So my day starts at the office with a 6:30 phone call from my house. The only reason I should get a phone call that early is for a really good or a really bad event. It was my 6 year old son calling to tell me he pulled his tooth. He was pretty pleased as was I. In his defense, I tried to talk him into letting me pull it last night, it was hanging on be a thread.
My Blaaaaah in the subject is because it is a tough tough test not because it didn't go well. The test consists of going to a track, warming up thoroughly and then doing a 2 mile - all out - gonzo - run as fast as you can, puke on your shoes and if you have a heart defect that has yet to be noticed the coroner will let you family know after the autopsy is complete type run. I passed a local triathlon stud (I was driving to the track, he was running because I could never pass him if we were both running) Rick Mann. He has qualified for Kona several times and has done Kona sub 10 hours. He recently ran the St. Louis marathon in 3:15 and bascially decided to do it on a lark. The runs we have done together and his favorite run includes a few laps around the track mid run so I figured I would see him.
So, during my warm up sure enough, he comes to the track, we say hello and I wait until he is gone before I do my TT. Too much to explain and besides that, I look pretty silly next to a guy that is successful as he runs by feel, no HRM, no GPS, just him and a watch and here I am doing track work. Don't get me wrong, I think the path I have chosen is the most efficient path to success for me. You measure what you treasure and the way to see gains for me is structure and testing. With this all being way too much to explain, I figured I w0ould warm up while he made his laps and then I did the TT.
The test is brutal. It is supposed to measure my pace at VO2max. I finished my first mile sub 7 minutes (first time ever) and my second mile was just over 7 per. My average was 7:04 min miles which was a full 40 seconds faster than when I did my test in February. The test results were great, my heart rate is the highest it has ever been measured and actually corresponds to 182BPM theoretical max when I did a VO2 max test with my coach back when I started this. Literally, my last two laps on the track I was looking into the parking lot to see if anyone was around in case I had a heart attack. There was no one but the video cameras so it would have made great viewing the next day at Civic Memorial High School or when the student going to make out in the bleachers found my dead carcass on the track. Regardless, if I went down, I was dead.
Today I had a nice easy swim that I did on lunch with nothing else today. The weather this weekend is supposed to be bad so I need to get a swim, run, and bike TT in sometime this weekend.
So far, this round of TT has yielded 1:40 faster on my 750 yard swim and 0:40 seconds faster on my 2 mile run. I can only hope my bike will show similar improvement but I am not expecting much since I have spend most of the offseason on the trainer. I guess we will see.
Tonight I have KGB & NBB school play and I think we are going to go to a nice dinner before hand.
All for now
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Swim Test - Too good to be true?
Good Morning
This week is a down week for me which typically means recovery, catch up on things around the house in my extra time and a general feeling of "having time". Although I totally buy into the idea around recovery weeks the make me a little crazy. Most of my weeks are spent juggling workouts, work, family, home, and travel, recovery weeks typically don't have that problem.
Many recovery week workouts conists of tests to gauge my level of fitness, enurance, power gains (or not) and this week is one of those weeks. Specifically this week has 3 tests. Test 1) 750 yard swim time trial. Swim as fast as I can for 30 links in the pool and measure my time. Test 2) Run 2 miles at a track as hard and fast as I can (this one sucks) Test 3) 30 minute bike time trial. As had and fast as I can. Aside from those workouts, I have typicaly aerobic runs, swims and bikes. Total time this week is well over 50% less than normal at 4:55 minutes.
Yesterday I had my swim test that I did at lunch. I warmed up a bit with drills, stretching and some pickups. I then started my 750 yard TT. The last time I did this I finished in 14:40 seconds which comes out to be 117 sec / 100 yards. I know last year I was even above this and this time, although okay for me being a very new swimmer, is pretty slow. Coach Jennifer, Hap, and I have been working on becoming more efficient and powerful in swimming during the winter months and I guess this TT will show if it did any good.
My swim went fine, I focused on arching my back (recent mental breakthough) which keeps my core aligned and therefore my feel and lower bottom aligned with my upper. I have seen efficiency gains in recent weeks just due primarily to reduced drag. this change, along with body roll was my key focus yesterday. I started my watch and in typical Tracy (you are an idiot) fashion quickly lost count of my laps. When swimming there are so many repetitive things going on it is easy to lose track of what you intended to count (in this case laps) and start counting something else like kicks or strokes.... Yesterday was no different. So about 1/2 way through my swim I had to look at my lap counter on my watch. No problem... I swam on the edge the whole time, the edge being as fast as I can without my form going to hell... I finished in 13:07 however, I had to stop twice to check my laps so taking that time off I finished in 13:01. This is a pace of 104/100 yds which is 13 seconds faster per 100 yards. It may not seem like much but his is a huge improvement. To give you some idea, that is almost a 10 minute difference if I could sustain that in the 2.4 mile IM swim. In 4 months, that is a huge improvement.
I spent most of the rest of the day figuring out if I counted right which I don't see how I couldn't have. I would have had to miss 1 complete lap which just could not have hapened.
So, one of the things I love about Coach Jennifer and TriSmart is that she takes this test data and does analysis on it. This data coupled with all of the other tests she has had me perform gets put into a race predictor. She has put togehter spreadsheets that take this all out info and extrapolates a "Low" "Average" "High" prediction of how I will perform at different races. Obviously there are a lot of race variables like wind, hills, heat etc... however, she swears by the results. To give you some idea, for my 1/2 Ironman last year she had predicted my Low to be 6:02, Avg 5:44, High 5:23. I finished 5:29. This showed my taper was good and I was prepared and I feel like I had a great race. I can't argue with the results. Now, I just hope it is as accurate for the big enchalata.
