a snowy lakefront run...

Saturday morning:

K & I headed down to the lakefront cautiously as we were in a middle of a Chicagoland snowstorm. We were happy to see 5 other diehard friends from the group show-up as the lakefront path was also plowed & salted north of Fullerton to past Foster. I ran with the ladies northward for the opening 4 miles and at the turn around I picked up the pace as I informed them I'd meet them at the cars at the end...got in 8 miles in 1:14:48 as my average HR was 130bpm.

- 1st 4 miles: 40:04 – AHR 123bpm
- 2nd 4 miles: 34:43 – AHR 143bpm – MHR 148bpm

The running went great with the lakefront being very majestic with all the fresh snowfall. Afterwards a few of us went out for a much needed breakfast!

b

It's has been ordered...

The dream TT/Tri-bike frameset has been ordered thru my friends bike shop locally last Thursday...once it arrives it's will be built up with the components and I will be fitted at the shop properly - it's a Ridley Dean frameset!

Below are a couple pictures for visual reference :-)

some more pic's for a visual reference thru this link:http://flickr.com/photos/jasonwg/2756279781/in/set-72157606689794095/

below is an example only of a finished product Ridley Dean TT/Tri-bike for reference to what she might look like all put together...my components will be different and I will have a training wheelset instead is the biggest difference...it sure is a sweet bike!

Well here the good news that I have been waiting to talk about...this bike should help take me to the next level of cycling competition via Time Trials & Duathlon/Triathlons in 2009 and beyond :-)

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the sloth runner...

Thursday evening:

When out for a run later with all good intentions of it being 7 miles but I only got in 5.6 miles in 53:35 AHR 122bpm because I was just plain old tired like a "Sloth" and couldn't find the groove...

at least the run is in the training books though ;-) wore the Puma trail shoes once again...

b

ok so here's the scoop on the pic's...

Tuesday evening:

We received about an inch of fluff snow during the evening as it was continuing during my 6 mile run in the neighborhood region. I decided to run in my recently sheet metal screws addition to my Puma trail shoes. The added traction was great to say the least as I have provided a couple photo's below. I just need to add a few more near the front of the shoe for the ultimate traction in these given conditions.

I covered the 6 mile run in 54:05 for an average 9 minute mile pace plus average HR of 130bpm. I broke the run up into 3 loop sections; 2.4, 2.4 and 1.2 miles. The first loop is my warm-up time and I slowly picked up the pace after that point. Details below:

1st) 2.4 miles - 22:16 - AHR 124bpm
2nd) 2.4 miles - 21:41 - AHR 133bpm
3rd) 1.2 miles - 10:08 - AHR 138bpm

I gotta tell you this was one of my best run's in a very long time plus it was very peaceful outside with the light snow falling...

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a test...

more info to follow later...

cycling in the home...

Monday night:

With a Christmas gift certificate I had I purchased the comprehensive 12-hour DVD set of the 2005 Tour de France via amazon.com as a motivator to get back on the indoor trainer to get in some base training while stuck inside during the cold months of winter in our region. So I decided to get on with the bike training and through in the first DVD in the player and off I went riding with the two floor fans going to keep me cool…

I rode my tri-bike via the Kinetic rear wheel trainer for a 30 minute recovery ride and covered 7.3 miles at an average pace of 14.6mph. Average HR was 100bpm with a max HR of 126bpm as my average cadence was spot on at 92bpm.

It was a nice & relaxed ride as I watched the TV programming…

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weekend of running...

Saturday morning:

K & I headed down to Lake Michigan to get in a long training run as she is preparing for the Lakefront 50k in early April 09. She ran a total of 14 miles that morning with a few of her friends also running the event. I choose a randow distnace of 11 miles since I'm in a base building phase of conditioning.

The first 3 miles I ran northward on the lakefront path with Kristen and Molly as they then turned around to pick-up their other training friends by Diversey Harbor. I continued to head northward as I picked up the pacing before turning around at the 4 mile point and thats when you felt the strong wind coming off frozen Lake Michigan out of the ESE direction. As I reached the startpoint by mile eight I notched out the pace for the last three miles to see how my body would react to the slight speedwork. I was able to run the last three miles in 23:59 feeling strong at the end...

