Beeeeautiful evening for a bike ride. I met Roman at the monkey bar. He has Greg's bike right now because he's going to be doing the Morgan's Little Miami triathlon in October. His buddy he's doing it with has a road bike, so he doesn't want to be left in the dust on his mountain bike. So far he had gone on one ride, yesterday. His bum was sore, but I think he's in really good shape for biking because he's such a strong runner.
We headed north and I took him on the road route that we usually do on the shop rides. In South Lebanon we turned left off the trail and headed out to the roads. We rolled along ...uh... I really should probably pay attention to the street names. I was happy I recognized all of the turns though; I've never lead through those areas. After a few miles we were back on the trail, just north of Morrow, and headed back south.
It was a good ride. Most of our pace on the roads was 18 - 20 mph. We were going 16 on the trail going out. But going back I was distracted with talking and stopped paying attention to speed. Doh! But that's OK, it was still a really good ride. Ended up being 20 miles, which was just what I wanted to do.
We saw three packs of deer (are deer called packs?) while we were coming back. And I almost hit a chipmunk. It darted out and back twice before my bike. I was probably a foot from hitting it and braced myself for the squiiiish...but thankfully it didn't happen.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
10 miles complete!
Saturday Casey and I tackled the 10 mile distance for the second time, and....drumroll... succeeded! Last weekend we tried for 10, but barely got through 8 due to me apparently coming down with a cold. We did the same route, and wow what a difference it was traversing the same paths and feeling great instead of like I could fall over and fall asleep.
It always takes me a while to get warmed up and settled in to a rhythm with my breathing and pace. I coughed and coughed for the first few miles. I was a little nervous that my chest was going to tighten up like it did Tuesday at track, and that 10 wasn't going to be possible again. But I wasn't tired, so as long as I could manage that, I would be fine. I was very much determined to get the 10 in, even if I had to suffer through it. I didn't want to hold Casey back again.
Eventually my coughing subsided and breathing was normal. And our pace was a little over 10. I was pretty shocked at that. I felt great! I still coughed every now and then, and my head would pound a bit. But it was very manageable, and I had so much energy otherwise.
We sucked down our gels around 6 miles. For the last almost 4 miles home, I was pretty much on a high. I felt super-strong and quick and light. The slight hills we went over still made my lungs work hard and I slowed down, but I would recovery pretty quickly.
For the last about .3 miles, we picked up the pace and pushed down Townsley. I am shocked I had that in me.
The Aftermath.
My knees ache. They ache as they always ache after a long run though; it's nothing new or concerning. Casey seems to have some pretty bad knee pain and has been icing. I hope the icing helps. We've talked about the schedule and how we can do another cut-back weekend. From my experience and all of the training plans I've looked up to develop what we're following, we are certainly in good shape right now. We've covered 8 miles 3 times. And now we've run 10 very well and both felt strong during it, which is awesome. As long as we run 12 miles two weeks before the race, we are very properly trained!
My Own Personal Results.
I suppose most, if not all, of this entry is from my own personal perspective. But, I have to point something out. The 10 miles ran Saturday is the fastest 10 miles I've ever ran. I checked my Log Your Run entries from last year around the marathon training dates. I was never even close to that pace for my long slow distance runs. Closest is 10:30 for 8 miles. But my 10 miler and everything else over 6 miles was in the 11:00 - 11:45 range. And, as I remember, those runs at that pace were very rough. This 10 miles at 10:17 pace average felt great. That means a few things. One is that all this belly aching I've been doing about my slowness is dumb. I get so caught up with comparing myself to one moment or one person that I miss the big picture and the fact that I am getting stronger. A second thing this means is I'm thinking this is going to be the best half marathon race I've ever had - though I can't really say any of them have been good. All four have had issues: Old shoes = debilitating knee pain, sickness, way too fat to run a half marathon on top of being sick, and horrifically undertrained. That is my half marathon record. So! This is shaping up to be a great experience! And one final thing it means is I know I am benefiting from training with someone. I've always done the majority of my running solo, which is fine. But it lacks a lot also. The part Casey is playing in the training is crucial and invaluable. I'm pushed, motivated, distracted, inspired and strengthened. Thanks, Casey!
It always takes me a while to get warmed up and settled in to a rhythm with my breathing and pace. I coughed and coughed for the first few miles. I was a little nervous that my chest was going to tighten up like it did Tuesday at track, and that 10 wasn't going to be possible again. But I wasn't tired, so as long as I could manage that, I would be fine. I was very much determined to get the 10 in, even if I had to suffer through it. I didn't want to hold Casey back again.
