Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Long runs
After completing the SJ RnR 1/2 and taking it easy on the running for a bit I have been ramping up my long runs in the last two weeks. With the Las Vegas marathon coming up in six weeks, I did 15 and 17 mile runs in the last two weeks. It's pretty rough... This week I'll try for 20 miles.
One of my favorite things
I've been wanting to write this post for a while...Well, for almost exactly a week.
On the drive from Carlsbad, NM to El Paso, TX I realized what one of my favorite things, or better activities is: Driving along a straight desert highway in perfect weather blasting power ballads in the radio. During last weeks drive the two radio stations which are available down there played the Scorpions' "Still Loving You", Def Lepard's "Hysteria" and Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool". It's just the pefect music for the situation. The funny thing is that I didn't even like that kind of music that much until I lived in Nevada 11 years ago. But listening to "Here I go again" by Whitesnake, speeding along an empty highway towards Death Valley, or to Ozzy's "Mama I'm coming home" while driving towards a sunset, can change some preferences...
It's definitely something I am looking forward toon my next trip to New Mexico - hopefully I'll get a rental with satelite radio...I hear there's a station called "Hair Nation" :-)
On the drive from Carlsbad, NM to El Paso, TX I realized what one of my favorite things, or better activities is: Driving along a straight desert highway in perfect weather blasting power ballads in the radio. During last weeks drive the two radio stations which are available down there played the Scorpions' "Still Loving You", Def Lepard's "Hysteria" and Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool". It's just the pefect music for the situation. The funny thing is that I didn't even like that kind of music that much until I lived in Nevada 11 years ago. But listening to "Here I go again" by Whitesnake, speeding along an empty highway towards Death Valley, or to Ozzy's "Mama I'm coming home" while driving towards a sunset, can change some preferences...
It's definitely something I am looking forward toon my next trip to New Mexico - hopefully I'll get a rental with satelite radio...I hear there's a station called "Hair Nation" :-)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
High Points of the 50 States
Here's another list I came up with while procrastinating more pressing things:
The high points of the 50 States of the US. I might tackle the second of those tomorrow...
Guadalupe Peak.
Alabama Cheaha Mt., AL 2,405
Alaska Mt. McKinley (Denali), AK 20,320
Arizona Humphreys Peak, AZ 12,633
Arkansas Magazine Mt., AR 2,753
California Mt. Whitney, CA 14,494
Colorado Mt. Elbert, CO 14,433
Connecticut Mt. Frissell--S slope, CT 2,380
Delaware Ebright Azimuth, DE 448
Florida Britton Hill, FL 345
Georgia Brasstown Bald, GA 4,784
Hawaii Mauna Kea, HI 13,796
Idaho Borah Peak, ID 12,662
Illinois Charles Mound, IL 1,235
Indiana Hoosier Hill Point, IN 1,257
Iowa Hawkeye Point, IA 1,670
Kansas Mt. Sunflower, KS 4,039
Kentucky Black Mt., KY 4,139
Louisiana Driskill Mt., LA 535
Maine Mt. Katahdin, ME 5,267
Maryland Backbone Mt., MD 3,360
Massachusetts Mt. Greylock, MA 3,487
Michigan Mt. Arvon, MI 1,979
Minnesota Eagle Mt., MN 2,301
Mississippi Woodall Mt., MI 806
Missouri Taum Sauk Mt., MO 1,772
Montana Granite Peak, MT 12,799
Nebraska Panorama Point, NE 5,424
Nevada Boundary Peak, NV 13,140
New Hampshire Mt. Washington, NH 6,288
New Jersey High Point, NJ 1,803
New Mexico Wheeler Peak, NM 13,161
New York Mt. Marcy, NY 5,344
North Carolina Mt. Mitchell, NC 6,684
North Dakota White Butte, ND 3,506
Ohio Campbell Hill, OH 1,549
Oklahoma Black Mesa, OK 4,973
Oregon Mt. Hood, OR 11,239
Pennsylvania Mt. Davis, PA 3,213
Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill, RI 812
South Carolina Sassafras Mt., SC 3,560
South Dakota Harney Peak, SD 7,242
Tennessee Clingmans Dome, TN 6,643
Texas Guadalupe Peak, TX 8,749
Utah Kings Peak, UT 13,528
Vermont Mt. Mansfield, VT 4,393
Virginia Mt. Rogers, VA 5,729
Washington Mt Rainier, WA 14,410
West Virginia Spruce Knob, WV 4,861
Wisconsin Timms Hill, WI 1,951
Wyoming Gannett Peak, WY 13,804
The high points of the 50 States of the US. I might tackle the second of those tomorrow...
