"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went" - Will Rogers

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Corraled...


Brrr...

The girl's...


It's cold outside...L to R; Kristen, Bridget, Julia, Hannah and Chris

Shuffle bib for b...


While commuting downtown in traffic...

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Summer Olympic bid...



K power expo shoppin...





ChiTown movie shoot...


K is out on the lakefront path running eight so i strolled to the coffee shop for some java by the set and i found out their shooting a movie about Dillinger, a chicago gangster from the 1930's...main actor - JOHNNY DEPP

it's cold outside...

Saturday morning:

I decide this wintery Saturday morning to spin every so easily via my tri-bike on the Kinetic trainer in the house for 40 minutes time. I spun some really easy gears to flush out the "dead" feeling in my legs to prepare them for tomorrow Shamrock Shuffle 8k plus 3 miles for 8 toatal. On the bike I covered 11.3 miles in that time frame with an average HR of recovery lower 103bpm plus my average cadence was 92 revolutions per minute (rpm).

It's cold outside but at least the sun is out...

b
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Also keep an eye on my blogspot tomorrow as I attempt to post up some pictures from the Shamrock Shuffle 8k weekend...

Friday, March 28, 2008

1000 meters done with...

Thursday late evening:

Thursday evening I heading over late to the health club to get in my FIRST scheduled 1k repeats for the day as the club was pretty empty due too the late season snow falling outside. I was to have run these five 1k repeats in a time of ~4:03 with a 400 meter walk/jog recovery in between each one. Below is my repeat time with average and max HR values:

1k or 1000 meters - 4:04 - AHR 148bpm - MHR 155bpm
1k or 1000 meters - 4:02 - AHR 147bpm - MHR 153bpm
1k or 1000 meters - 4:02 - AHR 150bpm - MHR 155bpm
1k or 1000 meters - 4:01 - AHR 149bpm - MHR 156bpm
1k or 1000 meters - 4:02 - AHR 150bpm - MHR 156bpm


I ran on either a .5 and/or 1 degree incline the whole 6.2 mile distance with w/u, then repeats/recoveries and c/d in 53 minutes flat plus total overall average HR was 132bpm. I felt quite good during my last big FIRST training workout session before the marathon in 9 days time frame. About is a bonus techy graph as you can see I just about bounced my HR on the low end of my AT range...

b

spun done...

Tuesday evening:

Tuesday night was the last session of the 6 week bike training program that I signed up for at a local bike shop in our area which was round number two for me this winter season. I provided a link here to Village CycleSports website that has detailed info about all their winter program courses: http://villagecyclesport.com/ and I have a also provided a link to the CompuTrainer website which is the equipment they use for this training:

The class I’m taking on Tuesday nights is know as "@threshold" which is a 90 minute training program focusing on raising your cycling threshold level with four - 4 minute 90 to 120% repeats thrown in throughout the 90 minutes and a couple 16 minute plateau tempo sessions near the end that ranged from 90% to 115% of your current cycling ability wattage which mine tested six weeks ago at 282 watts.

I focused on cadence the whole ride because the wattage rating changed much too quickly and over a larger number span. Since you do not shift during this class its easier to focus on this 100%. In the 90 minute class I averaged a perfect cadence of 89 rpm with my max being 132rpm during a "stomp" at the end of the first plateau (max wattage then at 596) plus my average HR was 122bpm with a max ride HR on one of those 110% plateau sections was 152bpm. My mileage covered during this session was 27.2 miles for an average rate of speed of ~18.1mph. My Polar speed transmitter was in-consistant so don't follow the graph on that detail Above is my usual techy graph for your viewing pleasure from my last class session.

That sure was a great 6 week cycling session of CompuTrainer classes so all together I had 12 weeks of high quality cycling classes since the first week of this new year...

b

Thursday, March 27, 2008

germs all around...

Monday evening 3.24.08:

Ok so right after work I walked across the street from our office to our health club to get in my scheduled FIRST tempo run in for the day on the treadmill. For some reason the club was packed at 5pm, must have been all those folks feeling really guilty for enjoying all the Easter food & candies plus the place was like a sauna in the fieldhouse where all the equipment is located (ya know b doesn’t like heat & humidity while training and or racing).

