Has it been a week already?
Amazing how time flies when you are having fun. Truth be told my running, and exercise in general was close to nothing last week that I really didn’t have anything to write about. Not really sure why but I just get in the mind set that I don’t want to do anything so I don’t. For me not to do a thing over the weekend is really an oddity.
When I left you last I had done a “brick” and really felt great. Then I took Wednesday off preparing for my weekly Thursday night 5K race. Kim had some testing to do so we were not sure if she would be home in time for me to make the race. Kim got home, I changed quickly and was out of the house. Sure in hind sight I should have been changed already but I was outside with the kids and they were enjoying the slip and slide. I was not about to tell them to come in so I can get changed. Official Results
As I was driving to the race, hitting every traffic light it was apparent that I was not going to make the start. Ringo does start this race on time, every time. But I decided to go anyway and at least run the course and get a workout in. I pulled in the parking lot and no one was at the starting line so I hit the Garmin and off I went. Can you believe that no user error today. By the way it was 7:07 when I started so everyone had 7 minutes on me. And with this small field I was not going to catch anyone with my 9 minute per mile speed. Back to the Garmin, I did something to it and I noticed my last run it did not give me a lap time after each mile. So when I got to mile one I manually hit lap to record. I ran about ¼ mile and I looked at the Garmin and there you have it user error. I didn’t hit lap I hit stop. I suck at this Garmin, I love it but I suck using it. I start it again and keep going. When I got to the finish line Ringo gave me a look like where were you. I let him know I missed the start but wanted to run anyway. He asked what my time was so I told him 28:30 or something like that. Now I have been running PR’s every week in this race but without knowing where I truly was I just added 1 minute to my last time. I do think I was faster than the time I told him but I don’t think I would have had a PR.
So that was the extent of my week and working out. My worse week of running for the year as I logged 6.4 miles. But guess what that is behind me now and I can’t go back and change it now. I did a nice 3.25 miles last night in the humidity and will try to get out tonight for another run.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Lazy week.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
I guess I did a "Brick" tonight.
So the bike ride was with the new bike and I felt good but I do have to make an appointment for a fitting sooner than later. I was going to wait until after vacation but I like riding it so much I think I am going to call tomorrow to make an appointment. Also want them to look at the bike becasue it is making a "cranking" noise when I am going hard in the "highest" gear.
Here are the numbers for the bike.
13.1 miles avg speed 16.9 mph with a max of 24.1 mph. HR was avg 143 and max HR was 160.
So got home jumped of the bike and thought about going on to get a drink and then start the run but figured if I went in I might not make it out again so I just started running. Run was very good as well. Not 5k race speed but still felt very nice. Ended up going 3.25 miles with a 9:28 pace.
So all in all it was a great workout tonight and very happy with my efforts. I did take a trip last night to pick up Inside Triathlete but Borders did not have it. I ended up getting Triathlete magazine but I still want to pick up the other on because it is the nutrition issue. I think I will benefit greatly from that.
This is from a Google search on "BRICK"
Triathletes train for this phenomenon through transition workouts or "bricks": back-to-back workouts involving two disciplines, most commonly cycling and running. (The term "brick" has multiple claims of origination/derivation. Among those is the derivation from a partial anagram of Bike-Run. Also, it may simply be a descriptive term for how your legs feel for the first part of the run. Another is credited to Mark Sisson and Scott Zagarino (1988), who associated the term brick with the idea of "Just another brick in the wall"... as noted in a song by the group "Pink Floyd". Another association of this term has been claimed to originate from a New Zealand athlete by the name of Matt Brick.)
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Weekend Update
Friday
Friday was an off day. Kim and I met the girl that is going to house/dog sit for us when we go on vacation in two weeks. We met her through good friends of ours who used her a few weeks ago. That went well and it was nice to know that we won’t need to put the dogs in a kennel.
Saturday AM (6:30 am)
I decided it was time to take out the new bike for its first ride. Wow this bike is nice and fast. Trust me when I tell you I was not going hard at all. There are so many firsts with this bike that I am just trying to get used to it first. What are the firsts you ask.
1. Aero bars this is the big thing because it is not only the bars but the gears on the bars, and the brakes on the bars,
2. Thin tires – I have only rode mountain bike tires so far.
3. Just this fast a bike.
4. Not properly fitted yet – I wanted to get a few rides in first and will get fitted after vacation when I by clipless pedals.