So I completed the 11 mile run in 1:37:34 which is an average mile pace of 8:52 plus average HR of 135bpm plus max HR at the end of 157bpm. I felt good to get in a mid-distance training run during this cycle as I can still tell my body is slightly out of condition due to the December down time from exercising plus the additional body weight I'm carrying ;-)

Afterwards K & I headed out to one of our favorite breakfast joints in the city for a healthier meal :-)

Sunday mid-morning:

Went out for a recovery 4 mile run in the neighborhood region to see how my legs felt a day after 11 mile run. Felt ok as I forced myself to run at a conservative pace to help promote recovery. Finished the 4 in 36:55 with an average HR value of 124bpm

It felt good to get in the second run of 2009 in the training books for base conditioning :-)

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A review of the 2008 racing season...

In 2008 I had a very busy season of racing whether it was a running race, a triathlon or duathlon and a few of my favorite cycling time trials thrown in there for good measure. Below is a listing in order of what I raced in 2008:


March Madness Half Marathon 3.16.08
BoA Shamrock Shuffle 8k 3.30.08
Athens Ohio Marathon 4.06.08
Single Bong Cycling 20k Time Trial 4.13.08
Indy Mini Half Marathon 5.03.08
Galena Duathlon 5.17.08
Soldiers Field 10 Miler 5.24.08
BAAC Run for the Arts 10k 7.04.08
Whirlpool Steelhead Ironman 70.3 08.02.08 (turned Duathlon)
BoA Chicago Distance Classic 8.10.08
Pleasant Prairie International Distance Triathlon 8.17.08
ABD Fall Fling 10 Mile Cycling Time Trial 10.04.08
BoA Chicago Marathon 10.12.08
ING New York City Marathon 11.02.08
Tecumseh Trail Marathon 12.06.08

That's alot of racing for me but I enjoyed each event as they all pose their unique challenges. Below I have picked my "Favorite Top 3 Races of 2008"

1. ABD Cycling 10 mile Time Trial:
   http://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=41873&posts=15
2. Tecumseh Trail Marathon :
   http://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=43202&start=1
3. Pleasant Prairie Olympic Distance Triathlon:
   http://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=39787&posts=12

Thanks for stopping by to read about my year in review :-)

Here's to a great 2009 season to all !!!

Brian

First run of 2009 is in the books...

Ran down by windy Lake Michigan this early morning...

in between trainings...

Tuesday mid-morning:

As I enjoyed a last couple of v-days off from work (use them or lost them policy) earlier this week I got myself outside on on a picture perfect day Tuesday for my last run in the training books for the 2008 season. I decided just to run a "whatever" route in our region to just enjoy the day and the run felt really good with that mindset :-)

I covered 6.2 miles in 54:51 for a mile pace of 8:51 and an average HR of 137bpm. I picked in the pace each mile after I used the 1st three miles as a warm-up so in the last mile I acheived my max HR at 150bpm.

It was a perfect way to end the 2008 training season!

b

Some Obi pic's when we had snow...

Here's some pictures of puppy Obi at 20 weeks old enjoying the snow day a couple Fridays ago when we did have snow in our region...he likes chasing Kristen around the yard :-)

a long run sunday...

Sunday morning:

I headed out to Barrington Hills (Home Economist) with Kristen as she needed to get in a long run for her early spring 50k race training. The temps were cold and very windy with lots of frozen mini-ponds covering the county roads of Barrington from the previous days rain and snow melt-off. K controlled the pace perfectly as we covered the 10.6 mile hilly course in 1:44:25 for a mile pace of 9:51. My average HR was at 127bpm with a max climbing a headwind hill at 141bpm.

My running conditioning has dropped dramatically as this is only my second run since Tecumseh on 12.06.08...but this break from running is much needed as my body needs to heal from the 2008 racing season ;-)

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