Matt's Blog - training

Does the swim leg have any hills?

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:41:00 -0700

I woke up at about 3am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Anxiety about my first triathlon this Sunday kept my mind active. I lay there visualizing the buoys I will swim around, the transitions between each leg, the bike route, and the workouts I have done. I have not done much triathlon specific training, but with the cross-training I've been doing as part of my marathon training, I think it will be a fun experience. After trying to sleep for a bit, I got up and checked email and FaceBook. A friend on FB posted a link to a funny candid camera type of video where people in a retail store tested a water bed. It was really just a thin mattress sitting on top of water. They would sit on the foot of the bed and lean backwards pushing the mattress down and getting themselves soaked. Ha! Then I went to YouTube and watched a couple of triathlon transition "how-to" videos. Some good pointers there. I got back to sleep sometime around 4 or so. Strange how the mind can do that. I'm not particularly stressed about the triathlon, especially considering it will be full of novices. The experienced racers do theirs the day before. I guess since it is my first I'm a bit nervous. The compression shirt is hard to put on when I'm wet, so do I wear it for the swim or put it on in transition? Can I make do without sunglasses for the bike ride since I don't like them when I run? I think I'll wear socks even though the transition is faster if you skip them. I'd rather not get bad blisters in the midst of marathon training. I still kinda need to fit a long run in this weekend. Could I do one tonight (Fri) and feel rested enough for the Sunday morning race? Inquiring minds want to know.

Triathlon Training Fun

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:14:00 -0700

"This is a long swim," I said to the guy who was treading water beside me. "Yes it is," he replied. We both went back into a freestyle stroke to work our way through the second half of a 750 meter swim. I occasionally looked around to make sure I was on track and not drifting too far from the buoys that marked the course. A couple of hundred other people were also making their way around the bay as they trained for upcoming triathlons. About an hour later I was coming to the end of the bike course. I was pre-riding that route and doing my first brick workout: swim and then cycle. I had been fighting sweaty and slippery hands the entire time. I was also watching my GPS for cues on where to turn for the course. One right hand turn came up quicker than I expected. A small red pick-up truck was stopped and waiting to turn onto the main road that I was turning off of. I began to turn but couldn't slow down enough to avoid him. I went head over handlebars into the bed of his truck. He must not have heard or seen a thing because he drove off with me still in there. Now I have no idea where I am but at least I have internet access to update my blog. Ha! Couldn't resist there. That would have been a more exciting story. Truthfully, I did swing too wide and hit the truck. I managed to turn just enough that only my forearm grazed the truck and I kind of bounced off and kept going. I said, "Whoa! Sorry!" and looked back to see that he was continuing on. I felt pretty good after the swim and bike and could probably have done okay on the 5k that will follow in next weekend's race.

Feeling more focused: Training Week 3

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:49:00 -0700

Prior Weeks The first week of training was mainly a non-training week due to letting an injury heal up a bit more. The second week (last week) was full-on, but I struggled against fatigue and humidity. Last Friday morning I attempted my 11 mile long run before work which was covered by my whining blog entry. I am realizing that the FIRST program really pushes you and the rest days are key. Due to some soreness and fatigue, the weekend plan should have been no running. But Friday night I noticed a severe drop in the temperature and saw the forecast for the weekend was with the highs in the low 80s! Weekend Recap Saturday morning I went to the group run meetup which lately is only about 2 or 3 people. I ran with another guy who is also training for the same marathon as I am. We did an easy 4.5 miles and it felt good to run without pushing it. Later that day I agreed to meet my main running buddy on Sunday morning for his long run. I told him I had already done my long run but I would start out with him and see how I feel. Feeling pretty good, I didn't stop until we closed off a second loop and hit 11 miles. And Now, Week 3 I decided that since I had run both Sat and Sun, I would take off Monday and Tuesday. So far I feel rested and glad I did this. My three workouts this week look like so: Wed: Intervals - Warm up; 4x800 @ 2:58 (2 min rest); cool down Fri: Tempo - 1 mile warm up; 5 miles @ 7:15; 1 mile cool down Sun: Long - 14 miles @ 8:11 I haven't planned my cross training yet, but I might do some laps tonight and a bike ride on Thursday morning. Optimism There is still a bit of soreness in my quads and a slight twinge in my right hamstring, but overall I do feel better and am ready for this week's runs. Sunday's run should again be with my running partner. 8:11 is faster than we have been doing our long run pace, but not by a ton. I'll feel much better about my progress if I can hit that target. I also hope to hit that tempo goal pace because last week was off and short.