But all in all it was a nice easy ride. I went 15 miles but because of my on going Garmin “USER” issues I started the Garmin 3 miles into the ride. So here are the numbers that I have from the ride. 12.18 miles in 45:28 for avg speed of 16.1 mph and I did have a fastest speed of 19.4 mph. Bottom line I like the bike a lot and can’t wait to ride it more and get into some TRI’s and DU with it.
Saturday PM (7:20 pm)
After a great bike ride in the morning and a fun day with the family I decided to go out for an evening run. Weather was low 80’s with a slight breeze, felt real nice. I told myself that I would do a 10K with a goal of sub 1 hour. I did this knowing I was going to do a long run the next morning at a real SLOW pace. So off I went. Really uneventful but end result was a 6.20 mile run in 59:04 for a 9:31 pace. Avg HR was 147 with a max of 155. Really felt great and very happy with the result.
Sunday AM (8:45 am)
OK so here was where last night run would hurt me. I planned on doing 11-13 miles depending on how I felt. And the plan also included going real slow I wanted to do 11 minute miles. Run was going great and I was at about 10:35 – 10:50 pace up to mile 9. Yes that was the wall mile 9. Actually mile 9 was OK but walking started during this mile. And then mile 10 and 11 was mostly walking with a few run breaks. If my car was not 2 miles away I would have been done at 9 miles today. But hey even the 2 miles of walking was better than me sitting on the couch.
Sunday PM (7:00 pm)
Yeah right, like I was going to do anything tonight. Put a fork in me I'm done.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Thursday Night Race
Browning Ross 5K
After taking last week off from my Thursday night 5k race. And tonight due to the rain I thought that it was going to be another week off. But at about 6:30 the skies cleared and I rushed to get my running gear on and headed out. The race is only about 10 minutes from my house so I knew I would not have a problem getting there. I did forget (couldn't find it) the strap for the HR monitor but as Bigun mentioned the Garmin HR monitor is not really the most accurate (my polar HR monitor is more accurate with regards to the HR).
There were only about 20 people at the race this week and looking at the people there I knew I was going to be one of the last to finish. But that is OK I can live with that as long as I go out and run my race. So that was my plan. Oh by the way Applebees 2 hours before a race - not a good thing or maybe it was a good thing.
My plan was to go out fast for the first mile and that was what I did. I went hard and mile one was done in 8:34, yes fast for me. And at about 1.5 I knew it was too fast, I managed to do a 9:00 2nd mile. So I know I am on pace for a PR but I was starting to get a side pain. Honestly other than when I first started running a year ago I haven't had the pain. I think it was the Applebees, that's what I am going with. I knew there were 2 guys close behind at this point. Actually one was right on my heels and soon passed me. And at about 2.5 miles the other guy passed me. I knew I still had a good time going if I could keep up the pace and have a kick at the end. I also knew there could only be 2 or 3 guys behind me. So I kick at the end and I come in at 27:33. And yes that is a new PR by about 13 seconds. My pace was 8:55 per mile and for Bigun my avg mph was 6.7.
Turns out I was first in my age group. Don't ask - oh you had to ask - yes I was the only one in my age group. And my prize this week was a 32 oz Gatorade (nice).
Official results are posted HERE.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
And the winner is? ME
Specs:
Fork QR Carbon/Aluminum Aero
Headset Cane Creek Integrated
Handlebar 6062 AL T6 butted 44 cm wide
Aero Bars Profile Aerolite
Stem QR Aluminum 100 mm 80/100 degree
Bar Tape QR
Saddle QR Chromo
Seat Post QR Aluminum
DRIVETRAIN
Front Derailleur Shimano Tiagra
Rear Derailleur Shimano 105 9 speed
Shifters Shimano Dura-Ace 9 speed bar end
Cranks FSA Alloy 172.5 53/39
Bracket Truvativ ISIS
Cassette Shimano Tiagra 9 speed
Chain Shimano Tiagra
BRAKE SYSTEM
Brakes Tektro dual pivot w/cartridge brake pads
Levers Dia Compe 188
Wheelset Formula XR-1 w/Velocity Rims 700c
Tires Vittoria Rubino Slick 700 x 23c
Size Info:
55 cm (700c wheels)
Top Tube Length: 54 cm
Head Tube Angle: 72.5 degrees
Seat Tube Angle: 76.5 degrees
Stem: 100 mm
Fork Rake: 4.3 cm
Standover height: 75.5 cm
Wheelbase: 100 cm
Head tube length: 112 mm
Weight as shown: 20.4 pounds
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday's Workout
Yesterday got out at about 8 pm for a run.
