Countdown to Training, Base Building Continues

I'm trying to do my best to keep up 5-6 workouts per week in order to get my body and mind used to so much training. Between work, the weather, and feeling sore/tired it has been a bit of a struggle. I did two OTF workouts this past week, with a slow three-mile run in between. After doing hill work during the first OTF workout my calves were burning on my run. It was also a warm 75 degrees out (although very little, if any, humidity), which also contributed to my 10:48 average pace. My knee started bothering me a bit after that run, and the next day, during my second OTF workout of the week, my shin and calf also began bothering me, so I opted out of a planned Saturday morning long run. I think I need to start wearing my knee brace constantly, even for the OTF workouts, and to even buy a second for my right knee to wear consistently. Used to be that I would have to wear just the left knee brace for anything longer than a 6 mile run. Now, it seems that since I've upped my training, the right knee has been giving me a bit of a problem as well, and I'd rather be safe than sorry and just give myself a little more stability early on than risk injury or pain that could later hamper my training plan. Speaking of which, my 13-week Half IM training starts two weeks from tomorrow. I haven't been in the pool in a few weeks, and had my only outdoor ride on the bike one week ago today. This weather has been the pits this past weekend though, and I'm finding it hard to get out and ride or run in the ever-returning chilly weather. This concerns me a bit for when September comes along and that last month of training leading up to IMLOU in October hits it's peak. I'm starting to get a little worried that IMLOU will be cold, and how that will affect my race. Regardless, it's too late now to back out and I wouldn't even if I wanted to. I am still looking forward to achieving this awesome race, and look forward to Muncie as a "warm up" to see what I will need to continue to focus on to have a successful first IM.

Rodes 10k PLUS First Outdoor Bike Ride

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Rodes 10k is probably my favorite 10k for no particular reason. Maybe because it was my first 10k, possibly because it's a mostly-flat race, or maybe it's just the good home-town feel of running through the City and Highland's, but I've always loved this race and this route and yesterday was no exception. Once again, I got to the race around 7:10 and sat in the car watching the cluster of traffic move in for the late-comers. I met up with Jennifer at 7:45, and we headed to the start line. It was a gorgeous day for a run - Sunny and 43 degrees at the start. After 10 years of running I think I've finally learned how to dress appropriately, and never felt particularly cold nor overheated on the race. I didn't necessarily have a strategy going into the run, but I did tell Jennifer just before the start that I wanted to try to PR. I had done an 8-miler the Saturday before, and felt mostly good through the first five miles of that. I think we ended up averaging 10:46/mile, but it was also 98% humidity and we had only one water stop, so that probably contributed to my less-than-stellar performance. Regardless, I took off with the gun and started the Garmin at the line. I didn't necessarily check my pace very often, but after getting up the first small incline I fell into a pretty good pace and just kept going. I think I walked about 10-15 seconds during the first water stop, but the remainder of the course I ran the whole way - not even taking a break for water, although I never felt that I needed it, either. Nothing in particular happened that's important to write here - I remember telling myself to just take it easy, don't go out too hard and risk bonking near the end. I felt REALLY good throughout the entire race - never tired, winded, or feeling that my cardio was giving me a hard way to go. I remember thinking that the Orange Theory Classes were really paying off, and have never regretted sticking with that program since May 2014. I crossed the 6 mile marker and noticed that I had a few minutes to spare in order to make a PR before crossing the finish line. I started to speed it up a bit and that's when my heart REALLY started to go at it. I looked down and saw that I was running an 8:50 pace - way too fast for me. I slowed down SLIGHTLY, knowing that even if I averaged a 10 min. mile for this last little bit I would have myself a PR. I crossed the finish with an official time of 1:00:54 - a 20 second PR (hey, 3 seconds per mile is 3 seconds per mile, right?) My splits were: 9:48, 10:03, 9:50, 9:38, 9:35, 9:31 and 2:29 for the last 2.9 (by my watch) mile. Now... onto my first outdoor ride of the season, which took place the following day: I met Ericka and Jennifer out at 11:00 a.m. to start a beautiful, sunny-once-again workout. We headed down 3rd street to River Road for a total of 20 miles out-and-back. There was a horrible headwind the ENTIRE WAY OUT. At one point I was leading the pack and saw that my MPH just kept getting slower and slower. I thought, "If this is the way I preform for IMLOU, I'm screwed." 8 miles out I had to take a little break and pulled over into a vacant lot. Jennifer was apparently thinking some of the same things I was, as she said she had been yelling for some time for us to slow down. Unfortunately, neither Ericka or I heard, and we peddled away leaving our little friend to bring up the rear. Despite this, we took off again for the last 2 miles before heading back towards downtown. The tailwind was more-than-obvious as Jennifer made me aware of the 18.5 MPH we were now doing. I'm not sure if I was just ready to take it back home, had finally gotten my sea-legs or what, but I was definitely feeling it for the last 10 miles. The ride home was definitely faster than the ride out, which is why I was more than a little disappointed to see that our average speed was only 13.3 :( for the whole ride. Considering I don't remember doing less than 13.7 on the way out, and we got up to near 19 MPH for probably 3 miles going back, it was a bit of a bummer. Of course, we did get caught by quite a few lights on Third Street headed back to Ericka's, so that could explain a lot of it. Either way, it was a great ride with a great couple of ladies and I'm looking forward to riding some more in the coming months. Now that we've gotten this first ride out of the way, I need to get the tri bike out for a little practice ride before I really take that out for any distance. Getting used to the aero bars, the handling of a carbon bike, and the different clips are my only real concerns. But...considering I spent the kind of money I did for the darn thing, and am hoping to give myself every bit of advantage I can come race season, I need to just suck it up and get on out!

