How to Get Boxer Slobber Off Your Leg, and Other Handy Tips While Running Long Distances

Well, you are probably now asking, "Mr. Pythagoras, how DO you get Boxer dog slobber off your leg during a long run?" I pondered this very dilemma this morning for about a half mile before the answer struck me, and I just scraped it off onto the side of a bench. I was initially tempted to wipe it off with my hand, and then wipe my hand on the dew kissed grass. But then I thought to myself, "EWWWW!" That dog could have just been licking it's nads or a-hole (medical terminology), I don't want to touch it with the same hands that are going to be wiping sweat off my face or handling my water bottles. You can never underestimate the flexibility of a dog, and their ability to reach less than desirable locations!

But now, back to my long run. The plan was to go out for 3:20 to 3:30 and hope to cover up to 23 miles. I ended up running for 3:16, and covering 23 miles. Good enough! I was very tired this morning. I just didn't feel any energy for some reason. My pace was better than I felt, however, and I ended up with my intended mileage in a shorter period of time.

Once again, I took advantage of the school tracks in Medina to get some mile splits. The first one was at A.I. Root Middle School at 13.1 miles into my run. So at the half marathon distance I ran an 8:04 mile. I'll take that, considering my marathon pace is a bit slower than that, around an 8:30 to 8:45 pace.

My second mile split was at Medina High School at 18.8 miles into the run. I turned that one out in 8:33, right at my marathon pace. By this point I was getting extremely tired. The legs just weren't feeling fresh and I was laboring in my breathing just to maintain a steady pace. I took my first gel at Root, and my second at the high school. I had packed four bottles of Gatorade Endurance and had gone through three of them. Maybe I should have planned to consume more gels, intake more calories out on the road. Maybe I should have eaten a bigger breakfast, more calories before starting. Whichever, I was hitting the wall.

My third and final mile split was at Claggett Middle School at 20.5 miles into the run. By this point, my form was deteriorating to the point that my knee began bothering me. I had to walk a 150 meter portion to avoid making my knee worse. My split here was 9:32. Definitely too slow. I took another gel and downed a good bit of water before leaving on the home stretch.

I had to walk another portion on the way home due to my knee. I was able to pop it a couple times, and eventually didn't have any more problems. One of these days, I'm going to have it looked at. Something in there gets in the wrong place sometimes, and it hurts. Bad.

The rest of the way home was somewhat uneventful. But that leads me to another running tip. Don't cross intersections in front of old ladies in cars. Even if you have the right of way. They've forgotten how to drive by this point, so just stop, wait, and when they finally do see you, make an "after you" motion with your hands and give them a big condescending smile. The "what the hell?" look on their faces is priceless.

I was so tired when I got home that it hurt. I didn't cramp at all. I wasn't building up lactic acid the way you do while sprinting. My legs were just drained to the point they hurt. And wouldn't stop hurting. For those non-runners out there, when your legs hurt, you stop running and walk, and the pain goes away. This pain didn't really begin until I was done. I'm sure some of it was mental, but it was agonizing. It cleared after 30 minutes or so, but man, I'd love to get to the point where that doesn't happen. It sucked. Massage please?

Well that's it. That was my last long run before Columbus. It's all shorter than that from now on. Hopefully I can have a good taper, rest up, and be ready to rock in October.

Mr. P

Speed Work Updates (a little late)

Better late than never, though. I need to update the last two track workouts. First, from Sept. 9, I had a great speed session. The best yet. Since the number of runners has dwindled with the onset of cross country season, those of us still hitting the track each week have agreed to concentrate on running 800s. We all seem to be training for a fall marathon, and these 800 repetitions sure seem to be effective. This day we did 8 X 800 meters. Since my speed has gotten better, I was shooting for 3:15 as a target time. I'm happy to say all my times were under that. The first one being a 2:57 and the last one a 3:04, my two fastest times. I also had 4 at 3:09 and 2 at 3:11. I guess I get an A for consistency.

As for this week, it was my best speed session yet! We had cool temps in the mid 60s with a little breeze that was just strong enough to make things chilly by the time we were done. We did 9 X 800 meters, with the plan being to increase to 10 for next week. My splits were as follows: 3:10 / 3:12 / 3:10 / 3:12 / 3:10 / 3:09 / 3:09 / 3:09 / 3:05. Yes, that is the fastest split on the last 800. The amazing thing is this was two days after a VERY hard race. I was still sore and my legs felt tired. I kept getting more sore later that night too. I felt about back to normal yesterday, but today I'm good to go. Which is good, because I'm planning a few miles for tomorrow morning. My last long training run for Columbus, and the longest so far. I'm planning to run for 3:20 to 3:30 (hours) and hoping to cover upwards of 22 to 23 miles. We'll just have to wait and see how that works out in the AM.