So today I have a nice and easy 60 minute bike ride and a church meeting tonight. Had a great conversation with Mike Montoya who was packing up for St. George last night, leaving today. I will have both he and Justen in my thought this weekend when they tackle St. George. I wish I was with them but know I have a long way to go before I am ready for IRONMAN AZ.
all for now
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
This week is a down week for me which typically means recovery, catch up on things around the house in my extra time and a general feeling of "having time". Although I totally buy into the idea around recovery weeks the make me a little crazy. Most of my weeks are spent juggling workouts, work, family, home, and travel, recovery weeks typically don't have that problem.
Many recovery week workouts conists of tests to gauge my level of fitness, enurance, power gains (or not) and this week is one of those weeks. Specifically this week has 3 tests. Test 1) 750 yard swim time trial. Swim as fast as I can for 30 links in the pool and measure my time. Test 2) Run 2 miles at a track as hard and fast as I can (this one sucks) Test 3) 30 minute bike time trial. As had and fast as I can. Aside from those workouts, I have typicaly aerobic runs, swims and bikes. Total time this week is well over 50% less than normal at 4:55 minutes.
Yesterday I had my swim test that I did at lunch. I warmed up a bit with drills, stretching and some pickups. I then started my 750 yard TT. The last time I did this I finished in 14:40 seconds which comes out to be 117 sec / 100 yards. I know last year I was even above this and this time, although okay for me being a very new swimmer, is pretty slow. Coach Jennifer, Hap, and I have been working on becoming more efficient and powerful in swimming during the winter months and I guess this TT will show if it did any good.
My swim went fine, I focused on arching my back (recent mental breakthough) which keeps my core aligned and therefore my feel and lower bottom aligned with my upper. I have seen efficiency gains in recent weeks just due primarily to reduced drag. this change, along with body roll was my key focus yesterday. I started my watch and in typical Tracy (you are an idiot) fashion quickly lost count of my laps. When swimming there are so many repetitive things going on it is easy to lose track of what you intended to count (in this case laps) and start counting something else like kicks or strokes.... Yesterday was no different. So about 1/2 way through my swim I had to look at my lap counter on my watch. No problem... I swam on the edge the whole time, the edge being as fast as I can without my form going to hell... I finished in 13:07 however, I had to stop twice to check my laps so taking that time off I finished in 13:01. This is a pace of 104/100 yds which is 13 seconds faster per 100 yards. It may not seem like much but his is a huge improvement. To give you some idea, that is almost a 10 minute difference if I could sustain that in the 2.4 mile IM swim. In 4 months, that is a huge improvement.
I spent most of the rest of the day figuring out if I counted right which I don't see how I couldn't have. I would have had to miss 1 complete lap which just could not have hapened.
So, one of the things I love about Coach Jennifer and TriSmart is that she takes this test data and does analysis on it. This data coupled with all of the other tests she has had me perform gets put into a race predictor. She has put togehter spreadsheets that take this all out info and extrapolates a "Low" "Average" "High" prediction of how I will perform at different races. Obviously there are a lot of race variables like wind, hills, heat etc... however, she swears by the results. To give you some idea, for my 1/2 Ironman last year she had predicted my Low to be 6:02, Avg 5:44, High 5:23. I finished 5:29. This showed my taper was good and I was prepared and I feel like I had a great race. I can't argue with the results. Now, I just hope it is as accurate for the big enchalata.
So today I have a nice and easy 60 minute bike ride and a church meeting tonight. Had a great conversation with Mike Montoya who was packing up for St. George last night, leaving today. I will have both he and Justen in my thought this weekend when they tackle St. George. I wish I was with them but know I have a long way to go before I am ready for IRONMAN AZ.
all for now
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
Monday, April 26, 2010
Fastlane in the pool
Nothing major to report, all is good. I had a nice and easy ride on Saturday and a 3-hour reverse brick on Sunday. The weather was horrible and Sunday was a busy day. NBB had a birthday party. I had something that I had to be at all morning, plus Rene had a running test she had to do for her training PLUS a guy was helping me out at the house doing some wrap up to the construction project. With all of this, it was a three hour revers brick indoors (EWWWWW) but it was fine. It was supposed to be an aerobic effort and all was good. I ate Subway before I started and did two Gu's durring and had plenty of energy for the effort. Indoors is really handy, especially since the kids are too young to be home by themselves, however, the bike workout is never as good as outside.
The highlight of the weekend was swimming. Although the weather wasn't great, I was able to use the Fastlane for really the first time. I tried it out last year but with the pool water not being full it wasn't great. However, Saturday it was nice. I had a 35 minute aerobic swim. I set the fastland on a 1:50/100 pace, put the mirror on the bottom of the pool (to check form) and away I went. No turns, just swimming and it was pretty awesome. It truly is the closest thing to open water swimming that I have found and in some ways I think it is better practice than anything I have tried so far. The laminar resistance forces you to streamline in the water and when you are not, it is very apparent especially with the mirror. You actually drift backwards and that acts as a visual cue you are more resistant so naturally you auto adjust. The downside is that once you start swimming and as you improve during the set you actually move forward in the mirror. This is obviously a good thing however, it does interrupt your swimming. When this happens you have two choices 1) Slow down your stroke oR 2) increase the current. Another beneift is the current hitting the top of your head forces your to breath effectively. Because the water is moving past you, if you don't breath correctly you get a mouthful of water (very much like tubulence found in OWS during a race).
