This Page

has been moved to new address

5ksandcabernets

Sorry for inconvenience...

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
5ksandcabernets: August 2010

5ksandcabernets

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Confidence level for Chicago: On the rise.

Today's workout with Gilbert's Gazelles: 4x 1-mile repeats with a 2 to 3 minute rest between each session.
 
Gilbert gave us a little formula before our run. Whatever time we plan on running for the marathon, we should double that figure, and the result should be the min/mile speed we maintain during our workout. He then added this, "if you can't keep that speed, you have no business aiming for that time on your marathon."
 
For instance, I need a 3:20 to qualify for Boston. When you double 3:20, you get 6:40, and this is the time, in minutes per mile, that I needed to be able to hit in each of my mile repeats this morning.
 
My splits....
 
6:32 - just a little warm-up
6:26 - getting into a groove
6:27 - wishing the recovery period was a little longer
6:12 - Let myself go knowing it was the last repeat
 
Clearly, it looks like I'm in shape to run a 3:20 marathon. And from this workout, it looks like I could run anywhere from a 3:16 to a 3:06. Ha. Ha. Ha. No need to get greedy for me. When marathon day gets here, I'm sticking to a 3:20 pace until well past Mile 20.
 
Still, I've put together two good quality workouts in a row for the first time this summer. And today's workout came even though my legs were still a little - no make that, a lot - rubbery from Saturday's 22-mile jaunt.
 
Confidence level for Chicago: On the rise.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Nice birthday training run

Sometimes the running Gods smile on you.
 
Sometimes its 66 degrees and you've eaten right all week and you've hydrated and the light bulb about how you eat and drink on the run goes off.
 
Sometimes was Saturday.
 
And on my 42nd birthday, no less.
 
I don't wanna make to much of a training run, even though this was a 22-mile training run I completed in under 3 hours. I'd prefer to keep the giddiness inside until they put a medal around my neck and I've qualified for Boston.
 
But I've had probably the worst summer ever for long runs. My energy level at the end of my two previous 20-milers was lower than an old jalopy on fumes. And at the beginning of Saturday's 22-miler, that self doubt was all over me. My legs felt just dead for the first three or four miles and keeping an 8:30 pace was really difficult to do without trying harder than I wanted to try.
 
My plan was to stop being hardheaded and take my energy GU every five miles, no matter how good or bad my stomach may have been feeling. I figure I've run out of gas during my previous long runs because I don't fuel up, so to speak. So around Mil 5, I took a GU. By then, my legs were starting to feel better, and so I didnt have some great energy boost or anything, but I do remember remarking to myself at around six that, "Hey, we've already hit 6 mile and it doesnt feel like weve been out here that long."
 
I kept taking the GU every five miles, and a Succeed salt-table every hour. The self doubt was still kinda hovering around as we hit the middle miles and I wondered when the bottom would fall out, but it never did. We got to Mile 14 or so and hit Duval St. (mostly downhill) and I felt stronger and stronger. I did each of the last 9 miles in 7:50 pace or better and averaged 7:30 or better the last four miles.
 
I was supposed to take a final Gu at Mile 20 and took Succeed salt instead and took off. I remember looking down at my Garmin at one point and the mile pace said, "6:50" Whoa..lets back up and keep some of this for Chicago," I thought.
 
I flew to the finish in 2 hours and 54 minutes, a nice and tidy pace of about 7:55 min/mile.
 
If I had to run the distance that day, I could have.
 
Now, I just have to build on this, what I ate, what I drank, and keep myself focused for Chicago.
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Intervals, intervals, (fast) intervals...

We had a nice, blow out the lungs speed workout with Gilbert's Gazelles Tuesday morning....
 
1.5 mile warm up
4 x 2,000 meters on the paved road around the soccer fields across the street from Zilcher Park at 10k pace with about a two-minute rest between each interval
1.5 mile cool down
 
My 2k times/min per mile paces....
 
1 - 7:25 (5:59 min/mile)
2 - 7:19 (5:54 min/mile)
3 - 7:44 (6:14 min/mile) I paid for running the second interval too hard. Wasn't quite "recovered" before running this one.
4 - 7:32 (6:04 min/mile)
 
As you can see, these paces are closer to my 5k times than my 10k times. (My best 10k is about a 6:45 min/mile pace, which means I should have run these 2k intervals no faster than 8:30 or so - 8:30 as in total time, not pace.)
 
But then again, my best 10k was in March. And besides, as I've said here many times, when you run with a group of people, a race always breaks out.
 
Still, I should have been smarter. The first interval felt pretty good. No heavy breathing. (Well, there was some heavy breathing, but I was not sprinting or anything). The second interval I just got totally stupid. Me and this other guy kept exchanging "the lead" and it did kinda sorta turn into a race the last 100 meters. When it was time to start the third interval, my lungs were still "spasming" and I took an extra 10 to 15 seconds after everyone from my group took off before I took off. This was the hardest interval. My breathing was most labored here, my legs hated me but my mind said keep going, keep going and I finally started feeling like myself during the final 50 or so meters. I actually felt better during the last interval and think if I had maintained this pace for the first two intervals, it would have been a successful workout.
 
