Thursday, April 14, 2011

Collegiate Nationals Race Report

Collegiate Nationals this past weekend was by far the most well organized event I’ve ever competed at. This year’s race even far surpassed last year’s event, and I also raced much better.

My swim is slowly coming along, but remains my biggest weakness. I was happy to come out of the water in a new best 1500m time of 28:42, although the official split was taken at transition over a quarter mile away. My T1 went smoothly and I had no trouble getting the lower half of my wetsuit off, having already removed the top half on the run up to transition. All seemed well as I headed out of transition with a T1 split of just over a minute. My mount may have been the worst I’ve ever had in a transition – as was my dismount. Bookending a decent ride at 23.6 mph (1:04:38 for 25.46 miles by my computer), my mount and dismount cost me around 45 seconds total. The run around to the back side of transition was also included in the “official” bike split, resulting in a time over 90 seconds slower than I was actually on my bike for. My mount and dismount are certainly two areas that I can work on looking ahead this year. Off the bike, I ran one of my best 10k’s ever and by far my best triathlon split of 38:53. No doubt that can be attributed to my marathon training this past winter. Oddly enough, it is about equal to the pace that I ran in both of my sprint races so far this year.

Overall I finished with a personal best time for the Olympic distance by more than 2 minutes (2:17:34) and the Clemson Triathlon Team did well also (http://www.teamsportfactory.com/2011/04/clemson-tigers-claw-their-way-up-at-collegiate-nationals/)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Downtown Columbia Race Report

My second sprint tri in as many weeks and first collegiate race of 2011 was the Downtown Columbia Triathlon. Since last weekend’s race down at Parris Island (http://www.teamsportfactory.com/2011/03/nick-sykes-parris-island-triathlon/) I’ve been suffering from an unfortunate cold, while at home in Connecticut for spring break. Needless to say, I was not feeling so great heading into today’s race. Last year at this race I did moderately well, finishing 18th Overall in 56:58 (10:22, 0:59, 26:58, 0:50, 18:00). I knew I’d have a good chance at beating that time this year but I didn’t think it would be by very much.

This year the start time had been moved to 1:30pm, making for a long day as we decided to forego a hotel and drive to and from Clemson on the day of the race, a 2 hour drive each way. I woke up to miserable weather and the forecast in Columbia called for showers and thunderstorms most of the day. Setting up transition the rain was light, but steadily falling and the roads were clearly going to be slick for the 3 loop bike course (3.2 miles per lap). My main concern before the race was staying warm, rather than actively warming up, but by race time I felt somewhat focused on the task at hand, at least it’s just a sprint!

I started 22nd in the open section so I could have a mostly clear bike course to ride like last week. I quickly got dropped by the person I started next to and 3 others caught me after about 200m into the 500m pool swim. I stuck to their feet for a while, and which may have slowed me slightly, but jumping out of the pool at 9:40 was a clear indication that my swim was not on form today. I hit the timing mat at 10:13, just 9 seconds faster than last year when I was much worse at swimming. Onto the bike after a 54 second T1 that included putting bike shoes on, I pedaled away up the major hill on the course. As expected the roads were slick, but as the laps went by I learned how best to navigate the turns and they didn’t seem to be too terrible. I came around after lap one in 8:45 and began the big climb a second time. Fortunately for me, I can climb fairly well on the bike, so it helps when I can aim to catch someone ahead of me. In this case I saw athlete 24 just ahead, one of the 3 that had passed me on the swim. I passed him going up the hill on the second lap but heading down he rolled right back taking full advantage of his disc wheel. I passed him again on the flat after the tight turn at the bottom of the downhill and finished lap 2, which may be slightly shorter because there was nothing added from or to the mount/dismount line, in 8:30. Onto the 3rd lap and up the hill for the final time; by this point I knew that my bike time would probably be faster than the previous year by a fair amount, the goal remained to hit about 26 minutes for the bike. By the time I stopped my computer I was just under 26 minutes for a 3rd lap of about 8:45 again, this time including the extra part to the dismount and taking my feet out of my shoes, which proved somewhat troublesome with frozen feet. Regardless, into transition I ran, hitting the timing mat with a 7th best official bike split of 26:22. Off with the helmet, on with the running shoes, and out to the run I went after a quick T2 of 37 seconds. Assuming the first mile marker was correct (because the second was certainly not) I split 6:17 out of transition, and slowly tried to pick it up again as I did last week at Parris Island. I was running almost entirely alone in about 10th place on the road again and unfortunately began to cramp fairly badly after about 12 minutes of the run. That, however, was short lived after I got a quick drink of water, but must have impacted my run to a certain extent. I crossed the line with a run of 17:36 for what a teammate measured unofficially at 2.82 miles (6:14 pace) for a total time of 55:40; a minute and 18 seconds quicker than last year. That improvement cannot be attributed to any single area of the race, however, as I went 9 seconds, 5 seconds, 26 seconds, 13 seconds, and 24 seconds faster for each split in comparison to last year.

