Hug your loved ones! Believe in magic for at least one day.
Merry Christmas to all.
I will be going away for about a week.
When I get back the training begins in earnest.
Have a wonderful Holiday.
Jeffrey
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Goal inflation
It relearned this lesson yesterday. It seems to come up for me a couple of times a year.
I heard Friday night about a 5k on Hilton Head Saturday morning that I had forgotten about. I thought if things were calm when I got into work I would have someone cover for me and I would go and run it instead of doing speedwork later in the day. ( the initial or REAL goal)
I got up Saturday morning and started thinking about how fast to start out on the run. (mistake # 1) I should have started at a little under 5k pace and built at the end if I felt okay. Instead I remembered an article I had read about going out fast in a 5k because it is too short of a race to slow that much. (WRONG).
I decided to start fast (mistake #2) and hold on as much as possible. By now I was confident that I could PR with this approach!
The race starts and I took off. at the 1/2 mile mark I looked at my Garmin and saw that my avg pace for the 1/2 mile was 5:45. My previous pr 5k pace was 6:55ish. Any runner can tell you the rest of the story. By the end of the first mile I was down to 6:15/mi. By the end of mile 2 it was 7:08 and the end of the 3rd 7:28 and my lungs were screaming. I was a full 30 seconds off of the PR which I probably could have broken had I started easya t around 7/mi and pushed the last mile.
Lesson learned:
Your first goal you set for an event is the REAL goal. sure in a 5k entered last minute it is not that big of a deal. But in an Ironman it is possible to notch your goals up several times durring the year as your fitness improves- leaving you in a very dangerous position at the starting line.
Side note: a painful morning running is still more fun than staying at work!
Train smart. HAVE FUN!
Jeffrey
I heard Friday night about a 5k on Hilton Head Saturday morning that I had forgotten about. I thought if things were calm when I got into work I would have someone cover for me and I would go and run it instead of doing speedwork later in the day. ( the initial or REAL goal)
I got up Saturday morning and started thinking about how fast to start out on the run. (mistake # 1) I should have started at a little under 5k pace and built at the end if I felt okay. Instead I remembered an article I had read about going out fast in a 5k because it is too short of a race to slow that much. (WRONG).
I decided to start fast (mistake #2) and hold on as much as possible. By now I was confident that I could PR with this approach!
The race starts and I took off. at the 1/2 mile mark I looked at my Garmin and saw that my avg pace for the 1/2 mile was 5:45. My previous pr 5k pace was 6:55ish. Any runner can tell you the rest of the story. By the end of the first mile I was down to 6:15/mi. By the end of mile 2 it was 7:08 and the end of the 3rd 7:28 and my lungs were screaming. I was a full 30 seconds off of the PR which I probably could have broken had I started easya t around 7/mi and pushed the last mile.
Lesson learned:
Your first goal you set for an event is the REAL goal. sure in a 5k entered last minute it is not that big of a deal. But in an Ironman it is possible to notch your goals up several times durring the year as your fitness improves- leaving you in a very dangerous position at the starting line.
Side note: a painful morning running is still more fun than staying at work!
Train smart. HAVE FUN!
Jeffrey
Friday, December 21, 2007
What's next?
Well here I am less than a week after my 1st ultra and I am chomping at the bit! I know I should probably just relax fo a little while but I am really ready to go! I have sort of a forced break comming up over the Holidays. So I guess that will be good to let me recharge and get ready for the year ahead.
Jan 1st I will start the run streak. When I get home on the 2nd I will start Master cleanse to get totally detoxed and healthy. Do to the low calories on master clense I will probably wait until it is over on about the 12th to do a significant long run. My plan until the Relay for life in May is to do one Mega run each month starting at about 33 miles and building each month. two of the other week I will do a sorta long run of about 20 miles. And one week each month I will limit the long run to 10-15 miles to allow for recovery. I know that this is a lot less than other people do but I want to be reasonible about time and I want to continue to work the bike and the swim as well.
January I will start to up the speedwork so that I can try to PR for the Hilton Head 1/2 Marathon Feb 9th.