I swam at the above pace for 25 minutes and found myself swimming into the machine (again, this showed improvement during my swim). Also, the instant mirror feedback showed that I was "crossing over" my centerline with my recovery hand as I was thrusting it forward in the water. I immediately went "wider" and my stroke improved. The last 10 minutes I set the swimlane on 1:35/100 and this is very fast for me. I focused on staying "in the mirror" and this was tough but a great workout.
In summary, I can see this thing really helping my swimming. I would like to try both Rene and I swimmming in the current at the same time. I have read that the current is both wide and deep enough for this to work but we will see. This to me would be very openwater like since we would have to swim in pretty close proximity to one another. Lastly, once I use it for a month or so I would like to have get coached by Jennifer or by Hap at the pool. I would be able to swim while they make adjustments in my body position.
I am very glad we put it in the budget when we decided on a pool. This will provide years and years of swimming for Rene, the kids, and I. I need to look online and see if there are any videos that teach kids how to swim from scratch using the fastlane so I can get the kids swimming since they have already found the benefits of body surfing with it.
All of now and I will be thinkingof the ABQ Outlaws this week as the prep for St. George. I found some pics on line of the course and it looks absolutely beautiful. Go Get Em Boys (and girls). I am there in spirit and can't wait until my race season begins in 27 days.
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
The highlight of the weekend was swimming. Although the weather wasn't great, I was able to use the Fastlane for really the first time. I tried it out last year but with the pool water not being full it wasn't great. However, Saturday it was nice. I had a 35 minute aerobic swim. I set the fastland on a 1:50/100 pace, put the mirror on the bottom of the pool (to check form) and away I went. No turns, just swimming and it was pretty awesome. It truly is the closest thing to open water swimming that I have found and in some ways I think it is better practice than anything I have tried so far. The laminar resistance forces you to streamline in the water and when you are not, it is very apparent especially with the mirror. You actually drift backwards and that acts as a visual cue you are more resistant so naturally you auto adjust. The downside is that once you start swimming and as you improve during the set you actually move forward in the mirror. This is obviously a good thing however, it does interrupt your swimming. When this happens you have two choices 1) Slow down your stroke oR 2) increase the current. Another beneift is the current hitting the top of your head forces your to breath effectively. Because the water is moving past you, if you don't breath correctly you get a mouthful of water (very much like tubulence found in OWS during a race).
I swam at the above pace for 25 minutes and found myself swimming into the machine (again, this showed improvement during my swim). Also, the instant mirror feedback showed that I was "crossing over" my centerline with my recovery hand as I was thrusting it forward in the water. I immediately went "wider" and my stroke improved. The last 10 minutes I set the swimlane on 1:35/100 and this is very fast for me. I focused on staying "in the mirror" and this was tough but a great workout.
In summary, I can see this thing really helping my swimming. I would like to try both Rene and I swimmming in the current at the same time. I have read that the current is both wide and deep enough for this to work but we will see. This to me would be very openwater like since we would have to swim in pretty close proximity to one another. Lastly, once I use it for a month or so I would like to have get coached by Jennifer or by Hap at the pool. I would be able to swim while they make adjustments in my body position.
I am very glad we put it in the budget when we decided on a pool. This will provide years and years of swimming for Rene, the kids, and I. I need to look online and see if there are any videos that teach kids how to swim from scratch using the fastlane so I can get the kids swimming since they have already found the benefits of body surfing with it.
All of now and I will be thinkingof the ABQ Outlaws this week as the prep for St. George. I found some pics on line of the course and it looks absolutely beautiful. Go Get Em Boys (and girls). I am there in spirit and can't wait until my race season begins in 27 days.
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Great Run Last Night
After my meeting I had an hour run. The night was cool, not too hot, not too cold. When I ran by the church the temp said 67 and with no sun and a light breeze it was nice. I was exhausted all day yesterday so I wasn't sure what to expect.
The short of it was that I had an hour run with 3x6-12 minutes in zones as high as 51 (which is a sprint). I was able to get 3-4 in HR zones 4.5+ with no knee or foot discomort (AWESOME) and actually felt pretty good. I was able to maintain my form (falling forward) and had no real issues. I had good energy once I started and all in all it was a good run.
So, I got home and moved on to some analysis. I have mentioned I am reading a book to figure out what my racing weight should be. I am keeping a food journal and it has been very eye opening for me. Just by knowing what I am taking in, it gives me a chance to think between the want to eat and the act of eating. Now that I have some idea of how many calories I burn just by being alive + the calories I burn in my training I am able to intelligently manage and slowly bring my lean mass in line.
Anyway, this is what I calculated yesterday for my "target" race weight.
Current Weight: Current body mass % : Current Lean Body Mass
170 : 0.86 : 146.2:
This is pretty self explanatory. At the time, I weighed 170 lbs. I used calipers to get my body fat % of 14%. 100%-14%=86%. 86%x170lbs mean I have 146.2 lbs of "non fat". This is bone, muscles, tendons etc... basically, all things not fat.
Oprimtal Body mass %
Lean Body Mass (I think 10% body fat) Optimal Body Weight
146.2 : 0.9 : 162.4444444
Now, since I know where I am at currently, I think 10% body fat is a healthy race %. Not too lean but not carrying around a lot of extra that I need equates to pounding on the feet and extra power needed on the bike. So, I take the lean mass of 146.2 and divide that by my target of (100%-10% = 90% and that tells me I need to be about 162 lbs. This operates on the assumption that I will not lose or gain lean muscle mass and it will remain the same.
The second analysis that I did was review what Macronutrients I am consuming (Carbs, Protein, Fats) Accoring to the book, the breakout for an endurance athlete should be around 60% Carbs, 20% Protein, 20% Fats. As I right this, I almost laughed when I typed endurance athlete. I am not sure at what point that applies to me but I will operate on that assumption that is what I want to be..... So, after tracking
my food intake for the past three weeks here is the breakdown.
