Wed: LT & Strength Circuit Training

Did a six mile LT with Sweney at 6:00 and followed it with the strength circuit at the clinic. Great workout. Sweney looked pretty darn good for laying off the tempo runs for a few months.

Here are my laps for an average of 3:04:

3:10, 3:02, 3:05, 3:06, 3:08, 3:00, 3:06, 2:58, 2:54, 3:10, 3:04

The strength circuit preview revealed a nice addition to the plan. If you are interested in the research behind the idea, check out the following blog post titled Bannister Training II. This guy coincidentally linked to the same study that Bill ran across recently from a different source.

this blog is almost dead

But i will record my training run time of 2:46:10 at the RNRAZ Marathon this last Monday January 14, with plenty of juice left over. Boston and 2:37 here i come!

New Route

The regular running path was pretty icy in patches this morning, so the new Mike and I went looking for some dry road to run on. We found a really great new route--slightly better than what JP lead us on last Sunday.

It's basically the roads that run around Cricket Hill from Montrose to Foster. It's just over 1.5 miles from where those roads cross the path. A slight bonus is the inclusion of the three bridges. While they aren't much, in Chicago, I'll take what I can get.

Here's a map of the route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1495184

Winter Races

Some upcoming races to consider adding to the training calendar:

Sun 11/11

Universal Sole Rock n Sole Trail Challenge

http://www.rncalendar.com/details.asp?evname=1177&pubid=4

Sun 12/2

Gilberts Cross Country Challenge

http://www.rncalendar.com/details.asp?evname=11953&pubid=4

Sat, 12/29

Huff 50K Trail Run

http://www.huff50k.com/

http://allsportcentral.com/EventInfo.cfm?EventID=16501

after the debacle

One day after the debacle of the chicago marathon.... I am feeling both relieved that i did not run, and bummed out. I think I may have been able to pull off a decent run given my affinity to hot weather, and even something in the 2:50's would have been pretty good.

Oh well, kudos to Chris for pulling it off despite being seriously dehydrated and somewhat near death. He did not look good at the CARA tent...

WFG?

Next Sunday every first (and likely only) time triathlete in Greater Chicagoland will be dragging their mountain bike and every living family member to the lakefront for the Accenture Triathlon. In an effort to avoid that experience, I will head to Waterfall Glen again this Saturday for my long run.

The reason I'm doing Saturday instead of Sunday is that CARA has a group that meets out there at 7:00 a.m. and they provide water and Gatorade on the course. I like running out there a whole lot more when I don't have to carry my own water and Gatorade.

Anyone up for two-plus laps at Waterfall Glen this Saturday?

Too Much Distance in the "Classic"???

I've heard from several folks that the 2007 version (it changes every year) of the Distance Classic course was perhaps a bit longer than advertised.

Some with Garmin GPS equipment found it to be more along the lines of 13.3-13.5. However, Garmin's technology only provides for straight line mapping - which would add noticeable distance to a race course with a significant number of turns. Garmin is aware of this limitation and makes a foot pod that can be worn along with the GPS to account for curves and turns and correct for actual distance.

The course was measured and certified and I'm guessing that the individuals that found it to be too long were wearing Garmins without the foot pod.

I would still like to believe the course was long. In fact, based on my performance, I would guess that it was about 16 miles.

As for the course -- it sucked. It always sucks. One of the reasons that it sucked (and always sucks) is that organizers are required to keep the entirety of the race within a single Chicago Police District. That is apparently why we were left with seven 90-degree turns in the last mile instead of simply extending the course south to 47th Street or further west in the early miles.

Clearly, it's difficult to do a 13-mile race within a single Police district.

Given that the Penguin cares very little about having a quality race experience -- this limitation is of no concern to him. He just shows up and cashes the checks.

It occurred to me while I was grabbing Chris’s package…

Before I proceed, you might be asking yourself why I was handling Chris’s package. Short answer is that he asked me to. Technically, he asked either Ed or I to do it. Ed wanted to but he thought he might not be up to the task due to his poor eyesight, so I felt obliged. It’s really not a bad package. This year the CDC race package includes some Gatorade, granola, and your basic marathon flyers.

Okay, back on topic. So I took two days off from running this week. It occurred to me that this is somewhat significant because I haven’t taken a single day off in over 10 weeks. On one hand I feel lucky to have had a good training streak. On the other hand I am bit worried about my training going downhill. I think my body just needed a break after coming back to the heat and humidity of Chicago.

With that said, it needs to be said how amazing it was running in California. The running was full of scenic vistas, challenging hill work, and 70 degree weather with no humidity. Highlights include running the Rubicon Trail in the Sierra Nevada, 10 miles along the rigeline of San Rafael's rolling hills, and the touring the north end of San Fran (Golden Gate to Market Street). It was awesome. Even more awesome than Chris’s package.

All’s quiet on Cricket Hill

Thought we might need a July update for our permanent record.

Chris is back and smokin’ fast. Nice work on being very close to a sub-hour 10 miler at Waterfall Glen on a tough course. I was dragging ass about 2 minutes behind Chris. Safe to say he’s fully recovered from his injury and faster than ever.

Ed is back and he’s gotten most of the Portuguese sand is out of his whowho. Each week Ed’s running one mile further at 6 minute pace during speedwork. At this rate, it looks like I have less than 4 weeks remaining to be faster than Ed.

Yesterday’s speed work had an interesting moment. At mile 1.5 into the LT, some jackass biker was passing so close to me that he rode his bicep right into my elbow backswing. The spectacle part of it was that he must have gotten a muscle cramp because he pulled off slightly and hit his brakes just hard enough to then go over the handlebars. It all appeared to happen in slow-mo. Unfortunately, Chris and Ed were just enough ahead to miss the whole thing.

Next big goal race, for me at least, will be the CDC. Ed, sign up now! You can probably be able to get back up to speed for this one. I think we (Chris, Ed, and I) should all go sub-1:20.

Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 top 100 finishers:
Place, Name, Age Grp Place, Time
28, Chris Woods, 5 (M 30-34), 1:00:26.3
38, Rick Kennedy, 5 (M 35-39), 1:02:25.9
59, Philip Kepler, 9 (M 40-44), 1:04:39.2
62, Brian Sweney, 7 (M 45-49), 1:04:46.6
99, John Pearman, 12 (M 35-39), 1:09:33.7

i count on u fellas

to help me recover from the debauchery of my iberian travels. Now i dont expect to come back in time for chicago, but i still have some hope for a solid january marathon...

i suspect the first days back (i arrive in just over a week, Monday the 23rd, from boston) will be rough, but u guys need to kick my ass and make sure i dont slack off!!

i am looking forward to getting back on the saddle.

i include one more of my trip moments, and a photo that displays the belly...