Intensity phase – HARD tempo–Nailed it!

Starting the intensity phase of the training plan always sends shivers down my spine.  Now, I don’t mind quarter mile repeats (short and sweet) but the half miles are killers.  And the tempos – they are tough - in fact the toughest.  So today when I was walking to the gym I had some self doubts.  I needed to run 6 miles at a 6:30 pace.  That would be 39:00 minutes.

This would be tough for a training run.  I walked out to the trace with Vic.  He would be running his own pace but it is out and back.  He was going to run out for 19 and half minutes and then head back.   The pace was challenging from the beginning.  I wanted to give up at miles 2, 4 and 5.  This was a hard effort.  This was not a comfortably hard effort.  This was not a conversational pace.  This was HARD.  This was tough.  I wanted to stop. 

On the back portion of the out and back it is easier.  My heart rate did not indicate that it was easier but it felt easier.  I could see Vic a mile ahead of me.  I kept him in my sights.  This pushed me.  I would not stop.  I did not catch him but I did achieve my goal.  I finished in 39:07 with an average pace of 6:31 per mile.  I felt better and stronger than I did in last weekends Steam Whistle 12k. 

I am stoked after this run.  Next weeks tempo (Thursday) is 10 @ 6:50.  I can do this. 

I will prove the running calculators wrong (they say I am not fast enough for a sub-3 marathon).

2011 Steam Whistle 12k Race Report.

The storms came in the night before.  The race was planned for 9AM but we had to postpone it until noon.   Fortunately the storm passed through town and it brought cooler temperatures. 

The race started promptly at noon.  Per normal, I started out too quickly.  I was in fourth place for the first mile but the top three were pulling away.  However, Terry soon passed me and he also started pulling away from me.

This is a hard 12k race.  The first half is slightly up hill.  I was hurting the entire out portion of the race.  My legs were hurting.  I could not wait for the turn around.  Although the effort was still hard the race felt easier on the return.  Mentally this race was hard on me.  I ran the entire race solo – I was in no man’s land (and there was some wind in the way out).  I did not have anyone to pace off.  In addition, the races that were ahead of me were just too fast.  I was not able to reel them in at all.  I knew that there were two racers about 30 seconds behind me and that kept me going.

Half way.

I was able to get a PR for the race by finishing the 12k in 49:19 (6:36 pace).  Last year was 49:38 (6:39 pace).  Of course I am pleased with a PR but I was really expecting more.  I have a lot of trouble at these shorter races (7.45 miles).  In comparison I was able to drop 2 minutes from my half marathon PR from last year (that is 9 seconds per mile).  But this race I only dropped 19 seconds.  A half marathon is only 9 more kilometers.  I wanted to drop somewhere around 12 seconds not a messily 3 seconds.  I finished 5th overall (6th last year) and 2nd in my age group (last year I got first).  I was able to maintain my place through the race.

Smaller pinecone this year.

Still, I am pleased that the PR streak continues.  I have another chance to test the waters next weekend at the First Light Half marathon in Mobile.

TRX planks and Happy New Year

The Steam Whistle 12K has been rain delayed until noon.  I drove down to Jackson Station and put up some postponed signs early this morning – I have been up a while.  However, it looks like the storms have passed and they have brought cooler weather.  The race conditions are starting to look favorable.

I have always kept abdominal exercises in my strength training plan.  I have down the P90X abs cruncher routines and they are challenging.  When it comes to planks I am pretty good.  I can do several sets and hold them for about 90 seconds or so.  They really light up the core.  Since I have been playing with the TRX I have been humbled regarding my core strength.  With the unstabilizing nature of the TRX all of my strength goes out the door.  Take a look (I realize that my butt is too high – something I need to work on).

Volume DOWN / Intensity UP–Steam Whistle Race Strategy

I went for the first bike ride in a couple of months on Tuesday.  The temperature was in the high 40’s.  Having not even really ridden the trainer or anything I was in for a wake call.  The pace was not blistering but I could really tell that my form was off.

The four of us got off of the trace and hit the biggest hills around (still not much).  There were a few surges but also nothing to write home about.  However, I could really feel the fatigue in my legs.  I never took a pull.  I never surged ahead.  I just stayed in the draft.   I enjoyed the ride but it reminded my of how far off my bike gets in the winter.  After about 35 miles I started to get cold – my feet and hands were hurting.  I also started to think a lot about food.  This is never a good sign.  I was fantasizing about a big hot bowl of soup.  I could almost taste it.  Sam also started to talk about food.  When we stopped for water he called ahead home to have a couple of pizzas put in the oven and some hot soup on the stove.  I went over to his house after the ride and chowed down.  Then I warmed up next to the fireplace.  It was a good end to a cold bike ride.  There is a big hilly bike ride on Thursday but I don't think it would fit into the training plan (I'm just not up for it).

If you remember, a few posts back I talked about how many bike rides you can have while training for a marathon PR – the answer was zero.  So what was I doing?  Well, the BIG volume portion of my training plan has come to an end.  I was able to point together a couple of 70 mile weeks and now I move into the intensity phase of the program. 

The program will switch from the high volume comfortable pace portion to a FIRST (Furman Institute) high intensity phase.  There will be 3 challenging runs each week consisting of hard intervals, hard tempos, and long runs at marathon or near marathon pace.

