TRT - V1

First off, let me explain the title.  TRT V1, simply stated is an abbreviation for Totally Random Thoughts, Volume 1.  I enjoy writing on my blog but often find myself rambling on about everything that has happened in over a month's time.  So, from now on, other than my training/racing updates, I will do my best to write up a quick and short TRT blog giving my a place to do just as the title says, throw down some totally random thoughts.  They could stretch as far as current events, politics (doubtful), things my family has been up to, etc.  I will try to get these out on or around my off days from work or whenever I feel like it...I'll just keep it totally random.... So, without further adieu....

Governor Scott Walker Compares Protesters to ISIS

First off, are you kidding me???  Evidently our very own "Beloved" Governor said that if he can handle thousands of union protesters he can handle ISIS.  What a freakin' idiot.  I seriously don't know what to say, how can anyone, let alone a potential presidential candidate compare terrorists to people who are basically peacefully demonstrating their opinions against a policy he is directly responsible for?  IMO, it just goes to show his complete ignorance and is a prime example why I can't stand politics.

Green Bay Police Officer Gets Stabbed Responding to a Welfare Check Call

This is just another example of the potential dangers officers face on a daily basis.  My heart goes out to all involved, and yes, including the family of the suspect that was shot and killed as a result.  Its a sad truth of the what an officer faces.  Officers never want to be the one who is put in the position to use deadly force, but they have to do what it takes to stay safe and protect the community they serve.  In the end, I am happy to hear the officer that was stabbed is doing well physically, and hope he can recover mentally after the altercation.  Here is a link to the media report: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/2015/02/24/shooting-reported-green-bays-west-side/23971051/

My Birthday is Only Days Away!

Hard to believe, but in just a couple days, I will no longer be a 30 year old, but 31.  It's crazy how fast time goes.  I was looking at my kids the other night as we all sat around the dinner table and was taken back at what my life has become.  I am eternally grateful for what I have been given, but I wonder where the hell time has gone?  It feels like just a couple years ago I was living in La Crosse with my closest friends and living a "difficult life," full of homework and tests.  If only I knew what a busy/hectic/stressful life was really like....  One of my newest "things" I want to do on or around my birthday is to run my age.  Last year on my birthday, I ran 30 miles.  It was fridged and long, but I did it.  This year, I am struggling to find time to schedule a day to run 31 miles on.  Between Maya playing soccer on Saturday mornings and Harper's 1st birthday party and having only a couple weekend days available, its hard to dedicate 5 hours to only running.  Plus, the weather lately has just been bone chilling cold.  Like below zero cold.  I think what I might do, is run my age in the late spring when the weather is much more tolerable and I can get to a park and run on trails.  This way, it will allow me to be much more flexible in scheduling a date to do the run on and make it more enjoyable since it will be nice outside.  I still may get out this weekend or next weekend and pound the pavement for 31 miles, but we'll see....

For my birthday this year, we are going out with our families on Friday night for fish and then coming back to our place for cake and games.  On Saturday Sarah and I are going out with our friends to Houdini's Gastropub in Appleton, which is a restaurant I have been wanting to go to for a long time.  I'm just looking forward to spending time with my family and friends to celebrate another year in the books. 

This Damn Dress

Seriously, how dumb, but I have been looking at this damn dress all morning just trying to see a black and blue dress.  All I can see is a white and gold dress.  Evidently it is indeed a black and blue dress, which just pisses me off more, as I can not see it...argh...

The middle picture is the original photo and the other two
pictures are the same photo with an adjusted white balance.

