RACE REPORT - Albany Last Run 5K

I was Brett Favre for a day. This was to be my last race. After today, I was going to retire. However, I would soon change my mind and return to racing a mere three weeks later. It would probably be more appropriate to call this race the swan-song of my season. If I were Lance Armstrong, this was my Tour Down Under. The only goal being to have a good time with the friends and family that joined me for the race. OK, lets get started...

Greeting us at the starting line was a massive display of fireworks, all of which I failed to capture with my camera. Did I mention it was cold out and I was too lazy to remove my gloves to attempt photography?

I just want to say that today I also learned I simply CANNOT take photos while wearing gloves OR while running. As you will see, shit is about to get ugly!

City Hall, across the street from the Empire State Plaza

(where I do a lot of my speed-work)

We hit the line and this was our view - the old city hall and a slight uphill. Only a couple of blocks north of here and we'd be running past my apartment. And before we knew it, we were off.

Less than 1/4 mile in, going north on State Street

A flattering photo of Elaine, and my photography skills

The run was pretty crowded the entire time, especially (as always) in the early stages. However, after getting off of the main city-streets, we soon entered into Washington Park, where all of the Christmas lights were set up. It was much more relaxing and visually stimulating in there, which made for a much more enjoyable (yet crowded) run.

Proof of my in-action photography skills (Christmas lights)

Niiiiiiiiice photo, huh? Anyway, we were soon hitting the home-stretch, with Ross, Todd and myself pulling away from the girls. We hit the line with a blistering time of... 29:26!! Wowsas!

The pack of donkeys, including myself with 4 layers on

Needless to say, the bar isn't set very high for next year and I can already feel a PR in the works!

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Settling on a Training Program

I've been floundering around looking for the right training program for me and came across a few that look promising. In the meantime, I've been in maintenance mode with my running so that I don't have to skew my search more toward those "couch to half-marathon" type of programs. Here are the current contenders, in no particular order:

1. Runners World Ultimate Half Marathon Training Plan
2. Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training - Intermediate
3. FIRST Half Marathon Training Program

And now, for some thoughts I have on each...

1. Runners World Ultimate Half Marathon Training Plan
Something that is equally attractive and unattractive right off the bat is that this is only a 9-week program. Of the three listed above, this is by far the shortest. This is great because all of my bitching about winter-running can perhaps be muted a bit since I will not have to "seriously" start training until January 22. In the meantime, I could work on building up more of a base for the increased mileage to come, as well as build up injury resistance through more strength training. On the other hand, this program leaves it entirely in my hands to figure out how to achieve a certain goal-time. Sure, there are some intervals in there, but apparently nothing longer than 800m or so. Also, there is only one run requiring double-digit miles, which troubles me since I have a goal-time and only one run to know whether or not I'm really close or not.

STRENGTHS - Short (9 weeks), simple and only 4 days of running
WEAKNESSES - Little emphasis on speed-work, longest run is 10 miles

2. Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training - Intermediate
I followed Hal's Novice Marathon training plan way back when I did the the Detroit Marathon. It was super easy and relaxed the whole way since it was all about distances and not speed. However, this race will be neither easy or relaxed, so I looked to his Intermediate program for any potential. I like that the program is 12-weeks, which would have me starting on January 1. It's a healthy amount of time to build up while not sacrificing potential speed for mileage acclimation. It utilizes tempo runs and speed-work, although again, the speed-work is lame by not cresting the 400m mark (wtf?!). I'm also wary of running 3 days back to back, then succumbing to an injury. I guess it just depends on whether I approach them as hard days or easy days.

STRENGTHS - Good length (12 weeks), small weekly mileage increase,
WEAKNESSES - The speed-work sucks, back-to-back-to-back running days, intensity in question

3. FIRST Half Marathon Training Program
I've been using the principles (and some workouts) of this program over the last couple of months to prepare for the 5K and 10K. (Remember I was a big fan of the book.) I like the speed training a lot, as well as all of the effort and detail put into calculating your individual workout goals depending on where your paces are at. I've also definitely found short-term results with this program. Plus, the workouts always kick my ass! However, the program is a 20-week program (!!!) that has you running 8 miles already the first weekend! My current longest run is what, a 10k?.. and I'm technically already 2+ weeks behind schedule, too! On the flip side, I love love love the reliance of this program on cross-training (cycling!). If only they had a shortened version (time-wise) of this program.

STRENGTHS - proven to work, great speed-work, great workout variety, cross-training reliant
WEAKNESSES - behind schedule already, mileage beyond my current threshold, too awesome

* * * * * * *

THE CONCLUSION
So... there it is. I like the FIRST program the most, but I'm obviously well-behind schedule on that one and don't have the weekly mileage average in my legs yet to dive in right now. The Hal Higdon one is very much a basic plan that I would most likely tweak to encompass more of the stuff I like in the other plans. The length and start-time of the program is very much ideal, though.

The Runners World plan... well shit... stupid me for not clicking through all four pages and noticing that there are more than one training plan. I was simply reviewing the beginner program until just a second ago. Looking ahead, the Intermediate plan is also appealing, but it includes running 5 times a week, which I'm not comfortable with. So, I don't really know where I'm at. Maybe I'll take a shot at splicing a few together and see where that gets me. If you've got any good resources for me,  let me know. Otherwise, be on the look out for my bastardized attempt at a half marathon training program!

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Well... That Was Quick!

Drumroll please...

March 26, 2011

And just that quickly, I'm signed up and registered for the 2011 Sun Trust National Half Marathon!

Part of me probably just needed to sort my thoughts out by weighing the positives/negatives all at once. Another part of me definitely needed to hear that treadmill training is not the end of the world and anywhere near as great a hindrance as I thought it might be.

Thanks Andy and Amanda for the advice and encouragement!

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The Plight of the Winter Runner

I'd very much like to run the Nation's Half Marathon in Washington, DC on March 26, 2011 for a number of reasons. My time in DC was unarguably two of the best years of my life, with the list of things to see/do/eat being seemingly endless. That being said, my confidence is wavering as to whether or not I would be able to achieve the goals I am after. To start, lets look at the goals...