I got in an easy 4.35 miles in 43:07 for a 9:57 pace.
Avg HR was 141
Max HR was 149
If this works here is my MotionBased site.
This is from Runningahead.com these are just running numbers.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Rest ot the week and weekend.
First want to congratulate Mike and Jenny on completing their first Triathlons. I am very proud of the both of you.
Please check out IM-Able entry from Friday.
OK Back to Me
Wednesday
Well I did not get out in the morning for a run. So that night Kim went out for her run and right when she got back it started to rain. Was raining too hard to run at that point, and since it was 8pm already I knew I was going to have to hit the gym to use the treadmill if I wanted to run. So I hit the food store for a few things and hit the gym. Was not feeling it on the TM so I got in 2 miles and got out of there.
Thursday
Usually my Thursday night 5K but we planned on bringing the kids to Ocean City to walk on the boardwalk and let them ride the rides. And since I did not wake up early enough in the morning it was a rest day.
Friday
Problem about taking a rest day on Thursday is that Friday usually is my rest day. And another rest day it was to be. Good thing on Friday night was my girls had their Karate belt promotion and they both did great. Liam’s test is Monday night.
Saturday
We would be going to my Uncles house up in the Pocono’s for a family gathering. This would be my Dad’s side of the family who we really did not grow up being too close to. But I really want to make the effort to get closer to them. So we took the 3 hour ride there and 3 hour ride home. We were at the party for about 4 hours, so in the car with 3 kids longer than actually at the party was “FUN”.
I did get in a run in the morning on Saturday, I got 6.25 miles in 1:03:16. Felt real good during the run.
Sunday
My long run day. I had planned on doing 13 miles. Unfortunately, sometimes our plans don’t work out. Since I got up a little late I had to settle for 8.15 miles in 1:26:33, and did not feel as good as I did on Saturday. Oh well I got it done.
Then I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to meet a friend and his kids. I scheduled this before checking with Kim, and wouldn’t you know it I “forgot” that the kids had a birthday party to go to at 11:30. So a quick stop at CEC and back home for the party. Kim brought them to the party and I got a few hours off (OK – I had my chores to do).
Sunday night Kim went for her run and then I went for my bike ride. I did 13.10 miles at a pace of 4:05 (did not hit my goal of sub 4 min pace – OH WELL.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Keep moving....
Monday
It was Hazy Hot and Humid. Even though I did my run at night it was still hot and humid. After talking to some of the faster guys at the last Browning Ross Race I decided to try their suggestion. They told me to go all out on the first mile and then if I had to slow down the last few miles and they “Guaranteed” a faster time.
So how did I do? Well I clocked a first mile of 8:28 wow that is fast for me. 2nd miles was 9:10, 3rd was 9:37, 4th was 9:55 and last .15 was 1:21 for a total of (yeah I know you can add but I try to make it easy for ya) 4.15 miles in 38:30 for a pace of 9:18. I am very happy with my speed and will be very happy when I can get some longer runs in. I think being off the treadmill has helped with me getting faster.
Tuesday
Hot again, but a storm came through earlier so cooled off a little. I went for a bike ride. I am no great biker by any means, but I set a goal to go 10 miles and to end with a sub 4 minute pace. Please keep in mind I am riding on a bike path but with a mountain bike with fat tires. Some day soon I hope to have a better street bike (you know of any for sale?) and can see how fast I can really go.
Won’t bore you with the details of every mile but the bottom line is I did get 10.75 miles with a 3:53 pace.
Was hoping to get out this morning for a run but just didn’t do it. So will get out later.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
My 15 minutes. Well about 1 1/2 minutes.
As you may or may not know I really enjoy doing my long run on Sunday mornings. This Sunday due to the camping trip my schedule was a little off and I got my run in the afternoon. My Sunday morning ritual is downloading the most recent Steve Runner podcast and doing my run to his new episode. After last weeks show he mentioned that this upcoming week he was going to talk about blogging. So I thought wow I should email him and let him know of the blogs that I follow, people that I draw inspiration from on a daily basis. I have a few listed on the left side here of my blog and have many more that I go to (I just have been too lazy to update the list). Well you know how that goes, it sounds good at the time but I never got around to sending Steve the email.
