15774
That would be my bib number for the Boston Marathon. Yesterday, I received a packet of information from the Boston Athletic Association. That packet included my "pick up" card with all the information printed on when and where to pick up my race bib. On this card, they print your name, citizenship, birthdate and qualifying time (pretty cool to see it in writing!). It seems there are two start waves for the marathon. The first wave, with blue bibs, start at 10:00am. The second wave, red bibs with numbers 11,000 and up, starts at 10:30am. I would be in the 10:30am wave...the wave for the slower runners.
I wanted to clarify something from a comment that was received. Just because I'm considering the Boston Marathon to be a "B" race for me does not mean I am nonchalant about qualifying! Nothing could be further from the truth!! I don't think my point came across properly via the blog.
See, QUALIFYING for Boston was the goal. That would mean the Tucson marathon was one of my "A" races and I trained my heart out for it. Those of you that helped me through that training know how hard I worked. But the goal never included actually running fast at the Boston Marathon. It's just something I gotta do now that I qualified. Does that make sense?
I'm still a little shocked that I made it, and lots of other people I run with are shocked, too! (I can tell by their reactions when I tell them about it). But now it's like all the hard work to "get in" is done, and it's just time to kick back and run the Boston Marathon just so I can say I did it! I'm not stressed about it nor training as hard for it as I probably should be, but I know it will be a good time. I just want to cover the distance and take in the scenery, since I may never be able to go back and do Boston again.
I'm still not feeling 100% healthy, but I should be fine well before the marathon. They say taper time is just about the time people start getting sick, and well, I guess I'm proving that little theory right now! I'm looking forward to "only" a 12 mile run this weekend. It's like I won't know what to do with the rest of my Saturday!
About Me
- MJ
- After 10 Ironman races including Kona - the World Championships, triathlon has turned into my lifestyle. I've enjoyed the sport so much, I've now started coaching. A "one size fits all" plan is not for everyone. To find out about what customized coaching can do for you, click on the Tri Smart Coaching logo below for more information!
IM Louiville
Bikes racked at Ironman Louisville 2010
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Fighting
Looks like I'm fighting a cold now...Woke up this morning not feeling so good. My throat felt dry, my nose was a bit stuffed up and my eyelids felt heavy when I finally rolled myself out of bed after hitting snooze for the third time. This is so not a good time to be sick (is there ever really a good time to be sick??).
I went to the kitchen and chugged a glass of orange juice. I don't even like orange juice, but I do believe that the vitamin C and other good things in there help steer off minor colds.
Yesterday's run might've taken a little too much out of me. It was damp and very humid. Even though I changed shirts immediately after the run, that didn't stop my fingers from becoming numb when a bunch of us went out to lunch afterwards.
Might have to kick things down a notch for the next couple of days just to make sure I keep myself healthy. We'll see how things go. In the meantime, my germ-a-phobe personality has been Cloroxing all the door handles, lightswitches, remote controls and phones in the house! Can't help it...
I went to the kitchen and chugged a glass of orange juice. I don't even like orange juice, but I do believe that the vitamin C and other good things in there help steer off minor colds.
Yesterday's run might've taken a little too much out of me. It was damp and very humid. Even though I changed shirts immediately after the run, that didn't stop my fingers from becoming numb when a bunch of us went out to lunch afterwards.
Might have to kick things down a notch for the next couple of days just to make sure I keep myself healthy. We'll see how things go. In the meantime, my germ-a-phobe personality has been Cloroxing all the door handles, lightswitches, remote controls and phones in the house! Can't help it...
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Count another 20 (or make that 19!)
Today the marathon training plan called for the big 20-miler. The weather Gods were better to me than the last day I had to run 20 miles. The weather for this morning's run was very foggy, extremely humid, however, the temperature was about 57 degrees, which is quite nice! What was not so nice is that the location we chose to run wasn't exactly ideal.
For the past several days, this area has had a lot of rain. Running paths become muddy with very little precipitation. Waterfall Glen (or WFG or WTF) is a pretty popular place for runners because of the small hills and great scenery. WFG is a 9.5 mile loop of limestone path and dries up pretty quickly, even when it seems we have a lot of rain.
Earlier in the week, when I began soliciting company for this long journey, there were several comments and questions about whether or not the trail would be runnable (yes, that's a word)! We do have asphalt trails nearby, but none quite as fun to run through as WFG, so we stuck with the original plan of 2 loops.
With Mark and Tom training for St. Louis (just one day before Boston), Dennis training for an ultramarathon next month, Donna training for Grandma's in June and Pam and I training for Boston, and a bunch of other people who just like running long for the fun of it (huh??) we ended up with a pretty large training group for today's run! We even picked up Dennis V. who was planning on his first long run of the season!
(Why are we standing behind the handicapped parking mark? Was this foreshadowing the events to come??)
The air was pretty damp and the humidity made it difficult for a few of us to keep up the pace we had planned. The trail was flooded out near Turtle Pond and this caused us to jump up on some nearby railroad tracks. As BC mentioned, it was just like a scene out of Stand By Me. Only he called it "the movie where they found the dead guy." The other little snafu came between miles 8 and 9. We had to maneuver around the forest a bit and go pretty far off the trail to keep our feet dry. Some chose to run right through the large pool of water. Some chose to go through the forest and were attacked by sticker bushes which scratched up their legs pretty badly so they had to run with bloody legs the rest of the way. But, we all made it through, unharmed (well, except for the bloody legs part).
Although my hands never really did warm up for this run (I forgot gloves), I had a great time. The miles just flew by as we chatted about everything from races to training to families to current news stories to past experiences. The second loop went almost as quickly as the first. And, though two 9.5 mile loops is only 19 miles, I think I'll call it 20.
For the past several days, this area has had a lot of rain. Running paths become muddy with very little precipitation. Waterfall Glen (or WFG or WTF) is a pretty popular place for runners because of the small hills and great scenery. WFG is a 9.5 mile loop of limestone path and dries up pretty quickly, even when it seems we have a lot of rain.
Earlier in the week, when I began soliciting company for this long journey, there were several comments and questions about whether or not the trail would be runnable (yes, that's a word)! We do have asphalt trails nearby, but none quite as fun to run through as WFG, so we stuck with the original plan of 2 loops.
With Mark and Tom training for St. Louis (just one day before Boston), Dennis training for an ultramarathon next month, Donna training for Grandma's in June and Pam and I training for Boston, and a bunch of other people who just like running long for the fun of it (huh??) we ended up with a pretty large training group for today's run! We even picked up Dennis V. who was planning on his first long run of the season!
(Why are we standing behind the handicapped parking mark? Was this foreshadowing the events to come??)
The air was pretty damp and the humidity made it difficult for a few of us to keep up the pace we had planned. The trail was flooded out near Turtle Pond and this caused us to jump up on some nearby railroad tracks. As BC mentioned, it was just like a scene out of Stand By Me. Only he called it "the movie where they found the dead guy." The other little snafu came between miles 8 and 9. We had to maneuver around the forest a bit and go pretty far off the trail to keep our feet dry. Some chose to run right through the large pool of water. Some chose to go through the forest and were attacked by sticker bushes which scratched up their legs pretty badly so they had to run with bloody legs the rest of the way. But, we all made it through, unharmed (well, except for the bloody legs part).
Although my hands never really did warm up for this run (I forgot gloves), I had a great time. The miles just flew by as we chatted about everything from races to training to families to current news stories to past experiences. The second loop went almost as quickly as the first. And, though two 9.5 mile loops is only 19 miles, I think I'll call it 20.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Boston is Nearing
In the last week or so, I've had a lot of people ask about Boston (the marathon) or how the training is going for Boston. We're about a month away from that race at this point, so this weekend will be the last long run in preparation for this marathon.
I haven't been running nearly as much nor as hard as I did for my last marathon and just can't seem to get really motivated about training hard for Boston. I think maybe the two marathons are too close for me - December and then April. There's really no "down time" when they're scheduled so close. Sure, I feel like I took some rest because the mileage starts off again at a long run of 6 miles to start marathon training.
But I think the main reason I'm so non-chalant about the upcoming marathon is because I am considering it a "B" race. My goal isn't to go out and crush the course nor is it to "qualify for Boston at Boston." (are you nuts??) My goal is to simply cover the 26.2 miles injury-free. Then I can move on to what excites me much more, and that is triathlon season!
So while I'm out in Boston, I plan to do some sight-seeing, try clam chowder for the first time and, oh yeah, run a marathon.
I haven't been running nearly as much nor as hard as I did for my last marathon and just can't seem to get really motivated about training hard for Boston. I think maybe the two marathons are too close for me - December and then April. There's really no "down time" when they're scheduled so close. Sure, I feel like I took some rest because the mileage starts off again at a long run of 6 miles to start marathon training.
But I think the main reason I'm so non-chalant about the upcoming marathon is because I am considering it a "B" race. My goal isn't to go out and crush the course nor is it to "qualify for Boston at Boston." (are you nuts??) My goal is to simply cover the 26.2 miles injury-free. Then I can move on to what excites me much more, and that is triathlon season!
So while I'm out in Boston, I plan to do some sight-seeing, try clam chowder for the first time and, oh yeah, run a marathon.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
March Madness - Cary Half Marathon
One of the things the Cary Half Marathon is known for is the weather. Because the race is in the middle of March. Here in the midwest, that means you never know what to expect. It could snow, rain, be really windy, some combination of all those or it could be just plain beautiful. And the race is run, in or shine. It's like a badge of honor when you complete a race like this in brutal weather conditions so you'll hear people brag about the year they did the race when it snowed two feet and they had to run uphill both ways...with no shoes!
This year, we were fortunate to have almost ideal weather conditions. When I flipped on the television this morning, it said 33 degrees. I ran outside earlier in the week and it was 34 degrees and I froze. I decided I'd better layer up because I didn't want to be cold for 13.1 miles.
My carpool ride showed up right on time (I should have known). We made it all the way up to Cary without incident. By the time we arrived, the sun was shining and BC informed me that the weather forecasters said we'd only have wind of about 3-4 mph. Sweet! After we picked up our packets we headed back to the car where I debated on whether or not I was wearing too many clothes. Oh well, I had pockets in my running top, so I just figured I could carry what I needed to take off.
We headed on over to the start line and had already lost Randy and Donna. Even though this race isn't huge, we couldn't seem to find them amongst the field of runners. I had no time goal set for this race, I was just going to run with friends according to how I felt. It's amazing how different I feel when I don't pressure myself with any performance goals. BC, Joe, Angie and I just stood up on the curb, looking for Randy and Donna, but the gun went off and we still hadn't found them. I didn't even have my watch on the right setting, so I had to hit about 6 different buttons to get it to clear and start...this was a considerable distance after the start line. Oops.
