Tips for Quality Run Training Train no faster than one pace quicker than the race you are training for. For example, 5k pace is good for an Olympic-distance race, while half-marathon pace suffices...
6 Tips For Quality Run Training
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Sarasota Half Marathon – Race Recap
I am a little behind on posts, and now need to add three more due to being sent and then utilizing three new products during the race; the Hoka One One Biondi S2 running shoes, the Jaybird Sport Strap bluetooth headset, and Wrightsock Stride running socks. I will do my best to get those reviews completed as soon as possible, but for now let me tell you about my experience with the US Road Races Sarasota Half Marathon.
I learned a lesson first thing because I ended up running a tad bit late in the morning. The drive time to Sarasota usually is 45 minutes and I thought I was going to be fine until two miles from the race start. The traffic came to a dead stop. I drive a Mini Cooper Clubman, so while maneuverability is not an issue going over things like medians become either not possible, or the consequences may turn out to be expensive. I was stuck behind a tractor-trailer semi trick with my right lane blocked and a huge median to my left. No way out. After a while, of being a little stressed of missing the start, I noticed the median curb height had changed to regular curb height so I took the chance and allowed my little car to climb over it. Luckily I found an alternate route, and parking pretty fast, but a ways from the start, so involuntarily I sprinted a quick warm-up mile prior to the gun.
I could hear the National Anthem being sung as I was running to the start, which told me it was going to be tight making it, and of course there were close to 5000 runners, so I ended up starting in the 13 minute/mile corral. At first I was a little disappointed, but it gave me a little time to stretch and calm myself down. I usually start up near the front of the pack, and end up getting passed throughout the race, however this time it was me who was doing the passing.
Miles one and two ran along Tamiami Trail and over a bridge which wasn’t very steep, although it felt long, but it did allow for some recovery on the other side. Some coaches worry about their runners as they run downhill, but the form I teach really allows the ease of just letting the legs do what they will allowing for a nice recovery. Of course I also coach a way on the uphill that makes the effort feel a lot less as well, but that is for another time.
The 5k split ended up in a circle downtown and according to my split time, it wasn’t bad. 23:24, less than an 8 minute mile for the first three miles, I’ll take that. Miles four and five were back over the bridge and past the start/finish line. Unfortunately, my sock started slipping in the circle, so after mile 5 I actually had to stop, and take off my shoes so I could re-position my sock. I couldn’t believe it. Because I was product testing my shoes I did not put lock laces on, so I even had to untie and re-tie the laces. I think it was 3 minutes wasted. It wasn’t a huge amount of time, but it still irked me. I will talk more in my review of the socks.
After that it was just a lot of fun. I caught up with some friends along the way, Holly Tripp, Teresa Gadient, a couple of others and chatted and then continued on my way. It was a beautiful course that ran inside a nice residential area and then back to the finish. The view was not anything spectacular, but a decently scenic throughout the course. The weather held to mid 60’s throughout the morning, which is perfect for me.
Nick Z, Ben Mena and the Goof
The last couple of miles were back down Tamiami Trail and then turned back into the community center and into the finish shoot. I picked up the pace on the last couple of miles and actually had enough for a little sprint kick at the end, which I haven’t had in a while. I wish I could figure out what I did, that made that difference. It could have been the steel-cut oats I had that morning, or even a new natural supplement I started a month ago, but I definitely had a little more than I thought. This would have been a nice PR race, but my strategy was negative splits, and very conservative. Next half I’ll do it.
There is one thing to be said about starting in the back and passing people up versus getting passed. Positive/Negative reinforcement. It shouldn’t feel that way, but I believe I also had some energy build from passing everyone except for three whom passed me. Positive conditioning. Starting in the front and getting passed no matter what I tell myself, still has a negative effect on my semi-fragile ego. Do not get me wrong, I know my place. I have always preached strength before speed. I have stated over and over again I am not fast…yet, but I am a strong runner and at a comfortable pace I can run forever. Unfortunately, that pace is pretty slow right now.
I met up with Ben Mena, Nick Zivolich and some other athletes and, Beth(B.o.B) joined us a bit later after finishing herself. I will say the medal is huge and beautiful and athletes running in the other US Road Race Half Marathon series, receive an extra medal with the number of races they ran in the series. If the athlete competed in 2 of the series they received a 2 inch number 2, for 3 races a 3 inch and so on. I like the concept and those medals were gorgeous too. It may be something to ponder trying to complete next year.
That was the glorious morning of my St. Patrick’s Day. I cannot think of a better way I would’ve spent it.
How was your St. Patrick’s Day?
