Bill Runs a Marathon

The Tuesday Night Ride

2011-06-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed to survive my first outing with what is likely the fastest race/training group ride in the Lansing area: the Mason Tuesday Night Road Ride. I learned about the ride last year, and I have ridden with a few of the regulars there on other occasions, but this would be my first go at it.

At 40 miles with 6 sprint points, the ride is billed as a "disciplined and well choreographed race training ride that emphasizes high average speeds and race finishing skills." And so it was. As a first-timer, I had a sense of the route. I'd seen the map ahead of time, but I didn't know where the sprint points were. I also didn't know the ride dynamics. Would we see a break go off the front right away? Would they roll out easy and then at some spot in the road that the regulars sense, ramp it up? More the latter than the former, I can now report. As for me, I was left to hang on and try to learn at the same pace we were riding. Turns out that my brain - and my eyes - aren't as fast as my legs just yet. But that's to be expected. I set out to learn something, and those boys took me to school. Luckily the ride regroups after each sprint and the guys were generous and willing to help out a rookie with advice. So it wasn't just a beating, but a chance to really learn.

The Ride in Six Segments
I'll save you the suspense: I finished 2 of the 6 sprint segments with the group, and trailed the leaders (if not the whole ride) on 4 out of six including the first 2. Segment three and four were my best. I felt good, rode fast, stayed connected, and didn't get spit out the back. Each segment was a lesson. Usually it didn't hit home until after the fact just what I was supposed to learn. So here is my attempt to look back and take inventory.

Segment 1: Echelons are tricky
The first segment included our roll out, which proceeded at a conversational pace for a few miles. As we turned South, we had a tremendous cross-wind out of the East. Trying to be a good citizen, I pulled through on my first time in the double pace-line as the pace gradually ramped up. All the while I was getting advice from the ride leader and another racing veteran. Soon the pace was quite strong, and I would later understand that I spent too much time on the East side of the pack, in the crosswind. I'd never ridden in a true echelon before in race-like conditions. Our first acceleration point would be immediately following a left turn (East) into the wind and up a hill. Being new to the course, I didn't see any of these three things coming. Result: dropped. I failed to catch a wheel as we turned into the wind and found myself off the back. Luckily, a few others were caught out too due to the climb. I like to climb, so I dug deep and caught another rider. We worked together to get connected again, and the group didn't have to wait for us for more than a few seconds after the sprint.

Segment 2: So that's what an attack looks like...
What can I say? I let the train go by me as the attack started on segment two. Just watched as one wheel after the next came around. Did I grab one? No. In retrospect (like, 20 seconds after the fact), I saw that I didn't recognize that I was seeing an attack. What stands out in my mind is that a better way to recognize an attack is by sound. I heard the wheels and the derailleurs. Next time, I would be quicker to respond, I told myself. I dug in once more, got in the drops and came back to the group at the next rendezvous point.

Segment 3: A little better
The third leg was a bit odd as we rolled easily into the town of Leslie, MI in recovery mode. Good to know, I thought. Made the second segment's violent acceleration make much more sense. I was also starting to see that about 2-3k out from the sprint point is when I could expect the attacks to come. We had a relatively small group by this rides' standards (13 or 14), I am told, and I think this made it all the more imperative to go with the move when it came because there wouldn't be a second chance.

As we came through the town of Leslie, we made a left (North) and then a quick turn east to climb a twisting hill. I saw it a little sooner than before, but didn't know how deep to go (because it seemed early in the segment) and so I probably went a bit conservative. There was a short descent after, and I was able to use that to catch on to the group again without getting dropped. We were in the teeth of the East wind (unusual, btw, for our parts to have wind out of the East) when we hit another long but more gradual climb. The group got strung out and I once again got caught behind the move. But I wasn't alone this time. I worked with another rider and we managed to stay in contact.

Segment 4: I stay with the group
I was starting to get the hang of things. I was feeling humble, but not embarrassed, because up to that point I was feeling pretty strong physically. All my mistakes were made by my brain, and if anything I'd been bailed out a few times by my legs. The skies were beginning to get ominous, but the wind had subsided. Besides, we were on the backside of the forty mile loop and were making turns West. With the tailwind now. I put on my game face and resolved to pay attention to every move. I rode aggressively rather than reactively, trying to stay in the first 3-4 as the pace ramped up. We came through a tight and twisty wooded section, turned North, and were bombing along at a really fast pace. I had no idea where the sprint point was, but I was not focused on contesting the sprint. My goal was to keep a wheel in front of me until the group slowed down. Twice I found myself on the front pulling as a result of trying to give myself lots of chances to stay with the group. Short pulls. Everybody was going fast. As the sprint point approached, two riders came around and were quickly away. But I was in the next group. I even got to do the circle-back during the regroup. I ate a bit, drank a bit, and smiled a lot. I'd managed to see and cover all the accelerations this time.

Segment 5: Mechanical (Dis)advantage
I have a compact drivetrain on my bike. This would turn out to be a factor in the final fast segment of the ride. We were headed West into the town of Mason on what was for me a very familiar stretch of M-36. Two climbs on that route, one that I do pretty regularly myself. I rode it on Sunday, in fact. I knew the sprint point too - the Tasty Twist on the West side of Mason just over the town line. I figured the city limit sign would mark the finish. But I wouldn't get to find this out for sure.

As we climbed the first and steeper hill on M-36, I was mid-pack. But the leaders weren't coasting on the descent, which is fast even when you are freewheeling it. They all clicked into the biggest gears they had and spun down the hill. 40+ mph. I did the same, but topped out my compact gearing (50x13) and could only watch as the group pulled away on the downhill. I had hoped to catch them on the next climb, but there is nearly a mile of flat between the bottom of the first hill and the more gradual climb further West. Coming off the descent, it's possible to push a big gear all the way. I'd done it many times. I did it again last night, but so did the group. I wouldn't catch them until a couple miles later at the ice cream shop. Of all the puzzles to solve, this one will keep me guessing a bit for next time. I'm going to need some tactics to overcome my mechanical disadvantage on the downhill if I continue to ride the compact. I may need to break early up the hill...

Segment 6: Cooldown home
As we rode out of Mason, the ride turned conversational again. E-mails were exchanged. The guys congratulated me for having made the whole ride. I talked with a kid in MSU kit who was back after having graduated and moved to Detroit to work for Toyota. He let me know that my effort - making 2 out of the 6 sprints without getting dropped - wasn't bad for a first outing. I appreciated that. But I was even more happy to have learned so much so quickly. I know I have much, much more to learn. But I look forward to it. I know just a bit more about where to save and where to invest effort on this particular route. Let's hope I can remember it all next time!

Tour de Cure 2011: Ride Report

2011-06-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

grey skies at the starting line

As the day dawned with overcast skies, I was feeling absolutely elated about riding in the 2011 Michigan Tour de Cure. My plan was to ride the 100 mile route - what cyclists call a "century" - for the second year in a row, and I had nothing in front of me for 5-6 hours or so but riding my bike. That always makes me happy. But more than that, as I aired up my tires and packed my jersey pockets with spare tubes, C02 canister, a couple of PayDay bars for emergency fuel, and my rain jacket just in case, I was overwhelmed at the support my fundraising campaign had received this year.

We raised $2,274 dollars for the American Diabetes Foundation. That's a new record for me. And it is just flat out inspiring - I was filled with honor and pride to represent the 52 (!) people who donated to the ADA on behalf of my ride. I know that each of them did so because they or someone close to them has been touched by the disease we are trying to fight. For each mile I planned to ride, more than $20 was donated...and there was a new person at each two mile interval (I literally imagined them all riding with me, as corny as that might sound). I say "planned" to ride because, well, it turned out that I (and I should say "we" as I was in a group of folks) got a bit off course.

In the end, I logged 82.7 of the planned 100 miles yesterday. How? Well, I was off course at least three times. Two of those times added miles and one cut out a loop that distinguished the metric century (62.1 miles or 100,000 meters) from the 100 mile route. The route markings were a bit less clear this year, in part due to rain on the day before the event which likely caused some of the markings to be less clear (chalk, you see).

But apart from the random distance - it was a good ride. And one that I am proud of from a performance standpoint. I started at 7:00 a.m. and finished a bit after 11:30. I had an avg. speed of about 19.3mph, counting only the wheel-spinning time and not the additional minutes looking confused and/or filling bottles and grabbing food at rest stops. That's pretty good, I'd say, especially since I rode with restraint all day. That is, I tried to make sure I stayed in Zone 3 the whole time. At the beginning, a fast group bombed off the front and I resisted the temptation to go with them. I eventually would catch many of them who rode with more enthusiasm than they could perhaps sustain.

At the finish, I had lots left in the tank. Though I felt appropriate levels of leg load, I feel pretty confident that I had stayed well within my lactate threshold because I had plenty of jump when I needed it even after mile sixty. And while I had planned to go another 18 miles, I felt I could have easily done so. I think it is safe to say I've never felt better after such a long effort - and given my avg. speed I'd say that I was going well given my attempts to stay aerobic.

I wish I'd done the full 100, just for the sake of the round number. I was tempted to just ride my bike home. But then I'd have had to have Leslie drive me back to Brighton to get the car. So I decided that a slightly earlier lunch was not such a bad thing, and called it day at 82.7. After all, the real reason for all of that was another number: $2274! And for that, I can only say: Thank you.

In which I get older and appear to get faster (but don't)

2011-06-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the third annual (for me, at least) running of the Dexter-Ann Arbor run 5k race. The event seems to grow every year, and this year it featured just a bit more than 1,700 entrants. A 10k and Half-Marathon event coincide with the 5k race, and all finish on the same climb along Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

How did it go? Well the image to the right tells the tale. I finished 5th in my age group out of 84 other 40-44 year old Male runners. My time wasn't terribly fast - not far off the last two years really, so I can't say that I am improving at all - but this year I'm in a new age group! Last year, I was on the oldest rung of the 34-39 ladder. Now I'm a young whippersnapper in the 40-44. That helped me to a top-five finish where I had been top ten (8th) last year. I sense a strategy here...

The truth is that I haven't trained for running in some time. And the 5k is a short enough pace that I can't really do well unless I significantly increase my overall speed at VO2 max. A longer distance race would allow me to compete at LT - something I am much better at doing naturally. For instance, I am fairly certain I could come close to a 7:39 pace for a 10k and I am sure I could do a half marathon at 8:00/mi or a touch faster. I've done it before (on accident, granted). But that pace for a 5k is not going to put me on any podiums.

I'm just not going to get faster in the 5k without doing the dreaded speedwork. One mile repeats at the top of LT range; quarter mile intervals at V02 max. Bleh. I have no desire or intention to do any of those.

Sorry running. I'm all out of love for you.

A Little Training Ride

2011-06-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

This morning I was pleased to be able to ride with a great group that included some folks from Team Racing Greyhounds out of metro-Detroit, quite a few of whom race on a company team for Nissan engineering center. The ride was a promotional event sponsored by Nissan and the American Diabetes Association for their annual Tour de Cure fundraiser. I was there representing a group of TdC folks who've raised money for the event. We also had a few folks from Novo-Nordisk, a diabetes medical device manufacturer. Oh, and Chris Horner & Levi Leipheimer from Team RadioShack were there too.

If you are not a cycling fan, it might help you to know that Chris & Levi just finished first and second in the Amgen Tour of California, probably the biggest international cycling event in North America (in terms of drawing a world-class field). When the ADA first announced this ride back in April, they weren't sure yet who would be representing the team. I was excited, and figured we would get to ride with some of the young neo-pros or others on the team who would not be on the Tour de France Squad for RadioShack. That race starts on my birthday, July 2 - not too long from now in training & preparation terms.

So you can imagine my surprise when it was announced a couple of weeks ago that we would be riding with the top two GC contenders for the Tour podium just a few days before they would both leave for Europe and their last bit of pre-Tour training. I was skeptical until right before they showed up this morning, actually. But show up they did. And we went for a ride.

Our VIP riders had time to do 40 miles with a brief rest stop to fill bottles and a quick bite for lunch before both had to catch a flight back to their respective homes for the last bit of vacation, rest, and packing prior to leaving for Europe. We rode a steady pace to begin, with the Nissan team members creating an early, non-violent selection to keep the ProTour guys in a group with folks experienced riding in a group. We followed your typical group ride protocol, in fact, chatting and gradually coming up to speed. We did a loop out of Chelsea, MI through Grass Lake and into the Waterloo recreation area, a large state preserve with some beautiful scenery ranging from wetlands to rolling hills.


AP Newsphoto published in Hazelton Times

I had a chance to talk with Chris Horner on the first half of the ride. We talked about how much damn fun riding a bike is, especially after work when you've had a stressful day (he used to work at a bike shop in Bend, OR). We talked a bit about the Tour of California and the heroic effort put in by Matt Busche on the stage to Mt. Baldy. Horner remarked that he had been impressed by Busche's talent during his win at the Tour of the Basque Country when the kid had done great work for him and the team. I mentioned that I was happy to see Matthew get a win last week at the U.S. Pro Championships in North Carolina: "he pipped Big George in a sprint to the line!" Horner shared my enthusiasm and said "What a great picture! Not only winning, but edging out George!" Indeed. Here's the one he means (right). Well done.

Casey Gibson's shot of Horner & Leipheimer on Sierra Rd.

Horner also told me another story about stage 4 of the ATOC when he won and took the leader's jersey.

"I climbed Sierra Rd. in the big ring!"

