And the training continues...

Not the best training week, but definitely not the worst. After running the Mercedes Half on Sunday, I promised myself that I would go ahead and keep on with my training rather than taking 2-3 days off. I think it paid off. The soreness left much more quickly. I felt a bit stronger on all the workouts.

Dr’s visit…
I went to the orthopedist on Thursday. He didn’t really tell me anything that I haven’t already heard. He seemed to think my knee was hurting because of a training issue. I guess I need to change my middle name to “Too Much Too Fast.” He didn’t seem to understand that my knee has hurt for the majority of my life. He is a triathlete so we chatted a bit about races. Then he said that he wants me to lose some weight…no frickin duh doc! Then he said that he wants me to not run for 3-4 weeks and then start just on tracks or treadmills with low mileage and increase by ¼ mile each week until I’m back up to 7-9 miles. Well, I know he’s a doctor and all, but the way that I look at it is that since it’s not anything new with my knee, I’ll manage just fine along the course I’ve been going for this next year. I’d hate to lose that much training time. If running wasn’t my biggest limiter, I might not have a problem with it. Onto the training…

Monday
WO#1
Missed Masters Swim
WO#2 Phase MS Strength Training
45mins

Tuesday
WO#1 Base 1 S1 Run – Speed intervals on treadmill
30mins, 2.23mi
Ankles were still a little sore when sprinting. Focused on form and staying relaxed up top.
WO#2 Base 1 E1 Ride – Easy Endurance Ride on trainer
Felt good to get back on the bike. Tried to keep my HR in Zone 3 for majority of the ride
(Legs felt great tonight after working them out)

Wednesday
WO#1 Masters Swim
Early 300m
WU 3x300 s/k/p
MS 4x100 descend
1x400 easy
I cut off here.
CD1x100
Total 2100m 60mins
Felt good to be back in the water. The kicks were a little tricky and hurt a little at first, but they worked themselves out.
WO#2 Phase MS Strength Training
45mins

Thursday
Doctors visit today. I got a little down after the visit. Decided to not run/ride for the rest of this week.

Friday
WO#1 Masters Swim
For the life of me, I can’t recall our main set…
WU 3x200 k/p/s
MS 1900
Sprints 8x50 Descend 1-4 & 5-8
WD 1x200
(Thanks to MH for pushing me out of bed this morning to go to masters)

Saturday & Sunday
No training

Since IMNO 70.3 is now a reality, I reworked my training plan a little over the weekend. I’ll jump into Base 2 training starting 3/1. My volumes will increase and the workouts will change up a little. I’m pumped about the race and a little freaked out too. It should give me a great opportunity to try out a solid race nutrition plan. Have a great week!

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Just keep swimming…” ~Dory, Finding Nemo

Mercedes Half Marathon

Pre-Race
Up at 430 and downstairs to eat breakfast…cup of coffee, waffles w/ pb and honey, cup of OJ. I broke out the body glide (best thing ever made) and donned my race apparel (tri shorts, orange adidas shorts, black thermal shirt, black race fleece, wool socks, brooks running shoes w/ foot pod, HR strap, and race cap. I grabbed my race bag and headed out the door at 530. It didn’t feel like it was too cold outside. I stopped at the BP to get a Gatorade and then made my way downtown. As soon as I got on the interstate, I realized I left my HR watch on my nightstand…expletive, expletive. I tried to call MH on her cell but no answer…expletive. This is just how I wanted to start the race day off. I then called the house b/c it would be a lot less surprising to hear the house phone ring at 530 than to maybe hear the garage door open right? The loving wife that she is ran it downstairs so I could just grab it and be on my way. I rocked the tunes on the interstate getting pumped up for the race and pulled into my parking spot around 6. I ate an apple and sipped on my Gatorade. My buddy Jeff rolled up around 615 and we made our way over to the starting corrals. Turned out it was a lot colder than it was at my house. I was really wishing that I had another layer on. At least I grabbed the trak shak gloves that came in our swag bag. I just needed to be sure that I didn’t pull my wedding band off when I threw the gloves to the curb (this is called foreshadowing). Had a GU and hit the port-a-johns at 10 til start. We made our way to the line and waited for the gun to sound.