Angie and I hadn't spoken in a while, so we had a lot to catch up on. Namely, her training trip to Solvang, my ride in Solvang, each of us have gotten new bikes, and a ton of other things that we'd normally share had we seen each other more recently. Within the first couple of miles, I realized I was definitely overdressed. I took off my much too heavy wool hat and put it in the pocket of my running top. By mile 3, it was just Angie and I running, talking, missing the mile markers and keeping a pretty good clip. The times I was able to catch the mile marker, I pegged us for about an 8:20 pace. Cary is a hilly course...8:20s is tough!
I heard Angie say she was shooting for a sub-2 hour race. Well, she was going to crush that if she kept this pace, so I told her that. Around mile 6, I learned that she hadn't been focusing on her run much and her longest run recently was 6 miles. Uh oh. This could get ugly!
The hills kept coming and it was difficult to talk during uphills. It was easy to tell when either of us was struggling because our sentences during those times were pretty broken. We chatted back and forth, passing people we knew, being passed by other people we knew and, just in general, having a pretty good run. I started catching our splits and we were still keeping the 8:20-8:30 pace. I couldn't believe I was keeping up. (I've been slacking in my running pace lately).
Not sure when it happened, but things started getting tough and I could hear the doubt creeping into Angie's voice as we talked. But I knew she could keep the pace...she wasn't breathing THAT hard (not like one of the dudes we passed...thought he was having a grabber!). We were into mile 12 and I told her that we were much closer to 1:50 than 2:00! Excellent!! We turned one of the last corners and she asked how much time we had left...about 3 minutes. And she turned it on. Yep, Ang still had some juice left! We were both breathing pretty heavy at this point, but we were feeding on each other's energy and it made for a strong finish!
We grabbed some Gatorade and headed over to see some of our friends finish. It's amazing how quickly the 13 miles seemed to go by! Of all the years I've run this race, I think this was the best weather I've seen. Joe crossed the finish line and immediately announced that he would not be back next year! (not sure if I believe that). BC finished while flipping the bird and wishing he hadn't worn a jacket. Donna finished injury-free. Randy finished while maintaining his planned heart rate.
I wanted to get a group shot of all the Salt Creek Tri Club people, but they left before I could get to the car, get the camera and get back.
All in all, it was a great race and near-perfect conditions. I just wish I had more time to chat with all the other runners I knew there. But SOMEONE was in a hurry to get home! Until next year....
This year, we were fortunate to have almost ideal weather conditions. When I flipped on the television this morning, it said 33 degrees. I ran outside earlier in the week and it was 34 degrees and I froze. I decided I'd better layer up because I didn't want to be cold for 13.1 miles.
My carpool ride showed up right on time (I should have known). We made it all the way up to Cary without incident. By the time we arrived, the sun was shining and BC informed me that the weather forecasters said we'd only have wind of about 3-4 mph. Sweet! After we picked up our packets we headed back to the car where I debated on whether or not I was wearing too many clothes. Oh well, I had pockets in my running top, so I just figured I could carry what I needed to take off.
We headed on over to the start line and had already lost Randy and Donna. Even though this race isn't huge, we couldn't seem to find them amongst the field of runners. I had no time goal set for this race, I was just going to run with friends according to how I felt. It's amazing how different I feel when I don't pressure myself with any performance goals. BC, Joe, Angie and I just stood up on the curb, looking for Randy and Donna, but the gun went off and we still hadn't found them. I didn't even have my watch on the right setting, so I had to hit about 6 different buttons to get it to clear and start...this was a considerable distance after the start line. Oops.
Angie and I hadn't spoken in a while, so we had a lot to catch up on. Namely, her training trip to Solvang, my ride in Solvang, each of us have gotten new bikes, and a ton of other things that we'd normally share had we seen each other more recently. Within the first couple of miles, I realized I was definitely overdressed. I took off my much too heavy wool hat and put it in the pocket of my running top. By mile 3, it was just Angie and I running, talking, missing the mile markers and keeping a pretty good clip. The times I was able to catch the mile marker, I pegged us for about an 8:20 pace. Cary is a hilly course...8:20s is tough!
I heard Angie say she was shooting for a sub-2 hour race. Well, she was going to crush that if she kept this pace, so I told her that. Around mile 6, I learned that she hadn't been focusing on her run much and her longest run recently was 6 miles. Uh oh. This could get ugly!
The hills kept coming and it was difficult to talk during uphills. It was easy to tell when either of us was struggling because our sentences during those times were pretty broken. We chatted back and forth, passing people we knew, being passed by other people we knew and, just in general, having a pretty good run. I started catching our splits and we were still keeping the 8:20-8:30 pace. I couldn't believe I was keeping up. (I've been slacking in my running pace lately).
Not sure when it happened, but things started getting tough and I could hear the doubt creeping into Angie's voice as we talked. But I knew she could keep the pace...she wasn't breathing THAT hard (not like one of the dudes we passed...thought he was having a grabber!). We were into mile 12 and I told her that we were much closer to 1:50 than 2:00! Excellent!! We turned one of the last corners and she asked how much time we had left...about 3 minutes. And she turned it on. Yep, Ang still had some juice left! We were both breathing pretty heavy at this point, but we were feeding on each other's energy and it made for a strong finish!
We grabbed some Gatorade and headed over to see some of our friends finish. It's amazing how quickly the 13 miles seemed to go by! Of all the years I've run this race, I think this was the best weather I've seen. Joe crossed the finish line and immediately announced that he would not be back next year! (not sure if I believe that). BC finished while flipping the bird and wishing he hadn't worn a jacket. Donna finished injury-free. Randy finished while maintaining his planned heart rate.
I wanted to get a group shot of all the Salt Creek Tri Club people, but they left before I could get to the car, get the camera and get back.
All in all, it was a great race and near-perfect conditions. I just wish I had more time to chat with all the other runners I knew there. But SOMEONE was in a hurry to get home! Until next year....
Thursday, March 15, 2007
First Century of 2007
That's it, folks! My first century ride (100 miles) of 2007 is now history.
Waking up on Friday morning at 3:30am in order to finish packing, shower and get off to the airport was no problem. I was pretty excited and anxious to get out there to experience this ride. I was also a bit nervous because my past rides on hilly terrain have been challenging. Combine that with the fact that I haven't been out on a road with my bike since November and the ride feels intimidating. Since I was doing this ride with Camille and Bernie, two very strong riders, well, it could almost make me sick to my stomach. What I kept reminding myself was that this was just a friendly little ride with beautiful scenery and I was here to have fun!
The thing with flying with a bike is that it can present all sorts of obstacles. They want to look in the bike case, go through all your stuff (which they inevitably "mess up"), they charge you extra for the bike, it can take a lot of time and just generally has the potential to be a big pain in the rear! This was my first time flying Jet Blue - and by far the easiest experience I've had traveling with my bike!
We flew to Long Beach airport - I think they have exactly 7 gates and just 2 baggage carousels. Camille met us near the baggage claim with wet swimsuit in hand - she had come directly from the pool. Camille's workout schedule makes me look like a slacker! Bernie went to get the rental car while Camille and I chatted. I then went over to get our luggage, which, unfortunately was removed from the carousel because we left it too long (10 minutes??!?). One of the agents scolded me for leaving my luggage there too long. Yeah, yeah, can I just have my bag now? We drove off to Santa Barbara where we stayed at a Days Inn. This would make our drive to Solvang in the morning short and sweet. After a quick lunch, we put our bikes together and made sure we'd be able to fit everything in the van in the morning.
We met up with Camille's friend, Pete, for dinner. The meal theme of this trip was definitely seafood. I had more fish tacos this trip than I've had in my life! We went to a place called the Endless Summer Bar-Cafe.
We were clearly not the only ones at this Days Inn going to the ride. As I sent out the door in the morning to check the temperature, there were other riders already packing their things into vehicles.
It was quite chilly! It took a little over 30 minutes to get to Solvang.
There were already people taking off for the ride when we arrived. There were more cyclists than I've ever seen in one place! We took out rime picking up our registration materials and getting our gear together in hopes that it would warm up a little. I started this ride with a thin hat under my helmet, a thin Under Armor shirt under my short-sleeved jersey, arm warmers, toe covers and long-fingered gloves. In a sick sort of way, I wanted that first hill to come quickly so I could warm up. My fingers were pretty uncomfortable almost instantly. I would say that we were all uncomfortably cold for the first 8-10 miles. Then it seemed to warm up. Riding through the sunshine felt almost perfect. Then we came to the first round of hills. Within minutes, I heated up quickly and toyed with the idea of shedding some layers. But you don't want to do that too early because when you hit a shady downhill, it becomes cold in a hurry!
This ride was feeling incredible! I don't know if it was my new bike, Sylvia, the beautiful weather and scenery or just the fact that this ride sure as hell beats an indoor ride on a trainer, but I was having a fantastic time! Everything felt great on the new bike and though we were tearing up some brutal hills, I felt better than expected. At the very first SAG stop, the extra clothing layers came off.
About 20 miles into the ride, the wind came out of nowhere. And no matter which way we turned, it felt like we were riding straight into it. It was pretty draining. We caught on to the back of a pace line and let a guy with "Wild Thing" on his jersey lead us for what was much longer than any normal person would have pulled. But this guy seemed to enjoy leading us as he always slowed down when it seemed the group was dropping off the back of his wheel. We were riding at an effort that made me think we were going 20-22 mph, but I looked at my speedometer and we were doing a measley 12 mph! UGH! Well, being in a pace line was sure better than facing this wind alone, so as we turned the corner, I got out of the saddle to catch the wheel in front of me (Camille's). It wsa then that I heard a loud Pssssssssshhhhhhhhh and my speed quickly diminished. You guessed it, I had a flat. I yelled "Camille!" to get her to stop, but I didn't think she heard me. Bummer.
I changed the tube and had to fill it with a tiny frame pump. Yep, the same pump I stole off Sanford (Sure glad I did that!). I couldn't get the tire quite as full as I'd have liked to, but I figured it was enough to get me to the next SAG stop. I slowly got back on the road and pedaled furiously to catch up. I pulled into the stop and found Camille and Bernie quickly. They were already wondering what happened to me. It took me so long to get there, they thought I might've moved on without them! I went to the bike guys, borrowed a pump and filled the back tire up. I then rode over to fill my water bottles and... Pssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhh! WTF?!?!??!!!!!
Bernie figured I may have pinched the tube, so he changed this one for me. (Thanks, BC). BC and I had each only brought one extra tube, and we used both of those, so I went back to the bike guys to purchase 2 more tubes...just in case. After what seemed like forever, we moved on. We had just about 40 more miles to go. More wind, more hills, but the warm temperatures and spectacular sunshine made it hard to not enjoy the rest of this ride. I was so happy to be outside in nothing more than shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. However, it did seem that I couldn't drink enough. I was constantly thirsty for the remainder of the ride.
We were warned of the "killer" hill that lay ahead of us, I guess around mile 80. It was pretty slow going and all the cyclists seemed to be moving in slow motion. I put Sylvia into the easiest gear I had and tried to hold a comfortable rhythym to crank up this hill. I was up close behind a guy wearing a Clif jersey, but I wasn't making any ground on him, so I decided not to try and pass him. Unfortunately, this guy decided to shift gears, pausing just for an instant and my front tire hit his back tire. Immediately, I was off balance and tried to correct myself by veering quickly right. And, more bad luck for me, I hit another rider and went down. Not hard, we were only going about 5-6mph, but just enough to embarass myself and give all the other riders a good chuckle. Yeah, very funny.