Mr. P

2008 Mizuno Columbus 15 Miler

It's Tuesday and I had better write about this now, or run the risk of putting it off to the point that I don't at all. Things have been so busy at work and at home that I'm still missing a training report from last week's speed workout as well. I'm going to try to tie that one in with this week's a little later.

The race was Sunday morning, before the remnants of Ike decided to "blow" through the Great State of Ohio. I drove down from Medina that morning instead of staying in Columbus overnight because we had to make some last minute changes to the weekend due to the poor health of our dog Penny. The temperature when I began driving at 5:00 AM was 76 degrees. It only dropped a couple degrees by the time I got to Alum Creek State Park. Did I mention that it was also about 75% humidity? It was. It was wet. Our one saving grace that day was a stiff breeze. A breeze out of the south bringing with it the sweet smell of hops and barley from the Anheiser-Busch brewery miles away.

After an easy warm-up of about a mile, I decided that I felt good enough to try to run this race at my half-marathon pace rather than just maintaining my slower, more comfortable marathon pace. That meant I was going to hurt a little. But I didn't hurt that much. All the hard repetitions on the track had me pushing, but without the effort I was expecting. Even the heat didn't get to me the way it was getting to others. I was hot and sweating a ton, but I was aware of it and took extra care at the water stops to replace as much fluids as I could. I only suffered from some minor cramping in the last 2 to 3 miles. But I was able to work through it and finished strong. My finish time was 1:58:22. I finished first in my age group. I passed a kid (or so I thought) with about 150 yards to go, who ended up placing second in our age group. Glad I put the hammer down going into the finish line. I would have hated to have been caught by him after all the effort during the 14.95 miles before that!

For anyone interested, here are my mile splits:
Mile 1 - 7:12
Mile 2 - 7:41
Mile 3 - 7:39
Mile 4 - 7:44
Mile 5 - 7:37
Mile 6 - 7:43
Mile 7 - 7:57
Mile 8 - 8:02 (began walking through the water stops)
Mile 9 - 7:52
Mile 10 - 8:26
Mile 11 - 8:12
Mile 12 - 7:51
Mile 13 - 8:20
Mile 14 - 8:18
Mile 15 - 7:41

Overall, not a bad course. We started at the beach area, wound around the parking lot, and headed out the south end towards the dam. There is a great gravel path back there that winds up and down and around through a dense stand of trees. I never new that was back there. Some of the other races that are held at Alum Creek should take advantage of that trail and incorporate it into their courses. The run over the dam and levee was the windiest section, but that felt magnificent. Running on the road was just alright. The roads were still open to traffic, but there wasn't too much that early on a Sunday. My biggest gripe was the non-removal of road kill from the course. Those things STANK! Especially the deer with missing hind quarter. YOU try running past something like that, breathing very hard, and not gagging, and see if you enjoy it. Otherwise a well run event, though on the small side, that I might consider doing again in the future.

Take care and look for a track training update sometime.

Mr. P

2008 Portage Lakes Sprint Duathlon

And so upon finishing today's race, I close another multi-sport season. 2008 was my second season in a row, but my eighth overall. I've had a good season, competing in six sprint distance duathlons. I've come to realize a couple things this year. One is that I am more competitive in the shorter races than the Olympic distance events. Another is that, try as I might, I'm not going to be as fast as the top guys overall, or even in my age group. I am going to take that knowledge into consideration when I choose the direction my racing will go next year.

I finished 4th in my age group today in the series finale for HFP Racing. We were at Portage Lakes State Park in Akron, OH, which kicked my ass last year. Of course last year the elements conspired against me, namely 30 degree temps at the start, competing in the Olympic distance, and a wicked hangover from my brother's 30th birthday party the night before. This year I was well rested, competing in the shorter race, and most decidedly NOT hungover. (I got that out of my system Monday at Oktoberfest.) While 4th in my AG, I was 18 out of 75 overall. That should tell you how competitive these older age groups are. My bike was slow with an average speed of just 17.6 mph. My lack of training on the bike really shows up on hilly courses. I did have some high points, however. My runs kicked ASS today! Seriously! All this track work is really paying off in these shorter distances. I had the second fastest Run 1 in my AG at 21:23. That's a 6:54 per mile pace. It was also the 12th fastest Run 1 split overall. My Run 2 time was just as good at 22:44, a 7:20 per mile pace. That was also the 2nd fastest Run 2 split in my AG and the 11th fastest overall. I knew I felt good on the runs and my splits prove it. Also, my transitions were the fastest in the AG at 50 seconds and 45 seconds respectively. If my bike would have been better than the 42 minute slog that it was, 37th position, I would have had a lovely outing today.

