Sunday Ride

We did another long ride today… just shy of 50 miles, but no running.

During the middle of the ride, a section of our usual course was closed down to vehicle traffic, which made the ride better then normal. There seemed that there was an abundance of cyclists out today. It seemed like a convention or something like it and the funny thing was that these guys were all riding expensive bikes not what would be normally out for the Sunday ride.

It wasn’t until were we approaching our normal turn around point that we saw what was going on. It seems that today was the Wolverine State Time Trial Championships and we were smack in the middle of it. Who knew…? I felt like the guy on the bike in that AOL High Speed Internet commercial.

It was kind of funny and weird that as we were approaching the finish line, people were cheering us on. It felt like I was lying… maybe not lying more like fibbing.

We rested a few minuets and turned around to head back. The official starter noticed that we might not be part of the event and asked us to ride on the shoulder so that we would not get in the way of the rides. I am amazed that he was able to tell that we were not part of the event… maybe it was the way we looked.

Might it have been that I was the only one that had an iPod strapped to my arm, or that my helmet was circa 1980’s, or that I was actually not on a time trial bike. It was either these little clues or he was an unemployed member of the psychic friends network.

Basic Training is Back

So my club has taken the advice of their members (go figure) and put one of my favorite classes back in its regular timeslot. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would take a popular class that is was always full and change the format. They changed it to CRT, which stands for Cardio Resistance Training. Mid Life and I have had a short discussion on the topic and my take was that if I wanted to do Cardio I would jump in a spin class, swim, or run. Besides the theory of killing two birds with one stone comes to play here, if I do this it also helps out in my sport. Also, if I wanted to do weights, I would go into the gym and pump iron, which I don't like to do.

So, that is why I like basic training. It is still in a group environment, the weights that are used are low weights with a lot of reps, and there is very little grunting from the steroid boys as they don't take the class because it is "basic"... lol.

Another reason I like the class is that it hits every part of the body, which the CRT class did not. (Time limitations) When I was done with the CRT classes, I didn't feel that I got a good enough weight training session in and would routinely need to do some more in the gym. After taking the Basic Training class again, my body is sore... the kind of sore from working out.

One last thing about this is that it has solidified a day of training for me. On Thursday I will either do a brick (bike ride followed by a run outdoors), or if it rains it is to the gym for the basic training class followed by a fitness yoga class. Fitness yoga is a slightly more advanced class that incorporates more strength posses and the yoga part that I need to improve… flexibility.

I like to Eat

What can I say I like to eat, that's why I work out.

I had taken a month long semi hiatus. By this, I mean that I only worked out once or twice per week. It is amazing how fast I put on the pounds. In just four short weeks, I had put on ten pounds. Now I vow to get this weight off before I run the Steelhead Tri. I was closer to the Clydesdale division then my race weight of 185 lbs. Nevertheless, I’m back at it hard and furious.

Today was the first brick (bike / run) of the summer. We biked close to 40 miles and were planning to do a 5k run afterwards. Our legs were kind of beat from the ride so we only were able to muster a two mile run after the bike.

I hope that over the next few weeks I’ll be able to post more on this blog as the Steelhead Half Ironman Tri approaches. I have some good ideas on some subject matter and need to get it into this blog.

Race Report: Dexter to Ann Arbor Half Marathon

This race was going to be one of my races that I was going to compete in this summer. I have not been training to vigorously for it as I am still trying to increase my speed and stamina with my running. I feel comfortable on a bike but the run and eventually the swim will need to pick it up.

Not to be sidetracked… let’s get back to the report. The race had approximately 2500 half marathoner’s in it this year, which is a good number of runners. The race day conditions were ideal. 53 degrees with a slight wind at race start. During the run, it sprinkled a little to keep the body temperatures down. My friend and I got to the race just in time to see the start. Yep, that’s right, we watched the start of the race. I had to go to the bathroom before the start again for the fourth time that morning. I have this reoccurring theme of having to use the bathroom right before a race… must be butterflies.

So, as I was getting back from the port a potty, I was trying to tie my shoes, get my heart rate monitor, headphones, race bib all on at once it seemed. Let’s just say that this was not what I would call a classic start. We waited a bit to watch the masses run past the start line and jumped in at the end of the pack. We wanted to wait so that we would have a clear run so that we wouldn’t have to start at a jog pace.

As we started to head into Dexter, we caught up with the larger pack and joined into the pack. There are some good and bad aspects to pack running. On the bad side are that you need to be careful not to run or be run into while in a pack. Another bad thing about it is that you are limited to the pack pace while running. The good part of pack running is that you don’t get as tired as you would do to drafting and it allows for conversation with your fellow runners. Unfortunately, I don’t like to talk while I’m running. My friend and I have this unspoken rule… he talks… I listen. I may add a “ah ha”, or “I see,” but no more real conversation then that. Anyways, I don’t think it bothers him that I don’t talk, and I know it doesn’t bother me if he talks. Besides, if I start to loose focus, I can always put on the headphones.

We ran with what I thought was good pack. The times where right around a 9:30 minute pace. There was a girl’s track team that we ran with that had a good coach that I was listening to as well. She had some good information to share with her team and I was utilizing as well. (Relaxing your arms when running downhill, leaning into an uphill, etc.) We kept this pace for about 3-4 miles with not much variance. During the middle portion of the race, the pace slowed down a bit as my friend was having a difficult time maintaining the pace with the hills that we encountered. At the halfway point, we had turned in a time of 1:04 not great, but not bad.
Shortly thereafter, we encountered our first long hard hill. My friend wanted to slow down some more and told me to keep up my pace. I didn’t plan on running by myself, but I listened to him and kept my pace. I drank my Cliff Shot and tried not to overdo the water/Gatorade stations. I didn’t really run with anyone for the next three miles and by mile 10, I was passing a lot of people that were slowing down. At the 10-mile marker, I had turned in a time of 1:32:45, which meant that I was speeding up. I was worried that would burn out before the final long hill.

My goal time was also within my grasp. I wanted to run sub 2 hours for the race. I needed to run the last 5k in 27:15 that was very doable. With one mile to go I was still on pace. All I needed to do was to finish with a 9-minute mile. As the finish line was approaching I was still on pace until the last hill loomed ahead of me. I started to run the hill just like all of the other hills. The bad thing about the final hill is that it is about a half mile long. It’s not that it’s steep… it’s just long, and by the end of it, it has drained the rest of the stored energy your body had. There was a time that all I wanted to do was slow down, but I also wanted to finish strong. As I crested the hill there was a short sprint to the finish line. My heart was beating like mad… 174 bpm (103% of theoretical max heart rate). As I crossed the finish line, I kept walking, tried to regain my breath, and looked down at my watch. I saw that I had just missed my time goal... 2:01 flat. The last hill did me in!

I ran the 10k version two years ago and had a time of 57:45 (9:18/mile pace). During this race, I ran the last 10k in 55:30. I also negative split my half marathon. I wasn’t trying to do that, it just worked out that way. The only thing that I would have done differently would have been to keep my friend running with me and crossed that line a minute faster. Well there is always next year.