Bought my race pics (JFC what price gouging) SOLELY because I wanted an actual copy of this. No shame!
Best race picture ever!
“Extra” Half Iron
Since my Ironman is late in the season, November 2nd, my first “practice” race isn’t supposed to be until my Olympic distance race in August. Mike (ExitRowIron) talked me into signing up for a half iron in July “for fun”. The crazy thing is that I agreed. Sure, I thought, I have to bike that far anyway for my regular workout, so why not just run a half marathon after my run. And just open water swim 1.2 miles before. No big deal.
Well, I’m committed now. Chisago Half Iron on July 28th!!
Here I am from that same race in 2011:
3,400 Calories
That’s what my BodyMedia device says I burned today. What does that look like?
- 1 hour swim
- 1 hour weight lifting
- 30 minutes on Stairmaster with weight vest
- Trip to Target
- Nap
- 1 hour ride on bike trainer
- 40 minutes walking the dog
Ya, I’m tired now. I’m not complaining since I didn’t have to fit a job in there somehow and my kids are in high school so they require little physical labor. But I’m still tired.
Today I had a short brick workout, and since it’s still in the 30’s here in Minneapolis, I rode the bike on the trainer. All good. I did my super-fast change to full on winter running clothes, ran through the garage and put the door down. I’ve done it thousands of times and never thought twice about it.
I came back after a very nice run and… the door wouldn’t go up. I put in the code 10 times with no luck. Knock on the neighbor’s door, no one home. I finally flagged down another neighbor who told me the power was out. Hmmmm… I never considered what would happen if the power went out while I was out on a ride or run.
They nicely called Mike and he came home to save me. Of course, the power came back on before he made it and I froze in my wet running clothes while I waited, but I learned 2 lessons: Take a key and be thankful for my person that will come home from work, even though he figures the power will be back on by the time he gets there.
It’s going to be too cold to ride outside tomorrow, but I have my heart set on riding outside on Saturday. I’m so excited! And oddly nervous? Even though I’ve probably biked 1,000 miles outside, going out for the first time makes me nervously excited.
Ironman Training for today:
- Swim 2,500 yards
- 25 minutes on the StairMaster with weight vest
- Plow 5 inches of heavy, wet snow off the driveway
- Nap
- Ride the CompuTrainer for 30 minutes
- Plow another 3 inches of snow and shovel the walk
Throw in doing some laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and buying dog food and I’ve had enough for today.
We’re supposed to get another couple inches of snow overnight, so I’ll have one more stint with the snow blower in the morning. I hope that is it for this winter. I can’t take the weather anymore. Uncle!
I had a metabolic test on Tuesday and above is a cartoon representation of the results. It’s a treadmill test using a mask to analyze the type of fuel the body is using while running. From it, you get your exact heart rate zones and the percentage of fat burn it each zone. The definition of Zone 1 is a greater than 50% fat burn, and my Zone 1 goes well past the heart rate that I do my normal training runs. In fact, the bump you see is the heart rate that I run most often, and at that point I’m burning close to 80% of calories from fat. In Zone 2 I’m averaging 49% fat burn, and in Zone 3, 44%. Zone 3 is 10K pace for me. I finally asked them to stop the test in Zone 4 because I just couldn’t run any faster. At that point, I was still over 40% fat burn. They usually stop the test at 0% fat burn but I was still so far away and I never run at a heart rate of over 177. Heck, I’m 45 so using the normal 220-your age formula my max should be 175. I think it’s fair to say I can run as hard as I possibly can and still be burning over 40% fat.
The last time I did this test was last July, and then I had equally good fat burn in Zones 1-3, but by the time I got to Zone 4 my fat burn was only 12%.
So why do I care about this stuff? Because Ironman takes a really long time, and burning all carbs is a sure way to bonk or have stomach problems. I’m thrilled that my fat burn at the heart rates that I do all my running and cycling in is way down in Zone 1. I’ll be less dependent on what I’m eating and drinking. I used this approach for IMFL last year and felt fantastic the entire race. I never bonked or felt mentally out of it. My stomach cooperated because I didn’t have to overload it with calories.
I’ve been heart rate training for 18 months now. When I started, I didn’t really know if if was worth all the effort and sacrifice, but it has been. When I started, I couldn’t run without going into Zone 3, the no-man’s land of endurance training. Now I’m more fit, my heart rate is lower when I train and I have more consistent energy. Can you do a marathon without worrying about fat burn? Sure. Want to do an Ironman or half iron? You should seriously consider adding heart rate training to your base phase. Want to lose weight? Then for sure you should be looking into how your body is fueling your activity.
