Doing More With Less Since 1972
Have you had enough of race t-shirts? Rather have something else (or nothing) instead?
[poll id=”13″]
I guess the benefit of the t-shirt is that it’s more advertising for the race in the future.
Still, I’d like to see some choices available. Things like socks and gu would be way more valuable to me…those are things that really get used up, and they don’t even have to be branded with the race info.
Who am I kidding? I’d take the reduced entry fees every time.
Now that the hard work is done, it’s time for tapering. That means tending to phantom injuries, freaking out every time I hear one of the kids cough that they are getting the flu and I will catch it too, and checking the weather forecast every 8 minutes.
But it also means filling up the liver and muscles with glycogen and running every mile knowing that I’m only doing it to stay sane, not for fitness.
I haven’t fretted over data/times/pace for this training session like I usually do. Part of that is because I have so much other stuff going on, and part of it is that when training using the FIRST program, it doesn’t really take over your life the way a 6-day-a-week program does. It’s kind of nice.
I did a 23 miler for my last long run yesterday, and I averages 8:59–much faster than I’d planned on running, and a little surprising. I’ve figured out that I need to eat a LOT more than I had been eating (no complaints here), and as a result I have yet to feel the wall this time around.
Anyway, I was going back and comparing this peek week training to the peek week of my best marathon. I’m liking these results:
42 total miles (4 sessions), 6 hours and 35 minutes (9:24/mile average)
40 total miles (3 sessions), 5 hours and 59 minutes (8:59/mile average)
The two big things I notice are that I ran roughly the same miles in both years, but this year I’ve done it in one less session, and at a faster pace. Also, my longest run in 2003 was 20 miles instead of the 23 I did this year.
I’m hoping this means a faster race. 3:49:59 was the original goal. Starting to think 3:44:59 may be a real possibility. It’s all going to be in the execution.
I’ve been running negative splits every day. Do I start with the 3:55 group for the first half and chase down the 3:45 group, or do I just start with 3:45 and try to hang on? That pace sounds tough for me right out of the gate.
The whole fam made it out on Saturday for the inaugural Surf Your Heart Out fundraiser for my buddy Rob “Munch” Munchbach who is awaiting a heart transplant. The turnout was great, and it was the perfect morning for a run on the beach and the waves were tasty for everyone who brought a board.
There are more events scheduled for the year, including a “Stroke Your Heart Out” Paddling Challenge and a rugby tournament some time in November. In keeping with rugby traditions, details of that event are still sketchy.
Even if you can’t make it out to participate, please consider helping Rob out in any way you can and like his Facebook page. He needs help pre-transplant with medication and health care costs.
I didn’t race the run, which is probably a good thing since it was perfectly situated on a rest day, so I won’t report any times. I rushed through a 5 mile tempo workout on Friday and needed to loosen up though, so it was great to jog out the first mile and a half.
At that point I picked up a couple of squirmy bodies, one of which was not at all interested in running and stopped several times to clean the sand off her feet. The other was wrapped around my neck until the finish.
But the oldest got to “finish” her first race and was super excited! Kids tri coming up on September 30, and she’s pretty amped about the prospects of placing in her age group!
It’s been a while since I posted a random sample of the stuff I’ve been reading. If you only read one of these articles, read the very first one.
In healthy patriarchies, men push themselves to earn the respect and admiration of other men. They work to prove their strength, courage and competence to each other. Men pride themselves on their reputation for mastery of their bodies, their actions, and their environment. They want to be known for what they can do, not just how well or who they can screw.
‘Marathon blues’ can affect Olympians and recreational athletes alike – Someone once told me there was a high rate of alcoholism for former top-level runners and former astronauts for this very reason. I haven’t seen numbers on that though.
This Handmade ‘Game of Thrones’ Board Game Is Gorgeous – The young’uns are loving strategy games these days. Can I justify this?
Cycle Workouts To Improve Your Cadence – Perfect for cross training workouts while marathon training, and a good investment.
Lost Photos – discovering lost photos in your email account – One of these days…
How To Make Caricatures Using GIMP – I hope to get around to doing this at some point.
The Benefits Of A Negative Bike Split – Wait…tell me one more time. It may actually sink in this time around.
Importing SharePoint 2007 list templates (STP) into SharePoint 2010 – Kick Aise. Quick and easy!
How the Lunar X Prize Is a Preview of the New Space Age – Popular Mechanics –
How to Develop Film Using Coffee and Vitamin C! Srsly! | Photojojo – Is there anything coffee can’t do?
TURNING TURDS INTO TRIUMPHS – What she said!
An Act of Great Cunning – Whoa!
Senate rules do not allow a filibuster when the bill under consideration has to do with imposing or repealing a tax. If the Republicans take the Senate and the Presidency, they can now repeal the individual mandate. They will not need sixty votes.
I’ve had some time to do some reading, thinking, and listening to podcasts since I wrote my IM 70.3 FL race report, and it has me thinking I need to change some things for the future with hydration and nutrition. As much as I ate, and as much as I drank, I’m now thinking it may not have been enough. I’ve never used salt either.
A fall marathon is going to give me a good opportunity to try some things out on a race that’s a couple of hours shorter (hopefully), but still very physically demanding.
I still think my bike pace was dead on, but maybe my run expectations were unreasonable for a variety of reasons. I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, I’m going to try to tear through an Oly distance race in a few weeks and redeem myself a little.
[poll id=”10″]
It’s been four years since I’ve done an organized triathlon. Ick…that means four years of no open-water swimming. It also means four years of not packing for a triathlon or setting up a transition spot. I’m probably overthinking this, but I thought it would be a good idea to make my packing list official, that way I can make notes as I go and also refer back to it for ideas of things I can do differently.
I like to be pretty minimal on race day–no socks, no glasses, and no shirt unless the rules force me to wear one. This gives me the added strategical benefit of turning the stomachs of the competition in a tight race. The one thing I max out on is food.
Swim:
* Pack goggles, swimcap, race chip, watch
* Make sure to eat a Gu before starting the race
Bike:
* Pack bike shoes, helmet, heart rate monitor
* Make sure bike computer is set to 0 miles and average speed when setting up, one bottle of water on the bike (exchange for gatorade at mile 17).
* Eat an already opened Gu before leaving T1.
Run:
* running shoes, visor, race belt with 3 Gus, water to drink in T2 (not in a cycling bottle). Socks are coming with me this time–I have a really annoying cut on the bottom of my wee-wee-wee piggy.
* Shoes are untied, feet are clean and dry before putting on shoes, race number and Gus are attached to belt, ditch the HRM
Misc.:
Sidewalk chalk to mark my bike row, small towel for transition, big towel for post-race, beverages, plastic cups, many Gus, water, water, water
Wear To The Race
* Trishorts with same board shorts over to wear post-race, flip flops, t-shirt
Am I forgetting anything?
© 2024 Scott Adcox
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
