Week 42 Wrap-up (with some more "athletic character building" thrown in)

Week 42 was a little crazy--it was a step-back week following the longest-mileage week of my marathon training program, and yet, because of the Thanksgiving holiday thrown in the middle, it seemed almost more difficult to hit the miles than the week before. Darn those holidays for messing things up...plus darn all that yummy turkey and stuffing to make me feel sluggish!! (Of course, I'd do it all the same way again if given the option...but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to getting on the scale at the WW meeting tomorrow...)

This was the first week that I really felt winter had hit as well--ran in the snow with Erin and Michele on Wednesday morning, then dealt with a very blustery wind on Thursday, a damp and cold wind on Friday, and a fun 13-miler in the drizzle/rain on Sunday--guess that's the whole "athletic character building" experience Michele and Kerry were giving me grief about. I made it through all of the experiences--probably just as good for me mentally as they were physically. I did notice, though, that I really need to watch my pacing when I'm by myself--Thursday, Friday, and Sunday were all faster than what I was originally intending. My heartrate was more or less in control, but I think the weather had an effect on my brain and how quickly it was telling me I should be done.

I also think it was good for my family that I hit both my runs while at my parents'--if nothing else, hopefully the fact that I drug my butt out of bed and into the cold weather on a holiday should have indicated to them that I'm serious about this whole thing. I think my mom in particular is starting to embrace the whole IM thing--she cut a photo of one of the Iowa participants at IM Hawaii out of the Des Moines paper and had it waiting for me when I got there. It has to be a little weird for them to see me doing all of this stuff now--especially after 30+ years of sitting on my butt--but I'm grateful for their support.

One other big milestone this week--I think I've officially worn out a pair of running shoes. My trusty green Asics Nimbus VII's seem to have pooped out on me--the last 13-miler hurt my feet and ankles more than normal (probably didn't help that it was in the rain), so I added up the mileage on my shoes (at least since September when I started keeping track). Since Labor Day, I'm at 174 miles for those shoes...but that doesn't include all of my tri training from last summer, and, considering I've had those shoes since April and didn't start rotating with another pair until late August, my guess is I'm well over 300 miles in them. That fact, added to the lovely stench they now have, prompted me to order another pair...same style and obnoxious color, but hopefully they'll have a little more cushion. Pretty wild...that's the first pair of shoes I've worn out in my life, I think.

Summary for the week...

Run: 5:39:06 / 36.82 miles
All other stuff: Nada

Goals for this week: Cross-training, pacing, and surviving my first 20-miler...

41 weeks to go...as always, BRING IT ON!!!!

Athletic Character Building (aka Running in Crappy Weather)

Winter, it would seem, is attempting to show its ugly little head...at the very least, it's feeling a whole lot more like late fall in the Midwest. A couple of weeks ago, Michele, Kerry (Michele's neighbor) and I were out doing our 17-mile training run in a pretty brutal wind (20-30 mph gusts), and we started discussing the "benefits" of training in the wind and other inclement weather. Michele used the phrase "athletic character building"--those experiences which one can call upon on other occasions when things aren't going so well to remind one that things aren't so bad. I don't have many of those experiences yet--at least I didn't until a few weeks ago when the weather started feeling more like mid- to late-November.

Aside from the 17-miler in the brutal wind (loved the last 5 miles into a headwind--that built up a LOT of character for me), I've now also run in the snow (Wednesday morning with Erin and Michele) and in a very blustery wind (20's and windy Thanksgiving morning--probably a ~10 degree wind chill). I survived them all and even discovered that running in the snow is quite peaceful and beautiful (the temp was good and, aside from constantly blinking to keep the snow out of my eyes, it was really pretty cool)--we took the normal route through the forest preserve and saw most of the trees covered in snow in the early morning. The run in the blustery wind was not as fun--my face was frozen and chapped by the time I got back to my parents' house, but after several applications of moisturizer, a long hot shower, and a couple of cups of coffee, I was back to normal.

