Two things never to do when preparing for and running a marathon:
1) Use the La Jolla Half Marathon as your only training run over 8 miles this year.
Really that's just dumb. You can see I ran a pretty solid half marathon practice back in December when I was ramping for the marathon. Granted this was in snow on icy roads, but still I was EXHAUSTED at the end. My 2:25 in the LJ Half Marathon also seemed brutal, but the weather and hills had something to do with that. I ran the first half of the RnR Marathon in 2:07 with ZERO Taper and felt GREAT at that point, and continued pushing a solid 9:45 pace til mile 19 when my foot started hurting like crazy, which brings me to:
2) Use fancy new Newton Running shoes for a full marathon. (Disclaimer: I LOVE my Newton running shoes, and they WARN you to take time with them. I had run 50 mi. on them but see 1 above)
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. I think the two problems go hand in hand. Had I had a couple more training runs I would have either adapted muscularly (I think my form got sloppy when I got tired), or realized I should use regular shoes for longer runs.
Basically those two issues compounded to ruin my race. All things considered my fitness is GREAT as I was still about 207 on race day but really the first 17mi. markers just seemed to fly by. As soon as I got serious pain in my foot I stopped, and pretty much walked the rest after a couple attempts to jog gave me bad pain in my foot. On the bright side my timely halt to running left me able to run a nice tempo run 2 days later (I finished, and still did a tempo run two days later?) with minor pain, and was totally fine by Thursday.
I haven't even begun to train hard, but I can see my run endurance is PLENTY capable for my 70.3 races this year. I'm predicting Sub 2:00 Splits for both races.
Winter Snowing Half Marathon in Portland:
Rock and Roll Marathon (First 24 mi.):
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Getting Fast.....
Looks like working the run hard for the last month after 2 months of proper easing back into it has paid off. I got re-tested and my LT VO2 Max is up even though I gained weight and handled less top line Volume.
Easy Aerobic Run (Now up to 155HR):
Nice 5x4min Z4 Intervals at HR = 170BPM & 8.0mph on up intervals:
And a nice 20min Tempo Run where I hauled ass @ 7:50/mi:
Next up....Rock and Roll Marathon Sunday!
Easy Aerobic Run (Now up to 155HR):
Nice 5x4min Z4 Intervals at HR = 170BPM & 8.0mph on up intervals:
And a nice 20min Tempo Run where I hauled ass @ 7:50/mi:
Next up....Rock and Roll Marathon Sunday!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Results Only Work Environment
Wow, I just read a great article. It totally fits with how I feel about my workdays and effectiveness. I guess it's called "Results only Work Environment" and I read about it today on one of my usual blogs, Tim Ferris.
Isn't that all that matters? I know I'm more effective at work then most people specifically because I DON'T care about all that pointless stuff that wastes your time and drains your mental cycles.
I was somewhat dismayed when I asked a friend who worked nearby in Carlsbad if he wanted to go running at lunch and he grumbled something about "Not getting paid to work out." But, I know for a fact I and most people are MUCH more effective if they are well rested and exercised. Seems obvious to me!
Isn't that all that matters? I know I'm more effective at work then most people specifically because I DON'T care about all that pointless stuff that wastes your time and drains your mental cycles.
I was somewhat dismayed when I asked a friend who worked nearby in Carlsbad if he wanted to go running at lunch and he grumbled something about "Not getting paid to work out." But, I know for a fact I and most people are MUCH more effective if they are well rested and exercised. Seems obvious to me!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Wildflower 2008
Not bad.
Swim = 26:11. 1.5K PR - AND I've never swam so easy in my life at a tri. Form work is paying off.
T1 - 04:02 T1 PR
Bike - 01:39:43 20 min off from last year. 2200' of actual climbing and descending (7.5X torrey pines)
T2 - 03:02 T2 PR
Run - 01:07:04 10:48/mi. probably > 20 min off last years split.
Total - 03:20:05
I had stomach problems again. I Could barely push up hill the last 8 mi. of the bike, and had to walk the first mile or so until I could start running, not to mention a 3 minute bathroom break right after transition. Still I felt great energywise even at the end, finished strong, and handled the problems pretty well. Missed my bike split goal by 10 minutes, and about 6 on the run, but considering the stomach problems I'm pretty happy. Portends good things for this year -vs- last year.
Swim = 26:11. 1.5K PR - AND I've never swam so easy in my life at a tri. Form work is paying off.
T1 - 04:02 T1 PR
Bike - 01:39:43 20 min off from last year. 2200' of actual climbing and descending (7.5X torrey pines)
T2 - 03:02 T2 PR
Run - 01:07:04 10:48/mi. probably > 20 min off last years split.
Total - 03:20:05
I had stomach problems again. I Could barely push up hill the last 8 mi. of the bike, and had to walk the first mile or so until I could start running, not to mention a 3 minute bathroom break right after transition. Still I felt great energywise even at the end, finished strong, and handled the problems pretty well. Missed my bike split goal by 10 minutes, and about 6 on the run, but considering the stomach problems I'm pretty happy. Portends good things for this year -vs- last year.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April Base Training
Well.....As you may know I got my first real overuse injury. I decided I was being stupid about my training as I had:
1) sprained my ankle at the beginning of the month forcing me to drop the carlsbad marathon.
