Run, of course! I slept in this morning, but it ended up working out just fine. I got out of work on time, went home, changed clothes and then went for a run. I was planning on running about 7 miles today, which is the distance from my apartment, once around the Park loop and then back home again. The weather was just perfect tonight for a great run.
I guess I wasn't the only person who thought that! I saw lots and lots of other runners out tonight. It seemed like there were lots of groups of people, but I saw a couple I know who are training for the NYC marathon out running. Thinking about how close the NYC marathon is just reminds me how close my marathon is. Which makes me a little bit nervous, if I'm being totally honest. I'm also 99% sure I saw Megan out running with her CPTC buddies.
I felt pretty good, but my feet and my Achilles felt a little bit off today. I actually thought that it might have had something to do with my socks (I was wearing some new ones that I've never worn before), but then I realized it wasn't my socks, it was my shoes. Traditionally, I never get as many miles out of them as some other people do, but I'm actually at the higher end of the miles, so I'm actually a bit surprised I didn't have any other twinges over the past few runs.
The worst part about all this is, well, two things. First, the new shoes are pink. REALLY pink. Embarrassingly pink. A little bit fluorescent pink. I will admit, there might have been a stage of my life where I really liked pink, but not any more. I'm hoping to get these shoes really dirty really quickly to take some of the edge off. Second, I was planning on taking tomorrow off and then doing a long run this weekend and I'm not sure I want to do that in my new shoes. I don't really have any concerns about the shoes not being broken in or anything like that, but I'm also not sure I want to spend the first several miles out of my long run adjusting my speed laces.
Today's run was really great. I don't know if it was that I saw so many other people out there running. Some running group was obviously doing Harlem Hill repeats and as they passed each other they were calling out "great job" to everyone else they passed, including me. So that was a nice little boost! The weather was perfect and aside from my shoe issues I felt great.
As I got towards the end of the run, I really tried to pick up the pace. In fact, I ran the last half mile (in the Park)at a 8:14/mile pace. Not too shabby, I think! I actually wore my heart rate monitor again tonight for the first time in about three weeks. My heart rate was definitely highest toward the end of the run, a good sign that I was pushing myself with just about everything I had left in the tank for the night.
I know that running at night isn't always the right option for me, especially since I feel like it's hanging over my head all day and I worry about getting out of work in time, but sometimes it's just a really nice change!
Running
Time: 1:12:53
Distance: 7.20 miles
Pace: 10:07/mile
Calories: 683
Average HR: 193
Maximum HR: 170
Showing posts with label Big Loop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Loop. Show all posts
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Central Park Biathlon
Yesterday I did nothing except work. Not overly happy about this, but I can't go back in time and get up earlier and go running before work, so I'm over it. I always knew that this time would be rough with work and I can't stretch myself too thin otherwise I'll never make it through with my sanity in check, so I'm doing the best I can for now.
Today Drew and I had signed up for the 26th Annual Central Park Biathlon. Just to be clear, I did not ski or shoot. I would have classified what I did as a duathlon, consisting of running and biking, but I didn't title this race, and I think it's a bit confusing. Unfortunately, I ended up having to do the race by myself since Drew had to be on a plane to D.C. this morning and couldn't do the race as well.
This morning was a bit cooler than it has been recently, so I wore tri shorts, a long-sleeved shirt and my Terrier bike vest to keep myself warm on the bike. As soon as I got on my bike to ride to the Park, I felt pretty cold, but knew I'd warm up as time went on. I got to the race site and racked my bike and then went to check in. Funnily enough, the person checking me was Krista! Both her and her husband were volunteering at the race. I only got to say a quick hello since there were other people waiting to get their race numbers also.
I put my number on my bike and on my race belt and still had plenty of time to kill before the race started, so I decided to go for a quick warm-up run. I decided that I'd run for 8 minutes out and then run back. It actually worked out perfectly, because right when I got back, the race director had just started giving out instructions about the race and the race course. He also mentioned that if anyone was seen using headphones, they'd be disqualified. This fact was also in the official rules listed on the website.
As we were lining up for the start, I saw my friend Lisa. We chatted for a couple minutes before the gun went off. It was definitely nice to see a friendly face. The race started pretty much on time, which was nice. The running course was from the Central Park Boathouse up to 96th Street and back again. Pretty uneventful.
Of course, I ended up seeing two people wearing headphones. Both people only had one earbud in their ears, but I don't really think that makes a difference. I told both people that they were breaking the rules and if they didn't take them out, they would be disqualified. Even if that meant that I had to tell an official myself. Maybe that's mean of me, but it was in the rules and the race director had told us about 10 minutes before that it was against the rules. I don't think I was out of line. Especially since everyone else was following the rules. I don't think they should get a free pass.
I had told Drew yesterday that my only goal was to finish this race in under two hours. Even with my normal slow pace, that was more than doable, so I wasn't in any sort of rush on the run. I was a little bit warm with the biking vest on while I was running, but I knew it'd be good to have on the bike.
When I got back to transition, I changed shoes and grabbed my bike and headed out. The course was to do two loops of the Park. I have to say, I would have been happier only doing one loop, but of course I did both. During the first loop, I had a near accident with a guy walking his dogs. I actually was a bit upset with both the guy (for not looking) and the volunteer who was standing next to him (for not saying anything). I know the volunteers have a hard job, but it was really close call!
The second loop wasn't quite as eventful. I was really glad the whole time that I was wearing the biking vest. Every time there was a big gust of wind, it was really nice to have on. There was a girl in front of me on a mountain bike and was wearing tennis shoes. I was bound and determined not to let her beat me in on the bike. Even though I only came in about 1 second before her, somehow that made me feel better. When I went into the second transition, I took off my bike vest for the second run.
When I was on the bike, I noticed that the run course was a bit longer than a mile. I even came home and checked Gmap Pedometer, and it also says that the run course was long, so I actually feel pretty awesome about my run times now. It turned out to be a good thing because as I was finishing, Lisa and her other Asphalt Green teammates were cheering for me, but they had mixed emotions about cheering for someone wearing Terrier gear, which I wasn't wearing when they were cheering for me! I have to say that it was really, really nice to have someone cheering for me at the finish!
After the race, I chatted with Lisa for a few minutes, grabbed half a bagel and an orange slice and headed home. I had to work again today, which was probably the only reason that I actually got dressed in real clothes today! Otherwise I would have been quite content to stay in pajamas. I also had been thinking that perhaps I would be able to get a few more running miles in before heading to work, but it wasn't in the cards for today. All I can say is that tomorrow is a new week and I'm going to start fresh then.
Running (pre-race)
Time: 15:54
Distance: 1.60 miles
Pace: 9:56/mile
Calories: 138
Maximum HR: 175 (83%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)
Biathlon
Run 1: 21:30
T1: 1:10
Bike: 51:05
T2: 2:26
Run 2: 21:34
Total Time:1:36:31
Calories: 894
Maximum HR: 191 (90%)
Average HR:170 (80%)
I measured the runs as 2.25 miles each and the bike as 12.18 miles. That gives me a total of 6.10 miles running for the day.
Saturday, Day 13: Wore jeans, black v-neck sweater and gray Converse. We thought that the cat needed a redeeming photo after her alien eyes from before, so she's making an appearance again. Not that you can see it, but I started out wearing a silver necklace and ended up changing it in the evening for dinner to a new one. I'll be wearing the new one again, so will take a photo later.
Sunday, Day 14: Wore jeans and green turtleneck with gray Converse. Jewelry consists of pearl stud earrings from my grandma. My grandma didn't have pierced ears, so I actually had the earrings changed from clip-ons to studs.
Today Drew and I had signed up for the 26th Annual Central Park Biathlon. Just to be clear, I did not ski or shoot. I would have classified what I did as a duathlon, consisting of running and biking, but I didn't title this race, and I think it's a bit confusing. Unfortunately, I ended up having to do the race by myself since Drew had to be on a plane to D.C. this morning and couldn't do the race as well.
This morning was a bit cooler than it has been recently, so I wore tri shorts, a long-sleeved shirt and my Terrier bike vest to keep myself warm on the bike. As soon as I got on my bike to ride to the Park, I felt pretty cold, but knew I'd warm up as time went on. I got to the race site and racked my bike and then went to check in. Funnily enough, the person checking me was Krista! Both her and her husband were volunteering at the race. I only got to say a quick hello since there were other people waiting to get their race numbers also.
I put my number on my bike and on my race belt and still had plenty of time to kill before the race started, so I decided to go for a quick warm-up run. I decided that I'd run for 8 minutes out and then run back. It actually worked out perfectly, because right when I got back, the race director had just started giving out instructions about the race and the race course. He also mentioned that if anyone was seen using headphones, they'd be disqualified. This fact was also in the official rules listed on the website.
As we were lining up for the start, I saw my friend Lisa. We chatted for a couple minutes before the gun went off. It was definitely nice to see a friendly face. The race started pretty much on time, which was nice. The running course was from the Central Park Boathouse up to 96th Street and back again. Pretty uneventful.
Of course, I ended up seeing two people wearing headphones. Both people only had one earbud in their ears, but I don't really think that makes a difference. I told both people that they were breaking the rules and if they didn't take them out, they would be disqualified. Even if that meant that I had to tell an official myself. Maybe that's mean of me, but it was in the rules and the race director had told us about 10 minutes before that it was against the rules. I don't think I was out of line. Especially since everyone else was following the rules. I don't think they should get a free pass.
I had told Drew yesterday that my only goal was to finish this race in under two hours. Even with my normal slow pace, that was more than doable, so I wasn't in any sort of rush on the run. I was a little bit warm with the biking vest on while I was running, but I knew it'd be good to have on the bike.
When I got back to transition, I changed shoes and grabbed my bike and headed out. The course was to do two loops of the Park. I have to say, I would have been happier only doing one loop, but of course I did both. During the first loop, I had a near accident with a guy walking his dogs. I actually was a bit upset with both the guy (for not looking) and the volunteer who was standing next to him (for not saying anything). I know the volunteers have a hard job, but it was really close call!
The second loop wasn't quite as eventful. I was really glad the whole time that I was wearing the biking vest. Every time there was a big gust of wind, it was really nice to have on. There was a girl in front of me on a mountain bike and was wearing tennis shoes. I was bound and determined not to let her beat me in on the bike. Even though I only came in about 1 second before her, somehow that made me feel better. When I went into the second transition, I took off my bike vest for the second run.
When I was on the bike, I noticed that the run course was a bit longer than a mile. I even came home and checked Gmap Pedometer, and it also says that the run course was long, so I actually feel pretty awesome about my run times now. It turned out to be a good thing because as I was finishing, Lisa and her other Asphalt Green teammates were cheering for me, but they had mixed emotions about cheering for someone wearing Terrier gear, which I wasn't wearing when they were cheering for me! I have to say that it was really, really nice to have someone cheering for me at the finish!
After the race, I chatted with Lisa for a few minutes, grabbed half a bagel and an orange slice and headed home. I had to work again today, which was probably the only reason that I actually got dressed in real clothes today! Otherwise I would have been quite content to stay in pajamas. I also had been thinking that perhaps I would be able to get a few more running miles in before heading to work, but it wasn't in the cards for today. All I can say is that tomorrow is a new week and I'm going to start fresh then.
Running (pre-race)
Time: 15:54
Distance: 1.60 miles
Pace: 9:56/mile
Calories: 138
Maximum HR: 175 (83%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)
Biathlon
Run 1: 21:30
T1: 1:10
Bike: 51:05
T2: 2:26
Run 2: 21:34
Total Time:1:36:31
Calories: 894
Maximum HR: 191 (90%)
Average HR:170 (80%)
I measured the runs as 2.25 miles each and the bike as 12.18 miles. That gives me a total of 6.10 miles running for the day.
Saturday, Day 13: Wore jeans, black v-neck sweater and gray Converse. We thought that the cat needed a redeeming photo after her alien eyes from before, so she's making an appearance again. Not that you can see it, but I started out wearing a silver necklace and ended up changing it in the evening for dinner to a new one. I'll be wearing the new one again, so will take a photo later.
Sunday, Day 14: Wore jeans and green turtleneck with gray Converse. Jewelry consists of pearl stud earrings from my grandma. My grandma didn't have pierced ears, so I actually had the earrings changed from clip-ons to studs.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Not The Usual Way
I thought my proverb on today's tea bag was especially fitting for me. In case you can't read it, it says, "He who would leap high must take a long run". I'd also like to point out that the thing in the background is my coffee cup, that really only ever sees tea. Don't ask what those color swatches are. This is the most ridiculous coffee cup, but it's a really good size, and it was free, which is why I continue to use it!
.JPG)
I was supposed to get up and go running this morning like usual, but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I was thinking about last night when I was walking home from work and how I thought that it just seemed like a great night for running and that maybe I should go tonight instead of this morning. Which was really just a great way to rationalize sleeping in for a bit longer.
However, I was able to leave work at a decent time and came home, changed clothes and headed out for a run. Today I was supposed to be doing 7 miles. I've typically been running from home to the Park around the big loop and back again. That is a really good plan when it's early in the morning and there is no one on the sidewalk. That is a bad plan when it's 6:30 and the sidewalk is packed.
So, I decided not to make myself crazy from the get-go and I walked to the Park. I started running as soon as I got there. I decided to go against traffic and run north first, up the West Side of the Park. I always have a mental block about running this way, because somehow I always psych myself out about the backside of Harlem Hill (near Lasker Pool) and it being too steep or something. I was bound and determined not to let that happen today.
