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.

Caloric Estimate

According to some online activity charts, I will burn roughly 4000-4500 calories during a half-iron race. For those keeping track, thats 45 Gu packets.
Anyone up for Famous Dave's after the race?

6 Months to Pigman

It was just about a year ago that I decided to do my first triathlon. During and after my ride yesterday, I thought about how much I have accomplished since then:

1. Swimming. A year ago, I couldn't swim a length without stopping. That is 25 yards. I would watch people who could go back and forth with envy. Now, though not particularly fast, I'm able to swim fairly efficiently. I've logged close to 5 miles in the pool just this month, with 40 minute workouts usually covering over a mile.

2. Cycling. I hadn't owned a bike since the Huffy Mom & Dad got me for my birthday when I was... 9 (I also recall Andy somehow destroying one of the wheels on it). My biking memories were mainly comprised of hating the one day each cross country season when Horton would have us bike ~7 miles instead of running. That workout always killed my legs. Yesterday, I actually enjoyed riding ~60 miles, and feel fine today.

3. Running. Well... I'm not very fast anymore. It was hard for me to keep in 5k shape without a team to run workouts with and to push the pace. However, I have definitely found new life in the realm of endurance running. Running a marathon was something I never thought I would do.

It's now exactly 6 months until the Pigman Half-Ironman. I've thought a lot about the race, from the individual legs, the race as a whole, transitions, nutrition... There are many things that go into a ~5.5 hour race. On the whole, I feel really confident. I can do each leg individually right now. 6 months gives me a lot of time to work on putting them all together, as well as the nutrition and hydration that goes along with that.

Anyway, I have 6 more weeks of 'pre-base' base training before I start the base training of a 20 week half program I plan on loosely following. I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Cold bike ride

Hey all-
I did my longest ride ever today, in the coldest weather ever. It was right about 30 degrees, and I put in ~60 miles with a couple other guys from the cycling club. It wasn't too bad, we took it pretty easy, but there were some good rollers and one big hill about 40 miles in that took their toll. I also bought some sweet $2 gloves at a gas station. They are bright yellow. Lookout.

SNOW DAY and January totals

FIRST COLLEGE SNOW DAY!!! We got ~5 to 6 inches last night. How exciting. It is hard to believe it hit 70 this weekend. Of course, the same day that 70 was the high, 16 was the low (54 degree change, anyone?) On the agenda for today: finishing season 2 of The Office (I just started from the beginning), going for a swim and enjoying the hot tub, playing outside, maybe walking to the store to restock the food supply, which is rapidly dwindling.
I've started to log my workouts a little better. My January totals are as follows (Keep in mind, I tapered for and ran a marathon, and then took a couple weeks off):
Total Miles:
Bike Run Swim
71 50.7 1.62

It's Official!

August 17th!

Back on the Bike

Hey all-
I got my first real workouts in this weekend in some beautiful winter St. Louis weather. Yesterday, I did just under 30 miles in the sunny, windy, and 50 degree weather. Today, I did 31 slightly warmer and less windy miles. I got to use all of my new gear (leg warmers, booties, bib, new bottle/cage, sunglasses). Everything was delicious.