I am also starting to check out crossfit and try some of those excercises. I'm not ready to do the WOD's yet but hopefully early in the year I will be. If you havn't checked it out go to Crossfit.com. It's amazing!
I hope everyone has a Merry Xmas! and a Happy New year.
Jeffrey
Jan 1st I will start the run streak. When I get home on the 2nd I will start Master cleanse to get totally detoxed and healthy. Do to the low calories on master clense I will probably wait until it is over on about the 12th to do a significant long run. My plan until the Relay for life in May is to do one Mega run each month starting at about 33 miles and building each month. two of the other week I will do a sorta long run of about 20 miles. And one week each month I will limit the long run to 10-15 miles to allow for recovery. I know that this is a lot less than other people do but I want to be reasonible about time and I want to continue to work the bike and the swim as well.
January I will start to up the speedwork so that I can try to PR for the Hilton Head 1/2 Marathon Feb 9th.
I am also starting to check out crossfit and try some of those excercises. I'm not ready to do the WOD's yet but hopefully early in the year I will be. If you havn't checked it out go to Crossfit.com. It's amazing!
I hope everyone has a Merry Xmas! and a Happy New year.
Jeffrey
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Fat ass 50k race report
Well I'm back home afyer my first 50k race. The Fat ass 50k in Lancaster, SC. I HAD A BLAST.
Here's the report:
I started out conservatively at about 9:45 pace. there were rolling hills in the first half of the race which I decided to run, but I did take them easy- not letting my heart rate get up. It was hard to watch people pull away from me, but I figured on my first attempt at the distance I needed to be smart. I was about in the middle of the pack ( a small pack of about 20) by the 5 mile mark. I stayed at that pace, taking in 150 calories every 3 miles.
Around 12 miles I was feeling great. starting to get the runners high but reminding myself to be patient. I also started passing/ gaining on people, which gave me a boost.
I found that I was loosing a lot of time at the rest stops because I had a fuel belt for hydration instead of 1 larger bottle. I had to pause to fill 4 small bottles instead of 1 big one or a camel back. I will remedy that for the next one.
At around mile 20 I started passing people again. I think the early pacing paid off. I didn't experience any slowing and this is when the real hills came into play. I still felt strong so I decided to continue to run the hills as long as my heart rate didn't climb too much. I knew there was one monster hill of about 12% grade for 3/4 mile at about mile 27 and figured I would wait and see about that one.
I passed a couple of more runners on the up-hills.
When I got to the last big hill at 27 I decided to run it because there were only 4 miles left and I felt good. I was suprised that on the down hill sections I was able to really let it go. It was easier than trying to slow down. Some of my fastest miles were between 26-28.
I got passed by someone who had been pacing her friend until about mile 24. He wanted to walk it in and sent her up the road. Wow she looked strong! She passed me around 29ish and probably finished at least 1/4 mile ahead of me, probably more.
The last 2 miles I felt great! one at 9:20 1 at 8:50, some of my strongest of the day.
I ended up at 5 hours 8 min. Beating my goal of 5:15. I chit chatted a little bit and ate some corn bread that Cluade sinclaire and his wife had made- yum! and then hopped in the car to go to Columbia and hang out at the zoo with the family.
I had heard that 50k would feel like much more than 5 miles more than a Marathon, but I really didn't feel any diferent to me. Granted I didn't run anywhere near Marathon pace, but as long as I took in calories on schedule I felt I could have run for quite a bit longer. It gave me a lot of confidence that I will be able to reach 100k at the RFL in May.
Aftermath- I feel great! very little muscle soreness, joints feel fine! I'm ready to go! I think I might like this Ultra stuff : )
Here's the report:
I started out conservatively at about 9:45 pace. there were rolling hills in the first half of the race which I decided to run, but I did take them easy- not letting my heart rate get up. It was hard to watch people pull away from me, but I figured on my first attempt at the distance I needed to be smart. I was about in the middle of the pack ( a small pack of about 20) by the 5 mile mark. I stayed at that pace, taking in 150 calories every 3 miles.
