Fourteen-er, Midwest style

Since the gang is in Colorado, I thought I would summit my own fourteen-er today. It was primarily a horizontal challenge though, the actual elevation rise was conservatively between 2 and 2.5 feet.

Interestingly enough, there was another person at the Lab this morning. Over the last couple months, I have seen a few too many four wheeled things, only a handful of two wheeled contraptions, but this was the first runner I have seen. We were headed in opposite directions, so the encounter was brief. He was dressed as if a snow storm was in progress, I had by that point ditched the shirt. It was like Cromagnon meets Neanderthal or Columbus meets exploitable natives. We were the same, but different.

First 3 == 26:51
Second 3 == 26:29
Third 3 == 27:14
Fourth 3 == 26:18
Last two == 18:29
Total 2:05:20 at about 152 bpm

Insert Your Title Here (nothing clever came to me)

It is funny. I got a lot of comments on yesterday's post from various people. Only L came through the most convenient route. I guess there ARE a lot of cat people in my life.

If you have ever been a runner, you know that the mind can/needs to/does think up some crazy stuff as the miles pass. Runs are a good time to try out ideas and think things through. I call it the mental gymnasium. Sometimes it's great and you get new energy and direction. Sometimes it isn't and you kind of have a Forrest Gump moment and feel like just stopping.

I didn't think a lot today, partly because it was rainy and crappy. I was worried I might Gump on the back part of the run. I didn't though.

I have been hearing a lot of this lately "Make sure you don't overdo it." I DO appreciate the concern and even the acknowledgement that I am doing something, but to my ears that sounds a lot like "It is okay to do less, it is okay to not get it done." I really don't want a cushion to soften the fall. I work best without the net, thank you.

Bricked again, 18 mtn bike (rain) ===> 6 running

Man's Best Friend

If you have never run with a pet, you are missing out.

This winter, we decided to get a new four-legged friend. A lot of intense research hours were spent trying to size up the various breeds. Suprisingly enough, they still have not successfully bred a poop-less dog. There is a -less version of everything else though. It is one thing to run free with a dog, it is another thing altogether to HAVE to run with a dog so he can poop. Anyway, we got a cat.

But not just any cat....a Himalayan Hill Cat (feline sherpa-cis). You may not know that breed very well. It was actually quite a challenge getting the import paperwork done. The breed is fairly new, mostly siamese with some mountain goat and some sherpa (don't ask, but Everest must get cold at night). Anyhow, they are known for their stamina, a good fit for a runner.

So this morning, we went for our first run together. I know this may sound crazy but it started very well actually. He made it ALL the way to the kitchen before bailing out. And when he did bail, at least he did the right runner thing, he went to re-hydrate.

8 miles running-alone. Last four all began with 6's. Not sure where that came from but it was cool. This is going to happen.

Puddles and Wind

Today I rode my mountain bike and then ran. This bike has been neglected in the whole quest for speed thing. But it is a lot of fun to ride nonetheless. This morning was nasty with puddles and wind, enough of each so that I just felt a heck of a lot better riding it than my road bike. It is geared very differently from the road bike and I forgot how tall I sit on it. But after a few miles, it was cool. The knobs on the tires made a neat humming sound off of the road. I did not have to avoid the potholes.

30 on the bike // 6 running all at about 153.

Housekeeping and is "blog" a word?

I think one of the reasons this blog exists is to keep fairly accurate records of what gets done. I am quite sure that the fine details don't make for the most interesting reading, but I do find that recording them does a great job making me feel accountable. Sure, I have offline spreadsheets that track all kinds of data, but this is the place where the public has access.

So I have a few things to add that I skipped previously:

Last week, there was another run of about six miles.
Yesterday, there was another ride of about 90 minutes.
This morning, I swam a little over a mile, 36 minutes.

On another subject...
I just realized that there is a tool bar on the edit window that I am typing this into. It has a spell checker! When I checked the preceding, guess which was the only word my blog spell checker balked on? It was "blog". Isn't that weird?

It is easier to run East

I was back at the lab this morning. Back to work, no more fancy runs for awhile. The lab is 3 out and 3 back more or less. The out is due west, the back due east. The wind, when there is any, is out of the west. You all know where the sun rises. Occasionally, conditions line up to create a pretty challenging environment.

This morning was in the mid 30s with about a 15 mph wind out of the west. The out legs were wind in the face and sun at the back, very cold. The back legs felt easily 20 degrees warmer. I couldn't get the snivel gear off fast enough. I guess the logistics kept it interesting. The splits reflected the flakey weather.

