Tri and Stop Me

First off, it's been a long time since I've blogged.  It's not so much that I didn't have anything to say...just didn't have the time to write.  Well, I still don't have time to write, but I need to anyway.  I'm not even going to get into the work time constraints except to say that work is burying me.  Enough said about that.  Since the marathon (seems like so long ago) I've been continuing my training, but with the triathlon approaching next week, I've obviously incorporated much more swimming and riding.

The riding has been going very well...but I spend most of my time on my 20 year old bike dreaming about a new one.  By the way, it's a little dangerous to daydream on a bike at 20 mph. Regardless, I have a great desire to obtain new wheels!  I'm struggling though...new road bike or new tri specific bike.  I honestly won't decide until I finish my 2 planned triathlons this year (well, maybe one).  Of course, right now I would lean towards a tri specific bike, but I want to make sure I'm going to enjoy these tris before I spend the $$$.  Bikes, after all, are an investment.  I'm sure there will be more updates on this in future posts...hopefully near future.

After the marathon, when I really started hitting the pool, I had to go through some swimming growth.  Those that know me, know that I've never been a strong swimmer.

I didn't grow up swimming...could barely even get a lap in the pool in high school.  A friend of mine, Rich taught me to swim (for exercise) in my early 20's.  As much as that helped, I only swam then for about one year.  Now I'm in my 30's...okay, late 30's and I'm trying to take it back up, with no help in the pool...for triathlons?!?  Now, I'm jumping in and cranking out 2800 yards at a time.  Okay, it's been a struggle at times though.  For example, I've had several instances where I've tried to concentrate so hard on my swimming, that I forgot to turn my head out of the water to breathe.  Not good, when you don't have gills.  Luckily, I was able to work through those issues.

Now that I'm getting pretty comfortable in the pool, I've decided to try and improve by implementing flip turns.  This is actually, quite funny to me...the thought of me doing flip turns.  I have very little coordination in the pool and if you could see my attempts at flip turns now, you'd laugh.  So far, out of the maybe 20 turns I've done, I've had maybe 4 where I thought "hey, that was pretty good!"  Of course, those were followed by ones where I thought "wow, that was really not good and hopefully nobody was watching."  Usually these are the ones where I've turned much earlier than I should (you really have to get pretty close to the wall to do it right, but I fear cracking my heel on the concrete) and go to kick but my feet find nothing but water...this is a disappointing feeling.  So far, I've learned one very important lesson for those attempting to learn flip turns on your own.  Make sure you've completed your rotation before you kick off the wall.  If you don't, you push off the wall and drive your head right into the floor of the pool.  I don't recommend this method.  Fortunately for me, I had two advantages in this particular situation:  1) the floor of this particular pool is smooth and designed for lap swimming; therefore, it hasn't been left rough like many public pools.  Had it been that way, I would have lost approximately 16.2% of the hair I have left.  2)  I have a very hard head.  My dad and brother will back me up on this.  Sure everyone's skull is pretty tough, but the Taylor boys seem to be a little more so...either that or we've been hit so hard so many times that those portions of the brain no longer recognize the pain and simply sacrifice a few more brain cells.  Still, hitting my head was not that pleasurable and I will try to avoid this on all future swims.  If I'm unsuccessful, I'll be the guy in the pool wearing my bike helmet...makes for faster transitions anyway, right?

I'm now down to one week until my first triathlon...a sprint distance (750 meter swim, 14 mile bike and 3.5 mile run).  I'm nervous...but in an anxious way, so I think that's good.  I've rented my wet suit (water temps of high 60s...well, maybe not after this week's heat wave) and have all the gear I need.  Now I just need to get to the race and give it all I can.  My next blog should be my race report...I know you're waiting to read it.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

Thanks for reading.

- Brian

Post Colorado Marathon Post

Well, the big day was yesterday and I survived.  Not only that, but I trimmed my marathon PR by 50 minutes (according to my Garmin anyway).  Here is how the weekend unfolded.

