AAACHOOOO!

Man, I can't stop sneezing. Ever since the move, I spend at least 3 total solid minutes out of my day sneezing. That doesn't sound like much, but one sneeze takes about 5 total seconds to prepare, release and recover. That is... um... 36 sneezes a day! Think about it. That's a lot. I don't know if that's exact, but it's close.

My training has been good so far this week. Good news from all 3 sports!

Swimming -- I've been attending the Curl Burke Masters swims at American University and they've been SOLID. I swim with Dirk, surrounded by cocky swimmers far faster than The Beastman or I. I've been getting in 3000+ yard swims each time. My totals for the week are over 12k yards, which is more than I've ever done. Not quite as much as Dirk's 20k+ swimming weeks, but I'm doing more... and am getting faster. That's the most important thing.

Biking -- Still improving! I did an early AM superthreshold interval set, 5x3 minutes, averaging 24.3, 24.7, 24.7, 23.8, 24.3 mph, at the rolling GTown rec loop. It's heartening to see I'm regularly touching 24+ mph in my intervals... not to mention last week's 40k time trial. I got a hill workout tomorrow and long rides this weekend.

Running -- Haven't done quite as much as in the past, but I put in a SOLID track workout last night:

4x800 @ 5 sec/400m faster than 5k pace (4:50 mile pace)

1x3200 @ 10k race pace (5:20 mile pace)

I hit all my paces (a little faster on the 800s, averaged 4:41 pace) and felt great at the end of the 2 mile (right on with a 5:20 average). I'm excited to see what my 10k time will be at the end of the year (sub 32:50?). If I can do sub-36 minutes at Nation's I'll be very happy.

Nations: The next goal

Since Columbia, my training has (slowly, in my opinion) been shaping up into a new set of build and recover phases. Up to last week, it seemed like I was sort of just wading through workouts. The DC Sprint really got my mind back into the game. It reminded me just how important hard and focused training is to my development. Race less, train more.

My next focus is the Nation's Triathlon. Duathlon Worlds is the week before, but I'm not necessarily training for it. I have 3 days to decide, but I'm even considering not racing at Scotland, just so I can be sure to have the best race possible at Nation's.

So, Nation's, I'm training for you.

Move along, move along.

I'm behind due to the move. I'll make this brief to catch up.

Tuesday -- Strength and Curl Burke Masters swim (around 3000y, FAST. These workouts will become 2x per week staples of Dirk's and my quest to swim 20:00 for 1500m).

Wednesday -- 30 minute bike TT (12.05 miles, 24.1 mph average, my fastest average for nearly 20k, EVER. I'm getting better and better at biking)

Thursday -- Strength and run (easy run, had to do lots of moving that day so too tired for CB swim)

Friday -- All-out bike TT (6 minutes, all out, 25.4 mph average, my fastest all-out sustained speed average)

Saturday -- Endurance swim and moving (swam 3x1000 with Dirk in the AM, stayed at or near 15 minutes for all 3, good swim in general)

Sunday -- Mile TT, Bike ride with Dirk (paced Michelle's impressive 5:00 mile {I ran 4:55 as pacesetter}, and then rode 2 hours at a tough clip on a very hilly course, 43 miles).
So today I woke up and felt EXHAUSTED. Sunday was a long day, but the week was pretty long too. Time trials are over and today is a recovery day. Next three weeks though are build weeks, and I'm ready to accept the challenge of sufferfests in the heat!

DC Triathlon race report

This past Sunday I raced, completely untapered and relatively unprepared, at the Washington, DC Triathlon. I chose to do the sprint race as I want to get in at least one sprint race for fun... I train for the Olympic distances and wasn't training for this race. So I thought of this as a 'training race' of sorts.

The swim wasn't bad. No wetsuit, but no problem, 800m isn't that long of a swim. I caught some good drafts and didn't have to let up at all. I didn't feel fatigued, but I had to kick more than usual because of the no wetsuit thing. That would play a role later. Came out of the water 3rd in my wave, 12:55 (1:29/100m), 41st best swim.

The bike wasn't bad either. In fact, it was probably my best event of the day. It started out a little rough, my legs being tired from the swim. But 3-4 miles in, I found my legs. And I started RACING. I jumped out to at least 2 minutes ahead of the next person in my wave and started catching Elites, who started 3 minutes before me. By mile 10, I had caught the 3rd place Elite, meaning that I was currently 2nd overall in the race (the 2nd place Elite was less than 3 minutes ahead). I had never passed so many people near the front during the bike leg before. It felt great... biking is becoming a strength. Time, 32:15 (23.1 mph), 7th best bike (my best bike leg placement ever).

The run was poor. Not much to say. I had no legs for it. I wasn't ready. I started out with 5:50 miles and ended with a 6:00 average for about 6.7k. I had the 5th best run, but it wasn't up to par with what I normally do.

Crossed the finish line, 2nd overall, 1:13:36! Good placement! And not bad for not being tapered or really ready for this race. I'm not pleased with my splits, but I am happy with the placement. This will be my last "fun" or "training" race for the season. Nothing but training and a couple running races until Du Worlds and Nations

GRC Father's Day 8K

NEWS FLASH:

This Sunday is the 2nd annual GRC Father's Day 8K, held during National Men's Health week, and will benefit the GRC Race Team (help us cover travel fees to large races and fund racing gear).

