I took 3 weeks off from running after the Columbus Marathon! This is in addition to the biking and swimming that I haven't done since September 13th!
The first 10 days were easy! After that, I was starting to go a little stir crazy and I wonder if waking up at @ 3 am was partly due to not being active? I do realize that I could have done other physical activity but it just didn't happen!!!!!!
Anyway, I'm back at it and I have different goals for all 3 disciplines.
Swam twice this week. I am just working on form and muscle memory so I haven't swam more than 500 yards. I am definitely feeling the improvement but the problem is that as soon as I'm a little short of breath my poor form returns and I too easily become short of breath because I lose my form when I take a breathe. This will pay off though and I know I'm close.
In addition to swimming, I am working out with weight to swim specific exercises as well as counter- swim exercises. I have this book called Championship Triathlon Training. No, I won't ever be a Champion but that doesn't mean that I can't train as one. At times anyway. I digress. So I'm doing exercises that help with the swim but also counter the forward shoulder rotation (and thus rotator cuff injury) that can happen due to all the swimming.
Running is all about speed this winter. I can't run fast for any sustained time and I need to change that. So my plan is to run a 6 minute pace for 2 minute intervals and to increase the amount of intervals I can do weekly. In addition, I will be racing short races that I was introduced to by Steve and his blog. These are Charities Challenge races. They are indoors and involve the 200, 400, 800 and 1 mile runs. I can do this since I have most weekends off now! ;-) My initial plan is to attend all 5 indoor events but either way this should help my speed considerably over the next couple of months.
Biking is all about the base. My bike is set up in the basement. It's football season, the netflix que is updated and I'm ready. It is my biking base that actually hurt me this year because of my focus on the swim and run. Having a good base this winter and then not overdoing the running next spring should make a big difference.
Immediate race plans?
Probably Tri-U-Mah
Highly likely Fargo Marathon
New Bri Tri
Buffalo Olympic
Chisago Long Course
and more!
I was fairly quiet prior about the marathon because I didn't want to have excuses! I wanted to just take what I had and go with it.
Training for this marathon was a bit different then training for my first marathon of the year in May! I had over-trained for Stillwater and was now slightly under-trained for Columbus. So you may (or may not) ask "what do you mean by under-trained Tim"? Well, let me show you! Here are my weekly total miles starting with the week of the marathon (including the marathon).
Marathon week - 30.20
-1 week - 24.61
-2 weeks - 19.20
-3 weeks - 8.00
-4 weeks - 14.24
-5 weeks - 13.10 (this was the half iron distance triathlon)
-6 weeks - 25
Most of the prior weeks were good enough since the miles didn't need to be that high at that time. Things just kept working against me; a little injured from the 1/2 iron, work hours (schedule), a funeral, family schedules and more. I was a bit worried that I was increasing my miles as the marathon was approaching. And even then, I ran less than my plan or else it would have just been too much. So I just made sure to temper my plan so that it tried to resemble a taper.
As you may already know, I will not have work schedule as an excuse anymore. Next Monday I start my new day position. Yes there are on call hours but this is a lot different than my 12 hour, days, eves, nights position. It is M-F days, one night a week on call, one weekend every 4-5 weekends on call. This is going to be great for me, my diet, my family and because of all that, my training. (amongst other important things in my life).
I can't even begin to express how happy I am about this!
I was also actually purposely training @ 10 seconds slower paces for all my runs. But this is not an excuse, it is a positive. Yes, my miles were much less, but my key workouts were phenomenally better. Especially my tempo runs. God, I love tempo runs. When do you feel better or stronger as a runner than after a tempo run?
Both my interval runs and tempo runs were on target. For the next marathon, I'm going to nail these runs and get my miles in as well.
I suppose that I should talk about.....
The Actual Marathon!
I really wanted to run a 4 hour marathon despite my miles, and I had planned on going for it. But I also know that I haven't run a whole marathon without run/walking the last 6-8 miles. So my plan was to run @ 9:15 pace the first 5k, be up to a 9:00 by 10k and hopefully hold that pace, if not actually increase to an 8:45 or 8:50. My marathon pace is suppose to be @ 8:35 based on intervals and tempo runs.
This was a very crowded start which is probably my only complaint regarding the marathon. There was no way for me to get to my pace group that I thought I might join (still not sure about joining a pace group).
The sun was just coming up as the start gun fired.
