Day's 26 and 27 - A new 5k PR!

I went to swim on Saturday and the pool was closed for 7 hours for a swim meet - gotta hate that - only workout I missed this week.

Ended up doing a 10k run instead - we had snow and 20 degree temperatures on Saturday so I ran with my trail shoes and tried to avoid ice patches.  Surprisingly I was able to run an 8:50 pace for the whole run while watching the ground.  Breathing was difficult and the snow glare was a new challenge but I felt good.

Yesterday I ran the 5k race at a Caumsett State Park - set a new PR with my first ever sub-24 minute time ... came in at 23:14 and I think the trick was I never once looked at my watch to check HR or pace - each mile had a clock so I ran to race and I think in the future this will be my tactic for any run race 10k or less.  I started in the 8min corral and hit the first mile marker at 7:10 (gun time) very fast for me but I felt good and kept going.  The course was freezing cold (16 degrees or so) and rolling hills ... I found that I was moving up the pack and by mile 2 (14:28) I was with real runners and keeping pace.  I never did "fade" but I had no kick to increase pace and in the last 1/2 mile got passed by 10-12 people ... finished 78th overall out of 646 (1100 registered the cold kept alot home I guess), 7th in my age group out of 35.  

To reward myself I went to the gym and worked on my obliques and did some lunges, shrugs and leg presses. (Actually this was a planned workout and it was a bit more in depth)

3 x 30 Crunches with 20# weight
Pull ups with or without machine
- I suck at pull ups and will need to find an assist machine in my gym because I can't do anywhere near what my coach is looking for ...

21/15/9 Lunges: Walking/Reverse/Forward
I did the first 2 sets with 25# and then switched to 30# for the last set - only did 4 in the last set then did the remaining 5 with no weight

21/15/9 Dead Lift into Shoulder Shrugs
Did the first set with 50#, second set with 75# last set with 90# ... will start at 75# next time I do this workout

21/15/9 Leg Press: Seated or Vertical
Did first set at 150#, second at 240#, third at 330# - don't want to do much more than that when I have a big run day scheduled like I do today - this combined with the lunges and my glutes are sore before I even set out the door.

3 x 30 Medicine ball leg drops or twists
I did one set instead of 3 - felt uncomfortable in my right hip and I am not about to injure myself.

Had a nice pasta dinner - that my wife actually prepared by the time I got home from the gym - did a nice carb load before today's big run.  19 miles on tap for today - it is icy, cold and more snow/freezing rain is supposed to start at around noon.  I am going to gear up and plan to be out of the house in 30 minutes - the plan is slow and safe watching my feet.  Refuel at mile 10 (Mom's house) and stay strong until the finish.  Changed the breakfast routine up this morning and hoping for no GI issues.    

Day's 23 and 24 ... Staying motivated when it's 10 degrees out

Yesterday:

Swam first:  warmed up with 100 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Free and 100 Back

Did a drill set of 6 x 50 with the drill out on 25 and 25 free back ...

Did finger drag, arm switch w/3 count and then ^ kicks/1 pull (ctach up freestyle).

Switched to pull buoy and gloves and did 6 x 75 of breathing sets - first lap breathe every 3 strokes, 2nd lap every 5, third every 7 ... lungs scream during this set.

Wind down with 75 breast stroke, 75 back stroke, 50 butterfly ...

After the pool was home for an hour and 20 minutes on the bike - high cadence spin - just get the HR and sweat rolling.

Today was a new gym set followed by another torturous interval training on the treadmill.

Coach had me do this at the gym ... was smarter about weight this week and got burns on the final sets:

3 x 20 Cable Chops: High and Low  

21/15/9 Push Press  

21/15/9  Bench Press: Incline/Decline/Wide Grip  

21/15/9 Calf Raise

3 x 25 Vertical Knee Raise 

21/15/9 Hack Squats 

I suck at Vertical knee raises - chalk this up to my weak abdominals that are made out of surgical mesh - hope to improve.

Then back to the torture of Interval training ... 42 minutes and I was a puddle.  Definitely got a serious work out and I hope I am helping build my speed potential.