"What?!" I asked? I've been up Sierra Road. When I was in San Jose. It is steep. And the steep part goes on for what I recall as a very long time. By ProTour standards, it's short, but it is intense.

"Not on purpose..," Horner continued. "I looked down when I was about 200 meters from the top, the part where it flattens out a little and saw I was in the big ring the whole time. At that point I just decided to go the rest of the way. I figured it would look good in the picture." Ah yes, the picture. Casey Gibson got it. So maybe it wasn't the *whole* time, CH. :)

Nice win just the same. And who am I to nitpick? I stayed in my big ring all day today though, I can confirm. We didn't do anything close to an epic climb like Sierra Road on today's 40 miler. But after our rest stop, we re-mounted for the second half of our ride and from the jump our pace was just a bit faster. At one point, I looked at the computer of the guy next to me and we were bombing down the road at 30+ mph (couldn't make out the exact speed). My own computer is b0rked, still need to get that fixed. I am very pleased to say that throughout the ride, I felt good and the pace felt more than manageable all day. At one point, some folks peeled off who were doing a different loop. The pack split and as some folks turned, Horner & I were left to catch up to the group that had kept pace going straight ahead. We caught the group pretty easily - and again, for these guys it was a recovery day all the way - but it sure felt nice to have pro-tour guys alongside in the pack, wizzing along like it was a typical Tuesday night.

Chris Horner & I, post ride

All in all, I am happy to report that Horner is as friendly, generous, and down-to-Earth as you'd hope he would be. Levi was more reserved. Where Chris was chatty - guys talking on a group ride kind of chatty - Levi was quiet. He would answer questions and acknowledge you with a smile, so it wasn't as if he was being dismissive. I just think the guy is a bit on the shy side is all. Horner was nice enough to offer another bit of advice to me about pro-level gear after we finished the ride. I asked if he'd pose for a quick phonecam shot. I fished my phone out of my jersey pocked and fiddled with the snack-size ziplock bag I keep it in as a moisture barrier. He laughed. "See...I upgraded. I go with this size," pulling a quart size slide-loc model from his own jersey, packed with his phone, wallet, and the requisite $10 bill. Now I know what the pros use.

One final thing: the Pro guys told me to tell you to donate to my Tour de Cure Campaign. You can do that - one week to go until that event - and win some cool prizes too. Thanks for reading!

Let's do the numbers!

2011-06-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

This week we got some crunched results from the coach after last week's field test. I was happy to see that my estimates after playing around with the HRM were very close to the zones that Coach Gaines came up with. She used a slightly modified version of the Coggan Power Level scale, assigning perceived exertion levels and qualitative labels to numbers corresponding with HR and Lactate Threshold. This helps riders to more finely calibrate how they feel with their effort level.

As for my numbers, here are what we are starting with:

Zone 1: Recovery (easy spinning)
AvgHR: 118
Perceived Exertion: Level 2

Zone 2: Endurance
AvgHR: 120-144
Perceived Exertion: Level 2-3

Zone 3: Tempo
AvgHR: 146-164
Perceived Exertion: Level 3-4

Zone 4: Lactate Threshold
AvgHR: 165-183
Perceived Exertion: Level 4-5

Zone 5: VO2 Max
AvgHR: 184+
Perceived Exertion: Level 6-7

After discussing our zones - which seem about right to me, from the limited amount of experience I've had training with the HRM - we did some riding in zones 3 & 4 for long intervals to begin the process of calibrating. It was easier than I expected to find and hold the middle of each zone, and to make fine adjustments to move up or down within a zone too. I was once again reminded of why I like riding better than running. I have no confidence that I can control my effort to stay in Zone 4, for instance, in a running race. And for a 5k, that's probably ok. But in a long race, that can turn out really badly.

This weekend is a big one, though, for riding and racing. On Saturday I'm riding with some VIPs as part of a Tour de Cure event. More on that in my next post. And on Sunday I'm once again racing in the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run 5k event. This will be the third time for that race, and each time I've finished in the top ten in my age group. This year, I've done zero run training. So my expectations are modest. I'll be happy if I can put together 3.2 miles at 8:05/mi or less. Check back for the results!

First Ride on the Road with the HRM: Climbing Intervals

2011-05-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Another day, another lesson learned with the new HRM. Today I took it out on the road on the bike for the first time. My goal was to do two sets climbing intervals with some road miles before, between, and after sets.

I warmed up with a five mile ride to Berry Rd, where my plan was to climb Berry Hill four times. That climb is relatively short at about 400 meters, but one of the steeper grades around. We aren't known for steep climbs in Mid-Michigan, mind you, so this is just about the best we've got close by. After those four, I rode another 10 miles or so to end up at Germany Rd, a longer but more gradual climb that starts at the Lansing Rifle Club entrance and heads East. That's about 1000 or 1100 meters, but I'm able to push a big gear the whole time because it is fairly gradual. I did four of those as well, then headed home the long way through Williamston.

Going in, I was trying to keep my road miles toward the low end of my tempo zone, between 150-160 bpm. I wasn't sure where I'd be on the climbs, but I was trying not to go into the red and instead work just to the edge of my lactate threshold ( ~180 bpm). Here's how it went:

Total time: 1:39
Avg HR: 150 bpm
Max HR: 183 bpm

Berry Hill Intervals
1. 181 bpm
2. 183 bpm (out of the saddle)
3. 179 bpm
4. 181 bpm

Germany Rd. Intervals
1. 177 bpm
2. 177 bpm
3. 178 bpm
4. 177 bpm

What did I learn? It is much, much easier for me to control my effort on the bike vs. running. When I back off just a little, I can easily stay in my target zone. On the steeper climb, I saw the highest HR reading climbing out of the saddle the whole time. I am not sure, though, that this produces more speed except for a short attack. So that's good to know. I also noticed that on the more gradual climb it was easy to settle into a rhythm near the top of my LT range and hold that without getting into difficulty. I recovered very quickly too once the road flattened out. I could pretty easily get back to 145 bpm after the climbs without sacrificing too much speed, just spinning a higher cadence.

Yes, I'm geeking out a little bit with the new toy and the new data. But it was good today knowing that I can hit my HR target zones for both WI and RI portions of a workout.

I Get a Coach, an HRM, and New Data

2011-05-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a cycling-specific training course at Tina Brookhouse Fitness Studio with Leslie Gaines, a pro cyclist who races for Team Priority Health. It is as close as I have come to having a coach, as the course began last week with a field test and will continue now with customized workouts designed by Coach Gaines to suit our physiological status and our goals.

Polar FT2

I had to get a heart rate monitor (HRM), and while I've played around with them before, I've never trained consistently with one. On the bike, there are many ways to guage fitness and effort, and HR is not known to be foolproof by any means, but it is helpful as a bit of real data against which to measure perceived effort. And it is way cheaper than a power meter, so for now an HRM will have to do.

During my field test - a 10 minute affair that had us working at the upper limit of our lactate threshold (LT) for 8 and then ramping up to get to full effort for the last full minute - I stayed consistently at about 171 and achieved a max HR of 191. That was on a spin bike, indoors.

Yesterday I did my normal Friday spin class - about 55 minutes of work right around LT with a few efforts a bit over (I tried not to go too far over yesterday, though this was based on perception as I didn't wear my HRM to class).

Today I ran 5 miles with the HRM. It was a bit eye-opening. After the first mile I was already at LT and had to reign in what I thought of as my normal pace. I let it out a little in the last 1.5 miles, getting to about 185 and then I worked hard the last .5 with a sprint kick for the final 200 meters or so. Here are the numbers:

Total Time: 41:47 or 8:21 per mile
Avg. HR: 172 (pretty close to LT)
Max HR: 194

The biggest lesson I learned was that I have a hard time restraining my pace based on perceived effort. I likely pushed too hard on training runs meant to be at "tempo" pace in the past. I look forward to trying this out on the road on a bike too. I won't be running a lot more - I went out today because I am registered once again for the Dx2A run next week and felt like I should get a few miles in beforehand. But while I am working with Coach Gaines, I will try to check in on the blog to keep track of workouts and progress.

Next week we get the crunched results of our field test and start our workouts.

2011 Tour de Cure Promotion! Bike Stuff! Fight Diabetes & Pre-Diabetes!

2011-03-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, my lovely and extremely talented partner in all things Earthly made me this hand-fabricated wonder:

Yes, this is a clock made from a bike wheel. It's a beautiful thing and now you can have one! For every donation you make to my 2011 Tour de Cure Campaign, you will get a chance to win one of these for yourself or to give to the person or organization of your choice. We'll even pay to ship it. If you donate $100, you'll get four chances. I'll pick the winner using the FatCyclist method: each $25 earns you a spot on a spreadsheet. Then, I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner.

But, that's not all!

If you donate $50, you'll get your pick of one of our fantastic T-shirts too! These are the same shirts we gave last year, back by popular demand.

What's that you say? You already have all three shirts? Never fear! You can select an alternative prize! One of our awesome inspiring bike posters! We'll send you one as a print (suitable for framing) or all three in digital form so you can print them out or otherwise manipulate them to your heart's content.

Ready? Go here to donate: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=7589&px=3177101

And thank you!!!

Rx: Bike

2010-06-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

Rx: Bike

I am not a medical doctor. But if you have been diagnosed with Pre-Diabetes, or if your Doctor has said you have Type II but that you don't yet have serious complications such as vascular damage (e.g. kidney or eye problems)...then I have a prescription for you: ride a bike. Seriously. It just may be the most effective medical treatment you can seek out. It can completely reverse your symptoms. You can be drug free if you are bike-ful. And I'm about to tell you why. But I have to tell you some things about diabetes first, and some things about me.

Why Should You Listen to Me?
As I say above, I am not a medical doctor. But I've done a lot of thinking and reading about diabetes since being diagnosed with Type II (with numbers just over the diagnostic guidelines for pre-diabetes) in 2006. At the time, I didn't know what it meant to have diabetes: not clinically, in terms of what was going wrong (or right) in the body, or practically, as in what was I doing wrong (or right) in my day to day life.

So I treated this like a research problem. No surprise there. I am a researcher, after all. And a doctor of sorts (a Ph.D.) with access to and the ability to understand the studies underlying diagnosis and treatment of both Pre-Diabetes and Type II. These are really two different literatures: 1) those studies related to pathology or the origins of the disease and how it causes metabolic disruptions that lead to damaging results, and 2) those studies that test interventions (forms of treatment) to see which produce better outcomes in relation to the known damaging results. Your medical doctor, a clinician, is likely to know about and follow guidelines based on some combination of both types of studies. But it is not uncommon for clinicians to be uninformed about the state of the art in one or the other area. This is not shocking. Doctors are busy and General Practitioners, in particular, cannot possibly keep up with all the research on all the disorders they must offer treatment for on a day-to-day basis.

But even the best informed clinicians will tell you, if they trust you enough, that there is still a great deal we do not know about the disease formally known as Diabetes Mellitus. So let me tell you what I think we know about the disease today. Some of this may surprise even those who are familiar with Type I and Type II Diabetes.

What is Diabetes Mellitus?
Recently, I posted much of what follows in this section on a website discussion board at Diabetes Self Management. The thread is about Type I and Type II, and the misconceptions associated with the two. Much confusion and not a little anger ensued from folks who have or are associated with both conditions. Here's what I said to try and bring things together a bit.

There are clearly misconceptions on both sides [when it comes to the nature of Type I and Type II diabetes], and this is no surprise. This is in part due to the fact that the pathology of diabetes mellitus (all types) is not clear.

What all of the various types have in common is an inadequate insulin response. The body simply doesn’t regulate blood glucose (BG) normally, causing a risk of highs and the associated damage of high BG.

Type I diabetes is usually diagnosed when a person cannot make insulin. Type II, when a person cannot make enough or use enough…or when another metabolic process is out of control (e.g. the liver dumping too much into the bloodstream). This last thing, by the way, is what metformin treats for: liver function. In newly diagnosed Type II patients, insulin resistance may also be present, but it is often another metabolic process that is responsible for high fasting glucose numbers overnight that trigger some form of treatment.

What is not known, completely, is what causes a person to have an inadequate insulin response. Some people can present with many of the metabolic syndrome risk factors and still have a relatively normal insulin response.

Insulin resistance, inadequate insulin production due to beta cell loss (autoimmune or otherwise), and improper liver calibration (I like to think of it as a broken thermostat) can all play a role in all types of diabetes, depending on the individual. And those are just the main three that we know about and have common pharmaceutical interventions for. This is diabetes mellitus.

So What is Pre-Diabetes Then?
Pre-Diabetes is a relatively new diagnostic category, created to help clinicians and patients address the risk factors associated with developing diabetes (and the most serious complications of the disease): elevated blood glucose, elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol & triglycerides, and being overweight. These risk factors increase the liklihood of heart disease, stroke, and even cancer, and so there is good reason to treat them.

What Pre-Diabetes does, as a category, is group all of these together so that they can be treated in a coherent fashion. This, despite the fact that not all of the cause-effect relationships among these are well-understood. There are theories about how these factors are interrelated, most notably "syndrome X" or "Metabolic syndrome," and I will come back to this in a moment. But in the world of clinical practice, we needn't understand all of the pathology in order to treat patients and see positive results.

