Tag: stats

July 2013

Running

Big month. Lots of running. This was by far the most miles I’ve run in a single month as far back as my records go. I know for a fact I ran farther in October 1996, but probably not any other month. My average run distance was about the same as usual (just under 10 miles), but I ran more frequently than usual. From my longstanding three days per week schedule I went up to four days per week in the spring. In July I upped that again to five days per week, with one week at six days. That week I ran 72 miles, which was also my highest weekly mileage since October 1996.

There’s now 10 days left until Howl at the Moon and I’m going to be taking it pretty easy until then.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 131.5 Mile 13 10.1154 Mile
February 87.4286 Mile 10 8.74286 Mile
March 162.84 Mile 17 9.57882 Mile
April 169.12 Mile 16 10.57 Mile
May 133.61 Mile 12 11.1342 Mile
June 127.39 Mile 16 7.96188 Mile
July 200.4 Mile 21 9.54286 Mile
Total 1012.29 Mile 105 9.64084 Mile

Running 2013 7

Cycling

I actually had a hard time keeping my cycling mileage ahead of my running mileage this month. But the one race I did, New Town Triathlon, I did much better on the bike than I expected, even going (slightly) faster than last year.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 3.7 Mile 1 3.7 Mile
February 15.2 Mile 4 3.8 Mile
March 123.14 Mile 16 7.69625 Mile
April 114.22 Mile 12 9.51833 Mile
May 157.33 Mile 14 11.2379 Mile
June 217.6 Mile 10 21.76 Mile
July 223.1 Mile 8 27.8875 Mile
Total 854.29 Mile 65 13.1429 Mile

Cycling 2013 7

Swimming

An expired pool membership, a pool closed for renovations, and a lot of running conspired against me to prevent me from doing much at all in the way of swimming.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 3950. Yard 3 1316.67 Yard
March 18900. Yard 11 1718.18 Yard
April 15600. Yard 10 1560. Yard
May 13200. Yard 8 1650. Yard
June 11580. Yard 8 1447.5 Yard
July 2093.61 Yard 2 1046.81 Yard
Total 65323.6 Yard 42 1555.32 Yard

Swimming 2013 7

Walking/Hiking

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 37.64 Mile 12 3.13667 Mile
February 50.6 Mile 21 2.40952 Mile
March 92.9 Mile 37 2.51081 Mile
April 41.5 Mile 21 1.97619 Mile
May 91.75 Mile 33 2.7803 Mile
June 32.03 Mile 21 1.52524 Mile
July 14.8 Mile 8 1.85 Mile
Total 361.22 Mile 153 2.36092 Mile

Walking 2013 7

May 2013

Running

Sure, 40% of my monthly mileage came in one day, but I recovered from Berryman pretty quickly and I’ve been getting some good training in since then.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 131.5 Mile 13 10.1154 Mile
February 87.4286 Mile 10 8.74286 Mile
March 162.84 Mile 17 9.57882 Mile
April 169.12 Mile 16 10.57 Mile
May 133.61 Mile 12 11.1342 Mile
Total 693.749 Mile 69 10.0543 Mile

Running 2013 5

Cycling

I certainly got off to a slow start with cycling this year, but the last week of May things really started to come together for me. I should be in race condition in no time.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 3.7 Mile 1 3.7 Mile
February 15.2 Mile 4 3.8 Mile
March 123.14 Mile 16 7.69625 Mile
April 114.22 Mile 12 9.51833 Mile
May 157.33 Mile 14 11.2379 Mile
Total 413.59 Mile 47 8.79979 Mile

Cycling 2013 5

Swimming

My times keep getting better, though they may be reaching a plateau. I’m approaching the point where I can swim 1000 yards at nearly the same pace as 200 yards. So in order to keep dropping my 1000 yard times I’m actually going to have to do speed work. Yuck.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 3950. Yard 3 1316.67 Yard
March 18900. Yard 11 1718.18 Yard
April 15600. Yard 10 1560. Yard
May 13200. Yard 8 1650. Yard
Total 51650. Yard 32 1614.06 Yard

Swimming 2013 5

Walking/Hiking

I did lots of walking and hiking as active recovery from Berryman, and it seems to have worked really well. I don’t think I’ve ever recovered from an ultra this quickly.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 37.64 Mile 12 3.13667 Mile
February 50.6 Mile 21 2.40952 Mile
March 92.9 Mile 37 2.51081 Mile
April 41.5 Mile 21 1.97619 Mile
May 91.75 Mile 33 2.7803 Mile
Total 314.39 Mile 124 2.5354 Mile

Walking 2013 5

March 2013

Something has to give. In order to increase training time in one endeavor I typically need to decrease time in another. For example, this past winter I ran more and biked less. At least I thought that was the case.

