The Training Blog of Bill Anders

Sunday, September 21st, 2008 at 11:35 am | 4 Comments »

40!

Knocked out my 40-miler today. It was a great experience.

For all the gory details, browse here: http://billanders.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/40/

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 09/21/2008
Time: 00:00:00
Total Time: 7:15:57.00
Average Heart rate: 129
Max Heart rate: 144
Calories: 5733
Distance: 40 miles
Average Pace: 10:53.36/mile
Max Pace: 7:32.26/mile
Ascent: 293 ft
Descent: 293 ft

Filed under: Fitness, Galloway, Inspiration, Iraq, Marathon, Nutrition, Run, race report | Digg! this story! Digg! this story. | Leave a Comment

Post by:Bill Anders

Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 11:59 pm | 1 Comment »

Low Octane

“Glycogen is the fuel, but electrolytes are the octane” is a paraphrase of a quote that I read somewhere some time back. It was related to Ironman training.

So I discovered how true that was on this weekend’s long run. And with a bit of hindsight, realized that’s what happened to me during last year’s Iron-distance DNF.

The backstory is this – typical Iraqi summer, with afternoon temps in the mid-oneteens. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But Friday night, the air conditioner in the office caught fire. Luckily we were there and I gave it a puff from the fire extinguisher to put it out. Jump to Saturday. The office is a sauna. Outside it was 115-ish with low single-digit humidity. In the office, which is on the third floor of the building we’re in, is easily mid-90’s with significant humidity. To put it politely, we’re sweating our balls off. But I do know we’ve still got it good compared to the guys out on patrol.

Anyway, recognizing that it’s a sauna in our office and I’ve got a long (27-mile) run scheduled for that evening, I’m pouring down the water. Several liters through the afternoon. A good dinner, more water and then it’s out for the run.

Since it’s such a long run and I’m working 12-hour days, I start earlier than normal (8pm) when it’s still 106F. The first few miles aren’t quick, but that’s OK; I’m in this one for the long haul, expecting about 5 hours to finish, which gets me back to the room at 1 am, with enough time to eat, shower and get about 5 hours sleep before heading back to the sauna. Not ideal, but it is what it is.

The goal is to keep the pace at a relatively pedestrian 11-minute mile using a 4-minute run/1-minute walk strategy. Ingest 100 calories every 20 minutes and three Endurolytes once an hour on the :50’s. Which is exactly what I did.

Again, started off a bit slow, but I was warming up. By mile 5 I was averaging 10:46, which was a bit quick, so I backed off just a hair. For the next 7 miles, I kept it right at about 10:55’s, which is right where I needed to be. Fueling and hydration were right on schedule, including a couple of unscheduled pee breaks. Good hydration in the 100F+ heat.

At mile 12, the wheels came off. Actually, I didn’t realize it until mile 13, when I had stopped to refill my water bottles (for the second time). Looking back at my Garmin data is when I realized that it happened in mile 12. I went from keeping a nice consistent 10:55′ish pace to 12:45. Just like that. Someone had flipped a switch.

I had the energy. I could feel that. But the legs just weren’t firing. I could get up to a shuffle, but that wouldn’t last long. I was better off walking, even though it was flat. No amount of talking to my legs would get them to change.

At mile 15, which was my regularly scheduled fuel/water stop, I turned off the watch and called it a night. Sure, I could have tried to tough it out and see if it got better, but having been there before during last year’s IM-distance race, I knew that it wouldn’t. I’d just continue to do a zombie shuffle.

Fast forward to today. It’s still 115 outside. I’ve been drinking fluids all morning, but still hadn’t pushed the electrolytes, other than the few pills I popped as soon as I got back to the room. I’m well fueled, but standing up and getting dizzy as hell. Even though I was peeing clear, dehydration had apparently set in. I sucked down three liters of water with two Nuun tablets in each one before I even started to feel remotely normal again.
By then it was already late enough in the day that I decided that the best course of action was to bag tonight’s run. No sense in pushing my luck tonight. Tomorrow’s my normally scheduled rest day, so I’ll just do tonight’s run tomorrow.