As you can see less than 47% of my calories are coming from Carbs so I need to increase my carb intake, decrease my fat intake and add a little bit of protein. Basically, eat better food and more whole grains. So, that is what I will be focusing on the next few weeks.
Lastly, I just have to say the Training Peaks Food Log (the same one Livestrong uses) is pretty easy. There is no reason other than not having ready access to a computer to not use this as a tracking tool. I am lucky that I have a desk job and can near real time track my food, very little recreation at the end of the day.
I have a 45 minute swim at lunch and 1.5 hour ride tonight. I punted on the 3am thing because I should be able to get my ride in tonight after my meeting.
All for now
Tracy
The short of it was that I had an hour run with 3x6-12 minutes in zones as high as 51 (which is a sprint). I was able to get 3-4 in HR zones 4.5+ with no knee or foot discomort (AWESOME) and actually felt pretty good. I was able to maintain my form (falling forward) and had no real issues. I had good energy once I started and all in all it was a good run.
So, I got home and moved on to some analysis. I have mentioned I am reading a book to figure out what my racing weight should be. I am keeping a food journal and it has been very eye opening for me. Just by knowing what I am taking in, it gives me a chance to think between the want to eat and the act of eating. Now that I have some idea of how many calories I burn just by being alive + the calories I burn in my training I am able to intelligently manage and slowly bring my lean mass in line.
Anyway, this is what I calculated yesterday for my "target" race weight.
Current Weight: Current body mass % : Current Lean Body Mass
170 : 0.86 : 146.2:
This is pretty self explanatory. At the time, I weighed 170 lbs. I used calipers to get my body fat % of 14%. 100%-14%=86%. 86%x170lbs mean I have 146.2 lbs of "non fat". This is bone, muscles, tendons etc... basically, all things not fat.
Oprimtal Body mass %
Lean Body Mass (I think 10% body fat) Optimal Body Weight
146.2 : 0.9 : 162.4444444
Now, since I know where I am at currently, I think 10% body fat is a healthy race %. Not too lean but not carrying around a lot of extra that I need equates to pounding on the feet and extra power needed on the bike. So, I take the lean mass of 146.2 and divide that by my target of (100%-10% = 90% and that tells me I need to be about 162 lbs. This operates on the assumption that I will not lose or gain lean muscle mass and it will remain the same.
The second analysis that I did was review what Macronutrients I am consuming (Carbs, Protein, Fats) Accoring to the book, the breakout for an endurance athlete should be around 60% Carbs, 20% Protein, 20% Fats. As I right this, I almost laughed when I typed endurance athlete. I am not sure at what point that applies to me but I will operate on that assumption that is what I want to be..... So, after tracking
my food intake for the past three weeks here is the breakdown.
As you can see less than 47% of my calories are coming from Carbs so I need to increase my carb intake, decrease my fat intake and add a little bit of protein. Basically, eat better food and more whole grains. So, that is what I will be focusing on the next few weeks.Lastly, I just have to say the Training Peaks Food Log (the same one Livestrong uses) is pretty easy. There is no reason other than not having ready access to a computer to not use this as a tracking tool. I am lucky that I have a desk job and can near real time track my food, very little recreation at the end of the day.
I have a 45 minute swim at lunch and 1.5 hour ride tonight. I punted on the 3am thing because I should be able to get my ride in tonight after my meeting.
All for now
Tracy
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The week from H.E. Double Hockey Sticks
Before I start, I want to give a shout out to my buddy Mike Montoya in New Mexico and his friends, Justen, Maria, et al that are getting ready for the inaugural IronMan St. George in addition to a fellow Tri-Smart teammate Matt P. Go get em!
This week is a build week and of itself it wouldn't be an issue however this week Rene and I have something every single night so getting it all in is going to take lunches at the lap pool (it is becoming standard) and nights running after the kids go to bed or on the trainer coupled with a 3:00 to 4:30am ride before work on Thursday. I really enjoy training but my schedule is just really tough right now and I don't see it getting any better. I have to wrap up a few things that I am working on just so I get some time to recover. I am a fairly focused person but it reaches a point where it really starts to tear me down and the ones that feel it the most is my family and I have a hard time with that. I know it is for the greater good, set an example for my impressionable kids, but even the benefits of that reach a point of diminishing returns and walking that fine line is becoming difficult. It is still manageable right now but I have started saying No and limiting my meetings. Again, I am not complaining but I realize it is still very early in the season and it is only up from here. I have to get my evenings back so that I can see my family and get all of my training in plus my work duties.... I am learning a lot about myself. If the parable is true, "The devil finds work for idle hands" I have nothing to worry about, unless of course the devil is behind triathlons (which sometimes I think he might be)
Well, it is off to a day full of meetings, quick supper with the kids, a client fund raiser (for about 30 minutes) then off to my search team meeting, home by 8:30, out the door by 9:00 running until 10:00, showered, in bed by 10:30 and up at 3:00am tomorrow morning for my 1.5 hour bike ride before being at the office at 7:00 then a swim at lunch. Wow... I don't know whether to applaud the ability to schedule or puke on my desk. I will let you know next time what I have decided. There is a good chance both might happen
I'm thankful that I still have some control over my schedule. I really feel sorry for those whose schedules are dictated to them because of finacial, health, or other major life reasons. I still have choice and for that I am truly thankful.