Half Marathon Goals
(A) 1:51:21, 8:30 min/mile
(B) 1:48:05, 8:15 min/mile
(C) 1:44:48, 8:00 min/mile
(D) Complete training uninjured
(BONUS Vanity Goal) Finish in 1:45:00 or less!

Now, considering I averaged an 8:03 min/mile in my last race, the Detroit Turkey Trot 10k (my first 10k!), I am confident that with the proper time + training I could achieve ALL of the above-listed goals, and do so uninjured. The speed comes slower than the miles, but with over 3 months until race-day I'm not worried. However, it appears on the surface that the road to 1:45:00 at the Nation's Half Marathon isn't exactly paved in gold.

The first and largest hurdle is this fast-approaching winter weather. I've already thrown in the towel (tights?) when it comes to cycling outdoors, but I've been holding out with regards to my running-game. The lowest temperature dip to-date has been in the low-to-mid 30s, which was COMPLETELY fine. Sure, it's cold when you start, but that quickly turns to *perfect* after 0.5 miles or so in. What I'm more concerned with are the sub-30 temps, and what comes with them - SNOW. In the past, I usually just retreat indoors to the treadmills and grind it out 1 mile/song at a time. However, I'm very skeptical as to the ability to successfully train for a half-marathon via treadmill workouts. Plus, I've never run further than 6 miles on a treadmill... and that was mentally hard enough.

Speed work is a big-part of training plan and while cold conditions will wreak havoc on the looseness of my muscles and the comfort of my lungs, snow/ice my prove to be a more major limiting factor. To that effect, I picked up a pair of Yaktrax Pro to assist me in what will hopefully be many forays into the snowy wild.

Also good for hiking!

One benefit to training for a late-March (winter) race is that the weekends tend to be much more relaxed that time of year, which would hopefully translate into a much more comfortable, consistent workout schedule. Also, according to weather.com, the weather in February looks quite comparable to what I'm feeling now in December, meaning that in March things will be more like what they were in November! So, my longest training run will likely take-place just as the weather is taking a turn for the better!

Another positive I'm using to try and convince myself to sign up for the Nation's Half Marathon is the fact that the winter solstice is a mere two weeks away. This means that in only two short weeks our days will FINALLY start getting longer (and brighter!) again instead of shorter (and darker). Cold, dark and snowy is a tough combo for me to crack, but take one of those things out of the equation and I think I've got a fighting chance at GETTING THE WORK DONE.

With all of those excuses and bitching out of the way, I'm definitely leaning toward signing up for the race. The website says it's on-pace to sell out in the next 3 weeks so I'll have to make my mind up quick. Has anyone ever dealt with a situation similar to this and, if so, what advice would you have for me?

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Race Report: Detroit Turkey Trot 10k

Ahhh, here I sit enjoying an ice-cold orange sunkist. Mmm...

Lately I've learned that I thoroughly enjoy the mouth-feel of soda, as opposed to that magnificent, yellowy flavor of Mountain Dew. I don't want to call it an addiction, as there were no caffeine headaches or mood-swings resultant of its absence, but my will-power tended to crumble when a craving came on for the bubbly stuff. Thankfully, I quickly learned that I only like the bubbles/flavor and can go w/o the added caffeine jolt.

On to more relevant things, though...

On Thanksgiving morning I participated in my first-ever Turkey Trot. Two years ago I intended to run it but realized the Wednesday night before, while at the bar, that I reaaaaally didn't want to wake up that early. Last year, after already registering and paying, I succumbed to a marathon-induced injury and was physically unable to participate. Third time's a charm? Well, while the saying "third time's a charm" is SUPER gay, it still seems relevant.

Going into the race, I had established a three-tiered goal system that was based completely on my training results to-date. Those goals were as follows:

(A) Goal - 52:42, an 8:30min/mile average
(B) Goal - 51:09, an 8:15min/mile average
(C) Goal - 49:36, an 8:00min/mile average

Although, in my head I wanted to break the 50-minute mark REAAAALLLLLY badly.

I ran a practice 10k about 3 weeks prior to the race in a light rain and hit about a 5:08 min/mile average, this without doing an ALL OUT sprint at the end, but more of a much quicker pace that last mile. That had me feeling great, but then I was in Michigan visiting family for the whole week prior to the race, in which my taper pretty much fell off the deep end. I got two runs in - one with a group who like to run slow, the other by myself which had me struggling to hold an 8:00min/mile over just a 3-mile tempo run! Uh oh.

The phone-alarm woke me up on race-morning (5 hours of sleep?) at about 5am to find it absolutely GUSHING rain outside, despite it being only 37 degrees. I got dressed, ate a banana and probably too much oatmeal and we all packed into the car for our 45 minute drive into Detroit from Ann Arbor (MI). It was still gushing by the time we got there, which was pretty much right on time for a quick bathroom break, a warm-up jog and then the race start. We detoured over to a nearby hotel where I used the bathroom, but for some reason the girls I was with felt they should just wait until we got to the conference center where everyone was meeting/taking shelter before the race started. This turned out to be a bad idea...

At first, we couldn't even find the bathrooms, but then, of course, the line was SUPER long just to use them. I checked my watch and all of a sudden it said the race was starting in just under 10 minutes... 5 blocks away. Whoops! I apologized to the girls (wife and her sister) for leaving them in the bathroom line and started working my way toward out of the building toward the starting line. After all, I planned to run a full 1:00 min/mile pace faster than they so no big deal.

I got about a 1/4 mile run warm-up before finding the starting line. Once there, not only had I missed the start of my wave (8-10 min/mile projected average), but I would be starting mid-stream with those planning to go even SLOWER than that. Craaaaap. I stopped briefly for a moment to start my Garmin and do a light stretch... then it was GO time!

