MAF Test and THE "Project"

Parental Discretion Advised! The above cartoon has nothing to do with this post and the video for that matter of fact, just had me laughing for a bit, so I thought I would share.

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This run challenge has been going well so far. I find it nice to track your progress, it is a great motivator to see your numbers drop. I personally track my runs on an excel sheet. It allows me to run the "numbers." Yeah, I am number junkie when I actually record my stuff. It allows me to see what my average mileage is, average heart rate, etc. The challenge for me will come later on when my improvements are far less. So far, I started at 8:30+ miles on my daily runs. Over the past 3 weeks, I am now into the 7:45ish range, not a bad improvement for me. As much as I want to believe that this is fitness gains, the reality is that this is merely a gain of just getting back to baseline. Right now, I have ran 26 runs in 25 days. My unpublished goal (well I guess you can called it published now ;) ) is to run 34 runs in 31 days, we'll see if I get there. My two-a-days are unplanned. If I happen to get an early run in the AM and I have the opportunity or feel the need to get out and exercise, that is usually when I get my second run in. I am only swimming 2 times a week right now and have been lucky to get out on the bike once a week since IM Canada. I told myself that I was giving up the bike in exchange to run, and that was to run often. Over the past few years, I have realized that I have a difficult time trying to do a specific sport focus while maintaining all 3 sports, so that is why I have decided to give one up, cycling for now.

It has taken my 3 years to finally be somewhat motivated to train my run. Quite honestly, I hate running. Talking with my brother 100 millions times about my run in general and trying to assess why I am poor at, I have come to at least one conclusion. So here goes my ramble....if you are sick of listening, I would suggest to scroll to the numbers NOW :)

In the beginning when I started triathlon "seriously" in 2001, my motivation to train was often fueled by positive reinforcement. I was reasonably successful in the North Carolina Triathlon Series (NCTS) in my age-group. For 3 years, I was on the podium probably 90% of the time that I raced. I had a goal by the time I was 25 that I wanted to race in the NCTS elite category and I did. Let me tell ya, that was a tough year for my head. Going from good results to well, uh......Anyways, it was a big jump going from age-group to the elite wave. We have some very competitive elite age-groupers here in NC, which makes it fun to race now, not back then. My motivation to train was much different than the first 3 years....DON'T BE THE LAST ELITE GUY and don't get "chicked." Needless to say, I think I was the last elite a couple of times (well, more than just a couple) and I was "chicked" probably in almost every race. Not cool in the "The Cool Book of Triathlon."

My second year as an elite was a tad better. By this time, I had some minor success in the swim. I wasn't getting smoked from the get go and I was able to get out onto the bike towards the front of the race. During the first few races while towards the front, I wasn't able to stay with some of the uber bikers, so it quickly became motivation to become fast on the bike. My thought was simple, if I can continue to improve on the swim, then get out on the bike in the lead, THAT would be COOL and I could re-establish my "coolness" according to the "The Cool Book of Triathlon." As this was occurring, I wasn't really paying much attention to my run, doing the bare minimum and at times running hardly at all. My motivation solely for the last 2-3 years was to keep getting faster on the swim and bike and just hold on for the run. While this bipolar approach has its ups and downs, its not all that stable for results. I have been lucky enough to do well in a few races because I have had a descent swim/bike combo and held on for the run, but I am over that. I think the reason I hate running so much is that I have poor results as a result of my poor training. If I would just put in par training for the run as I have for the swim and bike, I might feel much differently about running. After all, results are a great motivation for me.

So what the hell does all this "ramble jamble" have to do with my running....well here I am today, 26 runs in 25 days later, 6 years after I have started triathlon, attempting to give myself a chance. I have spent much of my triathlon race days always looking behind me, waiting for the inevitable, THE PASS in hopes that my S/B combo was enough to hold them off. I have done 6 IM's, never breaking 4 hours in the marathon. How could I ever expect anything better than a 4 hour marathon when I have never come close to putting in the time that it would require to run less than 4 hours, I surely have catered to my swim and bike and I have seen results. Hopefully this season my site will stay in front of me, no more looking over the shoulder.

