There’s a good straight-away portion of the course about mid-way through that runs about a block from Placid Athlete HQ, so anytime I’m not actually running the marathon or half-marathon, I like to be a spectator and cheer on the runners as they go past. Being a spectator can make you feel like you are a part of the experience — and, of course, you are a part of the experience, because your cheers can help keep the runners’ spirits high when they are starting to hit low spots (and anyone who has raced knows we all hit those low spots).

I’ve also talked about how much fun volunteering at a race can be, and I highly recommend that you give it a try!  One of my most fun Mother’s Days was volunteering with my kids at a women’s triathlon!

Another fun aspect of spectating at the races is that it is also a great “people watching” opportunity.  I like to watch how different people run and see what they are wearing.  I saw a guy in kinesiotape from head to toe, another guy running with one arm strapped to his chest, a man with no shirt but with arm warmers, and all kinds of colorful and interesting shoes and socks.

Congratulations to all of the runners who were out there on the course this morning!  You all looked great, and I hope you enjoyed the experience.  It was a beautiful morning for running in Austin.

On Saturday morning, there were two trail running events: a 5k and a half-marathon. I participated in the half-marathon, which was the most hellish half I have done!

Rocky Hill Ranch is named Rocky Hill Ranch for a reason!  It was — (um, yeah) –  rocky and hilly!

Well folks, you know how you are supposed to train for the conditions in which you will run?  Let me be your poster child for this lesson!  The half-marathon distance is no problem for me, but the off-road part killed me. I haven’t done an off-road race since last fall, I think, and I don’t often train on trails (“real” trails that is — the hike and bike trails here in Austin don’t count), and that really jumped up and bit me on the arse.

By mile 8, my calves were cramping up — a lot — and I had to walk a good portion of the last few miles.  And the last few miles turned out to be some of the most brutal miles.  In fact, one of my camping neighbors came over after the race and said, “Hey, what did you think of The Wall?” And I was thinking: “Huh? The Wall?”  I didn’t know what he was talking about!   I do remember hobbling down and up a segment labeled “The Grind” and hoping that my calves wouldn’t seize up and send me toppling into the ditch.  (They post a big sign to let you know about the impending doom right before it happens.) Anyway… I thought when he was talking about The Wall, he meant The Grind, but it turns out there is another huge down and up called The Wall shortly after The Grind, but I have to be honest:  I have no recollection of The Wall.  None whatsoever. 

In spite of all that, I managed to shuffle back to the finish line to complete the race.  I think I have to call this my worst running race ever — or at least among the worst races ever — along with 1) the time I ran a marathon with peroneal tendinitis (tolerable until mile 9, then really bad) and 2) the time my IT band flared up at mile 4 of the 20k Decker Challenge.  Ouch.   At least this time, it’s nothing a good ice bath and some massage can’t resolve.

On Saturday, there was also the bike toss competition!  This is a Dirty Du tradition, in which participants throw an old junker mountain bike for distance.  I believe the winning toss was around 30 feet.  Here are a couple of photos from the prelims.

 

On Sunday was the main event:  the Dirty Du, and its little sister, the Sprint Du! Here is a short quicktime (.mp4) video of the race start, as the participants begin the first 5k run. Dirty Du Race Start

The Dirty Du website describes the duathlon course as follows: “The Dirty Du course is a 5K trail run, followed by a 12 mile mountain bike ride, followed by a 5K trail run. The run is off road and technical. It has several hills, some steep, with lots of rocks. The bike is 80% single track and 20% Jeep trails.”  (The sprint is about half the distance of the regular race.)

The half-marathon run route on Sat was the same as the bike course plus an additional mile or so spur to get it up to 13.1, so I got a really good look at this bike course.  What they don’t tell you is that it seems to be about 90% uphill.  Not sure how, but it seemed that way at least. I would also say it was way more single track than jeep roads, more like 90/10 or 95/5.

(And supposedly there is a place on the bike route that they call The Wall, but that’s just hearsay.  <ha!>)

Here is a short video clip near the beginning of the bike course:  Dirty Du Cycling video clip These cyclists were huffing and puffing already, with a really long way to go.  I tip my hat to all who completed this tough race.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend, in spite of my own not-so-stellar racing day.  It’s probably good now and then to have a really bad race so that when the good ones come along, they are oh, so much sweeter.  At a minimum, it reinforces lessons that we already know but of which we sometimes need to be reminded.

If you are looking for a fun camping weekend for the whole family, where you can try an off-road du or an off-road run, this is a great option held around this time each year.  Just make sure you spend a lot of time off-road before you get here.

This weekend I had the pleasure of running the ING Hartford Half-Marathon, in Hartford, CT!

It rained most of the week leading up to the race, but we got lucky and the weather was perfect on race morning.  The clouds parted and at the 8 AM race start, the conditions were clear, 54 degrees F, with 8 mph winds.  That was maybe a tad on the breezy side, but not bad at all. Truly a beautiful day!