I did another run Friday in a fairly decent headwind for about half the run--it was even a pace run, and I ran about 20 s/mile faster than I was intending--not sure if I was just trying to get back to where it was warmer or if I'm just that conditioned...have a feeling it's a combination of the two. Regardless, seems like that "athletic character building" is coming along nicely...hopefully it'll help me deal with the "wall" at Disney and with the whole mental strength training piece of Ironman training. In the meantime, I'll just do my best to suck it up, stay warm, and not complain about the weather too much...

Happy winter, all...

The Quest for the Perfect Bike (for me, at least)

On Tuesday evening, I had a bike fitting at a local bike shop. I decided to bite the bullet and pay for the fitting/measurements/etc. to help me narrow down the seemingly infinite options for my shiny new tri bike--plus the bike shop will take the cost of the fitting off the price of the bike, assuming I buy from them (which is very likely at this point). It was an interesting experience--I was measured/fit for both a 76 and 78-degree frame geometry, which are both WAY more comfortable than my current Giant road bike (which, as it turns out, is apparently two sizes too big for me anyway). Chris (the tri bike guy at the shop) did the fitting--he's very knowledgeable without being condescending, which I very much appreciate. At times, I felt a bit like I was at the eye doctor's with the whole "do you like it better like this or like this" thing, but by the time he was done, I was pedaling almost effortlessly and was very comfortable in the aero position (love the 78-degree position). Of course, it was only on the fit bike at the shop, but I have to think that comfort will translate reasonably well into being on the road on a properly fit bike.

After all the measurements were done, Chris sat down with me, pulled a bunch of different manufacturers' catalogs, and started talking about what bikes would be a good fit (at least from a numerical standpoint). Turns out the really cool-looking Orbea they have in their window is actually not a good fit (a bit of a relief, given the price tag of it), but I have some solid options in my price range to consider. I think I have it narrowed down to the QR Caliente (good components and race wheels with the standard set-up, plus it's fun to say) and the Litespeed Tachyon, but with a more custom component set-up than the standard kit. Either way, I can probably use my Giant wheels as training wheels, which means I can splurge a bit on some race wheels. I'm leaning toward the Litespeed (and titanium)--but I'm withholding my final decision for a month or two. Regardless, it seems as though the bike thing is becoming more real...now I just have to be patient, I guess...

Week 43 Wrap-up (almost at the end of week 42...oops...)

Week 43 was a tough one--the longest mileage of the marathon training program I've been following. Man, did I feel it on Monday, but I survived and can definitely tell the training is paying off. I did my longest run to date last Sunday--18 miles--with the exception of feeling sluggish in general (some contributing factors were my fault; others were Mother Nature's) and the fact that I was ready to scream for the last two miles (my stomach wasn't too happy at the time), it wasn't too bad. Admittedly, I'm very glad I was running with other people (Michele, Kerry, and Jeremy)--I know I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard as we seemed to push each other (or rather, as hard as they pushed each other and pulled me along for the ride).

I also had the somewhat mind-numbing experience of doing a 8-miler on a treadmill--I had to cover up the time, mileage, etc. with a magazine or I would've driven myself insane looking at the stats and watching the time literally crawl by. I did concede and listen to my iPod--definitely would've had a meltdown if I didn't have my favorite piece of technology to soothe my bored little nerves... The masochistic IT band foam roller stretch seems to be helping--pain free for several weeks--and all other things are feeling great (albeit a tad tired).

On Saturday I had the somewhat unnerving experience of wetsuit shopping--I took a trek up to Mission Bay Multisport in Elgin to survey the options and figure out what I wanted (my parents are giving me a wetsuit for Christmas and my birthday--very cool). I had thought I would end up with an Orca--I borrowed Erin's Orca Predator 2 sleeveless wetsuit for a couple of things this year and it seemed to work OK, so I figured I'd start there and see what happened. However, after talking with the guy at the store, he suggested I give the Ironman Instinct suit a try--he thought the chest and neck would be less constricting, which they were. I tried it on and it felt awesome (well, as awesome as a dry wetsuit can feel, I guess)--the arms felt great, good shoulder movement, and I could breathe without wanting to rip the neck apart--all in all, a nice change from what I was expecting. So, that's what I'm going with...one more major equipment decision made.

