New Shoes

Last week was a rough week. Many failed experiments are sapping my energy in the lab. I'm really hoping things start looking up soon.

A recommendation on electrolytes (thanks Delip!) pointed me towards Nuun. Knowing what to look for I picked up some sample tablets, as well as some from Nathan Sports, which makes a variety of running accessories (several hydration systems as well as reflective gear).

My plan was to try to save a little bit to purchase some clip-on aerobars. That is, until I looked at my training log and realized I was going to need some new running shoes. Also looking at my everyday sandals, I have worn through the sole and middle layer on my Birkenstocks (I mean, they're probably 5 years old!). I ordered some new sandals online, though not Birkenstocks. Cursed by my training, I couldn't help but look for something made for athletes. I ended up getting a pair of Crocs Prepair sandals. Like many cultural trends, I was a bit reluctant to jump on the Crocs bandwaggon, but what the heck, right?

I also did pick up some new running shoes. The Brooks Addiction 8 has been my go-to shoe for the past 2 years, making these my fourth pair. In the back of my mind, I wonder what I'll do if I ever do serious trail running, since it seems trail shoes don't have the same breakdown into supination, normal, or overpronation gaits, at least not to the extent that road shoes do. Charm City Run had the new generation Addiction 9, but offered the older model for a discount. How could I refuse?

Hydration

With the pool open, I think I'm finally back in the swing of things. It felt good to get back in the water. Last semester I always seemed reluctant to go, but something about this semester clicked and I've begun to anticipate these workouts.

With summer here, the temperature as rocketed. I think this is the first time I've been serious about monitoring my fluid levels and hydration. With the heat and humidity, I've noticed a major increase in sweat. I've been taking in more fluids in the form of plain water. However, I'm now on a quest to find the best electrolyte replenishment.

Temporarily, products like Propel, or PoweradeZero are my go-tos; ideally I'm looking for JUST fluid and electrolyte replacement, not a carbohydrate sports drink. Currently, most electrolyte drinks are produced already prepared. I'd like to find these in the powdered form, but except for Propel, they seem scarce. Making my own is a possiblity; I experimented some with Hammer Nutrition's Endurolytes, electrolyte tablets by breaking the pill into water and adding some lemon juice. It was okay, but the tablets don't really dissolve. Any tips from seasoned veterans would be appreciated. This week I picked up some Propel (2 flavors), PoweradeZero, and SoBe vitamin water (brand VitaminWater doesn't have ANY Na+ or K+) to experiment with.

I also went on a group ride from TriSpeed, a triathlon retail store. It was OK, I think I would've been more relaxed going on a Sunday when I don't worry about getting into lab at a reasonable hour. I worry though about how I'm going to be able to increase my bike mileage base.

This morning's run was brutal. Partially because of the heat, and so I think I was dehydrated. I also ran out of cereal yesterday, which is my stalwart pre-exercise snack. I tried to make do with simple wheat germ, but I guess I didn't get the same amount of fuel that I usually do from the cereal.

Dreaded Druid Hills

Almost back in the swing of things. The gym finally opened up yesterday after a two week haitus at the end of the semester.

Last week I continued to creep my mileage back up to almost normalcy. Most notably, on Saturday I ran a 10k, the Dreaded Druid Hills 10k. As the name implies, it is riddled with sickening inclines. For Balitmoreans, it's like running the hill up Northern Pkwy from Falls Rd towards Roland. For N. Carolinians... don't really know, maybe up Lake Boone Trail? (heading away from Blue Ridge and past the Beltline)... and doing that 6 or 7 times over. Truly tough. I didn't really run it as a race, just another one of those local events I wanted to check off my list. But I must have done alright; placed 35th out of 413.

About a month away from cranking out the marathon training. I'm getting anxious.

Past week

Post-race week:

Tuesday: Northern Parkway loop, 8 mile run. There's a wicked hill ~ mile 5 that I missed while tapering.
Wednesday: Caves Rd loop, 35 mile bike. First mid-week ride that went over an hour, thanks to the increasing daylight.
Friday: Lake Rd 10 mile run. Though only for about 15 seconds, takes me by the famous Charm City Cakes.
Saturday: Cold Spring 10 mile run. Eh. nothing special
Sunday: New bike loop, 50 miles.

The new bike ride extended my long ride distance by about 10 miles. I went as far as I knew I should go, but not as far as I'd planned. Some mix up near the end of the ride and quite a bit of fatigue led me to end things a little earlier.