Eventually my coughing subsided and breathing was normal. And our pace was a little over 10. I was pretty shocked at that. I felt great! I still coughed every now and then, and my head would pound a bit. But it was very manageable, and I had so much energy otherwise.
We sucked down our gels around 6 miles. For the last almost 4 miles home, I was pretty much on a high. I felt super-strong and quick and light. The slight hills we went over still made my lungs work hard and I slowed down, but I would recovery pretty quickly.
For the last about .3 miles, we picked up the pace and pushed down Townsley. I am shocked I had that in me.
The Aftermath.
My knees ache. They ache as they always ache after a long run though; it's nothing new or concerning. Casey seems to have some pretty bad knee pain and has been icing. I hope the icing helps. We've talked about the schedule and how we can do another cut-back weekend. From my experience and all of the training plans I've looked up to develop what we're following, we are certainly in good shape right now. We've covered 8 miles 3 times. And now we've run 10 very well and both felt strong during it, which is awesome. As long as we run 12 miles two weeks before the race, we are very properly trained!
My Own Personal Results.
I suppose most, if not all, of this entry is from my own personal perspective. But, I have to point something out. The 10 miles ran Saturday is the fastest 10 miles I've ever ran. I checked my Log Your Run entries from last year around the marathon training dates. I was never even close to that pace for my long slow distance runs. Closest is 10:30 for 8 miles. But my 10 miler and everything else over 6 miles was in the 11:00 - 11:45 range. And, as I remember, those runs at that pace were very rough. This 10 miles at 10:17 pace average felt great. That means a few things. One is that all this belly aching I've been doing about my slowness is dumb. I get so caught up with comparing myself to one moment or one person that I miss the big picture and the fact that I am getting stronger. A second thing this means is I'm thinking this is going to be the best half marathon race I've ever had - though I can't really say any of them have been good. All four have had issues: Old shoes = debilitating knee pain, sickness, way too fat to run a half marathon on top of being sick, and horrifically undertrained. That is my half marathon record. So! This is shaping up to be a great experience! And one final thing it means is I know I am benefiting from training with someone. I've always done the majority of my running solo, which is fine. But it lacks a lot also. The part Casey is playing in the training is crucial and invaluable. I'm pushed, motivated, distracted, inspired and strengthened. Thanks, Casey!
Week in Review: 9/5 - 9/11
Sun 9/5 Disc golf at Harbin.
Mon 9/6 off
Tue 9/7 2 miles easy on the track. Sick and chest got pretty tight.
Wed 9/8 3 miles in 31:00? (10 something pace). Coughing, tight chest.
Thu 9/9 off
Fri 9/10 off
Sat 9/11 10 miles at 10:17 pace and it was awesome!!
running: 15 miles
biking: 0
Monday, September 6, 2010
8 (ish)
This past weekend's long run was not as long as planned. Just another wake up call that the body can sometimes win. I'm pretty sure I must have a very slight cold. And that combined with my allergies perhaps just kicked my butt? Whatever, it's done with now. That good thing is we've ran 8 miles three times which is still great. I am really looking forward to 10 this coming weekend.
I was pretty tight after those 8 and have been doing a lot of stretching today. In general I haven't been stretching enough, and really need to! Hand slapped!
Tomorrow is track night. I'm still not feeling very up for running; I got so tired today doing yard work. But, I will slog through some miles regardless. They just might not be speedy ones.
I was pretty tight after those 8 and have been doing a lot of stretching today. In general I haven't been stretching enough, and really need to! Hand slapped!
Tomorrow is track night. I'm still not feeling very up for running; I got so tired today doing yard work. But, I will slog through some miles regardless. They just might not be speedy ones.
Week in Review: 8/29 - 9/4
Sun 8/29 Disc golf attempted at Harbin. Tourney going on, so just played a little then watched.
Mon 8/29 worked late and wimped out due to soreness.
Tue 8/24 worked late and wimped out again.
Wed 8/25 3 miles in 30:17 (10:06 pace). Tight.
Thu 8/26 4.3 miles in 44:00 (10:20 pace)
Fri 8/27 off
Sat 8/28 8 miles that was supposed to be 10.
running: 15.3 miles
biking: 0
Thursday, September 2, 2010
4 Weeks Done
So. I was updating the half training schedule tab and realized that Casey and I have 4 weeks of training in the bank, are in the midst of the 5th week, and therefor have 7.5 (let's call it nearly 8) more weeks to go. I'm glad I looked at the schedule again. For some reason, I have it in my head that I'm done already – that this right now is as good as I'm going to get for this race. And that I'm just riding out some miles before race day.
Nearly 8 more weeks!
That's a long time! And, as it's been proven in other 8 weeks periods, a lot of good stuff can happen if one works hard. So, I need to run more and this just isn't over yet. I think I've heard that before from my own mouth. Sigh.