Overall I finished in 20th place out of a deep field, and 12th in the collegiate category which many teams used as their warm up for Collegiate Nationals in 2 weeks time in Tuscaloosa. The Clemson Triathlon team did exceptionally well placing 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 12th in the men’s collegiate division. In addition, Anna Battiata used a race best 18:04 run split to win the overall women’s race in her first race representing the Sport Factory!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Parris Island Triathlon Race Report

As written here: http://www.teamsportfactory.com/2011/03/nick-sykes-parris-island-triathlon/


I began the pool swim 18th having entered myself in the open section – which benefits me a lot more once I get on the bike so that I don’t have to pass people every other pedal stroke. I swam a PR 9:05 in the water, although I had hoped for a little faster, and got into transition fairly quickly. Since it was my first race on my triathlon bike I chose to put my shoes on in transition. The transition area was also a little rocky so I didn’t really want to be barefoot on it during both transitions. Heading onto the bike I was shooting (rather ambitiously) for the course record of 25:12 for 10 miles. I quickly picked off some of the cyclists just ahead of me and probably made my way up to inside the top 10 on the road. With the staggered pool start, though, I could have been anywhere. My first 5 miles took 12:18, a little slower than the pace I thought I would ride but still well under the pace that I thought would break 25:12. The next 5 miles took us out to a golf course and back. Coming back it was evident that there was more wind than I originally thought. I battled through the wind and came through 10 miles in 25:06… unfortunately, the course turned out to be 10.63 miles. I got into transition with a 6th best bike split of 26:58 and hit the run start 44 seconds later. By the time I was running, the day was beginning to heat up. I was surprised that there were no aid stations on the run course at all but I had, at least, had some water on the bike. I’m not sure I changed position at all on the run, but I did close the gap down in front of me slightly. I started out rather slow on the run, hitting 1 mile in 6:28 – well off my goal pace of sub-18 for 5k. I knew the course was going to be short of 5k anyway, but I just couldn’t make my legs want to go faster. I slowly picked it up with a 6:15 second mile and managed to cruise home in 5:18 for 0.85 miles (6:14 pace) to finish the run in 18:01. Overall I finished 14th of 430 athletes in 56:02, and would have been 2nd in my age group if I had not raced in the open division.
Going forwards I can definitely improve on my swim a lot more, my bike has some room for improvement too, and I just need to learn how to push myself off the bike. I know I can run sub-6 miles in a sprint.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Parris Island Triathlon Race Preview

So I'm cutting it fairly close to race time with this preview - 4 hours and 12 minutes away from my start time right now but I somehow woke up way before my alarm for once. Funny how messed up my sleep schedule is right now, 3 nights ago I wasn't even asleep by this time!

I am itching to go for today's race. My week hasn't been particularly great with workouts but last weekend I put in 11 workouts over the course of just 4 days (Saturday through Tuesday) so I think the weakness this week has just been a little residual fatigue. To add to the quandary, yesterday I woke up with a sore throat completely out of the blue! Fortunately it felt fine during yesterday's pre-race workout and feels much better now than it did, hopefully it was just a one-day cold thing.

Yesterday's workout went extremely well. Lauren and I biked easy in circles around our hotel for 25 minutes before quickly transitioning and completing a moderately paced couple of miles (also in circles around the hotel). It turned out to be a fun little criterium type duathlon workout - but most importantly of all, everything felt fantastic!

Today's race is on Parris Island, a marine training base just north of Hilton Head, SC. The most important feature to note is that the course is completely flat. As fast as I frequently am on the bike, I actually think I perform even better relative to other people when the course is flat. I can just put the hammer down in a big gear and see what I can do. The goal for today, however ambitious, is to take down the course record on the bike. The current record for what is said to be 10 miles (but I believe is slightly longer at 10.3 or so) is 25 minutes and 12 seconds. My goal for today is to break the 24 minute mark (25 mph for 10 miles), and also have a strong 5k run that should place me fairly high overall. My swim is, and always has been, my biggest weakness but my coach, Eric, and I have been working on my swim a lot and since last year I have dropped a solid minute off my 500m swim already. Today I'm hoping for somewhere in the 8 minute range that should concede little more than 2 minutes to my main rivals - 2 minutes that I can hopefully get back on the bike. If I swim well, under 9 minutes, have a good bike split (24 minutes), and follow those with a strong run (sub-18) then I should definitely come away with a great overall finish today. Based on last year's results, a sub-54 minute total should comfortably put me in the top 3 overall. I will likely have trouble catching one of my teammates though (Justin) which should make things interesting. Justin begins the pool swim just 1:40 ahead of me, but will likely compete for the fastest swim split of the day. If I can keep within 4 minutes coming out of the first transition I'm still in with a chance, but it'll definitely take a 24 minute bike split as well as a solid run. But at least that means I have someone to hunt down. The run is almost entirely an out-and-back course as well, so I'll see my competition during that stage of the race. I just hope my recent performances running carry over to triathlon.

I'm ready to race, and I'm more motivated than ever to give it my all in a triathlon. The goal is simple: swim my best, don't hold anything back on the bike, run like I have been recently, and transition in less than 90 seconds total. If all goes well, I'll end up in the top 3 overall!

T-3 hours and 40 minutes to race time.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Reedy River Run 10k Race Report

Last week I wrote the following couple of statements in view of this morning's Reedy River 10k in Greenville, SC: "Last year I hit the 5 mile mark just 7 seconds behind my best 5 mile time from November of 2009 of 29:41. Last November, I ran 29:07 in that same 5 mile race, but it is unlikely I head through 5 miles in this year's 10k within several seconds of that... Realistically, anything under 38 minutes would be good news heading into the triathlon season... On the other hand, my last two races were both huge PR's, why not extend the streak to three?"


