Armed with a fresh pair of Nike Lunaracers I had a great tempo run on Monday with Fleet Feet and a good track workout earlier today. I'm feeling ready to PR my 5K this weekend. The goal at the Bucktown 5K: sub 19 minutes. This is a pretty aggressive goal for me, considering my 5K PR is 19:38 (set two years ago), but I do feel a lot faster this year. We'll see if all those track workouts and hard tempo runs will pay off.
Alright, so to go sub 19 I have to average a 6:07 pace. My game plan for the race will be to start out a little fast, settle into my goal pace, and then hold on until the end. I think my breakdown of mile splits will be 6:00 for the first mile, 6:07 for the second mile, and 6:15 for the last mile. I'll sprint out whatever energy I have left in the last quarter mile.
Hopefully I don't blow up before the end. Even if I start losing steam before the end of the race I should be able to beat my 5K PR easily so it should be a good day. I would be happy with anything under 19:30, but I'm still going to gun hard for that sub 19 finish time. Might as well go for it while I still can!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Shoe replacement
After some pretty rough runs this week I was starting to get a little worried about my shot at a 5K PR next week, but I think I might have figured out the culprit. I think my shoes might be to blame for my poor running lately. I train with Nike Lunaracers, and I keep forgetting that they're not really trainers, they're more like racing flats than anything else. Which means they don't really last that long, which means I have to replace them every 10 weeks after just 150-200 miles.
I really like the shoes, they're the lightest fastest shoes I've ever worn, but this lack of durability might lead me to split with them soon. At $100 a pair they're not cheap. I'm going to head into Fleet Feet today to pick up a fresh pair, but I think I might also check out some other options in the lightweight trainer division while I'm there. I'll probably stick with the Lunaracers for the rest of this year but I think I need to start exploring more affordable alternatives.
Hopefully with a fresh pair of shoes I'll be running a lot smoother next week.
I really like the shoes, they're the lightest fastest shoes I've ever worn, but this lack of durability might lead me to split with them soon. At $100 a pair they're not cheap. I'm going to head into Fleet Feet today to pick up a fresh pair, but I think I might also check out some other options in the lightweight trainer division while I'm there. I'll probably stick with the Lunaracers for the rest of this year but I think I need to start exploring more affordable alternatives.
Hopefully with a fresh pair of shoes I'll be running a lot smoother next week.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Summer is coming to an end
Well, summer is officially over for me, as this week I return to classes full force. Over the summer I was only taking 1 class (Finance) to give myself time to enjoy the weather, but now that the Fall quarter is starting I need to get back into school full speed ahead so I can finish at some point in 2012. In about two more weeks I'll be done with all my races this year.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
IT band issues
I'm a little injured coming off of the 4-Man TTT, my left IT band has been really tight since the race and it’s been pretty painful to run or bike. I thought I had mostly resolved my cleat positioning issues but it looks like the odd position I took during most of the race (low, but not in aero) did quite the number on my IT band and/or hamstring. All I can do now is stretch it out and take it easy for a bit. I'm hoping to recover from this before my 5K in two weeks.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
4-Man TTT post-race analysis
I compared the power files between my 4-Man TTT race and my 2-Man TTT race back in July to see what went wrong last weekend. What’s interesting is that both races lasted about the same amount of time (~1 hour 30 minutes) but I actually averaged a *lower* wattage at the 4-Man than I did at the 2-Man. How is that even possible?
One thing that can explain that is the sharp spikes in power at the 4-Man race. At the 2-Man race I was basically in two zones all day; either I was pulling at 90+% (but not above 100%) or drafting at 70-80%. At the 4-Man race I was all over the board. Some of this was due to the fact that when I was drafting in the group I didn't feel comfortable dropping into my aero bars until I was in the 2nd position, so I wasn't taking advantage of the draft as much as I could have. I see my peaks when I was pulling at 100-110%, but more telling I see peaks shortly after that at 120% as I accelerated to latch back onto the back of the group after a pull. Overall all those spikes took a hard toll on me and that resulted in me popping. It was definitely a hard workout for me that day and now I see that I should have tried to keep a smoother power output going instead of being so erratic. Next time I need to work on staying within specific ranges so I don’t risk running out of gas before the race is over.
