You’ve got mail–Big Block Running Volume

I got an email from Ginny at Happy Feet 26.2 inquiring about some big volume blocks that I did last year.  I have run with Ginny may times over the past couple of years.  She is a good friend.  Ginny also does a heck of a lot of volume herself and she went to Boston last year.

Hello James,

I am working on my training for Snickers in March.  It will obviously be a shortened program because of Huntsville [Ginny just did the Rocket City Marathon].  I am not worried about the shortened program at all, because I think I have maintained my fitness and will come back fast.  Just trying not to, come back too fast.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the workout you did, something like 15, 15, 15 in 3 days, or something similar.  First, do you think that helped you in your training?  When did you do this in relation to your race date?  I'm always looking for new things to try, and love some variety.  With the high mileage that I ran before Huntsville, I think I would be up for something similar this time.  In the past, I would not have attempted it for fear of injury, but now I feel my mileage has been, and will be, high enough to give it a try.

Please share what you can with me about it, or any other  things you feel "really worked well" for you in training.

I will continue with tempos, intervals, and long runs, but just looking to mix things up a little.

My reply:

Hey Ginny -

I got idea from hearing something about increasing your mileage for running an ultra.  Most ultra runners do not do many long runs longer than what we do for marathon training they just do more back to back mileage.  Since I have time off over the holidays I decided to get some major volume blocks.  I thank I got 3 blocks of right at 50 miles [15 – 15 – 20].  This was all LSD type running – I mean completely conversational comfortable running pace.

I can’t really say if it helped me in my marathons but it certainly did allow for me to adapt to running on tired / fatigued legs.  In fact, I just finished up a couple of more large running blocks.  I had two 6 day blocks that just kissed 70 miles.  Just this week I have decided to shut down the high volume with 6 weeks left before my A race marathon.  Now I will be concentrating on much more intensity.  It will be 3 challenging runs each week – intervals, tempo and long run at marathon or near marathon pace. 

If you do a block of high volume I think you have to shut down the intensity.  If you do speed and volume I think you are asking for trouble.

James – See you at the Steam Whistle 12K

I think the large blocks have helped in my running.  They have allowed for me to adapt to running on fatigued legs. 
My belief is that running with the tired legs should allow for you to push the wall further back in a race.  When I ran the Mardi Gras marathon last year I did not hit the wall – sure the race got harder (much harder) around mile 22 / 23 but I was able to maintain pace – or enough of my pace to reach my goal.  The race was pretty evenly split (1:34:00 / 1:34:44).  This year’s race is going to be very difficult and I hope that my extra volume blocks will push that wall back even further – I’m trying to push it back somewhere in the vicinity of mile 27.

You can see the traces of the wall just after mile 20

(you also turned into a head wind at about mile 23 – nice).

Projected 2011 Mardi Gras Marathon – NO WALL.

A quick disclaimer:  I get the holidays off from work.  This lets me recover fully from this high volume blocks of running.  In truth, I really needed down time last year when I ran big blocks.  I would take an ice bath while sipping a recovery shake.  Then maybe even a nap.  This year I have run the high volume faster and the recovery has bee much easier.  Your mileage may vary. 

Mighty Magnolia Pre-Race Ride

I sent out a broadcast email to see if anyone wanted to meet on Saturday morning to ride the Mighty Magnolia Course (and maybe get a swim). We would get to the race site at 7AM. The race takes place in an undeveloped subdivision on the west side of town. I was surprised to see all of the cars when I got there.


There were between 30 and 40 of us starting out on the course (16.5 miles). We were going to ride the first loop at a nice warm up pace and then hammer the second loop. We started out slow but, per normal, the pace picked up a little bit. Both loops ended up being at about the same pace. The B-team turned out in near full force. It was nice to touch base with JD after successfully completing the Redman last weekend. I had also not been on a ride with Lance or Dan in a while. I see Raland a couple of times a week at Adult Swim and on the bike.

After the two loops there were a few of us going for a swim. The water felt cool – about 79 – 80 degrees. If legal I would definitely wear a wetsuit but once you were swimming the lake felt great. It was near perfect temperature for racing.

After the ride / swim many of the same people met up to stuff the race packets for next weekend. We stuffed 390 packets! With 10 or so people the work was done in about an hour. This is where just having bodies’ helps so much.

