5k (ish)

I ran a 5k this morning, put on by the SLU Physical Therapy students (benefiting 'research', the entry form stated). The field was probably about... 30 people. I was aiming for 19 something, and so started off at low 6-minute mile pace, running with a (faster) friend, John. After about 50 yards it was apparent that we would be running alone for first and second the whole race. We went just over 6 for the first mile, and I don't know where the second mile marker was. John got bored of running slowly with me and took off about 12 minutes into the race. I kept a steady pace and ended up finishing in 18:45, fairly comfortably. I used gmaps pedometer because I thought the course was short, and it ended up being exactly 3 miles. The extra .1 mile would add about 40 seconds, my extrapolated 5k time would be about 19:30, which I'm pretty happy with. I ended up winning a 10 dollar certificate to a local bar/restaraunt AND a huge mock-turtleneck bearing that bar/restaurant's name. Sweet. I think I could work as a bouncer, with that shirt hanging around my knees and hands engulfed in the sleeves.

Runnin' the Suburbs

I spent spring break sleeping, eating, and running. It was great. I hadn't run a whole lot since the marathon, but I put in 24 miles or so in Libertyville Tuesday through Saturday. My legs felt really great every day, I think the 11-12 hours of sleep I got every day may have sped recovery.

SBR March Totals

So far in March, I've biked 150 miles, ran 12.5 miles, and swam 3.5 miles. I noticed an interesting relationship among my swim, bike and run mileages:

Let
S = Swim mileage
R = Run mileage
B = Bike mileage

then...

S = S = 3.5 miles
R =~ S^2 = (3.5)*(3.5) = 12.25 miles
B =~ S^4 = (3.5)*(3.5)*(3.5)*(3.5) = 150.06 miles

Basically, if you square my swim distance, you get my run distance. If you take my swim distance to the power of 4 (or run distance squared), you get my bike distance.
The bike distances are so close (only .06 miles apart, or 4 hundredths (.04 %) of a percent different), its scary.
Too bad tomorrow's run/swim workout will throw this whole relationship out the window...

Bike Races

I tried my hand at pure cycling this weekend with a 25 mile road race Saturday at Mizzou, and a crit today at Lindenwood University, about 30 miles from SLU. It was quite an experience. Bike races are much different than running road races, or triathlons. There is no timing. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you ride, everything is relative to your position. There isn't really a concept of a PR, except maybe your best finish. You work along with other racers much more than in tris or running. The pace changes so much. You can be coasting in the pack one second, and the next second sprinting to avoid getting dropped. It was a very different experience, but really pretty enjoyable.
Anyway, here are some 'race reports':

Road Race:
Saturday was really cold. About 22 degrees at race time. It was my first race, so I rode collegiate 'D' level - the equivalent of Cat 5, probably. There were about 70 riders for the D's. Registration was super slow, and no one got a chance to warm up. The first 5 miles or so ended up being a warm up. At about 6 miles, there were two really steep hills (walls) with about 1/2 mile of false flat (A section of road that looks level, but is actually slightly uphill) after that. I was about 20 riders back at this point. The first ten picked up the pace on the hills/false flat, and most of the ten riders in front of my dropped. I got through the hills fine, but found myself alone trying to bridge ~30 meters up to the lead group on the false flat. I wasn't able to catch them, and coasted to pick up 4 riders behind me (including a teammate). We formed a pace line and put a gap between us and another group behind us, but didn't make up much ground on the lead pack. Our group of 5 broke up on the hills on the next lap, and my teammate and I worked together the last 6 miles or so to finish 15 and 16 overall. I was pretty happy with the finish. It was pretty hard, I had never biked like that before.

Crit:
Sunday was about 10 degrees warmer than Saturday, but still pretty cold. The field was a lot smaller, about 40 riders. The field spread out a ton right off the start. There are a lot of inexperienced riders (myself included) and it was hard to stay with the lead group through the many riders and turns for the first few laps. I again found myself with about 5 other riders for the majority of the 30 minutes + 5 (1 mile) lap race. It took a while for me to warm up and get some of the soreness out of my legs, but I really rode hard and picked off 8-9 riders the last 5 laps to finish 13th. I was pretty spent and felt like I left everything on the road/ I was happy with my finish, considering I am in no shape for crits. I have been doing only long, slow rides all spring. A crit involves a ton of sprinting. I felt like I had trained for a marathon to show up for a 5k. I am not a very good rider technically, usually losing speed on turns (that I made up for on the 1/3 mile hill on the topside of the course).
The rest of the team did really well- our C riders took 1 and 2 in the road race, and the road race champion repeated in the crit today in a photo finish.

One Year

A week ago today was the one year anniversary of the day Julie and I started dating. After going to the farmers market together in the morning, I wooed her by making her dinner: the grilled salmon Kate gave me a recipe for last Christmas (thanks Kate!). To celebrate, we continued our streak of culinary exploration and made a Salt-Roasted pork tenderloin. I had found the recipe in a magazine the day before. Essentially, you cover a seared tenderloin with 6 pounds of salt and some rosemary and roast it for a half hour.

I was a little confused at first.

But even more confused after burying the pork (and fingerling potatoes) in the salt/rosemary combo.

Soon, the kitchen started to smell great, and the pork was pretty much done.

Julie sometimes goes crazy when shes hungry, but I think this one was mostly excitement.
I guess I don't have a picture of the finished product, but to be honest, it didn't look like much. However, the taste and texture was really good. It was extremely tender and infused with rosemary, and not salty at all (you brush the salt off the meat before serving). Apparently, the salt just seals everything while it bakes. Anyway, it was delicious, and I'll make it again.
As far as training goes, it was a beautiful weekend. I logged 65 miles or so on the bike yesterday and today. Yesterday I went pretty hard and felt strong over the whole ride, which was pretty hilly. Today I was a little tired and just cruised. Either way, it was great being outside in 65 (yesterday) and 75 (today) degree weather. Unfortunately, tomorrow is looking like a 45 degree drop and some ice. Oh well.
Finally, I wanted to share my latest addition to my arsenal of cycling gear: wind-proof gloves.

Duct tape is a great sealant. I estimate that my hand are about 75% warmer on cold rides. Next to the wind-gloves are the aforementioned gas station gloves.