The race course started in front of the state capitol building in Hartford (on the opposite side from where this photo was taken).  At the start we ran with the marathoners for about a mile or so and then split off into different directions.

The half-marathon route made a clockwise loop through the city, mostly running through residential neighborhoods, with a lot of great support from spectators cheering from their front sidewalks.

The most scenic area was a section that went through Elizabeth Park, although the best fall color I saw was just a random tree somewhere close to Mile 10.  (The leaves were just starting to turn, so it wasn’t an impressive show of fall foliage, although I did enjoy what I saw of the changing trees.)  I would describe the course as having rolling hills — definitely not as hilly as the Austin half, but not flat, either.

At the finish line, the marathoners and half-marathoners are funneled back into a single chute that goes through the arch at the entry way to Bushnell Park, which is a nice touch for the finish.

I was a little under-trained for this race, mainly because of the severe heat of these recent months in Austin putting some limits on when and how long I could run, so I definitely went in with realistic expectations: this would not be a great performance.  Nevertheless, I was happy with my race.   I ran the first half in almost exactly the same time as the second half, so it was a consistent pace throughout.  I also felt great the whole way, which is always a good thing. (Feeling “great,” by the way, means feeling strong, but more importantly, NOT feeling like I am going to puke, have a sudden onset of diarrhea, or have severe aches and pains.)  This is the first half-marathon I have planned in a series of several half marathons this fall and winter, so I will be building on this one to improve my time over the next few months.

Most importantly, I was successful in my primary objective for this race, which was to raise at least $1000 to benefit the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. As of race morning, I had raised $1080.  And if you would still like to contribute, donations will be accepted online through October 31, 2011.

Although my visit to Hartford was quick, I did get a chance to see a few sites. I always try to visit the state capitol in each capital city that I visit, so I saw both the currently-used capitol building as well as the Old CT State House (above).

Unfortunately, I did not make it to Mark Twain’s house, although I did catch a glimpse of a bicycle that allegedly belonged to Twain, which was located in a museum in the basement of the Old State House.  About learning to ride a bike, Twain said: “Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.”

This morning my workout was a 10-mile run  — in remembrance of those who lost their lives 10 years ago today.

Like most of you, I remember exactly what I was doing as that horrifying day unfolded.  I was on a commercial flight headed to NYC when the pilot announced that all NYC area airports were closed, and an airplane had flown into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack.  I did not comprehend at the time that the plane was a commercial jet full of people (or that there were multiple planes and multiple targets), in spite of the pilot’s repeated messages that “there is no credible threat at this time to this aircraft.”  It wasn’t until I was back on the ground (in New Orleans, where we were diverted) that I learned that the towers had fallen.  “Holy crap!” was what I said when I heard that news, but as you know that did not do it justice.

So — back to 9/11/11 — We ran to Mt. Bonnell in central Austin, and descended to the bottom, then ran up the hill and on up the steps to the top.  There was another group there that was running up and down the steps to honor the firefighters who ran up the stairs in the twin towers.

A lesson for us all:  live each day fully, with no regrets. You never know how your day may end.

Any of you who knows me or has followed my blog for awhile knows that I am a big proponent of strength training, in addition to swim/bike/run, but not everyone shares this same passion for cross-training. A lot of athletes and coaches are in this camp:  “to get better at swim/bike/run, you need to train swim/bike/run, and any time spent doing any other cross-training takes away from that specialized training.”  I think that is true, to a point.  However, my own experience is that strength training builds a better foundation for sport specific training, preventing injuries and allowing for better performance overall.   Additionally, most of the folks I coach are interested primarily in overall fitness, which puts them in a different situation than a professional triathlete, for example.  (And perhaps I need to clarify what I mean by “strength training.”  I do not simply mean training for strength, but rather training for balance, strength, power, and flexibility.)

Gaining popularity is CrossFit (CF), which takes the model of “just train in your sport and nothing else” and turns it on its head.  As they state in the CrossFit Training Guide, “CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains.” (See CrossFit Training Guide, p. 6)  The crossfitters train in short, intense bouts (3 days on, one day off or 5 days on, 2 days off) in these ten fitness domains: cardio-respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordnation, agility, balance and accuracy.  However, the longest run you might see as a CrossFit workout is a 5k run, which for us endurance types, just isn’t that much.  Hence those in Camp 1 (swim/bike/run only) tend to be a bit dismissive of the CrossFit way of training. (CrossFit also does not endear itself to the triathlon community when they scoff at the fact that Outside Magazine called Mark Allen, 6-time Ironman World Champion, the “fittest man on earth.” (See CrossFit Training Guide, p. 16))