I honestly could not have predicted what came this morning. My 29:07 PR for 5 miles was, until today, the 2nd best road race I had ever run, and I had felt great finishing that race with three straight 5:51 miles. The only race I would say was better was the Miami Marathon in January; until now. Through 5 miles I obliterated my PR by 13 seconds, more on the splits later, en route to a 10k personal best by a full minute and 21 seconds!

The morning started early, and the weather appeared ominous as I left Clemson with other members of the running club at 6:45am. We arrived in Greenville and got to packet pick-up just before the line got unnecessarily long. Time seemed to move fairly quickly and before I knew it the start time was just 30 minutes away. A short mile or so jog with some strides seemed sufficient to warm up in the intermittent drizzle hanging over Greenville. The start seemed to be fairly easy but peaking at my Garmin after half of a mile gave me some frightful news, the time showed 2:45, 5:30 pace per mile... my PR for 10k was 37:23 (at 6:00/mile). Heck, my 5k PR isn't even as fast as 5:30 pace! By the mile I had slowed slightly to 5:36, now it was time to relax and settle into my race. I passed through 2 miles in 11:30 (after a 5:54) and after a short incline I was heading down the hill to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Despite the downhill my third mile clocked in at 5:50, 17:20 for 3 miles and I passed through 5k in 17:53. My first thought at 5k was that I'd break 37 minutes, even if I slowed to a little more than 19 minutes for the second half of the race. But why not shoot for 36 minutes? My dad's PR from his prime is 36:02 - I had my new goal; and it meant continuing to run fast. For the next couple of miles I hung onto a runner who had caught me on the downhill, we ran the 4th mile in 5:44 (23:03 total) and after losing contact from him slightly I came through 5 miles in 28:54 after another 5:50 split. Just before 5 miles I passed a few recognizable faces, Fleet Feet athletes who had been among the few to beat me in the Greer Earth Day Half-Marathon last April, that provided me with even more incentive to run fast over the remaining 1.2 miles. Last year the final mile had left an impression on me, having slowed to 6:29 and foiling my plans for a sub-37 race. This year I dug deep, my legs were still feeling fairly good, strengthened by 3 months of marathon training, and I kept thinking to keep my turnover high. Supposedly my heart rate hit its maximum of 197 beats per minute just after having passed through the 6 mile mark in 34:57 (a 6:02 split for the uphill mile) but 65 seconds later I crossed the finish line with another huge PR of 36:02. Exactly tying my dad's 10k best as well. My second 5k had been a strong 18:09 to finish with a positive split of just 16 seconds - very similar to my positive split ratio in Miami (+1.49% today & +1.71% in Miami).


Back to my comment from last week then, "why not extend the streak to three?" - Mission accomplished, with another race that I can call my best race on the road ever. Today's age graded percentage comes out to 76.11% - Miami is now second with the 74.86%. Here's hoping I can run that well coming off the bike in my next several races!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Updated Race Schedule


My race schedule has changed somewhat since I first posted it, the primary differences are the addition of the Downtown Columbia Triathlon on March 27th and the change from the Clemson Triathlon (May 14th) to the Lake Murray Triathlon (March 7th). I've also tentatively chosen several of my summer races.

March 5: Reedy River 10k - Greenville, SC
March 19: Parris Island Sprint Triathlon - Parris Island, SC
March 27: Downtown Columbia Sprint Triathlon - Columbia, SC
April 9: Collegiate National Triathlon Championship - Tuscaloosa, AL
May 7: Lake Murray Sprint Triathlon - Prosperity, SC
June 5: Ironman 70.3 Mooseman - Newfound Lake, NH

July 4: Four on the 4th (4 mile run) - New Canaan, CT
July 10: Mossman Sprint Triathlon - Norwalk, CT
July 23: NYRR Sprint Triathlon - Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY
August 7: Greenwich Cup Triathlon - Greenwich, CT
August 21: Age Group National Triathlon Championship - Burlington, VT

Southeastern Collegiate Triathlon Conference races during September and October
October 30: Ironman 70.3 Miami - Miami, FL

Friday, February 25, 2011

Update, 10k preview, and basic tips

February Training Recap

First and foremost, I apologize for having not written a post in quite some time. The good news is that I'll be racing 4 times over the next 6 weekends - excluding the current weekend - so I'll be posting at least a race recap or race preview every week from now through the middle of April. Please see the section below for the first race preview of the year!

February came and went - and for the first month since last February, I didn't race at all. Clearly, February shall live on as my transitional month from winter road races into the spring triathlon season. Training-wise, however, this month has been one of my strongest ever. My swim, in particular, has dramatically improved in a matter of just a few weeks which surely foreshadows an excellent year in triathlon. A couple of weekends ago I swam a 1000 yd time trial in 16:59, with 500 yd splits of 8:30 & 8:29 respectively. I even surprised myself with that swim, and in subsequent workouts I've felt just as good as I did on that day. My biking has also come along from the point of feeling sluggish to where I know I can ride and a decent speed. The recent spell of fantastic weather has also helped in making my rides far more enjoyable, despite some days being more suited to kite-flying than to riding a bike. Since my marathon I haven't particularly run that much, about twice per week, but my weekly mileage is back up to about 15 miles between the two runs now and I still feel as though I've maintained a lot of the benefits that I gained over the past couple of months during my marathon training. The true strength of my current running ability will be demonstrated on March 5th in Greenville, however, as I go after my best 10k time from the same race last year of 37:23.