Looking back at the last two days, I know that I was fueled just fine. Matter of fact, even after putting in the 15 miles last night, I ended up with a 300-calorie surplus for the day. But I know now that I had a stale tank of gas, with no octane.

And I’m glad it happened. Only 20 days until I run my 40-miler. And that’s a lesson I’m glad I don’t have to learn that day.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 08/30/2008
Time: 20:00:00
Total Time: 2:52:27.00
Average Heart rate: 124
Max Heart rate: 142
Calories: 2179
Distance: 15.12 miles
Average Pace: 11:24.41/mile
Max Pace: 9:29.62/mile
Ascent: 24 ft
Descent: 24 ft

Filed under: Diet, Fitness, Iraq, Marathon, Nutrition, Run | Digg! this story! Digg! this story. | Leave a Comment

Post by:Bill Anders

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 am | 1 Comment »

4×6′ Tempo Intervals

Funny how a day will change things.

Last night’s run/weight workout was bland, at best. Just couldn’t find the rhythm on the treadmill and just couldn’t find the oomph with the weights. So I cut the workout short and called it a day.

Today was different. Got out for my run, which was to be 4×6′ tempo w/ a 2′ rest between. Gradual warmup, which ended up being a bit quicker than normal since a guy passed me and acted as a bit of a rabbit. I’d reel him in, then he’d hear my footstrikes and accelerate. This went on for the first two miles, which was the end of my warmup. I thanked him as I cruised past.

The first one felt good. Apparently, since I hit the 5:56 pace during this one. I didn’t hold at that pace, but didn’t fall far off it either. I actually maintained a pretty steady pace through the first three, right at about 6:25 pace. I fell off the pace on the fourth a bit, but I wasn’t surprised. I was a bit behind on my nutrition today so I fully expected to bonk during this last interval. I held off, but it wasn’t pleasant.

One of the best things about my late evening runs is that, in the dark, I can’t see my Garmin or my watch. So I just have to run completely on feel and wait for the watch to beep. Hopefully I can get the Garmin squared away and use the interval function again sometime soon, but the watch on the other wrist is doing just fine right now.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 07/03/2008
Time: 21:00:00
Total Time: 00:59:38.00
Average Heart rate: 135
Max Heart rate: 153
Calories: 1025
Distance: 6.75 miles
Average Pace: 8:50.19/mile
Max Pace: 5:56.08/mile
Ascent: 11 ft
Descent: 11 ft

Filed under: Fitness, Iraq, Nutrition, Run | Digg! this story! Digg! this story. | Leave a Comment

Post by:Bill Anders

Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm | No Comments »

3 Nice and Easy

Real easy. Zone 1 was the intent and was, for the most part, achieved, except for a couple of short forays into Zone 2. During mile 2, I had to walk a hill to stay in Zone 1.

Now it’s time for dinner, a large pork butt that I smoked with hickory all day over low heat. It rested while I ran, so now that we’re both done, it’s time to dig in. With a fine bottle of Redhook ESB.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 04/06/2008
Time: 17:15:00
Total Time: 00:32:04.00
Average Heart rate: 129
Max Heart rate: 142
Calories: 448
Distance: 3 miles
Average Pace: 10:41.71/mile
Max Pace: 7:21.18/mile

Filed under: Fitness, Nutrition, Run | Digg! this story! Digg! this story. | Leave a Comment

Post by:Bill Anders

Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 11:53 am | No Comments »

Cruisin’ 12

The long run for my recovery week (hehe, I typed “weak” there; Freudian slip, perhaps?).

Another beautiful day for a long run. I’ve lucked into those the past several weekends. Overcast, 45 degrees, a breath of wind to cool me down when I turn into it. Very nice.

