically for it :-). That last mile really got me. I should have checked out the course before hand so I would have know what to expect, but such is life :-)

Hopefully this race will make it in Raleigh as there was a lot of support from the public and a good turnout. I definetly recommend the 1/2 marathon, the second half of the marathon looks really tough, so not a PR course, but the scenary is great.

Running the crabtree creek rapids

After the rain for the past 2 - 3 days, the ground was saturated, so when the downpour of 2+ inches happened last night, there was no where for the water to go. Needless to say it was wet this morning. Not sure what I was expecting, but since I was going to do 10 miles today, I was told not to do anything hard, so the only not hard running around here is Black Creek or Shelley lake. I figured Black creek would be flooded for sure and I would have a slight chance of Shelley being ok. so off to Shelley.
Arrived about 7:30, on the way I saw many joggers so my hopes were high. Started the normal around the lake then out to the mall route but after 1/2 mile I was stopped by an ankle deep lake going right over the trail and no way around, so back to the start to go the other way. The trail out to the mall was great, not nearly as much water as I expected. I enjoyed watching the water from the lake flowing towards crabtree creek. Passed Viv running with her group, she looked like she was with the easy group, since they were on the way back and she looked fresh. I guess they are tapering for the race next week.
I was going slow and feeling kinda sore from my awesome thursday run so my idea to do 10 was hitting some disapproval from my body, but I just kept going. Then Joe Satriani started on the MP3 player and that was it, got lost in the guitar and the next thing I knew I was at 5.5 miles and the turn around spot. Got some fluid and a carbboom and decided to do a negative split on the way back. Picked up the pace and actually it felt better. The soreness went away, I concentrated on keeping a good running style and my breathing was not labored. My heart rate was around 150 every time I looked so right on target. 150 is the cutoff between zone 3 and 4 and where I want to run the second half of the race next week. I was running with the current and it was going pretty fast but I managed to stay ahead of it. I would find a piece of wood and race it from spot to spot to entertain myself. At McDonald's, The Guns and roses part of my play list started and Paradise City helped my maintain my under 10 pace until I got to Leadmine. I slowed a little in the last 2 miles, but still overall felt good about the second half of the run.
first 5.5 miles 11:13 / mile, after the mess of the first mile I was more around 10:30 - 10:45 but the first mile lowered the ave alot.
last 4.5 miles 10:16 / mile. Felt good here, This is a good thing for my mental state for next week.
If I can do a 2:10 half marathon next week I'll be freakin ecstatic, but just getting a PR would be good enough. I think my official HM PR is 2:16, but the first half of my marathon the beginning of the year was 2:13 something.

Running in the Rain

It's been a long time since I've got to run in the rain. It was great. We really need the rain here and it was warm enough so that getting wet wasn't miserable.
On tap for today was a 10k loop that includes a couple really mean hills. I was supposed to run the last 2 miles at a faster pace than the first 4. So I wasn't sure which way to go. If I go clockwise, I get a one really long steady climb just before the pickup time, but then there are a couple nice downhills before the hilly finish. Or counter clockwise which means I start the faster pace at the top of 1/2 mile hill. But after a quarter mile it's fairly flat with a gradual downhill finish.

I opt for the counter clockwise route and take off. The weather combined with my reduced training load has made my legs fell really strong lately, so the climb to the back gate feels not so bad and I have to constantly check myself to keep from running too fast. I figured I would try around 10:30, then finish off around 10 min pace. When I get to the park I got a surprise as my buddy Nancy drove by just as I was turning into the park with some woohoo's of encouragement :-). The next part is the best a gradual slope down to the lowest point of the run and just before 1/2 mile hill. It's a 1/2 mile long and it goes up 200 feet in elevation. There is one point about 3/4 of the way up that levels off a bit to give you a break, but then it just keeps going. Slowed down on half mile hill, it took me 6:21 to get up it but my heart rate never went over 160. At the top I felt good since I was going slow and usually I walk at the top, but today I just kept going. I speed up and tried to maintain a descent pace. I was not planning on any walk breaks, but the traffic on Harrison did not cooperate so I had to wait for the cars getting onto I40, but not for too long. The next part I had the reverse problem from the start, I kept having to check myself from going too slow. But eventually I made it to the turn back into work and the down fill finish. I picked up the pace and finished strong.

stats
to bottom of half mile hill
pace 10:30, 3.5 miles, 36:45, ave hr 140 - nice and easy
up half mile hill
pace 11:43, .54 miles, 6:21, ave hr 155 - max 160 not so bad when going slow
Back to work
pace 9:53, 2.17 miles, 21:28, ave hr 158 - faster pace felt not so bad, but legs were getting tired.

Yasso 800's

On tap for today at the track
6 x 800 on 4:05 with 200 walk recovery
I managed to get all 6 between 4:00 and 4:05 not sure if it was the humidity or if I just lost some speed, but I don't remember it being so hard. Of course the last time I did this type of workout my numbers were 4:20 instead of 4:05 so that could be part of it. My legs felt great it was more lack of oxygen that was making me feel not so good, so my vote is for the humidity and 80 degree temps that should not be here in freakin October...

Sunday Run at Atlantic beach

It was really tough running this morning. I woke up at 5:30 and went outside to see how the water was. It was still really dark, but I could see the ocean was flat as a pancake. Why oh why couldn't the race have been today instead of yesterday? no wind, calm ocean, 50 degrees. Perfect. Anyway, got dressed, ate half and oatmeal cookie, a banana and some water then headed out to run around 6:45. The sun was on it's way up so I ran East along hwy 58 to start so I could watch the sun rise. It was an awesome shade of orange as it rose over the horizon. I had to run down all the public beach accesses to see it over the ocean, so my first 3 miles out was very slow. I originally wanted to run on the beach, but the tide was in and I wasn't going to run on the sugar sand. The way back was all business, it was out and back so I saw all the houses and stuff on the way out so I didn't need to look around. I think I ran out in 12 min pace, and back in 9 min pace.
Surprisingly the locals weren't very pleasant. I said good morning to 10 people. I got two good mornings back and 1 smile, the rest just looked away and ignored me or looked right at me and scowled. At least it was the last 3 that were nice to end the run :-)

Emerald Isle Tri I mean duathlon

I had some worries about them cancelling the swim when I saw the weather forecast for the weekend and the storms being of the coast on Saturday morning, but when I woke up and looked at the waves, they weren't that bad. Not nearly as bad as Kure beach either year that I did it. So I had some hope. Showed up at the race site and looked from beach level and not from 7 stories up, and it still looked good. This swim was an out and back so you swim straight out into the ocean, then turn around and come back, where kure beach is a swim a long the shore. I guess that makes a difference because at 7:15 the announced that the Coast Guard could not set the buoys and the undertow was too strong so they were cancelling the swim and changing to a 5k run, 12 mile bike.
So all my planning and visualizations just went out the window. I have 30 minutes to the start and was not in a good mood. Anyway gotta take what they give me. So put away all my swimming stuff and started to warm up for the run.

