Busy Weekend

I decided to hit it hard this weekend. Most of it came from wanting to get a long run in as well as run a dry run through the mach tenn course.

Nearing the end of a rainy Friday at work i decided to leave a little early to both try to avoid the post work traffic on TN-127 and i had a small window where it wasn't raining. So i headed out to the recreation center on woods and knocked out the course. I hopped on the bike and road out, it was pretty humid as the sun was out and it just finished raining. Road the loop, nothing special, i got it done in 51 min. Got back and put the bike up and started running... This running with tired legs is rough, much like last time, it took me about a mile for me to tell my legs that they were running come hell or high water... The rolling hills aren't really so bad. It was my longest run since the CMM as well. I've been concentrating on running the trail at work with some people that are faster than me and they only run 3.5 miles at lunch. The 4 mile run on the course took me 37 min. The sun was beating down on me the whole time. There was really no shade the whole time.

So on to Saturday... I got up early and road in the dogwood ride. 62 miles through Franklin county. I got rained on pretty good right before climbing up the hill at alto. I'd never been up that route before. It was challenging and pretty good scenery as well. Overall the ride went well. Took my time, and stopped at the aid stations for some snacks. I was supposed to head out to Fayetteville for a BBQ with Jessie later that afternoon but it was canceled due to the forecast of rain. So exhausted i went home and slept for a few hours then i was off to Jessie's for dinner.

Sunday again i got up good and early for a 10 mile run. I ran a route i ran before which included 3 laps of the 3 mile loop out of the rec center with one of the laps taking a spur over I-24 before heading back towards the rec center. I was pretty impressed with my performance after the first lap. I guess it took me a little while to get loosened up, etc. It was a nice and cool morning for the run, it was around 60 degrees. I wasn't complaining.

After the running, Jessie and I headed up to the resonance fair. It was a good time. Threw some axes, and ate food that should kill a man... i don't think anyone was ever supposed to fry a milky way bar. :S

I'll take it easy this week and I'm looking forward to testing myself on memorial day.

Weekly totals:
Swim: 4650 yrds
Bike: 88.1 mi
Run: 21 mi

Tri Training

Well after the CMM I've shifted my training to get ready for these tris.

I've been busy and with the rain and all my training has been struggling anyway... I have yet to do a long run since the half.

I've been running at lunch with some people from the design group at work. They are fast. I can hold my ground with them on their first lap. After that i make it about half way until i start to drop back and then shortly after that want to die. I've ran with them 4 times. I've managed to pull a negative split each time and almost every time i wonder how the hell.... Its a 1.75 mile trail and we run 2 laps. Best time so far is 30:20. I'm hoping that running with them will make me faster and in a few weeks I'll be able to hold my ground to them.

I've also been doing some short bike rides. 10-12 miles. So far in all of my training i am probably going to be the least prepared for the bike ride. Probably because of the 3 its the one I'm the most comfortable with.

Swimming is still going alright. We did a T-30 the other day. I improved by 25 yrds. I was kinda hoping for better as the first one i really paced myself as i wasn't really even sure if i could swim for 30 minutes non stop haha. So naturally i was more comfortable with my second one. I need to get to where I'm comfortable with doing the flip turns during it and I'll knock it out. I've been trying to do them more and more. I need to find a way to get in an open water swim. The water is probably still pretty chilly.

Today i also did my first brick training. I did 11.5 miles on the bike and then turned around and did a 2.2 mile run. The expectation was upheld, my legs didn't like me for the first half mile or so but they loosened up after and i did alright. It also felt like i was running really slow however i managed to crank out a 8:48 pace. I also got a pretty bad cramp in my chest toward the end of my run, maybe the worst one I've had.

So on to next week. Hopefully i can hit it hard. Memorial day is fast approaching.

CMM 2009 Half

This blogging thing is sometimes a chore haha...

Anyway, Leading up to the CMM i had a pretty huge taper, as with all the rain i had quite a few baseball games. Almost every night. So needless to say i didn't get as much running or cross training in as I'd have liked to. I had a 12 mile run on Easter that left me feeling pretty good about the race. In the next two weeks i ran a total of 9 miles (one 6 and one 3 miles). That's less than half of what i hoped...

Anyway, the race was supposed to be hot. It was hot, not as hot as Hawaii running but the combination between the hills and the heat took its toll on me. I started running with chad. We both had pretty much the same goal. Goal being that we felt that we might be able to get a 2:00 time. We started in corral 12 with the 2 hour pacer from the striders. The first 5k of the race was strong. Somewhere after mile 4 we started dropping off... before we got to mile 5 the 2 hour guy was out of reach for us. Somewhere around that time i also got bottle necked at an aid station and lost chad. I was hurting but maintaining a reasonable pace. I managed to catch up to chad by mile 7. Just after i caught him, i was able to spot Jessie in the crowd of people running the opposite way, she was around mile 5.

After that i was still hurting but still pushing. My 10k split was still decent. Shortly before the 10 mile mark, chad told me he'd see me at the finish line and he dropped back. At the 10 mile split i was still on track for my declared finishing time of 2:05. Another mile down the road, everything fell apart. My lower back started aching. I told myself i was too close to the end to let that bother me. Right at the split off of the half marathon i couldn't take the pain anymore. By now it was shooting down my legs and just a tight aching pain to lift my legs followed.

I had to pull over and stretch... I'm sure i looked miserable. One of the running coaches approached me to make sure i was OK even. I stretched my back, and walked a little hoping that it would loosen me up. I started to jog slowly again, to what was seemly worse pain, plus my legs felt like anchors.

I ran walked through mile 11... and tried to run again at 12... same but i was a little more motivated. I stopped to walk one last time, for a little bit... Then i made it to the bridge over the river, at this point, i sucked it up and ran. 2:11 was still seemly in sight (i started my watch a little late so i really only had an estimate). I ran down the hill... around the bend, and to the finish line. I finished up with a 2:13:18.

I'll take it. I'd had really hoped for a tad better, but hey its my first one. Gives me something to improve on.

I recovered in the finisher's area with some fruit, drinks, etc... then i made my way to try to cheer Jessie on as she crossed the finish line. I waited and watched a few people go by and Jessie rounded the bend i was a little late seeing her and tried to yell for her... she was in the zone and just ran right past haha. She did well especially given the heat and that there were 3 consecutive aid stations that were bone dry for her. Her finishing time didn't publish however. She is in the 2:30 range however. Hopefully they will get that straightened out soon.

On to the triathlons. GJCC and Mach Tenn are on my list. I am also considering running the middle half in the fall, and maybe hoping to complete a full marathon by the end of the year.