Training Log Archive: expresso

4 * .8mi loop on limestone path with small climbs.
Splits: 5:29, 5:19, 5:08, 5:07
Quite cool & blustery so I shed my outer layer as soon as I got there and got down to business. As it's been a year and a half since I ran these, I was not certain of my pace so it seems I started a bit slow. 5:00 will be my target eventually but the running conditions need to improve a bit before I can expect that. All-in-all a good "I" workout.
Here is the last time I did these.

Run to the Carmel Loop & back as well as jogging between intervals. Did some strides on the way there.

OS Lap. Cooler than I thought it would be so it took me about 2 miles to warm up. Footing was mostly clear with occasional big icy areas to traverse. Hit the ground hard once.
Didn't need to push myself and (looking at my pace) clearly I didn't. Felt fine.

Technique
400s, 300p, 6 * 50s e/h
200s tech, 300pwp
250s tech, 250pwp
300s tech, 200pwp
350s tech, 150pwp

Technique good.
Pool still a bit cloudy.

Good effort. A bit pooped at the end.

3K Swim
On the way in was stopped by the pool maintenance guy who warned me about a high concentration of chlorine in the pool. I was confused because understood this to be a salt pool and not a chlorine pool. But I was on a tight schedule so I didn't have time for a lesson but confirmed that it was safe and got going. The water was very murky (~4 foot viz) so it took me a while to get comfortable not being able to see the wall before it is time to turn. Instead, I had to estimate distance by stroke count and then the hash mark at the end of the lane stripe.
Technique was surprisingly good. Maybe it was because there was nothing to distract me. Pleased with splits:
17:28, 17:20, 17:18

Good spin class. Pushed it more than usual. Legs a bit tender when I walk or run but swimming & biking are fine. Will try to easy run tomorrow.

Saw the pool guy again on the way out and learned that it is a salt (NaCl) pool but that there is a generator which separates the sodium & chlorine so the pool has "natural" chlorine in it. The problem today was that the generator broke so he needed to make an emergency infusion of "chemical" chlorine to keep it safe.

Spin class. Told Dave I would be doggin' it today and thus preempted any remarks about my not doing the hard interval workout.

Felt surprisingly good today. Lots of drills.
400s, 300p, 6 * 50s e/h
2 * ( 5 * 100fwf, 200s tech, 300pwp )

CAOC Snowgaine VIII
I love this race. I often find myself gazing off through the wooded snowscape or off the bluffs to the ice floes covering the Mississippi River. The cold air, frozen ground and deep snow are an odd joy to move through. Being a bit competitive, I would normally be bothered by my lack of success in my four attempts. But out there, results are trumped by the great atmosphere.
As Charlie was in the midst of his Birkebeiner race that same day, I teamed-up with Jeff Shaw. He drove three hours through a blizzard that morning. Seeing the weather report, I had decided to drive out the night before and enjoy a leisurely morning as well as helping Kathy set-up the gear. We got our maps with ample time to plan and quickly realized that a sweep was unlikely. Nevertheless, we planned a route to sweep with short circuits if necessary.
At the start, we had very windy & snowy conditions with temps just below 20F. While cold in the open, I knew I would stoke-up on the first climb so I wore only a few thin layers. Our first few controls went well but we discovered that the 3-5 inches of snow covered a lot of icy patches everywhere. This slowed both the ups and downs and I knew for sure that our pace would not allow a sweep. Nevertheless, we pushed along pretty well through the northern map and were pretty certain that we were in first place of those who took the northern controls first. Then, I made a parallel error that likely cost us the race. A corn field (with tall stalks reducing visibility) split and I somehow slid into the wrong fork and when we entered the woods, all of the spurs and other mapped features matched-up so I was "certain" of my location. We lost 20+ minutes searching the wrong area for the bag. We finally discovered the error when we dropped down off the spur and relocated below. Although we didn't realize it until later, this search caused a more serious problem for our race.
The only controls remaining on the northern map were too far away to be worth it since the half way point had already passed so we headed back to the start to get our southern punch card and eat some food. The combination of the food in our bellies, being exposed to the wind for so long and the long and demoralizing search for the last control caused both of us to get very cold. However, Jeff was really affected by the elements and he was unable to warm-up. Even climbing the next big hill did not stop the downward slide of his physical state. I remembered almost shutting down from the heat during my last Rogaine and could empathize with him. Regardless, we continued on and worked our way south. Jeff stopped to change his socks and put on more clothes and his state seemed to improve. We got many of the southern controls (but not without another costly mistake) and rushed to the finish with only two minutes to spare.
On checking the points, we tied for first with another team but they finished a few minutes before us. They had a good race and deserve the victory. I had some post-race pasta and enjoyed talking with everyone about the great course and good time out there. After heading back into the hills to pick-up some controls, Jeff and I headed to our favorite post-Snowgaine steak joint in Mt. Carroll. Two beers and some hot steak put me right in that "Ahhhhhh" state for the long drive home...

SNOWgaine !!!