We headed into the last 10 miles of this century and saw a police car up ahead with a biker down. Not good. As I tried to keep my eyes on the road, I heard a sound that resembled a bottle rocket. And, you betcha, flat #3. I had now become quite efficient at getting the back tire off and changing it, but the cop told me the reason the guy in front of me fell was because he flatted during this same turn. That made me extra cautious for the rest of the ride. My knuckles were turning white on the handle bars! With 3 flats already, it wouldn't have surprised me if I had a 4th and I didn't want to be speeding into a turn if that happened.
Luckily for me, the last few miles were uneventful. They actually had a big banner with a "finish line" for the cyclists to cross. There, they handed out goody bags and herded everyone into this big courtyard-like area where there was a big barbecue going on. I couldn't believe how quickly the day went, flats and crashing included! It was a great ride that I hope to be able to do again in the future!!
Waking up on Friday morning at 3:30am in order to finish packing, shower and get off to the airport was no problem. I was pretty excited and anxious to get out there to experience this ride. I was also a bit nervous because my past rides on hilly terrain have been challenging. Combine that with the fact that I haven't been out on a road with my bike since November and the ride feels intimidating. Since I was doing this ride with Camille and Bernie, two very strong riders, well, it could almost make me sick to my stomach. What I kept reminding myself was that this was just a friendly little ride with beautiful scenery and I was here to have fun!
The thing with flying with a bike is that it can present all sorts of obstacles. They want to look in the bike case, go through all your stuff (which they inevitably "mess up"), they charge you extra for the bike, it can take a lot of time and just generally has the potential to be a big pain in the rear! This was my first time flying Jet Blue - and by far the easiest experience I've had traveling with my bike!
We flew to Long Beach airport - I think they have exactly 7 gates and just 2 baggage carousels. Camille met us near the baggage claim with wet swimsuit in hand - she had come directly from the pool. Camille's workout schedule makes me look like a slacker! Bernie went to get the rental car while Camille and I chatted. I then went over to get our luggage, which, unfortunately was removed from the carousel because we left it too long (10 minutes??!?). One of the agents scolded me for leaving my luggage there too long. Yeah, yeah, can I just have my bag now? We drove off to Santa Barbara where we stayed at a Days Inn. This would make our drive to Solvang in the morning short and sweet. After a quick lunch, we put our bikes together and made sure we'd be able to fit everything in the van in the morning.
We met up with Camille's friend, Pete, for dinner. The meal theme of this trip was definitely seafood. I had more fish tacos this trip than I've had in my life! We went to a place called the Endless Summer Bar-Cafe.We were clearly not the only ones at this Days Inn going to the ride. As I sent out the door in the morning to check the temperature, there were other riders already packing their things into vehicles.
It was quite chilly! It took a little over 30 minutes to get to Solvang.There were already people taking off for the ride when we arrived. There were more cyclists than I've ever seen in one place! We took out rime picking up our registration materials and getting our gear together in hopes that it would warm up a little. I started this ride with a thin hat under my helmet, a thin Under Armor shirt under my short-sleeved jersey, arm warmers, toe covers and long-fingered gloves. In a sick sort of way, I wanted that first hill to come quickly so I could warm up. My fingers were pretty uncomfortable almost instantly. I would say that we were all uncomfortably cold for the first 8-10 miles. Then it seemed to warm up. Riding through the sunshine felt almost perfect. Then we came to the first round of hills. Within minutes, I heated up quickly and toyed with the idea of shedding some layers. But you don't want to do that too early because when you hit a shady downhill, it becomes cold in a hurry!
This ride was feeling incredible! I don't know if it was my new bike, Sylvia, the beautiful weather and scenery or just the fact that this ride sure as hell beats an indoor ride on a trainer, but I was having a fantastic time! Everything felt great on the new bike and though we were tearing up some brutal hills, I felt better than expected. At the very first SAG stop, the extra clothing layers came off.
About 20 miles into the ride, the wind came out of nowhere. And no matter which way we turned, it felt like we were riding straight into it. It was pretty draining. We caught on to the back of a pace line and let a guy with "Wild Thing" on his jersey lead us for what was much longer than any normal person would have pulled. But this guy seemed to enjoy leading us as he always slowed down when it seemed the group was dropping off the back of his wheel. We were riding at an effort that made me think we were going 20-22 mph, but I looked at my speedometer and we were doing a measley 12 mph! UGH! Well, being in a pace line was sure better than facing this wind alone, so as we turned the corner, I got out of the saddle to catch the wheel in front of me (Camille's). It wsa then that I heard a loud Pssssssssshhhhhhhhh and my speed quickly diminished. You guessed it, I had a flat. I yelled "Camille!" to get her to stop, but I didn't think she heard me. Bummer.
I changed the tube and had to fill it with a tiny frame pump. Yep, the same pump I stole off Sanford (Sure glad I did that!). I couldn't get the tire quite as full as I'd have liked to, but I figured it was enough to get me to the next SAG stop. I slowly got back on the road and pedaled furiously to catch up. I pulled into the stop and found Camille and Bernie quickly. They were already wondering what happened to me. It took me so long to get there, they thought I might've moved on without them! I went to the bike guys, borrowed a pump and filled the back tire up. I then rode over to fill my water bottles and... Pssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhh! WTF?!?!??!!!!!
Bernie figured I may have pinched the tube, so he changed this one for me. (Thanks, BC). BC and I had each only brought one extra tube, and we used both of those, so I went back to the bike guys to purchase 2 more tubes...just in case. After what seemed like forever, we moved on. We had just about 40 more miles to go. More wind, more hills, but the warm temperatures and spectacular sunshine made it hard to not enjoy the rest of this ride. I was so happy to be outside in nothing more than shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. However, it did seem that I couldn't drink enough. I was constantly thirsty for the remainder of the ride.
We were warned of the "killer" hill that lay ahead of us, I guess around mile 80. It was pretty slow going and all the cyclists seemed to be moving in slow motion. I put Sylvia into the easiest gear I had and tried to hold a comfortable rhythym to crank up this hill. I was up close behind a guy wearing a Clif jersey, but I wasn't making any ground on him, so I decided not to try and pass him. Unfortunately, this guy decided to shift gears, pausing just for an instant and my front tire hit his back tire. Immediately, I was off balance and tried to correct myself by veering quickly right. And, more bad luck for me, I hit another rider and went down. Not hard, we were only going about 5-6mph, but just enough to embarass myself and give all the other riders a good chuckle. Yeah, very funny.
We headed into the last 10 miles of this century and saw a police car up ahead with a biker down. Not good. As I tried to keep my eyes on the road, I heard a sound that resembled a bottle rocket. And, you betcha, flat #3. I had now become quite efficient at getting the back tire off and changing it, but the cop told me the reason the guy in front of me fell was because he flatted during this same turn. That made me extra cautious for the rest of the ride. My knuckles were turning white on the handle bars! With 3 flats already, it wouldn't have surprised me if I had a 4th and I didn't want to be speeding into a turn if that happened.
Luckily for me, the last few miles were uneventful. They actually had a big banner with a "finish line" for the cyclists to cross. There, they handed out goody bags and herded everyone into this big courtyard-like area where there was a big barbecue going on. I couldn't believe how quickly the day went, flats and crashing included! It was a great ride that I hope to be able to do again in the future!!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Off We Go To California!
I meant to take a picture of the new road bike to show you all, but haven't had time. I picked her up (her name is Sylvia) last week and things have been rather crazy!
The first thing I needed to do was put some pedals on her. Sure, changing pedals is easy, you say. Well, I have had a bad experience in pedal-changing that involved stripping a crank and going on a wild goose chase that lasted several months to find a replacement crank to make that bike usable. Therefore, I was extra-special careful when removing the pedals from my old Trek (from here on out known as Sanford...as in Sanford and Son because the bike is a piece of junk). It actually went a lot smoother than I expected.
Secondly, Sylvia (the new bike) came with a 12-23 cassette. No, I'm not a gear head, but these are things you learn about very quickly when it comes to riding hilly courses. Because Sylvia does not have a triple chain ring in the front, nor do I want to get one, I needed to get a 12-27 cassette for this weekend's ride. In case you didn't know, Solvang is hilly. Like, we here in Illinois have no idea what hills are compared to what they have in California. You people who have ridden the Ironman Wisconsin course and think it's hilly have no idea what hilly is compared to the hills in Solvang. If you've done Horribly Hilly...well, you're close.
SO - that means a 12-27 is essential if I want to be riding the century vs. walking my bike for a majority of the ride. I don't claim to have any sort of bike mechanic knowledge, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. My buddy, CJB (also known as JQ) said he had a 12-27 he'd let me borrow for the ride. Sweet, I didn't have to scramble to find one. I drive over to his house only to find that, no, he DOES NOT have a 12-27, he has a 12-25. Well, I don't need that...a)I MUST have a 12-27 and b)Gus has a 12-25, and I could've just used that if I wanted to go that route. (Gus is my triathlon also known as a TT bike). More importantly, while I'm at JQ's bike shop (a.k.a. garage), he gives me a quick lesson in changing a cassette.
Mind you, this all happens in less than a week and I DO have a full-time job, ya know! I locate a local bike shop that has the cassette and get ready to do the dirty work. You get to use this fancy-looking tool with a chain hanging from it for this job. And, although I was given a very nice bike tool box for my birthday last year, it does not have the right size wrench for this task. I tear up every junk drawer in the kitchen and box in the garage for a wrench and come up empty. (Note to self: Husband is not allowed to TOUCH my tools!) I got so frustrated, I had to walk away and go start some laundry. After I calmed down, I went back on my hunt for a wrench. Found one, not exactly what I was looking for, but I figured it was good enough for the job.
I take my time, and in less than 10 minutes, the new cassette is installed. You've got to be kidding, that was quite easy! It was much harder to find a wrench than it was to change the stupid thing. I run to the garage, put the wheel on the bike and shift it up and down to make sure I did it right. Yep, it works. Well, you can't really do this incorrectly...almost idiot-proof.
Last piece my new baby needed was bottle cages. It came without any. For a century ride in the 80 degree weather we're expecting, I wanted two. Got them from the same bike shop I got the cassette and another 10 minutes goes by while I install those. Oh yeah, compact pump gets attached when you put on the cages...stole that off Sanford, too. Not like he'll be needing it anymore. He's headed for retirement!
After all the finishing touches, it's just a matter of taking the bike apart to put it in the bike box for the flight to CA. I've decided that I'm out of practice in the art of disassembling the bike. Again, not difficult, but there are all these cool little tricks that I've been taught (mostly by BC) that just make your life a little easier when you get the bike to its destination and have to put it together again.
