faster with age

     I rode my mt bike 30.3 miles to Thatcher summit. The first 14.5 miles of the ride climbs almost 1000 feet and the ride is half on dirt road. I could tell I haven't got my biking legs back yet. My legs were pretty tired and my butt was pretty sore by the end. I used to do this ride about once a week and it wasn't a big deal.

     My hamstring got sore Saturday evening after the half marathon so I didn't run yesterday and decided I would take it easy today. I ran 6 miles at 8:55 pace. Everything felt alright.

     Ran 10 miles late morning.  The temp was 88 deg. Kept the pace easy again and everything felt fine. 8:36 AP

     Rode my mountain bike a little over 20 miles on my favorite loop.  It's about 3/4 on dirt and has some big hills. I pushed it pretty hard and averaged 16 mph which is pretty good for me on that route.

     Ran 10 miles up around the reservoir in the heat [around 88 deg]. I ran a few short stiders during the last couple of miles. 7:56 AP

     Ran 3 miles early and didn't have time to run farther. I was planning to do a few more later but never got the chance. I ran 2x400s faster during the last mile at around 6 min pace. 7:52 AP

     Ran 3 miles at 7:41 ave. Then 4x1/2 miles at 5k pace with 1/4 mile recoveries at around 8:30 pace. I ran the first 2 halfs at 6 min pace [way too fast for 5k for me right now]. The next 2 I ran at 6:15 pace which is still faster than 5k pace for me right now. Finished up with a 7:45 mile.  Overall pace for 7 was 7:25.

     Went 30.29 miles on my mt bike this morning. The temp had already hit 70 by the time I left and was 89 by the time I finished. I pushed pretty hard today and averaged 15.9 mph. The route is half on dirt and climbs nearly 1,000 ft the first half. I felt much better than I did on this same route last week and finished it 17 minutes faster today and felt better at the end. I've got to get in bike shape quick for the biathlon that I'm doing 2 weeks from Sat. 

     6 easy miles 8:52 AP

     10 miles 8:39 AP

     I went to the track for some intervals this morning. With a biathlon coming up in two weeks I decided to get in a 5k workout. My target was to run 5x1000 at what felt like a pace I could sustain for 5k with a 400 recovery lap between each. I started with a 3 mile warmup then went 4:03, 4:06, 3:54, 3:52, 3:48 with recoveries at around 8:30 pace. The first 2 were intervals were probably more what my 5k pace would have been today but I couldn't resist pushing for a little better time on these and ran the last 3 at a little harder effort. I ran another 3 1/2 laps cooldown to make it an even 8 miles. 

     PM  I headed out for a ride on my road bike but about 4 1/2 miles in my derailleur broke and I had to call my wife to come pick me up. When I got home I hopped on my mt bike and did another 20 miles on the highway. I kept the effort pretty hard. and felt pretty good considering the hard workout in the morning.

     Ran 6 miles this morning. I was feeling some fatigue from yesterdays 2 hard training sessions. Made this a very easy recovery run at 9:30 AP

     My hip was bothering me a bit again this weekend. Biking didn't seem to bother it so I took my favorite mountain bike route for the first time this year. It is 46 miles total with 28 miles on dirt and 18 paved. It includes a 14 mile section of dirt road down through the Oneida Narrows with about 6 miles along the Oneida Reservoir then 8 along the Bear River. There is a campground along the reservoir and I always love the smell of cooking breakfast lingering in the trees as I ride past. This ride has about 1200 ft net elevation difference from highest to lowest points. I hammered pretty hard this whole ride except near the halfway point I did take about a 10 min break at a grassy picnic area along the reservoir to eat an energy bar and get a drink. I averaged 16.1 MPH. I felt pretty good throughout this ride. My arms actually got the most tired from all of the jarring they take on the bumps. There was one 5 mile section in the Narrows that was extremely rough. It was a very nice ride and my average speed was about as fast as I have done it. I feel like my biking fitness has come back quickly over the past couple of weeks. I wish I could jump start my running and see some quick improvement the same way.

6 easy.  Hip still a little sore.

11 easy. Hip much better. 8:39 AP

     Went 20 miles on mt bike

     I wanted to get in at least one 5k specific workout this week and decided for me the best 5k workout is a 5k the week before the race. I ran a 5 mile warmup starting at 7:58 pace and progressing to 7:23 by the 5th mile. Then I changed into my racing flats and ran the 5k. I was planning to run it in about 20 min. but went a little faster in 19:27. Splits were 6:15, 6:22, 6:19, and :31. I had a slight tailwind the first 1.5 then ran back into the headwind the last 1.6.  I finished up with 2 miles at 8:12 pace. I am pretty happy with the result but I never really felt that great the whole time. Even the warmup felt hard. It might have something to do with the biking that I've added the past couple of weeks.

