Pizza/Beer Study

I did a tempo run at Lake Merritt this evening. I went 29:01 for 3.25 miles (8:55/mile), which was noticeably slower than my 5K, 2 days ago in San Francisco. I was a good 20 seconds slower per mile tonight. That's what I get for drinking 3 pints of Guinness and eating pizza on Monday night. So consuming pizza and beer the night before a run does impact performance. Sad, but true. OR...it could be the ferocious headwinds. Yeah, must be the headwinds!

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Lake Merritt Tempo Run

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New 5K PR!

Today was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K in San Francisco. My sis formed Team Boo! Bees, which had about 10 folks on the team. My sis and I ran in loving memory of our Aunt Margaret who passed away from Breast Cancer a couple years ago.

I ran my heart out and it paid off with a PR! I finished the 3.1 mile run in 26:36 (8:31/mile), which was amazing because it was extremely warm for SF standards. However, I knew it was going to be a fast day, when I was booking it at 7 minute miles the first 1/2 mile or so. I then capped off the final 0.1 or so at a rate of 6:30/mile.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

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15 Days Left!

Got my butt up to run at 7am. I finished 10 miles on the Iron Horse. I have the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 5K on Sunday, which will give me a nice 13 miles for the weekend. Then it's all low mileage runs up until October 11!

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Iron Horse Danville - 10 miler

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Swimming Suckage Again

Back at the pool tonight for some cross training. I swam 1300 yards and I felt like I was gonna pass out. Swimming once a week is good, but it's not the best. Hard to believe it was only a few months ago when I could swim nearly double the distance. Swimming really is a - if you don't use, you'll lose it sport.

Finally a 20-miler!

Third time is the charm I guess. During this marathon training season I had set out to do 3 - 20 milers. Unfortunately, I fell short the first 2 times. The first one ended up being 18.5 miles the second one was 17-ish. Saturday was the third and final long run before the taper. With the help of my running partners of the day, Rocky and Candace, we punched through over 20 miles! In fact, it might have been my first 20 miler before a marathon. In previous years, I fell short each time.

The run itself was great. The 3 hours 38 minutes went by fast (as fast as "fast" could go during a run). The weather was perfect. I was definitely fatiguing, but was not sore in the least bit. The calves, hips, and hamstrings got tight. I had a side cramp at mile 19. It's been so long that I had one of those, I forgot how they felt. I finally realize I am an extreme potty mouth during runs after mile 14. I drop "F" and "S" bombs like they are going out of style.

Still i'm very happy with the run. Amazingly the body is not sore a day later. The muscles are still tight despite the fact I spent most of yesterday afternoon stretching. I must say that in the last 2 weeks I have noticed my body tiring. No doubt it's from these higher mileage runs. The taper period could not have come at a better time. Now it's just 3 more weeks of waiting!

Chi-Town Kids

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Berkeley Marina 20-miler

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TTR

Another Tuesday Tempo Run. Not long, only 2.6 miles. But pretty fast (for me). Check out the details in the link below!

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

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Negative Splitsville

Lightning and thunder threw out my original plan of running 14 miles in Berkeley. I still managed to run in the morning with some light rain at the Lafayette/Moraga Trail. Granted the first 5.5 miles was an incline; nevertheless, I still did negative splits. I'm beginning to learn more about my Garmin. Here are some tidbits I found from this morning's run:

Mile 1: 10:27
Mile 2: 10:18
Mile 3: 10:51
Mile 4: 10:30
Mile 5: 10:35
Mile 6: 10:29
Mile 7: 9:39
Mile 8: 9:08
Mile 9: 9:38
Mile 10: 9:05
Mile 11: 9:21

Total calories burned = 1478 calories
Avg speed = 6.0 mph
Max speed = 8.6 mph

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Lafayette/Moraga - 11 miler

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Swim Paddles - So Good!

I did a headwind tempo run on Tuesday in Alameda. My legs were so tired from the weekend that I ended running only 2.5 miles. I finished it in 23:02 (9:12/mile).

Tonight I hit the pool and swam for about 46 minutes. I finally used swim paddles and I must say those things are great. It's really a powerful workout for the upper body, and I can see how it can improve swim stroke power. I felt so strong at the time. Of course now the arms are dang tired. It's probably sore tomorrow, but it was all worth it!

Back on the Bike

I finally got back on the bike this morning for the first time in about 4 weeks. It felt weird in the beginning, but I quickly go the hang of it. I rode about 25 miles. It kind of made up for the 2.5 miles that I cut short on Saturday's run.

In other news, i'm now the proud of owner of www.ironphil.com. There's nothing there right now, but in due time it will be the headquarters of the my Ironman journey. I will definitely let the faithful readers of "Welcome to the E-Life" know first when the site officially goes live. Thanks for your continued support!

I Know Better

On Wednesday, I hit the pool and did laps for about 40 minutes. I tried to use my Garmin, but it was constantly having problems losing the satellite. I also couldn't figure out how to get it work in swim mode. I eventually lost count of my laps.

On Saturday, I met up with the Chi-town crew to attempt another 20 miler. The weather could not have been more cooperative. Alas, I couldn't take advantage. I stayed pace with Rocky. Nearing the end of the first 10 miles, I was struggling. The calves and hamstrings were tightening up early than anticipated. I finished the first 10 miles in 1 hr 45 minutes (10:30/mile). I was "hanging on" during the next 2 miles. The run time by mile 13.1 was 2 hr 18 minutes (10:32/mile). The pace remained the same, but I could feel it tougher to keep the pace. Why was I feeling like crap? From process of elimination, I narrowed it down to that damn pizza I ate the night before. Bleh. I know better than that. So I get what I paid for. The last 5 miles were bad. I lost whatever pace I had going and went with a run/walk: 1 mile run, 1 minute walk. I finished 17.6 miles in 3 hrs 9 minutes (10:44/mile).

Tuesday Tempo Run

Well that didn't take long. General entry to IM Canada is all sold out. Only Ironman Foundation slots remain. I just might be the only one on the team going to Canada. LOL.

Tonight was back to Chi-town training. Good 'ol Tuesday tempo runs. However, I slowed down tonight. I went 28:03 for 3 miles (9:21/mile). It was slightly warmer than last week, but had the same amount of headwind. Eh..whatever.