Seattle, WA
My aunt died on Wednesday. Sad, but expected. Anyway, I had to fly Thursday night to Seattle for the funeral. Driving from the airport to my mom's house past downtown and all the nice scenery, I thought to myself "You know, Seattle is a pretty cool city. I don't know why I used to bitch about it so much." That was before I set out for my 9-mile run the morning before the funeral.
Run - 90 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
I have exactly one running route in Seattle, and I'm glad I got to use it as part of this training cycle. Green Lake is a public park where the entire city decides to go every time the sun dares to come out in this city. It's 3 miles around, making for a nice loop if you can park your car in the main lot. Friday morning it was 50 degrees and overcast. So obviously, pakring was ample.
I took my iPod and set out on lap one (I used to do only one lap, sometimes walking when I was younger. I thought it was laborious. So this was a fun perspective). The weather didn't seem too bad. Brisk, but, ya know, not unbearable. But, about 2 miles in, the rain started. And the thing about Seattle vs. Florida is that once the rain starts, it typically doesn't let up until late-May. So despite feeling pretty strong on the run, I was perpetually slowed by the perpetual drizzle.
It got harder and softer as I ran, but it was constant. Several times I found myself just yelling "Fuck this place!" to nooone in particular, and wanted to stop the other morning runners (and dog walkers) at Green Lake and ask them why, exactly, they wre out on a morning like this. Are you ALL training for an Ironman, becasue that's really the only reason I could see. Then I wanted to ask them how the fuck they lived here, with weather like this 10 months out of the year. Yeah, definitely realized why I left and am never moving back.
I stopped after every loop, not because I was tired, but more because I wanted to dry off my iPod. I wasn't even that thirsty, as you lose a lot less fluid running in 50 degree miserableness than in 90 degree sunshine. At one point I turned the iPod around to face my so it didn't get as wet. But it still got a lot of moisture. I took one gel at the 45 minute mark. But god damn, the fucking rain.
Also got to try out the second half of the Ironman Final Training Mix, and learned that some songs I thought would be great for running in fact sucked. And somehow the iPod managed to make it 90 minutes in a Seattle Downpour, but can't last over 2 hours in "dry" condidiions normally. Whatever. Only another month with the thing and I need to wean myself off it anyway.
But most of all, it was cool to breeze throguh 3 laps around Green Lake in 88 minutes (including stops to dry the iPod and drink), a course that once upon a time had one lap looking daunting. I love measuring progress like that. Despite the rain, I felt this was a solid run. But I also forgot how much my knees hurt when I run in the cold. Worse than getting kicked in the balls, seriously. And there's nothing you can do. Yet another reason never to live North of I-10. And yet again how I don't understand how anybody in a cold weather city can train for something like this.
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Monday, October 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
T73 - Conflicting Confidences - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
Again, my decision making process perhaps not the best. I opted to do a Power Hour Wednesday night, which led to another power 35 minutes after a quick beer run, leading to me waking up at 8 a.m with some extremely sore legs (potassium shortage) and massive dehydration. But after taking and extra rest day Wednesday (due mostly to the rain and my not wanting to ride in it) there was no way I could puss out on this workout. So, despite gray skies and impending precipitation, I got on the bike and convinced myself I had to go hard.
Bike - 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
I like that my bike rides now are becoming consistently higher-speed. Like today's ride was a solid pace, making it to nigbridge in 25 and 50 and hitting the end of Hawthorne at 57:50. And it didn't even feel like extra effort. As a matter of fact, on the way back I realized I must have had a slight headwind on the way down as I was tearing up the trail at about 25.5 for the first 10-15 minutes. This ride felt good, but not like I was pushing it al that much, and I still averaged 19, which is a record for a full-trail ride. Made it back in under 2 hours, but the way I see it if I can make it back faster, good for me.
That's under 2 hours of riding time. For some reason at about the 1:30 mark I all of a sudden got really worn out and demotivated and found myself going about 13 up a small incline. So I just stopped, had a gel, and hung out for a minute beofe continuing on. I then proceeded to tear up the rest of the train, going 20 up the final incline. Which is usually a major bitch.
On the bike, I have a definite confidence that on flat ground I can just destroy the course if I want to. I lost it for a minute during this workout. But the race last weekend and my subsequent rides have given me a definite feeling of superiority on the bike, like I can hang with anyone who isn't an elite cyclist (amateur elite, but you know what I mean). But for some reason, this does not hold true on the run.
Run - 1 Hour
I had a Cliff bar when I got back to the apartment because I was just starving, and the 2 gels I had on the bike just weren't cutting it. I had planned to run from Jefferson down to 34th and back, a run I had done with Justin in about 55 minutes a couple months ago. I strided out to just before the stadium before I just started getting slow. I mean, I just started telingmyself "You do not run well, and this run is goingto be a bitch." And a I strided downhill past the Gator Football practice (on a good day I woulda been tempted to yell "Tebow, You're a FRAUD!" I just didn't want to run anymore. I made it to about 20 yards before my 45 minute turnaround and just started walking.
