Seventeen mile run….17….1-7! My longest run to date! While I don’t fear runs of this length any more, I still don’t look forward to doing them as they are extremely boring. After all this time, I still haven’t embraced the run. Maybe it’s because I’m not very good at it. Maybe I’m not good at it because I haven’t embraced it!?! Either way, it had to get done with the following instructions:
“With the established HR in ZII 152-170, this should become easier to maintain your ideal pace. 179 taking it the top of Zone III.”
Here’s how it went down:
“Again, I'm not putting in an average HR because it seems that my HRM was through the roof for the last 10 miles. My LT is 179bpm, so averaging 184 (5 beats shy of my max) would make me Superman, no? The first 8 miles were great. No leg fatigue or laboring. Miles 8-10 started to become slightly uncomfortable. Miles 10-14 were painful. Mile 15 was back to slightly uncomfortable and the final 2 were painful and extremely tough. 24oz of PowerBar drink and 6 PowerBar gels (about one every 3 miles)”
This was the first time using the PowerBar drink and it tasted almost exactly like lemon lime Gatorade. It wasn’t too sweet, but it wasn’t too bland either. I don’t know if it made any difference, but I do know that my system was able to handle it with no problem. Since this is what will be on the actual run course, I hope the same holds true for race day. Again, I’m not so sure I understand the “Time”, “Moving Time”, and “Elapsed Time” categories. The only time I stopped on this run was to go to the bathroom for less than a minute (you can see where I ran off into the desert, right around mile 8.5, at the corner of Desert Willow Pkwy and Dynamite Road). If that’s the case, why are my readings as follows:
Time = 2:43:08
Moving Time = 2:33:44
Elapsed Time = 2:43:35
Why is there a 10 min difference in the “Elapsed Time” and the “Moving Time”? Tree cover, clouds, and tunnels have all been proposed as a possibility. Problem with that is I didn’t run under any tunnels, it wasn’t cloudy, and I wasn’t running under the canopy of a jungle! Hmmmmm.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54338123
Monday, October 25th
Recover Day!
Tuesday, October 26th
First up was a 7 mile run with the following instructions:
“7 mile run keeping HR in high end of ZII low end of ZIII, lets trying working tempo on this one for the entire 7 miles push and see how the body responds”
With these results:
“Felt great! I thought there would definitely be some lingering effects from Sunday's 17 miler, but there weren't. Only concentrated on quick turnover and hoped that the HR would be where we wanted it (and it was!) 170bpm is exactly the last of ZII and first of ZIII. After I was done, I thought to myself that I could have been a bit faster.”
After thinking about it for a bit, I realized that I have the “auto pause” feature enacted on my bike and on my run. That means that my Garmin will automatically pause when I come to a COMPLETE STOP. That way, I don’t include red lights, traffic, or bottle refills on my rides. Since I almost never stop on my runs, why did I have this feature turned on? Well, I decided to see what happened if I turned it off. The results were the following:
Time – 1:01:05
Moving Time – 1:01:00
Elapsed Time – 1:01:06
Wow, much better! I’m not sure why this would change the results since my Garmin never beeped and vibrated (indicating that it was auto-pausing) when I ran.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54445072
Afternoon swim:
Warm Up
4 x 100 swim (1:45 SI)
6 x 50 swim (1:00 SI)
6 x 50 kick (1:10 SI)
Main Set
400 swim (:30 RI)
2 x 200 swim (:20 RI)
4 x 100 swim (:15 RI)
8 x 50 swim (:10 RI)
16 x 25 sprint set (:35 SI)
Warm Down
200 easy
My notes:
“Solid swim. Felt strong, fast, and efficient.”
Wednesday, October 27th
Moderate bike ride with the following instructions:
“2 hour ride pushing HR up into ZIII and holding”
My notes:
“I may have to find another time for these "tempo rides" as the darkness doesn't allow me the speeds to sustain ZIII. Just as well, because my legs were real heavy today and there was some general discomfort, in my knees, from my previous 2 runs. This was almost more of a "recovery" ride which completely missed the mark of your instructions. Overall, a very unsatisfying ride.”
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54545899
Thursday, October 28th
Speed ride in Anthem. Here are my notes:
“Incorporated some speed into my warm-up again as it really seems to help with the overall workout. Felt strong tonight (about a 4 out of 5) right up to the point where I was hit by a car making a u-turn in front of me. That kinda slowed things down a bit.”
Yup, you read that right. A car made a u-turn, from the bike lane, right in front of me. Some immediate observations were road rash on my right leg and back and a sore knee and ankle. I couldn’t stay clipped in my right pedal and may be broken. I’m sure more details will follow.
If you look at the map, you can see exactly where the accident happened. I just turned right (East) on Hastings Way. Zoom in close enough and you can see the red line shoot straight out to the middle of the road. After that, you can see where I was trying to “walk it off”, talk to the driver, and then try to ride my bike (Tangle Ridge Way)
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54754226
Cracked Pedal:
Friday, October 29th
Still had the lingering soreness described above, but figured that a nice open water swim may loosen things up a bit. As a result, I headed out to Bartlett Lake and completed a 1.15 mile swim. Here are my notes to Frank:
“Minor road rash, sore neck, back, left knee, and right ankle were all present from last night's accident on the bike. That being said, I still felt strong this morning. The only issue I was having was with my sore neck when I would swim heads up to spot the buoys.”
I also brought in my bike to Airpark to have them look it over for any damage (other than the obviously cracked pedal). I’ve included their invoice below.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/54754232
Invoice:
Saturday, October 30th
Frank wanted me going for another 100 mile ride. After the accident, we both agreed to “listen to my body” and let that dictate the mileage. Not sure what to expect, I set off with no gels and one bottle of EFS drink. Right away, I knew there weren’t going to be any major problems. There was some slight discomfort in my back and neck, but otherwise, I felt pretty darn good. Since I started late, I didn’t want to put in a full 100 miles, so I settled on 75. Right around 73, my back tire went flat. Since I was so close to home, I decided not to waste a CO2 cartridge and walked home.
Here are my notes to Frank:
“Per our discussion, you indicated that 7:30:00 (110 miles) was an error and that I should only put in 100 (closer to 5:30:00). After Thursday's accident, that was altered to "listen to the body." I was able to get 73.15 and felt comfortable. I could have done more, but really felt comfortable with this effort. I was aiming for 75, but flatted close to home. I walked it back.”
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/55146634
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