AND WE’RE OFF
I still had my Gatorade bottle in hand when we started. I looked for a trash can to put it in but decided I might as well just keep it. Jeff was going to run the full, but he said that he would run with me for the first 13.1. We hit a 4/1 interval. We would run around 10 min miles for 4 minutes and then walk for 1 minute. It was hard to make ourselves walk. Your blood gets pumping and you want to go all out, but you have to keep telling yourself that it is 13.1 miles (or 26.2 miles) not just a 5k.

It was crazy crowded out there this year. For the first 3 miles or so it was pretty thick and we had to weave in and out. Felt great out there now. I tossed the gloves to the curb around mile 2. We were averaging around 11.5 minutes per mile. I’d sip on my Gatorade, take a water at the water stops, and eat a GU around every 45 minutes. I thought that I would be uncomfortable running with the bottle, but it wasn’t bad at all. It was nice not having to wait for a water stop to get any fluids.

We hit the 10k mark at 1:10:15. This was turning out to be one of my best runs ever. Around mile 7 is when the pains started. Every step would send a sharp pain through my knee. I never thought I’d love to hear a watch beep. Being on a run/walk routine was paying dividends now. Around mile 10, the leader booked past us. Then a few minutes later the second and third place runners passed us. The third place dude was booking it. He ended up chasing down the leader and winning it all! He’s a local guy that works at the Trak Shak in Trussville. By now my knees were numb so no more pains…woohoo. We made our turn heading north on 20th Street and all I wanted to do was finish. I ignored my watch and just kept running. I was turning out 8 minute miles for the last 1.5 miles. Jeff split off to do his second loop. I was weaving through people. When I realized I wasn’t going to hit 2:30, I slowed a bit so I could kick hard the last couple of blocks. I saw Lynn Park and could hear the announcer. Something about that gives you that last burst of energy you need to run just a little harder. I rounded the corner on Park Place cut back to the right in front of City Hall and booked it across the finish line. My watch had 2:32 and change when I finally stopped it.

Post Race
I got my bling and finishers shirt and walked over to see Jeff pass by on his second loop. I was feeling great…a heck of a lot better than last year. I headed on home. I tried to go the whole ice bath route, but that just wasn’t going to happen. I ended up just kneeling in the tub b/c I couldn’t bring myself to drop “everything” in the icy water. I decided to just go ahead and shower and then ice my knees the old fashion way.

So remember my wedding band…when I got dressed, I realized that I didn’t have it on. I started having a bit of a panic attack. I looked all in the bathroom and bedroom…nothing. All I could see was the clean-up crew picking up all the shedded clothing and finding a ring. No way would they be able to find out who it belonged to. That’s even if they found it. The gloves get donated to the homeless. So I guess the upside would be helping out someone in need…right? I go downstairs trying to figure out what I was going to do. Heather’s brother is there so I try to act normal and talk with them for a sec. Then I go in the kitchen and look where my keys and wallet were…nothing. My heart started to sink just a little more. Then I look at the kitchen table and there it sits….Whew! I have never been so relieved.


Here are the stats for the race…

Official Time 2:31:49 (I shaved about 24 minutes off last year’s time. I finally have a PR!)
Division Place 131/152
Overall Place 2441/3256
Sex Place 1314/1572
Mx HR 199 (highest ever!)
Avg 160
Max Pace 7:49
Avg Pace 11:31
Cals Burned 2615

This was an awesome race. The half mary is definitely going to be a race that kicks off my year from now on! I have a Dr’s appt on 2/18 to get my knee checked out. Keep good thoughts.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “You feel good while your running and you feel even better when you’re finished”~Fred Lebow, Founder of the New York City Marathon

Sick Time

Well, not really any training to report for this week. I started feeling sick Sunday night and it continued for most of the week. By the time I felt good enough to get a good swim/bike/run in, I was worried about getting ready for the Mercedes Half Mary on Sunday. I started to get a little mad at myself for not being able to do anything for four days, but then I tried to look at it as a real good taper for the race.