All in all, I can't complain. I know where I can make the most improvement for next year. I know where I'm strong right now, and I need to maintain that. I have some plans for change next year, but I'm not going to reveal the specifics just yet.

For right now, I'm going to rest. Rest, and prepare for my 15 miler this Sunday.

Mr. P

Is it September Already?

I mean, we just got done with Christmas and New Year's and all. The year went by too fast. So did my duathlon season. My last race is this Sunday at Portage Lakes State Park. At least I can spend the night before in my own bed. Sleeping at home always makes for a more pleasant night's sleep than staying in a hotel or with relatives.

Just a couple training bits of note for the week. I did two track workouts this week, Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was the real speed workout and last night only a few miles with the family. Mrs. P is trying to figure out how to reduce her 5K time and increase her endurance. Jr. P also needs to work on his endurance for soccer. He wasn't as interested in running last night as the Mrs. was.

On Tuesday, there were just three of us at the high school, myself and two really fast masters runners. We agreed to just stick with 800 repeats. More Yasso 800s for marathon preparation. I don't have a specific marathon goal time to associate to the 800s but I want to run them as hard as I can. My target time was around a 3:15 to 3:30 pace.

Warm-up - 1 mile
800m - 3:03
400m rest
800m - 3:19
400m rest
800m - 3:08
400m rest
800m - 3:15
400m rest
800m - 3:14
400m rest
800m - 3:14
400m rest
800m - 3:20
400m rest
800m - 3:12
Cool-down - 1 mile

As you can see, my times were around 3:15 for the most part and trended toward 3:00 flat a couple times. Overall, a total mileage of 7.75 miles including the 400m recovery jogs. A workout I'm very pleased with. We were running in mid 80s to 90 degrees with a bit of humidity thrown in for good measure.

Last night however, was a bit on the slow side. We did a mile at around a 12 minute pace. Then we did another mile and a half with interspersed pick-ups, bounding, striders, butt-kickers, and sprints. That was about all she wrote for Mrs. P. While they were walking a half mile cool-down, I went and ran a 7:13 mile. It was supposed to be a cool-down mile, but ended up being a fast tempo pace instead. The geese on the infield were giving me the eye whenever I came around the back corner. They were literally about 10 feet from the track. I could have veered right into them and they wouldn't have been able to move quick enough. But that whole flock suddenly took off a few minutes after I finished because a pug was running around on the track. A PUG! It was having a good old time just running here and there, but those geese were gone!

That's it for now. I'll be back after Sunday's race.

Mr. P

A Little Labor for Labor Day Weekend

Based upon my long run from last week, I wanted to go out for about 2:45 this week. I estimated that would get me about 18 or so miles, maybe a little more. What I ended up doing was joining a large group run over on the Road Runner Akron Marathon course. One of the guys from the club posted it in the forum on the website. Fortunately I found it and changed my plans. It didn't take much for me to decide to run with others versus running by myself.

The plan was to run 20 miles of the course, cutting out about 6 miles on the south side of Akron. 20 miles is a little bit more than I was intending to do this weekend. But only a little bit. I felt like I could have gone 20 last week, so knowing that, I was confident I wouldn't have any problems doing the distance this week. What I didn't expect was to maintain a decent pace throughout the run. The finish time, by my watch, was 2:54:55, averaging 8:40-ish miles. We certainly started out faster than that and finished slower. But that's to be expected. If I can maintain that kind of pace in Columbus, I'm going to shatter my PR of 4:15. I'm extremely excited at the prospect, but I have to keep the emotions in check and just let the run happen on it's own.

The Akron course is unique for a marathon. It's fairly flat for the first half, then it drops down into the Cuyahoga River valley, climbing slowly out a few miles later. Much of the course is shaded, which wasn't an issue this morning because we were blessed with fog. Just enough to obscure the sun for most of the run. Plus we started at 6:30 AM, getting out ahead of the heat. Even with the hills, I like the course. It's scenic and changing, giving you different things to notice while running. The loads of spectators weren't out this morning, but they will be on race day. Some of the best of any race I've done. I'd rank them right up there with the spectators along the Columbus Marathon route. I look forward to next year when I plan on participating in the full Akron Marathon again. It's only the half for me this year. But I'm glad I've got one 20 miler under my belt before Columbus. Now only one more to go.

I would like to thank Frank for posting the notice about the group run. Otherwise I would never have known about it. I would also like to thank Ladd and Chuck for keeping the pace up and for the good conversation during the run. And thanks to Vertical Runner in Hudson for organizing the whole thing. Even though I haven't been up to their store since the Second Sole opened here in Medina, I appreciate their involvement in the running community.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone.

Mr. P

"Where did everybody go?"

