So after the last half marathon I ran with Camilla J. I THOUGHT I was feeling ok. Then I sat for three hours in the priesthood session of general conference and when I got up to walk back to the car I was REALLY hurting. My right knee has been giving me problems ever since. Yikes! I tried to run last week but couldn't. Haven't tried again since. When I ride my bike the next day I'm in a lot of pain. Not sure what to do. Grr....
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Training Update
Training is going well thus far. I LOVE the swim workouts, especially the speed ones! They are a blast! The other day I did a 1000 yard time trial in 16:30. Pretty pleased with my swimming efforts and how they are going. I feel light and fast in the water.
Last week I did a 30-minute bike, 30-minute run brick workout. It felt AWESOME!! I am sooo ready for a Sprint Triathlon! This long-distance crap is getting to me! Ha!
This morning I did a 90-minute run. The first 75 minutes were easy and then the last 15 were supposed to be a hard effort. Also, at the 50-minute mark I was supposed to consume a gel packet. I took along an orange Energy Gel and my water belt. The first 50 minutes went well. I just moseyed along and enjoyed the run. I consumed my gel packet and was excited that it didn't have nearly as much taste as others I have tried. I could actually handle it and consumed the entire thing! When it came time to pick up the pace for the last 15 minutes, I felt strong and fast and was able to complete the entire 15 minutes at my faster pace! I was excited! My only disappointment was my dang phone died 4.5 miles into the run. I really would've like to see my pace that last 15 minutes.
I have a 60-minute bike followed by a 30-minute run workout to do Thursday and then a big workout on Saturday. 30-minute swim, 2-hour bike, 30-minute run. That will be a good training test. Thankfully, Ryan and I will do it together. Well, we will swim and run together....biking....he's gotta do double the amount of miles I do! :)
Last week I did a 30-minute bike, 30-minute run brick workout. It felt AWESOME!! I am sooo ready for a Sprint Triathlon! This long-distance crap is getting to me! Ha!
This morning I did a 90-minute run. The first 75 minutes were easy and then the last 15 were supposed to be a hard effort. Also, at the 50-minute mark I was supposed to consume a gel packet. I took along an orange Energy Gel and my water belt. The first 50 minutes went well. I just moseyed along and enjoyed the run. I consumed my gel packet and was excited that it didn't have nearly as much taste as others I have tried. I could actually handle it and consumed the entire thing! When it came time to pick up the pace for the last 15 minutes, I felt strong and fast and was able to complete the entire 15 minutes at my faster pace! I was excited! My only disappointment was my dang phone died 4.5 miles into the run. I really would've like to see my pace that last 15 minutes.
I have a 60-minute bike followed by a 30-minute run workout to do Thursday and then a big workout on Saturday. 30-minute swim, 2-hour bike, 30-minute run. That will be a good training test. Thankfully, Ryan and I will do it together. Well, we will swim and run together....biking....he's gotta do double the amount of miles I do! :)
Strider's Winter Racing Series - Half Marathon Race Report
You know, I wasn't nearly as stressed nor worried about this race than the TOU Half I ran last year. That is, until Friday morning when Camilla W. called me and asked if they could spend the night before the race. I spent all Friday nervous as I prepared for their family to come and prepped for the race. I was mostly nervous I would have to run just as hard for this one as I did the TOU because I can't go slower than last time! And that last one hurt.....BAD!!
Well, we got up bright and early (such is the life of an athlete) to head up to the race. Ryan and I went together at 5:15 and the families would follow later around 8:00. The race was held up by Pineview Reservoir, a beautiful place up Ogden Canyon. We arrived, parked in a field, picked up our packets and boarded the bus to be taken to the start line. I really enjoyed hanging out with Ryan and chatting. So glad to have someone with me on these races. As the buses arrived, there was a mad dash for the port-a-potties. Fortunately, we were on the second bus and I got in line with only 8 people ahead. Later, I looked back and my line had grown to about 50! Yikes! But I wasn't about to do what some others did and go in the bushes! From the drop-off point we had to walk up about 1/4 mile to the start line. We asked a fellow runner where the bag drop was and he said that we were supposed to just take our bags with us to the start line and then after we start we would see a trailer to drop them in. He must have been misinformed! Ha!
We got to the start, looked around, and were the only ones we could see with our bags in hand. I was a little nervous that we missed the bag drop and would have to carry the dang things for a few miles to the first aid station. I felt like a complete dork running with my bag! And Ryan looked like a complete dork running with his bag! Ha ha! Fortunately, we did find the trailer for the bag drop about a 1/4 mile down and tossed them in.
Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE pacers? We lined up with the 2:00 pacers, but quickly outdistanced them. I stayed in-between the 1:50 and 1:55 pacers for most of the race and Ryan ran ahead of the 1:50 pacers. I was proud of him for running so hard! I settled in to a steady rhythm and just tried to keep going. I had been thinking a lot about and article I read titled, "Enjoy Every Mile" and really tried to focus on that. I found myself looking around and enjoying the scenery as I ran down the canyon. Baby animals were everywhere! So cute!! I passed a pond where the frogs were croaking so loud, there were some horses racing us in their pastures, and a cute, white mama sheep with twin black lambs.
During my last half, I made the mistake of drinking only one gulp of water and was determined not to do that again. This time, I wore my water belt and sipped water at least every 5 minutes. I was glad to have that. I should have brought some goo, though. I think that may have helped me the last 3 miles. Because I had my water belt, I had no need to stop at the aid stations and ran through every one of them. We saw our families at mile 8 and that was a joyous sight! It really lifted my spirits and helped me run faster for a bit. Ryan ran well ahead of me and it wasn't until mile 9 that I caught him. He was running goofy and I could tell he was hurting. My hips were starting to hurt at that point as well. We played leap-frog for the rest of the race. Ryan would walk then run fast and I just ran my steady pace. At the 11-mile aid station he walked through to get water and I thought I might try walking through it as well. It hurt more to walk at that point so I just said, "Forget this" and ran. I knew I had two more miles to go and had to gut it out once more. I was really hoping this half would not be so hard the last few miles. But I was wrong. :( Ryan won the leap-frog contest and finished in 1:54. I came in at 1:55.25, a touch slower than the last one.
About 1/2 hour after the race and for the next 24 hours I experienced the 'Runner's Trots'. Ugh! It was horrible! My stomach hurt so bad and I couldn't be far away from a bathroom. I did a bunch of research trying to figure out what I did wrong. It could have been the gyoza I ate the night before or the IbuProfen I took before the race. Whatever it was, I've gotta be careful to make sure it doesn't happen again.
In retrospect, I was frustrated the last three miles were so hard again. However, as I look back on my journey thus far, a 5k used to be my max. Now I barely break a sweat when I run a 5k. 10ks.....easy...10-miler....not bad......Half marathon.....maxed out. Maybe someday that will no longer be my max. We'll see.....
Well, we got up bright and early (such is the life of an athlete) to head up to the race. Ryan and I went together at 5:15 and the families would follow later around 8:00. The race was held up by Pineview Reservoir, a beautiful place up Ogden Canyon. We arrived, parked in a field, picked up our packets and boarded the bus to be taken to the start line. I really enjoyed hanging out with Ryan and chatting. So glad to have someone with me on these races. As the buses arrived, there was a mad dash for the port-a-potties. Fortunately, we were on the second bus and I got in line with only 8 people ahead. Later, I looked back and my line had grown to about 50! Yikes! But I wasn't about to do what some others did and go in the bushes! From the drop-off point we had to walk up about 1/4 mile to the start line. We asked a fellow runner where the bag drop was and he said that we were supposed to just take our bags with us to the start line and then after we start we would see a trailer to drop them in. He must have been misinformed! Ha!
We got to the start, looked around, and were the only ones we could see with our bags in hand. I was a little nervous that we missed the bag drop and would have to carry the dang things for a few miles to the first aid station. I felt like a complete dork running with my bag! And Ryan looked like a complete dork running with his bag! Ha ha! Fortunately, we did find the trailer for the bag drop about a 1/4 mile down and tossed them in.
Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE pacers? We lined up with the 2:00 pacers, but quickly outdistanced them. I stayed in-between the 1:50 and 1:55 pacers for most of the race and Ryan ran ahead of the 1:50 pacers. I was proud of him for running so hard! I settled in to a steady rhythm and just tried to keep going. I had been thinking a lot about and article I read titled, "Enjoy Every Mile" and really tried to focus on that. I found myself looking around and enjoying the scenery as I ran down the canyon. Baby animals were everywhere! So cute!! I passed a pond where the frogs were croaking so loud, there were some horses racing us in their pastures, and a cute, white mama sheep with twin black lambs.
During my last half, I made the mistake of drinking only one gulp of water and was determined not to do that again. This time, I wore my water belt and sipped water at least every 5 minutes. I was glad to have that. I should have brought some goo, though. I think that may have helped me the last 3 miles. Because I had my water belt, I had no need to stop at the aid stations and ran through every one of them. We saw our families at mile 8 and that was a joyous sight! It really lifted my spirits and helped me run faster for a bit. Ryan ran well ahead of me and it wasn't until mile 9 that I caught him. He was running goofy and I could tell he was hurting. My hips were starting to hurt at that point as well. We played leap-frog for the rest of the race. Ryan would walk then run fast and I just ran my steady pace. At the 11-mile aid station he walked through to get water and I thought I might try walking through it as well. It hurt more to walk at that point so I just said, "Forget this" and ran. I knew I had two more miles to go and had to gut it out once more. I was really hoping this half would not be so hard the last few miles. But I was wrong. :( Ryan won the leap-frog contest and finished in 1:54. I came in at 1:55.25, a touch slower than the last one.