In addition to some extremely good training recently, I ventured down to The Sport Factory in Roswell, GA this week to get a bike fit on my new triathlon bike. With the expert fitting of Matt Russ, Sport Factory and 2011 Team USA Triathlon Head Coach, along with coaching from Sport Factory coach Eric Limkemann and other resources the Sport Factory provides, this year looks to be a breakout year for me in triathlon.



Reedy River 10k Preview - Greenville, SC - March 5th, 2011


The Reedy River 10k will be my first race since the Miami Marathon and should provide a good opportunity to see where my running fitness lies 5 weeks removed from my marathon. It is also the feature of my first race preview.

I first ran the Reedy River 10k last year in 2010 and had a great race finishing in a new personal record (PR) of 37:23 - almost exactly at 6:00/mile pace. The course is certainly fairly ideal for fast times, at least for the first 5.5 miles. The race starts in downtown Greenville and heads slightly uphill for about a mile. With fresh legs this should present too much difficulty, especially as the second mile affords a long stretch of downhill running onto the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The purpose built running/biking trail provides a long string of almost completely flat pavement to run along up to about mile 5. Last year I hit the 5 mile mark just 7 seconds behind my best 5 mile time from November of 2009 of 29:41. Last November, I ran 29:07 in that same 5 mile race, but it is unlikely I head through 5 miles in this year's 10k within several seconds of that. Somewhere in between the two while remaining relaxed in preparation for the final climb with three-quarters of a mile to go would be ideal.

At the end of the day, it will be interesting to see what time I am capable of running on the same course as my fastest 10k to date, especially considering having only been running twice a week for most of February. Realistically, anything under 38 minutes would be good news heading into the triathlon season. That should mean I can run under 40 minutes for the run at Collegiate Nationals. On the other hand, my last two races were both huge PR's, why not extend the streak to three?



Tip of the Week


In light of having not had a tip of the week for the past two weekends, I'm not entirely sure that accurately defines this section. But for the sake of hopefully continuing it from here on each week I'll leave the name as it is for now. This week my big tips are for novice runners and my comments to an article featured in this Wednesday's issue of the New York Times.

As I mentioned in my post above, I'm currently running just twice a week. For now, that's enough for me, especially given that I'm putting in around 15 miles between those two runs, have bike and swim workouts in the mix as well, and that I'm coming off 3 solid months of marathon training so my running "base" is fairly well established. A "base" in terms of running, biking, or swimming, is simply the amount of the activity that you have done up to the current moment. Base training is the least strenuous type of training for the sport and just requires getting out and putting in the miles of that activity prior to moving onto more intense training. Most of my training over the past month has been this type of training, preparing for the more intense workouts that are to come during the spring and summer.

But for the beginning runner, how much running is really necessary? A lot of running coaches would probably start an athlete out at 4 or 5 days of light running each week. I'm a believer in perhaps as few as 3 or 4 days a week. If an athlete can get out to run a couple of miles 3 times each week, then they'll slowly start to build that base that makes running feel easier over time. I had never truly experienced the positive effect of base training until just a couple of months ago, then one day my runs suddenly began feeling incredibly easy compared to just a few weeks before.

With just three runs a week, though, it is helpful if another day is filled with some sort of cross-training activity such as biking, hiking, or swimming. On the three runs, though, they need not be longer than about 30 minutes each, maybe as short as 20 minutes to begin with, and progressively get longer over the course of a few weeks to the point that 30-40 minutes of running at a light pace feels somewhat easy. At that point there are many different options including extending those runs even more, adding a 4th or 5th run each week, or inserting periods of faster running. By now, though, it is beneficial to have some sort of running goal, preferably a race (i.e. a local 5k), that you can work towards in your training.

For any runner just starting out, then, I would say to run for 20-30 minutes, three times a week, building up to about 45 minutes over the course of a few weeks.

The New York Times article this week, titled Phys Ed: Should Children Run Marathons? essentially states that there is no proof behind any reasoning for children to not run marathons at a young age. One study used Twin Cities Marathon finishers under the age of 18 over the past few decades as their sample. The reasoning used to claim that marathon running is alright for children was that only 4 of the 310 runners required medical assistance at the finish line. Only about half that of adult runners. The study also explained that the finding that the incidence of injury is just 0.52 of the adult ratio was statistically insignificant. Of course it's going to be statistically insignificant with just 310 runners under age 18 compared with many thousands of adult runners!
Nowhere does the article consider the possibility of long-term health effects caused by running a marathon at a young age. Not only does running for an extended period of time slowly wear away at your muscles (every marathoner, young or old, has experienced the extreme soreness in the following days after the race) but it also detrimentally impacts the muscles' ability to contract quickly, necessary to performing well over shorter distances.

