ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE

This was a very lazy week, at least until the weekend.

I was feeling a bit fatigued so I took a rest day on Monday. On Tuesday I went for a 5 mile tempo run: warm-up mile, 3 miles at race pace, then a cool-down mile. IT band didn't hurt, but it wasn't at 100%.

Wednesday was a 10 mile recovery bike ride, with the last 3:30 at LT. My quads were aching at the beginning, but eventually loosened up. That weekend ride really trashed my legs.

Thursday and Friday I did nothing. My legs still weren't feeling fantastic and I wanted to make sure they were well-rested for the weekend. I pigged-out, played videogames and sat on the couch. It was great.

Saturday was the big 20 mile run. The hurricane hadn't hit us yet, but there was still a lot of wind and a sprinkling of rain. Here's the breakdown of how I felt:

• Miles 1-5: Achy joints, tired legs.
• Miles 6-14: Felt amazing, wanted to run 26 miles.
• Miles 15-17: No longer wanted to run 26 miles.
• Miles 18-20: Everything felt "tight", but no real pain.

I swung by my car to refill water at miles 8 and 17, and it took a lot of willpower to go back out for the final 3 miles. My heart rate creep was also very high: the first 8 miles stayed in the 140s, but slipped into the 150s in the second loop and was in the 160s for the last 5 miles. And this was at a slow 11:00/mile pace.

I'm excited about setting a huge PR at the Richmond Marathon in 12 days, but my confidence for going sub 4 hours is waning. Already my mind is doing the math on "settling" for a slower race:

09:00/mile: 3:55:48

09:15/mile: 4:02:20

09:30/mile: 4:08:54

09:45/mile: 4:15:27

10:00/mile: 4:22:00

10:15/mile: 4:28:33

10:30/mile: 4:35:06

Regardless, I still plan on going out at a 9:00 pace and seeing if I have it in me. The weather dropping into the 40s later this week gives me hope that the race will be nice and cold. 

Here's a happy thought for this stormy Monday:

Too Much Biking

What does too much biking get you? Legs too tired to run. Here's how the week went:

Monday: 13 mile bike ride. Nice and slow, except for the last 3:30 which was at LT.

Tuesday: Rest day.

Wednesday: Another bike race against Uri, this time in my road bike. I was a bit slower than on my tri bike last week (19.7 mph vs 20.2 mph), but I felt like I pushed much harder. Uri and I stayed close for the first few miles, but at the 4.40 mile mark there's about half a mile of uphill terrain, and I kicked it up a gear and sprinted uphill the whole way, gaining some separation. Uri stayed close though; every time I looked behind me he was right there, only 50 feet back. By the end I was close to throwing up. Afterwards I ran an easy mile to cool off. While resting after the bike race we were passed by some tourists that asked if we were in the Coast Guard. Nice!

Thursday: I had the day off so I went to Yorktown to do 25 miles of biking. I also found an area that has a nice uphill section, and did a few repeats over there. It was definitely a great workout for my legs. Afterwards I did three fast 1-mile intervals: the first mile in 7:47, the second in 8:05, and the third in 8:28. I like this approach to bricks, doing some fast 1-mile intervals off the bike instead of steady-state running.

Friday: Another rest day after Thursday's tough workout.

Saturday: I biked from Yorktown to my grandma's house in Jamestown on the colonial parkway. The first trip took me 1 hour and 18 minutes, and the return trip was 1 hour and 21 minutes (but was a longer distance due to me taking a wrong turn). The parkway has a LOT of hills, so I would fly down one side and then slowly trudge up the other side. On the return trip my legs were gassed, and I'm surprised my average speed was about the same for both. This is probably the best place to do hill training in the area (3200 total climbing feet over 46 miles!), and after Saturday it's obvious I need the work. The only downside was that the road was bumpy, and my wrists are still sore from absorbing that much force for so long.

Colonial Williamsburg is peaceful at 8:00am

Sunday: I was originally planning on running 20 miles, but my legs were still too fatigued from Saturday's ride so I played it easy and ran an easy 10 miles, with the last mile fast in 8:22. Looking back it was really dumb of me to have so much hard bike riding when I should be focusing on running.