The first 2 minutes of the race were hardly exciting. I walked... and walked... then walked some more. There were turkeys EVERYWHERE. Eventually a slow trot ensued wherein I started working my way toward the edge of the road, utilizing the sidewalk to make a few short bursts ahead, working my way toward what I hoped were less-crowded, quicker-paced groups. Eventually, around the 1-mile mark I was able to start settling into my 8:00 min/mile pace, although there were many occasions that had me speed-up, slow-down, dodge, weave, run into stranger, apologize, move on, repeat.

The first 3.1 miles were slower than I would have hoped, putting me on pace for around a 52+ minute finishing time, but it was completely understandable considering the slow start at the back of the pack. Moral was not helped by the cold temperatures and drenched left foot (stepped in a puddle, whoops!). Finally, though, close to mile-4, the road started to open up in front of me and I was able to run relatively unobstructed the rest of the way.

Also around the 4-mile mark, the rain had stopped and I suddenly found myself getting extremely warm. I then commenced with removing two hats, my gloves and a cycling wind/water resistant jacket and stuffing all of it down my running tights. Needless to say, I'm sure I looked pretty ridiculous. No matter though, because I was cooling down and ready to push it toward the finish.

While finding myself seeing 8:15min/mile or higher on the Garmin more often than anything else, I continued to push it thinking that perhaps I wasn't going to hit my goals. Never-the-less, I decided to give it my all the rest of the way and see what I could muster (not like I'd really change my strategy at this point anyway, right?... I mean, I'm not going to slow down so my choices are either a) go fast or b) go fast).

Some dude yelled "run down this hill to the finish," wherein I began upping the pace to the point where you have no control over your facial features. However, I couldn't see a finish-line anywhere. Lo and behold, the very poorly demarcated finish-line was just around the bend. I gave it hell and passed another multitude of "we're just out having fun" folk. I briefly considered extending my chest as I crossed the timing strip, but ultimately decided against it. However, I think it would be a hilarious finishing-chute picture for the average age-grouper.

The Results
Official Time: 50:11, 8:05 min/mile
Garmin Time: 50:38, 8:06 min/mile

 My Stats From The Race

BUT WAIT!!.. Also according to my Garmin, the course was long by 0.09 miles! 6.29 and not 6.2!! What does that mean for my times?!?!?


The Adjusted Results (I can do this, right??)
Official Time: 49:28, 7:59 min/mile
Garmin Time: 49:54, 8:03 min/mile

I trust my Garmin here for the more accurate distance/time results. A friend of mine also measured out the course and came to the *exact* same distance. So, with these adjusted results, I was able to slay 2 of my 3 goals, as well as my vanity goal!

 Myself, Elaine and Adie Post-Race

The Slayed Goals
(A) Goal - 52:43, 8:30 min/mile - SLAYED!!!!!
(B) Goal - 51:11, 8:15 min/mile - SLAYED!!!!!
(C) Goal - 49:36, 8:00 min/mile - ALMOST SLAYED...
50-Minute Mark - SLAYED!!!!!

The right knee was yelling at me for the next couple of days after the race, which was troubling... something I hadn't felt in months. HOWEVER, I've rested, strength-trained and are building the miles back up so I can get into serious training again. With training though, I'll need to set my sights on my next goal, which is still UNDECIDED. I'm definitely leaning toward the Nation's Half Marathon in Washington, DC on March 26th. BUUUUUUT, I'd really like to confidently set my half-marathon ultimate goal at an 8:00 min/mile. That's a tall order considering I (barely) missed that goal in only a 10k!

More on this in the next installment.

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First Snow of the Year, AKA Indoor Treadmill Session

Apparently we were expecting snow, and snow it did!

 

And then, a couple hours later...

Snnnnnowwwww!

I've had no problem at all running in absolutely pouring rain, but that was largely because it keeps me cool and I haven't had a problem with wet shoes and/or blisters. However, wet snow is a no-go. Case-and-point: on our way to the gym instead of running outdoors, and only halfway down OUR block, Elaine stepped into a puddle and soaked one of her shoes. Niiiiiiiiice. Of course, my obsessive and over-thought-out tendencies had me carry my running shoes in a double-lined plastic bag while sporting gortex shoes... so I was OK!

In the Spring leading up to the DC TRI, I had no problem running 4-6 miles at between 8.0 and 8.5 mph on the treadmill (at a 1.0 incline). I was a seasoned treadmill veteran at that point, having run 3-4 times a week for the last 6 or so months, continually trying to raise my speed 1mph at a time. So, when I did the calculations for my current workout I was happily surprised to see the 800m interval max speed at 8.5mph! Pfffffft... little did I realize that at this point I have neither the endurance OR the speed I had back then.

While I miscalculated the difficulty level of the workout, I also seemingly miscalculated the amount of time it would take to COMPLETE the workout. Ten seconds of simple math would've told me that to complete a 6-7 mile workout, I would need at least 50 minutes. Unfortunately, I arrived at the gym and hopped on the treadmill with only 40 minutes left before they closed. Oops! That aside, I still eclipsed the mileage total for the last two weeks of Monday workouts. Here are the stats:

3200m @ 18:27 (6.5 mph)
800m @ 3:32 (8.5mph)
400m R.I. 2:30 (6.0mph)
800m @ 3:32 (8.5mph)
400m R.I. 2:30 (6.0mph)
800m @ 3:32 (8.5mph)
800m cool-down

TOTAL - 4 1/2 miles @ 38:32 (I think)

I'm disappointed to only get in three intervals, as well as the fact that the total mileage for those intervals only comes to 1 1/2 miles. And while I technically eclipsed last week's Monday run-total by 800 meters, the 'quality' portion of the workout was what suffered, while the warm-up/cool-down accounted for the added mileage. I definitely need to take these speed workouts more seriously.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Tuesday brought a different morning routine. I got up extra early and tried out a different gym in my network (the Schenectady YMCA). It was AWESOME. After a long + lazy weight/ab session, I treated myself to the first cup of espresso that I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.