RACE CALENDAR UPDATE!! Turns out I am going to be getting that entry to the HIM in New Orleans on 4/18. NOLA here we come!

Starting February

Monday 2/1
WO#1 Masters Swim (half day)
50mins 2300m
WU 300 (choice) Drills, Drills,& Drills 14x50 (drill/swim) MS 1x400 kick down/swim back 1x400 swim with fins 1x400 swim no equip CD 100

WO#2 Strength Training
45mins MS Phase

Tuesday 2/2
WO#1 Base 1 S1 Run
30mins 2.4 milesSpeed Work on treadmill. Did 6 30sec sprints spread throughout a 20 minute run (5 min WU & 5 min CD)

WO#2 Base 1 E1 Ride on trainer
50mins 18.4 miles
Kept my HR in zone 2

Wednesday 2/3
WO#1 Masters Swim
Pool was crazy crowded this AM. No coach today. It was hard to get in a decent workout. I ended up calling it at 40mins. 1800metersWU 800 Choice MS 1x500 Kick Hard (1/2 with fins 1/2 not) 1x500 Swim with Fins If Friday is just as bad, I'll move myself to another lane if john’s not there

WO#2 Strength & Core
45mins

Thursday 2/4
WO#1 Base 1 S2 Ride- Single leg spinning
40mins 8.7miles
First time doing these...wow. At first you think you could go for a while and then the burn starts.
Skipped my E1 Run due to the monsoon

Friday 2/5
WO#1 Masters Swim
45mins 2000m
1st Day in new lane..coach moved me up
WU 1x500
Kicks 1x300 every 3rd length hard
Drills 4x100 (25ea. CU, FTD, OR, Finish)
Main Set 4x100 easy
2x200 harder this is where I stopped today.
First day in the new lane was rough. They are fast (relative to me at least). I had trouble keeping up, but I'm gonna love the challenge and having to push myself. It was tough finding my groove today. I haven't eaten the best the past few days. I can really feel it when I go to do my training. Help me remember this next time I want to go to Zaxby's for dinner!

Saturday 2/6 & Sunday 2/7
had a sick little boy to tend to. I started feeling bad on Sunday so I figured it was better to rest than push it. This is about to start my race week routine. Hopefully I can get to feeling better so I can keep my legs loose before Mercedes next weekend.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “I’m gonna sneak up like a ninja on their ass” ~Ashley on The Biggest Loser

January....Check

Last training week of January...

Monday 1/25
WO #1 ½ Masters Swim
45mins 1800m
No coach today, but there was a workout waiting for us. Recovery Swim (since I'm not sure what to do for an actual recovery day swim and I don't want to hold up my lane, I usually just do what the group does and cut it short by about 30mins.
WU 500 choice
Kick 4x100 descend 1-4
MS 2x200 descend ea. 50 :30 rest
8x50 @ 70% rest :10
CD 100

WO #2 Strength Training (first MS phase day)
45mins
Performed these in circuits and did core after completing all three circuits. Crunches (15), bow to knee (15ea.), Crunches (15), Plank Lift (15 ea.), Bridge (12), Crunches (12), Metrononme (15) I need to play with the weight amounts some

Tuesday 1/26
WO#1 Prep Phase S1-Speed Intervals on Treadmill
25mins, 1.85miles. Felt good on the treadmill

WO#2 Prep Phase E1 Ride on Trainer
50mins 16.80 miles
Tried to stay in Zone 2. Had to get off a few times to tend to Lucas.