I wasn't in a big rush or anything, so I was just plodding along like usual. It was totally different to be out there at night instead of the morning and have the sun going down instead of coming up. When I got to the backside of the Harlem Hill, I kept repeating the same song lyric over and over again, basically telling myself that I couldn't give up. And you know what? I never stopped running!
After that, I just felt invincible. I ran the rest of the way downtown. I happened to see Coach Spencer while I was running. As soon as I saw him, I noticed that I became more conscious of my running form. After we passed, I kept telling myself to "run like Spencer was watching." It actually works!
When I passed the 72nd Street transverse, I was glad that I was almost done. I decided to see what I could do and see if I could pick up the pace a bit. I started running faster right around the time where the turn is and 6th Avenue sort-of comes into the Park (just above 65th Street). I hadn't looked at my watch at all, but I decided that I'd look at it then. I was at 1:00:30 and had gone 5.61 miles (10:47 pace).
I didn't know my mileage at the time, but I started running as fast as I possibly could that I thought was sustainable. Every time I passed a hash mark on the ground for speed work, I kept telling myself that I had 200 fewer meters to go and could I possibly go any faster? Turns out that I ran the last .69 miles in 6:11 (or 8:57 pace), which made me feel fantastic!
I finished running with a huge smile on my face and made a bee line to get myself some dinner. But I had a great run. I haven't been running at night in a long time and maybe that was the difference today. I made it up Harlem Hill with no complaints. I never took one walking/drinking break. I finished running faster than when I started. All in all, pretty happy with that!
Time: 1:06:41
Distance: 6.30 miles
Pace: 10:35/mile
.JPG)
I was supposed to get up and go running this morning like usual, but I just didn't feel like it. Instead, I was thinking about last night when I was walking home from work and how I thought that it just seemed like a great night for running and that maybe I should go tonight instead of this morning. Which was really just a great way to rationalize sleeping in for a bit longer.
However, I was able to leave work at a decent time and came home, changed clothes and headed out for a run. Today I was supposed to be doing 7 miles. I've typically been running from home to the Park around the big loop and back again. That is a really good plan when it's early in the morning and there is no one on the sidewalk. That is a bad plan when it's 6:30 and the sidewalk is packed.
So, I decided not to make myself crazy from the get-go and I walked to the Park. I started running as soon as I got there. I decided to go against traffic and run north first, up the West Side of the Park. I always have a mental block about running this way, because somehow I always psych myself out about the backside of Harlem Hill (near Lasker Pool) and it being too steep or something. I was bound and determined not to let that happen today.
I wasn't in a big rush or anything, so I was just plodding along like usual. It was totally different to be out there at night instead of the morning and have the sun going down instead of coming up. When I got to the backside of the Harlem Hill, I kept repeating the same song lyric over and over again, basically telling myself that I couldn't give up. And you know what? I never stopped running!
After that, I just felt invincible. I ran the rest of the way downtown. I happened to see Coach Spencer while I was running. As soon as I saw him, I noticed that I became more conscious of my running form. After we passed, I kept telling myself to "run like Spencer was watching." It actually works!
When I passed the 72nd Street transverse, I was glad that I was almost done. I decided to see what I could do and see if I could pick up the pace a bit. I started running faster right around the time where the turn is and 6th Avenue sort-of comes into the Park (just above 65th Street). I hadn't looked at my watch at all, but I decided that I'd look at it then. I was at 1:00:30 and had gone 5.61 miles (10:47 pace).
I didn't know my mileage at the time, but I started running as fast as I possibly could that I thought was sustainable. Every time I passed a hash mark on the ground for speed work, I kept telling myself that I had 200 fewer meters to go and could I possibly go any faster? Turns out that I ran the last .69 miles in 6:11 (or 8:57 pace), which made me feel fantastic!
I finished running with a huge smile on my face and made a bee line to get myself some dinner. But I had a great run. I haven't been running at night in a long time and maybe that was the difference today. I made it up Harlem Hill with no complaints. I never took one walking/drinking break. I finished running faster than when I started. All in all, pretty happy with that!
Time: 1:06:41
Distance: 6.30 miles
Pace: 10:35/mile
Friday, September 10, 2010
Right Foot Forward
I took the day off yesterday. I know it might not have been the best thing for my marathon training to skip a day of running in what is already going to be a shorter distance week, but I think it was the best thing for me to do. Sometimes you just need a mental health day, you know? Not to mention the fact that this marathon is still 10 weeks away and I refuse to believe that this is going to screw things up so fantastically that I don't finish.
So, I did get a good night's sleep last night. I'll admit that my heart still wasn't 100% in the game this morning when I rolled out of bed to start running, but by the time I actually started running, I was feeling much better. Even though I didn't really want to, I went back to Central Park this morning. I knew I just needed to tackle it and even make myself do a lap course.
I didn't do anything too crazy. Not two full loops of the Park or anything. Instead, what I did was one loop of the Lower Loop of the Park and then one full loop. I saw the Terrier marathon group doing hill repeats on Cat Hill and it made me really glad that I wasn't doing all that fancy stuff for marathon training. It's enough to just get out there and run, I think.
I did notice as soon as I put my right foot in my shoe this morning that my big toe was still sore. I'd take a picture and show it to you if there was anything to show. Except it looks exactly like my left toe, which is the frustrating thing. I decided to put a band-aid on before I left for the run to see if that would help cushion my toe a little bit. Um, maybe a little bit. Not really all that much. I could definitely still feel it the whole time I was running. But, even after running, it still looks the same. Just like a toe with a callus on the bottom. Same as my other foot.
Running today was okay. Not stellar. Not bad. I'm glad that I took yesterday off. I know that I wouldn't have been feeling as motivated as I was today and it was definitely the right decision. I did end up taking two 1:00 walking breaks somewhere in the middle of all that running today. Not because I really needed to, but because I happened to be by drinking fountains and thought that I should stop and take a sip of water.
The worst part of today happened somewhere around the 7-mile marker. I looked at my watch and realized that 70-something minutes had elapsed and I was still pretty far from home and I wanted to just sit down and cry. Because I had forgotten that I was running more than 7 miles today. I totally forgot that I had already done the Lower Loop of the Park and that was going to make my total around 9 miles. When I realized that, getting home was a breeze. I think I actually sped up for the last 2 miles as a result. It was just so frustrating when I thought I was running 7 miles and at 70 minutes, I still had at least 20 more minutes of running to do. Oops.
The really funny thing I noticed today is that somehow when it's 62 degrees outside, people dress for winter running in this city! I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and was really comfortable, but there were people in pants and jackets and long-sleeved shirts. Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't see people in hats and gloves. It seemed crazy to me that you'd need all that for 62 degrees when you're running! I noticed that some of the people I saw in the beginning wearing jackets ended up with them tied around their waists later on. Good to know that they didn't really need that stuff in this weather.
So, I'm currently at 16.15 miles this week and my target is supposed to be 30. Obviously, that's not going to happen. I actually can't guarantee that I'll get any more running in this weekend right now. I'm going to hope for the best, but if I don't add any more miles, I think I'm going to live with it. Maybe by next week my toe will be feeling better anyway!
Running
Time: 1:34:26
Distance: 8.95 miles
Pace: 10:33/mile
So, I did get a good night's sleep last night. I'll admit that my heart still wasn't 100% in the game this morning when I rolled out of bed to start running, but by the time I actually started running, I was feeling much better. Even though I didn't really want to, I went back to Central Park this morning. I knew I just needed to tackle it and even make myself do a lap course.
I didn't do anything too crazy. Not two full loops of the Park or anything. Instead, what I did was one loop of the Lower Loop of the Park and then one full loop. I saw the Terrier marathon group doing hill repeats on Cat Hill and it made me really glad that I wasn't doing all that fancy stuff for marathon training. It's enough to just get out there and run, I think.
I did notice as soon as I put my right foot in my shoe this morning that my big toe was still sore. I'd take a picture and show it to you if there was anything to show. Except it looks exactly like my left toe, which is the frustrating thing. I decided to put a band-aid on before I left for the run to see if that would help cushion my toe a little bit. Um, maybe a little bit. Not really all that much. I could definitely still feel it the whole time I was running. But, even after running, it still looks the same. Just like a toe with a callus on the bottom. Same as my other foot.
Running today was okay. Not stellar. Not bad. I'm glad that I took yesterday off. I know that I wouldn't have been feeling as motivated as I was today and it was definitely the right decision. I did end up taking two 1:00 walking breaks somewhere in the middle of all that running today. Not because I really needed to, but because I happened to be by drinking fountains and thought that I should stop and take a sip of water.
The worst part of today happened somewhere around the 7-mile marker. I looked at my watch and realized that 70-something minutes had elapsed and I was still pretty far from home and I wanted to just sit down and cry. Because I had forgotten that I was running more than 7 miles today. I totally forgot that I had already done the Lower Loop of the Park and that was going to make my total around 9 miles. When I realized that, getting home was a breeze. I think I actually sped up for the last 2 miles as a result. It was just so frustrating when I thought I was running 7 miles and at 70 minutes, I still had at least 20 more minutes of running to do. Oops.
The really funny thing I noticed today is that somehow when it's 62 degrees outside, people dress for winter running in this city! I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and was really comfortable, but there were people in pants and jackets and long-sleeved shirts. Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't see people in hats and gloves. It seemed crazy to me that you'd need all that for 62 degrees when you're running! I noticed that some of the people I saw in the beginning wearing jackets ended up with them tied around their waists later on. Good to know that they didn't really need that stuff in this weather.
So, I'm currently at 16.15 miles this week and my target is supposed to be 30. Obviously, that's not going to happen. I actually can't guarantee that I'll get any more running in this weekend right now. I'm going to hope for the best, but if I don't add any more miles, I think I'm going to live with it. Maybe by next week my toe will be feeling better anyway!
Running
Time: 1:34:26
Distance: 8.95 miles
Pace: 10:33/mile
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Only Marathon Training
Can make you feel bad about running 7 miles. Why is that? Brie actually had a similar post about this recently, where she was supposed to be running 18 and managed 6.1. I was trying for 15 today and managed 7.2. Not even halfway there! In truth, I know I had several things working against me, but when I think about what they are, they just sound like big excuses as to why I didn't do the full miles today.
I'll go ahead and list off the big excuses anyway. This is my blog and even though they sound like excuses now, I think they'll be helpful later on in recognizing what I did wrong and why I was probably overly ambitious on this run this morning.
1. Didn't get enough sleep. I need to work on this in general. Working late, eating dinner when I get home, wanting to watch TV and read my book before bed doesn't add up to an early enough bedtime. Especially when my goal is to be running by 5 AM.
2. Ran in Central Park. Truthfully, I wanted to be up and at 'em pretty early and I figured the safest place to do that would be in the Park. After going there this morning, I'm not entirely sure that's the case. The lights were off in half of the Park and then they all turned off before it got light outside, so I'm not sure it really was the best place.
3. I ran 14 miles on Sunday and today is Wednesday. I tried to justify this by saying that I would normally be doing a longer run (read 7-8 miles) on Wednesdays anyway. What would be the big deal if I tacked on the same amount on the end of that? Turns out I might need a day or two more to recover all the way from 14 miles.
4. I should never run laps. Ever. Running might be a mental game, but I excel at telling myself not to keep doing it when possible. I know that I'm a bad lap runner. So why would I purposely set myself up to run laps this morning? I actually think I could have kept going, but I'm not sure it was in the best interest overall to get me to the finish line in Philadelphia.
So, obviously, today wasn't a winner. I ran to the Park, ran one loop and ran home. I keep telling myself over and over again that it's not a big deal. That even though I'll most likely come up short on miles this week, it's not the end of the world. It's one week. I think I made the right decision in heading home when I did. I was tired, my legs were tired and my toe hurt.
I'm slightly worried about this toe thing. I noticed it on Sunday on my long run, too. There isn't a blister or a start of a blister. There is actually a callus that doesn't seem to be doing its job and protecting my toe enough. It's my big toe on my right foot. I'm wondering if I wore a band-aid around my toe next time if that would be enough of a cushion? If not, maybe some moleskin?
Drew says I'm not allowed to wear my HR monitor for the next couple weeks, so that's annoying. He's convinced I'll get a permanent scar from where it's been chafing. I think I could live with that. I guess he's probably right and I probably already will have a mark, but it's harder to judge my pace without my heart rate. I knew that today was slow, which I was okay with, but it's good to have an idea of how slow!
Drew also says that I shouldn't beat myself up over this run. I know that's he's right and that if my goal for the week was 30 miles, I've still got 22.8 to go. I don't think I'll make it there. I think I'd be really happy if I got to 15 more this week. I'm just hoping that tomorrow will be better. That's really all I can do at this point.
Running
Time: 1:20:00
Distance: 7.20 miles
Pace: 11:05/mile
I'll go ahead and list off the big excuses anyway. This is my blog and even though they sound like excuses now, I think they'll be helpful later on in recognizing what I did wrong and why I was probably overly ambitious on this run this morning.
1. Didn't get enough sleep. I need to work on this in general. Working late, eating dinner when I get home, wanting to watch TV and read my book before bed doesn't add up to an early enough bedtime. Especially when my goal is to be running by 5 AM.
2. Ran in Central Park. Truthfully, I wanted to be up and at 'em pretty early and I figured the safest place to do that would be in the Park. After going there this morning, I'm not entirely sure that's the case. The lights were off in half of the Park and then they all turned off before it got light outside, so I'm not sure it really was the best place.
3. I ran 14 miles on Sunday and today is Wednesday. I tried to justify this by saying that I would normally be doing a longer run (read 7-8 miles) on Wednesdays anyway. What would be the big deal if I tacked on the same amount on the end of that? Turns out I might need a day or two more to recover all the way from 14 miles.