Pre-Diabetes, then, is useful. It may even be a positive thing in that it helps both doctors and patients take a whole group of life-threatening, negative trending symptoms and treat them together rather than addressing some and not others. But Pre-Diabetes is also a product of the market for pharmaceuticals. It creates an even larger group of people to whom a class of drugs may be marketed than existed before. How much bigger? According to statistics published in the National Diabetes Fact Sheet (most recent data is from 2007), about 17.9 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes (Type I and II). Another 5.7 million likely have it, but are undiagnosed. And – get ready – an estimated 57 million have Pre-Diabetes. That more than doubles the size of the market.

This week (June 2, 2010), a study published in the Lancet and sponsored by drug maker Glaxo Smith Kline (1) found that low doses of two drugs - Avandia and Metformin, combined in a product marketed under the name "Avandamet - make it less likely that people diagnoses with Pre-Diabetes taking the drugs would go on to develop Type II diabetes. Good news for Glaxo, as it creates a broader market for a product that has seen its sales slip as the drug ages and approaches the time when it will be available as a generic. Good info for clinicians too, as it offers them another choice for treatment of patients with metabolic syndrome. But...is it the best available choice?

Of course, the best choice depends on the individual patient. But here's what we know: a bike will do the same thing, only better. But your doctor may not tell you that. Why? Because he assumes you won’t make the effort and so a drug intervention is probably more likely to produce a better outcome. True enough.

But here’s what I’d like to propose to all clinicians. Please say to your patients something like this:

“before I give you this prescription, what if I told you that there is something that works twice as well? Something that might even cure you rather than just hold your symptoms in check. Would you want that instead?”

Even better would be to have someone wheel in a nice, shiny new bike…but perhaps that’s a step too far.

So here is what we know, to put it in clinical terms: "lifestyle modifications" - meaning, in one particular study, diet and exercise changes that result in weight loss of 7% of total body weight - are nearly twice as effective as drugs for preventing onset of Type II diabetes. This study in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at lifestyle changes vs. metformin (2). Another published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (3) looked at the effect of lifestyle intervention on the range of risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome, and found similar results. Drugs are about half as good as exercise & diet modifications leading to a loss of as little as 7% of total body weight.

But why do lifestyle changes work?
Neither of these studies talk about why lifestyle interventions work. That's just not what clinical studies tend to do. These studies just show that they do. And neither say what kind of exercise is preferable over others. I've said, already, that I think it should be a bike. And I’m about to explain that claim. But I have just a bit more explaining to do about Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes, and Metabolic Syndrome first.

When folks are diagnosed with Pre-Diabetes or Type II, there is usually evidence of one or two conditions that underlay the diagnosis. Neither has much to do with the condition that we most readily associate with Type I diabetes: an impaired ability to make insulin due to beta cell loss or dysfunction, though this may be present in Type II patients as well. One of these conditions you’ve likely heard about – insulin resistance - and one you’ve likely not heard about much at all – insulin signaling defects. Both, together, can be characterized as problems regulating glucose levels in the blood and using the insulin the body makes. But the body “uses” insulin in two ways. One way that insulin functions is as a helper molecule that permits glucose to move and break down into energy that a cell can use. Another important use, though, is as message system. Insulin levels communicate the need for more or less energy. This is the magic of hormones, generally: they are “smart” chemicals that do stuff and, at the same time, facilitate feedback. When insulin’s communicative functions malfunction, all kinds of weird things can happen in the body. Medications that treat Type II often address these insulin signaling defects. Let’s take a closer look, though, at both kinds of problems mentioned above. By doing so, we can get a sense of why the diabetes risk factors can be grouped together under the heading “metabolic syndrome.”

One way to think about glucose is as a substance that is fuel for the body. Glucose isn’t pure energy, though, but rather a format for storing energy for use in the short term. Fat stores energy too, and is a long-term storage format. There’s one in the middle of these: glycogen, housed in the liver. That’s a simplistic picture, but it helps to reveal one important piece of information that can be difficult to understand. The body stores excess energy as fat if there is no immediate need for it. The body makes sugars into fat, in fact, for this purpose. This is why you can get fat eating stuff that doesn’t have fat in it. It’s also why it is hard to get fat eating things that don’t have much sugar (carbohydrates) in them. Try to get fat eating celery, for example. Hard to do. And the reason is that the amount of carbohydrates as compared to water and fiber is very low. Celery is a low octane fuel.

When you are active, your body calls for more energy. It takes that energy from a number of places, including available ATP in muscle cells (that’s the basic essential energy molecule for us humans), glucose in the bloodstream is next, followed by glycogen stores in the liver that break apart to raise blood glucose levels. And then there is fat. Fat gets “burned” when all the above levels are sufficiently depleted and the body is still using energy.

Perhaps now it makes sense why I talk about insulin signaling defects as “thermostat problems.” There are sensors in the body that ask for more energy (more heat) and then a communication system (hormones) that carry that message to the parts of the body involved in raising the level of available energy (blood glucose is a pretty good approximation of this). If either the sensors or the communication system fail to work properly, the body is stressed and kicks off other processes designed to compensate for the malfunctions. The liver might be getting a signal for more energy when the body is at rest, for example, causing blood glucose to rise. The problem could be with any one part of that transaction: the liver, the hormone messages or the glands that produce them, etc.

Insulin resistance is a problem that we are only starting to understand in a detailed way (4). But what we think happens does so at a cellular level. Consistent high blood glucose forces adaptations in the body to store the surplus energy as fat. These adaptations change the nature of tissues that send and receive insulin signals. As a result, the signals don’t get through, and so neither does glucose. The body may be making insulin, but the sensing tissues aren’t as able to use it (in both ways that it can be used) as they should be.

What happens over time is still very speculative…but most think that the progression of Type II Diabetes is a vicious cycle: the body’s insulin signals get more out of whack, the concentration of glucose in the blood continues to be too high so the stress in the overall system from the potential negative effects of this continue to force cellular-level changes, the beta cells in the pancreas try to compensate by making more insulin (to make the signal louder, etc.). Eventually, some of the beta cells may poop out from being worked to hard, or they may change, causing the body to see them as cells gone awry that need to be attacked by the immune system. Less insulin production, impaired insulin signaling, increased insulin resistance…and so the spiral continues.

Metabolically, things are messed up. Hence the name: metabolic syndrome. What started the chain reaction may never be clear in any one individual. But once the chain of events starts, what seems clear is

A) a source of stress: elevated blood glucose causes the body to
B) adapt in order to maintain equilibrium, a “new normal”

For some people, equilibrium is reached. Bodies adapt. This is why there are people who are overweight who don’t have diabetes. This is also why you can’t simply eat your way into the disease, despite what you may have heard. Some bodies can adapt and find the balance point even when there is a huge energy surplus. Some, maybe even most, cannot.

Lifestyle interventions work to reverse metabolic syndrome because they force adaptations in the body that counter the risk factors. It is not just because during a workout you burn calories and use up carbs consumed that day. That helps, but the more significant effects happen when

A) a source of stress: exercise (both cardiovascular & resistance) causes the body to
B)adapt in order to maintain equilibrium, a “new normal”

Ok, but still: why bikes?
Bikes are an excellent way to apply the right type of stress needed to reverse metabolic syndrome. Specifically, bikes allow users to apply consistent, short but intense doses of both cardiovascular and resistance exercise with relatively few negative side effects (e.g. joint and muscle pain); these are exactly the kinds of stresses shown to produce metabolic adaptations that reverse metabolic syndrome (5). Plus riding a bike is fun.

It is true that other forms of exercise can work too. But there aren’t many that combine low side effects with efficiency (cardio + resistance in the same workout) with easily manageable dosing (mechanical advantage of a bike allows even novice users to start and stop in short bursts as preferred in interval workouts), with just plain fun. For many people, there are very positive psychological benefits to riding a bike because it reminds you of being a kid. It still feels the same to have the wind in your hair and the sense of freedom that you experienced back then. That feeling, even if you haven’t had it for twenty years or more, always comes back.

If you want to be healthy, go ride a bike. Doctor’s orders.

Further Reading
(1)Zinman, B. et. al. Low-dose combination therapy with rosiglitazone and metformin to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus (CANOE trial): a double-blind randomised controlled study.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960746-5/abstract
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61345-8
(2)http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/346/6/393
(3)http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/5/535?ijkey=cf7fd917978edb60d6c0467e7cde30b5f80c6f03&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha.
(4) Shulman, G.I. (2000). Cellular mechanisms of insulin resistance. The journal of clinical investigation 106.2. 171-176.
(5) Colberg, S.R. (2007) Physical Activity, Insulin Action, and Diabetes Prevention and Control. Current Diabetes Reviews, Volume 3, Number 3, August 2007 , pp. 176-184(9).

Spring, A New Beginning, & Some Goals

2009-03-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been far too long since I posted here. But I am going to try to reinvigorate this little ol' exer-blog as Spring comes again. For one thing, I have planned a few events that require some training. So the blog as a kind of public record of my training activity is warranted again.

Even though I haven't posted regularly, I have been exercising without much interruption all Winter. I continued to attend my Friday morning spin class at Tina Brookhouse's fitness studio. And I recently added a second class on Monday mornings: Boot Camp. The format is about 1/3 cycling, 1/3 running, and 1/3 core strength. The latter is a weakness area, to say the least. Both classes meet at 6:00 a.m., and it's been a nice way to bookend the work week so far.

I've also continued to ride at home and run; except when I was sick, I would usually manage 3 workouts a week. But for some reason I stopped writing them all down.

So now I'm back to writing them down! Last week I got four workouts in, the two classes + two outdoor rides. This week I hope to do five workouts, including a couple of runs. Some running is important for me now because I have agreed to do a 5k with a couple of friends of mine. It will be their first experience racing, and both are using the race to motivate them a bit. I am happy to participate and looking forward to the event too, which is a well known and well organized race called the Dexter - Ann-Arbor Run on May 31st. One of my friends is following the Cool Running's Couch to 5k training plan.

I'm not yet committed to an actual training schedule for that race. I know I don't have to do much at this point to be able to do the 5k, and I'm not sure how I want to participate - do I want to pace my friends? or do it at my own pace? not sure. Cool Running's Intermediate 5k plan isn't a bad one, though, if I go with the latter. I would, of course, make some modifications because I don't really care about being a competitive 5k racer.

We're 10 weeks out now, so I'd have to start at week 2. They schedule 6 runs a week - I wouldn't do more than 3 runs and three bikes (or classes) and wouldn't feel bad about doing 4 bikes and 2 runs in any given week. This far out, they are concentrating on base fitness, so it's intermediate distance (3-4 miles) runs at Tempo, one long run per week (long is, like, 6 or 7 miles) and one interval workout (Fartlek early on, timed intervals later). They add one extra speedwork session in the last three weeks , and they recommend substituting a long run for an actual 5k race too. Not bad. I would always look to swap the Tempo work for biking workouts, but keep the intervals and long runs. This will let me enjoy preparing for the race without having to worry too much about running-related pain.

I'll post more about some other upcoming things I have planned too. I'll be doing the Tour de Cure event again this year, for example, and I have two bike trips to hilly places planned this season to start gearing up to ride the big mountains in 2010.

Catch up: Bike, Spin, Ski

2008-12-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted, so let's catch up on some workout reports. I finished up the final chores of the Fall semester, and so there was about a week where I didn't do much.

12/12 Spin Class
A tough one! We went almost the whole hour with no recovery, only spinning with less resistance but keeping our cadence high the whole time. We all got to dig deep. I confessed to the group my love for suffering. Not exactly a 12 step moment, but the first time I've said it out loud to strangers. :) Hello, I'm Bill, and I am a cyclist...

12/13 Bike: Climbing Intervals

My weekly ritual, short-lived though it is, of watching Survivorman while riding on the trainer continued with an interval workout. Something like this:

Warmup 10min Fast Spin Low Resistance (50/24)

4 x Climb Interval 8min (50/12), RI 4 min (50/19).

All intervals climb out of saddle for 5min, seated 3min

Cooldown 5 min Fast Spin (50/24)

Saturday 12/20 Ski & Bike Brick

60 min XC ski at fast pace; great snow - perfect fresh powder with a lot of glide. Very little wind and mild temperatures (mid 20's) made this a perfect day to go for a little Nordic jaunt. Awesome. The kind of thing that makes Winter worthwhile.

and then, like some crazy tri-greek, I decided not to waste my warmed up muscles. I got out of the skis, changed, and got on the bike for:

Terrible Twos:

Spin 5 warmup
2 x (6 x 2min WI, 2 min RI)
Spin 5 in between and cooldown

WI is 50/17 max effort
RI is 50/24 at 85%

Yep...back to 6 WIs for this workout. Feeling strong again. Two back-to-back hours of hard effort here, and I felt great the whole time. Making some progress. The goal is to build a strong base over the winter.

Workout: Bike Intervals

2008-12-08T18:19:00.001-08:00

Monday 12/8 Intervals on the Trainer, 60 minutes

Terrible Twos:

Spin 10 warmup
2 x (5 x 2min WI, 2 min RI)
Spin 5 in between and cooldown

WI is 50/17 max effort
RI is 50/24 at 85%

Workout: Spin Class

2008-12-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Friday 12/5 Spin Class (55 minutes + stretching)

Well... the typical crazy, end-of-semester. No workouts to speak of since the Thanksgiving break, until today. Happily, I didn't seem to lose much fitness. I was able to dig deep on every drill today and I finished really strong.

Tina had us doing ladders today, a workout I actually do myself on the trainer. Hers looked like this.

1, 2, 3 min WI & RI up
then
3, 2, 1 min WI & RI back down

WI is 90% effort with a medium hill (level 3) resistance.
RI is fast spin (approaching 100%) at level 2.