One thing that can explain that is the sharp spikes in power at the 4-Man race. At the 2-Man race I was basically in two zones all day; either I was pulling at 90+% (but not above 100%) or drafting at 70-80%. At the 4-Man race I was all over the board. Some of this was due to the fact that when I was drafting in the group I didn't feel comfortable dropping into my aero bars until I was in the 2nd position, so I wasn't taking advantage of the draft as much as I could have. I see my peaks when I was pulling at 100-110%, but more telling I see peaks shortly after that at 120% as I accelerated to latch back onto the back of the group after a pull. Overall all those spikes took a hard toll on me and that resulted in me popping. It was definitely a hard workout for me that day and now I see that I should have tried to keep a smoother power output going instead of being so erratic. Next time I need to work on staying within specific ranges so I don’t risk running out of gas before the race is over.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Ironman spectating
After the 4-Man TTT on Sunday we piled into the van and headed up to Madison, WI to cheer at Ironman Wisconsin. It was a long drive from Lenore, IL to Madison but we made it there by the early afternoon, just in time to see the front of the pack racers come in off the bike. We joined a crowd of fellow VQ spectators in front of Frida's Mexican Grill on State Street and started looking for our friends. Dave had a big bullhorn and we all quickly found cowbells so pretty soon we were making a lot of noise whenever we recognized anyone approaching our section. We kept this going for several hours until slowly our cheering section thinned out as people started heading home. It was awesome seeing so many friends having great days out there. I love being a part of VQ and CTC at large races such as this one because you get such a rush from cheering your fellow teammates on, and I know on the other side of the fence how energizing it is to have people you know cheering you on. After almost everyone we knew made it to the finish line we decided to pack up and head home. After a seemingly endless drive we were back in Chicago by around midnight to finish off our super long day (although it was nothing compared to everyone doing Ironman that day, ha).
4-Man TTT race report
The 60k 4-Man TTT race was cool but I was disappointed with my performance. I didn't really have any real race goals aside from having fun and not popping out on course and I failed at one of those.
The day started off super early at 4:45 AM outside of the VQ Chicago location. I was planning on driving myself to the race, but ultimately decided to ride with Dave and others in a large 15 passenger van. There were really only about 8 of us riding in the van but the rest of the space was taken up by our gear and bikes. After a groggy drive downstate to Lenore, IL we started setting up our gear and warming up.
Our 4-Man team practiced a bit more before the race started. The wind was coming out of the west and a majority of the course was north/south, so we knew we’d be facing a crosswind all day. We practiced doing a wide echelon formation and overall we felt pretty good with our team dynamic. We lined up at the start and waited for our turn.
We started out at a nice steady pace and rotated smoothly. We were in a solid echelon formation and only had one minor hiccup early on with our lead rider pulling off to the wrong side. I felt pretty good for the first half of the race but soon after that it started taking me a bit longer to recover after my pulls. I noticed that when I rolled back to join the back end of the formation that I was allowing for the gap to become too big between my front wheel and the last rider. Then I would have to accelerate a bit to be sure that I caught the back wheel so I wouldn't fall off the back. At first I thought I was just falling back too far but I finally realized what was happening was that the strongest guy on our team was pulling right after my turn, and as I was falling back to rejoin the tail end of the group he would accelerate a bit up front which would cause the group to shift forward. Once I figured this out I asked him to count to 3 before he accelerated when I pulled off so I could have a chance to latch back onto the group. That helped out. Still, that took me a while to figure out and ask for the group adjustment, and having to accelerate again each time after doing a full pull took its toll on me.
