Run

I did a fast run on the treadmill today to see how my 5k time is doing. It took me 22:40. Not too bad at 6:30 AM with a slightly sore right knee, but still a bit slower than I'd like to be.

43k @ 42

I'm making the commitment to do the New River Marathon in Todd, NC this spring. I've ridden my bike on that course many times, so it is very familiar. There are some (steep!) hills, but it's mostly flat and peaceful.  

I'll be following the FIRST training plan that has worked well for me in the past. Since I haven't done a marathon in a couple of years, I'm going to keep the goal of finishing in under 4:00. I'm starting in on week 16 next week. It should be fun!

Ready to Rumble

The Bath County Triathlon is this weekend so I wanted to do one last race simulation. I'm definitely not in good shape and the 600+ miles of driving this weekend didn't help. Despite my apprehension, it went a whole lot better than last time.

The only problem was the timing of my trip to the RAC. I couldn't get out at lunch so I had to wait until about 2PM when the usual afternoon thunderstorms were moving in. My swim was curtailed due to thunder. I did manage to get 8 laps in so it wasn't a total waste (about half the race distance). It was a tough call to ride outside but I decided to go for it because riding the exercise bike is painfully boring. After a short swim, I was strong on the bike and the storm cooperated, staying to the north for almost the entire ride. I got rained on at the very end of the 13 miles, but it felt pretty good with less than one mile to go. Next was a 5k on the treadmill. My legs were sturdy and I was able to do a respectable training pace (23 minutes).

A quick stretch and shower afterward and I was home in a little over 2 hours elapsed time. Hopefully, I'll feel as good on June 19th.  

Hit By A Train

The Bath County Triathlon is fast approaching and my carpe sofa lifestyle isn't helping me right now. I went to the RAC today to get a little training in. Since I was a slug yesterday, I figured I would try to do a race simulation today to get a gauge on my fitness. I brought Ruby with me and was planning on a nice outside ride and then running on the treadmill. It wasn't pretty.

In a break from normal routine, the swim was actually the best part for me. I swam 20 laps (1000 yards) and felt pretty darn good getting out of the water. It wasn't fast (24 minutes) but I'll take it. I dried off and hustled outside to get my bike. The ride didn't start off too well as I had to stop a couple of times for lights, traffic and railroad crossings. I went down from the RAC on 615 for a bit which has a number of sharp climbs on it. I knew it wasn't going to be fast due to heat and terrain, but the 13 miles took me 50 minutes and I was pretty tired afterward. From there, I went back inside and ran 5k on the treadmill. My legs were dead and I could only keep an 8 minute pace.

After finishing, I went into stretch and my back was killing me. I did a few things to loosen it up, but nothing was working (trying beer now). Hopefully, that was just a bad day. My stomach has been not feeling great today and I didn't sleep well last night, so I'll chalk it up to that and hope things go better in a week.

Train

I got up early yesterday and did a training run for our triathlon coming up in a few weeks. Since I've been sick and traveling, training has been a bit of a problem. Luckily, the Sheraton in Toronto has a really nice 25m outdoor pool (not really luck - I made sure they had a pool before booking). I was able to swim 750m, ride 20k on the exercise bike and run a 5k on the treadmill in about 80 minutes. Not very fast, but considering my doubts about whether or not I could even do it without considerable pain, it went well. Hopefully, I can get some good training in over the next two weeks!

Saturday

Big day yesterday. We kicked if off with a 9:00 AM lacrosse game in Shawsville for the U7 boys. It really wasn't much of a game and I don't think the other team scored a goal. But, it was fun for them to get out there and get a game in. There were a couple of funny things in the game. My favorite was when the ball was down at our offensive end for a while and a breakout emerged going the other way. On the other end, all of the attack and defense were sitting in the crease having a chat. Jack scored a Hat Trick and actually tried to switch to his left hand with the ball. He tripped and fell down while trying that move, but he played well.