Here's the roll-up for the week...

Run: 7:04:49 / 44.36 miles
Bike: Goose Egg
Swim: 0:35:00 / 1400 meters
Strength: 0:30:00 (all core still)

Week 44 Wrap-Up (just a bit late)

Week 44 was a wake-up call for me in terms of the amount of time this whole training thing requires. I had two 8-milers during the work week...pretty rough to fit those in before morning meetings, but I did it. It's going to take some serious planning, though, to fit in my mid-week IM stuff--at least I'll have daylight on my side for the majority of the build and peak phases--that'll allow me to get workouts in after work as well. It's also been a rough couple of weeks at work, but I'm finding that the breaks from reality that I get while running have actually helped me calm down--always a good thing.

This weekend, I went to the Bike Shop in Glen Ellyn and started doing some serious bike shopping--talked with a very helpful guy and looked at some awesome 2006 models...all out of my price range, but definitely eye candy. I scheduled some time with Chris to do a bike fitting session--that's next Tuesday--I'm hoping that will simplify both the shopping and fitting process down the road.

When I got back from the shop, I watched IM Hawaii on TV...got chills from the opening credits and found myself crying at the end where Jon Blase made it across the finish line in spite of his having ALS. If he can do it, I can...and I'm going to. It was pretty cool to watch--not that I'll ever get to Kona to race, but still--pretty amazing.

Sunday, I did my 17-miler with Michele and her neighbor Kerry--turns out Michele had warned Kerry about my lack of pacing ability (as determined by the two pace runs I've done with Michele), so they both helped me pace better by kindly letting me know when I was going too fast. The run wasn't bad--actually a very pretty route through the Lake County Forest Preserves--but the fricking wind was brutal. There were apparently 20-30 mph winds, and it seemed as though we hit the worst of them coming back. The last 5 miles were basically into a headwind the whole way without a lot of tree cover to help break the wind--pretty rough, but probably good training for other uncontrollable circumstances. Sue, Michele, and I celebrated (or just recovered) afterward with really yummy pizza, good beer, and Edy's Slow-Churned Ice Cream (aka my WW nemesis but worth every damn point--plus I lost weight this week regardless, so giddyup). Good day...and I think I may be able to admit that I'm becoming a bit of a runner...

So far this week has been OK--had a great swim Monday night where things just felt good and then fought the elements again this morning for an 8-miler outside with Jeremy--again, very windy and pretty cold...but at least it hadn't started snowing yet at that point (although it sure was tonight). Should be interesting to fit longer runs in amidst crappy weather--may end up doing 8 miles on the treadmill Friday (definitely will do 5 on it tomorrow), but I'll have to suck it up and do my 18-miler outside Sunday. Ah, the joys of marathon training in Chicagoland in the late fall...

But back to Week 44...here's the summary:

Run: 6:35:30 / 41.37 miles
Bike: 0:35:00 (all on trainer, and I still don't have my computer on my back wheel yet...)
Swim: Big fat zero...opted to forgo swimming until my cold cleared up, which, thankfully, it has
Strength: 0:30:00 (all core)

Week 43 is the longest training week thus far...but so far so good. My goals are to hit my mileage and figure out this whole cold-weather training thing...may have to procure some additional winter clothing and accessories, but I'll get it figured out. Also, I'm hoping to do some wetsuit shopping this weekend to complete my Christmas list--should be an interesting experience to try those on. As always, every day's a new adventure, so bring it on!!

On goals and growing up

My friend Theresa showed me an essay today that her 12-year old daughter wrote on her goals. She wrote of her 5-, 10-, and 20-year goals--what she hoped to accomplish and why. Turns out that she wants to be an engineer (which cracked me up because, from the stories Theresa has told me, she loves math and thinks like an engineer--even at 12) and wants to go to Purdue (her parents' alma mater)--I'm thinking I'll start getting some red and gold Iowa State stuff sent her way and see what I can do to change her mind. Regardless, I hope her hopes and dreams come true (even if they change over time, which I'm sure they will)...