The latest flavor of CrossFit, which has been getting quite a bit of attention, is CrossFit Endurance (CFE), which uses CrossFit training principles and modifies them to apply to single sport and multisport endurance athletes.  CrossFit Endurance seems directed specifically at triathletes, seeming to recognize that there is a technical element to triathlon.  In other words, it recognizes that you do actually have to swim, bike, and run to be proficient at triathlon.  As with the main CrossFit website, Crossfitendurance.com specifies Workouts of the Day (“WODs”) which train many of the fitness domains listed above.  For those who need additional strength work, they add a strength workout a few times a week, and then there is also a specified “endurance WOD” to be done in either swim, bike, or run. They put into the mix short intervals, long intervals, and “stamina” workouts (which are more like a “tempo” workout, up to 90 minutes max). There is no “long, slow distance” (LSD) aerobic training.

Disclaimer here:  I am not certified in CrossFit or CrossFit Endurance, although I have 1) studied it, including reading the Training Guide used for Level I Certification, the CrossFit Journal, and the CrossFit Endurance website, and 2) trained at a CrossFit “box” with a CrossFit Level I certified trainer.  Based on my study of the CrossFit Endurance website, it looks to me that a typical week for a triathlete following their program would be something like this:

• Mon: Strength + CF + Swim short intervals
• Tues: Strength+ CF + Run Short Intervals
• Wed: Strength+ CF + Bike Short Intervals
• Thurs: optional CF + swim Long intervals
• Friday: optional CF or complete rest day (no endurance WOD)
• Sat or Sun: Bike or Run Tempo/Time Trial (Stamina WOD) — Do just one tempo/time trial WOD per week on an off day from CF, and take the other weekend day off completely.

I do not really have anything against this program, except that I like to swim/bike/run more than twice a week, and I’m not quite ready to give up completely on aerobic workouts.  I also think that a lot of people who jump into this kind of program without really easing in very (very!) carefully are likely to get injured in a short amount of time because it is very intense. Adequate recovery will be the biggest obstacle to success. Another big problem is the time factor.  Although the workouts are short, relatively speaking, the CFE program nevertheless requires two-a-days on most days, and for a lot of working folks with families, it is just too much to ask.

Still, it’s a program that has some appeal, at least to me. I have been thinking for some time now that there should be some optimal balance between S/B/R and cross-training, and I feel like CFE is a step in that direction, although it may be weighted too much toward the CF side, and perhaps there is still a sweet spot to be reached.   It may be just a matter of where you are coming from. If you are a triathlete first, CFE may have too much of an emphasis on CF, but if you are coming from CF and want to do a triathlon, it may be just the ticket.  In my case, I was a triathlete first, and did strength training second.  First, my strength training was pretty standard stuff.  Then I found Hyperfitness by Sean Burch, which is a great training book — one of my personal favorites.  That program is very similar to CF, but without olympic lifts.  The dynamic strength and power movements (and movement combinations) are frankly way more interesting than just getting on a machine and pumping out 3 sets of 10 reps.  I discovered CF later, but still didn’t follow the CF program the way it was designed. I just did my regular tri training and then threw in 2-3 crossfit-style workouts as a bonus.

Given that I enjoy CF-style workouts as a supplement to my training, I have been interested in designing my own program closer to the CFE model, just to see how it goes.  My next event is a half-marathon, about 2 months away.  Theoretically, I suppose that under the CFE program I should train just for running as my one endurance sport, but I am a triathlete first and foremost, so I am continuing to train in all 3 disciplines plus CF/Strength.  My plan differs from the CFE template in that I still include an LSD workout, and I have an optional technique swim on my “off” day.  Another key difference in my plan versus CFE is that I am using periodization for my long runs, so within my overall plan, I have 4-week macrocycles that include 3 weeks of build with 1 week of recovery.  My weekly plan for the next couple of months looks something like this:

• Mon AM: tempo run ~45 minutes (but “tempo” portion of it is only 15-20 min in the middle of the run)
• Tues AM: swim short intervals
• Tues PM: Strength + CF
• Wed AM: CF
• Wed PM: run short intervals at the track
• Thurs AM: Strength + CF
• Thurs PM: Bike short intervals (on a trainer in the garage)
• Friday:  Off or technique swim (drills plus easy swimming)
• Sat: Strength + Swim Long Intervals
• Sun: Long Bike, Long Run, or Brick (Bike/Run) — I am alternating emphasis on bike versus run each week to help with recovery, avoiding injury

All of the CF/Strength training is done in my garage gym.  I do not necessarily use the WODs on the CrossFit mainsite or the CrossFit Endurance website, although I do use CrossFit WODs and other CF-style workouts.  I am using some of the workouts posted on the CFE website for short and long interval training (although the pool workouts I have to convert to time workouts rather than yardage workouts because I use an endless pool instead of a lap pool).

