The Perfect Triathlon: Run, Ski, Nap

Run: Treadmill, 92 mins., 8 miles, comfortable 7:45/mile
Ski: Skate, 1 hr, 15 mins.
Nap: 45 mins.
(the perfect triathlon!)

This morning was another treadmill day, albeit a little later than yesterday. I got in a very comfortable 8 miles at a gentle pace. My approach to early season training for ultramarathons is to double up the weekend runs and try to make them of the longer sort. That is not to say that I think 12 and 8 miles are long runs, but they are a nice progression to the 20 and 30 mile Saturday and Sundays I will be doing in a few months.

Having said that, I did prolong my work out a bit today by eating a quick breakfast (freshly baked bread in the form of french toast - thanks Kelly) and heading directly over to Pineland to meet the most excellent skier/ultramarathoner, James Demer, for some skate skiing. As I was rushing out the door I could not find my keys so I grabbed the spares and headed out. Upon arriving at Pineland I went to get my skis and poles out of my Thule roof box and realized that the key to the box was with my other key set. So, no skis. I also had no wallet nor money to rent skis so I went looking for James hoping he had an additional pair skis to lend me. Like myself, his box is full of gear (I always have a couple pair of classic skis, my skate skis, and Riley's little skis). So we set out skiing, me in his well-waxed racing skates, for some snowy skiing. The conditions were a little slow due to all the "wet" snow we had recently and the higher temps (near mid-30s), but this gave us quite a workout and a great opportunity for me to really work on my technique. We skied about 1 hr. 15 mins. before I had to head home to take over kid watching duty for Kelly. She was going to spend her afternoon at Maine's Democratic Caucus (won by Obama!). The rest of the afternoon went well with Quinn and Riley taking long naps (I also got one in, which is very rare but welcome, as I fell asleep reading to Riley. Gotta love afternoon naps!

Treadmill and Pulks

Today was a great day. I awoke early and hit the treadmill and got in 12 miles. My goal was to get my run in and join my family for breakfast, but I was a little too slow for their hungry bellies. The run was good but I was slow to get going. I think I was still asleep the first couple miles as my brain tried to catch up with my body. I have experienced this feeling a number of times on early morning runs - fuzzy vision and a disbelief of what you are asking of your body. But soon enough the blood sugar rises and you know the only way to finish is to accept what you are doing and look for the good. All in all I felt strong and got in a good run.

Run stats: Treadmill, 12 Miles @ 7:45 per mile

Around mid-morning we all headed out for some snow shoveling and post-storm clean-up. Kelly pulled the kids around the yard in the toboggan while I did the chores. Around 10 AM Boo Boo showed up for her day with Riley. Boo Boo had got Riley and herself tickets to Disney's Princesses on Ice. So after Riley left, Quinn headed off to Pineland with Mom and Dad for some Nordic Skiing. After all the snow we just got, it would have been a shame to not take advantage of it. We rented a pulk (sled) to pull Quinn around the trails. Things went as planned as he fell asleep 10 minutes into the adventure and slept almost the entire two hours we were out there. Pulling a pulk is definitely adds another level of fitness to cross country skiing, so to all my fitness buff childless friends, feel free to borrow my kids. Just let me know.

Ski stats: 2 hours \ Oak Hill Loop and Campus Loop \ Handicapped by ~ 35 pounds of child and pulk \ best time skiing all year

Recovery and treadmill

Monday:
Recovery from Sunday's race

Tuesday:
Treadmill / 6 miles / 46 minutes / 7:40 pace / no HR data

Wednesday:
Treadmill / 5.5 miles / 42 minutes / 7:38 pace / no HR data

Monday I awoke to some tight hip flexors from Sunday's race. I was quite happy with my performance and bore the soreness with some pride knowing I gave the roads of Cape Elizabeth all I had. I took the day off for some recovery. Funny enough my left knee, the one that has been bugging me for a couple weeks felt the best it has in weeks, and it is still feeling great.

Yesterday and today I hit the treadmill in the evening. Both runs were at a nice pace and all felt well. There is still some tightness in the groin area and my right knee (yep, the other knee) seized up about four miles into the run and was quite painful for a half mile but it worked it's way out as quickly as it came. So all is well again.

I thought I would include a Google Earth map (what a cool program) from Sunday's race. Thanks for the help Jamie. I was having an issue running the program and saving images but realized I needed to update my graphics driver (lost when I blasted my laptop a couple months ago). Now I am ready to go. I also wanted to throw out a big thanks to James Demer for volunteering at Sunday's race. Thanks for the flag work, James!

One more thing. I recently finished a work of fiction on the sport of biathlon, which unfortunately is woefully unappreciated in this country. It is called "A Medal of Honor" and can be found at L.L.Bean. I'm not plugging my company, this is truly about the only place you can find this book. This is no indication of how good this book is, only how ignorant this country is of the sport of Nordic Skiing and Biathlon. Check it out. Good stuff. One interesting thing about the author, John Morton, is that he is a XC ski trail designer and is the designer behind the trails at Pineland.

Saturday:
Treadmill
10 Miles
1:17:00, Pace: 7:42

Sunday:
Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic
1:04:55 , 6:30 pace
Elevation Gain/loss +547/-600 (MotionBased stated +982/-1022 but that seems a little much)
Avg. HR 179 bpm
Max HR 191

Friday night did not go down as I expected. I ended up working late, the weather turned foul, and I slept in my own bed. I had planned on joining Jamie in Cape Code for the Cape Cod Fat Ass 50K. Things didn't work out for me but Jamie soldiered on without me and did fantastic. Hats off to him. I ended up hitting the treadmill mid-day on a beautiful day. I was responsible for watching Riley so my choice was treadmill or no run. Treadmill won. I ended up getting in 10 miles at a moderate pace of 7:42.

