One morning I noticed that @hornetjuice was following me on twitter and I remember hearing something about it on a couple of podcasts I listen to but kept forgetting to follow up on it. I went to their website and while I was sceptically it did peak my interest and the $9 (free shipping) 4 pack trial offer was in my price range so I ordered it. The people at hornet juice have their twitter stuff together. When I started following them, I got a DM from them fairly quickly and they said if I had any questions to DM them back. I did and they were very responsive. So far I haven't even tried the product but already really like the company.
The package arrived Monday morning and I formulated my plan to try it out. The first test was my Thursday morning run. I had an 8 miler at comfortable pace and I planned a hilly route. The package said take 30 minutes before on an empty stomach or with light carbs. I got up at 5 and ate my normal breakfast ( minus the protein ) at 5:30. Headed to work at 6:30 and drank the juice on the way for a 7:10 start. I have a notoriously picky stomach in the morning so I didn't want to wait for the weekend to see what it would do to me, but I had no issues what so ever with it. I had even forgotten I had taken it until I got to mile 6 and noticed how good I was feeling. Two miles and some rolling hills later I was done and happy. Test number one passed with flying colors.
next up was the weekend. DM'd HJ and told them I had a 30/3 brick on Saturday and a 40 mile bike on Sunday and asked if it would be better to take 1 Saturday and 1 recovery after the brick then 1 Sunday, or 1 Saturday and 2 Sunday. They answered quickly that 1 Saturday and 2 Sunday would be better and so that was the plan. Unfortunately we got snow again on Friday night so riding on the roads was out. The new plan was 1:30 on the bike trainer, followed by a 3 mile hilly and hard run out in the snow. Didn't really notice anything on the bike, but really on the trainer I wouldn't expect it. When my time was done I jumped off and changed into some warmer clothes and headed out. I had to leave in 30 minutes to take the girl to ballet with the 4wd in the snow so I really needed to go fast. I love running in the snow, and started after being all warmed up just made it so much better. I decided early on I would do the loop the hard way and really push it to see how it went. When I got to the top of the long ass hill at the end of mile two I thought I must be dreaming. I was running a quicker pace then I do when running it the easy way and I felt like it was easy. Day 3 was supposed to be 40 miles on the bike outside, but it was valentines day so I had to get it done early or risk the wrath of my wife and daughter and since it was in the 20's with snow from yesterday on the ground, going outside was not an option. I had planned to do 2 hours on the trainer. This time I took the juice 5 minutes before starting to see if I could handle the transition. One thing I noticed this time was I started feeling the effects at close to an hour into it after my first gel pack. When I got to the 1:45 mark I was feeling strong so i through in some standing climb efforts till the 2 hour mark. I was very happy with the results and rode an extra 15 minutes to boot.
I am very happy with the results of my hornet juice test and am going to order a bigger lot this time and try it out in my two upcoming races in March. From what I have seen on the internet, it doesn't work for everyone, so don't blame me if it doesn't for you, but I think it's worth the money to try it out and they will refund your unused portions if you don't like it. What do you have to lose?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
One down 9 to go
So the 1st official month of ironman training is in the books. I'm not really training specifically for the ironman at this time, but it is the focus of the year so it will always be on the radar. let's take a look at the numbers to see how it went.
Totals Sport Time ( Minutes ) Miles
Swimming 289 10.48
Biking 892 224.20
Running 624 63.75
Total time Total mileage
30 hrs 298
If I break down by weeks it looks like this
Weekly Totals Sport Time Miles Total time Total mileage
12/28/09 Swim 30.00 1.00 316.00 44.80
Biking 90.00 24.30
Running 196.00 19.50
1/4/10 Swim 60.00 2.35 397.00 65.55
Biking 197.00 49.00
Running 140.00 14.20
1/11/10 Swim 77.00 2.83 402.00 63.08
Biking 198.00 46.70
Running 127.00 13.55
1/18/10 Swim 74.00 2.60 446.00 76.80
Biking 227.00 59.70
Running 145.00 14.50
1/25/10 Swim 78.00 2.70 380.00 59.70
Biking 180.00 44.50
Running 122.00 12.50
The week totals a bit higher than the month since I had a few workouts in December mixed in, but it looks like a good 4 week build, followed by a nice recovery week at the end.
My biggest goal this year is consistency and I hit every workout on the schedule. Obviously due to weather they weren't exactly what was written, but close enough. It was a tough month coming off an easy December. I usually only do 3 week before a recovery week, but since I didn't really do anything in Dec after the 1/2 marathon on the 4th I figured I could go 4. That last week was really tough and I was exhausted on several nights. But after this recovery week at the end I am back to my normal self.
All in all a good month for me. Hope to carry that forward to November. Looking ahead to February, the schedule looks good, increasing bike mileage is my focus to get ready for the long course duathlon I have on March 20 and some run speed for the 10k on March 6th.
Totals Sport Time ( Minutes ) Miles
Swimming 289 10.48
Biking 892 224.20
Running 624 63.75
Total time Total mileage
30 hrs 298
If I break down by weeks it looks like this
Weekly Totals Sport Time Miles Total time Total mileage
12/28/09 Swim 30.00 1.00 316.00 44.80
Biking 90.00 24.30
Running 196.00 19.50
1/4/10 Swim 60.00 2.35 397.00 65.55
Biking 197.00 49.00
Running 140.00 14.20
1/11/10 Swim 77.00 2.83 402.00 63.08
Biking 198.00 46.70
Running 127.00 13.55
1/18/10 Swim 74.00 2.60 446.00 76.80
Biking 227.00 59.70
Running 145.00 14.50
1/25/10 Swim 78.00 2.70 380.00 59.70
Biking 180.00 44.50
Running 122.00 12.50
The week totals a bit higher than the month since I had a few workouts in December mixed in, but it looks like a good 4 week build, followed by a nice recovery week at the end.
