Running In The Dark

During my long run on Wednesday I went a few miles into Seneca and Cherokee Parks. I like running through parks because it takes you away from civilization. I run through neighborhoods and populated area's all the time - it's nice to run amongst the trees. One of these trees produces what I believe are hickory nuts. While on the tree, the nuts are housed in a nice shell/husk about the size of a racquetball...and hard as a rock!

More on the hickory nut in a minute. As you probably know, I do all of my runs early in the morning for several reasons. I love getting up early and getting my workout out of the way. One of the issues with running at 5am is that it's dark - especially in the parks. It's pitch black. I carry a small flashlight with me, but I usually just turn it on if I see a car approaching. Running down a road in complete darkness is strange. Not being able to see the road or trees as you run past them almost makes it feel like you are running in place...kind of cool.

So while I was running in Cherokee Park, in the dark, I stepped directly on a hickory nut. It looked something like the picture to the right. I obviously didn't see it and my first thought was that I was thankful my foot didn't roll off the stupid thing and twist my ankle. I felt a slight twinge in my arch during the next few strides, but then it went away...until about an hour later.

Once I got back to the gym and got out of the shower, I felt a pain in the sole of my right foot with ever step. I knew exactly what it was from. I've been icing it on and off in the evenings and trying to stay off of my feet as much as possible, but the dull pain is still there.

I went for a short run this morning and felt a minor amount of pain during the run. Hopefully it will subside before my speed workout on Monday!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

4.32 miles in 30:48 (7:08 min/mile pace)
I just wanted to have a solid run a little bit faster than my comfortable pace. I also wanted to test my right foot and see how my sole was healing. This run, while short, has over 300 feet of elevation gain, so it's nowhere near flat. My heart rate stayed mostly in Zones 3 and 4 with a few minutes in Zone 2. Here's the breakdown:
Zone 1: 6% of the time
Zone 2: 18%
Zone 3: 43%
Zone 4: 31%
Zone 5: 2%

Happy Ironman World Championship!

The 2010 Ironman World Championship is this Saturday in Kona, HI.

The top athletes in the sport of long-course triathlon will race for the title starting at 6am (12pm EST) on Saturday. Although I have never yet to race in an Ironman distance triathlon, I do know that it takes a special athlete to qualify to race in the World Championship...yes, that's right, you have to be invited to Kona.

How do you qualify? It's very difficult...and somewhat confusing.

Athletes qualify by earning a spot at one of the qualifying events - which are open to citizens of all countries - held throughout the year. Qualifier races include a few half-ironmans and full distance races.

Each event awards Ironman slots to its top 3-4 age group finishers (depending on the race), with some races also awarding professional qualifying spots.

Athletes may also gain entry by being selected through the Ironman Lottery.

1800 spots are given to those who quality, only 200 spots are given to lottery winners. With close to 100,000 people racing in the 24 qualifying events, it's VERY tough to qualify to Kona!

So needless to say, it takes a very gifted (or extremely lucky) athlete to make it to the Championship.

Craig Alexander is the two time defending champ on the men's side, but my money is on Chris Lieto this year. In the women's race, Chrissie Wellington should walk away with her third straight title. Barring an injury or mechanical issue during the race, no one will be close to her...again.

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

21.29 miles in 2:58:08 (8:22 min/mile pace)
Once I got about 4 miles in, I started to feel strong. I was running at a pace between 8:00 and 8:15 per mile and feeling good (heart rate was in the mid 140's). I was smashing hills and cruising on the flats. All was well until I hit the last hill coming out of Seneca Park around mile 17. It's tough, but I've run it many times without issue. This time was different. My legs stared to burn going up the hill and I knew when I reached the top I was done. I struggled to keep my pace under 9 minutes per mile the remaining 3-4 miles. Not sure why my legs gave out, but pushing to finish strong was a good mental test! Check out the chart below showing elevation and my pace.
Avg HR = 148 bpm
Max HR = 164 bpm

A Different Type of Recovery

A few times a year (last time being in May), usually after a big race, I move away from my typical healthy eating habits and "splurge" for a week or so. I refer to this week as my "Week of Gluttony". The Boilerman Triathlon last weekend was my final triathlon of the year, so while I am still training for a marathon next month, I shoveled a bunch of food into my body this past week that I would normally avoid. Some of my indulgences included strawberry ice cream, pizza (courtesy of CiCi's buffet), a couple of Dr. Pepper's, biscuits and gravy, a Kit Kat Dark candy bar, a Chinese buffet, some lots of Jessica's famous banana pudding, Outback's Baby Back ribs, a chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell, a glass of the new Maker's 46 and a few other things that I can't remember.

