Archive for category Running
Race Report: Surf City Half Marathon
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Race Reports, Running on February 7, 2010
What a beautiful day!!! Rain the past two days, followed up with the clearest skies and most beautiful views I’ve seen in quite some time. Weather was good, almost too good. Must have been mid 60s.
I beat my goal of 1:35 with a 1:33:13. Placement stats were:
I’m very pleased with my performance. I would have loved to push to break 1:30, but that day is in the future. It wasn’t today.
I stuck to the strategy, but my heart rate was much higher than expected (averaged 157 or so, and was north of 150 most of the time). I had to take a leak in mile 2, and it was much longer than I expected and took up about 40 seconds. Didn’t realize that how big of a deal those small bathroom stops are as that was the difference in breaking the 1:33 barrier.
Here are my splits:
I ran a bit more than the 13.1, so the pace on the Garmin was 7:05 but actual pace was 7:07. You can see the pee mile in mile 2 at 7:36, and then I basically sprinted to catch up on some of that time. Mile 4 was a big turning point for me. You can see here my heart rate average for that mile went up quite a bit, and my pace slowed from the prior mile. I noticed my pace getting slower with a higher heart rate. Not a good combo. Then, in the next mile, I was able to go downhill a bit and my heart rate recovered. From there, I didn’t look back, pushing my body harder and harder to get the pace down.
After I passed the slight incline in mile 10, I wanted to push hard, but the tightness in my right hamstring prevented me from pushing it until the last mile. I didn’t want to go out too hard in case it tightened up. I could feel my form compensating for the tightness, and it definitely made running a little harder. However, I pushed through and ran the last 1 mile and change pretty fast.
My evaluation:
- Very happy with my performance – enjoyed my new running style and kept digging through the pain I started to feel in my legs
- Would like to figure out the balance between drinking a lot of water before the race starts and peeing. Would love to do these races without having to stop in the first 2-3 miles
- Wear sunglasses if it’s sunny – last 4.5 miles directly into the sun was a little brutal
- Want to work on my stride so I glide more horizontally. I am happy with the improvements, but if I want to get south of 7 minute miles for a full marathon, I want to glide more and I have some things to work on. Videos my dad took on his bike can been seen here and you can see that I’m gliding somewhat, but not nearly as much as the guys who are doing those 5:30 /minute miles. Maybe one day…
- I love racing. Feels so good to be around a community of runners.
Hope everyone had a good race today! For more views of today’s race, see below. If you have questions or comments, I’m available as usual to talk with you! Have a great rest of the weekend!
Videos
Pictures
Race Strategy: Surf City Half Marathon
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Race Strategy, Running on February 6, 2010
Tomorrow is my first race since the MCM marathon at the end of October. I’m excited. This is a very low priority race for me, which means no taper, but it did fall within a rest week (meaning only 7.5 hours of training – wow, real restful), so I feel fresh relative to past weekends. I’m really looking forward to this. My running has been much faster since I switched to forefoot running, so this will be a good test to see if I can keep up some of this speed for 13 miles.
I haven’t done too many runs beyond 8 miles (two that I can count) in the past few months because of blisters from switching the landing spot on my foot, but given the endurance work I’ve done on the bike AND that I’ve put in 20-30 miles of running a week each week for the past few months, I think I’ll be ready. I’ve done a lot of speed work, tempo runs, and drills to improve my running, and I have seen a noticeable improvement in my pace. My 8 mile runs have been in the low 7 minute range, and when I push it, it’s been in the high 6s.
I feel like I could bring the 7 min/mile barrier tomorrow, but I’m not going to try to do it as a goal given the low priority status of the race. This year is all about endurance and triathlons, so that is my focus, but of course, it’s a race, and it’s not easy to, well, take it easy. I must be somewhat careful though since I have a century ride next weekend in Palm Springs.
I don’t have much experience in the half marathon category. My history in half marathons: one. I did the OC half last year, and I did a 1:39:52. One thing that is cool is that this will be my first race as a Brooks ID member. I’ll be sporting Brooks shirt, shorts, and shoes (the Ravenna’s, which are also known as AA – funny, my first/last initials – WOOO). I’ll try to post pics later! I love my brooks stuff. And although I like my launch shoes better, I still don’t feel comfortable doing a long race in a neutral shoes, and that’s why I like the Ravenna’s mild support (FYI – i’ve been in stability shoes forever, but now that I’m doing more forefoot running, I can handle neutral shoes without much pain).
