Triathlon- If you want to run faster- bike more!

This morning I did a short triathlon on Camp Humphreys- 400 meter swim, 20 K bike, and 5K run.

SWIM: On Thursday I did 400 meters in 7:50 in the indoor 25 meter pool. Today, with a diving start I checked the watch at 8:13 when I emerged from the 50 meter outdoor pool. I guess that means the more wall push offs there are, the faster I can go.

T1: Run to the bike, on with the bike shoes, sleeveless top, helmet, sunglasses, and off I go. Probably a minute or more but I didn't bother to look.

BIKE: 2 x out and back on a relatively flat course. Coming back on the first leg I unexpectantly hit a bump and nearly lost it- unfortunately my water bottle flew out of it's cage meaning there wouldn't be any water until the run (fortunately, I had the foresight to plant another bottle in the transition area). I finished up with the bike computer reading 38:55 for 12.96 miles- call it 39 min for 13 miles. Ave speed read 19.9 mph. That's good for me.

T2- Off with the helmet and bike shoes, on with the running shoes. No fancy stretch laces so I spent the extra time lacing up. Chugged some water and dumped the rest over my head. No cloud cover today with a 9:15 am start- and no water on the bike I was getting warm.

RUN: Legs felt like crap- normal for right off the bike in a triathlon. I passed 2 guys who were doing what I call "the triathlon shuffle". They were running about as good as I can swim. Finished in 1:08:? 6th overall (the winner finished under 59 min- very strong bike leg!)

COMMENT: My lack of bike training really cost me on the run, as my legs never really came around so I could get rolling (or maybe it was the heat). I only bike 25-35 miles per week, 4 miles back and forth to work a few times a week, and 2 miles back to do the kids running program. I know that putting in an occasional longer bike would pay huge dividends on the run, but whoever said I was training for a tri? Post race weight was 124.

How to Run Faster: Lose Weight if You Need To!

Basically, you gain 1% in running speed for every 1% reduction in body fat. To put this in perspective, if you currently run a 10 K at a pace of eight minutes (8:00) per mile, losing 5% of your excess body fat will improve your time to 7:36 per mile (8:00 x 0.05 = 24 seconds faster; 8:00 - 0:24 = 7:36). Consequently, you will run the 10K about 2.5 minutes faster, and your marathon about 11 minutes faster. - Training to Improve Your Running Ability by Mel Williams, PhD

MY COMMENT: So lets say you weigh 150 pounds and are 15% fat (22.5 lbs of blubber). If you lost 5% as in Williams example, that would take you to 10%,(so now you carry 15 lbs of the stuff). You've dropped 7.5 pounds.

Another theory on body weight and running performance was offered up by Tom Osler, who believes every extra pound of flab cost you 2.5 seconds per mile .

Back to the example by Williams, a 7.5 pound drop in fat weight means you'll run 24 seconds per mile faster. Using Osler's theory, you will run just under 19 seconds per mile faster.

The formula mentioned by Williams is based on "oxygen consumption dynamics" measured in a lab, while Osler reviewed data from actual runners and their performances.

Remember- you can also go too low with your body fat percentage! Skinny world class male distance runners can be as low as 4-5%, but most of us carry more fat cells than they do and find it near impossible to get below 15%. You won't run well on a starvation diet either.

Workout Update Sept 15

Rather than bore you with the daily workouts, I've decide to only post the key workouts, along with a weekly summary. Today (Sept 15) I jogged a slow stop and go mile with Sumo,then ran at least 2 more.

2 x 2 miles with 5 min recovery. 12:29 and 12:27. I made it a point to keep the pace below anaerobic threshold and felt pretty good. I think I could have done another but then I would have been late for work. Considerably faster than the last time I did this workout (13:10 and 12:55)Aug 20. 8 miles total.

pm: 30 minutes of easy cycling on the rollers. Call it 8 miles

NOTE: Did a decent swim workout yesterday- 6 x 150 meters and I hit 2:51 on a couple in the middle-pretty quick for me (these are very similar effort and time wise to running 800s, at least for me). I'll get in the pool tomorrow and be ready for my tri on Sat!

What To Do With Your Old Running Shoes

If you have old shoes laying around, check out soles4soles, a charity that distributes dontated running shoes to the needy. Watch the video- wow!

