rocks, hills, wind and bad pizza

Marathon training isn't jiving with duathlon training. I'm just not getting on the bike much. Oh well.

Thursday was a good 10 mile 'tempo' run at 6:40 pace - my training plan called for Marathon pace (MP), but I went faster because it 'felt' right - not too hard, not too easy - I was in the zone for sure. It was very flat course and that had something to do with it, not to mention the 4x5:50 mile repeats on Tuesday made 6:40 pace seem 'easy'.

But today was Saturday and I decided to do my long run today instead of tomorrow because I want to have some fun tomorrow and do some orienteering and mountain biking. All work and no play makes Jesse a dull boy.

So I wasn't quite well rested - it had only been 6 days since my last 20 mile run and only 2 days since my 67min-10miler. My course selection was deliberate - hilly - after all, the marathon will be hilly. My target was 15 miles at MP+10seconds, which means pretty close to a 7min pace.

Friday night we ordered pizza from a place my daughter reluctantly recommended - 'it will be either really good or really bad, depending on who is working that night'. We got really bad - drippy, gooey, greasy. I should have know better, but I ate it, then regretted it. Not a good pre-long run meal.

What I didn't count on for this course - which I had done before - was all of the stinking new gravel on these unpaved back roads; what I also didn't count on was the wind - damn wind.

So I start out pretty good - the first mile is all down hill, but I forgot to turn my autolap 'on' since my last workout, so I take short pause to do that. This pause + strong headwind + not-warmed-up-yet = flat mile 2 was 35 seconds slow! That's a lot to make up! Then I hit the gravel and more head wind on mile 3 - another slow mile. Then I hit the uphills and even more new gravel leading to a slow mile 4 and 5. Not only were these miles slow, but I was pushing myself too hard too early, so I'm already tired with 10 miles to go.

I finally I hit a downhill mile and make up 30 seconds, the next flat mile I'm pretty close to target pace, then more uphill and new gravel ugh. I slog through the next 2 miles losing over 1.5mins.

Never give up - I finished strong, and in my last 6 miles I am able to go faster than target pace, allowing me to finishing the overall run an average of 10 seconds per mile slower than my target.

Now my legs are toast - I hope I can make it out tomorrow!

A tough 20 mile run

You would think that these long runs get easier. They don't.

A flat 20 miler today took me 2:31 and I really struggled in the last 2 miles. Nutrition was probably the culprit. No food from the time I woke until 90mins later when I started running, then no gels for the first hour of the run. Less than 2 gels were consumed during the run.

I felt much better when I got to the car, ate a bar and a banana. Then I rode my bike 8 miles so I wouldn't tighten up. That was the only smart thing I did all day!

My foot was pretty sore for the last few miles too. My arch must be falling so the rest of my foot is trying to compensate.

Well maybe I'll peak at the right time for this marathon (wishful thinking).

'speed yard work' or is it 'yard speed work' or...

... 2 birds, 1 stone.

It's officially spring! Ok, it may not feel like it, but that is what 'they' tell me.

This year I've made a committment to my poor yard to give it some TLC - afterall, 3 years of Ironman training hasn't really meshed with doing anything but the basics.

So I invested in a 'Power Chipper'... instead of, say, more bike equipment.

My property is surrounded by piles of branches, and clippings that have accumlated over the years - very ghetto. I was hoping it would just dissolve into compost, but I suppose there is more to it than that.

It took me 2 hours to put the Chipper together, and I spent a couple of hours after work this week testing it on a pile of debris. Pretty cool - a serious man toy.

Today 5 yards of mulch was delivered, so after work-work (you know, the kind of work one gets paid for), I started moving mulch around. I skipped my swim workout to do this, so I decided to run with the wheel barrel instead of walk - hence 'speed yard work'. I got in a good 2 hours and made a tiny dent in the pile of mulch.

It's due to rain a bit tomorrow morning, so the mulch will be heavier - good strength training I would think, don't you?

Yes, I am a sick pup, but enjoying every minute of it.

Pulling back...

I'm trying to get more relaxed about my training. After all, the only big race on my schedule is in August. I've been keeping my Plantar Fasciitis in check, and my knee is doing well. The top of my foot is fine as long as I keep my laces very, very loose.