My own opinion on distances that young runners should compete at is based upon my own experience, as well as my observations of others, and the race distances that are offered for younger athletes. Quite simply, up to about age 12, there is little reason for a child to run longer than a mile or two in a race. There are plenty of kids' races held in conjunction with other races that are targeted towards runners under the age of 12. Between age 12 and 15 it is alright for a runner to race over 5k, and in high school cross country, that will likely be the distance of most races. Some conferences may even have shorter races (1.5-2 miles) for younger JV athletes. By age 15, an athlete can definitely begin to handle an increased amount of mileage in training. If directed towards 5k racing this will substantially lower his or her times. The one thing that I would change if I could about my own running is to run more mileage in training during high school. Towards junior or senior year, an athlete can probably begin to race fairly well over even longer distances such as 5 miles and 10k. Personally, I would advise against any high school athlete running a half-marathon until they have graduated, and even then, only after having thoroughly prepared with adequate long training runs. After high school, it really depends on the runner, and how much running experience they have, to what distance they are best doing. For any race, however, it is absolutely necessary to fully prepare for the distance that you are running (see previous post).

Monday, February 7, 2011

A Week of Recovery without an Off Day...

Since this is my first post having not raced since the last one, I'll recap my week, lead into my training tip of the week, detail the races that I have coming up next more closely, and then add anything else that I think of. I'll keep this format for all of my posts during weeks that I do not race and each week I'll try to post something on Sunday evening - this week being an exception due to the Superbowl.



Weekly Recap

8 days have passed since my marathon. In those 8 days I have done a total of 10 workouts, and I've had zero days off and yet my recovery has been extremely good, and if I had another marathon next weekend I could probably go under 3 hours again (but thankfully I don't have to!).

So how is it that I feel so well recovered, having done 10 workouts in the past 8 days? Simply put, it's the low intensity of those workouts. Heading into my base period of triathlon training my coach had me swim almost 6000 yds this week, my highest weekly total ever (swimmers, if you're laughing I expect to see you at Age Group Nationals in August). Even though my swim volume was higher than ever, two of the three times that I swam were just to work on swimming form and get my legs kicking to loosen them up after my race. The low impact associated with swimming makes it the perfect recovery for any athlete, and making the transition back to triathlon allows it to also serve a double purpose. Cycling is another excellent "recovery" exercise for runners, so my 3 rides in the last week have served two purposes as well. My biggest weakness on the bike is that I tend to pedal in too high of a gear. This ends up using some of the key running muscles in my legs more than necessary, making it even more difficult to run after the bike. My easy rides this week focused on maintaining and working on addressing that weakness to begin developing a higher cadence (the frequency of pedal strokes, measured in revolutions per minute). Then there were my recovery runs this week. After having run for 7 hours and 57.3 miles the week of my race I dropped to just 3 runs this week, the longest being just 44 minutes and 5.56 miles long. My total running mileage was 11.26 with the first two of my 3 runs about 30 seconds per mile slower than my pre-marathon easy runs. Finally, I did a strength training workout yesterday which I am not used to at all. It's hard to say that I'm more sore from that than from my marathon, but certainly as sore as I was after my half-marathon! The strength training will definitely help me going forward into the triathlon season though.



Training Tip of the Week


My first training tip is relevant to any sport, but is especially pertinent to endurance activities such as running and triathlon. As my training this week illustrates, proper recovery is especially important in order to maintain some of the benefits of your pre-race training. Sitting on the couch doesn't necessarily help muscles to recover as much as one might think, especially from a race longer than about an hour. In the few days following my marathon I would feel my legs stiffen up considerably after each time I had been sitting or lying down for any period of time. The workouts my coach gave me for this week did an excellent job of just getting my legs moving again and accelerating the recovery process.

A mistake that I made after the Vermont City Marathon last May was to run too hard too soon after the race. In fact, my very first run following that race was another race - a small, local cross country race but a race nonetheless. The following weekend I suffered on what should have been a very easy run for me. The consequences of running hard just 3 days after my first marathon, though, taught a valuable lesson.

A third key to recovery begins well before you finish the race. In my mind, it begins at the same time that you begin training for the race. It is absolutely no coincidence that I managed to run incredible races in Charleston and Miami and feel as though I recovered extremely quickly afterwards. If you are well prepared for the race you are running, you will recover far more easily than if you are not well prepared. This may have also compounded my recovery troubles after the Vermont City Marathon. My longest day of running heading into Vermont City was 15 miles more than a month before my race, for Miami I completed 18 mile and 20 mile runs and just made it to the end of the race without slowing down too much. For races at the half-marathon distance and longer, I suggest working up to at least 75% of the race distance in training as your longest run, and doing that run between 3 and 4 weeks before the race. This is, perhaps, the single most important part of training for an endurance event.

So my three keys to recovery:
  1. Don't stiffen up by sitting around on the couch after a big race! Get out and do some light exercise to shake out your legs. Swimming and cycling are especially good low-impact activities for runners to do during recovery. If you do run, take it very easy and don't expect to run at the same pace as during your training.
  2. Don't run (bike, swim, etc.) too hard too quickly! This should be common sense - but I learned it the hard way. Take it easy for a couple of weeks, you'll be itching to go hard again by the time you have to.
  3. Prepare for your race adequately. You'll recover faster if you prepare correctly for the distance that you are racing. You can also loosely plan your recovery exercise at the same time as your training, this will make you stick to an easy relaxing week, even if you feel like going hard again.
If you have any questions about training for your next race - or just running in general - feel free to ask.