It was a statement in her paragraph on her 20-year goals that got me thinking, though...she wrote that in 20 years she'll be 32. A true statement, most definitely, but as I'm almost 32, it got me thinking about my goals in life and if I'm where I thought I would be when I was 12. I think that answer is not even close...if memory serves, I wanted to be a judge when I was 12 (thanks to Sandra Day O'Connor)...a far cry from the food engineer-type person that I am today. Beyond occupation, though, I don't think I could've pegged where I am today even 2 years ago, let alone 20.

I've never really had personal goals or dreams--seems kind of weird, but where my friends had thoughts of being married and raising children, I'd always substitute a professional goal instead. I think that's the biggest thing that's changed in my life through my WW journey--now I have personal goals, which in turn has led to a much better balance in my life. Admittedly, my personal goals probably don't seem as lofty as getting married or starting a family to most people, but to me, they're darn near everything. I'm losing weight to make my life better, and I'm doing both the marathon and IM to prove to myself that I'm a new person. Once I get through those, I'll work on the next round of goals...but I think those are big enough for now. Who knows--maybe I'll follow Emily's lead and write an essay of my own goals and dreams at some point...then again, I'm finding that life is a whole lot more intriguing if I just tackle each challenge and new adventure as it comes.

From a training standpoint, this week has gone well so far--it's the most aggressive week of my marathon training program so far, but I'm more than halfway through the whole program. I'm also still fighting a little cold, which is just more annoying than anything at this point. I'm finding that 8-mile runs are pretty brutal to squeeze in before work, especially when I have meetings first thing in the morning--for a non-morning person, getting up early enough to get my runs in has been a challenge. I'm meeting Michele at the fitness center at 5:45 tomorrow morning--we both have commitments rather early, but that darn 8-mile pace run is beckoning. We ran the 7-mile pace run last Friday together, too--other than the fact that I paced us too fast and that she kicked my butt on the sprint at the end, it seems like we're fairly well matched for training runs...we'll see if that holds true again tomorrow. Then, it's a 17-miler on Sunday...that will be 2 miles longer than I've ever run before. Every day's a new adventure...

Smells like team spirit...or maybe it's just the garlic...

Last night, Sue, Michele, and Erin came over for dinner and some IM planning (Jeremy had friends in town and couldn't join us). We decided a while ago that it would probably be best for us to sit down as a group and talk through training strategies, race schedules, weekend training options, etc., before we got too far along in our planning, so that's what we attempted to do.

We ended up chatting about darn near everything--stories from our past (collectively, we agreed the 80's can go away), current projects, a little bit about work, triathlons, marathon training, cooking, bodily functions--pretty much anything was fair game. It was kind of funny, though--we would start talking about IM, get distracted and change topics, come back to IM, change topics again, and so on...to the point where we didn't actually get around to talking specifics until about 9:30 or so (and they came over around 6:00). Nonetheless, it was a great excuse to get together and hang out--all three are incredible people and I very much enjoy spending time with them...which is definitely a good thing since it looks like we'll be spending a LOT of time together in the upcoming year.

Sue came prepared with copies of the program she and Michele followed for their 2004 training, so we used that as a starting point for our discussion. It's basically an IM program with a marathon training program dropped on top of it--my guess is we'll end up (or I'll end up, at least) backing off on the run mileage a bit, but I need to dig into it a little more to figure that out for sure. For the most part, it's in line with other programs I've seen and seems to be doable provided I can a) get enough sleep and b) get out of work on time.