4. I should never run laps. Ever. Running might be a mental game, but I excel at telling myself not to keep doing it when possible. I know that I'm a bad lap runner. So why would I purposely set myself up to run laps this morning? I actually think I could have kept going, but I'm not sure it was in the best interest overall to get me to the finish line in Philadelphia.
So, obviously, today wasn't a winner. I ran to the Park, ran one loop and ran home. I keep telling myself over and over again that it's not a big deal. That even though I'll most likely come up short on miles this week, it's not the end of the world. It's one week. I think I made the right decision in heading home when I did. I was tired, my legs were tired and my toe hurt.
I'm slightly worried about this toe thing. I noticed it on Sunday on my long run, too. There isn't a blister or a start of a blister. There is actually a callus that doesn't seem to be doing its job and protecting my toe enough. It's my big toe on my right foot. I'm wondering if I wore a band-aid around my toe next time if that would be enough of a cushion? If not, maybe some moleskin?
Drew says I'm not allowed to wear my HR monitor for the next couple weeks, so that's annoying. He's convinced I'll get a permanent scar from where it's been chafing. I think I could live with that. I guess he's probably right and I probably already will have a mark, but it's harder to judge my pace without my heart rate. I knew that today was slow, which I was okay with, but it's good to have an idea of how slow!
Drew also says that I shouldn't beat myself up over this run. I know that's he's right and that if my goal for the week was 30 miles, I've still got 22.8 to go. I don't think I'll make it there. I think I'd be really happy if I got to 15 more this week. I'm just hoping that tomorrow will be better. That's really all I can do at this point.
Running
Time: 1:20:00
Distance: 7.20 miles
Pace: 11:05/mile
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
If I Were A Loud Runner
The schedule this morning was for a 7 mile run. I decided to tackle Central Park, since I haven't done a long run there in quite a while. I've been a sissy and been running on the flat Westside Path and avoiding the hilly Park. I'm not entirely sure what the hill situation is like in Philadelphia, but running up hills makes you a stronger runner, so I can't avoid it forever.
The run started off fine. I was thinking about what to wear to work and what to have for breakfast. Normally breakfast is a smoothie (courtesy of Drew), but today is Drew's birthday, so I suggested that we go out to eat for a fancier breakfast before work.
I ended up taking two quick drinking fountain stops for a sip of water at miles 2.5 and 4.5. For some reason today, I really noticed how loud a lot of runners are. There are some that are really stealthy and can sneak up next to you without you even realizing it (and I don't normally wear headphones while running). But there are also really loud runners!
I heard someone coming up behind me and it was one of the loudest runners I've ever heard. It practically sounded like a horse was coming up behind me, that's how loud it was and it definitely sounded like "clomp, clomp, clomp". It ended up being a girl who was pretty tiny. I don't know how she made so much noise. I actually tried to run loudly and it was uncomfortable and I think that if I was that loud all the time, I'd drive myself crazy. I'd probably have to listen to an iPod to drown out that noise!
Apparently there is some sort of movie shooting on the north end of the Park. There were orange-vested production assistants all over the place. One girl was really odd because she was standing in the forest-y part of the Harlem Hill staring into the woods. I kept trying to tell if she was looking at something in particular, but it looked like she was just staring off into space.
Everything was just going along swimmingly until just before 72nd Street. When it happened. A bathroom emergency. Which meant that I absolutely could not keep running without getting to a bathroom ASAP. I remembered that there are bathrooms near the Bethesda Fountain, but after walking over there, I found out that they were locked.
Eek. By this point, I was honestly looking at every single bush thinking, "could I?". I thought about collecting leaves off the trees to wipe. It was horrible. Then it came to me that there were other bathrooms nearby at the Le Pain Quotidien in the Park. Luckily, those were open and clean! The emergency was avoided, but there were definitely a few tense moments there where I actually wasn't sure.
After that, I still had about a mile to go to finish up the run and get the rest of the way home. I still couldn't decide what to wear to work or have for breakfast, so I didn't get a lot accomplished on this run today!
I ended up doing a bit more than Hal Higdon calls for, both yesterday and today. I think that's okay. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do tomorrow. I think the Terrier brick is canceled for the long weekend, so I'll probably just go for a quick run.
I also just wanted to share this quote that was on my tea bag today:
"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." - Abraham Lincoln
That seemed like a good thing to remember when training for a marathon!
Running
Time: 1:17:17
Distance: 7.25 miles
Pace: 10:39/mile
Calories: 673
Maximum HR: 179 (84%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)
The run started off fine. I was thinking about what to wear to work and what to have for breakfast. Normally breakfast is a smoothie (courtesy of Drew), but today is Drew's birthday, so I suggested that we go out to eat for a fancier breakfast before work.
I ended up taking two quick drinking fountain stops for a sip of water at miles 2.5 and 4.5. For some reason today, I really noticed how loud a lot of runners are. There are some that are really stealthy and can sneak up next to you without you even realizing it (and I don't normally wear headphones while running). But there are also really loud runners!
I heard someone coming up behind me and it was one of the loudest runners I've ever heard. It practically sounded like a horse was coming up behind me, that's how loud it was and it definitely sounded like "clomp, clomp, clomp". It ended up being a girl who was pretty tiny. I don't know how she made so much noise. I actually tried to run loudly and it was uncomfortable and I think that if I was that loud all the time, I'd drive myself crazy. I'd probably have to listen to an iPod to drown out that noise!
Apparently there is some sort of movie shooting on the north end of the Park. There were orange-vested production assistants all over the place. One girl was really odd because she was standing in the forest-y part of the Harlem Hill staring into the woods. I kept trying to tell if she was looking at something in particular, but it looked like she was just staring off into space.
Everything was just going along swimmingly until just before 72nd Street. When it happened. A bathroom emergency. Which meant that I absolutely could not keep running without getting to a bathroom ASAP. I remembered that there are bathrooms near the Bethesda Fountain, but after walking over there, I found out that they were locked.
Eek. By this point, I was honestly looking at every single bush thinking, "could I?". I thought about collecting leaves off the trees to wipe. It was horrible. Then it came to me that there were other bathrooms nearby at the Le Pain Quotidien in the Park. Luckily, those were open and clean! The emergency was avoided, but there were definitely a few tense moments there where I actually wasn't sure.
After that, I still had about a mile to go to finish up the run and get the rest of the way home. I still couldn't decide what to wear to work or have for breakfast, so I didn't get a lot accomplished on this run today!
I ended up doing a bit more than Hal Higdon calls for, both yesterday and today. I think that's okay. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do tomorrow. I think the Terrier brick is canceled for the long weekend, so I'll probably just go for a quick run.
I also just wanted to share this quote that was on my tea bag today:
"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." - Abraham Lincoln
That seemed like a good thing to remember when training for a marathon!
Running
Time: 1:17:17
Distance: 7.25 miles
Pace: 10:39/mile
Calories: 673
Maximum HR: 179 (84%)
Average HR: 163 (77%)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Quick Brick
I decided to take Wednesday as a rest day. I am supposed to be tapering, after all. My legs were a little tired after running Monday night and Tuesday morning and Wednesday off was exactly what they needed. Robert gave us a more specific workout for the brick this morning, but I went off the rough estimates of that workout and made my own.
I decided that I'd just really take it easy today. Not push myself on the bike. The difference between 15 MPH and 14 MPH really isn't that much in the scheme of things and I want to keep my legs moving, but also fresh for Sunday. Mostly what I worried about on the bike was using my new water cage. Since one of mine fell off in San Francisco and I got a new cage last Sunday, I wanted to make sure I was comfortable using it before the race. In the interest of nothing new on race day and all that. I know I'll need both water bottles for the race and this new one seems to actually be easier to get the bottle in and out than the old one.
I got off my bike after doing not quite two full loops of the Park. I was just going by the time (45-50 minutes) rather than miles, which was actually a nice change. I wish I could just stop riding after 1:30:00 on Sunday! I got off the bike and changed shoes as quickly as possible. And then started running.
I felt like I was going really slowly. But, I told myself to just keep swinging my arms and my legs would keep moving. It's crazy how such a small thing can be so helpful. I knew that the run for today wasn't very long, so I just wanted to concentrate on keeping myself moving on tired legs off the bike. It was easier than I had thought it would be.
Part of what motivated me was that when I made the turn to go back down the east side of the Park, there were two or three girls behind me who just kept talking about what they were going to do on Sunday (at the race) and this that and the other thing. I sort of wanted to turn around and punch one of them since they were really annoying, but instead I just concentrated on my running and staying ahead of them. It would have been more annoying to be passed by them!
They actually stopped running on the 72nd Street transverse near the fountain. They're part of another tri club that does their brick workouts near where we do them. I have to say that in that moment, I was really glad that Robert makes us run the finish of the race. It's probably about another half-mile from where they stopped to the actual finish line and I can imagine that since I'm all prepared for that, that I have a slight edge over them mentally. And this is all a mental sport sometimes, right?
Maybe it was good those annoying girls were on my tail since it turned out to be a pretty good (short) run for me! I was a little worried after my slow pace on Monday, but this seems back to normal!
Biking
Time: 49:03
Distance: 11.65 miles (14.70 total)
Pace: 14.25 MPH
Running
Time: 24:07
Distance: 2.60 miles
Pace: 9:16/mile
I decided that I'd just really take it easy today. Not push myself on the bike. The difference between 15 MPH and 14 MPH really isn't that much in the scheme of things and I want to keep my legs moving, but also fresh for Sunday. Mostly what I worried about on the bike was using my new water cage. Since one of mine fell off in San Francisco and I got a new cage last Sunday, I wanted to make sure I was comfortable using it before the race. In the interest of nothing new on race day and all that. I know I'll need both water bottles for the race and this new one seems to actually be easier to get the bottle in and out than the old one.
I got off my bike after doing not quite two full loops of the Park. I was just going by the time (45-50 minutes) rather than miles, which was actually a nice change. I wish I could just stop riding after 1:30:00 on Sunday! I got off the bike and changed shoes as quickly as possible. And then started running.
I felt like I was going really slowly. But, I told myself to just keep swinging my arms and my legs would keep moving. It's crazy how such a small thing can be so helpful. I knew that the run for today wasn't very long, so I just wanted to concentrate on keeping myself moving on tired legs off the bike. It was easier than I had thought it would be.
Part of what motivated me was that when I made the turn to go back down the east side of the Park, there were two or three girls behind me who just kept talking about what they were going to do on Sunday (at the race) and this that and the other thing. I sort of wanted to turn around and punch one of them since they were really annoying, but instead I just concentrated on my running and staying ahead of them. It would have been more annoying to be passed by them!
They actually stopped running on the 72nd Street transverse near the fountain. They're part of another tri club that does their brick workouts near where we do them. I have to say that in that moment, I was really glad that Robert makes us run the finish of the race. It's probably about another half-mile from where they stopped to the actual finish line and I can imagine that since I'm all prepared for that, that I have a slight edge over them mentally. And this is all a mental sport sometimes, right?
Maybe it was good those annoying girls were on my tail since it turned out to be a pretty good (short) run for me! I was a little worried after my slow pace on Monday, but this seems back to normal!
Biking
Time: 49:03
Distance: 11.65 miles (14.70 total)
Pace: 14.25 MPH
Running
Time: 24:07
Distance: 2.60 miles
Pace: 9:16/mile
Monday, July 12, 2010
Let's Go For A Run
I had been thinking and thinking about the fact that I really wanted to run part of the NYC Triathlon course (essentially miles 1-4), which gets you from transition to the top of the Harlem Hill on the East Side. I know that if I can make it that far in the race, I should be good to go.
Drew really wanted to go for a run after work today, so he humored me in my quest to try out the route. Even though I've done it lots of times on my own, I've never run from the West Side Highway and 72nd Street, which changes everything!
We walked to 72nd Street and into Riverside Park. From there, we scoped out the transition area and then we were off. The first uphill is going to suck. It sucked today. It'll suck when I'm on rubbery legs off the bike. You should not have to run uphill immediately. That should be outlawed!
We actually got really lucky with the stoplights on 72nd Street (which obviously won't be a factor on race day), but we made all the lights going into the Park, so we didn't have to stop, which was really nice. I see now, looking at the map, that we made a mistake in the route, so we added in a little bit of extra mileage by not heading North right away on that driveway. Oh well. I guess that'll make the miles go by that much faster on Sunday!
I tried to keep track of the miles by hitting the lap button on my old watch (not a HR monitor) and this is what I came up with:
Mile 1: 10:45
Mile 2: 11:41
Mile 3: 12:43
Mile 4: 8:54
I know that Mile 3 was long and believe me, it felt like it at the time, too! Running up the first half of Harlem Hill was okay. Running down was better. And then I don't know what happens to me. I think the anticipation of that long uphill just gets to me. I made it up the second side of the hill (by Lasker Pool) and then I was just done. I wanted to be done running. So, we walked for a few seconds, ran for another minute or so and then that was that.
I had completed my goal and I was on a mission to get myself some Gatorade. That was all I wanted. Except all the vendors in the Park had packed up for the night and gone home. Don't they know that's not allowed? After walking for a while, Drew said that he was starving, so we decided to run the last mile back to the bottom of the Park to get ourselves some dinner.
We went to Whole Foods for dinner and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food. They don't sell Gatorade, but they do sell Vitamin Water (on sale 5 for $5) and I sucked down two of them faster than you can imagine! Totally worth it.
I will say that I was a little concerned that I was so slow today, but I'm trying to remember that this race on Sunday is supposed to be fun!