After packet stuffing Jodie and I went to the October Fest. We met up with some friends from the university. I ate a bit and had one (1) beer – that was it. Later at home we ate some dinner and planned on watching a movie. I had been wearing my contacts all day and had a slight headache. I almost never feel bad but wearing contacts for too long is something that affects me. I usually only wear contacts when I exercise and then take them out for the rest of the day.

I looked in the medicine cabinet for something. I found some generic pain reliever and popped a few. Funny thing is that I did not realize that these were PM type pain relievers (pm = pain medication – nope). Well, we put in the movie around 7PM – I was out cold by 7:30PM. Jodie figured out what I had done and sent me to bed. I was a little grouchy from trying to stay awake.

I got up at 6AM for a total of 11 hours of sleep. I probably needed it.

Last weekend I rode 50 miles on Saturday, ran 14 miles on Sunday and rode another 30 something on Sunday afternoon. It was good fun but I took forever to recover from the weekend. I was run down the first half of the week. What good is working out if you can’t come back bigger and better? So I was going to run shorter (but faster) this Sunday. I decided to do my normal base building pace (right around 8 minutes per mile) but run a couple in the middle faster. So I ended up with only 6 miles but miles 2, 3 and 6 were at a 6:30 minute per mile pace. The cooler temperatures helped. I am going to start throwing in tempo runs more often. Sunday afternoon I would miss the group ride due to setting up the racks for next weekend’s race.

Unscheduled recovery week

After this weekend’s big bike volume this week has turned into a kind of an unscheduled recovery week. I took a couple days off for the legs. They were shot. I also had to work some late hours that did not allow for an early morning workout. And just yesterday I had to miss a lunch swim do to work constraints. For the week I still got a good tempo run and a good bike interval workout and a good open water swim but the volume has been much less than previous weeks. However, I am listening to my body more. I am training smarter.

There is another race this weekend and it seems as if half of Hattiesburg is racing. The Crawfishman is a great race with wonderful food and drink. It is also within driving distance so you do not have to stay the night in a hotel. Besides, I doubt that there is anywhere to stay in Bush, LA.

I have been encouraged to do this race for the past 3 years but I have just been unable to get it on the race calendar. I checked the online registration this week and it is closed. But, I would not have done the race anyway.

This is for another topic regarding peaking and retaining the peak for racing, but I don’t think I could put together a stellar performance.

I raced a lot of races last year and I enjoyed every minute of it. However, there were one or two races that I was not at my best. I look back on those races and although I gained knowledge from the experience and enjoyed the camaraderie I was just not able to perform to the best of my ability.  I still might ride down for the race to be the official Hattiesburg photographer.

Recovery after a hard weekend.

On Monday my legs were shot! I took the morning off- It was planned. I really did not sleep in I just did not jump on the trainer. Lunchtime would be in the pool.


The pool was a little crowded – not much but Chad and I had to share a lane. I am fortunate that I rarely have to share lanes. There just are not than many swimmers at lunch. So Chad and I decided to swim in a circular fashion.

We played a game where I would start first and he would be right behind me. Now I am not a blaze in the pool but I am a little faster than Chad. The game was that we would stop the set whenever I caught him. I was not sure how many laps this would take.

The game forced me to pick up the pace. I was swimming at a good effort but my stroke count increased. I tried to keep the strokes at 17 while maintaining speed. I was able to catch him after 7 laps (6 laps for Chad). We played this game 3 times.

After this game I did some 100 yard repeats – fast. The first two were great and I was coming in about 5 seconds faster than normal. I think I can chalk some of that time to the fast paced ‘warm-up.’ But after that the times fell back into the usual range. The swim felt strong.

The Fitness Assessment results were posted. I was pleased with the results except for that dang agility test. Among all men I ranked 2nd in flexibility, 3rd in sit-ups, 4th in pushups and 20th in the shuffle run. Overall I was 5th. Richard was ranked 10th and Vic was ranked 15th. We had a good showing.

Due to the taper the STADIUMS have been cancelled for this week.

Adding reps to the Pump and Run

At the start of the week I got back in the pool. Counting strokes and working on efficiencies is making swimming easier than ever. I am not adding much speed but the effort is reduced – and I am not losing any speed.

I also retested the 70% body weight bench press for the Pump and Run competition. After last weeks math snafu (I added too much weight – around 87% but thought that it was 70%) I wanted to see an increase in reps. The work out zone was empty so I did not have a spotter but considering the light weight I would be okay.