I plan on bringing the camera to CA for the trip and hope to get a few good pictures I can share with you. I, in no way, feel prepared to ride 100 miles in the hills of California at this time of year (heck, I don't think I'd feel prepared at ANY time of year!), but I do plan to have some fun while I enjoy the good weather, beautiful scenery and wonderful company.
The first thing I needed to do was put some pedals on her. Sure, changing pedals is easy, you say. Well, I have had a bad experience in pedal-changing that involved stripping a crank and going on a wild goose chase that lasted several months to find a replacement crank to make that bike usable. Therefore, I was extra-special careful when removing the pedals from my old Trek (from here on out known as Sanford...as in Sanford and Son because the bike is a piece of junk). It actually went a lot smoother than I expected.
Secondly, Sylvia (the new bike) came with a 12-23 cassette. No, I'm not a gear head, but these are things you learn about very quickly when it comes to riding hilly courses. Because Sylvia does not have a triple chain ring in the front, nor do I want to get one, I needed to get a 12-27 cassette for this weekend's ride. In case you didn't know, Solvang is hilly. Like, we here in Illinois have no idea what hills are compared to what they have in California. You people who have ridden the Ironman Wisconsin course and think it's hilly have no idea what hilly is compared to the hills in Solvang. If you've done Horribly Hilly...well, you're close.
SO - that means a 12-27 is essential if I want to be riding the century vs. walking my bike for a majority of the ride. I don't claim to have any sort of bike mechanic knowledge, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. My buddy, CJB (also known as JQ) said he had a 12-27 he'd let me borrow for the ride. Sweet, I didn't have to scramble to find one. I drive over to his house only to find that, no, he DOES NOT have a 12-27, he has a 12-25. Well, I don't need that...a)I MUST have a 12-27 and b)Gus has a 12-25, and I could've just used that if I wanted to go that route. (Gus is my triathlon also known as a TT bike). More importantly, while I'm at JQ's bike shop (a.k.a. garage), he gives me a quick lesson in changing a cassette.
Mind you, this all happens in less than a week and I DO have a full-time job, ya know! I locate a local bike shop that has the cassette and get ready to do the dirty work. You get to use this fancy-looking tool with a chain hanging from it for this job. And, although I was given a very nice bike tool box for my birthday last year, it does not have the right size wrench for this task. I tear up every junk drawer in the kitchen and box in the garage for a wrench and come up empty. (Note to self: Husband is not allowed to TOUCH my tools!) I got so frustrated, I had to walk away and go start some laundry. After I calmed down, I went back on my hunt for a wrench. Found one, not exactly what I was looking for, but I figured it was good enough for the job.
I take my time, and in less than 10 minutes, the new cassette is installed. You've got to be kidding, that was quite easy! It was much harder to find a wrench than it was to change the stupid thing. I run to the garage, put the wheel on the bike and shift it up and down to make sure I did it right. Yep, it works. Well, you can't really do this incorrectly...almost idiot-proof.
Last piece my new baby needed was bottle cages. It came without any. For a century ride in the 80 degree weather we're expecting, I wanted two. Got them from the same bike shop I got the cassette and another 10 minutes goes by while I install those. Oh yeah, compact pump gets attached when you put on the cages...stole that off Sanford, too. Not like he'll be needing it anymore. He's headed for retirement!
After all the finishing touches, it's just a matter of taking the bike apart to put it in the bike box for the flight to CA. I've decided that I'm out of practice in the art of disassembling the bike. Again, not difficult, but there are all these cool little tricks that I've been taught (mostly by BC) that just make your life a little easier when you get the bike to its destination and have to put it together again.
I plan on bringing the camera to CA for the trip and hope to get a few good pictures I can share with you. I, in no way, feel prepared to ride 100 miles in the hills of California at this time of year (heck, I don't think I'd feel prepared at ANY time of year!), but I do plan to have some fun while I enjoy the good weather, beautiful scenery and wonderful company.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
First of 3
Saturdays have been reserved for my "long run" for as long as I've started doing long runs! Yesterday, I needed to get in one of my longest runs in preparation for the Boston Marathon: the big 20-miler. According to the schedule, this is just the first of three 20-milers on my training schedule. Now, most people think 20 miles is just an absurd amount of miles to run. But yesterday, it wasn't the mileage that I was dreading. It was the weather.
It can be quite challenging to get in long runs outside during these months when you live in Chicago. We still have snow accumulation on all the regular running paths. This snow has been trampled, melted and then frozen back into a severly uneven surface making it unsafe to run on. It's these times that we die-hard runners take to the streets. The streets were clean for yesterday's run, however, the longer the run, the more traffic there is to face. Most drivers do not like sharing the roads with the runners and they're all too happy to let you know it!
I fell asleep on Friday night before catching the morning's weather forecast, so I flipped on the television when I woke up. 22 degrees. Yeah, uh huh, what about that piercing windchill? So I stepped out on my balcony and quickly jumped back into the house and slammed the door. Yep, definitely a windchill factor! A further look at the news showed the windchill was about 12 degrees. This can make a big difference in how to dress properly for a run.
I rustled through the closet to find all the much-needed set of hand warmers and all the necessary layers then proceeded to the kitchen to fill up bottles for my fuel belt. This poses another problem. It's difficult to get to your drinks because of all the extra clothes. Additionally, I need to wear two pairs of gloves (with hand warmers tucked nicely inside!) to keep my fingers from freezing off, thus making it difficult to handle the bottles during the run. How DO I manage?
Next problem is that NO ONE wants to run 20 miles in this weather. I have some pretty crazy, gung-ho, die hard endurance athlete friends, yet they all seem to turn into wimps when it comes to keeping me company on such a long run (well, BC, you are excused since you ran the 17 with me last week!). Now I know that if I can't get some other sucker to come out and run with me the entire time, I won't get the required mileage in. Sure, I'll tell myself I'll "finish up" on a treadmill later in the afternoon. But that never happens.
What is my solution? Shifts. I need an early morning shift...someone to start with me at 6:30am. This is BC. This is because he can't stand to sleep in a little if he knows someone is out there running. He needs to join in. Cool, he's great company. Then we swing back for shift #2. These people refuse to get up early enough to meet us for the 6:30 start, so they show up at 7am. This group runs a regular loop (of which I STILL can't figure out myself) of around 8 miles. After 8 miles in 12 degree windchill, these people are all too happy to jump in their cars and wish me luck for the second half of my run.
Enter shift #3...Joe M. Now, Joe cherishes his sleep-in days. Do not ask him to get up early to run. If you do this, be prepared to be showered with a bunch of f-bombs and be told how crazy and ridiculous your idea is. And like perfect clockwork, shift #2 ended at 8:30am...exactly the time I told Joe to meet me. However, for the last 4 miles, I was silently hoping that Joe looked at the weather for that morning and decided to bag the run. I was cold and another 10 miles in the brutal wind was not something I was looking forward to. I started toward my car to check my cell phone praying to find a voice mail from Joe telling me he had opted for the treadmill that day.
I was just about 4 feet from my car when a happy little tap-tap of someone's horn caught my attention. DAMMIT! It was Joe! Jeez, there was no way I could get out of this run now! Alright, fine. I knew that if I didn't do this now, I wouldn't do it at all. And that certainly wouldn't be good for an upcoming marathon! We now had just 9 miles left and, though I didn't know a route that would get us that mileage, we just took off and made up the route as we went along.
Joe and I trained for the Flying Pig Marathon together a few years ago. I remember some pretty crappy runs in the DARK and cold...so at least on this day, we had daylight in our favor! The miles went quickly as we chatted about everything under the sun. I almost didn't believe we were going to be finished so quickly...but knowing what pace we run on average and the time it took us to do the additional miles, it seemed to work out.
Thanks to all the "shift" runners for helping me complete this 20 miler in such tough running conditions. I'm sure you'll all let me know when I can return the favor!
It can be quite challenging to get in long runs outside during these months when you live in Chicago. We still have snow accumulation on all the regular running paths. This snow has been trampled, melted and then frozen back into a severly uneven surface making it unsafe to run on. It's these times that we die-hard runners take to the streets. The streets were clean for yesterday's run, however, the longer the run, the more traffic there is to face. Most drivers do not like sharing the roads with the runners and they're all too happy to let you know it!
I fell asleep on Friday night before catching the morning's weather forecast, so I flipped on the television when I woke up. 22 degrees. Yeah, uh huh, what about that piercing windchill? So I stepped out on my balcony and quickly jumped back into the house and slammed the door. Yep, definitely a windchill factor! A further look at the news showed the windchill was about 12 degrees. This can make a big difference in how to dress properly for a run.
I rustled through the closet to find all the much-needed set of hand warmers and all the necessary layers then proceeded to the kitchen to fill up bottles for my fuel belt. This poses another problem. It's difficult to get to your drinks because of all the extra clothes. Additionally, I need to wear two pairs of gloves (with hand warmers tucked nicely inside!) to keep my fingers from freezing off, thus making it difficult to handle the bottles during the run. How DO I manage?
Next problem is that NO ONE wants to run 20 miles in this weather. I have some pretty crazy, gung-ho, die hard endurance athlete friends, yet they all seem to turn into wimps when it comes to keeping me company on such a long run (well, BC, you are excused since you ran the 17 with me last week!). Now I know that if I can't get some other sucker to come out and run with me the entire time, I won't get the required mileage in. Sure, I'll tell myself I'll "finish up" on a treadmill later in the afternoon. But that never happens.
What is my solution? Shifts. I need an early morning shift...someone to start with me at 6:30am. This is BC. This is because he can't stand to sleep in a little if he knows someone is out there running. He needs to join in. Cool, he's great company. Then we swing back for shift #2. These people refuse to get up early enough to meet us for the 6:30 start, so they show up at 7am. This group runs a regular loop (of which I STILL can't figure out myself) of around 8 miles. After 8 miles in 12 degree windchill, these people are all too happy to jump in their cars and wish me luck for the second half of my run.
Enter shift #3...Joe M. Now, Joe cherishes his sleep-in days. Do not ask him to get up early to run. If you do this, be prepared to be showered with a bunch of f-bombs and be told how crazy and ridiculous your idea is. And like perfect clockwork, shift #2 ended at 8:30am...exactly the time I told Joe to meet me. However, for the last 4 miles, I was silently hoping that Joe looked at the weather for that morning and decided to bag the run. I was cold and another 10 miles in the brutal wind was not something I was looking forward to. I started toward my car to check my cell phone praying to find a voice mail from Joe telling me he had opted for the treadmill that day.
I was just about 4 feet from my car when a happy little tap-tap of someone's horn caught my attention. DAMMIT! It was Joe! Jeez, there was no way I could get out of this run now! Alright, fine. I knew that if I didn't do this now, I wouldn't do it at all. And that certainly wouldn't be good for an upcoming marathon! We now had just 9 miles left and, though I didn't know a route that would get us that mileage, we just took off and made up the route as we went along.