The course is a flat, out and back course that starts and ends in historic Georgetown under the Key Bridge, not too far from the Georgetown Running Company store. Bring your dad! Bring your kids! Bring your kids' dad (wait a minute...)!!! Most of all come and enjoy a race either to obtain an 8K PR, get in a good tempo workout or just have fun with friends and family. A distinguished cast of Elite-level runners, including GRC's own Joey Wiegner will lead the way, making for a competitive atmosphere near the front for those like The Chicken Tender Runner himself who enjoy a good race.

You can sign up via the link on the right side of the GRC blog (http://georgetownrunningcompany.blogspot.com/) or by visiting the Father's Day 8K facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=129433320404309&ref=ts).

Hope to see you all out there!

Hey, running... we cool.

Over the past week I've been getting back into the swing of things, primarily biking and running. I need to get a jump-start on my swimming, but that'll have to wait until next week -- work and still recovering from jet lag has prevented me from visiting the water in the early AM. But in the meantime I've been biking HARD... interval and hill workouts galore. Despite my spill at the hill on Tuesday, I've been biking very well. Last week's cruise interval session allowed me to showcase my recently discovered 24 mph speed on the rolling G-town Rec Loop. So the biking has been going great. It should... I'll be working extremely hard at it this summer to make 24 mph a regularity and no longer a pipe dream.

Running, until recently, has been up and down. Last week was tough. I was tired from running the 18 miles or so with Andrew at his marathon and from bike workouts, so my track workout and end of the week tempo run were hard... felt heavy and slow. I used the weekend as a recovery period. Lots of biking (did a brick, but ran relatively easy).

Last night's track workout however signalled a turnaround! GRC was doing a tempo/marathon workout, but I need speed work. So I went to MCRRC's workout to do a ladder (400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400) with my pals there. Michelle decided to join in as well, so the stakes were high. I had to run fast! Alex showed up as well, so I knew I'd have someone to push and also push me. My goal was to run 5k pace (5:00-5:10 mile pace) in anticipation of this weekend's triathlon. Splits were as follows:

400 -- 73 (4:45/mile)
800 -- 2:37 (5:09/mile)
1200 -- 3:53 (5:04/mile)
1600 -- 5:04 (5:04/mile)
1200 -- 3:50 (4:58/mile)
800 -- 2:27 (4:40/mile)
400 -- 67 (4:23/mile)

Success! Not only did I run a consistent 5K pace for the first half, I negative split coming back down the ladder. The final 3 reps were sub-5 pace. And through the whole workout I was controlled. Perfect. And Michelle really threw herself back into running after having a bout of heat exhaustion last week (and it was very 'soupy' out... not really ideal speed work conditions for anyone!). She was very strong and hung with the guys. A solid return to the track for both of us!

My confidence in my run is back... almost at George Washington levels.

California, the land of reptiles

I spent last week in California and have been a bit too busy to update the blog with the running I did there. But here I am and here I go.

Tuesday I ran along Santa Monica shoreline, not long after arriving via aeroplane and consuming fried fish and french fried potatoes. Thus, I wasn't feeling splendid, but I put in a good 10 mile run... 3 miles at 5:45 pace, 4 miles at 6:45 pace, 3 miles at 5:45 pace. Sort of like an oreo sandwich... the rougher chocolate cookies (fast parts) surrounding a nice, creamy cream center thing (6:45 pace). I liked the run, despite multiple cramps at the beginning. I was running faster than the beach cruisers and rollerbladers out there.

Wednesday was the run of the week... a mountain run through Griffith Park to the Hollywood sign and back. Totalling around 8.5 tough miles, I made it to the D in the Hollywood sign. I saw a rattlesnake along the way, we looked at each other but I won the staring contest, because it slithered away. I had some competition out there, in the form of skinks. They're fast and agile. I stood no chance. I scaled some steep grades, one 50+ degree grade and a longer, 20 degree or so grade. It was fun. I'd do it again.

Saturday I helped Andrew warm up for his marathon in San Diego that I was to run part of with him. Totalled about 5 miles. Nothing special.

Sunday was the San Diego Marathon. I met up with Andrew at mile 10 after a 2.5 mile warmup to FIND the mile 10 marker. After about 6 miles however, my bowels cried out for a toilet. I complied, telling Andrew I'd catch up to him. I took my time on the toilet and set back out. But Andrew got far away. So I kicked it into high gear and pulled off 3 5:30 miles to catch up to him, much to the shock and fear of other competitors and spectators. I had to catch Andrew, after all. When I got to him, he was slowing down... he wasn't able to keep the 3 hour pace. The goal became to finish the race. We got to the finish and I got sunburned. Runningwise, I got in a total of 18.5 miles, averaging about 6:45-7:00/ mile for 15.5 miles and 5:30 for 3 miles.

I met another lizard there, too. A big gecko.

A good trip, wish I ran more but the mountain run hurt my buttocks. Anyway, I was ready to get back to Maryland. I missed my bike and the pool dearly. It was also my last "recovery" week for a while... from now on it's brutal training on the bike and run. I'm looking forward to it.