Towards the end of the week (as in last night), my stomach was telling me to stop with the sweets. It's amazing how just changing up my diet for one week can effect not only how I feel, but how my body responds when I run. I try to view food as fuel. This helps me to make good decisions when eating. If I expect my body to perform what I'm asking it to, I need to fuel it with high-quality foods, not junk. Garbage in = garbage out.

My long run last Wednesday was early enough in the week that the unhealthy food I had been eating hadn't had time to effect my performance. But that wasn't the case on Saturday or this morning. I could definitely tell that my body wasn't feeling as good as it normally does...and not just because of the 5 pounds that I gained last week!

I'm definitely ready to get back to eating right. Stuffing myself full of pizza and Kung Pao chicken at buffet's is out of my system, and I have no desire to grab a candy bar next time I stop at a gas station.

Hopefully my body is on the road to recovering...

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

10K (6.2) mile Tempo Run
15 minutes at an easy pace (approx. 7:45 min/mile), 16 minutes at an increased pace (around 7:15 min/mile) and then 16 minutes at an easy pace (7:50 min/mile). My legs felt heavy and I never really settled in. Believe it or not, quads were still a little sore from Wednesday's long run.
Total workout: 6.2 miles in 47:06 (7:35 min/mile)
Avg HR = 162
Max HR = 172


TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

Yasso 800's (800 meter runs at a high intensity, with 3 minutes of easy jogging between each)
Warm-up (ran to the track) - 1.33 miles in 9:51 (7:28 min/mile pace)
1) 3:08 (Avg HR - 155, max - 166)
2) 3:14 (Avg HR - 162, max - 171)
3) 3:21 (Avg HR - 163, max - 169)
4) 3:17 (Avg HR - 165, max - 171)
5) 3:16 (Avg HR - 166, max - 172)
6) 3:16 (Avg HR - 167, max - 172)
Cool-down (ran back to the gym)- 1.33 miles in 10:51 (8:14 min/mile pace)
Total Workout: 7.38 miles in 1:01:30
I hadn't done Yasso's in over a month, so I had my mind set on getting in 6 of them. I really wanted to quit after the third one was so slow, but I sucked it up and pushed as hard as I could for the last three and never fell back to the pace of #3...only feeling like I was going to vomit once. Speed workouts are not my favorite, but they are just as important as the long runs. I've noticed an increase in my "comfortable" pace since I started doing these track workouts...so they are successfully teaching my legs how to run faster!

LSD

In the world of running, the term LSD has nothing to do with tripping on acid and having flashbacks of Greatful Dead concerts. For runners, it stands for Long-Slow-Distance. While these runs aren't all you should be doing when training for half or full marathons, they need to be in the training plan somewhere. Building your aerobic engine is going to be key if you expect your body to run for 2, 4 or even 6 hours. I've been slowly building up the distance of my LSD runs over the last few months. The distances have been 10.8 miles, 12.4 miles, 14.3 miles, 15.0 miles, 16.8 miles, 8.54 miles (plan was 18, but I was very ill), and then today I did one of 21.0 miles.

These runs have all been in my aerobic heart rate zone and the pace has varied, but I never pushed it. I save the speed for my interval and tempo runs. As the distance has increased, I've found the need for hydration while running. I've tried carrying a bottle (not fun) and leaving a bottle at various spots along my route (too difficult to plan). Neither option worked, so I decided to invest in a fuel belt.

 

The picture above shows the exact belt that I am now the proud owner of. I used it for the first time this morning and it worked out well.  I was able to carry 18 oz. of Gatorade as well as a gel and my car keys with me during my run. Did I look like a geek? Yes. Do I care? No. If it's good enough for 2-time defending Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander (see below after crossing the finish line in 2008 - nice fuel belt!), it's good enough for me!

 

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

21.00 miles in 2:45:09 (8:17 min/mile pace)
I thought that my legs would still be tired after having only two days to recover from the Boilerman Tri, but they felt good after the first few miles. I knew that my heart rate was lower than I wanted, but I was running a good, comfortable pace, so I didn't push it. The only problem with adding on distance is that I have to keep getting up earlier to get these runs in before work. Alarm went off at 4:15 this morning!!
Avg HR = 150 bpm
Max HR = 162 bpm

Boilerman Triathlon Race Report

Is there such a thing as a perfect race? I doubt it, but what I managed to put together yesterday was as close as I've ever come to achieving one.