We discussed the pros/cons of doing the long bike and long run back-to-back on the weekends...I think we're collectively leaning toward splitting them apart (as recommended in Going Long, too) and doing the long run mid-week with the long bike on the weekend. We also kicked around how many and what type of swim workouts to include--the program has 3 swim workouts/week, and we discussed using one of those for drills, one for intervals, and one for endurance--preferably in open water as much as possible. Erin brought up a good point, though...if a workout needs to be sacrificed during the week, one of the swim workouts seems the most likely as it is far and away the shortest component of the race (and given the fact that none of us are racing to qualify for Kona, we should be OK with that). Michele brought up her desire to do a speed session in each discipline each week--similar to the weekly pace runs we have in our marathon programs. Makes sense, and should be achievable provided we can find a good area to do mid-week rides without a lot of stop lights, etc.

We also started talking about race schedules and weekend stuff--I'm planning on four pre-IM tris at this point--one sprint (probably in Logansport, the site of my first tri ever), one international distance (in my hometown in Iowa), and two 1/2 IM's (Muncie and Steelhead). I've also got a 1/2 marathon in Indy in May and might sprinkle a few other road races in if they make sense in the training schedule. As for weekends, we talked primarily about weekends from May through August--I knew it would be a busy summer, but man did reality set it when we started laying stuff out. Between trips to WI to bike the course, centuries, and races, I think it's a good thing I just bought new tires for my car...I'm gonna need 'em for the miles.

We're going to try to get up to the IM course in late May to bike one loop--not because we think we'll be ready to tackle it yet, but because Erin and I both want to ride it to know what we're up against (and to keep our motivation centered on the end goal). We're also going to target a one loop ride (plus the out and back from Madison) in mid-June, then tackle the whole course (both loops plus the out and back) once in July and once in August before winding down with a two-loop ride in late August without the out and back portion. In between WI trips, there are several century rides to pick from...plus I'm hoping to train with Vardo on at least a couple of weekends as well. I need to find a spot to work on hill repeats...something tells me my quads will be screaming a lot this summer, but if I can get some hills in, I should be in better shape to tackle the course.

While we all still have some homework to do to get our plans pulled together, I'm glad we met and talked through some things (plus it was a very enjoyable way to spend a rainy Saturday night). I'm also very glad that I have people to train with as I'm quite certain I'm not strong enough to get through this on my own (at least not mentally). It's daunting--no doubt about it--but we'll all get through it. So, more to come...but I'm on my way!!

Weeks 46 and 45 Wrap Up

The past two weeks have flown by--lots of stuff going on at work, playing catch-up at home (now that I'm actually home for a relatively extended period of time), etc. I'm glad this past week was a step-back week--gave me at least a little breather in the midst of everything else going on. From a training standpoint, I've tried to get at least one cross-training session in each week--so far, so good. Turns out Halloween night is a great time to get a lane to oneself at the local pool--there were only three of us doing laps Monday night, which was fine with me. Today, I had a somewhat momentous realization...11 miles was actually easy today in light of all of the training I've done so far. Never thought I'd see the day when I thought that was a piece of cake, but it was...and I even have a cold and made it with no issues. Just another little discovery along my journey...

In general (cold notwithstanding), I'm feeling great--still flying high from my 1/2 marathon last weekend. Ray (one of the fitness center trainers) showed me a way to work my IT band using a foam roller, and it's been great all week. The stretch itself, frankly, hurts like hell, but apparently it's supposed to--when Ray showed me how to do it, he made me promise not to hit him...so I should've figured out it wasn't for those with low thresholds of pain like me. But, if it works, who cares about the pain...

Here's the tally for the past two weeks...

Week 46:
Run: 5:51:16/37.24 miles
Bike: 0:30:00 (trainer--still haven't put a computer on my back wheel yet)
Swim: 0:40:00/1400 m
Strength: 0:25:00 (all core)

Week 45:
Run: 4:56:59/31.61 miles
Bike: 0:25:00 (stationary bike Monday morning--just loosened up my legs a bit)
Swim: 1:03:00/2550 m
Strength: 0:15:00 (core)

Goals for the upcoming week 44:

1. Kick this cold and get back to breathing normally sans DayQuil
2. Get some more time on the bike
3. Figure out which wetsuit to buy (time to go shopping at Mission Bay...)
4. Keep working on my pacing and either keep consistent pace or slightly reverse splits on the runs
5. Survive the 17-miler this weekend