Tuesday Trot

I was feeling groggy today and almost bailed, but I got up and out and went for a run.  The blog motivated me.  I did my 4 mile loop, and was saying to myself "go slow, take it easy, ease into the week." I went out and did another 32 minute 4 miles (32:09).  Then I chatted for about ten minutes with my neighbor on my cool down. It was a classic suburban moment, and this guy is one of my favorite neighbors. The weather was perfect -- cool and a bit overcast, but dry and comfortable.

I'm a bit achey and sore right now which seems sort of natural as the season seems to be winding down (even though I'm adding in more activities). I'll monitor it all and keep working to the CCM Relay and assess where I am after that. Part of me thinks I might scale back for the end of October and first half of November, but the cool decent weather of those months is good for building up the base before embarking on training for the Vermnot City Marathon which I want to tackle again (and whch will start in late January, which is not that far off, amazingly!).

Back in the saddle...

Its been two weeks and a day since the brain cramp/hamstring injury. I have had no pain in the hamstring since last Wednesday. On Saturday I walked 18 with a caddie (~4.5 miles) with no ill affects. So I targeted today to run 2 miles. Other than feeling tight, it went well. I ran at exactly 10 min pace, forcing myself to slow down at times. I'm struggling with this injury as I've never pulled a hammy before. I can't tell if its tight because I haven't used it much in the last 2 weeks or if its still on the mend. I'll probably know more tomorrow morning.

1:45

3 Shot blocks (Margarita with salt)
1/2 Cliff Bar, Blueberry (not bad)
2 water bottles -- refilled at playing fields' bubbler (Yes, bubbler. You can take the kid out of MA, but you can't...)
1 hour 45 minute run
12 or so miles, haven't mapped it yet
1 ice cold bath to soothe my sore legs.

No injuries, but this one hurt.

Ten and Ten

I had a good weekend.  I was thinking about FA and his (and Mrs. FA's) Komen Run quite frequently and that motivated me to get out and be active.  FA wrote a a great post and it sounds like he and theMrs. had a nice first step into the world of road-race running.  I take the fact that FA was a bit disappointed in his time as a good thing -- it's fodder now for further improvement and motivation to keep going.  Congrats!

Saturday I had hoped to get in a trail ride but instead went for a ten mile road ride into a neighboring town towing Child One in the Chariot (w/bike atachment).  C1 enjoyed the ride despite the sand in her face (even through the screen) which we remedied at the turnaround by using the rain shield.  It was a little hectic through the center of town on a Saturday afternoon but it just inspired me to ride more quickly and get to "safer" roads.  I used my regular shoes on the clipless pedals -- I didn't need anymore complications with such precious cargo -- and it was totaly fine.  I put on a pair of workout shorts, but rode in a cotton tee and didn't have on my watch.  I covered the ten miles in under an hour.  Cardiovascularly speaking it was not overly challenging but I have some sore muscles that I'd forgotten about -- the right glute!

On Sunday I did a 10K loop from my house and covered it in 49:37.  All in all it was a good run though my lunch was sitting like a stone in my stomach and I threw up once in my mouth -- more a chunky burp really -- which was pretty nasty.  My ankle was pretty sore last night and I flash froze it (and my foot) in a bucket of ice and water.  It feels fine today and I'll hit the road again tomorrow -- I thought it best to rest it today rather than push it for another run though everything else felt good enough to go today as well.

Komen 5k

So Mrs. FA and I ran the Komen for the Cure 5k this morning.

Temps were in the mid-80s, and the humidity exceeded 80%. There were 25,000+ people at the event, between runners, walkers, volunteers, etc. Central Park West was a veritable sea of pink and white t-shirts.

The course started at 77th Street and headed uptown on CPW, turned onto the Park Drive at 90th Street, followed the Park Drive down the West Side past the Great Lawn, 'round the bottom, and then up the East Side to finish at the 72nd Street Crossover.

I ran the first mile in 10:24, but it felt like 3 minutes. Adrenaline? The crowd? Don't know, but the first mile flew by. At about 1.5 miles we hit the first of two steady inclines, just before the Great Lawn. The other was on the East Side, and to my chagrin I walked both, which of course slowed me down. (Lessons learned: 1. Hills. I haven't trained on hills. At all. I need to do that, starting tomorrow. 2. Hydration. It was super humid, and I was sweating like a fiend before we even started running. Should have tanked up better before the run.) I pushed hard 1/2 mile before the finish. My time was 34:27 minutes.

I am slightly disappointed by my time, but it's tempered by how much this one experience taught me about participating in big running events. It is going to pay dividends for the CCM. And Mrs. FA and I had a great time doing it together. There was spectacle...celebrities, politicians, tons of organization, and a huge crowd. We will do this again.