I wasn't too optimistic while loading up the car and leaving the hotel to head towards the race site. It was 52° with a light rain. Here's some proof:

It continued to rain as I drove to the site but then let up once I got to the parking area (which was approximately a mile from the site). I pumped up my tires, loaded my bike on the trailer and climbed on the shuttle bus that was taking athletes to the race. The race was in a remote location with hardly any parking, so they asked everyone to park at a "nearby" high school and ride the shuttle over. It worked out ok for getting athletes back and forth, but not so well for spectators (more and this later).

As usual, I was one of the first people to arrive on site. I had picked up my race packet the day before, so I was able to skip the registration line and head straight to transition. It was an open transition, so I was able to pick out a prime location on the front row, farthest from the swim in and closest to the bike out. This way, I wouldn't have to run very far with my bike and I would have extra time to get my bearings after coming out of the water. I took my time getting my transition all set up and then took a walk down to the water to see how it felt. The water was pretty comfortable, but the air temperature was still pretty cool, creating a cool-looking fog on the water. I took a picture of it, but it's hard to see:

 

They announced that the water temperate was 75° F, so I decided to go ahead and wear my wetsuit. Not so much because of the water temp, but because of the air temperature. I didn't want to come out of the water and be even slightly cold getting on the bike. This turned out to be a good decision.

I ran into my parents shortly before the race started. They had also parked at the school and taken the shuttle over. Jessica and Kate were supposed to be there as well, but due to the fact that they were not going to run the shuttle during the race, Jessica would not have been able to take Kate back to the hotel for her nap (which would need to happen during the race). Being the excellent Mom that she is, Jessica decided that trying to keep Kate on her normal schedule was the most important thing (which I agree), so she just drove back to the hotel and didn't get to see any of the race. I hate it that she missed out on the race, which was the main reason she made the trip. I'm not happy about the logistics of having to shuttle people back and forth to the race site. It really threw a wrench into our weekend plans!

Back to the race. The swim was in Rainybrook Bay, a nice little lake just south of Lafayette. The swim started in three waves. Collegiate athletes first, the Open Division Men (that's me), then Open Division Women. The waves were separated by 5 minutes. I hadn't had my wetsuit on since the Taylorsville Lake race in May, so it took me a few minutes to climb into it and get it comfortable on my shoulders. The course only had 3 turns, so I felt like my sighting was much improved. Once I got clear from the craziness associated with a mass start, I was able to get into a good groove and saw the first buoy pretty well. Here's a picture from the swim start:

I made the turn around the first buoy and then had trouble finding the second one - which was much further away. I just followed some guys in front of me and kept looking for the yellow buoy. I finally spotted it and started to swim towards it. It was only when I was around 100 feet from it that I realized I was swimming towards a swim marshal sitting in a yellow kayak wearing a yellow life jacket! Once I realized this, I quickly found the actual yellow buoy, which was about 100 feet to the right, and picked up the pace to make up for lost time. I looked down at my watch when I climbed out of the water and saw that it was 27 minutes and some change! Holy crap - that's fast! This was by far my best swim in a race. I exited the water and started to make the run up to transition, which was about 500 feet away.

I pealed my wetsuit off as I made the uphill run through the uncut grass. The swim time listed on the results includes this time to run to T1. I got into T1 with my wetsuit around my waist. I headed over to my bike and started to put on my socks before realizing that I still needed to finish taking my wetsuit off! This is what happens when you do lots of races without a wetsuit and then use it again. I got my suit off and was out of T1 in 1 minute 31 seconds.

I knew that it was going to be cool, so I brought gloves. I can ride in cool weather, but my fingers get numb, so gloves are a must. I put my gloves on as I started the ride and settled in. My heart rate was still in the 160's from pushing it hard on the swim and it took me almost 6 miles to get it to settle down to the low 150's...where it needed to be. The course was flat. What they call hills, I call speed bumps. After the huge hills I've been riding this season, the hills in Indiana are nothing. I only stood up twice just to move around. While there were no hills, there was another obstacle....the wind! I remember it being winding from my time at Purdue, but I never tried to ride a bike in this wind. When heading north-south, the cross winds were rough. But when the course took me west, the wind was right in my face, making a flat road feel like a hill. I was reeling in a lot of the college kids on the bike that had the 5 minute head-start on the swim. I also passed several guys in the open division. I was only passed by one person on the bike and after looking at the results, this ended up being the guy that won my age group. Here's a picture of me getting as low as I can in my aero position fighting the wind:

My legs were burning coming into T2, but I was ready to get off the bike - the wind was getting the best of me and I was getting angry. Seriously, I was pissed at the wind. I took my feet out of the shoes while still on the bike heading into T2 and had a lightning quick T2 time of just under 45 seconds. I headed out on the run feeling strong.