Running #1
Time: 44:03
Distance: 4.00 miles
Pace: 11:02/mile
Running #2
Time: 11:09
Distance: 1.00 miles
Pace: 11:09/mile
Drew really wanted to go for a run after work today, so he humored me in my quest to try out the route. Even though I've done it lots of times on my own, I've never run from the West Side Highway and 72nd Street, which changes everything! We walked to 72nd Street and into Riverside Park. From there, we scoped out the transition area and then we were off. The first uphill is going to suck. It sucked today. It'll suck when I'm on rubbery legs off the bike. You should not have to run uphill immediately. That should be outlawed!
We actually got really lucky with the stoplights on 72nd Street (which obviously won't be a factor on race day), but we made all the lights going into the Park, so we didn't have to stop, which was really nice. I see now, looking at the map, that we made a mistake in the route, so we added in a little bit of extra mileage by not heading North right away on that driveway. Oh well. I guess that'll make the miles go by that much faster on Sunday!
I tried to keep track of the miles by hitting the lap button on my old watch (not a HR monitor) and this is what I came up with:
Mile 1: 10:45
Mile 2: 11:41
Mile 3: 12:43
Mile 4: 8:54
I know that Mile 3 was long and believe me, it felt like it at the time, too! Running up the first half of Harlem Hill was okay. Running down was better. And then I don't know what happens to me. I think the anticipation of that long uphill just gets to me. I made it up the second side of the hill (by Lasker Pool) and then I was just done. I wanted to be done running. So, we walked for a few seconds, ran for another minute or so and then that was that.
I had completed my goal and I was on a mission to get myself some Gatorade. That was all I wanted. Except all the vendors in the Park had packed up for the night and gone home. Don't they know that's not allowed? After walking for a while, Drew said that he was starving, so we decided to run the last mile back to the bottom of the Park to get ourselves some dinner.
We went to Whole Foods for dinner and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food. They don't sell Gatorade, but they do sell Vitamin Water (on sale 5 for $5) and I sucked down two of them faster than you can imagine! Totally worth it.
I will say that I was a little concerned that I was so slow today, but I'm trying to remember that this race on Sunday is supposed to be fun!
Running #1
Time: 44:03
Distance: 4.00 miles
Pace: 11:02/mile
Running #2
Time: 11:09
Distance: 1.00 miles
Pace: 11:09/mile
Volunteering, Biking and Swimming
Saturday morning found me up early to complete my final task in order to qualify for entrance into the New York 2011 Marathon (gulp!). I've already run the 9 NYRR races, but I needed to do my part and volunteer for a race. My friend, Lisa, suggested that being a bike marshal was the best way to go. I signed up for Saturday's Dash & Splash 10K race (with the splash being in Lasker Pool after the race was over).
Of course, in typical fashion, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to bike quickly enough and the lead runner would pass me by, so I did some research on the fastest 10K times and quickly realized that I should have no trouble at all finishing ahead of the runners. Which is good, because I know that some people are really fast runners, but I'd be a little embarrassed if they could run faster than I could bike.
It ended up that there were 5 of us bike riders on Saturday morning. We went out in teams of two ahead of the lead truck (which stayed in front of the lead male runner). I was in the second wave of bikers. We were given whistles and told to clear all runners/walkers/etc. from the course in advance of the race. I have to tell you, it's not that easy to whistle and yell at people while riding your bike and trying to pay attention to everything else.
However, I had a ton of fun! Something about blowing a whistle and waving frantically at someone and telling (okay, I was yelling!) them to move out of the way was really fun. It was crazy to me how oblivious people are while wearing their headphones. Of course, some people were a little bit nasty when I was asking them to move out of the way, but I guess that's to be expected.
After finishing up with the volunteering, I did some more biking in the Park. I hadn't started my watch for the race and since I had such a nice time, I decided to just do the same thing for the rest of my ride and not be worried about anything other than spending some time on the bike. I ended up doing about 20 miles total, which I think seems like an okay number for the day.
Sunday I finally made it to the Terrier swim practice. I haven't been "real" swimming in a really long time. I figured maybe I should get one good swim in before the triathlon this coming weekend. I actually dropped my bike off at Toga to have them give it a tune up and also put a second bottle cage on (since mine fell off in San Francisco) and picked it up after practice, so it was really a two-for one kind of afternoon.
I got to practice a little bit early and was worried that I was going to end up with no coach. I knew that I'd get in and swim either way, but I was glad when Julia showed up a couple of minutes late and gave us a pretty good workout! Here's what we did:
300 Swim Warm-Up
2 x 150 Kick / Drill / Swim (50 of each)
2 x 50 Build
450 (Done as 9 x 50 with bilateral breathing on the 3-5-7, no rest in between 50s)
8 x 25 Breath control 2 x 4-3-2-1
4 x 200 race pace (:20 rest)
100 Swim Cool-Down
The 450 set wasn't easy. I sort-of hate bilateral breathing as a general rule, so I wasn't overly excited to do it today. I know that it's good race practice, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. On the last 50 where were were supposed to be breathing every 7 strokes, I definitely had to cut it short twice and only go 5 strokes. Oh well. Not the end of the world. I still took my breath on the left!
On the last 25, Julia told us that if someone could make it with taking no breaths, we could skip the 4 x 50s fast that she had written into the workout. I have to tell you that I was fine with sacrificing that 200 yards for the one 25. There actually only ended up being 4 of us at practice (it was during the World Cup game) and three of the four of us made it without taking a breath. Thank goodness!
I actually did the same thing that I did yesterday at the bike ride and didn't turn on my watch. Since we started a little late and ended about 2 minutes early, I'd guess that we were probably only swimming about 50 minutes today. Still, it felt great to get back into the pool and I'm glad that I got one good swim workout in before the race.
Biking
Distance: ~ 20.00 miles
Swimming
Time: 50:00
Distance: 2350 yards = 1.33 miles
Pace: 37:35/mile
Of course, in typical fashion, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to bike quickly enough and the lead runner would pass me by, so I did some research on the fastest 10K times and quickly realized that I should have no trouble at all finishing ahead of the runners. Which is good, because I know that some people are really fast runners, but I'd be a little embarrassed if they could run faster than I could bike.
It ended up that there were 5 of us bike riders on Saturday morning. We went out in teams of two ahead of the lead truck (which stayed in front of the lead male runner). I was in the second wave of bikers. We were given whistles and told to clear all runners/walkers/etc. from the course in advance of the race. I have to tell you, it's not that easy to whistle and yell at people while riding your bike and trying to pay attention to everything else.
However, I had a ton of fun! Something about blowing a whistle and waving frantically at someone and telling (okay, I was yelling!) them to move out of the way was really fun. It was crazy to me how oblivious people are while wearing their headphones. Of course, some people were a little bit nasty when I was asking them to move out of the way, but I guess that's to be expected.
After finishing up with the volunteering, I did some more biking in the Park. I hadn't started my watch for the race and since I had such a nice time, I decided to just do the same thing for the rest of my ride and not be worried about anything other than spending some time on the bike. I ended up doing about 20 miles total, which I think seems like an okay number for the day.
Sunday I finally made it to the Terrier swim practice. I haven't been "real" swimming in a really long time. I figured maybe I should get one good swim in before the triathlon this coming weekend. I actually dropped my bike off at Toga to have them give it a tune up and also put a second bottle cage on (since mine fell off in San Francisco) and picked it up after practice, so it was really a two-for one kind of afternoon.
I got to practice a little bit early and was worried that I was going to end up with no coach. I knew that I'd get in and swim either way, but I was glad when Julia showed up a couple of minutes late and gave us a pretty good workout! Here's what we did:
300 Swim Warm-Up
2 x 150 Kick / Drill / Swim (50 of each)
2 x 50 Build
450 (Done as 9 x 50 with bilateral breathing on the 3-5-7, no rest in between 50s)
8 x 25 Breath control 2 x 4-3-2-1
4 x 200 race pace (:20 rest)
100 Swim Cool-Down
The 450 set wasn't easy. I sort-of hate bilateral breathing as a general rule, so I wasn't overly excited to do it today. I know that it's good race practice, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. On the last 50 where were were supposed to be breathing every 7 strokes, I definitely had to cut it short twice and only go 5 strokes. Oh well. Not the end of the world. I still took my breath on the left!
On the last 25, Julia told us that if someone could make it with taking no breaths, we could skip the 4 x 50s fast that she had written into the workout. I have to tell you that I was fine with sacrificing that 200 yards for the one 25. There actually only ended up being 4 of us at practice (it was during the World Cup game) and three of the four of us made it without taking a breath. Thank goodness!
I actually did the same thing that I did yesterday at the bike ride and didn't turn on my watch. Since we started a little late and ended about 2 minutes early, I'd guess that we were probably only swimming about 50 minutes today. Still, it felt great to get back into the pool and I'm glad that I got one good swim workout in before the race.
Biking
Distance: ~ 20.00 miles
Swimming
Time: 50:00
Distance: 2350 yards = 1.33 miles
Pace: 37:35/mile
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Expect This And Worse
Although this morning wasn't quite as hot as the past few days (it was only 76 at 5:30), when Robert got to practice this morning, he said, "Expect this and worse for race day." Golly, that makes me feel great about doing NYC. I'm trying to remember why I thought doing a triathlon in the middle of July was a good idea?
I didn't pay attention to the workout today. Well, I did a little bit. We were supposed to bike for 50 minutes and run for 30 minutes. The biking part involved a lot of percentages (like 10 minutes at 75% then 5 minutes at 80% then five minutes at 90% ... blah blah blah). I figured I'd just go out there and do my best. I always sort of think that those five minute increments take care of themselves in the Park between the hills and the recovery down hill.
The bike ride went really well, I thought. I'm still somehow on this kick of averaging over 15 MPH, which is crazy and awesome. I don't, however, have too high of hopes for the triathlon. I actually don't really know what the course is like when you head north out of the city. I know that going south will be fast and flat, but I'm fine with the element of surprise.
For today's run, we were supposed to head north from 72nd Street up to the Reservoir, then head back south back to 72nd Street, run around Cherry Hill fountain and then to Dead Road. All of this is a mini simulation of the NYC Triathlon run course. I actually would like to run the whole course before the race, if possible. Maybe Friday or Sunday?
I actually felt pretty good on the run today. My shins were a little tired during the first mile or so, but then started to feel just fine. I was wondering if that was the first indication that my running shoes are biting the dust and I should switch to the new shoes that I bought but haven't used yet. I guess I probably should decide that this week so I'm not using brand new shoes for the first time during the race. Hopefully I can take the new ones for a test drive this weekend.
After I was done with today's run, I was so happy to get back on the bike. It was so much cooler on the bike than on the run! Of course, I didn't notice that while I was actually biking. When I left the Park at 7:00, the temperature had crept up to 80, so it's good to know that it can go up so quickly that early in the morning. Right now the 15 day forecast says that the high on July 18 is 90, so I guess this is all good training for race day.
Biking
Time: 48:20
Distance: 12.50 miles (15.65 miles total)
Pace: 15.52 MPH
Calories: 406
Maximum HR: 173 (82%)
Average HR: 160 (75%)
Running
Time: 26:28
Distance: 2.75 miles
Pace: 9:37/mile
Calories: 258
Maximum HR: 195 (92%)
Average HR: 175 (83%)
I didn't pay attention to the workout today. Well, I did a little bit. We were supposed to bike for 50 minutes and run for 30 minutes. The biking part involved a lot of percentages (like 10 minutes at 75% then 5 minutes at 80% then five minutes at 90% ... blah blah blah). I figured I'd just go out there and do my best. I always sort of think that those five minute increments take care of themselves in the Park between the hills and the recovery down hill.
The bike ride went really well, I thought. I'm still somehow on this kick of averaging over 15 MPH, which is crazy and awesome. I don't, however, have too high of hopes for the triathlon. I actually don't really know what the course is like when you head north out of the city. I know that going south will be fast and flat, but I'm fine with the element of surprise.
For today's run, we were supposed to head north from 72nd Street up to the Reservoir, then head back south back to 72nd Street, run around Cherry Hill fountain and then to Dead Road. All of this is a mini simulation of the NYC Triathlon run course. I actually would like to run the whole course before the race, if possible. Maybe Friday or Sunday?
I actually felt pretty good on the run today. My shins were a little tired during the first mile or so, but then started to feel just fine. I was wondering if that was the first indication that my running shoes are biting the dust and I should switch to the new shoes that I bought but haven't used yet. I guess I probably should decide that this week so I'm not using brand new shoes for the first time during the race. Hopefully I can take the new ones for a test drive this weekend.
After I was done with today's run, I was so happy to get back on the bike. It was so much cooler on the bike than on the run! Of course, I didn't notice that while I was actually biking. When I left the Park at 7:00, the temperature had crept up to 80, so it's good to know that it can go up so quickly that early in the morning. Right now the 15 day forecast says that the high on July 18 is 90, so I guess this is all good training for race day.
Biking
Time: 48:20
Distance: 12.50 miles (15.65 miles total)
Pace: 15.52 MPH
Calories: 406
Maximum HR: 173 (82%)
Average HR: 160 (75%)
Running
Time: 26:28
Distance: 2.75 miles
Pace: 9:37/mile
Calories: 258
Maximum HR: 195 (92%)
Average HR: 175 (83%)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Cycling Is Hungry Work
Yesterday I really had every intention on going out for a ride. But then I didn't want to wake up. Which was okay, because I could go after work. Except I ended up having to stay late at work. So, the bike ride didn't happen. Oh well. I realize that maybe I should be taking this triathlon that I have in, um, 18 days, more seriously, but I've come to the realization that I'm doing this for fun. Get it people? No super secret time goals. Nothing. Just fun.
