Miami
Bike - 90 Minutes
3 Sudafed
2 Lipodrene
I made a deal with myself on Thursday that if I slept in and didn't do my 90 minute ride, I"d have to do it Sunday in Miami. And when I woke up after 10 hours of sleep, feeling congested and miserable Sunday morning, I seriously considered reneging on that deal. But I had nothing better to do and was in no hurry to get back to Gainesville, and after Friday's sub-par showing onthe Rickenbacker I needed to remind myself I still had it.
Well, it's amazing what a difference good sleep makes. Even after my 4 Hour training day Friday and the Half Marathon Sunday, when I got on the bike Sunday around noon I just felt better. Yeah, my legs were a little sore, but I felt like I could push it today. Maybe it was the sorter distance, or maybe it was the Sudafed (yeah, I gotta think that had SOMETHING to do with it) but once I hit the road out of Bill Baggs state park, I just felt strong.
I kept up a solid 20-21 through the Village of Key Biscayne, where you constantly have to be watching for cars coming out of luxury condos and stupid Miami drivers turning without signaling. I've crashed into one once last summer, it wasn't fun. And then I hit Crandon park and maintained over 20, and even kept up 19-20 when I hit the wind on the road out to Jimbo's. Heading back from Jimbo's I was going about 24 the whole time, and I used the tailwind to help me maintain that until I got to Mount Miami. Made it up that going about 14 and did about 32 on the way down, maintaining over 30 almost to the turnaround.
I figured the way back would not be so good as I had the headwind blowing in from the Atlantic, but it was fine. I still maintained about 20 up into Crandon Park (except for the bridge, of course) and ended up getting back to my car at `1:03. Or about 16 minutes faster than the day before. This was definitely the ride I had been looking for on the Rickenbacker.
To fill out the workout I biked to the end of Crandon Park and back, and despite the inherent slowdowns in Bill Baggs park ended up averaging 19.2 for the ride, going nearly 30 miles in 1:33. Definitely left me with some confidence, especially becasue my second trip through Crandon I didn't drop below 21 the whole time. The average on this ride gets fucked because of all the stopping and slowing and lights in the Village and for all the Sunday riders on the Key. Though one of the most scenic rides in America, it's also the only real bike course in a city of 2.2 millino people. On a hot Sunday, you do the math.
And it was hot, but I didn't even feel it. I biked with my shirt off, which was awesome. Made the ride feel like a day at the beach, and is something I'm starting to wish I'd done more this cycle. Oh well. Still a great ride to close out legit training.
Yep, this was it. This was my last real training day before the race. There's some keeping loose and warmed up stuff this week, but this closes the book on Ironman training. This is as ready as I'm gonna be. And today's ride was an excellent confidence builder going in. The next week will be minimal training hours, but I'm going to talk a lot about various race prep stuff too. Heading to PCB on Wednesday. This is it. One week form now, it'll all be over. And that, really, is much scarier to me than the race itself.
Showing posts with label heat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heat. Show all posts
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
T86 - Long Effort, then Some Rest - Run
Gainesville
No, I have not been neglecting the training blog. I just have a lot of extra days in my training schedule before the Ironman, and given my recent run of shitty workouts and my right forearm still missing some skin, I thought this would be a good time to use a bunch of them. Also didn't hurt I had the opportunity to go to the UM-Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg, which is a 10 hour drive from here. And I wasn't about to do my longest run ever on some strange course in the middle of nowhere where it was cold and they had hills. So I opted to do my long run Thursday before I left, and save the long bike for the day after Yom Kippur.
Run - 3 Hours
2 Lipodrene
1 Salt Tab
I know at some point I'm going to have to do a long run without the iPod, but today was not to be that day. I even made a new playlist called "Final Ironman Training Mix" that basically combines all the songs I don't skip on my other playlists. At any rate, I ran the campus loop in just over an hour. It was hot, but it was nice to see that even though I was feeling a little sub-par, the heat is still a source of energy, rather than kicking my ass as it had early on in training. First loop, went well, although I chopped steps up the hill. I still felt strong through most of it. I wasn't bounding, but again I realized this was going to be at least 18 miles, so I needed to pace myself.
Then I started the first of 3 and a half down-and-backs to the stadium. Some might think this gets a bit monotonous, but I vastly prefer it to being far away from an aid station, and it breaks the run up nicely. The first one I flew, getting it done in about 28 minutes. This was a faster pace than I was running on the loop, which I found encouraging. Although there are also no hills, which may have played a part. I got back to the Saturn aid station the second time, took another salt tab and another Lipodrene, downed some Gatorade and hit round 2.
My stomach was starting to hurt from all the gels and sugar in the sports drinks, but it went away within about a mile of each lap. I also think this is something I'm going to have to get used to, as I feel like a 12-hour day whose dies consists of only Cliff Bars, Gels, Powerade and Water may lead to some stomach discomfort. At any rate, lap 2 went a little slower, but I still felt like I could run more. I was taking my gels every 45 minutes, and wasn't lacking for energy.
Took my 3rd salt tab here. By round 3, my legs were starting to tire. I realized that this was a much shorter run than the Ironman run (I would have been at about the halfway point here) and I hadn't even biked. But I also realized that the race will be a different mental condition too. I still felt as if I could run, and really only got tired when I stopped. By iPod froze just before round 3 too, which I didn't even notice. Like I got pissed when it froze (2 hours seems to be all it can do without fucking up) but the last 5 miles went by fine without it. This was also encouraging, since I can't use it in the race.
