CLYDESDALE RUNNING

Jamie and I left with the intention of getting between 35 and 55 miles of riding in each of the three days of the POWWOW North Kettle Morraine Bicycle Tour. We got one day of riding in (56 miles) before I was sidelined with a stomach virus. She was more fortunate, but didn’t want to ride without me. We also planned on running a bit while we were there, which didn’t happen at all for me, and just once for her. It’s been a brutal few days, even for several members of my family (almost everyone that came in contact with my kids while were gone), as my little one seemed to be the primary transmitter. I wish we had known, or we would have canceled.  I feel like we started a plague.

So I hope to get a run in tonight and get back on track for marathon training. I’m also eyeing up a 10K on the 18th. I’ve never actually done a 10K. It would also be nice to go get a 5K PR, which I’m fairly certain is obtainable based on how I felt at my recent half marathon. I’m afraid though, that running a 5K has very little benefit leading up to my first marathon.

It’s official. I’m registered and our travel plans are arranged. I’m running in the 2009 Disney World Marathon on January 11th. I’m a little nervous…

The race went very well. Outside of a single blister (a new one) on my right foot, I felt darn strong. I even ran a faster second half of the race. No aches, and my cardio is strong. What is the deal with my mangled looking right foot though? It’s full of blisters, or remnants of. Blisters are not an issue on lefty though, and this has been going on all year. My official time was 1:59:55. Well within my goal, and even within my long term goal of breaking 2-hours.

Just some easy work this week, then a bike tour early next week (anywhere between 105 and 165 miles over 3 days) on Sun-Tue. Meanwhile, I’ve got a marathon or two in mind. One of which requires a significant financial commitment, but we oh-so-wanna go, even though we said we wouldn’t again until late 2009 or 2010 (Disney World). Man, our kids are growing up spoiled (this would make 3 straight winters in Orlando). Nothing’s official yet, but it’s going to sell out soon, so the clock’s ticking. Backup options include Austin (where my sister lives), or waiting until April and staying local, but I’d rather be further into IM training by then and less committed to worrying about 26.2.

With a half-marathon next weekend, I took this weekend easy. It included a 30 minute spin on the trainer, but originally called for a 30-mile ride that got cancelled due to weather, followed by an easy 5K brick. Then on Sunday I plodded out 9 on the treadmill (more lovely weather outside), which was horribly mind-numbing after running long outside all summer, and I find the treadmill physically more demanding than the road.

This week’s runs will consist of 3(tempo), 5, and 3 miles (Tue, Wed, Thur), then I’ll take a couple of days off before the race on Sunday. I might also jump on the bike once or twice for a 20-miler, just because I need to keep some form of bike legs this fall, and because I have a 3-day (35 or 55 miles/day options) bike tour coming up starting next Sunday. After the race, I think I might try to jump into the middle of a marathon build-up and find a marathon to run in January or February, which will most likely take me south of Wisconsin for a short time this winter (thank God).

I just signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2009. That is all I’m going to say for now.

I like to plug numbers into the McMillan Running Calculator, if for nothing else, then for shits and giggles. I haven’t found it to be particularly useful by itself, but maybe a little as a tool, or starting point. See, when I plug in my best 5K time (23:35, this summer), the calculator ascertains that I should be able to run a 1:49 half marathon, which I’m fairly certain is way out of reach right now. Based on the same 5K, I should be able to run a 38:52 8K. My actual best 8K is a 43:35. However, I think I’m a better runner at this time, but probably not 1-minute/mile better. So let’s toy around with it a little more; if I plug in a time that determines my 8K time should be 43:35 (because 8K is not option as a jumping off point), than my half marathon time should be around a 2:02. More realistic, but still 15-minutes faster than my only half attempt so far, which took place just a few weeks before I set that 8K time.

I was planning on a 10-minute mile at my half marathon coming up, which would put me in line for a 7-minute or so improvement (around a 2:10:00), then I went for a 13+ mile run on Labor Day at a 10:10 pace. Hmm, according to McMillan, if I’m capable of running a 2:10:00, then my long workout runs should be done at a 10:58 to 11:58 pace. Granted it says little about comfort level. Plugging in a 2:00:00 brings that long workout run pace down to 10:10-11:10 pace, and to get 10:10 on the other end of that spectrum (9:12 to 10:12 pace), then I would be shooting for (what else?) a 1:48. There’s that damn sub-1:50:00 number again. So what the heck can I/try to run for?

Is a 2:10:00 selling myself short? Is a 2:00:00 overly ambitious? Will I end up regretting not going out harder when there’s a little left in the tank, or will I go out too hard and regret it in the later miles? These are things I need to learn because one; I care how I do, and two; I need to understand this process for an inevitable 2009 marathon.

This particular race has pace groups for the marathon, and not the half, but they share a course for only the first couple of miles. So I think I’ll go out there and join the 4:15:00 (9:44 pace) marathon pace group and see how I feel after the split. Updates to come…

So my wife kicked ass this past weekend by bettering her previous half marathon time by almost 19 minutes, and by bettering mine by more than 15 minutes. Her hard work and dedication in training for the Chicago Marathon is evidently paying off. I am very proud of her.