Upcoming Races

I don't have any races planned for February as I fully recover from Miami and begin training towards my next two big races at the Collegiate National Triathlon in April and Ironman 70.3 Mooseman in June. My next race, though, looks to be the Reedy River 10k in Greenville, SC on March 5th. This is the race at which I set my personal best for the distance a year ago so I am hoping to come close to challenging that time again despite the short period of preparation. I will provide a more in depth preview of these races the weekend before each.



Random Stuff!

So this is my section of random stuff in case I feel like writing something completely unrelated to the other sections. Today's (and probably the next few week's) random topic - having a personal coach for running (or triathlon, etc.). This will probably be my topic for an economics paper this semester so all input is appreciated.

In your mind, is it worth having a personal coach for running (or another sport)? If you do not have a coach, would you consider having one? Is there a specific reason that you don't have one? If the cost of a coach was a non-issue, would you consider getting coached?  Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. If you are a runner (recreational or competitive) I may have a short survey in the coming weeks so please check back next week for more info!

Monday, January 31, 2011

ING Miami Marathon Race Report

ING Miami Marathon - January 30th, 2011 - Miami, FL

The past week has been full of uncertainty about my current ability to run 26.2 miles. As shown in Charleston my aerobic capacity and form is currently the best it has ever been. There's no avoiding the worries of all the little nagging aches in your legs before a big race though. My penultimate run before Miami was last Thursday, and despite all numbers indicating I was in top shape ready to run fast, my calves were more sore than they had been throughout my training. Even the afternoon before the race my easy run made them a little sore again. Fortunately, far less so than Thursday's run and towards the end of my easy 4 miles they were beginning to loosen up a little.

I finalized my clothing choice and nutrition plan for the morning shortly after my run on Saturday. I had been unsure whether to wear running shorts or triathlon shorts but I eventually chose triathlon shorts to avoid the chaffing of running shorts late in the race. Nutrition-wise, I decided that I would follow my Charleston Half-marathon routine before the race - rice krispies with 2% milk two hours before the start, and some liquids about an hour from the start. In our race packets we received a small bottle of the Gatorade Prime formula, so I complemented that with some water and was ready to go. For during the race I had bought 3 energy gels at the expo. The aid stations with gels were not sufficient, and in retrospect I only saw one station at 19 miles with gels so I am glad I had my own. In terms of gear though, I am a minimalist, I don't have a fuel belt or any other sort of belt to put my gels on or in, nor did I wear a jersey or shorts with pockets in. Consequently, I had the choice to rely on the aid stations, or carry my gels in my hands until I needed them. I chose the latter and it clearly paid off in the end.

If you read my post following the Charleston Half, you'll know that my goal was 2:55 going into Miami... at a stretch. At the least, I hoped to just break 3 hours. The initial plan was to go out at a pace of 6:40 per mile and then maybe pick it up in the second half if I could manage it. My warmup felt fairly good and I enjoyed reminiscing as I ran around parts of the Miami 70.3 run course - fortunately it was about 35 degrees cooler than it had been that day. After a little more than 2 miles I headed to my corral and made my way through the crowd as much as possible. I knew my first mile wouldn't be particularly slow even in a crowd, so I wasn't too worried about making it to the front.

The first mile of the Miami Marathon & Half-Marathon is the "hilliest" by far... Miami is flat, so the 30' high bridge about three quarters of a mile from the start is the highest point on the entire course. Starting out as planned I looked at my garmin over the bridge to make sure I was staying on pace. I hit fairly even splits through the first few quarter miles and went through the mile mark in 6:36, well within an acceptable deviation from the plan of 6:40. Mile 2 dropped to 6:26 having come off the bridge and onto the flat causeway leading to Miami Beach. I felt good though, and began to get into a rhythm so I didn't worry too much about the 18 seconds I was under my goal pace. Mile 3 was back to 6:38 and the sun began to rise along the horizon as we entered Miami Beach (the race starts in the dark at 6:20am). By mile 4 I caught some of the lead women running the marathon. In particular, I recall passing Ashley Gorr at the southern corner of Miami Beach (mile 4.1) and would next see her about 22 miles later. As the sun came up though, I truly settled into a rhythm knocking off mile 4 in 6:26, 5 in 6:30, 6 in 6:27 and hitting the official 10k split in 40:28. Mile 7 was slightly quicker at 6:21 before running 5 consecutive miles within a range of 2.5 seconds of one another (6:24.4 to 6:26.9). I went through 10 miles in 1:04:43, just 62 seconds off my pace at the Charleston Half-Marathon and I was feeling fantastic passing marathoners and half-marathoners alike that had started out too quickly. For instance, of the marathoners alone, I went through 10k in 46th place (chip timed) and then moved up to my eventual position of 29th by the half-marathon split. Taking just my first half-marathon I would have hit the 10k in 119th place, and then passed 30 people by the finish. The 47 people total that this method says that I passed, then, may or may not be at fault. My second 10k was just 39:47, followed by a 13th mile of 6:11 thanks to the half-marathon finishers surrounding me that were all kicking it in to their finish line.