So with that being said, here’s my strategy:
- 13.1 miles doesn’t seem difficult anymore. With 80 mile bike rides and 3 marathons under my belt, I’m not nervous about the distance. However, I still want to treat it with my usual race prep. I plan to leave at 6:30, so I’ll get up at 5, eat, walk the dog, move around a bit, and drink LOTS of water. I’ll have some bread with peanut butter on it. And hopefully have 2-3 bathroom visits before departure
- I plan to warm up by running from the drop off spot to the starting line. Mix it up with some strides but most of it will be an easy jog.
- I’m carrying a water bottle filled with cytomax. No GUs, no Clif Blocks. That should get me through all 13.1 miles so I don’t have to stop for water/food.
- I plan to start in wave 1 (<1:50), which I imagine may be crowded since a lot of people will be in this group.
- I’ll go out at about 145 heart rate or 7:10 pace. That is generally my heart rate at that pace. It may be higher from the crowd, so if it is, I’ll let pace dictate where I stand. If I do get in the first mile at around 7 min or a tad less, that’s ok, but I want to settle in at that heart rate and pace after mile 1
- I hope to keep up that pace until mile 9. At mile 9, there is a straight away for the next 4.1 miles with a slight elevation gain. If I’m feeling good and not too tired, I’m going to start pushing it. If I can, I’ll do it progressive style, increasing about 10 seconds per mile for the last 4 miles.
- If I can stick to the strategy, I should be somewhere between 92-95 minutes. That would be awesome
Of course, I’m not running on rested legs, especially after my rolling hills simulation on my trainer today, but I’ve achieved similar paces on tired legs, so I might as well give it a go. If I can’t keep up the pace or bonk in the last 2 miles, then hopefully I can beat my PR of 1:39:52.
Good luck to everyone running races this weekend, and if you’re in Surf City and see me running by, wave and say hello 
Running Drills
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Running, Training Tips on November 27, 2009
I’ve been wanting to post these running drills that I got out of Matt Fitzgerald’s “Brain Training for Runners” because I find extremely helpful. I’ll try to get some video on here later of what these look like, or at least look like in my head Technique drills help you work on a specific aspect of your running stride outside of normal running. Matt recommends doing two to three of these after each run, and that’s what I’ve found to be helpful since they really don’t take a lot of time.
1) Running with no arms
In this drill, lace your fingers together and make a big circle (like you do with your kids when you make an imaginary basketball hoop with your head being the back board). Then run 100 yards or so quickly, jog slowly back to the starting point, and repeat. Drill benefits: activates deep ab muscles so you run more with your abs, less with your hips; maintains upright posture; takes away shoulder rotation if you’re a runner that moves the upper body left and right as you run
2) Steep Hill Sprints
Spring a VERY steep hill for about 20 seconds. I’m talking 10-20% grade. Benefits: develops ballistic running / force skills; applies great force into the ground and helps drive the swing leg forward.
3) One-Leg Hop
Run/hop on one leg as fast as you can for 20 seconds. Jog back to the starting point and repeat. Benefits: increases push off power; enhances stability of hips, pelvis, lower spine, and knees on impact by challenging muscles that stabilize these joints.
4) High knees
Run with a fast cadence and a highly exaggerated knee lift (thighs parallel to ground) for 30 seconds, jog back to starting point, and repeat. Benefits: teaches you to drive swing leg and helps the thigh participate in driving force into the ground.
5) Bounding
Run with long, leaping strides (think triple jump in the olympics), continue for 30 seconds, jog back, and repeat. Benefits: enhances push off power and stability on impact; exaggerates overstriding, so helps teach you to begin retracting your leading leg before impact
6) Stiff Legged Running
Run briskly for 20 seconds with knees locked as much as you can. Benefits: emphasizes the butt for forward propulsion and not the hamstrings; teaches you to begin thrusting earlier and helps stiffen your stride.
Sponsorship – well not really
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Athletic Gear, Running on November 10, 2009
Last week, I was accepted to the 2010 Brooks I.D. program. This is essentially a community focused on running that makes you feel like you’re sponsored. To be honest, for a fully employed athlete, I think it’s the closest thing to be sponsored that you can get. Here are the benefits:
- 40% off Brooks products
- Access to the Brooks running community, which after just one day on Yahoo Groups, is a VERY active and supportive community
- Access to Brooks specific events as they come up
The price for these benefits: wearing Brooks products in races, talking about the brand/product, and possibly, wearing during training. We actually have an emailed contractual obligation to do this.