     Went for a 19 mile mt bike ride in the 93 deg afternoon heat.

     Family reunion up at the spruces. Went on a 5 mile hike.

     Went on my usual 20.2 mile course on my mountain bike. I really hammered the whole ride and beat my PR for this route. I finished in 1:08:21 which is an average of 17.7 mph. It is about 12 miles on dirt and 8 on pavement with some good sized hills. I'm feeling confident about the cycling part of the biathlon this Saturday and shooting to hit 23 MPH+ on the road. I think it is within reason as long as I don't kill myself too bad on the 5K right before.

     14 mile run up past the reservoir. 8:27 AP

     My right calf tightened up a bit yesterday during the last couple of miles and this evening when I started to run it was still sore. I had some problems with this calf last year so I played it safe and only ran 1 mile then got on my bike instead. It was nearly dark and I only had time to go 10 miles. I don't have a light.

     My calf felt fine today and I ended up running 4 miles. After warming up for about 1 1/2 miles I ran 9x200 at around 6 min pace with 200 slow recoveries.

     I look forward to this race each year since it's in my home town. It starts with a 5 K run then a 14 mile bike. My training has been quite a bit better the past month than it has been all year but still quite a bit short of what I was doing last year. I felt like even though I have only been riding my bike a couple times a week for the past 6 weeks that I was having some good results on some of my training rides and might be able to PR even though I would be a bit off on the running side of things. 

      I ran a 1 1/2 mile warmup before the race.  The 5k was first and I ran the first 1/2 mile in about  8th place. By the time we hit the turn around I had 2 guys just a little ways ahead of me then a good sized gap up to three high school and college runners.  Shortly after the turn around I passed the next 2 ahead of me and continued to increase the gap on them throughout the rest of the 5K.  I ran past the clock at the end of the 5K and it was just turning over to 19 minutes but it was still quite a ways down to the bikes so I didn't hit the button on my watch until I got to my bike which was closer to the correct 5k distance. That ended up being 19:24. I was pretty happy with that time considering my current fitness. I ran a 19:27 5k time trial last Friday but was quite spent at the end. Today I ran about the same time but without killing myself so bad. That was what I had hoped to do.

     My transition took 1:05. That included riding my bike down to the other end of the parking lot then making a u-turn out of the lot onto the road before hitting my lap button to start timing the bike leg.

     After making another quick turn I could see a rider about a block and a half ahead. This would give me somebody to focus on catching. After a half mile or so we came to the next turn but the rider ahead of me kept going strait. When I got to the intersection I could see the sign to turn and new this was the route so I turned and though maybe he was not part of the race. I couldn't see anyone else ahead of me but had a guy gradually gaining on me from behind. He finally caught and passed me about 8 miles in. He got about 30 yards ahead of me and I worked to keep from letting him get any farther. For the next 2 1/2 half miles I stayed in this position [ far enough back to not be drafting]. At this point I passed him back and just tried to hammer pretty good the last few miles. I ended up finishing about 1/2 min ahead of him. I was 37:55 on the bike leg. Average speed was 22.2 MPH. I was hoping to be a little faster on the bike. 2 years ago I finished the bike in 36:03 for 23.3 MPH ave speed.  I was hoping to beat that but that year they did the bike first so I guess that just shows what the 5K takes out of you. My overall time was 58:24.

     After finishing my wife said I was the 3rd to come in. I knew there had been 3 runners ahead of me and I also thought I may have been passed by somebody in the team category [that was on the bike ready to go when his runner came in] while I was in transition for a minute getting my bike and changing shoes and putting on my helmet. I went over and checked the board and both of the guys that finished ahead of me had been teams which left me first overall for the individual category.

     One of the 3 runners ahead of me was Luis Vidal [who just recently joined the blog] from Logan. He won the individual race last year. He ended up coming in a few minutes behind me. I talked to him after the race and found out that he had missed a turn and the rider I saw miss the turn was the team rider that had passed me in transition. He was focused on Luis a block ahead of him and had missed it also. The 2 of them went quite a ways before getting back on track.

     The first year I did this race I finished 15th. Then I finished 4th the next 2 years then 2nd the last 2 years so it was sweet to finally win it but I wouldn't likely have beat Luis if he haden't missed the turn so I guess this one gets a big asterisk next to it.  My overall time was 38 seconds slower than last year but I guess I don't feel too bad about that knowing how much better my overall fitness was last year. Hopefully I can make some good progress over the next 2 months and get back in good shape for the St George Marathon.

     Left for Eastern Pennsylvania today. Didn't have time for a run before I left pulling an empty trailer with my jeep.