Founded by Wayne Elsey, who also has an interesting blog titled Get off The Couch. I'll say this- Wayne is certainly passioniate about making a difference. What a great idea!

Week Summary Sept 5- Sept 11

Run- 42 miles
Bike- 24 miles
Swim- 2,000 meters

A light week, but one day off brought down the totals. If I use Monday through Sunday as my week, it looks like this:

Run- 53 miles
Bike- 24 miles
Swim- 3,000 meters

That's why I don't get too hung up on weekly totals. One day off doesn't make a difference, and in fact the rest may be needed.

Workout Update Sat Sept 11

am: Steady rain this morning so I hopped on the rollers for 30 minutes of cycling- call it 8 miles. I left a puddle of sweat on the floor, and weighed in at 123.2! Perhaps the scale was a bit off- I wish I'd done a pre-workout weight and double checked the post workout.

pm: How to salvage a screwed up workout! Jogged the half mile down to the start of an 800 I measured on the rice paddy roads. Wearing an old, tight-fitting pair of Adidas Boston's, I decided to go without socks, something I rarely if ever do. I happened to have run a couple of sockless interval workouts in these shoes before without blisters, however this time I added the HTP Heel Seats for extra protection. That changed everything.

This is a workout I wanted to go well, and it's been 3 weeks since my last intervals so I started comfortable finishing in 3:04. I decided on 90 seconds for recovery and came back in 3:03. Number 3 was going well until half way through I suddenly felt a hot spot on the back of my heel. I hate stopping in the middle of an interval so pushed it to the end in 3:06- a little tentative.

I removed my shoe which revealed torn skin, so there was no way to continue without some repairs. I limped it back home (one mile), taped up, changed to my favorite long distance racing flat (the discontinued Brooks Burn), and jogged the half mile back to the start.

The next interval went in 3:04, again a little slow. Coming back, with less than 30 seconds to go I spot a dog. As I got closer, I realized he was tied to the motorcycle of a Korean checking on his rice or something. Do I charge through and hope the dog can't catch me with bike in tow? Screw it- I had to stop,then slowly get by him and finish in 3:12.

The rest of the way went without incident- 3:01, 3:04, 3:00,3:00.

All in all, a total of 9 x 800 ave with 7 at 3:04 or faster. Total miles in this workout added up to 7. Hopefully one I can build on leading up to a 10K at the end of Sept and half marathon Oct 10.

Finally, while I'll probably feel it later, I had absolutely no sign of heel discomfort! And i just weighed in again at 123.2. No doubt I am a little dehydrated and need to monitor my weight more often. Light is good, but not if I'm low on fluid and glycogen.

Resistance Flexibility Training

I'm a fan of Bob Cooley who came up with this concept. I just wish I could figure out a good way to stretch my hamstrings without partner assistance! meridianstretching.com

Workout Update Fri Sept 10

pm: 7 miles in 60 min- wind and some pelting rain. I've had better runs. Spent the day on the train- to Daegu and back, about 3 hours each way. Deugu is hosting the track and field world championships in 2011- can't wait!

Workout Update for Thurs Sept 9

am: just a short jog with Sumo- he didn't want to do anything this morning.
pm: 2 miles with the kids including a few 300 meter races. Too tired to try intervals, but did 6 miles and a reasonable pace followed by 4 miles biking. I ran from home to work the long way to pick up my bike.

Workout Update for Wed Sept 8

am: easy 2 mile jog with Sumo,then easy 4 miles. 4 mile bike to work

pm: 1,000 meter swim

Weather permitting, I am planning some 800 repeats tomorrow so consider this a rest day. I haven't done intervals in about 3 weeks and now is the time to get back in.

World Mountain Running Championships

The men's race was held over a 12 kilometer course with more than 4,200 feet of vertical gain. The route started in a wide, grassy meadow and quickly merged into a paved and level roadway for the next kilometer. The terrain changed to a gravel road and started to climb. For the next 10.5 kilometers, the course varied from steep, rocky terrain through both forest and wide open spaces. There was one descent of 300' on this mostly uphill course.

"This (course) makes road running look like a walk in the park" -16th place finisher Max King (from runningusa) who has an 8:31 PR for the 3000 meter steeple and has also run for the US at the World Cross Country championships.