The Furman Institute Marathon training program FIRST doesn’t really have much of a taper compared to more traditional training programs as John P verified a few days ago in my blog. So today’s run was to be 6 miles total with the first 2 miles at warm-up pace then right into a 3 mile tempo at an approximate ~7:14 pacing and then a one mile cool-down. Below is my tempo time with average & max HR values:

3 mile – 21:22 – 7:07 pace – AHR 147bpm – MHR 153bpm

My total run time for the 6 was 48:25 with an average HR of 134bpm. I ran the first 3 miles at a one degree incline then the next two miles the incline I varied it other from zero to .5 to 1 degree often and the last cool-down mile I ran at a one degree incline. The run went very well but the only thing that affected me was the temperature in the health club…below I describe the reason I couldn’t use the oscillating fan in front of the treadmills…

When I first got in the club my favorite treadmill was taken so I hopped on the one right next to it thinking that the person on the one I like would not be running far as most people do not at our health club. But that was not to be the case as I started my run on the ‘mill and then I noticed the young women on the fav treadmill doing very un-usual things that I have never seen a treadmill runner do before…she was quite obviously suffering from a cold but about every two minutes or so she would either blow her nose into her running singlet and/or into one of the two smaller health club towels she had sitting on the control panel of the machine…grossness indeed but luckily she was not sneezing the germs my way. My marathon taper paranoia set in immediately with my mind thinking the worst thoughts for my own health…hence no fan usage because I didn’t need that stuff forced over my way! After my run I cleaned my treadmill properly as I always do and I speedlined to the men’s locker room to immediately went into the steam room for 12 minutes to try and disinfect my body as quickly as possible and then a hot shower afterwards to make sure…at home I took some extra vit-c along with some extra recovery drink solution…taper paranoia kicked in big time for me last night!

b

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hot off the shipping truck...


My birthday present has arrived...more to follow later.

catchup...

Friday morning 3.21.08:

This morning I did a nice and steady spin in the homestead via my tri-bike on the Kinetic rear wheel risistance trainer. Nothing fancy here just what I call my active level 2 recovery ride for 40 minutes. And my Polar HR monitor decided to finally work correctly today so I have some stat's to report on but I spare you the boring techy graph...

I covered 11.5 miles in that 40 minutes timeframe with an average HR of 106rpm and an average cadence of 89rpm on the pedals. The ride felt good and it was nice to have a gratifying workout after my last two were less than par...

Saturday morning 3.22.08:

After yesterday afternoons heavy spring style snowfall then rain on top of it late in the evening and it returned to snow again this morning I opted for the safe, sure workout routine at the health club this morning by running on my favorite treadmill starting at 7:05am.

The FIRST program wanted me to run a 13 mile LSD run at ~8 minute miles. With the iPod playing I just kept running on the 'mill belt to get this run in the books. I ran on a one degree incline for the whole run duration in 1:43:05 for an average pace of 7:55 per mile and a nice and low HR average in the heat of the health club at 131bpm. I was smooth and constant throughout the run duration.

One thing for sure is I need to retire these Saucony Hurricanes because they no longer provide me with any cushioning because my lower back has been killin me all day now...time to roll in the new Asic Kayano 14's I just purchased today...

On Saturday Kristen & I visited our friends running and tri-shop so I could get some new Asic Kayano 14 running shoes for the marathon in only two weeks time now. By chance they were selling some new 2006 high end tri-suits for $100 so Kristen bought a sweet Ocra Predator 2 suit that originally sold for $380 back then...great deal she got...

Sunday morning 3.23.08:

I headed over to the health club to get in a short swimming workout of 30 various laps in the 20 meter pool. The HC was pretty empty this morning being that it was Easter Sunday. So I completed my 1200 meters in the manner listed below:

10 laps with pull-buoy
5 laps with pull-buoy and hand paddles
5 laps with hand paddles
10 laps freestyle


Felt good to once again get in the pool since a couple weeks have gone by since I last had a swimming workout...

b

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

no top end...

Thursday morning 03.20.08:

Note: I rested from exercising completely on Wednesday to let my body recover...

Ran my scheduled FIRST repeat session in the neighborhood before work, first time since prior to LBCM 2007 that I have run a speed workout early in the morning.