I've especially decided to embrace the fun aspect of doing the NYC triathlon this year since it looks like they'll be going to a lottery next year and that's no fun at all. If this is my one shot for a while, I might as well enjoy myself!
With that in mind, I know that I still need to keep up the workouts so that I can finish with a smile on my face. We'll be away for the long weekend in Wisconsin, so I won't be able to bike or swim there, so I figure I should get in some decent rides before we leave. This morning I headed out for some loops in the Park.
Again, I didn't want to kill my legs all in one go, so I figured I'd just do one loop and then try to keep it consistent from there. I think I finished the first loop in just under 24 minutes and then tried to not have that increase. Nothing too notable about the ride this morning. I think I had my shoes too tight because after doing the second loop, both of my feet felt like they were non-existent from being numb, so I stopped quickly and loosened the straps on my shoes and headed off for the third loop. So much better! I'm going to have to remember this on race day as I'm sure I have the tendency to over, rather than under, tighten.
My feet weren't the only thing on my mind this morning, though. Even though I ate about 200 calories before I left for my ride, I was starving about 40 minutes into it. Why is it that biking makes me so hungry? Is it because while I'm running my stomach is bouncing around a lot more and I don't notice if I'm hungry? Whatever it is, I was ready to gnaw my arm off by the time I got home today. As luck would have it, Drew was home from his workout earlier than usual and was in the midst of making breakfast when I walked in the door!
I ended up doing three loops this morning, which felt really good. I'm hoping to do the same tomorrow morning before we head off for the weekend. I'm pretty happy that I've consistently been at 15 MPH or over the last few rides. I understand this is a small victory for a lot of people, but it's nice to see that I'm slowly gaining ground on the bike. I had hoped that I would have spent a lot more time on the bike this year by now, but I figure that after NYC is over, I can just do whatever I want and get in some really good long rides and not have to worry about anything!
Biking
Time: 1:13:26
Distance: 18.45 miles (20.30 miles total)
Pace: 15.07 MPH
Calories: 596
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)
I've especially decided to embrace the fun aspect of doing the NYC triathlon this year since it looks like they'll be going to a lottery next year and that's no fun at all. If this is my one shot for a while, I might as well enjoy myself!
With that in mind, I know that I still need to keep up the workouts so that I can finish with a smile on my face. We'll be away for the long weekend in Wisconsin, so I won't be able to bike or swim there, so I figure I should get in some decent rides before we leave. This morning I headed out for some loops in the Park.
Again, I didn't want to kill my legs all in one go, so I figured I'd just do one loop and then try to keep it consistent from there. I think I finished the first loop in just under 24 minutes and then tried to not have that increase. Nothing too notable about the ride this morning. I think I had my shoes too tight because after doing the second loop, both of my feet felt like they were non-existent from being numb, so I stopped quickly and loosened the straps on my shoes and headed off for the third loop. So much better! I'm going to have to remember this on race day as I'm sure I have the tendency to over, rather than under, tighten.
My feet weren't the only thing on my mind this morning, though. Even though I ate about 200 calories before I left for my ride, I was starving about 40 minutes into it. Why is it that biking makes me so hungry? Is it because while I'm running my stomach is bouncing around a lot more and I don't notice if I'm hungry? Whatever it is, I was ready to gnaw my arm off by the time I got home today. As luck would have it, Drew was home from his workout earlier than usual and was in the midst of making breakfast when I walked in the door!
I ended up doing three loops this morning, which felt really good. I'm hoping to do the same tomorrow morning before we head off for the weekend. I'm pretty happy that I've consistently been at 15 MPH or over the last few rides. I understand this is a small victory for a lot of people, but it's nice to see that I'm slowly gaining ground on the bike. I had hoped that I would have spent a lot more time on the bike this year by now, but I figure that after NYC is over, I can just do whatever I want and get in some really good long rides and not have to worry about anything!
Biking
Time: 1:13:26
Distance: 18.45 miles (20.30 miles total)
Pace: 15.07 MPH
Calories: 596
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
On A Roll
Even though Drew stayed in bed this morning (which makes it sound like he was lazy when the truth is that he didn't get home until 1 AM), I managed to get myself up and out of bed for a quick bike ride. I realized as I was pumping up my bike tires this morning that I still really need to take my bike for a tune-up. I kind-of wish that I was good at bike maintenance, but I realize that it's never going to be my strong suit, so I'm going to take advantage of the fact that since I bought my bike at Toga, they'll do the tune-ups for me! The only issue is that in order to take advantage of that fact, you actually have to take your bike there. Maybe tonight. Or this weekend?
I didn't really have a plan in mind for this morning. Maybe I should start thinking about that if I'm really going to put these triathlons back into play this year. And, to answer everyone's questions, I don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm waiting to see how this week plays out and then I'll make some final decisions next week. I just need one good training week under my belt.
So, without a plan, I headed to the Park and went riding. I was hoping that I could keep up the same speed as I had last Wednesday when I rode my bike. Last week I noticed that I could finish each individual mile in 4 minutes or less and I just kept the same mentality this week. It was actually really interesting to see which miles were fastest and which were the slowest. Interestingly enough, the slowest mile is those dumb rolling hills on the Westside. I think they're my arch nemesis. It's sort-of a fun game to see how far under 4:00 I can do each mile. Of course, this might not be the best game on the open road, but in the Park it can get a little boring doing the same old route again and again and again.
I ended up doing two loops of the Park today. My main focus while riding was to (1) stay in the biggest gear possible and try to push myself a little bit and (2) keep my elbows from locking. As far as keeping the bike in a bigger gear today, I think it was really successful. Obviously my speed didn't suffer (I was actually faster than last week), so that was a good boost to the old ego! It turns out, however, that doing this makes your legs pretty tired later on (although that could also have something to do with the fact that this is the first time I've been consistent with my workouts in who knows how long?).
I think I mentioned last week that I've had consistent elbow pain in my right elbow (the one I didn't break) when bike riding. Last week I realized that I was locking my elbow while I was riding and I think it was just getting stiff as a result. Today I concentrated on making sure my elbow stayed slightly bent and I didn't have any pain at all. Hopefully if I do that a few more times it will just become second nature. I'm guessing that moving my seat around might help that, but since I have no bike maintenance skills, I'm just going to go with what I know works for now.
I definitely had time to keep riding this morning and part of me wishes I would have to see how my legs felt after 18 miles, but I decided not to for two reasons: (1) tomorrow I'm going to go to the Terrier brick and I also have a 3 mile NYRR race after work and (2) if I bailed after 12 miles instead of 18, I could still get home in time to spend some time with Drew before he left for work early!
Tomorrow is quite the day, so I hope my legs will hold up! I have to say that they're tired, but it's a good tired feeling. I think I forgot what it was like to be training for a triathlon, but I like it.
Biking
Time: 47:52
Distance: 12.50 miles in the Park (14.20 miles total)
Pace: 15.67 MPH
Calories: 434
Maximum HR: 180 (85%)
Average HR: 165 (78%)
I didn't really have a plan in mind for this morning. Maybe I should start thinking about that if I'm really going to put these triathlons back into play this year. And, to answer everyone's questions, I don't know what I'm doing yet. I'm waiting to see how this week plays out and then I'll make some final decisions next week. I just need one good training week under my belt.
So, without a plan, I headed to the Park and went riding. I was hoping that I could keep up the same speed as I had last Wednesday when I rode my bike. Last week I noticed that I could finish each individual mile in 4 minutes or less and I just kept the same mentality this week. It was actually really interesting to see which miles were fastest and which were the slowest. Interestingly enough, the slowest mile is those dumb rolling hills on the Westside. I think they're my arch nemesis. It's sort-of a fun game to see how far under 4:00 I can do each mile. Of course, this might not be the best game on the open road, but in the Park it can get a little boring doing the same old route again and again and again.
I ended up doing two loops of the Park today. My main focus while riding was to (1) stay in the biggest gear possible and try to push myself a little bit and (2) keep my elbows from locking. As far as keeping the bike in a bigger gear today, I think it was really successful. Obviously my speed didn't suffer (I was actually faster than last week), so that was a good boost to the old ego! It turns out, however, that doing this makes your legs pretty tired later on (although that could also have something to do with the fact that this is the first time I've been consistent with my workouts in who knows how long?).
I think I mentioned last week that I've had consistent elbow pain in my right elbow (the one I didn't break) when bike riding. Last week I realized that I was locking my elbow while I was riding and I think it was just getting stiff as a result. Today I concentrated on making sure my elbow stayed slightly bent and I didn't have any pain at all. Hopefully if I do that a few more times it will just become second nature. I'm guessing that moving my seat around might help that, but since I have no bike maintenance skills, I'm just going to go with what I know works for now.
I definitely had time to keep riding this morning and part of me wishes I would have to see how my legs felt after 18 miles, but I decided not to for two reasons: (1) tomorrow I'm going to go to the Terrier brick and I also have a 3 mile NYRR race after work and (2) if I bailed after 12 miles instead of 18, I could still get home in time to spend some time with Drew before he left for work early!
Tomorrow is quite the day, so I hope my legs will hold up! I have to say that they're tired, but it's a good tired feeling. I think I forgot what it was like to be training for a triathlon, but I like it.
Biking
Time: 47:52
Distance: 12.50 miles in the Park (14.20 miles total)
Pace: 15.67 MPH
Calories: 434
Maximum HR: 180 (85%)
Average HR: 165 (78%)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
It's Just Like Riding A Bike
So, today was the big day! Last night I finally got around to putting my pedals back on my bike and pumping up the tires. I never did take my bike to Toga to have them give it a tune-up. I definitely still need to do this, though. It'll just have to wait a week, which isn't the end of the world.
This morning I ate, got dressed and headed out to see how the elbow would hold up on the bike. I got on the bike and nervously rode to the Park. So far, so good. As soon as I got into the Park, a squirrel ran in front of me and as I was braking, I was thinking to myself that I might get into another crash in less than 10 minutes of riding and then I might never get onto a bike again. Except the squirrel changed his mind and instead of continuing to run toward my bike tire, he turned around and ran back to where he came from. Whew.
I knew that I didn't want to be crazy and ridiculous, so I figured I'd do one loop and see how I felt. After doing that first loop, I felt great! I actually thought I had finished pretty fast, which was a good feeling. I figured that I might as well just keep on going at that point. I decided not to do the Harlem Hill a second time (wimpy, I know). Although those rollers coming down the West Side have never been my friend and they weren't today either.
All throughout the ride, I kept feeling my left elbow and moving it to make sure it was doing okay. Of course, my right elbow (the not broken one), in true fashion, decided to start hurting. This isn't anything new on the bike. I actually think that I might have figured out the problem today since I was paying so much attention to both of my elbows. I think I'm locking my right elbow on the bike and then when I go to move it (to get a drink, for instance) it's really stiff and tight. I don't have any solutions for this right now, so if someone else does, speak up!
So, I was trying to figure out what I think about these triathlons I've got coming up. New York still seems like a possibility to me. Doing double today's ride seems like it's doable. It's Timberman that I just can't say for certain. Doing five times today's ride seems like a whole other beast ... one that I'm not sure I can tackle in 9 weeks. Not to mention tacking a half-marathon on at the end!
I'll be away this weekend, so I'll lose a couple of days biking there, but I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate and let me get some longer rides in next week and weekend. No matter what, I'm so happy that today's ride was good. Even better than good, really! Today was my fastest ride in a long time ... maybe ever? Which isn't saying a whole lot about my cycling skills as a whole, but it's still enough to make me happy!
Biking
Time: 46:01
Distance: 11.73 miles in the Park (13.76 total)
Pace: 15.29 MPH
Calories: 372
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)
This morning I ate, got dressed and headed out to see how the elbow would hold up on the bike. I got on the bike and nervously rode to the Park. So far, so good. As soon as I got into the Park, a squirrel ran in front of me and as I was braking, I was thinking to myself that I might get into another crash in less than 10 minutes of riding and then I might never get onto a bike again. Except the squirrel changed his mind and instead of continuing to run toward my bike tire, he turned around and ran back to where he came from. Whew.
I knew that I didn't want to be crazy and ridiculous, so I figured I'd do one loop and see how I felt. After doing that first loop, I felt great! I actually thought I had finished pretty fast, which was a good feeling. I figured that I might as well just keep on going at that point. I decided not to do the Harlem Hill a second time (wimpy, I know). Although those rollers coming down the West Side have never been my friend and they weren't today either.
All throughout the ride, I kept feeling my left elbow and moving it to make sure it was doing okay. Of course, my right elbow (the not broken one), in true fashion, decided to start hurting. This isn't anything new on the bike. I actually think that I might have figured out the problem today since I was paying so much attention to both of my elbows. I think I'm locking my right elbow on the bike and then when I go to move it (to get a drink, for instance) it's really stiff and tight. I don't have any solutions for this right now, so if someone else does, speak up!
So, I was trying to figure out what I think about these triathlons I've got coming up. New York still seems like a possibility to me. Doing double today's ride seems like it's doable. It's Timberman that I just can't say for certain. Doing five times today's ride seems like a whole other beast ... one that I'm not sure I can tackle in 9 weeks. Not to mention tacking a half-marathon on at the end!
I'll be away this weekend, so I'll lose a couple of days biking there, but I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate and let me get some longer rides in next week and weekend. No matter what, I'm so happy that today's ride was good. Even better than good, really! Today was my fastest ride in a long time ... maybe ever? Which isn't saying a whole lot about my cycling skills as a whole, but it's still enough to make me happy!
