Traveled a lot and only got half the workouts in. Next week looking much better for timing of workouts. Feeling guilty, but this will kick me in the ass and get it moving. Off to run for 30, swim for 45 and then run another 45 tonight.
2 Hour ride on Sat and a two hour run on Sunday. That'll get me back on track!!!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Hampton Half Marathon
Yesterday I ran the Hampton Half marathon and I am pleased with my time of 1:31:40. I ran this race last year and had an awful time. This year I took 13 minutes off my time. Last years race was my slowest half and this year was my fastest. Here is a quick race report. I planned on running this as a training run, so my lead in wasn't ideal... It is actually a little embarassing.
Friday Night
Pizza and Beer and a little wine. Yup, that was the carbo loading. I had three beers and two glasses of wine. Not a lot for the Paul of two years ago, but a real lot for me now.
Saturday
Morning - Breakfast - Left over pizza
Lunch - Chicken Tenders and mashed potatos
Dinner - Valentine's Day - Chicken and 2 glasses of wine. This is ridiculous
Saturday workout - Bike for 1:15. I biked pretty hard. Kept the rpms high, around 90 the whole time.
Sunday - Race Day
Breakfast - Bagel with Peanut Butter - Finally starting to get serious
I got to the race an hour early and did a nice warm up. I have needed to improve on this, so I am pleased with that. I usually start races to tight.
First mile marker and I am 6:50. I am feeling good and then I see Kate and Reggie!! Reggie (my Bullmastif) looks like he is having a ball, but Kate is trying to take pics and handle the 140lb pup, so she doesn't have the same enthusiasm as Reggie. Brings a smile to my face.
This was the last time I looked at my watch. I felt good, but did not feel like stressing over my time. Over the next mile or two I get passed by what seemed like 30 people.
At around mile 3, I am trailing 2 women who are obviously in a race within the race. Their running style is completely different and so is the body types. One women might be five feet and 100lbs. The other is around 5'8 and closer to 135lbs. Short and wired vs tall and power. The pace they are running at is just above comfortable for me, so they are great to pace off of. I believe it was around mile 5 and I hear the shorter of the two kind of mumble "oh shit" after looking at her watch. She then picks up the pace. She was obviously off her time. The other women follows the call and picks it up as well. This was my cue to pick it up too.
After two minutes of the new speed, we hit one of the only hills in the race. This was a wrench in the gear for the smaller racer. Her breathing got really heavy and she fell off. We had a right turn down the road and I then passed the other women and was on my way.
This whole time I was also running with two other men. One of the two was what I call a "leaner". I was on the inside and he kept leaning in towards me. I could feel myself getting annoyed, but kept my cool. It really does drive me nuts though. I pushed my elbows out a little and just kept my ground. The "leaner" and I continue to run side by side for another couple miles.
At mile 8 a younger guy caught up with us and we all picked up the pace. The "leaner" looks over to me and asks if I have an extra gel. Extra gel? I forgot to bring any gel at all. I politely respond "no, sorry" and we continue to run. He smiles and says "no problem". It is then that I realize his leaning in isn't him being a jerk, he probably just didn't realize he was doing it.
Right around the 8.5 mile, the "leaner" looks over and says, that was just a 6:18 mile! That is too fast for me and I think he felt the same way. I don't think we wanted to, but we backed off the pace a little. Now I am dieing to see where we are for time, but refuse to look at my watch. I knew if I checked the time and a sub 1:30 was possible, I would have pushed way too hard. It was killing me to not look though.
At mile 9 there is a water station and gels. For some reason I skip the gels and grab the water. I am trying to force myself to take water at every aid station to practice for my triathlon races. I tend to skip too many or get water galosh in the gut. Everything I do that isn't a tri race, is in preperation for a race. So skipping the gel was a bad training move, but I learned something for my future races. Point taken.
The last 4 miles were a nice run along the ocean. The leaner and I are still neck and neck the whole way. I let him get in front of me and pace off him the whole way back to the last mile. I could really of used a gel. I am slightly light headed and a little off. My legs felt pretty good considering the point in the race. My achilles was acting up some, so I was a little nervous about that. My thighs had a slight burn, but I was glad to see they were firing. In the past I had been running with my hamstrings way too much.
At mile 12.5 I see Kate again, this time no Reggie. Apparently somebody got brought home... Great to see Kate for motivation. I can see the finish line and I am still pacing off the leaner. I know I can pass him and take it home, but I don't do it. He was a runner and he was running this race. For myself this was a training run that I ran hard. Not much glory difference between 47th and 48th.
After the finish line the leaner and I shake hands and congratulate each other. Good race.
