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

2008 Maumee Bay Sprint Duathlon

What a great day to race: we made great time travelling to Toledo, the weather ended up being near perfect, and I had a lovely 3 and a half hours of sleep. Lucky for me, I also had my chocolate covered espresso beans.

Actually, I had a great race! Both the first and second runs were well above average and the bike was decent. I still have a lot of work to do with the bike. I just need to make time to start logging some serious miles. I finished 3rd in my age group, catching and passing the 4th and 5th place finishers on Run 2. My time was 1:27:24. I'm happy with that, as I don't have any other races at this particular distance to compare to yet.

The start of the race saw temps in the 60's with a slight breeze which made for just the slightest chill in the air. I started up towards the front, about where I'm comfortable being with my pace. The run loops around a man made lake and then heads out along the Lake Erie beach to the turn around. My split at mile 1 was 6:02. I was running hard, but not too hard, and still feeling good. Approaching the turn around, I saw that I wasn't as far behind the overall leaders as I usually am. Those guys really take off. Eventually I settled down into a pace I could maintain back to the transition area. Finishing run 1 in 20:44, I made my way down the entire length of the transition area to my bike. Off with the running shoes, with their indispensable elastic laces, and on with the new cycling shoes. The one Velcro strap made things much faster than the previous 3 strap version. On with the helmet and I was out of transition in 54 seconds.

The bike leg began a little rough. Literally! The road out of the park was rough. I lost the sponge/foam "cork" from my new aero bottle on one of the bumps. I saw it go and made the decision to leave it rather that stop and pick it up. Fortunately I already have a replacement one. That breeze began to pick up by the time we were on the bikes. It felt like it was out of the West, and that's the direction we rode first. I kept waiting for the big packs of cyclists to catch me and I could latch on, but it never happened. The race directors added more wave starts to the triathlon, spreading everyone out. The big packs never materialized. So I was surprised to find myself riding solo. The ride went well. I didn't crash. The bike leg for the sprint distance is only 12.2 miles, so I pushed hard. Heading back in with a tailwind, I finally felt like I used to on the bike years ago. I really need to do more bike work. I finished the bike leg in 43:15, averaging 19.8 mph. I'll take that.

Transition 2 went just as well as T1, and I was in and out in 40 seconds. Now, run 2 is where I usually start to fall apart. That's one reason I switched to the shorter distance for this year. But this year I have a couple things going for me. One, I've done way more bike/run training bricks than last year. Two, I logged a lot of miles last fall and finished two marathons. I was surprised at how well I felt running out of transition. I was passing people left and right. A little voice suggested I tone it down or risk a major breakdown. Once out of the packs of runners, I did ease back a little. Shortly after that my right quad began tightening on me. That was around mile 1 of the final 5K. So I pretty much ran in pain for that last run. My breathing was fine so I just went. I passed one of my age group competitors early, but came upon the second with maybe 3/4 of a mile to go. The thought crossed my mind to just sit behind him and wait till we got closer, then attempt to sprint past him. But for whatever reason, I chose to pass him and encourage him to keep it up and finish strong. If he had some energy in reserve, he might have made the ending interesting. But he didn't. I was able to put 15 seconds on him and I pushed into the finish chute without looking back. My time for run 2 ended up being 21:52. That time is better than I've been able to achieve at just a 5K. I'll definitely take that.

So a great race to wrap up the weekend. I'm taking today off to rest. My legs are a little sore, especially my quad. Tomorrow we have another speed workout at the track, so I need to be better by then. I need to squeeze in some miles on the bike this week too. I have my next race this Sunday down in Columbus. I'm looking forward to it now.

Mr. P

Maumee Bay Eve

This is going to be short and sweet because I need to get to bed. Pronto! I've been running around trying to get all the last minute stuff done and now it's 10:25. And I'm getting up at 2:30 to drive to Toledo tomorrow. The tornado sirens going off this evening didn't help anything either.

I'm about as ready for my first duathlon of 2008 as I can be. I could do without the long morning drive, but it saves money. The bike is already mounted on the car rack. My stuff is packed. I have directions. We had storms tonight, so hopefully tomorrow will be OK. I haven't done much since Tuesday except go through 3 buckets of balls at the driving range. But that's work. At least I'm sore, so I'm counting it as work.

I'm going to bed. Tomorrow will bring what it will, and I'll deal with it then.

Mr. P

Long Time, No Write

I know it's been a while since I've updated last, and I apologize. No, I don't. I take that back. I was on vacation, so I'm not sorry I haven't updated. I was busy while on vacation. And not just doing vacation type things. I was able to get a few workouts in. Three treadmill sessions, plus one elliptical workout, and some free weights. Not bad considering all the driving around and walking in 100 degree heat.

We decided to head to the nation's capital. Somewhere none of the Pythagoras' have been before. We were in Washington on Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday. All three days were HOT. On Saturday, we toured The National Mall and saw what sights we could. We walked an estimated 6.5 to 7 miles that day, but were able to see most of the major things. I won't go into a day by day recounting of our trip, but here's a list of what we did: Two Hard Rock Cafe's, The National Aquarium of Baltimore, The National Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles Airport, Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Memorial, a tour of the U.S. Capitol, a ride on the Metro, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Europe, a quick stop at Gettysburg, Hershey Chocolate World, and Hershey Park. Like I said, we were busy.