The bar did feel light this time and I decided to work a plan. I did a brief pause at every 10 reps. I took just an extra second at the top of the lift. Ten reps went by easily. Then twenty reps - no problems. The last time that I truly tested this weight range I got 36 – which was up from 32 two weeks prior. This time I blew through the 30’s. I was hoping for 40 reps but I was unstoppable. I ended up with 50 reps – the last one was difficult but with a spotter I could have muscled up one or two more.

Now for the math – 50 reps X 20 = 1000 seconds. That is 16:40 deducted from my 5k time. If I can put up another 10 reps then I do believe that I will be into the negatives. But, anther 10 reps are a long way to go.

KC asked me what kind of recovery shakes I like to drink. To be honest I usually don’t drink anything but prefer to have a meal. On the weekends when I am home that meal is almost always a big bowl of oatmeal with a huge dollop of peanut butter. I know you are supposed to have simple sugars and stuff after hard cardio sessions but I simply enjoy the real food.

Now, if I have a truly hard session I will make a shake to get some quick calories and this past Friday was one of those occasions. With the Ryders sunglasses KC had also sent me some GU BREW recovery powder. This powder claims that it has “the best protein, the most amino acids, optimal carb blend, essential vitamins and GU’ great mellow taste.” I am not sure about all of that but I it was pretty damn good.

I did, however, mix it up (pun intended) with a whole bunch of crushed ice and about 2 cups of Almond Milk. The vanilla almond milk mixed with the strawberry watermelon GU BREW was fantastic. With the ice and almond milk I go two shakes out of the mix which I drank over the next 30 minutes. After that I had my normal oatmeal concoction.

I can’t comment scientifically on whether the recovery aspects of the shake helped any more than real food but the drinkability was right on.

No SWIM for you!

I got back to work today –not real excited about swimming but ready to get back in the pool none the less and guess what? The fitness center here at the university was closed. The heating is broken and the center will not open back up until Thursday. Bummer – I was planning on getting back to the swim. It has been freezing here in Mississippi (actually in the 30’s – I know it is not that cold – I did live near Chicago for a dozen or so years so I do know the cold). The pool is going to be a block of ice! I think I will have to bring my wetsuit.

With no fitness center – what was I to do? Jim wanted to go for a run at lunch but I am trying to be smarter than usual and I said “No way” to the run. My legs feel fine but I know that the recovery time is when you make your gains. I really want to bank some of the “Holiday Running Camp” miles. I did get a few body weight exercises done in my office. A couple of my co-workers joined in – it was just 3 sets of 30 pushups / squats (super set) with 1 minute of recovery. That does not sound like much does it? It was tough and none of us completed the pushups. To be fair these were REAL pushups – controlled and slow. But still – we all should have been able to nail these.

It was also nice to see the bulletin board wiped clean and several people had already updated their weights. There are lots of unhappy people this time of year - I know because I am usually one of them. It is always back to the grindstone. As they say – you can manage what you measure!

I am looking forward to my body mass getting back into line. I have been doing very well with eating health and enjoying the results. I brought 5 lunches and 10 snacks to work and I will follow through. I have also started the diet log once again. I was even tempted to start a diet photo log - take a picture of everything that you eat. That is real motivation - it is a lot harder to put some crappy food in your mouth if you have to show everyone exactly what you are eating. I'm not sold on the idea yet but it will be put into place if necessary (you will have to put up with the boring pictures if I go this route).

Planning stages

After the bike ride yesterday I did end up taking the rest of the day off. I am still trying to be smart and what is the point of ‘two-a-days’ if you do not have an objective. I am sure this thinking will go to the way side next week – but…

This morning I got in a nice and easy 5 mile run. Even though the humidity was high I really enjoyed the run. My rate of perceived exertion has dropped considerably but my heart rate is still just a little high. It was hard keeping it in my cruise / auto-pilot mode. I clicked off 5 miles at just over an 8 minute per mile pace – the pace crept up a little during the last mile – I ran into a neighbor out on the trace and we chatted for a bit at about 8:30 pace. No problems – just a good solid easy run with no aches, pains or difficulties.

I have been thinking about the upcoming season a lot and I really want to approach things the right way. I really want to fine tune my objectives, create a plan and then execute. I believe that next year can be special if I just plan it out. Here are some of the questions I will be asking myself:

1. What do I really want to accomplish?
2. When do I want to reach my goal?
3. Is my goal realistic for me?
4. What am I willing to do (or give up) to successfully accomplish this goal?

