Training Week in Review

This was a recovery week after the Publix GA Half Marathon. I didn't feel quite as sore as I did after the Atlanta Half Marathon last November, but it's taking a while to get my legs feeling fresh again. Both of my runs this week were easy recovery runs, but Tuesday's felt tough just maintaining a 9 minute pace. It was a relatively flat route, but is anything really flat here in Atlanta. So not as hilly as the route I've been running, but hilly enough to hate hills again. Just when I thought I was loving hills. I'm sure I like them again once my legs are back up to speed. I had a great swim on Monday and I think my speed picked up over the last couple of months. By Wednesday, I was feeling fatigued and took it easy on the swim. I also took Thursday off from swimming. I was working on a project and it was a convenient excuse to blow off the pool. Friday's 8 mile run was better on the legs. I kept an easy pace and maintained my heart rate just below LT. I had a photo shoot early on Saturday, which is why I moved my run to Friday. So no training on Saturday. I already looked over this week's schedule and it's going to be packed. Recovery week is over. Time to get back into training mode.

Date	Day	Activity
03/20/11	Sunday	Publix GA Half Marathon 13.1
03/21/11	Monday	2200 Meter Swim
03/22/11	Tuesday	7.25 mile recovery run
03/23/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 800 meter Swim
03/24/11	Thursday	Rest
03/25/11	Friday	8 mile run
03/26/11	Saturday	Rest

Publix Georgia Half Marathon - Race Report

Publix Georgia Half Marathon
Date of Race: 03/20/2011

Total Time = 1h 47m 19s

Overall Place = 1102/10898

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 145/822


First let me start by saying, this was my fastest half marathon so far! I was 14:25 faster than last year on the same course. That's over 14 minutes! I haven't even been running as much as I should, only 2 days a week. I'm extremely happy with my time and I'll be back next year for another PR. I came with a race strategy suggested by one of our coaches.

Training Week in Review

This has been a taper week leading up to the Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon. I feel like such a slacker not working out as much this week. I'm hoping for a PR on this course, which I should get, but I'm also hoping to beat my time from this past November's Atlanta Half Marathon. The rest this week will be good for me and should give me the results I've worked hard for. I'm considering this the start of the spring race season and that only makes my half ironman in May seem that much closer. Should be a good race and I'm looking forward to running this course and hanging out with the Atlanta Triathlon Club. We will be well represented and I'll be wearing my tri racing kit for the first time this season.

Date	Day	Activity
03/13/11	Sunday	Rest
03/14/11	Monday	2000 Meter Swim
03/15/11	Tuesday	5 mile run
03/16/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class
03/17/11	Thursday	1700 Meter Swim - Endurance 1 Hour Spin Clas
03/18/11	Friday	Rest
03/19/11	Saturday	Rest

Training Week in Review

Pushed some distances this week on the bike & swim. I'm tapering for my half marathon next week, so running was light. The Cartersville ride was tough. The Atlanta area got some much needed rain and brought back some winter weather. It was 41º F and belt like mid 30's with the wind. I was able to warm up a little bit after 5 miles, but my toes were cold the entire day. I forgot to bring my shoe covers. It was windy the entire time and that slowed the pace a bit. I wanted to get 60 miles in, but was beat up and didn't even attempt a brick.  I keep pushing myself Tuesday nights. I'm trying to keep up with the stronger/faster runners and although I can't run with them, I try to keep them in my sights and help motivate  and pace me. Each week I get a little faster. No spin class on Thursday so I got a 3000 meter swim in. That's the longest swim I've ever done. I broke it down to sets of 500 meters with about 1 minute rest in between each set. A great workout and one that I think will definitely prepare me for my first 70.3. I moved my 8 mile run on Saturday to Friday so I could do a group ride in Braselton and take Sunday off. Saturday's ride was a completely new route from last year's Jackson Brevet. It was a group, no drop ride. At least until about mile 20 when we hit a Sprint section followed by King of the Mountain section. I liked the route and there are definitely sections for going into the aero position. I'm still not quite comfortable, especially when the wind picked up. I did get in the aero position a couple times and felt really comfortable compared to riding on the hoods. The aero position allows me to relax my shoulders and take the weight off of my hands and arms. From this point forward, I'm going to use the aero bars as much as possible. The ride back was hard. There were some false flats and some rolling hills that really worked out the legs. I dropped to the smaller chainring and spun for a couple miles. I used a mix of Perpetuem & Sustained Energy. I felt really good throughout the entire ride. No leg cramps or GI issues. I also ran 20 minutes afterwards. I felt like I had taken too many fluids at the start of the run. Probably because I drank a bit of Perpetuem while putting the bike up and getting ready for the run. Not something I would normally do in a race. I also picked up a canister of EFS by 1st Endurance from the bike shop. The shop guys said it's more like Gatorade and not milk-like Perpetuem. I'll be trying EFS in some upcoming workouts. Looks like I won't be biking for 2 weeks due to my taper for the Publix GA Half Marathon. Weight is at 146 pounds this week.

