Ironman, Marathon and more: It's a lifestyle

Thoughts on surviving the swim

A friend who is a talented athlete but a new swimmer and triathlete asked for my thoughts on how to have a decent tri swim as a newbie.  Here's what I offered...

First, take off the pressure.  You are learning something new and you know how that goes:  Two steps ahead, one back, etc.  You plateau and even sink a little (pun intended) before the next breakthrough.

The problem with swimming as opposed to running and biking is that stress really works against you big time.  When it is stressed your body requires more oxygen.  Not getting the oxygen raises adrenaline levels – adding more stress – which requires even more oxygen.  One can even get to the level of a panic attack because of this, which really does not happen riding or running.

So the first nugget is, back off.  Take the pressure off of yourself.  When you go out on the swim, go easy and stay back or wide.  What you may lose at this stage of your development as a swimmer by not being immediately in the fray you will gain through reduced stress.

Your goal especially early in the swim should be just to get comfortable.  Speed does not matter at this point.  Get into a swim rhythm.  Feel good about it.

When you are swimming OK, then you can go to the next stage.  What that is is thinking about and trying to work on the things that make you faster.  Higher elbows.  (When I do this in the pool I always go a few seconds faster per 50 – but it takes conscious effort).  A little more reach and follow through.  Think “swimming downhill” to get your feet higher in the water.  (That’s one of my biggest weaknesses – my feet are relative boat anchors.  That’s why a wetsuit makes me a much faster swimmer – my feet are higher because of the buoyancy.)   Make sure your fingers are together and your hand entry is a bit cupped and you pull through that way.  Don’t reach in front of your body – no “crossover,” as they call it – keep your entry to the side.  Etc.

Meantime, you may have swimmers over, under and around you.  Try not to get stressed about this.  If you get boxed in, just slow down slightly (don’t stop or you may get swum over!).  You may have to go a bit sideways or even roll one direction or the other to escape the box when the swimmers get just a little ahead of you.  If someone is pressing you on your side or is trying to come over you, get “prickly.”  Use your elbows and feet to nudge or push the swimmer away.  Don’t hurt the swimmer.  Just let him or her know he or she is in your space and that’s just not acceptable.

You may find yourself getting tired or even cramping.  Again, relax.  Don’t work against yourself.  If you do cramp, don’t stop unless you get off the line of swimmers.  Try to relax even more, swim kicking only with one leg or whatever works to get through the cramp.  Usually you can do this.

If your swim has gone well, you may be up to picking it up as you approach the end.  Try it.  If it feels OK, go with it. Otherwise, go back to what’s comfortable and don’t worry about.  You survived the swim and saved yourself for the bike and run where you excel.  Watch out age group, here you come!

How do you change a bike tire?

If it has a tube and the tire is not too tight - with my hands.  Remove the wheel from the bike.  Sit and hold the wheel in my lap, push one side of the tire away from/off of the rim and peel it off that side.  Pull out the tube.  Check the tire for any sharp objects inside and the rim for any protrusions.  Blow air into the new tube to partly inflate it and avoid pinch flats.  Thread the new tube into the tire with the stem through the hole on the wheel.  Pop the tire back onto the rim, being careful not to pinch the tube.  Partly inflate the tube and then let some air out to seat it, then inflate it and put it back on the bike.

Sew-up - remove the wheel from the bike, rip off the flat tire, freshen up the glue on the spare, partly inflate it, glue it on, pump it up and put the wheel back on the bike.  Faster than dealing with a tube!

Indy Marathon?

I am seriously considering the Indianapolis Marathon next Saturday.  For me the Chicago Marathon was a hard 18 mile training run followed by walking and running easy for the next 8 miles.  Since the race I have had a fine recovery, I think, and am feeling really good.

Here are the details:

Tuesday night I ran the 4.8 mile trail run we always do, in 41 minutes, 8:44 per mile average, a good time for that recovery workout.  I was sore but the running was fine. HR average 133, max 153.

Thursday night I ran track.  I dialed it back from the usual intensity and ran with Linda Landreth.  The total distance was 5.5 miles and the main set for me (reduced in volume for me by Jim as was appropriate) had 2 x 800, 1 x 1000 and 1 x 800.  I ran the first two 800s in 4:06 and 4:07, the 1000 in 5:06 and the final 800 in 4:04.  This was an easy workout.  My HR for the sequence was (av/max) 144/155, 140/157, 150/156, 145/160.

