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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