In this interview, King describes a 100 x 200 meter workout! Are you kidding? Sounds like something Jim Ryun would have relished back in his day.

King has some other interesting entries on his blog, but too bad he hasn't been able to keep it updated.

Workout Update Sept 7

am: 1 mile with Sumo then 8 miles easy.
pm: 1 mile with the kids
8 miles of biking.

Nothing special- my heel was pain free running in the morning but I feel it slightly this evening. I am planning on a hard long interval session later this week. Thursday or Friday.

Nice pic and story in runnersworld about Rachel Booth who I did some long runs and interval workouts with in Okinawa- another Wisconsinite running well!

Workout Update Monday Sept 6

Labor Day! Still feeling not up to par, I ran the on-base 5K anyway, thinking I could snap out of it. The course, as usual, was way off the mark- something like 3.4 miles, and I ran 20:51, so over 6 min per mile. Not a good day. Followed up with an easy 1000 meter swim.

pm: 7 miles bike (estimated because I used the rollers).

Sunday Sept 5- SICK

Felt lousy all day running a slight fever. I think it was bad food rather than a virus.

Summary for the Week Aug 29-Sept 4

Run- 54 miles
Bike- 36 miles
Swim- 3,000 meters

Highest run total in a long time. Finally broke 50 miles!

Workout Update Sat Sept 4

am: 2 mile bike, 13 mile run. The good news is I felt pretty good, the bad news is the heel was hurting the last 4. While it's usually sore in the morning, this is the first time I've felt it giving me trouble on a run.

pm: swim 10 x 100 meters

Workout Update Fri Aug 3

am: mile jog with Sumo, then 5 easy. 4 mile bike to work.
pm: nothing

Had to work late and just blew off swimming this afternoon. It happens.

Workout Update Thurs Sept 2

am: Took advantage of a cool typhoon day and got in 9 miles easy this morning

pm: 4 mile bike, swim 20 x 50 meters, 4 mile bike

The swim was tough- too long between pool visits.

Since the 10K I am shaking things up a bit and putting effort into getting in some miles. They are slow but I could care less. I'll get back to the intervals and time trials soon enough.

R.I.P. Jim MacLaren

Jim MacLaren dies at 47

Mike Buss- 78 Consecutive Marathons and Counting

Follow Mike Buss on Facebook as he continues to run 26.2 miles every day on a treadmill. He's going for 100, and it's for a good cause. Buss is raising funds for wounded British soldiers (JustGiving)

World Record! 9:22 mile in a 80 Pound Bomb Suit

Blueberries and Muscle Damage

Damage to muscle cells exposed to oxidative stress was significantly reduced when also exposed to doses of blueberry fruit extracts, according to findings published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. -Blueberries may protect muscles from exercise damage

MY COMMENT: First cherry juice and now blueberries?

Cherry Juice May Enhance Marathon Recovery

The findings indicated that the group who drank the cherry juice recovered their strength more rapidly than the control group over the 48-hour period following the marathon. Inflammation was also reduced in the cherry juice group, as was oxidative stress, a potentially damaging response that can be caused by strenuous physical activity, particularly long distance endurance exercise. -Marathon Runners Should Pick Cherries for Speedy Recovery

MY COMMENT: Interesting finding- perhaps not, but it seems to me any deep colored fruit juice would help. I'll stick with beer! Anti-inflammatory Effect Of Beer, Blocks Interferon-gamma-induced Chemical Processes

Workout Update Wed Sept 1!

am: very easy stop and go 1 mile with Sumo (now about 13!), then 4 plus at an easy pace. 4 mile bike to work

pm: 4 mile bike home, then 4 plus mile jog into base and back - I need some cash in case this typhoon actually shuts us down for a while!

Didn't plan on running twice, however I wanted the extra miles just in case we do get slammed tomorrow (although I have been known to run during typhoons in Okinawa). A little wind and rain is not a big deal.

Typhoon Kompasu Weakens on Path Toward Seoul; Warnings Issued

Workout Update Tues Aug 31

am: 6 miles easy, with 1.5 miles barefoot on the artificial grass.

pm: 1 mile running with kids, 4 mile bike home.

Later, heel is sore, probably from that barefoot running.