Random Johnny Knoxville photo
Hey guys! Where have I been? No where. I just thought I'd quit blogging, but then after talking to some readers I decided to keep it going. So, last week I pretty much kept the momentum going and this week I did the following:
Monday - 3 mile lunch run on treadmill
Tuesday - AM 27 mile 3-monster-hill bike ride and 3 mile lunch run on treadmill
Wednesday - AM 1.4 mile swim at YMCA (100 laps in indoor 25yd pool, 2500 yds), and 3 mile lunch run on treadmill
Also, I've dropped about 5 pounds and 1% body fat in the last two weeks. And, I officially registered for my first half Ironman race. I will be doing the Great Buckeye Challenge on Sunday, September 1st in Springfield, Ohio (near Dayton). The race is 1.2 mile swim, then a 56 mile bike ride, and then a 13.1 mile half marathon run. Of the three segments, I'm only really worried about the open water/lake swim. I've only swam open water once, and it freaked me out. I imagine race day adrenaline will get me amped up, and being surrounded by hundreds of others will help. If a great white shark can somehow survive in a fresh water lake in the middle of Ohio, then surely my odds of being eaten are something like 1 in hundreds. Hah ha. I'm good at zoning out and blocking things, so I might be fine and I just won't think about the snapping turtles or snakes in the lake and get through it. My 100 lap swim yesterday was in 58:26, a new personal best by over 3 minutes - and I wasn't pushing it. I was just cruising along.
Anyway, so that's where we are. My wife has been busy with work and decided to NOT do a race this fall and I have full schedule access. I have about 3 weeks to train before I taper for a week, so it's time to keep hitting it "hard". Tapering is basically tapering off the training to rest and get back to 100% for race day. So, 3 more weeks to hit it.
A co-worker (Andy) and I decided to meet at my place today and get in a bike/run brick before work. I got up at 4:15am, and he was here at 4:45am sharp. We geared up and took off. Our plan was to bike the normal route and hit two hills: Kugler Mill/Galbraith and Old Indian Hill. I figured I would have jelly legs from hitting Tuesday morning hard, and Wednesday's swim normally zaps all of my energy. But I did fine, pushing the pace from 18 to 20 mph through the route. It did rain over night, so the roads were wet. But we were fine and just needed to take turns slow. At Kugler Mill, Andy and his fresh legs shot up the hill at about 10mph, while I was churning around 8mph. I felt fine on the flats and rollers, but after a bit I felt my legs struggle on the hill. By "struggle", I mean "keep up with Andy". But he was solid on the climb.
After the climb, we cruised down Given to the base of Indian Hill Road and popped a GU. We started up Old Indian Hill and again, Andy pulled away and climbed about 1-2 mph faster than me. Tuesday's ride up Given was great, as I didn't zig zag and stood the whole way, but that strategy didn't work today with dead legs. I was zig zagging all over the place, trying to get my rear derailleur to shift to my 25 tooth sprocket (still haven't adjusted it again). That damn thing hates that lowest gear! But, like all things, Old Indian Hill's evil side came and went. The hill part at the beginning is short and sweet. It's a punch to the stomach, but it is quick.
So, normal 2-hill route with Andy. After Old Indian Hill we finished uneventfully, having a little fun on the Drake Road rollers. We ended up biking 25.53 miles in 1:40:18 (avg speed of 15.3 mph), avg HR of 136 bpm, burning 1,069 calories. My Garmin 310XT is pimp. I mount it to the handlebars and keep the backlight on at 50%, with the following data fields: ride time, current speed, distance traveled, and time of day. Time of day is nice, as I can keep tabs on getting home. Remember, I need to get these workouts in and get home to shower, make the kids' and my lunch, get them ready and then take them to school, all so I can get to work by 8am. Also, traffic picks up at 6am. My only two complaints really, are how thick the watch is with the quick release kit (nearly 1.5 inches), and the Garmin ANT+ USB wireless sync. The Garmin ANT software sucks and I actually have to reinstall it each time I upload a workout. I deleted Tuesday's ride trying to get the thing to work. Google the issue and it seems EVERYONE feels the same way. Hopefully I'll find a reliable way to upload my stuff. It's such a pain I almost gave up on today's brick data. Do I really care that everyone can see my stuff? I'm over it. I keep everything in Excel for my reference, which I look at a lot, but if the ANT keeps acting up I may quit adding the data links here and just summarize it for you.
Here is the Garmin Connect link (it may not work): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/351894277
And here is the Strava data:
At the house, we changed for the run. Andy got some quick laces and it took him about 10 seconds to put his running shoes on. I took about a minute to get mine on. So, I'll be picking up some quick laces soon. We both felt fine from the bike, though tired and a little sore, but nothing crazy. Our plan was to run a 5K at about a 9:00mm pace. He's a damn deer, so our agreement was I'd pull him on the bike (which I did on the flats) and he'd pull me on the run. He ran a 21:40 5K Tuesday at lunch, so he's got the legs to do some damage.
We might have looked like geeks, running in bike tights and I had a bike jersey on. But we held pretty close to our 9:00mm goal and even turned on the gas at the finish. We covered 3.23 miles in 29:19, avg pace of 9:04mm, burned 485 calories, and HR avg of 161 bpm. Yes, it's not an aerobic pace. I'm going to put the aerobic runs on hold. I want some speed for my next three races, and I'll go aerobic over the winter.
Again, it was pulling teeth to get the Garmin data, but here's the Garmin Connect data for the run: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/351894289
And here's the Strava data for it:
At lunch, I went to Subway for a 12" (Italian) Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki with no cheese or mayo, but loaded with veggies. Only 720 calories to stuff myself. I also had two bags of baked bbq chips. I also snuck a couple Busken cookies for a 2pm treat.
During the run, my right foot big toe started hurting. Luckily, it wasn't in the usual arthritis way, but in a "these shoes have hundreds of miles on them and need replaced" way. So, I ordered another pair of Asics Gel Kayano 19's in the black/red/lime color. I get 40% off through Promotive.com, but it takes 4-6 weeks to ship.
I also had a rear brake caliper fail on Tuesday, so I ordered new Tiagra brake calipers for $25 each. My bike fund is almost gone. But, I've decided to just replace pieces over time and swap out the frameset once I find one I like. Nearly half of my bike is new, parts I've replaced in the last year. So, when everyone is looking to dump their old frameset this winter, I'll find a gently used 58cm frameset to order.
My family is going camping this weekend, so I hope to sneak in a short "recovery" run (read: easy/slow run) Friday morning before we leave. I may drink about 50 Bud Lights this weekend and not train much, but I'll let you know after I return.
Peace out mofo's!!!!!
PS. Next weekend is the Warrior Dash! Should be fun. I'll look to set a new land speed record, but settle for just beating the average. Hah ha.
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