Saturday I ran a great trail run with Lynn, who finally is overcoming her injury and wanted to run longer than she has in several months - since she got injured while running an open mile while attending the Prefontaine meet in Oregon.  (Hey, if you are going to get injured running, doesn't this sound like the a great place to do it?)  We wound up running 7.6 miles in 77:20, 8:51 per mile average, with 2 x 400 m pickups on uphills toward the end.  It felt great and we ran better as the run developed.  My heart race was very consistent: 138 average, 152 max on the pick-ups.

Today I got out this afternoon alone and ran streets, 5 miles in 40:36.  I decided to run it tempo to see how I was doing.  Felt great!  Mile 1 (a little downhill and I started with no warm-up) - 8:35, 2 - 8:18, 3 - 8:00, 4 - 7:42, 5 (a little uphill) - 8:11.  My HR average was 150 and my max (in mile 4) was 162.

So what do you think of the idea of running Indy for my Boston time?  It's close by - no air fare required - and we have relatives there to hang with.   I figure if it does not go well I can drop out or dial it back and run again in Novermber, December or January

Time to taper!

I am running better than I have for many months.  Speed is great and being able to run decently longer than 13 miles is a joy!

Thursday night was our Spivey track workout.  Tough/great track workout! 2 miles warm-up faster than recently in 17:15, 6x100 strides, 5x250 “fresh” “across the grass” on 80 seconds [600], 3x250f (150) [400], 4x200 f+ (1 min standing), 2x150f (50).  Last 2 200s in “across the grass” (where we run 200 on the track and run across the football field on the 50 yard line back to where we started and start the next interval on the 90 second mark) were 43.6 HR 166/172 and 43.8 170/177. Tough!  The four “fresh+” 200s were run more “good-“.  Splits were 46.6 145/168, 44.5 154/167, 42.0 158/174, 42.0 157/174.  Fastest repeat 200s in a long while.

Saturday was my last long run before Chicago Marathon in 15 days. 18.4 miles, 140 hr average, 8:48 per mile average pace. Started sore from track, great tempo, faded but OK! 3 miles early from home, 6 miles with buddies including 1 mile tempo, 9.4 miles solo on Prairie Path and then home.  Splits: 8:41 8:32 7:39 9:06 9:29 8:26 7:14 (161/175 tempo uphill!) 8:41 7:58 9:02 9:28 8:40 8:53 9:04 8:53 9:17 9:30 4:12 9:54.

Time to taper!

8:30 was the perfect pace today

Great run today.  Ran with local Chicago Marathon training group, they were running 20, I ran 15 and had company because several were training for later marathons and wanted 15 only as well.  Weather was 50s and low 60s - perfect.

Here are the splits and HR data (I had HR interference or whatever in several of the miles):

Lap     Time                Lap Time        HR      Max    Avg     Min     Dist     min/mile         

1.         0:08:07.0         0:08:07.0         (Did not start watch until end of mile)

2.         0:16:38.1         0:08:31.1         144      148      145      140      0.0       0:00    

3.         0:25:20.5         0:08:42.4         146      151      144      137      0.0       0:00    

4.         0:33:33.9         0:08:13.4         151      152      144      124      0.0       0:00    

5.         0:41:56.3         0:08:22.4         147      152      148      144      0.0       0:00    

7.         0:59:19.4         0:17:23.1         147      150      144      115      0.0       0:00    

8.         1:07:51.0         0:08:31.6         144      150      145      140      0.0       0:00    

9.         1:16:03.2         0:08:12.2         135      155      147      98        0.0       0:00    

10.       1:24:23.6         0:08:20.4         148      155      134      98        0.0       0:00    

11.       1:32:54.6         0:08:31.0         149      154      149      145      0.0       0:00    

12.       1:41:05.1         0:08:10.5         105      160      148      105      0.0       0:00    

13.       1:49:56.4         0:08:51.3         138      147      121      89        0.0       0:00    

13.5.    1:54:48.5         0:04:52.1         137      143      139      135      0.0       0:00    

14.       1:59:04.5         0:04:23.0         149      152      146      137      0.0       0:00    

15.       1:07:29.8         0:08:18.3         150      155      150      144      0.0       0:00    

I ran with the 8:30 pace group, wanted to average 8:30, and you can see I exactly averaged 8:30 pace (despite having slower and faster miles).  This was terrific!  (I was pulled a little too fast in mile 12 by some runners who I did not realize were in their last mile, backed off too much in the next two miles, but then we picked it up nicely at the end.)