5k run 27:58 ( unofficial )
I wasn't sure how to race this since I don't usually do a 5k run then an all out bike so I just decided to do a 9 minute pace and then hope for the best on the bike. The run was uneventful, an out and back on flat roads. It was nicely marked with 1/2 mile markers and I managed a steady 9 min pace the whole way. I probably could have done 26:30 if I went all out and didn't care about the bike, and my plan was to go all out after the bike.
T1 :58 ( unofficial )
The don't really time transitions here, it gets added to the bike, but since I hit the lap button on my watch...
Bike 12.5 miles 36:12 ( unofficial )
The bike was great. I pushed hard the whole way, it was into the wind on the way out and wind at your back on the way home. I was passed by one relay guy and that was it. I passed a whole bunch of people and it felt really good. I averaged 19 mph on the way into the wind and 23 on the way back. Legs burning the whole way. I saw a girl wearing a tee shirt that said "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional". gotta get on of those...
Final time 1:05:09 ( unofficial )
I think that put me at 12 out of 20 for Clydesdales.
When I looked at last years results, I thought if I could beat 1:25 I had a chance for top 3 and with a 15 swim I would have been close to 1:20. Normally I am 25% in the swim, middle for the bike and bottom 25% for the run. Looks like I was 4 or 5 on the bike, so if we had the swim I think I could have made that top 3. I was 17 on the run but I think if the run was third, I might have been able to go faster.

Halloween

I can see halloween is in full force now. I went out for an easy 4 mile run this morning. I was supposed to be meeting someone, but she cancelled at the last minute. Something about a sore throat. Anyway legs were a little sore from the track Tuesday and the weston hills on my bike on Wednesday so started off nice and easy. I ran through the subdivision next to mine since their hills aren't nearly as drastic as mine are. There were several houses all decked out with crazy halloween stuff. I especially liked the one with the vampire tigger and dracula driving a ghost train. Being half way up the long hill helped as well as I could concenrate on something other than the stupid hill. Managed to run all the hills today, and the legs felt fairly good after 1 mile so with a day off Friday I might be ready for the race tomorrow.

Bike repeats

Last bike before the race on saturday. I was supposed to ride on the trainer easy, but since the weather has been so nice lately I decided to go outside and that way I could get used to my tri bike again. Luckily the race is flat since I have no power left on the hills, but on the flats I feel really good in the aero postion and was able to keep my knees in. I rode out to Morrisville, did an out and back repeat on Town hall drive, then put it in the small ring and did an easy spin back to work. Of course going back up weton is never easy, but I didn't push the big ring like I ususally do so it was easy.

Tuesday track day woohoo

I'm sure if anyone has been reading this you know I love the track by now. so Today I had
warmup
1 x 1600 8:30 200 walk
1 x 800 4:01 200 walk
2 x 400 1:56 200 jog
4 x 200 :42,:43,:45,:47

man I love 200's. It's just great to be able to run as fast as you can and not pull anything along the way.
of course as I did my :42 second 200, the fast group passed by at the end after I saw my 42 and was feeling good about it and said 35, as in 35 seconds for the first 200, only they were doing a 400. maybe someday...

Swim Tune up

Monday's swim:
20 minutes steady ( 2 mph )
10 x 30 seconds fast ( 3 mph ) 5 second recovery
5 min cool down ( 1.8 mph )
So I went out to the sunroom to find my pool was only 76 degrees. Man that's cold. so before I got started I had to go under the house to make sure everything was ok. Looks like the heater had tripped and got shutoff. I somehow managed to get in and was wondering if I should be wearing my wetsuit or not ;-). The 20 min warmup went by too quick I was really getting into the Beattles today. Anyway I pushed up the speed to 3mph for my 30 second reps and man was that hard. 1 mph more of current and I could barely keep up. Now I know why they always say not to try to swim into the rip current. So helpful tip of the day, always swim perpendicular ( 90 degrees ) to the current until you get out of it, then swim to shore :-).

Sunday Brick

I haven't biked since the duke half, and haven't been on my tri bike in I don't know how long. so I needed to get back out and ride. My coach says I should do at least a one mile run after to remind my legs what it feels like to run after a bike. So...

It was 48 degrees, and with clear skies and little to no wind when I headed out at 7:30 AM this morning. Bike was working good, but I forgot my cell phone and didn't relize it until mile 3 or so. This caused me to changed my route to stay closer to home since the last 3 times on this bike has not ended well. Glad I got out there since the first 10 miles werent' going that well due to the above mentioned vacation from the tri bike, but then I made the turn for the last 5 miles home and picked up the pace and started to feel the burn in the right places which made me feel much better then when it was in the wrong places :-). Managed to keep the speed over 20 the whole way home and felt really good getting off the bike.

A quick 1:30 tranistion and off to run.

Yes coach B was right, my legs were like "what is the running thing after biking so fast?", but after 1/2 mile I could feel my toes again and my legs still a little tired from yesterday's hilly 7 miles started to feel better. So my pace started picking up and ended up with a 9:30 pace for the 1.5 miles I did.

Not sure if it's the weather or the time off since Duke but I am finally starting to feel good again. Getting really excited for next week's final tri of the season. I don't really care about my time for the race, I just want to go fast and feel good.

2nd Annual Reid Family 5k

First, thanks to all that showed up, we had a great time and Lilyan is still sleeping. She had so much fun.