I’m still trying to sort out my optimum run/walk ratio. Today I employed a 6-minute run/30-second walk strategy. It worked just fine also, keeping me right in my average half-marathon finish time without really pushing myself. And this was a training run!

The first couple of miles were a very comfortable 9:10-pace, then I slowly picked it up. By mile 6, my average pace was down to 8:58, where I held it for a couple of miles. It fell apart at 9.5-miles, but that was my own doing.

One of the great things about this Galloway method is that I don’t really pay attention to my pace as I’m running. It’s a window on my Garmin, but it’s one of the small ones down in the corner. The large one at the top shows elapsed time, which is how I keep track of my run/walk times. When I’m running, I go as I feel.

So at 9.5-miles, I was feeling good. Cruising the flats, getting ready to make a right turn up a gradual 1/4-mile long hill. Through that stretch I was holding a 6:00-pace. On one hand, that was my undoing for the last 2.5 miles. On the other hand, it’s great to know that I can crank out a pace like that deep into a longer run.

The next couple of miles really weren’t much slower than average, sitting right at 9:05-pace. I could just feel the glutes and ITB starting to tighten up, paying me back for my effort. The last mile pretty much melted down, dropping to 9:58.

After a tall glass of chocolate milk and a shower, it’s time to stretch those glutes and ITB’s out.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 04/05/2008
Time: 10:35:00
Total Time: 1:49:34.00
Average Heart rate: 146
Max Heart rate: 157
Calories: 1826
Distance: 12.05 miles
Average Pace: 9:05.45/mile
Max Pace: 6:00/mile
Ascent: 324 ft
Descent: 324 ft

Filed under: "trigger point", Fitness, Flexibility, Galloway, Nutrition, Run | Digg! this story! Digg! this story. | Leave a Comment

Post by:Bill

Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 7:12 pm | Comments Off

MS Blues Half Marathon: Race Report

In the words of S. Baboo Friday night as we ate dinner with him and GeekGirl - “Life is funny. You just can’t make up stuff this good”. But that doesn’t really have anything to do with this blog. We were already laughing and that line made me laugh even more.

It all started with checking in at our hotel in Jackson, MS. The guy in front of us, wearing his Boston Marathon Finisher’s Jacket, mentioned to one of the hotel staff that this race was going to be tougher than Boston, thanks to the hills. No one mentioned hills. Not in this race. The course profile showed some bumps, but certainly nothing to get concerned about, right?

So we check in to the hotel, grab a quick nap, then head over to the expo to sign in. I call S. Baboo and GeekGirl, who are out driving the course. The first thing he mentions are the hills. And it doesn’t sound good. Further discussion squashes any plans for a PR on this course.

Race morning turned out beautiful for a run, although a bit warmer than I like. But standing around before the start was pretty cool at 45F with a nice breeze. So I stood with Goddess, wrapped up in my sweats until just moments before the horn went off. Then I slipped into the pack, not 30 feet from the front, and started the run.

As expected the first 1/2 mile was pretty slow as everyone is packed together and shuffling along. It took a while, but then things started thinning and and I could move. The plan was to start out slow and throttle back for the first half, then pick up the pace. I planned this for two reasons: 1) with the hills, I didn’t want to go out to hard and blow up, and 2) this was always planned to be just a training run for me (definitely a priority B race, where I didn’t peak and taper like I would for a priority A race).

The first few miles were warming up, talking to Elvis (who invited me back to Graceland after the race), and working my way around the other runners. Not that I was flying, but it was pretty easy to pick out who had started out too hard. The first long uphill was between 3-3.5 miles and folks started drifting back. This hill even slowed my overall average pace a few seconds, but that was fine with me, especially this early in the race.

Through the mid-section of the race, I planned on keeping the pace nice and steady so I’d have something left for the last 4-5 miles. I actually ended up picking up the pace in the mid-section, shaving time off my average pace from miles 3.5-8. So far so good, but the hills just kept coming as we worked our way through the downtown business/capitol district of Jackson.