A few minutes later and I was off. It only took a mile before I was warming up but I waited until mile 2 to get rid of my sweatshirt contribution to the homeless. My Garmin wasn't working yet due to that it was "lost" in Columbus and it just wouldn't make a satellite connection. So: mile 2 was an 8:56 pace.
Mile 3 9:00
Mile 4 8:53 Loving the support in this neighborhood. Reminded me of Twin Cities.
Mile 5.... What? I gotta pee already? I peed moments before the marathon started! 9:47, Very short porta potty wait. This marathon rocks.
Mile 6 8:51 and my heart rate was still only averaging 153. I should pick it up just a little bit.
Mile 7 9:00 Back onto Broad street. A small amount of uphill but only compared to the non hills prior to this.
Mile 8 8:57
Mile 9 Had to pee again 9:28
Mile 10 8:54
Mile 11 9:05 Just about back to High Street and the 1/2 way mark.
Mile 12 9:56 Guess what I had to do? Also, I spotted my son and dad and decided to take off my long sleeve shirt. It was getting warm. Sorry about the sweaty shirt buddy! Thankfully he had my backpack to keep it in.
Mile 13 9:08 Halfway done and feeling decent. The only thing I didn't like is that I continued to feel tired, like I just needed a little nap. Caffeine may have helped but then again with my apparent diuresis and then later intestinal problems maybe it's a good thing that I didn't.
Mile 14 9:12 Passing quite a few people taking walk breaks. Now I know what a runner feels when passing a walker. I always wondered during my first two marathons. They feel absolutely NOTHING and are too busy doing their own work. It may have been part of their plan anyway?
Mile 15 9:10 Not feeling bad, but not feeling like I should either. Especially since my hr was still only 156. Which is really impressive considering all the college girls around cuz we were in dorm country. (For the record, I'm married, 42 and was running so I could really care less about the college girls. Which is fortunate also because they could really care less about me. But for some reason, I just still like to joke that I do care). Anyway!
Mile 16 11:26 That's right. I had issues! And it had nothing to do with my heart, my breathing or my legs.
Mile 17 9:11 Ran right next some of the gates of OSU stadium, which was kind of cool (unless you don't think its cool, of course). The college football history there is just amazing.
Mile 18 9:34 Another visit! Let me say right now that this marathon is well planned! Plenty of porta potties and no waiting once the half marathoners were done. Once I was done here, I knew this is where I fell apart with my first two marathons. So, my first goal was to not run/walk before 22 miles.
Mile 19 9:22 - A little better
Mile 20 9:16 - Feeling Stronger
Mile 21 9:02 - Hmmm, this is how I want to feel. Reach mile 22 Tim! I was really happy at this moment. Running at a 9 mile pace this late in the marathon!!! Woohoo!!!
Mile 22 10:22 - Yep, bathroom.
Mile 23 9:07 recovered
Mile 24 10:36 Where is IronJenny and her exlax when you need her? This is the first time I've had this problem during a race! I know what to do about this so it doesn't happen again.
Mile 25 9:43. I'm just done, but I'm also happy as I have, except for porta potty breaks, run this whole marathon. This is what it's like to run through the pain. I like it, but I want it over with.
Mile 26 9:22 I was not feeling any almost done glee. I was ok, I think, but I just wanted it done. Marathons should be 24.2 miles! ;-)
Mile 26.2 not sure as my Garmin was "off" compared to marathon due to it would connect to the satellites the first mile. The finish was downhill!
One of the amazing things about the porta potty stops was how hard it was to get started again. It was easier to just keep running and my pace was pretty decent if I didn't have to stop. This fact was a lot different than during my first 2 marathons were it was hard to start and easy to walk. At the water stops, I stopped less than 5 seconds if I stopped at all.
My hr hit 160 for an average at mile 18 but stayed around 160 until 163 in mile 25 and 26.
If you want a relatively flat fall marathon with 60 bands, 22 water/gatorade stations, great volunteers, great people cheering for you and porta potties with little to no wait, then Columbus should be in your future. In 2008, 20% of participants Boston Qualified. Personally, I don't think it's all course. Ohio is into sports and I think that there may also be a higher percentage of good and fast runners. Nevertheless it is a flat course so that has to be a big factor.
I plan on going there again sometime, but I'm thinking Detroit next year. I have family in Windsor Ontario that I haven't seen in 10 years.
