Appleman Triathlon Race Report

A pretty warm day, but a great turn out, and a fun race - even if I'm so stupid that I forgot my running shoes at home. That's a special kind of stupid folks. Anyways...Me, Elizabeth, Grum, and Kree were all signed up and luckily for me Nick & Al showed up to do some spectating and Nick had an extra pair of shoes...otherwise I would've reluctantly ran barefoot.

I was part of the first wave for the .5 mile swim, and unlike past races - I didn't wait until literally everyone had started swimming, and I didn't swim on the far edges. The swim course is on a pond and the route is shaped sort of like a horse shoe. I switched between the backstroke and freestyle throughout the race, and feel like I did an ok job of that. I'm still not able to maintain the breathing for the freestyle - and although I don't get tired, I just start hyperventilating. Throughout the swim I ended up kicking a few people, getting kicked, and hitting people in the back of the leg by accident. I'm still not used to all that, but I don't get rattled and panic - I just pop my head out of the water and apologize. I have no idea why. No one cares. I don't even care. All in all, it was one of my better swims and I finished in 16:42 - an improvement of 2:08 over last year.
Once again though, I feel like I sucked horribly during the transition. The results page doesn't show transition times though, and so I'm not sure how bad I sucked, but I'll go ahead and assume it was about a minute too long.

The bike portion was a tale of two halves.  The first five miles felt pretty solid - I stupidly didn't wear the garmin, but I feel like I was easily averaging 20+MPH.  Unfortunately, the second half of the course has a few stretches of consistent hills that killed me. And to make matters worse, I'm pretty sure it was terrible because I don't know how to use my bike. At around mile 7 I was churning uphill trying to get in a lower gear when a girl flew passed me and said, "try not to change gears while your standing"...I'm going to guess that's fairly common knowledge - so while I felt dumb, I appreciated the tip because as she was flying past me I was looking at my chain that I'm pretty sure was about to come off. I took the advice though and sat down and went through the gears. So the second half didn't go well, but I was fortunate enough to get a good tip at probably just the right time.

I came into the transition area with my quads killing me. Probably an ok transition time, but I had to spend some extra time tying Nick's 11.5 shoes extra tight on my 10.5 feet. I went out of the transition area with a really short stride. I was passing people though, and so I just kept moving and hoping my legs would loosen up. I finished the first mile in just under 7 minutes and had finally started to loosen up. Unfortunately at around 1.3 miles, the run enters a trail in the woods that goes basically straight uphill. I actually felt really good in the early sections of the trail, but it was so narrow that I couldn't pass people.  And then when I did try and side step the trail to dash ahead, my foot would shift around in Nick's big shoes and I thought I was going to eat it. When I was finally able to get a little bit of room to breath I was at the final hill on the trail section, which is a tough uphill of ~100meters and really an area where I wasn't going to gain much ground on anyone except people who decided to walk the hill. So mile two was a sucky 8:10. Really sucky. After exiting the trail, we turned right onto the road heading downhill before taking a left on the homestretch. I was able to cautiously stretch my legs on the downhill, but once again it wasn't a comfortable feeling with my feet sliding around. After passing probably 20+ people during the run at this point, the first person passed me at the base of the hill. Since I was still remaining cautious at the bottom of the hill in Nick's big shoes, this dood was able to put a little bit of distance on me. I could see the finish line from the bottom of the hill though, and picked up the pace enough to be able to pass him with about 150 meters to go.

Overall, I'm mostly disappointed. There's no reason my run should be that slow. Yup, disappointed.

Results: http://firm-racing.com/result_report.asp?RID=750&type=1

Nice job by Grum, Kree, and Eli though!

Shin Splints - Gone and Back Again

I went to look back through my training log and my shins have been bothering me since late March. It became progressively worse in my left shin after the marathon, and I was beginning to worry that it was a stress fracture. The shin would pulsate with a dull pain pretty much all day, and I could only run after taking a couple ibuprofen and waiting an hour. Not exactly a sustainable game plan, I know...but they've been getting better. Sort of. Two weeks ago I thought was thisclose to being back to 100%, now I'm pretty far from that. The good news is that both shins have been hurting and the pain is much less intense than what it had been.

