Rocket City Marathon

This was my first attempt at running a marathon. I'd been training almost exclusively for this race since my last triathlon back in August. Unfortunately, in order to adequately understand the stresses my body would experience, I would actually have to run a marathon before the race. Needless to say, I didn't run a marathon before the race, so this was the first time I had ever run this far.

The weather could not have been any better. It was overcast and in the low 40s when the race started and only got warmer. I shed my gloves and sleeves shortly after the start and dumped them off to my mom the first time I saw her. I ran into someone I met at the Rocketman Triathlon back in August who was looking to run about the same time as me (4 hours), so we decided to stick together for at least a little while.

The race started out as a 2.5 mile loop of downtown Huntsville, passing some of the more historic buildings. It took a while for everyone to space out as there were 1500 people running and we all started at the same time, but after 3 miles or so you didn't feel like you had to run on top of the people in front of you. The first hour or so went by really fast. I almost couldn't believe that we had been running for an hour when we came up to mile 7 (~1:05 into the race). I had seen my brother in one of the many neighborhoods we were navigating, and my girlfriend and both my parents were at the 7th mile. I told them not to make signs, but during the race I decided I was glad they did.

Shortly after seeing my support group we turned onto Bailey Cove for what would be the most tedious part of the race. The road was completely level, which was a good thing, but it was also very straight. This meant that you could see 3 miles away and know "Hey, it's going to take me half an hour to get there." Nothing is more discouraging than seeing where you're going and knowing you're not even close. In addition, there was a strong headwind the whole time. As is becoming more and more popular, pace teams were organized to run the marathon and help people finish in a certain time. The 4:05 pace team had been right behind me the whole race to this point, so a mile into the 5.5 mile stretch of Bailey Cove I dropped back into the pack of 10 people or so and enjoyed getting pulled along. The were quite a vocal bunch, so I enjoyed listening to their conversations to take my mind off of the tedium.

I passed the halfway point (mile 13.1) at 2:01:00. This was 1 minute off of my target time, but I also knew that there was no way I could replicate the performance I had turned in the first half of the race over the second half of the race. It was at this point my goal shifted from a 4 hour marathon to "just finish." Granted this made it easier for me to easy up and not try and push my body to the limit, but as it turns out, that was about the best thing I could have done.

My first walking break was at mile 15.5. The upper portion of my hamstring where it connects with my gluteus muscle was becoming increasingly painful. I knew it wasn't going to go away, so after resigning to the fact that I was going to be in pain for the rest of the race (10.7 miles) I took off again. It was at this point that I dropped behind the 4:05 pace group and stayed there for good.

Mile 16 to mile 20 was where things started to go wrong. I had been having trouble stomaching the gel supplements I had been taking every 30 minutes, but now even the thought of strawberry-banana anything made me want to throw up. In addition, not only did the pain in my hamstring increase, but I became increasingly aware of a pain on the outside of my left knee. My breathing was becoming more labored and my pace was falling off. Between 16 and 20, my pace dropped off from 9:09 m/m (minutes per mile) to approximately 9:30 m/m.

The Grissom cross country team set up shop near mile 20 (I don't remember exactly where, it hard to remember much of anything in any kind of detail). So as I rounded a corner, I was delighted to see 30 people lined up in the middle of the road forming a chute. The person in front of me ran through them, high-fiving everyone, so of course I did it as well. (Turns out, whenever someone used the port-a-potty, they would line up outside the door and cheer them out of the bathroom...to mixed responses). This was an emotional pick-me-up for me and helped me get through the next half mile (yes...half mile).

The farthest I had ever run while training was 20 miles, so everything after that was uncharted territory. Usually 6 miles is not that big of a deal, but after running for 3 hours and 15 minutes, running at all seems like an act of insanity. Time seemed to slow down indefinitely, with each mile marker seeming to coming farther and farther apart. I caught myself looking at my watch a lot (making time slow down even more) and had to force myself to focus on one step at a time.

There were several periods during the last 4 miles where I couldn't see anyone and I was all by myself. All of my motivation had to come from within myself and from imagining myself crossing the finish line. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that if I didn't finish this race our make an impromptu trip to the hospital, I would never forgive myself.

Huntsville Hospital came into view with only a half mile to go. It was then that I knew I would finish, so I just focused on enjoying the next five minutes or so. After all, it's not very often you get to savor the final few minutes of a 4.5 hour race. I crossed the finish line (the goal of the race) and decided I was no longer going to try and stay in control of my body. I stumbled a couple of feet and then collapsed in the finisher's chute. Once on the ground I started shaking uncontrollably and hyperventilating. Every muscle in my body was seizing up in protest of the torment I had just subjected it to. They carried me to the side of the chute where the EMTs where there to help and I tried to gather myself. In all of the commotion, a volunteer slipped a finisher medal around my neck and then went back to the finisher's chute. At that point it didn't matter what happened to me. I had accomplished what I'd set out to do, and that was all that mattered.

Distance - 26.2 miles
Time - 4:21:09

Oak Mountain Trail Half Marathon

This was my first trail race and boy was it a good one. Training for the Rocket City Marathon has really helped with increasing my range, but I knew going in that running on the sidewalks of Auburn was not going to be anything like this.

The race started later than most as we got under way at 8:30. Cody Moore and John Ashcraft came down from Huntsville and joined me and Derek at the starting line. Turned out I was the only one wearing a shirt (go figure). Positioning is key at the start of a trail race if you don't want to be held back as the trail bottles up and you get stuck behind people, so I shot towards the front and was in the lead pack for the first mile of the race. The first 4 miles of the race were really tough as it was almost purely ascents and descents. Imagine trying to accelerate your car up a steep hill in freezing temperatures before it was a chance to warm-up; that's what I was trying to do to my legs.