The RI is really an effort to spin the lactic acid out of the legs, we weren't fully recovering, which was good. This 24 minute set was followed by some pyramids - short bursts of 20, 30, and 40 seconds of max effort with 10 second RIs in between. Those simulate surges out on the road. And we wrapped up with our six-levels of hell hill climbing drill, where we increase resistance incrementally until we are in our heaviest gear and then spend 3 minutes there, climbing out of the saddle.

Good stuff.

Workout: Climbing Intervals

2008-11-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday 11/22 Climbing Intervals on the Trainer, 60 minutes

I've been working on creating some more climbing simulation workouts. I enjoy climbing, first of all, and I need to work on overall strength (core + legs) to get the most out of bigger gears on the flats anyway.

Today's workout I enjoyed quite a lot, by which I mean it was a proper suffer-fest. Before I began, I set my wheel block up to the climb/incline position. As for the drill, it's listed below.

For this workout, I am going to give the gearing to be more specific. My bike has a Shimano 105 9 Speed 12-27 cassette. Kind of like this one, but with only nine cogs. In non bike geek speak "9 speed 12-27" refers to the number of cogs (9) and the number of teeth per cog (e.g. 12 is the smallest) mounted on the rear wheel hub. I have the following choices on the rear hub: 12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,27.

The front chain rings (where the cranks are) on my bike are 50 and 34. I stay in the 50 for all the trainer workouts; the bigger gear is tougher on the front. It's the opposite in the back. The lower the gear, the harder it is. So the hardest combination on my bike is 50 on the front, 12 on the back.

Ok...so here's how the climbing workout goes:

Warmup 6min Fast Spin Low Resistance (50/24)

6 x Climb Interval 5min (50/12), RI 3 min (50/19).

For intervals 1, 2, & 5 climb out of saddle for 3min, seated 2min
For intervals 3, 4, & 6 out of saddle for 5min

Cooldown 6 min Fast Spin (50/24)

That's thirty minutes of climbing in the hardest gear over the course of a 60 minute workout. My least favorite part, by far, is sitting and pushing that big gear during intervals 1, 2, & 5. But it really helps to build leg and core strength. I work really hard to keep my upper body still to avoid straining my back (you can tell if this is working by how much your upper body rocks side to side; if you rock too much, it's too much resistance and you are probably tweaking your back).

Workout: Spin Class

2008-11-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

Friday 11/21 Spin Class (55 minutes + stretching)

Today's workout was yet another incremental step up in terms of difficulty. The main difference is that from the very beginning through to the end, we had tough drills with very short RIs.

We had enough new folks in class to do our attack, pull, draft drills in teams, with each team around the circle taking a turn at the virtual front. It was fun. We also had another instructor join us - just as a participant - but in her honor Tina threw in one of her signature drills. She calls them "black holes." They are 40 seconds of hill intervals, out of the saddle, followed by 20 seconds at lower resistance but maintaining cadence. There is no RI, so each one takes you deeper and deeper into the abyss...

Fun. No class next week due to Thanksgiving. In honor of last year, I might go run hill repeats when we are in Ohio for the holiday break. Might, I say. :)

Workout: Bike Intervals

2008-11-16T18:21:00.001-08:00

Sunday 11/16 Intervals on the Trainer, 64 minutes

"Hard Eights," with a twist

Warmup Spin 8, High Cadence, Low Resistance (same for RI's, below)
(2 gear differential to start WI)

8 min WI, 8 min RI x 2
then
8 min WI, 4 min RI, 8 min WI

WI has some structure...like this:
4 min tempo w/crescendo, gradually increasing effort
shift up 4, 2 min climb
shift down 2, 2 min hard effort (gear +2)

This was my third workout day in a row...it's been a while since I've done that. I plan to do one more tomorrow, as I am trying to get back to a 5 day week. Tuesday will definitely be a rest day due to schedule alone. Thursday may be too since I have spin class so early on Friday and can count on that being a hard workout.

Wokout: Recovery Ride

2008-11-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday 11/15 "Three Quarters" on the Trainer, 65 minutes

A true recovery ride today. Short segments of fast spinning at very low resistance, followed by 15 minute intervals, below tempo, with moderate resistance. Enough to get the heart rate up and sweat, but not a hard effort. Gear differential = 2.

Pattern:
5 min Spin warmup

3x 15min Work Interval, 5min Spin Interval

It's not really accurate to say these are Work and Recovery Intervals exactly. The fast spins are about the same effort, the heart rate is constant. But a few fast paced spins help shake out the muscles and break up the long ride.

Workout: Spin Class

2008-11-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Friday 11/7 Spin Class (55 minutes + diabolical yoga squats at the end)

Today's workout was another envigorating, hard effort. Tina threw in some new stuff for us this week, building on the drills we worked on last week during our first session.

It's all intervals, all the time of course.

One of my favorites is really fun because it's based on road riding/racing. The idea is to follow a pattern of attack, breakway with a group, take hard pull at the front, and then fall back into the draft. So it goes like this:

Attack: 20-30 second maximum effort sprint, out of the saddle, big gear
Hard Pull: 30-40 second max. sustained effort in slightly lower gear
Draft: 30-15 second recovery

As we repeat, the WI's get a little longer and the RI gets a bit shorter. Nice! A great visual too. I admit I enjoy imagining myself pulling a Jaja Jalabert, escaping for a long break to win a mountain top finish.

Workout: Bike Intervals

2008-11-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 11/12 Intervals on the Trainer, 65 minutes

"Terrible Twos"
WI = Maximum Effort; RI = recovery spin; 3 gear differential

Warmup Spin 10
5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI
Spin 5 Recovery
5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI
Cooldown Spin 10

Hard workout today. Felt good.

Workout: Bike Tempo

2008-11-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday 11/9 "Hard Eights" on the Trainer, 74 minutes

My goal for today was mainly recovery, so I returned to my "hard eights" pattern. It goes like this:

Spin 10min warmup
4 x 8 min WI, 8 min RI

WI is tempo pace in a bigger gear, RI is recovery pace, spinning easy. The work intervals are not terribly hard, but this is a tough workout because I try to maintain a solid pace throughout.

Shoutout: Go! Sean Go!

2008-11-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge my brother's recent efforts to get moving, get in shape, and get healthy! We are very proud of his efforts so far. After just two weeks of running and riding the exercise bike, he's starting to see some results!

Sean and I are planning to do the Tour de Cure ride next year together. I'll log our progress and training! In the meantime, you can already visit my Donation Page for the 2009 Tour de Cure! We already have one donation!

Workout: Spin Class

2008-11-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

Friday 11/7 Spinning Class (50 minutes + stretching)

I started my first ever spin class today, and I enjoyed it a great deal. I am taking it with Tina Brookhouse, a trainer who just opened her own studio here in Williamston.

I opted for the 6 a.m. Friday session because it was convenient for me, and also because I figured it would mean that only the die-hards are showing up. I was right about that. There five folks in the class, all of whom rode on the road. This let Tina design a workout that was very cycling-specific.

She put us through about 45 minutes of cycling that included lots of intervals and hill-simulation work. The nice thing about having an instructor for interval training is that I can do more complex drills that involve shorter, more intense intervals than I am usually patient enough to do on my own on the trainer. It's just too hard to pay attention (or write all of the sequences down ahead of time and post them somewhere near the bike) to do lots of variations alone. But she did a great job of breaking things up and getting us to really work hard. I went to my suffer place at least twice during the 45 minute session. And I felt sore in places that I don't usually after riding indoors.

So far, so good!

Workout: Tempo Run

2008-11-09T09:31:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, 11/4: 4 miles (no watch, but right around 8:40/mi)

While others were busy finishing up their run for office, I was just plain running. I ran by my polling place where I had voted earlier in the day, in fact, and noted that even as it was starting to get dark at 5:45 p.m., they were still doing what appeared to be brisk business.

I didn't have my watch with me on this run. I mainly just tried to stay steady and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather (68 degrees). I saw several others out doing much the same. First run this season with my reflective gear on...tough to get home in time to train in the daylight this time of year.

Workouts: Bike Intervals

2008-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday 11/2 Intervals on the Trainer, 65 minutes

Intervals + ladders...they looked like this:

Warmup sequence
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance
Spin 5min @ tempo pace w/ "road feel" level of resistance
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance

Ladders (WI is Lactate Threshold, max sustainable effort for the interval; RI is just below Tempo)
5min WI
4min RI
3min WI
2min RI
1min WI

1min RI
2min WI
3min RI
4min WI
5min RI

Warmup sequence
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance
Spin 5min @ tempo pace w/ "road feel" level of resistance
Spin 5min high cadence, low resistance

All while watching the #99 win and stay in cup contention. :)

Catching up again: workouts after my viral event

2008-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of October, I had a bit of a cold that kept me idle, workout-wise, for about 10 days or so. Hence...few posts. But I've actually had a good week since then...and so I will try to catch up with a few posts.

Workouts, plural: Bike

2008-10-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

I had a nice week last week, workout-wise. 4, count-em, 4 rides! About four quality hours, all told, on the bike.

Sunday 10/12 18.8 mile Hilly Loop at roughly 19.1 mph (57 minutes)

Monday 10/13 Bike Intervals on the Trainer
Spin 10 min
2 sets of 5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI with a 5 min Spin in between sets
Spin 5 min

Wednesday 10/15 Bike Resistance Workout during the Last Presidential Debate
Alternate 9 min WI, 9 min RI with a big, heavy, punishing gear for the WI for 70 min

This workout was inspired by the debate, wherein each topic was supposed to last 9 minutes (two minutes for each candidate to respond to the original question, followed by 5 minutes of follow-up; Scheiffer did his best, but they didn't always make the 9 minute cutoff)

Saturday 10/18
40 minutes @ recovery pace with Michelle & Steve (about 11 miles)
chilly and windy, we are fast running out of pleasant outdoor riding weather here in Mid-Michigan. But this was a nice end to a solid week of riding.

Workout: Tempo Run +

2008-09-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 7/28: 10k (6.2 miles) in 46:56 or 7:33/mi

I didn't run the half marathon in town today, so I was feeling a little guilty. I decided to run my measured 10k route to see how I could do. I went a little faster than tempo pace, especially in the last mile, but not quite race pace. I felt smoother and stronger than I have in a while on the run. Quite pleased.

The Fall air brings back such strong memories of cross country season, even 20 years later.

Bonus feel-good fact...my 3 mile split was 31:36 or 7:52/mi, which means I ran a negative split. I had this in mind, going out a little easy but deliberately not going into the red early. Nice to execute a game plan, even when there's no game.

Workout: Bike

2008-09-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday 9/27: 18.8 miles (hilly loop) in 1:00:03, AVS 18.8 mph tempo

Good, steady pace today, but I never dug too deep. It was a bit more than recovery speed, so we can just call it a tempo ride. Felt strong coming in. The days are getting shorter, so I was enjoying the weather while it lasts.

Workout: Bike Intervals

2008-09-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday 9/20: 18.8 miles (hilly loop) AVS 18.2 mph Intervals

Spin 5 minutes warmup, high cadence
2X (5 x 2 min WI, 2 min RI) with 5 min high cadence spin RI in between
Spin 10 minutes cooldown

...and another two minutes to get all the way home!

Whew. First time I've done an actual structured workout in quite some time. It would be nice to get some fitness back. And days like this are the way to do it. Have to do these more than once a week, though...

Workout: Run in Del Mar, CA

2008-09-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

Friday, 9/12: about 6 miles in 55:10 with lots of climbing

I am in California for a conference at UCSD, staying just North of there in the lovely little town of Del Mar. I couldn't help but notice as I rode the shuttle on the way in that my hotel sits just a mile or so away from Torrey Pines State Reserve, a place with breathtakingly beautiful ocean views like this one:

Thanks to Flickr user informedmindstravel for that lovely shot.

The profile of the run was pretty brutal. Picture the letter "U." Big downhill, short valley (across the beach entrance of Torrey Pines) and then up a long, long climb to the top of the hill and the entrance to the famous Torrey Pines Golf Course, home of this year's U.S. Open. I made it to the top, thinking that if Tiger could play 90 holes with a broken leg and beat a world-class field, I could certainly struggle through this run.

On the way up, I was on the bike path that runs along the 5. This made the hill longer, with the pitch more gradual. Well over a mile of climbing. The way down was a bit better, as I found a bike path that went through the Reserve itself and afforded the kind of spectacular views you saw in the photo above. That road was steeper, but shorter too.

I saw lots and lots of cyclists on the way. I envied them their mechanical advantage today.

In truth, this was the sort of workout I probably should have been doing more of to train for the marathon. Why? Lactate threshold. Basically I ran for 45 minutes at a decent pace and with enough climbing that I was fatigued. Then, to finish, I ran another mile uphill to get back to the hotel. I stopped beforehand, let my heart rate come down, reset my watch, and then pushed the pace all the way home. Did the last leg in just under 10 minutes which doesn't sound like a fast pace for a mile, but you should see this mile!

I guess I took some time off the blog

2008-09-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been a while since I last posted. I've actually done some riding since I last wrote anything down, but the beginning of the school year and two trips in September have waylaid me. I've not spared much time for anything but work. The workouts I've managed to sneak in were much needed trips out of my head.

Not that I've been burning up the road or anything...but there are four rides I should mention before I forget about the all together.