I hit a couple tough points in the run and couldn't help but think about the Ironman. If a half feels tough, then how is that going to feel. It just makes every training session that much more important to me. The last mile of the race sucked, but I was thinking about how it is going to feel when I run down the shoot at Lake Placid and hear the words, "Paul Cavanaugh, you are an Ironman"
Friday Night
Pizza and Beer and a little wine. Yup, that was the carbo loading. I had three beers and two glasses of wine. Not a lot for the Paul of two years ago, but a real lot for me now.
Saturday
Morning - Breakfast - Left over pizza
Lunch - Chicken Tenders and mashed potatos
Dinner - Valentine's Day - Chicken and 2 glasses of wine. This is ridiculous
Saturday workout - Bike for 1:15. I biked pretty hard. Kept the rpms high, around 90 the whole time.
Sunday - Race Day
Breakfast - Bagel with Peanut Butter - Finally starting to get serious
I got to the race an hour early and did a nice warm up. I have needed to improve on this, so I am pleased with that. I usually start races to tight.
First mile marker and I am 6:50. I am feeling good and then I see Kate and Reggie!! Reggie (my Bullmastif) looks like he is having a ball, but Kate is trying to take pics and handle the 140lb pup, so she doesn't have the same enthusiasm as Reggie. Brings a smile to my face.
This was the last time I looked at my watch. I felt good, but did not feel like stressing over my time. Over the next mile or two I get passed by what seemed like 30 people.
At around mile 3, I am trailing 2 women who are obviously in a race within the race. Their running style is completely different and so is the body types. One women might be five feet and 100lbs. The other is around 5'8 and closer to 135lbs. Short and wired vs tall and power. The pace they are running at is just above comfortable for me, so they are great to pace off of. I believe it was around mile 5 and I hear the shorter of the two kind of mumble "oh shit" after looking at her watch. She then picks up the pace. She was obviously off her time. The other women follows the call and picks it up as well. This was my cue to pick it up too.
After two minutes of the new speed, we hit one of the only hills in the race. This was a wrench in the gear for the smaller racer. Her breathing got really heavy and she fell off. We had a right turn down the road and I then passed the other women and was on my way.
This whole time I was also running with two other men. One of the two was what I call a "leaner". I was on the inside and he kept leaning in towards me. I could feel myself getting annoyed, but kept my cool. It really does drive me nuts though. I pushed my elbows out a little and just kept my ground. The "leaner" and I continue to run side by side for another couple miles.
At mile 8 a younger guy caught up with us and we all picked up the pace. The "leaner" looks over to me and asks if I have an extra gel. Extra gel? I forgot to bring any gel at all. I politely respond "no, sorry" and we continue to run. He smiles and says "no problem". It is then that I realize his leaning in isn't him being a jerk, he probably just didn't realize he was doing it.
Right around the 8.5 mile, the "leaner" looks over and says, that was just a 6:18 mile! That is too fast for me and I think he felt the same way. I don't think we wanted to, but we backed off the pace a little. Now I am dieing to see where we are for time, but refuse to look at my watch. I knew if I checked the time and a sub 1:30 was possible, I would have pushed way too hard. It was killing me to not look though.
At mile 9 there is a water station and gels. For some reason I skip the gels and grab the water. I am trying to force myself to take water at every aid station to practice for my triathlon races. I tend to skip too many or get water galosh in the gut. Everything I do that isn't a tri race, is in preperation for a race. So skipping the gel was a bad training move, but I learned something for my future races. Point taken.
The last 4 miles were a nice run along the ocean. The leaner and I are still neck and neck the whole way. I let him get in front of me and pace off him the whole way back to the last mile. I could really of used a gel. I am slightly light headed and a little off. My legs felt pretty good considering the point in the race. My achilles was acting up some, so I was a little nervous about that. My thighs had a slight burn, but I was glad to see they were firing. In the past I had been running with my hamstrings way too much.
At mile 12.5 I see Kate again, this time no Reggie. Apparently somebody got brought home... Great to see Kate for motivation. I can see the finish line and I am still pacing off the leaner. I know I can pass him and take it home, but I don't do it. He was a runner and he was running this race. For myself this was a training run that I ran hard. Not much glory difference between 47th and 48th.
After the finish line the leaner and I shake hands and congratulate each other. Good race.
I hit a couple tough points in the run and couldn't help but think about the Ironman. If a half feels tough, then how is that going to feel. It just makes every training session that much more important to me. The last mile of the race sucked, but I was thinking about how it is going to feel when I run down the shoot at Lake Placid and hear the words, "Paul Cavanaugh, you are an Ironman"
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Heart Rate Dropping......
I am starting to notice that my HR in comparison to my perceived excersion is quite a bit different. I am running 8 minutes miles at the bottom of my HR zone (134). I had to do a speed workout on Thursday and it was tough. I felt good, but I had to keep my HR between 156 and 165 for five minutes, times five intervals. In order to get my HR that high, I had to run a 6 minute pace. I was definetly pushing it, so it was a tough workout.