I’ve broken the rules. By taking time away from other activities (mostly watching TV) I’ve been getting in some good (if brief) swiming and running workouts during my lunch breaks. Furthermore, by multitasking (walking while working, more on that below) I’ve gotten a few more low-impact miles on my legs.

So in March I was able to achieve the largest total walking volume of any month since I started recording it, the second largest total running volume, and a local maximum in swimming volume (more than all of last year). All with lousy Smarch weather.

Good month, or best month?

Running

Fully recovered from Fuego y Agua and training hard for the Berryman 50 mile in May.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 131.5 Mile 13 10.1154 Mile
February 87.4286 Mile 10 8.74286 Mile
March 162.84 Mile 17 9.57882 Mile
Total 381.769 Mile 40 9.54421 Mile

Running 2013 3

Cycling

Weak, but at least the trend is moving in the right direction.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 3.7 Mile 1 3.7 Mile
February 15.2 Mile 4 3.8 Mile
March 123.14 Mile 16 7.69625 Mile
Total 142.04 Mile 21 6.76381 Mile

Cycling 2013 3

Swimming

I swam as far in March 2013 as I did in all of 2012 combined.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 3950. Yard 3 1316.67 Yard
March 18900. Yard 11 1718.18 Yard
Total 22850. Yard 14 1632.14 Yard

Swimming 2013 3

Walking/Hiking

I bought a cheap treadmill to go under my standing desk and I’ve been walking (sloooowly) a couple extra hours most days while I work.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 37.64 Mile 12 3.13667 Mile
February 50.6 Mile 21 2.40952 Mile
March 92.9 Mile 37 2.51081 Mile
Total 181.14 Mile 70 2.58771 Mile

Walking 2013 3

January 2012

Running

11,879 feet total ascent.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 131.5 Mile 13 10.1154 Mile
Total 131.5 Mile 13 10.1154 Mile

Running 2013 1

Cycling

Ouch.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 3.7 Mile 1 3.7 Mile
Total 3.7 Mile 1 3.7 Mile

Cycling 2013 1

Walking & Hiking

Burrrr.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 37.64 Mile 12 3.13667 Mile
Total 37.64 Mile 12 3.13667 Mile

Walking 2013 1

Stairmaster

15,130 feet total ascent.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 29.56 Mile 6 4.92667 Mile
Total 29.56 Mile 6 4.92667 Mile

Stairmaster 2013 1

October, November, December 2012

Well, it’s been a while. November and December were a little bit crazy for me on account of a project I was working on in my spare time.

Running

I haven’t raced since October, but I’ve been doing a lot of high quality training in my build up for the Fuego y Agua 50K in February. As you can see from the chart below, I ran farther in 2012 than any of the past 11 years. This is also the longest I’ve gone without a sidelining injury during that time. June of 2012 was the only month with low mileage, and that was when I intentionally took a break to recover from my spring races.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
June 54.83 Mile 7 7.83286 Mile
July 115.76 Mile 9 12.8622 Mile
August 91.81 Mile 9 10.2011 Mile
September 123.61 Mile 15 8.24067 Mile
October 115.4 Mile 12 9.61667 Mile
November 118.23 Mile 13 9.09462 Mile
December 129.98 Mile 14 9.28429 Mile
Total 1342.12 Mile 145 9.25599 Mile

Running 2012 12

Cycling

Concordia Cross

Some other guy (not me)