Seroogy's Valentine's 15k - Race Report

Coming off a less than thrilling race in Milwaukee at the Icebreaker Indoor Half Marathon at the end of January, I was looking for a redemption-type race. Early on in my planning of my 2015 race season, I was eyeing up a race I have done before - the Seroogy's Valentine's 5k/15k. I did this race about 2 or 3 years ago and had a good time, plus you get free Seroogy's chocolate just for running. The race is held in De Pere, WI, about a 20 minute drive from our house and the weather was supposed to be ideal for an early February race. Taking all that into consideration, plus the fact that I was already off the night before, made it an easy decision to sign up for this race. In the past, I ran the 5k and this time around I wanted to try something different. I wanted to run a distance that I had not yet tried and with that reasoning, I signed up for the 15k opposed to the 5k.

Training for this Race

I did minimal training and zero specific training for this race during the two weeks following the Icebreaker Half Marathon. I did do some basic workouts, but nothing truly specific with the goal of improving my fitness for the Seroogy's Valentine's 15k. I did some pretty easy workouts with 2 indoor cycling workouts, 1 swim workout, and 6 running workouts with the longest being 7 miles on a treadmill. So like I said, no real specific workouts, just some basic lower intensity workouts with hopes of maintaining fitness.

Prerace

The race start time was scheduled for 8:00am, which is great, it would allow me to get an extra hour of sleep compared to a 7:00am start time, which I have grown accustomed to. My goal was to be on the road around 6:00am to give me ample time to officially register for the race and get a thorough warm up in leading up to the race start. I woke up around 5-5:30am and poured myself a cup of coffee, took care of business.  I left shortly after 6:00 and got to Seroogy's Chocolates around 6:45ish.  I was able to register right away and found that I had a ton of time to spare until the 8:00 start time.  Luckily, the church across the street from Seroogy's Chocolates opened it's doors for the runners to stay warm.  I found an empty room there and just chilled for a while until 7:30, when I wanted to start my warm up.  I got in a short and easy warm up, with some easy running with a few short strides thrown in to work on leg turnover.  By 7:50 I started making my way to the start line.

Nutrition Plan

After completely forgetting my nutrition plan during the Icebreaker Indoor Half Marathon, I really wanted to be diligent with my nutrition during this event.  It started at about an hour before the race, when I took 2 Race Caps Supreme, 2 Mito Caps, and 2 Anti-Fatigue Caps.  With just 5-10 minutes before the start of the race I took a single Nocciola Hammer Gel just to top off my fuel stores, since I did not take in any nutrients since the night prior.  The Nocciola flavor is seriously the best tasting gel I have ever had, and I have had my share of gels.  My plan during the race was to take a single tab of Energy Surge as needed and rely solely on race course water for hydration - and only if necessary.

Gear/Equipment

New Balance 890v4

New Balance Windblocker Heat Tight

Hammer Cycling Wind Jacket

Garmin 901xt

Miles 0-9.3

Right after the gun went off, I started with what I thought was a conservative pace.  It was difficult to find a good grove since both the 5k and 15k races started together.  So, even though I felt like I was starting slower, based on the lead pack of runners, in fact, I probably started out a little too fast.  I found myself started just below my normal 5k pace.  It took me until the first mile, or so, to settle back into a good pace.  I had a predetermined goal in my mind of finishing in under an hour.  That pace would translate to an average pace of 4:00 per 1k.  I opted to set my Garmin to go off every 1,000m to help me keep an accurate eye on my pace.  I knew if I could keep my pace at or around 4:00 I would set myself up for a successful race.  The two routes split just shortly after the 2 mile mark.  It was at this point were I realized exactly how many people were racing the 5k and how few people were running the 15k - at least relative to the number of runners ahead of me.  The 15k portion of the route was a simple out and back through a local city park.  I continued to just push as hard as I could and tried to keep the uncontrollables out of mind and focus on what I can control.  I shoved out the thoughts of pain, discomfort, and focused on my breathing, my foot plant and toe-off.  It seemed to work well, since I ran pretty steady splits and never really fell off.  I ended up finishing the race in 1:00:06, right were I was hoping to be.  Luckily for me, the course was a tad bit shorter than a full 15k (9.3 miles), it ended up being 9.18 miles according to my Garmin.