I’m pretty excited. I over pronate, and so I need a stability shoe to handle this (I’ve felt this over pronation quite a bit on big toes as I moved to more barefoot running). I’ve worn Asics Kayano’s for the past year, but I started out early in my running with Brooks Adrenaline’s. I’ll be going back to the Brooks Adrenaline or Trance, and optionally run with the Brooks ST-4 racer when I want to do short distances quickly. I’m going to load up on some head warmers and gloves too along with a few running shirts. Although this is a sort of sponsorship, we’re still paying for our gear, and to me, improving my form is top priority for this season. I will invest in a pair of Newton’s for this purpose so I can really make the move to forefoot running. The design of the shoe is really summed up well here, and I’m hoping the shoe will help me work on my stride.
I’ve checked the Brooks site for a comparable product, but I couldn’t find anything designed specifically to improve your form. I’m realizing that a lot of running companies are focused on creating products that compensate for our weaknesses as runners rather then getting us to improve those weaknesses. Of course, some weaknesses cannot be improved, but a lot of them can. But with the plethora of shoe designs out there for all sorts of running strides, why work on it
There have been a lot of posts in the Brooks Yahoo group regarding what being a sponsored athlete is and whether you should train in other gear. Most people are adamant that you should ONLY wear Brooks when training/racing. Here are my beliefs and we’ll see how it jives with the I.D. program:
This is close to a sponsorship, but I’m still paying for gear. Since I don’t get things for free and I’ve made quite an investment in my athletic gear thus far, I will continue to wear what I own (a mix of under armor, nike, asics, brooks, and race technical shirts). However, I will buy and wear the Brooks stuff since I know it’s top notch for running. I will also wear it in races and talk about the pros/cons of it. I plan to also purchase some trail running shoes to do running/hiking and get into that side of the sport. But I will also continue to wear my Zoots gear for triathlons, particularly the Zoots shoes for the running portion since Brooks does not have a comparable tri shoe. I also will use my vibrams for barefoot running simulation since that is how I’ll work on my form. I feel like Brooks can benefit from knowing about the other competitive products out there. Brooks is focused on running for running races, but there are running applications out there for far more than running (e.g. running leg of a triathlon where drainage, shoe weight, and quickness of entry are key components).
Wow, I didn’t realize how many brands I used until I wrote that last paragraph. Crazy!
If you’re wondering about the picture above, Caffe Strada is my FAVORITE coffee place in my college town of Berkeley. Every time I’m in the bay, I try to make it there. If I could have a sponsor, that would be one of my top choices
Race Report: Marine Corps Marathon
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Marathon, Race Reports, Running on November 1, 2009
It’s been a week now since the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), and I’m finally getting to my race report. The trip to DC was awesome. It was a beautiful city and I took tons of pics! Unfortunately, I think I walked around way too much in the days leading up to the marathon, and I felt that fatigue in my legs about halfway through the race. I think this will be one of my last destination marathons where part of the trip is to see a new place. I don’t think it’s a wise idea if you’re trying for time in a race.
The race started out in Arlington cemetery. It was a beautiful morning, about 50 degrees, and I’ve never seen so many people ready to run. Adrienne was with me the entire time (in the AM), and she did an awesome job with the camera. She’s a trooper, getting up early with me for these races! FYI, Adrienne learned quite a lot spectating this event. She could have a blog post to herself with the experiences she went through. Good stuff!
My Pit Crew
The morning kicked off at 5 AM. I got up, did a 10 minute warmup on the treadmill, stretched, ate, went to the bathroom (3x – BEFORE leaving the hotel), and then headed down to the metro. Man the metro was crowded. It took nearly 25 minutes to get off the metro to the race. Luckily, we gave ourselves enough time. I was very nervous, and I thought I needed a porta potty run. The lines were packed, so I avoided it, and I didn’t have any stomach issues during the race. I realized that this pre-morning bathroom trips (usually 5+x) is pretty much a case of the nerves. Knowing that may help me in future races.
So the race started in Arlington Cemetery, and then we went around the Potomac river, which is absolutely beautiful with the fall colors, and then through Georgetown. The crowd support was awesome in this area. I’ve never heard anything as loud as the people in Georgetown. Thank you – you are awesome!