Date	Day	Activity
03/06/11	Sunday	48 miles - Cartersville
03/07/11	Monday	2200 Meter Swim
03/08/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
03/09/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 800 Meter Swim
03/10/11	Thursday	3000 Meter Swim - Endurance
03/11/11	Friday	8 mile run
03/12/11	Saturday	55 miles - Braselton

Hammer Nutrition

It's time I started researching race nutrition. I've been using Gatorade, but as my distances get longer, I'm experience some GI issues. Typically it's right after I finish my training. I think that once I put all three sports together for my 70.3, those GI issues will reveal themselves during the run. I've been looking at Hammer Nutrition & 1st Endurance.

I picked up a couple individual packets of Hammer Nutrition's Perpetuem & Sustained Energy. I tried them both on my 48 mile bike ride. I felt pretty good and experienced no GI issues. They have a milk-like texture and taste. I preferred Perpetuem's Orange-Vanilla flavor to Sustained Energy's Unflavored. Because Hammer Nutrition's products contain no artificial preservatives, it's recommended to drink 3-5 hours after mixing the solution. Chilling or freezing will help prolong the life. Because of the lack of artificial preservatives, the solution will sour, just like milk. You also have to mix the solution based on body weight. The guideline is to consume one bottle per every hour. However over a long distance race, you can add more mix to the solution to consume one bottle every 3 hours. It'll be thicker, but you drink water from another bottle for hydration and the Perpetuem bottle will provide the nutrition for the longer course. I'll have to try that out at some point.

Training Week in Review

This was a relatively light week. I didn't do as long as a ride as I had hoped. Only 32 miles instead of 48. However, I did push hard and made sure that it was a hard effort. Wednesday was a Lactate Threshold test on the spin bike. Still having trouble raising my heart rate. I ended with 4 beats lower than the previous test 6 weeks ago (160 vs 164). It should have been higher. It's possible that I wasn't as well rested based on the hard effort from my Tuesday night run. As a result, I skipped the swim after spin class. Thursday's swim was short, but I concentrated on the mechanics and breathing. I think I figured out the breathing. I've been taking these huge gulps of air, but if I take short shallow breaths, I feel more relax. Of course that's not under a short race effort.  Moved my long run from Saturday to Friday. Based on the schedule, I'm tapering for the half marathon in a couple weeks. Weight remained consistent between 147 & 148. Maybe I've leveled off. I'll have to wait and see what happens the next couple of weeks.

Date	Day	Activity
02/27/11	Sunday	32 mile bike & 20 minute brick - Cartersville
02/28/11	Monday	1650 Meter Swim
03/01/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
03/02/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class
03/03/11	Thursday	1 Hour Spin Class 1000 Meter Swim - Endurance
03/04/11	Friday	8 mile run
03/05/11	Saturday	Rest

Charles Harris 10k

Charles Harris 10k
Date of Race: 02/26/2011

Total Time = 0h 47m 06s

Overall Place = 214

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 39/94


Been meaning to post this race report. Not much of one for a 10k, but a great race nonetheless. I had the best race ever (at least until now). I knew I was going to PR, but I wasn't sure by how much. I was hoping for something around the 50 minute mark. Last year I got 52:53. If I could take 2-3 minutes off my time, I would be extremely pleased. Let's just say I'm still surprised by my 47 minute time.