My biggest goal this year is consistency and I hit every workout on the schedule. Obviously due to weather they weren't exactly what was written, but close enough. It was a tough month coming off an easy December. I usually only do 3 week before a recovery week, but since I didn't really do anything in Dec after the 1/2 marathon on the 4th I figured I could go 4. That last week was really tough and I was exhausted on several nights. But after this recovery week at the end I am back to my normal self.
All in all a good month for me. Hope to carry that forward to November. Looking ahead to February, the schedule looks good, increasing bike mileage is my focus to get ready for the long course duathlon I have on March 20 and some run speed for the 10k on March 6th.
Running in the snow
Yesterday I had a 7 mile comfortable run on my schedule. Friday night we got 4 inches of snow, which in NC means everything shuts down. So my 25 mile bike on the roads turned into 75 minutes on the bike trainer, and after 45 minutes on the bike trainer on Friday, that did not make my butt happy at all. But enough of that and on to the fun stuff.
I was a little nervous about the run, I had dug out my cross country shoes with the spikes in them but still I thought the 18 degrees would make for some very slippery roads. The plan was to warm-up inside on the treadmill for 2 miles, then head out onto the frozen tundra of a neighborhood for a 5k loop then do the last 2 on the mill. Since I really don't like the treadmill I was thinking this would be a good way to get in my miles and not go crazy. I can handle 40 minutes on the treadmill and if you break it into 2 sessions all the better.
The first 20 on the mill went by fairly quick, I had broken out into a sweat so I changed into a dry shirt and then started to layer up for the cold. 2 pairs of socks, tights and wind-blocking run pants, a long sleeve run shirt, my heavy ass nike fleece with the hood, ear warmers, and my thick gloves. By the time I was done I must have weighed a good 10 lbs more. Luckily the xc shoes were are really light and probably the pair weighs less than 1 of my normal shoes.
I head out the door really warm from the run and getting dressed, I think, hey it's not that bad. A thin layer of snow had fallen last night and was covering the ice so my shoes were gripping really well. I started off at a nice easy conservative pace and was feeling awesome. Before I knew it I felt like I was running really fast. When I hit the long ass hill I went right up, no problem. I got to the 1/2 mile to go mark at 23 minutes, I usually do this route in 30 and it looked like I was on pace for a 27 something, I was going fast, but it felt so good. I instantly made the decision to stay out for 2 more miles so I wouldn't have to get back on the treadmill when I got home. Ran out to the main road to see how it was fairing with the weather and ran over to my buddy Erin's neighborhood. Cruised by her house and waved hello, no one was up, but I waved anyway :-). Then headed home. It was 9am and I only saw 2 cars, and 1 guy walking his dog for the whole 5 miles. It was really peaceful, the smell of wood burning in fireplaces was a around and everything was a clean white. Finished off the 5 miles in 46 minutes and was on such a high I ran into the house and dragged the girls out of bed to do some sledding.
Perfect way to end the recovery week! need more snow days :-)
I was a little nervous about the run, I had dug out my cross country shoes with the spikes in them but still I thought the 18 degrees would make for some very slippery roads. The plan was to warm-up inside on the treadmill for 2 miles, then head out onto the frozen tundra of a neighborhood for a 5k loop then do the last 2 on the mill. Since I really don't like the treadmill I was thinking this would be a good way to get in my miles and not go crazy. I can handle 40 minutes on the treadmill and if you break it into 2 sessions all the better.
The first 20 on the mill went by fairly quick, I had broken out into a sweat so I changed into a dry shirt and then started to layer up for the cold. 2 pairs of socks, tights and wind-blocking run pants, a long sleeve run shirt, my heavy ass nike fleece with the hood, ear warmers, and my thick gloves. By the time I was done I must have weighed a good 10 lbs more. Luckily the xc shoes were are really light and probably the pair weighs less than 1 of my normal shoes.
I head out the door really warm from the run and getting dressed, I think, hey it's not that bad. A thin layer of snow had fallen last night and was covering the ice so my shoes were gripping really well. I started off at a nice easy conservative pace and was feeling awesome. Before I knew it I felt like I was running really fast. When I hit the long ass hill I went right up, no problem. I got to the 1/2 mile to go mark at 23 minutes, I usually do this route in 30 and it looked like I was on pace for a 27 something, I was going fast, but it felt so good. I instantly made the decision to stay out for 2 more miles so I wouldn't have to get back on the treadmill when I got home. Ran out to the main road to see how it was fairing with the weather and ran over to my buddy Erin's neighborhood. Cruised by her house and waved hello, no one was up, but I waved anyway :-). Then headed home. It was 9am and I only saw 2 cars, and 1 guy walking his dog for the whole 5 miles. It was really peaceful, the smell of wood burning in fireplaces was a around and everything was a clean white. Finished off the 5 miles in 46 minutes and was on such a high I ran into the house and dragged the girls out of bed to do some sledding.
Perfect way to end the recovery week! need more snow days :-)
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