At the end, my legs were tired, I was tired, but I wasn't flat out done. Partly because I started the run at 4, so by the time I hit about 2 hours the sun was going down and it had cooled off (also not unlike race day) but also because I paced myself. By my calculations I did about 18 miles in 3 hours, which is the pace I want to run. God knows if I'll do that race day (doubtful) but I was happy with the effort on this run. I didn't exactly crush it, but it didn't crush me either. I wasn't exactly up for more at the end, but I didn't collapse in a heap either.
After this run, I took 4 days off. I'm sitting here Monday and I feel basically 100%. So the 5.5 hour bike ride tomorrow should be a good test. The arm is healed up for the most part, and I'm ready to go for a solid final month.
No, I have not been neglecting the training blog. I just have a lot of extra days in my training schedule before the Ironman, and given my recent run of shitty workouts and my right forearm still missing some skin, I thought this would be a good time to use a bunch of them. Also didn't hurt I had the opportunity to go to the UM-Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg, which is a 10 hour drive from here. And I wasn't about to do my longest run ever on some strange course in the middle of nowhere where it was cold and they had hills. So I opted to do my long run Thursday before I left, and save the long bike for the day after Yom Kippur.
Run - 3 Hours
2 Lipodrene
1 Salt Tab
I know at some point I'm going to have to do a long run without the iPod, but today was not to be that day. I even made a new playlist called "Final Ironman Training Mix" that basically combines all the songs I don't skip on my other playlists. At any rate, I ran the campus loop in just over an hour. It was hot, but it was nice to see that even though I was feeling a little sub-par, the heat is still a source of energy, rather than kicking my ass as it had early on in training. First loop, went well, although I chopped steps up the hill. I still felt strong through most of it. I wasn't bounding, but again I realized this was going to be at least 18 miles, so I needed to pace myself.
Then I started the first of 3 and a half down-and-backs to the stadium. Some might think this gets a bit monotonous, but I vastly prefer it to being far away from an aid station, and it breaks the run up nicely. The first one I flew, getting it done in about 28 minutes. This was a faster pace than I was running on the loop, which I found encouraging. Although there are also no hills, which may have played a part. I got back to the Saturn aid station the second time, took another salt tab and another Lipodrene, downed some Gatorade and hit round 2.
My stomach was starting to hurt from all the gels and sugar in the sports drinks, but it went away within about a mile of each lap. I also think this is something I'm going to have to get used to, as I feel like a 12-hour day whose dies consists of only Cliff Bars, Gels, Powerade and Water may lead to some stomach discomfort. At any rate, lap 2 went a little slower, but I still felt like I could run more. I was taking my gels every 45 minutes, and wasn't lacking for energy.
Took my 3rd salt tab here. By round 3, my legs were starting to tire. I realized that this was a much shorter run than the Ironman run (I would have been at about the halfway point here) and I hadn't even biked. But I also realized that the race will be a different mental condition too. I still felt as if I could run, and really only got tired when I stopped. By iPod froze just before round 3 too, which I didn't even notice. Like I got pissed when it froze (2 hours seems to be all it can do without fucking up) but the last 5 miles went by fine without it. This was also encouraging, since I can't use it in the race.
At the end, my legs were tired, I was tired, but I wasn't flat out done. Partly because I started the run at 4, so by the time I hit about 2 hours the sun was going down and it had cooled off (also not unlike race day) but also because I paced myself. By my calculations I did about 18 miles in 3 hours, which is the pace I want to run. God knows if I'll do that race day (doubtful) but I was happy with the effort on this run. I didn't exactly crush it, but it didn't crush me either. I wasn't exactly up for more at the end, but I didn't collapse in a heap either.
After this run, I took 4 days off. I'm sitting here Monday and I feel basically 100%. So the 5.5 hour bike ride tomorrow should be a good test. The arm is healed up for the most part, and I'm ready to go for a solid final month.
Monday, August 24, 2009
T65 - The Unrelenting Hills Of Kona - Bike
Kona
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
There used to be this Gatorade commercial with this guy who passed out 500 yards from the finish line at Kona, and they showed that to demonstrate how proper hydration can prevent such things. It featured venerable College Football commentator Keith Jackson saying that “the unrelenting hills of Kona” were too much for this world-class athlete, who later went on to win some other Ironman in Idaho because he drank Gatorade. But as I biked about 70 miles of the Kona course, Keith Jackson’s voice kept running through my head, telling me about the “unrelenting hills of Kona.’ Keith Jackson does not lie.
Bike – 4 Hours
2 Lipodrene, 3 Advil
I would have liked to have gone 2 hours down the Ironman course, and then ridden back. This way I could see over half the course, and get a good feel for the race. Sort of. But the thing about the unrelenting hills of Kona is that the miles upon miles of lave fields are not exactly conducive to any commerce. As in there’s no place to buy water between the Kona airport and a resort 25 miles away. Which was a solid few miles off the course anyway. Point being, I decided it would be wiser to bike up about 19 miles, go back 15 to a coffee shop on the side of the road, refill, and head back out onto the course leaving enough time to get back in 4 hours. Again, I had no computer, so I had to just be on the bike 4 hours, essentially meaning I probably only got in about 3:45. Whatever, it’s Kona.
I left from the old airport park where I’d run 2 days ago, where I parked the rental jeep and headed out to the course. It was 6:45 a.m., and the road was considerably less crowded. And since I knew the course, I felt a lot better on this ride. I’m not sure how fast I was going, and couldn’t really pay too much attention to it since I was just focusing on the beautiful ocean view and the lava fields. I imagined how this race must be, especially hitting the airport hill with a fierce headwind at mile 104. Seriously, that would suck.