Prior to defilement via cream + sugar (in the raw!)

Bear in mind that I'm not a coffee drinker so this was a big step for me. I often hear from friends and read about athletes who really enjoy a good espresso. Mine was from an Italian bakery/cafe where I figured a good first-cup could be had. It was.. ok, I guess. Was it stupid of me to add a touch of cream and sugar??? :)  Whatever - I had no idea what I was doing, but at least pretended by drinking it sllooowwwlllly while reading emails on my iphone. Classy!

And then I went to the beer store and bought some liquid motivation for my weekly long runs.

What a line-up!

That's all for now. Stay tuned for my first trainer ride of the year, as well as a Monday Morning Quarterback look at the ONLY vegetarian chili recipe that will put hair on your chest! 

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The Art of Running Slow

I might be a bit playfully self-conscious about my running speeds, but that's only because of all of you gifted assholes out there whose blogs I follow who can throw down ridiculously fast run splits... even if some of them do result in sharting.

I'm working on getting my weekly running mileage back up to a semi-respectable figure (15 miles/week), as per what is recommended I am comfortable with before beginning the official training program. This also has me running only 3 times a week. Given that I did a 4 and 5 miler earlier in the week, this means I had a 6-miler on the calendar for Friday. Knowing that my next benchmark is a 10k in just under 3 weeks, I went ahead and just made my training run a 10k as well. According to the wizardry behind my soon-to-be program and a number of different calculations that are involved, I should try to run the 10k training run at a pace of around 8:21 min/mile, or in 51:50.

Post-run - DRENCHED from the relentless rain.

As it turns out, I ended up running the 10k training run in 50:51, equivalent to an 8:12 min/mile average. The first 5k was done in a reserved 26:07 (8:18 min/mile, 160 bpm) whereas the latter 5k was THROWN DOWN in a ball-busting 24:44 (8:07 min/mile, 173 bpm). I'm a sucker for a negative split when it comes to continuous distance, paced runs. In fact, I know the way my mind works so well that I purposely choose out-and-back routes just for the mental edge of knowing that each step I take is closer to an actual finish line. It worked out rather nicely in this case, don't you think? Granted, the HR on the latter half was definitely higher than it should be, but we're working on that.

In a previous email to a friend on the eve of my 5k, I threw out some goals for the following morning's race, as well as this up-coming 10k. The projected goals for the 10k were as follows:

          (A) Goal - 52:43 (8:30 min/mile pace)
          (B) Goal - 51:11 (8:15 min/mile pace)
          (C) Goal - 49:36 (8:00 min/mile pace)

Remarkably, with my last 10k training run done in 50:51, I surpassed my (A) AND (B) goals! Thankfully though, I didn't eclipse my (C) goal just yet. This tells me two things: ONE, that my training is progressing well and that I'm on target to hit my projected goals, and TWO, that perhaps my goals are a tad bit conservative and I could afford to adjust them should my training continue to progress at the rate it has thus far. Overall, this is great news!

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BERLIN MARATHON 2011 - CONFIRMED!

I am pleased to announce that I have registered for the 2011 running of the Berlin Marathon. Wohoo!!!!!

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TRI HARDER - October Newsletter

Running has picked back up which means I can again start targeting training goals and races, and... blogging!

 Simply put, a great "by the numbers" book

As noted in my last post, I just finished reading "Run Less, Run Faster." It was a great read for just pure data that can seemingly help me achieve specific distance and time-goals. It has very useful charts that are supposed to give you a realistic outlook on what times you can ideally hit, should your training continue successfully.

I ran my 5K on Saturday in 23:31

This table shows what my predicted 10k, 13.1 and 26.2 times would be, adjusted for pace variations due to added distance. In other words, it doesn't just take your splits and do the simple math to up-convert.

I'm targeting the Nation's Half Marathon in late March as a possible first serious race for next season. Given where my fitness is at right now, this table puts my predicted time at around a 1:48:55 (an 8:18 min/mile average). While this would be a FANTASTIC time for me, I would very much like to do better than that, coming closer to a 1:40.

Half-marathon goal time = 1:40ish (7:38 min/mile)

HOWEVER, to do so would mean I would theoretically have to throw down around a 21:25 5k... or, knock about two minutes off of my PR. Ouch! Now, while this would be a daunting task to most, I have a perhaps misguided confidence that since I am just getting back into running I can expect to make some big gains early on. :) Stupid? Mayyybe...

Lets be honest though. The book taught me that I need to make realistic goals for myself. These goals have to be based on my training. Also, "goals" are not the same as "dreams." My dream is to run a 1:40 half-marathon. My goal is to run a 1:48:55 (anything more is icing on the cake, at this point at least).

What is the big picture, though? Well, a group of friends and I are planning to travel to Berlin next September to run the Berlin Marathon!

Ja! Ich will am besten bekommen!! (my very rusty Deutsch)

Coincidentally (or not at all), the Berlin Marathon takes place on the very first day of Oktoberfest! It's really the perfect storm, you see. We're using our collective desire to visit northern Germany as an excuse to choose the Berlin marathon, and the race as an excuse to go to Oktoberfest without feeling guilty! Five of the people in our group studied German (language) in highschool and were lucky enough to travel to southern Germany at the time. Interestingly, that is also where Elaine (now my wife) and I met for the first time (we were in separate German classes (and grades) back in Michigan). Seeing as how it also falls during the month of our first wedding anniversary, we felt it appropriate to just pile on another reason for why this whole thing makes sense.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, I need to come up with an adequate race-prep strategy that will help build endurance and speed in my legs without over-training. The simple, incomplete goal as of now is to run two serious half-marathons, and then the Berlin marathon itself. Of course, I'd also like to mix in some 5k's or 10k's to keep things fun! My first ideal half-marathon would be the Nation's Half Marathon in Washington, DC in late March. Not only would the weather be favorable, but I'd love the opportunity to travel back to where I called home for the last two years as well!