1st 3 == 27:32 west
2nd 3 == 26:21 east
3rd 3 == 27:36 west
4th 3 == 26:50 east
Last 2== 18:22
Total for 14 == 2:06:43
Heartrate at 75% 150 bpm

Nice Day

Today I ran in the park. No, not the park, THE Park.

What a pleasure it is to be able to run on a very nice day early in the morning and to still have the energy to do all of the other things you want to do during the day. It is easy to take that for granted, it is easy to whine about wanting to be faster, and it is easy to get too single-minded about a really important race that really isn't.

I figure I will run about 1000 miles to drop a little over 8 minutes from my last half marathon. What makes that absurd is that only a couple people will realize what that means. Well, today I did 7-8 miles of that 1000 and felt A-OK!

What is a Brick?

Here is the definition of brick that we all think of first.

Here is another list of definitions for brick. You should read some of these....who says English is not a romance language?

But this is the type of brick that I did this morning.

I biked 18 and ran 6 this morning. All in, including stowing the bike and changing shoes, this was 1:56:51. This is going to be a core type of workout for the next few weeks. I am trying to zero in on how hard I can push on the bike and still be strong on the run. Today was 151 bpm average, pretty much the same on the bike and run. Next week I will go at 160 bpm and see how everything feels. I think 160-170 will be the race pace, but I need to check it out a few times to be sure.

In case you were wondering, I haven't thrown in the towel on the swim. BUT, a disaster swim leg would be 45 minutes and a homer for me would be 35 minutes. This is a five to six hour event, so it just isn't as big of a deal as the bike/run. That suits me fine. I will still go to the pool, but I am not going to stress about it.

Basically, a rest day

Swam, a little over a mile, early morning. It felt like sleeping in compared to the last two days.

And now, a word from our sponsors

I actually ended up doing 40 miles on the bike instead of 50. I was running a little late and it just made sense to cut it back by 10. I am not sure that I would have done 60 if I was running ahead of schedule, but hey, I get a little slack that early in the morning.

I need to figure out the eating/drinking while riding stuff over the next few weeks. That part of the ride was pretty awkward. I do have (and wore today) one of those cycling jerseys with pockets in the back for snacks---you know, the type with the zipper in front and logos everywhere, the ones that make suburban man look like Tour god. The jersey I have features my employer. Yeah. A friend at work had a set made up with our company logo featured prominently along with some lesser logos sprinkled around. In a way, I guess my company is my primary sponsor so maybe I shouldn't feel like such a poser or Tour wannabe when I wear it.

The facts are this:
40 miles
2:09
18.6 mph pace
150 heartrate

I felt great, went over 20 for a handful of miles. Yesterday's long run did not factor in.

W 8-3
W 8-2

The value of 10 heart beats.

This morning was 14 running at 150 bpm and it worked out to be a little less than 9:30 pace. I guess the 10 beats make a big difference, like a minute and change per mile.

first 3 == 27:36
second 3 == 28:03
third 3 == 28:03
fourth 3 == 28:27
last 2 == 19:50
Total 2:12

I think I will cap out at 14 miles for the long run prior to the half ironman thing. I will probably settle into a week that looks like 14, 14, 6, 6, 6. Two of the three 6's will have 1-2 hours of biking immediately prior.

Tomorrow is a 50 mile test on the bike for me, early early in the morning. Even earlier than today.

A Math Guy's Thoughts While Swimming

"I can't possibly be this inept at swimming. There must be some explanation.



Maybe this pool is longer than 25 meters. It could be possible. The lap lanes seem to be an afterthought. The place is really built for fun--a water slide, lazy river, and big whirlpool thing.

Maybe it is 30 meters. Let's see, if I recalculate all of my split times with 6/5's the distance....yes, just as I surmised. I am a good swimmer. What a relief that is. Great. I should just verify the pool's length with the staff person.



Oh, thanks, so it is only 25 meters. Have fun with the water aerobics gang!"

--------This morning was a mile swimming freestyle-------

Very Bad News

I just received the following email:

Dear Author of jacksrunningblog,

Your initial blog trial period is now complete. We hope that your experience has been enjoyable. We regret to inform you that your contributions will be reclassified from BLOG status to MONO-BLOG status beginning May 1st. MONO-BLOG status is reserved for blogs that fail to generate any interest from the online community.

Blogspot.com uses Comments as a key metric to evaluate the overall health of a blog. Our tracking systems indicate that your blog has received an unusually low number of Comments from readers. We can not justify using our resources to host what is largely a soliloquy. However, should the number of comments from readers increase between now and May 1st, Blogspot.com will reconsider its decision.
Thank you for choosing to blog at Blogspot.com!

Sincerely,
Blogspot.com

Bummer. I don't know if I should call my lawyer or go crawling to tblog.com or just quit. I guess you have to get comments once in awhile to justify the revenue model or something.