When we got back, I went for a ride up on Yellow Mountain Road and down along the Greenway. They've opened the bridge to Wasena park, so we have the full five or so miles along the river available again. It's good to have a spot to take a flat, easy ride once in a while.

Lastly, we had the Gallop for the Greenways in the late afternoon. It was a very windy day which kept it cool. I helped pace Sophie and she ran her personal best 5k and Kate got on the podium as well and we took home a bunch of glasses as our prize. Since we have about a dozen Gallop glasses in the cupboard, hopefully they will change the prize next year.

May

Time for the monthly update on my New Year Resolutions:

1. Do two triathlons. I'm signed up for two events in June. I swam 5600 yds, rode 156 mi and ran 35 mi in May, so I think I'm ready to go.


2. Coach my daughter's lacrosse team. The season is over and I miss it already. We only lost two games (and one was against middle schoolers) and it was a fun season. Maybe it won't rain so much next year.


3. Learn something new. Not much going on here. Lots of ideas, but no real action.


4. Swim 50 miles over the course of the year. I'm over halfway there. I swam 5,600 yards in May (3.2 miles) for a total of 45,500 (26 miles) on the year.


5. Pass an SAP certification exam. I might schedule this for early July since we are heading to Philadelphia anyway.

update

A (belated) update on the status of my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Do two triathlons. They cancelled the easy one in Blacksburg, so I might have to actually do two real ones. I'm keeping up with the swimming, but the running and cycling are so-so.
2. Coach my daughter's lacrosse team. The season is almost over and we are now 5-2. We lost our last game to Lexington 9-8. It was a good game and all tied up at half, but we fell asleep right after halftime and gave up 4 quick goals because we couldn't win a draw or get a ground ball. After a few minutes, the girls seemed to realize that they were getting killed and brought it to within 2 goals with about 20 seconds left. Sophie won the draw right off and scored to make it a one goal game with 1o seconds on the clock. Then she won the next draw and was just getting ready to shoot when time expired.
   
3. Learn something new. No progress. I'm relearning C++ on a project I'm working on, but I guess that doesn't count.
   
4. Swim 50 miles over the course of the year. Still ahead of schedule here. I swam 7,000 yards in April (4 miles) for a total of 39,900 (22.8 miles) on the year.
5. Pass an SAP certification exam. Need to work on this one.

Official

It's official. I've cancelled my entry in the NYC Marathon.

I don't know why I held out this long even though I've known for two months that it wasn't going to happen.

I went for a 5k run Tuesday for the first time in weeks and my legs are still hurting. The foot feels OK though, so that is a plus. The four miler with my daughter tomorrow should be interesting.

Maybe next year...

Slosh

I'm one of the world's worst swimmers. Despite my long limbs and reasonable aerobic capacity, I'm the anti-Phelps. Since I can't run, I've been swimming a lot more and I'm making slow, painful progress. Once in a while, I get something right and I start to think about other stuff while I'm swimming and it feels easy. Then I get tired and start thinking about my stroke again and it all falls apart.

My goal this winter is to be able to swim a mile without stopping. It doesn't have to be fast (and it won't be), but that would put me in a sort of swimming elite - if I were a Boy Scout, I'd even be able to earn a badge.

Out

I'm going to have to bow out of the this year's New York Marathon. After 3 years of trying to get in and a decent start to training, I hit a patch of plantar fasciitis that I couldn't get over. Even if I get better tomorrow, I don't think I would be able to make up for the three weeks I've been on the shelf and be properly trained for the event. No sense risking further injury when I can defer my entry until next year. Since I can't run, maybe I need to pick something else to do.

Slug

The marathon training took a hit over the past couple of weeks due to a combination of injury and travel (i.e. laziness). I think I have a mild case of plantar fasciitis. The pain is more in the arch of my foot than the heel, but it seems to match up in other respects. I have had a lot of stiffness in my legs during and after running, so I'm going to try to treat it with some better stretching, acetiminaphen and some ice. Wearing flip-flops for the past week certainly didn't help. If it doesn't respond, I'll make a appointment with the doctor.