This week I'm continuing to try and re-ramp my mileage back to pre-taper. My tri/marathon training plan official starts July 12, and I'd like to be back at a base of about 35 miles/week. There's some wiggle room this week since I still might do the Dreaded Druid Hills 10k. A quote from the 2008 website: "This is NOT a PR course." I'm also anxious to get back in the pool. The gym was closed last week and will be closed again this week. One other newsworthy item: I should be expecting my RoadID tomorrow.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

COLUMBIA TRIATHLON!!!

RACE!
Wow. What a weekend. What a race. It's in my nature, when looking back on things like this, to somewhat diminish the elation I felt. What exactly made this race so sweet, it's hard to say. But here's my little recap.

Saturday afternoon I drove down to Columbia to register, rack my bike, and check into my hotel. The hotel accomodations were provided by Team in Training which was nice. I suppose to have a roommate, but lucked out when his wife tagged along so they got their own. Pre-race bike racking is fairly common, but new to me. Nothing special about it, but I cover some parts with plastic bags in anticipation of the impending rain.

The race had an expo, which was a lot smaller than I expected. But of course, the only other race I've attended with an expo was the Marine Corps Marathon, which had over 30,000 runners (vs. only 2300 here). Still, I always enjoy these things because of the people watching, and the off-chance for free schwag. I also ended up getting a good deal on a gym/transition bag.

So the main event: THE RACE.
When it came to a race plan, as usually I didn't have anything particular set in stone except for the run. I didn't worry about the swimming because it's fairly innate, and I'm pretty decent at it. I didn't worry about the bike for the exact opposite: it's still not intuitive, and it's not my forte. What mattered to me was the run. I had a solid goal in mind. It's all strategy where I know how every move will affect me later, and it comes down to risk assessment: if I push it now, can I take the pain later?
So my swim strategy was to simply go at a decent pace, which was no problem; compared to the Nanticoke River, I was sliding on ice and easily broke through the swim wave ahead of me.
The bike strategy was developed en route. After a solid swim, the bike started quick and was fueled by adrenaline. I knew I was going a bit faster than I normally can and wanted to think ahead to the run. My plan ended up being to positive split. So I would push the first part of the bike leg, and then easy up later to let my legs recharge for the run. This seemed to be fine; in the later parts I could feel my legs aching and worried, but knew not much could be done at this point.
The run was simple: try to negative split, but push the pace; break 7:00min/mile. For me, negative splitting is not based on pace, but on perceived effort. Running a race like this is always a blur. But after a decent bike, and feeling great at the run start, I felt phenomenal and was cruising. I past many, many of the older age groups that had started earlier and probably got away a little on the bike. Passing was [and is] a great motivator. Also, the Team in Training presence helped a lot, from being encouraged by other teammates, and even a little boost from supporting those I encountered. I was hurting by the last couple of hills, but once we were back on the lake, I did my best to empty the tank for a good finish.

The final summary:
Swim: 23:35 >1500m, no more breakdown
T1: 2:40
Bike: 1:25:54 >41k, 17.8 mph
T2: 2:12
Run: 42:16 >10km, 6:49 min/mile
*BONUS: 5TH PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP

5th wasn't really a big deal initially. Most races do top three. However, it was a nice bonus to find about, just as I'm about to leave, that top five get awards. So I kind of clumsily mozy over to the award ceremony. I missed my part, and have to sneak around the sideline and try to be discrete.

My proud point is reaching my goal of sub-7:00 min/mile for the 10k. Now, as I've stated before, I've actually never done a 10k before. Sure I've done longer training runs and races, but never this distance. Previously, the closest was the Turkey Trot 8k, and I had yet to break 7:00 on that. But I was incredibly excited to learn I had reached this goal. It really boosts my confidence for getting closer to a Boston qualifier for a marathon.

Some short [hopefully] comments:
-The weather was rainy. It was steady almost right up to the start, but stopped and was really just wet for the ride and made transition a mud pit.
-Lucky for most people, I only saw one crash [post-occurence]. Of course, unlucky for that individual. I hope he/she is ok. Lots of flats during the race.
-Part of any race plan is how to deal with the unexpected. My relaxed bike plan fit the bill, when about halfway, I could feel a pending bladder need. It came down to making a pit stop or trying to wait out the rest of the race. My desire for a solid, comfortable run (comfortable from the bladder sense, not the exertion) and my relaxed bike plan reasoned a pit stop. I think this made a serious contribution to making my run work out as it did.

