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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Week in Review...and Awaiting Yet Another Race

I am currently writing this from a hotel room in Tappahannock, VA, about 1.5 hours east of Richmond.  Tomorrow I will be competing in a duathlon put on by Richmond Multisports.  It consists of a 2 mile run, 26 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run.  There will also be sprint and olympic distance triathlons going on at the same time.  I rode the bike course today at about 20.6mph and overall, its a pretty fast course.  It is one giant loop which means no lap traffic to worry about and there are some decent hills, but they are so spread out that they don't really wear you down.

Some of the roads appear smooth, but cause significant "chatter" on the bike and there are about 8 speed bumps over the last 0.5 miles of the course (complete overkill for cars...).  Overall, I'm excited about riding this course in the race!  Looking at results from this course last year, either the run legs are long, or the people out here are terrible runners.  No one in the duathlon posted a 10K run under 41 minutes, and only a handful of people in the Olympic tri managed mid-30s.  As usual, the top cycling times are much better than what I can expect to manage.  So once again, it will come down to how well I can run.  The plan is to kill the first run in about 10:45 or so and just try and stay ahead on the bike for as long as possible.  If I'm within a couple of minutes of whomever passes me, the 10K should give me enough time to gun them down.  With two Gu shots and lots of water on the bike, I should be on my game for that second run.


Now for my week of training.  This is my second consecutive mid-70's mileage week.  Next week I'll dial it back to about 60 miles.  I can feel it a bit in my legs, so this step back is coming at just the right moment.  It also follows my anti-stress fracture rules....no more than two consecutive weeks above 70 miles.


Monday: AM: Easy 3 miles...all I could manage after my awesome half marathon
               PM: 31 mile bike ride, could feel the tired legs even on the bike (meaning uphills suck!)

Tuesday AM: 8 miles...started to feel a bit recovered.
              PM: Track workout with my new running group....~11 miles total with 3x15 minutes @ tempo pace with 5 minutes easy in between.  The pace was mostly right under 5:45.  The last 4 minutes on that last rep were a struggle.  I was surprised I managed anything at all on this run, but I'm glad I got the work in.


Wednesday: 5 miles moderate pace followed by 3 miles at easier pace...definitely could feel Tuesday night's workout

Thursday: AM: 8 miles, once again started to feel slightly recovered
                PM: 40 mile bike ride at a solid clip, felt strong

Friday: 20 miles.  This was supposed to be a progression run but it turned into a survival run.  A torrential downpour in the second half did not help.  I ended up averaging 6:48 pace, just over 2:16 overall.  I just couldn't get my pace under 6:40.  I felt kind of flat.  Two factors probably contributed...still needing some race recovery, and not eating enough the night before.

I find it amazing that it matters less what I eat the night before a race/long run, but rather just the total amount of calories.  If it isn't enough (and I usually know when its not), I suffer.  I've consistently had better runs the day after stuffing my face at Chipotle than I have had carbo loading on pasta.  Pasta fills me up quickly but doesn't seem to actually satisfy me long term.  That will be the last time I deviate from my "just eat to be full" strategy!


Saturday: AM: 10.8 miles in sweltering humidity.  My clothes were as wet as they were Friday after running in the rain.  However, I felt a lot better than I did Friday.  I had about $15 worth of Chinese takeout the night before this run!

               PM: 26 mile bike ride on the Naylor's Beach Duathlon bike course.  After driving 3 hours to get there and picking up my stuff, I was able to ride the course which was already completely marked so I didn't even need to use my map.  It made it a lot easier since all I had to do was ride.  It's been cloudy the whole day and the roads were occasionally slick, but overall, no rain.  I'm hoping it stays that way!  I don't want another USAT sanctioned duathlon to have the bike leg cancelled...I need to move up in the rankings!


As far as food goes, I certainly had a sufficient amount today:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich before the 10 miler.
2 packets of instant butter flavored grits and some fruit afterwards.
A grilled chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and an 8 piece chicken nugget meal at Chik-Fil-A while driving down to VA
4 tacos with pulled pork, a 9oz steak, peppers, a baked potato, and just a bit of chocolate moose for dessert at AppleBees after the bike ride.

Even after all that food, I don't feel stuffed.  That engine is burning real hot right now, my appetite has never been this crazy!

Time to once again have the runner with a bicycle face off against a bunch of cyclists who occasionally run...

1 comment:

  1. Anti-stress fracture rules-I like that concept.

    Good luck at your race, looks like you have a nice plan-I think runners who bike have a good shot at this one!

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