While getting for the Black Mountain Marathon (run in conjunction with the 40 mi Mount Mitchell Challenge), my biggest worry is specificity of training. The race is hilly. As in, mountainous. As in, you run UP UP UP the freakin' mountain. It's very hard to mimic that type of topography in the Triangle. So I'm a little anxious about being completely ready for the race. My hope relies on two things: 1) a training run last weekend at the Uwharrie National Park (with an upcoming race) was fairly hilly. I didn't feel fast, but I felt prepared and confident I would know when to run and when to walk; 2) my training mileage has me pretty much prepared to run an ultra, so although my race is only (HAH!) 26.2 miles, with the 13.1 miles UP, it's comparable.
I've returned to the social run at The Athlete's Foot (sorry, Capital RunWalk), which is always fun. It usually ends up being a stress-less tempo run. Recently I've been running with a high school sophmore who's shown up. Sometimes I don't know if he's trying to brag, or if he's overconfident, or just being a typical teenager. I definitely wouldn't say yet I'm mentoring him, but I hope he'll pick up some good tips. My biggest worry is his ambitious goal of professional sports. He fully intends to pursue either professional baseball, or professional running. For the former, he shouldn't be concentrating on getting in a half marathon. For the latter, he should be more realistic. This past Tuesday, I easily dropped him after 4 miles with a 7:30 pace. I know I'm quick for rec runners, but this should've been a breeze for pro-potential.
Ah well. This morning was a drizzling-to-raining-to-POURING single track run at Umstead. I've had to walk for safety due to trail technicality. This was a first that blinding rain (also using a headlamp) slowed me down significantly. Heart-racing run.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
My New Years Resolutions:
Given up artificial sweeteners. At least the packets, so diet sodas, certain sugar-free products and what not are still in. It's just been a bad habits that's worth working on kicking. My biggest worry was removing it from my coffee, but so far it's been pretty good with out it.
Stop weighing myself daily. I'll still do it about once a week, but in my efforts to not be so controlling of my diet and weight, and to let my energy and performance rather than my weight dictate my eating habits, staying of the scale should be helpful.
I have a few other ones, but they'll stay a little closer to the chest.
Let me say how much I love oatmeal. I've really come to appreciate it's versatility. It's a fantastic base for just about anything. It's great just plain, with a little sugar or honey or jam or maple syrup or .... During the holidays my favorite was with pumpkin puree and some dairy such as Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. The utility really came to light when I discovered a more savory dish by adding turkey sausage and some cheese. The result has been a phenomenal meal that is reminisce of sausage gravy (so think a porridge-y version of biscuits and gravy). So in savory dishes, oatmeal can work a lot like grits, especially if you're using the coarser Steel cut variety.
In honor of such, I happened across this website with a little oatmeal devotion:
Kath Eats
I hate to admit it, but rest/easy days are useful. Instead of another run, yesterday consisted of an afternoon sessions with the bike trainer (think spinning). Low intensity and low impact, it gave this morning's run a lot of energy and pep. It felt really good. Probably killed my energy for tomorrow's race (the 10-mile Little River Trail Run), but as a low-priority event, I won't be terrible anxious about it.
Given up artificial sweeteners. At least the packets, so diet sodas, certain sugar-free products and what not are still in. It's just been a bad habits that's worth working on kicking. My biggest worry was removing it from my coffee, but so far it's been pretty good with out it.
Stop weighing myself daily. I'll still do it about once a week, but in my efforts to not be so controlling of my diet and weight, and to let my energy and performance rather than my weight dictate my eating habits, staying of the scale should be helpful.
I have a few other ones, but they'll stay a little closer to the chest.
Let me say how much I love oatmeal. I've really come to appreciate it's versatility. It's a fantastic base for just about anything. It's great just plain, with a little sugar or honey or jam or maple syrup or .... During the holidays my favorite was with pumpkin puree and some dairy such as Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. The utility really came to light when I discovered a more savory dish by adding turkey sausage and some cheese. The result has been a phenomenal meal that is reminisce of sausage gravy (so think a porridge-y version of biscuits and gravy). So in savory dishes, oatmeal can work a lot like grits, especially if you're using the coarser Steel cut variety.
In honor of such, I happened across this website with a little oatmeal devotion:
Kath Eats
I hate to admit it, but rest/easy days are useful. Instead of another run, yesterday consisted of an afternoon sessions with the bike trainer (think spinning). Low intensity and low impact, it gave this morning's run a lot of energy and pep. It felt really good. Probably killed my energy for tomorrow's race (the 10-mile Little River Trail Run), but as a low-priority event, I won't be terrible anxious about it.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
2011 Follow up
I promised a review of 2011, so here it is. I realized I was just planning on going over my running, but I guess it's worth saying something about my swimming and biking.