Biking
Time: 46:01
Distance: 11.73 miles in the Park (13.76 total)
Pace: 15.29 MPH
Calories: 372
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Making It Up On My Own
When my alarm went off yesterday morning, I checked the weather and saw that it was a little bit cooler than I think I like it to be when biking and I decided to sleep in. I think it was the right call. My legs were exhausted just walking around yesterday, I can't imagine what they would have been like if I had gone biking too. I thought about it while I was at work and I thought that a swim might be just the thing that my legs needed. However, for the first time all year (I think) I had to stay late at work. I figured that the universe was just telling me that it should be a rest day! I don't feel bad about this at all since I skipped my normal rest day on Monday.
This morning I had a minor alarm clock malfunction (read: I pressed snooze one too many times) and was running about 10 minutes late to the Terrier brick. I have to say that I feel like it's a miracle that I got up and went this morning. I think that I normally would have told myself that since I was running late that it wasn't worth it, which definitely isn't the case. Granted, I didn't bike or run for quite as long as I did last week, but it was still a solid workout and I'm glad that I went.
Since I was late, I missed the part where Robert explained the workout. Although he had said last week that we would be doing the same thing for a while until it started to get lighter a bit earlier in the mornings. I assumed that meant ride for 50-60 minutes and run for about 20. I didn't really have a clear plan of attack on the bike this morning, so instead of heading south on the bike (from 72nd Street), I headed north. I did one full loop and then wasn't sure if I'd have quite enough time to do a second, so I (conveniently) cut off the Harlem Hill on the second loop.
I think now (of course hindsight is 20/20) that I would have had time, but I was a little nervous because I didn't want to be the last one back to pick up my gear when I was done with the run! Of course, it turned out that I was actually one of the first people to transition from bike to run, but I didn't mind. I just went out to do my quick run of the Lower Loop in the Park.
And it really was quick. Seriously - where did these legs come from? It seems like recently I've been a lot faster (unless there is some sort of traffic issue like running to/from the Park). I'm not complaining, but I'm just wondering where all this speed is coming from. I hardly remember the last time I was over 10 minutes/mile and that used to be fairly common.
When I was coming back from my running loop, it definitely appeared that I had missed the memo on running today as everyone else appeared to be doing something a little different (maybe sprints on the Mall?). But I don't think that really matters. I'm just glad that I actually got up and went, even though I was running late. And even if my workout was 10 minutes shorter than it should have been, I don't think those 10 minutes will be the make it or break it moment at any point during a triathlon.
Biking
Time: 48:48
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 14.14 MPH
Calories: 464
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 153
Total Biking Distance: 14.50 miles
Running
Time: 16:44
Distance: 1.80 miles
Pace: 9:17/mile
Calories: 187
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 169
This morning I had a minor alarm clock malfunction (read: I pressed snooze one too many times) and was running about 10 minutes late to the Terrier brick. I have to say that I feel like it's a miracle that I got up and went this morning. I think that I normally would have told myself that since I was running late that it wasn't worth it, which definitely isn't the case. Granted, I didn't bike or run for quite as long as I did last week, but it was still a solid workout and I'm glad that I went.
Since I was late, I missed the part where Robert explained the workout. Although he had said last week that we would be doing the same thing for a while until it started to get lighter a bit earlier in the mornings. I assumed that meant ride for 50-60 minutes and run for about 20. I didn't really have a clear plan of attack on the bike this morning, so instead of heading south on the bike (from 72nd Street), I headed north. I did one full loop and then wasn't sure if I'd have quite enough time to do a second, so I (conveniently) cut off the Harlem Hill on the second loop.
I think now (of course hindsight is 20/20) that I would have had time, but I was a little nervous because I didn't want to be the last one back to pick up my gear when I was done with the run! Of course, it turned out that I was actually one of the first people to transition from bike to run, but I didn't mind. I just went out to do my quick run of the Lower Loop in the Park.
And it really was quick. Seriously - where did these legs come from? It seems like recently I've been a lot faster (unless there is some sort of traffic issue like running to/from the Park). I'm not complaining, but I'm just wondering where all this speed is coming from. I hardly remember the last time I was over 10 minutes/mile and that used to be fairly common.
When I was coming back from my running loop, it definitely appeared that I had missed the memo on running today as everyone else appeared to be doing something a little different (maybe sprints on the Mall?). But I don't think that really matters. I'm just glad that I actually got up and went, even though I was running late. And even if my workout was 10 minutes shorter than it should have been, I don't think those 10 minutes will be the make it or break it moment at any point during a triathlon.
Biking
Time: 48:48
Distance: 11.50 miles
Pace: 14.14 MPH
Calories: 464
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 153
Total Biking Distance: 14.50 miles
Running
Time: 16:44
Distance: 1.80 miles
Pace: 9:17/mile
Calories: 187
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 169
Monday, April 12, 2010
It Smells Delicious!
This morning I decided in the interest of really sticking with this biking as much as I can before I lose my bike plan, I should skip the usual Monday day off and go for a bike ride instead. I had a doctor's appointment before work, so I had to leave the apartment at 8:10 (instead of my usual 9:00), so I got up early and planned on riding for about an hour.
I got to the Park around 5:30 and it was so peaceful and quiet. The weather was 54, according to my phone. After yesterday's overheating, I decided to wear shorts and two long-sleeved shirts. I think for about the first five minutes of riding my hands were cold, but I warmed up pretty quickly and was then perfect. Of course, the sun wasn't shining - it was pretty dark when I got to the Park!
The thing I noticed most about my ride today is that there was hardly anyone else out and about. There were probably the same amount of runners as usual, but the big "biker gangs" (as Drew calls them) weren't out on a Monday morning. All the birds were chirping and everything is in bloom in the Park and it just smells delicious. It'll be hard to remember that in a couple months when it's really hot and everything has the faint smell of garbage to it.
Not a very exciting ride this morning, I just did two loops in the Park and headed home. Nothing particularly noteworthy to mention. I stood up a couple times on the downhills to get my rear-end out of the seat. I seriously have to force myself to sit down when I first get on the bike. I try to hold myself up and just lightly rest my rear on the seat until my quads get tired of that and I sigh and resign myself to sitting down. Overall I think my rear is getting more and more used to sitting in a bike seat and I'm now determined to not have to break it in again, so hopefully I won't ever have to complain about all of this ever again!
Biking
Time: 53:59
Distance: 12.10 Miiles
Pace: 13.45 MPH
Calories: 450
Maximum HR: 159
Average HR: 142
Total Distance Biking: 13.50 miles
I got to the Park around 5:30 and it was so peaceful and quiet. The weather was 54, according to my phone. After yesterday's overheating, I decided to wear shorts and two long-sleeved shirts. I think for about the first five minutes of riding my hands were cold, but I warmed up pretty quickly and was then perfect. Of course, the sun wasn't shining - it was pretty dark when I got to the Park!
The thing I noticed most about my ride today is that there was hardly anyone else out and about. There were probably the same amount of runners as usual, but the big "biker gangs" (as Drew calls them) weren't out on a Monday morning. All the birds were chirping and everything is in bloom in the Park and it just smells delicious. It'll be hard to remember that in a couple months when it's really hot and everything has the faint smell of garbage to it.
Not a very exciting ride this morning, I just did two loops in the Park and headed home. Nothing particularly noteworthy to mention. I stood up a couple times on the downhills to get my rear-end out of the seat. I seriously have to force myself to sit down when I first get on the bike. I try to hold myself up and just lightly rest my rear on the seat until my quads get tired of that and I sigh and resign myself to sitting down. Overall I think my rear is getting more and more used to sitting in a bike seat and I'm now determined to not have to break it in again, so hopefully I won't ever have to complain about all of this ever again!
Biking
Time: 53:59
Distance: 12.10 Miiles
Pace: 13.45 MPH
Calories: 450
Maximum HR: 159
Average HR: 142
Total Distance Biking: 13.50 miles
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Another Day In The Saddle
I can't believe I'm already done with one week of Half-Ironman training. Only 19 more weeks until the race! Here is the workout schedule for Week 2 (click to enlarge):
Of course, since on today's schedule it says run and swim, I started out with a bike ride. I gotta tell you, my rear end is getting better after all this biking, but it's still not super excited to sit down when I first get on my bike. I figure if I just keep making myself get on the bike, I'll hopefully just get used to it over time.
When I checked the weather, my telephone said that it was 52. I'm still not sure I've figured out dressing for the bike quite yet, so I wore tights, shorts and two long-sleeved shirts. I think I would have been okay if the weather had actually been 52, but instead it was 60 and super sunny and I was getting pretty hot after only biking for about 10 minutes. I stopped and took off one of my shirts and tied it around my waist. After that I felt just about perfect. I probably could have done without the tights, but getting them off was too much of a production, so I suffered through it.
There was a race in Central Park today, but I didn't think it would interfere too much with what I had planned. I rode to the Park, and then did Harlem Hill repeats. I rode the Hill 4 times and then headed for home. I know that these shorter rides might not seem like a lot and really, they're probably not in the scheme of things, but I figure that any time that I can just get my butt in the saddle and ride isn't a waste of time. All of these little things add up and while I know I still need to work on longer rides and longer runs, I think I am pretty much on par with some of the other workouts for this week in terms of bike riding.
Biking
Time: 59:25
Distance: 11.75 Miles
Pace: 11.87 MPH
Calories: 446
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 142
Of course, since on today's schedule it says run and swim, I started out with a bike ride. I gotta tell you, my rear end is getting better after all this biking, but it's still not super excited to sit down when I first get on my bike. I figure if I just keep making myself get on the bike, I'll hopefully just get used to it over time.
When I checked the weather, my telephone said that it was 52. I'm still not sure I've figured out dressing for the bike quite yet, so I wore tights, shorts and two long-sleeved shirts. I think I would have been okay if the weather had actually been 52, but instead it was 60 and super sunny and I was getting pretty hot after only biking for about 10 minutes. I stopped and took off one of my shirts and tied it around my waist. After that I felt just about perfect. I probably could have done without the tights, but getting them off was too much of a production, so I suffered through it.
There was a race in Central Park today, but I didn't think it would interfere too much with what I had planned. I rode to the Park, and then did Harlem Hill repeats. I rode the Hill 4 times and then headed for home. I know that these shorter rides might not seem like a lot and really, they're probably not in the scheme of things, but I figure that any time that I can just get my butt in the saddle and ride isn't a waste of time. All of these little things add up and while I know I still need to work on longer rides and longer runs, I think I am pretty much on par with some of the other workouts for this week in terms of bike riding.
Biking
Time: 59:25
Distance: 11.75 Miles
Pace: 11.87 MPH
Calories: 446
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 142
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Where Are You Water Bottle?
This morning I got up and got ready for the Terrier brick. I have to say that after getting dressed, the first thing I did was check my bike tire, but this tube I put in seems to be holding out just fine. The problem with the other tube, I discovered, is that the hole in it is too close to the nozzle and I don't think that it's fixable no matter how many patches I put on. At least it wasn't user error! Of course, I was paranoid about it the entire time I was riding today.
I got to the Park and Robert told us that our workout would be the same as last week. Ride for 50-60 minutes pedaling the entire time, run for 20 and then do a half-mile loop running with your bike. I have to say that I was glad he told about the running with our bike part from the beginning. Last time I felt like it snuck up on me and I wasn't too happy about it.
The other thing I wasn't happy about? When I was riding today and reached for my water bottle only to discover that I had left it on the kitchen counter. Okay, not the end of the world, but a little bit annoying nonetheless.
Since we were supposed to pedal the entire time - uphill and downhill - I really tried to stay focused on that. I will admit that I did stop pedaling three times. The first time was when I was going up the East side by the 72nd Street Transverse at about 5:45 AM. The street lights were off and it was pitch black, so I stopped pedaling to slow down a little bit. It's actually a good thing I did because right after I had crossed 72nd Street, a biker came from the left and almost crashed right into me. The second time was just before 90th Street on my second loop of the Park. I could hear a lot of yelling before I could see who was doing the yelling. At first I thought that maybe someone had fallen, but it turns out that it was just a bunch of drunk kids yelling at the bikers and runners. The third time was at the 102nd Street transverse when a construction worker was telling everyone to stop so that a large dump truck could cross the street. I think that in all three instances I was justified in not pedaling and it was probably about a minute total that I wasn't pedaling, so I'm okay with that.
So, of course, I'm always paranoid about getting a flat while riding. I'm especially nervous after having just gotten a flat. Which meant that today, I was a nervous wreck. To add to that, I kept hearing a weird noise while I was riding (a metallic sound) and I couldn't figure it out. I was nervous that something was wrong with my bike. But, it wasn't until the end of the workout when I was running with my bike that I realized my CO2 cartridges and multi-tool were the culprit. Without a tube in my saddle bag (my spare is on my bike right now), they make a lot of noise rattling around in there!
After the bike, I changed shoes quickly and headed off on my run. I decided that I don't want to spend the whole season doing loops around the Lower Loop of the Park, so I decided to run north for 10 minutes, see how far I got, and then see if I could run back in the same amount of time. In 10 minutes, I had gotten to the Reservoir Path (so just over a mile). I turned around and ran back even faster than I had ran there. I have to say that I really felt like I was not moving at all while running, but I keep being surprised by my speed (not that I'm speedy by any stretch of the imagination) running off the bike.
As soon as I got back to the transition area, I grabbed my bike and headed off for my half-mile loop. I definitely remember last year the first time we did this, I could barely steer my bike at all. Now it seems like no big deal. (I should mention that when we do this, we can only use one hand and have to push our bike holding onto the saddle). This always seems like such a silly thing to practice, but it's extremely helpful transition practice!
I finished the workout with about 2 minutes to spare (the watchdogs are only there from 5:30-7:00), so I packed up my gear and headed home. And the best part of all about today is that (a) I wore shorts & a short-sleeved shirt on the bike and (b) I didn't get another flat! Whew!