I had a hard time keeping my breathing regulated at first as I was struggling to find a groove. Around mile 2, I was coming fast down a descent and stepped on a rock funny rolling my ankle really bad. I had to stop for several minutes until the pain ebbed down to a dull roar and then hit it again. I was going to have to be very careful through the rest of the race if I wanted to not do anything that would further injure my ankle and cause me to be unable to run my marathon.

The first aid station was a little over 3 miles into the race and came up very quickly. I thought to myself, "There's no way I've already run 3 miles" but sure enough there it was. I passed the first aid station at 31:10, not bad considering I lost 2 or 3 minutes with the ankle. After mile 4 the trail flattened out considerable and I started to catch my breath. Around mile 5 trio of older runners came up behind me and started chatting about other trail races behind me. Two of the three ran past but one of them stayed back and paced me to the second aid station. I'm always surprised by how friendly runners are, even in the middle of races. Silas turned out to be an orthopedic surgeon from Huntsville and worked out at the Spine Care center. We talked about everything from trail races in Huntsville to the Auburn football game. It seems I make a new friend at every race I go to.

Talking to Silas was a good distraction from the pain that was starting to shoot through my left quad. We ran into the second aid station (mile 8.5) together. It was here I stopped to take a gel and take stock of my body. Silas finished before me and continued on with me falling in behind a group of 4 runners less than a minute layer. While at the aid station my ankle started to stiffen up on me. It took about another half mile to get it loose again. The last 4.5 miles went by very fast. It never ceases to amaze me how much quicker a trail race seems to go than a road race. I averaged close to 8:20 minutes per mile the rest of the way as the trails were sloped downhill. The trail ended into the parking lot where the finish line was and I sprinted the last 100m to the finish line. After finishing I collapsed on the ground and stayed there, what a great way to finish!

Unofficial results:
Time - 1:54:40.8
Avg. Pace - 8:45 m/m
4th place in the Male 20-24 age group (Derek placed 2nd in the same age group)

New Format

From now on I will not be posting every workout online. I'll only post long/hardcore workouts, weekly totals, and races. That is all :)

Weekly Totals

Distance - 36.73 miles
Time - 6 hrs

Easy 3

Distance - 2.8 miles
Time - 24:27.18
Pace - 8:44 m/m

LER

Distance - 8 miles
Time - 1:11:10
Pace - 8:54 m/m
Route - Ross south, right on Samford, left on Gay, right on University, left on University, turn-around at mile 4

Easy 3

Distance - 3.13 miles
Time - 26:59
Pace - 8:37 m/m

Tueseday thru Thursday

Tuesday
Off

Wednesday
Distance - 4.3 miles
Time - 35:40
Pace - 8:17 m/m
Route - Campus Loop

Thursday
800 warm-up
6x800 at 3k pace on 6 min
(3:16.07, 3:13.34, 3:13.25, 3:13.82, 3:14.91, 3:13.62)
1600 cool-down

Total - 4.5 miles, 50 min

Trails at Oak Mtn

Distance - 14 miles
Time - 2:30:24
Pace - 10:45 m/m
Route - did two 800 foot ascents in the first four miles. Lots of 30-60 foot inclines on the last 6 miles

Did the whole run on one bottle of water mixed with HEED. Went hypobolic around mile 11 but still made it. Looking forward to taking tomorrow off :)

Weekly Totals

Run - 16.93 miles
Time - 2.5 hrs

Short Run at the Ecology Preserve

Distance - 1.85 miles
Time - 16:45
Pace - 9:00 m/m

LER

Distance - 7.5 miles
Time - 1:04:37
Pace - 8:37 m/m

Easy 5

Distance - 4.94 miles
Time - 46:25.24
Pace - 9:23.8 m/m
Route - Martin west, left on Ross, right on Drake, left on Gay, turn-around at Town Creek Park

Weekly Totals

Run - 15.23 miles
Bike - 69.599 miles
Swim - 5700m
Time - 8.5 hrs

Easy Trails

Nice, easy run to try and loosen up all my aching muscles. I did the trails back behind the MRI center

Distance - 2.64 miles
Time - 23:48.58
Pace - 9:00 m/m

Rocketman Triathlon

The run-down for the race is in a separate page on the right side of the window ==>

Bike Workout

Distance - 18.524 miles
Time - 1:07:40
Pace - 16.4 mph

Easy Run

I took Friday off to recover and get ready for Sunday. Super easy run today in preparation for the race.

Distance - 1.73 miles
Time - 15:32.64
Pace - 9:00 m/m

Thursday Swim

300 Easy
300 Race Pace
300 Easy
300 Race Pace
300 Easy

Total - 1500m, 40 min

Tempo Run

Distance - 4.3 miles
Time - 30:05.46
Pace - 7:00 m/m
Route - Drake west, left on Gay, right on Samford, right on Donohue, right on Drake, left on Ross

800s

1/2 mile warm-up
4x800 (2:59.61, 2:53.69, 2:58.78, 2:50.91) - 2:00 rest
1/2 mile cool-down

Total - 3 miles, 30 min

Swim with the Tri Club

450 S

3x200 S on 4:00

2x50 (30s)
2x50 (20s)
2x50 (10s)
2x50 (5s)
1x100 Sprint

6x25 underwater + 25 Hard

3x200 Smooth + 50 Hard

100 Cool-down

Total - 2700m, 1:15

Afternoon Ride

Distance - 26.075 miles
Time - 1:25:34
Pace - 18.2 mph
Route - MLK out to Loachapoka, left at the church, left on the nicely paved false flat, left on Wire, right on Beehive, left on Cox, right on Wire, left on Donohue, right on Drake

