10 miler

Finals are over! I had two yesterday, I think they went pretty well. I get final grades tomorrow at 5 PM.
I went for a 10 mile run with Justin today. We ran 8:10 pace through Forest Park. It felt good, and pretty easy.
Tomorrow night I'm going to the Rams' game with Justin and Joe and Garrett. Garrett's Dad got some tickets, but then had no one to go with, so Justin and Joe are going to stay an extra night, and my ride doesn't leave until Friday A.M. Sweet.

Short Run

I went only about 2 miles today. I was pressed for time and didn't want to do much more on my knee than just loosening it up. It felt pretty good, hurt a little the first mile but loosened up and felt fine. It feels much better tonight after running than it did yesterday. I should be good to go for a long run this weekend.

Update II

Hey all-
I've been resting the past... well, week now. I ran last Tuesday and my knee bothered me a bit after, right between the knee and shin. Then, I got kicked in said spot during intramural soccer Wednesday night, which caused some swelling and compounded the problem. I swam some Friday and Sunday, and my knee feels about 90% now today. I might run short tomorrow. I was about 1 week ahead on my training, so I should still be on track for my marathon in January, assuming the knee is fine.

Update

My legs hurt.

Longest Run Ever!

I went out for a run today at about 12:30. I did 17 miles at 8:50 pace. The first half felt great, the second half was harder, partially because there was wind I didn't notice when it was at my back. I experimented with nutrition a little bit, ate 3 Gu and had ~200 calories worth of Gatorade. My stomach never felt great, but it didn't slow me down either, so I guess thats okay.

Trebuchet, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPUiHqJS8U

Mike and I (mainly Mike) build a trebuchet a few weeks ago to compete in a pumpkin launch held on campus. It wasn't the best machine ever, but it worked, and it could launch a pretty light soccer ball well. We ended up getting second to a gigantic (~40 ft. high) trebuchet another team built. If anyone wants to tell me how to post this in-line that would be great.
I biked 40 miles by myself on Friday after class. It was way, way harder than the 50 miles with a group (and drafting) the other week.

Steepncheap.com

I love this site. I haven't bought anything, but I want to. If anyone wants to buy me Christmas presents feel free. Props to Justin for showing me the site.

Long Bike

Hey all-
I joined the SLU cycling club on their group ride this morning at 10:30. There were about 10 of us that hit the street, it was nice having a large group to take over some roadway. I ended up doing about 50 miles. There was a long hill about 25 miles in (~1 mile long uphill) and we turned around after that. It was a good ride. I met a guy named Austin, a grad student here, that is training for Ironman Wisconsin next year! Pretty cool.

Midterms Over!

I didn't have much time to run/ride this week with three midterms this week: French on Wednesday (Yes, I'm taking French 110.), Ethics and Signals today. So naturally, as soon as I got out of my Signals test I got on my bike. It was so windy! I went 18 miles straight into a headwind in about 1:15:00, then back in about 1:00:00... It was windy. I also think there is more climbing on the way out then the way back, but I'm not sure. Fall break is this weekend, we have Monday and Tuesday off, and I'm headed to Great Smokey National Park to camp for a few days with some friends!

Maybe I'll see some sweet waterfalls.

Solo Half-Marathon

I did my longest run ever today all by myself, 13.1(ish) miles from SLU, through Forest Park, past the Wash U campus, and back. It was a really nice run, shady, and I ran on grass for ~9 miles. There were 4 water fountains, spaced about every mile and a half. I ate a compression-short warmed chocolate Gu at the turn around, about an hour into the run, and it was delicious. I ran 1:59:10 total with an extra 1/3 mile or so on the way back, so I ran a couple minutes faster on the way back. I felt really strong the whole time, probably because I was running slowly, but it was good volume for me.

6 Miles and Belated Accolades

Hey everyone-
I took Monday off from training but played 3 (50 minute) soccer games and 1 football game Tuesday (it was intramural playoff night). I was sore Wednesday and rested again, then today ran about 6 miles with my buddies Justin and Joe, at about 7:40 miles. It was the first fall weather run, and it felt great!

Also, I got a package yesterday in the mail unexpectedly. [Side note: If any of you want to send me baked goods or money or anything via mail, my address is
MSC #5576
Greg Cooper
20 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103]
Anyway, I got my package and it was my first triathlon hardware! Apparently the Cape Girardeau tri this past spring awarded trophies for 1-5 in the age group, and I was 5th! Solid.