As of this weekend, I am finishing up week 4 of the plan (the first of 3 macrocycles).  So far, it is going okay, although I have had to shuffle things around a bit with the extreme heat. For example, I simply cannot do track workouts on Wednesday evenings right now when it is >100 degrees.  Just wouldn’t be prudent. So I’ve been moving those to Thurs AM.  I have had some days in which I have felt like I was not recovered enough, and this usually is most evident in a run interval workout, when it becomes difficult to hit my intervals.  In some cases, I have skipped a workout to get some extra recovery, but for the most part I have hit my workouts as programmed.

The ultimate question will be how the half-marathon goes, but I’ll give more updates as the experiment progresses.

I won’t say the conditions were pleasant, though, but that’s due to the wind.  The swim was the worst part of the race, due to a lot of chop in the water.  A lot of folks were having poor (panic attack) swims, and mine was definitely worse than what I typically do at this race (this was my 3rd time to do the Pflug tri).   The first half of the swim was noticeably more choppy, but coming back in to shore the water seemed to smooth out a bit. In any case, the chop was coming from behind on the second half, which is always better than having waves in the face.

The bike course starts out for a short distance in the north direction, so there was a good tail wind, but as soon as you make the first right turn, BOOM!  Major wind.  Another right turn a few miles in, and it is full on headwind.  The best part of the bike course is later, on a slightly downhill straightaway along the freeway frontage road with a pure tailwind, and speeds >30 mph.  You have to love that!  Then back a couple of miles toward the lake there are more winds to be fought before a final tailwind into transition.  A lot of people were really surprised by the severity of the winds, and I have to say that although we’ve experienced some windy conditions out there, it was at least as bad as — if not worse — than the worst training days we’ve had on the course.

The run is on a crushed granite trail around the lake, so flat and kind of twisty-turny, with (again) multiple changes with respect to direction from which the wind is coming.  Hats were flying off of runners.

Even though I was disappointed in my swim, the bike/run were good, and I felt solid.  Some days the legs just feel good, and this was one of those days!  I don’t have my official time, but it looks like it will come in slower than previous years based on my watch splits.  But that’s okay, it was a solid effort in difficult conditions.

Next on the agenda: post-race massage and ice bath!

For some Mother’s Day fun, my family and I volunteered at the finish line of the Skeese Greets Women’s Tri this morning down at the Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels, TX!  We handed out water bottles, cold & wet towels, and finishers’ necklaces, and other folks gathered up timing chips and straps.

The winner of the race was Natasha Van Der Merwe, a South African who lives and trains in Austin, in a time of 00:53: 13.  One of the photos above is of the winner, flanked by Austin-based pros Terra Castro and Desiree Ficker (both were also volunteering with us at the finish line) and Jen (the finish line volunteer coordinator).  The rest of the athletes started to come soon after, with wave after wave of ladies coming for another 2 hours!  The last woman to finish crossed the line with a lot of whooping from the audience to cheer her on!  You should have seen all of the smiles we saw this morning!  So many ladies were doing their very first tri, and what an exciting time it was for them!

Congratulations to all of the ladies who completed the race, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there!

(You Texans out there know what I’m talking about!)

Nice weather means that people are wanting to be outside more, and wanting to be more active. This is a great time to take on a new challenge!

One of my friends announced that he was inspired by the IronMonth Challenge, in which I completed triathlon training equivalent to 4 iron distance triathlons in May 2010, and so he has created his own challenge of running 100 miles in April.  He is super psyched up about having a solid goal for the month of April, and hopes it will give his fitness a big boost as we head into summer.

I overheard another colleague recently telling someone how she was running every day for a month as jump-start on her running, and then after the month of daily runs she would cut it back to several times a week instead .

These are great challenges to take on!  One of the advantages of a month-long challenge is that it is a relatively short period of time.  After all, a person can survive just about any kind of challenge for just a month.  And yet, if the challenge is really a “stretch” goal, then by the end of the month, you will really feel like you have accomplished something meaningful.

A word of caution: if the “challenge” is just something you are going to do every day anyway, then you need to get more creative and push yourself outside your comfort zone.  Big things come only from thinking BIG.

And it may be that your challenge will not be something related to exercise.  Maybe it is a psychological challenge, like spending a few minutes a day on meditation or positive visualization.  Or maybe it is a nutritional challenge, such as going vegetarian several days a week, or cutting out some really unhealthy habit like drinking too many soft drinks or eating fast food. Maybe it is quitting smoking.

My challenge for April will be to swim every day. I have been out of the pool for awhile, other than a few swims here and there, so it is time to get it in gear!  I’ll be working on my form and building my swim base for the upcoming race season.

What will your challenge be?

9 miles.  Felt awesome!  Finally, I seem to have completely shaken the cold that came on a month ago!

Great way to start the new year.

(Obedience school was well worth the money!)