Biking
Time: 55:06
Distance: 13.90 miles
Pace: 15.4 MPH
Calories: 528
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 155
Total Biking Distance: 16.95 miles
Running
Time: 24:26
Distance: 2.62 miles
Pace: 9:19/mile
Calories: 277
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 172
I got to the Park and Robert told us that our workout would be the same as last week. Ride for 50-60 minutes pedaling the entire time, run for 20 and then do a half-mile loop running with your bike. I have to say that I was glad he told about the running with our bike part from the beginning. Last time I felt like it snuck up on me and I wasn't too happy about it.
The other thing I wasn't happy about? When I was riding today and reached for my water bottle only to discover that I had left it on the kitchen counter. Okay, not the end of the world, but a little bit annoying nonetheless.
Since we were supposed to pedal the entire time - uphill and downhill - I really tried to stay focused on that. I will admit that I did stop pedaling three times. The first time was when I was going up the East side by the 72nd Street Transverse at about 5:45 AM. The street lights were off and it was pitch black, so I stopped pedaling to slow down a little bit. It's actually a good thing I did because right after I had crossed 72nd Street, a biker came from the left and almost crashed right into me. The second time was just before 90th Street on my second loop of the Park. I could hear a lot of yelling before I could see who was doing the yelling. At first I thought that maybe someone had fallen, but it turns out that it was just a bunch of drunk kids yelling at the bikers and runners. The third time was at the 102nd Street transverse when a construction worker was telling everyone to stop so that a large dump truck could cross the street. I think that in all three instances I was justified in not pedaling and it was probably about a minute total that I wasn't pedaling, so I'm okay with that.
So, of course, I'm always paranoid about getting a flat while riding. I'm especially nervous after having just gotten a flat. Which meant that today, I was a nervous wreck. To add to that, I kept hearing a weird noise while I was riding (a metallic sound) and I couldn't figure it out. I was nervous that something was wrong with my bike. But, it wasn't until the end of the workout when I was running with my bike that I realized my CO2 cartridges and multi-tool were the culprit. Without a tube in my saddle bag (my spare is on my bike right now), they make a lot of noise rattling around in there!
After the bike, I changed shoes quickly and headed off on my run. I decided that I don't want to spend the whole season doing loops around the Lower Loop of the Park, so I decided to run north for 10 minutes, see how far I got, and then see if I could run back in the same amount of time. In 10 minutes, I had gotten to the Reservoir Path (so just over a mile). I turned around and ran back even faster than I had ran there. I have to say that I really felt like I was not moving at all while running, but I keep being surprised by my speed (not that I'm speedy by any stretch of the imagination) running off the bike.
As soon as I got back to the transition area, I grabbed my bike and headed off for my half-mile loop. I definitely remember last year the first time we did this, I could barely steer my bike at all. Now it seems like no big deal. (I should mention that when we do this, we can only use one hand and have to push our bike holding onto the saddle). This always seems like such a silly thing to practice, but it's extremely helpful transition practice!
I finished the workout with about 2 minutes to spare (the watchdogs are only there from 5:30-7:00), so I packed up my gear and headed home. And the best part of all about today is that (a) I wore shorts & a short-sleeved shirt on the bike and (b) I didn't get another flat! Whew!
Biking
Time: 55:06
Distance: 13.90 miles
Pace: 15.4 MPH
Calories: 528
Maximum HR: 174
Average HR: 155
Total Biking Distance: 16.95 miles
Running
Time: 24:26
Distance: 2.62 miles
Pace: 9:19/mile
Calories: 277
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 172
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Scotland Run
Before we get to today's run, yesterday was a big day for me at work. Nothing work related. Triathlon related, of course! It started out with a delivery from Amazon where I got these:
I should mention that I was in need of some new goggles. I could only swim 300-400 yards before getting an eye full of water. I think the old ones were just getting old and tired. My old goggles are Speedos, but I read so many good reviews on these Aqua Sphere ones that I figured I just had to give them a shot. I decided to get the "lady" version because I have a freakishly small head and thought that these might be better for me.
So, as soon as I got them, I did what anyone would do. I opened them up and stuck them to my face. And then I IMed Laura and said, "I'm wearing goggles right now. They fit great. I bought them from the internet. They're just suctioned on my face and not popping off!!!" I should mention that I don't have an office at work, I sit where people could walk by, so after realizing that the goggles weren't popping off on their own, I decided I should take them off.
The afternoon got better in the form of another delivery - this one from Xterra:
My wetsuit with sleeves (and a fancy blue inside)! As soon as I saw that this had been delivered to the mail room, I had to go down and get it. I couldn't wait for the mail guy to deliver to my desk. All I really wanted to do was take it to the bathroom and try it on, but I decided that I should wait until I got home. I mean, I was all ready with my new goggles and all! It definitely looked like it should fit, but it's hard to tell. It smelled like new rubber and it was very exciting.
After work, I packed up all my goodies and headed uptown to pick up my number for today's 10K run. This is what I ended up getting:
Normally, we just get numbers and t-shirts for NYRR races. All this extra stuff (the bag, the hat, the flag - there were also temporary tattoos and a pen) was a bonus. Plus, I thought the t-shirt ended up being pretty cool that it looked like a map of NYC and a Scottish tartan. After getting my goodies, I finally headed home.
As soon as I walked in the door, I tried on my wetsuit. No sense in waiting around, right? Seems to fit perfectly. I need to test it in the pool, of course, but I'm really hopeful. I also was really impressed that as soon as I put it on I was hot immediately. Seems like exactly what I'll be needing for San Francisco's chilly bay!
Now, for this morning. It was 56 when I was getting ready to leave for the race. I was wearing shorts and a thin long-sleeved shirt. I actually wondered before leaving if I should wear a tank-top underneath my shirt in case I got hot, but I figured I would be okay. (Turns out you should always listen to that little voice in your head).
I was really excited about today's 10K course. We started at the bottom of the Park on the Westside, near 62nd Street and ran north up the Westside, which meant that we'd be running clockwise in the Park. Most runners and races go counter-clockwise. However, the NYC Triathlon takes basically this same route and the NYC Marathon does as well for the portion in the Park. I was excited to do this route in a race as practice for the Triathlon in July.
While I was waiting for the race to start and was standing in my corral, I was starting to feel a little bit warm. That did not seem like a very good sign. I also can't remember if I've ever felt warm at the start of a race. Most of them seem to be pretty cool and then I warm up while running. I decided at that point to push my sleeves up and just do the best I could.
It's funny because right after you start the race, you see the sign for Mile 6 and then you run through the finish only to have to run all the way around the Loop before getting back to the real finish. I felt great when the race started. I was just running a nice and easy 9:30/mile pace for the first two miles. I don't know where this new ease and love of running is coming from. Maybe part of it is bike riding avoidance? Heading to the Harlem Hill, I felt really confident that I was going to have a good race. I ran up the first part of the hill and then the downhill and felt okay.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a fire hose that was spraying people - I opted not to get soaked and just got a mist from the side. Then came the second part of the Harlem Hill. I felt really great while I was running up the hill. I was proud of myself because I was passing so many walkers and I was thinking how much my running fitness has really increased as a result of all the running I've been doing recently. And then I got to the top of the hill and realized that I was in a bit of trouble. I started feeling really light-headed and felt a headache coming on.
I decided that I would just keep on running and from then on I would stop and walk through all the remaining aid stations and drink water in order to try to stay hydrated enough. I have to say that after wishing and hoping for warmer weather, I sort-of forgot how to deal with it. I just wasn't ready for the warmer temperatures today. However, my plan of running until I got to an aid station and then walking through and sipping water seemed to work pretty well for me for the remainder of the race. I even stopped at the aid station in the last mile, which seemed ridiculous, but was definitely the right thing to do.
When I could see the sign for Mile 6, I started picking up my pace a little bit. The last bit of the race is uphill and I really pushed through and passed as many people as I could. I also managed to get a sub 10-minute-per-mile finish! I'm really happy with that. I think that if I had been more prepared for the heat, I could have probably finished with a 60 minute 10K time, but as it is, I knocked 1:01 off my last 10K time, so I'm still proud of the improvement. And the truth is that I think I actually walked more during this race than I did in the last one!
After the race, I grabbed another cup of water and the typical bagel and apple that they hand out after NYRR races. They were also handing out these Stoats bars (please note my short fingernails are for the wetsuit wearing):
I have to say that I didn't think it looked that great. I was pretty dense looking, but I looked at the ingredients and thought that they looked pretty good without any scary chemicals, so I decided to give it a try. YUM!
And then I looked at that ingredient list again and saw that the third ingredient was butter. No wonder it was so tasty! I ate about 1/3 of the bar on my way home from the race along with the apple. I carried my bagel home with me. At some corner when I was stopped for the light, a woman came up to me and said, "You've just run all that way and now you're going to eat a bagel?" I told her that my plan was to take my bagel home with me and put some fried eggs on top. She told me that she was glad I was going to be getting some protein with "all those carbs". I'm not sure why it made any difference to her, but then she made a comment something along the lines of, "well, I guess you did just run all that way so you can eat whatever you want, huh?"
Um, no. That is not how these things work. Maybe if I didn't care about my weight or general fitness then I would think that it was okay to eat whatever I wanted after working out, but my response to her question was, "No, I can't. That's how Americans get fat with that sort of mentality." Sorry, but it's true. And, actually, I'm going to steal an excerpt from Julia's Huffington Post article to show what I mean:
Let this be a lesson to you: working out daily does not cancel out eating crap. It's simple math, really. A typical workout will burn 300-500 calories. Calories in a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake? 700-1,100. In a restaurant hamburger (let's say Chili's)? 800-1,100. These numbers mean little until you combine them with the, "I worked out so I can eat what I want" mentality. Basically, saying you worked out so you can allow yourself a piece of cheesecake, or splurge on a burger instead of a turkey sandwich (which has about 300 calories), is fallacious. One piece of cheesecake equals two hard workouts, and who's gonna work out twice in a day just because they want a slice of cheesecake? Certainly not me.
Normally I don't get so high-and-mighty on the blog, but sometimes people just say something that gets me so frustrated. I'm doing triathlons because I really like this sport. I'm also doing them to keep myself motivated to workout on a daily basis. Unlike a lot of people out there, I've never really struggled with my weight, but I know that I would probably like to turn some of my body fat into muscle if at all possible. But, I work out and I watch what I eat 90% of the time. And sometimes, yeah, because I ran all that way, I do splurge a little bit. But mostly I just want to eat good foods after working out. Funny how our bodies take care of those cravings for us.
And just to be accountable, I ate my bagel with two eggs, which were fried in a little bit of butter for a total of about 500 calories. And I ate a small Macintosh apple plus a small amount of that bar. I'd guess that brought my total up to about 650? Considering I burned over 750 while running, I think I did okay. And now I'll stop talking about food on my fitness blog (although I do think they're related).
Running
Time: 1:01:11 (first time my watch matched exactly with the official results!)
Distance: 6.20 miles (10K)
Pace: 9:52/mile
Calories: 759
Maximum HR: 194
Average HR: 178
I should mention that I was in need of some new goggles. I could only swim 300-400 yards before getting an eye full of water. I think the old ones were just getting old and tired. My old goggles are Speedos, but I read so many good reviews on these Aqua Sphere ones that I figured I just had to give them a shot. I decided to get the "lady" version because I have a freakishly small head and thought that these might be better for me.
So, as soon as I got them, I did what anyone would do. I opened them up and stuck them to my face. And then I IMed Laura and said, "I'm wearing goggles right now. They fit great. I bought them from the internet. They're just suctioned on my face and not popping off!!!" I should mention that I don't have an office at work, I sit where people could walk by, so after realizing that the goggles weren't popping off on their own, I decided I should take them off.
The afternoon got better in the form of another delivery - this one from Xterra:
My wetsuit with sleeves (and a fancy blue inside)! As soon as I saw that this had been delivered to the mail room, I had to go down and get it. I couldn't wait for the mail guy to deliver to my desk. All I really wanted to do was take it to the bathroom and try it on, but I decided that I should wait until I got home. I mean, I was all ready with my new goggles and all! It definitely looked like it should fit, but it's hard to tell. It smelled like new rubber and it was very exciting.
After work, I packed up all my goodies and headed uptown to pick up my number for today's 10K run. This is what I ended up getting:
Normally, we just get numbers and t-shirts for NYRR races. All this extra stuff (the bag, the hat, the flag - there were also temporary tattoos and a pen) was a bonus. Plus, I thought the t-shirt ended up being pretty cool that it looked like a map of NYC and a Scottish tartan. After getting my goodies, I finally headed home.
As soon as I walked in the door, I tried on my wetsuit. No sense in waiting around, right? Seems to fit perfectly. I need to test it in the pool, of course, but I'm really hopeful. I also was really impressed that as soon as I put it on I was hot immediately. Seems like exactly what I'll be needing for San Francisco's chilly bay!
Now, for this morning. It was 56 when I was getting ready to leave for the race. I was wearing shorts and a thin long-sleeved shirt. I actually wondered before leaving if I should wear a tank-top underneath my shirt in case I got hot, but I figured I would be okay. (Turns out you should always listen to that little voice in your head).
I was really excited about today's 10K course. We started at the bottom of the Park on the Westside, near 62nd Street and ran north up the Westside, which meant that we'd be running clockwise in the Park. Most runners and races go counter-clockwise. However, the NYC Triathlon takes basically this same route and the NYC Marathon does as well for the portion in the Park. I was excited to do this route in a race as practice for the Triathlon in July.