Saturday August 31
30 miles or so with Randy
Hilly route in my hometown of Springfield, OH. AVS somewhere around 18.

Randy is only just a little out of tip-top form...having recently won his division at the Spirit of Racine Half-Ironman (see results for Male XL2 up to 39). He rocked the 56 mile bike split in 2:23:20. That's an AVS of 23.4 mph, boys and girls. Then he followed that up with a half-marathon in 1:53:32. Compare that to the first half of my marathon in the Spring, which was only about 6 minutes quicker...and, oh yeah, I didn't swim 1.2 miles and bike 56 beforehand.

All this is of course a preface for this: I took a beating. I was out of shape, and it showed. But it did feel good to get the work in. So good in fact...

Sunday, September 1st
25 miles or so with Randy, again
Bike path North of Springfield to Urbana and back

Yep, I went out for more punishment the next day. Didn't eat enough, didn't bring enough water, and fell apart at the end climbing the one big hill on the way home. In my defense, Randy was on his TT bike for this ride, so it was not only a mismatch of fitness and ability, but also of equipment. That made me feel only slightly better.

I snuck in one more ride the following week, my 18.8 mile loop. I did it at 19.3 AVS, snapping back a bit from the hard efforts of the previous weekend.

All was quiet for a while, then last weekend, Saturday, 9/6 I managed to go out for a 21 miler with Patty, the new occupant of the studio next door. We took the Southern route and stayed on fairly flat roads, staying around 17 mph AVS and soaking up the late summer weather. Nice ride all in all.

Getting back on track

2008-08-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

Summer is over and this is what we like to euphemistically call "Welcome week" at Michigan State University. I guess "freaking out week" has too much truthiness.

Anyway, with the return of my normal insane work schedule and march of deadlines (not to mention the mouldering past-due deadlines of summer that still linger and are beginning to stink up the calendar) comes a reminder: this is why I need to ride and run!

Oh yeah. All that work of the mind requires an hour or so of suffering on a regular basis...or I never get out of my own head.

So...there were workouts this week! A run and a ride...and we aren't done with the week yet, so I am hoping one more ride later today. I'll post the details soon.

Welcome back, motivation.

Sloth in August and one old workout report

2008-08-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a pretty lame month of August as far as workouts go. Perhaps this is my official off season? I've really not been doing much more than one workout a week since mid-July. Now it's mid-August.

I do have one workout to report from a couple of weeks ago now:

Saturday, 8/9
Tempo Ride 18.8 miles (hilly loop) at 18.4 mph AVS (from memory, a conservative guess)

This was an evening trip around my typical loop course. It was humid and cool, a curious but common Michigan evening combination. I saw two deer on the route and had a brief chat with some pygmy goats as I rode by a field where they were grazing.

The effort was steady but unheroic. I hadn't done much in a long time (over a week) and so I was just trying to get something in without collapsing. Mission accomplished.

It's tough to call such a slow ride a tempo ride, but fitness-wise...this is probably where I'm at right now.

Workout: Bike Commute

2008-08-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Monday 8/4: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

The Monday ride to work is becoming a nice routine. I like starting the week this way. Since I ended last week with a ride on Saturday, I did a little better fitting workouts in. But it's time to set a new goal of some sort to get motivated and back into a more regular schedule...

Workout: Tempo Ride

2008-08-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8/2: 30.4 miles, 20 miles @ tempo AVS 18.4 mph

Rode with Jeff on Saturday for the first time, even though we've been meaning to do it since the summer started. We managed to fit one in before the summer is over, but just barely.

It was about 5 miles to and from the rendezvous point for me, with a good 20 mile hilly course for the tempo section. Our pace was good considering we had a big headwind on the way in to contend with. Jeff has good TT power, he can push a big gear. I was working hard towards the end to stay on his wheel on the flat sections.

I rode the warmup and cooldown at about 18 mph AVS, spinning a high cadence. Great workout.

Workout: Bike Commute

2008-07-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Monday 7/28: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

Coming off a week of sloth, I hope to get back to a three workout per week pace starting this week. Fantastic weather today, so I eased back into things with a tempo ride to work on the commuter machine.

Workout: Tempo Run

2008-07-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 7/21: 6 miles in 49:36 or 8:16/mi

Even though it was 8:00 a.m., this was a hot and sticky 6 miles. We were in Springfield, OH visiting with the families and I decided to get up before everybody else and head out for a quick six on the bike trail.

My pace was steady and I didn't really try to push it. I'd had almost a week without workouts, so I was feeling kind of uncoordinated and sluggish for the first two miles. I eventually smoothed things out and enjoyed the run for the most part.

I also wanted to put a little co-suffering karma into the atmosphere for my buddy Randy Comer who competed in the Racine, WI Half-Ironman . He had a great race, winning his division and turning some fantastic splits!

We are back to a normal schedule this week, so I am hoping to have a much more active workout regimen.

Workout: Bike Commute

2008-07-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Monday 7/14: Bike commute to work. 20 miles total, 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

Rode the road bike to work this morning after dropping Les & Lily off at the train station for their big Chicago trip. As it is Bastille Day and the first big mountain finish day in the TdF, seems more than appropriate to ride today.

Workout: Ride with Sean

2008-07-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday 7/12: 10.49 miles, 52:00 AVT; AVS 12.1 mph

By brother was visiting for the weekend, and we decided to take a spin around the neighborhood. It was warm and humid, but there was enough of a breeze to make it bearable. Sean rode my commuter bike and I was on the road machine.

We passed by a nicely supported 2-day group ride for Multiple Sclerosis; we were even cheered by volunteers at the aid station who told us we were riding the wrong way. When we confessed we were just locals, they cheered us anyway!

Sean did a fine job on this ride, which included one long climb that I sometimes use to do interval workouts on. He's been riding at home more lately, so this kept his workout regimen going nicely.

Workout: Club Ride

2008-07-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7/10: Club ride 32.3 miles, 1:38:37 AVT; AVS 19.4253 mph

I hadn't been on a club ride in a couple of weeks, so I was looking forward to it with that nervous energy that seems to accumulate when you haven't tested your fitness in, well, a couple of weeks...or at least haven't ridden next to anybody else. The ride leader bailed, so the course that won out last night was chosen on the fly and was a new one for me. I was excited to hear that it had 11 hills!

I ate it up. With the exception of our freakishly fast recumbent guy who can go easily 30 on the downhills and 27 on the flats, I was usually out front. I was the first upright wheel home by some minutes. And it was a good hard tempo+ pace for most of the way in. The way out was quick, but more relaxed because most of the hilly sections came after the halfway point. Great route...I'll have to do that one more often myself.

Workout: Long Ride

2008-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday 7/5: Long ride to Grass Lake, MI. 43.6 miles, 2:25:37 AVS 17.96 mph

It was an absolutely picture-perfect day to do a long ride today, so I called up my buddy Steve who was doing some weekend-warrior remodeling and let him know I was riding to his house. My route was South/Southeast, and the only adverse condition I faced was wind...steady out of the East with significant gusts out of the Southeast. That slowed my average speed, particularly since a good portion of my route - just slightly less than half - was along a MI state route that is mostly bordered by open fields.

The latter part of the ride was beautiful, taking me through the Waterloo State Recreation area. Wooded and with several challenging climbs, it made the last 10 miles or so quite nice.

I was kind of surprised that I didn't see a single fellow cyclist on the road anywhere, given that it was a holiday weekend, the weather was spectacular, and Le Tour started today. I did see a lot of folks on motorcycles, though.

Despite another power outage this week, I managed three workouts. Why should a power outage interrupt workout schedules? Mostly because it interrupts life, in general. With no running water (well requires a pump, pump requires electricity), it makes everything a bit primitive lifestyle-wise. Case in point: we harvested rainwater to flush the toilets last week. In any case, I hope to do at least three and possibly four workouts again next week, especially if the weather holds.

Workout: Bike Commute

2008-07-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7/1: Bike commute to work. 20 miles total, 32 minutes x 2, tempo- pace

Chose the road bike to commute on today. A little treat before my birthday. Took the back way, so it was just a bit longer than my usual route but took the same amount of time since the roadie is quicker.

Workout: Interval Ride

2008-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday 6/29: Bike 57:24, 18.72 miles @ 19.6 AVS (hilly loop)

With a strong wind out of the West/Northwest this was a hard effort. I rode the hilly loop course at interval pacing, which involves alternating 2:00 hard followed by 1:00 recovery.

I've worked it out now where I can start this pattern so that I am using the climbs as WI's and the downhill sections as RI's without breaking the 2-1 pattern very much.

It's also nice to get two solid workouts in on consecutive days. I feel so much better when I do that, mentally and physically.

Workout: Tempo Run + Recovery

2008-06-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 6/28: 6.2 miles (10k) in 48:50 or 7:52/mi

The total time for today's 10k distance is just a bit misleading since it was broken into two 5k chunks. They looked like this

5k @ tempo pace in 22:13 or 7:09/mi
5k @ recovery pace in 26:37 or 8:31/mi

The impetus for today's workout was a question I had today, one month to the day after finishing the Bayshore marathon. The question: given my lax running schedule this month, could I still do a 5k under 8:05/mi, the training pace I had used for so many months? I had this question because I saw a notice about a race that was happening on campus this morning, a 5k, and I was tempted to run it. When I asked myself why, the question above surfaced...just to see where I was at one month hence. I didn't run the race, but I set out to address the question just the same.

Answer: yes

In fact, I ran under 8:05 for the whole trip, though I deliberately slowed my pace to a comfortable recovery level after turning around on my out-and-back 10k route. Nice to know that I could have gone quicker too if I'd evened out the first and second halves a bit more.

That said...I don't want to make it sound like it was easy. I suffered a good bit. I was glad to be done when I came up the driveway. It goes to show you that you are never fit enough to have running feel easy. It can be easi-er...yes...but you can always ramp up the pain too.

I read a quote that is germane, attributed to cyclist Chris Boardman. Asked about climbing on a bike, he is purported to have said "the best don't suffer less, they just suffer faster." For those of us that love to suffer, that actually counts as encouragement.

Workout: Bike Commute

2008-06-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Monday 6/24: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

Lovely weather to ride to work today. The next few days look to be rainy, so I wanted to take advantage of today's opportunity.

Workouts: Bike

2008-06-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Friday 6/20: Biked to work, 9.8 miles
Sunday 6/22: Bike 26 miles

Friday's ride to work was short, but done at a quick pace...didn't remember to check numbers but it was tempo+ I would say. I left my bike at work because Les picked me up. So that meant that Sunday I had to go back for it and ride home.

Sunday's ride was longer, more hilly, and an all-around good workout. I took a circuitous route home through Bath township. I stopped roughly halfway to drop my backpack off; Les dropped Lily off at a birthday party and I met them there. I took another roundabout way home and made a nice ride of it.

I missed the club ride last week. Hoping to have a good solid workout week this week to get back to a more normal schedule.

Workout: Run with Lily

2008-06-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 6/17: 3.5 miles in 28:48 or 8:14/mi

A short run today, with Lily along for the ride in the jogging stroller. We had a nice time, even though it was a bit windy and cool in spots. Lily waved and sang little songs all along the way.

I didn't keep a close eye on the watch, but I did time the last mile: 7:50. No turns helped!

Catching Up: Workouts during the week of June 9

2008-06-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 6/10: Kuk Sool Won 90 minutes (flexibility/strength/balance)
Thursday 6/12: Club Ride 32 miles 18.9 AVS

Busy week last week, and lots of rain/storms. Not as bad as other areas of the midwest for us, but we did lose power for about 2 days. That put a damper on workouts in the early part of the week.

Thursday's group ride went well. I hung tough for the whole ride even though I started with leaden legs for some reason...just didn't feel very fresh. In the last two miles, the paceline I was in started fragmenting and I got caught in a slow group after a pull. By the time I saw that three of the faster guys had gone off the front, I was 200 yards back. I skipped to the front and made an all-or-nothing attempt to bridge the gap in a fierce headwind, but the three out front were tucked in tight getting ready for the final sprint. I sat up when it was clear that I wasn't going to get them back without any help. Ended up finishing about 30 seconds back. By that time, they'd dropped another guy who said that they were going 25 into that headwind when he fell off the back.

It's one of those small motivating things I guess...getting dropped at the end of a hard club ride. This time, I can honestly say that it was as much a factor of not paying attention at a critical time as it was level of fitness...but getting dropped is getting dropped. It makes you want to train harder so it doesn't happen next week.

Tour de Cure: Event Report

2008-06-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

Sunday 6/8: Bike 3:45:14, 64.8 miles; 17.2 AVS

I completed the long course of the Brighton, MI Tour de Cure ride. By my calculations, I did it about 45 minutes faster than last year, which largely reflects the difference between doing it on a road bike vs. my hybrid.

More importantly, I have raised $950 to support diabetes research & education initiatives on behalf of the American Diabetes Association. You can still donate to this year's cause if you like, through August 1st.

The numbers for the ride come from my bike computer, which had the course just under 5 miles shy of 70 miles. The average speed is a bit misleading since we rode a fair bit in traffic (like, actual vehicular traffic complete with stop signs and lights and stuff) and that slowed us down a bit even when the wheels were moving. But I would guess that it's still fairly accurate. The total time does not reflect time spent at 4 rest stops along the way to stretch, drink, eat a little, fill water bottles, etc. I didn't spend more than a few minutes at any one stop, but I would guess 10 minutes total is a fair estimate.