Final impressions: It was a great training cycle. I am so glad I was able to complete this with Team in Training. Overall, our group of 35 triathletes raised $120,000!!! This was a huge accomplishment and just made the race sweeter. I'm still up in the air about if/when I will join the team for another race. I would love to do this race again; we'll see how it fits into my future plans.

The one thing that always sticks in my mind is the question a fellow racer asked me: "So when's your next race?" which embodies the mindset I like of always having something in mind. In two weeks I'd like to do the Dreaded Druid Hills 10k, but I don't know how much dedicated training I'll give that. My next BIG races aren't until the fall. The Nations Triathlon, an Olympic distance in Washington, DC is September 13th. Then the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh is November 7th. My training plan starts second week of July. When does your's?

Race Week!

I'm down to the last few days before the Race! The day will start with a pretty early wake up, I think around 4:00? I know it won't be later than 5:00. The race will start with the pro/elite waves going off at 6:45. My swim wave won't start until 7:40. I submitted my estimated times as 0:26:00 swim/1:10:00 bike/0:42:00 run which is a collective race of 2:18:00 (hr:min:s). I think the swim time is probably pretty accurate, if not a little conservative. The other two, especially the bike, are pretty ambitious. For most of the times, I just scaled up my race times from Triangle Tri, which was a sprint. The distance is longer, which should slow me down, but I think I hoped my experience and fitness would have improved as well. The bike is definitely up in the air; I still consider myself a novice, so cycling is always a little unpredictable. The run time truly is a goal. I haven't calculated the exact base, but for a 10k (6.2 miles), that's a sub-7:00min/mile, which I have not done for a race of this length. In fact, I've never done a 10k. I've done half miles, miles, two miles, 5ks, 8ks, and then jumped to half marathon and marathon. My last 8k was almost a year and a half ago and was not sub-7:00. However, I am positive my fitness is better, and during brick workouts, my run off the bike is almost always faster than normal.

Last week was the end of the semester and [pretty much (I have one more)] the end of classes. With Dr. Greenberg out of the country, I had the chance to go home for Thursday and part of Friday (I had to be back for my Coast Guard obligation). It was too short, but except for maybe more time with my parents, I think it was spent perfectly. I was able to catch up with everyone I NEEDED to catch up with and it really helped me out. It's still hard in Baltimore to find people who I can talk to about both problems and common interests, and I was absolutely able to get some of that while at home.

With only a few more days, this is the worst stage of any training regime: the taper. That is, the time when you reduce your training volume to start saving up energy. The whole time you feel antsy and awkward. It doesn't come naturally and the only taper I ever really followed was for the Marine Corps Marathon, which was planned out for me. Doing it on my own, and trying to do it right is harder. NOT tapering is pretty easy, but when you actually worry about balancing between storing energy and maintaining fitness, it's a little stressful. Furthermore, the reduction in training volume also affects caloric needs, and especially for myself, adjusting is hard.

The Thursday I was at home I needed to go for a swim and ended up going for the first time to the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC). A very nice facility, it made me think about the differences between gyms. I've been a member/user of several facilities; the NC State Carmichael Rec Center, Johns Hopkins Rec Center, the YMCA, and the Triangle Aquatic Center. Here is a brief summary of some amenities I've like and who has them.

Locker rooms, enough said: ALL
Rental lockers, being able to have a place to store clothes/equipment/whatever for a long period of time is extremely valuable if you don't like toting around EVERYTHING you need: ALL except only NC State was is free
Shower soap, seems simple enough, but goes back to minimizing the amount of essentials you must bring from home: ALL except TAC
Towel: NC State, YMCA
Workout clothes: ONLY NC STATE. It seems weird, but it works. Just like a towel, you can check it out for a whole semester and after using, you trade it in for a clean up (old one is washed). It saves a lot on laundry if you workout a whole lot. I only ever used a T-shirt though.

Some amenities that I've used, but don't think are totally necessary: Locker keys (so to have a locked locker without bringing a padlcok. I always have a padlock anyways so it doesn't really matter.). Student ID access: it's annoying to carry around all your keys and wallet and whatnot when working out; at State, this was nice to eliminate that hassle.

I think I should note, that while many gyms had several amenities, (including some not listed), State definitely takes the lead for having all of them. It truly was a very versatile gym with a lot of fringe benefits.