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
This week is a build week and of itself it wouldn't be an issue however this week Rene and I have something every single night so getting it all in is going to take lunches at the lap pool (it is becoming standard) and nights running after the kids go to bed or on the trainer coupled with a 3:00 to 4:30am ride before work on Thursday. I really enjoy training but my schedule is just really tough right now and I don't see it getting any better. I have to wrap up a few things that I am working on just so I get some time to recover. I am a fairly focused person but it reaches a point where it really starts to tear me down and the ones that feel it the most is my family and I have a hard time with that. I know it is for the greater good, set an example for my impressionable kids, but even the benefits of that reach a point of diminishing returns and walking that fine line is becoming difficult. It is still manageable right now but I have started saying No and limiting my meetings. Again, I am not complaining but I realize it is still very early in the season and it is only up from here. I have to get my evenings back so that I can see my family and get all of my training in plus my work duties.... I am learning a lot about myself. If the parable is true, "The devil finds work for idle hands" I have nothing to worry about, unless of course the devil is behind triathlons (which sometimes I think he might be)
Well, it is off to a day full of meetings, quick supper with the kids, a client fund raiser (for about 30 minutes) then off to my search team meeting, home by 8:30, out the door by 9:00 running until 10:00, showered, in bed by 10:30 and up at 3:00am tomorrow morning for my 1.5 hour bike ride before being at the office at 7:00 then a swim at lunch. Wow... I don't know whether to applaud the ability to schedule or puke on my desk. I will let you know next time what I have decided. There is a good chance both might happen
I'm thankful that I still have some control over my schedule. I really feel sorry for those whose schedules are dictated to them because of finacial, health, or other major life reasons. I still have choice and for that I am truly thankful.
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Tip - Don't glue your feet to your socks!
If you have been reading you know that I have been having blister problems that I am getting over. The blisters have left a callous (sp) mess of my left foot. So, it should be no surprise while tending to my foot I inadverterntly removed some good skin -OUCH- and BTW that has the same affect as remvoing a blister. Not to be too gross but the soft pink new skin that never gets exposed to my shoes is REALLY tender skin. All of this happened Friday night. I moved my long bike to yesterday so it really didn't affect me then but today I had an 80 minute run with a bad case of the "tender foot".
I had to get my run in today and I wasn't going to let some fresh skin get in the way so in my infinite wisdom I decided to use Super Glue. So after my financial church presentation today I literally had 30 minutes to get home, get changed, and get out of the door so I could finish in time to go to my daughter's first piano recital. So I ran in the door, grabbed the Super Glue, covered the new skin with the glue and waited several minutes for it to dry. Once dry, I threw on my socks, shoes and hit the road with NO PAIN. It really worked. I had a few minutes when I got home to shower, change and get to the recital. This is where I found out the super glue wasn't dry all of the way and when I pulled my socks off guess what... new pink -delicate - skin. Not a huge deal, it will get better.
I have tomorrow off, ride and swim on Tuesday so I have until Wednesday before I have to worry about foot tenderness again. I don't see it being an issue, if it is, you will know.
All for now,
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
I had to get my run in today and I wasn't going to let some fresh skin get in the way so in my infinite wisdom I decided to use Super Glue. So after my financial church presentation today I literally had 30 minutes to get home, get changed, and get out of the door so I could finish in time to go to my daughter's first piano recital. So I ran in the door, grabbed the Super Glue, covered the new skin with the glue and waited several minutes for it to dry. Once dry, I threw on my socks, shoes and hit the road with NO PAIN. It really worked. I had a few minutes when I got home to shower, change and get to the recital. This is where I found out the super glue wasn't dry all of the way and when I pulled my socks off guess what... new pink -delicate - skin. Not a huge deal, it will get better.
I have tomorrow off, ride and swim on Tuesday so I have until Wednesday before I have to worry about foot tenderness again. I don't see it being an issue, if it is, you will know.
All for now,
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Gotta be the Shoes Part Du
Okay, so I have been looking for a "barefoot/Chi/Pose" shoe that I can use beyond 13.1 miles until I am brave/light enough / good enough to run long long distances in my Vibram's. As I wrote earlier I had no problems except for the pounding me feet took for the 21,600 steps I took in the 1/2 marathon. Maybe one day but I am a realist.
After doing much research I narrowed it down to two shoes (I added one to the list after talking to Jim at Ghisallo who supposidely is the Barefoot Ted of St. Louis.
Choice #1 - Zoot Race Shoe - This is Zoot's racing flat but unlike a true racing flat there still is a little bit of a heel. These things look awesome, have all of the things I have come to love with Zoot Shoes like the drain hole, laceless, sockless, easy on easy off. The thing I have come not to like about the Zoot's is they have become difficult to find this year. Little Shark in St. Louis carries them but when I went there to check em out they had 1 pair in the entire store and that one was on the wall in a size 10. Not to have wasted a trip, I had the sales attendant go to the back and get its brother and I took em for a spin. They were nice but just too big (and expensive). They were very nice and offered to get me a size 9 but I asked them to wait. Reason to follow - If I come across a deal on these shoes I will buy a pair
Choice 2 - Nike Free 3.0 - I actually called Nike and asked them some questions, the most important being what is the difference between Free 3.0 - 5.0 - 7.0 and their answer was very logical. The higher the number, the more "technical" the shoe (shoe jargon for padding and structure. The lower the number the closer to barefoot. I went to Ghisallo and spoke to Jim (on recommendation of Corky the owner of Ghisallo). Jim is the one that sold me the Vibram's and knows his stuff. The fact I know nothing made it pretty easy but he is obviously scholarly on the subject. I told him my dilemma that he created selling me the Vibram's - he laughed - and then recommended the Free 3.0 AND then he showed me the Newton's. I had tried on the Free 3.0 in the past and liked them, I took them for another spin and the heel doesn't get in the way so these things are the front runners - literally
New Choice 3 - The Newtons - Can't argue with who uses them as most of the fast runners in Ironman including the World Champion for the past 2 years Craig Alexander along with many past champions. I tried them on for the first time and I have to say, the feedback is instantaneous. The forefoot has a raised section that you have to land on. If you miss, you feel it. I can see the draw of these things and I tried on a pair that was setup for someone who pronates and ran in them. I liked them but for almost double the cost of the Free's (155.00) I couldn't see parting with that kind of cabbage on such a strange shoe.