 Rest day tomorrow - the last 2 days have been good and I am glad they are over :-)

Day 21 - 17 1/2 miles in 32 degrees ...

So today it was cold - and at times it was windy ...

My plan was to leave the house by 10am and be back by 1pm ... since plans never go 100% the way I want I did not get going until 10:40.  The weather said it was 34 degrees and would be getting colder, it also said winds were gusting 12-14mph and the windchill would make it feel like 26 degrees.

I geared up with my 4 bottles on the fuel belt, 3 waters and one eFuel.  I also took two efuel gels and one Gu gel with caffeine.  It was cold but I did not face a headwind until I hit the third mile.  It was also shortly after mile 3 that I started feeling some abdominal discomfort.  Typically I just fart away but my body didn't feel right.  Yesterday I ran a 5k and then gorged myself at a family party - italian food and pastries ... I was so full I had no dinner.  Really smart the night before a big run; though I never claimed to e all that smart to begin with.  So today my breakfast of fiber one cereal and my protein shake was rattling my body back into shape and my body was starting to revolt at mile 3.  When I hit mile 5 I was about to lose it - I had to pitstop into a McDonalds and take care of business.

After stripping down and getting back geared up I was off again - I figured I would be good but nope - the rumbles started again.  I took an efuel gel and realize I dropped the other one - followed it up with 10 ounces of water and I started thinking in my head - where can I stop - how far before I crap myself - can I make it all the way to mile 10 and destroy my mom's house or do I need to bail on this run at mile 8 (I knew if I stopped at home I was finished) ... I tightened the cheeks and ran on.

I rang the bell at Mom's and basically barreled past her grumbling "bathroom" ... I know she was trying to talk at me but I was all geared up and I couldn't hear her over the music.  I again stripped down - did my business - drank another 8 ounces of water - refilled my bottles.  Thanked Mom and had 8 more miles to go.  Leaving Mom's the wind was stronger and I was immediately chilled to the bone.  I told myself I would run 3 miles before looking at my watch again ... and so I did and not surprisingly these were my speediest of the day.  I find I look at my watch three or so times a mile - looking at my pace and HR - it is annoying but I don't want to burn out come marathon day.

At mile 14 I was in Bay Park and a lot of people were working on their Sandy ravaged homes.  Martin Luthor King day and people were off from work - somewhat depressing running down here.  I was cruising down Kirgin Court and I heard my name called.  A buddy from high school was working on his house that had 4 feet of water in it during the storm surge.  Stopped got a tour of the house and caught up - hopefully he and I will do some mud runs next year - Spartan's or the Tough Mudder ... getting going again was cold and my body was not happy to be running again.  Still never felt bad - hydration was good and I finished up at home at 17.5 miles.

Splits:
1 - 9:08
2 - 9:03
3 - 9:16
4 - 9:05
5 - 9:15
(stopped 4 1/2 minutes at McDonalds)
6 - 8:47
7 - 8:56
8 - 9:14
9 - 9:04
10 - 9:07
(stopped 7 minutes at Mom's)
11 - 7:53
12 - 8:40
13 - 8:57
14 - 9:15
(stopped 17 minutes at Mike Collin's house)
15 - 9:30
16 - 8:33
17 - 9:00
Was at a 9:15 pace the final 1/2 mile ...

Spent 1:41:24 in my heart zone out of 2:45 running ... hydration/nutrition felt good - legs sore but not fried now 5 hours later.  Weight loss for the run was 6.4 pounds opposed to 8 pounds from last week so I am moving back in the right direction regarding staying fed ... hopefully next week I can shorten that gap to 5 pounds.

Day 17 - Interval training kicks my ass ...