Tired after early morning long run

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:46:00 -0700

I'm not really a whiner in general, but I'm just tired. Not sick and tired. Just tired. This week was my first real marathon training week. I was supposed to start last week, but was giving an injury more time and took it easy. I usually get to bed by 10:30 or 11 and naturally wake up (no alarm) at about 5:30 or 6. Wednesday morning I did a tempo run that only had one mile at the goal pace and I stopped after four miles instead of doing 5. Yesterday morning I only did about 30 minutes of weights, but after that I was still sleepy and out of it. I decided to do my first long run before work this morning. Plan said 15 miles at 8:11 pace. Last week's long run that I missed was for 13 miles at 7:56 pace. I figured I'd try for something in between, maybe 14 miles at 8:00. I started out at about 5am (had to use the alarm for this one) and had a tough time getting to the pace. First three miles were more like 8:20 or slower. Then it got better and I started hitting some low 8:00s and even sub 8 for a couple. At about mile 6.5 I stopped for a short water and food break. Getting going again was tough, but I fought the urge to go back home and get another hour of sleep. I kept the pace pretty close to target for the next few miles, but after mile 10 I wasn't feeling up to 3 or 4 more. I decided to push one more mile and then walk it home. I ended with 11 miles and an average of 8:08. Not horrible, but not where I'd like to be. I've done better in recent weeks. Now I need to figure out if this sluggish running and overall tired feeling is due to the heat/humidity, what I eat, the workouts, or something else. It is probably the combination of these. I try to convince myself that I'll see improvements once this heat and/or humidity lets up. but it is frustrating for now. Meanwhile I decided I probably shouldn't try to fit a long run in before work because I'm mostly just trying to stay awake.

MQ for BQ - Week 1 recap

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:33:00 -0700

Due to feeling like an injury needed more recovery time, last week's traing schedule was mostly scrapped. Here is what I was supposed to do: Interval Run: 3 x 1600m @ 6:12 w/ 1min rest Tempo Run: 2 miles easy; 2 miles @ 6:45; 2 miles easy Long Run: 13 miles @ 7:56 Cross Train 1: Swim or bike Cross Train 2: Swim or bike And here is what I did: Sun: Bike - 20 miles Mon: Rest Tue: Weights - 30 minutes Wed: Rest Thu: Run - easy 6 miles @ 9:00 avg Fri: Bike - 18 miles with some up stroke and one-leg pedaling Sat: Tempo Run - 2 miles easy; 2 miles @ 6:40; 5 miles easy (met up with running friend for last 5) Near the end of the week I was definitely feeling better. I had some soreness (still do) from the bike ride where I did some one leg pedaling. My hip flexors mainly feel it. I got the idea to try this after hearing about PowerCranks. They are cranks for a bike that act independently. In other words, pushing down on the left crank does not raise the right crank. Instead, you must also pull up on the pedal to complete a rotation. This is the same as what one leg pedaling does, except both feet stay clipped into the pedals and both feet have to pull up. One leg pedaling is not easy and I could only manage about 20 revolutions at a time. Week 2 of Matt's Quest for Boston Qualification will hopefully go more according to the training plan (see next post).

MQ for BQ - Week 2 begins - First intervals on a track

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:33:00 -0700

Week 2 schedule has the following: Interval Run: 3 x 1600m @ 6:12 w/ 1min rest (since I did not do this last week) Tempo Run: 1 mile easy; 5 miles @ 7:26; 1 mile easy Long Run: 15 miles @ 8:11 Cross Train 2 times. I did the intervals this morning. I went to a track for this, something I have not run on for about 17 years. I drove to a local college that I knew had an open track. After a couple of warm-up laps I had a need for a bathroom. Unfortunately the stadium ones were locked as was the adjacent student center. I started to get a bit worried and walked away from the track just a bit and could it be? Yes! A porta-potty was set up for some construction work on a nearby building. And it was not locked. Not much to steal from a porta potty I guess. Business done and back to the track. The only other bad thing about the track was that the four inner lanes had hurdles set up and a sign at the gate said to not move the hurdles. Lane 5 became my fast lane. And my trusty Garmin 305 was my measuring device which showed lane 5 required only about 3 and 2/3 laps to hit one mile. I had never done one mile repeats before, so I did not know what to expect. I hit the first one with a 6:09 pace, but struggled through it. The second one was tougher and I pushed it, but ended with 6:18. For mile repeat number three I pretty much didn't try for the 6:12. I did what I could and got 6:34. During that last mile and my cool down I of course had to rationalize my times. I'm using the FIRST training plan which has these specific interval, tempo and long run training paces for hitting my marathon goal pace. I understand that intervals build speed and endurance, especially the longer intervals such as the 1600. But how do they know that doing these three mile repeats at 6:12 will help me run at 7:26 for the marathon? And how bad could it be if I did them at, say 6:20 or 6:30 instead? Heh, I am obviously just trying to not feel bad for not hitting the plan's goal. I'm not going to worry about it too much. Instead I'm going to look forward to my tempo run on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure I can do the 5 miles at 7:26 pace as I've done more than that before. The tempo and long runs and their goal paces don't scare me, but the intervals with their 6-ish minute per mile paces are intimidating. Happy Running!