Soon I will have a post on my marathon thoughts. But for now, just a comparison of my first 3 marathons that I believe shows the work that I have put in to try to understand and conquer the distance. I finally did it. I ran a marathon. There is NOTHING wrong with run/walking, it's just that it has never been my goal.
Twin Cities - October 5 2008
bib number: 5033
age: 41
gender: M
location: Roseville, MN
overall place: 7332 out of 7979
division place: 751 out of 784
gender place: 4516 out of 4806
time: 5:26:52
pace: 12:08
chip time: 5:17:52
5k: 32:01
10k: 1:03:42
half: 2:18:17
30k: 3:19:30
20 mile: 3:39:09
Stillwater - May 24 2009
bib number: 275
age: 41
gender: M
location: Roseville, MN
overall place: 295 out of 453
division place: 47 out of 68
gender place: 222 out of 314
time: 4:28:21
pace: 10:15
10 k: 55:39
13.1: 2:01:14
20 m: 3:11:22
last 10k: 1:17:00
gun time : 4:29:12
Columbus - October 18, 2009
bib number: 2457
age: 42
gender: M
location: Roseville, MN
overall place: 2193 out of 4076
division place: 253 out of 387
gender place: 1588 out of 2563
time: 4:08:41
pace: 9:30
10k: 57:26
half: 2:01:21
20 mile: 3:08:01
I can deal with being "slow" (though I don't want to be, just saying my self-esteem is not at risk here). It's the effort, ability to keep going through pain, discomfort, doubt that means a lot to me. So lets compare last 10k's. TCM = 1 hour 37 minutes, Stillwater = 1 hour 17 minutes and Columbus = 1 hour.
I improved my marathon personal record (pr) by 20 minutes. Based on my tempo runs and other workouts, I think I can easily improve by another 15 or 20 minutes. After that, I really have some work to do. Especially if I want to Boston Qualify (BQ), which is a 3:20 marathon.
We shall see!
I am racing the Long Course at Square Lake on September 13th. I am doing a swim and bike taper but not a run taper as I don't want to ruin my marathon training.
Wow!
This was a foul weather triathlon to the extreme!
It was also a triathlon that re-enforced the fact that I made some pretty big mistakes this spring. My bike is not good enough! This past spring, I chose a marathon training plan that was too advanced, as in too much, of a build for only my second marathon. I went from a 500 mile running 2008 to a 500 mile running by the end of May 2009! Therefore I neglected the bike and it's showing. Obviously!
I really wanted to swim. The course had been shortened from a .9 mile swim to a .5 mile swim. My only other tri so far this year had been a .5 mile swim and I am confident that I have cut minutes off of that! But no dice! It will have to wait til next year as some incredible storms and lightening forced a cancel of the swim.
It was actually kind of fun waiting to see what we'll do and talking to people I normally would not have had the time to meet.
It was too difficult to change the tri into a true duathlon. There wasn't much of a run option except to have a 5 mile run then the bike then a 2nd five mile run. I would have totally gotten into that as a challenge but understandably that would have been a problem for many people. They weren't able to do it anyway as it would have really affected the police and volunteers, especially on the bike course.
So the swim was basically a run from the start into the water and out through the swim finish chute. Apparently, I really took my time as it took me a whole 40 seconds which placed me in 445th place. ;-)
You know there were times during the bike when I was like "this is so fun"! I mean how many opportunities do you get to ride your bike in the middle of normally busy roads during a storm and feel relatively safe from cars? But then there were other times when I was freaked. Large puddles that I can't see the bottom of! Turns when it's wet! My accident last year still having somewhat of an impact on my bike comfort! After the race I thought I had an 18.4 mph which was rather disappointing for me. It turns out that I had a 19.3 mph which is a lot closer to the 20 that I expected. If I race this next year, 22 average at least. I guarantee it.
Look how dark it was during some portions of the bike!
Another fun part of the bike was that I knew a good portion of the course as I was close to 3 houses of friends (from small group) at varying parts of the course. Somehow in my mind, knowing that I was close was kinda like having them there cheering, it boosted me!
The run was awesome in that I was able to run an 8:30 pace for the 5 miles after biking relatively hard (though not hard enough). There was a few times that it was tough for me but I just kept plugging away. My slowest time was from 4 to 4.5 miles I think. I did not wear my garmin. I'm trying to get away from wearing it on tri's shorter than olympic distance and go by feel instead. It's too much of a bother for short course to my way of thinking!