Woke up at 5am to finish getting ready. Still needed to wash some fruit, cut some tomatoes and so forth. Headed out the door at 8:45 to run the course the first time so I could mark all the turns with chalk so no one would get lost. Ying showed up just in time to go with me so I wasn't bored. We kept a decent pace but stopped at every turn to put down some chalk so I think we were doing a 9 something per mile pace, but ended up around 10 with all the stopping. Ran all the hills, and there are a lot of them :-).

Got back just in time for everyone else to start showing up. Changed into short sleeves from long since long was a little warm. Got the kid bundled up for her ride in the jogger and headed out. The last people showed up around 9:35 so we started a little late, but what kind of self respecting race starts on time anyway?

This time I ran with time while pushing YY and Tim was pushing his daughter Mia. Got passed right at the beginning by some fast people who for some reason did not want to volunteer to help push the kids up the hills. Took this lap much slower and walked the hills when they started to get hard. About half way through Lilyan says, "Can I run now?" great, taking 35 lbs out of the jogger and running her pace makes it much easier. So Mia and YY got out and started running up the really long hill. She made it about half way and says "Daddy I'm so tired from running up this hill." so she go back in and for the walk to the top. They got out a couple more times to run a bit before the end. But when we got to the final downhill stretch to the house, I told her she had to run to the finish. So they both got out and ran the final .25 miles to the finish and crossed together. They were very cute.

After the race, I filled up on some awesome Cinnamon buns and brownies, not to mention the smoked sausage, hamburgers and fruit.

Can't wait till next year.

Friday morning Swim

Swam in the endless pool this morning, did a 10 minute warmup, then 6 x 2 minutes at just over race pace, with 30 seconds rest, then 8 x 1 min at faster than race pace with 10 seconds rest, and a 10 minute cool down. This morning I seemed to be over the soreness I have had all week from starting to lift weights again. So the swim felt good, had no issues except with my annoying goggles that I can't seem to get to stay on anymore. I had to tie the ends in a knot to keep them from coming out. Most of the workout I had the beattles playing. It's not easy to swim, breath and sing at the same time but someone's got to do it.

Thursday morning run

Finally, the weather cooperated and it was prefect running weather. Did 9 miles thursday morning. the first long run since the half IM and it felt really good. It's been almost a month and I finally feel good again. The cold is gone, the cough is gone, the energy seems to be back. Took only one walk break after sprinting up the final part of a half mile hill, but really didn't need to. Did this same loop in August and it took 10 minutes longer that time than this time. Hopefully this is a good sign for the rest of this year...

Back to the track

I was a little nervous at the track today as after last week, I felt great after the track, but then the next day my cold came back full force. So today I didn't run as fast and didn't push past heavy legs. I did all but the final 2 400's and ran a little slower than planned just to make sure. The heat was back, but it was mostly overcast and there was a slight cool breeze that made it bareable. Hopefully tomorrow I will still feel good. Taking the day off just in case anyway :-)

easy swimming

It was great to get back in the pool again. After the Duke HalfIM, I haven't done any swimming or biking, and only two runs. The cold I could not shake is finally gone and I think I am ready to go again. I did an easy 30 minutes in the pool this morning to some new music and it went by fairly quickly and just for fun I cranked up the speed for the last minute or so to see how fast I could go.

I love the track

That's what I told my coach when she tried to tell me I should take it easy and do a short fartlek run instead of going to the track. I miss the track. It's been a while and I really wanted to just get out there. I was scheduled for 3 x 1 mile, but since I had only run 1 time since the half iron man and that was 8 days ago, my coach thought I needed to ease back into training. I compromised on doing the 3 miles, but doing them as 400 fast, 400 easy. This worked out great. I managed to hit around 2:05 for the fast ones and 2:30 for the easy ones, felt good for most of the 3 miles and was happy to be running fast again :-). The cold that I had for the last week seems to have gone away and my motivation is returning. Can't wait for the Emerald Isle tri in 3 weeks.

Reach the Beach

This was my first run since the race. We arrived in Fl, Friday night at 11PM, we went to the beach Saturday morning and I really wanted to swim, but the waves were rough and the surfers were out in numbers so in order to swim I would have to go way out past the breakers and then hope to not get run over, so I didn't swim.
Anyway, this morning I set out at 7 to go for a run on the beach. I figured I would run 30 minutes South, then turn around. Love running on the beach, but it was hard. It's extremely humid and at 7 am, it was still 78 degrees. Luckily there was a breeze on the beach that was blowing west so I didn't have to run into the wind.
After a week of no exercise, I was really ready to get back out there and the beach was calling. The humidity was mean, the breeze was warm, but I was running and it was on the Ocean so even though the second half was really tough, it was worth it.
Heading to Disney today, I am going to try to run a couple times in Orlando, then do a long run back on the beach next weekend.

My brain on the duke liver half iron man ( race report)

first let me say that the day didn't start off all that great so I knew it was going to be more of a test of will then time. That being said, I finished, I'm happy :-).


the numbers
swim - 39:16
t1 - 1:53
Bike - 3:17:04
T2 - 3:39
Run - 2:47:28
Total - 6:49:18

At least I beat my goal times for transition ;-)

Hold on, this might get a little weird, it's 5pm right after the race and I wanted to get this done while it was fresh in my mind.

Woke up at 4 AM, watched some weather channel, got up and went to get some breakfast. I had my normal grapenuts, raisins, milk and 16 oz of water. My stomach was a little off, I attributed it to nerves. Finished packing the car, got dressed, wasn't sure what to wear as the water temp was right on the border, 79, so I planned for it to not be wetsuit legal, but brought a change just in case. Grabbed a powerbar and some ultima for the drive and headed out at 5:30.
while on the drive the powerbar was making me nauseous, not a good omen, so I only got half done. I arrived at the race at 6:10 and even though it was posted that 90% of participants would be able to park at the site, I saw all the cars headed out and took the first spot I could find about 1 mile away. It was pitch black so I grabbed everything, pumped up the tires and headed to transition. Found out it was wetsuit legal, and also that I forgot all my food for the bike back at the car. So got back on the bike and rode out to the car, changed in the car, grabbed the food and headed back. Got back at 7, luckily I didn't start until 7:20 and they were running a little late. Tried to eat again, no luck, so I put on the wetsuit, put the final touches on the transition setup and went down for a warmup swim. The water felt good, and I felt really good swimming during warmup.