Weekly Totals

Run - 22.94 miles
Bike - 48.189 miles
Swim - 3700m
Time - 7.5 hrs

LER with Derek

Distance - 10 miles
Time - 1:29:46
Pace - 8:59 m/m
Route - Started at the parking lot on Samford and College, right on Samford, right on Gay, right on University, immediate left on Wrights Mill, right on bike path that runs parallel to Shell Toomer, turn-around at Mill Creek Rd

Fun Swim at Chewacla

Nothing too serious. I was able to practice some sighting drills and remember how much different it is swimming in open water compared to the pool. There was some current so it was good for me to simulate swimming out in the Tennessee River, though the Tennessee will be much swifter.

Distance ~ 700m
Time - 14:03.85

Swim Workout

300 warm-up
3x200 P
5x200 Negative splits (4:00 - 3:32)
100 cool-down

Total - 2000m, 45 min

Easy 5

Distance - 5.14 miles
Time - 39:37.00
Pace - 7:42.5 m/m
Route - Drake west, left on Donohue, turn-around at Mell

Ladder Workout

800 warm-up
400 - 1:32.84 (30s)
800 - 3:08.71 (60s)
1200 - 4:47.35 (90s)
1200 - 4:46.36 (90s)
800 - 3:15.56 (60s)
400 - 1:26.08

Total - 3.5 miles, 30 min

Easy Ride with Justin

Distance - 28.05 miles
Time - 1:49:16
Pace - 15.4 mph
Route - MLK out to Laochapoka and looped back

Practice Tri

Swim:
200m warm-up
750m - 13:38
50m cool-down

Bike:
Distance - 20.139 miles
Time - 1:06:20
Pace - 18.2 mph
Route - South Loop

Run:
Distance - 4.3 miles
Time - 33:17.75
Pace - 7:45 m/m
Route - Biggio west, right on Samford, left on Lem Morrison, right on Donohue, left on Woodfield, left on College, left on Samford, right on Donohue, left on Biggio

I parked my car outside of the aquatics center and used that as my staging area

LER and Weekly Totals

Distance - 8 miles
Time - 1:08:45
Pace - 8:36 m/m
Route - Ross South, right on Samford, left on Gay, right on Woodfield, left on College, right on Donohue, left on Lem Morrison, right on Samford, left on Wire, left on Donohue, right on Drake

Weekly Totals:
Run - 18.89 miles
Bike - 22.649 miles
Swim - 3300m
Time - 5.67 hours

Oak Mountain Trails

Distance ~ 4 miles
Time - 43:20.38
Pace - 10:50 m/m

Thursday Morning Tempo Run

Distance - 4.39 miles
Time - 32:48.11
Pace - 7:28.3 m/m
Route - Martin west, left on Ross, right on Drake, left on Gay, right on Samford, right on Donohue, right on Drake, left on Ross

Didn't know I could run this fast. Need to start doing more of these kinds of runs and less jogging workouts, otherwise I'll become a one-speed runner

Bike Workout

Distance - 22.649 miles
Time - 1:14:49
Pace - 18.1 mph
Route - Ross south, continue on Chewacla, right on Samford, left on Moore's Mill, right on Society Hill, right on Sandhill, continue on Beehive, right on Cox, right on Wire, continue on Magnolia, left on Donohue, right on Drake, left on Ross

Wednesday Swim

200 warm-up
2x200 P
4x200 S at race pace (~3:40)
100 cool-down

Total - 1500m, 30 min

Track Workout

800m warm-up
8x400m w/ 3 min standing rest (avg. 82 sec)

Total - 2.5 miles, 45 min

Monday Swim

200 S
100 P
200 P
300 P
400 P
100 3's
4x100 S (1:32, 1:38, 1:41, 1:40)
100 Cool-down

Total - 1800m

Weekly Totals

Run - 31.64 miles
Bike - 83.81 miles
Swim - 4500m
Time - 11 hrs

Easy Run

Distance - 5.14 miles
Time - 44:13.28
Pace - 8:36.2 m/m
Route - Drake west, left on Donohue, turn-around at Mell

Saturday Morning Ride

Distance - 31.667 miles
Time - 1:57:46
Pace - 16.1 mph

1/2 Marathon Run

Distance - 14.2 miles
Time - 2:13:36
Pace - 9:25 m/m

Friday Swim

200 S

200 P
200 K
200 P
200 K

100 S
200 S
300 S
200 S
100 S

100 Cool-down

Thursday Workouts

Morning Swim
200 S
3 x 200 P
2 x 300 S (5:31.5, 5:34)
100 S
Total - 1500m, 45 min

Brick
Bike
Distance - 22.09
Time - 1:13:09
Pace - 18.1 mph

Run
Distance - 2 miles
Time - 15:45.73
Pace - 7:52.9 m/m

Death Trail

Run
Distance - 4.2 miles
Time ~ 39:00
Pace - 9:17.09 m/m

Me and Cody did a section of the McKay Hollow Madness trail race. Started doing the South Plateau Loop, right on the McKay Hollow Trail, right on the Death Trail (500 ft climb over half a mile). Broke in the new trail shoes :)

Tuesday

Swim
5x200 S
Total - 1000m

Went really easy today. Depending on how sore I get I'm planning on swimming Thursday and Friday this week and then 5 times next week

Run
1 mile warm-up run - 8:17
5.1 mile run - 44:27 (8:42 m/m)