Around 12 miles I was feeling great. starting to get the runners high but reminding myself to be patient. I also started passing/ gaining on people, which gave me a boost.
I found that I was loosing a lot of time at the rest stops because I had a fuel belt for hydration instead of 1 larger bottle. I had to pause to fill 4 small bottles instead of 1 big one or a camel back. I will remedy that for the next one.
At around mile 20 I started passing people again. I think the early pacing paid off. I didn't experience any slowing and this is when the real hills came into play. I still felt strong so I decided to continue to run the hills as long as my heart rate didn't climb too much. I knew there was one monster hill of about 12% grade for 3/4 mile at about mile 27 and figured I would wait and see about that one.
I passed a couple of more runners on the up-hills.
When I got to the last big hill at 27 I decided to run it because there were only 4 miles left and I felt good. I was suprised that on the down hill sections I was able to really let it go. It was easier than trying to slow down. Some of my fastest miles were between 26-28.
I got passed by someone who had been pacing her friend until about mile 24. He wanted to walk it in and sent her up the road. Wow she looked strong! She passed me around 29ish and probably finished at least 1/4 mile ahead of me, probably more.
The last 2 miles I felt great! one at 9:20 1 at 8:50, some of my strongest of the day.
I ended up at 5 hours 8 min. Beating my goal of 5:15. I chit chatted a little bit and ate some corn bread that Cluade sinclaire and his wife had made- yum! and then hopped in the car to go to Columbia and hang out at the zoo with the family.
I had heard that 50k would feel like much more than 5 miles more than a Marathon, but I really didn't feel any diferent to me. Granted I didn't run anywhere near Marathon pace, but as long as I took in calories on schedule I felt I could have run for quite a bit longer. It gave me a lot of confidence that I will be able to reach 100k at the RFL in May.
Aftermath- I feel great! very little muscle soreness, joints feel fine! I'm ready to go! I think I might like this Ultra stuff : )
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
New Beginings.... A little early
I have always been an impatient sort. I.m ready to start the New Year's resolutions now! I want to set the goals, make the plan and get it started!
This weekend I will be running in my first Ultra! A Fat Ass 50k in Lancaster, SC. I am really looking forward to it, although it is supposed to be rainy and cold. Oh well, maybe my feet will get numb and I won't feel any pain late in the race!
I really don't know what to expect on Saturday, I know it will be fun though. I have been training okay, although not specifically for this distance. I did an Ironman 5 weeks ago so the aerobic base should still be there ,...enough to get me through anyway, I'm not going to be setting any records for sure! I will go out slow and then ease off as team slug likes to say.
I raced a 1/2 Marathon and a 10k since the Ironman and had a long run of 16 miles on trails last Fri. All that is left now is short runs, rest, and carbs.
I am going to focus on the run this year. The bike has always been my strength. I would like to bring the run up to that level. I will work on speed in the pool as well but will really focus on running.
One goal I know I want to achieve is to have a 1 year streak of running every day. At least one mile. EVERY day of 2008.
I'll save some of the other goals for New Years Day.
This weekend I will be running in my first Ultra! A Fat Ass 50k in Lancaster, SC. I am really looking forward to it, although it is supposed to be rainy and cold. Oh well, maybe my feet will get numb and I won't feel any pain late in the race!
I really don't know what to expect on Saturday, I know it will be fun though. I have been training okay, although not specifically for this distance. I did an Ironman 5 weeks ago so the aerobic base should still be there ,...enough to get me through anyway, I'm not going to be setting any records for sure! I will go out slow and then ease off as team slug likes to say.
I raced a 1/2 Marathon and a 10k since the Ironman and had a long run of 16 miles on trails last Fri. All that is left now is short runs, rest, and carbs.
I am going to focus on the run this year. The bike has always been my strength. I would like to bring the run up to that level. I will work on speed in the pool as well but will really focus on running.
One goal I know I want to achieve is to have a 1 year streak of running every day. At least one mile. EVERY day of 2008.
I'll save some of the other goals for New Years Day.
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