Joe and I trained for the Flying Pig Marathon together a few years ago. I remember some pretty crappy runs in the DARK and cold...so at least on this day, we had daylight in our favor! The miles went quickly as we chatted about everything under the sun. I almost didn't believe we were going to be finished so quickly...but knowing what pace we run on average and the time it took us to do the additional miles, it seemed to work out.
Thanks to all the "shift" runners for helping me complete this 20 miler in such tough running conditions. I'm sure you'll all let me know when I can return the favor!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Say Goodbye
After just 4 years, I am saying goodbye to my Trek 1000. I bought the Trek about two months before my very first triathlon. It was either ride my mountain bike (which isn't really wise in the hills of Galena), borrow someone else's bike, or purchase a road bike of my own. With that, I went to the closest bike shop and bought the most entry-level road bike they had. After all, how did I know I was going to become so addicted to the sport? I didn't want to plop down a small fortune on some fancy-schmancy bike that might end up sitting in the garage collecting dust (like the mountain bike).
I bought the bike, slapped on some aerobars and was happy for two very short years. But as I started to become more involved in the sport of triathlon and started hanging around with other triathletes who had the latest and greatest bikes that money could buy, it was only natural that after nine long months of research and homework, I ended up purchasing a nice triathlon (or TT) bike. I then kept the Trek (with it's triple ring, a.k.a. "granny gear") for the indoor trainer and hilly rides.
Even still, I was not happy. I decided it was time for a new road bike. This time, a "nice" one. One that would fit. One that was smooth. One that wasn't quite the TANK that my original, yet very functional, entry-level road bike was. Well, I found it. And as quickly as that, the Trek will be no more.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Training for Boston
"How's your training going for Boston?"
It's a question I've been asked lately on a regular basis. But here's the problem: I'm not really training. Or, at least I don't feel like I'm in training. Sure, I've been trying to get those long runs in every Saturday. And I say trying because there have been more than a few long run days that I've just bagged it after about half the suggested mileage. It can be pretty hard to be disciplined enough to get in a long run when it's -2 degrees outside with a windchill of -18 degrees. But it's either that or the treadmill, and I don't know what's worse.
I'm coming off a 17 miler this weekend (thanks, BC!) and I was just looking at the program and I'm off a week...should've done 18 miles this weekend. OK, not like that one mile is going to break the bank, but it does hit me mentally a little. So does the fact that I haven't been running hills. Someone just asked me that during the run this weekend, so now I have a little paranoia going on. Not only am I not putting in the necessary miles to have a strong marathon, I'm not training for the course! Uh oh, am I setting myself up for disaster?
Did I also mention I'm not really running during the week? I've been swimming a lot. Great, I'm working on the one thing that I probably can't improve so much. I went through the stroke analysis clinic, so I've been trying to make my improvements on that (the second session was this weekend, I'll talk about that later), but I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be neglecting the other parts of my training. Yeah, I think it's time I put together a training plan...yeah, since I have a half ironman coming up in 8 weeks! Not worried about that swim, though!
I think I fall into a funk every year around this time. December/January seems to be my time off. That gets me all fired up and thinking about goals and toward the middle of January I start getting back to a plan. But here we are, about a month later and it feels like races are so far off, it's easy to lose sight of what I'm trying to accomplish. And once the weather starts to improve, then I seem to get some of that motivation back. It will be so nice to run outside again with only ONE layer of clothing instead of the 2 (sometimes 3!) layers I currently wear to keep warm.
Just a few more weeks...we change the clocks, it will be lighter out and I will start to train for Boston!
It's a question I've been asked lately on a regular basis. But here's the problem: I'm not really training. Or, at least I don't feel like I'm in training. Sure, I've been trying to get those long runs in every Saturday. And I say trying because there have been more than a few long run days that I've just bagged it after about half the suggested mileage. It can be pretty hard to be disciplined enough to get in a long run when it's -2 degrees outside with a windchill of -18 degrees. But it's either that or the treadmill, and I don't know what's worse.
I'm coming off a 17 miler this weekend (thanks, BC!) and I was just looking at the program and I'm off a week...should've done 18 miles this weekend. OK, not like that one mile is going to break the bank, but it does hit me mentally a little. So does the fact that I haven't been running hills. Someone just asked me that during the run this weekend, so now I have a little paranoia going on. Not only am I not putting in the necessary miles to have a strong marathon, I'm not training for the course! Uh oh, am I setting myself up for disaster?
Did I also mention I'm not really running during the week? I've been swimming a lot. Great, I'm working on the one thing that I probably can't improve so much. I went through the stroke analysis clinic, so I've been trying to make my improvements on that (the second session was this weekend, I'll talk about that later), but I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be neglecting the other parts of my training. Yeah, I think it's time I put together a training plan...yeah, since I have a half ironman coming up in 8 weeks! Not worried about that swim, though!
I think I fall into a funk every year around this time. December/January seems to be my time off. That gets me all fired up and thinking about goals and toward the middle of January I start getting back to a plan. But here we are, about a month later and it feels like races are so far off, it's easy to lose sight of what I'm trying to accomplish. And once the weather starts to improve, then I seem to get some of that motivation back. It will be so nice to run outside again with only ONE layer of clothing instead of the 2 (sometimes 3!) layers I currently wear to keep warm.
Just a few more weeks...we change the clocks, it will be lighter out and I will start to train for Boston!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Treadmill blues
Ah, the treadmill. If you have to fit in a run on days with weather like we've had the past couple of days, then the treadmill can be your best friend. We had over 12 inches of snow in less than 12 hours. The trails are covered and the streets are slushy, not to mention dangerous.
It sure would be nice to say what the heck and just blow off any running for the next week. However, with my upcoming marathon just about 9 weeks away, well, I can't afford to blow off too much running. So I opt for the treadmill. I don't know what it is, but my pace on the treadmill is much slower than when I'm out on the open road. I typically put the treadmill on a 1.0 incline at a minimum, just to simulate the outdoors, but it always feels more difficult. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there is no wind so the sweat just drips down your face. Maybe it has do to with the fact that the faster you make the treadmill go, the harder you can hear the motor working. Or maybe it's just that the treadmill is so boring. A 30 minute workout can sometimes feel like 90 minutes! You glance away for a little while, waiting for time to pass, then look back down and see that a little less than a minute has gone by! Sometimes it feels like torture.
One nice thing, though, is that one of the clubs I belong to has 8 different televisions you can watch. You plug in your headphones and can change the channel to hear which show you'd like to watch, and that can help. Sitcoms are good to watch, although I laugh out loud at the funny parts and the people around me tend to give me funny looks. Another club has it even one step better, with individual television screens attached to each treadmill so you can watch any channel you want. Very nice. But I still get bored during commercials.
A few months back, a friend suggested this treadmill workout. Don't try this at home, kids.
Treadmill Workout
It sure would be nice to say what the heck and just blow off any running for the next week. However, with my upcoming marathon just about 9 weeks away, well, I can't afford to blow off too much running. So I opt for the treadmill. I don't know what it is, but my pace on the treadmill is much slower than when I'm out on the open road. I typically put the treadmill on a 1.0 incline at a minimum, just to simulate the outdoors, but it always feels more difficult. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there is no wind so the sweat just drips down your face. Maybe it has do to with the fact that the faster you make the treadmill go, the harder you can hear the motor working. Or maybe it's just that the treadmill is so boring. A 30 minute workout can sometimes feel like 90 minutes! You glance away for a little while, waiting for time to pass, then look back down and see that a little less than a minute has gone by! Sometimes it feels like torture.
One nice thing, though, is that one of the clubs I belong to has 8 different televisions you can watch. You plug in your headphones and can change the channel to hear which show you'd like to watch, and that can help. Sitcoms are good to watch, although I laugh out loud at the funny parts and the people around me tend to give me funny looks. Another club has it even one step better, with individual television screens attached to each treadmill so you can watch any channel you want. Very nice. But I still get bored during commercials.
A few months back, a friend suggested this treadmill workout. Don't try this at home, kids.
Treadmill Workout
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day!
Between yesterday afternoon and some time this morning, our cozy little neighborhood was dumped on with about a foot of snow. It's not like snow is a stranger to us here in the midwest, but it makes for horrible commuting. In typical MJ-fashion, my motivation to go workout dissipated steadily throughout the day. As I watched the constant snowfall, it was easy to come up with excuses to miss my workout.
Then as I watched the evening news, the weather forecasters predicted another hellacious commute and bombarded viewers with shots of jack-knifed semis and cars stuck helplessly in ditches on various streets in the area. With that, I decided to blow off the morning workout and get some much needed sleep. I didn't find it difficult to sleep past my normal wake up time of 4:11.
Now it's the middle of the afternoon and I am looking for some kind of excuse to blow off yet another workout. It's too cold. The driveway isn't shoveled. I'm tired. I have too much work to do. The kitchen needs to be cleaned, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know right now, if I had been able to get up and get my workout in this morning, I would be in a much better mood (that is, if I didn't end up stuck in a ditch somewhere like the dozens of people I saw on the news).
I end up playing games with myself. OK, after you make this one phone call, you need to get to the gym. Reply to these 3 emails, and then you're free to go. Clean off this one section of your desk, then go work out. Yet, I continue to find other things I need to do and it's frustrating.
Once in a while, I get in these moods. That little trick they tell you about running...you know, get dressed, put your shoes on and go out for 10 minutes and if you still don't feel like running, then turn around and go home? But in most cases, you'll feel better by then and motivated enough to continue on with the run? It really works! I mean, after you put your workout clothes on, head to the gym or wherever it is you plan to workout, well, you might as well make the most of it.
I'm hoping that by getting this all down in writing (er, um, typing), that will help motivate me to get my butt out the door. Next thing you know, it will be 7pm and I'll still be sitting here, fighting with myself on whether or not I should get that workout in! And then if I miss the workout, I'll feel all guilty and crabby for the rest of the night.
And it's Valentine's Day! So I can't have that!!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Indoor Triathlon
What really ticks me off is that I wrote up a nice little entry on Sunday night about my experience at the indoor triathlon. Unfortunately, before I could post, I lost my internet connection as well as everything I had just typed up! How frustrating!!
The Midwest Indoor Tri-Classic Series (http://www.mitcstriathlon.org) is held about this time every year. It consists of 4 races at various premier clubs in the western suburbs of Chicago. To compete for series standings, you must participate in at least 3 of the 4 events, each of which is a 10 minute swim, 20 minute bike and 15 minute run. The athlete that covers the most distance wins.
There are a couple of problems with this format:
The Midwest Indoor Tri-Classic Series (http://www.mitcstriathlon.org) is held about this time every year. It consists of 4 races at various premier clubs in the western suburbs of Chicago. To compete for series standings, you must participate in at least 3 of the 4 events, each of which is a 10 minute swim, 20 minute bike and 15 minute run. The athlete that covers the most distance wins.
There are a couple of problems with this format:
- Calculating total distance equally among disciplines strongly favors the strong cyclist. If you're a really good biker, you can skip the swim entirely and still win this event. Some events use a weighted formula that corrects this discrepancy.
