Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

Event: Frontier Adventure Challenge
 

Frontier Adventure Challenge with Meredythe and Shannon, the two girls that Geoff and I chose as winners of the Axis Gear Adventure Girls contest. Neither Meredythe or Shannon had raced before, so I was relieved that they had such a beautiful day for their first race.

I really enjoyed getting to know these girls via email in the weeks leading up to the race, and reassuring them that they could complete the event while not making any promises about not getting them lost in the woods. The girls were both my age but with two young kids apiece, neither of them have had the opportunity to put themselves first in awhile. One of the women has been watching her husband adventure race from the sidelines for a couple of years, while the other recently undertook a major lifestyle change (quitting smoking, taking up running) and is just starting to discover the positive benefits of fitness. Neither of them had any real running or biking background, so I was amazed at how well they did and the courage that it must have taken them to even try. I think it's very easy to forget what it felt like when we first started this sport, so one of the highlights for me yesterday was probably rediscovering adventure racing through these women's eyes.

Throughout the day, I tried my best to make sure I wasn't pushing the girls anymore than they wanted to by letting them set the pace and giving them any suggestions or pointers that I could. They were keen for the paddling so I sat in the middle. One had the SI card and the other the passport so they could experience the excitement of finding and punching a CP. Our paddle was leisurely and uneventful. We made the cutoff but had decided ahead of time just to stick to the regular course as both girls felt that would be enough for them. I'm glad that we stuck to this decision as it took us almost the full 8 hours to complete the regular course and I wanted to try my best to make sure that we finished ranked.

It became apparent from the first hill leading out of the resort that one of the girls was going to find the biking more challenging than the other. I partially cursed myself for not bringing a bike tow while at the same time recognizing that I wouldn't have put anyone on it without practicing beforehand. So we did our best to keep the pace workable for everyone and tried to establish a paceline where we could.

Both girls were very happy to get off their bikes for CPs 6 and 7, which we found fairly easily as there were lots of other teams milling about. I thought it only appropriate for the girls to experience some swamp swimming so we went chest high across the water from CP7. They both thought that was pretty cool (figuratively AND literally!). Bushwhacked up the hill and took the trail back to CP5.

The biking to CP8 was a bit slow for us but I tried to keep morale up by letting them know it would be short. The bike ride back to Hidden Valley was tough for the one girl and I tried all the positive techniques I could to help her through it. It's tough to know what someone will find helpful vs. condascending.

We started the final trek at 4:35 and I had estimated that it would take us about an hour. I knew we had enough time if everything went well, but not enough time to take things too casually. Like many teams, we found 10 to be a bit challenging but talking to some other teams and changing our attack point meant we didn't waste too much time there. 11 and 12 were relatively straightforward. We left 12 at 5:38 and headed down to the road so that we could run in. As we ran down the last hill into the resort the girls were so excited and I was for them. Lots of hugs and high fives, and pictures to celebrate.

Geoff had asked me to do this a few times in the past but I never had the courage before yesterday. I always said, go ask someone who knows what they are doing like Leanimal or Bash. But I was really glad that I put my fears of embarassment and failure aside and agreed this time. It was a really powerful experience for me to have played the role that I did for these women. It forced me to be the "ideal teammate" and reminded me of some teamwork practices that I'd neglectfully let slide.

I think that both of the girls are keen to try some more races and they were even talking about running a half-marathon together in the fall. What a great day.

C • YAY!!!!! 15

Warm-up then 10X30 spin ups at max RPM.

It's a sad thing when my tempo run is at other people's easy pace!

C • Tempo 4

Warm-up and cool down.

Easy run before RPM class.

RPM Class. No clapping (phew!).

All out pyramid intervals: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 with even recoveries.

Finally got Hernando (at least I think that's what I named him with input from Bash) out on the water for a short section of the Grand River. Ridiculously windy at times, but managed to stay upright so the helmet was perhaps unnecessary.

C • Hernando 3

Trail run at Schneider's Bush just outside of Waterloo. Can't believe I'd never been here before. More trails than I'd ever imagined and some great climbs. I'll definitley go back here for my next hill workout!

C • Check this out 2

RPM Class.

Rode two virtual laps of Hot August Nights courses via some Race Day Rush videos. Andrew had bought me these for Christmas thinking it would be a great way to pass the winter basement trainer time. For some reason, they only arrived this week and I though I might not be using them until next year as now I'd rather be riding outside. When I saw the blizzard-like conditions out my window, I thought today was the perfect day to try them!

It took me about 10 minutes to really buy in and engage with the concept, but once I did, I was sold! A rider with a helmet cam takes you through the course, and at the bottom of the screen is a course profile and an RPE scale. The course is broken up into 1-4 minute intervals ranging from RPE 5-9. You can see where you are on the course and 15 seconds before an interval ends, it tells you on the screen what the next one is going to be.

