Posts Tagged training

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

13.1, c priority, half marathon, Ironman Training, PR, Race strategy, surf city, training

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One way to start the new year

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Goals, Ironman Training, Training Ruminations on January 31, 2010

January is over, and the stats are in: it was one hell of a month to start the ironman year. Just finished my first build period, well, the hard part of it at least with a recovery week to come. One build period left, then peak, then race time!

Overall, I got in 50 hours of training, ~500 miles on the bike, ~100 miles running, and nearly 6 hours in the pool (yes, slacking here). 4 total hours of pilates, and a lot of foam rolling. It was a great start to what I expect to be an awesome year of training and pushing my body to new levels. A few keys to success after an enduring month:

Balance, balance, balance – training is a hobby, not a profession. If i miss a workout, so be it. I must remain dedicated, but not at the cost of the true values in life
Recovery weeks – yes, three weeks in a row is tough, but that fourth week makes it worthwhile. As the saying goes, make the hard workouts hard and the easy ones easy. Must stick to this
The indoor trainer will be key to improving my cycling skills. Yes, the long base workouts help, but hills and intervals will be my path to success
Swimming sucks – it’s more enjoyable when you mix up the workouts, but I’d rather be running
I miss running – 3 days a week and a 100 miles is a lot in a month, but I miss the days of the real long weekend runs and 3-4 days in a row during the week. Next year I guess
It will be tough to keep up this workload when I start traveling for work. Bring the shoes and get some runs in. Don’t get down on travel as it’s critical to success in a global company
I think my heart rate monitor is broken – it’s giving me reads of over 200 for an entire workout. I feel lost without it and I must get a new one

In case you’re interested, here are the stats:

Surf City next weekend, Palm Springs Century next…will be an awesome few weeks!

2010, ironman, january, month, ruminations, success, training

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Time is a limited resource

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Life, Time Constraint on January 22, 2010

I don’t know about you, but I often wish I had the life of a cat or a dog. I roam around the house, chillin, eatin, poopin, peein, sleepin. That’s about it. And it would be a dog, so I can play a little more than just eat, sleep and waste. Of course, this life is not for me given my athletic lifestyle, but there are days, like when I look at this picture of Kaila to the left, that I just wish I could sleep for a whole day guilt free.

I guess I can. On a Saturday or Sunday. Maybe. Or call in sick. But it’s just not in my D.N.A. I like to be busy. I am, based on personality tests, an achiever. An introverted achiever, but an achiever nonetheless. What motivates me is pushing myself to get better. This often contradicts with my goal of enjoying the journey, but I even strive to achieve mastering the process (kind of contradictory, I guess). I always strive to get better. I like hearing what I’m bad at and actually have a hard time taking compliments. I enjoy being told that I can’t do something because then it pushes me that much harder to do it. I wish I knew what made me like this, like what childhood event pushed me to want to prove people wrong. Was it my sister who said that when I get into junior high, my grades will go down, and when they didn’t, well, they’d go down in high school? Who knows! But I can tell you that was motivation to get better grades. Maybe I’m onto something…

So I digress…the point of this is that one thing I really fail at that I just wish I could do better is find the time to maintain this blog. It seems minor, but with how much I’ve learned from what others share/write, I feel like I could really give back in that way. I wish that I could blog at least 3-4x a week. I see the production of people like Danica with the Chic Runner blog, Brandon with his Brandon’s Marathon (blog, show, and everything), my all-time favorite blog in the world, Ray at DC Rainmaker (who finds time to blog more than me amidst a 15 day trip to Asia!), and lately Pete’s Runblogger and his scientific methods, and I totally wish I could find or make time to do something similar.

I read so much about training and have learned so much from my friendly twitter, facebook and daily mile community that I feel like I want to give back to everyone by discussing what I learn.I’ve also been told that my work ethic and dedication have inspired several people to get out of their place and run, or bike, or swim when they weren’t feeling up to it. If I can have that impact sharing some quick tid bits on daily mile, then what else can I provoke in people?