Do you remember the part in the Foghorn Leghorn cartoon where the Baby Ostrich, after Foghorn and the Barnyard Dog knock each other into the ground during the boxing match, finally pulls it's head out of the ground, gulps, and asks "Where did everybody go?" Well that was me last night at the track (sans sticking my head in the ground). Nobody was there for the usual Tuesday night speed work. I knew there was a speaker scheduled last night for the running club, but not everyone who shows up is a club member. Maybe there was a memo I missed or something...

So I ran by myself. I did an extended warm-up, waiting to see if anyone else was going to be there. I ran a reverse ladder from 1600m to 200m. I ran a cool-down. That was about the extent of it. Here are my splits:

Warm-up - 2.5 miles with .5 miles of striders on the straights.

1600m - 6:23

400m rest

1200m - 4:56

400m rest

800m - 3:06

400m rest

400m - 1:26

400m rest

200m - 37.86

Cool-down - 1.25 mile

I felt alright, just a little tight in the beginning from my long run on Saturday. The extended warm-up had me feeling good to go for the 1600m. The yellow jackets were out in force, buzzing around my Gatorade bottle. I ended up having to drape my towel over it to keep them away. Other than that, a good workout. Weather permitting, we are planning on starting a Thursday night Pythagoras family training night tomorrow. It will allow Mrs. P to get some training in as she needs to work up to running without walking. It will allow Jr. P to develop some endurance for his soccer matches. And it will allow me to log a few extra miles during the week. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the Fay remnants work their way through before tomorrow night.

Mr. P

The Long and Winding Road...

Apparently leads all around Medina. Because "all around Medina" is exactly where I was getting to this morning. It was Long Run time today! Long Run with capitals L and R! I'm slowly building my distance every week to prepare for the Columbus Marathon in October. My last Long Run was 12 miles and two weeks ago. Today I planned for around 14 miles. I had no specific course in mind, just went out meandering for a couple hours. My 12 mile time two weeks ago was just under 2 hours, so I wanted to be somewhere between 2:15 and 2:30 today. Based upon the relatively flat terrain, that should have been sufficient to get me to my desired distance.

Or beyond! In fact, I ended up running 16.5 miles today. Wow! I wasn't supposed to hit that mark for another couple weeks. The best part is that I still had gas in the tank when I finished. I probably could have gone for 20 today. Granted, I would have needed to stop for a Gatorade refill, but even so, I was NOT expecting to be that far along yet. Today my course took me south across Route 18 and down a major residential street. I eventually made my way to the high school where at mile 11.2, I ran a mile on the track. My split was 8:37. Right on track. I can comfortably keep up an 8:30 pace for a while. That should be my goal pace for the marathon.

Upon leaving the high school, I made my down the street to the middle school where we have our Tuesday night speed sessions. I ran 2 miles on the track there. The first one coming at mile 13 in my Long Run had a split of 8:44. A little on the slow side. So for my second mile on the track I picked up the pace a bit and banged out a 7:58. Nice! And I still felt great after that. But I had been out for over 2 hours and decided it was time to just head straight home. I had gone through two bottles of Gatorade Endurance on my Fuel Belt as well as two bottles of water that I drank with two packets of PowerBar PowerGel. I refilled one bottle from the water fountain with some nasty tasting warm water and headed for home. I finished my run in 2:20 for 16.5 miles. I am very pleased!

As for my report from Tuesday, I won't go into the full details, but it was a little short due to Meet the Teacher Night for Jr. P. 1 mile warm-up followed by a mile of striders. Then a reverse ladder consisting of 1 mile, 1200m, 800m, 400m x 2, 200m x 2, and a lap to cool down. All my times where right on where they have been. I banged out a 6:19 mile and a 3:00 half mile which are on the fast side for me. I also had a decent 200m at 33.78. Not much when compared to the times they're pulling over in Beijing, but not bad for me.

I need to go. I somehow found myself entered into a contest on WKNR, the winner of which gets to choose between tickets to the OSU, USC game or Browns, Steelers. The winner needs to be present to win, so in a little bit I'll be heading up to a bar in Lakewood to see what happens.

I'll also be replacing my spent calories on some succulent malted barley beverages.

Mr. P  

2008 Vermillion Harbor Sprint Duathlon

I don't think the weather could have been any better for racing than what we had today. We began the morning in the 60s and by the time I finished, it was probably still in the mid 70s. Not a cloud in the sky. We were racing in Vermilion, OH, home of Dick Goddard's Woolly Bear Festival every fall. I had never been there before. Nice little town. I would like to go back again, aside from more racing.