The Swim:
Started off in the middle, didn't get beat up too much though, managed to get out ahead of some of the guys and found some feet to follow. Water wasn't too rough at the start, but that all changed at the first buoy. There were 5 buoys out, then turn around, so for the next 4 buoys, it was really rough. I started getting nauseous again so I slowed a little until it went away. I was able to pretty much go straight and steady the whole way out but ended up with a bunch of yummy lake water in my mouth. The way back on the other hand was awesome, I could feel the waves and pushed when they got behind me and helped. While going out felt like it took forever, coming back seemed to go by too fast. Got out, looked at my watch and thought not bad for that mess. Yes I wanted 35, but it was just too rough. My coach said everyone was having slow times, so that made me feel better.

T1:
Went by real quick, got my wetsuit off, shoes on, helmet and glasses, downed a gel and headed out. I even ran with my bike out of the transition.

Bike:
Not sure what happened here as I have ridden the route a couple times and managed to do around 3:10. I figured with the adrenaline I could do 3:05. Started off and my lower back was hurting. What the hell is that. I never hurt my lower back swimming. And it didn't hurt before, oh well. The first part of the bike I took it easy, enjoyed the weather, made sure to get some non lake water fluids and some food. Still felt good, stomach hasn't bugged my since the first part of the swim, I was eating on the half hours, and drinking when ever. I had loaded the bike with 88 oz of ultima and I got a water bottle at each stop to pour on my head and grab a quick drink. Surprisingly, I was passing people on the hills, but getting passed back on the flats. My legs felt good out of the saddle and climbing, but in the saddle I couldn't maintain the power to keep them off. At the half way mark on was on track for a 3:10 but I knew the last part up pee ridge was going to be uphill into the wind so I was still trying to save some for the end. It was when I turned onto lower river when the wheels started coming off. It was hurting more and more on the uphills and I was running out of strength. Then, I wasn't able to eat anymore as the nausea came back. So I shifted to the small ring and starting spinning it in. When I got to pea ridge, I was able to eat again so I had two more crackers. It was somewhere on pea ridge road when Evil Bill took over the brain and started the we aren't going to finish this, why even bother starting the run? At mile 55 I screamed out loud, why won't this (expletive deleted) bike course end? This didn't help.
T2:
Rolled into race site and took off the shoes and noticed my toes were a bit numb. This mad it not too easy to run, so I walked to my bike spot, changed my shirt, lubed up with some chamy butter since my arms were showing signs of chaffing. Put on socks, shoes and hat, grabbed my hydration belt and headed out.
Run:
Ok, Evil Bill is in complete control, Stomach is saying no food, lower back is killing me. So I start to run, what else could I do? Anyway I notice right away that it doesn't hurt to run. I think without that little surprise my day would have been over right there. Ran to the first hill, saw my coach again who cheered my on and told me to pace myself. I had already decided that in order to finish I would be walking all the hills. I think there are 148 of them on this course, but I started up the first one anyway so she wouldn't see me walk and get nervous. After the corner, walk time. So if you've never run the duke half course, you're lucky, but you probably don't know what kind of hell awaits. I did it once as part of a relay and I think I told Cindy at the time that it was the hardest half marathon I had ever done and if I ever told her that I was going to do the whole race, that she should talk me out of it ASAP. I guess she forgot that, or it never happened, I prefer the former :-). First two miles 26 mins, I'm flyin, but then next two miles 24 minutes, hmm, I'm getting faster. Stomach is not complaining anymore, had one gel, one salt tab and 16 oz of ultima. Walk breaks are starting to pay off. All of a sudden, Good Bill pops up next to me. He kinda looked like my head with wings coming out of the ears. He is floating there and telling me if I want to finish, I need to let him get back in charge and get rid of Evil Bill. Sounds good to me, then I don't have to talk to him anymore and look like a crazy person, so Good Bill takes over and we banish Evil Bill to the back of my overcrowded mind. Hey, am I running up hill, stop that. Whew that was close. Time to turn around and do all those hills again. What fun. hmm, I'm hungry, but don't want more gel, already had 3, got 1 left. What should I try? Good Bill says Melisa really liked the oranges at white lake, try on of those. Are you sure? I mean my stomach has been buggin me all day and now you're telling me to eat some citrus. Are you nuts? Good Bill replies, Whose in charge here? and has Melisa ever let you down? OK OK, Next rest area, I'll have some water and an orange. Man, that was the best tasting orange I've ever had, maybe I should go back and get some more. Focus man. I guess I can wait for the next water stop. Long down hill here, feel fairly good, coming up to the loop around and Evil Bill comes back. This hurts, are you nuts? let's slow down and walk some more, you'll be lucky to break 7 hours. what's the point? Shut up Evil Bill, Good Bill and I are going to finish this race even if it takes 8 hours, which it's not as I only have 5 more miles to go and I can walk it faster than that. Hmmm, I think I just said that out loud. This guy is looking at me funny, oops he is about to go the wrong way. "Hey Dude, it's that way, you go that way, then it loops back out this way". He looks at me like "Is he talking to me, or himself again?". So I say it again, and this time it appears he believes me and goes the right way and says thanks. Long walk up to the water stop, more oranges, more water, start running. Good Bill says why don't you start thinking of titles for your blog entry, that will take you mind of all this wonderful pain. OK, how bout "Up and Down", "7 hours of hell", "Next time just shoot me instead", All seem good maybe we should just call it "Title", No that's kinda lame. Maybe I should stop talking to myself. No, this is fun let's keep going. I got it, see title above. Now what am I going to do, I got 3 miles left to go. Oh well, let's just enjoy the pain. ooh, water stop, more water, oranges, those were even better the the last water stop. Ok, this is the last hill, stomach says, "No more oranges". Bummer :-(. Hey where the hell is that 12 mile sign. Did I miss it or is it up ahead? I missed it, there is the 6 mile sign for lap 1. good news only 1 mile to go. down hill to the road, run it home. half way there. walk break, let's walk for a few to get ready for the picture. Ok run again, there is the finish line. Sprint, yeah right. Jog more? ok. Step on the name mat, here them call out my name, Evil Bill screams in agony and goes away to hide.