So I will go ahead and create that public expectation of myself, something that I think many of us fear. We fear because we are worried that we may not deliver what we say. My plan is to finish this month of 31 runs in 31 days and continue on into November with the same challenge. Jeff has challenged the TriCoWS in the month of November to be a swimming month. 30 swims in 30 days. Each swim must be at least 2K to count. My run challenge in October defined a run as 45 minutes. The November 30 runs in 30 days run will be defined as at least 60 minutes. In October, I have been training around 10-11 hour a week, mostly running. Next month, I hope to see 14-15 hours of training per week spread between swimming and running.

Here are the last few runs since my last post and my MAF results. Comparing my MAF test which was right before I left for Canada, I ran 7:51, 8:02, 8:05 at the same HR of 155 for miles 1, 2, and 3 respectively.


Run//Time//Avg HR//Distance (miles)//Avg pace
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18//40:16//158//5.4//7:27
19//51:05//149//6.44//7:56
20//44:42//163//6//7:27
21//50:33//159//6.44//7:51
22//1:04:55//150//7.82//8:18
23//57:39//154//7.58//7:36
24//50:00//155//6//7:48
25//50:00//154//6//8:14
26//49:01//151//6.1//8:00
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MAF Test - Run 24
LAP // TIME // AVG HR
==================
1 // 7:37 // 155
2 // 7:56 // 155
3 // 7:50 // 155

Until next time my friends,
J

IM Hawai'i and "THE" project

Well first off, congratulations to all that raced at Hawai'i this past weekend. It was a blast to watch you guys. Great job Dennis, BDC, Kate, Teresa, Dave, Marky V, and Billy. Here's a quick recap:

- Dennis had a killer day going 9:16, freakin blazing!!

- BDC has been waiting for this moment. He went to Vineman in shape to win and had a flat that put him out of contention. Recovers, trains hard and finally gets a well deserved result, 9:26 with a 3:16 run.


- Kate had a steller performance for her pro debut in Kona taking 24th and a killer run split of 3:17

- Our favorite local, Dave, kept his vibe alive finishing another IM, I think he is close to 15 or 20, a great example for us young triathletes.

- Teresa took 2nd in the 45-49 women

- Marky V had the fastest swim split of the day and led all amateurs through mile 10 of the run... Impressive bro

- Billy has had a spectacular year as a pro and finished in Kona with a great result running 3:10.

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The running is still going. I am officially half way through the month and I have ran 17 runs in 17 days. Quads don't feel bad, but my calves are feeling it quite a bit. I tend to get calve tighness and soreness with high volume/frequent running. I have always complained of this when I ramp up my run frequency/mileage. It has never (knock on wood) caused me to stop running, it is just uncomfortable at times. This is the time that I usually start strectching quite a bit and it usually alleviteates the achilles/gastroc tightness/soreness. So here are the updates of the runs since my last entry.

Run//Time//Avg HR//Distance (miles)//Avg pace
1//46:37//158//5.4//8:38
2//48:08//155//5.4//8:55
3//45:53//160//5.5//8:20
4//48:49//161//6//8:08
5//46:14//171//6//7:42
6//1:00:09//147//7.25//8:18
7//48:13//162//6//8:02
8//43:10 + 1:55//156//5.4//7:59
9//42:35:00//150//5.4//7:53
10//46:05//155//6//7:41
11//1:32:15//155//11.25//8:12
12//47:25//150//5.5//8:37
13//48:48//159//6.55//7:27
14//58:32//158//7.6//7:42
15//41:00//156//5.4//7:36
16//47:46//139//5.5//8:41
17//45:41//156//6//7:37
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On a side note and as much as I am afraid to admit it, I went to "So you think you could dance" tour with Jeff and Erin's two girls, Kenzie and Laney. We had a blast, talk about people knowing how to dance....maybe in my next life.

Massaging the calves,
J

Project 26.2 update.....

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"...I think that is how it goes. Here is a pic of TGG's 3 monkeys. BOCO, GOOD TIMES!! Just a glimpse into our schinanigans over the summer. This is Denny's "bad boy" with Chris, Mat and JD at our farewell party.

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Here is my run summary so far for my 31 run in 31 days of October. I have ran 11 times in 12 days. Later in the month I will do a few more "two-a-days" and will catch that up. Not feeling too bad yet. We'll see though, ran my first long run today after a run this morning.