Guadalupe Peak.
Alabama Cheaha Mt., AL 2,405
Alaska Mt. McKinley (Denali), AK 20,320
Arizona Humphreys Peak, AZ 12,633
Arkansas Magazine Mt., AR 2,753
California Mt. Whitney, CA 14,494
Colorado Mt. Elbert, CO 14,433
Connecticut Mt. Frissell--S slope, CT 2,380
Delaware Ebright Azimuth, DE 448
Florida Britton Hill, FL 345
Georgia Brasstown Bald, GA 4,784
Hawaii Mauna Kea, HI 13,796
Idaho Borah Peak, ID 12,662
Illinois Charles Mound, IL 1,235
Indiana Hoosier Hill Point, IN 1,257
Iowa Hawkeye Point, IA 1,670
Kansas Mt. Sunflower, KS 4,039
Kentucky Black Mt., KY 4,139
Louisiana Driskill Mt., LA 535
Maine Mt. Katahdin, ME 5,267
Maryland Backbone Mt., MD 3,360
Massachusetts Mt. Greylock, MA 3,487
Michigan Mt. Arvon, MI 1,979
Minnesota Eagle Mt., MN 2,301
Mississippi Woodall Mt., MI 806
Missouri Taum Sauk Mt., MO 1,772
Montana Granite Peak, MT 12,799
Nebraska Panorama Point, NE 5,424
Nevada Boundary Peak, NV 13,140
New Hampshire Mt. Washington, NH 6,288
New Jersey High Point, NJ 1,803
New Mexico Wheeler Peak, NM 13,161
New York Mt. Marcy, NY 5,344
North Carolina Mt. Mitchell, NC 6,684
North Dakota White Butte, ND 3,506
Ohio Campbell Hill, OH 1,549
Oklahoma Black Mesa, OK 4,973
Oregon Mt. Hood, OR 11,239
Pennsylvania Mt. Davis, PA 3,213
Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill, RI 812
South Carolina Sassafras Mt., SC 3,560
South Dakota Harney Peak, SD 7,242
Tennessee Clingmans Dome, TN 6,643
Texas Guadalupe Peak, TX 8,749
Utah Kings Peak, UT 13,528
Vermont Mt. Mansfield, VT 4,393
Virginia Mt. Rogers, VA 5,729
Washington Mt Rainier, WA 14,410
West Virginia Spruce Knob, WV 4,861
Wisconsin Timms Hill, WI 1,951
Wyoming Gannett Peak, WY 13,804
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Recovery week
The past week was pretty slow, at least regarding work-outs. (Work was pretty busy though.)
Now that I am back in New Mexico there was no gym climbing or yoga, and after last weekends race I tuned down on the running part a bit. Wednesday and Friday I ran 5 easy miles and this morning I ran 7.5 miles. It was a horrible run though! The morning temperatures were in the low 50's for the entire week...But not today...low 70's...add the rain of last night and you have a muggy humidity, which makes for most unpleasant running.
I also brought my 'Rock Rings'. Since I was disappointed with my power endurance in the climbing gym after returning from NM last time I decided to do a little strength training out here too. I had two short sessions so far, and definitely feel it in my forearms... A good sign...
In combination with some push-ups and some core exercises this will get me somewhere.
Next week I will increase my mileage towards the Las Vegas marathon. I'll be doing a 6 mile tempo workout on Tuesday, an 4 mile easy run on Thursday and a long run of 16 miles on Saturday. Between the runs I'll try to keep up the strength work-outs.
Now that I am back in New Mexico there was no gym climbing or yoga, and after last weekends race I tuned down on the running part a bit. Wednesday and Friday I ran 5 easy miles and this morning I ran 7.5 miles. It was a horrible run though! The morning temperatures were in the low 50's for the entire week...But not today...low 70's...add the rain of last night and you have a muggy humidity, which makes for most unpleasant running.
