Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

Sunday, September 29th, 2013

Run plan: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, (easy, MP)

I consulted the man with the plan prior to embarking on this quality session to confirm what my MP should be...but to my surprise, I was instructed to really watch my easy pace as well and to not treat it as a recovery. Oh-kay.....makes sense.....glad I asked, sort of. After a little bit of higher math and hocus-pocus, it was decided that I was to target 7:30 - 7:35 for MP, and I myself decided I'd target 8 - 8:15 min/mile for the easy.

Pertinent details: gorgeous day, a bit of a breeze, carried a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade with me, had my snacks that consisted of Oryx's gels and Cliff shot bloks, and I had my Garmin sorted so I could see average lap pace as I went along. Also, I made a last minute decision to do this run on the Greenway as it was crazy foggy this morning and I did not feel like being run over or having to deal with traffic lights or intersections since pace was going to be important throughout. This decision, however, meant this run would be on pretty flat terrain, but I was also very okay with that.

I had one little malfunction early on - within the first half mile of the run I realized one of Oryx's caffeinated gels had sort of exploded and was leaking on my pants and shirt. Crap! But I was able to salvage most of this gel by carrying it in my right hand and consuming it on mile 7. Other than that one stop within the first half mile to sort out the mess, there were no other stops on this run.

The run was good.....didn't feel very hard until miles 15 and 16 when I had to work a bit to keep up the MP pace. I find if I keep myself relaxed and happy, my pace can hang in there pretty well. I took 3 shot bloks (3 shot bloks = 1 gel) before I blasted off....an Oryx gel on mile 7....3 shot bloks on mile 10....and an Oryx gel on mile 14. Again, maybe some mild burping but no tummy issues, so I guess they agree with me. I'll try them again next weekend to be sure. I did take the liberty of emptying my tank on the last mile, pretending I was on the last mile of the marathon, but as wasted as my legs were after that 18th mile, I wonder how that heck I'll be able to do 8 more miles at a spiffy pace in 4 weeks. I guess I'll have to trust in the taper.

Here are my paces...all admittedly slightly faster than agreed upon. Oops.

1 easy - 7:52
1 MP - 7:25
2 easy - 7:45, 7:51
2 MP - 7:24, 7:29
3 easy - 7:52, 7:51, 7:54
3 MP - 7:29, 7:25, 7:22
2 easy - 7:41, 7:44
2 MP - 7:27, 7:25
1 easy - 7:55
1 MP - 7:12
Cool down - 3:37 (.37 @ 9:49)

Actual: 18.37 miles in 2:20:51 for an average pace of 7:39 min/mile

So, this concludes my highest mileage week I believe - 61.67 miles.....and my highest mileage over an 8 day period - 89.67 (last Sunday I actually did 28 miles - did not post the extra 6 I tacked on due to the potential for criticism, but did disclose this to ecoli, and apparently I escaped unscathed. Whew!) One final week of training this week, a half marathon next Sunday (training run only!!!), then taper time. I think I'm actually going to enjoy this taper.

Sunday, September 29th, 2013 - the late edition

Swim

This had to be the most heavenly 2,000 yards I have EVER swam in my life (delicious post-18 miler endorphins still in play here ). The air was crisp, the sun was setting, and the pool was all comfy-cozy with a bit of steam coming off the surface. Near perfection, if you ask me....and I think my little amphibious friend who shared my lane this evening would second my assessment of near perfection as he looked quite happy to be practicing his best Michael Phelps while I shook the legs, body and mind out with my recovery swim. Good god it doesn't get any better than this. :):)

Actual: 2,000 yards in my comfy-cozy pool plus a little extra to chase down my adorable froggy friend and scoop him out to safety. I think he was hoping I'd forget about him and leave him be floating and frolicking about in the water.

Monday, September 30th, 2013

Run plan: easy

Just a nice, easy field trot after work. The legs feel really good, especially considering the 18 miles I did yesterday, and I attribute the happy legs to last night's recovery swim. Not much to report about the run....stopped once to pet the white kitty who was boldly hunting in the field (poor bunny rabbits), and stopped a few times to clear my running path of the walnut hulls that are now dropping from the black walnut trees and creating a dangerous, ankle twisting environment for me. :eek: No worries, I am being very careful.