Another One

I'd planned on taking today off but mid-way through my workday yesterday I got the urge to go out and run on Friday, so I did.  I was on the road by 6:45 AM or so with Child Two in the stroller and we went out for our usual route.  I'd planned on 45 minutes but was feeling slow and only did 40.  I've got a little mental block against longer runs right now and hope to break out of that this weekend.  I'm not running tomorrow -- 5 runs including Sunday's tri-run is a nice total and I'm up around 18 miles for the week.  I'm going to try and do a trail ride tomorrow morning, we'll see how motivated I am to leave the the hearth and kin folk on a Saturday morning.

I'm actually a bit excited about the inspiration because I'm getting to a point where I want to go out and do something active, and actually feel the need to be active so this is a good thing.  I hope that I can perpetuate this inspiration to be physical.

In Memoriam

Mrs. Agricola looked at me at breakfast today, after my run, and said:

"You had to run today . . . "

To which I responded:

"I did."

Run 26

Run 26 was a very poor effort. Lots on my mind tonight, and my heart wasn't there. Very disappointed, but not concerned about Sunday's race, for which I feel fairly well prepared.

The NYC skyline this week features the twin beams shining into the dark sky where the World Trade Center still stood, seven years ago today.

Peace, fellas.

Quick Run

I went out this morning at about 6:50 AM.  I did my 4.021 (I love the thousandths) route and did it in 32:01.6 which puts me right around an 8 minute mile.  This run was one of those weird ones where I felt really slow, but I wasn't, and didn't realize it until the end when I looked at my watch.  I try not to look at my watch while I run.  One god thing was that this run wasn't an easy run but it wasn't crazy painful either -- it was a good solid, hard run and a a good workout on a gorgeous day.

Off-Road Triathlon Report

WAVE 1 BIB 71 

WAVE TIME 1:03:56 

OVERALL PLC 49 

DIVISION PLC/TOT   6/17   

SWIM 

 RANK SPLIT

 55   8:19   

T1

RANK SPLIT

65   1:40 

BIKE 

RANK SPLIT   

59   35:28 

T2

RANK SPLIT 

123  1:11

RUN  

RANK SPLIT

31   17:18
 

The above is the tale of the tape from my first-ever triathlon. It was super fun and I had a blast. I'm sort of bummed that the tri season is winding down but training for this completely energized my training. Here's my breakdown.

Swim -- 400 yards
My split time above was pretty close to what I did Tuesday night thought it was not at all as smooth as my first go-round with group, open-water swimming. My flight was Men 44 and under -- it was a big group, much bigger than Tuesday night and much more hectic. A bunch of us hit the water and started trashing. People were bumping me and swimming over me. The water was murky as I mentioned, I was swimming with my head out of the water a bit (a la water polo) to see in front of me and there was a bit of chop on the pond and I drank more than a little water . . . I ended up breast stroking my way around and never got a good freestyle rhythm going. The crowd got my adrenaline up and while adrenaline can be your friend on dry land it made me feel a bit panicky and thrash-y in the water. All in all though I was happy with my time.

Bike -- 5.5 miles
This was the part where I figured I'd get most smoked but I think that I held my own on the course which got sort of crowded as I headed into the second phase of the ride (two concentric circles). I felt much more comfortable on the bike again and made up a bunch of time in the last third -- a good climb and descent on paved/semi paved road. I dumped twice within about 25 seconds of each other. I came around a corner into a hill and got going too slow because of traffic. I went over pretty easily to my right into some mossy ground. I picked myself up got one my bike missed my pedal and went over to my left, bounced off a guy who was struggling by and scuffed my back on his bike. No biggie, just what happens in a race. A little girl caused a big tie up in another part and she was really cute and flustered and apologetic. Again, it's what happens. There were lots of flats and dropped chains and some snapped chains and some dudes with serious road rash from some dumps. It was fun and I think my time was respectable.

Run -- 2.3 miles
Overall I'm happiest with my run though there was one section where I walked for about 60 seconds and I wish I hadn't. I reeled in like 5 guys who were ahead of me -- all but one my age or younger. I reeled in another 37 year old guy in the final 200 yards whom I'd been tracking for a while. I think I was a bit gassed after my bike ride and I caught all of the guys I caught heading uphills or just over the tops of hills. The section I walked was two steep little ups on wood chips and they happened just after I passed a couple who was walking along the trail we were running on. For some reason their idyllic stroll broke my concentration . . . I'm annoyed about the walk part but I still caught the guy I'd targeted even with it. I saved some energy (I rationalize) and made it happen. I didn't feel like the flailing geek kid for long on this run though the uphills were painful. Speaking of painful,I tweaked my ankle just after passing a Clydesdale but kept going. It's all fine now and it seems as if rubber ankle will be with me for years to come.