This year's course was a different route than the one in 2007, with more hills. The weather was not bad. The first hour was ideal. Cool, sunny, and not too windy. But the wind and the temperature rose steadily throughout the morning. By mile 40, we faced a stiff breeze (sustained winds of 18-20 mph) and temperatures in the upper 80's to low '90's with lots of humidity.

But I'm happy to report that running a marathon is great training for an event like this. :) I don't recommend it, but if you should find yourself registered for a 65 mile charity ride two weeks after completing a marathon that you've spent some time training for...you needn't worry about finishing.

I enjoyed myself a great deal, I must say. While last year I was just curious to know if I could finish, this year I was able to savor the experience, including the many opportunities to suffer on the climbs and/or when hanging with a pack of roadies (or, worse, tri-geeks with those infernal front-mounted sippy bottles) determined to make the day a replay of their weekly club ride mash session. I rode a fair bit with a couple of different groups, but this event splits people up due to different ride lengths (folks doing the 50 miler followed a different route) and different approaches to the rest stops, etc. So I rode alone a fair bit too, but managed to stay fueled, hydrated, and strong (read: cramp & bonk free!) the whole way.

All in all, it was a great first long ride of the season. And now I need another "next thing" to talk about. I'm working on that...

Upcoming Tour de Cure Event: More Info

2008-06-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

The Tour de Cure event I am participating in on Sunday is one of many such events all over the country to raise money for the American Diabetes Association.

As of today, I've raised a little over $800 on the strength of 25 contributions from friends, family, & colleagues! Great work everybody! There's still time to donate if you'd like to do so (and you can also donate after the event, through August 1st). You can donate online and check my fundraising progress at my TdC page.

Here's the route for Sunday's ride:
Tour de Cure 70-mile route
Find more Bike Rides in Brighton, Michigan

Workout: Club Ride

2008-06-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday 6/5: Bike 1:25:00 or so, 25.8 miles club ride

It was nice to get back to riding in a group today, my first club ride of the season. Today's ride went something like this:

2.5 miles warmup to the start
11 miles @ 17.7 mph, conversational pace
Water break
11 miles at 22.1 mph, hammering
2.5 miles cooldown back home

It was all smiles and laughs on the way out, but the hammer came down on the way back in. We didn't always have an organized pace line, but I took a big long pull when one finally formed and was in the wind for most of the way home. We hit speeds of 24 or so on the flat in line. It's really fun to do that.

Workout: Tempo Run

2008-06-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Monday, 6/2: 5.4 miles in 42:03 or 7:47/mi

I repeated a run I did in November, but with a slightly different path this time...so it was .1 longer. Still today's pace was a little slower than November. It felt slower too. Not that 7:47 is terribly slow in my book, it's just that I felt a bit rusty and sluggish. Not my best effort.

This was my first running workout post-marathon. And I am not sure how much of the struggle today was a bit of a mental letdown. Hard to say.

All good though, in the world of staying fit and in shape.

A few more Bayshore pictures

2008-05-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

The images below were shot by the good people at Action Sports Images. They are low-res, web-only versions. But you can order the real deal online! We are buying prints of these three, so I felt that it was ok to do a little marketing. Here's hoping that with ample linking and careful attempts on my part to be responsible with their IP, they will embrace the Web 2.0-inspired attempt to promote their fine work.

Here's a shot from the first part of the race:

Here's a shot as I am coming into the stadium for the finish:

And, of course, crossing the line!

...see? there are people behind me...

More Bayshore Marathon 2008 images - seriously, this is a beautiful course - here.

Tour de Cure

2008-05-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

One answer to the question "what's next?" ...the 2008 American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure event. It's a bike ride (not a race) to raise money for diabetes research and education. I will be riding 70 miles on Sunday, June 8th.

More info can be found on my Tour de Cure page, where you can also donate!

I did this event last year and raised over $1,500. I rode the whole thing on my commuter bike last year (see below)...so I look forward to doing it on my road bike this year.

Workout: Bike Recovery Ride

2008-05-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday 5/29: Bike 1:15:00 or so, 24.7 miles recovery ride

I tried to go on my first club ride of the season, but nobody showed up today. So I rode the hilly loop instead. I didn't set my computer for the 5 miles or so that I rode to the rendezvous point for the group ride that wasn't to be. But my numbers for the loop were 19 miles at 18.7 mph. It was a nice, steady effort. I purposefully dialed back a little and just enjoyed it.

Maybe the group will be back next week.

Workout: Bike Intervals

2008-05-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 5/28: Bike 45:00 or so, 10.5 miles or so, hill interval workout

3 mile warmup, spin high cadence (120 rpm)
5 x .5 mile hill climb WI, downhill RI
3 mile tempo (21.2 AVS)
2 mile cooldown, high cadence

Back on the suffer train! Just a short little ride this afternoon after work. I knew I didn't have much time, so I decided to get some interval hill work in. The climb here is not steep, but it is a sustained, long effort. The WI takes between 90 seconds and two minutes to complete, and a bit longer than 2 minutes for the RI unless I really try to go downhill quickly.

This is my first post-marathon workout blog post. It feels a bit odd, but I like putting these up in public. Keeps me motivated. And it's nice to look back and see what I've done over a given period of time. So until we have another big goal to work up to, I will just continue to report workouts. Look for more bikes than runs in the near future, anyway.

Bill Ran a Marathon

2008-05-25T04:41:00.000-07:00

It's official! I finished the Bayshore Marathon yesterday in 4:10:20. I came in a little slower than I wanted to as you can see, but I am pleased with the result overall. It feels great to finish. And I struggled in the last part of the race.

Here are some of the numbers from the official results page:

1st Half marathon time: 1:47:32.25
1st Half-marathon pace: 8:13

2nd Half-marathon time: 2:21:30.30
2nd Half-marathon pace: 10:48

Marathon time: 4:10:20.00
Marathon pace: 9:30/M

I made a bit of a rookie mistake, it would seem, and suffered some consequences in the form of leg cramping at mile 19. Yes, this is also known as hitting the wall or bonking, but there are actually a couple of things that get referred to under this heading. Mine was that peculiar condition where the legs stop working. Physiologically, it is a condition in which the body can't get rid of the lactic acid fast enough to let the muscles in the legs work any more. So you cramp up and have to walk or slow way down to let things catch up again. I didn't suffer symptoms of running out of carbohydrate, a.k.a. "bonking" (low blood glucose is something I prepared for) or dehydration.

So the lesson here is one of lack of experience...now I know I should have 1) started slower and 2) trained just a bit differently, more tempo runs of longer distance to increase my lactate threshold would have been good. Hard to know until you have these things actually happen, of course, but there you go.

For all of that, I am quite pleased because through about the first 15 miles, I was on pace and feeling fine. Starting about mile 16 I slowed a bit and then around mile 19 had to walk. The first time, all the muscle groups in my legs were flopping around and rippling uncontrollably for a few seconds. Later, in the parking lot, I saw a guy about my age who was also suffering his way through the end of the race and he said "I've never seen anybody's legs do that before!"

Yeah, me neither.

But...in any case, it's done! Considering that the wheels fell off, I think that finishing just over 4 hours is quite good. In fact, when I came around and saw the clock, I was surprised given how much I had to walk during miles 19-24. I managed to run, slowly as it might have been, the last 2 and to finish in the stadium looking reasonably strong. I was 87th of 123 in my age group. And I managed to beat the oldest guy in the race, who was 80 years old, by well over a minute. Heh.

On to the next challenge...stay tuned to hear more about it!

Weather & Other Pre-Race Thoughts

2008-05-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

Well, the marathon is almost here! I've taken this week off for the most part to rest. I had just a little bit of tightness in my right IT band after my last run, and I thought resting that to be a bit more important than doing a little tempo work this week.

The weather outlook is good for race day! Here's the window we are most concerned with:

Cool, but pleasant seems to be the forecast with winds out of the ESE at 9mph and little chance of big gusts. All good.

It seems like a good time to recap my goals for the race. They are, in priority order:

I am just a bit nervous. Haven't raced in a long time. Not that I am a threat to win, but there is just a bit of anxiety with an event this long. As I've said here before, training for this race has instilled a lot of respect for any distance over 18 miles. Even the best are humbled by it, let alone those of us mere mortals who attempt such an effort.

I will post as soon as I can after the race on Saturday!

Training Log: 28.3

2008-05-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 5/17: 8 miles at PMP, 1:04:37

The goal for today was simple: practice that marathon pace! I ran my 8 mile loop right on the mark. But while the avg. pace was on target, it's a bit deceptive as there was a big wind. So it felt a bit more like an interval workout. I was 45 seconds ahead of pace at three mile mark, then 5 seconds behind at the six mile mark, and finished 3 seconds ahead overall. First and last mile with a tailwind, miles 4-6 into strong gusts.

I'll have a light week coming up since it is my pre-marathon week. I'll get a short temp run in sometime mid-week and maybe a bike workout if the weather cooperates. I'll also check the weather for race day.

Training Log: 28.1 & 28.2

2008-05-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 5/11: 5 miles at 7:45/mi tempo run
Tuesday, 5/13: 2 miles intervals w/ Mike (new runner);

Busy busy this week...I am chairing a search committee and squeezing in my runs (and blogs) in the spare minutes between candidate visits. Sunday's run was uneventful and pleasant. Just keeping the fire stoked.

Tuesday was even more fun. My friend and colleague Mike has decided to try running, so I am helping him to do some workouts...one a week. In exchange, he's helping me learn some martial arts to improve strength & flexibility. Mike is a teacher of Kuk Sool Won.

We did the first running workout yesterday, 2 miles worth of intervals with 1 minute WI at about 80% effort followed by a 2 minute RI. Mike came through like a champ!

Training Log: 27.2

2008-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday 5/10: Bike 1:34:06, 30.3 miles, AVS 19.1 mph Long tempo ride

This was a my first longish ride on the Southern loop route that heads toward Mason, MI. It's includes some of the best (that is, *only*) real climbs around here too. It was windy, but not brutal, mostly out of the South and West, so I fought wind for much of the trip. Still kept up a good pace.

Caught a guy on the back side of the loop going up the first of two substantial climbs. He sucked my wheel for a while, and then I dropped him on the second hill...not out of spite, he was just laboring. He was a big tall dude, probably could hammer out 24mph on the flats without a problem. I was hoping he'd turn when I did and I could tuck in behind him for a bit, but I didn't see him after that.

That Other Marathon...

2008-05-08T17:37:00.001-07:00

I found out today that I have been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor at Michigan State. Nice to cross this one off the list!

Training Log: 27.1

2008-05-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 5/8: 4 miles at Tempo pace or a bit slower

Easy week, easy day...it's tapering time! Hooray! Just over two weeks to go until the marathon. Today's run was an early morning affair before our faculty retreat at the lovely Brook Lodge.

Training Log: 26.3

2008-05-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 5/3: 22 miles in 3:16:06 or 8:55/mi (PMP +:50); Long(est) Run

This was it...the last long run! I finally paid attention to what long runs were for and deliberately slowed down for this one. It worked. I felt good the whole way and was able to do something my training plan recommends: in the midst of long runs, pick a couple of miles out and do those at PMP. I did mile 16 in 8:04 (PMP -:01) and mile 22 in 8:10 (PMP +5), and those were not huffing and puffing but just a conscious pickup of a little bit. In fact, the last mile felt kind of nice because it allowed me to stretch out as a I came in.

I debated going the whole distance today, but ultimately decided against it. The only reason I would do it is to have done it...physiologically there seems to be little to gain from indulging my "no surprises" neurosis. So 22 shall be the long one, until race day.

This sudden gust of rationality on my part was spurred by a couple of things. One, I read a little bit more about long runs and training last night and that convinced me that slower was really better than going at something like 80% or whatever I'd been doing. And it also convinced me that there was not much that 26 would do for you three weeks before a marathon that 22 wouldn't also do. So...there you have it.

I saw two fellow sufferers out there, one during mile 16 and one during mile 18. The first guy was not training for anything, and I envied him mightily. The second woman was iPodded, so no words were exchanged, just that little nod.

One other note: eating helps! I had two nutri-grain bars along the way today, around 11 miles and 15 miles + about 40oz of water total. Felt fine, only lost a pound.

Training Log: 26.2

2008-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday 5/1: Bike 57:51 minutes, 18.8 miles, AVS 19.6 mph (Hilly loop)

May has arrived! Today's ride was tougher than it seems from the stats. I was up against a steady wind out of the East/Southeast at about 12mph, but I had a tailwind on the way home, making the last 6 miles a nice reward. On this rectangular loop, the long sides run East-West for 7 miles and the short sides are 2 miles each. A strong East or West wind makes for a tough ride, not only because you are in the wind longer but also because the end bits are very exposed. The East side leg, in particular, runs along M-52, a busy highway with nothing but farm fields on either side the whole way.

I don't mean to complain, though, because I kept up a good pace. It's Spring in Michigan, after all. And I was doing a workout of sorts rather than just pounding a steady cadence. I warmed up for 5 minutes and then did 2 minutes hard, followed by 2 minutes RI x 10 or 11...I lost count after a while. Where there were hills, my RIs were cut a bit short. Good interval workout in any case.

Training Log: 26.1

2008-04-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 4/29: 8 miles in 1:00:41 or 7:35/mi (PMP -:30); Tempo Run

Felt good today. I haven't done this eight mile course in some time, but it's a nice one to come back to at this stage of my training because it was the same course of the FIRST plan week 1 long run. I ran it today almost six minutes faster than 14 weeks ago. The pacing goal for today was my calibration 10k pace + 40 seconds or 7:58. I came in at about 10k + :17.