These will be important in the coming months. Too often I will create an amalgamation in my mind and want everything – I will recall when I was the strongest, the leanest, the fastest, etc and think that it is possible to achieve all of these metrics simultaneously. Obviously this is not possible but for whatever reason I tend to hold myself to those goals. I should do much better if I truly concentrate on one goal and apply all of my resources to said goal. I am excited about the coming year!

Recovery feels like a four letter word.

I’m still taking it easy which equals boring! I only did some minor weight training in the gym to reinforce how weak I am – I’m really not down I’m just a little out of my element right now.

I’m ready to jump full force into a new challenge and I am waiting patiently for my body to completely catch up with me. Looking at the big picture – I am willing to ‘sacrifice‘ a few days this week so that I will be whole for the coming training.

Patience grasshopper.

Taking it easy today!

So Monday ended up being a 5 mile run for breakfast and a 4 mile run for lunch – then a little strength training. The runs felt pretty good. I still need to recover a little more before I can jump back into serious training. It is hard for me but I think that I need to take the advice from fellow bloggers Amanda and Missy and sit out for a little while. I understand these things logically but it is so much easier for me to train hard than train smart.

So I slept in this morning – it was hard knowing that there was a group ride outside – Since I live on the trace the group ride literally rides right by my back yard. I would have liked to be out there just chewing the fat and all – there will not be many early morning group rides left this year. The minutes are already ticking away. But, back to recovery – I going to make this a truly easy week and then re-evaluate. At this point there is no way that I can jump into marathon training – not the FIRST program anyway. I think Week 1 / Day 1 is almost out of reach and the plan just escalates from there.

This marathon training plan will be physically and mentally challenging. I am looking forward to it but I do have a little bit if fear. That little bit of fear always seems to motivate me to do better. I like these goals to be just out of reach.

Taking it easy today!

Getting back to the run...

Okay – it’s been two weeks since the big race. I am just about recovered – I still don’t have a top end but everything else seems to be firing. So, now it is time to stop flapping in the breeze and start to lay down the ground work for next season. First I need to solidify my goals. They seem to be run dominate right now which is a good thing – I would really like for my run to come around like my bike and swim (don’t get me wrong – I need the bike and swim to continue to improve but the run needs a kick start). I got literally chased down on a couple of runs this year in triathlons. I watched Mike and Robin pull away from me in the Heat Wave and if the Sunfish would have been a 2 mile run and not a 5k I would have had Robin.

So the big goals are a sub-19 minute 5K sometime early next year – the races that are easiest to PR are the ones on the Longleaf Trace in February and March (Run for Love and St Patrick’s Irish Italian Festival) – I think I was 19:19 and 19:09 respectively last year). Also the Mardi Gras Marathon is in, obviously, February. I checked the Run less Run Faster book out and damn the runs are challenging from week one.

I don’t remember exactly but the first set of intervals are mile repeats at just over 6:00 minutes per mile, the first tempo is around 2 miles at 12:30 and the first long run is 8:00 minute miles for 13 or 14 miles. Talk about jumping head first into the training plan. Last Friday I ran 4 miles for breakfast and 4 miles for lunch – all at between 7:30 and 8:00 minutes per mile. They were comfortably challenging.

On Saturday I jumped on the early group ride and got 25 miles. I did not want the full 40 miles that they were getting. It was not a no holds barred ride but I was working hard to not get dropped. That would not have happened pre-Ironman – still recovering I guess. On Sunday I suited up for the afternoon group ride but as soon as I got outside the sky opened up and filled my eyes and ears with lightning and thunder – I 86’ed the ride to say the least.

This morning I did get in a 5 miler with about 100 percent humidity. I really tried to keep the exertion level low – my heart rate has been too high for the last few runs – the pace has not been fast but the heart rate has been high. I kept it low and disregarded the pace. I am slowly recovering. It is not like I am down and out I just still don’t have my snap. I’m not sure if it would be better to take a couple of days of complete rest or to continue with the active recovery – I just know that I am ready mentally to jump back into a serious training plan but do not think that my body is ready for sustained hard efforts.

On a side note, at beer club last night, I think I have a taker for the milk challenge (you have an hour to drink a gallon of milk and then you must keep said gallon down for 1 hour) – The poor sap thinks it will be easy – he says he loves milk – wow. That is a set up for disaster. I still think that I can be successful – I have been so close once before – within about 10 minutes of ‘keeping it down’. We will make a go of it again real soon.