I was very tempted to hop into the pool after the run as I know my swimming days are numbered, but I decided I need to work on my flexibility and core more than I need to put in some pool yards. And to my delight, I was joined by Norris the cat on my yoga mat. He's such a limber showoff!!! :)

Actual: 6.3 nutty field miles, followed by core and flexibility

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

Run plan: easy

I decided to treat myself to a sneaky-birthday-lunchtime-run...and the gods of gorgeous weather must've been smiling down upon me because the sun was in full bloom and the air felt like heaven. Nothing fancy about this run - just 6 laps around my field. The legs were a bit heavy and the trot was fairly slow, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Noon actual: 4.2 sneaky birthday field miles

And, because what else would I do on my birthday after work?? I went for another 6 laps around the field as the sun was setting. Any way....the most remarkable thing on this jaunt was the swarms of disgusting mosquitoes that I ran into. Good god, if they didn't end up in my eyes, mouth or nose, they ended up stuck to my sweaty body. Legs felt a little more alive than they did at lunch - all in all, I felt/feel pretty good.

Evening actual: 4.2 buggy field miles

Okay....now for the bad news. Because our idiotic and irresponsible government has shut down due to their inability to agree on how to fund our budget (down with the tea party!), my half marathon at the weekend has been postponed until November 10th...of course, assuming our government is back up and running in full force by then. So, I guess I'll be stuck home this weekend, and, instead of running 13.1 miles on the George Washington Parkway starting at Mt. Vernon and ending at the National Harbor while the parkway is closed to all traffic (way cool), I'll be slugging out 15 miles on Saturday in good old Page County. woooo....hoooo....... :rolleyes::(:mad:

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013

Run plan: easy

There were too many damn bugs flying about to enjoy this run tonight. 6 miserable times around the field, that's all I could stand.

Hightailed it down to the basement immediately post-run where the yoga mat was waiting for me to do a little stretching and core work, bug free.

And, to top the day off in style, I lost most of my big toe's toenail on my right foot this evening as I was taking off my running socks. I never had this problem when I swam.

Actual: 4.2 buggy field miles, followed by stretching and core, followed by losing my toenail

Dory Dory wrote: »

Tempted....

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/eagleman.aspx#axzz2gfE62Zsn

It is done. I'm in. Now, who's going to teach me the magic of quick transitions???

Oryx wrote: »

Here, hang on, thats not your kind of update. Where is the joy?

Never lost a big toenail, but quite a few of the others. Depends on the type of toe box and shoe size, I reckon. And all of a sudden in my head I'm singing: I know and old woman who swallowed a fly, but I dont know why, she swallowed the fly.....

Oh...and to top off the topping off of my toenail biting the dust, I may have f#cked up my trip to NY to do the marathon. <grumble, grumble> But it may mean an extra day in Ireland.

And you must teach me that catchy little tune.....

catweazle wrote: »

There are 30 qualifying slots to the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI and 40 qualifying slots to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.

Interesting - you didn't go up another age grade with that recent birthday did you?

No....no age grade change.

Oryx wrote: »

Whats up with NY?

Basically I didn't pay attention to the little details...like....my plane arrives in NY on the Saturday before the Sunday race ~2:30ish, but the Expo closes at 5pm. !!!!! There is no way on God's earth that I can make it from the airport to the Expo in that amount of time. They do not send bibs out in the mail, and you must pick up your bib in person with proper ID. PLUS, I missed the memo that I was supposed to sign up by July 31st (!!!!) for transportation to the start line. Looks like I'm pretty well screwed. So, my gut is telling me to defer to next year. It's probably the best in the end - was only planning on "jogging" my way around the marathon to soak up the atmosphere and check this event off my list - and now I'll have an extra day overseas. (positive spin....positive spin....)

Oryx wrote: »

Well, I can't thank that post. So I'll just be glib and say it wasn't meant to be. You're meant to smash Dublin instead and then work on being a triathlete and IM 70.3

Thank you, Oryx.