Behold... this blog now features –gasp– a picture!
Here is what's on the menu for this weekend's long run:
After seeing Casey's face after the Cran Berry Gu from when we did 8, I thought it would be nice to have a larger selection of nasty gels to let him try something else and find his endurance caloric groove. So I purchased some of my faves (seen above).
I tend to stick with orange or raspberry flavor and avoid things like "vanilla" and "espresso". But! In my new, open-minded gel flavor testing, I thought perhaps espresso is in fact yummy. So I got it. The Montanna Huckelberry has real huckelberries in it! What the hell is a huckelberry besides the name of a boy in a book I was forced to read in Junior High?! Exciting!
I have had Gu Roctane, which has 35 mg of caffeine in it. I'm not so sure the caffeine really does anything for me, but I let it do things for me mentally. 100 calories each, 25g carbs. Maltodextrin is the main sugar. Other ingredients include sea salt and many things that end in -ine.
Hammer Gel was the first gel I had that I didn't upset my stomach. But they all seem to have improved now (or my stomach's gotten more used to it). As it says on the package, it's "Made with Natural Ingredients!" It's so exciting! 100 calories each, 24g carbs. The espresso flavor has 50 mg of caffeine. The main sugar is a long chain maltodextrin. BONUS: hammer shaped package! Clever!
Gu Chomps. YUM! I'd eat these for breakfast! Not really. These are pretty good though, all things considered. Downside is they aren't quick and easy to eat like the gels are. But, this can be nice on long runs. You can open the pack up and start chomping away as the miles go by. Gives you something to do. 180 calories per bag of 8 chomps, 46 carbs. The strawberry one has caffeine, but apparently it's a secret how much because it's not anywhere on the package. The main sugars are Tapioca syrup, cane sugar, maltodextrin, and pectin...followed by an assortment of other stuff.
There. I just wrote a nerdy gel/endurance activity supplement review.
10 miles here we come!!!
Nearly 8 more weeks!
That's a long time! And, as it's been proven in other 8 weeks periods, a lot of good stuff can happen if one works hard. So, I need to run more and this just isn't over yet. I think I've heard that before from my own mouth. Sigh.
Behold... this blog now features –gasp– a picture!
Here is what's on the menu for this weekend's long run:
After seeing Casey's face after the Cran Berry Gu from when we did 8, I thought it would be nice to have a larger selection of nasty gels to let him try something else and find his endurance caloric groove. So I purchased some of my faves (seen above).
I tend to stick with orange or raspberry flavor and avoid things like "vanilla" and "espresso". But! In my new, open-minded gel flavor testing, I thought perhaps espresso is in fact yummy. So I got it. The Montanna Huckelberry has real huckelberries in it! What the hell is a huckelberry besides the name of a boy in a book I was forced to read in Junior High?! Exciting!
I have had Gu Roctane, which has 35 mg of caffeine in it. I'm not so sure the caffeine really does anything for me, but I let it do things for me mentally. 100 calories each, 25g carbs. Maltodextrin is the main sugar. Other ingredients include sea salt and many things that end in -ine.
Hammer Gel was the first gel I had that I didn't upset my stomach. But they all seem to have improved now (or my stomach's gotten more used to it). As it says on the package, it's "Made with Natural Ingredients!" It's so exciting! 100 calories each, 24g carbs. The espresso flavor has 50 mg of caffeine. The main sugar is a long chain maltodextrin. BONUS: hammer shaped package! Clever!
Gu Chomps. YUM! I'd eat these for breakfast! Not really. These are pretty good though, all things considered. Downside is they aren't quick and easy to eat like the gels are. But, this can be nice on long runs. You can open the pack up and start chomping away as the miles go by. Gives you something to do. 180 calories per bag of 8 chomps, 46 carbs. The strawberry one has caffeine, but apparently it's a secret how much because it's not anywhere on the package. The main sugars are Tapioca syrup, cane sugar, maltodextrin, and pectin...followed by an assortment of other stuff.
There. I just wrote a nerdy gel/endurance activity supplement review.
10 miles here we come!!!
Week in Review 8/22 - 8/28
Sun 8/22 Disc golf. I think. Somewhere.
Mon 8/23 group ride, 35 miles easy
Tue 8/24 track: 1 mile warmup, 4 x 800, cool down. 3 miles total running.
Wed 8/25 3.1 miles in 29:18 (9:27 pace)
Thu 8/26 off
Fri 8/27 off
Sat 8/28 3.6 mile trail run! Powder Keg Trail Race
running: 9.7 miles
biking: 2 hours 26 minutes / 35 miles
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