Still recovering

I’m still getting up early but I am not getting the 6 – 8 mile runs in or the 28 mile bike rides in before work. My legs feel fine – no aches or pains. On Wednesday I did a workout class up at the Payne Center – Ab – BOSU – lutely and then did a short swim. The abs workout was good. It incorporated all of my usual core workout but when we got to the ‘bicycles’ and leg lifts – that is where I could tell that the legs are still fatigued. I can normally do the bicycle like nobody’s business but man were they tough.

The abs survived the 30 minute class but the legs did not. In the pool I just went through the paces. Nothing much but it felt good. It was an easy swim just too fill up the hour of exercise.

Later that night I did start to feel the abs – they were tight and sore. Also, from the little bit of strength training that I did on Tuesday the back was lit up all night. This is a good muscle soreness that I welcome. I am excited about the strength training this fall. Strength training is really an area that I enjoy but I had to let it go most of the spring and all of the summer. I was just not recovering after the ironman training sessions. It is time to drop some body fat and put some mass on – maybe. I have such trouble putting on mass. It is funny, I can gain strength pretty easily but the mass just does not develop.

I am getting excited to run a bit more this fall. This is the area that improved the least since last year – don’t get me wrong – it did improve but the swimming and cycling improved more.

Back to the recovery front – I am feeling better – in fact I do not feel bad at all – I am not tired or fatigued or sore – but I have been going to bed a little earlier. I think my body just needs the rest.

FIRST recovery then FIRST runnning

So in the last week I have swam twice and ridden the bike 3 times. My legs have just not been responding like I have wanted. They feel fine but there is just no spring – no get up and go. So on Tuesday morning I went for a 5 mile run. I pushed the pace. This was a ‘pretty’ hard effort but the pace was closer to a comfortable effort. It was difficult to maintain an 8 minute per mile pace (not insurmountable but difficult). A week or two prior to the ironman I was able to click off 6 miles in 42 minutes under similar effort. In addition, I have been about to hover around 7 minutes per mile on most of my short distance triathlons.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that there will be a recovery period; it is just that my legs and body feel fine. I am just not responding to the effort. It would be different if I was walking around on hurt legs and unable to walk up / down stairs. I would understand. But feeling fine and just not performing where I would like to is another matter.

I will just have to wait it out until I am back on my game. I have some 5k goals that I would like to achieve (I was knocking on the 18’s back in March – 19:09 and really want to see 18:xx).

Also, I would like to start putting together a Boston Marathon qualifying time. This will be a real challenge for me. Running a sub-3:15 – I am not anywhere near that but maybe with some hard work and a little bit of luck I can pull it off.

I have been looking at various training plans and I really like the FIRST program (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training). I read the book Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster: Become a Faster, Stronger Runner with the Revolutionary FIRST Training Program (Runners World) last fall and put some of the training to use for a ½ marathon. The program is challenging and it is based on 3 purposeful runs a week (basically – intervals, tempos, and long runs). By purposeful they mean HARD. No garbage miles. In addition it seems to be based on a run dominate triathlon program since your non-running days are filled with cross training (i.e. biking and swimming). I was able to do most of the workouts last year with the tempo runs being the hardest. Tempo runs have always been my shortcoming. It is hard for me to ride that edge – I have always thought that I lack a little mental toughness at those edges. I guess it is time to put it to the test.

I may not have time to put together a run for Boston this fall but there is always the Mardi Gras Marathon in February. But first I have to get my legs back under me.

Recovery and everyone gets a minute

I gave my legs a couple of days off following the ironman. In fact there was no activity on Monday (10 hour drive back to Mississippi) or Tuesday. On Wednesday I went and splashed around in the pool for an easy 1500 yards. My legs were definitely tired after the race but nut achy or anything. They did not really hurt walking up and down stairs and such. They were, however, sore to the touch. If I pressed on my quads – ouch – they were tender. This tenderness went away by Thursday and I did the morning group ride. Although my legs did not hurt - this ride was taxing. My legs just did not seem to have any snap. They were still just very tired. On Friday I hit the pool and just cruised for 2500 yards in just over 40 minutes. It was a pretty good pace for me and it felt easy – water jogging again. I hooked up with a couple of guys for a 40 something mile ride on Saturday and then another 30 miles on Sunday. I have not yet. The legs still do not have that snap but they should be coming around soon. I also guess I am still a little tired. On Sunday night I was exhausted and took a late afternoon nap of about 2 hours then hit the sack and slept all night. I have not felt spent or run down but I normally don’t take naps. I guess that the body needed it.