So imagine my surprise when at the end of this week’s podcast I hear “and this week’s featured blog of the week is OBRATS.” What, am I hearing things? WOW what a great honor to hear my blog mentioned on this podcast. After just hearing Steve mention that his podcast has been voted the best sports related podcast for like the last 18 months now.
Steve read some of the information from my profile and had some very complimentary things to say about my writings and my life changes. Again it was a great honor and not sure I deserve it but I do appreciate it. So if you are reading this blog because of Steve Runners podcast please take a minute (OK it will take longer than a minute) and visit the blogs on the left. I will really try to update to include all the fine people I visit on a daily basis. Because trust me these people are also doing some amazing things and are making the World a better place.
As for me, I just hope that if I have inspired anyone that I can continue to do so. Because I do believe it is not enough to just make changes to ones self but you should really try to make changes for the good of all men and women. Yeah I know I am only doing a silly blog and not out fighting for world peace or finding the cure for cancer. I will leave that to people who are way smarter than me, trust me I know my limitations. But what I hope to do is maybe help a young child’s Mother or Father realize that they can make changes in their life to lose weight or maybe lower their risk for a heart attack, so that they can be there to see their child grow up. I know it is corny to say but if I can help one person live longer than it was worth it. Hey who knows maybe the one person I help grows up and finds the cure for cancer.
I knew an older man who is now left us who used to ware a shirt that read “each one teach one”. And really that is what it is all about educating one another. But like my blog line says “YOU have to WANT to do it.” So if you want to do it check out the people on the left and do as I do check the links that they have you quickly realize there are many people out there making changes and that you are capable of making great changes as well.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Weekend re-cap.
Well this was to be my first camping weekend with Liam. Actually it was to be my Father, my nephew (Luke - 11 years old), me, and Liam. Now understand I have not been much for the outdoors, but since the health changes I am starting to enjoy them more. I get out to run and bike and love the few long walks we get out as a family on. But sleeping in a tent is really not me at all. My dad and Luke do it a few times a year and love it, and have been asking me and Liam to join. So a few months back I set the date with my dad and low and behold this was the weekend.
Now keep in mind we were not hiking miles to a camp site but were DRIVING right to where we pitch our tent. So really I think of it as a tailgate party (and boy have I been to many of them in my 38 years). So during the week I work out with my dad what I was to bring and what he was going to bring and we are all set with that. Probably a good time to mention that we were camping out for only one night, actually I think we were out of the house for a total of 23 hours.
Turns out that my nephew, do to a prior engagement, was not going to be there until Sunday morning so Liam and I would miss him, but my dad would camp an extra night with him.
So Friday was a very busy day in my house in that Tubby our 6 ½ month old St. Bernard was getting spayed so between dropping her off and picking her up and pampering her at home, Kim brought the kids to Karate. When they got home Liam starts with the “I don’t want to go camping”. Then 5 minutes later “I do want to go”. After an hour of this Kim and I give him his last out and tell him this is the last time we are asking “are you going?” And he said yes.
So Saturday morning comes and I am packing for the trip and he starts the I am not going chant. Very long story short not only is he going but his twin sisters are now going as well. I didn’t see her but I am pretty sure that Kim was doing the happy dance at this point. House to herself all night. Well her and our two dogs that is.
There are so many more details that I won’t bore you with but bottom line is there are things that I will do differently next time. Yes I hope there is a next time in that it was a fun experience (I liked it – not sure how much the kids enjoyed the hiking).
We got home Sunday and I pretty quickly got out for a bike ride by myself. I went my 13.1 mile usual bike route. A few slow miles in there so was about 14 mph ride. Later that night I got in a 6.5 mile run. Is that a brick? Or do the two events have to be right after each other? Boy if I get an answer to that question I know you really read this long entry.