Carpe Viam!!
Goof Views and News #1
Hey there boys and girls, guys and gals. It’s the Goof comin’ at ya from Tampa, Florida to give you the first episode of what I hope to be one of many.
The Goof Views and News.
These will be personal perceptions made during specific times or events that may resonate some of you and news of events that have happened or will happen in the future. For instance, as I have posted on FB and Twitter, I have registered for the Chicago Marathon as I did in 2011 prior to the Florida Ironman. Ta da! The first news of the post.
The Views (Seeing through the eyes of the Goof)
I was at Disney World this weekend enjoying some rest and relaxation and I wouldn’t say it was an epiphany, but it was a clarification of sorts. I just happened to be in line at Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrow
Land when I saw a couple coming toward me. He was a larger man riding in one of those motorized carts, and she was walking beside him. She wasn’t a small person either. They obviously were not concerned about their conversation being overheard and I heard him swear at her for some reason. She yelled back at him, “Well if you would do something about it, you wouldn’t have to ride around in that thing.” He snapped back with, “You think it is that easy, well you try it.” She ended up retorting with, “I am! You <insert explicative here>! You don’t see me needing a <insert another explicative> wheelchair. Do Ya?” The large man pushed what I assumed to be the accelerator and moved ahead of her.
This is what I recall, it may not have been their exact words, but it did make me look around a bit more during my weekend visit. Without being completely rude I started focussing on the more obese adults and I noticed something. Ninety-five percent of the adults that were obese looked miserable. I am not including people that just had a few extra pounds on them, I am talking about adults that were obviously fat.
There was not one of them that looked like they were having any fun. Here we are in the happiest place on earth, with perfect weather, scents of food, and sweetness in the air, upbeat music, not a noticeable speck of negative energy in the place and these people are miserable. Why would anyone want to do that to themselves? Don’t get me wrong, I have never been that big. I have been fat where I needed to take some pounds off, but never obese, so I can only imagine how hard it is, but to willingly stay in misery, just sounds exhausting to me.
Later, I sought out children that were, let’s just say, were in need of some more activity, which took all of thirty seconds. While there were some that were running around, in my estimate, seventy to eighty percent of them were whining for somewhere to sit down. Sit? When there are rides, and new things to touch, smell and see? Of course, most of them had parents that were in the same condition. Go figure.
There are articles on articles explaining the epidemic we have in this country of obesity, but they are words on a page and maybe a picture. I was able to watch this before my very eyes and they burned with disgust, pity, and sadness. The next morning, I got up and ran six miles to clear the images from my head and come up with some kind of dream resolution. The next time you are at an event or a place where there are families and a lot of people become aware of this. (Athletes: the Gasparilla Distance Weekend coming up, would not be a good place for this kind of perception.)
After mulling this around for the last few days, my desire to help has increased. I know there are an abundance of people with this same desire and some of them more so if they have been able to overcome this obstacle for themselves, but I really want to help and the kids even more so. We need to bring this epidemic more into the open and encourage people to move around and do something for a minimum of 20 minutes a day.
On to the News
I have entered into a partnership with Brenton Ford from Effortless Swimming. He has a new program called Swimprove where a swimmer can log into a website and access an abundance of material to help them swim faster and more efficiently As I have stated in numerous posts before, I really need help on my swimming.
I will be accessing his website and will be following his advice to the letter and bringing you my results, epiphany’s and observations. This program of Brenton’s is not just for beginning swimmers, but for triathletes, open water swimmers and masters swimmers that would like to improve and become faster. Included is not freestyle but the butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke as well. I am really excited to get started and document what I have learned.
Gasparilla is this weekend and I am taking on the Beck’s Lite Challenge, so I will be running the 15k and 5k on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday.
Which races are you running?
I am currently coaching at FitNiche on Tuesday’s with a new program called the Technical Tune-up. I 
have a number of runners just looking to have a structured workout that includes warm-ups, and cooldowns and gives them access to a coach running with them paying close attention to their form in order to create more efficiency and keep them injury free. Most of my runners are return clients, but I do have some new clients that have joined the flock. I am really excited to be coaching again. The program goes for 8 weeks and then renews. I still have some slots available, so if you feel like you are getting injured a lot or just not making any progress, or just want a structured workout, come on out. Tuesday Nights starting at 6:30 pm at FitNiche in Hyde Park Village.
The owner and I are working on the marketing for a new course as well, but I will announce that later when the details are flushed out.
That is it for this episode of the Goof Views and News. Have an amazing week and train hard athletes, but also train smart.
Carpe Viam!!
