5 Mile Hilly Trail Run

This morning, I headed over to Willis Tucker park to run the hilly dirt trail around the park (1 mile loop). It wasn't the best run ever. Wanted to start slow and run each lap (mile) faster. First mile was the right time (8:00), but it didn't feel as easy as it should have. Then I ran the second mile a bit too fast. So I decided to turn it into a modified fartlek run and alternate easy and hard miles:
8:00/7:21/8:01/7:11/8:06 (overall time of 38:40/7:44 per mile pace). My chest & lungs still feel tight. Also felt just a hint of pain on the outside of my right knee. When I got home, I stretched, used the foam roller, and took a 12 minute ice bath. This will be my last "hard" run before my 10k on Saturday. Depending on the weather, I may do an easy bike ride tomorrow, then run easy on Wednesday. I'll probably take Thursday and Friday off so I'll be well rested for Saturday's 10k.

(Oops) Tempo Run

What was supposed to be a relatively easy 5-mile trail run with hills turned into a fairly quick tempo run. The time was 38:23 (7:40 pace), which was about 30 seconds per mile faster than I wanted to be today. On the last 1-mile loop, a high-school girl started running (looked like she could be a cross-country runner) at pretty much the same pace I was. I gradually caught up with her, just running my own pace. She glanced over at me. I apologized (didn't want to be a 42 yr old guy creeping out this poor girl) and picked up the pace all the way up the hill to the end. I was pretty winded when I finished. In hindsight, I should have backed off my pace as soon as I saw her in front of me, but I guess the ego got in the way and took over. So now my week will have to be re-shuffled. I had intended running an interval workout tomorrow. Not gonna happen now. It'll be an easy run, with possibly a scaled back interval workout on Wednesday, bike on Thursday, short run on Friday and medium-long run on Saturday. Hey, stop yawning!

Monday Hill Run

Man, it's FOGGY this morning! It's supposed to burn off, but the mornings are starting to look and feel like autumn already.
I ran my favorite little 1-mile hilly trail around a local park this morning, for a total of 5 miles (40:11). I didn't intend to, but I ran each lap (mile) increasingly faster:

• 8:17
• 8:07
• 8:03
• 8:00
• 7:42

Finishing heart rate was 132. I felt surprisingly strong this morning, especially considering how horribly I slept last night. I felt like I was holding back, even on the last lap. I guess that's a good sign, given how wiped out I felt on Saturday after my 8-miler. This whole week will center around Friday's long run of 12 miles. I haven't run that far since 1991. I'm really looking forward to it!

EDIT: After posting this entry, I noticed in my "official running spreadsheet" that today's run put me at exactly 7,000 lifetime running miles. While that number isn't 100% accurate (I ran some modest miles during 7th and 8th grade track that weren't recorded, and about half of my '95 miles are estimated since I had a hard drive crash that year), it's what I'm officially recognizing. For someone who has run on and off for 26 years, that's a pretty paltry amount. Just goes to show how much time I've taken off during that time due either to injuries or disinterest (mostly the injuries). But it also means, hopefully, that I haven't beaten up my legs and joints that much, relatively speaking. Here's hoping for many thousands more miles of running to come!

Saturday Morning Long Run

This week's long run was shorter than last week's: 8 miles. Time was 1:06:47 (8:21/mile pace). I felt a little fatigued during this run. I didn't sleep well last night, and I think Thursday's speed session took more out of me than I expected. Still, I managed to log the miles today without any injuries or problems. Money in the bank, I guess.
Next week, I think I'll skip the speedwork and focus on an even longer run of either 11 or 12 miles. I feel the need to work more on my endurance at this point in my half marathon training. I'll likely do a hilly run early in the week, plus a couple of easy runs, then the long run on Friday.
Enjoy your weekend and run strong!