On the way home I started losing it. I shortened my pulls from 1 minute to 45 seconds. I felt like I was exerting a lot of energy even in the back of the train. (I tried to keep a low profile while in the 3rd and 4th position but I wouldn't drop into my aero bars until I was in the 2nd position for safety’s sake.) My teammates noticed that I was really laboring and they asked how I was doing. I told them I was at a 9 by that point, instead of the 8 where I wanted to be. So I took a couple non-pulls up front and quickly moved to the back to recover a bit more. But I just couldn't seem to recover.
With 3-4 miles left in the race I popped. I couldn't even hold on to the train at that point. I hit the wall hard… I blew right through a 9 on the perceived effort scale right into my 10. I stayed in my lactic threshold zone for too long and I just couldn't recover. This is the “worst case scenario” on the bike I worry about every time I race… that I will push it too hard and not be able to recover properly while out on course. And that’s what happened Sunday morning in downstate Illinois. There was nothing more I could do than watch my teammates roll on in the distance without me. It was a sucky feeling, having to ride by myself back to the finish line like a dog with its tail between its legs.
So that sucked, I really wasn't expecting to get dropped by my team that day. During our practices I had kept up pretty well with everyone but I guess race day was another matter. A couple miles before I bonked I knew I was in big trouble because my stomach had shut down and I couldn't take in any more nutrition. Normally that only happens to me during heavy anaerobic efforts like sprinting on the run, so I knew I was way above my threshold by that point (in fact I couldn't put down any solids for a couple hours after the race.) Bah, I hate being the weak link on a team.
Anyways, the rest of the day went a lot better with Ironman spectating.
The day started off super early at 4:45 AM outside of the VQ Chicago location. I was planning on driving myself to the race, but ultimately decided to ride with Dave and others in a large 15 passenger van. There were really only about 8 of us riding in the van but the rest of the space was taken up by our gear and bikes. After a groggy drive downstate to Lenore, IL we started setting up our gear and warming up.
Our 4-Man team practiced a bit more before the race started. The wind was coming out of the west and a majority of the course was north/south, so we knew we’d be facing a crosswind all day. We practiced doing a wide echelon formation and overall we felt pretty good with our team dynamic. We lined up at the start and waited for our turn.
We started out at a nice steady pace and rotated smoothly. We were in a solid echelon formation and only had one minor hiccup early on with our lead rider pulling off to the wrong side. I felt pretty good for the first half of the race but soon after that it started taking me a bit longer to recover after my pulls. I noticed that when I rolled back to join the back end of the formation that I was allowing for the gap to become too big between my front wheel and the last rider. Then I would have to accelerate a bit to be sure that I caught the back wheel so I wouldn't fall off the back. At first I thought I was just falling back too far but I finally realized what was happening was that the strongest guy on our team was pulling right after my turn, and as I was falling back to rejoin the tail end of the group he would accelerate a bit up front which would cause the group to shift forward. Once I figured this out I asked him to count to 3 before he accelerated when I pulled off so I could have a chance to latch back onto the group. That helped out. Still, that took me a while to figure out and ask for the group adjustment, and having to accelerate again each time after doing a full pull took its toll on me.
On the way home I started losing it. I shortened my pulls from 1 minute to 45 seconds. I felt like I was exerting a lot of energy even in the back of the train. (I tried to keep a low profile while in the 3rd and 4th position but I wouldn't drop into my aero bars until I was in the 2nd position for safety’s sake.) My teammates noticed that I was really laboring and they asked how I was doing. I told them I was at a 9 by that point, instead of the 8 where I wanted to be. So I took a couple non-pulls up front and quickly moved to the back to recover a bit more. But I just couldn't seem to recover.
With 3-4 miles left in the race I popped. I couldn't even hold on to the train at that point. I hit the wall hard… I blew right through a 9 on the perceived effort scale right into my 10. I stayed in my lactic threshold zone for too long and I just couldn't recover. This is the “worst case scenario” on the bike I worry about every time I race… that I will push it too hard and not be able to recover properly while out on course. And that’s what happened Sunday morning in downstate Illinois. There was nothing more I could do than watch my teammates roll on in the distance without me. It was a sucky feeling, having to ride by myself back to the finish line like a dog with its tail between its legs.