But as I did the ride, I realized that Kona, while unrelenting, is not as impossible as the Gatorade commercial made it look. I managed to get the only sun of my Kona trip on this ride, meaning that not only were the hills unrelenting, but so was the wind and the heat. I got to the top of several hills and tried to freewheel and couldn’t because the wind was pushing so hard. But it didn’t feel deadly. Maybe I was going on Kona adrenaline, maybe I just wasn’t going hard enough, or maybe I just am a better cyclist than people who had told me how awful the course was. But any way you cut it, the ride felt strangely good. I even let this Irish guy draft behind me for a while (he asked), maybe the island mentality was rubbing off. And when I stopped for water these people from Colorado asked me if I was training for the Ironman. “In Florida,” I told them. “We’ll see how that goes then maybe I’ll come back.”
At the 2 hour mark I took another Lipodrene and 3 more Advil, and had 3 gels (every 45) and a Cliff Bar at the 2:15 mark. The last hour I started to fade, as HPD had put up one of those “Here is your speed” signs on the highway, and I was going a solid 16 down a hill. I was getting insanely thirsty by then as the lone water break wasn’t enough for the lava-field, sun and hill combination. The thirst probably slowed me down. My back felt ok, and my legs got sore. But I’m sure the Advil minimized those effects. The views on this ride were amazing, and I even stopped a couple of times for a few seconds just to take them in. once you get out of town, the ride really is pretty amazing.
But the ride made me realize that I can have another goal after November. If this one doesn’t kill me, I want to do Kona. I would have to train in Kona, though, staying at my uncle’s house and basically doing nothing but preparing. But it’s a dream that I could probably make happen. And being on this course made me realize Kona is no more impossible to me now than an Ironman in Florida was to me 2 years ago. Kona 2011? Definitely a possibility.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
T57 - Body Buzz - Run/Bike Brick
Gainesville
Well, you knew it was gonna happen eventually: The Hangover workout. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to stay out until 4, going hard the whole time up to and including chugging White Zin out of a plastic bag. And in addition to several drunk texts to various people, I somehow managed to text Justin "Hey, I'm pretty fucked up and going to bed now. So if you wanna go later than 10:30, that's cool." He was hapy to hear it, and showed up around noon for the workout. I drank a ton of water and Gatorade, and did my Advil/Sudafed/Lipodrene stack with breakfast, so I actualyl felt pretty good heading out to run.
Run - 60 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
2 Sudafed
I like running with Justin, because while he runs faster than I do, he keeps his pace with me as one I can keep too. I'm not sure if this is the case, or I"m just getting to be a better runner. Justin had to be at work at 4, so we opted to cut the run a little short. We didn't do the whole campus loop, instead running down University to 2nd past the Law school. This is usually my 45 minute run, but when we got to my usual turnaround, we had only been out 20 minutes. So the pace he kept it at was defintely a faster clip. As he said "I bet I save you a solid 2 minutes on the Ironman." If I keep up this pace, it'll be a lot more than that.
And the hill was tough going back up 2nd, but I didn't chop my steps at all so I could keep up. The heat wasn't feeling nearly as brutal as it has in the past, although the weather said it was just as hot. (Except that day it was 104). All in all the run went very well, and we got back in under an hour to do a quick bike transition.
Bike - 2 Hours
Took a gel and drank a bunch of Gatorade while we transitioned at the apartment. Again, because Justin had to be at work at 4, my dream of a shady, car-free Hawthorne ride was shot because he had to drop his shit off at Campus Lodge on the ride. Basically, we ended up riding Williston to 34th, then back to our old friend 441. After being off the bike since Monday, I felt great pedaling down. So great, in fact, I let Justin pull the whole way down to Micanopy, which made for a very pleasant ride. But I started feeling a little light-headed about 5 minutes into the ride.
First I though dehydration, but that wasn't it. Then I thought maybe it was my being a little sick, but I had no other symptoms. Then I started feeling a burn in my quads as we went up a hill, but oddly the burn felt good. The only time my body ever feels like this is when I'm on massive amounts of stimulants, or ecstasy. Serisouly, like every sensation just feels awesome. The wind on the bike course felt awesome. Any time my leg brushed the bike frame, it felt awesome. And let me tell you, biking with a body buzz is pretty fucking cool. We turned it around at Cafe Risque and here I took the lead.
Now my computer is broken, but as Trevor has told me you know your body and how certain speeds feel, and with my quads having orgasms every time I pushed them harder (kinda like those girls who get off on being smacked around, but slightly less fun)I'm pretty sure I was doing a solid 23-25 a good part of the way back. Really, it was incredible. Just pushing yourself faster every hill and every straightaway, and feeling great while you did it. It didn't hurt I got a good 50-minute warmup drafting behind Justin, and had enough energy to just go balls out for the ride back. I also might have had a little ephedrine in my system, I know. Justin kept up with me, which I have to say was a little surprising. I've dropped him on bikes before when I've pushed it, but he was right there behind me all the way back to 34th. He did tell me, though, when we turned "I don't think I've ever worked that hard drafting before." I felt a little bad, but I'm not gonna lie, I kinda smiled.
The slowdown actually kidna killed the body buzz, as I think I wasn't flooding my brain with adrenaline as I had been for the previous hour and a half. Still made it back from Micanopy in about 8 minutes less than it took me to get down. The whole ride ended up being slightly under 2 hours because of it, but whatever. If you're out there less time because you hauled ass back, you deserve it. Dare I say, this ride was up there with that hour I keep up with Trevor as my best ride of the cycle. And it came after an hour of running in the sun. Hungover.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting there.