Summer Cross Country workout with the Huntsville Track Club. Ran over at the running park. 95 degrees and no water is a bad mix. I had cotton mouth really bad the last 2 miles but other than that it was a nice warm-up for doing trails with Cody tomorrow

Monday Bike

Distance - 30.05 miles
Time - 1:44:06
Pace - 17.3 mph

Me, Derek, and Jeremy went over Cecil Ashburn, rode thru New Hope and back around to Jones Valley on Hobbs Island Road

Weekly Totals

Run - 23.1 miles
Bike - 25.212 miles
Time - 5 hrs

Saturday Treadmill Workout

1 mile warm-up - 8:57
2.5 mile hill workout - 20:00
0.5 mile cool-down - 5:00

Total - 4 miles, 34 minutes

Trails

Run
Distance - 5.4 miles
Time - 53:09.46
Pace - 9:50.6 m/m

Really struggled today. It didn't help that I ate Sonny's Barbeque an hour before I ran, it also doesn't help that I haven't rested at all this week. Look forward to Chicago, just not running on a treadmill...

Brick

Bike
Distance - 25.212 miles
Time - 1:22:21
Pace - 18.3 mph

Run
Distance - 2.4 miles
Time - 21:57.97
Pace - 9:09 m/m

Went easy on the brick today seeing as I was following up my longest run to date. It took me about 10 miles to get warmed up on the bike and pumping out at 20+ mph. I really struggled on the run (no surprise), partially due to last night's workout and partially due to the fact that I'm all out of GUs. Took an ice bath today, should get me back on the mend. Looking forward to running trails tomorrow!

Monday Night Run

Run
Distance - 11.3 miles
Time - 1:37:41
Pace - 8:39 m/m

This was the longest run I've ever done in my life :). Running in Atlanta at night is scary if you don't know where you're going. Around mile 4 I felt some tightness in my upper left calf muscle but couldn't seem to stretch it out. Taking 2 gels definitely helped me get through to the end without burning out, hope to do an easy bike workout on tuesday and then trails on wednesday

Speed Workout and Weekly Totals

Run
1 mile - 8:40
.5 miles - 3:25.17
.25 miles - 2:12.49
.5 miles - 3:29.88
.25 miles - 2:21.63
.5 miles - 3:17.52
.25 miles - 2:49.88
.5 miles - 3:24.36
.25 miles - 3:35.66

Total - 4 miles

Weekly Totals:
Run - 24.16 miles
Bike - 65.45 miles
Swim - No workouts
Time - 7.25 hrs

Run goal for this week is 27 miles. Plan on getting most of that Monday thru Thursday before heading up to Chicago for ICMC

Bike Workout

Distance - 40.254 miles
Time - 2:14:56
Pace - 17.8 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail

LER

Run
Distance - 9.36 miles
Time - 1:24:08
Pace - 8:59 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes, right on Chastain, left on Busbee Dr, left on Busbee Blvd, left on Frey, right on Campus Loop, left on Big Shanty, left on Chastain, right on Barrett Lakes

Had to make a pit stop at Winner's Chicken at mile 3. The vanilla orange roctane gel (double caffeine) worked out pretty well. It definitely helped taking my time getting it down rather than sucking it down as fast as I could

Hill Repeats

7 1/2 minute warm-up
5 x 1-minute repeats
9 minute cool down

Total Distance - 2.5 miles

Trails at Kennesaw Mtn

Run
Distance - 5.7 miles
Time - 54:12.18
Pace - 9:30.6 m/m
Route - out-and-back to Pigeon Hill on the East Trail

Had to stop ~.8 miles in because the rangers were cutting down a tree. Only other stop was at Pigeon Hill.

Brick

Bike
Distance - 20.2 miles
Time - 1:01:33
Pace - 19.6 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail

Run
Distance ~ 2.6 miles
Time - 19:20.95
Pace - 7:26.5 m/m
Route - Silver Comet Trail

I started with a 5 mile warm-up before resetting the odometer on my bike. Total distance: 25.2 miles

Easy Run and Weekly Totals

Run
Distance - 6 miles
Time - 52:05.53
Pace - 8:40.9 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes

No stops. Settled into a good pace after about 2 miles and sustained it through the rest of the run. Start integrating speed workouts this next week. I'll up my weekly mileage each week for the next 3 months to where I'm running 50 mile weeks. Next week I'll run around 25 miles. Here are the weekly totals:

Run - 21.3 miles
Bike - 30.129 miles
Swim - No workouts
Time - 5 hrs

LER

Run
Distance - 8 miles
Time - 1:14:12
Pace - 9:16 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes + Campus Loop

I threw up at 30 minutes after trying to take a gel, guess I won't be buying anymore blackberry flavored gels

Late Night Prep Run

Run
Distance - 2.8 miles
Time - 25:06
Pace - 8:57.51 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes

Trail Run

Run
Distance ~ 4.5 miles
Time - 48:19.26
Pace - 10:44.3 m/m
Route - Pidgeon Hill Loop. We ran up the mountain, down the other side, and back around

Monday Bike Ride

Interval workout with 3 sustained bursts at 21+ mph. Recovery pace was between 16-18 mph. The pace is an average for the whole ride

Distance - 30.129 miles
Time - 1:38:19
Pace - 18.3 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail

Sunday Run and Weekly Totals

Run
Distance - 3.6 miles
Time - 28:55.74
Pace - 8:01.57 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes

Weekly Totals:
Run - 18.14 miles
Bike - 10.934 miles
Swim - 1600m
Time - 4.5 hrs

Bike with Sherwood

This technically wasn't a workout since it was me and T.J. tracking down Sherwood on the Silver Comet Trail, but it kinda counts. Sherwood rode to Alabama and back so we figured we'd show some support.

