a pleasing run...

Sunday late afternoon:

Finally after DirecTV showed up on the .dot at 4pm and replacing our hd satellite LNB – transponder arm I was able to get out and run my new training programs required 3 mile recovery run just as the sun was setting and the full moon was raising. My legs were tired but I knew I needed to keep this recovery run at a very controlled low HR pace. I ran the easy 3.1 miles in 28:40 with an average HR of 124bpm with a controlled max HR of 130bpm. It’s been quite awhile since I have had to run just a 3 mile run but it felt quite refreshing and stress-free…

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ahhhhhhhhh...

Sunday morning:

Slept in a little bit on before I decided to hop on the new Ridley Dean TT/Tri Bike via the rear wheel Kinetic Road Machine inside the homestead. The night before I had installed my Polar Cadence & Speed sensors which were working properly at that time but did not work at all while I was riding on the trainer…I’ll sort that out at a later date but at least the Polar HR info charted.

I spun some easy gears during the 45 minutes I rode the bike getting used to the feel of this new machine as it felt absolutely fantastic. As my legs were still fatigued from the 2/1 – 10 mile run the day before I didn’t have a lot of energy in my batteries but even while spinning the bike for 45 minutes I could notice a huge difference compared to my old cannondale tt/tri bike. My average HR for the ride was at a low 98rpm with a max HR of 123bpm near minute 37. Few things I noticed to tweek is moving the seat about 5mm forward and lowering the seat nose angle by a few mm’s also…otherwise this bike is dialed in!

Also I watched stage 11 yet again of the 2005 TdF for continued motivation via the dvd player…

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12 weeks till Indy Mini...

I have started my training towards the 12 week Hal Higdon Advanced half marathon training that officially kicked off today for my favorite spring time race...the Indy Mini on May 2nd 2009. Also this is my spring goal race for Team Red Bull where I'm looking to run the half in under 1:37:22. I'm looking forward to the challenge since it really has been some time since I've had a running race goal as 2008 was more of a multisport year for myself.

I have worked on my aerobic running base over the last 5 weeks and feel ready for the next 12 weeks of training towards my goal race!

http://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=44227&posts=10

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Saturday morning:

K and I headed down to Lake Michigan as always for our early Saturday morning long run with our winter training friends. Since themps were to to get near 50 degrees today the lakefront path was swarming with all sorts of people due to the nice weather. The wind was quite brutal out of the SW at a constant 22mph with gusts over 30mph. Kristen started earlier than the group as her schedule had her running 19 miles today as she prepares for the Lakefront 50k on April 4th.

The group started at 8am as K ran 14 miles with them as I headed out on my 10 miler. Since my training plan really starts tomorrow I decided to use todays run as a test 2/1 run. I ran at solid, comfortable pace heading southwards into the strong winds until the turn-around point for myself at the 5 mile point. After I turned around I picked up the pace as a tailwind helped some put by my HR I knew the pace was quicker.

I ended up finished the 10 mile run strongly in a time of 1:25:25 which is a mile pace of 8:32 and an average HR of 138bpm plus a max HR with the last half mile of 156bpm. I negative split the run as you can see below:

1st 5 miles: 43:56 - AHR 133bpm
2nd 5 miles: 41:23 - AHR 144bpm

I felt good out there today as this test helps to boost my confidence for the goal I have set for the Indy Mini in May :-)

Of course afterwards we all went out for a much needed meal at a local establishment named Nookies in Chicago!

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recovery run...

Friday evening:

Simple recovery run since the last time I ran was last Sunday after the doubles weekend. In the neighborhood region I covered 4.1 miles in 37:15 with an average HR of 126bpm as I dodged the puddles of water & ice from the snow melt off during the day...

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it's alive...

The big day arrived as the Ridley Dean was all built-up and ready for fitment at my friend Vinces bike shop VCS. He threw me on the trainer as I worked up a sweat under the shop lights as he dialed in my fitment using the certified FIST fitting technique and years of his knowledge...this is sure one sweet ride!!!

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...since I'm 6'4" I still dwarf the large framed Ridley...they only needed to cut off 2cm off the frameset seat post...

