Posts Tagged ‘run’
The group I am training with initiated a fun holiday run challenge. The rules are simple, run the eight days of the holiday break. Christmas through new years and earn points. The point system is easy to follow and it has kept me moving so far. You get a point for every mile. 1 point for every full hour, another point if the temp is below freezing, and another point for each mile run over threshold pace. So far, I only have 13 points, but it is more fun than anything.
Christmas night at 7pm, I figured I had to get out and run. So I put on the winter gear and braved the 12 degree temp (1 bonus point). The snow was blowing sideways so I wish I had some goggles on. I saw nobody else out at that hour except for one coyote who was running along side me, (but much faster) and about 30 feet away. I only stayed out for 2 miles, but with the bonus, it still got me 3 points.
The next day was much better as I got in a real run. 8 miles with 3 of them above threshold pace and the sun was out. Temp was still below freezing, so bonus for me.
In the mix of all this, I still need to find time to visit my favorite denver yoga studio, Qi (seasons fit). My favorite is spin yoga classes. A good mix of intense spin followed by a 30 minute yoga flow. To me, it is the perfect way to spend an hour.
Right now the temp is 33 degrees, maybe I’ll wait a little longer before going for a run so I can get that extra bonus point 
This is was the first time in my life I was actually able to finish a run on the treadmill. Usually I make it about 5 minutes, get bored, then do something else.
It helps that I have a plan I am now following. Todays workout was pretty straightforward and challenging. Actually, I found that doing it on the treadmill was a bit easier to maintain pace than it is outside. Maybe this season I will be able to get more treadmill time in and improve my overall running. Only time will tell.
The workout was a 15 minute warm-up with a couple pickups.
Main set: .5 mile x 1 HR Z4, 3minute recovery. Then 1 mile x 2 (3′) HR Z4.
Cool down.
Total time on the treadmill was 45 minutes and my heart rate was higher than my last outside run of a similar zone 4 workout.
My official start date to outseason training was this monday. And just in time too, I am starting to feel really out of shape.
For the run test, it was a essentially a 5k time trial.
- Distance: 3.03 miles
- Time: 00:25:02
- Pace: 8:16
- LTHR: 175 (my heart felt like it was going to explode for the final mile)
- Vdot: 37
The bike was a 40 minute time trial. I did it last week outdoors and redid the same test on the indoor trainer. I like the outdoor test better because I need to work on my mental focus while on the indoor trainer. That will come in time. My outdoor test results for the bike:
- Distance: 13.3 miles
- Time: 00:41:24
- Speed: 19.3 mph
- LTHR: 160
The silver lining is that I have A LOT of room for improvement.
I just finished a 600m open water practice swim at the Aurora Res. Aurora is great because they actually keep open water swim buoys set up just outside the swim area for racers to come train all summer.
This morning my friend Ali and I headed for the water only to be joined by close to 8 other women. We asked what they were training for and the answer was their own private tri.
I had total appreciation for this for a number of reasons. Often times the entry fee to races precludes people from participating. Often times their schedules or other committments (I.e. Raising children or cleaning houses) might. This group of women said screw all that. They have weekly group trainings with one another at times that work for them. And then a few times a year they stage their races.
It isn’t for sponsorship, or times, or goodie bags. It isn’t even necessarily for the sake of competition. To me it seems it is more for the building of community through common experience. And in this case, it is for the love of the sport, triathlon.
Go Girls!!!!!
Training Log – 06/21/08
Run: 16 miles
Avg Pace: 9:42
Went out for a 14 mile run with runners edge of the rockies (A great training group). The run started real nice and smooth. It is the beginning of the summer marathon training program so there were Read the rest of this entry »
Here I am coming in to the finish line at the 5430 boulder sprint triathlon. Sporting my Terrier Tri suit, this is the last group I trained with while I lived in New York.