The last 5 miles started out quite hilly as we worked our way past the fairgrounds and climbed up into a residential area. This is where quite a few folks started walking, but that wasn’t in my plan. I started reeling in more runners as I picked up the pace, but now that I look at the data, I didn’t actually pick up speed. Matter of fact, over my last 5 miles, every 1/2 mile split was within 1 second of each other, either 8:45 or 8:46. How’s that for consistent? Here’s the pace chart and route (click on the picture to see the full image, which includes the full route):

I think the killer was the last 1/2 mile, where we made a left turn and went straight up. It sure felt like a wall at that point. I crossed the finish line at 1:55:46 , not a PR, but just 8 minutes off. Not too bad for a hilly course and a training run. If I remember correctly (the web site’s not updated), that made me 132nd out of 600. Also, I think they had me at 1:56:02, which would account for passing under a railroad track (more on that later).

After Goddess and I drove back to the hotel for a quick ice-bath and shower (Goddess refused to join me for either one), we grabbed the boy and headed back to the race. We sat at the finish “wall” and cheered the marathon finishers on, telling them it was the last hill. There were a few comments of “It sure as hell better be”.

We almost missed S. Baboo as he came sprinting up the top of the hill on his way to a PR! We cheered GeekGirl on as she went up the hill, but it was a few minutes later when we realized that it was her. She finished quite strong herself and I know she’s pleased with the race, especially considering the hills.

So we sat in the finish area, ate some food, listened to some blues and enjoyed the free beer. It was quite an energetic post-race.

After a few relaxing hours in the hotel that afternoon, we met up at a local bar, which sponsored the race. They definitely threw in a great deal, with free entry to all race competitors, plus two free drink coupons. Very nice schwag there! The bands were great, as was the beverage and company. But it all had to come to an end, especially since we had a 7-hour drive home the next day.

I did learn a few things during this race:

1). Pay closer attention to the race profile. Goddess even asked me afterwards when I was going to pick a flat course. My Garmin gave me 1,300 feet of climbing during the 1/2 marathon; BIM Active calculates 839 feet (I believe that more). Either way, I don’t want to think of what it was for the full.

2). Turn off the “auto pause” feature on my Garmin. We went under a train overpass at one point and it turned off for about 15 seconds. All-in-all, nothing horrible, but just an odd event that took my mind off of my run.

3). Fuel. Making the transition from getting ready for a triathlon and getting ready for a run was difficult. My first half-marathon last year, I ate my normal 600+ calories like I would before a triathlon; too much to run on right away. I scaled that back for my marathon and felt a bit better, although I did suffer from some gastro-issues during the last few miles. This time I drank one Ensure (250 cals) and everything worked fine. Also, a few weeks back I found the culprit of my stomach pains during the latter parts of my runs- my long-beloved Hammer Gel. I was on a 10-miler and popped a gel at mile 7. By mile 8-9 I had the familiar stomach pain that I had throughout all of my races last year; the rest of my run wasn’t good. So I switched to Clif Shot Bloks and they worked fine during my long run last weekend. They worked great during this race, too. No issues at all, either during or after. So I ran with my Fuel Belt, water and a package of Shot Bloks. I drank the water at the aid stations and took the occasional swig from my belt. Absolutely no issues.

Anybody need some Hammer Gel?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slamming Hammer Gel. I’ve been a big fan of Hammer products for the past 12 years and will continue to use them. But I’ll just have to limit the gel use to long training rides and races. No runs.

Pardon the pun.

Would I recommend next year’s Mississippi Blues Half-/Full Marathon? Hells Yes! An excellent course, with bands along the way, plenty of aid stations, enthusiastic volunteers, a welcoming community, great schwag and entertainment make this a race that needs to be on your “must-do” list. Plus, if you live in someplace cold (it was 9-degrees here the morning before we left), a place like southern MS in January is pretty darn warm (and humid). A nice change of pace for a few days.