Anthem 5k

It was a chilly, 27 degree start with some icy patches on the ground throughout. I got to the race early - around 7ish, to get a decent parking spot and not have to fight the traffic and crowd later on. Met up with the Landsharks for a pre-race photo op at 7:40, then looked around for my gals Jennifer, Ericka and Karen. I found Jennifer, but after an unanswered phone call Ericka and Karen were nowhere to be found, so we made our way to the start line where we hung out for about 5 minutes before the start - pretty darn good timing if you ask me. I had absolutely no particular goal or strategy for this race whatsoever. I had forgotten my Garmin, so keeping up with my pace, time, etc. was going to be impossible, therefore, I decided to "wing it" and run with Jennifer. It was nice to just take it easy, and pace my friend who also didn't have much of a strategy going other than a 4:1 walk break ratio in mind. Healing from some past war-wounds, Jennifer's normal 12-13 min. pace was ideal, but as we took off and got into a good groove (after muddling through all the walkers - grrrr), we were holding steady at just over an 11 min. pace. I was feeling pretty decent, although most of my extremities were still numb at this point from the cold. I never felt winded or that my cardio was getting out of control. It actual felt like a nice little leisurely stroll as Jennifer and I talked and cracked jokes. I had looked at the route ahead of time, so I knew exactly where the turns were - 9th, then 5th, then 8th to Main for the straight shot down the finish. Near the end Jennifer let it be known that she was on pace for a PR, so I tried to encourage a run to the end. After one more short walk break, we headed towards the finish and picked up the pace to come in at 35:26. Although this finishing time is 5:15 slower than my PR from last year, I enjoyed the slower run that allowed me to catch up and pass the time with my gal pal. It was well worth the slower finish to just take it easy with no expectations. In other news: I did a 1500m swim yesterday which, I believe, is my furthest so far. I've found that taking breaks in between the 100 meters actually causes me to feel a bit winded - or, at least, I notice that I'm winded and my heart is racing. I ended up doing the last 500 continuous just to get it over with, and after about 150-200 I fell into a good groove and started to feel comfortable - even having a thought that I've had in my past training, which is "I could do this all day," and I really felt like I could. Maybe it's because I wasn't pushing myself hard enough, but regardless, my stamina and strength felt great and that's all I was really going for on this workout.

Long, Cold Winter

While I can't say that I've been a sloth, exactly, I can say that the time that I'm putting in to the different disciplines could be better. The last thing I wanna do when it's 2 degrees outside is strip down and jump in a pool of water. I despise the bike trainer and will find any excuse not to get on it. Which leaves the running - most of which I'm getting through my Orange Theory workouts approximately 2-4 times per week. I had done a couple of longer runs with the Norton's training group but, again, this cold weather has kept me indoors for most of the month of February, and it looks like the first week of March is going to be more of the same. As far as my actual training, I've made the decision to go with a 12 week training plan for Muncie rather than the 20 week so that I don't get burnt out by the time IMLOU comes around. Basically what this means is that I'm going to continue working on building a base, strength training through OTF, and forcing myself to get on the bike and in the pool as much as possible. I still have the 20 week training plan on the fridge, so I'll be taking some workouts from that on the days that I do work on a specific discipline, but I'm not planning on sticking to the strict schedule at this time. In looking ahead at the 12 week program, the training will start the day after the Shelbyville Tri Series Sprint #3, which just so happens to land on the Sunday before a recovery week. That week looks an awful lot like what week one looks like on the 20 week plan, so I think that as long as I get a good base going, I'll be able to follow it without any issues. I also have the Triple Crown races coming up starting this Saturday, so my running will do nothing but increase/improve through that. The weather will hopefully begin cooperating enough so that I can get some outdoor riding time. And with Rennay to keep me accountable, I'll just have to continue to brave the cold in the morning and get my butt to the pool!