The Saturday/Sunday Supporter
What does it feel like to come across the finish line of any race with the support of the race volunteers and spectators? Personally it is a pretty good feeling. What does it feel like with the support of fellow racers, family, and/or friends? My emotions tend to be more positively charged, and to a much higher level. Endurance sports tend to be a little lonely during races anyway, so the support level on the course may even be a determining factor on the outcome of an athlete’s personal race. How do you feel when you have friends and family at a race versus when you don’t?
I had the honor of being support crew for two races this weekend. The first was the culmination run for the last session of my Fit2Run 5k group. The race was Saturday Morning, in Dunedin, at the Our Lady of Lourdes 5k. I really enjoy having my students at these smaller racers. Not only does it give them the experience of the race, but it also allows them the opportunity to stand on the podium. This race, we had an age group winner within my circle. To no surprise Linda Shutt again took 1st place in her age group even after being out for a small injury.
The course was a little tougher than I expected, but a good experience for my runners. It was a trail run, that included soft soil, grass, and even sand, so for some of my runners these posed a couple of new challenges. If you want to know the truth, the marking of the race was a challenge for me as I actually wound up lost on the course and ended up completing a 10k instead. (Pause for laughter) Luckily my girls, and Carl, all came across the finish line smiling and a couple with Personal Records. If you enjoy small races with a couple of small challenges, check out Our Lady of Lourdes Annual 5k Run.
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| Tanner, Jessica and Cheryl before the Swim start |
On Sunday the first TriRock series triathlon was in Clearwater with the start and finish lines at Pier 60. Overall, I thought the race was run very well, and seemed well organized for an inaugural race. The weather was perfect in my opinion. A little chilly in the morning, with it rising to just under 80 degrees by the finish of the race. I had three Tri-Peeps running, Tanner Stevens, Cheryl Henderson and Jessica Glover. This was to be Jessica’s first Olympic, so all of our eyes were on her, not to mention her positive attitude is completely intoxicating and endearing. You may remember Jessica from my Jet City posting as she is the owner and operator of my favorite coffee hang-out.
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| Jessica Rocking out on the Run |
The race has two distances an Olympic, or as they call it, Intermediate (1500m swim, 25 mile bike, and 10k run) and a Sprint (600m swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run). All of my friends competed in the intermediate distance, because all of three of them are pretty experienced in all three events. The race started with music from live bands which only enhanced the energy radiating from the voices of the announcers. It was the typical mad rush for the athletes to setup their transition equipment, dawn their wet suits and head over to the swim start. One of the announcers sung the National Anthem, and I was very impressed as it was sung acapella. As a performer I understand how difficult a piece the Star Spangled Banner is and I was incredibly impressed with his version. He sang with a bluesy undertone but with a rock attitude. By the audience reaction I would say it was a success. In my opinion it was at least better than Steven Tyler version during the AFC Championships earlier this year.
There were a few waves for each distance with the Sprint starting 15 minutes after the last Intermediate wave with the swim being an outer and inner loop. The finishers did cross in some instances, but the finish line was wide enough to accommodate both. I didn’t see any issues with transition as it was large enough to handle all of the equipment and runners of turf were actually put down for the athletes bare feet. (Note to any Triathlon Race Directors reading: This small detail adds a huge comfort to athletes. Just sayin’.) The entrances and exits were clearly marked and even with the two distances using the same course, there was not a lot of crowding. As a spectator I did enjoy the run being an out-and-back south and then north as well. I was able to see my friends twice on the run before the finish.
I didn’t explore too much, but the expo looked small, but loaded with great vendors, the beer tent was sponsored by Red Hook which is pretty decent, and the headlining band was an AC/DC cover band, which for me was perfect. Being a child of the 80’s has it’s perks, obviously.
Overall , I was impressed with the event. I actually wished I would have been able to compete in it, but I enjoyed being there to support. Out of our little group we did end up with Tanner on the podium for third place in the 25-29 age group at a time of 2:24:16. With a possibility of two IMs next year I do not believe I am going to be able to compete next year either, but if I have friends that decide to compete I will make sure to be here again.
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| Athletes, Support and the Goof |
Carpe Viam!
How to Race Ironman Florida With Very Little Stress
I have a lot of friends that are competing in the Florida Ironman this weekend. This is the granddaddy of endurance competitions right in the heart of the panhandle Florida at Panama City Beach.
I want to wish you all the best of luck and I know you will all be an Ironman at the end. Of course, a couple of them already are, but that doesn’t change the challenge any.
As I did this last year I want to give you the lessons I learned while taking on this challenge. Take them or leave them, but hopefully, you will take something out of it and if not another reader might find a helpful hint to take on their journey to the Ironman Triathlon in their future.