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM CST SATURDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM CST SATURDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 7 INCHES ARE EXPECTED FROM FRIDAY MID EVENING THROUGH MIDDAY SATURDAY. THE SNOW COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES ACCUMULATING AT A RATE OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AN HOUR FOR A FEW HOURS.

C • Have Fun! 2

Today I added a new type of workout - Technique. So now I have Long, Drill, Technique and (the underutilized ('cuz I'm lazy)) Hammer workouts. On a technique set, my stroke must be perfect or I stop and reset brain (or HR) until it is. As I hate stopping in the middle of a set, I usually stay focused.
400s, 300p, 6 * 50s e/h
3 * ( 300s tech, 300pwp )
Not bad for my first time doing this. Still need to remove the S from my left stroke.

Carmel Lap again. Bit faster than Monday but still pokey for me.

Same drill workout as last week.
Felt all-around good.
Hard 200m times: 3:01 & 2:56

Easy to begin resting legs for Saturday.

Carmel Lap
Oh gawd I'm slow. Felt decent though.

Didn't have any ambition for this early Sunday spin class but dragged myself there anyway. Hid in the back and did my own slow warmup and sort of followed the program for the later half of the hour. Getting a bit tired of biking indoors.

OS Lap. What a treat to be back in my comfy running shoes. The path was mushy in the sun and still had a little ice and snow in the shade so there was quite a variety of footing.
Legs felt ok through most of it but still tired from something. Probably just getting old. Will give them a bit more rest this week and see how they are Saturday.

3K Swim
Felt good today & technique solid through most of it. When I lost focus I returned to some bad habits.
Splits: 17:39, 17:28, 16:42
Just the spilts I am looking for.

Adler Hills - Roller Coaster Tempo Run
Bit above freezing so the ground was mud with a few really icy spots. This slowed me down quite a bit from the last time I ran this. Also, legs tired more quickly than expected. Not sure if it is yesterday's hard spin or last weekend's snow run (or both). As always, tried to run negative splits but gave up at the end when legs stopped cooperating.
13 laps, Splits:
6:52, 6:34, 6:23, 6:27, 6:23, 6:15, 6:11, 6:03, 6:06, 6:12, 6:09, 6:18, 6:09
Avg: 6:18
Same workout as Nov. 30.

Decent ride. Pushed it a bit more than usual due to some co-motivation with my neighbor.

Felt "off" running indoors today. Not sure what the deal is.

I am now very good at loafing through these spin classes so I stay below threshold. However, this was the Baba O'Riley CD so I couldn't deny that.

Drill Workout
400s, 300p, 6 * 50s e/h
5 * 100fwf, 200s hard, 300pwp
5 * 100drag, 200s hard, 300pwp

Good workout. Everything came together well, especially regular kick. Both 200m swims were just under 3 mins.; excellent for me.

Easy spin workout (and then jaccuz) to loosen the legs. Felt good.

21st Annual John Dick Memorial Crusty 50k Run
As planned, this turned into a long workout. I was concerned for days about the predicted 40F temperatures. While perfect to run in, they would melt the hardpack trails into slush. Everything began well (but slow) and I enjoyed the first couple laps with good footing on this pretty 10k course. After two hours the top inch softened and it became a slog. I can deal with this footing but not forever.
The usual cast of muscles began to complain but I kept going because I know their quirks. However, once I got major complaints from unfamiliar ones, it was time to listen. I would have liked to go the 35k that I planned but not today. Also, my cold is still lingering but didn't seem to get better or worse.

Easy spin class.

Was gonna swim but some ceiling junk fell into the pool.
Also, have a small cold that seems to be settling in my lungs. This is really bad news for Saturday.

C • 50K? 6

Took it easy this spin class. No standing as that's how I hurt my knee last week.

Did my typical warmup but skipped the planned drills because the pool chemicals seemed a bit strong and the water was murky. Saw a posted note of acknowledgment about this and reassurance that it is being fixed.

For the past few weeks I've have been turning over an arguably crazy idea to run in a 50k snow race this Saturday. Not as a competitive race but rather as an ultra-long workout. I enjoy running on most types of snow conditions and thought this run might be enjoyable and also push my training. My only hesitation is the injury risks but I feel that my legs are in fairly sound shape so I am going to do it.
I have caveats and alternative goals. If the footing is poor, I'll bail as soon as my body has had too much lateral stress that an eventual injury seems likely. Otherwise, I'll try to go 35K (~21 miles). That will be a great workout and is far enough from the finish that I won't be tempted to try it.

Wanted to get one more snow run in before I begin to rest for race. This was perfect, started at Adler and went around lower IG lap. Experienced all different types of footing. Decision is to go with Icebugs w/ AAs for Saturday.

Nice temps but waited too long to start this run because it got dark in the middle of it. The last couple miles down the DRT were lit only by a small bit of moonlight and I kept sliding off the packed path into the sides and spending too much balance energy. The OS loop is very uneven with all the horse prints. We definitely need some fresh powder.
Regardless of footing, run felt good.