Video Link

T1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xmpTvnNbs

Race Pictures

Heading back on the bike after the turn around, about mile 15.

Going past the fan-car.

Heading out of transition on the run.
The (too soon) finish! I'll probably never use that
phrase ever again. My offset time was 31:15Post-race.

St. Peters Results

The St. Peters tri was this morning. I got up at 6 and left at about 6:30 after a small bowl of oatmeal. Julie drove me out, I got there, set up transition, got my body markings, and did a tiny bike ride to make sure everything was working fine. I grabbed my swim stuff and headed inside to the pool after eating a Gu at 7:45.

The start was time-trial style, with swimmers going every 15 seconds. My start time was 8:01 and it was a 500 m swim in a 50 m pool. The swim was fine, I passed 3 people and was passed once. The start times were not based on projected swim times, so it was a little chaotic. I swallowed a decent amount of water, but emerged fine in 11:20 (rank 233rd/400) I hoped to go closer to 10:30, but 11:20 was fine considering having to stop and duck under ropes, and swimming an extra 25 meters or so to get from the left to the right side of the pool.

Transition 1 was good, I ran hard to my bike. Shoes and helmet came on, and I took off. I did my first flying mount in a race, it was good! Julie has a video of it, when I get my hands on it I will post it.

The bike ride was great! Really flat, few problems. I decided before the race I wanted to push the bike hard, and it worked out. I averaged 22 mph over the 21 mile course (which I think was a bit long), managed to eat another Gu after my stomach settled down from the pool water. I passed a ton of people and was passed only twice. My bike time (which included both transitions, this race had no chip timing) was 1:02:45 (rank 45/400). I credit my bike improvement to riding about 40 miles/week extra around campus.

T2 was pretty good. I took my shoes off a little too early in the bike, but that was no big deal. I forgot to take my gloves off while on the back so I had to do that in transition, which was an extra few seconds. After that, I pulled on my shoes, number belt, and watch and headed to the run.

The run went really well - my legs felt great off the bike! First time for that. The 5-mile run was shady, on paved trails behind the Rec-Plex (where the pool was). I passed a ton of people and was passed twice. I started off at what I thought were about 7:00 miles. I felt decent, kept trying to pick up the pace a little. The path had a lot of short up and downs that threw off my pace a bit, and a lot of corners. The race ended before I was ready - I thought the finish was another quarter mile or so away when it came, so I had about a 25 yard kick. Final time was 33:03, 6:53/mile (rank 30).

I ended up 4th in my age group, by 8 seconds. If I would have known where the run finish was I'm pretty confident I could have taken 3rd, but that will have to wait for next season. I was 41st over all, out of 400, so top 10%! My first race I was top half, then top quarter in my second.
Anyway, this was my best race by far. I swam pretty well, biked really well, and ran well. My goal time was 1:51, and I finished in 1:46:43!

Also

My first experience with body markings:

Fast Bike + T1 Training

Hey all-
I went for a short, fast bike ride today, probably averaged 21-22 mph over ten miles (not counting all the stoplights). Then, I practiced my swim to bike transition, which should be really fast. I just have to:
1. Put on my helmet
2. Pull of my shoes
3. GO!
And I have gotten the flying mount worked out, so T1 should be fast for me!
Tomorrow I'm resting, and then I start at 8:01 Sunday morning.
Here is me starting the bike in Cape this past spring. Sunday will be a lot different:
1. New bike
2. Aerobars
3. Water!!! (I can't believe I did that tri without water on the bike...)
4. New shoes
5. No shirt
6. New shorts
7. My own sunglasses (Thanks, Justin!)
8. No gloves
9. Maybe a little form on the bike
10. Infinitely more experience.

One more race!

I was thinking today about how I wished I did one more race this season when I checked the local tri club website and saw there is a race this Sunday in nearby St. Peters. I am going to register tomorrow. It is 500 meter pool swim, 21 mile bike, and 5 mile run.
My last 'longer' sprint was my first tri, this spring. I went 1:47 for 450 meter swim, 15.5 bike, and 5 mile run. If I race perfectly I could probably go about 1:51 for this race.
Wish me luck!