Cycling was virtually non-existent for me the past few months. I did one cyclocross race in November on no training and somehow still wound up with a good result. The lack of bike miles towards the end of the year almost allowed my modest running mileage to catch up.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
June 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile
July 260.12 Mile 16 16.2575 Mile
August 81.87 Mile 8 10.2338 Mile
September 45.46 Mile 8 5.6825 Mile
October 35.37 Mile 8 4.42125 Mile
November 10.58 Mile 1 10.58 Mile
December 22.7 Mile 6 3.78333 Mile
Total 1592.93 Mile 132 12.0676 Mile

Cycling 2012 12

Walking & Hiking

Babler hike

There was a big drop off here as well, mostly because I needed the extra hours to work on my project.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 51.53 Mile 16 3.22063 Mile
February 42.92 Mile 18 2.38444 Mile
March 41.15 Mile 14 2.93929 Mile
April 31.89 Mile 12 2.6575 Mile
May 37.5107 Mile 13 2.88544 Mile
June 39.4 Mile 18 2.18889 Mile
July 2 Mile 2 Mile
August 64.99 Mile 25 2.5996 Mile
September 85.88 Mile 25 3.4352 Mile
October 32.34 Mile 10 3.234 Mile
November 16. Mile 5 3.2 Mile
December 15.22 Mile 4 3.805 Mile
Total 460.831 Mile 162 2.84463 Mile

Walking 2012 12

Stairmaster

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 0 0 0
May 0 0 0
June 0 0 0
July 0 0 0
August 0 0 0
September 13.85 Mile 4 3.4625 Mile
October 12.87 Mile 3 4.29 Mile
November 0 0 0
December 9.34 Mile 2 4.67 Mile
Total 36.06 Mile 9 4.00667 Mile

Stairmaster 2012 12

Swimming

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 1750. Yard 2 875. Yard
May 8050. Yard 7 1150. Yard
June 4100. Yard 3 1366.67 Yard
July 2993.61 Yard 3 997.871 Yard
August 2150. Yard 3 716.667 Yard
September 0 0 0
October 0 0 0
November 0 0 0
December 0 0 0
Total 19043.6 Yard 18 1057.98 Yard

Swimming 2012 12

September 2012

Running

Forest Park XC Festival

I continued doing a lot of shorter runs throughout September (if 8+ miles per run can be considered short). More importantly I got back on track of running 3-4 times per week. I raced the Forest Park Cross Country Festival, my first race after the epic Howl. Later in the month I gradually started ramping my mileage up in preparation for The Next Ultra in October.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
June 54.83 Mile 7 7.83286 Mile
July 115.76 Mile 9 12.8622 Mile
August 91.81 Mile 9 10.2011 Mile
September 123.61 Mile 15 8.24067 Mile
Total 978.509 Mile 106 9.23121 Mile

Running 2012 9

Cycling

MVI_1289

Unfortunately, I missed out on Gateway Cup this year. My knee just wasn’t ready for bike racing yet. I took a few more weeks off before starting to get back into the swing of bike racing at Gateway Cross Cup.

Bike Distance # Rides Avg per Ride
Bianchi 16.65 Mile 2 8.325 Mile
Pocket Rocket 17.2 Mile 5 3.44 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird 11.61 Mile 1 11.61 Mile
Total 45.46 Mile 8 5.6825 Mile

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
June 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile
July 260.12 Mile 16 16.2575 Mile
August 81.87 Mile 8 10.2338 Mile
September 45.46 Mile 8 5.6825 Mile
Total 1524.28 Mile 117 13.028 Mile

Cycling 2012 9

Walking/Hiking

Walking home

I found walking and hiking to be the best thing for helping my knee recover. I could stretch out my legs and get blood flowing to the problem areas with no impact and little risk of further injury.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 51.53 Mile 16 3.22063 Mile
February 42.92 Mile 18 2.38444 Mile
March 41.15 Mile 14 2.93929 Mile
April 31.89 Mile 12 2.6575 Mile
May 37.5107 Mile 13 2.88544 Mile
June 39.4 Mile 18 2.18889 Mile
July 2 Mile 2 Mile
August 64.99 Mile 25 2.5996 Mile
September 85.88 Mile 25 3.4352 Mile
Total 397.271 Mile 143 2.77812 Mile

