Sunday, June 26, 2011

Week 4: First Cycling Cross Training

I have always seen my cyclist brothers and sister in endurance training on my long Sunday runs, but haven’t joined them until today. Today, I went out for a 37.5 mile jaunt through the Bowie and Davidsonville region with my neighbors. It was a glorious morning, starting at about 65 F and climbing to the low/mid 70s.

I thought I’d do well; I had the reservation that this is a different exercise and these guys could push me to my limit, but wow that was hard. They introduced me to hill climb repeats on steep country roads and tough road miles that made me respect the effort of a long bike when compared with a long run. The original plan for today was to run 1 hour at 15 seconds slower than my 10k pace (~7:15/mi).

The muscle tension/fatigue of biking is similar to that I feel 5k running. I am now a fan of cycling and will likely be purchasing a bike and joining my local cycling friends for many long rides.

Week 4 of Baltimore Marathon Training:

  • Tuesday: Tempo run; ran 1 mile warmup, 6 mile tempo at marathon pace (8:00/mi), 1 mile cooldown. 8 miles in 1:07:55
  • Wednesday: Easy run; 6 miles at easy pace with 5 strides. 6 miles is 53:19
  • Thursday: Supposed to be hills training instead did Runervals 3.0, 5 miles in 48:27
  • Friday: Easy run; 7 miles in 59:37 with 5 strides.
  • Sunday: Supposed to be a 1-hour run at 10k-15s, switched to cross train road biking. 37.5 miles in 3:15 with 4 major hill climbs.

Summary:
Running – 26 miles in 3:44:20
Biking – 37.5 miles in 3:15

Monday, June 6, 2011

Not my best

I have had my fill of preparing only to know that on the day of judgment I wasn’t ready. Presenting at a conference in front of more than a hundred is one thing, running in a marathon another. Expertise is required. The ability to respond to adverse conditions is similar. Your response is where you will be judged.

I spoke today to a group of developers, technologists, and engineers with my slides in limbo and faltered. The rebound was okay, but I feel like I followed the half marathon group at the split only to have to retrace my steps to get back on the marathon course in a big city race. I had the respect of keeping a stiff upper lip and finishing, but there was no reason to celebrate a job well done. Not my best work.

I went for a run when I got home.

Week 1 synopsis:
- 4 runs: Tu, Wed, Thu, Fri
- 16 miles
- Notes: busy weekend had me skip the long run. I am going to accept this as I am in a 20-week cycle instead of 18 weeks.

Soundtrack:

1. Heart of the City – Jay-Z
2. Picture Me Rollin’ – 2Pac
3. Sabotage – Beastie Boys
4. The Next Episode – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg
5. (Rock) Superstar – Cypress Hill
6. The Choice Is Yours – Black Sheep
7. Snap Yo’ Fingaz – Lil’ Jon