Post Race

The post race is probably one of the best parts of this race.  Why?  Simple, free chocolate.  But not just any chocolate...good chocolate.  After a few free samples of Seroogy's Chocolate, I quickly made up my bottle of Hammer Recoverite and then stuck around to see if I was lucky enough to place in my age group.  Unfortunately, the 15k results got completely screwed up - at no fault to the race directors.  A whole group of runners who registered to run the 15k, decided to run the 5k instead and never told anyone.  And since both races were run concurrent to each other, their 5k times registered in with the 15k times.  Sure, it would be pretty obvious at first to sort through the times, but once you get into the 5k walkers (who typically finish in around an hour) it gets a little tricky to decipher who ran which race.  It took literally about an hour after the initial awards ceremony, but it all got sorted out, and I took 3rd in the M30-34 age group and 11th overall.

The Day in Music

What's on Tap

The next race that I am eyeing up isn't until March 15 at the St. Pat's Fun Run in Kimberly, WI.  It has also been a good 2-3 years since I last ran this event, but it is put on by the same company who organized the Seroogy's run.  Plus, the race starts at 9:00am which makes it easy to get to after working the night before.  They again off a 15k option along with the traditional 5k distance, which is tempting.  I found that I really like the 15k distance, as it is still a quick race, but more challenging than both a 5k or 10k.  I think I will play it by ear since I will be working the night prior to the run and will see how I am feeling physically that day before I commit to a 15k race at 9am.

As for my training and such, I have started training with a multisport focus and significantly more intensity.  I have been implementing the principles of the Furman University studied, FIRST Program.  It has been marketed quite a bit by Runner's World Magazine.  FIRST stands for Furman Institute of Running and Sports Training.  Along with Runner's World, the experts of FIRST wrote a book entitled, Run Less, Run Faster.  Now, I haven't ordered the book just yet, but have read up on the program extensively online and bought the app...yes, they even have an app for that.  As I am sure you could have figured the entire philosophy of the FIRST program is to improve your race times after cutting your weekly mileage significantly.  The basic are that you "cut the fluff" out of your current program and do 3 very focused runs each week; a track style workout, a tempo run, and a long run.  Not one of these runs would be classified as "easy."  In fact they are all physically and mentally challenging.  The long runs, which are typically done at a slow and easy pace for me, are now run at a minimum pace 45 seconds faster than pace which I had previously thought was "fast."

I am not following the FIRST program to a "T," which calls for just 3 days of running...NO MORE, NO LESS, and 2 intense cross training days, and then 2 days of rest.  My current program sticks the 3 running workouts, that are specific for a 10k, into a multisport training plan leading up the Neenah Duathlon on May 3rd.  I am currently swimming 3 times a week, and cycling 3 times in a week.  I also threw in 2 other optional run workouts, that are done at an easy cool down pace following either a cycling or pool workout.  So, like I said, I am not exactly following the FIRST program but just using the shorter, high intensity workouts along with my other sports throughout the week.  This fall, I do plan on experimenting with the FIRST program as it's written to train for the Whistle Stop Marathon on October 10th.  I want to really give the FIRST program a fair shot at being successful and want to follow it and their "3 plus 2 plus 2" philosophy (3 days running, 2 cross training days, and 2 off days).  But for now I am focusing on just balancing my life with my multisport training for the upcoming multisport season, which kicks off May 3rd.

Thanks for reading!
Cheers!