- The bikes used are stationary bikes that cannot possibly be calibrated equally. Therefore, someone pedaling at a much higher level (i.e., gear) sometimes gets no further than the athlete who leaves the bike at an easy level, even if cadence is equal.
Then why enter an indoor triathlon, you ask? Well, it's fun. I did this series a few years ago and thought it was well-organized, the clubs they use are awesome and I thought an indoor triathlon was a good indication of my fitness. I no longer feel that an indoor triathlon is any great indicator of fitness level, but it was nice to see that I was able to run more laps this year than in years past. My favorite part of participating in the event this year was to see so many familiar faces I haven't seen in a while. I also was able to meet some really great people.
Even though I'm not a huge fan of the indoor triathlon, I do feel it's a good way for a newbie to become acquainted with the sport. I know there are some pretty strong opinions of indoor triathlons out there. Do you participate? Why? Why not? What would you change to improve them?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Body Composition Test
Last week, I was fortunate enough to be on vacation! While you people back here in the midwest were suffering through some of the coldest weather we've had here in years, I was off on a cruise, working on my fabulous tan! For anyone that hasn't been on a cruise before, the first thing you must know is that they feed you...CONSTANTLY! Well, in order to try and keep all that food from going to the wrong places, I found myself at the gym quite a bit. (yes, they have a gym on the ship)
Well, I went on a tour of the gym/spa and they tell you about all kinds of classes, seminars, treatments, services and packages and whatnot they have available to you throughout the week. In the past, I haven't really spent much time in the gym or spa, unless, of course I was actually working out. However, this time, something caught my attention. It was this "Metabolism Test".
We did a Body Composition test in which little electrodes were hooked up to my hand and foot and a reading was given to me that tells me what % of my body is fat weight vs. lean weight currently and what I should be shooting for. What was most important to me is the reading on the Basal Metabolic Rate, meaning, how many calories I need per day just to exist. It was actually much higher than I anticipated!
We discussed nutrition (he told me to quit drinking diet Coke - OUCH!), exercise and toxins, about eating organic and such things. So I walked away with a game plan of what I need to do to reach some goals. There were things we talked about that I have heard many times before, but there were also things that were new to me. Some of it was like a light bulb going on in my head and some of it was just affirming what I have suspected but never wanted to believe.
Not entirely sure I can give up the diet Coke, but I will try to cut down. Baby steps, OK Ruben?
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Miami Half Marathon 2007
We flew into Ft. Lauderdale early Saturday afternoon. The airport had banners plastered everywhere advertising the Super Bowl. Made me proud to say that "my" Chicago Bears would be playing next weekend! It was about a half hour drive to Miami. We checked into the hotel, (more banners for the Super Bowl) which was within 10 minutes walking distance from the start/finish of the race. However, we needed to take a shuttle to the expo for packet pickup. This was a bit confusing and just a little stressful as the afternoon was slipping away and the expo was shutting down soon. I must admit, I've been a bit spoiled with the extravagant expos that are held at our major Chicago races. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of this expo. It was a good size, not too big, not too small. However, I was more than disappointed when the only size they had left in the race t-shirts was Large. The shirts are pretty sweet and who couldn't use another dri-fit shirt to add to their collection??
It was great to be in the nice weather, but it wasn't quite as warm as I had expected. It was mostly sunny on Saturday afternoon, but by early evening, it was a bit chilly and I didn't dare change into shorts. We had a nice pasta dinner outside, overlooking the water, at a restaurant at Bayside Market (you got it, lots of Super Bowl banners...merchants selling jerseys, t-shirts and everything you could think of with the Super Bowl XLI logo on it) just outside the Port of Miami. The food was excellent, however, there wasn't very much of it!! On the walk back to the hotel, I insisted we stop at the Walgreens to pick up a little pre-race breakfast, but also a little more food for that night...I was still pretty hungry!
I woke around 4:50am on Sunday morning. The race started at 6:10, so I wanted to make sure we were lined up by 5:40. As soon as I got up, I walked over to the balcony of our room and threw open the door, expecting to be greeted by cool air. However, it was quite warm. So warm, in fact, I decided I wouldn't even need to wear my "throw away" shirt I planned to wear until I warmed up. It had to be upper 60s already, though I couldn't be quite sure. We met some non-running friends in the lobby to walk over to the race start. Immediately when we walked out of the hotel, little sprinkles of rain began to fall. The rain was a little cool, which gave me goosebumps and made the hair stand up on my arms. Damn, wish I had brought along that throw away after all! One of my friends asked if the rain bothered me when I ran. "Not really, " I replied. "Only when it's POURING and it soaks my shoes does rain really become an issue." How ironic that statement would be....
I think that the rain began to fall steadily harder with each minute it took for us to walk to the start of the race. I was very thankful that I had decided to wear the race hat they gave us because it kept the rain from pelting me in the face. This was no longer a sprinkle, this was a solid rain now. As we lined up in the corral for the half marathon (the full marathon runners lined up in the corral to the right), the rain started coming down in full force. My clothes were already soaked through, but now I started to feel my feet getting wet through both my shoes and socks. The only dry area of my entire body was now a small part of my face that was protected by the visor of the race-provided hat. I crossed my arms in front of me and held them close to my body in effort to keep warm. I was thankful it wasn't very windy, but the rain was coming down in sheets. Some runners were yelling and cheering, getting louder when the big rain drops seemed to come down harder. Sort of like they were taunting the rain, letting it know that the rain couldn't ruin this run for them. Other runners were groaning each time the rain came down harder. These were the biggest raindrops I had ever felt! The rain was dripping off my hat, arms, shirt and shorts, running down my legs soaking my socks AND shoes! This was definitely NOT the picture I had in mind when I signed up for this race! Later, I learned our spectator friends immediately went back to the hotel when they left us. The rain bummed them out so much, they didn't even stick around for the start of the race.
For a split second, I thought about just bagging it and going back to the hotel. I was just doing this race for fun, anyway. I had no time goal in mind. I was just out there to have fun and get in a fully-supported 13.1 mile training run. However, I already got up early, was dressed and waiting to go, so I might as well just run now. I hoped that my sopping wet feet would warm up, as would my hands, already pruny from being soaking wet, once we got started.
The national anthem, the gun, and yet another race had started. The race was a nice size. Not the gigantic event the Chicago Marathon is, but not the tiny little race that the Tucson Marathon is. Kinda like the Flying Pig, this seemed to be a good, sizable crowd. The first mile did seem a bit crowded. I forgot what it's like to start running with all these people....my last few running races were quite small. And in triathlon, everyone starts out running at different times. So it was fun to run with a bunch of people again, however, it made me realize maybe we lined up too far back. I felt like we did a lot of zig zagging to get around people.
About a mile into the race, the rain subsided. Go figure. We're already soaking wet, it might as well keep raining now!! Now I just waited for the sun to come out so I could warm up a little. Before we hit mile 2, we went over the first of 3 bridges. It was still dark when we were at this point, but later, I would see this bridge we ran over and it must've looked really cool to see a bunch of runners crossing it. We ran past all the cruise ships in port and that took my mind off the run for a bit.
With the strong rain that came down in such a short period of time, there were LOTS, and I do mean LOTS of places along the course with standing water. It was deep enough to get your shoes wet, even if you didn't splash, so I had do pull off some quick maneuvers to try and get around those places without stepping in the water. But I also had to be aware of the runners who didn't care and just ran through the deep puddles, because if your feet landed near them at just the right time, the water they were displacing would cover your feet worse than if you ran through the puddle yourself! Why did I care, my feet were already soaked!! I don't know, I guess I didn't want to be any more wet than I had to be at this point. My hands were so uncomfortable and there was no way to dry them off. My clothes were soaked through. My shirt stuck to my body which made it pretty uncomfortable until I focused on thinking of other things. My shorts, loaded with Clif Shots and Aquaphor and soaked with rain, kept falling down! WTF?!!?!? This was going to be a long 13 miles....
By mile 4, I started to warm up. The sun was trying to break its way through the clouds. I tried chatting with a few other runners here and there, but it was a pretty quiet crowd. I tried to focus on keeping my turnover high, since I wasn't really worried about pace. The course was on a few busy streets, a cozy little residential section and closer to three-quarters of the way through the race, we went through the town of Miami Beach. It was the only section where there were actual spectators gathered (well, aside from the finish). I'm guessing the rain scared off many people, but by this point, the rain was gone, the sun was out and the temperature was quite comfortable. True, it was more humidity than I was used to, but back home, I would be freezing, so I wasn't complaining!
Somewhere along the line, I felt a blister developing on the arch of my right foot. Oh well, that was to be expected with the amount of water I was carrying in my sock and shoe. It was going to take days for these shoes to dry out! I tried to run on the outside of my right foot so as to not make the blister any worse, but that wasn't very comfortable, so I just returned to my normal gait and hoped for the best. I think it was around mile 12.5 where the marathon course went straight and the half marathoners turned to the left. You could hear the music and the crowd at this point and I couldn't believe it was almost over already.
I crossed the finish line and made my way through the runners to collect my medal. My clothes were still entirely soaked through, in fact, I literally wrang out my shirt. They gave us "spinner" medals, which were pretty cool. Big medal for a half marathon! I snagged a banana and half a bagel from the food line, went to have my chip snipped off and immediately wished I had gear checked a dry shirt. Within minutes, I was chilled with no way to warm up.
I found several friends from Chicago at the finish line. We shared a few race stories and everyone was smiles at the end. Though it wasn't the picture-perfect Miami weather we mid-westerners were hoping for, it was not so bad. The race was well-organized, the course was flat, however, the aid stations needed a few more volunteers. I saw several stations that had no full cups as we ran by. The volunteers were frantically trying to keep up, but their efforts were futile. The runners drank more quickly than the volunteers could pour.
It was nice to get away and run in a t-shirt and shorts in January. Might just have to make a "weekend getaway race" an annual event...
It was great to be in the nice weather, but it wasn't quite as warm as I had expected. It was mostly sunny on Saturday afternoon, but by early evening, it was a bit chilly and I didn't dare change into shorts. We had a nice pasta dinner outside, overlooking the water, at a restaurant at Bayside Market (you got it, lots of Super Bowl banners...merchants selling jerseys, t-shirts and everything you could think of with the Super Bowl XLI logo on it) just outside the Port of Miami. The food was excellent, however, there wasn't very much of it!! On the walk back to the hotel, I insisted we stop at the Walgreens to pick up a little pre-race breakfast, but also a little more food for that night...I was still pretty hungry!
I woke around 4:50am on Sunday morning. The race started at 6:10, so I wanted to make sure we were lined up by 5:40. As soon as I got up, I walked over to the balcony of our room and threw open the door, expecting to be greeted by cool air. However, it was quite warm. So warm, in fact, I decided I wouldn't even need to wear my "throw away" shirt I planned to wear until I warmed up. It had to be upper 60s already, though I couldn't be quite sure. We met some non-running friends in the lobby to walk over to the race start. Immediately when we walked out of the hotel, little sprinkles of rain began to fall. The rain was a little cool, which gave me goosebumps and made the hair stand up on my arms. Damn, wish I had brought along that throw away after all! One of my friends asked if the rain bothered me when I ran. "Not really, " I replied. "Only when it's POURING and it soaks my shoes does rain really become an issue." How ironic that statement would be....
