Still planning my training and racing strategy for 2010

March 24, 2010
The slowtwitch March Madness challenge and the awesome Minnesota Spring weather has allowed me to put in lots of outdoor bike miles. I should hit 1000k for the month of March.
MDRA 7 mile fun run on Saturday, March 27th, then a 25k MDRA event the next Saturday. April brings Minnesota Ironman 100 mile bike ride, and Trail Mix 25k (I might sign up for the 50k). Probably do the May 1/2 marathons again (Wells Fargo, New Prague, Apple Blossom, with the White Bear Lake 30k ending the month).

Twin Cities Marathon

Sunny but cool temps greated the runners on the morning of Oct. 4th. It began for me with a 3 o'clock wake up to eat some breakfast and stretch. Then drive to St. Paul, park at Sears, but I got there so early, there was lots of street parking, so I said what the heck, I'll save 10 bucks.

Hopped the warm bus at the Kelly Inn to the Metrodome, and no turning back now. If I wanted to get back to my car, I had 26.2 miles to run.

Filed into the Dome, and began the long "hurry up and wait". Last year I saw my friend Maureen, who did ran her first marathon with me. She has since qualified for Boston at least 3 times. Finally it was time to head out, stand in line at the portable toilets, then drop the dry clothes bag, and walk to the start. Frantic runners all around me rushing to the starting gate, if they only knew we had lots of time. I started nearly in the back, and slowly walked for several minutes before crossing the start line mats.

The race itself pretty uneventful, I felt pretty good the whole way, tighted up a bit during the hills on the St. Paul side of the parkway, and actually found Summit to be a peaceful jog. Got the big payback rounding Cathedral hill, and viewing the finish line. TCM finish has to be one of the best marathon finishes anyone. Time: 4:27. Not a PR, but 5 weeks after IMC, I'll take it.

March in Minnesota

Nice weather is allowing outdoor biking. First ride outdoors was Feb. 28th. Ridden over 600k so far this month, got to be a record for me. Even when I lived in SoCal I didn't ride that much. I wish I was back there, not only seeing friends, but I'd like to revisit some of my bike routes. The Santa Susanna's, Angeles Crest, Topanga and Santa Monica's, and of course Mulholland and Kannan Rd.
One time I "got lost", and ended up at Point Magu. That was a 100 miler I hadn't planned on riding that day!

Day off

Been going pretty hard and yesterday had a sore throat. Today decided to have a rest day, no workouts. I'll try to put in some big miles this weekend. First race is 25k on April 3rd.

IMC Race Report

Sat. Sept 5th
15:08, but at least I finished. Swim: QR quick release zipper broke 1/2 way into the swim. Took in water, did a 1:22. Bike: Felt great the first 85 miles, then started to bonk up Yellow Lake. Stopped nutrition and drinking. 6:42 Run: Legs were ok, but nothing left in the tank. Couldn't eat or drink, except water and ice. Shuffled/walked, until I realized a. I couldn't shuffle for more than 40 seconds, and b. I didn't care, I just wanted for it to be over. Time, close to 7 hours!

I should have heeded the mantra from Friday night carbo load, "Suck it up, Sissy!". But a finish is a finish, that makes 11 in a row for me.

What went wrong: Not enough quality workouts. Didn't have a plan B for nutrition.

Focus for next year: Quality. Forget all the workouts of mile after mile of slow running / slow biking. I have enough base, now I have to get back my speed. Lots of 2 mile runs at full tilt. Lots of tempo and time trial biking. Increase HR and speed. More weight work on leg strength. And continue to lose body weight.

As always, I enjoyed Penticton and seeing friends. I'm stoked about next year, and can't wait to start training. (Rode Th, and ran yesterday)
Got a 20 mile run next Saturday, then Twin Cities Marathon Oct. 4th.

50K ok

Did my first 50k on July 4th, couldn't believe how good I felt! Of course I started super conservatively, and walked the steep uphills and downhills. But still, I finished, and that's all that matters. And I finished feeling really strong, I kind of didn't want to stop. Hmmm, maybe one of the 50 milers could be do-able.......I'll have to give that some more thought...

6 1/2 weeks to Ironman Canada, crunch time. I feel good, I feel recovered from the 50k (and marathon), so time to ramp up training. I plan to focus on the bike, and quality, fast paced runs. About 3 weeks of hard training, then taper. Maybe this year I won't welt on the run? That would be nice, because an Ironman marathon is a long, long,...LONG, long way to walk !!

Been a long, long, long, time!

Minnesota finally got it's second Senator, nearly 8 months after the election. Al Franken won by 312 votes over incumbent Norm Coleman.
But what's really important is 8 weeks until Ironman Canada!

Did Grandma's marathon 2 weeks ago as a training run for a 50k trail run on the Fourth of July. The course is extemely hilly (Afton Alps Ski resort), and it's gonna be *hot*.

Then the rest of July I plan to log quality miles on the bike, and cut back on my running. My running will focus on tempo and intervals (I've got plenty of base). I'll still do a couple 20 milers early August, but I want to do some 5k and 10k races, to remember what it's like to run fast (well, fast for me anyway).

Swim? I've resigned myself to the fact I'm a barge. I'll do a few more swims in July and August, but no matter what, I swim around 1:20.

I'm just stoked to train these last 5 weeks before my taper. Then I get to go back to the beautiful Okanagan Valley, seeing friends, and meeting new ones.

My job has me commuting 2 hours a day, which is precious time I could be training, but it is what it is. I work with a great goup of people, who think I'm crazy for doing Ironman's. But I'll keep promoting the lifestyle, and maybe one of them will drink the Kool-Aid.

Gotta go....... Train? Nah, got to eat and watch Wheel of Fortune! Hey, I've got my priorities you know!