Walking 2012 9

Stairmaster

And now for something completely different. I found a reasonably priced, high quality, used StairMaster stepper machine on Craigslist and bought it. I have wanted one of these for years. I first started using a machine nearly identical to this during the winters at the UIUC gyms a few years back. I wanted to do it more, but going to the gym was a bit of a hassle. Here in STL I don’t have a gym to go to, and going would still be a hassle. With this machine at home I can use it whenever I want. I’ve mentioned repeatedly how I don’t run on consecutive days as a rule. With this stepper I can get a comparable workout with zero impact on my knees. As a side effect, I’ve already noticed (after less than 20 miles of stepping) that my hill running has dramatically improved. I might just have a chance on the slopes of Volcan Maderas next year…

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 0 0 0
May 0 0 0
June 0 0 0
July 0 0 0
August 0 0 0
September 13.85 Mile 4 3.4625 Mile
Total 13.85 Mile 4 3.4625 Mile

Stairmaster 2012 9

August 2012

Running

Howl at the Moon

August was consumed by tapering for Howl at the Moon, running Howl at the Moon, and recovering from Howl at the Moon. Over half of my miles in August came in that one day. The rest of my runs were very short, but the average distance per run was heavily skewed by Howl. My knees took a real beating during the last 10 miles of that race, so I’ve been super cautious with my recovery to ensure I don’t have any long-lasting injuries as a result.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
June 54.83 Mile 7 7.83286 Mile
July 115.76 Mile 9 12.8622 Mile
August 91.81 Mile 9 10.2011 Mile
Total 854.899 Mile 91 9.39449 Mile

Running 2012 8

Cycling

Team & race volunteers

The weird thing about my knee pains is that while I have recovered reasonably well with respect to running, I can’t say the same about cycling. 10 days after Howl I went to my regular Tuesday night practice race and by the end my knee was killing me. I took another week off of cycling. The next week I intended to go back but I didn’t make it 2 miles from home before my knee started to hurt. I took 2 more weeks off of cycling. At this point I’ve only done one serious ride in the past 6 weeks, and that one didn’t go well at all. Now that road racing season is over I can just wait this thing out and make sure it’s gone before starting up in earnest again. I’d like to do some cyclocross racing this fall, so hopefully I’m back to 100% soon.

Bike Distance # Rides Avg per Ride
Pocket Rocket 18.7 Mile 5 3.74 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird 63.17 Mile 3 21.0567 Mile
Total 81.87 Mile 8 10.2338 Mile

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
June 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile
July 260.12 Mile 16 16.2575 Mile
August 81.87 Mile 8 10.2338 Mile
Total 1478.82 Mile 109 13.5671 Mile

Cycling 2012 8

Walking/Hiking

In the pack

I made up for the lack of cycling with a bunch of walking and hiking. This doesn’t hurt my knee at all, and I’m more convinced than ever that walking/hiking is actually remarkable effective training for long/ultra distance running. It allows you to put in a lot of time on your feet, working your legs, without the impact of running.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 51.53 Mile 16 3.22063 Mile
February 42.92 Mile 18 2.38444 Mile
March 41.15 Mile 14 2.93929 Mile
April 31.89 Mile 12 2.6575 Mile
May 37.5107 Mile 13 2.88544 Mile
June 39.4 Mile 18 2.18889 Mile
July 2 Mile 2 Mile
August 64.99 Mile 25 2.5996 Mile
Total 311.391 Mile 118 2.6389 Mile

Walking 2012 8

Swimming

It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that I don’t have to swim much to maintain my fitness for swimming. I just have little motivation to spend time in the pool, when I could be doing any number of things that are even more enjoyable. There’s a chance I might to one more triathlon this year, but that depends on whether my knee feels well enough to bike.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 1750. Yard 2 875. Yard
May 8050. Yard 7 1150. Yard
June 4100. Yard 3 1366.67 Yard
July 2993.61 Yard 3 997.871 Yard
August 2150. Yard 3 716.667 Yard
Total 19043.6 Yard 18 1057.98 Yard

Swimming 2012 8

July 2012

Running

Tired legs

The slight knee pain that started in June effectively disappeared in July. I took it easy by only running twice per week, but I made my runs really count. With the Howl at the Moon 8-hour ultra coming up in August I did a lot of long runs. The first week of July I ran a total of 8 hours in 100˚F+ temperatures, and I didn’t back off from there.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
June 54.83 Mile 7 7.83286 Mile
July 115.76 Mile 9 12.8622 Mile
Total 763.089 Mile 82 9.30596 Mile

Running 2012 7

Cycling

Aero

I didn’t ride that frequently, but I had some good quality training and racing. I did several practice crits and time trials in 95˚F-105˚F temps. I had a strong race at the New Town Triathlon. I finished 2nd in the Great Egyptian Omnium TT and 1st in the masters 30+ 4/5 crit. This may be the first month ever I’ve ridden my TT bike more frequently than my road bike.