I think that the rain began to fall steadily harder with each minute it took for us to walk to the start of the race. I was very thankful that I had decided to wear the race hat they gave us because it kept the rain from pelting me in the face. This was no longer a sprinkle, this was a solid rain now. As we lined up in the corral for the half marathon (the full marathon runners lined up in the corral to the right), the rain started coming down in full force. My clothes were already soaked through, but now I started to feel my feet getting wet through both my shoes and socks. The only dry area of my entire body was now a small part of my face that was protected by the visor of the race-provided hat. I crossed my arms in front of me and held them close to my body in effort to keep warm. I was thankful it wasn't very windy, but the rain was coming down in sheets. Some runners were yelling and cheering, getting louder when the big rain drops seemed to come down harder. Sort of like they were taunting the rain, letting it know that the rain couldn't ruin this run for them. Other runners were groaning each time the rain came down harder. These were the biggest raindrops I had ever felt! The rain was dripping off my hat, arms, shirt and shorts, running down my legs soaking my socks AND shoes! This was definitely NOT the picture I had in mind when I signed up for this race! Later, I learned our spectator friends immediately went back to the hotel when they left us. The rain bummed them out so much, they didn't even stick around for the start of the race.
For a split second, I thought about just bagging it and going back to the hotel. I was just doing this race for fun, anyway. I had no time goal in mind. I was just out there to have fun and get in a fully-supported 13.1 mile training run. However, I already got up early, was dressed and waiting to go, so I might as well just run now. I hoped that my sopping wet feet would warm up, as would my hands, already pruny from being soaking wet, once we got started.
The national anthem, the gun, and yet another race had started. The race was a nice size. Not the gigantic event the Chicago Marathon is, but not the tiny little race that the Tucson Marathon is. Kinda like the Flying Pig, this seemed to be a good, sizable crowd. The first mile did seem a bit crowded. I forgot what it's like to start running with all these people....my last few running races were quite small. And in triathlon, everyone starts out running at different times. So it was fun to run with a bunch of people again, however, it made me realize maybe we lined up too far back. I felt like we did a lot of zig zagging to get around people.
About a mile into the race, the rain subsided. Go figure. We're already soaking wet, it might as well keep raining now!! Now I just waited for the sun to come out so I could warm up a little. Before we hit mile 2, we went over the first of 3 bridges. It was still dark when we were at this point, but later, I would see this bridge we ran over and it must've looked really cool to see a bunch of runners crossing it. We ran past all the cruise ships in port and that took my mind off the run for a bit.
With the strong rain that came down in such a short period of time, there were LOTS, and I do mean LOTS of places along the course with standing water. It was deep enough to get your shoes wet, even if you didn't splash, so I had do pull off some quick maneuvers to try and get around those places without stepping in the water. But I also had to be aware of the runners who didn't care and just ran through the deep puddles, because if your feet landed near them at just the right time, the water they were displacing would cover your feet worse than if you ran through the puddle yourself! Why did I care, my feet were already soaked!! I don't know, I guess I didn't want to be any more wet than I had to be at this point. My hands were so uncomfortable and there was no way to dry them off. My clothes were soaked through. My shirt stuck to my body which made it pretty uncomfortable until I focused on thinking of other things. My shorts, loaded with Clif Shots and Aquaphor and soaked with rain, kept falling down! WTF?!!?!? This was going to be a long 13 miles....
By mile 4, I started to warm up. The sun was trying to break its way through the clouds. I tried chatting with a few other runners here and there, but it was a pretty quiet crowd. I tried to focus on keeping my turnover high, since I wasn't really worried about pace. The course was on a few busy streets, a cozy little residential section and closer to three-quarters of the way through the race, we went through the town of Miami Beach. It was the only section where there were actual spectators gathered (well, aside from the finish). I'm guessing the rain scared off many people, but by this point, the rain was gone, the sun was out and the temperature was quite comfortable. True, it was more humidity than I was used to, but back home, I would be freezing, so I wasn't complaining!
Somewhere along the line, I felt a blister developing on the arch of my right foot. Oh well, that was to be expected with the amount of water I was carrying in my sock and shoe. It was going to take days for these shoes to dry out! I tried to run on the outside of my right foot so as to not make the blister any worse, but that wasn't very comfortable, so I just returned to my normal gait and hoped for the best. I think it was around mile 12.5 where the marathon course went straight and the half marathoners turned to the left. You could hear the music and the crowd at this point and I couldn't believe it was almost over already.
I crossed the finish line and made my way through the runners to collect my medal. My clothes were still entirely soaked through, in fact, I literally wrang out my shirt. They gave us "spinner" medals, which were pretty cool. Big medal for a half marathon! I snagged a banana and half a bagel from the food line, went to have my chip snipped off and immediately wished I had gear checked a dry shirt. Within minutes, I was chilled with no way to warm up.
I found several friends from Chicago at the finish line. We shared a few race stories and everyone was smiles at the end. Though it wasn't the picture-perfect Miami weather we mid-westerners were hoping for, it was not so bad. The race was well-organized, the course was flat, however, the aid stations needed a few more volunteers. I saw several stations that had no full cups as we ran by. The volunteers were frantically trying to keep up, but their efforts were futile. The runners drank more quickly than the volunteers could pour.
It was nice to get away and run in a t-shirt and shorts in January. Might just have to make a "weekend getaway race" an annual event...
Friday, January 26, 2007
Swim Analysis
About two weeks ago, I had a swim analysis done by Brett Petersen of Petersen Performance Lab. www.petersenperformancelab.net. I've been swimming for quite a number of years, but I've never seen myself on video and I've never had any type of analysis done.
I was filmed both under water, where I swam directly toward the camera and above water, while he walked alongside the pool as I swam. All in all, the taping part couldn't have been more than 2 minutes. I didn't know what to expect as I anxiously awaited the DVD to come back to me.
As soon as I picked up the DVD and came home, I popped it into the computer. This software automatically downloaded and on my screen there is a large window where the video can be played. To the right of that, there is a comment section. Below those two windows are smaller still frame shots of various points in time during my stroke where Brett felt it was important to point out some key element. Included on the still frames are yellow markings to indicate what to look at in each particular view. If you double click on the still frame, it will pop into the large window on the left and the corresponding comments to that particular position during your stroke show up.
You can view the video all at once or in small sections. There is a drop down menu to select which video you want to see (above surface, below, first swim, second swim, etc.). Now some of the things that were pointed out are not news to me. However, by looking closely at some of the elements of my stroke, I see things that I do in the water that I never realized. You can think you're doing something perfectly correct, that is until you see it on camera!
Since I've reviewed the DVD, I've been focusing on correcting some of the flaws in my stroke. The unfortunate part of working so intensely on technique is that you cannot maintain your speed. I find myself trying to think of about 5-6 different things all at once that I'm trying to imrpove. Next thing you know, I'm being lapped by the other people in my lane!
But this is just the first session of a two-part clinic. The idea is to be taped, review the analysis and work on making improvements, and then I will be taped again in a few weeks. At that time, I will be taped again and then the two videos will be compared to see if I've been able to make any improvements.
I've realized how difficult it is to try to change something that you do on autopilot. You must concentrate on the improvements on every length until it then becomes habit. But when you've done something the same way for so long that you don't even think about it anymore, well, it's easy to be distracted (remember those hairballs I talked about during my 100x100x100 swim??). And then to keep those new and improved skills in tact while you pick up speed and/or try to sprint is even more of a challenge.
So I'm working very hard at trying to improve my stroke and I've even asked my lane mates to point out when they see I'm making some of my habitual mistakes (and they're MORE than happy to help me out with that!). The next taping is at the end of February and it will be interesting to see how much of an improvement, if any I can make. Even more interesting will be to see if I can drop my normal interval times.
I was filmed both under water, where I swam directly toward the camera and above water, while he walked alongside the pool as I swam. All in all, the taping part couldn't have been more than 2 minutes. I didn't know what to expect as I anxiously awaited the DVD to come back to me.
As soon as I picked up the DVD and came home, I popped it into the computer. This software automatically downloaded and on my screen there is a large window where the video can be played. To the right of that, there is a comment section. Below those two windows are smaller still frame shots of various points in time during my stroke where Brett felt it was important to point out some key element. Included on the still frames are yellow markings to indicate what to look at in each particular view. If you double click on the still frame, it will pop into the large window on the left and the corresponding comments to that particular position during your stroke show up.
You can view the video all at once or in small sections. There is a drop down menu to select which video you want to see (above surface, below, first swim, second swim, etc.). Now some of the things that were pointed out are not news to me. However, by looking closely at some of the elements of my stroke, I see things that I do in the water that I never realized. You can think you're doing something perfectly correct, that is until you see it on camera!
Since I've reviewed the DVD, I've been focusing on correcting some of the flaws in my stroke. The unfortunate part of working so intensely on technique is that you cannot maintain your speed. I find myself trying to think of about 5-6 different things all at once that I'm trying to imrpove. Next thing you know, I'm being lapped by the other people in my lane!
But this is just the first session of a two-part clinic. The idea is to be taped, review the analysis and work on making improvements, and then I will be taped again in a few weeks. At that time, I will be taped again and then the two videos will be compared to see if I've been able to make any improvements.
I've realized how difficult it is to try to change something that you do on autopilot. You must concentrate on the improvements on every length until it then becomes habit. But when you've done something the same way for so long that you don't even think about it anymore, well, it's easy to be distracted (remember those hairballs I talked about during my 100x100x100 swim??). And then to keep those new and improved skills in tact while you pick up speed and/or try to sprint is even more of a challenge.
So I'm working very hard at trying to improve my stroke and I've even asked my lane mates to point out when they see I'm making some of my habitual mistakes (and they're MORE than happy to help me out with that!). The next taping is at the end of February and it will be interesting to see how much of an improvement, if any I can make. Even more interesting will be to see if I can drop my normal interval times.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
14 Degrees
That was the reading according to my car as I drove to yesterday morning's long run. This was by far the coldest day I had run in this winter. As I pulled into the parking lot to wait for my running companions to arrive, I tried to psych myself up for the drastic temperature change my body was about to experience when I stepped out of the car.
Living my whole life in Chicago and running the past 3 years throughout the winter, I was prepared for this temperature. Unfortunately, I seem to have some circulation issues which make me struggle in effort to keep my toes, fingers, ears and nose warm in this type of weather. Today, I had a doubled up on my pants and socks. I tripled up on upper body coverage and gloves. Add a balaclava and a big, thick hat and I was good to go, or so I thought.