Post race:
That sure was fun. I could use a gatorade, power aide, any kinda aide. No aid, just soda and water left. Crap, it's on the ground, I have to bend over to get it. After a minute I slowly bend over and grab a water. I think that hurt way to much. I need to get back in the lake. Back in the lake, foot cramps every time I step on something. finally the cramping ends, I go in more. This feels goods. What the hell is biting my toes? I think I'll get out now.
I guess you can tell I made it home alive, but it was touch and go there for a while so I am going to wrap this up so I can goto bed.

When I signed up for this race I was looking for a challenge. I got it. I finished, I didn't have "it" today, but I still made it to the end so I am happy. Now if only I had gotten that percocet...

Shaking off the cobwebs, and some nerves

Today was my pre-race brick. I have had some success with this in the past and usually do this before a Sunday race as I just don't feel right not working out on a Saturday. I do a 30 min bike followed by a 10 min run. I ride out for 15 minutes easy as a warm up with a couple pickups mixed in to get ready, then at the turn around, I sprint back. Today it took 27 minutes, 15 out and 12 back. It felt good to feel the burn in my legs again and to know I can handle it when it returns full strength tomorrow on some of those hills. The run part is just an easy lolly pop route from my house. After a 1 minute transition, I started out uphill easy, loop around and head back home on a slight downhill. The run was great, after about 4 minutes the wobbles from the bike went away and I was able to keep a steady pace. My heart rate was between 151 and 156 the whole way so no spikes and my pace was around 9:35. Right at race pace. Legs felt great so this workout did wonders for my confidence and the weather looks awesome for tomorrow.
Still, I am a little more nervous for this race then usual as it is a much harder course. I haven't had pre-race jitters like this in quite a while so it's a little unnerving and the coffee isn't helping any. Off to pick up my race packet, then home to start getting everything ready for tomorrow.

I did the white lake half in May in 6:08 Something, so breaking that would be great, but since this course is much harder I will use it as a carrot if I am close on the run. so my current prediction is...
Swim 35:00 ( probably no wetsuits, yea ).
T1 2:00
Bike 3:05:00
T2 5:00
Run 2:30:00
total 6:17:00

Now I just have to wait and see

Neighboorhood 5k

I had an easy 3 - 4 miles this morning to continue with my taper so I decided to do a preview of our upcoming family 5k picnic. Weather was descent 70 something low humidity but I am still waiting for the really cool stuff to come in. Felt good the whole way did 3 sets of strides along the way. Maintained an easy 10 min pace, heart rate was mostly zone 3 with one section of zone 4 going up the monster hill. No walking today and didn't feel like I needed to. I do need to work some more hill stuff when I get back to training after the race though. I really need to get out of the habit of walking the hills and train my brain back to running them.

Yes the hunger is still with me. Woke up this morning and ate a power bar and 16oz of water while watching the news in bed. After the bar my stomach kept rumbling and my wife said "Is that you?" I said yes I can't get rid of this hunger. She said "For God's sake stop starving yourself!" I told her I was eating more now than when I was training but I can't stop being hungry.

Tomorrow is an off day, then Saturday is a short fast flat brick, 30 min bike 10 min run to blast some of these cobwebs off my legs before the big race on Sunday.

Stop the hunger... Please

Ever since yesterday's track workout I've had this never ending hunger. I was riding my bike easy on the trainer for 40 minutes as instructed by Coach B, and 30 minutes into it the hunger started coming on strong. I think I am going to gain 5 lbs this week. It's not like I've been starving myself this week, I've been eating as if I am still training so not sure why I'm so hungry, but the coach says it's normal so I'm just going to keep eating. I'm off the bike and almost done with my large house special low mien. It's better now, but after the shower the ice cream will be calling. I doubt I'll let the machine answer it :-)

Another benefit of this taper is my knees no longer hurt going up or down stairs. Hopefully my toenail will stay on until after the race.

Track Day

Well, not really...
Today was 5 miles easy, but where I work there is no easy except at the track. Since tuesday is normally track day I decided to jog over to the track with the group and just do easy miles while cheering them on during their really hard workout. It was hot and the sky was clear so even though I was taking it easy my heart rate was still up there. Luckily there was a descent breeze.
Felt good before, during and after, this tapering thing is great.

Wide Load

Today was an easy 30 mile ride. I picked a nice flat route, an out and back from my house due east. The wind was NE, so at my back to start and in my face on the way back. It also descends about 200 ft over the 15 miles, so not a big difference, but enough for me to notice. My ave heart rate was 7 beats higher on the way back and my speed was 2 mph slower. Was by myself and have done this route a lot earlier this year, so I was fairly bored and started getting lost in thought and was looking on the side of the road for dead bodies, didn't find any...
On the way back I was coming up to a school and saw all the cars ahead making uturns and coming back. I got to the turn around spot and really didn't want to go back two miles, then go two miles out of the way for an 8 mile trip to get home when I was only 4 miles from home going straight. The guy at the turn around said there was a house going over I40 just ahead and it would be about 15 minutes, but I could ride ahead and try to get around it if I wanted. I wanted. I thought I was going to see a new home like I see on the highways being transferred, but no, it was a really old house. It looked to be about 50 years old. I wondered why they would move it since it was so old and decrepit looking. I guess it might be a historical house or something, but it barely fit on the bridge and was rubbing the electric wires overhead so I didn't hang out to see how it turned out.

AHhhhhhhhhhhh

That's the sound of 6 easy flat miles at an easy pace in low 70 temps with low humidity. I finally get to feel my taper and it was great. I ran with Cindy at Shelley lake, she had to do 10+ so I had her pick me up at the mall, then we drove to the lake and started the out and back course that would give me a little over 6 when we passed by the mall on the way back. She let me vent about some topics at work, thank you very much, and we went at a nice easy pace with a couple of walk breaks thrown in for good measure. Afterwards I went to my old favorite coffee shop for a triple white lightning and a wrap for lunch later.
If only every workout this summer could feel like this one :-)

Tapering?