I bought the Frees. I will do my 6 miler in them tonight and report back. I will still run A LOT in my vibram's. They are great for form and reinforcing POSE. I hope they are a little more rock resistent than the Vibram's.
I will keep you POSTED - See what I did just then - Posted - Writing a post.... I know, I am a dork.
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
After doing much research I narrowed it down to two shoes (I added one to the list after talking to Jim at Ghisallo who supposidely is the Barefoot Ted of St. Louis.
Choice #1 - Zoot Race Shoe - This is Zoot's racing flat but unlike a true racing flat there still is a little bit of a heel. These things look awesome, have all of the things I have come to love with Zoot Shoes like the drain hole, laceless, sockless, easy on easy off. The thing I have come not to like about the Zoot's is they have become difficult to find this year. Little Shark in St. Louis carries them but when I went there to check em out they had 1 pair in the entire store and that one was on the wall in a size 10. Not to have wasted a trip, I had the sales attendant go to the back and get its brother and I took em for a spin. They were nice but just too big (and expensive). They were very nice and offered to get me a size 9 but I asked them to wait. Reason to follow - If I come across a deal on these shoes I will buy a pair
Choice 2 - Nike Free 3.0 - I actually called Nike and asked them some questions, the most important being what is the difference between Free 3.0 - 5.0 - 7.0 and their answer was very logical. The higher the number, the more "technical" the shoe (shoe jargon for padding and structure. The lower the number the closer to barefoot. I went to Ghisallo and spoke to Jim (on recommendation of Corky the owner of Ghisallo). Jim is the one that sold me the Vibram's and knows his stuff. The fact I know nothing made it pretty easy but he is obviously scholarly on the subject. I told him my dilemma that he created selling me the Vibram's - he laughed - and then recommended the Free 3.0 AND then he showed me the Newton's. I had tried on the Free 3.0 in the past and liked them, I took them for another spin and the heel doesn't get in the way so these things are the front runners - literally
New Choice 3 - The Newtons - Can't argue with who uses them as most of the fast runners in Ironman including the World Champion for the past 2 years Craig Alexander along with many past champions. I tried them on for the first time and I have to say, the feedback is instantaneous. The forefoot has a raised section that you have to land on. If you miss, you feel it. I can see the draw of these things and I tried on a pair that was setup for someone who pronates and ran in them. I liked them but for almost double the cost of the Free's (155.00) I couldn't see parting with that kind of cabbage on such a strange shoe.
I bought the Frees. I will do my 6 miler in them tonight and report back. I will still run A LOT in my vibram's. They are great for form and reinforcing POSE. I hope they are a little more rock resistent than the Vibram's.
I will keep you POSTED - See what I did just then - Posted - Writing a post.... I know, I am a dork.
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
I don't want to swim but I am doing it anyway
I don't know if I need to add anymore than the subject. I think it sums it up! Feeling pretty unmotiviated today. However, The Goal is much bigger than how I am feeling at this moment in time. The more I train, the more I realize THE IRONMAN doesn't care. If it were alive, it would just as well chew me up and spit me out than let me finish. The results are up to me at moments like this.
So, I am off to swim over lunch. I have yet to complete a workout that afterward regreted doing sooooo... I'm off to swim 1.5ish miles.
Ugh
Tracy
http://www.acropolistech.com
So, I am off to swim over lunch. I have yet to complete a workout that afterward regreted doing sooooo... I'm off to swim 1.5ish miles.
Ugh
Tracy
http://www.acropolistech.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
Go! Marathon success
Good Morning,
It appears that I don't know how to upload pictures so you will have to click on them to see the whole things. Sorry
I'll start with my list of excuses why it should not have gone well:
- My allergies kept me up all night and got less than an hour of sleep
- My running has been erratic due to battling blisters for the past couple of week
- My knee injury over the last few months has curtailed my running with my longest run literally being a 9 miler in the middle of March with nothing longer than 7 following it.
- And, I was running in shoes that hadn't seen more than 7 miles ever at one time (My vibrams)
The race was a beautiful, the morning was perfect (actually a little warm) believe it or not. My buddy Mark and I decided to run together for as long as possible at the 9 minute pace. My goal was to run 9min/mile til the 7 mile mark and then push it if I was feelling "spunky" as my coach calls it. We started off pretty fast at 8:30s for the first three miles. Slow grade down hill into Soulard plus we both knew we were going to have to stop to get rid of excess water so we wanted to build a cushion. We stopped at mile 4, there was a line at the Johnny that cost us 2:07 according to my Garmin. We picked it backup up after the stop to run through Downtown. There were no major ups/downs but several long slow elevation changes <2% but almost a mile long. Mile 10 was a 1% grad for an entire mile that tends to get old but doable. Mark and I got seperated around mile 7 and I didn't see anyone else that I knew until the end of the race.
My over reaching goal was 1:55 and happy with anything under 2:00. My chip time was 1:58.xx and if I would have had to stop I could have pushed for the 1:55 time. Aside from a very very small blister on my right foot (less than the size of a dime) the shoes did great. My blister casued zero discomfort and was a non issue. The shoes (and my feet and legs) performed as well as I could have expected. I do need to find some shoes for the full distance marathon / IM. At this stage in my training a half marathon is all my foot could have taken in the Vibrams.