Marathon Training Commences; Minor Injury; How to start?

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:22:00 -0700

City of Oaks Marathon count down: 16 weeks (from yesterday - Sunday) Week 1 Training* (in no particular order) Interval Run: 3 x 1600m @ 6:12 w/ 1min rest Tempo Run: 2 miles easy; 2 miles @ 6:45; 2 miles easy Long Run: 13 miles @ 7:56 Cross Train 1: Swim or bike Cross Train 2: Swim or bike Current health status: Muscle soreness from Saturday morning weights (good pain); Right leg groin sprain healing, but still not sure about running on it (bad pain). Five workouts. I did a one hour bike ride yesterday morning, so Cross Train 1 is checked off. My challenge now is if I should chance a run on the sprain. I'll probably not do anything today, but will I be good to go tomorrow? Which one of the workouts would be best to start with? The tempo run seems to be a good balance between distance and speed, but I did a similar run last Thursday that seemed to flare it up a bit. On a motivational note, as I started my bike ride at 7am yesterday I recognized a guy from my running group heading in the opposite direction. He didn't see me so I didn't stop. He is training for his first marathon, also the City of Oaks Marathon. An hour later, I was almost finished riding and I saw him again, still running. This time I stopped and we chatted briefly. I told him I saw him an hour ago and commended and encouraged him for being out there. It is cool to know some other runners working toward the same thing and being able to share the joy (and pain). *according to FIRST program (Run Less, Run Faster) tailored for BQ for my age group

Florida Vacation (YouTube link) and Marathon Training

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:47:00 -0700

Last week was a family vacation in Florida's pan handle. I took the opportunity for some flat(ish) cycling and running. I biked a 50 mile loop on my first morning there. It was windy enough that the first half was tough, but the return trip felt good. In building up mileage for the upcoming marathon training, I did one long run of 12 miles at about 7:40 per mile. I felt pretty good, probably mainly due to a pretty flat route that paralleled the beach. That is about 15 seconds slower than I'll need for a BQ. I did one more run that was meant to be a 5 mile tempo, but about halfway through the tempo part I wasn't feeling it and gave into the humidity. I still did 7.5 miles, but just slowed it down and enjoyed the scenery more. One more 32 mile bike ride and I felt the week's workouts were pretty good. Though it is not running related, I did a vacation video starring my children (with cameos by some grown-ups). The 16 week FIRST training program I am looking at using officially starts next week. For running, it calls for two days of speed (intervals & tempo) and one long run day. For cross training, I'll probably alternate between cycling and swimming two days a week. The only scheduling challenge I hope to figure out is fitting in an additional long run with a running partner who is training for the same marathon, but for a slower pace. My long run pace calls for a good 30 or more seconds faster per mile than his plan (he is using Higdon). I'm thinking I may double up on long runs instead of one of the cross-training days. He is willing to do his long runs a bit faster than the plan says, so maybe every other week I can slow up some and meet him half way. I'm taking it a bit easier this week. Sunday was an easy 11 miles. I'll do 5 or so tonight and maybe 7 on Thursday and Saturday with a bike ride somewhere in there. Good luck to everyone getting started on their training.

