Bike and Done

I biked in today (9 miles ~ 2 eq. miles), capping off a pretty good week of training that included: a long run, intervals, swimming and biking. Next week is the last week of my 'base' build, then I'll start doing some more intervals and longer/slower tempo runs during September before hitting the x2000 intervals and short/fast tempo runs in October. I'll still try and swim and bike and keep my total mileage above 20.

The Lynchpin

Today I made it out for my 3rd long run in as many weeks: a nine miler from work to home which took 1 hour and 17 minutes. I felt sluggish at the start, but I felt very good at the end. Again, I could feel the quads at times - which is a pretty recent change. The weather couldn't have been any better - great day. I'm up to 27 miles for the week and will probably ride the bike in tomorrow. Ok, back to the fantasy draft...

Run/Swim.

Today I did my first run/swim in awhile - a shortened 10 minute swim due to swells and timing. Still about 4.5 eq. miles (1.7 swim + 2.8 run). This is shaping into a great week for total mileage: 4.5, 3.8, 5.5, 4.5 ~ 18 so far - with a 9+ miler tomorrow. YeeHaw.

Speed Up!

Made it to the Fitch HS track today for my first real set of intervals: 10x400s. I did these at an average pace of 6:12 min/mile. I'll update later. Update: the quads felt sluggish - but I managed to push through. The weather was near perfect. A few Fitch HSers about - getting ready for the new athletic seasons. This was also my first run in my new Adrenline 8s. They felt good.

Pile-Up the Mileage

I went out today for a short (35 minute) run in some nasty humidity for 3.8 miles (pace isn't worth mentioning). Tomorrow should be another story, as I'll aim for 10x400s. I'll be back on the mileage wagon soon.

A Rare Sunday Run

I went out today for the last run of my 36th year: a 4.5 miler at an easy 8:16 pace. I left the house and took it down to Noank and back - doing the Fishtown hill twice. My hope is to try and get 5 or 6 easy-ish workouts in: maybe some intervals and a six miler.

Philly Update

So I made it over to Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night for a ball game (Phillies-Nats) - and still managed to wake up the next day for a run. I only did 4x800s on the treadmill - since I wanted to sleep in a little and still make the conference on time. A pretty measly week - only 18 total miles (counting 1 on the cooldown bike). Maybe I'll try and go out for a few miles tomorrow night to round out over 20.

I'm down and Jersey tonight and will head back to New England tomorrow.

August Training in Philly

So this week I'm at the ACS National meeting in Philadelphia. The running has been difficult for a few reasons. I made it out Sunday for ~ 5 miles of easy jogging in the afternoon. I'm staying about 2.5 miles from Fairmount park - which I'm guessing is the best running you'll find in Philly - so Sunday's run just went toward the tip of it.

I was, unfortunately to hung-over Monday morning to run, but managed to stay off the sauce better last night and made it out for a strong 8 miler today that took me a bit further into the park. Very pretty running - although this morning felt very humid. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get a good interval run in - since I started my 'tuning' last week at the track. Since I don't have a track, I'll probably aim for 5x1000s - since that's about 4 minutes of hard running for me. The other nice thing about running while traveling is having access to the hotel gym. I took a trip from Blood Sweat and Beers - and use the gym to do some light biking after the run to cool down and help the legs recover. Too bad I don't have this capability back home/work.

August Training

So yesterday I made it out for a run/swim down at Eastern Point. I probably did ~3 miles running and maybe 1/3 of a mile in the water. It felt pretty good, although the legs were still sore from the difficult runs on Monday and Tuesday. I went to the beach with the family later - and passed on another swim and the WTAC fun run.

Today I went out for a quick 3.8 miler: just the Avery Point loop and back - which took me 30:22 - just under 8:00 min/mile pace. The weather felt hot and humid - but it was only ~80 and 70% humidity - which isn't horrible. Nevertheless, the run felt difficult. My legs: calves and quads - still feel sore. Maybe I'll try and get over for new shoes tonight or tomorrow. My mileage for the week is over 20. Hopefully I'll stay motivated for a short run tomorrow.