And speaking of racing, I'll just get right to it. I finished 3rd in my age group, just about one minute behind the 2nd place finisher, and 15th overall. I had him on the run, but it wasn't enough to make up the time he put on me during the bike. My shin was bothering me a little during Run 1, and I thought I was pushing harder than I actually was. My time was 22:40 for the first 5K, averaging out to 7:19 minute miles. I know I can do much better than that so I need to figure out what happened. The bike was a little bumpy and tight at times, but overall I'm pleased with my final time. They call it a 20K but my computer read 11.3 or so. Either way they're giving me 35:34 at 20.9 mph. I know I wasn't averaging that kind of speed so I think my computer is right. I'm improved over last year, but not that much. I completed Run 2 in 24:01 averaging 7:45 minute miles. Again, I felt I was going faster, but I guess I wasn't.

Now I'm left with the season finale for the Duathlon series. It's next month at Portage Lakes State Park in Akron. And that's all folks for this year's multi-sport season. I'm planning some changes for next year. They should prove to be interesting if nothing else. Now I think I'm going to go down stairs and eat some 4-layer chocolate and peanut butter fudge bars that Mrs. P made yesterday. I won't say how good they are because I don't want to share!

Mr. P

I Lied

Remember that tiny little part about me adding a Thursday run, but not this week because I have a race Sunday and I didn't want to anything that might hamper my performance? I lied. I ran this morning on the treadmill. Only 2 miles though. But my shin hurt bad and now I'm hoping it will go away with 2 1/2 days rest. It feels fine to walk on now, but it was twinging pretty bad this morning. I may take my shoes into Second Sole to have them inspected for wear. Maybe the miles are finally starting to affect them. I would prefer to think it's an equipment issue rather than a conditioning issue.

In other news, since I still haven't replaced my bad back tire on the bike yet, I decided to hook it up to the trainer last night and have a spin. I was able to do 10 miles before I had to stop due to sheer boredom. Indoor cycling is the absolute most boring exercise known to man. But you might ask, "Mr. Pythagoras, what about Spinning classes?" Spinning classes are a whole different ballgame compared to riding a bike by yourself in the basement. There's only so much cinder block and spider web landscape I can take. I'd much rather be out on the road. I just don't trust drivers the way I did when I was younger. Experience, I guess.

Mr. P

Wednesday Morning Surprise

Not a groundbreaking, earth shattering, life changing kind of surprise, but a pleasant one, none the less. (For me any way) Last night the running club had it's weekly speed workout at the track. As I got out of bed this morning around 5:15 to do some recovery walking on the treadmill (please see all the posts about how I can't run everyday) a funny thing occurred to me: I wasn't sore. I wasn't even tight. My shin, which has been bothering me slightly the past couple weeks, was fine. It wasn't that I didn't run hard last night. I'd consider 6 X 800 meter repeats to be running pretty hard. But I just felt good this morning. This makes me start thinking about adding another day of running to the week. I could fit something in on Thursdays. Maybe some tempo work. Maybe just on the treadmill to keep the impact down. Not this week, with a race on Sunday. But maybe next week.

As for the track workout, we ended up running at the high school instead of the middle school due to a soccer game. The only time I've been on that track is to finish a 5K which is held in the spring. We began with a 1.5 mile warm-up as everyone slowly found their way to the high school. Then it was a set of Yasso 800's. Which is a fancy name for 800 meter repeats, the times for which are determined by your desired marathon finish time. Here's an example: Mr. Pythagoras would like to finish the Columbus Marathon in a time of 3 hours and 45 minutes. He would then go to a track and run 800 meter repeats at a time of 3 minutes and 45 seconds per 800. Here's how that all worked out:

800 m - 3:10
400 m rest
800 m - 3:10
400 m rest
800 m 3:19
400 m rest
800 m - 3:18
400 m rest
800 m - 3:18
400 m rest
800 m - 3:15

As you can see, I wasn't very good at staying on my goal pace. Just by averaging the times out in my head, they are predicting a finish time somewhere around 3 hours and 15 minutes. That would be precisely 1 hour faster than my current PR. Not that that's unrealistic. It's just not a realistic expectation for this year. I think I'm very capable of cutting off at least 15 minutes, if not a little more. There are many variables in the marathon: training, tapering, health on the day of the race, weather, diet, etc... I have two months to do as much as I can to prepare the things I have control over. So far, I think I'm doing fairly well.

Mr. P
(Pain free as of 1:00PM 8/13/08)

Running in Hinckley

If you're not familiar with the Hinckley Reservation in the Cleveland Metroparks, let me just say that it is the opposite of flat. It's hilly. It's really hilly. It's also where I went Saturday to log some training miles. I enjoy going over there from time to time to get some good hill work in, but this week I went to log miles. 12 miles to be exact. And boy did the effort wear me out.