Nice temp, good tempo

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:26:00 -0700

Even with the daytime temperatures having stayed below 90, the past few mornings were still muggy and warm. But this morning at 6am it was about 67 degrees and the humidity was noticeably less. I was hoping for a good tempo run of about 5 miles at 7 minutes per mile. The route I normally run on does not seem to be too hilly, but when I am shooting for faster times this changes and the hills rear their ugly asphalt. I was worried I wouldn't feel up to pushing it because last week I attempted this same tempo run but could not hold the pace. Only one of the five miles was under 7:00, the rest ranged from 7:02 to 7:17. Starting out this morning, I felt pretty good on the one mile warmup. The first mile of a tempo seems to be about finding the pace and getting the rhythm. I tend to check my Garmin quite often when doing any speedwork. In that first mile I saw 6:30, 7:12, 6:45, 7:05. Don't you wish you had a cruise control button like a car that automatically fed your legs more gas when needed and let up when not? The first three miles, being somewhat balanced with the amount of up and down, all came in under 7:00 - sweet. Mile 4 was a bit less balanced with more uphill. I was worried when I kept seeing 7:20 and 7:30 pace when I glanced down. Somehow the mile average was 7:00 on the nose. I had anticipated that mile 5 would finish primarily on a downhill that headed back home. Instead it was over before that and also just under 7 minutes. I was just starting that downhill I thought mile 5 would include. So I kept going, thinking, "I'll just go to the end of this road at this pace." But the turn off of there went to another down hill. "Only about half a mile more at this pace and I'll have done a 6 mile tempo run." There was a bottom to that hill that even goes back up slightly, but only for the last quarter mile. And that is how a 5 mile tempo turned into a 6 mile tempo. A one-half mile cool down back to the house and I was a happy camper, err, runner. Even more exciting was realizing I had just run 7 miles (including warm-up) at an overall pace of 7:07. That beats my 10k PR average pace by more than 15 seconds per mile. I haven't run a 10k race for a long time and definitely need to find one soon.

Running store embarrasment

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:46:00 -0700

Saturday morning is usually a 5 mile group run at 8am. Right now I am building some base distance before officially starting marathon training. I decided to start around 7am and get 6 mlies in before the group run. In case you're at the World Cup where spectators are wearing heavy jackets, it has been hot in most of the U.S. This means that by end of the run number two I was pretty well soaked with sweat all the way through. Our group run meets at the local Fleet Feet running store. They are kind enough to provide water and bathroom facilities. I went inside for some water and got caught up in a conversation about Garmin toys with the owners. After only a few minutes, I notice I am standing in a puddle. I did not spill my water, nor did I lose control of my bladder (at least not knowingly). Yes, I had sweated out a puddle right by the cash register. I quickly went to the bathroom, grabbed some paper towels, wiped it up as best I could, and exited the store before more puddles formed. I think I'll make a point to do my chatting outside until the temps and/or humidity yield less sweat.

Interval Struggles

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:14:00 -0700

This morning's plan was 6x800m at 3:00 each. I did this for the first time about two weeks ago. I came pretty close then with splits of 3:01, 3:01, 3:05, 3:04, 3:08, and 3:05. Again, I did not go to a track. I'm using my Garmin for distance measurement on a fairly flat greenway / recreation path. I debated even getting out of bed to do these this morning. In fact, when my wife left at about 4am to take my 8-year-old son to the ER, I was pretty sure I would need to stay at home with my two daughters. My son has been fighting an ear infection and the first round of antibiotics had bad side effects. He started a different one last night and woke up at 3am with stomach cramps. We decided he should go in. They returned at about 6am and went back to bed. Some nausea medicine seemed to help. Having been up from about 3 to 4:30am myself, I was still pretty tired, but knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. The rec path is about half a mile from home. I did a slow warm-up to get there and then started my first 800 meter run. Running a 6:00 pace for a half mile is tough for me. Even tougher when I'm not fully awake. By number three I was not feeling it and slowed down for a part of it. I debated giving up and jogging back home, but somehow convinced myself to at least finish them all, even if it is off target. I picked it back up to finish that one out. I walked a little between sets to help my recovery. Number four was better, but I had to slow it again on number five. Here are the final times, with the obvious slow downs on three and five: 3:03, 2:55, 3:23, 3:03, 3:32, 3:09. I don't know where that 2:55 came from. My Garmin was actually telling me to slow down. I'm glad I got the workout in. I guess it didn't turn out as bad as I felt it was going to while I was doing it. Hopefully I can get better at doing the splits more consistently. And maybe I'll try a track one of these times to see if that helps.

Smarter Long Run

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:23:00 -0700

My running partner and I hooked up last weekend for a 10 miler that zapped us pretty good due to heat and lack of replenishing. Yesterday we scheduled another ten miles, but started half an hour earlier and picked a route with more tree lined streets and therefore more shade. When I left the house it was 70 degrees; much better than last week's 77. We started off a bit slower too and even had a plan for getting water part way through (a friend's garden hose). I also decided I would actually eat the Gu that I carried last week and never ate. Although the route was probably a bit hillier, we both felt much better. Just before stopping for water I ate my Gu - lemon sublime, not bad. After drinking and dousing my head with the hose I felt pretty good. The sweat was still rolling pretty strong, but that is to be expected. It worked out nicely that my Garmin beeped for mile 10 a few doors down from a Starbucks. I decided some water would be nice for my recovery walk home. As the lady filled a cup with ice and water, she asked how far I had run and how fast. Very nice folks in there. Walking home with that ice water made for a most excellent way to cool down. Mondays have worked out well to be a rest day. Rest days are the best day for me to do a short workout with some weights. I do about 30 minutes of various exercises, usually in a circuit style so the majority of the time is spent doing something. Tomorrow it is back to some speed work. 800s anyone?

