The road to Indy: Day 1

Breakfast (very late breakfast, slept in today):
1/2c Bear Naked low-sugar cereal
1/2 bannana
1/2c fresh papaya
1 envelope MegaFlax ProActive
2 tsp bee pollen
3000mg Vitamin C
2000mg CLA
1000mg MSM
1500mg Glucosamine Sulfate
550mg Ginger root
450mg Cayenne
B-complex supplement

Exercise
50 stability ball crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball twist crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball twist crunches
16 stability ball push-ups

Midafternoon snack:
Bannana Cookie Lara Bar

Exercise:
Spinervals Aero Base Builder I (had been planning on biking outdoors, but the weather was not cooperating) - consumed 1 serving of Hammer HEED and 1 pouch of Hammer Gel during the bike workout
50 stability ball crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball twist crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball crunches
16 stability ball push-ups
50 stability ball twist crunches
16 stability ball push-ups

Post-exercise snack:
1 slice bannana bread
1 hard-boiled duck egg

Dinner:
1 sweet potato/wild rice fritter with caramelized onion chutney
1 millet burger
2000mgVitamin C
2000mg CLA
550mg Ginger root
450mg Cayenne

Snack:
1c almond milk
1/3c vegan protein powder
3 capsules ZMA

Additional River to River picture

Here's a picture from Alyx's brother of me at River To River:

Prep week

I did a just slightly less than 7.5 mile run yesterday - last major run before the half-marathon. I'll be doing daily postings this week of my preparation for the half-marathon in terms of additional workouts and nutrition.

The run yesterday was very slightly slower than my planned pace for the half-marathon (ran the 7.5 mile run at an 8:54 pace, planning on an 8:47 pace for the half). Legs feel pretty good - a little minor tendonitis in my right knee, and my right ankles a little stiff today, but nothing too worrisome.

When nail bomb art is outlawed, only outlaws will have nail bomb art...

Woman held over 'nail bomb art'

Biking recap/change of plans

So, Kathleen and I headed up to Chicago on the weekend of 4/15 for a mini-vacation/seeing a friend in a a Beckett production. We dropped Molly and Jenny off at the kennel Friday morning, and shortly after leaving the kennel, realized that we'd forgotten Molly's medicine, which she needs every day for her back. We didn't have time to run home for it before work, and had an engagement that evening which would have made it almost impossible to get down there in time, so I decided I'd leave work a little early, bike down with Molly's medicine, bike home, shower, and have just enough time to make our Friday evening engagement. Thus begin the best laid plans of mice and men....

It was a beautiful day pretty much all day, but started getting windy around noon. Kathleen and I had to be in downtown Champaign by 6pm, and I had to shower post-biking, so I left the house at about 3:45. It's about a 25 mile round trip between my house and the kennel (one of the normal training rides that I do), and I can do it in 90 minutes without breaking much of a sweat. Most of the ride is straight north-south. By the time I left the house headed south, the wind was up to about 20mph out of the south. Most unpleasant. It took me 58 minutes to get down to the kennel, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it. Luckily, the wind direction stayed the same, which meant that I had a sizeable tailwind on the way back, and got back home in 38 minutes. Yup, <13mph on the way down, almost 20mph on the way back.

I'm making a slight change in my racing plans for this season - I think I'm probably going to drop the Howl At The Moon 8 Hour race in favor of the Metamora 4x50 bike race (200 mile race outside of Peoria). I've also decided to forgo the Texas Time Trials this Year, in favor of running the Iron Fist 50k solo (rather than with a relay team).

Tags: cycling, running, Metamora, DeTonty

River To River report

So I went down to Marion on Friday to run in the River To River Relay with the Buffalo Warriors

Dinner on Friday night at 17th Street Bar and Grill (Pork shoulder, macaroni and cheese, red beans and rice, and beer. Lots of beer. Followed by more beer at Teddy's).


Woke up the next morning at 0600, and rode down to the race start. River To River uses wave starts, with the first group starting at 0615, and the last group of teams starting at 0845. We ended up in the last group of teams, which unfortunately meant that I didn't start my first leg of the race until a bit past 1100, on a day in which the temperature was well about 80F. The race starts near the Missisippi, and finishes 80 miles later in Golconda, which is on the Ohio River. We'd let a racer off near the exchange point, park the van in a nearly endless line of vans

Cheer on the incoming runner as they made the baton handoff

And then drive to the next exchange point.

Leg 7 was not as bad as I'd been expecting, given the hill, although the heat/humidity were opressive.

Leg 15 allowed me to pass a few other teams, and was in the worst of the day's heat. The team van stopped midway through the leg to see if I needed water, etc. and I ended up running part of the rest of the way with a handful of ice down my running shorts to keep cool (you can relax knowing that I don't have any pictures of that to share).
In the mid-late, the rain started. Nothing too heavy on the rain, and it helped keep the heat from being too bad (and it resulted in some spectacular rainbows).
Leg 23 gave me the opportunity to pass a couple of other teams, and the rain had pretty much stoppped at that point. The large downhill section of Leg 23 is rough, especially on slick pavement. I ended up doing most of the downhill on the gravel shoulder for traction, not so much running as plummeting. At this point, I was completely fried by the day's activities. With about a third of a mile left of Leg 23, the rain started up again, and I ended up almost blind from the sweat and sunscreen that the rain had washed into my eyes. I passed one additional runner just before the exchange point, got in the van, and drove to Golconda. Between the rain, the road grime, and the plentiful amounts of sunscreen that I'd been putting on all day, I looked like I'd been dipped in milk...We met the #8 runner just before the finish line, and crossed together at approximately 1933 (official finish time of 10:48:28 (average 8:06.35/mile pace), which placed our team 106 out of 228 teams that finished)

got our finishers' t-shirts and took our pictures down by the river

At that point, we grabbed yummy grilled meat from the vendors in Golconda, hung out for a little while, and then drove back to Marion and then back home.

The following day, I (since I wasn't tired enough from the previous day's activities) woke up early and barbecued beef, lamb, and chicken for a 30+ person party that one of Kathleen's colleagues was throwing. Today, I'm resting. My legs feel pretty fresh, but the rest of me feels like I was hit by a bus...

Lessons learned:

• Keep doing speedwork (my speed is definitely improving, and while I've got no interest in being a sprinter, I like passing people)
• Return to the strategic vegetarianism (I did pretty well at River To River eating meat, but I can tell a definite difference in performance when I do eat meat)
• While beer before a race may not be a fantastic idea, nor is it the end of the world.

All in all, I'm very happy with my performance. I'm planning on doing River To River again next year, and hoping to shave some time of my performance. See below for my splits:
Leg 7 (3.00 miles): 26:30 (08:50 pace)
Leg 15 (2.95 miles): 23:40 (08:01.35 pace)
Leg 23 (3.35 miles): 27:00 (08:03.5 pace)

Tags: River To River Relay, Buffalo Warriors, running, beer, barbecue, Marion, Golconda, Herrin

On the road on the way to River To River Relay. Full report to follow..

First group ride of 2006

55 miles in Indiana. Fairly hilly, had a blast!

Tags: cycling, Indiana