Next time should be a POST race summary!

Two weeks to go.

This past week was the last week of classes and next week is the exam period. I've only taken three classes this semester; Nucleic Acids, Advanced Mechanistic Chemistry, and Chemistry and Biology Interface. My exam for Nucleic Acids is a paper, but the other two are standard exams. My mom asked me the title of my paper, but I told her it as useless because it would make sense. However, here it is (I guess for Mother's Day?): DNA and Polymerase Structural Factors that Dictate Activity and Fidelity During Translesion Synthesis.

It'll be good to be done for a while and be able to final give my full attention to doing research. This semester has been rough, and the last couple of weeks it has been a struggle to stay focused and motivated. I do get a short break though. My research adviser is currently overseas at a conference and is gone for another week. Since my exams are complete on Wednesday, I went to discuss where to proceed with my experiments in his absence. He said that with it only being a few days, to just make sure I understand the literature and past work done. Though I am certainly not taking these instructions lightly, I plan on using those few days (Wednesday-Friday, I have to drill for the Coast Guard that weekend) to go to Raleigh. I hope that I can get everything accomplished that I want to while I'm there. That is primarily just getting to see a couple of people, but also a few... "administrative" type of obligations.

There are only two weeks remaining until the triathlon! I'm excited, nervous, anxious... It's been an interesting training period with a lot of learning. These next two weeks I think will be the hardest, what is known as the taper period. Tapering has never been my strong point and it is difficult to do it correctly. Last year for the Triangle Triathlon, I mildly toned down my workouts and lightened up on my weightlifting. For the marathon, I followed a taper schedule set out by my coach; however it was hard to judge its effectiveness. The week before the race I got wicked sick and struggle alot with getting through the week. Several times I'd wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. Never knew if that was being physically ill, or some mind-body physiological wack-out.

Oddly enough, my mind is mainly looking beyond to my fall training period. I've already begun laying out an actual training schedule. So far the plan only has my runs scratched in; having a previous schedule and some good resources from Runner's World, that's been the easiest to fill. Now adding in some swimming and biking will be more difficult. Even now, I would say my focus has always been on my running, since swimming comes so naturally, and biking just kinda falls where it may. It'd be nice to lay out some disciplined and focused workouts that will be truly challenging. This fall I am having to workout a marathon training plan, with my second Olympic Triathlon, the Nations Tri in Washington, DC about two months earlier.

This past few days I have really been abusing my legs. My runs earlier in the week by themselves didn't seem to be too hard, and weren't out of the ordinary. Tuesday was an 8 miler before swimming, and Wednesday was a fartlek. I guess it might have been the new leg exercise I did Tuesday night. Whatever it was, Friday my legs felt ridiculous. I went out to do 11 miles and as soon as I started my quads were screaming. The last time they hurt that much was mile 16 onward for the marathon. Getting started involved this awkward shuffle where, while trying to overcome the ache and achieve some semblance of proper running form, you feel like you're doing some penguin walk. This ache somewhat subsided, but it was there for my run yesterday, as well as today. Luckily, I should be doing a light cycling which I hope helps workout some of the soreness. In some ways it should force me into taper mode.

What's interesting is that despite this ache, I maintained some pretty good pace. My Friday run was around 7:19. Yesterday was a little slower at 7:29, but decent given the circumstances. I have two reasons/theories for this phenomenon. First is because I've started lifting again. Definitely not as frequently as I have in years past, but it's something, and of course includes some leg exercises. These exercises (always leg press and then some maybe leg extensions/curls or calf raises) definitely leave me sore, but I think they have helped me toughen up and be able to push through aches better, rather than letting it get to me and slow me down. Secondly, I've been incorporating some negative splitting technique. Negative splitting is simply making the second half of your training faster than the first. So essentially taking it easy in the beginning leaves you more energy for the second part. Now, I don't use a GPS, so I don't meticulously check my paces. However, I definitely have started to hold myself back in the beginning of a run in order to later open up the pace. It seems to be doing something now. We'll see what happens come race day(s). I'd really like to see this help out my marathon.

That's it for the most part. Yesterday TnT had a mandatory open water swim practice. Everyone amusingly pointed out that give I just did a three mile open water swim last week, I probably didn't need the practice. It was still nice to go out. I think my wetsuit was better situated. Also, the water was wonderfully smooth compared to the chop of last week's race.

Apparently I won my age group at the swim. I say it's no big deal; there were only four people in my age group.