Saturday:
After a busy morning, we headed north to Fort Collins.  We got the Cambria Suites in town, which was a great hotel by the way, and quickly checked in.  After hauling in some luggage, I rushed out to get to the expo and meet some fellow dailymile runners who were running the marathon.  I met David and Sean there and we talked for a little while about the race, running and marathons.  It was great to meet some virtual people (up to that point) in person.  After that, I headed into the expo and picked up my race packet.  I have to say, the expo at this marathon is pretty small.  Having said that though, there are less than 1000 marathon participants, so what do you expect?  While there, I was able to meet Coach Jeff and Coach Diane from PRS Fit.

(Photo of Coach Jeff and I talking race strategy...taken by Diane at PRS Fit)

This is a rare treat as most of their clients will probably never meet them in person.  Both Jeff and Diane were great and we discussed my plan for Sunday.  They've been very helpful the last two weeks...I just wish I would have signed on with them earlier.  Regardless, we set a plan for me to run 8:35 minute miles for the entirety of the race.  While this was a lofty goal (finish time of 3:45) I felt I was ready to push myself.

After a nice talk with the coaches for a bit, I finally headed back to the hotel to pick up Teresa and Seth.  Teresa was excited to go to the kitchen store downtown before getting dinner at Canino's.  Luckily for me, the kitchen store has a nice comfortable chair where Seth and I relaxed while Teresa shopped.  I was desperately trying to stay off of my feet as much as possible and this was perfect.  We then had a great dinner with my Mom at Canino's...me carbo loading, but only a little.  I didn't want to be weighed down in the morning.  After getting back to the hotel, I gathered all my necessities for the run and headed to bed.  This is a requirement for me as I knew I wouldn't be thinking clearly at 3:00 a.m.  I finally when to bed and I think I fell asleep around 10.

Surprisingly, I actually slept well for the first 3 hours or so.  This is rare for me in a hotel and especially before a big event.  Well, once 1:30 a.m. rolled around, my mind apparently thought I had slept long enough, which was untrue by the way.  I fought that battle for about 50 minutes, but eventually lost.  At 2:20, I finally decided to crawl out of bed and get ready.  We had a king-suite room with Seth sleeping in the "living room" area.  Unfortunately for me, that meant I was getting ready in the bathroom to avoid waking him up.  This included drinking a couple cups of coffee and downing a bagel, yogurt and GoodBelly.  I don't usually recommend ingesting pre-race breakfast in the bathroom, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.  It worked out anyway, and Seth stayed asleep...can't say the same for Teresa though.  I felt bad that she woke up, but I could only be so quiet.

I left the room about 3:20 and headed down to the lobby to catch the shuttle to the race busing area.  I can't thank the general manager, Scott, at the hotel enough for running about 8 of us to the busing area.  Obviously, he wasn't required to be there at 3:30 in the morning, but he went WAY out of his way to make sure we all got to the buses on time.  He and the rest of the staff at the hotel were GREAT!  It was also good to talk to the others on the shuttle.  I was the only Colorado Marathon veteran so a lot of questions were thrown my way and of course I was happy to answer them.  There was a lot of nervous, but positive energy in shuttle so it was fun.

The bus ride to the start was less exciting.  I made every attempt to get little cat naps but I wasn't very successful.  I was done eating before the race, sticking to a 2 hour no eating zone, but I did continue with hydrating.  The bus got to the start around 5:00...one hour before race start.  I prefer to get to the start early, get ready, use the port-a-potty (before there is a long line) and mentally prepare for the run.  The photo below is from the picnic bench I sat at while waiting for the start.  The photo does not do it justice.

Sure I shivered sitting at a picnic table for 30 minutes, but to me, that's better than feeling rushed.  The sky was clear and moon was beautiful.  It was relaxing to sit and enjoy the beauty of the area before the start.  About 15 minutes before go-time, I shed the light jacket and running pants that were just barely keeping me from going into hypothermia.  I'm not usually cold, but sitting, waiting and being nervous for the race, I was chilled.  Stripped down to my thin t-shirt and shorts...I was downright cold.  I checked my bag and headed to the starting area.  Of course, I had to make one more nature call, but, being a guy...that was easy with all the trees around.

I lined up at the start..about midway through the pack.  Somehow a buddy of mine, Adam, found me there so we got the chance to talk a little before the starting siren.  The nerves were not as bad as I thought they would be and I was ready to get rolling.  I didn't have to wait long and we were off.