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Can't wait to get this thing outdoors in attack mode via the 1st outdoor TT of the season around here on April 5th :-)

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Obi...

Puppy Obi turned six months old this week :-)

Looky here...

what just arrived...

the next step is in motion...

A shot of the frameset at home before everything went back to the bike shop last night for the build-up today...I didn't have the heart to take off the shipping padding from the frame before I took these photos :-) my digital camera doesn't seem to like the tungsten lighting from the Arri 650 watt source hence why the whites are dingy!!!

Fitment for me on the Dean will take place later towards the weekend so I shall post some photo's of the finished product once it returns home :-)

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lbs class...

Monday evening:

Week three of bike shop Computrainer 90 minute coached workout completed...I had my old shimano 175mm left crank-arm put on the bike and the right side one was still the Grafton 177.5mm crank…it was only for one night. The 8 rider set-up was full with various longer drills, intervals & routines this week being slightly longer yet again to work on base conditioning. I rode 27.5 miles for an average pace of 18.4mph and a max pace of 36.7mph during a spin-up drill. Average HR was at 128bpm with a max HR near the end on an interval of 154bpm. My average cadence was low for me at 88rpm with a max cadence during the spin-up at 156rpm. My baseline watts used for my profile is at 245 with a max class wattage output of 456. I averaged 176 watts during the 90 minute class.

Great class yet again with alot of motivation provided by all...next week the the new bike will be used.

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my polar HR chart from the class
http://www.twodogzdesign.com/cycle09/020209.JPG

a nice hilly run...

Sunday morning 02.01.09:

Kristen & I headed out to Barrington Hills for our 2nd mid-long run of the weekend which is the Home Economist 10.6 hilly miles loop. About 35 runners showed up on this slightly warmer day (32*) as we all headed out at 7am. I ran with K and a group of 10 until about mile 3.5 when Kristen said go ahead as I saw a group of three of my track friends up the road about a mile in front of us...the carrot was in place for the slow reel in. I ended up finally catching them with 1.5 miles left in the run as I ran it in to the finish with my friends. My run time was 1:38:14 for a mile pace in the hills of 9:15 with an average HR of 132bpm and a max HR climbing a rolling hill during the chase down of 147bpm...the aerobic base training continues!

I was amazed at how well I felt just 24 hours after running 13 miles down by the lakefront...Kristen felt the same way :-)

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the call...

I just got the call the ceramic BB & SRAM cranks are in the shop...drop-off is tomorrow for the Ridley Dean build-up!!!

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a great day for a run...

Saturday morning 01-31-2009:

As we usually do K & I headed down to Lake Michigan to get in the long training run for the week. We met up with all our friends at 8am so it wasn’t an early for day for us this week as K only needed to run 12 miles this week and I bumped it to 13 miles. Since it was nice & warm out when we started at 25 degrees a lot of folks from the group showed up today but the winds were quite brutal out of the SW at 20mph with 30mph gusts…brrrrrr!

I ran about the first 1/3rd of a mile with everyone and as they headed northwards I went southward decided to tackle to headwind start on for the first 6.5 miles to get that challenge out of the way. Since I’m still in a mid-mileage aerobic base training phase I needed to keep my HR in a certain BPM zone. At the turn-around I stopped for 45 seconds to take a couple thermolyte tabs, one eGel and hydrate properly with my 1st endurance EFS & Carboload fluids from the fuel belt and off I set back northward 6.5 miles. The funny thing I have noticed about running long on the lakefront path is even when you think you should have a tail-wind the wind is still hitting you hard because of all the big buildings funneling strong winds out of the west at you…it builds character!

I ended up running the 13 miler in 1:55:58 which is an aerobic building mile pace of 8:55 with an average HR of 140bpm. I have been working on my stronger finishes on these mid-distance runs so I maxed my HR at the end at 153bpm plus I turned a negative split of just over two minutes on the final 6.5 miles…the run felt great :-)

Afterwards is was off to our favorite breakfast place, Schuba’s http://www.schubas.com/ on Belmont for a great feast for all :-)

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