Overall
I really enjoyed this experience, I'm psyched that I did it and I want to do it again. I'm really into the idea of more off-road tris and want to find some more to do. I met two goals (do a tri, do some trail running), added some other workouts into my regimen (I'm considering joining the Y to keep swimming and looking forward to getting in a trail ride this weekend just because -- I hope I have the time). I made it onto the first page of results of a race for the first time, finished in the top third, or so of the entire field, the top half of my gender/age-group and was really only 4 minutes out of placing. I see some potential with more practice but also don't want to get hung up on numbers and stats because it was just super-fun to compete in the three disciplines, get dirty and spend some time in the woods. It rocked.

Finally, I also felt good enough that I went out and took both kids on a 34 minute run Monday morning. I rested today but am psyched to get back to it tomorrow.

Run 25

I got out last Thursday (run 24) and again tonight for run 25. I ran 5k in 30 minutes and 26 seconds. I ran the first 1.5 miles feeling strong, dragged a bit for the middle mile, and pushed on the last half mile. Two laps around the resevoir is 5k, almost on the nut. I did the first lap in 14.26, the last lap in an even 16 minutes. I feel pretty good about the time.

The Komen 5k is Sunday. Please render your opinion on the plan: Wednesday I aim to run 4+ miles. I'm not going to focus on time, but want to know how it feels to run past the race distance. If I can leave the office early enough, I'll run the course on Friday. If I can't, I'll get in 5k closer to home. No running on Saturday. The race is 9:ooam Sunday. Planning to spend some time next week on the bike for a change of pace, then focus on the CCM.

Since the CCM requires that I get up to 10k in about five weeks, I'll look to the blog for advice, and inspiration.

VTRunner...still

I came within 5 minutes of changing my name to MA Runner last Friday, but things worked out on the job front. I am still a (transplanted) Vermonter and plan to be for a long time. I'd be happy to share details off-line, but I'll leave you with this -- if you ever need coffee from the Green Mountain state, give me a ring.


So, today I refocused on the running and got in a great 11 miles in about 1:40, minus a few minutes in the port-o-let (lifesaver). Not sure I've ever appreciated my loop more. Saw about a half dozen turkeys on the way and three cars along the way. I really do love this state.

Later boys.

Ice, Ice, Baby...

4x a day, I've been icing the hammy. Both ways on the commute, in bed, and at least one other time as convenient. I was able to walk yesterday with out a limp for the first time. I can also apply pressure to it without too much pain. It feels different now, almost as if its tight from lack of use rather than injury. I went to the golf range yesterday for an hour and played a few holes (in a cart) to see how it would hold up. This morning it felt better. I'm thinking the stretching and light activity helped. I think next week I'll hit the gym for stretching and upper body during my usual running window. If all goes well, I hope to hit the road again in a week. These are dangerous times. I feel better and need to stretch, but don't won't to overdue it and re-injure. I was talking to a guy at the course who has done multiple marathons (including a 3:10 at age 60!) He lost three years due to a hamstring injury a few years back. I was sufficiently frightened.

Foul

I intended to go running yesterday but I woke and everything huhrt -- my whole body ached.  It was like a delayed reaction from Tuesday night's endeavor.  It was a good ache and sort of cool though.

I got out this morning and the air was foul.  It wasn't too hot but it was super humid -- around 90%..  I had a weird dream about not being able to breathe and woke up feeling sort of congested, but I ran anyway.  I did my short route and kept off on the pace becuse of the humidity.  I didn't have my HR monitor on today.  I felt strong through the short distance -- sometimes you need short runs for confidence, I think --.I finished well and am glad that I got out.  I was making breakfast post-run and was leaving footprints all over the clean kitchen floor -- that's how much I was sweating. 

35.54

Got out for a quick run of 35.54 minutes. Strong pace and no injuries, aches or pains. Supposed to do a long run with an accomplished runner friend tomorrow, but had to bail due to other commitments. Bummer. Still hoping for (and looking forward to) a long one over the weekend.

Dress Rehearsal

I did the dress rehearsal for my tri last night.  It was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it -- I was totally amped when it was over.


Swim -- 400 yards
I'm not sure if the swim was really 400 yards or not because my workout swims were tougher.  There about 35 people in all and I came out of the water in the top 10.  I covered the distance in 8:17.00.  I had one small moment of panic when I thought "I'm swimming into the middle of a pond . . . "  I quickly put those thoughts aside and kept on going.  The pond water is a bit murky and it was hard to see people around me.  I knew I was gaining on someone because I could feel the turbulence of their wake as I approached from behind.  I was really happy with the swim, and more than a little surprised.