The total run was 43 minutes and it was roughly 6 miles. The 43 minute included 9 minutes of warm ups and 2 minute jogs between each interval. I am happy with a 7 minute pace for a race, so I was really happy with this time on a training run.
The total run was 43 minutes and it was roughly 6 miles. The 43 minute included 9 minutes of warm ups and 2 minute jogs between each interval. I am happy with a 7 minute pace for a race, so I was really happy with this time on a training run.
Swim Goal is 1,000 in 19 minutes. Currently 20:54
I started reading the book, Going Long. I found one bullet point particularly interesting/appealing to me. It stated that you should try and focus on your swim so you can swim 1,000 meters in 19 minutes. Looks like I just found a new goal.
Today I swam 1,000 meters in 20:44 seconds. That was without a warm up and stopping to let a swimmer in the lane, so I believe I would be closer to 20:15. Not completely off from the goal, but still a long way to go. The required pace is 1:54 per 100. I am somewhere between 2:00 and 2:05. I am not sure when my next 1,000 is, but I need to spend more attention on drill focuses. Getting in front of the coach a few more times will be key too.
Today I swam 1,000 meters in 20:44 seconds. That was without a warm up and stopping to let a swimmer in the lane, so I believe I would be closer to 20:15. Not completely off from the goal, but still a long way to go. The required pace is 1:54 per 100. I am somewhere between 2:00 and 2:05. I am not sure when my next 1,000 is, but I need to spend more attention on drill focuses. Getting in front of the coach a few more times will be key too.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Week going as planned
2 strong bikes so far and one killer run. Weights have felt good, but the pool has been a little blah. I swim a straight 1,000 tomorrow, so looking forward to that. I am hoping to do it under 19 minutes. This is my new temporary swim goal. I will expand on this later...
Nothing else really to report. Feeling good and looking forward to running the half this weekened.
Nothing else really to report. Feeling good and looking forward to running the half this weekened.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Feeling good about the week
I am really looking forward to this week. I feel strong and recovered, so I am looking forward to hitting it hard. I have a a half marathon on Sunday, so I am anxious to see where I am at. I am thinking I will run it around 1:38, but not really sure. I haven't done a ton of longer runs, so this should be interesting. I will ride the bike for 1:30 on Saturday, so its not like I am going to try and break a PR. In the past I have said that I was laid back about a race, but I really wasn't. This time, I am serious. I won't jog, but I plan on running comfortably. I don't want to be miserable, so I am going to run without looking at my HR. That way I will keep at a truly comfortable pace. If my HR is low, no big deal. No pressure, just run.
So it wasn't the wine
I actually had a little germ, not quite flu something. It lasted for a couple days, but not bad enough for me to not train. Physically I was off, so I didn't do everything I had hoped for, but still had a long ride on Sat and and long run on Sunday.
The Sat ride was supposed to be 1:45, but it was only 1:30. To put it way to bluntly, my junk was killing me. Well not the actual business, but the surrounding neighborhood was extremely sore. I was a little flu like too. So I just spun lightly and tried to work on form. The bike is going to be key this year.
The run on Sunday was great. I ran for 1:40 minutes and felt good. It was warmer, so I ran in shorts. A couple times I did get a little chilly, but for the most part I was in good. I was back at the house at the 88 minute point and wanted to just go straight into the house. But I menaged to muster up the guts to run past the house for 6 minutes and then head back.
We then went and had two beers at the brewery! Yum.
The Sat ride was supposed to be 1:45, but it was only 1:30. To put it way to bluntly, my junk was killing me. Well not the actual business, but the surrounding neighborhood was extremely sore. I was a little flu like too. So I just spun lightly and tried to work on form. The bike is going to be key this year.
The run on Sunday was great. I ran for 1:40 minutes and felt good. It was warmer, so I ran in shorts. A couple times I did get a little chilly, but for the most part I was in good. I was back at the house at the 88 minute point and wanted to just go straight into the house. But I menaged to muster up the guts to run past the house for 6 minutes and then head back.
We then went and had two beers at the brewery! Yum.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Stupid wine
Our friend Steph came into town and we went out for a great meal at A.Jans in Kittery. Food was good and the wine seemed great. I had a glass of white with my salad and red with the main course. Much to my surpirse I woke up this morning not feeling too hot. A little bit of a headache and my stomach was leaning to the right. 2 glasses and I get a hangover??? There has to be a ton of sulfites in one of the wines. I don't really drink that much anymore, but two glasses of wine is a walk in the park.
My run this morning wasn't miserable, but not exactly pleasurable either. I will hydrate a ton today and probably power nap so I can have a good swim and second run.