My heart rate was in the high 150's for the first few miles of the run, but I felt like I was pushing it as hard as I could without going too fast. Since there were no mile markers on the course, I really had no idea what kind of pace I was running. I was only passed twice and I passed a few more people. The run took us through a neighborhood with concrete streets - not asphalt - concrete streets. Then it looped back around to Rainybrook Bay for the last 2 miles which consisted of a lap around the lake...which was a combination of a gravel path and running through grassy fields. No doubt that this slowed down the run times some, but it was kind of fun to get off the road and onto a softer surface. I pushed it as hard as I could during the last mile and got my heart rate all the way into the 170's. I crossed the finish line with a 10K time of 45:51, good enough for third best run time in my age group. The picture below was taken during the last half mile or so. It looks like I'm walking, but trust me - I was running hard.

Pictures curtosy of Brian Pomeroy and Andy Jessop.

I was even more happy with my overall time of 2:25:11, which is 12 minutes and 17 seconds faster than my best time for an Olympic Distance Triathlon! This time ended up being good enough for a second place finish in my age group and a top 25 overall finish. It was still pretty chilly after the race, so we didn't stick around to see if I had placed. I've emailed the race director to see what the awards are, then I'll decide if I'm going to try and retrieve my prize!

So I finished off the season with a 3rd place finish and a 2nd place finish. Pretty good way to go into the off-season. I've seen huge improvements this year and I'm excited to build on what I have heading into 2011. My focus now turns to my first full marathon, which is on November 6th...less than 5 weeks away!

Here's the official results of the 2010 Boilerman Triathlon:

Swim (1500 meters)
29:19.00 (31:27 min/mile pace) - 2nd out of 9 in age group (62nd out of 136 overall)
T1
1:31.10 -2/9 (33/136)
Bike (40K / 24.8 miles)
1:07.45.3 (22.0 mph) – 3/9 (20/136)
T2
0:44.80 – 3/9 (22/136)
Run (10K / 6.2 miles)
45:51.70 (7:23 min/mile) – 3/9 (46/136)
Total
2:25:11.9 (2/9) (25/136)

Nutrition:
Breakfast - 1 whole wheat beagle (plain) and 1 cup of Greek yogurt - about 3 hours before the race
Pre-race - 18oz. of water with 1 Nathan Catalyst electrolyte tablet (lemon-lime flavor); 1 packet of PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts (strawberry-banana flavor).
During Race - 24oz. of water mixed with Hammer Nutrition Heed (strawberry flavor); 1 Hammer Nutrition Gel (Apple-Cinnamon flavor). I took all of this in on the bike. I took a gel with me on the run, but never felt the need for it. I only managed to drink about 3/4 of the Heed on the bike and took water at 2 aid stations on the run.

As a side note, I beat 44 of the 56 college students that were competing. This race is one of many that college triathlete's compete in. Several schools showed up with their triathlon teams, including Michigan State, Illinois, Central Michigan, Northwestern, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, and of course, Purdue. I must say that it's a nice ego boost to beat so many 18 to 21 year olds!

The Boilerman Triathlon

It's going to be a fun weekend! A little road trip up to West Lafayette, Indiana to see a Purdue football game tomorrow and then to race in the Boilerman Triathlon on Sunday. Jessica, Kate and I will be in our car with all my race gear and my parents will head up there as well to take in all the weekend festivities. Right now the weather looks great for the game (72° and sunny) and decent for the race (low 60's with a 40% chance or rain). As I've mentioned before, the weather is out of my control, so I'm not going to worry about the rain.

Being a Purdue Alumnus, this race is one that I've wanted to do since I found out about it early last spring. At the time, I was training for the Tri Indy and I didn't want to sign up for another Olympic distance race without knowing how my first one would go. Now that I've raced three at this distance and two that are longer, I'm good to go in the confidence department.

The goal for this race is to set a PR for this distance and to more than anything, just have fun. This is my last triathlon of the year and it will be at least 6 months before I get the chance to swim, bike and run in a race (wow, that's a long time!), so I'm going to have a good time.