A couple weeks ago while on vacation I went on a few runs, and 3 of the runs included hill repeats. I felt pretty good during those runs and was able to hop into the cold ocean water for a post-run "ice bath." It was during the days following vacation that I thought I was almost at 100%, so I'm thinking that all the swimming and cold water had a positive effect on the shins (especially since I didn't really back off on the runs). I had also been doing more single leg lunges, calf raises, body weight squats, etc. to try and strengthen my legs - so that could have helped as well. In any case, I'm going to continue running, but try and do some more leg exercises to test out what works for me.

Sunday		24-Jun		-		3.0		Rest / Cross Train		0:07:45		11.12		Battle Road.  Awesome trail, shin felt great, a bit dehydrated, but was never really hurting.  Great to finally get in a run like this.
Monday		25-Jun		5.0		7.0		Easy		0:08:00		2.5		An easy jog with Raleigh. Finished up with 6 short sprints/strides and then some leg strengthening exercises.
Tuesday		26-Jun		4.0		8.0		Intervals				0		Ultimate
Wednesday		27-Jun		-		4.0		Recovery				5.2		10 min @ 6:24 pace, 1 min rest, 10 min @ 6:22. Very cool tempo workout.
Thursday		28-Jun		4.0		7.0		Moderate		0:08:00		1.35		Jog with Raleigh, and Ultimate.
Friday		29-Jun		-		4.0		Rest / Recovery				0		Very tempted to head out, but I felt really worn down and reluctantly took some rest.
Saturday		30-Jun		8.0		12.0		Long Run Easy				3.64		Fresh Pond race in 15:29, a new PR (kind of)…two cups of coffee and pie for breakfast then 7 minutes before the race I decided I'd run. Still fun.
Sunday		1-Jul		-		3.0		Or cross training/soccer				0.00		Rest.
Monday		2-Jul		8.0		11.0		w/10 100m strides		0:08:00		8.54		Hill route during lunch, roughly 5.5 at 7:40.  Night run with Raleigh, and finished up with 10 sprints. Good stretch & ice bath.
Tuesday		3-Jul		4.0		8.0		Intervals				6.92		1000/800/800/600/600/400/400/200/200 - killer workout.
Wednesday		4-Jul		2.0		6.0		Moderate		0:07:44		3.17		Hot and humid out there.  Took it easy enough though, as today was an active recovery day.
Thursday		5-Jul		5.0		9.0		Hard or Hills				2.79		One lapper around Fresh Pond, new PR: 14:59.  So close to a sub 6 pace, but that'll have to be another day.
Friday		6-Jul		-		6.0		Recovery				0		Did a bit of a warm up, then decided to just do some exercises. Shins.
Saturday		7-Jul		13.0		16.0		Long Run Tempo		0:08:08		11.50		Battle Road again with Eli. Shin was barking a little bit at the start, but not too bad. Very hot & muggy so we didn't push it.

A few really good workouts in there, and some ok distance. Unfortunately, it looks like the next three weeks are going to be difficult to start any kind of consistent training. Races on the 15th/22nd/28th will keep me from doing trail runs, and ultimate will be a substitute for speed work...I'm a slave to the running log!

Tory Row 5k Race Report

Just a day after a pretty decent triathlon/duathlon, Elizabeth and I were signed up for a local 5k.

I was hoping to put in for a PR since the weather was perfect - cool with a light drizzle, but unfortunately the legs just weren't feeling it...probably a stupid idea to try for a PR the day after another race, but oh well.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 6:07
Mile 2 - 6:23
Mile 3 - 6:16
Mile .17 - 0:45
Final time: 19:31
http://coolrunning.com/results/12/ma/Jun3_ToryRo_set1.shtml

After heading out on Brattle, the course turns uphill onto Appleton.  It's pretty much the only hill in the neighborhood, and while it's not devastating, it's a tough little hill to start mile 2.