One other note, as I turned for home, I looked at my watch with a little over a mile to go and I saw that I could get close to an hour. I ran the last mile in 6:57.

Four weeks to go!

Training Log: 25.3

2008-04-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 4/26: 10 miles in 1:23:06 or 8:18/mi (PMP +:13); Recovery/Long Run

I'm at the point where a 10 mile run seems short, especially for a long run. But after last week, this week's schedule calls for less miles and more rest. I reigned in the pace today so it would be above PMP, as directed. And since today was so short, I got up and had my workout finished before the H-D women were awake for the day!

It was overcast, cool, and very windy today. Miles 5, 6, & 7 were into a stiff head wind, and miles 8 & 9 had me leaning into the crosswind, at times, to avoid getting blown into the ditch. Definitely less pleasant than last week. But compared to the weather I ran in this winter, it was nothin.

Last week was my final week of teaching for Spring semester, btw, so that should free up the training schedule a bit. Looking forward to being on the bike more very soon.

Training Log: 25.2

2008-04-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, 4/24: 5.4 miles in 38:22 or 7:06/mi (PMP -:59); Tempo Run

I snuck in a quick hybrid tempo/interval workout today during the middle of the day. I set out on the 6 mile campus loop, but construction took me another way...so the distance here is a conservative guess. The time is accurate though.

The "hybrid" is due to the fact that this was a fartlek workout. Haven't done one of those since the old cross-country days. I varied my surge intervals between about 10 and 40 seconds in length, spacing them at least a minute apart.

I'll hopefully have a couple of bike commutes this week at tempo pace, so this run helped to get some interval work in as well. This is a light week, mileage-wise, on my plan due to the 20 miler last week (and 37 running miles total).

Training Log: 25.1

2008-04-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Monday 4/21: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

Another lovely day, another chance to ride my bike to work. I took yesterday off after Saturday's long run. Felt a bit sore today, but the ride in was good and I felt a bit stronger, even, than on Friday.

Allow me to take as a point of departure this phenomenon, the way that biking on non-fresh legs can somehow still result in a stronger performance. It's a curious thing, really. And something I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't experienced it many times now. It doesn't happen with running, in my experience.

I mention all of this because I am truly looking forward to being done training for a marathon. I don't plan on having a conversion experience during or after the race either...though some have warned me it might happen. I think I have exactly one marathon in me.

There are two reasons for this, both of which work together:

1) I've run and raced and trained to run and race before in my life, so none of this is entirely new even if the distance and pain is accordingly different

2) The bike. It's waaaay better.

There are many reasons for #2, including the fact that suffering on the bike can be taken to levels that I just can't sustain for any amount of time while running. But the simple truth is that I don't love running. But I love riding my bike(s). After having been a runner and had as my only endurance sport experience running road races, cross country, and track, I didn't see the cycling thing coming. But there it is. When I am bearing down and out of my head with effort on the bike, odds are you'll see a smile on my face too. When the same is true of running, I may not smile for the rest of the day.

So what I'm saying is...sorry running. I'm looking forward to going to the prom with you on Saturday May 24th. But after that, can we just be friends?

Training Log: 24.4

2008-04-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 4/19: 20 miles in 2:47:52 or 8:24/mi (PMP +:19); Long Run

The longest scheduled run of my training program is done. I may do yet one more 20 miler or a little more, but as far as my plan goes...I have reached high camp, spent time in the death zone, and am in striking distance for my summit attempt 5 weeks from today. FIRST called for this run to be done at PMP + 30, and I was under that, but not brutally so. Mission accomplished.

I learned a few things, as one is supposed to on these long runs. First, I got up and ran on the day and at the time that the real race will be. This turned out to be quite pleasant. Weather couldn't have been better. Warm, not too windy, slightly cloudy but with a high ceiling so it was nice and bright. Lovely Spring morning.

Second, drinking about 8 oz of water for every 4 miles or so seems to be tolerable and keeps me reasonably hydrated. I lost 3 lbs. on this run, but that's not terrible, I don't think.

I believe I will need an eating strategy slightly better than the one this morning. I should have slightly more food than I am used to for breakfast, I think, but not a whole lot...maybe an extra banana or something. I felt fatigued at the end of this run, especially mile 19 and 20, and my pace dropped in the second half (alas, no negative split today...).

Since I do Type II diabetes (why I "do" it rather than "have" it is something for another post, I eat and exercise to manage blood glucose. No hammer gels. :) But I clearly need to eat something around the 10 mile mark and probably the 20 mile mark too. My blood glucose was good when I finished today, 91, which means I didn't bonk...but I think a little boost along the way is definitely called for.

Finally...my feet feel good. No hot spots. My muscles are sore, but my joints feel fine.

Training Log: 24.3

2008-04-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

Friday 4/18: Bike commute to work. 32 minutes x 2, tempo pace

It's my first ride to work of the season; it's so nice outside, it was impossible to pass up on this Friday morning! The picture above is pretty close to the model that I ride, but not quite exact. The make is the same (Raleigh), but the model I have is now about 7 years old and not in production any more.

Riding the commuter bike makes for a good workout because it is easily 10 pounds heavier than my road bike without any cargo. A much more upright seating position means more wind resistance, and I don't have clipless pedals on this bike. I also carry my backpack and a change of clothes in my wheel-mounted bag. The route is 9 miles one way. And it takes me anywhere from 30-35 minutes, depending on traffic and wind. I tend to mash the whole way to maximize the benefit.

It's a great way to get a "sneaky" workout...an hour of solid effort on the bike without eating up a huge chunk of family or work time.

Training Log: 24.2

2008-04-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 4/17: 7ish miles, about 8:15 avg. pace

It was 70 degrees and mild today, a perfect Spring day for a run. I ran with my friend and colleague John Monberg around campus after we both finished teaching this afternoon.

We did a big loop, starting out about 8:30/mi but worked our way up to a good 8:00 per mile pace. I didn't pay strict attention, but it was a good workout for sure.

Training Log: 24.1

2008-04-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Monday, 4/14: 10 miles in 1:17:44 or 7:47/mi (PMP -:18); Long Tempo Run

A solid effort today. I don't seem to have lost much fitness/speed. I felt ok throughout, and had only a mild cough afterwards. I am glad to feel whole again. If I can build on this throughout the week, I will feel pretty confident.

Finally clear of chest cold

2008-04-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a week off, though not on purpose. I was feeling pretty wheezy all week last week. Better today, so I am eager to get back on track.

It's been a bad week of training to miss, I think. Since we had a travel weekend, I also missed my day to do a weekend long run...and this is the one thing that I feel like I can't let slip any more.

Here's my plan. I have 6 weeks to go until the marathon. I will do at least three long runs the next three weeks: 20, 18, and 22. Tapering thereafter. I will also do long-ish tempo runs (6-8 miles minimum) during those weeks.

In effect, this has me repeating the missed week 7 rather than skipping ahead, but I feel like I want to punish the feet and joints a little more to be sure I am properly calloused, etc. on race day. Mentally, this is go time. I don't want to overtrain, but I also want to go into the race feeling confident. This past week hasn't helped, except that maybe now I won't get sick close to race day...

Training Log: 23.2

2008-04-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday 4/10: Bike 60 minutes, 18.6 miles (Hilly loop)

Accidentally overwrote this post!...the gist: WINDY! Tough day! Warm and enjoyable, though. Good workout

Training Log: 24.1

2008-04-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 4/6: 9 miles in 1:11:33 or 7:57/mi (PMP -:08); Long/Tempo Run

Back in Michigan, where Spring has arrived! I was, once again, less than 100%; I never quite shook the chest-cold...then the trip to New Orleans and the accompanying sleep deprivation and airplane viral loads took a bit of a toll. I woke up not quite feeling sick, but feeling immuno-compromised.

Anyway, this run should probably have been longer. But it wasn't. It was fast enough. Especially since my breathing was a bit labored. Hopefully, I'll be back to full strength this week.

Training Log: 23.2

2008-04-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 4/3: 6ish miles, who's counting? I'm in New Orleans!

It was 80 degrees and humid today in New Orleans, perfect weather for a run. Of course, that's mid-summer in Michigan. And it was truly a pleasure to be running in something other than a bracing wind. To top it off, I had the good fortune to run with colleagues!

We ran about 5 1/2 together, and I did about a half mile up and back extra or so...so we'll call it 6 even. Our pace was comfortable but not sluggish - we talked about training and racing and gear and all that stuff. Awesome.

Training Log: 23.1

2008-03-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Monday, 3/31: 6 miles in 48:30 @ 8:05/mi (PMP), pacing run

It was relatively warm today, and I was hoping to run outside. But there was a deluge. So my run moved inside, and a long run became a pacing run.

I'm heading out of town tomorrow, so I am not sure how my schedule will go this week. But I'll be in a warm spot, so I am hoping to get out at least once.

Training Log: 22.1

2008-03-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday 3/29: Bike, outside! about 60 minutes @ 19 mph. (hilly loop)

Hurray! I got back on the horse today. Outside on the bike, actually moving through space, for the first time since the Fall. And for the first workout of the week. This is my normal loop - about 18.6 miles (I forgot to reset my computer today, but I have ridden it a lot). The many small climbs make it function like an interval workout if I am trying to maintain a decent tempo. So we'll call this our interval workout for the week.

My cold lingered, migrated to my chest, and I was coughing and feeling under the weather most of the week. I decided to rest and get better rather than try to squeeze in runs punctuated with periodic expulsions of lung butter. I missed working out this week though, in part because it was also a fairly stressful work week. So getting on the bike felt really good. My toes were cold (it was about 45 degrees) but it was sunny.

I would have had a faster avg. speed but there was a big headwind for the first 7 and last mile. That was the coldest part too.

Training Log: 21.2

2008-03-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 3/22: 9 miles in 1:10:02 or 7:47/mi (PMP -:18); Long/Tempo Run

After taking most of the week off to recover from my cold, I felt well enough today to get back on the road. We had 6 or 7 inches of snow yesterday and last night, despite the fact that we passed the vernal equinox. So it was cold but sunny, and the roads were mostly clear by this afternoon.

I was not quite 100%; I had just a bit of chest congestion and that ferro-alveolar (yes, I made that word up) taste that comes from exerting oneself to the point of mild exercise-induced asthma. Still, I was able to keep up a steady pace once I got going. I figured that doing 9 miles at a good tempo pace would be a good way to get back on track.

Achoo!

2008-03-20T13:10:00.001-07:00

Not much running or biking this week because I seem to have picked up a rhinovirus on my trip to Minnesota. I hit it early with the Zinc swabs, so I am hoping to be back in business soon.

Training Log: 21.1

2008-03-17T05:54:00.001-07:00

Monday, 3/17: 6 miles in 48 minutes or 8:00/mi (PMP - :05)

I'm in St. Paul today for a brief research trip, so it was an early morning session on the hotel treadmill. I was grateful for the central time zone, since getting up at 6 to run felt like getting up at 7:00 for me. Jeff, also on this trip, joined in the fun too. We had a nice view out of our window, potentially, but it was dark outside. I ran on the right-hand side unit. The picture below shows an older model than the one they had there, which was pretty nice.

Training Log: 20.3

2008-03-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Friday, 3/14: 6ish miles in 50 minutes

I accidentally deleted this post...don't want to write it all out again. The gist: nice day! Spring! Ran on campus with John. Fun!

Training Log: 20.2

2008-03-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 3/11: Hard intervals on the trainer, 60 minutes;

Spin 10, 2 x (5 x 2 min max effort, 2 min RI w/ 5 min RI in between sets), Spin 10

Good workout. There's something wrong with my trainer though. It's leaking hydraulic fluid and it is making a bad squeaky sound. Winter is almost over though, so if I have to get it serviced (if it is, indeed, serviceable, I can do it soon).

Watched the Paris-Nice Prologue while riding too. Felt bad for those guys, as it was cold, rainy, and windy. I can relate to that!

Training Log: 20.1

2008-03-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 3/9: 15.1 miles in 2:10:03 or 8:36/mi (PMP +31).

Today's long run was a struggle. I felt slow, tired, and angry for most of it. Sick of running in the cold. Last 7 miles into a 10mph headwind; cold, cold, cold. Definitely one of the worst training runs I've had.

Still, I was on the prescribed pace for today's long run. That's good I suppose. I mapped out a course of 18 miles, but ended up walking the last three because I developed a big blister along the side of my left foot. I could have toughed it out, but my foot would have been pretty torn up. Better to slow down and train another day, I figured.

Summary of today: ugh.

Training Log: 19.3

2008-03-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday 3/8: 4.2 miles in 34:00, recovery run (with benefits)

10 minutes warmup @ 9:05/mi
2 miles @ 6:58/mi
10 minutes cooldown @ 9:05/mi

This was mostly a recovery run, with a longish WI built in@ a little over a minute below PMP. I'm not big on intervals, as the astute reader of this blog will attest. I mainly wanted to use this week to rest a little more than usual.

Today marks 11 weeks to go before the race. And tonight we turn the clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time. I told myself way back when I began that I would treat that day as a milestone (it extends the training day, after all and I felt that it would be a nice moment as my runs got longer that the days got longer too). Sadly, they won't be getting much warmer in the short term. I was hoping for that too.