On the ironman front, they have revised the times. Apparently the time clock for the run was not synced with the start clock and everyone got a minute. So my official time is now 11:18:14. The minute was subtracted from the marathon so I guess I ran / walked a 4:01:xx. So close to sub 4 hours. On a side note, I can’t believe that I forgot to mention it, the inspiration board during the run. There must have been a mishap because both times that I ran across the mat my message was:

Way to go Poo Bear – from pawpaw…

I hope that I did not steal anyone’s thunder. It just made me smile.

I am currently evaluating my next goals. I am not sure what it will be. I am thinking a Boston qualifying marathon time would be a lofty goal (3:15). I can run 7 minute miles for a half but for the whole thing that is a different story. I am also thinking about an Xterra (off-road triathlon) or something even though I do not yet own a mountain bike or have those mountain biking skills. Trail running also looks cool. There is a 20k, 50k, 50 mile trial run here in Mississippi in the spring. I am also considering joining the masters swim class at the YMCA. I have heard such positive stuff from a few of the team members and now that I am getting proficient I could really work on the speed.

Recovered?

I truly appreciate all of the kind words of encouragement. I am feeling much better - after my run on Thursday morning I stopped at the grocery store and stocked up on peaches, bananas, and yogurt to get my system back on track.

I was still a little run down but I went to the pool anyway at lunch. I was not going to push it or anything. I ended up having a nice easy 2000 yards and felt better after the swim than before. This was reassuring! The swim is still there and my times were within reason even though I was swimming very comfortably.

I had originally planned for the volume to drop off a lot this month but for the intensity to increase. Well, my body is not going to allow me to increase the intensity but I have dropped the volume down. I honestly know that my training has been in order and that I should still be able to tap into it on race day. I still have 2 weeks to get everything in order and I know that I will not build any additional fitness this month - I am just hoping to restore a little bit of my prior fitness.

This has been a very frustrating "taper" but I bounce back quick and I am sure I will be ready by race day. I am just going to have to manage my health more closely - like they say - it is better to go in __% under trained than __% over trained (you can insert what ever percentage you want - I have seen them quoted all over the place - I like 20% under and 1% over).

hot and humid and hard

I arrived at Jackson Station on Thursday morning for the group ride. I brought my backpack so that I could continue the ride to the university. I usually put my bag in someone’s car because riding with a backpack – especially in a pace line or sprint is not much fun. Well, I hung out at the Station for a few minutes and it was deserted. Mike’s car was there but he is an early morning rider. He probably got there about an hour earlier. No one showed, not a big deal but that meant that I would have to ride back to the house to drop off the pack. Even before I got home I had already made up my mind to scrap the ride. I 86’ed it! I really did not have purpose for the ride other than camaraderie so I poured myself that second cup of coffee. No regrets – I had a long run planned for after work.

Having done strength training the day before and the run planned for later in the day and the pool being closed this week – there was nothing to do at the gym for lunch. Jodie and I went for a walk and ran some errands around campus (checking book prices for classes). I had a good time at lunch.

I met up with Jim shortly after work. With the heat and humidity I have discovered that my running shorts (the ones with the liners and stuff) get completely saturated during a long run. This can cause some chaffing to occur – not fun at all. So, on occasion, I will wear some tight compression shorts underneath the shorts. I have had these compression shorts for years – they are white and tight and keep everything in order. I originally got them for softball and for a cup – short stop – necessary protection. But for this run I pulled on some triathlon specific shorts from Zoot. I don’t wear these often – they are a nice blue silver color but the color of the fabric darkens with water. You start to show exactly where you start to sweat – kind of gross – kind of reveling. This would not be problem on a longer run – the shorts would have a uniform color by the time I was done.

Jim and I left campus along the Long Leaf Trail and we were looking for anywhere between 12 – 18 miles. We would pass my house at mile 6 and continue on – If I were running by myself this would have been difficult. My legs were so heavy during this run. We were running at an easy pace – my heart rate was in my low-low recovery zone but the perceived exertion was much higher. I think that this was because of the heat and humidity and also the accumulated fatigue of the past year (I am really hoping for this super compensation thing with my taper this month). Jim was looking strong.

A couple of months ago I was strides ahead of Jim but tonight he was stronger. A couple of months ago Jim would challenge me and he would turn around a mile or so from a station and let me go on. I cannot back down from a dare. I would sprint out hard, reach the turn around and then catch Jim. These were some of my best runs – throwing a hard tempo run in the middle of a long run – valuable.