This really felt like the next best thing to actual being able to ride the course. I associated the various RPE settings with certain gears and cadences and never deviated from the program. I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to enjoy the downhills, but it was a great workout. I sweated buckets and went through four bottles of fluid. Found myself trying to turn the handlebars and trying to catch riders that 'passed' me. My biggest accomplishment was passing a trio of ten year olds about 1:45 into the ride.

Did two separate videos and definitely preferred the first, which I think was done more recently. Added a few minutes at the end to make it an even 2:00.

Event: Seaton Trail 29K 52K 50M
 

Last year in all my trail races I ran the first hour too fast and then steadily slowed down throughout the event. My goal for this year's longer trail runs was to learn to better manage my pacing, nutrition, and hydration. With these goals in mind, I wanted to use the Seaton race today as a 'test run' for how well I could do these things before Sulphur Springs in May. Jen and I both agreed that this race was "not a priority" and that it should be approached as training more than a race. Fine by me!

My main goal for this race was to run as close to an even split (good) or negative split (better) on the out and back course. Somewhere on the 'back' portion of the race, I paused my watch without realizing it, so I will have to wait until the results are up to see my actual time. I am guessing at 4:05 but think it's pretty close. I turned around at the 14.5 km aid station 2:02 into the race, which means I was both close to the conservative 4:00 time goal and very close on the even split. I felt stronger and faster on the back portion which made me really happy, as did passing four people in the 29km on the way back!

When I did Seaton in 2009, it kicked my ass, so even though the weather made the course conditions a bit less than ideal today, it was nice to go back and have a stronger run there. Kudos to Mrs. Gally and anyone else doing the 50K or 50 mile today in these conditions!

C • Congrats! 11

Country roads outside of St. Jacobs. Windy but lovely out.

Easy run on trail beside river after biking.

Can't imagine staying inside on a gorgeous day like this! Warm-up then 8X hill repeats in Bechtel Park.

RPM class after work.

Nice easy afternoon spin to stretch the legs.

Selected poses from Yoga for Runners. Love the hip openers!

Event: Salomon Dontgetlost.ca Giant's Rib Raid
 

Rib Raid with Dee and Mrs. Tiny. Time is estimated but pretty close I htink. We couldn't have asked for a better day for this! Made a few little bobbles but no major mistakes (12 was the control that caused us the most grief). Lots of sections that went really smoothly. Aside from the random giant blisters I got on both feet, felt really good otherwise. So nice to be running on trails instead of roads and really fun to be racing with these two!

Thanks to Phatty and Leanimal for hosting a fun post-race get together!

C • Glad you guys came 1

Yoga for Runners DVD. Love this video!

15 minute warm-up, then 30 minutes at LT (around 170), then cool down.

On trainer after run. 10 minute warm-up, then a series of 30 sec spin-ups at max RPM with 60-90 sec recovery.

Had a VO2 max test done this morning, as well as RMR and BIA. I'd never had any of these done before and found it fascinating. I still need some time to study the many charts I left with, but basically the tests confirmed some of what I already knew or suspected (the reassurance was nice) and gave me some excellent frames of reference for future training.

Perhaps the most useful piece of information was to be able to put some actual numbers on what my fat-burning zones (1 and 2) are, as well as what my AT/LT is (lower than I thought). I realized that I spent most of my training time in Zone 3, which isn't particularly effective at either teaching my body to use fuel as fat OR at getting rid of lactic acid in the higher zones. It also put into perspective why I tended to bonk in my ultras last year as I'd typically run the first hour or two in zones 4/5, run out of carbohydrate stores, and suffer for the remaining 4 hours!

Great info to have, and I look forward to putting it to use!

C • Where? 7

Lunchtime run was my first opportunity to put this newly acquired information to the tes! I had an easy run scheduled for today so my goal was to keep it in Zone 2, which for me means no higher than 143. Felt a bit strange, and I resisted the urge to look at how fast the other people on the treadmills beside me were going!

Warm-up, then 30 minutes at 80-90%, inspired by a chapter I read from my current bedtime book: http://www.velopress.com/running.php?id=297

Last night's chapter focused on how RPE is determined by the brain, not the body, and that mental toughness and suffering can be trained.

A really interesting book!

C • Sounds like a good book! 1

First outdoor (Canadian) ride of the season. I echo Phatty's sentiments from a couple of weeks ago that no amount of trainer-ing or spinning is quite the same as just getting out there! Some definitely character-building sections on unpaved (and windy) country roads.

Nice am run with Sherpa and Mrs. Tiny. Great company and beautiful day!

Yoga for Runners DVD that came in the mail today. Great sequences with huge emphasis on hip strength and flexibility (of which I have neither). Hurt so good!

http://www.yogaforrunners.com/yoga-for-runners-dvd...