I have one more week to do a long run before I begin tapering for the Richmond marathon, so I'll aim for at least 20 miles on Saturday. Right now I feel pretty confident about starting off the race at a 9:00 pace, but we'll see if my confidence is still there after my last long run. I'll take it easy on the bike this week, do some running speed work on Tuesday and Thursday, and tackle my long run on the weekend.

Susan G. Komen 5K - Race Report

Some coworkers and I ran in the Susan G. Komen 5K this weekend in Virginia Beach. It was the first time running in a 5K since last November, and I was excited to see how I would do this time. I ran the last one in 29:30, but a lot has changed since then.

We were running late all morning, but got to the starting line with about 5 minutes to spare (thanks to parking at Jen's parents' timeshare. We snapped a quick photo before jumping in line:

Me, Jen and Uri.

There was a lot of room at the front of the line, so that's where we positioned ourselves. It was strange being within 10 feet of the start, with a few thousand people behind us.

The gun fired and off we went. My goal was to go out around an 8:00/mile pace and see how I felt, so I went out hard... and found myself with a 7:07 time for the first mile! I was starting to hurt pretty badly so I slowed up a bit and did the second mile in 7:51. The final stretch of the run was on the boardwalk adjacent to the beach, and there was a strong crosswind, so my time for the third mile was 8:05. The wind died down for the final 0.11 miles, which I did at a 5:48 pace.

Final stretch. I'm not heel-striking, I swear!

I finished in 23:41, which beats my previous PR of 25:39 by almost 2 minutes! It's also almost 6 minutes faster than my last 5K race. I was also 97th out of 548 men (they didn't have age groups). Granted a lot of people walked, but I'm still very happy with this. I've improved quite a bit in the past year. Who knows where I'll be next year... sub 20:00?

Here are some other pictures from the race:

The winner, right before crossing the finish line.

A bunch of guys wore pink bras during the race. I want to do this next year!

Her sign says "Of course they're FAKE, the real ones try to kill you!"

Briana and I in front of the Neptune statue. Is that a Livestrong bracelet on his wrist?

Busy Week

It was a busy week last week!

Monday: I took a rest day Monday because I was still ridiculously sore from the race. It helped that it was raining all day.

Tuesday: This started off as an easy recovery ride, but I felt so good after the first loop that I kept going faster. First loop was in heart rate Z1, second was Z2, third was Z3/Z4, and fourth was cool-down. 19.77 mph average.

Wednesday: Uri and I decided to race at the battlefield trail to see who is faster. We traded places a few times for the first 4 miles but after that I pulled away for good. I averaged 20.23 mph (very good for such a hilly route), and beat Uri by about 25 seconds. There were several times where I would have slowed down if I were by myself, but knowing that Uri was behind me pushed me harder.

Thursday: I did a 3.80 mile tempo run: first mile warm-up, then a mile at 7:50, then a slow cool-down for the rest. With the Komen 5K on Saturday I wanted to see how my body would feel at a faster pace.

Friday: I was let off work an hour early, so I took the opportunity to jump on the bike and go for an easy 10 mile ride. I kept it at a slow pace, but my legs felt pretty tired. 

Saturday: Susan G Komen 5K race. Race report coming.

Sunday: 17 mile long run. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel since this was my first long run since July, so this was a test run to see if I could even do the Richmond Marathon next month. My legs felt great though, and I did two full loops, stopping at my car once to refill my water bottle. The weather was absolutely perfect: high 50s, zero humidity. Five of the miles were under 10:00 (and the last one was 9:14). My right ankle bothered me a bit at mile 14, and I suffered from heart rate drift in the last 3 miles, but it was a very encouraging run nonetheless. It also gave me a chance to nail down my nutrition. I had some sports beans before the run, and a gel pack at 0:40, 1:20 and 2:00. It seemed to work great, and I didn't feel "starving" after the run like I sometimes do. Next week I'll go for 19-20 miles.