Training for the Nation's Half wouldn't start in earnest until right after Thanksgiving. For now, the focus is on upping my weekly mileage in preparation to start the training program, as well for the Detroit Turkey Trot 10k on Thanksgiving morning.

mmm... GOBBLE!

More on goals and what-not in the near future. Until then, follow my DailyMile widget on the right hand side (just above those laughably slow future goals and current PRs!).

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Race Report: YMCA Monster Dash 5K

Let me get this out of the way by telling you that I am a VERY SLOW runner right now. Hell, I'm a slow runner normally, but given that I haven't been involved in any kind of structured run-training in over a year (thank you mr. knee), I feel required to preface this race report (of which I am VERY happy with) with the fact that these times will not shock, awe or inspire anyone. Ok, lets get to the good stuff!...

I signed up for a local YMCA Monster Dash 5K the evening before the race (pending the positive results on my calf soreness meter). It was $30, which was a refreshingly low price given how much a TRI or Marathon cost these days. The race start was also a happy 9:00am, although it was still 39 degrees!

UNFORTUNATELY, I had to wake up at 5am to drive Elaine to a work-thingy. Running low on sleep, and high on the "argghh i don't want to be up this early" grumpy meter, I decided to treat myself to McDonalds breakfast (wtf?!?!... i know!). Two sausage/egg/cheese McGriddle sandwiches later (plus a Sprite), I was feeling mildly satisfied, highly guilty and nervously paranoid about the home-commode being located 30 minutes away. Once safely at home, I decided to try and catch a nap for an hour before the race. Not being a napper, I ended up laying there the whole time half-awake with the beginnings of an irritated stomach combined with pre-race jitters.

Eventually it was time to get up and go, so that's what I did. The YMCA was very lively, which is great because it makes the atmosphere much more electric and enjoyable. I pinned the number on, did some stretching, drank some water and ran about 1/2 a mile to warm-up. Before I knew it, people had formed a starting-line and someone yelled "GO!"

Ok, lets do this!

THE RACE
The very beginning of the race was completely downhill. I never run hills so I was at a loss on whether I should just BOOK IT down the hill or pull up and try to keep within my goal pace(s). I opted for the former and BOOKED IT! Unfortunately, the HR was quite high at the bottom, and to boot, I had to immediately start running uphill. Crrrrrrrrrap. Wait, how are you supposed to run uphill?? I had no idea on that either, so... I booked it! :) There was no information posted about the course online leading up to the race so I had no idea how hilly it would be, or what to expect. As it turns out, it looked like this:

Frear Park in Troy, NY

When your elevation profile looks like a hill, that's a bad sign, right?

With half the race uphill and the other half downhill, how did I train? ALL FLAT LAND. Nice! I continued to employ my impromptu strategy of "bust it on the uphills/downhills" and rest on the flats. However, there weren't many flats to speak of and I guess you're not supposed to rest during a 5K anyway. For the first 50% of the race I was RIGHT behind this dude running in skateboarding shoes (ala Vans). GODDAMNIT, if you're going to beat me then at least wear running shoes! Vengeance was mine, however as I passed him at the end of the race's uphill portion. The sweet sound of him sucking air as I passed was the icing on the cake, retribution for over a mile of watching his loosely-laced van's slapping the pavement in front of me! Did I step on the gas pedal just a bit as I passed?... maybe :o).

Coming up on just under a mile to go, a man pushing one of those highly-engineered athletic strollers passes me. "Damnit, wow, that's awesome!," I say. He smiles and wishes me luck as he inches past me.

Wait, wtf?! Did I just let a dude pushing a stroller pass me?

I quickly weighed the mental consequences on what would be worse - losing to a man pushing a stroller (embarrassment) or racing a man pushing a stroller (shame?). Damnit, I'm NOT losing to man pushing a stroller, and with 400m to go I picked "shame" and turned on the after-burners.

I end up beating this man and his child in the all-out sprint by a measly 3 seconds!! Although there was a bit of shame for instigating this race, I'm very happy that his after-burners didn't end up beating me in the end. VERY happy.

I crossed the line with a finishing time of 23:31, which nets me a 7:42 min/mile pace. This was also good for 23rd overall and 4th in my age group.

POST RACE WRAP-UP
Coming into the race, I had established three goal-thresholds. I adopted this strategy after reading the book "Run Less, Run Faster," where I learned the importance of setting realistic goals, emphasis both on the goals realistically reflecting my recent training and that there are more than one of them. They were as follows:

(A) 24:48 - 8:00 min/mile average
(B) 24:02 - 7:45 min/mile average
(C) 23:15 - 7:30 min/mile average

As you detectives may have already noticed, not only did I beat the (A) goal, but I also just snuck in under the (B) goal as well!! Wohoo!!!

After cheering some people across the line, I wandered over inside the YMCA and enjoyed a donut, some apple slices, a purple/grape gatorade and my very first sports massage! As someone who doesn't normally enjoy  a massage, this was quite pleasant, particularly on the sore calves. Having a 20-something coed slather your legs with lotion ain't bad either! ;o)

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Speed-work FAIL

So I'm about to start this 10-week half-marathon training plan for the Albany Half-Marathon on 10/10/10 and have been tinkering around with the workouts ahead of schedule to see what the chances are of me maintaining my goal of 1:45. The plan has you running only 3 times a week, but then I can use the other days to get on the bike and maintain strength around my knees. Here's what it looks like:

1. Speedwork - work at increasing comfort running at higher speeds. Distances include 400s, 800s and 1600s with time-cuts specific to each.
2. Tempo Run - half-marathon pace minus 15 seconds per mile. You end up with short to medium distanced runs (3-8 miles)
3. Long Run - these have you running your half-marathon pace + 30 seconds per mile. The idea, I suppose, is to build endurance and raise your distance threshold. (6-12 miles)

Yesterday was speed-work. According to the Runner's World workout, I was to perform 4 x 400s sandwiched between a decent warm-up and cool-down and recovery jogs in between each. For a 1:45 half-marathon, my pace is roughly 8:00min/miles on the button. When doing speed-work, I'm supposed to average 101.25 seconds per 400m, as opposed to the 120sec/400m HMP. I translated the 101.25 seconds to be 1 minute, 41 seconds, which I incorrectly remembered during the run as 7:41 (oops, misread the 1) and thought I just had to beat a 7:41min/mile average during the 400m sprints.