Sure didn't feel like a taper today. I was scheduled for a 15 mile bike and 2 mile run which is kinda short for a brick, but on a weekday it's a lunch hour thing and fits in perfectly. I rode 20 yesterday at lunch on the streets so today I thought instead of 15 outside on the roads with the ozone and traffic I would do the spin class first for 45 minutes, then do a 2 mile loop outside.
Spin class was great, my buddy Pam was teaching and had a funky add-on session I hadn't done before and it was challenging enough with good recovery so to not wear me out too much. The run was good, I was a little fired up from something going on at work so I used that to focus on and before I knew it 2 miles was up.
Ended up being 38 minutes on the bike 18 minute run with a 2 minute transition.
Afterwards during the cool down aka walk through the parking lot I felt like the week so far hasn't really been a taper, but the weekend is coming with 6 mile run on Saturday and 30 mile bike on Sunday being about half the time and distance that I have been doing on weekends so I'm psyched about that, and next week is even easier, until Sunday that is.

Wednesday Bike

A nice easy no pressure taper bike at lunch. Legs felt good, heart rate was down, but still spicked on the weston hills. It's still feakin hot and no end in site, my fingers are crossed, but I'm not holding my breath... Wanted to leave early enough so I could catch the stretch class at the rec center afterwards, but missed it my 10 minutes. Nothing remotely interesting happened on the bike but I was ready for a boring ride anyway

Tuesday track day

Today's workout, 1 mile warmup, 6 x 800 @ 4:10, 1 mile cooldown. The day started off a little wrong as the holiday weekend got me all confoosed. I started to leave the house and relized it wasn't monday so I had to go back in and pack up my run stuff. Ended up forgetting my hat, watch and heart rate monitor. I was half way to work when I looked to see what time it was and all that was there was my wrist. Anyway I knew Cindy would have my back or as a final backup get one of those big bulky timer thingies from the rec center.
The morning temp was beutiful, but by 11, it had warmed up significantly but at least the humidity was giving us a break. The jog over felt ok, my left knee was still buggin me so I knew the first 800 would be more warmup, but then after that started feeling real good so I really had to try to keep the pace down to save some for the end. Cindy seemed to be back to her pre summer form, or at least not suffering as much as during the summer so that gave me some more inspiration to keep the pace up. Even though I tried to start out slow each time the first 200 somehow ended up being too fast, but at least that made the middle 400 seem easier until picking it up again for the last 200. Finally on the last 800 I was able to descend each 200, with a 1:04, 1:02, :59, :54 it was tough, but when done we were very happy to break the 4:00 mark.
Then the 1 mile cool down was just a .5 mile walk back to the rec center.

Phase two begins - monday swim

At little late, but I've been busy tapering ;-)
Monday morning, nothing exciting about this swim except it signalled the start of my tapering for the race on the 16th of this month. Woke up late 6am instead of 5, ate my powerbar and 16oz of water, feed the monster cats and headed to the pool. Today's workout 10 min warmup 30 min a little faster than race pace, 5 min cool down. Like I said nothing exciting. The 30 minutes at 2.55 mph was really tough or the first 5 minutes, but then I settled into the pace and just kept going.

1400 calories in a half hour

Sounds impressive doesn't it? But that's not the burn rate during my brick workout today, it was how many I consumed on my half hour drive home. My fancy smanchy Garmin 305 GPS Trainer watch thingy told me I burned 4839 calories. 3415 during the 43 mile bike and 1424 during the 8 mile run. That seems a little high so I checked an old formula I had and it was as I suspected a little lower. 2865 for the bike and 1367 for the run for 4232, either number is really high. So after I was done I drank my recovery drink for 180 cals, then drove to Moe's to get a Triple Lindy burrito 900 cals, then walked next door to Starbucks and got a grande no whip mocha, iced of course, for another 320. It's not easy to eat a big ole burrito while driving, but when you are hungry enough, you find a way.

So the day started off rough with a 4:30 alarm wake up. Ate my cereal, finished getting ready and headed off to meat Karyn at 6:35. Got to North cary park right on time at 6:20, setup the bike, took a quick bathroom break and headed out. The knee was a little tight for the first bit up the hill to harrison, but after that it felt much better. Rode with Karyn out to Lifetime fitness to meet Salman and another guy whose name I can't remember right now. Then we headed out to Jordan lake. They were going to do a 70 mile loop, so I just rode with them until my turn back point so I could head back to me Cindy for the run. The ride was overall good, slow and easy. The trip back was a little harder as the wind had just started to kick up, but still not bad. Returned to the park at 9:15 as planned and started transitioning for the run. Cindy showed up right on time and after some chit chat with my coach and her husband who were there with her training group, headed out for the 8 mile run. Felt good on the run, but decided to do a walk break at each mile. Cindy said she was ok with that so it was the plan. Run went well, it was an out and back with the out being mostly uphill and the back mostly down. This worked out great as we did a negative split by :50 seconds. Took it easy mostly with only a couple of hard efforts where neither of us could manage to talk, but the walk breaks definitely helped and I had all 6 of my 8 oz bottles filled and used them all. After last week I figured it was better to over hydrate then under. Turned out the bike was mostly all zone 1,2 and 3 with only 2 minutes in zone 4 when I pushed up one hill just to see how the legs were doing. The run was split almost evenly between 3 and 4 with some 2 thrown in for the walking breaks. without the walk breaks I probably would have been all zone 4, so for the race I'll definitely be doing walk breaks at all the aid stations.
So that's it for the hard stuff, the race is 2 weeks away and it's now time to taper. Only thing I can do now is hope the training was good enough and not screw it up by training too hard leading up to the race. So back to yoga and less stress. :-)

Swimming with the cats

Swam this morning in the endless pool, nothing much exciting happened, but the cats are getting more and more brave about standing around the edges while I am swimming. At first they wouldn't come close while the propeller was turning, then they would hang out during warmup, but take off when I cranked it up for the main workout. Today I noticed them a few times sitting on the edge staring at me while I swam. Of course as soon as they saw me notice during my breaths on that side, they would turn away like "I'm not watching you". When I got bored, I would try to flick some water their way without losing momentum which isn't easy when swimming into a 2.4 mph current.

Bye Bye toenail

Ran with C today, it was a new route and probably my favorite that I've done for a while. It starts at the rec center and goes out to the main road with a short slow climb to warmup. Then you turn left and go over a mile of downhill to Black creek trail. Ran Black creek till the end and turned around and came a little less than half way back to the exit trail. The exit trail is up hill all the way, but we managed to run almost the whole way until the really steep hill that I never run because it's really steep. Then when we got back to the main road, ran the rest of the way back to the rec center. It was cooler out but still in the 70's, but the dew point was in the low 60's. This seemed to make a big difference since I felt good almost the whole way. The company of course was great as usually and makes the run go by much quicker. Now on to the title...

