Jan 25 2009
In an effort to loosen up after yesterday’s insanity, I hit the rollers for about 40 minutes. It was a good spin; just the ticket to warm up some tired muscles and get the kinks out.
But, my toe is pretty sensitive. Guess this nail is coming off. It took having the bike shoes a little loose and some easy spinning to get comfortable, but at pace everything was fine. A little post-ride stretching and all’s right with the world.
Jan 24 2009
I bought some new shoes today – New Balance, size 15 (!) with some sort of insole to help with my latter stage pronation (or something like that). To stay on schedule, I needed to complete 12 miles.
So, OK, it’s a nice day – chilly, breezy, and sunny. I forgot my headphones! grrrrrrrrr but otherwise was in good shape with my kit. Did the usual 10 minute walking warm-up. I then alternated running with walking on a 60% running, 40% walking mix. That worked out pretty well, mostly.
So the 12.14 miles took 2:54:32 – it appears that I maintain a pace of about 14:20.
No blisters, just some tender feet and one very black toe nail.
Too sleepy to write more…crash…
Jan 21 2009
Sorry, I’ve been wanting to use that headline since we launched this thing.
Did 5.75 miles in just over an hour today. I started out with a 4-mile run (46 minutes) and then did 20 minutes of interval running. 1:30 at 7+mph, :40 at 2-3mph. Intervals like that are supposed to be the best way to increase your VO2 max, which Wikipedia tells me is “the maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise.” In other words, it’s crucial.
I’m not on any sort of “program” as yet. That Hal Higdon guy seems to know what he’s talking about, so maybe I’ll take a look at his marathon training schedules. The thing is, I don’t want to get caught up in training for a marathon. I want to train for a triathlon, and be able to do a marathon as a result of that. Whether that means a different training schedule, or additional stuff on top of the marathon schedule, I’ll have to figure out.
Tomorrow’s another 6 AM spin class followed by a short run and, if I can last that long, some easy weights. And lots and lots of stretching.
Jan 21 2009
In 1966, The Byrds recorded 8 Miles High, supposedly about a flight they made to London. It was dropped from radio stations because of the not so subtle lyrical inferences to the band’s drug use (especially LSD, according to lore).
So today, for the first time in over 30 years, I went 8 miles on foot and was not high, although LSD might have made it a more pleasant experience. I slogged through 8.21 miles in 1:57:13. Not brilliant, but I was out there.
Jan 21 2009
This morning, as I was out for my 8-mile run (27 degrees; 1:13:24), I saw something that I’ve never seen during a Chicago winter. Around North Avenue, at the place where, in the summer, older men gather to play chess, I saw two guys walking towards me. They were wearing wetsuits and full scuba gear, and were dripping with water. They were a bit red in the face, which isn’t surprising, because, unless they had been diving in a snowbank, they had just emerged from Lake Michigan.
At this point, I would like aver that at no point during the future years of triathlon training will I go swimming in Lake Michigan when the air temperature is below 32 degrees.
Jan 20 2009
I’m now on Week 11 of Hal Higdon’s Intermediate I marathon training program. Things are starting to get intense — this week features the most miles of any week in the program. (The weeks with 20-mile long runs have less mileage because of shorter weekend pace runs.) I started off the week yesterday with a short swim; I only stayed in the pool for half an hour and didn’t try to go very far, mostly because my entire body felt like a rock after Sunday’s long run. Today I hit the ‘mill for a 5-mile recovery run (45:55), and then the weight room for some upper body work. The rest of the week — 8 miles tomorrow, 5 on Thursday, 8 on Saturday, and 18 on Sunday. It’s actually forecast to get above freezing tomorrow, so I’m excited about running outside and not freezing my face off.
Jan 19 2009
OKAY, today it was 39 degrees with a 20 mph wind. Not Chicago, but dang! it was cold out there. Anyway, I was shooting for 4 miles today.
I did it! 4.4 miles in 1 hour! A blistering 13:30 pace! 30 minutes of running and 30 minutes of walking. I followed the usual pattern of 10 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking for the first 30 minutes. Then I ran for 10 minutes, walked for 5, ran for 5, and walked for 10. It felt very good and I have no known issues with knees, feet, ankles, toes, shin splints, etc.
I can’t quite walk as fast as I run, but nearly. The main thing is that the time and distance were easy and felt good.
Now if I just had some shoes, maybe this would be easier.