HAH! I wish!

There's a chin-line in there somewhere.

It turns out that in fact I would have had to beat a 6:45min/mile average. Crrraapppppp. The sprints were tough, but I know I could've pulled something faster out of my hat. In the end, I was only about 11 seconds slow on each 400m, which is a sizeable difference, yes, but only because I didn't know I was supposed to be going quicker. Rats!

Empire State Plaza, Post-run

On the positive side of things, my training program does not start in earnest until next week so this mishap is perhaps comparable to driving your race-car to the starting line but forgetting to fully release the parking break.

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My First Beard... Kinda

Yeah, so I'm 26 years old and not 16 so this makes it more embarrassing than cool, but damnit I've finally (almost) done it. Behold the beginning of something that might resemble a beard!

The new tires are awesome. I cornered at speeds I didn't think would ever be possible. I now understand how this is possible, unlike before when I thought people were just crazier than me and less worried about falling. Low-and-behold they just had better tires that let them lean at angles I never dreamed of... although some of them are probably also crazier too. 

My hill-climbing skills are seriously lacking, although so is my overall level of cycling fitness which makes my hill-climbing seem even harder. I'll have to work on that very soon.

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First Awful/GREAT Experience With Local Bike Shop

Here is the problem with my bike.

I had made peace with the fact that I would not be upgrading tires, but would instead be taking a step to the left and buying up some Serfas Seca Road RS tires. They were the best of the cheapest options that were available to me IMMEDIATELY. Sure, I would've paid a little more for good tires, but all internet deals had me waiting 1+ weeks and that's just more than I'm willing to wait to get back on the bike. So, off to the bike shop I went.

Now, for the record I want to say that not only did the bike-shop know exactly what I wanted and made sure it was in stock, but they knew I was coming in right before they closed and was rushing like hell to make it in time.

Ok, so I get there and instantly find the guy I spoke to on the phone and told him who I was and was ready to grab the tires and go.

His response?

"Yeaaahhh.... we're out of those right now... but we'll have them again in a few days."

Me: "How is that even possible.(!?!)" ::giving him the death stare:: (while also sporting my new mock-beard)

Well, he looked truly embarrassed and I was ready to just turn and leave when he started asking me about other tires I might be interested in. I only turned around to point out the more expensive tires I would have bought online if I wanted to be inconvenienced by waiting multiple days for them. (GRaaaRrRRRRrRR!!)

Butttttttt, then he surprised the hell out of me and said "How about I give you an awesome discount on one of these b/c I screwed up so bad?"

Umm, YEAH! AWESOME.

So, I picked up some Conti GP 4000s for $40/each (discounted from $60), which is what I would've paid had I bought them online but w/o the extra for shipping. Sweet!

I entered the thought of getting the red-striped ones, but quickly decided that would look AWFUL and opted for the all-blacks.

Now I just need to figure out how to change my first tire... and then my 2nd one.

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RETARDED TIRE BREAKAGE

While trying to adjust to the cycling-challenged city of Albany, NY (well, compared to DC at least), I'm still in search of my first trouble-free ride. You see, my latest adventure has put me 15+ miles from home with a rear-tire sporting an ugly growth. It turns out my back tire has worn through with the threads going all stupid on the inside allowing my tube to deform the tire itself and make this gnarly shape that doesn't like passing through the break-clearance or riding anything close to smoothly.

The bike shops I've visited thus far are a far cry from stunning which have me turning to the internet for advice on a new tire purchase. After HOURS of running around in circles thinking I had just about found the tires for me, I have settled on these three options:

Continental Grand Prix 4000s (700x23c)
Vittoria Rubino Pro
Michelin Krylion
Serfas Seca RS

It seems the Contis, Michs and Vitts lowest price-points are mid-$40s+ whereas the Serfas tires come in at $25/each. Also, the first three options, while better tires, have me waiting at least a week for delivery whereas the Serfas tires are right up the street at my local Donkey Bike Shop. At this point I think I'm going to lean towards the Serfas tires and just keep an eye on them so that I can splurge a little on my next go-around with tire shopping.

Of course, if YOU have better advice for me, I'd love to hear it.

* * * * *

Oh, and wtf is up with my Performance water bottles smelling and tasting like shitty plastic ALL THE TIME? They're clean, believe me, but I can't shake that stench unless I load it up with gatorade powder or something. Is this the case for water bottles across the board or do I just have shitty bottles? PLEASE tell me it's shitty bottles and I'll gladly go and buy something new/different.

Thaaaaanks.

p.s. check out my DailyMile widget in the sidebar to track the utterly embarrassing situation that my running game is in these days. At least the knee works and I'm running though, right?

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Le Tour

Just watching the Tour right now and saw quite the dick move by Contador. Andy Schleck attacked and lost his chain. Instead of waiting for the yellow-jersey rider to repair, Contador instigated an attack that looks as though it will put him yellow. VERY unsportsmanlike on his behalf, especially since his rival's downfall had nothing to do with any sporting move or competition.

SUPER LAME.

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"Sean in DC" is now "Sean in NY"

Wow! What an amazing update!! A name change, eh? Unfortunately, there isn't too much more than that to log here on the work-out front. We're still getting settled and unpacked (TOO MANY BOXES OF SHIT) here in Albany, NY so the bike continues to gather dust.

FOR SHAME!!

I snagged a 1-week guest-pass to the gym that I will undoubtedly be joining and checked that out last night. I guess you could say I'm pretty sore today. Sore to the point where it was uncomfortable stretching out in bed this morning b/c my body had seemingly forgot what it felt like to lift weights. Or maybe it was the combination of squats/lunges followed by an hour of sprinting around on the tennis court... who knows.