Still, I have to admit that I am blown away that I could hit sub 6-minute mile pace twice duing the workout. The total workout amounts to 8k (4.96 miles) in exactly 30 minutes, a tidy 6:03 min/mile pace.
 
Chicago is coming, Chicago is coming!!!
 
 

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Chicago Marathon

Woohooo....I'm in Corral C. My qualifying time was one minute too slow to be in Corral B at the Chicago Marathon, but that's ok. Running in this Coral will help me keep my pace honest for the first 10 or so miles.
 
 
 
Lyons Kevin M 42 Austin TX USA CORRAL C   33725539

Sunday, August 15, 2010

It's nutrition stupid!

Why is it that I can run 5 kilometers in just over 19 minutes, can run a half marathon in just over 90 minutes, but in the heat of the summer, I struggle to hold on to an 8:15 min/mile on a 20-mile long run?

I'm not getting enough.

Food, that is... (get your minds out of the gutter).

I dont eat enough. Period. I know there are days during the week where I dont get 2,000 calories.

And never was I more convinced of that on Saturday, when, for the first time all summer, I took some GUs with me on a long run. Just when I felt like I was falling off the edge of a cliff, I'd take half of one and felt instantly better. Not great. But better. Good enough. Good enough to keep a decent pace and not drift into some kind of death walk, which I've had too many times this summer.

Still, I gotta eat more. No way I shouldnt be able to run 20 miles in 8:00 min/mile pace, even though its hot. I'm acclimated to the heat. No friggin way. No way. But there I was Saturday, 20 miles in 8:24 pace. And the course wasnt all that tough. At about Mile 7 I started feeling good and picked up the pace. From Mile 9 to 13, I averaged exactly an 8:00 mile pace. And at the water stop around 9.5 miles, someone shouted out, 'Kevin, maybe you are running too fast."

Let me say this: An 8-minute mile is like I'm moon-walking, running in slow motion. If I bonk during a 20-miler because I'm running 8-minute miles, something is wrong. Something is very wrong and it has nothing to do with me "running too fast."

Now, I know what you are going to say. You are going to say, "Well, since you've never averaged an 8:00 mile or faster for any of your six marathons, maybe you were running too fast."

To which I say: "Its my diet. No matter how fast or slow I run. When I've been on the road for more than 90 minutes, I crash and burn. Whether I did the first 90 minutes in a 7:30 mile or a an 8:45 mile. At 1:30:00 in, my performance starts to suffer. And as I close in on my 42nd birthday, that suffering is becoming more pronounced.

But....

Saturday was sort of a light-bulb moment. I took some gels during the run and, though I slowed a little my last mile, I didnt bonk.

I need more food. I need to eat more. And the experiment of me eating BBQ the night before a long run is so OUT. BBQ gives me strength to run hard for a half marathon or shorter distance. 90 minutes or less. But it does nothing for endurance. Nothing. So, its back to drawing board with figuring out what to eat the night before a long run, but Rudy's and Poke-Joes won't be seeing me on Friday nights anymore.


Thursday, August 12, 2010

My new training shoe: Hello Adidas, so long Brooks


I keep having hip and abdomen problems.. physical therapist who look at me say its my SI joint (Sacroiliac Joint) that is out of wack....I keep thinking its the shoes, man, its the shoes. My shoes make me use a lot of torque to get from landing to push off.


As ive written in this space before, I've always run in Brooks, from the Beast, to the Adrenalines (for each of my six marathons) and lately the Brooks Ghosts.


And funny thing, my hip problems worsened.


So, last week, I bought a pair of Karhu Forward Ride and Adidas Adizero Boston.


The Karhu is a lot of shoe and I wore them two days this week: During a recovery run Sunday, and for a tempo run Tuesday. Legs felt great Sunday - guess because i was running slow, and they didnt feel so good Tuesday, like my feet were fighting my shoes. (Plus, I got a blister on my right foot - ok, there was a hole in my sock).


I wore the Adidas' Monday (easy day); Wednesday (recovery) and today (speed workout).


I love the Adidas Bostons. They let my feet go whichever way they wanna go, letting my hips get loose and my natural stride takeover. A 7:30 min/mile effort is much easier for my legs to hold in Adidas than the Karhus and even the Brooks (for my lungs is a different matter, but at least my legs arent working as hard as they were). The Adidas Adizero Bostons are a very lightweight shoe, but they protected my feet well today during the interval workout on the streets around the soccer field at Zilcher Park in Austin.


The bad thing is, Ive only worn the Karhus two times and they are dirty and Im sure the store from which I bought them will not take the shoes back. Maybe I will keep them for easy runs.


But it looks like, just looks like I've finally found a durable, lightweight training shoe that compliments my feet and my weird stride.


And you gotta love the name Boston, especially since that's the marathon I'm trying to qualify for.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

My third year as a dad: "Happy Birthday, Noah"

Noah through the years.....

1. This weekend, his third birthday (He is 3)

2. 2009 birthday weekend (He is 2)


3. 2008 birthday weekend (He is 1)