After Georgetown, we went through potomac park, which was pretty quiet, and then the mall (washington monument, congressional building, smithsonian, Lincoln memorial, etc…), then over the Potomac and through Arlington again. The end of the race was pretty gnarly, with a steep .2 mile hill, and running over the freeway at mile 21 was rough given the lack of scenery, but the rest of the race was beautiful with incredible crowd support.
Handing off the bottle to my crew
For fuel/hydration, I decided to carry a water bottle with me for the first 10 miles, hand it off to Adrienne at mile 10, then pick it up from her around mile 16. This worked perfectly. I never had an issue with hydration, and I drank at every water stop after the first two (powerade when i had water, and water/powerade when I was without the bottle). I must admit, I was COVERED with powerade at the end of the race, but I didn’t get any in my eyes/nose, which is the benefit of sipping into the side of my mouth. For fuel, I GUed at mile 7 and mile 19, and I took Clif Blocks from mile 10 to mile 18 and one more at mile 23 along with an enduralyte pill. Normally I don’t think I would need this much fuel, but I was DYING towards the end and looking 
for any pick me up possible to maintain pace. I do attribute this food to keeping my time under 9 minute pace for the last 10 miles.
As far as my performance, I wasn’t thrilled. I had a goal of 3:20, which I highlighted in my race strategy post, and I missed it pretty badly (3:37:24). I got off on the wrong pace, and as I tried to speed up, I just couldn’t maintain pace. My legs were tired from about mile 12 on, and after mile 15, it took all my effort to just keep moving. I wanted to stop and walk, and I could feel my legs tense up and prepare to cramp if I tried to speed up, so I had to slow down often. Each time I tried to push below that 8 minute pace, the legs just stiffened. It was a tough race, but I was really stoked that I just fought through the mental desire to bonk.
You can see in my splits above the come split 9, the pace slowed by nearly 30 seconds, and from that point forward, it was a battle to stay under 9 minutes. I did push at the end, but the steep hill at mile .2 put another dagger in the sub-8 minute pace.
The one thing I will take away as a positive in this race aside from the mental push to not quit was that my level of fitness was great. My heart rate barely got above 160 the entire time, and I realize that I can get to these times (Boston Qualifying and Sub 3 hour) if I just improve my form and work on my leg strength/flexibility to prevent the leg pain in later miles.
Since the marathon, the only run I did in the last week was a barefoot treadmill run, and I was amazed how my cadence improved by 10 (between 90-95 at goal race pace) and the muscle pain shifted from hips to calves. After watching the NYC marathon today, I know the move to forefoot striking from heel striking will be great in the long run. It will be a sore road to get there though.
As usual in my race reports, here are my key takeaways from this race:
- DC is a beautiful city
- My pit crew is the best on earth! Thanks for your help Adrienne!
- I need more time off my feet in the days prior to a marathon
- Good fueling/hydration through the race
- Work on forefoot running to reduce leg pain at later stages of the race
Here are a few more pics to help remember my third marathon!
I had to pee 3x before the race. This is one of them, beautifully captured by Adrienne.
Here are some misc race pics, along with me at the airport finishing my Aunt Aunnie’s pretzels before the flight home
Marine Corps Marathon: Race Strategy
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Marathon, Race Reports, Running on October 18, 2009
Marine Corps Marathon is one week from today, and I’m excited but also a bit indecisive how I want to approach the race. This will be my third marathon and my second this year. My last marathon was San Francisco at the end of July. On a jet lagged body, I ran a 3:36, which I was really happy with. Since then, I stepped up my training, took a VO2 test, focused entirely on heart rate training, and really stepped up my cross training since I did the SD triathlon last weekend.
My mindset is that my time should improve by 5 minutes because of a flatter course then SF. That puts me at about 3:30, and I believe I want to cut out 10 minutes because of my training. My goal is to beat 3:20, which is 7:38 pace. It’s a pretty big step up from the 8:16 pace of my last marathon, but here’s why I believe I can improve:
- My half marathon time in the OC marathon, a flat course, was 1:39:51, or 7:37 pace. In that race, I got horrible cramps around mile 8 and had to walk for a minute (you can see this elevated heart rate and spike in this graph). So I know I can do this pace
- Since the OC marathon,I’ve run 90 times for 659 miles. That excludes the number of times I rode and swam. My body can certainly handle distance
- The SF marathon was hard, but I had negative splits. I didn’t push it because of the jet lag, but I finished with a lot more tolerance than my previous training runs or races.