At the half-marathon point I was at 1:24:48 - an average pace of 6:27 per mile, but I felt amazing and knew I could maintain the pace through at least 18 miles. Even after that, I didn't expect I would slow nearly as much as I had in Burlington, so it became increasingly clear that I'd crush the 3 hour barrier. The 7 miles following the half-marathon point did a lot more than maintain the pace I had been running. In fact, the 10k split between 20 & 30k would turn out to be my fastest - a blistering 39:18, faster than my opening 10k in Charleston, and faster than I ran for the 10k 3 weeks ago in Connecticut (by 1 second). I hit the 30k mark in an official split of 1:59:48 (under 2 hours!) and the 20 mile mark in 2:08:07 (recall that my first 10 were 1:04:43 and you'll notice that the second 10 miles were 1:03:24 - a full 16 seconds faster than my 10 mile split in Charleston!). My overall pace had dropped to just 6:24 over 20 miles... so much for 6:40, or even 6:36!

The final 10k of a marathon is running legend. I experienced the demoralizing effects of hitting the "wall" in Burlington with a final 10k of 55:59 en route to my 3:18:57 debut. But that race was long over for me before I got to 20 miles, I was struggling to stay on tempo after about 8 miles, and hit 20 in 2:22:58 - 14:51 slower than here in Miami. I was not about to give in and run another 59 minute 10k though. Pushing through to the finish I hit splits of 6:36, 6:44, and 6:43 for miles 21-23... not bad considering that was the planned pace to begin with! After 23 miles in a marathon there is one thing I personally think should not get in your head - you still have more than 5k left to go. Returning to downtown Miami I ran my slowest mile of the day with a 6:57 for mile 24. Turning onto Brickell Avenue it helped me (slightly) knowing that I had run along the same route the afternoon before from my hotel, and that the hotel was within a mile of the finish. Naturally, though, my legs began to cramp after about 24.5 miles! There was no way I was letting it slow me down any more though. Relaxing as much as possible I got to the 25 mile mark after a 6:56.2 mile and just had 1.2 miles to go! Crossing a small drawbridge just before 26 miles gave me a slight downhill (apparently brought to me by the good folks at ING...) before kicking it in to the finish (mile 26 was 6:55.8). Ashley, who I had passed 22 miles before, was the catalyst for my "kick" but ended up beating me by 2 seconds, despite my last quarter mile being at under 6 minute pace.

Overall, it was an incredible race. My official time was 2:51:03, placing 1st in my Age Group (16-19) and 29th overall!

Now back to training for triathlon season!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Charleston Half-Marathon Race Report

Charleston Half-Marathon - January 15th, 2011 - Charleston, SC


Last Saturday I traveled down to sunny Charleston, SC for the Charleston Half-Marathon. On the weekend, there was also a 10k, 5k, and full marathon. Combined, the 4 races attracted over 4000 runners and offered an ideal distance for everyone. Being just 2 weeks out from the Miami Marathon, the Charleston Half offered me an opportunity to run on a course with a similar topography to that in Miami - completely flat - as well as a chance to get a good 13.1 mile marathon paced run in under race conditions.

I arrived in Charleston on Friday afternoon and immediately went to the expo to pick up my race packet. Soon after, I found the home of a good friend's family that had offered to host me for the night! Before a delicious pasta dinner, I headed out to the West Ashley Greenway for an easy pre-race run. Shortly into the run, though, it was clear that I was feeling great which bode well for the next morning's race. I finished my 6 mile out-and-back run in a short 42 minutes before adding on another half mile by doing 5x0.1 mile strides to make sure my legs were loose. After dinner, I prepared for a good night's sleep in anticipation of the early morning that I'd have the next day.

Saturday morning was a little chilly, but having been in Connecticut for a 10k with a temperature of 29 degrees the 36 degree morning almost felt warm. I got to the start line in plenty of time to warmup around 7:25am and quickly found where I would need to drop my bag off once I had finished my race preparations. An easy 2 mile warmup in long pants, fleece, hat and gloves gave me that ideal feeling of well warmed muscles ready for the race. I through everything but my race gear into my bag and loaded it in the gear truck before finding my way to my usual spot in most races about 3 rows back from the front of the pack at the start.