Despite what you might be thinking, we are not competitive with each other, so I’m not thinking that way. We are gifted in very different ways. I will still be happy to go 2:10 or better in 3 weeks, but if some of what she has rubs off on me and I even sniff 2:01-territory, I will be absolutely ecstatic.

When making my sub-1:20:00 goal I forgot that Silver Lake is a 16 mile bike, not a 15. At 20 MPH, that’s an extra 3 minutes right there, so even though the race is now over, and I already set a goal, let’s just say my goal was to go sub-1:23:00.

I went 1:21:33. Yippee! Kidding. I do approve, but here’s why I’m not overly excited; a mental error in T2 cost me a whopping 5 seconds (went down the wrong corral), and fumbling with the wetsuit and bike shoes in T1 more than usual cost me another few precious seconds. Other than that, I’m okay with my swim split (7:07, good for 49th overall), okay with my bike split (38th overall @ 20.8 MPH), and a little disappointed with my run split (25:49, good for 79th overall). Total them up and I finished 41st overall, just 2 spots higher than the year before, despite being over 4-minutes faster. Curious is it may seem, it isn’t really. This year’s field was larger by about 90 athletes, and was stacked with some good ones at that.

I learned some lessons about staying focused in transition, and that I still have a lot of trouble with hills (bike AND run). My 5K split was less than spectacular being 28 seconds slower than Pardeeville, even though I put in a lot of work since then, but 1:35 faster than 2007. It seems the next hurdle is going to be the toughest yet.

So I shift my focus to the half marathon. 4 weeks from tomorrow I go for a 13.1-mile PR. I think I’m going to try to avoid any kind of racing until then, and just maintain focus (even with this big ol’ blister on my foot). After that I’m open for all kinds of fun. I’m starting to think about marathons. Jamie kind of wants me to run Austin in February, the new home of my sister, but there isn’t a lot of appeal of 20+ mile training run in Wisconsin, in January.

First and foremost I’m a dad, and a husband. So on Saturday I sacrificed time in the saddle for family activities, and only put in 26, followed by a 3-mile brick run, and some strength training (still a 3 ½-hour affair with prep and clean-up). I got my 12-miler in on Sunday, so my half-marathon build-up is right on schedule, and as usual, I swam over lunch on Friday. I nursed tight quads on Monday, and I’m in for a tempo run tonight. Then an easy lunch ride (20 miles), and evening run (30 min) with strength work on Wednesday. Then a lunch swim (1500 yds), and evening run (30 min) on Thursday after golfing 9, and before resting on Friday before Saturday’s Silver Lake (sprint) Triathlon.

Goals for Saturday basically include bettering swim time and run times from last year, hopefully by a lot. I think I’ll be pleased to crack 1:20:00, assuming good conditions and no mechanicals (still paranoid about flats).

I rarely post about my training, and mostly keep to race reports or significant “outings”, but with the long break between races, I thought I would keep busy by posting about how some of my training has been going.

I usually consider Friday the start of a weekend, so I’ll start there. I felt a little bit of a sore throat coming on overnight, so I wondered if the next few days would get interesting. Friday at lunch I hit the pool for 1500 yards, which takes between 30-35 minutes at a fairly easy pace. I’ve never worn a heart rate monitor in the water, but I might try it, because it’s hard for me to gauge the effort. I continue to feel more comfortable in the water.

Saturday morning I felt about the same. My slightly scratchy throat was nothing worth drawing attention over. I got on the bike early, rode just over 50-miles at a slow pace (18 MPH), but in some hilly areas (this isn’t Florida). My computer maxed out at 40 MPH on a couple of descents, and peak speed on flats with a tailwind was around 28-29. Then I took a few minutes to get some fluids and solid foods in me before hitting the treadmill for a 3-mile brick. I set the speed to the slowest setting I will go on a treadmill, 6 MPH, or a 10-minute mile. This is just to test the legs, see how they feel, and get them used to running off the bike. Then I did 30-minutes of core and weights.

Nothing new on Sunday with this drawn out, obviously pending cold. When Jamie got back from her early morning 20-miler, I headed out for 10+ miles at a 9:54 pace. The name of my neighborhood has the word “Hills” in it, so yeah, it’s not exactly Kansas. My goal for the half marathon is about the same. I’d like to break, or at least flirt with a 2:10 this time out, or a 9:56 pace.

By the time Monday morning came around I was finally ill. A crushing head and chest cold kept me home from work. Good thing Mondays are my only “off” days, and I finally had time to finish It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong (I like him less after reading it). Things are looking up so far today for my Tuesday tempo run (5K @ 8:30-8:40 pace), but it will definitely suck.

I’m on a nutrition kick again, this time with feeding my body during longer workouts (like Saturday’s), so I just placed an order for e-Gel (referred to me by Helmstadter) which is an energy gel like GU, but has 4 times the electrolytes. If you want to try some, it’s at http://cranksports.com, but please use my referral number (349924) if you do, because then I get points to use toward purchasing my own product.