- I did a training run of 19 miles at 7:45 pace, but nearly passed out at that point. It was also in 90 degree heat. I also did a 23 mile run at 8:40 pace with ease
- The weather should be cool. I perform much better in cool weather
- My music playlist is AWESOME!
- I’ve become more comfortable with eating on a run, which should help with fueling through the race, improving my chances of overcoming the wall
Ok, so that gives me some confidence in breaking 3:20. Here are some of my concerns:
- I don’t know the course. I really think this has an impact in my mind of knowing what’s beyond the curve ahead and feeling out the distance. Yes there are mile markers. Yes it’s always 26.2. But there’s a different sense of confidence in knowing a course.
- I’ve never run on the east coast before in a race. Yes, this seems simple, but I remember when I used to travel for golf, it always took me a few days to get used to weather, the feeling of a new place, etc…
- Triathlon last weekend may have damaged my body a bit more than expected, but I’m hoping two weeks is enough time to heal. I am still a novice in racing, having completed only four races so far, so I think I’m still a year away from recovering quickly from long distance
- 3:20 is effen fast
So now that you can read my mind , here’s my strategy for race day.
- Race starts at 8AM. Will get up at 6AM, eat a peanut butter granola bar, a banana, and a bare naked bar. I’ll begin to stretch. I’m hoping for my usual stomach clearing before leaving the hotel. Prep with body glide and race wrist band for timing
- Warm up for 10 minutes to get my heart rate up to 140. Run around the hotel on the way to the race
- Get in an early wave to avoid crowds. Find the 3:20 pace person and introduce myself. Find Matt to start the race with.
- Go out at a 145 heart rate, hoping for about 7:50 pace. Don’t get caught up in the rush. Go out easy and stay to the inside track of the course.
- At 2 miles, speed up to 7:35 pace. Check heart rate. If heart rate is less than 150, maintain pace. If more than 150, switch to tempo style running where run 2 miles at heart rate of 150-155, then cut back to slower pace at 145. This can change up my pace
- At mile 13, check times to see how I’m doing. If legs feel good, mind is right, and I’m still pumped, take it to 155 heart rate consistently
- At mile 18-20, heart rate will begin to creep. This is where I’ll dig deep within, feeling my body, focusing on finishing, visualizing that 3:19:59 time.
I’ve had some tightness in my hamstrings, so that’s my biggest concern in failing to meet my time. If they tighten up around mile 22, I’ll have a tough time achieving negative splits and beating 3:20. Worse comes to worse, I have a rough “wall” stretch from pushing too hard and do a 3:50 marathon. But I’m hopeful for the best.
For hydration, I’m debating on whether I want to carry a water bottle and give it Adrienne when empty and pick up another from her since she’ll be following me on the course. I will definitely get water at every station, but I will run through the stations this time, pinching the cups and pouring it into the side of my mouth. I plan to GU at mile 8 and mile 16, and CLIF Blok every 3 miles or so in between and after. I have to figure out how to carry it.
I also want to mentally have fun in this race because I will be seeing DC on foot with blocked off streets – not many opportunities to do that. Given my science training, having fun is sometimes the hardest thing to achieve. Then again, achieving goals through study and perseverance is pretty satisfying.
Good luck to all those racing this weekend and next!
Three inputs to improve your training
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Running, Training Tips, Triathlon on October 16, 2009
As readers of this blog know, I love the science behind training. I’m addicted to numbers, which stems quite a bit from being an analyst by nature and in my career. I love training because it allows me to be creative in workout design as well as be very scientific in analysis of workout results. I love being a student, and I’m currently a student of training.
As a student, I read. I read a lot. I’m currently reading Brain Training for Runners, and I love this book. It’s exactly what I want to learn at this stage of my training career, and it has application to other sports beyond running. I’m still in the early chapters of the book, but I wanted to share one thing I read that really caught my attention.
The book says there are three ways to improve your running:
- Subjective feedback
- Objective feedback
- Collective feedback
Subjective feedback is how your body responds to your workout. Objective feedback is numbers – pace, heart rate, power, etc…Collective feedback is the knowledge of others and how they train, what works best, coaches and expert advice, etc.. This struck a chord with me because I’ve been focused almost entirely on objective and collective feedback, with little thought to subjective feedback.