The FIRST program wanted me to run 8 by 800 meters in approximately 3:13 with 90 second recovery after each one so below in what actually happened per repeat with average & max HR values for each:

800 meters - 3:29 - AHR 142bpm - MHR 147bpm
800 meters - 3:23 - AHR 141bpm - MHR 147bpm
800 meters - 3:28 - AHR 139bpm - MHR 146bpm
800 meters - 3:27 - AHR 138bpm - MHR 148bpm
800 meters - 3:34 - AHR 138bpm - MHR 143bpm
800 meters - 3:31 - AHR 138bpm - MHR 144bpm
800 meters - 3:30 - AHR 138bpm - MHR 144bpm
800 meters - 3:30 - AHR 139bpm - MHR 145bpm


One word describes how I felt and did during these repeats...HORRIBLE

Nothing just felt right during this repeat workout session...from my hips down everything was very sore & tight though the whole running session and thats even after a 2.1 mile warm-up portion. Also my breathing was taxed the whole time, my HR values were no where near where they normally are for a repeats session of this sort...crimped about 10 beats lower then where they should have been...and obviously I wasn't even close to hitting my required repeat pace times

Plan and simply my body was exhausted still but I chugged through it all at got in 7.9 running miles for the session...

b

Sunday, March 23, 2008

grrrrr...

Tuesday evening 3.18.08:

Week number 5 of cycling class "@threshold" was on the agenda and my legs were feeling still beat up like a couple of trucks rolled over them during the workday. It was the 48 hours after a tough workout achiness to my legs from the Sunday & Monday workouts. I’m not as young as I used to be so my body’s recovery process is taking a little longer these days.

The "@threshold" class is a 90 minute training program focusing on raising your cycling threshold level with five - 4 minute 90 to 110% repeats thrown in near the beginning of the 90 minutes and a couple of 17 minute plateau tempo session near the end between 95 to 120% of your current cycling ability wattage which mine is tested at 282 watts. So I focused on basic survival in this cycling training session.


Right off the bat during the 12 minute warm-up portion as the percentage got higher on the power scale for myself I could barely turn over the pedals on my bike via my wattage rating so I had our coach turn down my wattage to 220 (wimpy me) which allowed me to spin-out the dead leg syndrome in my lactic acid feeling legs. So finally by minute 27 my legs felt better so I had Coach Tom turn the wattage back to a conservative 250 watts for my training ride which I was able to finish out the class ride duration with no problems.

And I’m sorry to say that I have no high tech info this week also from my "bad" Polar HR monitor since it would not pick-up my heart rate signal from my fully functional transmission chest belt. The only thing that worked on the Polar HR monitor watch was my cadence reading which is provided to us riders on the CompuTrainer projection screen anyways…grrrrr and it wasn’t user error...

I can gladly say that our last indoor cycling class in next Tuesday evening. I’m planning on racing a 20k Cycling Time Trial in Southern Wisconsin on April 13th to test out my winter trained cycling legs…


b

Saturday, March 22, 2008

ouch...

Monday evening 03.17.08:

Right after work last night I went to the health club to get in my prescribed FIRST tempo run for the week on the treadmill. I had on the plate a six mile run with the opening mile being the warm-up and then right into a 5 mile tempo run at an approximate ~7:29 mile pace. My legs weren’t feeling that bad during the day after running a 20.1 hilly LSD run on Sunday morning but that all changed when the belt on the ‘mill started turning…below is my 5 mile tempo time, pace with average HR & max HR info:

5 miles – 36:30 – 7:18 – AHR 140bpm – MHR 148bpm (last qtr mile)

All I can say is…OUCH! The main leg muscles that were screaming were my quads which obviously were tired for the long, hilly run the day before. I was only able to run the first 2 miles at a one degree incline on the treadmill but at mile two I promptly went to ZERO on the ‘mill incline to save my quads from further agony…that helped a lot. My total 6 mile run time was 45:38 with an average HR of 135bpm.

The other thing about last nights run was since I have not run indoors let only on the treadmill indoors for two and a half weeks so it was incredibly hot & humid in the health club last night…I guess that I have already been spoiled to running outdoors in the nice cool weather.

I needed to run that tempo run yesterday because tonight I have my coached cycling class session for 90 minutes @threshold...

b

Friday, March 21, 2008

Past trainings...

Things have been very difficult for me to remain motivated over the last several weeks to continue with my training properly...b

Sunday March 9th:

15 mile lakefront run along Lake Michigan was scheduled to be a FIRST pace of ~8:15 per mile but I upped the pace on this long run because I missed my 10 mile tempo run the week before. I ended up runing the 15 miles in 1:59:31 for a mile pace of 7:58 with an average HR of 141bpm. The run felt strong and well within my LSD HR run zone...

Tuesday March 11th:

@threshold cycling class at the bike shop via the Computrainer set-up week number 4 of 6 total. Solid performance during the 90 minute training session where I covered 27.8 miles for an average pace on 18.5mph. My average HR was 120bpm with a max HR during one of the 14 minute at threshold portions of 143bpm. Cadence average at 90rpm with max cadence at 114bpm to spin out the legs during a recovery portion. Great class session...