I felt pretty good about my race until I saw my age group ranking! 55/64 I expect more of myself than this but I also have to remember that Turtleman brings in some serious athletes. There were lots of hard bodies there and the competition was more than what I am use too. Next year, I plan on breaking 50%! I do have to remind myself that I have not tapered for my races the last 2 weeks and am nowhere near peaking!
Distance Intermediate
Clock Time 1:51:36
Overall Place 373 / 486
Gender Place 285 / 349
Division Place 55 / 64
Divtotal 66
Sextotal 371
Swimtime 0:40
Swimpace 1:20
Swimplace 445
Tran1 1:33
Biketime 1:05:13
Bikemph 19.3
Bikeplace 390
Tran2 1:43
Runtime 42:30
Runpace 8:30
Runplace 340
Penalty
The big point of pride for me this past weekend is the fact that I was able to run 12+ miles the following day, Sunday. My marathon training plan called for a 14 mile run but I knew that I shouldn't expect that with racing just the day before. At the same time I wanted to try. So I did an out and back. Ended up running 10 miles with only 2 minute stops at mile 4 and 8 (planned). My heart rate wanted to stay high after that. Too high. It was quite hot and humid which us Minnesotans are not so use to this year. I then ran another mile, ended up at Lake Johanna and decided to hop in the water. I seemed to attract a bit of attention but I'm not sure why? I did keep my pants on when I was stripping everything else off!
After the awesome feeling of cold water, I ran one more mile to get home and then walked to cool down. So 12 miles run, about 2 miles walked.
Must... Peel... away.... from Facebook!
1 remarks Published by Jumper 2.0 on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 5:24 PMTim Litzinger has been amused by other's comments about being a bad blogger! Compared to me, these people are angels!
But enough to the facebook talk!
I am once again in marathon training! But can I just train for a marathon? No! I throw in a little 1/2 mary here, a sub-olympic tri there and a dash of a long course tri for a little more spice.
The half marathon is done. Last Saturday, I ran the Urban Wildland in Richfield, Minnesota! I pr'd with a 1:54:48, which is cool. I was really strong up until mile 9 when I just withered in strength. This makes sense as my training has mostly been shorter intervals. The prior week I had run 8 - 400 meter intervals at 3k pace on Tuesday and then Thursday ran 4 - 1 mile intervals at 10K pace. My longest run was 12 miles but this was just at a base pace. As you can see, running 8 to 9 miles of a half mary pace would be hitting a limit on preparedness for Urban.
In fact, my training plan called for running a 5K this weekend (I laugh in the face of training plans apparently, hahahaha). The funny thing is, I love this race still but not as much as I thought I did! Last year, I loved it because of all the turns and distractions, etc. This year, those turns and distractions were, well, distracting. They slowed me down damn it! It takes effort to speed back up!
Regardless, have to be happy with the result! A 6+ minute PR from the same course as last year. There were times that I wanted to stop, but I just kept going! Hopefully this all bodes well for the Columbus Marathon in mid October.
This Saturday, I have the Turtleman Triathlon! It is suppose to be very close to an Olympic distance with a 1.5k swim, a 38k bike and an 8K run. However the swim has been shortened due to our very low lake levels, so I have know idea what to call the distance. I have only competed in 3 sprints up to this point and 1 indoor of 30 minutes each discipline. Turtle Lake is normally a bit on the disgusting side and I expect it to be so much worse this year. Fortunately it has been sprayed and apparently we do not have to worry about "swimmers itch". We'll see.
Angela is close to her 3-day Breast Cancer Walk goal. Yea!
So, I'll plan on updating this blog on my Turtleman results right away this weekend and will try to be a more regular contributer to the blog world. I know all 3 of you miss me ;-)
Otherwise titled, "finally getting back to housework"!
My wife teases me about running and triathlon being part of my midlife crisis! And in some respects there may be a little truth to it. Well, not the crisis part. A crisis would have involved in making drastic changes in my life, like with career or marriage! But I did have a "midlife" evaluation and decided to make changes regarding the direction of my health, how my time is spent and in what way do I want to be an example to my kids.
I think I made the right decision. Just "working out" didn't work out so I became involved with better goals and thus running and triathlon!
These changes to my daily routine was pretty hard on me at first. It was just tiring, exhausting to me. I now can exercise AND get things done around the house. I did do dishes, laundry etc. but projects were put on hold.
And I present to you example 1:
Now for the pantry!
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