Jenny (jsnowash)'s Spring Guinea Pig Group - CLOSED (Page 7)

So.. I have a confession to make - I didn't do any training yesterday (I was supposed to swim and run).

Long-ish story short, I barely got any sleep on Thursday night.  Part of this was because the dogs woke me (temporarily) at dawn (I think there was a deer in the yard and the dogs don't seem to get that as "hunters" they should be stalking the prey through the window, rather than scaring it off by barking at it through the window... ). The lack of sleep meant that I was exhausted all day yesterday; this was compounded with running behind schedule all day and the work-outs just didn't happen.

Jenny - here is the question for you: I can (with your okay) do the run today (along with the scheduled bike) and could swim tomorrow (along with the scheduled run); and then get back to normal on Monday. Would that work, or do you think it would be too much for now?

I have an internet browser on mine, and just access the page through that.  To access the forums, I use the "full site" button, then head to forums and go from there.  I can't get the "forum" option on the smartphone specific site to work for me.

To access the logs, I use the smartphone specific link to my training logs. 

Little more detail on my run yesterday:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167908009

The Full Marathon was starting at 7:15 and the Half at 8:45.  I got up at 5:30 with the goal of getting to the race in time to get parking.   I'd laid all my gear out the night before so I didn't miss anything.  Made some coffee, ate a protein bar, mixed up a couple electrolyte bottles, and got on my way.  Amazing how little traffic there is at 6:00AM on a Saturday.  

I arrived around 6:40AM, parked about four blocks from the start.  Made my way over and picked up race packet.  I milled around looking for Scott and my friend Chris who were both running the full.  Saw Scott about 10 minutes before the start of the full and introduced myself.  We chatted about MAF, our kids, and our race calendars.  First impression is that he is a typical Midwesterner - friendly, solid, salt of the earth - and it doesn't hurt that he’s a UofM alum / fan! The full started and I found the porta potties, returned to my car, got my race belt, etc all set for the race and just chilled for a bit.  Eventually made my way back to the start, took a short jog to warm up and re-calibrate my footpod, found the porta-potties AGAIN, spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get mulch out of my shoes and got ready to go.  I had been sipping on an electrolyte water and had a gel about 15 minutes to the start.  Also had one about 1 hour before start.  Got into a starting spot and off we went.

The race started on a narrow street and straight uphill for about 1 tenth of a mile.  It was very slow and congested until it turned a corner.  The first few miles were urban in the city of Dearborn.  Closed course which is always nice.  About three miles into race the course transitions onto Hines drive and is like running through a park for the remainder f the race on a two lane road.  I sipped on the remainder of my electrolyte water for the first few miles and ditched the empty bottle at the second aid station.  Mile markers were great and  didn't use auto-lap but hit the lap button at every marker. I'm really excited that I was pretty much dead on at each marker meaning that I ran the lines of the course very good - I came up with 13.12 miles for the race.  Not much extra effort/time in running extra distance.  The course was rolling hills throughout - I did not expect that.  I looked at past runners Garmin Connect files and the course look more flattish.  I was lucky in that the wind and rain held off until the second half of the course.  The "out" portion was great; the "in" or "back" portion had a fair degree of head winds and a bit of rain.  I knew I was running faster than I had planned but was feeling good.  Around mile 10 there was a good uphill into an aid station and I walked a bit.  I then walked a few more times as I was starting to hit a wall.  The last half mile or so I picked it up and pushed trying to pass as many people as possible.  I ended with a 1:43:46 (official time gave me a second over my Garmin time - yay!)

Congratulations on an amazing race Dangremond!

Jaykaykay - envious of your long bike ride yesterday!

Unfortunately I had to take the weekend off because of my knee - I'm not quite sure what's wrong with it so I didn't want to risk straining it unnecessarily. I'm going to go see a PT or my chiropractor tomorrow just to make sure everything is okay. Was disappointed because I was really itching to get outside and get some good long workouts in. SO convinced me that it's still early in the season (for us Canadians anyhow) and it's better to play it safe...

Happy Monday to all. Hope everyone has a great week.

Spartan Alum here.  I'll congratulate Dan anyway.  Under protest ... 

Thinking positive thoughts (with some envy) about my friends running Boston today.  I ran it in 2010 and it is a very special race.

6.1 EZ-paced miles this morning at about 9:15 min/mile.  Avg HR 135.  It's beginning to warm up down here - 71° at 5:30 AM, but it was a beautiful morning regardless.  Swim planned for after work.  Probably about 800 to 1000m or so.

Bill

I enjoyed a light run with hubby and kids last night.  My husband is a natural athlete that hates organized cardio-exercise, but will compete with the best if it is part of work or an event where the cardio exercise is a byproduct of participating.  Me, on the other hand, I am all about making the effort intentional.  He was shocked when we went out for a family jog that he was huffing and puffing and I was talking away with the kids.  I wanted to smirk, but I encouraged him to come again with me sometime!

Monday is my off day, but I woke early so jumped on the elliptical and read my novel with my ipad.  Great with enlarged print. 