Distance - 10.934 miles
Time - 43:30
Pace - 15 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail

Back-to-Back Run Workouts

I put in a decently long run Thursday night and then put in a trail run with Max less than 12 hours later. I haven't done a lot of fatigue training so running this morning felt totally different, but it will help me get ready for running that 10k at the end of the Rocketman. Here are the two workouts:

Thursday night run
Distance - 6 miles
Time - 50:55.22
Pace - 8:29.2 m/m
Route - out-and-back on Barrett Lakes

Friday morning trail run
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 36:28.25
Pace - 9:07.1 m/m
Route - trails on Kennesaw Mtn

Swim Workout

300 S
200 Build
10x100 S uncomfortably fast
100 Cool-down

Total - 1600m (1 hr)

First swim in almost a month...definitely need to get in the pool more if I'm going to swim up the Tennessee River next month

Trails

Run
Distance - 4.54 miles
Time - 38:36.38
Pace - 8:30 m/m
Route - Kennesaw Mountain Trails

Just a little less than 8 weeks before Rocketman. In two weeks I'm going to start mixing in some more speed work and less medium-distance runs. I'm also gonna keep all of my bike workouts at or below 40 miles in order to get used to the distance I'm going to race. Starting August 2 I'll be able to get back in the pool and try and get back to where I was at the beginning of the summer. If I can put in a 30 minute swim at Rocketman I'll be very happy.

Weekly Totals

I've been under the weather the past couple of days, which is why I haven't put in any workouts. I'm planning on restarting on Tuesday just to be safe. With the Rocketman Tri less than 2 months away I can't afford to get sick anymore. Here are the totals for this past week:

Run - 8.35 miles
Bike - 60.633 miles
Time - 5 hrs

LER

Run
Distance - 8.35 miles
Time - 1:12:50
Pace - 8:43 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes to Chastain, continue on Frey, left on Campus Loop, left on Big Shanty, left on Chastain, right on Barrett Lakes, Barrett Lakes all the way back home

Monday Ride

Bike
Distance - 60.633 miles
Time - 3:30:54
Pace - 17.2 mph
Route - out-and-back on the Silver Comet Trail

Longest ride to date!

Easy Run and Weekly Totals

The idea today was to loosen up all of my muscles that got super worked on Friday and get ready for this next week. I put in some decent miles this week and hope to steadily increase my mileage to about 30 miles per week. Here's the workout and the totals for the week:

Run
Distance - 1.7 miles
Time - 15:20.12
Pace - 9:01.25
Route - out-and-back on Barrett Lakes

Weekly Totals:
Run - 14.11 miles
Bike - 30.083 miles
Swim - No swim workouts
Time - 4 hrs

Kennesaw Mountain Trails

So I thought it would be a great idea to go trail running today. It would have been a better experience if I hadn't gotten lost half way through. Eventually this dude who didn't speak English was able to help me get back. Walked some of the really steep parts and whenever I aggravated my right ankle made of glass, but all in all it was a lot of fun. I hope to include trail running more in my running routine. Here are some approximations for the workout:

Distance ~4.2 miles
Time - 43:36.22
Pace ~10:22.91 m/m

Battle vs The Sun

So today I thought it would be a great idea to put in a long run at 5:00 in the afternoon. Turns out the heat index was 97 when I left the apartment. I need to humble out and run in the morning or at night so I don't have to change my workout because of the heat. Cut off 3 miles but still made it a respectable run. Bringing a water bottle saved my life, I'll have to do that more often. My legs are starting to feel all the mileage I've been putting in. I'm gonna take tomorrow off and do my next LER on Sunday before church. Here's today's workout:

Run
Distance - 5 miles
Time - 43:34.77
Pace - 8:42.95 m/m
Route - out-and-back on Barrett Lakes

Silver Comet Workout

Bike
Distance - 30.083 miles
Time - 1:41:22
Pace - 17.7 mph
Route - out-and-back on the Silver Comet Trail

Felt good to get back in the saddle today!

Short Run with Max

Run
Distance - 3.21 miles
Time - 27:51.60
Pace - 8:40.74 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes from the apartment to the East Deck at KSU

LER in Auburn

Had a nice jog through Auburn this morning. Started my workout before it got too hot outside. This was my first workout in 6 days thanks to VBS and it was a good one! It felt great to be back in the saddle (or shoes in this case).

Run
Distance - 4.9 miles
Time - 45:20.56
Pace - 9:15.22 m/m

Tempo Ride

Bike
Distance - 20.033 miles
Time - 1:05:47
Pace - 18.27 mph
Route - out-and-back on the Silver Comet Trail

Track Workout

1600m - 8:00
800m - 3:22.79
400m - 2:00.59
800m - 3:34.10
400m - 2:07.19
800m - 3:30.52
400m - 3:02.77

Total - 3.25 miles

Swim Workout at GT

Warm-up
400 S

Drills x2
50 Ez
50 Hard/Ez
50 Ez/Hard
50 Hard

Workout
200 S (20 sec)
300 S (30 sec)
400 S

Cool-down
100 S

Total - 1800m

Hill Repeats

9:00 warm-up
5 x 1-minute @ relaxed sprint
10:00 cool-down

Epic Ride

Went on a 50-miler with Sherwood today, which wasn't really what I was expecting. Next time I'll make sure to ask him how far we're going so I come better prepared. It was a 3-hour workout and all I had in the way of fuel was 2 bottles of water. At mile 42 I bonked hardcore and probably averaged 13 mph back to the car. Afterwards, I couldn't stop shaking and when I was eating my sub at Firehouse parts of the sub kept falling out because I couldn't hold my hands steady. This is the longest ride I've logged to date, and I hope to do at least a couple more with Ironman Sherwood. Here's the workout:

Distance - 50.855 miles
Time - 3:02:52
Pace - 16.69 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail (out and back)

Today and yesterday

Wednesday

Bike
Distance - 31.8 miles
Time - 1:55:22
Pace - 17.13 mph
Route - Silver Comet Trail

Thursday

Run (LER)
Distance - 7.39 miles
Time - 1:12:50
Pace - 9:51.34 m/m
Route - Barrett Lakes all the way to KSU and back. Did the Shiloh Loop on the way out. LER stands for long easy run if you were wondering

Saturday Brick

Bike
Distance - 12.79 miles
Time - 41:31
Pace - 18.49 mph
Route - Mtn Gap west, left on Chaney Thompson, right on Greencove, left into neighborhood by the Arsenal and back

Run
Distance - 3.15 miles
Time - 25:29.86
Pace - 8:05.67 m/m
Route - Greenway

Friday Swim

Warm-up
300 S
200 Catch-up
200 K
200 P

Workout
6x100 S (on 2:00)

Cool-down
100 S

Total - 1600m

Hill Repeats

1 mile warm-up @ 8:30 m/m pace
5x25-second hill repeats @ moderately fast sprint (Mathis Mtn)
1.1 mile cool-down @ 9:00 m/m pace

Swim Workout

Warm-up
200 S
100 Catch-up
400 P
50 K
100 Catch-up
400 P

Workout
600 S at a moderate pace

Total - 1850 m

Monday Ride

Bike:

Distance - 17.451 miles
Time - 58:39
Pace - 17.85 mph
Route - Started at Target in Jones Valley, Carl T. Jones north, right on Garth, left on Drake, left on Whitesburg, right on Martin, turnaround at Redstone Gate 9, right on Whitesburg, left on Blanda, left on Weatherly, right on Todd Mill, left on Mtn Gap, left on Bailey Cove, take Bailey Cove to Target

Last week

Monday:

Run
Distance - 3.1 miles
Time ~ 22:00
Pace ~ 7:05 m/m
Route - out and back on the Silvercomet Trail

Sunday:

Run
Distance - 4.38 miles
Time - 40:24
Pace - 9:13.42 m/m
Route - Started at Publix, Mountain Gap to Mathis Mtn, up Mathis Mtn, Everest Loop on the top, back down to Publix

I've decided to abandon the plan outlined in the book "Brain Training for Runners," mainly because the workouts weren't nearly as challenging as my normal workouts and they don't allow for multiple cross-training workouts. Should put in a heavy workload this week as I'm not sure what next week will look like. Riding with Justin tomorrow morning, it was nice to go for a run today :)

Post-Twisted-Ankle Jog

Well, unofficially I sprained my ankle on wednesday. So the run saturday morning before driving to go see Derek's marathon was more of a "loosen up" run than a "run" run. Here's the run:

Distance - 1.4 miles
Time - 11:02.32
Pace - 7:53.09 m/m
Route - North side of Green Mtn

I'll be at a church internship program this week, so I won't be working out hardly at all. If I squeeze two runs in, that will be a success.

Wednesday

Swim:

Warm-up
500 S

Drills x2
200 K
200 P
200 6s

Workout
5x300 (first 3 on 6:00, last 2 on 7:00)

Cool-down
100 S

Total - 3.3k

Run:

This was supposed to be a hill sprints workout, but I rolled my ankle really bad towards the end of the workout as I was slowing down at the top of the hill. Here's the workout I was able to complete:

1 mile @ recovery pace
9x15-seconds hill sprints @ comfortable sprint

Tuesday Run

Base Run + Drills
Run 2.12 miles @ base pace
Bounding 1x30-seconds

Actual time - 18;55
Pace - 8:55 m/m

Monday

Swim:

Warm-up
400 S
200 Fingertip drill
200 K
200 P
200 Catch-up
200 6s

Workout
7x100 S (0n 2:00) - Avg. 1:40
100 Easy
7x100 S (on 2:00) - Avg. 1:40

Cool-down
100 S

Total - 3k

Bike:

Distance - 16.287 miles
Time - 55:24
Pace - 17.55 mph
Route - North on Donohue, right on Samford, right on Gay, right on University, immediate left on Wrights Mill, right on Shell Toomer, left on Mill Creek, right on Sandhill, continue straight on Beehive, right on Cox, right on Wire, right on Lem Morrison, right on Donohue

Weekend Workouts

Saturday:

Went for a bike ride with John. Started off doing my Big South Loop but veered off towards where the triathlon club does their time trials. Then we got lost in the middle of rural Alabama. Once we found out where we were, there was 25 minutes off daylight left and we were 13 miles from Auburn. Needless to say, cycling on MLK Highway at night with cars wizzing by at 50+ is kind of unnerving. But we made it back in one piece, so that's good. Here's the workout:

Distance - 42.517 miles
Time - 2:37:06
Pace - 16.24 mph
Route - "Explored" rural East Alabama

Sunday:

Trail running with Justin:

Distance - 3.8 miles
Time - 31:38
Pace - Base


Totals for the week:

Running - 11.79 miles
Cycling - 58.82 miles
Swimming - 1.55 miles

Fartlek Workout

2.29 miles @ base pace
2x30-second intervals @ 1-mile pace sprinkled in

Thursday

Went running with Julio in the morning. Nice leisurely pace through the trails behind my apartment complex.