The only other tricky portion of the course has the runners head in and out of the Longfellow Park horseshoe (both on the way out of Harvard Square and heading back in). That portion has cobblestones, sand, drainage, pot holes, etc. and forces you to slow down just a bit. The Garmin showed a distance of 3.17 miles, and I think they could have done away with the horseshoe on the way back and not sacrificed much, if anything while allowing the runners a nice straightaway before turning onto Church for the finish.

Overall, I hated the results of the race for me. Elizabeth on the other hand kicked ass. I don't think she's been doing much training and ran a 20:57 (a 6:37 pace if the Garmin distance is accurate). That's nutz!  That's awesome!

Escape the Cape Race Report

Elizabeth, Kathleen, and myself stayed at Billington Sea Friday night, and had a great time eating burgers and just hanging out. Thanks to Aunt Suzanne for letting us stay at the cottage!

We were unsure as to what the weather would do, but we received notification from the race director on Friday afternoon that the race was on - so we were preparing to race in some ugly weather.

We woke up early, and the weather was as expected...gross. I've never taken the road bike out in wet weather like that, and I was nervous about taking sharp corners on wet pavement. Once I got there, I was debating on bailing before we even got out of the car, but we took our gear out and walked down to the check in. I'm not a strong swimmer, and once I saw how choppy the water was, I decided I would sit this one out.

...However, the local authorities also thought the water was too choppy, so they told the race director the swim portion had to be cancelled, and so they changed the swim to a one-mile run...and just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!

I was part of the first heat, and was hoping to stay close to the front. The one mile run (more like ~.92m) started with a bit of an uphill away from the water before turning on a side street and winding back to the transition area.  I finished with a time of 5:24, good for the 34th fastest time. I felt really good heading into the transition area - the run wasn't too fast for me, and I was still in the thick of things. Unfortunately, since I had previously decided to bail, my transition area was not set up at all; I just sort of threw everything next to the bike.  So while 1:31 isn't a terribly slow transition, I think it was ~30 seconds too long.

The bike portion of the race was easily my best leg relative to what I've done in the past. Last year in somewhat windy conditions I finished in 34:22, and this year I took quite a bit of time off and finished in 32:19. And that's with taking some sharp corners extra slow, and dealing with a couple of really ass-hole cars in the road that were coming dangerously close to the riders. I only saw two people hit the deck, and thankfully they were only a little banged up, but overall seemed alright. The transition back into the run took me 1:12, and once again, I think that was ~45+ seconds too long.  I should've been able to just pop on my shoes and run the hell out of there...

The final run went well.  I think I passed about 20+ people and was passed by only one person who was part of a relay team - so I felt pretty good about that. The final time was 19:13, and while they said it was a 5k, I feel like the course was a little short. Still a solid time after the bike, and almost 2 minutes faster than last year.

Results:

SWIM .3-mi / BIKE 10-mi / RUN 3.1-mi
Pl  Name                   Final  Div/Tot Div       Rank Swim  Tran1 Rank  Bike  Tran2 Rank Run
87 Patrick Bugbee  59:37  9/33        M2529 34      5:24     1:31    218     32:19 1:12    24      19:13
http://coolrunning.com/results/12/ma/Jun2_Escape_set1.shtml

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the results of this season's first triathlon (duathlon). I improved over last year on the same bike and run course, and there's easily some room for improvement.

Bedford Rotary Memorial 12k Recap

Hey, a new PR!...which is bound to happen when you've never run a 12k before, but still....I'll take it!

Time: 49:43
Splits according to Garmin:
Mile 1 - 6:06
Mile 2 - 6:30
Mile 3 - 6:41
Mile 4 - 6:54
Mile 5 - 6:49
Mile 6 - 6:41
Mile 7 - 6:46
Final .54m - 3:13

Oddly enough, I've never run a 10k either, so I really didn't have much as far as expectations are concerned.  I was primarily hoping to run under 50 minutes, so I'm happy that I accomplished that - but looking at the splits, I feel like I was poorly prepared and didn't run as well as I could have. I haven't been able to get in as many runs in the last few weeks as I would like to, but the runs that I have had (speedwork/hills) have gone fairly well. With those workouts, on top of the conditioning from the marathon, I think there's room for improvement...and really, going out at a 6:06 for the first mile was just plain stupid.