Though I was determined not to abort the run here, I sat for a while at the stop light and stretched out. I walked the same 20 years back then started running again and made it back to Jefferson in about 55 minutes. A sorry run, but a completed run nonetheless.
I'm not sure if I Nuked My Village on the bike and that's why my run sucked, but I think I need to start training to that because I feel like I'm gonna bike hard on the Ironman. I know that's the only place I'll put up an above-average time, so I plan to make the most of it. But I think training with tired legs is probably good. After my previous trail record on Hawthorne, I stopped halfway through my run, so I guess this is an improvement since I was able to continue. But still shitty nonetheless. I just wish I could take some of that bike confidence and apply it to my run. Because some of these runs are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.
One bright spot was me being able to have a great bike ride despite the hangover. Not that I'm planning on drinking that much regularly, but it was good to see that I was able to make my body recover enough to really get in a good workout.
Again, my decision making process perhaps not the best. I opted to do a Power Hour Wednesday night, which led to another power 35 minutes after a quick beer run, leading to me waking up at 8 a.m with some extremely sore legs (potassium shortage) and massive dehydration. But after taking and extra rest day Wednesday (due mostly to the rain and my not wanting to ride in it) there was no way I could puss out on this workout. So, despite gray skies and impending precipitation, I got on the bike and convinced myself I had to go hard.
Bike - 2 Hours
2 Lipodrene
I like that my bike rides now are becoming consistently higher-speed. Like today's ride was a solid pace, making it to nigbridge in 25 and 50 and hitting the end of Hawthorne at 57:50. And it didn't even feel like extra effort. As a matter of fact, on the way back I realized I must have had a slight headwind on the way down as I was tearing up the trail at about 25.5 for the first 10-15 minutes. This ride felt good, but not like I was pushing it al that much, and I still averaged 19, which is a record for a full-trail ride. Made it back in under 2 hours, but the way I see it if I can make it back faster, good for me.
That's under 2 hours of riding time. For some reason at about the 1:30 mark I all of a sudden got really worn out and demotivated and found myself going about 13 up a small incline. So I just stopped, had a gel, and hung out for a minute beofe continuing on. I then proceeded to tear up the rest of the train, going 20 up the final incline. Which is usually a major bitch.
On the bike, I have a definite confidence that on flat ground I can just destroy the course if I want to. I lost it for a minute during this workout. But the race last weekend and my subsequent rides have given me a definite feeling of superiority on the bike, like I can hang with anyone who isn't an elite cyclist (amateur elite, but you know what I mean). But for some reason, this does not hold true on the run.
Run - 1 Hour
I had a Cliff bar when I got back to the apartment because I was just starving, and the 2 gels I had on the bike just weren't cutting it. I had planned to run from Jefferson down to 34th and back, a run I had done with Justin in about 55 minutes a couple months ago. I strided out to just before the stadium before I just started getting slow. I mean, I just started telingmyself "You do not run well, and this run is goingto be a bitch." And a I strided downhill past the Gator Football practice (on a good day I woulda been tempted to yell "Tebow, You're a FRAUD!" I just didn't want to run anymore. I made it to about 20 yards before my 45 minute turnaround and just started walking.
Though I was determined not to abort the run here, I sat for a while at the stop light and stretched out. I walked the same 20 years back then started running again and made it back to Jefferson in about 55 minutes. A sorry run, but a completed run nonetheless.
I'm not sure if I Nuked My Village on the bike and that's why my run sucked, but I think I need to start training to that because I feel like I'm gonna bike hard on the Ironman. I know that's the only place I'll put up an above-average time, so I plan to make the most of it. But I think training with tired legs is probably good. After my previous trail record on Hawthorne, I stopped halfway through my run, so I guess this is an improvement since I was able to continue. But still shitty nonetheless. I just wish I could take some of that bike confidence and apply it to my run. Because some of these runs are starting to become self-fulfilling prophecies.
One bright spot was me being able to have a great bike ride despite the hangover. Not that I'm planning on drinking that much regularly, but it was good to see that I was able to make my body recover enough to really get in a good workout.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
T45 - Glad I Cleaned My Bike - Swim/Bike
Gainesville
This workout was supposed to be a swim/bike brick, preferably in open water. Well, lacking any sort of large, swimmable bodies of water around here the open water part was out. And the pool here at Jefferson is too small to train in, and I don't know of any good rides near GHFC. So, in short, no brick. Though I think in the fall if I have a day with nothing to do and a longer one of these, I may do the 3 hour sdrive down to Ft. DeSoto in St. Petersburg, just for shits and giggles.
Swim - 1000m continuous
2 Lipodrene
I headed out early today to try and leave the afternoon free for drinking or doing whatever since I was taking Saturday as a rest day. Got to the pool, and even without a warmup I was able to swim this strongly. I didn't time myself, which I need to start doing, but I felt like I was pushing through pretty much the whole way. Definitely one of my best continuous swims. I only hope I can keep a pace like this in my first race in August.