Bike Distance # Rides Avg per Ride
Lynskey 98.13 Mile 7 14.0186 Mile
Pocket Rocket 14.5 Mile 4 3.625 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird 147.49 Mile 5 29.498 Mile
Total 260.12 Mile 16 16.2575 Mile

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
June 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile
July 260.12 Mile 16 16.2575 Mile
Total 1396.95 Mile 101 13.8312 Mile

Cycling 2012 7

Swimming

Despite a race with a decent swim performance, swimming is kind of in maintenance mode right now. I just don’t have the time to devote to really improve.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 1750. Yard 2 875. Yard
May 8050. Yard 7 1150. Yard
June 4100. Yard 3 1366.67 Yard
July 2993.61 Yard 3 997.871 Yard
Total 16893.6 Yard 15 1126.24 Yard

Swimming 2012 7

June 2012

Running

Will, Daddy, & Grandma

As I explained in the previous post, I intentionally stepped my training way back for the month of June. The good news is that I’m feeling good again now, so July should look much better. I still somehow managed to run my fastest mile since I was 18.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
June 54.83 Mile 7 7.83286 Mile
Total 647.329 Mile 73 8.86751 Mile

Running 2012 6

Cycling

Headlands

Marin Headlands

I was able to get three good rides in on our trip to San Francisco, which really made the month. Two of the rides were just in the Marin Headlands, but I felt really good climbing some really big hills for a change. After the conference ended I went over to the East Bay and rode Mt. Diablo. I felt much stronger on that big ass climb than I did last time (three years ago). The heat was brutal though. It was 68˚F when I left downtown San Francisco and it was 98˚F on the unshaded slopes of Mt. Diablo. I drained both of my water bottles by the time I was halfway up the mountain. Luckily I found a place to refill them so I could continue on up. I flew past a number of riders closer to the top, which is always motivating.

Diablo

Summit of Mount Diablo (4000 ft, 98˚F)

After returning home I did a couple of the Tuesday night crits, finishing one of them in 7th place, my highest finish yet. I also rode the Wednesday night TT for the first time and did by far the fastest TT of my life, averaging 25.3 mph for the 9 mile course (with my chain rubbing the derailleur the whole time). I think I only hit 24 mph twice on the old Seymour 10 mile course. I’m definitely getting more and more accustomed to my (relatively) new TT bike.

Bike Distance # Rides Avg per Ride
Lynskey 14.44 Mile 1 14.44 Mile
Pocket Rocket 102.31 Mile 8 12.7888 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird 165.82 Mile 4 41.455 Mile
Total 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
June 282.57 Mile 13 21.7362 Mile
Total 1136.83 Mile 85 13.3744 Mile

Cycling 2012 6

Swimming

I made it to the pool a few times before taking several weeks off. The good news is when I started back again I picked up right where I left off. I love that about swimming. Maybe it’s harder to do if you’re actually any good though. I’ll probably never find out.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 1750. Yard 2 875. Yard
May 8050. Yard 7 1150. Yard
June 4100. Yard 3 1366.67 Yard
Total 13900. Yard 12 1158.33 Yard

Swimming 2012 6

Walking

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 51.53 Mile 16 3.22063 Mile
February 42.92 Mile 18 2.38444 Mile
March 41.15 Mile 14 2.93929 Mile
April 31.89 Mile 12 2.6575 Mile
May 37.5107 Mile 13 2.88544 Mile
June 39.4 Mile 18 2.18889 Mile
Total 244.401 Mile 91 2.68572 Mile

Walking 2012 6

May 2012

Running

Remember how I said April was my highest mileage month in over 10 years? Well, I ran 20 miles farther in May. And I really only did one long run. I did a number of shorter races (5K, 10K, sprint triathlon), with good results in each. I’ve built up a level of base aerobic fitness I haven’t seen since college. I can run at a faster pace with a lower heart rate than at any time in the past 15 years. Of course, I do quite a bit of my training at a slow pace, which is one of the keys to such aerobic fitness.