Well, I had to turn the tables on Jim. Jim was a bit stronger than me at this point and he was starting to run a little faster. I was not willing to hold his pace – I was starting to fatigue and there were still miles to go. Between mile 10 and 11 (1 ½ miles from Epley) I turned around. I did not walk but I took a gel and continued my pace. Mile 11 felt like the longest mile even though it was not any slower. At mile 12 I felt better – instead of the long gradual incline to Epley I was now on the long gradual decline home. I was running just a bit faster but it was much easier. I took another gel at Clyde Station and looked back for Jim – he was nowhere in sight. I really did not expect him – He was running 3 extra miles and I was not walking. There was no way he was going to catch me.

I got home having clocked 15.5 miles and cleaned up and had a blue berry smoothie. Jim arrived a little bit later with 18 miles under his belt. He was a little stronger than me tonight but we were both successful – no joint or muscle aches or pains. It was hot and humid and hard but manageable.

Case closed - or at least settled.

Jury duty is over. The case was settled before anything really happened. Either the jury looked too tough or the jury looked too easy – I guess we will never know.

The weekend ‘off’ day helped the back immensely. I went from my back hurting 90% of the time to 10% of the time. It was much easier for me to find comfortable ways to sit and sleep. It was hard to feel really good except for my back. The weakest link I guess – frustrating. While my back was sore I did do some bike maintenance. I put a new chain on my old road bike and now it is road ready. It had been scaring me a little bit with the chain popping off.

I forgot how hard it is for me to ride the trainer. I set up fans and stuff to watch and the whole 9 yards. 30 minutes was about all I could muster. I tried again in the late afternoon and only got about 15 minutes. I was trying to ride at a good tempo pace but it was hard. I should have just ridden outside but I was still babying my back – I thought the trainer would allow for me to pick a position and not have to move at all.

In addition, I have been riding my road bike a lot recently – almost exclusively except for races. I have been riding with groups and I have not done much solo work. When I switch back to my race bike I always feel it in my legs. The race bike just uses my muscles in a different way. I have decided to mothball the road bike until after IMKY. This is the home stretch and I think specificity rules.

Jury Duty - a pain in the back...

It was hard lounging around the house but better for me in the short and long run.

I rode 30 minutes on the trainer this morning - the first time that I have been on the trainer in a long while. I thought that it would be better for my back - I could control the environment. The good news is that the ride was easy and my back felt fine. The bad news is that it is not completely better - running might have to wait for a few more days.


This morning - Jury Duty - more time off from the plan.

Must need more supermans...

On Friday we were to wear out ‘dirty clothes’ to work. We had a lot of cleaning to do and also move a lot of heavy equipment in our data center. I was planning on getting an early run in before work but I just could not get out of bed – stayed up a little later than usual the night before. So I got to work early and knocked out my routine tasks. The rest of the morning was dodging the rain while we had to move large heavy things from one side of the building to the other side. With Vic out this week that makes me the next biggest guy – kind of sad – I’m 5’9” at 160 pounds. The other guys I work with are in the 120’s and 130’s. However, we did have some help from Kyle who was able to put his back into it! I took my hex weight set home – we have not been using the much at work but I had 5 / 20 / 30 / 35 / 40 dumb bells in my work area. I also recycled the 20 or so ‘whey protein powder containers’. I had been collecting them and I was going to make a raft. We determined through minimum math and lots of trial and error that it takes 3 containers to float 20 pounds. I would need 27 containers to be successful in keeping me and the vessel afloat. But alas, the raft will have to wait for another day.



I took a late lunch and with all of the rain and storms and such I decided to get my run in on the treadmill. I was going to run a fast 8 miles in about an hour but I wimped out. I warmed up slowly and did the first mile in 10 minutes – real slow warm-up. But, like I said I wimped out on the last mile – I’m not sure why I wimped out but I ran the next 6 miles in 42:xx so I the total run was 7 miles in 52:xx. It would have been easy to wrap up the 8 miles in 7 something more minutes but I just stopped. It was a hard run but not that hard.