Run//Time//Avg HR//Distance (miles)//Avg mile pace
1//46:37:00//158//5.4//8:38
2//48:08:00//155//5.4//8:55
3//45:53:00//160//5.5//8:20
4//48:49//161//6//8:08
5//46:14//171//6//7:42
6//1:00:09//147//7.25//8:18
7//48:13//162//6//8:02
8//43:10 + 1:55//156//5.4//7:59
9//42:35:00//150//5.4//7:53
10//46:05//155//6//7:41
11//1:32:15//155//11.25//8:12
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On a side note, I just passed my medical boards to practice which is quite exciting. Been a pretty big internal stress in my life lately, so it is nice to get that gorilla off my back. Now its off to the races and hope to get my state license soon. Still interviewing at quite a few places and looking pretty much anywhere, so if you know of a great Orthopedic office that is looking for a PA, let me know.

Will check back soon,
J

Attempting Balance.....

It been a while, so I thought I would update what I have been doing over the past month. But first I want to say good luck to the TGG's in Hawaii. BDC, Dennis and Billy are racing as well as Kate, Marky V and Teresa. JD is racing in Florida as well. Good luck to you all, will definitely be keeping an eye on you on Iromanlive.

Training has definitely been put on the back burner as I have been preparing/interviewing for jobs and studying quite a bit. I was however able to fit in a couple of races since IM Canada, all for fun. The trip back from Canada was pretty uneventful, but long. I think it took my brother and I about 6 days to drive from Penticton to Winston-Salem. We stopped over in Kansas City for day to spend time with family. It was definitely nice to see my middle brother and his family. I don’t get to see them much and Kellan and Jaden are growing so fast.

Once I got back, I did a local sprint triathlon here in W-S called the Angel’s Triathlon. It is directed by one of our TRICOW club members Mick Gunter. He puts on a great race for a great cause. This year was special because it also kicked off a great foundation called the AJ Linville Foundation. The AJ foundation was started by another one of the TRICOW club members Aubrey Linville. They started Team AJ which was created to help spread the word about the AJ Foundation and also promote a healthy lifestyle by having them compete in their first triathlon. I think something like 50 people from Team AJ were doing their first triathlon. Lastly it was my birthday, can’t ask for too much more than being able to race for fun.

I hadn’t really done much training since it was 3 weeks post IM Canada, so I was out there to have some fun and see everyone that I hadn’t really seen all summer. I had started running a little about 2 weeks post Canada which was earlier than I have ever done, but it truly was at a snail pace, just to get my legs moving again. As for biking and swimming, I think I had ridden about 2-3 times since and swam about 4-5 times since the big day. So I was ready for a rude awakening, or at least my lungs and heart were. I hadn’t raced much hard stuff this summer, well none at all to be exact, so it was going to be fun to see what would happen. Well, nothing to exciting other than it hurt like hell and for the first time in a while, I asked myself “why did I like sprints?” Finished and hung out with all my “amigos.”

A week later, a buddy of mine Curtis asked me if I wanted to join him on a team with his wife, Paige (I went to PA school with her), and another classmate of mine Ann to do this event called the Marine Corps Ultimate Challenge Run.>
The Ultimate Challenge Mudrun consists of 4 person teams. The 4.2 mile course is an all-terrain race conducted on dirt roads, improved and unimproved trails through the training area. This trail includes mud holes, walls, trenches and other obstacles that require swimming, crawling, climbing and jumping. It was down in Columbia, SC so it was a bit of drive, but I was like what the heck.

Let me tell you, it was one of the most fun things I have ever done. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, it was just a total blast. We were a coed team and we actually did really well. I think we took like 73rd out of over 600 teams. It was pretty sweet. Depending on where I end up taking a job, I am definitely in for doing this again next year.

On the training frontier, I have begun to think about a running program. Project 26.2 needs to get started. Jeff posted a challenge to all the TRICOWS for the month of October to do 31 runs in 31 days. I thought this would be a good start to my running program. So far, I am 6 days into it, have done a minimum of 45 minute runs. I missed two days in a row while I was at an interview and the rule is supposed to be you can’t miss 2 days in a row, but I will make them up by doing a couple of two a days later in the month. I think I am going to stay off my bike for the winter for the most part and concentrate on running while maintaining a swim. All in all at this point, my main focus is getting the J-O-B. Here are my runs for the past few days:

Run//Time//Miles
1//46:37//5.4
2//48:08//5.4
3//45:53//??
4//48:49//6
5//46:14//6

Will be in touch,
J