Loving the mornings

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:51:00 -0700

I definitely was not a morning person growing up. I remember summers as a teen I would stay up and watch Letterman and sleep the next day until 10 or so. In college that changed. A new fitness facility opened next to my dorm on campus. I quickly learned that afternoons were way too crowded and I preferred to study or hang with friends in the evening. So I started a morning routine: gym, shower, and breakfast all before my 8am accounting class. Now, almost 20 years later, I wake up without an alarm clock between 5:30 and 6:00. I tend to sleep a little later in the winter, with it being dark until 7. I have come to love the stillness, the low angle of the sun filtering through the trees, the cooler temperatures, and the empty streets. Running in the morning seems to fit better with my family too. My wife and kids are either still asleep or just waking up when I get back and I have my evenings free to be with them. And so it was this morning. I woke up a little before six and got moving. The temp was nice and there was a light breeze. With needing to do a quick grocery essentials (ack! no milk!) trip before work, I was shorter on time than usual. I managed a 1 mile warm-up, followed by 2 tempo miles, and ended with a 1 mile cool-down. Nothing too crazy, but enough to feel like I got a decent workout.

Weekend of hot and cold

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:34:00 -0700

I noticed a bit of a scratchy throat on Friday night. I knew what was coming because my daughter had a cold for a few days already. Saturday morning's run wasn't bad as I did an easy pace with the local meet up. I hung with New Guy so he wouldn't get lost and because he was going a comfortable pace for me, especially after Friday's tempo run. I was a bit surprised though that New Guy wore headphones during our run. And the music was loud enough I could hear it too, though I couldn't really identify the songs. No worries, if you like music while you run, great. But I'm not sure he realized how loud he was talking. Probably because of the headphones I didn't ask too many questions so neither of us yelled too much. Saturday afternoon I got this text from another running buddy: "I'm thinking 10 - 12 miles @ 8:30 pace tomorrow morning. You in or are you a wimp?" Well, I couldn't reply to that with an excuse. "Ain't no wimps here. See you at 7:30," I responded. By 10pm that night my nose had started to get plugged and I was quite tired. But I got up Sunday morning, got ready and took some Sudafed. The temperature said 77, but the intense sun, humidity and lack of wind made it feel hot and muggy. We kept a steady pace and didn't push it. Neither of us carried water, but around mile 6 we found some sprinklers. A quick break to soak our heads and do our best to swallow some was refreshing. We closed the loop at the 10 mile mark and called it good. Average pace turned out to be 8:21. Monday is a well-timed rest day. Hopefully I am over the worst part. I plan to do some intervals tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Stay cool out there everybody.

A longer run at a faster pace

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:29:00 -0700

Today I tried the second "Prequalification Workout" from the Run Less, Run Faster book to see if I am anywhere close to beginning its BQ training plan. After a one mile warm-up, the options were 3 miles in 20:15 (6:45 pace), 5 miles in 35:00 (7:00 pace), or 8 miles in 58:00 (7:15 pace). I recently did a 5k in 20:26, so felt comfortable with that distance and chose the 5 miler. I have not done longer distances at that pace, I usually train at about 7:45 - 8:15. After a day off yesterday I got up at about 5:40 this morning and got ready. Where I live, to get some distance usually means some hills, unless you want to do the same half mile over and over. I did the one mile warmup, stopped to fix a shoe lace, and took off. The first mile was tough to get the pace steady. Glancing at my Garmin I would see 6:39, 6:44, 7:12, 7:22, etc. I was happy though that the mile split reported a 6:59 average. I got into a steadier pace for the next two miles with splits of 6:55 and 6:54. I delayed hitting the hills until mile 4. That made staying in a rhythm easier, but made that mile tougher. It turned into my slowest mile, but still averaged at 7:01. The last mile included the return trip down those previous climbs, so came a bit easier. It helped that it was the last mile of faster pace too. Final split: 6:58. The hardest part was maintaining the pace. I usually run this area much more relaxed and either enjoy the sunrise and views or chat with the group I am running with. I had to be more conscious of my pace, especially on any inclines. I think for longer runs I'll set my Garmin to beep at me if my pace falls below the recommended level. I didn't like having to constantly look at it. I would usually look at it when I though I might be slowing down. In which case I was usually right, so I could just not look and pick it up a little at that point. Here's to looking forward to the weekend and a possible long run...