Though I planned on racing a half-Ironman, my biking turned out to truly just be a training tool. Just a yearly summary, from my beginnertriathlete.com log, I biked 3098 miles, for 177 hours, 53 minutes. I know some of my cycling was on the trainer, where I can't track mileage, so I don't know how, or if that was factored into that summation. For 2012 I don't really have any cycling goals. It would be nice to hit that stride where I feel ready again to train for a half- or full Ironman, but I'm not holding my breath.
Swimming I completed a total of 472,497 yards (268.5 miles) for 117 h, 41 minutes. I was pretty good about tracking distance AND time together. However, in some of my later workouts it was impractical to match distance to actual swimming time (i.e. excluding rest time on the walls). For races, I completed four open water swims. Three one miles, and one two miles, they were all part of the Triangle Open Water Swim Series. In each I placed first in my age group (though only of about two swimmers). In 2012 I'd like to do as many as possible, but I've already spotted some trail races and obligations that may affect that. Like last year, I'm also keeping my eye open for a convenient marathon swimming event. There were two in October that caught my eye, but my enthusiasm and motivation for cold open water swimming may stand in my way.
Ahh, now to running. There's a discrepancy between my two logs (beginnertriathlete and excel) and I'll defer to my excel spreadsheet.
January - 112.38 miles
February - 207.53
March - 234.62
April - 234.49
May - 0
June - 43.08
July - 187.99
August - 280.24
September - 318.12
October - 259.55
November - 402.65
December - 325.44
Total of 2606.09 miles for 363:48:27, with an average of 8:23 min/mile.
The obvious increase in mileage came from my ultra training. The lack of miles in the spring was when I broke my foot. I should disclose that in the later part of the year, with so much running on the trails, there was a bit of estimation on certain runs, based on my perceived pace or extrapolation from parts of the run I could measure. My average pace was much slower from 2010 (7:36), but my mileage was way up (from 1769), and my training was different. Different focus (ultra running vs. short triathlons) and different terrain (mix with majority trails vs. essentially all road).
2012 is going to be an exciting year and I can't wait to see what it will hold. In the short term I have another local trail race in about two weeks, and a full marathon in February that will involve climbing Mt. Mitchell! Over the horizon, I'm just dying to slug out some ultras. March is looking to include either a 50k or 50 miler. In June, there's the North Face Challenge OR the Chattanooga Stage Race. My big interest is doing the JFK 50 miler in Novemeber, and there may or may not be another race sometime in September or October. Right now the sky's the limit.
Though I planned on racing a half-Ironman, my biking turned out to truly just be a training tool. Just a yearly summary, from my beginnertriathlete.com log, I biked 3098 miles, for 177 hours, 53 minutes. I know some of my cycling was on the trainer, where I can't track mileage, so I don't know how, or if that was factored into that summation. For 2012 I don't really have any cycling goals. It would be nice to hit that stride where I feel ready again to train for a half- or full Ironman, but I'm not holding my breath.
Swimming I completed a total of 472,497 yards (268.5 miles) for 117 h, 41 minutes. I was pretty good about tracking distance AND time together. However, in some of my later workouts it was impractical to match distance to actual swimming time (i.e. excluding rest time on the walls). For races, I completed four open water swims. Three one miles, and one two miles, they were all part of the Triangle Open Water Swim Series. In each I placed first in my age group (though only of about two swimmers). In 2012 I'd like to do as many as possible, but I've already spotted some trail races and obligations that may affect that. Like last year, I'm also keeping my eye open for a convenient marathon swimming event. There were two in October that caught my eye, but my enthusiasm and motivation for cold open water swimming may stand in my way.
Ahh, now to running. There's a discrepancy between my two logs (beginnertriathlete and excel) and I'll defer to my excel spreadsheet.
January - 112.38 miles
February - 207.53
March - 234.62
April - 234.49
May - 0
June - 43.08
July - 187.99
August - 280.24
September - 318.12
October - 259.55
November - 402.65
December - 325.44
Total of 2606.09 miles for 363:48:27, with an average of 8:23 min/mile.
The obvious increase in mileage came from my ultra training. The lack of miles in the spring was when I broke my foot. I should disclose that in the later part of the year, with so much running on the trails, there was a bit of estimation on certain runs, based on my perceived pace or extrapolation from parts of the run I could measure. My average pace was much slower from 2010 (7:36), but my mileage was way up (from 1769), and my training was different. Different focus (ultra running vs. short triathlons) and different terrain (mix with majority trails vs. essentially all road).
2012 is going to be an exciting year and I can't wait to see what it will hold. In the short term I have another local trail race in about two weeks, and a full marathon in February that will involve climbing Mt. Mitchell! Over the horizon, I'm just dying to slug out some ultras. March is looking to include either a 50k or 50 miler. In June, there's the North Face Challenge OR the Chattanooga Stage Race. My big interest is doing the JFK 50 miler in Novemeber, and there may or may not be another race sometime in September or October. Right now the sky's the limit.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Like everybody else, I'll do a little year in review. It's certainly been a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. Luckily my memory sucks, so this shouldn't be too lengthy. Most of what I will remember will come from reviewing my running log.