The race started with fairly little warning but off we went, heading south on East Bay St towards the Battery. From there we'd turn north onto King St and head fairly straight for the next 6.5 miles. The first mile came by and felt ridiculously easy in 6:11. I wasn't too concerned because I was feeling great and I knew that 13.1 miles is a whole different game than my upcoming 26.2 - I will not go out in 6:11 in that race. Heading into the half, though, my goal had been to hit the splits I'd need to in Miami and hopefully feel great at the finish knowing that I could have kept running for another 13.1 miles. Those planned splits were 6:36 per mile (1:26:31 for half, 2:53:02 marathon pace), a pace that would leave me almost 4 minutes behind my half-marathon PR of 1:22:42 from last April. As with a lot of my race strategies, though, the pre-race plan went out the window after about a mile and a half when we turned north on King St and I had settled into a pack running about 6:20 miles. I was feeling good though, so I kept going with the pack hitting splits of 6:25, 6:22, and 6:19 over the next 3 miles. In the 5th mile the pack of about 8 began to separate and I was left in between those that picked up the pace, and those that fell off the pace. I continued at my own pace trying to just stay relaxed and went through 5 miles in 31:47 after a 6:29 5th mile - in the end, this would become my slowest mile of the race, so much for averaging 6:36! Still feeling strong my 6th mile was almost identical bringing me through in 38:16 for 6 miles (a familiar split having been 38:03 the week before and 38:08 in my marathon debut last May). This race, however, was significantly different than those other two; I was actually feeling great this time, and I had stayed relaxed to that point.
According to splits retroactively calculated from my Garmin data, I hit 10k in 39:37 having split 19:38 and 19:58 for the 5ks up to that point. Another interesting comparison comes by comparing my time through 7 miles to that of my half-marathon PR. At 7 miles, after the first of 3 consecutive 6:24 splits, I was at 44:40 in Charleston. My half-marathon PR split at 7 miles was 43:12, faster by a minute and 28 seconds. At just over halfway through the race it was evident that I was feeling good, and the matter of shooting for that PR of 1:22:42 had yet to creep into my mind. 2 miles and 12:48 later, though, I hit 9 miles in 57:29, still 1:19 off the pace of my PR, but also significantly faster than the original plan.
Having broken away from the eventual 6th place marathoner, with whom I had been chatting for a few miles, I began to slowly pick up the pace because I was feeling great. At 15k I was at 59:31 and after a 6:11 10th mile I had closed the gap on my PR to just 58 seconds (1:03:40 to 1:02:42). The remaining 5k became a race against the clock, I was feeling good and kept on pushing. After separating from the marathon course it seemed as though I was all alone - except for the few unfortunate souls that were still finishing up their 10ks. After my 10th mile, each one got faster. Mile 11 was 6:07 followed by a 6:01 for mile 12. That 12:08 2-mile split put me ahead of my PR pace and a closing 5:53 put the cherry on top of one of my best races ever and a new PR for the half-marathon of officially 1:22:33. My last 6k had been a smoking 22:30 (a pace of 6:02 per mile) and my last 10k alone would have been respectable in a time of 38:25.

Perhaps the best indicator of my current marathon fitness is that I had fully recovered from my half by Tuesday, and on Wednesday afternoon I ran back-to-back sub-12 minute 3200s with just 3 minutes rest as my penultimate tempo workout for Miami, the other comes tomorrow.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I hope to hit the start line in Miami with a strong belief that I can run under 2:55, a time that should put me in the top 25 overall based on results from previous years.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

2011 - A Preview

Welcome to my training blog! This is where I'll post my race reports, training notes, and anything else that I come up with that pertains to athletics.

For my first post, I'll outline what my current plan is for this year as well as wrap up the past couple of months of training that have put me in the shape I am today. My training to this point since the conclusion of the triathlon season last fall has been focused around the upcoming ING Miami Marathon on January 30th!

The important things to note about my training over the past 3 months are that I've really stuck to a plan much better than ever before. After completing Ironman 70.3 Miami last October I began using TrainingPeaks online to map out my marathon training and upload my data after each workout. This has really helped me keep on track and led me to new personal bests for the 15k and half-marathon along the way. In addition to having kept to my own running schedule, I have been working with Eric Limkemann (http://www.ericlimkemanntriathlon.com/) of the Sport Factory (www.thesportfactory.com) as my coach since the middle of December. Eric has been an exceptional resource in helping motivate my training as well as supplementing my run workouts with swimming and biking in order to provide a strong starting point going into the triathlon season.



My Race Schedule for 2011 (Races in bold are most important)


January 9: Boston Buildup 10k - Rowayton, CT - see race report below
January 15: Charleston Half-Marathon - Charleston, SC - see race report in next post
January 30: ING Miami Marathon - Miami, FL
Currently no races planned for February
March 5: Reedy River 10k - Greenville, SC
March 19: Parris Island Sprint Triathlon - Parris Island, SC
April 9: Collegiate National Triathlon Championship - Tuscaloosa, AL
May 14: Clemson Sprint Triathlon - Clemson, SC
June 5: Ironman 70.3 Mooseman - Newfound Lake, NH
A couple of low key triathlons in June & July
August 21: Age Group National Triathlon Championship - Burlington, VT
Southeastern Collegiate Triathlon Conference races through October
October 30: Ironman 70.3 Miami - Miami, FL




Race Report


Boston Buildup 10k - Rowayton, CT (January 9, 2011)
I kicked off the year with a local road race that is part of a series building up to the Boston Marathon in April. The decision to run the race was rather last minute as snow had foiled my plans to run a tempo workout on Saturday. An "easy" 10k equals a 4 x 2 mile workout, right?
The first 5k was almost entirely downhill or flat that resulted in my going out at around 6:00/mi. Well, that and the clear misjudgment of the caliber of the field. Looking at past results I had determined that the time I planned on running (38:45) would put me somewhere around 10th place overall but this year I sat in about 25th after going through the first 2 miles in 11:53. The 5k came up at 18:45 (exactly on 6:00 pace & just slightly slower than my previous PR) and I had moved up to my final position of 19th overall. As the first half had been downhill, though, the second half included a lot of uphill, and the chill of a sub-freezing air temperature was beginning to takes its hold. My closing 5k was an unfortunate 20:34 to finish in 39:19. Hopefully by the time triathlon season comes around I will be able to hit that time (or faster) after coming off the bike. In all, despite the mediocre second half to my race, it served its purpose of being a good tempo run getting the feeling of running hard ingrained in my muscles.