Icebreaker Indoor Half Marathon - Race Report

 Immediately after getting home from Ashland and the Whistle Stop Marathon back in October, I knew I needed an break; an off season of sorts, even though I wanted no such thing.  I took a brief break with no training, no planning, or anything else.  It was a break, a forced break, but a break none-the-less.  After my break it was right back to planning, strategizing, and training.  I'll be completely honest, I once again, became selfish, foolish, and unrealistic with the life that I live.  I had all the grandiose plans.  They all started with a full marathon in January, which was to be run on an indoor 445 meter track.  It was run at the Petit National Ice Center, which is the official Olympic Speed Skating Facility and called the Ice Breaker Marathon.  I immediately registered to save some bucks on an early registration.  But, after only a week break, I started training for this indoor marathon, just to find my calf acting up again.  I knew I needed a true break to allow my calf to better heal.  I emailed the race director asking for a transfer into the half marathon event held on the Saturday before the marathon.  It was approved and I was good to go.  Since then, I had posted a blog article about my goals and resolutions for 2015.  I'll be completely honest - I have given up on all my goals and resolutions.  Maybe "given up" is a bit too strong.  Maybe, redirected better fits.  So, lets go that route, I have redirected my goals and resolutions for 2015.  My goals and resolutions were ambitious, sure, they were also unrealistic.  Unrealistic in that my goals were simply unattainable considering were I am currently at in my life.  I have 3 beautiful daughters who are currently 10 months, 3 and 4.  So without going too much into my reasoning and my personal life, simply put, I have redirected my goals to focus more on my family and my kids and bettering my marriage with my wife, Sarah.  Yes, I still plan on racing and training, but will take life as it comes and race when it works with my work schedule and my family schedule.  So as the weekend of the Ice Breaker Half Marathon approached, we changed our original plans for the weekend.  Originally we planned on spending the weekend in Milwaukee with the girls and taking them to the Milwaukee Children's Museum after the race on Saturday.  But our vehicle had some major unexpected repairs and we felt that spending a weekend away from home probably wasn't the best decision.  So, we opted to stay home to save a few bucks. 

Training for This Race

My training has never been more inconsistent than it was for the race.  Originally, I had started my training with the idea that I was running a full marathon.  Then, like I said, my calf started tightening up as it did earlier in 2014 and I had to take some time off from running to make sure it properly healed.  Once I felt recovered, I started training for a half marathon.  My training went OK with some minor breaks, because its never truly easy training throughout the holidays especially with a household of 3 kids.  Once the holidays passed, I was getting back into a rhythm, I had to take a full week off due to an outpatient surgery in early January.  So, the final 2 weeks leading up to the race, I ran a total of 3 times for a total of 13 miles - definitely NOT ideal. 

Prerace

As I mentioned before, Sarah and I decided to not spend the weekend down in Milwaukee.  So, the day of the race, I woke up at 3:45am with the plan of driving down to Milwaukee for the race and then driving back afterward.  I actually got a pretty decent night's sleep, as I went to bed around 8:30pm.  My drive was nice with very little traffic.  I drank my travel mug of coffee and didn't plan on eating anything before the race.  I did pack a couple Hammer Gels in case I felt too hungry to eat before the start of the race.  After getting to the Petit, I checked in a got my race bib.  I got everything all set up and had plenty of time to kill before the 7am race start.  I took advantage of my extra time to get a thorough warm up completed.  I have never run at the Petit and wasn't sure what the track was like and I definitely had no clue what the atmosphere felt like - would it be cold, cool, or comfortable.  I ended up running a mile and a half and did my usual dynamic stretching routine.  After the National Anthem, it was finally time to race. 

Nutrition Plan

I had a wonderful nutritional plan for this event, but honestly completely forgot all about it.  I had planned on taking Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps, Race Caps Supreme, and Mito Caps an hour before the race, and simply forgot. So, all I took before the race was my mug of coffee and half a water bottle with a Hammer Fizz tablet in it.  During the race I wanted to take advantage of the nutrition tables which were positioned on the corner of the track and was accessible literally whenever you needed it.  So, I created a water bottle full of 2.5 scoops (250 calories) of Hammer Heed and would sip on it throughout the race.  I also packed a small baggie of Hammer Energy Surge to take throughout the race and a dose of Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps, but once again forgot all about them come race time and they sat in my backpack right next to the pills I was supposed to take an hour before the start of the race....oh well I guess...