This time last year I was just coming off of my IT band issues after I started training too soon after the City of Oaks Marathon. At that time I was still committing my training to triathlon. Following my step-wise progression, this was suppose to be the year of the half-Ironman, so I signed up for the White Lake Half since several other friends were doing so.
Training was going great. I had a high volume routine with a couple of two-a-days and lengthy brick workouts. I still wasn't completely satisfied with my cycling. In April, I had a full race weekend where I ran both the Tarheel 10 mile and the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon on back-to-back days. I met my goals in both with sub-7:00 min miles (which happened to be a PR for my half marathon!).
Unfortunately only two weeks before the race, I developed a stress fracture that sidelined my race plans. This meant a solid 4-6 weeks without any running, again devoting most of my energy to swimming and cycling. It wasn't until July that I was able to start hitting the pavement and trails again.
At some point I decided to put triathlons on the back burner. I don't casually give up on goals like that, but I ended up weighing my sparse enjoyment of cycling against the things I didn't like about it: the costs, the time commitment, the hazards, etc. For the moment, cycling and I just aren't in-sync, so for it's just a cross-training activity.
What I did fall in love with was trail running, which I guess I started after Greg invited me to a weekly trail run headed by Daren Marceau, Meredith and his father[/in law]. The focal point of my training became the Medoc Mountain Trail Marathon in October. With a lengthy build up, I hit some incredibly mileage goals that, given the time to publish, I would proudly boast. The training paid off with a first place in my age group, and fourth overall.
That race quickly moved into my first attempt at an ultramarathon. I had eight weeks to get ready for the Lookout Mountain 50 miler in December. If my marathon training was grand, then this was epic. 6 hour runs, 5 and 5 back-to-back long runs, 3x3 hours, etc. One week I will proudly say I broke the 100 mile mark.
Sad to say, a week before the race I fell of my roof and broke two ribs. Still able to run; however the "nagging" was just too distracting and unpredictable that I decided to postpone the race. What's followed since is some pretty typical weekly mileage, but broken down differently where I've been running based of what I want to do, as oppose to a set schedule.
Yesterday, my final run was the Carrboro 50k, where I successfully ran all 3 laps. It doesn't make me an ultra-runner since it's not an official race, but it settled some frustration I had from not being able to run my 50 miler.
Now, it's time for a run. Maybe a follow up post I'll put in some of my basic stats from the year, and speculate on what 2012 will bring.
This time last year I was just coming off of my IT band issues after I started training too soon after the City of Oaks Marathon. At that time I was still committing my training to triathlon. Following my step-wise progression, this was suppose to be the year of the half-Ironman, so I signed up for the White Lake Half since several other friends were doing so.
Training was going great. I had a high volume routine with a couple of two-a-days and lengthy brick workouts. I still wasn't completely satisfied with my cycling. In April, I had a full race weekend where I ran both the Tarheel 10 mile and the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon on back-to-back days. I met my goals in both with sub-7:00 min miles (which happened to be a PR for my half marathon!).
Unfortunately only two weeks before the race, I developed a stress fracture that sidelined my race plans. This meant a solid 4-6 weeks without any running, again devoting most of my energy to swimming and cycling. It wasn't until July that I was able to start hitting the pavement and trails again.
At some point I decided to put triathlons on the back burner. I don't casually give up on goals like that, but I ended up weighing my sparse enjoyment of cycling against the things I didn't like about it: the costs, the time commitment, the hazards, etc. For the moment, cycling and I just aren't in-sync, so for it's just a cross-training activity.
What I did fall in love with was trail running, which I guess I started after Greg invited me to a weekly trail run headed by Daren Marceau, Meredith and his father[/in law]. The focal point of my training became the Medoc Mountain Trail Marathon in October. With a lengthy build up, I hit some incredibly mileage goals that, given the time to publish, I would proudly boast. The training paid off with a first place in my age group, and fourth overall.
That race quickly moved into my first attempt at an ultramarathon. I had eight weeks to get ready for the Lookout Mountain 50 miler in December. If my marathon training was grand, then this was epic. 6 hour runs, 5 and 5 back-to-back long runs, 3x3 hours, etc. One week I will proudly say I broke the 100 mile mark.
Sad to say, a week before the race I fell of my roof and broke two ribs. Still able to run; however the "nagging" was just too distracting and unpredictable that I decided to postpone the race. What's followed since is some pretty typical weekly mileage, but broken down differently where I've been running based of what I want to do, as oppose to a set schedule.
Yesterday, my final run was the Carrboro 50k, where I successfully ran all 3 laps. It doesn't make me an ultra-runner since it's not an official race, but it settled some frustration I had from not being able to run my 50 miler.
Now, it's time for a run. Maybe a follow up post I'll put in some of my basic stats from the year, and speculate on what 2012 will bring.
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