Marathon Report

Here is the much anticipated report:
I got into Mobile Friday night and checked into the hotel, then went for an 20 minute job. Our group grabbed dinner and went to bed early. In the morning, two other runners and I foraged for food in downtown Mobile, and settled upon a great little southern diner. I enjoyed grits with my french toast. We walked around town a bit, then set out to drive the race course. 26.2 miles is a long time. It took a full hour to drive. The course was very flat, with one mile-long section of small rolling hills and a monster hill at mile 17. Of course, neither looked too intimidating in the van. We went to the pre-race meal at a nearby museum, and I carbo-loaded before helping with the dinner. (Sidenote: one of my friend's dad was the race director, and many people in our group were there as volunteers). After dinner, I got all my stuff ready for the morning and got to bed.
I slept pretty well, from 10 PM to about 5:30 AM, giving me 2 hours before the 7:30 start time. I ate some toast and applesauce and showered, relaxed for a while before getting dressed for the race. I wore a new running top and my old Wahlert CC shorts. It was a bit over 40 degrees at the start. You wouldn't believe how much clothes some of the southerners were wearing! Many runners wore plastic trash bags to start, and almost everyone wore at sleeves, gloves, and usually a hat. I was probably one of the least dressed, and it wasn't even cold. Anyway, before I knew it, it was time to start. I walked down to the start with about 1000 other runners, and soon the gun went off.
The weather was perfect to start, and my hands were just a bit chilly for the first few miles. My plan was to just run comfortably, and I thought I would do about 8:15 miles. I went through the first mile just under 8, the second mile at 8, and the third. I started talking to another runner, Dave, an Air Force pilot from Florida, at about mile three, and ran with him for the next ten miles. I ate my first Gu at mile 5 and alternated water and sports drink at the water stops.
I went through the first half right at 8 minute mile pace, 1:45. Dave dropped off at this point, but I caught up with him at the finish and he ended up with a PR. I had caught up to Justin (3:39:39), Bess (3:36, and a first-time Boston Qualification!), and Charlie (who didn't have his best race) and ran with them for a while. At about mile 15 things started to hurt. My quads were starting to hurt after feeling great the first 13.1. At mile 17, the hill struck, and I lost Justin, Bess and Charlie. I was really hurting after the hill, and walked at the next water stop to suck down two cups of sports drink and a cup of water. I got back to a pretty decent pace after that hill, but was really struggling. I was getting hungry, especially after my last Gu at mile 20 or so. I walked every water stop and had as much sports drink as possible, as well as the random orange slice or any food available. One person even had whole peeled Clementines for the runners. I slogged through miles 20-24 going on fumes. A little after mile 24 I hit the wall. It didn't hurt so much as I was just out of energy. I did my best to keep shuffling my feet, but I could tell I was pretty much zapped. The race wasn't chip timed so I don't know those splits, but they were 9:30 minute miles at best. I started to get a bit dizzy and a little lightheaded in those last couple miles at well, but I kept going. Suddenly I recognized where I was, I saw a shop we had stopped at the day before, and I knew I only had about 6 blocks left. I started to pick my feet up for my final effort. Then my calves started to cramp. I pointed my toes to the sky and ran as best I could. I honestly don't really remember the last 200 yards or so, except someone gave my a unshelled peanut (which I held between my teeth and one of my friends got a picture of), and there were some dancing girls in vibrant mardi gras gowns dancing near the finish line. I thought I was hallucinating. I got my arms up because someone told me there was a finish-line photographer. Final time: 3:40:49, 8:26 pace. My goal time was 3:50, and I didn't do a long training run faster than 9 minute pace. I took an early exit from the chute into the arms of my friend Kara who ushered my into a nearby chair, where I instantly ate 3-4 bagels and drank as much sports drink as I could hold. I sat for about a half hour, then shuffled to the post race meal and got a post-race beer (sorry Mom and Dad, but I hear its a good recovery drink, and I think I earned it). I headed back to the hotel and sat in bed for almost the rest of the day.
Post race: I was extremely sore for the next 4-5 days. My left knee was swollen and sore for about a week. My legs were pretty much shot. I discovered that walked down stairs backwards is much less painful than the convention, front facing method.
All in all, it was a great race for me. I look forward to doing another someday, though I think my next goal will be a half-ironman finish.

Time for a new flash game

I beat my latest/favorite flash game, called 'fishy' or something like that. I liked it because of the possibility for exponential growth once you hit a critical size. Tonight I hit the critical size. Here are the results:


The small fish surrounded by red and superimposed on the large fish is my original size. I'm very proud of my accomplishment.

Brrr!

I stupidly decided to run today. It was 18 degrees with 20 mph winds (wind chill of -4). I hadn't run in the past couple days so I decided to bundle up and head out. The first mile or so was really cold, I really wanted to turn around and head back. However, as soon as I turned onto Radford Rd. I was out of the wind until the last mile. I did the Res loop which I just mapped on Gmaps pedometer to be 5.001 miles.
I tried out my new toy today as well, a running belt.

I recently found out there was only going to be water on the marathon course, no gels or gatorade. I guess thats what you get for a 35 dollar entry fee.

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.