Wednesday 1/27
WO#1 Masters Swim
75mins 2250m
WU 1000 choice (i broke it up into 4x250 Swim, Pull, Drill, Swim)
MS 5x50 Kick Hard
5x50 Swim w/ fins easy
5x50 Pull @ 60%
5x50 Kick Hard (1:00 rest between ea set of 5)
Sprints 8x25 (odd hard/even easy)
CD 150

WO#2 Strength Training MS Phase
45mins with core

Thursday 1/28
WO#1 Prep Phase S1 Ride on Trainer (spin ups)
30mins, 15.70mi
These always get my legs burning good.

WO#2 Prep Phase E1 Run through neighborhood
20mins, 1.63mi
Little run through the neighborhood. I shorted my self 30 mins b/c it was so late before I was able to get on with my training tonight. I might be moving all this to the AM

Friday 1/29
WO#1 Masters Swim
75min, 2600m
WU 4x150 (s/k/p/s)
MS 9x100 (E/H/H)
9x50 kick (E/H/H)
Pulls 3x150 (breath every 5th)
Sprints 4x25 (H/E)
CD 1x100

Pool was awesome today. Coach said he's gonna move me up a lane!! I'm graduating!!

Saturday 1/30
WO#1 Prep Phase E2 Run through neighborhood
55mins 4.35mi
Cut my run short...again! I really suck at running. It is hard to stay motivated out there. Today all I could think about was getting home to work on my house so we can put it up for sale. Something has got to give soon.

WO#2 Prep Phase E1 Ride on trainer
25mins 8.26 miles
Prep Phase E1 Ride following my run this AM. I need to work on my bike on Sunday...clean, lube, etc.

Sunday 1/31
WO#1 Prep Phase E2 Ride on trainer
2hr15mins 49.50miles
Prep Phase E2 Ride on Trainer. Felt pretty good. GU's, G2, and water were my only nutrition. Need to check on a couple different bars and drinks to take on the bike.

WO#2 Prep Phase E1Run trough Neighborhood
25mins 2.25miles
It was a little chilly out this AM. I was able to find my legs pretty quickly this AM after the long ride on the bike.

Well, the first month of 2010 is in the books. It was a pretty productive month but I wish I could have gotten a few more long runs in. Here are how my numbers look for January:
Bike: 11h 50m – 248.89miles
Run: 5h 58m – 28.95miles
Swim: 9h 45m – 22,125meters
Strength: 5h 22m
For a grand total of 32.92 hours & 291.59 miles worth of training….hey, I’ll take it.

This month one of my biggest goals is to get in a good routine with my training. I’ll have 8 weeks of Base 1 training. It will be broken down by week. Each week gets a little longer (about 10% longer) and every 4th week is scaled back (about 40%) to allow for recovery. This will give me a chance to mix it up some.

It’s also time to buy some new kicks. I might try something new since it’s still a little early in my training. There are different thoughts and arguments about the mechanics of running. Some say there is a specific science to it so there are ways to improve and be more efficient where as others say just go out and do it. I lean more towards the science side of things. Newton Running makes a shoe that promotes mid/forefoot striking as opposed to heal striking (which part of your foot hits the ground first). **I’m not exactly qualified to be making all these remarks, these are just my thoughts that have been influenced by magazine and internet fodder**Majority of people of heel strikers and people do just fine being heel strikers. The thing about heel striking is that it sends so much shock up your legs, through your knees and into your back. If you hit with your mid/forefoot, all the tendons, muscles, and tiny bones in your foot get put to use and absorb the shock. Another thought about heel striking is that it is similar to putting on the brakes a little with each stride so you have to work harder to maintain pace. If you can eliminate the “braking,” you can become more efficient. I’m not 100% sold on the shoes just yet. I’ll let you know if/when I get them and I’ll keep everyone apprised of my progress with them.

*POSSIBLE RACE CALENDAR CHANGE* There is a chance that I will be doing IM New Orleans 70.3 in April. A few things have to happen for this to be definite so cross your fingers.

Have a great week!

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “The body loves variety. The body is the same as the seasons: it likes change”~ Priscilla Welch, British Marathon Runner (this quote is courtesy of Runners World Magazine. I thought it was significant since it’s time for advancing/changing my training)