Back in the pool

I did a speed workout today (since Kate called me out on doing no speed work a couple posts ago). After a 400 meter warm up, I swam 12x100 at 2:00/100 with15 seconds rest. Andy: read Horton's repeat 400's red shirt day, only in the pool, and by myself. A 400 cool-down brought me to 2000 meters on the day, a little over a mile. My HR was at about 140 when I got out of the pool, and the workout took a good half hour or so, which is easily the best/most intense pool workout I've done, and got good distance in too. The hot tub for a few minutes afterward felt great as well.

Sunday Run

I went from campus down to the Arch and back, about a 6 mile loop, with my friend Joe earlier today. Joe is a non-runner training for his first half-marathon coming up in a couple months. It was a little warm, but enjoyable. I didn't wear a watch, but we probably did 8:15-8:30 miles. I think I took 3 steps for every 2 of Joe's (he is 6'3" or so), but it was fun.

Quick Bike

Hey all-
Just got done with an easy 20 miler, at about 18 mph. Weather was nice and the ride was pretty easy. St. Louis is not great for biking. It takes about 10 miles to get out past the gridlock of stoplights. The law of conservation of momentum is shot to pieces in downtown St. Louis. Oh well.

This one's for Josie

Hey all-
I've upped my volume since the last time I posted. I am doing longer and longer training sessions to hopefully do either a half or full marathon this winter, and then olympic (maybe half-iron?) distance triathlons next season. My longest training sessions the past couple weeks have been a ten mile run (from 1 PM to 2:30 PM on a hot St. Louis day... thank god for water fountains!), a 30 mile bike, and ~1.3 mile swim (continuous). For those interested, olympic distance is 1.5/40/10k (1/25/6 mi) and half iron 1.9/90/21k (1.2/56/13.1 mi). I think the olympic distance is doable... a half iron might need another season to get that volume.

Back to training

The combination of being away from home for a few weeks (in Libertyville with Julie and then NC with Barb and Dale) and some strange knee pain during/after biking led to a couple weeks of rest for me. Last Thursday I got on the bike again and did a slow ten miles or so, and felt fine. Yesterday I swam about 1000 yards between classes. Today I got out for about 4.5 miles at an easy pace. It was about 95 degrees already at 11:00 a.m. I will decide in the next week or so if I will do the Cape Tri. I might just start building for next season.

Saturday August 11 Run

I went out for an easy 40 minute run today in Libertyville. I picked up Julie from O'hare this morning at 11:30. She just got back from 3 months in Madrid (with visits all over Europe), and seeing her was great. I snuck off to get a run in about 4 p.m., it wasn't too humid and there was lots of shade, all in all enjoyable run. I ran the last ten minutes just slower than what I think my race pace would be, and it was tough.

August 8 Swim

The pool at Loras is closed for unknown reasons, so these were my swimming buddies today at Flora pool adult swim.They actually sent the occasional wave my way which made it seem more like an open water swim. Anyway, I don't know how long the pool is, probably pretty close to 25 yards as it took me 12-13 strokes to cross it, which is about the same as the Loras pool. I probably swam about a mile. I hadn't swam in a week and my arms felt tired pretty quickly. I focused on rolling my shoulders and swimming on my side as much as I could.

August 7 Run - Last day in Clinton

I went for a run today, my last day at the L'arche in Clinton, Iowa. It was really hot and humid again, and I went for about a half hour along the Mississippi. I worked on keeping a high cadence, and counted my cadence at the 10, 20 and 30 minute marks in my run. I was at about 86-88 cycles per minute. I noticed that when I started getting tired I extended my stride and slowed my cadence down, and slowed me down. When I focused on keeping a high cadence, I sped back up even when my legs were feeling tired.
My work with the L'arche went really well, and was extremely rewarding. Here are two of the people I lived with the past four days, David and Brenda.

Bike August 6

I went for a ride in Clinton today. I didn't really want to go, I just woke up from a nap and just felt like going back to sleep. I hit the road anyway, it was very hot and humid. The roads were not so good for biking, pretty rough and lots of stoplights. I went for about 14 miles before I got bored, besides slamming on the brakes multiple times for cars turning in front of me. So I cut off the ride early and headed home. Oh well.

August 5 Run

Went for a run here today in Clinton, IA where I am doing some service work at the L'arche community. I went at about 11:30 A.M. and it was hot and sunny. I went for 45 minutes on a black asphalt bike/run trail along the river. It was nice and slow, but very hot and the wind was in my face on the way back, so that was tough.