Well, you knew it was gonna happen eventually: The Hangover workout. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to stay out until 4, going hard the whole time up to and including chugging White Zin out of a plastic bag. And in addition to several drunk texts to various people, I somehow managed to text Justin "Hey, I'm pretty fucked up and going to bed now. So if you wanna go later than 10:30, that's cool." He was hapy to hear it, and showed up around noon for the workout. I drank a ton of water and Gatorade, and did my Advil/Sudafed/Lipodrene stack with breakfast, so I actualyl felt pretty good heading out to run.
Run - 60 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
2 Sudafed
I like running with Justin, because while he runs faster than I do, he keeps his pace with me as one I can keep too. I'm not sure if this is the case, or I"m just getting to be a better runner. Justin had to be at work at 4, so we opted to cut the run a little short. We didn't do the whole campus loop, instead running down University to 2nd past the Law school. This is usually my 45 minute run, but when we got to my usual turnaround, we had only been out 20 minutes. So the pace he kept it at was defintely a faster clip. As he said "I bet I save you a solid 2 minutes on the Ironman." If I keep up this pace, it'll be a lot more than that.
And the hill was tough going back up 2nd, but I didn't chop my steps at all so I could keep up. The heat wasn't feeling nearly as brutal as it has in the past, although the weather said it was just as hot. (Except that day it was 104). All in all the run went very well, and we got back in under an hour to do a quick bike transition.
Bike - 2 Hours
Took a gel and drank a bunch of Gatorade while we transitioned at the apartment. Again, because Justin had to be at work at 4, my dream of a shady, car-free Hawthorne ride was shot because he had to drop his shit off at Campus Lodge on the ride. Basically, we ended up riding Williston to 34th, then back to our old friend 441. After being off the bike since Monday, I felt great pedaling down. So great, in fact, I let Justin pull the whole way down to Micanopy, which made for a very pleasant ride. But I started feeling a little light-headed about 5 minutes into the ride.
First I though dehydration, but that wasn't it. Then I thought maybe it was my being a little sick, but I had no other symptoms. Then I started feeling a burn in my quads as we went up a hill, but oddly the burn felt good. The only time my body ever feels like this is when I'm on massive amounts of stimulants, or ecstasy. Serisouly, like every sensation just feels awesome. The wind on the bike course felt awesome. Any time my leg brushed the bike frame, it felt awesome. And let me tell you, biking with a body buzz is pretty fucking cool. We turned it around at Cafe Risque and here I took the lead.
Now my computer is broken, but as Trevor has told me you know your body and how certain speeds feel, and with my quads having orgasms every time I pushed them harder (kinda like those girls who get off on being smacked around, but slightly less fun)I'm pretty sure I was doing a solid 23-25 a good part of the way back. Really, it was incredible. Just pushing yourself faster every hill and every straightaway, and feeling great while you did it. It didn't hurt I got a good 50-minute warmup drafting behind Justin, and had enough energy to just go balls out for the ride back. I also might have had a little ephedrine in my system, I know. Justin kept up with me, which I have to say was a little surprising. I've dropped him on bikes before when I've pushed it, but he was right there behind me all the way back to 34th. He did tell me, though, when we turned "I don't think I've ever worked that hard drafting before." I felt a little bad, but I'm not gonna lie, I kinda smiled.
The slowdown actually kidna killed the body buzz, as I think I wasn't flooding my brain with adrenaline as I had been for the previous hour and a half. Still made it back from Micanopy in about 8 minutes less than it took me to get down. The whole ride ended up being slightly under 2 hours because of it, but whatever. If you're out there less time because you hauled ass back, you deserve it. Dare I say, this ride was up there with that hour I keep up with Trevor as my best ride of the cycle. And it came after an hour of running in the sun. Hungover.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting there.
T56 - Knee? What knee? - Run, Swim
Gainesville
I took an extra rest day because as I was getting into bed the other night I felt my knee kinda give out again. And it wasn't from sex or anything cool like that, just me getting into bed and feeling my knee give out. Kinda like how I initially fucked it up scuba diving. Anyhoo, I took the day off, and it still felt like every step I took might blow it out. Not really hurting, but like something just wasn't right. But I have an Ironman to do, so I did what any illogical athlete does and took a bunch of Advil so the pain signals my body was using to tell me something was wrong would be intercepted. Took 3, and 2 Sudafed, and 2 Lipodrene and hit the campus loop.
Run - 75 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
I had intended not to use the iPod today, but right before the run I was IMing an old student of mine about Lipodrene, and how great it makes you feel sometimes, and as I did it I decided I wanted to have a blow-up kinda run, so I brought the music. Whatever, I wasn't kicking myself for it. I was also a little tired because I had to wake up for graduation at like 7:30, take Trevor to the airport, sit through the graduation, which was mostly standing, actually, then eat and come back. HIt the loop about 3 and it was nice and hot.
But again, this was one of those runs where the heat felt energizing, not draining.I kept my stride really well until I got to the big hill on 2nd. I chopped my steps a lot going up it, but hey, it was really fucking hot. As I got to the top of the hill, I noticed the afternoon graduation letting out and the accompanying traffic clusterfuck leaving the O'Connell Center. I won't lie, the thought of hundreds of 22-year-old girls driving by when I ran got me to pick up the pace.