The best thing about having a marathon on the horizon is that it forces you to train smart - you want to be in good shape, but it is more important to be pain free. 26.2 on a bad wheel is no fun at all.

Train

I just started my training for the NYC Marathon. I'm following the First To Finish plan again which has worked well for me in the past. I'm keeping my plan online so I can see and update it from wherever I happen to be.

No Shortage Here

While running yesterday, I crossed one of the rail lines that goes through Roanoke. There were coal cars lined up as far as the eye could see in both directions.

Each of these cars has over $15,000 worth of coal (using an average of 111 tons per car at around $140 per ton) on its way to Norfolk and then to Europe. Too bad we can't put it in our cars.

If I Can Make It There

Sometimes persistence pays off. I've entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon for the past three years (2005, 2006 and 2007) and not gotten in. For this race, the fourth time is a charm and they let you in automatically. So, I'm in.

I'm a little bit taken aback by the $166 race entry fee, but that is probably going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of flights. A quick check today had flights from our local airport at $455. Ouch.

Finished

I managed to finish the Knoxville Marathon yesterday. The course was hilly but not too tough with most of the big ones in the first half. The finish in the big football stadium was fun and they had chocolate milk at the end (my favorite after a long run). There were plenty of spectators to keep you going and the traffic control was remarkable (they had a cop at every corner). The weather was very cooperative with clouds (no rain) and a temperature probably in the upper 50s.

Since I was still a bit sick, I targeted 4 hours and finished in 3:59. Definitely not blazing, but I'm happy with it. My legs are a little stiff, but otherwise, I feel pretty good.

Ready or not

Next Sunday, I'm running the Knoxville Marathon and I did my last tune-up run yesterday. The long training runs in the past month went well and everything feels pretty good right now, so if I can just dodge the spring ick that is floating around the family, I should be OK.

This marathon has received good reviews, but the course profile looks a little hilly. The uphill at mile 24 to 25 is going to be a lot of fun. But, living in Roanoke, I get to finish every run off with that kind of climb up from the river so I know what I'm in for (pain).

I don't have any grand goals for the race - finish in 4 hours and have fun. Hopefully, I can meet both of those.

Rode to Nowhere

My wife convinced me to try an indoor cycling class today at lunch. This was the first time I've ever done any kind of organized excercise class except Yoga. I've never felt the need to take a class. I don't have a problem with motivation. I just imagine what mile 23 of my upcoming marathon is going to feel like if I don't train hard and that keeps me going.

But, it was fun and having an instructor and group of people there keeps the pace up. I'd do it again. We will have to see how much it impacts my 12 miler tomorrow. It is supposed to be in the mid 50s, so it will be outside (no bowling!)

Running Inside

I'm training for the Knoxville Marathon right now. I follow a training plan called First to Finish that works well for me because it varies the workouts and mixes in cross-training. I don't think it makes me faster, but it sure minimizes injury. I've had one significant injury in the last 3 marathons I've trained for and that was because I stepped on a grape stem in our kitchen that went into my foot, got infected and kept me from running for a few weeks.

One thing I have noticed in the past few years, as I've entered in my upper-30's, is that my body just won't take running in the cold. It used to I love to run in the cold. I actually looked forward to winter because I can run faster in the cold. My PR for a 10 miler (which isn't impressive) was done on a 20 degree day.

Now, if I run outside for more than an hour in temperatures below 45 degrees, I have about a 50/50 chance of coming down with a sinus infection. A couple of years ago, I was constantly battling sinus infections and just went from one to another. I tried to blame my son for them but when I stopped running outside in the winter, they seem to have gotten much better.

One thing about running inside on a treadmill is that it is deadly boring. I usually combat this by watching an NFL game while I run. They last about 3 hours, which is plenty long enough and if one game is a wash, there is usually another interesting game on. In this inter-playoff week before the Super Bowl, I had to watch bowling. I was actually sort of hoping for a heart attack so I could stop running. I'm going to look at the bright side: I finished my 14 miles and now I know who the all time leader in bowling victories on TV is. Sweet.