Just before the start!

The first two miles were dominated by two themes...crowd control and cold.  I was slowly warming up, but my hands and feet were quite chilled.  I knew it was temporary though as we could already see the sun hitting some of the peaks.  Crowd control was a little more difficult.  Starting in about the middle of the pack was fine for me, but obviously, a lot of people who planned on going much slower than I did, decided they needed to be out of the blocks first.  This made it very challenging to run my planned pace for the first couple of miles, when things finally thinned out a little.  I was a little frustrated at times, but decided to let it go...no sense wasting energy on something I couldn't fix, right?

I was doing a great job of holding my planned pace, thanks to my Garmin, and felt great.  My average heart rate was about 147 and I felt strong.  I even had to hold back at times as I just wanted to go faster.  I lost about 30 seconds about 8.5 miles into the race.  Unfortunately, all the pre-race hydration had caught up with me.  This hardly ever happens to me, but I decided it was best to empty the bladder rather than think about it for 18 more miles.  I was quickly back on track though and even ended up catching those I was running with before the pit stop.

Up until about mile 18, I was feeling great and thought I would achieve my lofty 3:45 goal time.  And this is after the course levels off somewhat (still net downhill, but much less so) and even climbs a little towards Ted's Place.  I pushed through miles 17 and 18 to maintain pace and was successful for the most part.  Then came the one hill that amounts to much of anything on this course.  Any other time running this hill, one would hardly pay any attention.  Sure it's a climb, but nothing that would cause lasting damage.  But, when the top is at mile 19 and you've hammered through the previous 18.75 miles...this one is brutal.  I ran about half the hill, but ended up in a walk the second half.  This was the beginning of the end.  That walk really tightened up my legs and the quads were screaming for me to stop.  I walked through the aid station at the top of the hill and then started running again.  Luckily, the course starts downhill right after the climb, so I was back to 9 minute miles quickly.


I was pushing hard though at this point to maintain 9 minute miles, which would've kept me at a sub 4 hour finish.  The legs were still screaming though and I was suffering.  I chose at that point to walk the aid stations.  I didn't have the energy it seemed to drink and run at the same time.  I did this consistently until about mile 23.  After that, I had to do the walk of shame several times.  I hated to do it, but just didn't have it in the legs to continue on running.  Doing so however, I quickly realized I would go over my 4 hour plan...but I was okay with that.  I was doing much better than the 2009 run and I was happy with my performance at that point.

Really suffering now...mile 23. 

In the end, I crossed the finish line running as fast as I could the last 0.2 mile to the finish from the last corner.  Of course, running at that point meant 10 minute per mile pace.  That was all I could muster out of those tired legs.  I crossed the finish line at 4:06:36 according to my Garmin 305 and 4:09 according to my timing chip.  I can only account for about 30 seconds difference between these two times for my pit stop, so I'm choosing to follow Garmin time.

Struggled across, but made it...happily!

I did miss two of the goals I had, but I'm very happy with my results.  I have no room to complain about shaving 50 minutes off of last year's time!  That's an average of almost 2 minutes per mile faster than one year ago!  I'll take it.

Overall, this year's marathon was a great experience and much more rewarding that last year's.  Teresa and Seth continue to support my lack of any common sense to sign up for such a ridiculous activity as this and they were cheering me on at every opportunity during the race.  That by itself is VERY rewarding...I can't explain how good it feels to see you're family cheering you on in such a taxing event.  Without their support (notice I didn't say understanding) I couldn't have finished this race.  I owe another big thanks to all my dailymile friends.  It's such a motivating community of athletes and I'm glad to be a part of it.  Also, a big thanks to Dr. Lloyd at 5280 Chiropractic in Denver.   Without him fixing my IT band issues several weeks ago, I would've been sitting this one out.