The Hinckley Reservation has a lovely 3 mile paved trail loop that runs around the lake which is the center-point of the park. All ups and downs. I've done a few 9 mile runs there before, but this was the longest run I have attempted there so far. 4 laps. 12 miles. The temperature was right around 80, with a mix of sun and clouds, and a decent breeze that would kick up every once in a while. Lap one felt really good. I charged up the hills and caught my breath at the top. Lap one was also the fastest lap of the quartet at 25:03.

I finished lap two in 26:25 as I was not attacking the hills as hard. I was also taking longer to recover from the uphill efforts. I was also starting to notice the heat more. Which is to say, I was sweating like a pig.

Lap three had a time of 27:58. While running the third lap, I kept thinking about how tired I was starting to get and that I still had one lap to go once I finished it. My left shin was bothering me from time to time and my left knee was acting up to, preventing me from going downhill as hard as I would have liked to. At one point I had to walk while drinking to prevent myself from choking on my Gatorade.

Lap four ended up being a bit faster than lap three at 27:26. Considering that I was hurting a bit and was drenched in sweat and was starting to see fuzzy little halos around everything, lap four wasn't that bad once I was into it. I've run longer and hurt much worse, so it didn't take too much to keep going. All in all a good distance training run for October.

As for the rest of this week, I have speed work tomorrow night and my second last duathlon of the year Sunday. That means no long run this week. I'm planning a 13 miler in two weeks. I just need to keep adding mileage until October. I think that if I can keep this up, I'll have a very good chance to shatter my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon in Columbus. As for my shin, it felt much better today. Maybe my body is learning how to cope with a little less down time than last year. I'm hoping to maintain two runs per week. Last year, I think I ran once a week for my marathon training. Any more and it just hurt too much. I'll just take things one week at a time.

Till next time,

Mr. P

Speed Work Update

As promised, I'm here to report my most recent evening of speed work on the track. Have I ever mentioned how hard and painful speed work is? Well, it is.

I began with a mile and a half warm-up followed by another mile of striders on the straights and jogging the curves. Then the fun began with 200 m relays:

200 m - 38.95
rest 37.45
200 m - 39.79
rest 42.36
200 m - 39.53
rest 42.47
200 m - 41.20

Which were followed by 800 m repeats:

800 m - 3:16
rest 2:42
800 m - 3:18
rest 2:46
800 m - 3:16
rest 3:04
800 m - 3:18
rest 4:02

Consistent, huh? We finished with a mile cool-down. A cool-down in training terms. It was hot and muggy again, so I didn't technically "cool-down" until I had the AC cranked in the car. We had a breeze this week though. That's more than we've had previously, and felt great for half a lap each time around.

I'm a little sore from lifting last night, so I skipped my morning workout today. I need a 12 mile or so run this weekend, but I haven't decided when I'm going to do it. I don't think it's supposed to be as hot, so an afternoon run may work out just fine. I'll be sure to let you know.

Mr. P

2008 East Fork Sprint Duathlon (continued)

I'm back with some numbers for anyone interested. My finish time was 1:27:41, placing me 1st in my age group and 11th overall. My first run was 21:07 at a 6:49/mile pace. That's pretty good considering my slow start followed by the long uphill out of the parking area. But like I said, I felt good going up the hill and that continued for the rest of run 1. My bike split was 41:08 for 20K averaging 18.1 mph. That's still where I need to work the most. My bike split is really slowing me down. I've invested enough into the equipment to prevent me from attempting to upgrade, even though more specialized equipment would certainly help. No, I need to simply ride more. But that's time consuming, so I'm going to settle for increasing my leg strength workouts. Run 2 had a split of 23:21 at a pace of 7:32/mile. I'm happy with that considering that was my run 1 pace last year. Yeah, my running has improved a lot in a year's time. I'm curious to see how much more it can be improved!

I'll be back soon with a re-cap of last nights speed workout. It was another tough one.

Mr. p

2008 East Fork Sprint Duathlon

My new pre-race ritual is now to ride big roller coasters, eat powdered sugar donut holes, ice cream, and spaghetti with meat sauce from the Olive Garden, drink Starbuck's coffee, milkshakes, Sam Adams, and a Frozen Tiramisu from said Olive Garden, and spend all day walking around in the sun, getting dehydrated and dodging people who looked like they just walked out of a terribly cliched 1980's movie. (I'm quite sure that is the longest sentence I've ever written!) Seriously, it was like we hopped into the Way-Back Machine 20 years on our visit to Cincinnati. Mohawks and mullets, tank tops, halter tops, Motley Crue tee shirts, no shirts (please put a shirt on, no one wants to look at that)! But I digress. I'm not here to update the thriving cultural mecca that is the Queen City. Whatever I did Saturday, proved to be very beneficial on Sunday. Well at least it didn't hinder me too much.