Sunny in the 60's

They don't come much nicer than today.

I ran six miles, plus or minus a half mile or so. Not knowing EXACTLY how far I just ran is a pretty big departure from how I used to go about this. It's not that I am too lazy to measure it out, it is just that I don't care. It was a good run with really nice weather. No heart rate monitor, free and easy.

Rdinig the Bkie at Nghit

Tnoihgt I rdoe the bkie for an huor. I rdoe it petrty hrad auallcty. I jsut got in a new book claled "Acenadvd Maontahairng". But isnetad of radenig it, I waethcd the frsit hlaf of "Blow".

Tromorow mnoring, I will run the six meils at 150 bates per muntie.
Tmie for bed now. Good Nghit!

You Snooze, You Lose

I am usually a few minutes late for everything. I like saying that if I had just been born 5 minutes earlier, I would have enough of a head start to be ontime for everything.

The only sane way to fit all this stuff (run/bike/swim) into a normal life is to do it in the morning. There really isn't enough time at lunch and excercising at night tends to mess with my sleep patterns. So I have been getting up earlier than usual/ever. The trouble is, I am not a morning person by nature.

Here is what I have learned and want to share with my fellow snooze button junkies==> The real secret is to go to bed earlier. It takes so much less discipline to go to bed early than it does to wake up short on sleep. How hard is that really? Early to bed, early to rise; I think that one has been done before? (Loading the coffee maker and packing the schtuff the night before also helps a lot even though they never made Poor Richard's).



Today I swam a little more than a mile. I have not been in the water for a few weeks and I think I slid a bit. But it was still good.

140 to 150

Now that I know my max heart rate is a little over 200 bpm, I said goodbye to 140 beats per minute and hello to 150 (75% of 200). It will take some getting used to though. This morning, I found my self swinging pretty much between 140 and 160 the whole time. My HRM is the absolute base model so it doesn't beep or anything when I go out of range. I am sure I will settle in soon enough.

Just to make sure that everyone knows what all of this jibberish is about, let me recap. I want to get up to 50 miles running a week at about 75% of my max heartrate. Once there, I will have the base to begin more targeted workouts to build speed. The only complication is that I am doing a lot of biking too. So my unscientific solution is to divide total hours biking by two each week and then divide that by my average minute per mile pace. That number is what I am calling a running equivalent. This week will be around 44 miles and next should come in at 50.

This AM 6 miles running.

Voila! The bike.

At last the quirks worked out and the picture went through. Not the best photo on this blog by far, but I think the bike has earned at least one photo spot for its part in this story.



I have probably owned many more bikes than the average person. I have always been a tool collector and bikes require tools unique to themselves. Sometimes you have to get a new bike to justify owning a cool tool. This one is by far the best I have owned, not in character or even utility, but in speed. The top tube is white and I think I will write some cool things on it that make me want to ride well when I look down. I am open to suggestions.

Also pictured is a small corner of my underground training facility. No distractions.

Tonight, I rode for an hour on the trainer (see above!). My legs were sore from yesterday so the light spinning really helped the bad chemicals to flow on out.

Looking ahead

I ran with friends this morning, a little over 13 at a decent clip and then two more much slower.

The half ironman is a week less than two months away. The next three weeks are going to be very important. What do I need to do to be ready? I think I will be focusing on long bike rides and bike run transitions. Of course, I haven't done any good swimming for a couple weeks--I will need to do some of that too. Success will be getting up to about 15 hours of work per week, I am not sure if the actual run/bike/swim breakdowns matter so much.

I got my heartrate up to 200 recently, so clearly 190 is not the max. I think I will be bumping the 140 bpm runs to 150 bpm runs to make sure they are at 75%.

Nothing to see here today

Home opener, statistics, tournament. Was this blog about running?

I just learned how to do this

As you start learning more about the blog world, you realize how much you don't know. I did make a small advancement though---embedded links. Examples:

Here is a a neat auction site I just stumbled across. See what you think!

or

Some teams are better than others.

Cool, huh? Limitless possibilities really.

Strides

I ran about 5 miles this morning. Considering the late and long ride last night, all went pretty well.

The 140 bpm thing has pros and cons. One pro is that you really don't have to think too much, if the readout is above 140-slow down, below-speed up. Because 75% is a comfortable pace, the run is comfortable. All you really have to do is think nice thoughts. On the con side, you start to really feel like, dare I say it, a jogger. So today I mixed up some faster running just as a reminder.

Here is a heads up. I have tried several times to get my bike picture to come up. Naturally, what will happen is that they will all load after I close out. So if you see three pictures of my bike, you will know why.