About 1/2 hour after the race and for the next 24 hours I experienced the 'Runner's Trots'. Ugh! It was horrible! My stomach hurt so bad and I couldn't be far away from a bathroom. I did a bunch of research trying to figure out what I did wrong. It could have been the gyoza I ate the night before or the IbuProfen I took before the race. Whatever it was, I've gotta be careful to make sure it doesn't happen again.
In retrospect, I was frustrated the last three miles were so hard again. However, as I look back on my journey thus far, a 5k used to be my max. Now I barely break a sweat when I run a 5k. 10ks.....easy...10-miler....not bad......Half marathon.....maxed out. Maybe someday that will no longer be my max. We'll see.....
Monday, April 15, 2013
Recovery Week was the BOMB!!!
I was so happy to see that last week was a recovery week. The workouts were light and fairly easy! Loved it!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Ice Breaker Triathlon Race Report!
It's been a little over a week and a lot has happened! I competed in the Ice Breaker Triathlon in American Fork last Saturday and to my surprise beat last year's time by almost 5 MINUTES! I couldn't believe it! I think I'll give all the details so I can come back later and reminisce! We took all the kids Saturday morning (stayed Friday night at Gpa. and Gma. Jeffs) and within 15 minutes of arriving Brendon was already asking when we were leaving....Ugh!!! Camilla and I made a plan that she would keep track of my times during each leg and yell them out to me as I passed by her. It seemed like a good plan, but didn't end up working out too well. After a bunch of announcements it was time to get in the water. Oh, hold on. Back track. There were a couple instances where I could have been offended but just laughed it off. At packet pickup one of the guys doing body marking asked me what number I would be on the swim. 300 meters in 4:59 or less would be marked with a "0" on their left hand, 5:00-5:59 would be marked a "1" and so on and so forth up to the number 5. responded that Iwas a "1" (even though I can swim it in less time, ended up swimming it in 4:42). He looked at me funny and asked, "you think you're fast?" I responded that I figured I'd be able to keep up in that category. He smirked a little and marked my hand with a "1". I know what he was thinking. I'm not starting new paragraphs. Just one long stream of thought here... The swim went ok. I thought I had started early enough. Nope! I should have gone with the first ten people as I was the ninth fastest time in the pool on the day! Sounds like I'm bragging. Maybe I am. I'm proud of how my swimming has come along. I felt pretty good coming out of the pool and into the transition area. Camilla was nowhere to be seen by the time I had my gear on and was onto the bike. Oh well. The bike was a beast! I'll never get over the pain of going up those two hills right at the beginning and then on the second loop. Ugh!!! Regardless, I was feeling pretty good on the first lap and realized that I was on pace to beat last year's bike time so I kept pushing. The second funny experience happened at the end of the second loop where you turn to head into transition. A course official actually tried to stop me as I turned in, saying that I needed to do another loop. I smiled and kindly informed her that I had indeed done two loops. She looked puzzled, but let me by. I guess a short pudgy guy shouldn't be able to hang with people who look like athletes. Neener, neener! T2 was quick and easy. Probably my best transition to date. Those yanks shoe laces are the bomb! I was out onto the run course in right around a minute. The run course has that same dang hill, but I refused to walk any of it this time. Instead, I put my head down, shortened my stride and motored up it. Oh, I forgot to mention that Camilla caught up to me as I exited T2. She shouted to me that my time was 40:12 up to that point. I remember thinking to myself that I could just sandbag it and still beat my time from last year by 30-40 seconds. That thought didn't last very long when the thought of my buddy, John Anderson, challenging me to go sub 1:05. I picked up the pace. I ran hard. For me anyway. At about the 2 mile mark two gentleman passed me at maybe a 30 second faster pace that me. I tried to match their pace but couldn't. I let them go. At the end of the run I gave it all I had and finished in 1:04:39! I was absolutely amazed that I had beat last year's time by such a margin. After the official results were posted I was very satisfied with most of this triathlon. I was ninth overall out of the water and 11th overall on the bike! That's out of just under 300 people competing! The run is another story. I actually ran my fastest 5k in a sprint triathlon but it was still slower than 50-60 people and that alone dropped me to 5th place in my age group. Time to put in some more speed work on my feet and drop some more weight! I'll get there!
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