Monday, May 26, 2008

Bolder Boulder Results

Unofficial results from the Bolder Boulder.

Looks like Bolder in Boulder really knows his stuff and missed my finish time by two seconds.

You can check out my splits and race stats.

More information and race report to follow as well as prize distribution.

Thanks for playing.

overall place: 592
division: M41
division place: 10 out of 381
gender place: 546 out of 21620
mile 1: 0:06:02.21
mile 2: 0:06:31.56
mile 3: 0:06:40.20
mile 4: 0:06:35.69
mile 5: 0:06:19.85
mile 6: 0:06:35.35
net time: 0:40:06.05
pace: 6:28 (based on net time)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Bolder Boulder Finish Estimates

Here are the estimates for my 10k finish time. Where is yours?
Times must be submitted by Midnight EST.

JTTriGuy 42:34
Bolder 40:04
Mommymeepa 39:39
TriSaraTops 39:11
JenC 38:59
Mr. Buckeye Runner 38:49
IronEric 37:37

Time to be Bold

Aimee and I have arrived in Boulder and have made it to the HABC with Bolder. We made it down to the race expo, walked around, had a bite to eat then returned to the HABC.

While eating a light lunch I was asked about my best 10k time. I had to look it up from the Cleveland 10k in 2005. My time that year was 39:38. I'm looking to be sub 40 again tomorrow.

Can't wait to publish my finish time. Not matter how I do this weekend has been a lot of fun with friends.

Game On.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Denver Rocks

Being from Cleveland I am supposed to say that "Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Rocks" but this weekend I just can't deny the beauty of Denver. Marc and Gloria have been fantastic hosts as they have shown us some great sights around Denver, Golden, and Red Rock Park. I was feeling a little iffy the first day but some food and rest quickly brought me back to form this morning as we ran a quick 30 minutes and rode the bikes through the Cherry Creek bike path.

They suggested hiking one of the fourteeners and mountin biking Apache Canyon but we saved those attractions for another visit.

Tomorrow we are off to Boulder to begin final preparations for the Bolder Boulder 10k.

Thanks to those that have submitted guesses. Keep 'em comin and I will post the predictions. Unlike the Price is Right rules JenC mentioned the winner will be the one closest to my time, period.

Game On.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Am I Ready to Rumble?

My taper this week has been a good one. I swam on Tuesday and cut it short. I had 6 x 300 intervals alternating easy/hard by 100. After 4 I stopped because I was pushing too hard in order to maintain the hard efforts. Wednesday I ran and it was a good indicator of how the taper was going. I had a 15 minute warmup before five 20 second sprints. I ran two miles as warmup and I still wasn't in Zone 2. The sprints were great and I cooled down on the way home.

Today I rode my bike on the trainer for one hour. It's a little cold here and I didn't want to push the pace too hard if I went outside. Tomorrow we leave for Colorado. The weather is looking to be great for the weekend. Two more easy runs and a some cycling before the race and I will be ready to go.

So far only two people have posted estimates for the Bolder Boudler 10k. I have them posted above. I will add more estimates as they come in.

Next report will be from Colorado.

Game On.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Where did it go?

I'm talking about the weekend. It just flew by before I knew it and I didn't get a post up. So here is a recap of the weekend.

Saturday I had a 3 hour brick.....2.5 on the bike and 30 minutes on the run. The weather was a bit windy but otherwise clear. I kept the ride under control since I blasted myself the prior two weekends. Low to Middle Zone 2 (aerobic) on the bike as I struggled with the wind. The majority of the ride was around 18 - 19 MPH, but if I was even close to riding into the wind I saw speeds drop to 13-15. I just kept the HR steady and just wanted to get the time in on the bike. I needed to save some for Sunday. After 48 miles on the bike I did a quick 4 mile run. It's amazing how great I feel running off the bike lately. My muscles have truly retained the training and they fall into line when I run out of transition.

I ran 7:05's for the first two miles then backed it down to 7:30's on the way back. I needed to keep the heart rate down and not let it get out of zone.

The rest of the day was trying to cut the grass in between the rain and getting pictures of my daughter about to go to senior prom. She looked great with her boyfriend and they had alot of fun.

On Sunday I was a pacer for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. I helped with the second half of the 4 hour group. I had a lot of fun and it felt great helping people reach that sub 4:00 goal. It was very different running a 9 minute pace for 2 hours. My quads are a little sore. They feel like I just busted out a 17:30 5k. I even took a 1.5 hour nap after the marathon. The funny part is the my average HR for the run was 131. about 10 beats below the beginning of Zone 2. Yet my 1 minute recovery on the watch started at 159. The last 400 yards I was so jacked up, yelling at the crowd to cheer for the finishers that my HR must have gone up just because of that. Pacing is one aspect of volunteering that I absolutely love.

So today was a semi-rest day. We slept in and I got in a easy 1 hour spin in the evening. Legs felt good moving in circles instead of pounding pavement. The taper has started for the Bolder Boulder. Will try to stay healthy and get plenty of rest. I'll keep you posted as the rade gets near.

Game On.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Crap......

....it's been a week since I have posted and I really owe some training updates.

Last weekend I had a great ride. I rode the same route Jeff and I did but added some extra miles. I finished the brick with 72 miles on the bike with an average speed of 19.8 MPH. I really like going out and exploring roads on my bike that I pass by in the car. I had perfect nutrition as I tried Hammer Perpetuem for the first time. The calories and electrolyte blend really made a difference from the week prior when I used only gatorade without carbo-pro.