I do have a great podcast story to talk about but will do on another entry since this is long enough. So I will post either later tonight or tomorrow.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Browning Ross Summer Sizzler 5K
So last night weather held out and I did the Browning Ross Summer Sizzler 5K
that is run on Rowan Universities Campus. So last week I turned in a PR of 28:31 and was not sure if I could PR again but I was OK with that. Seemed to be about 30 or so people again. Trust me when I tell you this I am pretty sure that I am the only Clydesdale there. There are some serious runners at this event believe it or not. I don't care I am there for me. So I pay my $5.00 and am ready to go.
It was humid last night but I would say it was not as hot as last week. I found the guy that I ran with the previous week and tried to stay with him. (I passed him in the last 1/4 mile last week). Well he went out hard and I quickly knew I was not over taking him today but I would just try to do my best. I didn't really run with anyone, and would say that guy was bout 30 yards ahead of me at all times and another guy was about 30 yards behind me the whole race. I felt that the guy behind me was gaining on me by mile 2 and knew that I was not going to hold off this guy. I was right and he passed me about the same spot that I passed the guy last week.
Due to "mechanical error" aka user error my Garmin did not start recording the distance correctly. I had the time right but not the distance and was off by about 0.12 on the miles (so I will post the chart but it is not correct on splits). There was a lady there at mile two telling you your time and her and my Garmin were right on as I crossed the two mile mark at 17:46, yes this is very fast for me and I really would have loved to know what I did the first mile in. Well I finished the race in 27:46 for another PR (by about 45 seconds. Don't look for the same result next week. He does post the result and here are last weeks official results. I did not get a prize this week as they were all gone when my time came to pick. Oh well I got the best prize in knowing my pace for the race has a 8 in the front. OK so it is a 8:58 but it is still an 8.
Looks like this weeks results are up CLICK HERE
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Happy Belated 4th of July
Monday was a day of rest.
Tuesday I got out and ran 3.22 miles at a nice pace of about 9:30 per mile.
Wednesday (the 4Th.) We walked as a family in the Berlin Parade. We have done this 6 out of the last 7 years. Kim decorates the bikes, wagons, scooter or what ever else the kids want to travel on. They give out prizes for best decorated and this year two of the kids got 2ND prize for their age group. Two years back the Girls both split first place (great job Kim).
So after a day of eating REAL bad, and literally 10 minutes after a burger, ziti, and a Johnson Brat I went for a run. I went slow but did manage to get in 5 miles at a 10:32 pace.
Today being Thursday (yes the 4th on a Wednesday really sucks) I plan on doing the Thursday race that I talked about last Friday. That will be weather permitting as they are calling for Thunder Storms at about that time.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Weekend in Review
Saturday morning I got up early and so wanted to go ride or run but I let Kim sleep a little later and I got the kids breakfast. Sleeping late in our house is 7am (to put it in perspective). And Kim was testing again in the morning. I mentioned a few weeks ago (I think) that Kim works for a local school district but other districts contact her to do testing on the side. And for what they pay about 2 hours of work she can't pass it up.
Then we went to her cousins house in PA for a BBQ with her family. We had a great time and left around 6:30 to get home to go to see some local fireworks. Kim was going to go to see the fireworks with the kids and her parents and I was going to stay home with the dogs since Tubby the 6 mo old St. Bernard was looked in the bathroom while we at the BBQ. So my plan was to sneak out while they were gone and get in a little bike ride. Well Kelsey put an end to that plan when she said she wanted to stay home with DADDY. Its actually funny that Kelsey wanted to stay with me because she tends to do more with Kim and Caitlyn tends to hang with me more (can't figure out these twins). So two paragraphs later and bottom line no workout Saturday.
So now Sunday comes my usual long run day. Well another test morning for Kim, so I was able to get out for about 5.75 miles. I say about because once again I did not have a properly charged Garmin. I HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE BUT THIS MORNING WAS THE PERFECT RUNNING WEATHER. So came home grabbed a shower and took the kids out to a play ground. Spent some time there and then they wanted to go to "The Purple" playground. Yes they know their playgrounds by colors. So we left and grabbed some happy meals (I had the Southwest Salad) and had a picnic at the purple playground. Spent some time there and went home (turns out Kims testing was canceled so she was happy to have a few hours to clean and hit a few stores. We played games with the kids, I played XBox with them and Kim went for her run. I got the kids bathed and looked at the clock and saw it was about 7:15 still plenty of time to get another run in so that is what I did. I went out for 7 more miles on a newly charged Garmin. So I did get in about 12.75 miles of running today.