It is so great not being injured.  I ran a 6:53 "in and out" track mile at the Thursday Spivey track workout.  In the in and out mile we run laps 1 and 3 "fresh" and laps 2 and 4 "good," which means we back off from near 5K race pace for the "f" laps and bring it up to near 5K race pace the "g" laps.  I had gas in the tank at the end of the 6:53 mile.  We ran four other 400s in the workout (two before and two after the mile, a "f" not "g" pace.  Averaging the mile laps with the other 400s, all my 400s averaged 1:44.  I am figuring I could run a 5K now in 22 or maybe a bit under. It is hard to project a marathon pace from this, but I am certainly gaining speed and it gives me a lot of confidence that my Boston standard of 4 hours should be no problem in the Chicago Marathon on October 7.

Next weekend Coach Mike and I agree an 18 miler is in order before I start a two week taper.

No phones

No phones, email, employees, boss.  I savor and get lost in my run. I treasure my running partners; they, too, know the joy of running, the oneness with purpose and ability.

I have run for 46 years, For 15 years I have run Thursday track workouts coached by Olympian Jim Spivey and "Tuesday Night Six-Fifteen" and Saturday tempos with friends.  My long runs have yielded marathons: Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and more. I have run Ironman and 5Ks. Running is my fiber, my soul.  Warm-up, build, tempo, intervals, cool-down, that’s me.

I have run in the U.S., Canada, the UK, France and Italy.  I have run flats, mountains, single-track, trails and roads.  I have run on the beach and on rocky slopes and through cornfields.  I run on business and vacation.  I run in the morning, day and night.  I run and will always run, whenever and wherever.

17 miles in the heat

I had not done a run longer than 13 miles since I came down with plantar fascitus in May.  My 13.1 miles at Steelhead Half Ironman last Sunday were a slog because of a sore back after a fine bike leg.  But with my injuries hopefully behind me and Ironman Canada in 15 days, it was time to go longer,  Coach Mike wanted 17 miles, so that's what I intended to do.

My plan was be on the trail before 7 a.m. to get in 6-7 miles before my buddies would congregate at 8 a.m.  Sleeping was needed and good, so I did not get on the trail until after 7:30.  But getting in the 3 miles before connecting with buddies was good as well, since I was not sure who would show and no one would be programmed to run 17.  In fact, with many folks doing the Chicago Distance Classic the next day and others not available, I had Frank and Lynn as partners.  Turns out Frank wanted to do 10 and Lynn rode her bike for the ten and then joined me in a test of how her injured leg felt.

My pace went from Ok to pretty slow and it was hot and humid.  But I had no time goal, just "get it in," and with the company the miles went by fine.  The harder part was after 13, when Frank (who had picked up the pace and gone ahead for much of the run - maybe not wise for him since 10 was his longest run for a long time) finished and Lynn joined me for a bit, then accelerated away, turned back and left me to run the final three solo.  I was getting pretty tight, but unlike earlier in the spring/summer, nothing hurt and nothing felt abnormal.  I just don't have much running base.

So I have now invested three hours in a long run before Ironman.  I am still "superbly undertrained" but no longer doubt I can get the race done.  But will my running conditioning allow me to complete the race under 13 hours, my goal?  A 4:30 marathon leg would help assure that.  Stay tuned...

Track work in the heat

Our Jim Spivey track workout on Thursday evening was fun!  Well, it was not so fun in that it was hot and humid.  In fact, I was very crampy during the night after the workout and the following morning - think I was a bit dehydrated. The good part is that I did the entire workout.   