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| Left to right: Eve, Kat, Marai, Summer, Mary-Ellen & Iron Rick, Anne, Carola (Not pictured: Rick Jansik and David Nardoski) |
- Double check your gear on Thursday when you arrive. Most likely you will know someone coming up on Friday, so they can bring an item you may have left behind.
- Go to Athlete Check-In early Thursday or when you arrive on Wednesday. Get it over with so you have all of your gear bags and as you unpack you can start to pack them.
- Buy all of the SWAG and stuff you want early. They run out fast and if you follow #2 then you will not have to wait in line. For some reason, Ironman does not hire the fastest cashiers in the world and the line seems to take forever.
- Swim a portion of the course early on Thursday morning as close to race time as possible. Notice the current, the temperature, how long it took you to warm up, and any wildlife in the water. Double check to make sure your wetsuit is fitting correctly and any adjustments you needed to make to feel comfortable.
- Write these ideas and any other adjustments down. Then the excitement of the race does not bode too well for memory cells. It is best to be able to look over a checklist on Saturday Morning.
- If you do not have the experience do not feel invincible enough to rent race wheels or if you do, rent them at home and bring your training wheels with you. The weather may say 5-7 mph wind gusts on Friday, but that can change to 20 mph in a heartbeat and a lot of miles are spent in the crosswind.
- Ride on Thursday as well. Ride a few minutes in each of the major gears and in the low chainring to spin your legs and get some blood moving. This will also check your bike for any adjustments you may need. There is always a bike maintenance tent at the expo. Ride after you swim in case you need to get some maintenance done.
- Keep eating and keep hydrating especially on Thursday. Thursday is actually more important than Friday as far as nutrition and rest are concerned.
- Do not run on Thursday. Save the pounding for Saturday.
- Plan for a long, long sleep on Thursday. The excitement is building but not enough to hinder your sleep on Thursday vs Friday. Friday will be a completely anxious day and that night will be hard to sleep. Get it on Thursday. No alarms, no loud roommates, just sleep as long as you can. Once your up, you’re awake and it will be hard to get back to sleep.
- Walk through your transitions and even legs and make a checklist for your gear bags. This works. (ex. I get out of the water, strip my wetsuit, go to the tent and I put on my shoes, helmet, glasses..etc…then write down “shoes, helmet, glasses, and anything else”) Make sure you walk through your nutrition plan as well, to make sure you have enough nutrition on the bike. If you are putting the powder in bottles, do that at this time as well. It is your choice if you want to add the water today or tomorrow, but put the powder in the bottles. (Personally I put my bottles completely together and put them in the freezer. By the time you get on the bike they will be almost thawed and you will have ice cold hydration)
- Put your gear bags together on Thursday night, when you are calmer. You are more likely not to forget anything. You will still have a few things to put in them but the bulk will be there.
- Plan for a special needs bag for the run, but ride with what you will need for the full 112 miles. The stopping for the special needs bag is not worth the time. Have what you need, and if you do come into a situation there are aid stations every 10 miles, they will help.
- Do put a special needs bag aside for the run. This is just for some warmer clothes just in case the temp drops. You probably will not need it, but at least it will be there. Do not trust the forecast in Panama City.
- Do a 15/15/15 workout on Friday. 15 min swim, bike and then run to clear all the excess and get your legs feeling like they need to for the next morning. It sounds weird for the day before such a hard day, but trust me this will make you feel much more confident.
- After you return and shower after your little workout check your gear bags one last time. Empty each of them out and run through your checklist one last time. You can turn these in, pretty early on Friday, and you will want to so you can just relax the rest of the day.
- Relax as much as possible on Friday. Put your feet up, watch TV, play some cards, but relax.
- Do not forget to eat and drink. Follow your nutrition plan which should include your meals on Friday.
- Lay down and try to sleep no later than 8:30. 3:30 am comes awfully quick.
- Get up at 3:30a and take a shower. This will awaken you and start your day.
- Have a nice breakfast by 4:30. This will make sure you have all the nutrients in your body by the 7 am start time.
- If you train with a gel, have one in each sleeve of your wetsuit. It is always a little chilly on Saturday morning, so even if it is uncomfortable, your wetsuit provides warmth. If you have a sleeveless put the gels in your pant legs. I also put a couple of Imodium as well, but that works for me. I suggest it if you know it does not cause side effects for you.
- Find your friends and have them near you at the start. This helps. It provides some comfort because the rest of the day…you will be most likely alone.