Run in the Country, the Trifecta

This morning was our last in Spokane. I was on the road at 6:10am for the same 6-mile hilly run, which I ran in 48:27 (8:05 pace). I attacked the hills a little more than in the last two runs.
We just got home from the cross-state drive. I now have a troubling tickle in my throat and feel pretty fatigued. Hopefully this will pass with a good night's sleep. I also noticed that a tendon behind my left knee is tender. I'm guessing it could be from flying down the hills and probably pounding my legs too much. I need to work on my downhill running technique, I'm sure.
If I feel better tomorrow, I may do some trail running with my friend Arthur, who will be running his 4th Cascade Crest 100 mile trail race in the mountains this coming Saturday.

Run in the Country, Part Deux

At 6:15am this morning, I went for a 6-mile run on the same course as Saturday's run, with almost the same time (49:04 today; 49:11 Saturday). Perhaps my average pace is starting to speed up, but I wanted to run this slower than I did (around 8:30 per mile instead of the 8:11 I ran). The effort felt lower than some recent slower runs, so maybe this is a sign if my fitness improving. My finishing HR was 130, which I was happy with. I may run this route again before we head for home tomorrow. I'll be back over here in October to run the Spokane Half Marathon (my WWFOR race).

Run in the Country

I'm here just northeast of Spokane, Washington. My dad and step-mom live on some acreage out here in the foothills, not far from Mt. Spokane. At 6:15 this morning, I headed out for a 6-mile run (49:11) over rolling hills through beautiful and peaceful farm country, with wheat fields all around.
About two miles into the run, 22 turkeys ran across the road in front of me. No, there wasn't a political convention taking place (ba-dum-bum. I'll be here all week, folks). No traffic, just the sun rising over the hills and a steady breeze undulating through the acres of wheat. There are several reason I run, and this morning was one of them. I could run forever out here.

This run gives me 30 miles for the week. It's the most weekly mileage I've run so far this year. In the past, that mark has usually been my "danger zone" - where my body starts breaking down. The difference between then and now, though, is that I have 8 months of moderate running and cycling behind me, whereas other times I'd ramp up to this mark much quicker. Still, I'm going to play it safe and back down just a bit next week. I'll shorten my long run and possibly substitute a run with a bike ride. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do that every few weeks.

Going for a short family bike ride later this morning. It's beautiful over here! Sun and mid-80s. Time to enjoy the last bit of summer!

Race Results

When you have a triathlon that has become legendary for the difficulty of its bike course, with the first 12 of its 28 miles being unrelentingly uphill, with a persistent headwind nearly the entire course, and you have a total noob who has never raced on a bicycle in his life, who happens to be a runner, volunteering to do the bike leg as a part of a team, you have to wonder about the guy's sanity. How's that for a run-on sentence?

Earlier today (August 9th) my teammates and I (dubbed "Three Dads-a-Sweatin') raced the Whisky Dick Triathlon in Ellensburg, WA. It was my first triathlon and first time racing on a bike. I'll give the final results first, then break down the individual legs, along with some detail.
Distances were: 1 mile swim, 28 mile bike, 10k run. We finished in 2:58:14, placing 2nd of 5 in the Men's Team division, and 23rd overall, among both teams and individuals, out of 107 finishers. Our splits were:
Swim (David): 24:09 (13th overall)
Bike (yours truly): 1:52:25 (49th overall)
Run (Arthur): 40:28 (8th overall)
T1 was 44 seconds, T2 was about 29

David (my brother-in-law) was amazing! He was out of the water much quicker than I expected. Not being a swimmer myself, I don't really have a reference for his time as it relates to a 1-mile open-water swim...but I know it's fast. He was a freestyle sprinter in high school and was a bit concerned about pacing himself. Obviously there was nothing to be concerned about!

After getting the timing chip from Dave and onto my ankle, I took off on the bike and tried to pace myself the first few miles. For some reason, I had trouble regulating my breathing. A little of it was probably adrenaline, a little was just the toughness of the hill (the first 12 miles are uphill).
At about mile 5.5, the grade became so steep that I had to drop into my bottom chain ring...which I NEVER used in my training rides. That was one flaw in my training. Since the hills I was training on during my repeats were relatively short, I could stay in the low gear of my middle chain ring and be fine. I did that as long as possible today, but if I hadn't dropped down, I knew I would have bonked big-time. So I shifted. The chain didn't budge. It just made a grinding noise as it rattled against the derailleur. I tried to force the issue and off came the chain. That smooth move cost me about 2-3 minutes. Had to hop off and get it back on the low ring THREE times before it finally stayed. Once that was done, my legs rebounded just a bit and my breathing came more under control, but the hill just kicked my butt. There were long sections where I could only average 9-10 mph. And once I finally crested the hill, the headwind kicked my butt some more. My rough goal was to crest the 12-mile hill in 60 minutes. It took me 63, for an ugly 11.4 mph average. I did manage an average of 19.6 mph the last 16 miles...but even then I was passed several times. For the last 10 miles or so, I fought an ever-tightening left glute muscle. I could tell I was losing some power on my left side as a result. Maybe it was caused by the hill climb, maybe from not ingesting enough electrolytes and sodium. Whatever the cause, I was truly humbled out there.

When I pulled into the transition and got off to run, I was incredibly wobbly. That's when BOTH glutes cramped up. Arthur took the timing chip off of me himself and got out of the transition quickly, while I racked my bike and fought my locked-up glutes. I went to high-school with Arthur and ran track and x-country with him. The last few years, he's gotten heavily into ultra-running, placing 7th in last year's Cascade Crest 100 mile trail race (which he'll be running in again later this month). A 10k is short for him, so to knock out a 40 minute split was impressive & my hat's off to him.

And with that said, I'll say this - our placing was really a credit to our swimmer and runner. I had a pretty rough go of it out on the bike. Yes, I can use the excuse that I've never raced on a bike, I'm really a runner, there was the hill, the wind, yadda yadda, but I know I could have trained more effectively. I got lured away from the bike back in June to train for and run a little 5k race...which I honestly enjoyed, but I know it set me back on the bike.

I almost feel a little guilty for saying this, but I'm glad to officially be "off the bike" and getting into my half marathon training. I've REALLY missed running the last few weeks.

Last Hard Ride

This morning I did my final hard bike ride before the Whisky Dick triathlon next Sunday. 26.4 miles, including 16.5 miles of hard hill repeats (12 total). This is the third time I've done this ride in as many weeks, and I wish I could say it felt easier. Today, for some reason, it felt pretty frickin' hard! My legs might be a little spent after Friday's run/hike in the mountains and Saturday's hard interval ride...both of which felt great. I'm actually looking forward to an easy 20-miler (or so) on Wednesday, then nothing until the race. Right now, a taper sounds great, but I know I'll be getting antsy a couple of days before the race and second-guessing my preparation & fitness level. Don't most of us do that? Having never raced on a bike before, I have no real time goal. I can't really go by my training times, since this course starts off with a 12-mile uphill section. I guess my goal would be to survive the hill and race the rest. My teammates (David Dick and Arthur Martineau) will be well prepared, so unless I suck the gas pipe, we may have a shot at placing well in the team category. Should be fun.

Oh, one other bit of trivia - I finally hit 40 mph on my bike on this particular training route (downhill, of course). I always try to hit that every time on one particular hill, but before today I could only reach 39.5. So that was kind of cool.

Anyway, after the race, I'll (happily) transition back to running. I'll be training for a September 10k and an October half-marathon. I'm really itching to run again! It'll probably take a week or two to get my running legs back.

More Hill Repeats on the Bike

This morning's ride was identical to last Monday's, except that it's quite a bit hotter today. I hit the road at about 9:30am (after rush hour died down) and rode a total of 26.4 miles. That included 16.5 miles of hill repeats (12 hills total). The repeats took 64 minutes. The total ride was 1:39:27. This was one of those workouts where mind games really came into play. I was feeling a bit of stomach distress the whole ride. After the first set of hills, I thought I may not be able to do the whole workout. Then I thought "on race day, if I decide I can't do the first 12-mile hill climb, that's called a DNF". The mental part of endurance training is so much more difficult than the physical. I knew that, physically, I could do this (like I did last week). Mentally, I nearly gave in. I'm glad I didn't. I can't have that kind of mindset - in any aspect of my life, not just sports.
Lots of work to do, so time to shower off this coating of salty sweat and get back to the grind. Happy Monday!

Great ride today!

I decided to do my first hill interval ride this morning. The total mileage was 26.4, but a good 16 (or so...didn't measure) was hills. I rode a total of 12 hills in about an hour (total ride was 1:39). It was brutal, yet extremely satisfying...and much needed. It helped my confidence immensely, especially with the crazy bike leg in the Whiskey Dick Triathlon next month. I keep learning that we can do MUCH more than we think we're capable of, and how much of our self-imposed limits are in the mind. I'm much more of a runner than a cyclist, and I'm familiar with the pain and discomfort that comes with running...but even with all the cycling I've done this year, the pain from riding hard is still something I'm learning to deal with. Today's ride was a big step toward understanding how to handle it a little better.

Right now, I'm thinking of taking tomorrow off from riding and/or running and doing some strength training. Maybe riding M-W-F this week, but all three rides being intense. As you can see, I'm not currently using a pre-written training plan. I'm trying to gauge my recovery and listen to my body right now. When I begin my half-marathon training, I'll (for the most part) abide by a written plan.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Routine Ride

I'm finally back in town for awhile and ready to get serious about the cycling. I just returned from a 25 mile ride on local roads with some hills (same course as my ride on 7/11). Not going for time, but I was a bit faster this time (averaged 17.2 mph this time, as opposed to 16.8 last time). The meat of my training this month will be over this same course, as it has a nice assortment of quad-burning hills. I'm also planning on 2 or 3 time trials on my Centennial Trail course. I'm thinking 10 miles at race-pace on the way out, then easy for the 10 miles back. I may also do some mile intervals. I probably won't do any really long rides, since I have a decent base already built. As for my now-neglected friend running, I'm hoping to visit him about once a week the rest of this month. Probably easy 5-mile runs. But as I've said, the focus will be on building my speed and strength on the bike, so I don't embarrass myself on August 9th!

A run in Omak, WA

Out of town again this weekend...this time in the little town of Omak, WA (N. Central part of WA, for those not familiar). Yesterday it reached 97 deg. F here. Got up at 6am this morning and ran 7.3 miles in exactly an hour. My course was a loop near our hotel, but the first time around, I deviated from the loop and up (and I do mean "up") a half-mile hill. I don't have a GPS watch, so after the run I drove the course to measure it and couldn't believe I ran up this hill non-stop. I wish I had my bike. I would have done repeats on the hill. Oh well...a run was all I could do while here sans bike. My right hip was barking quite a bit during the latter part of the run, and I'm wondering if this hill contributed to it.

We head back home tomorrow. I'll switch to cycling almost exclusively the rest of this month, with an easy run thrown in here and there to break things up.

Thanks for stopping by!

First run back home

It was refreshing to go on a late morning run today and NOT feel beaten down by the heat and humidity of Central Florida. I enjoyed the visit, but I think I had a bit of a cocky attitude going into my runs down there. I'm not in mind-blowing shape right now, but I'm probably as fit as I've been in, oh, eight years maybe...and feeling pretty good about it. The first couple of runs weren't terribly difficult. The last one, however, wiped me out. So today I ran a fairly slow 7 miles on my hilly trail in 58:11 (8:19 pace). I ended up having stomach cramps the last 2 miles, along with some tightness in my lungs. I haven't felt 100% the last few days, and even thought I thought I was okay, that "under-the-weather" feeling came back near the end of the run. I was called out on Facebook by my friend and Whisky Dick Triathlon teammate Arthur about running today and not cycling like I should be. Okay, he got me. I just felt like running today. I probably should have gone for a ride. I was planning on doing that tomorrow, but I had a crazy rush job come in late today that will keep me busy tomorrow and all weekend, it looks like. If I can fit in a ride, I will.

Amazingly, I lost .6 lbs while on vacation. I say "amazingly" because I didn't have the cleanest of diets (pizza, fish and chips, beer, cake, ice cream, etc), but I'm obviously still burning more calories than I'm taking in. Here are this week's weigh-in stats:

Weight: 148.6
Waist: 31"
Body Fat %: 10.7
Resting HR: 41 bpm

I hadn't seen my "six-pack" for about 17 years...until now. Maybe that's keeping me from eating as much as I should - just the thought of my midsection increasing again. I know - eat fairly clean, but just increase the quantity. If worse comes to worse, I'll start counting calories (which I HATE doing).

All for now. Have a great night!

Bike ride, plus some questions for you folks

Finally got my bike off the trainer and outside for a ride today. Ended up putting in 25 miles around local neighborhoods, including some challenging hills. I'm learning that my hill running is better than my hill cycling. Hopefully I can change that before my race.

Now...I've got a couple of questions for you. Lately, after getting off the bike, my lower back has been very tight and very sore. In fact, the two weeks I didn't ride, I slept better than usual because my back didn't bother me. Well, now the back pain is back. I've never been "professionally" fitted on my bike, but have adjusted the saddle, handlebars, etc, based on what I've found online. Do any of you more experienced cyclists have any words of wisdom regarding why my lower back isn't liking the bike lately?

The other question is more frivolous. When I was a kid riding with my dad in our car, my sister and I used to play "slug bug", where we'd punch each other when we'd see a Volkswagen Beetle. I once commented to my dad that I never realized how many VW Bugs there were on the roads until I played that game. From then on, he'd refer to that phenomenon as "you just have to look for the Volkswagens and you'll see them". I know there's a term for that, but it escapes me. Okay...all that said to get to this point: I've been noticing a LOT more runners on the roads this year than I have in a long time. Yes, I started running again in Jan. of this year, but even the years I haven't run, I was still tuned in to noticing them, being a long-time runner. I think I read or heard recently that running seemed to increase during times of economic downturn. Not sure if that's the case or not. Are any of you noticing more people running lately, or is it just me?
Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Morning run...on a trail!

For the first time this year, I did a trail run. A hilly trail run. The trail is a 1-mile loop around a local park. I ran five loops, alternating easy/hard laps. I pushed the uphills on the hard ones. Overall time was 40:31 (8:06 pace) with a finishing heart rate at 146. It was a tough but enjoyable run. I was surprised I ran as well as I did, given the fact that I woke up just after 3am and hardly slept from then until I got up at 5:50am. A nap will be in order today.
This week and next week I'm cutting down on my mileage but increasing intensity. In fact, this week I'm only doing today's run, a hard bike ride on Wednesday, and another hard run on Friday. Next week, one run and one ride, then my 5k race that Saturday. It's going to be hard to train so little - especially with the weather we're having in the Northwest! But I want to be rested & ready for the race.

Just when I think I'm getting into shape...

...I go and do my first hill workout on the bike! Wow - talk about humbling! Did a total of 7 repeats on 3 different hills, along with some other riding (15.9 miles total in 1 hour). Looks like I'll be backing away from the long base-building rides and focusing on hills and/or intervals until the race in August. I knew these hills would be tough, but I didn't realize how much differently my legs would feel vs the long, relatively flat rides I'd been doing. Quads and lungs were burning! It's almost like I'm starting my training all over again. One thing I did notice, though, was that my legs bounced back fairly quickly between the hill repeats. If I hadn't been doing the base work, I'm sure that wouldn't be the case. I'm still training for my 5k race next month, so I can't totally ignore the running in favor of the bike. It seems hard to focus on sharpening in both disciplines. My hat's off to all you hard-core triathletes. Maybe when this is all said and done, I'll sign up for a duathlon!