Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday, September 9, 2011

Left shoulder is a little tender every now and then.  I'll sometimes notice a slight pop during the day when I reach across my body.  Going to a stretch clinic this weekend, so that will be good (of course, this will be after my first 3700y/m swim on Sunday).

Had my second Ironman Florida dream.  The first dream was a nightmare.  This dream was pretty cool.  I did a pretty good race, raced within my limits so I didn't blow up and had a pretty good time.  Since it was a dream, there were some strange things (I had to sign a sheet and answer a math questions at the halfway point in the run to prove I was coherent), but it was a overall really good dream. 

I think one reason for the good vibes is that my running has finally come around this week.  Last Sat, I ran 12 miles on a trail w/o any issues, then last night I did 8 on the St. Marks Trail in brand new shoes (K-Swiss Blade Lights -- a neutral cushioned shoe, as opposed to the stability K-ona and Quicky Blade Lights).  I really liked the quicky's, but they just had too much stability and hurt my legs.  If you wear stability shoes, I highly recommend looking at quickys.  If you wear a men's 12, give me a call and I'll give you mine.  Only run 15 miles in them.

Also, my weight has finally come back down to 196 after the Labor Day weekend fisasco, so I am still within acceptable parameters for being under 190 for IMFL (i.e, goal 185, although my true race weight is probably more like 175).  Last year at this time I was 198, but had been trending up from 190 since May '10 to a high of 208 in Jan '11.  This year I am trending down and much more focused.

I've been comparing my 1/2 marathon run times, and it has been really interesting.  For example:

For reference, my AeT (where I go from burning fat to burning sugar, i.e., going aerobic) is 154 and AT (i.e. going anerobic) is 185.

Redfish 1/2, 12/5/09 -- 1:58 min.  My hr was prety much was between 166-169 the entire race.  Squarely w/in my sub-2hr endurance zone.  Mile splits were about 9:05, and pretty consistent with that +/- aa few seconds.  This was a straight road race, I probably weighed 205.

Augusta 70.3 -- 9/26/10 -- 2:13.  My hr was the same 166-169 the entire race.  Mile splits started at 8:27 and blew up to 12:11 -- basically 3 categories -- first 4 miles 8-9 min, next 2 were 9-10 min, last 7 were 11-12 min.  I think part of this was that my bike hr was 152, and was high 150s the last 4 miles coming into transition, and the other part was that I just went out way too fast.  Very interesting to see hr remain the same but splits blow up.

Mick Greenway Trail Run -- 9/3/11 -- 2:10.  I deliberately took this run slow and easy, b/c I didn't know how my body would respond to its first long run.  First 8 miles my hr was 140-150, last 4 were 165+/-.  Times for the first 8 miles were about 11 min, last 4 were about 9:30-10 min.  This was an eye opener for me b/c it was sooo easy to run the first 8 miles, and left me with juice to pick it up the last 4.  Very interesting and thought provoking.

St. Marks Run -- 9/8/11 -- 1:20, 8 miles.  I tried to mimic the greenway run -- first 6 miles hr was avg 145, last 3 was 161 and 175.  Times for the first 6 were 9:30-10:30, last two were 9:08 and 8:15.

So, my thinking is that for Augusta, I might stay under AeT on the bike and for half of the run and see how I feel.  That is definately going to slow down my bike (last year my avg hr was 152 and time wsa 2:39, this year would be about 128 (bike AeT is 132), but I keep reminding myself this is a three sport discipline -- not how fast I can ride the bike.  And if I want to have a good run and not blow up a 2:15 like last year, I need to pace myself on the bike and first half of the run so I can have a strong second half.

 I may take it too conservatively, but think it is worth trying.  Then again, I may just say screw it and go for a sub-5hr race.  I'll have to think more about this as we get close to race day.

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