Intervals at Fitch

Today I ran intervals at the Fitch High track after work. I did 7x400s at ~6:00 min/mile pace. They felt pretty good and my legs felt better than they did all day (after yesterday's long run). I like the short intervals better than the longer runs. Next week I'll be cranking them up to 5x1000s down in Philly. I like the 1000 meter intervals because it's roughly 4 minutes of running for me.

Back on Track

So I never finished the triathlon, but I did manage to get out for my long run today: 7.68 miles over 1 hour and 6 minutes (8:35 pace). The weather cooperated: little heat and no rain, and the run felt pretty good - although my legs felt a little sore - which I'll have to pay attention to tomorrow if I go for intervals after work. I did our normal loop (with both Avery and Jupiter) which is 4.8 miles, then did an extra 'almost 3' - back down toward Avery - but back up Eastern Point road.

My goal is to do intervals tomorrow, a run/swim Wednesday, maybe the Westerly fun run Wednesday night and a bike into work on Friday.

Pfizer Triathlon

Well. The Tri didn't go off as hoped. I did the swim pretty well - in the top 1/2 of swimmers in my age group - but blew a flat on the second lap of a six lap course and had to walk it in. Tri's certainly take a bit more preparation than runs - and that's what killed me. I probably would've finished in fourth in my age group had I finished. On to other things.

Final Tri Prep

Today I did the 3.0/0.4 run/swim. The water was beautiful and pretty jelly-free. I took the trip down and back easy to get a little extra rest. I'm thinking my goal is to be in the top 1/2 of the swimmers (a big improvement over 2 years ago), beat my old bike time (44 minutes) and improve on the run (7:40s or so). I think those are doable goals. A lot of question marks - but overall it's proving to be a good cross training experience.

Last Brick Workout

Today I took the bike out for a 13 mile bike ride which took 46 minutes to finish. I then racked the bike at work and ran for 15 minutes. It felt very difficult and I felt pretty overheated afterwards. The triathlon is Thursday after work.

Fall Training Schedule

Looking forward to the fall (cool weather!). A lot of this can change, but I like having some plans. Each week works out to ~25 miles. I tried to keep the track intervals pretty easy: only a few 400 and 600 burners (hopefully a 10x400 in August won't kill me). Then a progression: 1200, 1600 and 2000s. The hope is that my plantar fasciitis won't return. The 2000s are almost more like doable (I hope) tempo runs - probably at a 6:50 pace. I threw in the New Haven 20K, basically as a long tempo run - although I hope to start slow: 8:20s, and finish faster (~7:40s) - so hopefully it won't be too far off from last year. Realistically though - there is a good chance I don't run that race.

Saturday Update: Made it on a ~11 mile bike ride today. Perhaps longer - but I'm not really sure. It took me 25:30 to head out past Old Mystic via River Road, and then 23-flat coming back. The bike felt better. I'll try again Monday from work. My weekly equivalence mileage topped off at 25 - pretty good considering I only did 2.75 Friday/Saturday.

Cool Pic of the Week

Since I've been neglecting to include pics in this week's posts, here is one that I like - a cruise boat moving past my swim - you can see the ledgelight lighthouse in the back. I'm going to try and get out for a little spin tonight.

Road Bike Workout

Yesterday I did my first ride on John's road bike. I was worried I would have lower back problems - but I felt pretty good, albeit slow, coming off the bike. The ride covered the course (5 of 6) laps for 11 of the 12.6 miles (about 44 minutes total). I then ran for about 9 minutes (I'll go 2.75 + 1 mile total workout). I did the ride without toe-clips, but with the clip pedals - although I'll look to fix that this weekend - I really didn't notice after about a mile (probably when my upper back started to get sore). Today's pretty busy at work - I may try and ride tonight for a little bit, then again Monday next week.