I’m no expert but if you have questions about heart rate training or how it relates to long course racing I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction. I know it’s really worked for me and wish I could convince more people that it’s worth the effort.
Wear your running shirts tomorrow for Boston
Heard a great idea from local coach Gary Westlund: tomorrow I’m wearing a running shirt to work to “tell the rest of our world of running friends we’ll not stop running. We’ll run more, run farther, and volunteer more often at running events.” Well said Gary. My heart and prayers go out to everyone in Boston.
Great idea. Thanks, Steve. I will never qualify to wear a Boston jacket, but I am a runner and will wear my MCM jacket tomorrow to show where my heart is.
Goldy’s 10 Mile Run this morning! It was really cold with 6 inches of snow on the ground, but an awesome race. Half of the course is on the University of Minnesota campus and the other half is along the Mississippi River, making it one of the more scenic runs in Minneapolis. The finish line was the 50 yard line in beautiful TCF Stadium with video on the Jumbo-tron. Fun!
I’ve run this distance 4 times before and I PR’ed today!! My previous PR was from 2008 and I beat it by 4:27, quite a bit for a race this distance. The course was challenging with a lot of hills in the back half, so I’m really proud of this one. Finish time 1:28:53, which is 8:53 per mile. I finished 25th out of 104 in my division.
That’s me with Mike (ExitRowIron) and then with two great friends down on the field by the finish line. The football field looks so much smaller when you are on ground level. It’s a beautiful stadium and I got a kick out of finishing on the 50 yard line.
So a PR for April’s medal! Since Ironman Florida, I’ve PR’ed at 5K, half marathon, and now 10 mile distance. I don’t think I’ll see any more PR’s this year since I’m now in full on Ironman training mode. It’s been fun running a little faster, but now the real work begins.
First Day for Real
Technically, Ironman training started yesterday with a rest day. I took advantage by having a massage and taking a nap. But starting today, training is in full swing. I’m so glad to be back!
I swam 2,500 yards, cleaned up and then jumped on the treadmill since it was SNOWING outside. Did 45 minutes in zone 2, put on the weight vest and then did the StairMaster for 20 minutes. Yeah! I love being back to training for Ironman and I love my 30 week plan. It starts out reasonably so that there is a strong base in place before the workouts ramp up.
We are supposed to get 6 inches of snow over the next two days. WHAT the heck? Looks like tomorrows brick workout will be using the CompuTrainer and treadmill. I don’t foresee getting outside for any rides for at least another couple of weeks.
The weather isn’t going to get me down, because I am pumped! Ironman Florida, here I come!
Meh, March
I had high hopes for March, so even though a lot went right, I’m not really happy with how things went.
The good stuff:
- Biked 260 miles, goal was 200
- Lifted weights more than twice a week
- Planned trip to Grand Canyon
- Started working with a weight vest
- Avoided re-injury to shin and other injury
- Lost 2 pounds
The bad stuff:
- Only ran 51 miles while trying to avoid shin injury
- Was supposed to lose 5 pounds for DietBet, lost $25
- Didn’t swim twice a week, but did swim several times
I was doing great on the DietBet until the week in the car for college visits followed by a terrible cold. I didn’t eat right, I couldn’t swim while traveling and didn’t feel like swimming once I got back with a cold. Once I saw that I was going to lose, I gave up completely.
Overall, though, some great things happened this month. My older son picked a college, Indiana University. My daughter found two colleges that are serious contenders as she heads into her senior year. I enjoyed every minute with them, especially since I know time with them is precious with college on the horizon.
My Ironman training plan starts tomorrow and I’m very happy that I’m pretty healthy at the start of the season this year. Last year I had a serious SI injury and couldn’t run for the first 5 weeks. I’m feeling strong and my cold is gone, so I’m ready to go.
I’m not setting any goals for April. I felt like I did the best I could in March and would be happy about where I am if I hadn’t failed to meet my arbitrary goals. Hopefully the first month of training will go well and I’ll be healthy at the end of the month. It’s a 30 week plan, so the first several weeks aren’t very tough. I’ll use this time to get acclimated to the StairMaster, do some extra hiking to get ready for the Grand Canyon trip, and concentrate on getting my diet back in check.
Time to get back on track!