I also brought my 'Rock Rings'. Since I was disappointed with my power endurance in the climbing gym after returning from NM last time I decided to do a little strength training out here too. I had two short sessions so far, and definitely feel it in my forearms... A good sign...
In combination with some push-ups and some core exercises this will get me somewhere.
Next week I will increase my mileage towards the Las Vegas marathon. I'll be doing a 6 mile tempo workout on Tuesday, an 4 mile easy run on Thursday and a long run of 16 miles on Saturday. Between the runs I'll try to keep up the strength work-outs.
Monday, October 6, 2008
San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon
To make it short: What an awesome race!
It was so good, or felt so good because, as evident in the previous post, I was quite nervous about this race. I hadn't felt too well for the entire week, and on top of that hadn't gotten much sleep two nights before the run. But as soon as my alarm went of at 5:30 I felt good... a quick shower, two PB&H pitas, a coffee, and some water and I was ready to go. Lesley and her friend picked me up at 6:30 and we got to downtown San Jose in about 20 minutes. The parking was surprisingly easy... About a 8 minute walk from the start area. The temperatures this morning were in the 50's which felt ok, if not a little too chilly. Around 7:30 I dropped my long sleeve and my long pants at the gear check and went looking for my starting corral. I had given an estimated finishing time of 1:45.30, which put me in corral 3. Honestly, I was surprised to be that far up front (there were 13 coralls). Lesley was in corall 4, so we hung out for a bit anc chatted etc. With ten minutes to go we took our positions. During this waiting period I was quite happy that I had brought a 'space blanket' that I wrapped around my legs, and which kept me nice and warm. This race featured 'pace groups': Some runners carried signs saying 1:45 for example, and they were expected to run at the pace to get you to the finish in exactly that time. I spotted one a few meters in front of me and figured that I might tag along...
Then at 8:02 the starting horn went off. The start was, compared to other races, a pleasure! The corral system worked! No one walking or running extremely slowly, so that I could get into my pace right away. And that pace was fast. My plan was to run the first mile at 8:30, but checking my watch I was doing 7:30...ah well...it felt alright. The miles went by and I felt good... always a tad behind the pace group guy...by perhaps 30 seconds to a minute... At some point I caught up and even passed him. By mile 7 or 8 the group passed me again and essentially took off. Checking my watch revealed that I was on the right pace, so that I didn't worry too much. Around mile 10 I switched my soundtrack from "Live after Death" to my "Hate Crew Death Roll". I instantly felt the boost... Without the GI problems I had during the Kaiser 1/2 in February and with more long runs under my belt the last two miles were a pleasure compared to my previous half marathons. At some point during the last mile I passed the 1:30 pace group guy... No sign of the 1:45 group though. Shortly past the 13 mile marker I turned into the final stretch and see the time ticking away: 1:44...1:44.05...
I wanted to stay below the 1:45 mark, and managed to in 1:44,45. I took almost 14 minutes off my previous PR.
So what did I learn? Don't trust 'pace groups' but stick to your own pace!
This race was definitely different from Las Vegas: Crossing the finish line there I ate almost everything they handed me...Bananas, Oranges, cookies, pretzels...Here I was disgusted by the idea of food. I had half a banana, that was it...
After picking up my gear I came across the Widmer Brother's booth though...One free beer for every participant! Now that was something I could not say no to! What an excellent recovery drink :-)
After meeting up with Lesley I got back to my place around 11... Met up with my parents and went for a huge breakfast at Stack's...Now I was ready to eat...