Today was my first day doing interval training indoors.  I did my gym/weight session first and then went to another location to do my intervals.  The weight session was the same followed last Friday:  planks, squats, dips, bent rows into bicep curls, box jumps, and cable oblique twists.  Much smarter this time in regards to weight progression and felt good when I was done.  Next up was the Intervals.  The way I did it was on a treadmill (I never run on a treadmill).  Typically I can run outside even if the weather is in the teens - not a big fan of the treadmill - but this put me through the motions and kicked my butt.  Started at a good tempo and then adjusted incline to 3% brought it back down, then up to 6%, then down, then up to 9%.  Each time my exercise physiologist (Paul)  was documenting my heart rate and trying to keep me for 2 minutes in each "challenge".  After spiking out at 9% he then started doing speed sessions then bringing it back down.  We did 42 minutes on the treadmill and I was drenched - the treadmill was drenched and I felt like I had run a 10k at full effort.  I was so beat that after I showered and picked my kids up from school I was out cold from 3-6pm when they woke me up and asked what was for dinner ... can't wait till next week!

Day 16 - baby steps

Yesterday was an off day but today called for a two-parter a swim and a bike.

Rough day at work with a meeting thrown in that went long and I was shot before ever leaving there (after 11 hours) ... drove 40 minutes to the pool and did drills for 45 minutes that amounted to 1400 meters.  My typical workout (in the past) was to pound out 33 lengths of the 50 meter pool to hit my mile and get out.  When I was working towards my half ironman I just increased the volume by another 7 laps to crank out 40.  Supposedly drill work where I work on technique, stroke, breathing - will help me more than just pounding away - we will see.  I don't like drills - today was not any hard ones either and I did not go hard at all.  I know my swim fitness is off after three months out of the water but I am hoping with two sessions a week for the next few weeks I will get back.

I also had a 2 hour bike session on tap - logistically this would now be difficult as I had to pick up the kids.  Worked it out and got a 1:40 minute bike in (on the trainer) when it took forever to do Well's phonics homework with him and we missed kickboxing.  Bad for him - good for me to get my workout in.  I watched the last half hour of The Fourth Kind (bleh) and the first hour of Knowing (so far I am into it) ...

Another two hours tomorrow - gym work and then interval training - there is no chance I am awake at this time tomorrow - shooting for a 6:30 bedtime - kids are off Friday which throws any plans for a loop.    

Day 14 - the LONG Run day ...

My workout today has me pretty exhausted - my legs feel like cider blocks and I am struggling right now with flights of stairs 

Ran 17 miles today ... Goal was to keep HR in zone, eat and hydrate properly and run a steady pace ... mile splits: 9:15, 9:17, 9:17, 9:04, 9:21, 9:11, 9:27, 9:11, 9:15, 8:59, 9:07, 9:25, 9:07, 9:24, 9:34, 9:28, 8:57.

Ate an e-gel at miles 4 and 10 (150 calories) and consumed 32 ounces of liquid over the course of the run.

Total run time 2:37:29 - total time HR in zone 2:14:00 ... BUT I felt like crap the last three miles ... weighed myself when I got home and I lost EIGHT pounds so obviously I screwed my nutrition and hydration ... 2 out of three ain't bad but that's the one that will knock me out of a marathon or put a DNF on my Ironman ... ugh!

Always something to work on and fix!

Day 13 - A 5k PR

This morning was the first of three successive Sundays where I will put down a 5k at one of Long Islands lovely state parks.  Today's race was at Heckscher State Park in Great River - about 40 minutes away from my house.  Unlike most 5k's this series starts at 11am so I had oatmeal and some OJ at 8:30 and didn't have to leave the house until 9:35.  Met Joe Jensen (a friend from FedEx) in the parking lot as I was warming up.  There was a blanket of fog over the entire park which made for a somewhat creepy feel but was cool and not quite cold enough to chill me.

I was geared out in my New Skin kit - race top and shorts - and I wore my winter cap with the headphones built into them and my biking gloves, carried the 10oz bottle of water and we headed to the start line.  My concern before the race was that my legs were still hurting from my Saturday workout (did weights for legs - may not be too smart before a race) ... once we got running though I felt good.

My goal of a sub-24 minute finish did not come to fruition but I did set a PR with a 24:08 finish with Joe matching me stride for stride to the 3 mile mark.  Finished 177 overall out of 959, 138th male and 17th out of 55 in my age group.

Tomorrow I have a 17 mile "jog" on tap - I really need to keep my pace in check so I don't suffer like I did last week.  The plan this week will be to wear the fuel belt with 4 bottles and bring 2 or 3 gels with me.