Ugh!

I just got back from an awesome long weekend in Beaver Creek snowboarding in beautiful snow (over knee deep in the trees)!!! It was awesome! We met the Dusebout's and the Schurmer's up there and hung out for the weekend. It is always great seeing them and having fun.

Today was WINDY!!! Rafael, a good runner I met through Steve Cavalli, called me and asked if I wanted to do a track workout with him. Of course I said yes, and I ran over and met him on an old dirt track at a ghetto high school. He asked what I wanted to do when I arrived, and I decided upon 2x400, 2x800, 1600, 2x800, 2x400. 200 rest except for the rest before and after the 1600.

The wind caused a much slower average, but I ran 75-80 on the 400's, 2:40-2:50 on the 800s, and 5:50 on the mile. It was more of a fartlek with the lack of recovery. Under a minute on most the 200's and under 3 for the 400s. Being one of the first harder workouts, I was happy with the outcome. It is slow as heck, but that is okay for now. I have not worked the system very much and I feel comfortable at 6:00 min pace for a long while. The wind was unbelievable on the back straight! I felt like I wasn't moving at all! I am looking forward to progressing through this and I don't want to run much faster before this half. I want healthy legs and a lot of efficiency at 5:30 or so.

I will hit a nice tempo later in the week at around 6:00 pace, and that will be a nice stretch out from this run. The miles are coming easily, and I think the race will be fun once I get a bit more efficiency. It is hard to do these workouts at lunch and then come back and work another 4-5 hours. Blah!

Back soon!
Finch

Back to Training For Real

I am loving it. I am just excited to be healthy again!!! I did my first tempo on my lunch break the other day. I warmed up a couple of miles, and then just set the pace at 6:00/mi and cruised. It felt fine, and I was rather surprised. It used to be (in CA), that I would leave the door at 6:00/mi pace and come back the same way 10-20 miles later. It is a bit different up here at 5280 feet above sea level. If you train that way all the time, it seems that injuries come around more often (at least for me). So, a first tempo there is alright. I was cruising yesterday at 6:30-6:40 and could have run forever. So, there is efficiency building already, and I feel strong and smooth. I am looking forward to getting some 400's in and getting the legs used to turning over more quickly. I think goals are important, and I will have a better grasp on what I am capable of once I get a few weeks under my belt, but it would be nice to run 5:30s for the race. That leaves me somewhere around 71mins. I hear there is some deep sand running on the beach, so that may put a few minutes on the time. We will see.

Swim went well the other day. I was waiting for a friend and swam 1200 straight through at 1:30/100m pace. So, that is quick improvement seeing as how I was doing that for repeats last week. I will be running more now, but swimming when the legs are aching.

Finch

Snow Shoe Race?

Man, I should have learned my lesson at last year's Teva Mountain Games 10k. I don't know why I think I should be good at high altitude races, because I am clearly not! Adrienne and I were up in Beaver Creek for the weekend and we decided to enter the snowshoe race they put on. This was our first snowshoe race, and I think it just about lived up to our expectations. Completely anaerobic for most the race, and definitely up every hill. To say the least, I did not really enjoy it. I kept hitting my ankles with my snowshoes, and they are now all cut up, swollen, and bruised like crazy! Well, it was an experience. One I do not really want to relive, but an experience.

I have set out a schedule for my upcoming race. I feel pretty good about my fitness on the road, and I think I will be in pretty good shape heading into the race. I will be doing about 50-70 miles a week leading up to the race. The next three weeks are around 55miles, and then I have a bit longer week, and we will see from there. I need to get some efficiency in the legs at about 5:30 pace, and then just take it easy going into the event. I am going old school on the training: Lydiard style! I have 400s and tempos. I have a pretty good base behind me, and it is time to get those legs turning over nicely. Granted it is a half marathon, so I will not be doing anything very fast (around 5min pace max), but I would like to be efficient in that range. There are a couple of good groups that I will hook up with to get some tempos in. Jordan Jones has been doing a good, moderate tempo on the weekend, and that would be a perfect fit for me.

Anyway, today is the first tempo and I expect it will be rough. :)

Jason

An Upcoming Race

Well, I guess the time has come to jump into something again. I received a call from a Non-profit group called Multisport Ministries. I have known about the group for awhile because they asked me to race on their pro team right when I stopped doing triathlons. They have grown a good deal and it is great to see how they are developing as a company. They called and asked if I would do the run leg on a half ironman distance relay. I thought about it for a night and said what the heck. I have been running a lot better lately since my achilles has not hurt, and I really need to get back out there and do something. I ran a sub 1:20 13 mile training run nice and relaxed last time I was in San Diego, so I assume I can run an alright time. There is some soft sand and hard pack sand on the course, so that will be a bit slower. I have always loved the hard packed sand, but despise the soft beach sand. I have started doing some repeats and a couple of tempos out here. I am surprised how fast stuff comes back when I am not limping along with a hurt achilles. I still have a ways to go to get to the half distance, but I feel comfortable with it. We should have a strong team and the winning prize is $1k. That is a nice incentive. It is always fun to win something. The race is put on by the Navy SEALS and it is called the SuperFrog triathlon. I know a good number of SEALS, and I am looking forward to hopefully seeing some of them out there! So, I will keep an update on how the training is going, and how things are progressing.

On a side note, I had a nice swim session today: 12x100m coming in on the 1:30 and leaving on the 1:45. It is progress, and I am alright with that. It actually felt pretty comforable; I just don't have an extra gear yet. Maybe with time (if I keep in the water). It is good cross training!

Until next time!
Finch