The day started with some gorgeous weather. It was humid but in the 60's, so it felt fine. The day would turn out to be completely sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. Unlike last year, when we got caught in a monsoon on the bike. Believe me when I say there wasn't a dry spot on me! I mean, even the wet spots had wet spots. Not so this year. Absolutely beautiful racing conditions.

The results aren't posted yet, but I can tell you that I finished first in my age group. I'm very happy yet surprised because this is a tough course. The bike is rolling terrain while there is a great big hill on the run. We get to run it twice in the sprint duathlon and thrice in the Olympic duathlon. I started out at a comfortable pace. My left shin has been bothering me since the track workout last week. I felt I was being held back by the people I was running with, but I had no where to pass. Until we got to the hill that is. I picked up my pace going uphill and managed to pass quite a few people. Once at the top, I was able to find my rhythm right away and just pressed on. I could tell I was running a faster than normal pace. I waited for my body to tell me to slow down, but it never did. So I just kept going. I'm sure my mile 1 pace was below average, but at mile 2, my split was a little over 14 minutes. That would put my mile 2 pace in the sub-7 minute range. I guess the speed workouts are working out!

The bike went well. I was passed a lot, as usual. But my average speed was a bit higher. There were only a couple sections of uphills that gave me some trouble. My main concern was my back tire. I hadn't looked at my bike since the race in Columbus two weeks ago. The one where many people were getting flats on the course. I didn't flat out on the course. Nor did I have any debris embedded in my tire. What I did have, however, was a wear spot and a tear where I locked up my tire and skidded while trying to stop at the dismount line coming into transition 2. The right little rock or whatever in the right spot, and I was going to have trouble. I even put my flat repair kit on the bike. I never bring that in a race. But I think I will from now on. It was a nice security blanket.

Run 2 went much like run 1. I was tired coming off the bike and so started out slow. But once again, I was able to pick it up a bit going up the hill. Once at the top, I settled right back into a very good pace. I've started to take shorter but quicker strides, which really help me improve my pace. And they don't seem to take as much of a toll on my legs either. If you've never run hard after riding hard, it's hard to describe just how tired your legs are, and how easy it is to push too hard, causing cramping. Anything to lessen that chance is welcome in my book.

I'm going to turn in now. But I will return when the official results have been posted.

Mr. P

Roller Coasters and Racing

On the eve of leaving cross state, I find that I have some time to update. Sunday is my second HFP race of the year at East Fork State Park in Bethel, Ohio. That's just outside of Cincinnati. We're heading down tomorrow after work and spending a full day at King's Island on Saturday. I can't wait! So far this year my roller coaster count is at 17 different coasters. I need to add some more! Then it's another sprint duathlon on Sunday.

As for training, I had to miss a guest speaker for the running club in order to this week's speed workout. Which I'm kind of bummed about. The speaker was from the Akron Marathon and I was hoping to hear what's going on over there. It's a difficult, hilly course, but for some reason I'm hooked on it after one year. That will be my full fall marathon for 2009. I can't believe I'm already planning that far in advance. The track workout Tuesday was another uncomfortable one. It was hot. Near 90. And humid again. This week was a ladder workout, up and down:

1 mile warm-up
200 m hard
rest
400 m hard 1:24.12
rest 1:20
600 m hard 2:13.55
rest 2:58
800 m hard 3:07.07
rest 4:08
1200 m hard 5:09.57
rest 4:58
800 m hard 3:13.57
rest 2:51
600 m hard 2:19.07
rest 2:50
400 m hard 1:26.22
rest 1:26
200 m hard 34.28
1.5 mile cool-down

For a grand total of around 6 miles. I definitely feel better running in the heat now that I've been doing it most of the summer. Sure could have used it last year. Better late than never I suppose. I'm off. I will update after the weekend as to how the race went.

Mr. P

It's Long Run Time Again

Boy did it sneak up on me too. I was looking at the calender the other day and realized that I only have 3 months till the Columbus Marathon. I need to restart my long runs. They've slipped into obscurity since the Rite Aid Half back in May.

So this morning I went out and ran. Long. Well, long for not having run long in a while. I had a 10 mile course that I added some extra onto. I ended up doing a little over 11 miles in 1:32. I felt a little tired so I kept the pace down. But for the last 2 miles, I had an energy surge so I ended up increasing my pace towards the end, which is something good to try to do anyway. Now to just keep building the mileage into the fall.

Earlier this week I attended yet another track speed workout. They're starting to bother me a little less each time. Oh, they still hurt like hell, during and afterward, but I don't mind it so much. The results outweigh the temporary discomfort. This week was a reverse ladder workout:

1 mile warm-up

1600 meters hard 6:44.73

400 m rest

1200 meters hard 5:15.80

400 m rest

800 meters hard 3:25.55

200 m rest

600 meters hard 2:37.47

200 m rest

400 meters hard 1:32.03

200 m rest

200 meters hard 34.39

2 x 100 m striders

1 mile cool-down

That was the hardest workout yet. Partly because the distances were longer. Partly because it was near 100% humidity with the sun out and no breeze. It was just an uncomfortable afternoon to be going so hard. But I've come to realize that the workouts are beneficial so I push as hard as I can.