More good stuff!  I feel much better today than I did after last year's race.  Oh, I'm sore, don't get me wrong.  Walking down the stairs at this point resembles something like a 100 year old man walking barefoot on broken glass.  I must move very carefully.  My quads are shot and half useless for putting all my weight on one leg at a time.  But, other than that I'm just "normal sore" if that means anything.  My calves feel great which is the exact opposite of last year.  On top of it all, much to Teresa's dismay, I'm already considering signing up for next year's race.  I know, the insanity continues. It's absolutely a ridiculous and crazy event, the marathon, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to train like a mad person for months only to torture themselves on race day just to get a medal at the end.  There isn't any money in it, especially at my pace and age.  I don't get any national recognition or my name on a billboard somewhere...no fame to gain.  My photo won't be on a Wheaties box.  And a week from now, most people I know won't even remember that I did this, unless I'm still hobbling of course, then maybe two weeks.  Maybe I don't need to know why...it's just something I enjoy doing right now and it's a personal thing.  Nothing to hide...just something that makes me feel good...isn't that enough?

Thanks for reading.

- Brian

One Week To Go

Well, the time is quickly approaching.  I've been training hard for the last 4 months and it all comes to a close in a week.  Sure I have other races; and truth be told, I'm very much looking forward to those events.  But this is the biggy, the big kahuna, the mother of all running races (for me...I'm not an ultra runner...yet), the marathon.  I've put in over 400 miles, not including bike miles, since December and I think I'm ready.  I'm now into my last week of my taper with much less mileage but pretty intensive workouts.  I have one more sort of long run (relative) Sunday but that's only 8 miles with 6 of those at 10k pace.  Then, next week is the serious taper with very little mileage...until Sunday of course.

I've also changed my workouts this last week and at least through the summer.  How?  Well, I hired a coach.  I know...sounds ridiculous, crazy, insane.  Why would a 37 year old non-competitive, for-fun athlete hire a coach?  Well, I feel like I want to improve beyond what I believe I can do "coaching" myself.  I ran track in junior high and one year in high school, but I never really had a "great" coach.  They were decent, and I certainly commend their dedication to the athletes, but everything always seemed to be geared more towards the sprinters.  The distance geeks essentially just ran for miles...very few speed workouts or variety.  Now, I'm not saying that with the right coach I would've been a track star back then, but I may have been more competitive.  Anyway, reading books on training now, I realize that I really have no clue what I'm doing out there if I'm training myself.  I know having an expert to guide me along the way will help me to improve and enjoy my successes.  So, I hired Coach Jeff Kline from PRS Fit out of Loveland...ironically the town where I grew up.

I've seen many of Coach Jeff's successes through his other athletes on Twitter and dailymile and he's been very successful.  I contacted him too late to do much for the marathon, though he is helping me with my taper.  I know he will be a great benefit when it comes to the two triathlons, Bolder Boulder and Warrior Dash later this year though...especially the tris.

Anyway, back to the marathon.  I have a plan for the run and I feel confident I can get it done this year.  My goal since I signed up has been to break 4 hours.  The hard part is the last 6 miles.  It's relatively easy to make it the first 16 to 20 miles at that goal pace...especially downhill.  But that last 6 to 10 can be brutal.  Very brutal.  So, a 4 hour marathon is a pace of 9:09 per mile.  I think I'll plan on shaving about 10 minutes off of that and shoot for consistent 8:45 minute miles.  I know I will miss that pace on mile 19.  There is a decent hill that ends at the 19th mile and after 18 miles of downhill...the quads are burning and that hill feels like climbing Everest.  Luckily, after cresting that hill, it's back down to the river and into town.  So that's my goal.  I'm going to drink plenty of fluids, down plenty of gels and pinole and push like I've never pushed before.  In the end, if I finish, I will be a very happy camper.  If I finish under 4 hours, I will be a very ecstatic camper.

In the meantime, the plan for the next week will be to maintain fitness with some short, intensity workouts.  Nothing too drastic in the plans...just burn off the lactic acid and rest up the feet, knees and hips.  I also need to be VERY conscious of my diet this week.  I've been pretty good the last few months and Teresa has been coming up with some very healthy recipes.  The problem is that my calorie burn this last week will be significantly less than the previous 16 weeks.  The last thing I want to do is go into the marathon after gaining some weight back.  Portion control will be key.  Other than that, I plan to increase the carbs a little and stay very hydrated.  Finally...SLEEP!  I'm hoping to get a ton of great REM this week, especially Thursday and Friday night.  It's not even worth hoping for a good nights sleep on Saturday.  And, before I know it...I'll be crossing that finish line and hanging another medal around my neck.