Bike - 2 Hours
1 Lipodrene
It was probably 45 minutes between the end of my swim and the time I got on the bike, so I can't really qualify this as a brick. I took a gel before I left, and had 2 more for the ride. I decided to try and use Trevor's suggestion of riding like I was training with him, and was able to keep that pace pretty well, maybe 40 seconds slower to the point we turned around. I got past that about a half a mile, and my computer decides to go out. Basically, the eye on the wheel gets knocked off line, and all of a sudden I have no speed and no clock. And it's hard to push your speed when you don't know what your speed is. So I pull over and attempt to realign it, and just as I do, I feel the rain start coming down.
Nothing is fucking better, I might add, than spending an hour cleaning your bike with cleaners and q-tips, really getting all the sand out of it, and then having the rain just dump on you the NEXT FUCKING DAY. So not only did my computer go out, the rain was coming down and filthying up my pristine bike. And, of course, it was the first time I"d been caught in the rain on the bike all year. Fuck. I finally got the eye lined up again, and kept a good pace down to the end of Hawthorne. Although the rain did slow me down. I made it down averaging 18.9, in just over 57 minutes. And, some little kids on bikes decided they wanted to pass their sister on the trail just as I was hunkering down to the finish, and I had to swerve onto the dirt/mud to avoid them. I would have crashed were this a year ago, but fortunately I was ok.
I went to ride back and the rain hit me again, considerable slowing me down. Then I got to the big hill in the hammock and decided to try out the small ring as Trevor had suggested. The guy has given me a ton of good training advice over the years, but I can safely say I am not a fan of the small ring. I felt like I wasn't using any less energy than in the big ring, and I was going slower. So, basically, same output with a worse result. I may try it again on a day when I don't have a bunch or other aggravations and my attitude is a little better, but I was disappointed to have only made it back in 2:01. 4 minutes longer than it took me to go down, and my final average speed was 18.4. So I lost a lot of speed coming back.
Not all rides will have this many aggravations, and hopefully I can continue to build on the speed from earlier in the week.
This workout was supposed to be a swim/bike brick, preferably in open water. Well, lacking any sort of large, swimmable bodies of water around here the open water part was out. And the pool here at Jefferson is too small to train in, and I don't know of any good rides near GHFC. So, in short, no brick. Though I think in the fall if I have a day with nothing to do and a longer one of these, I may do the 3 hour sdrive down to Ft. DeSoto in St. Petersburg, just for shits and giggles.
Swim - 1000m continuous
2 Lipodrene
I headed out early today to try and leave the afternoon free for drinking or doing whatever since I was taking Saturday as a rest day. Got to the pool, and even without a warmup I was able to swim this strongly. I didn't time myself, which I need to start doing, but I felt like I was pushing through pretty much the whole way. Definitely one of my best continuous swims. I only hope I can keep a pace like this in my first race in August.
Bike - 2 Hours
1 Lipodrene
It was probably 45 minutes between the end of my swim and the time I got on the bike, so I can't really qualify this as a brick. I took a gel before I left, and had 2 more for the ride. I decided to try and use Trevor's suggestion of riding like I was training with him, and was able to keep that pace pretty well, maybe 40 seconds slower to the point we turned around. I got past that about a half a mile, and my computer decides to go out. Basically, the eye on the wheel gets knocked off line, and all of a sudden I have no speed and no clock. And it's hard to push your speed when you don't know what your speed is. So I pull over and attempt to realign it, and just as I do, I feel the rain start coming down.
Nothing is fucking better, I might add, than spending an hour cleaning your bike with cleaners and q-tips, really getting all the sand out of it, and then having the rain just dump on you the NEXT FUCKING DAY. So not only did my computer go out, the rain was coming down and filthying up my pristine bike. And, of course, it was the first time I"d been caught in the rain on the bike all year. Fuck. I finally got the eye lined up again, and kept a good pace down to the end of Hawthorne. Although the rain did slow me down. I made it down averaging 18.9, in just over 57 minutes. And, some little kids on bikes decided they wanted to pass their sister on the trail just as I was hunkering down to the finish, and I had to swerve onto the dirt/mud to avoid them. I would have crashed were this a year ago, but fortunately I was ok.
I went to ride back and the rain hit me again, considerable slowing me down. Then I got to the big hill in the hammock and decided to try out the small ring as Trevor had suggested. The guy has given me a ton of good training advice over the years, but I can safely say I am not a fan of the small ring. I felt like I wasn't using any less energy than in the big ring, and I was going slower. So, basically, same output with a worse result. I may try it again on a day when I don't have a bunch or other aggravations and my attitude is a little better, but I was disappointed to have only made it back in 2:01. 4 minutes longer than it took me to go down, and my final average speed was 18.4. So I lost a lot of speed coming back.
Not all rides will have this many aggravations, and hopefully I can continue to build on the speed from earlier in the week.
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