I love this fall weather, and hope it stays like this for as long as possible. Running is so much easier and more enjoyable when I'm not sweating my ass off the entire time. 

Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon - Race Report

What a great race! It rained near the end, and we didn't get to enjoy the post-race activities, but it was a wonderful time nonetheless.

We got to the race around 7:00. It wasn't as cold as we expected (about 55 degrees at race start), but the wind was strong. We waited inside the convention center with Casey and some of her friends before heading out to the start.

I was supposed to be in Corral 1, but the 1:52 pace group was in Corral 2 and the 2:00 pace group was in Corral 3, so I positioned myself between them. We watched Corral 1 begin, waited at the starting line, and then took off.

You can see the 1:52 pace group just ahead of me.

Here's how the race went, mile-by-mile.

Mile 1 - 8:27. "DAVID YOU DUMB SHIT, THIS IS TOO FAST." My heart rate immediately shot up into the 170s, and I was hoping to keep it in the 150s for the first mile. I felt great, but knew going out too hard would be a bad idea. It was tough to slow down though because of all the people crammed together.

Mile 2 - 9:04. Much better pace. My heart rate was still in the high 170s though, and I didn't want to slow down any further, so at the first water station I dumped cold water down my back (but I didn't stop to walk). The water helped bring me down a bit, but not enough. It stayed in the 170s for the entire race (until the end).

Mile 3 - 9:02. This pace felt perfect and natural. I didn't look at my Runkeeper the entire mile.

Mile 4 - 9:09. I slowed down and walked for about 8 seconds in the water station to drink some gatorade, but the time was still where I wanted it to be. The inner part of my left thigh was feeling a little strange, but not enough to bother me.

Mile 5 - 8:46. This part of the course went through downtown Hampton, and I was "that guy" who ran along the sides and high-fived all the spectators that were watching. You can't just slowly jog by and high-five someone either; your body naturally speeds up in excitement. So I blame that for the speedy pace. I took my first gel pack before one of the water stops during this mile.

Mile 6 - 9:02. Back on track. It was nice to have a few fast miles banked away in case I cramped or had to stop to pee. Shortly after this I hit the 10K sign, and snapped a photo of my watch:

Heart rate at 174.

I also hit the halfway mark at 58:30. Knowing I had a 90 second cushion took a lot of the pressure off.

Mile 7 - 8:57. This part of the course was in some Hampton neighborhoods, and a lot of people were sitting outside their houses watching the runners. Around this time the inside of my left thigh started bothering me again... not really pain, but just some discomfort.

Mile 8 - 9:02. This was the first of two miles along the James river, and I was terrified that the wind would be strong, but there was less wind here than in downtown Hampton. Beautiful view along the way too. It was easy to comfortably cruise along.

Mile 9 - 9:17. "Okay, let's not get TOO comfortable with our cushion." I guess my only explanation for this was that I took some extra time walking through the water station to eat my second gel pack, which was a nasty "Jet Blackberry" flavor that tasted horribly. It still hadn't rained yet so I dumped more water down my back to keep my heart rate from drifting up.

At this part of the race I heard a funny conversation from two guys ahead of me:

Guy 1: "What's your goal for this again, Bob?"
Bob: "I'm just aiming for about 2 hours, since this is part of my taper for Ironman."
Guy 1: "I fucking hate you, Bob."

They laughed and seemed to speed away from me, so I didn't have a chance to run up and ask Bob which Ironman he was doing, but based on the Calendar it's either Kona next weekend or Florida next month.

Mile 10 - 9:06. Still feeling good. In the space of a few minutes the temperature dropped by at least 10 degrees and the wind picked up, signaling that the storm was almost here. I had originally planned on picking up the pace at this point to finish the last 5K strong, but I was feeling too conservative to kick it up a notch. I had a 2 hour half marathon in the bag, and I didn't want to screw that up. Also, my feet were starting to hurt a bit, something that has never happened to me on long runs.