Rene did great too, she ran with the 2:10 pace group and finished ahead of them at 2:08. The most amzaing part is that she had an extended visit at the rest room and then sprinted to catch up and pass the pace group. She had two miles toward the end where she was running sub 8:40 which is fantastic. She was in much better shape at the end than I was.
We said goodbye to Tiffany, Ben, and Team Anderson who all had great races. Of note, Harry Anderson (who supplied our shirts) was over 300 pounds a little over a year ago and finished strong (GO HARRY) and Dawn F. husband Herb has been battling a bad bad bad case of Gout in his feet and finished. Lastly, Kyle Anderson sprained his ankle Saturday moving a TV. We saw he and his wife at dinner Saturady night and he was visibly limping. Nothing like going and taking 10,000 steps on a bad ankle the next day!
Great day had by all and I am amazed and inspired by the number of people with their own story, own challenges but achieve their goals anyway. As Ruday Garcia Tolson, the double leg amputee who completed an Ironman said (paraphrase), Don't feel sorry for me, my life is good. Sure, I have challenges but you don't see them stopping me" Only at events like this do you ever see things like this come out. You don't see them in training except when you have to push yourself. To me, the unrealized benefit of paying for and competing in races is seeing the "humanity" of everyone coming together to overcome whatever has happened leading to that point, that day, that race. It is truly inspiring whether it is Harry who is doing to to lose weight and take control, or the wheel chair participants slogging through mile 10, or any of the number of other stories.... It is truly inspiring to me and is a key reason why.
I've got today off of training (thanks coach J) with a swim tomorrow (thanks again) then it is back at it.
I have a long way to go but one day at a time! Now off to find those shoes!
Until next time
Tracy
Friday, April 9, 2010
All systems GO St. Louis
Today is Friday and the GO St. Louis 1/2 marathon is this weekend. My wife was telling me that there are 16,000 people running in it so it will be packed. I had a short 35 minute run (this is a recovery week) and not to be too graphic but I last night I had "gastro intestinal distress" and needless to say the shirt that I left with didn't make it home. "Taking care of business" while out for a run is horrible, however under the cover of night makes it okay I guess. Anyway, sorry for my gross diversion but as a runner / triathlete there are times we have to deal with things and last night was one of those times.
With the 1/2 Marathon this weekend I have no idea what to expect. I will be running the farthest distance that I have ran since SOMA 1/2 Ironman last year. I have had 1 - 1.5 hour run since then and I don't know what to expect. I will be running in my barefoot running shoes (Vibram's) and to be honest I have no idea how my legs / feet will hold up over that kind of distance. In addition, I want to push it this weekend and collect some good data that my coach and I can analyze for my level of fitnesss this time of year in addition to doing some race predictions for my full IM.
However, I try not to enter a race without some goal. Goals assume there are no physical breakdowns that I don't expect but could happen with all of the variables. If I finish and my time reflects fitness my goal would be to finish sub 1:55 (just south of a 9:00min/mile pace. My over reaching goal would be sub 1;50 that would be better than an 8:30 min / mile pace. Since this is purely being viewed as a training run for me I am going to error on the side of pushing vs. not pushing. I will settle in the first three miles and based on how I am feeling I will make a "in game" decision.
As with anything, I may choke, I may kill it. The weather looks great and my hope is no injuries. Other than that, you probably won't hear from me until after the race.
Until then....
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
With the 1/2 Marathon this weekend I have no idea what to expect. I will be running the farthest distance that I have ran since SOMA 1/2 Ironman last year. I have had 1 - 1.5 hour run since then and I don't know what to expect. I will be running in my barefoot running shoes (Vibram's) and to be honest I have no idea how my legs / feet will hold up over that kind of distance. In addition, I want to push it this weekend and collect some good data that my coach and I can analyze for my level of fitnesss this time of year in addition to doing some race predictions for my full IM.
However, I try not to enter a race without some goal. Goals assume there are no physical breakdowns that I don't expect but could happen with all of the variables. If I finish and my time reflects fitness my goal would be to finish sub 1:55 (just south of a 9:00min/mile pace. My over reaching goal would be sub 1;50 that would be better than an 8:30 min / mile pace. Since this is purely being viewed as a training run for me I am going to error on the side of pushing vs. not pushing. I will settle in the first three miles and based on how I am feeling I will make a "in game" decision.
As with anything, I may choke, I may kill it. The weather looks great and my hope is no injuries. Other than that, you probably won't hear from me until after the race.
Until then....
Tracy
www.acropolistech.com
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Worst Blisters of my life
It is Tuesday and it has been awhile since my last post. Following my last post "Blistered" I actually felt good enough to try to run on Friday morning. I took the day off to be around for the construction project plus Rene and I promised the kids we would do something fun in the afternoon. So, with my blisters well under my skin and very deep I figured I would go for a run and see how it went.
My run consisted of an hour rolling hills. I wore my Zoots for a little more padding thinking that would help the blisters. Well, the good news is that I made it through my run. The bad news is that it was horrible. My left foot was killing me and the blisters only worsened due to the fact that there was a layer of fluid between layers of skin so every time my foot hit the ground the pressure from the fluid seemed like it was working between the layers of skin. I got home and the blisters were still intact but I was limping horribly and it worsened throughout the day. We went to the Magic House that afternoon with the kids and my foot killed me the entire time. That night when I got home, I had to do something so I relieved the pressure on the bilsters and instant relief.
Saturday I went for a 3.5 hour bike ride that went very well eventhough the winds were as challenging as I have ever rode in. I wore socks so the impact on my foot was minimal. I didn't run this weekend and had yesterday as an off day. Jennifer has a run scheduled for me today (short 45 minute run) that I am going to wear my Vibram's for with liberal GLIDE usage. We will see how it goes.