I ran 20 miles last Sunday on the treadmill at planned marathon pace + 30-45 seconds. It was pretty tough doing it on the treadmill, but I got through it. My toe blistered up, which was unusual, but I did not put any lubricant on my feet like I normally do for long runs so I should have expected it.

I ran 15 miles today at PMP +20 seconds and I ran 10 miles at PMP (6:50min/mile) on Thursday. I'm feeling pretty good.

My target for this week was 14 hours this week. I've only trained 10 hours thus far. I spent most of the afternoon yesterday working in the yard. I've decided to pull back a little - I don't need to do 14 hours for a sprint Duathlon in 3 weeks, and a marathon in 7 weeks. 10 hours is plenty.

I may do some swimming this afternoon, if I feel like it.

waking to crows in the dawn of winter days

I live on a hill. A row of 50 foot trees runs along my property.

In the winter, a murder of crows roost at the top of these trees in the early hours to absorb the morning sun at the earliest possible moment.

The crows are quiet until the sun begins to show itself, and then they all take turns cawing - this is the first sound of my day.

It isn't a pleasant sound and it really bothered me for years, but in trying to understand why they were sitting outside MY window, waking ME up, I understood that they are probably just warming themselves and it became much less annoying.

This crow thing has been popping into my head during my workouts for weeks, and I can't figure out why. I suspect it is because it represents all of the little annoyances we face every day, but we don't take the time to understand them, we just get annoyed. With a little effort, it is easy to turn these annoyances into neutral or even positive encounters.

Daylight savings time has me awake well before the crows now, so I haven't noticed them much lately.

Still, I think of the crows from time to time. The song "Blackbird" continues to strike a cord with me, particularly a rendition from my daugther's good friend, Taylor Crane, whose untimely death in his mid teens last summer still haunts me, yet somehow continues to motivate me to embrace every day of life we have.

Soon, spring will attract a variety song birds, and I will rarely hear the crows in the morning. I think I may miss them.

my basement...

I like my home gym - you might say I'm kind of proud of this little space in the world that I've built; but sometimes I look around and think I've gone off the deep end. A Precore eliptical machine, a Precore treadmill, a Body Solid weight machine, a bike trainer, free weights, exercise balls, big screen TV, Tivo, surround sound, a mini-fridge...

Of course there are several things still on my wish list, that I will most likely never get around to getting, mostly because I don't have room now, and don't plan to add more living space onto my house just so I can get more exercise equipment - so there is that level of sanity remaining.

... but I sometimes dream about a really fantastic home gym where I would add a smith bench, an endless pool, a true exercise bike connected to a PC and the big screen TV that measures watts and lets you simulate any race course. I would upgrade my TV to High Def, and improve my stereo and acoustics. I would move everything out of the basement into a new building (with lots of windows) connected to my house.

... then I go for an outdoor run or ride and realize that I don't need all of that stuff. Just have to remind myself from time to time, Keep it Simple.

This was supposed to be my easy year...

During those long training sessions last year, I kept telling myself that in 2008 I would take it easy. After Kona, I felt like something was missing.

Not having a training goal was very uncomfortable, so I signed up for a late April Marathon - how hard could that be after training for Kona?

... and then I signed up for an Olympic Distance Triathlon in July - piece of cake - right?

... and then I found out a local sprint Duathlon in late March that looked like fun and it was so close, I just had to sign up.

... and then I got invited to the Long Course World Championship in August - how could I pass that up?

... and I'll need to become a better swimmer in August, so I signed up for that late Tuesday night swim class.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I don't like going into a race unprepared, so I'll train, and I'll train right, and at times I'll train hard.

My poor body really does need a rest. Something in the top of my foot gave last Saturday, so I couldn't do my long run on Sunday. I took a couple of days off of running (replaced it with biking) and then ran a couple of times this week with my laces very loose.

Today, after a 1 hour swim, a 1 hour Carmicheal Time Trial video on the bike trainer (it was raining outside), a shower, some food, and a quick read of my Triathlete magazine, I slept for an hour - it was a good solid sleep.

Tomorrow I hope to do a 20 mile run in preparation for the marathon in 7 weeks. I hope my foot holds up. I'm also trying to get ready for this sprint distance duathlon in a few weeks, but it is a difficult balance - adding speed and doing distance.

I have to remind myself that I signed up for these races because I thought they would be fun, but I know if I go into a race under prepared, it won't be fun, it will just be painful.