Here's what my previous three Olympic Distance races (1500 meter swim, 40K (24.8 mile) bike, and 10K (6.2 mile) run have looked like:

The swim portion of the Boilerman is an open water swim that takes place in a lake just south of campus. I haven't had the best of luck with open water swims due to my struggles with swimming straight (correcting this will be my #1 priority in the off-season), so we'll see what happens. The bike and run are flat (it's Indiana) and should be fast. So I'm hoping to improve on my Tri Indy time of 2 hours and 37 minutes.

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

57 minutes on the indoor bike. 10 minute warm-up, then a 45 minute Spin Class with some tough intervals, then a quick cool-down before hitting the pool.
Avg HR = 137 bpm
Max HR = 153 bpm

Swim

Nothing fancy, just a 1/2 mile swim at race pace.
912 yards (0.52 miles) in 16:56 (32:40 min/mile pace)

I'm taking today off completely and although I would like to get in a short run tomorrow morning, I doubt I'll have time. Plenty of rest and eating some good complex carbs is the name of the game for the next two days! It's time to Boiler Up and Hammer Down!!

Fast Food Lunch Deals

As Jessica and I sat down to watch some episodes of The Office on TBS last night I noticed that during every commercial break there seemed to be an ad for a fast food restaurant offering a cheap lunch meal, usually for $5 or less. For someone that is forced, or likes to eat lunch away from work, this sounds like a good deal. After all, spending $10-$15 a day on lunch can really add up!

As we watched these commercials, I started thinking about how much food these meals are actually giving you. Without exception, every single one was offering WAY TOO MUCH food for one person to eat. I started adding up calories in my head and it was crazy. Jessica suggested I write a blog post about this...so here it is. Check out some of these numbers:

TACO BELL 

$5 Buck Box

(1) Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
(1) Taco Supreme
(1) Burrito Supreme
(1) Cinnamon Twists
(1) Medium Drink (Regular Coke)

Total Calories = 1320

Calories From Fat = 440

Total Fat = 49g

Carbs = 180g

KFC

Variety Big Box Meal

(1) Drumstick
(1) Crispy Strip
(1) Indiv. Box of popcorn chicken
(2) Sides (Mashed Potatoes and Cole Slaw)
(1) Biscuit
(1) 32oz drink (Regular Pepsi)

Total Calories = 1560

Calories From Fat = 530

Total Fat = 60g

Carbs = 196g

Arby's

$5.01 Combo

(1) Regular Roast Beef Sandwich
(1) Curly Fries
(1) 32oz drink (Regular Coke)

Total Calories = 1080

Calories From Fat = 370

Total Fat = 42g

Carbs = 150g

McDonald's

Extra Value Meal

(1) Angus Deluxe Snack Wrap (wraps are healthy, right?)
(1) Large Fries
(1) 32oz drink (Regular Coke)

Total Calories = 1220

Calories From Fat = 450

Total Fat = 50g

Carbs = 176g

Now look at all those numbers and consider this: The average man requires only 2000-2200 calories PER DAY to manage their current weight. This number is around 1800-2000 for women (sorry, your metabolic rate is typically lower). The average man only needs 40-50 grams (35-45 for women) of fat per day and 250 grams (225 for women) of carbohydrates. So for instance, the KFC meal would give you 70% of your calories for the day, 120% of your required fat intake for the day and 78% of your daily carbs....all from just one of your three meals!

I don't write this to tell you to never hit up the drive-through of a fast food joint, because all of these places have healthier options. Just don't get suckered into their latest offer...it's likely way too much food garbage to eat in one setting! 

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

4.72 mile Tempo Run in 35:32

10 minute warm-up at 7:35 pace, then 15 minutes at 7:00 pace, then a 10 minute cool-down at 7:50 pace. Good workout.

Swim

1152 yd in 25:32

6:00 warm-up

4 x 100 intervals with 100yd cruise between each
1) 1:35
1:52
2) 1:29
1:53
3) 1:32
1:52
4) 1:32
4:00 cool-down

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

Speed Workout - some Yasso 800's on the track, then I took my shoes and socks off and did some 100 yard sprints on the football field. Grass was nice and soft and it felt good to get out of my shoes and run. I was worn out after 4 of these sprints. Too bad there wasn't any oxygen waiting for me on the sidelines like the NFL guys get!

Warm-up: 1.32 miles in 10:17 (7:47 pace)
2 x Yasso 800's
1) 3:04
3:02 jog
2) 3:04
3:01 jog
4 x 100yd sprints with 45s rest in between
1) 13.22s
2) 12.72s
3) 14.02s
4) 13.42s
Cool-down: 1.32 miles in 11:14 (8:30 pace)

Total Workout: 4.89 miles in 47:37

Here's my speed chart from today's run workout: