Week in review 9/16-9/22

Mon, Sep 22 2008

REST DAY!!! Woo hoo!!

Also clean the bike day, and start the setup for Pinehurst (2 weeks out). Yes, I'm serious. My "carrot" just finished 6th age group at Wilmington, and if I have a chance of even seeing him on the run, I need to be focused.

More observations about the weekend:

I had a pretty hard ride Saturday. Paul and I met Chris about 6 miles in, then we turned it up. We unfortunately lost Chris after the push out Lewter Shop in a headwind. We pushed 26-30 down Martha's Chapel. We waited for Chris again at Farrington, but when we turned onto Farrington and headed up hill, I held 23.5 and up all the way up, and we did not drop below 23 until we got to 64 (mostly 24-25). Chris had already planned to head back early. We held 25-26 out to Ebenezer, then slowed a little bit on the climb up to Bonsal, but still very strong. I felt pretty good about most of that push.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 5, was at the pool by 5:30, in the water by 5:45. I really did not want to be there, but that was my last "long" swim before Pinehurst, so stuck it out. Was pretty slow, but it's done. Then I hopped in the car. I was already halfway to Umstead, and it was a gorgeous morning, so off I went. Added bonus; the gate now opens at 7am into the Reedy Creek side. I had halfway decided Saturday night that I wanted to do some trail running. I mapped out an ~7mile route on Company Mill, and thought that would be a nice way to force me to make it an easy run.

Oops. 7:08!!??? Are you kidding me? This run did not feel that fast, but neither did the run Friday when I laid down a 7:25, or Thursday's 7:17 brick run. I just hope this is not the peak. I want to hold 7:15 or faster on the run at Pinehurst...




Sun, Sep 21 2008

Swim 49m 09s 2000.00 meters 02m 28s /100 meters

5:45 AM


I really was not motivated to swim this morning...

Warm-up # 3 500m (2:16, 2:31??, 2:25, 4:41 kick, 2:17)
1000 swim (2:17, 2:23, 2:18, 2:26, 2:23, 2:17, 2:24, 2:25, 2:27, 2:20) 1000m
300 pull (2:02, 2:06, 2:08)300m
200 swim down real easy (2:24, 2:27) 200m
Total 2000m



Run 49m 38s 6.95 miles 07m 08s/Mi

7:05 AM


Umstead run...Company Mill from Reedy Creek entrance. Wow. Was not planning to run this fast...must be some math errors in there. Parts of it felt fast, parts felt slow, but it did not feel like a sub-7:10 run! Distance is taken from the published Umstead map...

What a BEAUTIFUL morning for a trail run! This was just what I needed to cap off this training week. Scared about 8 deer out of bed. Met 2 runners going the other way on the first half of Company Mill, but had the whole second half to myself. Haven't run that section since the marathon in March, and man, was it fun again! Felt really great going up Graylyn, passed a guy like he was sitting still. Felt strong going up Reedy Creek Park road. A good run.

0.08 0.08 car to trailhead 0:00:36 0:07:30
0.186 0.266 trailhead to inspiration point loop
0.998 1.264 loop to T-intersection
1.47 2.734 up to Reedy Creek B/B 0:20:51 0:20:51 0:07:38
1.5 4.234 devil's spine
0.024 4.258 from T to Graylyn 0:09:41 0:30:32 0:07:10
0.3 4.558 up to Reedy Creek B/B 0:02:19 0:32:52 0:07:13
0.12 4.678 to cedar ridge trail
0.83 5.508 down to Reedy Creek Lake split 0:07:18 0:40:10 0:07:18
0.1 5.608 to bridge
0.54 6.148 up to Ranger Road 0:05:17 0:45:27 0:07:24
0.58 6.728 to Loblolly crossing 0:02:32 0:47:59 0:07:08
0.14 6.868 to the trailhead 0:01:03 0:49:03 0:07:09
0.08 6.948 back to the car 0:00:35 0:49:38 0:07:09
6.948

Sat, Sep 20 2008

Bike 1h 54m 51s 39.21 miles 20.48 Mi/hr

9:45 AM


Ride mostly with Paul, Chris joined us for part. This was Paul's "21+ pace for 20 miles" ride (his coach's plan for today). We rolled out for about 7 easy, then let 'er rip. When we got to Bonsal, we had a 21.8 overall average. Then we eased it back in to Apex, never going over 20, mostly 17-18. A nice way to end a ride. Side note: I was only planning on a 30-mile ride, so the add'l 9.2 were nice.)


Fri, Sep 19 2008

Run 51m 57s 7.00 miles 07m 25s/Mi

4:50 PM apex7milerun
Climb: 532 feet

ran it a little harder than I planned, but it felt good...
26:33 out
25:23 back, including a 200m sprint near the end to simulate race finish.

Supposed to get in a 2000m swim, but that won't happen today (wife had to run 6 this a.m., so I didn't make it to the pool)


Thu, Sep 18 2008 Brick day!!
Swim 37m 05s 1500.00 meters 02m 28s /100 meters

4:30 PM


Swim workout 11

Warm-up # 3 500 m
(consisting of:
300 sw (2:13, 2:21, 2:20), 100 k (4:31), 100sw (2:14) 500m total)

800 swim (2:08, 2:18, 2:21, 2:23, 2:16, 2:22, 2:20, 2:19) 800 m total

200 swim down real easy (2:26, 2:25)...200 m total

Total 1500 m

Bike 1h 27m 06s 30.93 miles 21.31 Mi/hr

6:00 PM IOStuesday
Climb: 945 feet

My plan was to ride w/A group, but sit on the back. Unexpectedly, I got sucked into the rotation. When we got to Farrington, I knew I needed to back off, or the run would not be good. So, I did. Ended up with a small group of four back to the tracks. Then I stayed on the gas until I got back to IOS. Short transition-ran into the store to get my ride card signed, and to take a leak, then back out to get started on the run.

Nuthouse rode A, and had a great ride. He looked VERY strong! And to think, he just did Duke half last weekend!! B2B is gonna be cake for him.


Run 44m 51s 6.16 miles 07m 17s/Mi

7:40 PM IOS10k
Climb: 348 feet

Felt good on this run. No idea on HR, but felt like zone 3 effort. Room to push it on race day.
7:09 up to Maynard (from IOS)
7:10 back down to CP
7:39 to Maynard
7:19 back to CP
7:45 to Maynard
7:07 back to CP (kicked it a little)
:39 back to the start

I love training days like today. 1500m swim after work; drive from pool to Inside Out Sports, for the 31-mile loop ride (trying to hang on with the A maybe?); then transition to a 6+ mile run off the bike.

I will attempt to run the 6 miles near race pace.

Nutrition:

Clif bar at 3pm

Gu at 5:45pm

One bottle GU20 on the bike, about 1/4 bottle of water

Gu at 6:30 pm

Gu at 7:30ish (run start), 3/4 bottle of GU20 on the run

Slight side stitch at mile 5, but no cramping, no sloshing, no nausea, felt good the entire time. Tried Mango Tango GU20 tonight, like it!


Wed, Sep 17 2008
Swim 24m 03s 1000.00 meters 02m 25s /100 meters

11:40 AM

Was hoping to get in 1500, but only had time for 1000m

Straight 1000m swim, first one in a while

Outdoor swim, a little chilly, so I don't think I ever warmed up properly.

General thoughts...

Last night's spin class was fun. The instructor said "race your neighbor". I tucked aero on the Spinner bike and let her rip.

When the class was over, the slightly older guy next to me looked down at the puddle of sweat under my bike (even with a towel laid on the floor to catch it), looked at the dry floor under his bike, and said to the instructor "I didn't know you'd put Lance Armstrong next to me!" in relation to her "race your neighbor" comment. I got a chuckle out of that.

I've changed my 2009 race plan; took out Augusta, added in Duke Half. It's in my backyard, I can train for it all I want, right on the course, and it's a BIG check-mark off my list. Maybe 2010 will be my year for a "bigger" race. No, not an IM, but a branded, destination 70.3.

Oh, one more thing; I signed up with the Cast Iron Club at Inside Out Sports earlier this year. The goal was to perform the training equivalent of 30 Ironman distance races in the year. As of the end of August, here are my stats so far for 2008:

Swim: 116718yds, or 27.63 IM distance swims

Bike: 3005.5 miles, or 26.83 IM distance bikes

Run: 1029.3 miles, or 39.29 IM distance runs (marathons). That last one blows me away; I've run almost 40 marathons this year!!

I'll be complete by the end of September with all my goals.


Tue, Sep 16 2008
Run 54m 53s 7.00 miles 07m 50s/Mi

5:25 AM apex7milerun
Climb: 532 feet

28:48 out (8:13 pace)
26:05 back (7:27 pace)

A little tough to get moving this morning; uphill on the first part, mostly downhill return.


Bike 1h 00m 20.00 miles 20.00 Mi/hr

7:00 PM

LTF spin class, endurance ride.

Long time, no post!

First of all, may we never forget the significance of this date. September 11th is a day that I will never forget. God Bless America.

It's been a busy summer. Since my last post, we've done lots of things and been lots of places. Ended up not doing the Firecracker ride. No big deal. I did do the Blue Ridge Brutal and it sure lived up to its name. Tough day at the office.

As the days click off the calendar, I'm entering the 2nd racing season.
Upcoming events:
10/4 Pinehurst Olympic tri
10/25 ATT 10-miler running race
11/2 City of Oaks Marathon (running it with Lainey, her 1st, my 2nd)
then, if I'm recovered...
11/22 Apex Turkey Trot

Then, it's time to take a big long break, take up swimming full time, and rest these weary legs!

I'll drop in a few times a week and keep in touch here. First 20-mile run coming up this weekend...