Tonight, I ride

I think that sounds cool, epic even. But nothing dramatic took place here, I didn't actually go anywhere. I just spent about 2.5 hours on the bike trainer at a moderate pace. I watched Troy and munched on pretzels and thin mints, drank some Gatorade.

I bought this bike on ebay a couple years ago and have been really happy with it. It is from Australia and came to me via a seller (bike shop) in Atlanta. It has 105 components and fits me real well. The saddle is the same as the one on my mountain bike and it has taken some getting used to, very hard. This bike replaced the beloved hand-painted clown bike.

I will get a bike picture up soon, I know that will be exciting for everyone, well, at least me.

By the way, the pool was not open today.

Spun-n-Run....

.....or maybe Span-n-Ran. You get the gist.
=
Apparently, the old spinning instructor has left to pursue other interests. The replacement is a big uptick as they say. Certainly more intense about the business of spinning, a real student of the intricacies of stationary bike riding, and most importantly a true believer in position 3.
=
I was the only pupil tonight. It worked out well enough once I got comfortable with the concept of having my own personal trainer (at least for an hour). It was actually the most aggressive spinning I have done. My heart peaked at 180.
=
After the spinning, I changed shoes and ran for a little more than a half hour. Mostly, the goal was to teach the legs what "bike to run" feels like. For fun, I threw in a few 800s at just under a 7 clip. That, considering the hard spin, felt very comfortable. After a workout like tonight, I see it all happening.
=
Tomorrow, AM, pool.

Heavy legs

I woke up this morning and felt really heavy in the legs. My rhm was 61 which is 10 or so beats more than normal. Something is/was up. In any case, I decided to just do something easy.

One hour, easy spinning, on the trainer.

I felt much better coming off the bike than I did getting on, which is good. I guess I just had some trapped byproduct of yesterday's run in my leg muscles.

I have been putting in a lot of hours over the last couple weeks and have been feeling really good/strong. I don't want to overdo it though. I think I will be very ready for the half ironman in June. I have done a good job training--I do need to get in a few four hour rides done--but in general, I have done well. More importantly, for the main goal of 2005, I will have a good base for going after the 3:10 in the Fall. An overuse injury would suck at this point. As well, I like my mental framework right now, I don't want to get burned out.

Up and at 'em

I did two tough things in the last 24 hours.

The first was to leave the Yankees/Sox opener in the third last night to get on my bike (basement, no cable). I am in no way a big Yankees fan--though I did get to see NYY/Boston game at Yankee Stadium in 2004. So it was really about seeing Boston lose. I am currently in a "anyone but Boston" phase after the Cardinal sweep last year. Enough already.

The second was to run 14 this morning before work. To do this I had to get up at 5 my nighstand clock time which is 3 (am) Arizona time. I tried to get back on track with my HRM, so all of this was at 140 bpm. That heart rate kept me pretty consistent for 9 miles and then it drifted off. I think this is an improvement over a few weeks ago where the drift happened sooner. Certainly the pace that I can run at 140 is improving.

1st 3 == 30:47
2nd 3 == 31:09
3rd 3 == 31:45
4th 3 == 33:17
last two == 22:06
total == 2:29

For the week, I did 43 miles (running + bike converted miles). I should be doing my first 2400m tests in two to three weeks.

Back Home

Bike/trainer, 60 minutes, hard, felt very strong.
With daylight savings time and the loss of another hour from the time zone change, I didn't have the mojo to get out early for a long run. So, I swapped Monday's bike for Sunday' run. I will run long tomorrow morning.

Last Comments

Two points to be made. First Point----I am really taken with this particular desert. As I think about it, I have spent time in deserts before. Once, for a few weeks in Utah during a cold January. Then once again in the Middle East for about 7 months. Both of those deserts were extremely barren. Maybe it is the cactus, or maybe it is the desert in Spring, or maybe it is because this trip is for pleasure and the others were for business. Don't know.

Second Point----There is really no need for wick away workout clothing when the humidity is 15%. Cotton will do just fine.

Teed Off

If you have never seen a golf course in the middle of the desert, you are missing out. What a statement it makes. All of the pomp and manicured greenery of a regular course with the absurd backdrop of a desert. Who needs rain and talk about sand traps. I am not a golfer by the way.

This morning, I biked an hour and ran an hour. I did the run on a golf course. I got onto the course a bit late because of the bike ride, so I didn't quite beat the first foursome of the day. I guess it pissed them off to have me down range as they teed off because I was chased down by a club cart and asked to leave. I of course agreed to this. The funny thing was, there was no place to exit the course, so I ended up doing the run I wanted to in the first place.

Tomorrow is a rest day and a return home.