While I was waiting for the race to start and was standing in my corral, I was starting to feel a little bit warm. That did not seem like a very good sign. I also can't remember if I've ever felt warm at the start of a race. Most of them seem to be pretty cool and then I warm up while running. I decided at that point to push my sleeves up and just do the best I could.
It's funny because right after you start the race, you see the sign for Mile 6 and then you run through the finish only to have to run all the way around the Loop before getting back to the real finish. I felt great when the race started. I was just running a nice and easy 9:30/mile pace for the first two miles. I don't know where this new ease and love of running is coming from. Maybe part of it is bike riding avoidance? Heading to the Harlem Hill, I felt really confident that I was going to have a good race. I ran up the first part of the hill and then the downhill and felt okay.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a fire hose that was spraying people - I opted not to get soaked and just got a mist from the side. Then came the second part of the Harlem Hill. I felt really great while I was running up the hill. I was proud of myself because I was passing so many walkers and I was thinking how much my running fitness has really increased as a result of all the running I've been doing recently. And then I got to the top of the hill and realized that I was in a bit of trouble. I started feeling really light-headed and felt a headache coming on.
I decided that I would just keep on running and from then on I would stop and walk through all the remaining aid stations and drink water in order to try to stay hydrated enough. I have to say that after wishing and hoping for warmer weather, I sort-of forgot how to deal with it. I just wasn't ready for the warmer temperatures today. However, my plan of running until I got to an aid station and then walking through and sipping water seemed to work pretty well for me for the remainder of the race. I even stopped at the aid station in the last mile, which seemed ridiculous, but was definitely the right thing to do.
When I could see the sign for Mile 6, I started picking up my pace a little bit. The last bit of the race is uphill and I really pushed through and passed as many people as I could. I also managed to get a sub 10-minute-per-mile finish! I'm really happy with that. I think that if I had been more prepared for the heat, I could have probably finished with a 60 minute 10K time, but as it is, I knocked 1:01 off my last 10K time, so I'm still proud of the improvement. And the truth is that I think I actually walked more during this race than I did in the last one!
After the race, I grabbed another cup of water and the typical bagel and apple that they hand out after NYRR races. They were also handing out these Stoats bars (please note my short fingernails are for the wetsuit wearing):
I have to say that I didn't think it looked that great. I was pretty dense looking, but I looked at the ingredients and thought that they looked pretty good without any scary chemicals, so I decided to give it a try. YUM!
And then I looked at that ingredient list again and saw that the third ingredient was butter. No wonder it was so tasty! I ate about 1/3 of the bar on my way home from the race along with the apple. I carried my bagel home with me. At some corner when I was stopped for the light, a woman came up to me and said, "You've just run all that way and now you're going to eat a bagel?" I told her that my plan was to take my bagel home with me and put some fried eggs on top. She told me that she was glad I was going to be getting some protein with "all those carbs". I'm not sure why it made any difference to her, but then she made a comment something along the lines of, "well, I guess you did just run all that way so you can eat whatever you want, huh?"
Um, no. That is not how these things work. Maybe if I didn't care about my weight or general fitness then I would think that it was okay to eat whatever I wanted after working out, but my response to her question was, "No, I can't. That's how Americans get fat with that sort of mentality." Sorry, but it's true. And, actually, I'm going to steal an excerpt from Julia's Huffington Post article to show what I mean:
Let this be a lesson to you: working out daily does not cancel out eating crap. It's simple math, really. A typical workout will burn 300-500 calories. Calories in a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake? 700-1,100. In a restaurant hamburger (let's say Chili's)? 800-1,100. These numbers mean little until you combine them with the, "I worked out so I can eat what I want" mentality. Basically, saying you worked out so you can allow yourself a piece of cheesecake, or splurge on a burger instead of a turkey sandwich (which has about 300 calories), is fallacious. One piece of cheesecake equals two hard workouts, and who's gonna work out twice in a day just because they want a slice of cheesecake? Certainly not me.
Normally I don't get so high-and-mighty on the blog, but sometimes people just say something that gets me so frustrated. I'm doing triathlons because I really like this sport. I'm also doing them to keep myself motivated to workout on a daily basis. Unlike a lot of people out there, I've never really struggled with my weight, but I know that I would probably like to turn some of my body fat into muscle if at all possible. But, I work out and I watch what I eat 90% of the time. And sometimes, yeah, because I ran all that way, I do splurge a little bit. But mostly I just want to eat good foods after working out. Funny how our bodies take care of those cravings for us.
And just to be accountable, I ate my bagel with two eggs, which were fried in a little bit of butter for a total of about 500 calories. And I ate a small Macintosh apple plus a small amount of that bar. I'd guess that brought my total up to about 650? Considering I burned over 750 while running, I think I did okay. And now I'll stop talking about food on my fitness blog (although I do think they're related).
Running
Time: 1:01:11 (first time my watch matched exactly with the official results!)
Distance: 6.20 miles (10K)
Pace: 9:52/mile
Calories: 759
Maximum HR: 194
Average HR: 178
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Shorts On The Bike
I could go on and on about why I didn't get up this morning and go biking, but instead I'll say I thought it was too cold and I didn't get up. End of story. Plus, I knew it'd warm up as the day went on and I was really more keen on biking in warmer weather. So, after work today, that's what I did. I donned my bike shorts (not tri shorts), a long-sleeved shirt and a short-sleeved shirt and headed off to the Park. And that's it! I didn't wear tights ... just shorts! Whoo hoo for warmer weather. (Don't worry, I'm realistic and know that this is just temporary, but I'm going to take full advantage while I can). I think it was just under 70 when I left the apartment.
When I got to the Park, it was crammed with cars and pedestrians. I continually remind myself that this is why I should get up early and go, but obviously sometimes that's just not enough. I realized pretty quickly that the idea of hanging out in the lower part of the Park just wasn't on the agenda for the day. But that's okay because I need the hill practice and doing repeats on the Harlem Hill was probably exactly what I needed.
So, I think I did the Hill 5 times. Not a ton of practice, but enough. I stayed in the middle ring (in the front) the whole time and tried to keep it in the middle of the front ring instead of switching all the way to the easiest side. I wanted to convince myself to do the Hill in the big ring, but I just got back to biking and since I want to have a big biking weekend, I figured that I shouldn't blow out my legs quite yet.
In all today, I didn't get a lot of riding in since I wanted to get home before it started to get dark. I realize that it's funny that I don't mind riding in the dark in the morning, but that's because I'll see about five cars total. Riding in the dark at rush hour is a totally different story. Really not my cup of tea. Even if the weather won't be getting that much better as time goes on at least the days will be getting longer!
I'm not quite sure what my plan for tomorrow is. I do know that after work I want to go pick up my race number for Saturday's 10K that I'm running. I also would like to take advantage of the good weather this weekend and go on a bike ride to New Jersey to tackle some of the hills there. I guess I'll see how it goes! Real half-Ironman training starts next week! Then I'll be better at knowing what to do and when to do it.
Biking
Time: 51:39
Distance: 11.70 miles
Pace: 13.59 MPH
Calories: 448
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 146
Total Distance Biking: 13.16 miles
When I got to the Park, it was crammed with cars and pedestrians. I continually remind myself that this is why I should get up early and go, but obviously sometimes that's just not enough. I realized pretty quickly that the idea of hanging out in the lower part of the Park just wasn't on the agenda for the day. But that's okay because I need the hill practice and doing repeats on the Harlem Hill was probably exactly what I needed.
So, I think I did the Hill 5 times. Not a ton of practice, but enough. I stayed in the middle ring (in the front) the whole time and tried to keep it in the middle of the front ring instead of switching all the way to the easiest side. I wanted to convince myself to do the Hill in the big ring, but I just got back to biking and since I want to have a big biking weekend, I figured that I shouldn't blow out my legs quite yet.
In all today, I didn't get a lot of riding in since I wanted to get home before it started to get dark. I realize that it's funny that I don't mind riding in the dark in the morning, but that's because I'll see about five cars total. Riding in the dark at rush hour is a totally different story. Really not my cup of tea. Even if the weather won't be getting that much better as time goes on at least the days will be getting longer!
I'm not quite sure what my plan for tomorrow is. I do know that after work I want to go pick up my race number for Saturday's 10K that I'm running. I also would like to take advantage of the good weather this weekend and go on a bike ride to New Jersey to tackle some of the hills there. I guess I'll see how it goes! Real half-Ironman training starts next week! Then I'll be better at knowing what to do and when to do it.
Biking
Time: 51:39
Distance: 11.70 miles
Pace: 13.59 MPH
Calories: 448
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 146
Total Distance Biking: 13.16 miles
Thursday, March 25, 2010
First Brick of 2010!
And I was excited about it? Crazy as it sounds, yes, I was. I got everything all laid out last night so that all I'd have to do this morning was eat and put on my clothes. I wore the same thing that I wore yesterday evening bike riding - tights, tri shorts, two long-sleeved shirts. I brought along my gloves, just in case, but ended up not needing them. We have to be there at 5:30 in the morning, so I tried to get to bed early last night!
When I got to the Park, I was tiny bit surprised to see how many people were there today. I guess lots of people were looking for the practice. Before he gave us the workout, Robert asked how many people were on their first ride of the year and a couple people raised their hands. I felt like I didn't have to since I went last night, even though that's technically probably cheating.
Of course, my rear end definitely noticed the fact that I went riding last night and this morning! Oof. I noticed it the second I sat down on my bike this morning. So, um, yeah. It wasn't my most comfortable ride ever. But, I managed to get through it. I definitely got up out of the saddle a couple times, just to coast, which didn't help my times any.
The workout for today was to ride for about an hour and then run for about 20 minutes. I ended up doing two loops of the Park, plus a little bit before heading back to put on my running shoes. The biking today was fine - other than my rear - but I will say that I did notice my legs were a tiny bit tired from yesterday. I knew I wasn't going as fast today as I did yesterday, but I'm okay with that.
After putting on my running shoes, I decided to just run the Lower Loop of the Park. I didn't think it would take me 20 minutes, but I knew it'd be pretty close. I didn't have that jelly-leg feeling, instead my legs felt like lead. I really felt like I was running with a ball and chain. Even though it doesn't sound that great, it actually wasn't too bad. I even passed some people while I was running, which doesn't happen very often. Probably because even though my legs were leaden, I was running faster than usual!
When I got back to my bike, I noticed that everyone else was grabbing their bikes and doing a half-mile loop running with the bike. I was hoping I could sneak out of that part, but as soon as I got back, Robert spotted me and said "Grab your bike!". Hard to argue with that. So, I didn't start my watch, but it was about 5 minutes more running.
I actually really liked today's workout. I always liked the bricks last year and I'm hoping that this year isn't any different. Robert said that once it starts getting lighter earlier in the day we'll do more transition practice during the bricks, but for now we'll do longer rides and runs. After reading some of the detailed information on Alcatraz, I'm now realizing that there are lots of transitions, so the extra practice could be helpful!
Biking
Time: 57:33
Distance: 12.99 miles
Pace: 13.54 MPH
Calories: 616
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Total Bike Mileage: 16.54 miles
Running #1
Time: 16:18
Distance: 1.82 miles
Pace: 8:57/mile
Calories: 202
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 173
Running #2
Time: 5:00
Distance: 0.49 miles
Pace: 10:12/mile
When I got to the Park, I was tiny bit surprised to see how many people were there today. I guess lots of people were looking for the practice. Before he gave us the workout, Robert asked how many people were on their first ride of the year and a couple people raised their hands. I felt like I didn't have to since I went last night, even though that's technically probably cheating.
Of course, my rear end definitely noticed the fact that I went riding last night and this morning! Oof. I noticed it the second I sat down on my bike this morning. So, um, yeah. It wasn't my most comfortable ride ever. But, I managed to get through it. I definitely got up out of the saddle a couple times, just to coast, which didn't help my times any.
The workout for today was to ride for about an hour and then run for about 20 minutes. I ended up doing two loops of the Park, plus a little bit before heading back to put on my running shoes. The biking today was fine - other than my rear - but I will say that I did notice my legs were a tiny bit tired from yesterday. I knew I wasn't going as fast today as I did yesterday, but I'm okay with that.
After putting on my running shoes, I decided to just run the Lower Loop of the Park. I didn't think it would take me 20 minutes, but I knew it'd be pretty close. I didn't have that jelly-leg feeling, instead my legs felt like lead. I really felt like I was running with a ball and chain. Even though it doesn't sound that great, it actually wasn't too bad. I even passed some people while I was running, which doesn't happen very often. Probably because even though my legs were leaden, I was running faster than usual!
When I got back to my bike, I noticed that everyone else was grabbing their bikes and doing a half-mile loop running with the bike. I was hoping I could sneak out of that part, but as soon as I got back, Robert spotted me and said "Grab your bike!". Hard to argue with that. So, I didn't start my watch, but it was about 5 minutes more running.
I actually really liked today's workout. I always liked the bricks last year and I'm hoping that this year isn't any different. Robert said that once it starts getting lighter earlier in the day we'll do more transition practice during the bricks, but for now we'll do longer rides and runs. After reading some of the detailed information on Alcatraz, I'm now realizing that there are lots of transitions, so the extra practice could be helpful!
Biking
Time: 57:33
Distance: 12.99 miles
Pace: 13.54 MPH
Calories: 616
Maximum HR: 175
Average HR: 158
Total Bike Mileage: 16.54 miles
Running #1
Time: 16:18
Distance: 1.82 miles
Pace: 8:57/mile
Calories: 202
Maximum HR: 184
Average HR: 173
Running #2
Time: 5:00
Distance: 0.49 miles
Pace: 10:12/mile
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