Back at work we finished up the cleaning and moving. I often preach about functional strength and I am pretty strong for my stature. In the bench press and doing body weight exercises – I am – pound for pound – about as tough as any of the guys I work out with. But when it comes to maximum lifts, etc I top out pretty quick. Now, back to this functional strength – I always say that it really does not matter how much weight I can lift or pull or anything else – I just want to be able to pull myself up, run up some stairs, carry something around the yard, swing an axe or even climb a rope – this would be functional to me. And I think that I have done a good job achieving this goal. I have also always tried to keep the whole body strong – this means a strong core as well as extremities and cardio. I am fortunate that I have had very few injuries and I think that this balance has a lot to do with.

However, Friday night my lower back was killing me. I have never had back pain. This was not spinal pain just one of the muscles in my lower back was very sore. This would not allow for me to rest. I had trouble laying down, sitting up, rolling over, etc – there was no position where my back was not hurting. If I breathed deeply it hurt. I took some ibuprofen and suffered though the night. I always thought that I never had back pain because I lifted properly and I did back exercises (pull ups, chin ups, superman’s, and back extensions).

I had plans for Saturday afternoon so Jim was coming over at 6AM for a 3 – 4 hour ride. I was questionable about my back. Funny enough my back felt fine on the road bike – even in the drops. There were a few positions that it would sting and feel sharp but I tried my best to avoid those situations. Jim and I rode towards Jackson Station and we picked up Terry L and Marisa. We then headed out of Jackson Road to Classic Drive and ended up in the hilly section of the avenues to tackle 40th street and Richburg road. Terry proved to be a strong climber and Marisa easily held her own.

We had a few fast pulls when back on the trace but all in all it was a fun easy ride. We did cross paths with Robin and crew. They were doing a broken brick – bike 10 / run 2 REPEAT. I think that they said they did this 3 times for a total for 30 bike miles and 6 run miles. It looked tough. I split off from the group and ended my bike at about 52 miles. Jim eventually got over 100 miles with a short brick thrown in for good measure.

Saturday night was not much fun. My back was much worse and I used a heating pad, aspercream stuff and more ibuprofen. I did not sleep well. I think that I am going to have to 86 this entire day. I don’t want to but I know that a couple of days off are better than a couple of weeks off. Friday morning I was ready to do this ironman – now I am having trouble just standing.

Things sure change quickly.

Running - from strength to weakness?

With the racing and BIG weekend training days I have been winging my plan. I have had two swims in the last two weeks that have had no purpose – when this happens they get cut short. It is time to get back on the plan! These last few weeks the plan will be followed much more closely. However, regarding my training, I feel that I have put in the time and I am feeling good about this home stretch.

So on Tuesday I took the entire day off. The race had taken more out of me than I thought that it would. Running on Sunday and Monday following the race was a little more than my legs needed. I started to feel run down and thought that I might have a cold coming on. To nip it in the bud the day off was necessary.

So, I was looking at my resent race results – I had had some good races but it is funny how my run has gone from my strength to my weakness. Although my run time has improved in all of my races my swim and bike have improved more. I’m still not going to win any of these races but if I can make the same kind of progress with my run that I have with my swim and bike – my placing will jump up quite a bit.

Post race recovery

I decided to do an easy run on Sunday. I wanted to run down to Jackson Station and do some pull-ups and chin-ups. My upper body strength training has been neglected the past couple of months. The run was easy but my quads and hamstrings were really tight from the race. Not painful but sore. I ran the 1.5 miles to the exercise yard / playground area. I was not able to do nearly as many ‘-ups as I was in the spring. However, the run was feeling good so I continued the run a bit further and turned around at mile 3. Back at Jackson Station I did another couple of sets of ‘-ups and I headed back home. It was much hotter on this morning than race day!

I had some lunch and then prepared myself for the group ride. I was only going to do the 30 mile out and back but we had such a good group that I decided to ride further. We hooped of the trail and took Rocky Branch South. The traffic was pretty bad for a Sunday afternoon but once we were out of the congestion the ride opened up. This was a hilly loop and a little more than I had wanted. But it was all managed fine. I sprinted ahead for just a few minutes with Ty. Ty is a very strong rider and just let me spin out ahead until I was done. Then he took the pull and I just held on – I was glad a junction was up ahead and we stopped for the group. I also got another break when someone flatted. Ended the day with just under 45 miles.

As a side note – remember that you can recycle your used CO2 cylinders – they are aluminum and can be tossed in just about any recycle bin.

I slept late on Monday and hit the pool for a little bit at lunch. I was really not feeling the water very well and jumped out after only 1000 yards. I was going to go up stairs and do some strength training, however, I crossed Jim and Ryan in the locker room and they were going outside for a run. I decided to tag along and we did an easy 3.5 miles.