All in all it was a solid run that left me more tired than I thought. Sweat kept getting in my eyes to the point I had to stop running to wipe my face on my shorts. Don't envision it. But I don't run with a shirt on so that was my only option. And I REALLY don't wanna start wearing headbands. The only people who wear those are pro athletes and middle aged guys playing pickup basketball at the Health Club. Fuck that. Anyway, it was encouraging to have a longer run in heat where I kept stride almost the whole time. I am definitely much improved. And my knee? Well it was feeling fine the whole time. And really didn't bother me the rest of the day.But it still feels weird occasionally when I walk.
Swim: main: 1900 ladder (300, 275, 250…etc)
2 Lipodrene
I took a few hours off to do some work and hit the pool about 7:30. I skipped the warmup today too. This ladder was realyl easy for whatever reason. My guess is the 4 Lipodrene and massive amounts of Sudafed, but I like to think i've just become that awesome of a swimmer. I definitely used my right side the way it's supposed to be used, and I can really feel a difference. It didn't get as sore as it sis last time, but I also felt a lot stronger pull. So hopefully this will be a big breakthrough for the swim.
I took an extra rest day because as I was getting into bed the other night I felt my knee kinda give out again. And it wasn't from sex or anything cool like that, just me getting into bed and feeling my knee give out. Kinda like how I initially fucked it up scuba diving. Anyhoo, I took the day off, and it still felt like every step I took might blow it out. Not really hurting, but like something just wasn't right. But I have an Ironman to do, so I did what any illogical athlete does and took a bunch of Advil so the pain signals my body was using to tell me something was wrong would be intercepted. Took 3, and 2 Sudafed, and 2 Lipodrene and hit the campus loop.
Run - 75 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
I had intended not to use the iPod today, but right before the run I was IMing an old student of mine about Lipodrene, and how great it makes you feel sometimes, and as I did it I decided I wanted to have a blow-up kinda run, so I brought the music. Whatever, I wasn't kicking myself for it. I was also a little tired because I had to wake up for graduation at like 7:30, take Trevor to the airport, sit through the graduation, which was mostly standing, actually, then eat and come back. HIt the loop about 3 and it was nice and hot.
But again, this was one of those runs where the heat felt energizing, not draining.I kept my stride really well until I got to the big hill on 2nd. I chopped my steps a lot going up it, but hey, it was really fucking hot. As I got to the top of the hill, I noticed the afternoon graduation letting out and the accompanying traffic clusterfuck leaving the O'Connell Center. I won't lie, the thought of hundreds of 22-year-old girls driving by when I ran got me to pick up the pace.
All in all it was a solid run that left me more tired than I thought. Sweat kept getting in my eyes to the point I had to stop running to wipe my face on my shorts. Don't envision it. But I don't run with a shirt on so that was my only option. And I REALLY don't wanna start wearing headbands. The only people who wear those are pro athletes and middle aged guys playing pickup basketball at the Health Club. Fuck that. Anyway, it was encouraging to have a longer run in heat where I kept stride almost the whole time. I am definitely much improved. And my knee? Well it was feeling fine the whole time. And really didn't bother me the rest of the day.But it still feels weird occasionally when I walk.
Swim: main: 1900 ladder (300, 275, 250…etc)
2 Lipodrene
I took a few hours off to do some work and hit the pool about 7:30. I skipped the warmup today too. This ladder was realyl easy for whatever reason. My guess is the 4 Lipodrene and massive amounts of Sudafed, but I like to think i've just become that awesome of a swimmer. I definitely used my right side the way it's supposed to be used, and I can really feel a difference. It didn't get as sore as it sis last time, but I also felt a lot stronger pull. So hopefully this will be a big breakthrough for the swim.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
T49 - The Escape From Campus Lodge - Run/Bike/Swim Brick
Gainesville
Today's workout called for what amounted to a reverse Olympic Distance triathlon. And thinking the only way to get these transitions in quick was to base the workout out of somewhere that had a 25-yard pool and a good bike course, I figured I'd see if my friend Justin (who live at Campus Lodge, which has both) wanted to train with me. Justin is one of my former students who I'd actually trained with prior to that who did last year's Florida Ironman. He's a good person to train with because he's a tall, lean fucker who runs a lot better than me. But I bike better than him. So we can push each other to a point. He was not too thrilled to be starting at 9 a.m., but I knew doing the run any later would be even more miserable than it already was. Because this was in essence an reverse Olympic Distance Triathlon, I thought I'd give it a cute name. And given every city seems to like to have a race that involves an "Escape," hence the title of today's "race."
Run - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
The run wasn't too bad, going from Campus Lodge on Williston out the back way up to the Planet Smoothie on 34th where he works then up Old Archer Road a couple of miles. No shade to speak of really, but because it was pre-10 a.m., it wasn't too punishing. I ran with Justin about 3/4 of the way to turn around before he got out in front, and the heat was definitely slowing me down a bit. We stopped at the Planet Smoothie on the way back and grabbed a quick Powerade out of the soda machine, as I took the opportunity to use the bathroom and have a gel.
The run was tough, but it didn't feel too labored. I was happy about that, but the sun definitely started kicking my ass. Started getting a real bad headache toward the end, and was wishing I'd brought along some Advil. It's hard to stay hydrated on a run like that since there's not exactly aid stations handing you water. I felt strong about the run, but the mild dehydration would not help my bike.