For me, my collective feedback comes from twitter and RSS feeds to all of the wonderful training blogs out there. I learn so much from everyone I follow that I hope I can just return the favor by sharing my training stories. I’m amazed at how awesome the running/triathlon community is. I’ve shared long email discussions with several of you, and I’ve learned so much from you! Objective feedback comes from my Garmin. I am obsessed with the numbers, and I currently use Ascent to track and analyze my performance (and still learning the software – any tips are welcome. I’m actually interested in overlaying a workout on top of the same workout in a previous period so I can do a study of improvement over time). I’m still a novice at these analytics, but I’m learning. The collective feedback I’m getting from my research on proven methods is helping me with my objective analysis.
I definitely need to improve my subjective feedback. One thing I’ve noticed is that I am slowly becoming a lot more aware of my body and its needs both during and after a workout (still struggling with the pre-workout needs – damn you stomach…damn you). I’ve been logging about 35 miles of running, 50 miles of biking and a few hours of swimming a week. Working out so much, I’ve been able to feel my body crave things. I believe most of these cravings are for salt and water, but I’m still learning how to have better subjective feedback by answering those cravings and seeing the response. I’ve also learned about over compensating pain in one area that stems from poor form or pain in an opposite area. I’m really looking forward to learning more “brain” techniques from this book on handling my subjective feedback.
How about you? What do you use for subjective, collective, and objective feedback for your training?
Race Strategy – First Olympic Tri Tomorrow
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling, Heart Rate Monitoring, Race Reports, Races, Running, Swimming, Triathlon on October 9, 2009
Sorry for my lack of responses to my previous blog post. I will follow up later with a final list of elements that can impact workouts, but work has just picked up so much lately that I haven’t had a chance to think it through!
Tomorrow is my first triathlon – the San Diego Tri. I’m a bit nervous, and I can really feel it in my stomach today. Had trouble eating breakfast this morning – one of those, I know I’m hungry, must force down food mornings.
I’ve always believed in coming up with a race plan / strategy and goals. I feel like it makes every race meaningful for an individual irrespective of where you place against the competition. This triathlon is a “C-Priority” race for me. I’ve defined priorities as
A-Priority: I expect to peak for this race
B-Priority: This race is a training step for an A priority race
C-Priority: This race is practice to learn and improve
I gave this a C-Priority because it is my first triathlon and I don’t want to obsess over time goals. To be honest, I have no idea what times I could achieve, but I’m going to set some high level time goals based on reviewing the mission viejo triathlon results and my general training. Given this is my first triathlon, my goals are simple:
- Total transition time of less than 4 minutes – thank you Rod Clark
- Overcome open water fear – swimming without vision is a challenge for me, especially with people all around. Plus, I have general fear of the ocean (the “unknown underneath”). I want to be comfortable with this after 7-8 minutes of swimming
- Learn biking in a race – learn the norms and etiquette. This is my limiter and I must learn to improve it
- Finish the race in under 2 hours, 45 minutes (true goal is 2 hour, 30 minutes, but I must be realistic) – split goals: 30 minutes swimming, 1:20 biking, 50 minutes running, 4 minutes transition
Those are my goals. My strategy to achieve those goals are the following:
- Take it easy on the swim. Enter the water on the outside of the pack and slowly with a willingness to lose a minute or two to get comfortable
- Switch to breast stroke when tired on the swim
- Transition quickly
- Eat on bike to avoid eating on the run
- Ease into first two miles of the bike to settle into a low heart rate – small ring, easy gear – high cadence (90-100)
- By mile 5 on the bike, start pushing into higher gears while keeping a high cadence – keep cadence between 85-95
- Settle into my run for two miles at 140 bpm – push to 150 bpm by mile 3. Do not exceed 159 bpm to save legs for marathon in 2 weeks – this is NOT a high priority race
So there are some specifics there, but I want a plan to stick by so I make sure I learn what I need to in this race. I hope to do another tri or two before my half ironman in March, so I will have other opportunities to learn. I know I’m much weaker in swimming and biking than running, so I must expect those two sports to also impact my running performance, which is why I’ve lowered my running goal. These goals assume no hiccups (leg cramps, flats, etc..).
My long run goals for the off season are to improve my cycling force and endurance as well as my swimming technique and endurance. I want to improve my run cadence, but this is third priority. This race will be a good benchmark of a starting point, and I’ll move forward from here.