On my Saturday run my toes started hurting at mile 11.5, pain like I've felt before like my nails on my big toes were going to fall off. I stopped at mile 11, but they were sore the rest of the day. I was hoping that they might not fall off and since I hadn't run since Saturday I forgot all about it. But after this run, my right nail once again hurt and now shows the tell tail blackness underneath the nail that signifies the end of it's life. At least the left one is still salvageable. I'm hoping it stays on till after the Duke Half IM, but I'm not holding my breath.

Wednesday Solo Lunch Bike

After two days off I was ready to get out and do some kind of execise. This morning my hydration status was back to normal but since my coach keeps telling me to take it easy I decided to head out early on the bike by myself instead of waiting for the lunch group to go. Usually I just warmup with them until they decide to put the hammer down and drop everyone they can. I used to try to hang on as long as possible, but now I just let them go and pick up the stragglers later. This makes my workout much more enjoyable. Today though, I was going easy and didn't even want the warmup pressure.

Started off at 10:45 with two 24 oz water bottles filled with Ultima and a stomach filled with a power bar I just ate :-). Immediately I noticed my chain making some crazy noises so I glanced down and saw how rusted it looked and hoped it will clean itself off and stop making that much noise. It didn't, so I altered my route and headed to the bike shop where I bought my mike hoping they would help me out. When I got there, it had stopped making that noise except uphills, but I still wanted to get some lube. So I went in and asked for some chain lube, they hooked me up fairly quickly, told me my bike was really dirty and I needed the "Orange package". I thought it was some product I needed to buy, but I didn't have any money but they explained it was a service. I told them I would bring it in next month when I was done biking for the year and headed back out.

Other than that the ride was uneventful, I felt great but was going at an easy pace so I was happy. Looking forward to my easy 7 mile run tomorrow and hoping the the weather chick is right and it will be in 60's in the morning.

Sunday Long Bike

It's been a long time since I passed out from heat and dehydration. About 3 months before my daughter was born, but Sunday was the day. I had run 12 miles the day before and when I woke up Sunday morning I was 4 lbs less then Saturday morning so I knew and should have know, that I needed to be careful, but the weather was overcast and not as hot as it had been. I drank an extra 16 oz of water in the morning, packed the bike with 72 oz of Ultima and drove to the meeting site.

The day started off well, I was with a group of 5 and we were going at an easy pace as we set off for our 64 mile ride. The first hour was great, I had two peanut butter crackers, two fig newtons, and 24 oz of Ultima. I was sweating a lot, but my heart rate was staying low and I was drinking a lot. We stopped at a gas station at 25 miles and I refilled my empty with water and half of the other with water so I still had 72 oz of fluid. We started back off at an easy pace so I ate half a power bar, but then we picked it up for a long section. I was still feeling fine, and when we made the turn I ate the other half of the power bar and finish off my second water bottle so now I had 60 oz in and still had 48 on the bike. The next stretch is probably where things went bad. I was pacing well and riding at an easy steady rate up a false flat with some rollers and finish off the next bottle of ultima. We made a turn and I dropped to the back to take it easy for a while. After about 2 more miles, my legs started burning and I lost all power. Came up to the next stop sign where the others were waiting for me, stopped, took off my helmet and got that familiar feeling.

It's kinda weird and a little alarming when it happens. It starts with nausea, then lightheadedness, the next part is panic and tunnel vision as the blood leaves my head. At this point I de clipped from the bike and headed to the stop sign for support so I could sit down without getting bloody like the last time, luckily my riding buddies noticed what was happening and held my bike for me, I didn't make it to the sign before my legs gave out. My ankle twisted, the my knee bent some odd direction and the next thing I saw was black. I was only out long enough to not feel the ground. I just woke up and saw the sky. Once on the ground, my brains started to come back and I knew what happened, so I knew my day was done. Luckily Ed lived only 10 miles away and his wife was able to come pick me up. I had some more water and was able to cool off a little so when she got there I was reasonable coherent and she brought some cold water and an ice pack and drove me back to my car. On the way my appetite returned and I was able to get some more food and water down.

I'm not really sure what I could have done to avoid this other then not going. I guess I should have tried to drink more Saturday after my run, but I was going on two gallons Saturday night and really didn't want to drink more. Then Sunday I had 32 in the morning, 80 some on the bike in 2.5 hours. After I got home I had another gallon of fluids, alternating between Gatorade and water. I woke up this morning and was now 5 lbs less then Saturday morning and felt like crap so I am still trying to eat and drink back to normal.

Long run day

This was supposed to be a 13 mile run, but ended up with 12. I think I'll survive...
I met my buddy K at North cary park at 7:30 she was supposed to do 12 so at least one of us did what we were supposed to. She is in training for IM Florida after crashing at IM lake placid so already in good shape just trying to keep it up until November rolls around. I haven't been going fast on my long runs and been doing a bit too much walking. She is more into no walk breaks and a steady pace, so just what I needed for my last long run before the Duke Half IM next month. Started off good. Took one walk break on the way out to fix my new run belt and tie my shorts so they would stop drooping, and then at the turn around one more to get some gels down. first 6 miles 1:04, not fast, but respectable pace. Then we turned around. The first part of the way back was tough. We ran up the 1/2 mile S hill ok, and the little hills that lead to Cemetery hill. I got in a rhythm and got a little lead on K here, but not much. We had already agreed to walk up Cemetery hill so when I got there I started walking slowly until she caught up. It's not really a break to walk up this hill has it is really steep, but got another gel down and some more fluid. My shoes had been filled with sweat since the turnaround and were now starting to squeak. After the hill we ran to the water fountain and had a short break to hill up some bottles before running back. Normally the downhill from the airport to the entrance of Black creek trail is a great break, but today it was a little painful as my shoes were about 2lbs heavier so I told K I was going to walk at the entrance. After that nice walk break we ran to the next water fountain and I got some water to splash on my head and filled up another bottle for the final mile back to the car. We made it back to the park and 12 miles, but my original plan was to run a half mile past, then back to get that extra mile in, but my shoes were heavy, and my big toes were yelling at me to stop or loose a nail. So I stopped. Always listen to your toes when they threaten you. I lost a nail once or twice and it always takes about a year for it to get back to normal.