My next post will likely be a post marathon report and I hope to bring lots of good news.  Thanks for reading.

- Brian

It's All Downhill From Here!

I see it's been quite some time since I've posted a new blog and figured I was due.  It's not that I haven't wanted to update everyone, it's just been so busy that I haven't had much of a chance.  Since I woke up this morning at 5:30 and couldn't sleep, I figured today was as good as any.

For the last several weeks, I've been continuing my marathon training but there have been some hiccups.  Just over a month ago, I started to feel my IT band after long runs.  For those that might not know, the IT band runs from your hip, along the side of your leg down to just below your knee.  I believe its purpose is to keep the leg aligned properly when you walk/run.  And, when that bad boy starts to hurt...it REALLY hurts.  This same problem ruined my first marathon in 1998 when it flared up at mile 10.  I finished, but it was brutal.  Feeling that same pain come back this year was quite frustrating.  I struggled through many runs, stretched and did everything I could to ease the pain, but nothing worked except resting...difficult to do while training for 26.2.  There were even two runs where I had to stop after 3 miles and walk home.  Not good!

Teresa had been visiting a chiropractor for some pains she had and I figured it was worth a shot for me.  On my days I head downtown for work, I saw a new chiropractor office was opening up so I checked them out online.  It turns out, Dr. John Lloyd at 5280 Chiropractic would save my marathon chances.  After researching his office, I was pleased to discover that he has participated in 10 Ironmans, Ultra Marathons and other endurance sports.  Who better to know the injury I was experiencing?  So, I made an appointment to see what he had to say.  After a thorough examination and x-rays, he said my IT band issues were quite clear...my hips were displaced.  My right leg was effectively 15 mm shorter than my left, which would cause the pain in my left IT band.  Amazingly, after one treatment, I was running pain free again!  I couldn't believe the difference.  The sound of the footfalls was equal again, legs felt strong and I was ready to go.

With Dr. Lloyd's advice, I've limited some of my long runs to make sure I stay healthy...better to have a few good 16 milers than one painful 20 miler.  I went down that path, but was feeling so good, I cranked out my 20 miler yesterday.  And, no IT band pain!!!  What a relief.  I'm continuing  my chiropractor treatments through the marathon, to make sure I stay on track.  It's amazing how much better I feel.

So, now that my 20 mile run is done, it's all down hill.  I've ran my peak distance and will start my taper for the marathon in 3 weeks.  My long run yesterday went pretty well too and I think I'm on track to go sub-4 hours.  This was backed up by my Yasso 800 predictive workout last Wednesday which put me at a 3:53 time.  My struggle now is the planning.  Given that the Colorado Marathon has over 1300 feet of elevation loss, most of which occurs in the first 18 miles, I'm trying to figure out my pace to go sub-4.  While going downhill seems easier, doing so for such distances can really burn your legs, making the few small hills in this run seem like Everest.  I know...that's how I felt last year for the last several miles.

To run a constant pace and go sub-4, I would need to hold a 9:09 per mile pace.  Relatively easy for the first 16 miles, but more difficult for the last 10.  So I'm thinking of building a buffer, running 8:30 for the first 16 miles, which gives me a nice 8 minute buffer for the last 10 miles. I'm sure I'll be tweaking this plan in the next 3 weeks, but that's where I'm headed now.

On another note, I've officially signed up for more races this year.  I've registered for two sprint distance triathlons; My Way or the Tri Way and the Fall Frenzy.  I'm very excited to venture into the sport of triathlons.  I am planning on signing up soon for the Bolder Boulder, where I hope to PR...love this race.  Finally, I signed up for the Warrior Dash in August.  This is a new one to me, but I'm very excited about it.  The race, which is held at Copper Mountain, includes a nice climb, followed by essentially an obstacle course.  I will have to leap rusted cars, climb hay bails, tackle cargo nets and much more.  Best of all...I get to leap through fire!  Okay, maybe best of all is the cool warrior hat I get at the finish...and the beer.  I will be running this race with several people I work with which will make it that much more interesting.