I have trained enough to survive this race. FYI: in my last 30 days as of yesterday, I’ve run 20 times for 155 miles, biked 12 times for 212 miles, and swam 13 times for 7 hours. I love Garmin Connect! Next time, I won’t put a marathon two weeks after because i know that really limited the amount of time I could put into the bike and swim since I spent so much time running.
T – 2 hours until San Diego departure!
UPDATE: thanks @jpitkin – another goal: have fun
What elements impact our workouts?
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling, Goals, Ironman Training, Running, Triathlon on September 30, 2009
I had a great conversation with a friend today. He’s very analytical, but primarily focused on business. He read my blog and mentioned that he enjoyed my scientific approach to training. He made some suggestions that I should monitor and study how they impact my workouts.
My workout today, a very fast paced zone 1 (barely to zone 1) workout that was as fast as my zone 2 portion of my workout on Saturday, got me thinking about the details of a run and what impacts heart rate, and therefore, pace. My guess is the hot, humid weather impacted my heart rate on Saturday versus the cool morning today. But who knows. It could of been diet, sleep, etc..
I kind of want to know. I thought about all the things that can impact a workout. I instantly thought about multiple regression models that could predict the workout time for a given heart rate based on all of these factors. Yup, I’m a nerd.
But first step would be, what factors influence a run and/or bike workout, and maybe even a swim workout. All things that could impact the workout even a little should be considered, and we can let the multiple regression model workout which ones are actually significant. Even without a regression model, I’m sure we can identify trends. Here’s what I’ve got so far, and I believe there are multiple ways some of these can be filled in, so it will take a little more though (please comment if you have other influencers):
- Day before diet
- Day of diet
- Diet during workout
- Hydration
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Wind
- Weather conditions (rain, hail, snow)
- Pollen count (friend thinks this affects people more than we believe it does)
- Equipment (e.g. clothes, bike, hydration packs, shoes)
- Company (e.g. friends, training clubs)
- Sleep quantity (number of hours)
- Sleep quality (restful / not restful)
- Stress (maybe high stress is good for workouts)
- Hills
- Bowel movements (yup, all athletes know this can make/break a workout)
- Time awake before workout (similar to time of day)
- Stretching before
- Pains (e.g. nagging pains, injuries, soreness, tightness, etc..)
- Motivation (e.g. excited, not excited, bored)
- Workout stops (my guess is stopping at lights makes shorter runs easier since the heart rate has a chance to recover)
A fairly exhaustive list. What am i missing?
Cycling vs. Running Heart Rate – why the difference?
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling, Heart Rate Monitoring, Running on September 29, 2009
I don’t know how many of you 1) use a heart rate monitor, 2) train in three sports, 3) notice a big difference in your heart rates cycling versus running, 4) give a shit. Well I fall into 5) all of the above, so I decided to do a little research online for you. This is what I found
This article suggests that if we cannot maintain our biking pace for as long as our running pace at a comparable heart rate, then we do not have the strength necessary on the bike. His example is great in that cyclists could get comparable heart rates running while runners had a harder time getting comparable heart rates cycling. Solution: increase leg strength. Much easier for a cyclist to turn triathlete then it is for runner turn triathlete given the complexity of the cycling muscles (even if muscles are similar to running).
This blog post gives a good summary of heart rate training and examples of what his/her zones are. The standard rule of thumb, from what I read and helpful comments to my blog posts from @ncjack (see post and comment here), is that biking heart rates are anywhere from 5 to 10 bpm lower than your running heart rates. His biking heart rates are much lower on the bike for his lactate threshold. I assume he was tested, but assumptions make asses of u and me, right?
As @ncjack pointed out though, the heart is working harder on the bike then on the run. I looked this up on google and found very little details on what truly works your heart more. I found this forum makes a claim but doesn’t have supporting articles. He/she suggests that since we are bent over on the bike versus running vertically, the blood has less area to travel and hence works less (lower HR bpm). I don’t know if i buy that. If you have any references here, I would be very appreciative.
I found a book on heart rate training, but it’s from 1998. I’m amazed there aren’t more resources out there, or if there are, they’re not easier to find. I also came across this journal that appears to have tons of articles on the subject albeit at a price.
So I apologize for not being more conclusive, but I’ll continue to monitor my heart rate in both running and cycling and let you know what I find. Today, my heart rate on my bike got up to 152 in doing some cadence drills on the way to work. I thought that was good and the exertion felt like I was in high end Zone 2 if I compare the feeling to my running. That would make it about 10 bpm off. I’ll keep at it and let you know!
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