Mile 11 - 9:14. This mile was tough: running into the wind most of the way, and my feet were starting to ache pretty badly. It was obvious that picking up the pace wasn't an option, and I would have to "settle" for a time just under 2 hours. I was fine with that.

Mile 12 - 9:11. The end of this mile was uphill on the overpass above I-64, and it started POURING right before then. My entire body, especially my shoes and socks, were completely soaked after only 30 seconds of rain. To top it off, the Mile 12 marker didn't match up with what my GPS said; I thought I still had at least one minute of cushion, but my time at the mile marker made it more like 15 seconds. Oh shit.

Mile 13 - 9:01. I'm surprised this mile wasn't faster. I sped up after passing the Mile 12 marker, and ran most of this with a heart rate in the 180s, topping out at 195 near the end. I was soaked but felt great, and cruised into the finish at a near sprint.

1:59:28 Final Time
9:07 average pace

741 out of 2270 overall
479 out of 968 males
72 out of 112 in the M25-29 age group

Much closer than I originally thought, but I played it pretty conservative for the second half and still made my goal time. 20 seconds after I finished my right calf and foot seized up in horrible cramps, so I limped over to a cement boulder to sit on.

I met up with Wiley and we went inside the convention center to warm up. I told Wiley that we had maybe 20-30 minutes before Bre finished, but I pulled out my iPhone and used the Find My Friends app to see Bre's exact location. She was already in the last mile! We quickly ran back to the finish line and saw her finish a few minutes later.

She got a 2:49:30, which crushed her PR by over 21 minutes! Overall it was a pretty good race day for the Kirby household, though the rain kept us from enjoying the free post race beer and food.

We ran home, took a hot shower (Bre) and bath (me), and ate pizza while watching football for the rest of the day. I'll post some of the official race photos when they're available online.

Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon - Race Predictions

Well it's the day before Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon, and it's time to discuss what I think I can get out of my body. Here's what the weather forecast is:

Oh boy. I was hoping for the cold weather, but throw in the 70% chance of rain and I'm not sure whether or not to wear a jacket. My Vibrams are extra thin, so any amount of rain means I'll be running with wet feet. With that in mind, here are my predictions:

Great Day: 1:55:00 (8:47/mile)

This is significantly faster than my 2 hour goal, but I really have no idea how my body will react to the cold weather. A 1:55:00 time means running at a 9:00/mile pace for the first 7 miles, and then kicking it up to 8:30/mile for the remainder. 

Good Day: 2:00:00 (9:09/mile)

This is my true goal, so it feels strange to say that's achieving it would only be a "good" day. This is what I've trained for in the last month, so anything slower would feel like a failure.

Bad Day: 2:05:00 (9:32/mile)

A few months ago this would have been a great day for me, but I've improved significantly and would be disappointed to see this time. Something would have to go wrong (cramps, foot pain, GI issues) for this to happen. 

Since this is a new race, the packet pick-up expo was pretty small. Maybe 15 vendors, nothing very interesting. There was a Livestrong stand selling bracelets for $1. My old one broke, and Bre has meant to buy one, so I asked if they took credit card (I had no cash on me) and they laughed at the idea of charging a credit card for only $2 and gave them to me for free. Livestrong organization: you guys are classy.

As you can see in the photo above, I'm in Corral 1, up at the front. How intimidating! I may move back and start in Corral 2, just so I'm not getting passed by people for the first few miles.

Here's hoping the rain/wind isn't horrible!

Taper Taper Taper

Tuesday was one of the worst runs I've ever had. It was a 5K at race pace (9:00/mile), which should have kept my heart rate in Z3 (158-165 bpm) for most of the time. However, the weather was hot and muggy. My body felt "off" from the start, and my heart rate was in the 170s before I was done with the first mile. I slowed my pace down a bit for the second mile but my heart rate continued to rise, and by the final mile it was in the high 180s. Once I finished running it took 9 minutes to get back down into the 120s. This was supposed to be a "confidence booster" run for the race on Sunday, and it sure had the opposite effect.