Distance ~ 3.5 miles
Time - NA
Pace - Base

Wanted to put in a solid 30 on the bike today, but the sun wouldn't cooperate. Mistake #1, I started my bike workout at 2:30 pm. Mistake #2, instead of using my gatorade mix I used straight water. I felt so dehydrated that I cut the workout in half (I didn't want to kill myself for a workout). Here it is:

Distance - 16.301 miles
Time - 55:42
Pace - 17.56 mph
Route - North on Donohue, right on Samford, right on Gay, right on University, immediate left on Wrights Mill, right on Shell Toomer, left on Mill Creek, right on Sandhill, continue on Beehive, right on Cox, right on Wire, right on Lem Morrison, right on Donohue

Beginning of New Run Training Plan

I started a new running block today. I was supposed to start yesterday but I woke up with a cold so it was delayed until today. This will be the first time I've ever run on a program so we'll see how it goes. Today was really hard for me mainly because I forced myself to run so slow. These next 4 weeks will set me up for the next 14, which means that none of my workouts will be overly difficult. In the future I will be using some new words to describe my pace, here's the guide I'll be working from:

Recovery pace 10:27-9:12
Base pace 9:11-8:18
Marathon pace 7:48
Half-Marathon pace 7:30
10k pace 7:08
5k pace 6:53
3k pace 6:40
1 mile pace 6:17

All of these times are minutes/mile and they are all approximations. These are the paces I'll be shooting for the next 4 weeks for all of my workouts. Here's the workout for today:

Hill Repetitions
1-mile warm-up @ recovery pace
1x30 second hill repetition @ relaxed sprint speed (actual time 0:37)
1-mile cool-down @ recovery pace

Swim Workout

Warm-up
300 S
100 K
100 P

Workout
4x50 Ez/Hard
4x50 Hard/Ez
3x500 S (10:29, 10:31, 10:40)

Cool-down
100 S

Total - 2500m

Sunday Morning Run

Nice easy pace. I'm trying to start doing my long runs on Sunday mornings again when absolutely no one is on the road and I can run wherever I want. It was super windy and extremely humid so I had to take a couple breaks. I shaved my head today so hopefully that will help me cool off faster (today my head got really hot and didn't stop sweating until half an hour after my shower). Here's the workout:

Distance - 6 miles
Time - 47:24.33
Pace - 7:54.05 min/mile
Route - North on Donohue, right on Magnolia, right on Ross, right on Thach, left on Armstrong, right on Samford, right on College, left on Magnolia, left on Donohue, Donohue south to Camp Auburn

Bike Bash

Josh and I did Bike Bash this morning. It was a 40 mile group ride to increase awareness of cyclists on the road and raise money to put in more bike racks and bike lanes. The route was 2 loops of just under 20 miles each around the outskirts of Auburn. Had to ride through the ghetto at one point which was fun (it definitely made you ride faster). All in all a great bike workout.

Distance - 37.767 miles
Time - 2:20:19
Pace - 16.15 mph

Trail Workout

Another go at familiarizing myself with the trails behind the MRI Center. This week is pretty easy as far as mileage goes coming off the tri this past weekend, but if there's one thing I learned from the race it's that I can't ignore the run. Even though it is my strength because I've been doing it the longest, I'm still nowhere close to where I want to be. I'm going to start doubling my weekly run mileage from 10-12 miles to 20+. Here's today's workout:

Distance - 3.917 miles
Time - 29:22.59
Pace - 7:30.00

Easy Trails

Explored some trails behind my apartment complex. My next pet project is to borrow a GPS watch and map the trails (and come up with cool names for them). I've already decided that the most technical one will be called Huracan. Here are some approximate stats for the run:

Distance - 3 miles
Time - 24:00
Pace - 8:00

Bold Eagle Triathlon

The synopsis for the race is on a separate page. You can navigate the pages in the top right corner of the blog

Easy Swim

Last swim workout before the race:

Warm-up
200 S

Workout
6x50 (25 sprint, 25 Buoy drill)
3x100 S

Total - 800 m

Bike Workout

Last bike workout before the race Sunday. Did a nice power workout (high gear, low revs) on semi-flat terrain. Hope to pump out at ~24 mph on Sunday. Here's the workout:

Distance - 16.214
Time - 54:18
Pace - 17.92 mph
Route - North on Donohue, right on Samford, right on Gay, right on University, immediate left on Wrights Mill, right on Shell Toomer, left on Mill Creek, right on Sandhill, cross over College and continue on Beehive, right on Cox, right on Wire, right on Lem Morrison, right on Donohue

Monday Track Workout

Warm-up
1.5 miles
10:33.45

Workout
800m (~4:00)

800m (3:13.97)
400m (2:13.57)
800m (3:21.49)
400m (2:16.92)
800m (3:29.88)
400m (2:48.28)
800m (3:22.70)

Cool-down
1.25 miles
10:13.51

Total - 6 miles

Saturday Bike Workout

Went for a bike workout with Josh and Justin from my tri class. We met at the intramural fields at 8:40 am so we could go to the A-Day game (which was awesome). Last tough bike workout before the race next Sunday. I'll do one more bike workout on Tuesday and then no more.