We did a 2 mile warm-up on the Prairie Path as usual, then stretched at the track and did 6 X 100 strides.  Then we ran 4 X 200 at fresh pace - can talk, not a tempo pace (100 recovery jog in between) [400 recovery jog after].  After that it was 600 good - backed off of race pace a little [400 jog].  Next came 4 x 250 fgfg (150) [600].  Then we did another 600 g [400].  The last set was 4 X 200 f (100).  We ended with an 800 cool down jog.  About 7 miles.

I was happy - my 600 g times were 2:49 (1:45 - 7:00 pace - for the first 400 - and 7:31 pace overall) and 2:46 (7:23 pace).  

[Data geek alert! Skip this if you think tracking heart rate through a track workout is over the top!]  My heart rate was running pretty high (178 max on the g) but the heart rate graph for the workout shows I did it right and had good recovery intervals.  Pretty cool to see the heart rate build on warm up, drop during stretching, the six building spikes on strides, the drop again, the four building spikes on the 4X200 f, the drop again, the big peak for the 600 g, the drop yet again, the lower/higher/lower/higher peaks on the 4x250 fgfg (150), another drop, the big peak on the 600 g (this time consistent with no variation between the 1st 400 and the last 200, which is why my time was a little better), yet another drop, the even HR peaks on the 4 X 200 (which was interesting because my times got a little slower on these as I went on, which means I was pretty well cooked by that point, I think), and the final drop before a slight build on the cool down.

On the other side of injuries!

I have been dealing with running injuries and then bad road rash/swelling in my thigh after a tire skewer that did not tighten properly came loose and I slid out (19 days ago).

But I am better! I rode 66 today in 3:37 (compared to 62 on 7/7 in 4:00).  Ran 10.0 yesterday easy in 1:31 (compared to 10.2 in 1:45 on the 8th).  My ride today was all time trial, no paceline (metric century + a little) at 18.3 mph (vs. 18.1 mph with half paceline last week).  I ran the full track workout Thursday night and my 400 and 800 speed is starting to come back.  I look at my Polar graphs and see higher HR, more calories, more hours and more miles.  (Except swimming - I have been focusing on running and biking right now.)  This week I ran 25 miles and have not done that for 11 weeks!

Looks like I am the other side of my injuries.  Now it's another couple of weeks of hard work and completing Steelhead in good shape before any tapering.

I still will be "supremely undertrained" for IMC, but I am less concerned about being able to race than I was...

If it's not one thing, it's something else!

So my running times have been improving.  Example: A week ago running partner Lynn and I ran 7 miles with the 3 in the middle a tempo run at 7:38 pace...and this was a held back pace.  (On May 6 I did 2 X 2 miles tempo on the trail at 7:36/7:36 and 7:30/7:30 - and was working much harder.)

Here's the problem, I have yet another injury to fend off.  At track last week I broke out the new DS Trainers for only the second time.  Fine workout.  But the next morning I was limping around with Plantar Fascitus in my right heel.  Darn!  It obviously abated quickly - note the run times above.  But after track this week (where I wore my more supportive 2120s and ran many laps at a held back 1:48-1:51 pace, per Coach Spivey, who was trying to get us to understand how slower paces now can help with faster racing later), I again was limping around the following morning.  And it did not abate as much by this a.m.  I still managed to keep up on the 2 mile warm-up, the 12 X :40 on/1:00 jog at varied pace, and 2.5 mile warm-down, but I was clearly slowed.

After coffee with Rick, Lynn and I went to Dick Pond.  She tried on racing flats to see what she wanted to wear for her upcoming road mile in Oregon.  I tested inserts to see what I should wear to give me more stability in the 2120s for now and later in the DS Trainers after I heal.  I now have Sof Sole Graphites, which I have been wearing all day and which feel great.

We'll see what happens.  Tomorrow morning I plan to drive to Rockton to ride the Blackhawk Country Roads Metric Century as a training ride, so long as the rain we are currently having abates.  (It started right before I spectated briefly at the end of a crit race in Lombard where buddy Todd was the announcer.)  Monday I was going to run a 10 mile race in hilly Elgin (a Memorial Day tradition for me), but instead I have been thinking about running only a local 5K with a longer warm-up and cool-down to make it a long run with little tempo in the middle.  I figure it will be easier on my sore heel.  We'll see...