Right now the weather for race day is predicted to be the complete opposite: low of 44, with a 40% chance of rain. As a prolific sweater I do great in colder weather, but this has a chance of being downright hypothermic. I might get a chance to wear my Shamrock Marathon long-sleeved dry-fit shirt for the first time.

I took Wednesday off and did an easy 10 mile bike ride on Thursday. I wanted to keep my heart rate in the 130s, but that didn't happen. I really struggle to go super slow on my new bike; my legs always want to hammer it on the bike, especially if I know I'm doing a shorter ride. I guess that's a good thing? My body refuses to go at a speed lower than "Awesome".

This morning I bit the bullet and signed up for three 2013 races:

• Shamrock Half Marathon: March 17
• Monticelloman 70.3 Triathlon: May 5
• Williamsburg 70.3 Triathlon: June 23

$500 blown in a 10 minute period, but I was scared that some of them would sell out, especially the Monticelloman which has a limit of 500 athletes. I also decided to not do the Shamrock Full Marathon, since it would interfere with about 3 weeks of training for the Monticelloman, which is my top race priority currently. So I'll just treat the Shamrock like a normal long-run training day.

Slow Recovery Rides: Now Without the "Slow"

On Mondays I typically do a slow bike ride to recover from the weekend. I keep an eye only on my heart rate, making sure it stays below 150, which usually means an average speed between 16-17 mph. Not very fast, but that's what a recovery ride is supposed to be like.

Well since getting my new tri bike, "slow" isn't in my vocabulary. I did a 20 mile recovery ride yesterday, averaging 18.22 mph while keeping my heart rate at 148. Not only that, but most of my mile splits were incredibly consistent: all but a few were between 3:07 - 3:19 (the outliers were due to hitting stop lights). 

I haven't had a chance to do a proper speed test on the bike, and won't get the opportunity for at least a week, but boy am I anxious to now. 

Time to Taper

Thursday afternoon I was feeling pretty lethargic, so Bre went out for her run and I stayed inside and took a nap. By the time I woke up I was feeling better so I threw on the new Vibrams and went out to do some fartlek work: 9x1:00 intervals, with a warm-up and cool-down. 4 miles total. The most intervals I had done previously was 5, but I felt surprisingly great while I was out there.

Friday I rode my bike to work for the first time. It's about 4 miles away, and there's a sidewalk the entire way, so it wasn't very dangerous. I took my road bike since I didn't feel comfortable taking my tri bike to a not-so-nice part of town. Taking my road bike also meant I wouldn't have to worry about clipping-out at each intersection.

Saturday was wet and rainy, but I took it as the perfect opportunity to HTFU and rode 20 miles anyways. I kept my heart rate in Z2 the entire time, except for the last 5:00 which was at Lactate Threshold, and still managed a speedy 18.50 mph average speed. By the time I was done my shoes, pants and jersey were all soaked. I threw on some warm clothes and did an easy 5K off the bike, with the last 4:00 at LT. I felt AMAZING the entire time, so much so that I could have ran for another hour. I think I really nailed my nutrition on the bike: I had a cliff bar before the bike, gatorade and sports beans every 10:00, and a gel pack at the 45:00 mark. That gives me a good starting point for when my long rides get even longer.

Sunday my stomach was feeling weird, but I still went out and did an easy 10K run in Z1, again with the last 4:00 at LT. The timing worked out perfectly because there was a fast runner gaining on me near the end of the run, so I pretended that he was a fellow racer chasing me at the end of a race and used that as motivation to push myself. I've mentioned it before, but I need to practice getting in the race mentality.

The Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon is this Sunday, so that means tapering this weekend. It's tough to do since I have a fancy new tri bike and my legs have felt great, but this is my 'A' race and I need to store up some energy if I have any chance of breaking the 2 hour mark. Ride now the plan is to do a 5K at race pace on Wednesday, and spend the rest of the week doing some super easy biking. Friday and Saturday will both be rest days. After the Crawlin' Crab I have 5 weeks to prepare for the Richmond Full Marathon... but that's a problem for Future David, so I'll let that guy worry about it.