Another hot and humid day in the books. Started off ok in the 70's, but when we got back it was pretty hot and I know I lost about 5 lbs even though I drank 48 oz of fluid while running. 2 lbs of it are still in my shoes. Hopefully race day will be cooler. I suspect my run will be 2:15 if the weather is in the 70's in the afternoon, and 2:30 if in the 80's. Since my swim and bike probably won't be that affected by the heat if I start running at 3:50 like I plan that puts my finish time around 6:05 - 6:20.

Time for a nap as I have a 65 mile bike tomorrow, oh joy...

Free Manure

You never know what you'll see while biking in south easy wake county NC. I was on my Thursday night 20 mile ride and was admiring all the cows and horses along the route when I see a sign that says Free Manure. What a deal...

The ride went fairly well, only two boneheads in pickup trucks yelling at me when they went by, a swarm of those crazy flying any creatures were the downers. They really don't taste that good and I was really happy I didn't forget my glasses. It must of been really humid as my shirt was soaked when I got back but I really didn't feel hot at all while out there.

Chased by a thunderstorm

Went outside this morning with the mp3 player loaded with 80's tunes ready for an easy run around the neighborhood. The sky was a pale yellow color and very overcast. Haven't seen that color before so I didn't know what to expect. I saw on the news at 5:30 that there were thunderstorms in Durham headed this way, but they don't usually make it all the way down here before breaking up especially in the morning. So started off and felt really good for some reason. The temp was 72 but still humid. This I guess this is much better than 80 and humid like Tuesday was, so that may have been it, but the air was cooler, there was a breeze. I kept telling myself to keep the pace down and save it for the weekend. This was working as when I got to mile 2 I was averaging right at 10 min mile pace. A half mile later I heard the first bit of thunder. My first thought was it will be nice to get rained on to cool off. But then I started thinking about lightning and how I am a magnet for it every since the chair lift I was on got struck by it and my lift ticket got fried and I had a huge bruise for a week. So at mile 2.5 I decided to take the 1 mile shortcut home and push the pace, then do a 1.5 mile cool down on the treadmill. The 8 something pace I kept the rest of the way home felt good and just as I hit the one hill left, Joe Satriani came on the mp3 player and that always adds some spring to my pace. Made it home just as the rain started to fall, and managed to do an easy 1.5 on the treadmill while watching the news.
Finally a descent run, gives me hope for my 13 mile run Saturday and 65 mile bike on Sunday...

steady swim

This workout was just a 40 minute steady swim in the endless pool. This whole week is easier than normal since the weekend is going to be brutal. Tried to keep the pace at 2.2 mph or just under race pace, put some Rush on the SwiMp3 player and tried to get lost in the music. Time went by fairly quickly, I say the sun rise in my mirror and knew the time was almost up so I turned up the pace to 2.4 mph for the last 5 minutes just for fun. Swimming is really the only thing I enjoy doing right now as this heat is just freakin killing me. hopefully the days of triple digits are behind us and we can get under 70 overnight so I can enjoy being outside again...

Tuesday Morning Run

Ran with Erin this morning as the rec center where I work is closed for maintenance so the normal Tuesday track day was cancelled. And good thing too as the temp today is heading for triple digits. The run went ok. I ran to her house about 1 mile to warmup, then we did a 4 mile loop though the adjacent neighborhood, then I jogged home to round out the 6 miles, only 1 walk break up a hill and didn't get hit by any cars crossing the roads, but it sure was hot and humid. I was dripping by the time I got back and a little dehydrated. Don't know how much more of this heat I can take. My race is coming up and if it's going to be this hot, I just might not do it. This weekend offers no relief and I have a 13 mile run Sat and a 60 mile bike on Sunday. Oh joy...

Endless Pool

Today's workout 30 minutes easy in the endless pool. Put some Ozzy on and set the speed to 2.1 mph and just swam nice and easy. This workout is like the easy run where you don't have to think about what you are doing, just do it. No turning to break concentration, no sighting or avoiding boats in the open water, just stay in the middle and let the mind wander...

Brick day

Since this is the first post in my new Tri training blog. A little background. I am currently training for the Duke Liver Center Half Ironman triathlon on September 16th. I have been at it for a while now, but just decided to start posting workout thoughts as well as race reports. My old blog on yahoo 360 has all my old race reports. I probably won't move them over, but if you are interested... it is here.
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qSUFvzojfq82KlTVknbvcw--?cq=1

Today's workout: 40 mile bike 6 mile run. Sounds like fun?

Day started off ok at 5 AM, got up and had my normal breakfast of Grapenuts, raisins and added a banana to get some extra calories for the day ahead. First problem. Out of milk. So I used my wife's fat free half and half with some water added. Boy was that yummy. Had to get going by 6:15 as I was meeting a friend of mine for the run part of my brick at 8:30 and needed to bike to her house and drop off my run stuff before heading out on the bike.
The bike was boring since I was by myself and doing a route that I had done many times in the past as part of my White lake Half IM training. But the good news is after killing myself on the bike for the past month or so, I seem to be making some improvements. Here are my HR stats from a ride I did in March for this route compared to the one I did today.

March 31st ride August 18 ride same course
Ave speed 18 mph Ave speed 18.1
Ave hr 140 Ave hr 134
Max hr 165 Max hr 155
Time in HR Zone 4 – 33 Time in HR Zone 4 – 03 – 30 minutes less woo hoo
Time in HR Zone 3 – 1:16 Time in HR Zone 3 – 1:24
Time in HR Zone 2 - 15 Time in HR Zone 2 – 34

I didn't really look at my old times, I was just trying to stay comfortable in zone 3. So now I feel much better about my training progress. The heat and humidity lately have really gotten my down. This morning though it was 70 and less humid.

The run also was better than I thought. I had my buddy Erin to run with so it went by quicker and I felt really good the whole time. Took a few walk breaks up the hills so the heart rate wouldn't explode, but other than that kept the pace just a little slower than my goal race pace.

I have been inspired by some of the blogs I have been reading lately so I will try to post more often and not just race reports.