This morning I made the decision to run the Cape Elizabeth 10 Mile Mid Winter Classic. The weather was fantastic with temps in the mid-30s and negligible winds, unlike last year's brutal conditions. My race went well despite the dual untied laces, which did not slow me down. My splits were positive, but very close. My fastest mile was the first mile at 6:26, which shows my inexperience given all my time off from road racing. Mile 6 was my slowest mile at 6:39. The ups and downs on this course are unrelenting, as is evident in the elevation profile to the right. The hills start in miles 2-3 and miles 8-9.5 are all uphill. Luckily we were spared the traditional headwind during the last couple miles which probably helped set PRs and course records. I felt good during the run despite the fact that none of my training has included speed workouts. My average heart rate was 179 bpm, but often hit the low to mid 180s and even 191 on the last hill, just 2 beats shy of my max. Today's time was good enough for my best time in three tries at this course. My first attempt was in 2005 with a time of 1:07:00 and last year was second in 1:08:22. So I ran almost three minutes faster this year than last. And given this course is the only 10 mile course I have ever run, this one was a PR. Hats off to Erik Boucher and the Maine Track Club for great post-race eats. But the pizza there was not enough to keep us from stopping at the new and improved Portland Pie Company (new as of Thanksgiving). Great new location and great pizza.

Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't thank the great water boy at mile 5 for the quality H2O. Thanks Jamie!

Free at last, free at last!

I freed myself of my desk today and went for a run around South Freeport. Given the amount of work my team has I felt guilty, but the weather was just too nice to ignore and I haven't been out for quite some time. Despite the guilt, the run was fantastic. Tom joined at Noon and we ran a slightly modified 4th of July L.L.Bean 10K route in a nice 46:59, a 7:42 pace. The couple miles that the battery of my GPS lasted recorded a heart rate in the mid-140s.

The weather and work the rest of the week leads me to start mentally preparing to be back on the treadmill tomorrow and Thursday night. Get it where and when you can!

Conditions: Sunny, mid-30s, no wind
Time: 46:59
Pace: 7:42
HR: Mid to high 140s

Trading spaces with my wife

Sunday:
Treadmill / 7 miles / 53 minutes / 7:34 pace / no HR data

Monday:
Treadmill / 6 miles / 47 minutes / 7:50 pace / no HR data

Kelly, my wife, has really stepped up her running lately. She's gotten motivated to tackle another fall marathon . This will be her third but first since our son Quinn was born. So now we are really bartering for running time. This usually means I get the late shift. Last night I got in a nice run after a somewhat humdrum day which was supposed to be about tackling home projects but I ended up creating more work than I solved (be careful to stay on the rafter when walking around your attic - ceiling drywall does not do well when subjected to 158 lbs of pressure). My knee is still a little sore but I am now focusing my rolling on the outside of my leg both above and below the knee.

Also of note last night was that we watched a pretty neat documentary on two guys who crossed the US on Segway. I work with a guy who know the filmmakers and he asked me to check it out and give him an objective view point. The movie is called "10 MPH". By signing up at an affiliated website, you can download or watch the flick for free. Or queue it in your Netflix. It paints a fun portrait of our still great country and has some great tunes.

Tonight I hit the treadmill again for a decent run. Sometimes I just don't feel like running, and tonight was one of those nights. My legs were sloppy and I just wanted off. However I did manage 6 miles and sometimes it is these runs we force ourselves to do that pay off big in the end.

This weekend's run in Cape Cod (Fat Ass 50K) is still up in the air as Jamie and check out health and overall status to run 50K. If we do go, I am ready for a great time!

Pineland XC and a run

Today I was fortunate to get a "two a day" workout in. This morning my family headed over to spend the day at Pineland Farms to partake in the Winter Carnival being hosted there. I attended a ski waxing class while my kids headed over to the sledding hill for some fast and furious downhill time on plastic discs. After my class I headed to the waxing room and applied what I learned and then took my "new" skis out on the wicked fast snow we had this morning. My skate skiing is coming along, thanks largely to Monday's clinic and time on my skis. I got in a little over two hours of skiing on the River Loop and Gloucester Hill trails and enjoyed every minute of it. It is definitely nice to get a sweat going and a workout from something other than running some times. My kids also enjoyed their time on skis and on the carriage rides.

A couple hours after mid-day I was responsible for bringing Riley and Quinn back home for nap time while Kelly hung out with her Dad for some classical skiing. This worked out great as the kids were asleep in the car before we even got away from Pineland. I took advantage of this kid downtime when I got home by jumping on the treadmill for a 7-mile run which I completed in about 55 minutes. It is amazing how much a good movie will take away the pain of a hot run when you are tired. I am currently watching "Saving Private Ryan" on my runs and the battle scenes get the heart rate up and mind focused away from the whir of the treadmill belt. I felt good running with the exception of my outer left knee. Since my ski outing Monday, my knee has been tender to touch in a very localized area. I believe it is the attachment point of my IT band so I have been focusing my stretching and rolling on my IT. Hopefully this will help. I'll let you know.

And here's my To Do list for this upcoming week: check out flights to WS100 (!) and send in my cash for the Vermont 100.