Bike - 90 Minutes
My car, where my bike was, was by this time in the middle of a blistering hot parking lot. So I got no relief from the sun. Changed over while Justin got his bike out of his apartment, and we headed out towards 441 to bike to Micanopy. 441 was the site of many a terrible ride last cycle, which I blamed on a lot of things. The one thing I forgot to blame those terrible rides on was wind. Hawthorne really doesn't have much wind to speak of this time of year. Not the case on 441. Not only that, but it has this washboard shit on the left side of the shoulder to keep cars from drifting into you. Nice for life-saving, I suppose, not so fun when you're in aero and don't see it and end up riding over a series of inch-deep slits in the road.
Anyway, I hit one of said washboards, and what do you know but my fucking computer goes out again. And, really ,with wind and heat, I was like "Fuck. this." The thing came in and out throughout the rest of the ride, but was more or less useless. I had to depend on Justin to tell me when we got to 45 minutes to turn around. The way down, because I had no way of knowing how far I had to go or when I'd be done, was highly unpleasant. Top that off with not a hint of shade and a continually-warming sun, and the first 45 was straight up shitty save for a little Aero race we had going through the "streets" of Micanopy. Justin stated asking me why I would pull harder than he would, but then when it was my turn to draft I would fall back. I had no idea, other than "I'm just getting lazy." Which is not a solid answer.
We turned it around (I had a gel here as well.) and it was like a whole new ride. I think mentally knowing how far I had to go made a huge difference, and the ice water from the Micanopy Country store didn't hurt either (I do need to remember to bring cash on all street rides, though). My speedometer came on intermittently and it was usually between 20-23. So that felt good. But man, the heat was just unrelenting. The air felt like steam the whole ride, and at one point when we hit Alligator Alley, Justin even remarked that it had all of a sudden just gotten much worse. Really, one of the hottest training days I can ever remember
I'm not sure if I'll ride 441 much more after this, I'm really not a fan. Especially with all the fucking cars. But even with the improved speed we got back in the same time it took us to get down there. Which makes me wonder. I think that included our water stop, though, so who knows. Point is, I'm taking the bike in tomorrow before I leave for Miami to get this computer unfucked once and for all. I can't have another ride get ruined by that.
Swim - 30 Minutes
Justin had warned me this swim was gonna suck. And suck it did for about the first 11 laps, but then I got into a groove and my shoulders weren't sore and I just kind of glided along, True, it was harder to push it having just been brutalized by the sun for 2 and a half hours, but when we did a time check at 25 laps it was only 25:44. So I did 4 more laps and got in 1450 in 30 minutes, which is certainly a solid improvement. The swim was even hot, though, as the water would get warmed evey time the sun peeked thourgh the clouds. That outdoor swimming was fun in Sac, not so fun here. But the swim wasn't bad, and while this wasn't my BEST workout, given the heat and the technical glitches, I't wasn't my worst.
I have to say, though, I've been disappointed with my workouts this week. I had hoped to really crush this reverse tri, and instead just had a workout I'd call "not bad." I think last week and even into Monday I got a little too into the old lifestyle of just drinking whenever and then training when I was sober, and that's just not gonna fly for this. I really need to realize that more than a couple of drink endeavors have to be few and far between now. Ice Luge this weekend being one of them, but still.
I also got a late-night text from a lady friend last night who came over at 1. We were done with things by 2, giving me a solid 6 hours of sleep, but I still have to wonder if the sex made me lose my edge a little bit. She was still in my room when I got home, and I was able to go again. I'm not sure if that means I didn't train hard enough, or I just really don't mind cramping muscles and exhaustion when it comes to sex. Probably, a little of both.
Today's workout called for what amounted to a reverse Olympic Distance triathlon. And thinking the only way to get these transitions in quick was to base the workout out of somewhere that had a 25-yard pool and a good bike course, I figured I'd see if my friend Justin (who live at Campus Lodge, which has both) wanted to train with me. Justin is one of my former students who I'd actually trained with prior to that who did last year's Florida Ironman. He's a good person to train with because he's a tall, lean fucker who runs a lot better than me. But I bike better than him. So we can push each other to a point. He was not too thrilled to be starting at 9 a.m., but I knew doing the run any later would be even more miserable than it already was. Because this was in essence an reverse Olympic Distance Triathlon, I thought I'd give it a cute name. And given every city seems to like to have a race that involves an "Escape," hence the title of today's "race."
Run - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
The run wasn't too bad, going from Campus Lodge on Williston out the back way up to the Planet Smoothie on 34th where he works then up Old Archer Road a couple of miles. No shade to speak of really, but because it was pre-10 a.m., it wasn't too punishing. I ran with Justin about 3/4 of the way to turn around before he got out in front, and the heat was definitely slowing me down a bit. We stopped at the Planet Smoothie on the way back and grabbed a quick Powerade out of the soda machine, as I took the opportunity to use the bathroom and have a gel.
The run was tough, but it didn't feel too labored. I was happy about that, but the sun definitely started kicking my ass. Started getting a real bad headache toward the end, and was wishing I'd brought along some Advil. It's hard to stay hydrated on a run like that since there's not exactly aid stations handing you water. I felt strong about the run, but the mild dehydration would not help my bike.
Bike - 90 Minutes
My car, where my bike was, was by this time in the middle of a blistering hot parking lot. So I got no relief from the sun. Changed over while Justin got his bike out of his apartment, and we headed out towards 441 to bike to Micanopy. 441 was the site of many a terrible ride last cycle, which I blamed on a lot of things. The one thing I forgot to blame those terrible rides on was wind. Hawthorne really doesn't have much wind to speak of this time of year. Not the case on 441. Not only that, but it has this washboard shit on the left side of the shoulder to keep cars from drifting into you. Nice for life-saving, I suppose, not so fun when you're in aero and don't see it and end up riding over a series of inch-deep slits in the road.