Between all of that and the family camping and other activities we have planned, my summer has quickly filled up.  If I find more local triathlons that fit in the schedule, I'll most likely sign up for them too.  A great summer awaits!

Thanks for reading.

- Brian

Natural Energy

Wow, I haven't written a blog in a while.  Good thing I never made any promises on how often I'd update this.  Regardless, I've been thinking and experimenting quite a bit lately with different sources of energy pre-run, during the run and post-run.  For the most part, I don't worry as much about this for runs shorter than 6 miles.  I still try to eat the right things, but I'm a little less rigid on those days (not that there are many of those in my plan right now).

As I stated in my first blog, I read and thoroughly enjoyed "Born to Run" and have changed my running style, in part, because of that book.  One of the topics I've taken an interest in specifically, is fueling myself for my longer runs...and in two months, the marathon  One of the sources discussed in the book is chia seeds...(pause for effect)...yes, I said chia.  The same chia that is used in the well-known Chia Pets.  I know it sounds odd and yes, I've heard many jokes relating to my receding hairline and nearly bald head as to my secret reason for eating chia seeds.  To clear the air, that is not why I'm experimenting with chia.  After doing some research, it seems that these tiny little seeds are a super food.  High in omega fatty acids antioxidants.  They are strange little guys.  When you leave them in water for a few minutes, they actually gel up the water.  It's surmised, or so I've read, that this may actually help as a long-lasting energy source by slowing the digestion.  Finally, about a month ago, curiosity got the best of me and while at whole foods one day, I picked up a small (but expensive) bag from Whole Foods.  I've started to incorporate the seeds into my pre-run routine.  For the Sunday long runs, I add about a tablespoon in my oatmeal about 2 hours before run time.  For all runs about 6 miles or longer (including the Sunday long run) I also add about 1.5 tablespoons to an 8 oz. glass of water with a little agave and lemon or lime juice for flavor.  I typically let it set for about 5 or 10 minutes before I drink it to let it set up.  I have to say, and this is completely subjective, that I really think they help.  I know it sounds crazy, and if you saw them I'm sure you'd have doubts, but I feel more energetic after taking the seeds.  So much so, that I even purchased a 2 pound bag of the seeds online (much cheaper too)...that's a lot of seeds!

There's another secret energy source in the book...pinole.  Pinole is a mixture of ground corn and other spices which can be ground pretty coarse or very fine.  Pinole is very difficult to find locally but there are a few places online where it is available.  It can be ingested several ways...mixed with water for a drink, mixed with less water for a paste or baked in the oven for portability.  I bought some online and have tried it on two long runs, one 10 mile hilly run and one 13 mile treadmill (yes, treadmill) run.  I think I mixed my drink a little weak on the 10 mile run, but I could feel some lasting energy from the mixture.  However, the next week I essentially doubled the amount of pinole in the water and had amazing results.  I was stuck on the treadmill due to weather (didn't feel like running 13 miles in 4 inches of fresh snow) and it was hard to get motivated to spend 2 hours in the basement staring at a 13" tv screen.  I won't lie...it was painful mentally.  But, the good news was that I drank an entire water bottle full of the pinole mixture throughout the run and felt great the whole run.  Not only that, but I felt so good with 1.5 miles left in the run, that I cranked up the pace by nearly 30 seconds per mile.  I even finished the run with energy left.  The only other source of energy taken in during the run was Hammer Nutrition's Heed energy drink, which I used all last year as well.  There is most definitely a difference with the pinole.  A couple things to keep in mind though...drinking it like I have will leave a chalky feeling in your mouth.  If that's going to bother you..don't try it mixed with water.  Second, it's mostly corn.  Without going into details, we all know corn is slow to digest, although quicker when ground. Do not use pinole after you start to feel the energy drain...it will be too late.  I started drinking it after 2 miles and alternated with Heed about every 2 miles after that.  A much better test will be this weekend's 16 miler!  Now if I can just find enough ways to carry all this liquid on my run.

Okay, now that I wrote all this, I realize it's kind of a dry and boring post.  I apologize if you've woken with your head in a pile of drool on your keyboard...truly sorry.

Thanks for reading.

- Brian