I did the first short run I have done in a while.  It was actually shorter than I had intended.  I want to run 5 miles at sub 6:30 pace (7 miles total with a mile warm up and a mile cool down).  When running at intensity I tend to run by pace and not heart rate or feel – just by pace.  This has been slapping me in the face the past couple of runs.  This intensity is really testing me – I should be able to run these paces but they have been putting me on the ropes.  My running course is slightly uphill for about 6 miles.  This is what has been putting it to me.  So this faster run today was cut short.  I did the warm up mile at 7:30ish and then picked up the pace.  I ran the first mile and turned around.  The mile was at 6:29 pace but felt much too hard to continue an additional mile and half before turning around.  However, the next two miles, after having turned back, were much faster (and slightly easier).  These next two miles clicked off in the high 6-teens (like 18 and 19).  I need to be a little smarter when doing these run.  I need to get the necessary mileage without blowing up.



This course that I run is also part of the Steam Whistle 12K that will be taking place on the first.  Looking at last years race I averaged 6:39 pace.  The first two miles were 6:34 / 6:35.  Then it looks like I blew up a little – the next two miles were 6:49 / 6:54.  Then the turn around and running slightly down hill brought the rest of the miles at 6:40 or less with the fastest being 6:31.  Knowing that the race is faster on the ‘back’ portion I need to settle on a hard effort on the out and really push the pace on the back.  I’m not looking forward to the intensity but I am looking for a PR.

New Year 2010 and Steam Whistle Race Report.

Closing out 2009 – This was a year of many firsts. I stepped into the deep end and signed up for my first ½ ironman as well as my first full ironman. I enjoyed the experience of both races. I also increased my volume in all three disciplines – the swim / bike / run. While increasing my volume I was able to achieve a Personal Best in almost all of my races (actually all of my races except for the Jazz Half Marathon – I ran this race for fun). I believe that this is typical of your third year in endurance sports. I am hoping to continue this trend by dipping into my ironman base.


Races in 2009:

Run for Love 5K – 19:19 PR
St. Thomas Irish Italian 5K – 19:09 PR
April Fool’s Duathlon – PR – 57:07 ***
70.3 New Orleans – 5:30 PR ***
Heatwave Triathlon – 2:09 PR (by 5 minutes)
Dragonfly Triathlon – 1:36 PR ***
Sunfish Triathlon – 1:17 PR (by 6 minutes)
Heart O’Dixie Triathlon – 2:13 PR (by 10 minutes)
Ironman Louisville – PR – 11:18 ***

Jazz Half Marathon – 1:40 (NO PR)
Baton Rouge Beach Half Marathon- 1:37:07 PR (by 8 seconds)
Ole Man River Half Marathon – PR – 1:33:53 PR (by 4 + minutes)
*** First time at this distance

2009 Totals –

Bike:        4459.58 Mi - 249h 19m 14s Pace: 17.88 Mi/hr
Run:         1023.25 Mi - 148h 28m 31s Pace: 08m 38s Mi
Swim:  231014.00 Yd -   76h 31m 30s Pace: 01m 59s /100 YdAvg

As you can see in the chart below – my volume for October and November really dropped off of the map. I did not meet any of my mileage goals for the year (5000 bike / 1200 run / 300,000 swim) but I count this year as a huge success!  On a side note, last month was my biggest running month for the year – I guess that is what happens when you shift to a running based goal (to BQ at the Mardi Gras Marathon).

Now onto The Steam Whistle 12K New Year’s Day race.

This race is on the trace just out my back door.  Jodie and I rode our bikes down to Jackson Station and picked up our race packets.  I programmed my GPS watch to run at a 6:40 minute / mile pace. This would be a reach for me. Last week I ran a strong 4 mile tempo run with the last 3 miles being at 6:40 pace. I though that in race conditions I could, maybe, push this pace and last for the entire 12K (7.45 miles). This would be tough. It was a cold morning lining up at Jackson Station and we were all anxious to run. I spoke with Steve C. before the race and hoped that I could pace off of him. He was not sure of the pace that he would be running. I stuck to my plan and ran off of the ‘virtual partner’. He was set for exactly 6:40 minutes per mile which should allow for me to finish the race at just under 50 minutes. This would be my Gold Medal goal for the race.

First the first 2 K’s I was in fourth place – first and second being way out in front and pulling away fast. I was running a little too fast and quickly got about 180 feet ahead of the ‘virtual partner’. This guy just goes out too slow – or maybe I was a little too fast. I tried to slow down just a little bit and run even pace. I was slowing during the middle part of the race – Terry and Robin paced me easily. They were just doing a ‘training run’. They passed me easily. I was able to pick up the pace towards the end of the run and achieve my goal time. I finished the race in 49:38 with an average pace of 6:39. I met my goal and I am going to continue to try to race myself to a Boston Qualifying Time of 3:14:59 (7:28 minutes / mile pace). I ran this race hard with an average heart rate of 181. I ended up finishing 6th out of 97 and first in my age group. Everyone that beat me was years older (8 of the top 10 were older than 42). These guys were always fast and have just gotten older.  After helping clean up and getting Jim's truck unstuck (a huge effort by many pine belt pacers) - Jim and I decided to get a few more miles under our belts.  We got another 4.6 miles to end up with just over 12 miles for the day.