See you on the road,

Mr. P

2008 Columbus International Sprint Duathlon

An interesting race day. I went from Plan A to Plan B. Then I tried Plan C before choosing Plan D ,which was a hybrid of Plans A and C (kind of). Allow me to translate all that into English:

I was supposed to race the Olympic/International distance duathlon. This was going to be my long race for this season. But having not done much training in the two weeks leading up to the event, I decided it would be best if I just participated for fun and not worry about my time. I was fine with that, but then I found out (on my own) that the longer distance event was eliminated and I was now in the Sprint distance duathlon. I was a little upset about not being notified about this change (thanks Fat Rabbit Racing), but this is the distance all my other duathlons are, so it was fine. As I started the race the plan was to still just do it for fun. I felt good during the first run, so I decided to push it and make it a race.

This is a great race. I like the course, both the run and the bike. It's a fast course. All the trees provide a great shaded run, and part of the bike leg. But they also block the breeze. Which yesterday, I could have used more of. It was hot and muggy. Very different from last year's event. I began run 1 at a decent pace. I felt so good I decided to push it and see what would happen. The bike leg was fast going down 315. I have my complaints about all the debris on the shoulder, and all the flats it was causing. But it was fast none the less. Even going back up Olentangy River Road wasn't too bad for me this year. It's a bit rolling and took a toll on me last time. The second run was tough because my quads both cramped with over a mile and a half to go. I was pretty much limping in to the finish. And a close finish it was, too.

What's the bottom line? I finished in 1:24:25 and won my age group. Second and third places were right behind me, separated by only a handful of seconds. In fact, the first five finishers for the age group were only about a minute apart. That's a close finish!

So, now I'm looking forward to my next duathlon outside of Cincinnati at East Fork State Park in two weeks, as well as beginning training for the Columbus Marathon in October. Where is this year getting to?

Mr. P

2008 Gladstone Kiwanis Firecracker 5 Miler

Unbelievable. That's all I can say right now. Unbelievable. I just compared my time for this year's 5 miler with that from last year. I cut 1 minute and 45 seconds off my time. FOR 5 MILES! For those of you that don't run, 5 miles isn't that long. It's hard to take that much time off at that distance. Especially when the previous time was decent to begin with.

My time for this year was 34:31.53 by my watch. Since it's a very small race, there are no "official" times sent out afterwards, that's my "official" time. I placed 7th in my A.G. but I don't know how I did overall. The course is nice, basically flat with one downhill (the uphill is so gradual and spread out, there almost isn't one) and a short section on a wooden boardwalk which adds a little spring to each step. This year wasn't as humid as last year, which was very welcome. And knowing the course is a big help. I knew when to start speeding up at the end. Small races are fun, and this one is one of the better small races I've done.

In some additional news, my time for this run officially shatters my previous 5 mile PR from 1994, when I was 20 years old. My old time was 35:50.73, set on the old course for the Cleveland Turkey Trot. It feels really good to be breaking all these old PR's. Kind of makes me think I'm doing something right.

Mr. P

2008 Fat Rabbit Racing Sprint Duathlon

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get a new post up. We left on vacation the day after the Fat Rabbit Sprint race so I couldn't post then. I suppose putting off writing has kind of snowballed since then. But I'm here to put a stop to that!

The race went very well. I just now compared my times from this year to those of last year's race, and I'm basically happy with the results. I'll get right to them:

This Sprint Duathlon course consisted of a 2 mile run 1, a 20k bike, and a 5k run 2. A decent section of of the run course was a park access road. Think dirt, grass, and ruts. There were severe storms the previous day, leaving that section with standing water and mud. Lovely! Even with that I pulled off faster runs than last year, only losing a little time on the bike. I'd like to attribute that to the headwinds we had this year, but it's most likely due to my lack of time on the bike training. My finish time was 1:16:58. That was good enough for 2nd in my age group and 9th overall in the duathlon. My first run was nearly a minute faster than what I did last year. And that's on a 2 mile course. The bike leg was about 30 seconds slower and run 2 was about 30 seconds faster.

This is about the most spirited event on my schedule. The Ohio State University Triathlon Club hosts a college tri-club division and the teams are getting bigger and louder. Very entertaining. Gotta' have more cowbell out on the course!

Congrats to Mrs. P who did very well in her duathlon debut that weekend. She's jumped from 5k's directly into multi-sport. And took 2nd place in her age group in the process.

Look for more updates soon.

Mr. P