Distance - 23.924 miles
Time - 1:19:00
Pace - 18.17 mph
Route - Donohue north, left on MLK, left at Trinity Church in Laotchapoka, left at dead end onto newly paved road, left at dead end, right on Beehive, left on Cox, right on Wire, Right on Lem Morrison

Mini Tri 4/16

Swim - 700m
14:20.60 (32:57.19 min/mile)

Bike - 9.7 miles
30:08.75 (19.31 mph)

Run - 2.8 miles
20:08.96 (7:11.77 min/mile)

Last practice tri before the race next week

Track Workout

Warm-up
Distance - 1.15 miles
Time - 8:36.02
Pace - 7:28.20 min/mile

Workout
1/4 mile repeats
1:21.75, 2:07.36, 1:34.11, 2:16.15, 1:38.87, 2:46.94, 1:41.34
1/4 mile tempo, 1/4 mile jog, with no stops

Cool-down
Distance - 0.97 miles
Time - 7:30.00
Pace - 7:43.80 min/mile

Total distance - 3.87 miles

Swim Workout

We spent the first 25 minutes learning how to set up our transition area and how to lower our T1 and T2 times. We jumped in the pool with no warm-up to learn how much it sucks to go race pace without warming up. Key note: make sure to warm-up prior to the race, no matter how cold the water is.

Workout
400 S (7:18.40)
4x50 S (Easy/Hard)

Bike Workout

First bike workout in a bike heavy week. Rode the Big South Loop backwards because the hills are harder doing the loop counterclockwise. Climbed the Moore's Mill hill out of the saddle and remembered why I almost never do that. Average speed suffered as a result of doing the loop backwards. Here's the workout:

Distance - 22.29 miles
Time - 1:26:01
Pace - 15.55 mph
Route - North on Donohue, left on Samford, left on Wire, left on Cox, left on Beehive, left on Sandhill, left on Moore's Mill, left on Samford, left on Mell, left on Donohue, Donohue to the College St intersection.

Monday Swim

Warm-up
200 S
100 K (no kickboard)
50 S

Workout
4x200 S (3:12, 3:34, 3:38, 3:34)
-Tried to pace at faster than my race pace (~3:50)

Warm-down
100 S Easy
2x25 Buoy Drill
2x25 Mix (Breast stroke, swimming underwater, freestyle)

Total
1350m

Easy Run

Nice easy run. Just wanted to loosen up and get ready for a tough week on the bike. Tried out my Headsweat Visor for the first time and I'm already addicted. I'm also trying to make more of a distinction between my hard run workouts and easy run workouts, so that they don't all turn into medium-hard workouts and can recover faster between harder workouts. Derek will be in Auburn this weekend, so stay tuned for some new running strategies :)

Distance - 2.77 miles
Time - 21:17.71
Pace - 7:41.27 min/mile
Route - Donohue north, right on Mell, right on Samford, right on Gay, right on Woodfield, left on College, south on College to Donohue intersection

Mini Tri 4/9

Same format as the Mini Tri last Friday. Increased the swim to 500m. Here are my splits:

Swim - 500m
9:27 (30:25 min/mile)
T1
1:35.58
Bike - 9.309 miles
33:03.37 (16.9 mph)
T2
0:35.50
Run - 2.2 miles
14:57.17 (6:47.8 min/mile)

Total - 0:59.50 (11.819 miles)

Had the fastest run split in my class by 3 minutes :). This upcoming week I'll focus on the bike (probably my biggest weakness). 16 days till the race!

Tuesday Afternoon Run

This was the worst run of my life! It was hot with no clouds, I got super dehydrated, I didn't go to the bathroom before I left, and my legs were absolutely dead! I did choose a hilly route and I ran up every hill minus 1.

Distance - 5.22 (5.72 including walking)
Time - 48:12.51
Pace - 9:14.12 min/mile
Route - College to the Museum, right at the light, right on Gay, right on University, left on Wrights Mill, turn-around at the Wrights Mill-Ogletree intersection

Swim Workout

Tri-class swim workout:

Warm-up
200 S
200 K
200 P

Workout
800 S (15:25.43)
8x25 (Easy, Build, Hard/Easy, Hard)

Total
1600 m

Sunday Morning Run

Happy Easter everybody! Went for a nice run workout this morning before church. I planned on running 6.2 miles to see where I need to improve before my race in 3 weeks, but I had to cut it short cause I was so dang tired. Stopped a couple of times so I could hold pace.

Distance - 4.67 miles
Time - 37:31.10
Pace - 8:02 min/mile
Route - Research to Donohue, left on Donohue, right on Magnolia, right on Ross, right on Thach, left on Armstrong, right on Samford, left on College, take College south to College-Donohue intersection.

Saturday Bike Workout

Took it easy today since I did the Mini Tri yesterday. I was going to take the day off but it was way too nice outside to not go on a bike ride :) I tried attacking the hills early on (even got off the saddle for one) but couldn't keep it up. Need to get used to being in the aero position

Distance - 18.09 miles
Time - 1:04:14
Pace - 16.89 mph
Route - Donohue north to MLK, MLK past Kiesel Park take a right at the detour, turn left on Beehive (the blinking yellow light), turn left on Cox, merge right on Wire heading back to campus, turn right on Farm, turn right on Donohue, take Donohue south until it intersects S. College.

Mini Triathlon

In my triathlon class, my instructor set up a sprint triathlon that was 2/3 the distance of a typical sprint triathlon (as class is only 50 minutes long). Following are my splits and total distance covered for each part of the workout:

Swim - 400m
8:04.97 (32:31.21 min/mile)
T1
1:29.91
Bike - 9.83 miles
34:07.65 (17.38 mph)
T2
0:37.23
Run - 2.2 miles
15:45.12 (7:09.6 min/mile)

Total - 1:00.04 (12.28 miles)

I had the fastest run split in my class which was very encouraging as my knee has been bothering for the past 4 weeks and has really effected my run training. I'm planning on doing some more speed work to get my 10k run pace below 7:00 min/mile.