I was giving some thought to race day nutrition.  My race is a 49 mile bike race on a hilly course in cold weather, most likely.  Let me run this past you guys for morning of race menu:  steel cut oatmeal with banana, blueberries, a scoop of peanut butter and milk.  Coconut electrolyte mix drink 1.5 hours before start.  Two bottles on bike - one water, one Hammer Gel mix.  Gel chew blocks in pocket with one 45 minutes in and second 1/2 hour later.

I have struggled with the dilemna of drinking too much pre-race and then having to find a bathroom on the course which means squatting in the ditch in the cold (yes, this is Montana! - sorry if that is crass) and also having a hard time chewing anything substantial and actually swallow.  I am not a good water drinker in the cold.  I was actually thinking of using warmer water in my insulated bottle although it holds less water.

Any suggestions? 

Janette

Janette - haven't done a long enough race yet requiring nutrition planning so I'll be interested to see what people have to suggest.

Went to see my PT today and I have mild patella tedonitis which is what I presumed anyways. It's a result of my hips shifting + flat feet. I have my knee taped and some stregthening exercises so I will be aiming for a 30min bike on the trainer.

@Jenny - looks like I'm going to have to take the training down a notch and start building up again. What are your thoughts? I think I'm going to focus on swimming/biking this week and go for light runs as I think it's the running that's aggravating it the most.

I'm not a good one to ask about nutrition.  I have an Iron stomach and can handle anything.

Doubled up taday.  (Earlier run already posted.)  I swam after work today.  Jenny wanted 500 meters but I swam 850 meters instead.  Wanted to at least get warmed up!  3:00 / 100 meters, so slow.  I feel like I have a nice stroke but the time says otherwise!

Bill

I think Jeff may have said it already, but your race day nutrition starts a day or two earlier.

Good luck!

jsnowash - 2012-04-17 6:01 AM @ Bill - Looks like we need to add some more swimming to your plan !

I knew I shoulda just said I swam 500 meters ...   Bring it Jenny.  I'll let you know before I drop, I promise!

This morning I did a Bike and Run brick.  12.5 miles on the Walmart Special and then 3 miles at GA pace running.  This was probably the last bike ride on my old clunker, as I get fitted for my new Scott Foil after work tonight.  This will be fun!

I do notice I'm getting tired from the Bike and Swims.  New, long-idle muscles being called to duty, so to speak.  Tomorrow is scheduled for a Tempo run and I'll be curious to see what my body thinks of that given everything else I'm asking it to do.  Bring it!

I mentioned yesterday being a bit envious of the Boston runners.  After following a bunch of friends who ran it, I'm not envious any more.  That was one tough running day.  Everyone who ran it showed their Toughness for sure.

Bill

My plan is to get to the pool tonight for a swim session. Btw, it's fantastic weather here in the NY metro area, so it's too bad the pool's roof doesn't retract like Toronto's Skydome. Oh well.

6.5 in horrible weather; windy, rainy, almost cold.  Tried my sons NB Minimus shoes-not too bad, felt alot like my VFFs.  I would wear them over the VFFs on the roads.

Group ride scheduled for this evening-not much mileage, so maybe I'll run brick afterwards.  Weekend weather is looking FANTASTIC. 

Thanks for the comments on the nutrition.  My menu is not that much different than a normal morning with the exception of adding the electrolyte water.  I am an oatmeal fan and have tried all different kinds, much to the dismay of my kids who complain about my "horse feed" breakfasts.  Of course, I remind them that Captain Crunch does nasty things to the roof of your mouth. 

Nice bike ride this morning - 60 minutes - good intensity.  I am waiting for a gear shipment as I have decided to put some clip on aerobars onto my road bike for this weekend.  I think my wrists could use a little break.

Jaycee: Sorry about the patella issues.  I struggled with those when I played basketball in college.  Ended up wearing funky knee braces that lifted the patella up a tad to relieve pressure.  I have decided that knees, in general, were very poorly engineered by the Big Guy.

Enjoy all the nice weather.  My husband is a rancher and he is always watching the weather, hoping for rain.  I am fine with rain so long as it isn't snowing in the mountains on Sunday race day!

Janette

Janette: exciting about those aero bars! which ones did you end up getting? i went to look at a couple at LBSs this weekend but got a little overwhelmed by the selection.

I'm bummed about this little setback as mentally I just want to gogogo! In the long run though I suppose a little rest is for the best.

Good luck with the bike ride this weekend!! We'll want a detailed race report including all your nutrition info!

Today was my first double workout day of 2012. Interval running in the am and a pool session this evening...damn, I'm tired.

Hi folks,

I switched my Tuesday and Wednesday workouts this week. 

I was supposed to bike tonight but it was COLD (5 degrees celcius - which translates to 41 degrees fahrenheit) and due to having to pick my husband up at the last minute, I was low on daylight. So, I'll bike tomorrow (or maybe bring stuff to work for spinning, just in case..) and ran tonight.  The weather is going to get worse before it gets better. Forecast is calling for mix of snow and rain this weekend.  This may result in my planned bike ride being changed to a spin class (I don't like biking when the temps are near freezing).

Plan for tonight's run called for an easy run with some strides thrown in.  Strides are lots of fun (I've never really tried them before - at least, not intentionally). Except for the first 10 minutes, which was run into a vicious headwind, the run was one of the best I've had (feeling-wise) in ages!