Anyway, I hit one of said washboards, and what do you know but my fucking computer goes out again. And, really ,with wind and heat, I was like "Fuck. this." The thing came in and out throughout the rest of the ride, but was more or less useless. I had to depend on Justin to tell me when we got to 45 minutes to turn around. The way down, because I had no way of knowing how far I had to go or when I'd be done, was highly unpleasant. Top that off with not a hint of shade and a continually-warming sun, and the first 45 was straight up shitty save for a little Aero race we had going through the "streets" of Micanopy. Justin stated asking me why I would pull harder than he would, but then when it was my turn to draft I would fall back. I had no idea, other than "I'm just getting lazy." Which is not a solid answer.
We turned it around (I had a gel here as well.) and it was like a whole new ride. I think mentally knowing how far I had to go made a huge difference, and the ice water from the Micanopy Country store didn't hurt either (I do need to remember to bring cash on all street rides, though). My speedometer came on intermittently and it was usually between 20-23. So that felt good. But man, the heat was just unrelenting. The air felt like steam the whole ride, and at one point when we hit Alligator Alley, Justin even remarked that it had all of a sudden just gotten much worse. Really, one of the hottest training days I can ever remember
I'm not sure if I'll ride 441 much more after this, I'm really not a fan. Especially with all the fucking cars. But even with the improved speed we got back in the same time it took us to get down there. Which makes me wonder. I think that included our water stop, though, so who knows. Point is, I'm taking the bike in tomorrow before I leave for Miami to get this computer unfucked once and for all. I can't have another ride get ruined by that.
Swim - 30 Minutes
Justin had warned me this swim was gonna suck. And suck it did for about the first 11 laps, but then I got into a groove and my shoulders weren't sore and I just kind of glided along, True, it was harder to push it having just been brutalized by the sun for 2 and a half hours, but when we did a time check at 25 laps it was only 25:44. So I did 4 more laps and got in 1450 in 30 minutes, which is certainly a solid improvement. The swim was even hot, though, as the water would get warmed evey time the sun peeked thourgh the clouds. That outdoor swimming was fun in Sac, not so fun here. But the swim wasn't bad, and while this wasn't my BEST workout, given the heat and the technical glitches, I't wasn't my worst.
I have to say, though, I've been disappointed with my workouts this week. I had hoped to really crush this reverse tri, and instead just had a workout I'd call "not bad." I think last week and even into Monday I got a little too into the old lifestyle of just drinking whenever and then training when I was sober, and that's just not gonna fly for this. I really need to realize that more than a couple of drink endeavors have to be few and far between now. Ice Luge this weekend being one of them, but still.
I also got a late-night text from a lady friend last night who came over at 1. We were done with things by 2, giving me a solid 6 hours of sleep, but I still have to wonder if the sex made me lose my edge a little bit. She was still in my room when I got home, and I was able to go again. I'm not sure if that means I didn't train hard enough, or I just really don't mind cramping muscles and exhaustion when it comes to sex. Probably, a little of both.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
T46 - Percocet is Fun - Run
Gainesville
Today is he one year anniversary of my bike crash at the Pirates Cove Triathlon in Tampa, an accident that gave me a massive black eye, fractured my cheekbone, and caused me to lose a good deal of memory of about a week of my life due to a mild concussion. But it was also the incident that turned my grad school experience around, for a lot of reasons. Kinda like when Jimmy Thompson got hit with a baseball during a little league game in 6th grade and he went from nerd to stoner/player, such was my grad school black eye experience. No idea why, but black eyes are powerful things I guess. At any rate, I had a Percocet prescription left from the accident, that I often use when my knee is hurting on long runs. And I've never had a bad run on it. And today was no different.
I was a bit concerned that the run might not go so well, since I drank for 10 hours yesterday between the Ed Hardy Pool Party and the Figure 8 Bus Races in Bronson. Then stayed up until 5 a.m. at the pool at Jefferson (great story, but sadly not training-related). But I figured I had a relatively short run today, so I should be ok.
Run - 90 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
1 Percocet (Last one, and not an easy refill)
I did a 10 minute warmup on the elliptical at the gym today, something I'm thinking I may start doing before every long run that isn't part of a brick. The weather was perfectly warm around 4:45 today as I set out with my brand new "Summer Run 2009 Playlist" on the iPod, consisting of a bunch of Trance from my new 4-CD set and 5 songs from Silversun Pickups. Basically, all my songs from this summer. Motivation was high, and the heat didn't bother me much at all, save for on the back stretch of 34th St, where there was no shade for about a mile. There are some days where the sun just beats you down, and others where it gives you energy. Today was an energy day, and it felt great. The prescription painkillers, probably part of why. All the fun of warm weather without the dehydration headache or overheating.
My knee felt fine for the most part, and again my motivation was high. Coming off that last, awful run and then 5 days of rest, my legs felt great and the last half hour I may have run harder than I did the first hour. The cloud cover may have contributed to this, and, as I said, the Percocet. Where can I find more of that shit to train with, seriously? Probably my second best run of the cycle so far. Anyway, getting into swim-intensive week on Monday. Base 2 begins. So far, so good.
Today is he one year anniversary of my bike crash at the Pirates Cove Triathlon in Tampa, an accident that gave me a massive black eye, fractured my cheekbone, and caused me to lose a good deal of memory of about a week of my life due to a mild concussion. But it was also the incident that turned my grad school experience around, for a lot of reasons. Kinda like when Jimmy Thompson got hit with a baseball during a little league game in 6th grade and he went from nerd to stoner/player, such was my grad school black eye experience. No idea why, but black eyes are powerful things I guess. At any rate, I had a Percocet prescription left from the accident, that I often use when my knee is hurting on long runs. And I've never had a bad run on it. And today was no different.