But between the typical 8-5 (and it’s now become a bit more than 8-5 as my responsibility increases), work travel, the 12 hours of training, my girlfriend, my family, my friends, the puppy, the cats, and well, my own free time for my sanity, there’s not much time to document these videos, to put in the pictures I take, or to sit down and write out my thoughts and feelings from the workout I just implemented from a training plan I’m writing from scratch. I guess I look at the trade-offs and say, do I sacrifice the 30 minutes of sleep? So far, that answer has been no.

And THAT’s the crazy thing. Because I’m training harder, I want to eat healthier, which means cooking more and picking up less crap for dinner. It means making lunches. It means trying to get a little bit more sleep when I can. It means trying to conserve energy so I can be present for conversation with my girlfriend and to be playful with my puppy when she needs to burn some energy! The lifestyle commitment I’ve chosen requires more time, and it’s just pulling time from other things.

Time is a valuable commodity. I like the fact that its a limited resource because it makes us choose what is important, and I think I’ve done that. I guess I wonder how others do it. How do they make time and provide a wealth of information for others to learn from? I am envious of those who do it, and do it well. Envy isn’t a good thing, so maybe that’s not the right word, but I do want to be like you (yeah, that’s envy )

How do you manage your time? How do you prioritize? Is it based on your values? Do you even think about this stuff? Please share – as usual, I’m willing to learn.

blog, limited resource, time, training, training blogs

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Weekly Summary: End of the Base

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Trail Running, Training Ruminations on January 10, 2010

It was so nice to have a “chill week” after I’ve been “slapping the bass, man” (see video below from I Love You Man) for the past few weeks. The base period has ended, and although I feel like I could of done more to improve that base, I like that I improved my speed, my technique, and even extended my cycling base. I have some concerns regarding my running distance with my new form, but overall, I’m pleased. I mapped out my schedule through mid-April today, and it’s going to be a hard few weeks.

In this recovery week, I did 7:45 of working out, with most of that going to cycling. Here’s the summary:

Four hours on the bike, 2 hours running, and not nearly enough time in the pool (with an hour of pilates). It was definitely a chill week, and one I needed for recovery and as prep for the hard three weeks coming up. The only thing to note in this week despite the ease was the trail race. This was my first experience running trails, and I’m not talking those 5 foot wide trails that are clear of rocks, trees and brush. These trails were single file, layered with ups/downs/rocks/brush/little mud/trees/etc. For the most part, very clean trails. But I have no clue how to run down a steep trail head with slants to the right and left and a small flat space down the middle with room to run foot over foot.

The experience was very difficult. I learned a few things:

I need to learn to run downhill, in general, and especially on tight trails
I need to move up in races. I’m getting faster, and I was held up the first 3 miles with slower runners. Not a big deal, but I would of enjoyed it more being upfront.
Trail runners are SO FRIENDLY! What an awesome atmosphere
As beautiful as the area was, it’s so hard to take in the views because I was so focused on not eating shit on the trail. Most of my focus was on the rocks two feet ahead. I want to learn to be able to trust my instincts and just run.
The host, Baz, is hilarious. So chill! I’d love to do his races again.

On that note, my upcoming week is the start of the build period. I plan on working out close to 12 hours a week for each of the next three weeks, which ends with a mellow week (that includes the surf city half marathon). Then I start the build period again, with the Tour De Palm Springs, a 100 mile ride in palm springs. I’m only 10-11 weeks from the Oceanside 70.3, and I can’t believe how that’s creeped up on me!

My schedule for the week (3 hours running, 6.5 hours on the bike, 2 hours swimming, 1 hour pilates):

Mon: 1 Hour Run, 1 Hour Pilates (track work: run, interval, short, high intensity)
Tues: 1 hour bike (short intervals)
Wed: 1 hour run, 45 min swim (zone 1 run with an iwillnotbonk finish, evening swim)
Thurs: 1 hour bike, 30 min swim (longer intervals on bike)
Fri: REST
Sat: 4.5 hour bike (endurance ride)
Sun: 45 min swim, 1 hour run (short interval swim, tempo run)

If you want to check out my schedule in general, here it is:

Training Schedule Q1 2010

I love you, man: Slapping the bass!