Gear/Equipment

New Balance 890v4
Hammer Cool Tee Running Shirt
Hammer Cycling Socks
Garmin 910XT

Miles 0-13.1

The race started on the back half of the track, so our first lap was really a half lap.  So counted the first half lap as a full lap we had to tally 48 laps (total of 47.5 laps) to reach a final distance of 13.1 miles.  I was really unsure how the race would go, if it would be crowded or spread out.  The start of the race was the most crowded the track was the entire day.  As with any other event the start of the race is always the most congested.  But to be honest it thinned out quickly.  It was less than a lap until there was plenty of room to run and it never became an issue.  The general rule of the race was run on the outside of the track and pass on the inside.  It worked out extremely well.  Another key rule was absolutely no personal music devices - that's right - no headphones = no music.  But, they counter this well, by allowing every person to pick one song of choice to be played randomly throughout the race.  My pick was American Witch by Rob Zombie.  Simply put, the race organizers have this race down to a "T," as the number of participants seems to be just about the perfect number of runners to be running.  My goal for the race was to finish with a time between 1:30:00 and 1:24:00.  Yes, its a wide range but figured with my inconsistent training I should still be able to run a  1:30:00 half marathon, considering I have been training to run a 3:00:00 full just 3 months ago.  I figured it out that I would have to run a 1:47-1:55 lap to finish in that time range.  My first 20 laps or so were all in that range.  But then they started to fall short and I was running all my laps in the 2:00 range.  Initially, I had thought that this race would be perfect for pacing.  I thought I would be able to monitor my pace on a much more fine level opposed to pacing myself my miles during any other outdoor event.  Plus this event was completely flat, so I didn't need to worry about being slowed down by hills.  I have also run multiple 20 mile long runs on the track at my local YMCA which is a much smaller track (11 laps = 1 mile).  So I have run for hours to tally 220 laps.  I felt like my mental toughness wouldn't be an issue as I believe I have a good ability to just "zone out" and focus on running.  However, I found that racing on an indoor track is much different that running easy on a track.  I found myself focusing on the pain and discomfort WAY more than I ever do during an outdoor event.  It's like there was nothing else to focus on other than the negative.  Whereas, during a road race, there are literally thousands of things to distract you and take your mind off of the discomfort.  That, without a doubt was the most difficult this with this race.  I ended up finishing with a time of 1:32:19 or about 1:57 per lap.  This put me at 20th place out of 101 runners and 8th of 22 runners the M30-39 age group.  If I would have been close to my goal of 1:24 I could have placed 2nd in my age group and in the top ten, but oh well.  It just wasn't my day.  I'll live to run another day. 

Post Race

After the race, I quickly showered before other runners finished and I would have found myself in a long line waiting to use one of only a few showers available to runners.  After I showered and changed I stuck around to see the results to see if for some reason I was able to place high enough for an award.  As soon, as I realized there was no chance of that, I left to get back home to take the kids to a local indoor play park for the kids, which Sarah and I had planned on doing if I was back early enough.  The post race spread was small but good.  They offered homemade cookies, bagels, bananas, and chocolate milk.  All-in-all it was the event is extremely well run and well organized.  I am glad I did it, but don't think I will be doing it again, as this type of event just isn't for me.  I would much rather use the winter months as a true off season, as I have in the past.  Rather than force myself to continue training and race indoors in the middle of winter.

The Day in Music

How do you not choose Round and Round by Rat?

What's on Tap

At this point I really don't know what's on tap.  I am looking at running a 5k (or 15k) in early February in De Pere, WI, but am not completely sure if I will or not.  After that, there are a few other races I may or may not do.  Like I said earlier, I really want to refocus some of my energy into my family and kids and really work on finding that balance between life, work, family, and fitness.  More than likely I'll do several shorter races throughout the year that require little to no travel and maybe a marathon or two sprinkled in where I can.

Thanks for reading!
Cheers!