It was so good, or felt so good because, as evident in the previous post, I was quite nervous about this race. I hadn't felt too well for the entire week, and on top of that hadn't gotten much sleep two nights before the run. But as soon as my alarm went of at 5:30 I felt good... a quick shower, two PB&H pitas, a coffee, and some water and I was ready to go. Lesley and her friend picked me up at 6:30 and we got to downtown San Jose in about 20 minutes. The parking was surprisingly easy... About a 8 minute walk from the start area. The temperatures this morning were in the 50's which felt ok, if not a little too chilly. Around 7:30 I dropped my long sleeve and my long pants at the gear check and went looking for my starting corral. I had given an estimated finishing time of 1:45.30, which put me in corral 3. Honestly, I was surprised to be that far up front (there were 13 coralls). Lesley was in corall 4, so we hung out for a bit anc chatted etc. With ten minutes to go we took our positions. During this waiting period I was quite happy that I had brought a 'space blanket' that I wrapped around my legs, and which kept me nice and warm. This race featured 'pace groups': Some runners carried signs saying 1:45 for example, and they were expected to run at the pace to get you to the finish in exactly that time. I spotted one a few meters in front of me and figured that I might tag along...
Then at 8:02 the starting horn went off. The start was, compared to other races, a pleasure! The corral system worked! No one walking or running extremely slowly, so that I could get into my pace right away. And that pace was fast. My plan was to run the first mile at 8:30, but checking my watch I was doing 7:30...ah well...it felt alright. The miles went by and I felt good... always a tad behind the pace group guy...by perhaps 30 seconds to a minute... At some point I caught up and even passed him. By mile 7 or 8 the group passed me again and essentially took off. Checking my watch revealed that I was on the right pace, so that I didn't worry too much. Around mile 10 I switched my soundtrack from "Live after Death" to my "Hate Crew Death Roll". I instantly felt the boost... Without the GI problems I had during the Kaiser 1/2 in February and with more long runs under my belt the last two miles were a pleasure compared to my previous half marathons. At some point during the last mile I passed the 1:30 pace group guy... No sign of the 1:45 group though. Shortly past the 13 mile marker I turned into the final stretch and see the time ticking away: 1:44...1:44.05...
I wanted to stay below the 1:45 mark, and managed to in 1:44,45. I took almost 14 minutes off my previous PR.
So what did I learn? Don't trust 'pace groups' but stick to your own pace!
This race was definitely different from Las Vegas: Crossing the finish line there I ate almost everything they handed me...Bananas, Oranges, cookies, pretzels...Here I was disgusted by the idea of food. I had half a banana, that was it...
After picking up my gear I came across the Widmer Brother's booth though...One free beer for every participant! Now that was something I could not say no to! What an excellent recovery drink :-)
After meeting up with Lesley I got back to my place around 11... Met up with my parents and went for a huge breakfast at Stack's...Now I was ready to eat...
Thursday, October 2, 2008
San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half - 3 days
Later today will be the last workout before the SJ RnR 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. A 3 mile tempo run... I am getting antsy to get the race over with. I have been training well, had a few good long runs, really good fast runs... I should be well prepared. Still I am nervous... today I feel tired and drained of energy. I didn't sleep well the last few nights, although I still got 7+ hours every night.
I wonder if last weekend's climbing is still taking its toll. Although it shouldn't! I mean, that's why I do all this endurance training, right? To reduce recovery times.
My legs feel funny... I can't quite tell if they feel tired, or if they are screaming: "Let me run!" The last real run was last Friday, since then I just did some miles on the treadmill... That might have been a bad idea as well...to change that in the last week before a race...
Another thing which contributes to my 'antsyness': For my first two 1/2s I just wanted to finish, and I put hardly any training in... This time around I have a goal...and I have put quite some effort and work into the race preperation... Will it work out? Will I be able to achieve the goal? Did I prepare right? Am I on the right way to the second goal of the season, the Las Vegas Marathon?
I guess Sunday will tell!
I wonder if last weekend's climbing is still taking its toll. Although it shouldn't! I mean, that's why I do all this endurance training, right? To reduce recovery times.
My legs feel funny... I can't quite tell if they feel tired, or if they are screaming: "Let me run!" The last real run was last Friday, since then I just did some miles on the treadmill... That might have been a bad idea as well...to change that in the last week before a race...
Another thing which contributes to my 'antsyness': For my first two 1/2s I just wanted to finish, and I put hardly any training in... This time around I have a goal...and I have put quite some effort and work into the race preperation... Will it work out? Will I be able to achieve the goal? Did I prepare right? Am I on the right way to the second goal of the season, the Las Vegas Marathon?
I guess Sunday will tell!
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