It's not that I ran a bad time, but it bothers me thinking I could have done better. Going out quick was the result of my laziness in not setting a plan, and not eating or hydrating properly the night(s) before likely caused some of the 'empty-leg feeling' I had during those ugly middle miles.

Overall though, it was a fun race. And since it was a USATF-NE Grand Prix event, there were a lot of really good runners on the road.  Top three:

1 1/19 M1824 36:51 4:57 Kevin Johnson 23 M 182 WMDP Hanover NH
2 1/64 M3039 37:40 5:04 Nate Jenkins 31 M 131 CMS Andover MA
3 2/19 M1824 37:59 5:06 Eric MacKnight 23 M 369 Clifton Park NY
(full results http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/nh/May19_Bedfor_set1.shtml)

Side note...Nate Jenkins, the guy who came in second, has a blog at runningtimes.com that I like to read on occasion - worth checking out. http://wpblogs.runningtimes.com/blogs/natejenkins/

Next races: Escape the Cape Triathlon and Tory Row 5k...

Great photo thanks to KrissyK

Slow Recovery

The last few weeks have been sort of frustrating with the persistent shin splints in my left leg, but I've been able to get in some solid workouts in spite of the nuisance.

And despite taking a lot more days off recently to try and recover, I feel like I'm doing OK with regards to following my 'Summer Schedule'.  I've skipped all of the long runs to give the shins a better chance to get to 100%, andI've been biking a little bit, and getting in some shoulder and core work in prep for the triathlon. Not perfect training, since I haven't touched the water yet, but I'll take what I can get.

Additionally, I've been able to continue the speedwork on Tuesday nights and get in a few solid sessions of hill repeats.

Summary of notable runs:

24-Apr		4.0		8.0		Intervals				7.92		1200x2/800x2/600/400x2, drills, warm up/cool down
27-Apr		-		4.0		Rest / Recovery		0:07:30		8.42		10 hill repeats on heartbreak, 2m+ jog to and from.
3-May		5.0		9.0		Hard or Hills		0:07:30		8.42		10 hill repeats on heartbreak, 2m+ jog to and from.
8-May		4.0		8.0		Intervals				5.94		800/1000/1200/800 - I had another 1000/1200 to go, but the shin was really bothering me.  I'm still pretty happy with the paces though considering my shin is definitely not ok.
15-May		4.0		8.0		Intervals				8.24		800/1600/800/1600/800 - rained again, but a solid workout.  Noticed the shin still, unfortunately.

I missed one speedwork-session due to work-related travel, and one hill-session thanks getting a nice pair of Sox tickets (the game where Beckett was booed off the mound...still fun!). Other than that, I've been making sure I get in those solid workouts and rest or cross train on any days where the shin is tender. I did take 6 days off completely from running prior to the 15th, and that seemed to help a little bit, but hopefully I don't need to do that again.

Long May You Run

I just read an interesting article...
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=25970&PageNum=2

A short excerpt:

Contrary to sedentary America's belief, lifelong running is good for us.

James Fries, M.D., co-author of a 2008 study from Stanford that tracked 528 runners and 423 non-runners beginning in 1984, counts the ways: "Running improves your blood pressure. You're less likely to get blood clots and varicose veins. Bones become stronger and denser. It's a treatment for osteoporosis. It prevents fractures of the hips and spine. The ligaments get bigger and stronger--they protect the joints from wobbling, which is one thing that causes joints to wear out. Lungs get stronger. Our physical reserve is greater."

The Stanford study confirmed what lifelong runners have always suspected:- Runners suffer fewer disabilities. Running delays age-related disabilities by almost two decades.

- Runners are seven times less likely to require knee replacement.

- Running doesn't lead to increased hip, back or knee problems.

- Runners suffer less cancer and neurological problems.

- Runners are half as likely as non-runners to die early.

Runners began the study with an average of 12,000-14,000 miles on their legs, and many have since doubled that. They weren't weekend joggers. Some were Olympians.

'Running is a very natural thing," says Fries, "and there's no upper limit to it, as long as it's not painful.'