So that sucked, I really wasn't expecting to get dropped by my team that day. During our practices I had kept up pretty well with everyone but I guess race day was another matter. A couple miles before I bonked I knew I was in big trouble because my stomach had shut down and I couldn't take in any more nutrition. Normally that only happens to me during heavy anaerobic efforts like sprinting on the run, so I knew I was way above my threshold by that point (in fact I couldn't put down any solids for a couple hours after the race.) Bah, I hate being the weak link on a team.
Anyways, the rest of the day went a lot better with Ironman spectating.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sunday plans
This upcoming Sunday should be a fun action packed day. The plan is to head out to southern Illinois (Lenore, IL) to compete in the 60k 4-Man TTT and then head up to Madison to cheer on VQers at Ironman Wisconsin. There are a good number of VQ athletes competing this year so we’re planning on setting up shop along the run course on State Street and cheering loudly whenever we see our VQ jerseys fly by. It should be a fun (but long) day!
Monday, September 6, 2010
4-Man TTT practice
I managed to get in a good practice session with my 4-Man TTT teammates this weekend. One of the guys is a bit stronger than the rest of us but overall I think we’re pretty evenly matched in terms of power. We did three loops of a 10 mile course out in the suburbs (with VQ) and I thought we had good transitions going. One thing we have to look out for is inclines on the course. When our strongest guy is in front we need him to hold it back a bit so the rest of us don’t get dropped. You don’t get as much of a draft benefit on an uphill as on a flat, so we just have to be aware of that during the race (although we've been told the race course is pancake flat). Our speed was pretty consistent the whole way, although I did get pretty winded by the last loop and had to fall off the train.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
What I'm Reading: Bike edition
After reading about a new bike sharing program starting here in Chicago (B-Cycle) I started reading about other bike sharing networks around the world and how technology is being used to power these movements. There's a top 10 list of bike sharing systems to watch but unfortunately Chicago isn't on the list (yet). Ah well, we'll be on that list soon enough. If you're looking for more homegrown bike sharing options check out this high-tech meets lo-tech service called Social Bicycles that will soon be available in New York. I actually didn't realize New York had such friendly biking-in-the-city options until I read this biking in New York blog post over at Chicago Bike. I guess it's not all crazy taxis and bike messengers on the streets of NYC.
Btw, have you been following the adventures of Precious the Bike as it travels across America? It's a fun little social experiment about a tweeting bike as it rides from coast to coast to raise money for the Livestrong foundation to fight the "biggest douchebag of all", cancer. It looks like Precious is in Colorado right now. You can follow all the tweets at @yesiamprecious.
Btw, have you been following the adventures of Precious the Bike as it travels across America? It's a fun little social experiment about a tweeting bike as it rides from coast to coast to raise money for the Livestrong foundation to fight the "biggest douchebag of all", cancer. It looks like Precious is in Colorado right now. You can follow all the tweets at @yesiamprecious.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Tired this week
I've been feeling pretty tired and drained all this week ever since last weekend’s heat filled race. Luckily I’m pretty much done with the season and I only have 1-2 more races before I shut it down. In 2 weeks I’m doing a 60k 4-Man Team Time Trial with VQ and in 4 weeks I might do a late 5K to see if I can PR. I don’t really have an official 4-Man team just yet so I think I’ll just play that race freely and try to have fun with it. As for the 5K I’m going to sign up for the Bucktown 5K, a local race put on by Running Away Multisport. I think my top end run speed has increased this year and I’d like to see how fast I can go before I hit the offseason. I'm shooting for a sub 19 minute time, which is pretty aggressive but I think I might have it in me. A while ago I was also thinking of doing a late season standalone swim event like Big Shoulders, but I think it’s going to conflict with my 4-Man TTT race so I guess that’s out.
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