My run this morning wasn't miserable, but not exactly pleasurable either. I will hydrate a ton today and probably power nap so I can have a good swim and second run.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Mooseman Target swim update
On Jan 12th I broke down my swim times so I can goal a 28 minute swim at Mooseman. In order to hit the goal, I figure that I will need to be able to swim a mile in 31:40 in the pool. The way I planned my target goal is that I would need to shave off 6 seconds every week off my 1 mile swim.
Heres the update for the 1 mile swim
Jan 12
34 minutes or 2040 seconds
23 Days later
Feb 4th
33:40 or 2020
20 seconds faster and ON TRACK FOR GOAL!!!
Heres the update for the 1 mile swim
Jan 12
34 minutes or 2040 seconds
23 Days later
Feb 4th
33:40 or 2020
20 seconds faster and ON TRACK FOR GOAL!!!
Good swim, I guess..
Today I had my fastest mile swim to date. 1 mile in 33:40. I really didn't feel good at all in the pool I was super tired and had a hard time getting going. I lifted and had a hard ride yesterday, so a bit sluggish to say the least. So the swim was tough, but my time was great.
Next post will be a breakdown on the Mooseman swim target
Next post will be a breakdown on the Mooseman swim target
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The bike - new upgrades
What started as an entry level bike, is now looking pretty bad ass. With the wedding last year, we have been on a pretty strict budget, so purchases have been coming incrimentaly. I have also purchased some tools and have started to work on my bike at home. I don't have a bike stand yet, which can make the operation annoying, but I survive.
Upgrades on the bike from the last 2 years.
Wheels - Flash Points 60m aero wheels. (got a crazy deal on these, $600 under cost)
Aerobars - HED, no deal there, but proffesionally fitted. WAY more comfortable.
Crankset - Compact Sram Red - Decent deal installed this along with the BB my self.
Bottom Bracket - GXP w/ Ceramic Bearings, silky smooth
Seat - Fizik Gobi, bad move here. Should have gone with the Arione.
Cassette - Sram Red 11-23 Crazy light and stiff.
Upgrades on the bike from the last 2 years.
Wheels - Flash Points 60m aero wheels. (got a crazy deal on these, $600 under cost)
Aerobars - HED, no deal there, but proffesionally fitted. WAY more comfortable.
Crankset - Compact Sram Red - Decent deal installed this along with the BB my self.
Bottom Bracket - GXP w/ Ceramic Bearings, silky smooth
Seat - Fizik Gobi, bad move here. Should have gone with the Arione.
Cassette - Sram Red 11-23 Crazy light and stiff.
January totals
January's totals:
Bike: 10h 45m 30s - 117.8 Mi
Run: 12h 22m - 83.5 Mi
Swim: 7h 09m 43s - 19610 Yd
Strength: 9h 45m
Running is still going well. Nothing ground breaking, but no major aches or pains.
Swimming is really improving. I am always working on a certain part, so that keeps me focused.
The Bike - I need to focus more. I have a hard time staying motivated while on the trainer in front of the tv. Live music dvds are going to be a must. I tried it last night and it worked great. I was super motivated and my heart rate was up the whole time.
I had a pretty good head of steam going through most of January, but slipped a little at the end of the month. I missed a bike and a run due to timing and lack of sleep. I am trying to be super conscious of not getting sick, so if I feel a little tired, I completely back off.
Nutrition is ok. I still need to buckle down some. For the most part I do great, but when I slip up and buy something I shouldn't, it is in the house and the inevitable happens. The amount of health food I eat has increased, 4 or 5 servings of veggies/fruits everyday. I am also consuming well above 64 ounces of water too. One big thing I need to work on is big meals at night. Quite simply, I LOVE TO EAT!!!
Bike: 10h 45m 30s - 117.8 Mi
Run: 12h 22m - 83.5 Mi
Swim: 7h 09m 43s - 19610 Yd
Strength: 9h 45m
Running is still going well. Nothing ground breaking, but no major aches or pains.
Swimming is really improving. I am always working on a certain part, so that keeps me focused.
The Bike - I need to focus more. I have a hard time staying motivated while on the trainer in front of the tv. Live music dvds are going to be a must. I tried it last night and it worked great. I was super motivated and my heart rate was up the whole time.
I had a pretty good head of steam going through most of January, but slipped a little at the end of the month. I missed a bike and a run due to timing and lack of sleep. I am trying to be super conscious of not getting sick, so if I feel a little tired, I completely back off.
Nutrition is ok. I still need to buckle down some. For the most part I do great, but when I slip up and buy something I shouldn't, it is in the house and the inevitable happens. The amount of health food I eat has increased, 4 or 5 servings of veggies/fruits everyday. I am also consuming well above 64 ounces of water too. One big thing I need to work on is big meals at night. Quite simply, I LOVE TO EAT!!!
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