This week's workouts:
Monday: Run 2 miles (track), Swim 2800 yards
Tuesday: Walk
Wednesday: Run 4 miles (neighborhood)
Thursday: Walk
Friday: Bike 9 miles (trainer)
Saturday: Walk
Sunday: Run 13.1 miles
This week was a mini-taper to prepare for Sunday's Quivering Quads Trail Half Marathon. On Monday, I tried a workout that I found through the iPhone app My TriSwimCoach. This app looks like it could be pretty good. You put in your general skill level and your 100 yard split, provide your goal distance (in my case, Ironman distance swim), and the app creates a workout tailored to you. The app also includes videos to demonstrate the various drills.
The workout I tried on Monday consisted of:
Warmup: 1x400 swim; 6x75 pull w/20sec rest
Drills: Bilateral breathing 3x50 w/30sec rest
Workout: 1x600 @ 80% w/90sec rest; 2x300 @ 85% w/45sec rets; 6x50 @ 85% w/20sec rest
Cooldown: 1x50 swim; 1x50 kick; 1x50 swim
By the time I was done, my shoulders were shredded. I felt like this was one of the more useful pool swims I've had in a while.
The main event of the week was Quivering Quads at Quivre River State Park in Troy, MO. There were 6 Honey Badgers running the race this year (out of a field capped at 500) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We had clear skies and cool temps - enough to keep the mud frozen for the first hour of the race.
This race was put on by Fleet Feet St. Louis and was very well organized. Parking was in remote lots with shuttle vans to the start/finish area. Volunteers were stationed to direct traffic and to keep people out of lots that were full and there were plenty of vans so the wait for a shuttle was not more than a few minutes.
The starting area had plenty of port a potties, changing tents, and a bag drop (literally a tarp where you drop your bag if you have one). There were two of my teammates in my starting group which took off at 9:33am (the race is organized by pace - fastest to slowest based on road half marathon time). I had a few simple goals for this race:
1. Don't break any bones and screw up Ironman training
2. Don't get injured and screw up Ironman training
3. Don't fall
4. Don't get lost
5. Have fun
Despite single track, narrow trails, my size 15 Nike's managed to keep me upright for the entire race. I am happy to report that I met all 5 goals. As for the race - it was challenging! The course featured a half-mile out-and-back, an 11-mile loop, and then a repeat of the half-mile out-and-back with an extra tenth thrown in to complete the 13.1 miles.
I ran this race for the experience, and not for time, so my official time was over 3 hours. I think if I raced it, I would be somewhere between 2:30-2:45. I ran with a training partner, so that made the miles click by.
I don't know that I would go out of my way to run a lot of trails in the future, but I could see myself signing up for this race again if the weather conditions are right.
A few pictures and a video recap of the race:
Monday: Run 2 miles (track), Swim 2800 yards
Tuesday: Walk
Wednesday: Run 4 miles (neighborhood)
Thursday: Walk
Friday: Bike 9 miles (trainer)
Saturday: Walk
Sunday: Run 13.1 miles
This week was a mini-taper to prepare for Sunday's Quivering Quads Trail Half Marathon. On Monday, I tried a workout that I found through the iPhone app My TriSwimCoach. This app looks like it could be pretty good. You put in your general skill level and your 100 yard split, provide your goal distance (in my case, Ironman distance swim), and the app creates a workout tailored to you. The app also includes videos to demonstrate the various drills.The workout I tried on Monday consisted of:
Warmup: 1x400 swim; 6x75 pull w/20sec rest
Drills: Bilateral breathing 3x50 w/30sec rest
Workout: 1x600 @ 80% w/90sec rest; 2x300 @ 85% w/45sec rets; 6x50 @ 85% w/20sec rest
Cooldown: 1x50 swim; 1x50 kick; 1x50 swim
By the time I was done, my shoulders were shredded. I felt like this was one of the more useful pool swims I've had in a while.
The main event of the week was Quivering Quads at Quivre River State Park in Troy, MO. There were 6 Honey Badgers running the race this year (out of a field capped at 500) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We had clear skies and cool temps - enough to keep the mud frozen for the first hour of the race. This race was put on by Fleet Feet St. Louis and was very well organized. Parking was in remote lots with shuttle vans to the start/finish area. Volunteers were stationed to direct traffic and to keep people out of lots that were full and there were plenty of vans so the wait for a shuttle was not more than a few minutes.
The starting area had plenty of port a potties, changing tents, and a bag drop (literally a tarp where you drop your bag if you have one). There were two of my teammates in my starting group which took off at 9:33am (the race is organized by pace - fastest to slowest based on road half marathon time). I had a few simple goals for this race:
1. Don't break any bones and screw up Ironman training
2. Don't get injured and screw up Ironman training
3. Don't fall
4. Don't get lost
5. Have fun
Despite single track, narrow trails, my size 15 Nike's managed to keep me upright for the entire race. I am happy to report that I met all 5 goals. As for the race - it was challenging! The course featured a half-mile out-and-back, an 11-mile loop, and then a repeat of the half-mile out-and-back with an extra tenth thrown in to complete the 13.1 miles.
The trail was a roller coaster - up and down from about 600 feet to 800 feet - with lots of twists and turns. This was definitely a "technical" run - you had to keep your eyes on the ground or you were going to eat it.
I ran this race for the experience, and not for time, so my official time was over 3 hours. I think if I raced it, I would be somewhere between 2:30-2:45. I ran with a training partner, so that made the miles click by.
I don't know that I would go out of my way to run a lot of trails in the future, but I could see myself signing up for this race again if the weather conditions are right.
A few pictures and a video recap of the race:
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