Wednesday March 12th:

Ran my FIRST scheduled 10 by 400 meter repeats ~1:35 with 400 meter recovery jog in between for a total of 6.6 miles with w/u & c/d also. Below are my 400 meter times with average and max HR per repeat:

400 meter - 1:35 - AHR 141bpm - MHR 149bpm
400 meter - 1:34 - AHR 140bpm - MHR 151bpm
400 meter - 1:37 - AHR 139bpm - MHR 150bpm
400 meter - 1:34 - AHR 143bpm - MHR 153bpm
400 meter - 1:36 - AHR 143bpm - MHR 153bpm
400 meter - 1:36 - AHR 143bpm - MHR 152bpm
400 meter - 1:34 - AHR 145bpm - MHR 154bpm
400 meter - 1:36 - AHR 144bpm - MHR 154bpm
400 meter - 1:36 - AHR 143bpm - MHR 153bpm
400 meter - 1:34 - AHR 145bpm - MHR 156bpm


Good performance as I ran these outside afterwork in my neighborhood an my Newton Motus+Motion running shoes which I used for the first time since I purchased them awhile back...great shoe!

Friday March 14th:

8 mile tempo run per the FIRST program at a ~8:00 pacing in the neighborhood afterwork in the warmer temps. It was nice to be able to run again outside in longer shorts and a tech long sleeve shirt. Below are my mile split times with average HR per that mile:

1st mile - 7:46 - AHR 128bpm
2nd mile - 7:54 - AHR 131bpm
3rd mile - 7:58 - AHR 132bpm
4th mile - 7:49 - AHR 136bpm
5th mile - 7:49 - AHR 137bpm
6th mile - 7:49 - AHR 139bpm
7th mile - 7:47 - AHR 139bpm
8th mile - 7:40 - AHR 140bpm


Run felt really good as I was constant throughout and able to easily pick-up the pace towards the last couple miles without raising my average HR values too much...great run!

Sunday March 16th:

Once again my last schuduled FIRST 20 mile of this marathon training cycle at an approximate pacing of ~8:15 per mile. I ran 7 miles before the March Madness half marathon then ran the race at a comfortable training pace in the hillyness of Cary, IL...my total 20.1 mile time was 2:43:24 for an pace of 8:07 and a average HR of 141bpm...was very happy with the result of my 5th and last 20 miler of this FIRST training cycle towards the Athens Ohio marathon especially in the hills!

b

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Kirin


Rest in Peace Our Kirin - We miss you dearly...Love you forever - Romy, Kristen and Brian

10.23.1996 - 03.03.2008

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Snow Dog


Last Thursday mid-day Romy the Kuvasz keeps a watchful eye on her brother Kirin the Collie...

Monday, March 3, 2008

Snow dog


Kirin the Collie looking for some fresh snow to eat last Thursday...

Sunday, March 2, 2008

sick of ice...

Saturday morning:

K and I headed down to the lakefront really early this morning to start running our 20 milers at 6:15am. She was running her first 20 miler of her marathon training cycle towards the Athens Ohio Marathon. I was scheduled to run my 4th - 20 miler of my FIRST training cycle at an approximate pace of ~8:30 per mile. K ran with her training friends group as I headed southbound on the lakefront path to the 10 mile turn-around point.

The temps were nice at 27 degrees when we started that early as the winds were out of the WNW at 11mph so that made for a slight tailwind for me on the opening ten miles but I hit the wind the whole way back on the return trip north to close out the long run. The opening ten miles was actually very pieceful and it was a very majestic sunrise this morning over Lake Michigan. The return ten mile trip Northward got almost summer style crowded north of Navy Pier as everyone seemed to want to enjoy this beautiful morning also outdoors.

Below are my ten mile split times with average pace and average HR values:

1:26:08 - 8:36 pace - average HR 130bpm
1:23:49 - 8:22 pace - average HR 139bpm

My total run time for the 20 was almost spot-on at 2:49:58 with an average mile pace of 8:29.5 and average HR of 135bpm & max HR at a half mile to go 149bpm. Even though I did negative split the distance pushing that wind at a quicker mile pace really taxed my already worn-out body. As soon as my garmin 305 & path mile markers showed me I went 20 milers I spotted the watchs and went right into walking mode. I was completed exhaust plus my left heel was killing me signaling me to retire those running shoes fro long LSD runs...

So hopefully these tough training runs will toughen me when it comes to race day!

b