Luckily, it wasn't windy today. No matter how cold it is, you can always manage...it's that wind that sometimes will force you to cut a run short (and we all know how much runners hate that!). The first few miles were chilly, but nothing too bad. I decided that I dressed a little TOO warmly on top...should've left the running jacket in the car. And with temperatures so low, ice began to form. It formed on my pants, below my knees. It formed all over my hat. My hair had icicles around it that made it look like strings of spaghetti. And scariest of all is that my eyelashes had developed icicles on them. No matter how many times you try to wipe those away, they just end up coming back. Your best bet is to just leave them there until they melt on their own accord when you get back into the car and crank the heat!
About half way through the run, we circled back to the parking lot to "drop off" those runners who didn't have quite as far to go today. It was at that point I was offered hand warmers. These nifty little things are designed to heat up immediately when you open the package. They are about 3 times the size of a sugar packet and they fit neatly into the second of my 3 pairs of gloves I was wearing. It took about 10 minutes for the heat to restore my fingers with feeling sensation. And I just moved these wonderful little items to the front and back of my fingers and thumbs regularly throughout the rest of the run. It made my run so much more comfortable. The only thing better at that point was going to be the cup of hot chocolate I would wrap my fingers around as soon as I had the opportunity.
I was thankful this run was over. Not for the distance, but for the fact that I couldn't keep my ears, nose and toes warm in the second part of the run. It made the last 3 miles feel like 10. I immediately reminded myself that we are now toward the end of January and very soon, the temperatures will be rising. Couldn't be soon enough.
Living my whole life in Chicago and running the past 3 years throughout the winter, I was prepared for this temperature. Unfortunately, I seem to have some circulation issues which make me struggle in effort to keep my toes, fingers, ears and nose warm in this type of weather. Today, I had a doubled up on my pants and socks. I tripled up on upper body coverage and gloves. Add a balaclava and a big, thick hat and I was good to go, or so I thought.
Luckily, it wasn't windy today. No matter how cold it is, you can always manage...it's that wind that sometimes will force you to cut a run short (and we all know how much runners hate that!). The first few miles were chilly, but nothing too bad. I decided that I dressed a little TOO warmly on top...should've left the running jacket in the car. And with temperatures so low, ice began to form. It formed on my pants, below my knees. It formed all over my hat. My hair had icicles around it that made it look like strings of spaghetti. And scariest of all is that my eyelashes had developed icicles on them. No matter how many times you try to wipe those away, they just end up coming back. Your best bet is to just leave them there until they melt on their own accord when you get back into the car and crank the heat!
About half way through the run, we circled back to the parking lot to "drop off" those runners who didn't have quite as far to go today. It was at that point I was offered hand warmers. These nifty little things are designed to heat up immediately when you open the package. They are about 3 times the size of a sugar packet and they fit neatly into the second of my 3 pairs of gloves I was wearing. It took about 10 minutes for the heat to restore my fingers with feeling sensation. And I just moved these wonderful little items to the front and back of my fingers and thumbs regularly throughout the rest of the run. It made my run so much more comfortable. The only thing better at that point was going to be the cup of hot chocolate I would wrap my fingers around as soon as I had the opportunity.
I was thankful this run was over. Not for the distance, but for the fact that I couldn't keep my ears, nose and toes warm in the second part of the run. It made the last 3 miles feel like 10. I immediately reminded myself that we are now toward the end of January and very soon, the temperatures will be rising. Couldn't be soon enough.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Strength Training
This is the time of year where I head back into the gym to start working on strength training. The goal of a triathlete is not to "bulk up". I don't know, never really worked out with weights enough for THAT to be a problem. According to Joe Friel, one of triathlon's experts, he recommends the following exercises: Hip extension (squat, leg press or step up), standing bent-arm, lat pull down, chest press/push ups, seated row, working one of your weaknesses, then some sort of ab crunch.
In the past week or so, CJB read some book titled "The New Rules of Weightlifting" or something along those lines. So it has completely changed up what I've known to become the "usual" weight routine.
Now the nice thing about making a change like this is that the first couple of times, you really feel it. Your mucles are sore in places you didn't even know you had. Yes, that's sort of a sick way of looking at it, but if I can feel that weight workout the next day, I feel like I've accomplished something. But here's the problem: It's boring.
Before I started doing triathlons, I stayed completely out of the weight room. Sure, I may have used a few machines here and there, but go in the room with all the free weights, mirrors and all the big, bulky, sweaty guys in their little diego T-shirts making all kinds of grunting noises? Uh uh. Ain't havin' any part of that. No way. I'd look stupid because I wouldn't even know the first thing about what exercise to do.
Well, now that has changed to be almost completely the opposite. Almost all my exercises are in the free weight room, I sorta know what I am doing, but the best part is that there are very few of those dudes that are constantly staring at themselves in the mirrors. Well, I'm sure that still happens at some clubs. And that can be quite intimidating, whether you're a female or not! And I read somewhere that if you have to make some huge kind of noise like that to lift the weight you're using, you're lifting too much weight. And now that I know that, it sort of makes me laugh at the guys that do it.
As we get older, strength training becomes more important. I think I read somewhere that we start losing muscle mass steadily as we get older, IF we do not do some sort of work in the gym. This doesn't have to be some big, long weight routine that needs to be done 3 times a week. Once a week serves the purpose.
Back to my issue...it's boring. In fact, if I didn't have a buddy or two that make plans to meet me at the club for a weight session (a.k.a. Eye Candy), well, then I probably wouldn't do it. At least when you go with friends, you have someone to suffer through the workout with. And it does make it less boring. So you get to have a little social time and get your workout in at the same time. It also makes the time go by faster.
I consider myself a novice when it comes to strength training. Most times, I don't know what exercise works which muscles unless there's a little picture on the machine. Last year, it was nice to have my coach tell me what exercises to do and at what weights. But I'm flyin' by the seat of my pants a little more this year. So I don't know if the right way to think about it is "any strength training is better than none" or "You must follow this structured set of exercises or you are wasting your time" is true.
So I guess we'll just follow the book. And as long as I feel that workout in the days after, I guess I'll know at least something is going on over there!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
To Shuffle Or Not To Shuffle?
For the last 5 years, around this time I struggle with the same decision. Should I enter the Shamrock Shuffle? The Shamrock Shuffle is an 8K (4.97 miles) running race held in the city of Chicago. The race is unofficially considered the "kick off" of the new running season. It is the largest 8K in the country with some 15,000 entrants. The race is well run with a very popular post-race party.
Every year, I have flashbacks of the crowds and the hassle to get through packet pick up. Same hassle finding a place to park before the race. Once again, crowded in the starting chute. Really crowded running through the 4.97 miles. More, sweaty crowds at the finish line. Trying to reunite with anyone you came down with requires strategy and excellent vision. I haven't made it to the post-race party in the last 4 years. The traffic jam of people trying to show their wristband to enter was always just too much for me to deal with.
So, last year, I earned myself a "Preferred" Start. This just means I can start a little bit ahead of the main group of runners. Those people would be first-timers, walkers and those runners that treat this race as the name indicates, a "shuffle". Not a big deal, but it sure did make my running experience there last year more pleasant! I didn't have to zig zag around a bunch of walkers or slower runners, nor did I have to try to pass those groups of 3-4 people who line up in a row like they're the linemen stepping up to the line of scrimmage.
Based on my performance last year, I believe I could register for this "Preferred" start again, which is definitely a plus. But is it enough to deal with all the hassle? And the entry fee for the race isn't exactly a bargain. These high-profile races with big perks (like the post-race party featuring a popular band) are never cheap. It's just 4.97 miles. I could put on my shoes, run 5 miles from my house, go in and take a shower and sit down to write another blog entry in the time it would take me to drive down to this race and park!
And every year, I go through this process of trying to decide if it's worth it. Sure, I love driving down with my fellow runners, hanging out with them before the race, sharing stories of each person's individual account of the race when we meet up at the finish line, and I especially love it if I end up running well, but I still waver on whether it's all worth it or not.
Now I know there are a lot of you out there that read this blog and never post...you've TOLD me this! So I'm calling you people out and would like to invite you to share your opinions on the Shamrock Shuffle and whether or not you think I should sign up for the 2007 event. I'd also like to know if any of you struggle with this decision year-to-year or do I just need to get a life!??!?!
Every year, I have flashbacks of the crowds and the hassle to get through packet pick up. Same hassle finding a place to park before the race. Once again, crowded in the starting chute. Really crowded running through the 4.97 miles. More, sweaty crowds at the finish line. Trying to reunite with anyone you came down with requires strategy and excellent vision. I haven't made it to the post-race party in the last 4 years. The traffic jam of people trying to show their wristband to enter was always just too much for me to deal with.
So, last year, I earned myself a "Preferred" Start. This just means I can start a little bit ahead of the main group of runners. Those people would be first-timers, walkers and those runners that treat this race as the name indicates, a "shuffle". Not a big deal, but it sure did make my running experience there last year more pleasant! I didn't have to zig zag around a bunch of walkers or slower runners, nor did I have to try to pass those groups of 3-4 people who line up in a row like they're the linemen stepping up to the line of scrimmage.
Based on my performance last year, I believe I could register for this "Preferred" start again, which is definitely a plus. But is it enough to deal with all the hassle? And the entry fee for the race isn't exactly a bargain. These high-profile races with big perks (like the post-race party featuring a popular band) are never cheap. It's just 4.97 miles. I could put on my shoes, run 5 miles from my house, go in and take a shower and sit down to write another blog entry in the time it would take me to drive down to this race and park!
And every year, I go through this process of trying to decide if it's worth it. Sure, I love driving down with my fellow runners, hanging out with them before the race, sharing stories of each person's individual account of the race when we meet up at the finish line, and I especially love it if I end up running well, but I still waver on whether it's all worth it or not.
Now I know there are a lot of you out there that read this blog and never post...you've TOLD me this! So I'm calling you people out and would like to invite you to share your opinions on the Shamrock Shuffle and whether or not you think I should sign up for the 2007 event. I'd also like to know if any of you struggle with this decision year-to-year or do I just need to get a life!??!?!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Boston Confirmation
**Since I may never get another letter like this, I thought I'd post it to share it with you. -MJDear M J,
This is to notify you that your entry into the 111th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2007 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.You can verify your acceptance into the field by searching the 111th Boston Marathon "Entrants" database on the B.A.A. web site, www.baa.org/2007/cf/Public/EntryLists.cfm. Additionally, an "Acceptance Card" will be mailed to you via US Postal Service mail.In early April 2007, an official Number Pick-up Card and extensive information regarding the B.A.A. Boston Marathon and related race week activities will be mailed to you via US Postal Service first class mail. If you do not receive your Number Pick-up Card (required to claim number) and brochure by April 7, please contact our Registration Office at 508-435-6905 for further instructions. All registration related inquiries may be directed to the same telephone number. All other inquires should be sent to registration@baa.org.Note that bib numbers will not be distributed on Race Day. Your travel arrangements should take into account picking up your number at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on Friday, April 13 from noon to 6:00 p.m., or Saturday, April 14 or Sunday, April 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
We look forward to seeing you in April!
Sincerely,
Boston Athletic Association
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