It's about time to pick things up again. I've run a couple of times this week... slowly, mind your, and one of the runs terminated at the pizza place I was picking up dinner from (what? WHAT?!) . Everything on that front seemed cool (i.e. no knee issues). The backs of my shins, just below my calf muscles get suuuuper sore/tight though. No idea what the deal is here. My best guess is that it's because I'm running on the balls of my feet more-so these days and the muscles just need to adjust. Oh, or it could be that I have not done any regular running workouts in nearly 9 months... hmm... I wore the compression socks in bed after the most recent run and my legs felt much better the next morning, so that's a good sign.

Traverse City, Michigan (very north) is my destination come this Friday for the next week. I'm lucky enough to be able to drag along the bike with me and hopefully get out for some rides in the country-side there. The cabins we stay in each year are also out on the lake so I've got no excuse to not get in a handful of open-water swims. The real trick here is getting out for a workout before everyone (20+ family members staying at cabins on the lake)  wakes up and starts doing stuff - i.e. eating or drinking beer - and then Sean gets distracted by FUN and says "meh" to working out. BAD!

Never-the-less, I plan on getting some solid efforts in and then ramping it back up upon my return to upstate NY. Upstate NY has the shitiest Indian food I've ever tasted, by the way. Surprised? I guess I shouldn't be. At least they make good beer.

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Hooray Thailand!

Hops!

We're back from three amazing weeks in Thailand and are finishing up some stuff here in Ann Arbor, MI before our final move out to Albany, NY this Friday. Unfortunately my bike and running shoes were picked up by the movers on the day we got back to the USA so I'm left here with nothing to re-start my training.

Oh well!

I guess that means I will just have to eat from all of my favorite restaurants and watch World Cup all day! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

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Constant State of Flux

Woah - hello blogger.

::deep breath::

I've traveled every weekend (graduation, bridal shower, man-bath (male equivalent)) since whenever my last post was, this one included. Today is officially my last FULL day in Washington, DC. Tomorrow morning I hit the road with my Uhaul to drop my things off in MI. A day later I'm on an airplane to Thailand (yes, the place with the civil war). 2 1/2 weeks after that and I'll be in Cambodia. Quickly following that I will be back in Michigan, then 3 days after that I'll be in New York... tttthennnnn the next weekend I'm in PA, the following one in MI and the one after that back in NY.

::exhales::

I've been alright at keeping my training active, yet it's definitely slacking. The swimming was decent, the biking is ALWAYS improving these days and the running is pretty stagnant.

I'll strive to revive this mess of a blog/workout journal in about a month once I've got my feet back under me. In the meantime, I will be reading all of your blogs whenever I get a spare moment and trying to leave witty, yet somewhat relevant comments/questions.

I shaved my legs again - I think this trend might stick. Well.... at least until football season.

Take care!

Sean.

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3 - A - Days and the Weekend Forecast

SATURDAY
I felt like taking it easy on the legs and body today after Friday's expedition so I just hit the gym for some ab-work and (light) weights.

SUNDAY
The legs felt surprisingly good today so I hopped onto the bicycle and did 30 miles on the flat grounds up at Hains Point. I had my roommate with me which meant slllowwwweeerrr speeds, although I did manage to put together 4 sprints. During the sprints, I was up around 28-29 mph, and even hit 30 at one point (a new high!). It's an awesome kind of suffering feeling when you're going balls-out like that. I had a major "WTF" moment though on the last sprint when I was pushing the 29.X's and two dudes riding aero passed me LIKE I WAS STANDING STILL. Jeeeeeeeeez. I did my best to try and dig deeper and hop on the 2nd guy's wheel but there was no way in hell that was happening. It was a good, simple recovery-workout and, due to the absence of hills during the workout, I was able to sprint up the three hills back to my house with EASE.

I then got to grilling. MMMmmmmmmmm!

 

Grilled Chicken Kabobs in a Curried Yogurt Marinade, Grilled Veggies, 

a Grilled-Pineapple Chipotle Pepper Salad, Spicy Black-Bean Salad 

and my last bottle of Dogfish Head Burton Baton.

MONDAY
Good news - I got back into the pool today! It was an ugly workout, but better than the last few swims that were downright ugly. I did the 500m warm-up, followed by 10 x 200m and then a 100m victory lap. The form was crap, the times were slow (1:45/100M avg. at best) but I kept the rest-periods honest and fought through the mental hurdles.

TUESDAY
Today was the mother of all workouts!.. well, at least it was a BIG day for workouts. At lunch I hopped out onto the tow-path and ran about 4.25 miles. The first half was a piece of cake, but the second half was a MUCH faster pace and I was pretty thrashed at the end. The calves were on FIRE.

After work, my friend Patrick and I hit the courts for about an hour and a half of spirited tennis. We had some really heavy hitters on the court next to us and didn't want to make ourselves look like asses so we tried to put on our own show. We held our own all right and wore ourselves pretty ragged by the end.

I got home and figured "what the hell," ate a banana and HIT THE GYM. (Light) weights and lots of abs later... and I was BEAT. I was full of that "good-tired" feeling. I loaded up on left-overs and settled in for a night of baseball-watching and early-to-bedness. It was... ahhh... a good day.

WEDNESDAY
The body was tired today and everything was sore - ESPECIALLY THE CALVES. Jesus, the calves were sore. I guess I really rook for granted the kind of shape my calves were in from regular running last summer, b/c this is ridiculous. Anyway... REST DAY! Tomorrow has some AM tennis on-deck and then hopefully another lunch-time run (calf-muscles be damned!).We've been working on video-taping our serves via the iphone so perhaps I can share some of that goodness one of these days.

No epic rides this weekend because I'm off in Michigan celebrating Elaine's graduation with a PHD from U of M's Nuclear Engineering program! And lucky us: we get to go see Barack Obama speak live at the commencements!