The run portion of last weekends brick was a 30 minute run. I was all fired up and completed by 4 mile route in 28:34. I couldn't believe that I could burn out a 7:08 / mile pace after my ride.

Undoubtedly it was my best brick so far this season.

Sunday's run last weekend was not as good. Between a full tiring day on Saturday and the wet weather on Sunday. We decided to run on the treadmill instead of risking getting sick outside. I only made it one hour of my planned two hour run. My heart rate wasn't getting into my zones and I could tell the legs were still tired.

I spent the past week in Los Angeles for work. I took my swimsuit and running shoes for workouts during the week. I had two spectacular workouts this week. One on the treadmill and one in the pool.

The t-mill workout involved short, fast bursts. Here are the details of the workout:

Run 45 min
After 15 min warm up
10 x 20 sec hard - faster 5K pace - sprints- 10 sec rest
10 min steady Low Zone 2
then 10 x 20 sec sprints/10 sec again
cool down 10 min easy jog

Coach and I are using these short intense sessions as speed and strength work. We have found that my body responds a little bit better to these types of workouts instead of larger repeats like 800 or 1600 repeats. It seemed to help at Columbus Half Marathon.

This was the first time I had done the workout on a treadmill so I was able to control the pace. On the road I ran what felt like faster than 5k pace, essentially run hard. but on the treadmill I set the speed of the belt at a 5:46 / mile pace. I was happy with the speed and being able to complete the entire workout. It was hard and I sweated my brains out.

My pool workout for the week also involved some intensity....

5 x 100 at race pace
500 straight at race pace
5 x 100 at faster than race pace

I hit each of these on the money. I classify my race pace at 1:30 / 100. The 500 straight was completed in 7:22, faster than 1:30. I finished the fast 5 x 100's with an average of 1:25's.

Despite the travel, jet lag, and full days of work I had two great workouts this week.

I'm feeling strong and am getting excited about the Bolder Boulder 10k on Memorial Day. Don't forget to post a finishing time for me. So far JT is the only one to post an estimate. Race t-shirts are on the line here and we can't just give it away to JT by default.

I'll be trying to post each day from now to the 10k so you have some information to go with for your times.

Game On.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Jump On It

Actually the original song is Apache but everyone knows it for the riff...."Jump On It"

Aimee called me specifically to turn the Sirius onto the Sugar Hill Gang's version of the song.

I hope you get a chuckle from these two videos and you get pumped up for this weekends workouts.

Jump On It....err....I mean Game On



Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Two for Tuesday - Bike Routes

A picture, or map, is worth a thousand words. Jeff and I hit the road on Sunday for our long ride. We went through two counties not really knowing where we were going. I had a general idea, knew major street names, kept my bearings. It turned out to be a beautiful ride. My "loop" put us over by 20 minutes but it was a good 60 miles. The elevation chart is the shocker. I don' t know where that peak came from. I don't remember any steep climbs. Of course that incline is over the course of 2+miles.

Map
Elevation (ft)
This second map is a route that Aimee made the prior weekend. She was hoping for an out and back but got to the turn around point much faster than expected. So she had to improvise.....several times. This map is awesome because it shows what she had to do in order to get the time in.


Map
Two great rides and deposits in the training bank.

Game On.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

EOP - Equal Opportunity Poster

For those that have been reading me for a while you know I am an equal opportunity poster. I'm all for the occasional bike porn and even post some hawt females. But I also am considerate towards my female readers as well, remember this? Don't forget to check out this factory stud as well? Plus I had to listen to Aimee rant about how there were no hot male triathletes in the WOMENS issue of Inside Tri.

So I am directing my female readers over to Amanda Lovato's blog for some eye candy ala her husband Michael. Enjoy. Bolder....don't even think about clicking on that link.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Horray Horray.....

it's the first of May. Outdoor ____ing begins today. Insert favorite activity here.


May is going to be an exciting month. So many things going on.


First off, my daughter is graduating from high school. She's been doing very well her senior year and is enrolled at Tri-C for the fall. I'm proud of her recent accomplishments and as always there are high hopes for the future and she plans to study photography.


Secondly, Aimee and I are going to Colorado for Memorial Day weekend. We will be visiting friends in Denver then staying with Bolder in Boulder. The weekend will culminate with the running of the bulls through the streets of Boulder. You may know the event as the Bolder Boulder 10k.


This is definitely a destination event with close to, in not over, 50,000 people participating. I will be there race and try to set a PR for the 10k distance. I am forgoing the Rite Aid 10k the weekend prior so I am fresh for the altitude of Boulder, 5430 feet baby.


Because this is a destination event/race we opted to go all out with the entry and get the ultimate schwag package filled with the following:


  • Short sleeve race shirt
  • Long sleeve race shirt
  • adidas Technical Running shirt
  • Crocs

The real cool thing is that they ship you everything in advance. That's great for people coming in from out of town. The entire package is very cool. Just take a look:







In the tradition of my good friend Bolder, I am offering up schwag for guessing my finish time. Closest to my finish time gets schwag. Doesn't matter if over or under. I haven't decided what to award as a prize, I may have to consult with Bolder about that.



Keep checking back as I will be providing training updates all month. Don't forget to look at past race reports/results either.

Game On