Sunday morning I was able to get in one final bike/run brick. I took the mountain bike out the trail for 15 miles, then ran 3 around the neighborhood. It was a little warm here too. Except for a mystery pain in my left knee, I felt pretty good.

Last night I joined the running club for my second speed session on the track. That first one two weeks ago was easy compared to last night. I was really working to keep up with everyone. We started with a mile warm-up followed by some 100 meter striders. Next came 4 X400 meter intervals at 90 seconds with minimal rest between. Then we did 2 X 800 meters at about 3 minute pace, jogging a lap between. Finally, we finished with another set of 4 X 400 meters at a slightly quicker pace than the first set. I was pretty tired and it took me a while to get my breathing back under control during the mile cool-down. A good workout, even though it hurt like hell. It's supposed to help me get faster, so I hope it works.

I'm looking forward to my now first race of the season this Sunday at Maumee Bay State Park. It's my first sprint distance duathlon since last June. I'm excited because the course is very flat and fast. There are so many cyclists on the course that drafting is inevitable, and my average speed should be higher than normal. Not that I intentionally draft when it's illegal, there are just so many people on that first lap, it cannot be avoided. Last year was super hot, hopefully the weather will be a little more race friendly this year.

Mr. P

Back to the Track

I would venture a guess that it has been about 16 years since I've set foot upon a track for a workout. Until tonight that is. I want to write while I'm still hurting. Not leg hurt either. The post hard run gut pain. The long slow runs just don't give me that kind of pain.

Actually, the workout went really well. I was surprised at how good I felt doing the speed work. We began with a leisurely 1 mile warm up. We then proceeded into 8 X 400 meter repeats with 100 meter recovery. My breathing held out till the last couple sets. I wasn't huffing and puffing like I expected. After the 400's  we did two laps of jogging the curves and striding the straights. Again I felt good. But this time I was pushing and going anaerobic. On the last 100 meter repeat, I was giving it all I had. It was nice. Brought back some memories from many years ago.

We did a 1 mile cool down at a very easy pace. I joined a couple other runners after the cool down to log some more laps, doing another mile and a quarter. Did I mention that we did our workout in a steady rain? I was soaked. I hate running in wet shoes, but that's what I had. I was ringing water out of my shirt and shorts. But it was fun! I can't wait to do it again. I need to add speed work and this is going to be the only way I do it.

Now, I need to go get a big bowl of ice cream.

Mr. P

Unofficial VS. Official Race Dates

So here's what happened. I like to plan out my racing schedule, nearly in it's entirety, as early in the year as possible. So that means in January and February I'm scouring websites looking for race dates. All the BIG races like major marathons and the like, release dates years in advance. But the smaller races become available in the late winter. The duathlon series I do is through HFP Racing. As soon as their schedule came out, I penciled their races into my calender. After I registered however, I noticed that one of the races was pushed back a week. Last year we raced on Father's Day, and it looked like we would be doing so again this year. But they moved it a week later. I caught that one. The one I didn't catch was the first race. It was on the first weekend in June last year, but this year, it's next weekend. My problem is that I didn't notice the change, and went and planned a vacation trip to DC starting next weekend. So it looks like I'm going to miss a race. That really bummed me out when I realized what happened. I feel like I should take a remedial calender reading class or something.

If I couldn't race today, I could at least take advantage of the beautiful weather and do a good training brick. And that's exactly what I was able to do. I got out the door around 7:00 this morning for a bike/run brick. I enjoyed my first ride outdoors on my racing bike today. I was able to try out all my new toys too. Like my new pedals, cleats, and shoes, and my new aero water bottle. Everything felt and worked great. I tooled around Medina a little before heading out west along one of the rural roads. Much more traffic than I expected for that time in the morning. It felt really good to be back outside on that bike and riding fast. Most of my races are only going to have 12 mile bike legs, but I went for 18 today, just to push it. I still need to work on my power and climbing ability, but I'm happy otherwise. If I would have been any faster coming into a certain 4-way stop this morning, I would have been even closer to the a**hole driving a green Chrysler mini van who decided to blow through it at 50 mph. Decorum prevents me from describing what I would like to do the driver if given the opportunity.

The run went just as well. The heat was beginning to build by the time I began my run. I didn't know how long I was going to go for, so I brought a couple gels and some water. I ended up doing 5.7 miles, and I was tired and sore by the time I finished. I drank a full bottle of Gatorade on the bike, but a little food might have helped me through the run a bit better. Today was probably the last training brick before Maumee Bay in three weeks, which is now the first duathlon of the season. They have a nice flat fast course out there, so I don't have to worry about the hill work for a while.

In other news, I began my new career yesterday. I attended my first golf lesson! If all goes as planned, I'll be asked to join the PGA Tour in a couple years, and can get paid to play a game. We shall see.

Mr. P