I got a reminder yesterday about the real reason I am doing all of this. Not the marathon, that's just my latest motivational goal. The real reason I am running and riding is all about living longer than I would otherwise, given the genetic strikes against me. As of more than a year ago now, I'm ahead of diabetes and heart disease and I plan to stay out front.

Training Log: 19.2

2008-03-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Friday, 3/5: 7.4 miles in 60:00 @ 8:05/mi (PMP), pacing run

I like it when a workout is easy to understand: one hour at planned marathon pace. Today's training run simulates the first hour of the race. Felt good. In fact, I felt better and better as I went along, which is a nice sign.

Come to think of it, I felt best on Sunday's half-marathon effort during miles 7 and 8 too, but that was partially because they were among the least windy. The last 4 miles were especially unpleasant. If I had been paying more attention to wind, I would have ran the opposite way on my loop course.

No such worries on the treadmill this evening, of course.

Training Log: 19.1

2008-03-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 3/2: 13.1 miles in 1:45:51 or 8:04/mi (PMP -1).

Much better. I was shooting for 8:30/mi, but I basically had this one on autopilot. I only looked at the watch twice. One at 5 miles and once at 10 miles. It was basically the same pace for those two splits 39 minutes and change each time. This means I ran the last 3.1 a little slower than PMP...so I had better learn to take it out more steady or I will likely see my per mile avg. drop after the halfway mark.

Good to know. Trying to train smarter.

Two other factors worth noting, though...

1) the last 3 miles were into the brunt of a cold, stiff headwind. It was really tough coming in. I didn't feel especially fatigued, but it was not pleasant either.

2) I need to drink water on these long training runs; that likely made a difference too. Plus, it will be good to practice to get the stomach ready for race day.

Question: What % of the U.S. Population Has Completed a Marathon?

2008-03-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

At breakfast today, Les was wondering how common it is in the U.S. for someone to have completed a marathon. Turns out it is pretty rare.

In 2006, the most recent year for which I could find trustworthy numbers about marathon finishing rates, about 410,000 people completed marathons according to a Running USA/RRIC report. That's up from the previous year estimate of around 395,000, by the way.

The U.S. population estimate for 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was 299,398,484.

This means that about .001 (that's one one thousandth) of the U.S. population completed a marathon in 2006. A select group.

One more little nugget...median finishing time for U.S. male marathon finishers in 2006 was 4:15:34.

Training Log: 18.4

2008-03-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday 3/1: Tempo on the trainer, 76 minutes
6 x 8 min WI @ Tempo; 4 min spin warmup, cooldown, and RIs between WIs

Solid effort and a relatively long ride, as trainer workouts go. It's March, so there are good college basketball games on. This makes longer rides a little easier. Today I watched the epic tilt between Valpo & Wright State. Valpo dominated from beyond the arc in the first half, but WSU hung in with a stout inside game. I am sure the coach was telling them to bust it inside and rebound (ok, that's what all coaches say...), because when they did that, they were scoring.

One other note...the hardest two WI's today were the middle two. I really bounced back nicely after riding about 40 minutes. I'll have to remember that little bounce when I am out suffering in the pack later in the year.

A Little About PMP

2008-03-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of time to think on the treadmill these days. Yesterday, I thought about PMP, or Planned Marathon Pace. The term, as I have been using it here, comes from the folks at the Furman Institute for Running Science and Training. I've been mostly following the FIRST "FIRST marathon" training plan (PDF).

But the concept of PMP is interesting in and of itself. As a runner, I didn't really understand it. As a cyclist, it makes perfect sense. Here's why. PMP is a race pace goal designed to be sustainable over a long period, long enough for your body to be fatigued, like a marathon. Think of PMP as max sustainable effort for the given distance.

Ok, let's get this out of the way..."it's hard out here for a PMP..." (I have to give a shout out to Mike for thinking that one up, though I shudder to think how often that phrase is uttered by folks attending this event since 2005).

Before, I had only competed in short races: 10k was the longest I had ever really trained for, and I mostly did 5k. At this distance, you can sustain an effort that is at or above your lactate threshold. Not so for a marathon. Also not so for bike efforts. It's far easier to empty the tank on a bike, and so going into the red zone too early and/or too far is simply not an option if your ride is of any appreciable length. This goes for the weekly club ride, the weekend century fundraiser, or the local criterium.

My PMP is 8:05/mi, which corresponds to a 3:32 marathon. To break 3:30, the PMP has to be less than 8:00/mi. Here are some other interesting numbers to consider:

To qualify for Boston Marathon, age 37: PMP 7:26/mi for a 3:14:59.
2007 Bayshore Marathon Winner: PMP 5:24/mi for a 2:22:16
World Record Marathon: PMP 4:45/mi for a 2:04:26

As I mentioned when I began, I will be happy to finish my first marathon. I'll be thrilled to do it under 4:00 hours. That would mean that I could avoid getting lapped by the current world record holder, as it would take him at least 4:09 to get around the course twice...

Training Log: 18.3

2008-02-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

Friday, 2/29: 6 miles in 49:30, pacing run
1 mile warmup 9:05/mi, 5 mi @ 8:05/mi (PMP)

It's getting easier and easier to do these pacing runs at PMP. That's supposed to happen of course. It's just nice to know the training program is working.

Training Log: 18.2

2008-02-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 2/26: 5 miles in 39:00, FIRST week 6 (13); 1600m intervals

1 mile warmup @ 9:00/mi
3 x 1 mile WI @ 6:58/mi, with 3:00 RI (9:00/mi pace) after each WI

Short and intense tonight. The first two WI's were not so bad. The last one had me working hard to keep my form. Pacing for these was PMP - 1:08/mi. I've not done a lot of short running intervals during this training program. I've used the bike instead. I don't believe I need to do anything much shorter or faster than this...maybe a little faster.

Having run an interval workout again, though, let me just reiterate that I don't (can't?) put myself in the kind of cardiovascular condition during running intervals that I do on the bike...it's hard to explain. I hope somebody out there knows what I am talking about. Even if I run really hard, I can't really approach the max heart rate and wattage output that is possible on the bike.

...oh, and going 9 miles an hour on the treadmill is still scary.

Training Log: 18.1

2008-02-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 2/24: 10 miles in 1:14:54 or 7:29/mi (PMP -36). FIRST week 6 (13) long run.

Fast again. This week was my step down week, so I was "only" running 10 miles. I ran a point-to-point route from home to my office to change things up. I measured pretty carefully...but it may have been a bit shorter than 10 miles. I hope so. Google says it was 10 miles on the nose (see mileage in upper left):

That's the route I took. I traced it ahead of time and then again when I arrived to make sure I followed the planned path. So it was close to a 7:30 pace. Ugh. I have to either accept that my PMP is going to be faster than 8:05 or learn to slow down. I figure as long as I am not getting hurt, I am not overtraining. And this week I had a lot of rest. Next week's long run will be a half-marathon!

Training Log: 17.3

2008-02-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday 2/14: Hard intervals on the trainer, 60 minutes;

Spin 10, 2 x (5 x 2 min max effort, 2 min RI w/ 5 min RI in between sets), Spin 10

I took two rest days in a row this week, and it really showed. I was able to make some serious wattage today. It probably helped that I had taped the Tour of California Stage Five Time Trial to watch during the workout. I avoided all the media coverage of it yesterday too so I wouldn't know who won. Levi came through.

Training Log: 17.2

2008-02-19T18:15:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, 2/19: 5 miles in 38:35, 7:43/mi FIRST week 5 (14) tempo
1/2 mile warmup, 1/2 mile cooldown brisk walking pace

Tempo runs are pretty simple to understand. To run PMP on race day, you have to train faster. Today was PMP - 22 seconds/mi. I chose to go a little easier (could have gone 30 or more seconds under PMP) due to Sunday's hard effort. So today should have been pretty smooth and easy. It was. Hurray, it's working!

Training Log: 17.1

2008-02-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 2/17: 12 miles in 1:35:06 or 7:55/mi (PMP -10). FIRST week 5 (14) long run.

Ok...I admit this is too fast. But in my defense, it's the first time I've been able to run outside in weeks. I hit a brief window where the rain died down, it was 40 degrees and a bit breezy, but otherwise ok. There was even sun for the first 4 miles or so. The freezing rain kicked back in right as I was finishing up.

But wow! 12 miles @ 7:55! That's awesome. And no joint or impact pain; felt great for most of this run, in fact. Mile 11 was a struggle; it was getting cold and windy again and I felt a bit sluggish. But the last mile was good.

I measured the route carefully yesterday so I could keep an eye on my splits. My first mile was way too fast, but after that I tried to reign myself in and run a steady pace. I think I did that pretty well. The first split was 1:30 under PMP, and I only put another 30 seconds total into the PMP time over the next 11 miles. Good, steady running.

It may have been physically a bad idea, but this is a nice confidence booster. We'll see if it's worth it or not...

White People Like Marathons

2008-02-17T11:46:00.001-08:00

From the Hilarious Blog Stuff White People Like: Marathons

If you find yourself in a situation where a white person is talking about a marathon, you must be impressed or you will lose favor with them immediately. Running for a certain length of time on a specific day is a very important thing to a white person and should not be demeaned.

Also worth nothing, more competitive white people prefer triathlons because Kenyans can’t afford $10,000 specialty bicycles. If the subject ever comes up, just say that triathletes are in better shape than football and basketball players. It’s not true, but it will make the conversation a lot more genial.

Well, at least I'm not a tri-geek yet...

Rain, Damn

2008-02-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well...I hoped to get off the treadmill for the long run this week, but it doesn't look promising. Accuweather tells the tale:

That's rain, and a lot of of it. Tip to all folks who live in Michigan and are thinking of training for a first marathon: pick one that happens in the Fall. At this point, I pretty much have to do long runs on the weekend because they take two hours to do. There's not enough time or daylight during the week. Combine those constraints with cold and sloppy conditions, and you have a training challenge that has nothing to do with your physical conditioning.

The silver lining in today's many rain clouds is that my LBS*, Denny's Central Park Cycles, is having an open house and sale today. So I might get some new gear!

*Local Bike Shop, in this case; for cyclists, it's the equivalent of BFF!

Training Log: 16.4

2008-02-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday 2/16: Resistance training on bike + core strength & flexibility
20 minutes of yoga
2 x 15 min pushing heavy gear with 5 min spin warmup, RI & cooldown (45 minutes)

The yoga workout is a "flow" style (ashtangi) set of poses that goes like this: sun salutation, downward dog, chair/thunderbolt, crescent lunge, half pigeon, bridge, and leg extension. The last one uses a strap to get a good hamstring stretch. This sequence is done in two sets, four times in all, with each set consisting of one time through on the right side and once on the left.

The bike workout is a low-cadence affair, but the big gear means you are huffing and puffing the whole way. I try to work on staying upright, not swaying too much in the saddle, and keeping my pedal stroke symmetrical.

This is a "bonus" day, the fourth workout of the week. Tomorrow starts week 17/FIRST week 5. First up, as long as the weather holds, is a 12 mile long run outside at a prescribed 8:50/mi. 14 weeks to go until the marathon!

Bill Runs a Marathon

The Tuesday Night Ride

Tour de Cure 2011: Ride Report

In which I get older and appear to get faster (but don't)

A Little Training Ride

Let's do the numbers!

First Ride on the Road with the HRM: Climbing Intervals

I Get a Coach, an HRM, and New Data

2011 Tour de Cure Promotion! Bike Stuff! Fight Diabetes & Pre-Diabetes!

Rx: Bike

Spring, A New Beginning, & Some Goals

Catch up: Bike, Spin, Ski

Workout: Bike Intervals

Workout: Spin Class

Workout: Climbing Intervals

Workout: Spin Class

Workout: Bike Intervals

Wokout: Recovery Ride

Workout: Spin Class

Workout: Bike Intervals

Workout: Bike Tempo

Shoutout: Go! Sean Go!

Workout: Spin Class

Workout: Tempo Run

Workouts: Bike Intervals

Catching up again: workouts after my viral event

Workouts, plural: Bike

Workout: Tempo Run +

Workout: Bike

Workout: Bike Intervals

Workout: Run in Del Mar, CA

I guess I took some time off the blog

Getting back on track

Sloth in August and one old workout report

Workout: Bike Commute

Workout: Tempo Ride

Workout: Bike Commute

Workout: Tempo Run

Workout: Bike Commute

Workout: Ride with Sean

Workout: Club Ride

Workout: Long Ride

Workout: Bike Commute

Workout: Interval Ride

Workout: Tempo Run + Recovery

Workout: Bike Commute

Workouts: Bike

Workout: Run with Lily

Catching Up: Workouts during the week of June 9

Tour de Cure: Event Report

Upcoming Tour de Cure Event: More Info

Workout: Club Ride

Workout: Tempo Run

A few more Bayshore pictures

Tour de Cure

Workout: Bike Recovery Ride

Workout: Bike Intervals

Bill Ran a Marathon

Weather & Other Pre-Race Thoughts

Training Log: 28.3

Training Log: 28.1 & 28.2

Training Log: 27.2

That *Other* Marathon...

Training Log: 27.1

Training Log: 26.3

Training Log: 26.2

Training Log: 26.1

Training Log: 25.3

Training Log: 25.2

Training Log: 25.1

Training Log: 24.4

Training Log: 24.3

Training Log: 24.2

Training Log: 24.1

Finally clear of chest cold

Training Log: 23.2

Training Log: 24.1

Training Log: 23.2

Training Log: 23.1

Training Log: 22.1

That Other Marathon...