Du-Series #4 & MTB

Well, Don and I did the 4th race in the series Tuesday evening. I traded places with a woman on the race about five or six times. She and I finished within seconds of one another. She pushed me harder the entire way. This is why I like to compete even if I'm pretty far from turning in a winning time. Keeping track of times at the Du-Series is kind of a pain. It's done by stopwatch and pencil. I kept my own time on this race and I'm happy I did. I completed it in 1:09:43. Three minutes faster than last year. Any improvement from year to year is worth the training in my book.

I went on an MTB outing with Don last Thursday. It was hot, sweaty, dirty, rocky, hilly and awesome! I really enjoyed it even though I suffered through some of the hill climbs, had two flats, and slid down the ridges several times. MacGruderville as it's called, is a privately owned piece of land with eight miles of trail hacked out of the Mark Twain Forest. It's pretty challenging, and graded as "Intermediate" on an MTB website. I'm still working on my proficiency on these single-track routes. They are way different than road riding. One of the coolest things about this place is the owner has a cookout/campfire for post ride comradery. Beer is drunk, food consumed and stories swapped. I got in very late and stayed the night with my folks, which was a bit of a bonus in itself. Thanks for the invite Don.

Du-Series race #3

This evening I finished my first multi-sport event this season. The local multi-sport club runs a series of races that become progressively more difficult. It's a series of four races in this format: #1-run 2mi, bike 11, run .5; #2-run 1, bike 11, run 1; #3-run .5, bike 11, run 2; #4-run 2, bike 11, run 2. I guess I did ok, unofficial time was 55 minutes and change. I don't really have anything to compare it with. I did race #4 last year and will do it again this year if I can.

I've been varying my swim workouts the last couple of weeks. I'm trying to get my endurance built up for the 1500. I'm toying with doing a 1 mile open water swim race. I jacked up my ankle recently, and I'm hoping it'll pop back into place soon.

Bringing it together

This spring has gone pretty well so far. I completed a 10 mile race and exceeded expectations with an average 8:33 pace. I set a couple of goals for myself early this year that I hope to meet before this coming November. I wanted to go under 24 minutes in a 5k and under 50 minutes in a 10k. I met both of those goals in consecutive weekends this month. I ran a 22:53 in the Kitchen Run and I ran a 48:06 on a fairly short Habitat for Humanity 10k. I feel best about the 10k. Mostly because it comes on the heels of a couple of poor training runs. I credit the speedwork I've been doing with the improvements. I also credit my good friend Don. He has inspired me to get faster after he won a local 10k and won his AG in the Kitchen Run.

I've noticed quite a return in shoulder strength lately. This seems to be how it goes; work on strength and make small gains, plateau, the leap forward. I just had one of those leaps about a week ago. Lifting a 10# dumbbell to 90 degrees was a struggle and I couldn't quite get it there. Then in a weeks time, I can raise it over my head. Next I'll test myself with a 15#. I'm very pleased with where I'm at in this regard.

I had a breakthrough in swimming recently. I don't know what happened, but last week I was doing 400y repeats. Every time I began a set, the first 50 was just so smooth. Now I'm working on maintaining that feel for further. Tonight I was able to sustain it for 100+. Smooth is fast...

SORT certifications in a couple of weeks. I'll be happy to get this behind me. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to do it this year. I was fully prepared to wait until the fall before I might be capable of the upper body strength required to rappel and complete the Obstacle course. I'm very pleased that I'll be able to certify with the rest of the guys.

Trying to make it fun

I've taken a new approach to training lately. After a really long road ride and a couple of very fun and challenging MTB outings, I have a new philosophy. Training to race is one thing, but training to enjoy the activities is another. I'm choosing the latter. I think it's paying off too. Rather than rote obedience to a training program, I've been picking activities that still train my muscles, but are just as much fun as a race.

Last year at this time I had a 5k and a sprint tri behind me. So far this year, I have a 10k. I wish I had made a commitment to the Claremore race, but I really didn't have much confidence in my bike fitness in time to make that commitment. Turns out I probably had the stuff to do well anyway. I was going to do the Panera Bread 8k, but the weather was so crappy, I ditched it. I've been training for a 10-miler and did a long run with that end in mind. The 10 should be a fun event. A couple of friends are doing it too.

Swimming is very good lately. The class and clinics I've done since I closed out last season are really paying off. I swim just once a week, sometimes two. I've gotten so much more efficient that 2k doesn't make me as tired as 1k did last year.

I'm over this neck surgery for all intents and purposes. I'm still strengthening as much as I can stand. It's been discouraging at times, but for the most part, I have the strength I need to do most things I like.

I've set a couple of goals; <24min. 5k, and <50min. 10k. I also want to do the long course ConcreteMan or another Olympic distance race. If that goes well, who knows, 70.3 next year?

Pitter Pat 10k and O-Course

Well, I'm getting back into it. Today I ran my first 10k race since before I was injured. I ran with my good friend Don. He has acted as kind of my pace-car in a couple of races now. He's a great running partner, he can tell when to push you a little and when to back off. I was very close to a PR, even though that wasn't my goal. I set out to finish ~9'/mile. I ended up at about 8:20/mile. The race was an enjoyable two loops through mid-town Springfield beginning at Drury University.

With SORT certifications only a few weeks away, I've been dreading getting back on the Obstacle Course. My shoulder is still weak, but getting stronger. I've been pretty faithful about doing my workout/therapy. I finally ran the entire course Thursday. I didn't time it, but I think it was probably an okay time considering. I was going to put it off as long as possible and do it in September, but I think this little test has encouraged me to go ahead and do it when the rest of the team certifies. The monkey bars was the obstacle I was most concerned about completing injury free. It was no problem. The rope climb did give me a little trouble, but that had less to do with my shoulder than it did with my timing. I think I'll be good to go when the time comes.

I think I've got my race season figured out. Multi-Sport; Maybe an indoor in Lebanon next weekend, maybe some Du-Series events May-June, Willard in June, Concrete Man in July (Olympic if training goes well), Republic in August, then we'll see. Foot Races; 10 mile Frisco run in April, Sunshine Run 10k in October, Bass Pro 1/2M in November, and Turkey Trot 5k also in November

Another swim clinic video

I wanted to see how I looked after the 8 week swim class I just took so I took the video clinic again. I think I'm a little faster. My stroke is a little cleaner, but my kick needs some real attention. Regardless, I'm way ahead of where I was last year at this time with regard to swimming. I think from here on out 1 mile swim workouts are going to be the rule, just like 3 miles is the rule for running and 15 miles is the rule for cycling. The top video is the newest, and the bottom is from last August.

Season starting to gel

Ahhh, a photo from a better time. A 10k PR. Two weeks later I was all jacked up.

Well, after kind of feeling around the edges for what my season might be like this summer, I think some of what I'm going to be able to do is starting to gel. I'm looking at a 10k in March or April, I can't remember when. The Claremore race is out, but Willard is still in play. Concreteman Olympic distance..... maybe. I will most likely do the Republic Tiger-Tri and Branson Mountain-Man races if I can get some quality bike time. I'm waiting until after my next follow-up to make some of these decisions. Strength continues to return. I have to credit my PT with setting me up with a program that I can do at my own gym. As I progress, I still struggle with the reality of how slowly this is happening. Right now, I'm three months post-op, and looking forward to seeing where I'll be at the end of May.