Now I just need to avoid injury and burnout. I’m planning very deliberately to step back my mileage in June. After six hard races (nine if you count the three practice crits) in the past three weeks I’m ready to rest a bit.

IMG 0752

Additionally, I’ve fully acclimated to the summer heat earlier than ever before. I regularly run in 85˚-90˚F temperatures with sun blazing overhead and I think nothing of it. I used to do whatever I could to avoid that kind of nasty weather. Two minor changes have played a big role here.

  • I wear a visor instead of a hat, and I keep my hair cut super short (shaving it with a razor every couple of weeks).
  • I run without a shirt.

I never would have believed how much of a difference these two changes could make if someone had told me. I’ve mentioned over and over again that I run hot. I sweat more anybody I’ve ever met. Having more of that sweat evaporate in the breeze than soak in my shirt and hat cools me down like never before. The one downside is the increased risk of sunburn, but I can take preventative measures to avoid that.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 78.06 Mile 9 8.67333 Mile
February 75.2586 Mile 9 8.36206 Mile
March 126.15 Mile 14 9.01071 Mile
April 146.28 Mile 16 9.1425 Mile
May 166.75 Mile 18 9.26389 Mile
Total 592.499 Mile 66 8.97725 Mile

Running 2012 5

Cycling

IMG 0735

My cycling continues to be hit or miss. All the additional time I’ve devoted to running lately has had to come from somewhere, and this is where. It’s not all negative, though, as my improved base aerobic fitness has actually applied equally to cycling as it has running. Additionally, racing makes for pretty decent training, and I’ve raced a fair amount lately (3 practice crits, 2 practice TTs, 2 crits, 2 tris). Somehow I’ve still managed to set a personal best average speed in both of my triathlons this year.

Bike Distance # Rides Avg per Ride
Bianchi 11. Mile 3 3.66667 Mile
El Fuego 6.73 Mile 1 6.73 Mile
Lynskey 53.9674 Mile 4 13.4919 Mile
Pocket Rocket 17.1 Mile 4 4.275 Mile
Thundercougarfalconbird 226.05 Mile 10 22.605 Mile
Total 314.847 Mile 22 14.3112 Mile

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 25.33 Mile 2 12.665 Mile
February 40.08 Mile 3 13.36 Mile
March 213.43 Mile 20 10.6715 Mile
April 253.27 Mile 23 11.0117 Mile
May 322.147 Mile 24 13.4228 Mile
Total 854.257 Mile 72 11.8647 Mile

Cycling 2012 5

Swimming

It feels good to have a swimming section in these posts again. As you can see from the chart my numbers are modest, but it’s a good start. I always find it remarkable how quickly swimming comes back to me. Before I ever started swimming I always assumed success in the sport was solely the result of super strong, highly specialized muscles (that I don’t have), when in reality it’s almost entirely technique. I’m certainly not suggesting my technique is perfect (far from it), but simply remembering the technique does allow me to pick right back up (almost) where I left off.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 0 0 0
February 0 0 0
March 0 0 0
April 1750. Yard 2 875. Yard
May 8050. Yard 7 1150. Yard
Total 9800. Yard 9 1088.89 Yard

Swimming 2012 5

Walking

More running also means less walking, but I’m still getting in a few miles on most days. It took me a while to fully realize this, but walking may just be one of the keys to my recent success. It helps build base aerobic fitness (super low intensity), while working similar muscles to running, all with near-zero risk of injury. In fact, when my legs are sore I always feel significantly better after walking a few miles.

Month Distance # Workouts Avg per Workout
January 51.53 Mile 16 3.22063 Mile
February 42.92 Mile 18 2.38444 Mile
March 41.15 Mile 14 2.93929 Mile
April 31.89 Mile 12 2.6575 Mile
May 37.5107 Mile 13 2.88544 Mile
Total 205.001 Mile 73 2.80823 Mile

Walking 2012 5