Transition 1
I learned a lot on this transition.  First, have your socks & shirt right side out.  Second, have Gatorade or whatever in a squirt bottle.  Third, use the box that I bought (and that I saw more experienced triathloners using) to keep my stuff in to actually hold water to facilitate de-sanding my feet.  Fourth, definitely bring the old floor-mat that I'd considered bringing to sit on to put on socks and shoes.  My time was an unimpressive  3:19.70.

Ride -- 5.3 miles
I came into the ride with little confidence, to be honest and figured that I'd get smoked.  I headed out with about 5 other folks and two blew away from us and another guy dropped off.  I then proceeded to follow a woman in the group for the majority of the loop.  She offered to let me pass and I said no worries, this is only my fifth time on a bike in 10 years and my third with toe clips . . . She and I caught some guy on a nice bike who was struggling and we eventually picked up another guy with a nasty pedal gash puncture wound on his calf.  I had trouble through one section -- a really rocky old road -- and I hit a rock head-on that shot me over my handle bars that I somehow managed to clear and land basically unscathed.  I caught back up to my partners and proceeded on.  I dumped one other time when I got stuck in a sand pit near a beach but that fall was pretty minor and on sand -- better than landing on a boulder . . . The woman in the group was riding a hybrid with narrow tires, running shoes and no clips baskets or anything.  She was very quiet and still on the bike and I told that I was trying to absorb her Zen style.  She laughed.  It was funny, the three guys in the group, including me, were sort of all over the place and grinding gears etc.  She just trundled along.  It was a good lesson and my confidence and comfort grew and grew.  I eventually passed her and dropped my group on a paved road section of the course about a mile out. The guy on the nice bike was saying to me "there's a reason this bike is 12 years old, and my road bike is a year old . . . "  He was not comfortable on the bike last night.  I covered the distance in 37:49.4 -- this includes transition to the run as well.

Run -- 2.3 miles
The run was fun and fairly uneventful.  I entered the trail alone and saw nobody until the second half.  No one caught me either.  This was my first ever bike-run brick and it took nearly the first mile to feel like I knew how to run.  I felt as if I were that kid on the grammar school playground (there was one in each school) who ran all knock-kneed with his elbows locked at the waist and his forearms and wrists flapping at his sides . . . anyway, I just kept focusing on my stride and let myself breathe hard -- my HR went up very quickly and I was winded pretty quickly which I think is related to the transition from one discipline to the next and using new muscles.  I got myself together, saw a guy a few hundred yards ahead and then reeled him in.  I tweaked my ankle a bit but kept going.  I passed him in the final 200 yards, and asked him how he was doing as I passed.  I covered the distance in 17:15.9.

Total Time: 1:06:42

I had a great time in all three phases and am looking forward to Sunday!  I'll probably just take some light runs the rest of this week and maybe a light bike ride as well just to keep in form.

Final Leg for Komen

So the Komen to the Cure 5k is a week from Sunday. I ran last night for the first time since Mrs. FA and I ran in Jasper. That was nine days ago. Last night was tougher than I had hoped.

Still, I think this is going to be very doable. Last night I went out on my regular loop from the apartment, around the CP Resevoir, and back to the apartment. I ran the 1.58 mile lap around the resevoir track in 15.20 minutes. After a short walk I ran the half mile before arriving at home in 4.38 minutes.

So, I am aiming to put on a bunch of miles between now and next week, and am aiming to run the course before the race. On race day, Mrs. FA and I are going to subway to 86th Street, then warm-up run to the starting line at 77th.

I'm amending my goal of a sub-30 minute 5k to sub 32 minutes.

30 minutes

I had my August lull, so now I'm trying to get back on track. Did a "fast" 30 minutes today. 10 miles on tap tomorrow, and I have a plan for somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 miles set up on Friday.

Time to get to business.

Board Shorts

I got out to the pond for an end of summer swim and did my customary 450 yards.  It had been about a week since I last swam so I don't know whether or not to attribute the labor involved in this 15 minute swim to that or to the fact that I was wearing board shorts.  I'm going to go with the latter and make a note to myself no to wear board shorts this coming Sunday.

I'm going to a workout this evening in which we string all three disciplines together . . . wish I'd done that bike- run brick this weekend so I know what to expect . . . oh well, let it fly!

Done

I'm done for a while. 48 hours later I still have significant pain, not to be confused with soreness, in the hamstring. I've been icing it 3-4 times a day and taking Naprosyn (prescription Alleve, technically for my wrist). What I find strange is that nothing else is sore. If I was pushing too hard, I would have thought I'd be sore in other places. I figure I'll give it a week and then evaluate whether I should get the referral for PT.