Jan 19 2009
Today was my personal trainer session, and it was very informative. I got some new workout routines that are going to kick my butt. Circuit training, cardio, weights… Basically focusing on increasing my VO2 max and dropping a good 20 pounds. For the first time in my life, I’m getting serious about my diet. Not “dieting” per se, but also not eating a whole package of Timtams at once.
I’ve set my first incremental goal. I plan to do a half marathon! If I can do that, there’s a marathon in July that I may shoot for. They say if you set a goal, it’s best to tell other people about it. I guess that’s what this blog is for. I also want to get my weight down to 190 lbs. I’m at 210 right now. There, I said it. Now I have to do it.
Jan 18 2009
It was a beautiful day here in Chicago — clear skies, not too much wind, and a balmy 18 degrees. After what seemed like a grueling 8 mile pace run yesterday, I overslept and didn’t get to start my long run today as early as I’d planned. But when I finally hit the road about 2:00, the air was crisp, and all engines were go.
Surprisingly, most of the lakefront path has been cleared of snow, so the bulk of my run was really quite easy. There was, of course, this one mile, from around Oak Street south to Navy Pier (see map), where Lake Michigan likes to vomit itself up onto the path — it was about 8 inches deep in snow and ice, and very difficult going. When I passed Navy Pier (Mile 6), the big sign there told me it was 16 degrees. Around the Museum Campus there was a poorly marked detour, because a bunch of the path is being rebuilt, and I got lost for a little bit. Of course, I got lost again on my way back, and the map I attach I think only approximates what actually happened down around there. When I hit Navy Pier again on the way back (Mile 12), the temperature was down to 11 degrees.
The last four miles or so, I was running into the wind, and it was starting to get dark. I thought my face was going to freeze. In my final mile, when I re-enter the city streets, I had a couple unfortunate run-ins with pedestrians, a few of whom were walking dogs. After two and a half hours of running, one doesn’t want to break pace because others are mindlessly taking up the whole of a sidewalk, unaware of what is going on around them. In any case, I dug in, gritted my teeth, and shuffled on home. My total time: 2:43:02. Split times after the jump.
Jan 18 2009
In the last post, I was optimistic about the beautiful day and the promise it held for strong training. That was the triumph of hope over experience! By the time I made it to the parking lot down by the river, the wind was brutal. Naturally, I was not completely kitted for the conditions. At any rate, I logged a decent ride with a nice climb and some tough head winds. It was a good day to get the cadence up and keep it smooth.
After a short break to give a driving lesson to a friend’s daughter, I got back out to do the running.
It was slow and sloggy, but it’s done now. The good news? No injuries. 
Jan 18 2009
It’s beautiful out there today! As soon as the aquarium water change is finished, I’m getting out to ride and run.
The danger is in trying to do too much. Ideally, I’ll get about 3 hours of cycling in plus the ever-present 30 minutes of running/walking. Three hours of cycling right now is a load though,so we’ll see how it goes.
Jan 17 2009
Today I went to my gym to do an 8-mile pace run on the treadmill. I like doing pace runs on the ‘mill, because I can control my pace very exactly, which I don’t always do so well when I’m running in the world. But today it was very, very, very warm in the gym, and the difference between my pre-run weight and my post-run weight was 5 pounds. And I even took three water breaks! Given the warmth inside today, and general fatigue after a tough week in training and a tough week of living in Chicago, today’s run was pretty brutal. But I came in, as expected, at 1:11:55.
Jan 17 2009
So, Lance Armstrong has announced that once he’s made his comeback in the cycling world, he’ll be doing an Ironman. How cool would it be if we were in the same one?
Also, according to that article the winner usually finishes in around 8 hours. I did the math, and that’s an average speed of about 16.7 mph. Right now I can sustain speeds of about 6 mph running, 18 mph biking, and I don’t even know about swimming. I guess I have my work cut out for me.
Oh, one more thing. I sucked it up and ran on the treadmill yesterday. One whole mile, and it only took me 10 minutes. One day we’ll all look back at this and laugh, unless of course it’s at my funeral after some fatal treadmill-related accident.
Photo: This makes me want to watch Hackers. I like this fictional archetype a lot more than the reality (a... http://t.co/CSIIXUKM Photo: Layer 1 complete. Time to sit back, contemplate my mistakes, and think of solutions. Fun times!... http://t.co/cFhGVgtm Photo: Gouache: Because This Shit Isn’t Hard Enough Already© http://t.co/q0XCGV4w The next 96 hours are going to suck. At least it's a short tunnel with a very bright light at the end. How is it that the ever-dwindling number of people who think plastic bags are acceptable still includes all cashiers, everywhere?| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