2) Gotten a Terrible Flu in February, likely because I came back to fast from my injury.
3) Got a cold AGAIN in March, probably because I rocked the Death Valley Century, got cocky, and hammered to hard right away.
4) Entered a 200mi. bike race in March after all of the above.
So I decided to take April as a base period, heal up, build my base, and get my well being back to par. I gained a few pounds this period (about 5) it seems for some reason. Probably cause I slacked on the nutrition when I was sedentary with my knee injury. I think I did a great job, and topped it off with an incredibly well executed brutal half marathon after which many people were suffering heat stroke. I felt pretty good (except for incredible soreness from all the hills).
My averages for the month Bike = 30 mi per week, Run = 10 mi per week, and swim = 2.5mi per week. This is the base I will build from these next two months. I plan to get a running V02/LT Test Friday, and of course the wildflower will also serve as a nice basis for comparison. I'm including a nice chart with my training durations across the month, as well as my training percentage. Next up I will plan on extending my running base in May, and start focusing on Z3 and light Z4 intervals on the bike and swim so in June I can hammer the run and peak early July for the July 20th Vineman 70.3!
1) sprained my ankle at the beginning of the month forcing me to drop the carlsbad marathon.
2) Gotten a Terrible Flu in February, likely because I came back to fast from my injury.
3) Got a cold AGAIN in March, probably because I rocked the Death Valley Century, got cocky, and hammered to hard right away.
4) Entered a 200mi. bike race in March after all of the above.
So I decided to take April as a base period, heal up, build my base, and get my well being back to par. I gained a few pounds this period (about 5) it seems for some reason. Probably cause I slacked on the nutrition when I was sedentary with my knee injury. I think I did a great job, and topped it off with an incredibly well executed brutal half marathon after which many people were suffering heat stroke. I felt pretty good (except for incredible soreness from all the hills).
My averages for the month Bike = 30 mi per week, Run = 10 mi per week, and swim = 2.5mi per week. This is the base I will build from these next two months. I plan to get a running V02/LT Test Friday, and of course the wildflower will also serve as a nice basis for comparison. I'm including a nice chart with my training durations across the month, as well as my training percentage. Next up I will plan on extending my running base in May, and start focusing on Z3 and light Z4 intervals on the bike and swim so in June I can hammer the run and peak early July for the July 20th Vineman 70.3!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
La Jolla Half Marathon 2008
Heat Wave!
Results for the La Jolla Half Marathon are already up. Looks like my performance was about average for today (or just a few seconds over). I'm happy to say that I took it easy, and while I did the first mile in 9:30, I quickly settled into a more manageable 10:30 and took it easy on the uphills to save my strength.
We saw temperatures from 80-95 during my time running the event. It was HOT! My final time of 2:22:02 was a 10:51 Average, which I'm pleased with considering there was over 1K of climbing on the course, and the temperature factor of course. I recall 1:06 at the 6 mile mark (right before Torrey Pines) which is 11 min/mi. and after taking my time going up the Torrey Climb I was at 12:00/mi. This means I saved plenty of energy, and hauled ass the second half to achieve my final time. I know a lot of people were not prepared, because it's my guess that I passed about 500 people walking the last two miles, including lots of folks who started at the back of the first wave.
Next up.... Wildflower is may 3rd. 1.5K/40K/10K with about 1500' of climbing on the bike, and about 500' on the run. It's a tough course, but with my new lower bike gears, and quite a bit more fitness I'm expecting to cut well over an HOUR of my time from last year. I'm assuming a 19m.p.h. bike speed will give me enough energy to really attach the 10K and get it close to an hour for a total time under 3 hours, which would be about 1:15 less then last year. Impressive improvement unless you consider it was by far my worst performance of the year.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Shark Attack
It's been a buzz this morning. I got to work late today after going to the padres game last night to people talking about a shark attack. Dear Lord! The I read the article and it said the attack happened to a GROUP OF SWIMMERS FROM A LOCAL TRIATHLON CLUB! Of course I've been training for the upcoming 10K B2B Swim and have started doing the occasional Friday club swims, but luckily skipped out this week as I went to a Padres game last night.
It's good to be alive. I guess it's good to get shaken up a bit from time to time, but what a whirlwind. I've been going back and forth between adrenaline and sadness as the story unfolded, and I can only take small solace in that it wasn't someone I was close with who died this day. It is still a tragedy however, and my thoughts and concern are with the family and friends of David Martin, who passed away this morning in one of only 1 or 2 shark related deaths in San Diego in the last 50 years.
Here's a link to the latest news coverage. The beaches from Solana Beach to Encinitas have been closed, and I admit I'm kinda happy we canceled our Sunday swim this week.
It's good to be alive. I guess it's good to get shaken up a bit from time to time, but what a whirlwind. I've been going back and forth between adrenaline and sadness as the story unfolded, and I can only take small solace in that it wasn't someone I was close with who died this day. It is still a tragedy however, and my thoughts and concern are with the family and friends of David Martin, who passed away this morning in one of only 1 or 2 shark related deaths in San Diego in the last 50 years.
Here's a link to the latest news coverage. The beaches from Solana Beach to Encinitas have been closed, and I admit I'm kinda happy we canceled our Sunday swim this week.
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