I was a bit concerned that the run might not go so well, since I drank for 10 hours yesterday between the Ed Hardy Pool Party and the Figure 8 Bus Races in Bronson. Then stayed up until 5 a.m. at the pool at Jefferson (great story, but sadly not training-related). But I figured I had a relatively short run today, so I should be ok.
Run - 90 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
1 Percocet (Last one, and not an easy refill)
I did a 10 minute warmup on the elliptical at the gym today, something I'm thinking I may start doing before every long run that isn't part of a brick. The weather was perfectly warm around 4:45 today as I set out with my brand new "Summer Run 2009 Playlist" on the iPod, consisting of a bunch of Trance from my new 4-CD set and 5 songs from Silversun Pickups. Basically, all my songs from this summer. Motivation was high, and the heat didn't bother me much at all, save for on the back stretch of 34th St, where there was no shade for about a mile. There are some days where the sun just beats you down, and others where it gives you energy. Today was an energy day, and it felt great. The prescription painkillers, probably part of why. All the fun of warm weather without the dehydration headache or overheating.
My knee felt fine for the most part, and again my motivation was high. Coming off that last, awful run and then 5 days of rest, my legs felt great and the last half hour I may have run harder than I did the first hour. The cloud cover may have contributed to this, and, as I said, the Percocet. Where can I find more of that shit to train with, seriously? Probably my second best run of the cycle so far. Anyway, getting into swim-intensive week on Monday. Base 2 begins. So far, so good.
Monday, June 22, 2009
T18 - Recovery, My Ass! - Swim/Run Brick
Gainesville
So today was supposed to be the first day of "Recovery" week, where you do easier workouts to let your body recover a little before heading into the next phase of training. This last month had been the "prep" phase, meaning it was just sort of a month-long warmup. So you see this thing isn't gonna be easy. Anyway, as I look at the cars I see they literally took the exact same card from week 20 and used it here. NO matter, training is training.
Swim: 1x1500
2 Lipodrene
I didn't even bother with a warmup today. I had to make a phone call for my final project at 6, and like an idiot didn't remember this until I showed up at the gym at 3:30. So I just went in and started, skipping the 800 meter warmup. I noticed this as my stroke didn't really get going until about lat 13 or 14, where of course I lost count. The second half of the swim went well, but I definitely need to warm up for stuff like this. I think scheduling things too close to my workouts hampers them, because all I can think about it getting done. The lesson learned today was leave an hour of buffer time minimum.
Run: 45 minutes, easy pace
I opted to do the run from GHFC up NW 8th Ave. to the top of the hill at about 22nd Street. Well, not only was it insanely hot today (I saw one thermometer that said 104), but I realized that run has a stretch of about a mile and a half with no shade. So as such I felt great until I got to that, then just fucking wilted and hobbled my way back. I stopped midway, not even going up the hill, and had a gel. Then turned back around. As it was the run still took me 50 minutes, funny since it had take n45 WITH the hill on T1. SO, I guess running in 104 degree heat kinda makes your runs harder. I'm not going to stop running in the heat, and on short runs like this I'm not overly concerned about them not being that good, and using them to get used to heat. The longer ones, I may do at night or at least use cloud cover.
But seriously, THIS is recovery? Running 4.5 miles in heat and swimming almost a mile? Good. Good to know what I'm in for. Headed to Miami tomorrow, though I'll workout here first. Hopefully things will go better for me there this time around in terms of training.
So today was supposed to be the first day of "Recovery" week, where you do easier workouts to let your body recover a little before heading into the next phase of training. This last month had been the "prep" phase, meaning it was just sort of a month-long warmup. So you see this thing isn't gonna be easy. Anyway, as I look at the cars I see they literally took the exact same card from week 20 and used it here. NO matter, training is training.
Swim: 1x1500
2 Lipodrene
I didn't even bother with a warmup today. I had to make a phone call for my final project at 6, and like an idiot didn't remember this until I showed up at the gym at 3:30. So I just went in and started, skipping the 800 meter warmup. I noticed this as my stroke didn't really get going until about lat 13 or 14, where of course I lost count. The second half of the swim went well, but I definitely need to warm up for stuff like this. I think scheduling things too close to my workouts hampers them, because all I can think about it getting done. The lesson learned today was leave an hour of buffer time minimum.
Run: 45 minutes, easy pace
I opted to do the run from GHFC up NW 8th Ave. to the top of the hill at about 22nd Street. Well, not only was it insanely hot today (I saw one thermometer that said 104), but I realized that run has a stretch of about a mile and a half with no shade. So as such I felt great until I got to that, then just fucking wilted and hobbled my way back. I stopped midway, not even going up the hill, and had a gel. Then turned back around. As it was the run still took me 50 minutes, funny since it had take n45 WITH the hill on T1. SO, I guess running in 104 degree heat kinda makes your runs harder. I'm not going to stop running in the heat, and on short runs like this I'm not overly concerned about them not being that good, and using them to get used to heat. The longer ones, I may do at night or at least use cloud cover.
But seriously, THIS is recovery? Running 4.5 miles in heat and swimming almost a mile? Good. Good to know what I'm in for. Headed to Miami tomorrow, though I'll workout here first. Hopefully things will go better for me there this time around in terms of training.
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