August 3 Bike

I got my bike back from the shop after a tune-up yesterday, and was excited to ride today. I hadn't taken it in at all yet, and shifting was getting pretty sticky, so I decided to take it in. Anyway, it felt great today. I rode the same route as on July 31, 21 miles or so, in about 1:15:00. I rode pretty easy the whole way, my legs were feeling tired even as I started. I did have a new experience on the ride, though, when my mind started to wonder while riding uphill. Usually I just think about how much I hate going uphill. Anyway, I thought back to a conversation/argument I had the other week with my friend Joe. I thought that Lance Armstrong (when fit, a year or two ago) could have run a marathon cold, without any extra run training. Joe respectfully disagreed. What do you guys think? I don't have the skillz to make a sweet poll like Kate, so you will just have to comment.

Trail of Tears Goals

Swim Goal: 17:00
I swam 7:45 at Pardeeville, but I'm pretty sure that 'quarter-mile' was pretty short. I can't swim 7:45 in a pool, and open water is generally slower. Anyway, I timed a half-mile today and came through in 17:20. I'd be doing really well to swim 17:00 in open water, but wearing a wetsuit will help, and if I swim my best I could do it.
T1: 1:15
It's hard to have a concrete goal because I don't know how far it is between the beach and the transition. I could drop a ton of time here compared to Pardeeville, though. Depending on how much distance I have to cover, I could probably get through in under 1:15.
Bike: 40:00
The course is described as pretty flat with a few hills. I went too slow on the bike in Pardeeville because I didn't know the course, and I definitely could have gone way faster. If I average ~22 mph on the bike, that will put me at 40-41 minutes. Again, it depends on the course.
T2: 0:45
I should fly though this, especially with a better dismount.
Run: 25:20
I should be able to run 6:15-6:20 miles. I am getting better and better at running off the bike, so I shouldn't have to run the first mile as slow as in Pardeeville. I am also getting more and more confident for the swim and bike, and will probably do some speedwork before the next tri.
Total Time: 1:24:30
Thats exactly 10 minutes faster for 1/4 mile longer swim, and 1 mile longer run. That means I need to drop about 4 minutes between the bike, transitions, and run relative to Pardeeville. I guess we will just wait and see :)

August 2 Swim

Just finished a swim workout today, down at Loras, which could only mean one thing: peanut butter and honey sandwich. Delicious. I started off with 250 warm-up, then a good stretch by the side of the pool, and then a timed half-mile (17:20). The pool was empty, so I took down a lane line to simulate open water a little better and practiced turning, sighting, and accelerating without use of the wall. All in all a good workout, I should have done another 500 or so to get my volume up, but started to cramp which ended my workout prematurely.

August 1 Run

5 mile run today, out Key Way onto Asbury Rd. to St. Anthony's. The first couple miles felt great (after working through a little bike fatigue from yesterday), but around mile three it was getting really hot. I left the house at about 12:30 and it was just under 90. Anyway, I slogged through the last two miles and got a good stretch in at home.
Also, introducing my post-workout recovery food: PB and honey. Delicious every time.

Tuesday July 31 Minibrick

A longish bike and short run today. I went 21 miles on the bike, out to Radford, past Res, and then to the Mines of Spain, turning around at Old Massey, then going past Flora on the way home. It was pretty hot, and I didn't go too hard. I wore Dad's HRM for the first time, and stayed right around 150 bpm. When I got back, I put my bike away and threw on my (new) shoes, and went out and ran for 10 minutes. I felt like I got rid of my bike legs after only 3-4 minutes, and settled into a decent pace at that point. Usually it takes me longer. My HR was about 170 during the short run. I need to figure out what that means and what my max HR is if I am going to train with a HRM.

To Buy list:
1. New tri shorts (or find my old ones)
2. New swimcap (or find my old one)
3. Used, cheap bike trainer
4. Wetsuit
5. Bike Jersey
6. Number belt

July 30 Swim

Swim workout today, at Loras.
200 warm up
12 x 100's, 6-7 effort
200 cool down (lungbusters)
1600 yard total, just under a mile. I went through the 100's between 1:50-1:55.

Also, I finally got a new pair of running shoes, a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline 7. I'll start breaking them in tomorrow.

Tri Blog

Hey all-
I'm going start blogging about my triathlon training and tris in general. I'm envisioning more of a virtual training log than anything else.
Next tri on the schedule: Trail of Tears