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75 Miles of Elbow Room

I like beer.

Very much, actually.

I'm not talking about pounding miller-lites or shit like that. I like GOOD beer. And, if I can help it w/o looking like a pretentious asshole, I choose to drink my beer out of a glass. Do I consider myself a beer snob? No, I don't think so.  Beer snobs have rules, heavy prejudices and aren't what I consider to be "experimental" people (in terms of trying new brews, whether they be high or low (löwe?) brow (bräu?) (harrrrrrrr!).

 Duvel and Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary

I don't have rules. I have preferences (beer in glass)... but not rules. I consider myself more of a beer journeyman. An up-and-comer who is drinking up every new/different bottle of everything  looking to expose myself to as many different flavors as possible. I want to try it. I want to learn all about it. What does that taste like? I wonder how it compares to this.

I love beer.

-----------------------------

75 miles... what does that taste like?

Let me tell you.

Last July, or something, I completed the longest ride of my life - 55 miles. I did it in rock-creak park on a Sunday when all of the roads were closed down. An out-and-back in rock-creak is somewhere in the neighborhood of 10.4 miles (right?.. I'm pretty sure). Anyway, it was DC-summer hot out, I was alone, and it was a lot of seeing the same thing over and over... and over... and over again. It was long, it was hard, but it was worth it.

I've been feeling great on the bike lately. Each week showed a progression in form, distance and confidence. Long gone are the days where I would sit on the trainer for only 30 minutes hoping... hoping so hard... that my knee would cooperate. I'm back, baby.

Patrick and I had been planning a BIG ride for a couple of weeks now. We hit 50 miles the weekend before and that lit a fire under us - it was time for something BIG. Patrick knew my current benchmark (55), as well as my ever-narrowing window of opportunity (1-month until DC departure). With this as my last free weekend, the exception being the one where I actually move, it was now or never.

Lift-off was scheduled for 7:00am on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. However, halfway there (and at the bottom of the f-ing hill that leads away from my house) I realized that I had forgotten BOTH of my water-bottles. Crap. So I wheeled back around and climbed the first of many hills that day. Never-the-less, I eventually got to the meet-up point and it was a hell of a view to start the day.

That's me on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

Beautiful day so far, huh?

Here's Patrick hanging out and enjoying some great 

peace and quiet before the day's journey.

We got rolling and started to journey our way out of the city. Traffic was aiiiiiight and the weather was a brisk 50 degrees. Today would have been the perfect morning for arm-warmers, knee-warmers, toe-warmers and full-fingered gloves.... but sadly I own none of these things. INSTEAD, I layered-up a long-sleeved dri-fit shirt under my jersey, threw a pair of regular gloves over my cycling gloves and wore compression socks to act as make-shift leg-warmers. Nice, huh? Oh, and how could I forget my new (coughFIRSTcough) pair of cycling socks! No, they're not those goofy looking ones with pictures all over them. These are simple, black, low-cut pearl izumi socks. And yes, they were underneath my compression socks.

The ride was to take us out to Poolesville, MD via MacArthur Blvd and a plethora of other roads, and then return back to DC via River Road. It all started out well enough. We didn't print off any queue sheets b/c we felt we had a good enough handle on our turns. Plus, we had dual iphone assistance so we could always fall back on map navigation. Before long though, we had reached our first impasse. Out with the phones!

PC with the iphone

It was a short pause and we launched out for another ways before stumbling onto this gem.

I guess Jed isn't open this early in the morning.

After a while, we were well out of the city and really on our way. Boy, and what a change in scenery. We were surrounded by dairy farms, horses, cattle.... and HILLS. Jesus, there were f-ing hills EVERYWHERE. I thought I knew what a "roller" was, but the joke was definitely on me today. It was KILLER and I experienced a whole new dimension of suffering on the bike. It was about this time that Patrick and I looked at each other and realized the 1 1/2 hours of tennis the morning before wasn't the best idea. Our legs were absent of that fresh feeling you know you've got when sprinting with ease up those first few hills. Hincapie would call it "bad legs." But that's OK because we were in it together. All it really means is that our jaws would be hanging a little lower and our chests heaving a bit harder, right?

Look at that seemingly small hill out there in the distance. 

Don't let it fool you for a second! It surely wraps up 

and around and then up some more. At least we had something 

nice to look at while sputtering along at <10mph.

After conquering a few of those nasty rollers we came upon what would have been the PERFECT stretch of Belgian pavé. It was about 8' wide and surrounded by the old country-side you see in all of the youtube highlight reels for the Belgian Spring Classics.

Stop laughing at my socks!

Shortly thereafter we stumbled onto a beautiful wheat field stretching off as far as the eye could see. How could we not jump off our bikes for a quick photo-op?

Cool field, huh?

Well, we eventually made it out to Poolesville, albeit through a very backwards and winding route. We filled up the bottles, at some GU and wheeled back around for the trek home. Our route back was significantly more direct and well-committed to memory on roads we both were quite familiar with. We picked up the pace and put our heads down in preparation for what surely would be a difficult mental and physical exercise.

I won't bore you with too many details about the new hills we found and then the GIANT hill we paper-boy'd it all the way up at the end, but just know we made it and we felt f-ing proud to do so. We were tired, but not overly so, which surprised me a bit. The legs were tired, but never really gave-out on me which I can only guess is a testament on some level to the training that has gone in up to this point. I gotta feel good about that right?

Back at home, post-ride!

My post-ride celebration wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I just wasn't in the mood for one of those two bottles of beer. Nor was I yearning for the tub of ice cream that was waiting for me (again, thank you Hannah Teter!). Instead, I opted for a mammoth sized plate of chicken fajitas and a single margarita at the local, cheap Mexican joint down the street from me. It turns out that was just what I needed. I came home all ready to take a nap but settled for an extremely relaxed state of mind while I handled planning for the upcoming Man-Bath!... but more on THAT in the future!

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