I am less than one week out from the GO St. Louis half marathon and still not sure what shoes I am going to wear. Rene asked me last night what my pace was going to be and I am afraid I may not be able to finish the damn thing at this point due to lack of shoes?
Tonight will tell a lot, we will see what happens. I am going to try to send a picture of my foot in a few but I am not sure how that will work from my phone.
More tomorrow, tomorrow will tell a lot.
Tracy
My run consisted of an hour rolling hills. I wore my Zoots for a little more padding thinking that would help the blisters. Well, the good news is that I made it through my run. The bad news is that it was horrible. My left foot was killing me and the blisters only worsened due to the fact that there was a layer of fluid between layers of skin so every time my foot hit the ground the pressure from the fluid seemed like it was working between the layers of skin. I got home and the blisters were still intact but I was limping horribly and it worsened throughout the day. We went to the Magic House that afternoon with the kids and my foot killed me the entire time. That night when I got home, I had to do something so I relieved the pressure on the bilsters and instant relief.
Saturday I went for a 3.5 hour bike ride that went very well eventhough the winds were as challenging as I have ever rode in. I wore socks so the impact on my foot was minimal. I didn't run this weekend and had yesterday as an off day. Jennifer has a run scheduled for me today (short 45 minute run) that I am going to wear my Vibram's for with liberal GLIDE usage. We will see how it goes.
I am less than one week out from the GO St. Louis half marathon and still not sure what shoes I am going to wear. Rene asked me last night what my pace was going to be and I am afraid I may not be able to finish the damn thing at this point due to lack of shoes?
Tonight will tell a lot, we will see what happens. I am going to try to send a picture of my foot in a few but I am not sure how that will work from my phone.
More tomorrow, tomorrow will tell a lot.
Tracy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Blistered!
Went for my scheduled 1 hour tempo run last night. The weather was perfect. Rene and my contractors are wrapping up and it was a pretty good day. My seasonal affect disorder (kidding) was in full swing with it being a nearly perfect weather day my mood matched. Legs felt good eventhough this is the 4th week of a build set, all is good. It was little windy but good.
Becuase I am trying to figure out what shoes are going to be my distance shoes (greater than 10 miles) I have a mental block that those shoes could actually be my vibram 5 fingers (that I have written about a lot). My other concern with that shoe is the time it will take in transition getting these things on.... so, I decided to run with another "barfoot" / "POSE" style shoe and those are my Mizuno Waves. I bought them last year for 30 bucks in a clearance bin at a local running store. They are about 1/2size too big but my goal was to have a set of POSE shoes for drilling. I never imagined that I would be logging serious miles one day. That day was yesterday.
In my quest to find a distnace shoe I put these on and took off. They are a great shoe, very flexible. My splits were 8.00/mile, 8:35/m, 8"41/m, 8:18 .... and all was good right up until then. I felt a hot spot on my left foot right near the ball of my foot. I was wearing tech socks but my feet had to be sliding in the shoes. The fact that it was at the ball of my foot I guess is a good thing becuase that indicates that is where I was landing (yeah) no problems in the heels or rear of my foot because to be honest, this part of my foot barely touched the ground. Anyway, it got to the point that I was in a lot of pain so I had a choice, really push to finish and face the consequences of blisters a less than two weeks from a race or finish reasonably and walk in. I chose the second path and avoided major blisters. My foot is a little sore today but today is a swim & bike day so that should be an issue for my run tomorrow (hopefully). Although I would love to get my tempo runs in the 7:xx/mile these runs in the 8:xx are great for me. They are faster than last year and I only hope to improve. No knee pain = speed so if I keep the knee pain away my running should continue to improve.
My shoe experiment continues and the Vibram's are still the the leaders. More to come on the shoe saga but every run helps to hone in on a solution.
All for now
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
Becuase I am trying to figure out what shoes are going to be my distance shoes (greater than 10 miles) I have a mental block that those shoes could actually be my vibram 5 fingers (that I have written about a lot). My other concern with that shoe is the time it will take in transition getting these things on.... so, I decided to run with another "barfoot" / "POSE" style shoe and those are my Mizuno Waves. I bought them last year for 30 bucks in a clearance bin at a local running store. They are about 1/2size too big but my goal was to have a set of POSE shoes for drilling. I never imagined that I would be logging serious miles one day. That day was yesterday.
In my quest to find a distnace shoe I put these on and took off. They are a great shoe, very flexible. My splits were 8.00/mile, 8:35/m, 8"41/m, 8:18 .... and all was good right up until then. I felt a hot spot on my left foot right near the ball of my foot. I was wearing tech socks but my feet had to be sliding in the shoes. The fact that it was at the ball of my foot I guess is a good thing becuase that indicates that is where I was landing (yeah) no problems in the heels or rear of my foot because to be honest, this part of my foot barely touched the ground. Anyway, it got to the point that I was in a lot of pain so I had a choice, really push to finish and face the consequences of blisters a less than two weeks from a race or finish reasonably and walk in. I chose the second path and avoided major blisters. My foot is a little sore today but today is a swim & bike day so that should be an issue for my run tomorrow (hopefully). Although I would love to get my tempo runs in the 7:xx/mile these runs in the 8:xx are great for me. They are faster than last year and I only hope to improve. No knee pain = speed so if I keep the knee pain away my running should continue to improve.
My shoe experiment continues and the Vibram's are still the the leaders. More to come on the shoe saga but every run helps to hone in on a solution.
All for now
Tracy Butler
www.acropolistech.com
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