- Have one of those gels 10 minutes before the start of the race and the second one while you are running back into the water on your second loop.
- Put a smile on your face. If you are terrified then fake it. Most of the time faking it will make it true.
- Trust your training it got you here now it is time to have confidence in it.
- Do not eat or drink anything but water for the first 15-20 minutes of your bike. Your body is making a switch. Allow it to settle before you put anything in your stomach.
- Ride your own race. Do not worry if others are passing you. You have a plan stick to it. Enjoy the scenery and get lost in it.
- If you have a watch with a timer use it. I personally had my alarm go off every 15 minutes so I knew to make sure I was drinking and eating. I knew that I had to take in a quarter of bottle every 15 minutes and a gu every 45. In the Ironman if you get behind on your nutrition it is a hard fight back.
- Salt – Make sure you have enough salt. I took 250 mg every hour and I had no cramping at all.
- Do not deviate from your plan. You spent a lot of time putting this plan together do not deviate even if you feel great. You never know what the course will bring.
- HAVE FUN! This may feel like the longest day of your life while you are competing, but after you cross the finish line it will feel like it went by in a blink of an eye. Enjoy it! You spent a lot of time training for this, have some fun.
- Last but not least. Watch when you are coming into the finish shoot. If there are people around you, either slow a little or speed up and make sure you are alone as possible coming across the finish line. This is going to be your moment. It should be one of the few times in your life you should be selfish. Savor it. You swam, cycled and ran the whole thing alone, cross the finish line alone. Trust me here, you will thank me for it when you see the video later.
I am so proud of all of you. I am so lucky to be able to call you my friends and I know you will all be amazing. I will be there volunteering and I really hope I get to see everyone.
Kick some booty. Ironmen and women.
Carpe Viam!
Milestone Monday & Magic Number 6
Happy Monday Everyone. I know it isn’t much but this will be a small milestone as it’s the 20th blog I have written. I have not achieved the frequency of my friend Kat at Sneakers and Fingerpaints who writes 30-40 entertaining and quality posts a month, but I am working up to it. I would really like to allow you to follow me through this last week as I get ready for the Revolution 3 Florida 70.3 this weekend, so I am going to attempt to write a blog a day on my thoughts, workouts and other tasks I am doing in order be as fresh and strong as possible for this 70.3 Triathlon. The Magic Number is 6. Six days until the race.
This weekend was filled with slightly less intensity of training as I started the tapering process for the Rev3. On Saturday the A-Train completed a pretty intense 6 mile run followed by a swim in the extremely choppy surf of Clearwater beach. It was perfect weather for a run which took us along the beach and over the Sand Key Bridge. This was a good last quad burner for some explosiveness during the run portion next week. I always like running with Nick Z. He is an extremely fast runner so even though he is not running at his pace, he pushes me to keep my pace a little faster than usual. Not quite a tempo run, but fast enough for this shake out run.
I went up to the ballroom level of the Hyatt right near Pier 60 after the run and had a chance to get to know one of our new members Jessica M. The hotel is very plain from the outside but inside it is really beautiful. We bought a couple of beverages at the coffee kiosk and then went outside to chat and found comfy couches and chairs with views for the water and the beach. A perfect wind down to a tough workout. Jessica is a recent transplant from Brooklyn, New York, with a love for working out and running. We found out during the Miles for Hope ride how tough this woman really is. I mentioned in that post that we averaged about 18.5 mph during that ride. Ms. Jessica kept up with us the whole way on a recently purchased bike, with no cages or clips on her feet. She did the whole thing with running shoes and flat pedals. That had to be really difficult. I probably couldn’t have been able to keep up.
Sunday we rode a semi-fast 42 miles on the Sun Coast Trail. We started with seven riders and it was very comfortable. of course I lost the valve to my Speedfill early in the ride, but with two backup bottles I was still able to hydrate effectively. The ride started a little chilly for Florida. I don’t know the exact temperature, but it felt low 60s. I was concerned at first because I really wasn’t prepared with long sleeves or with arm warmers, but after a brief warm-up spin, Pete broke away for a bit and I followed. At 23 mph and spinning at at a cadence of 95 rpm, I ended up getting my heart rate up and I warmed up very fast. As we closed in on the baseball fields, marking the halfway point, Pete took it up another notch and we were both hitting 25-27 mph for the mile prior. Oh did I mention the first half was with a decent head wind? I didn’t realize it till I looked down at my Garmin and noticed I was working pretty hard to keep 19-20 mph. The group and I took quick break and then headed back which turned out to be faster and easier due to the tail wind. Pete and I kept a pretty good pace the rest of the ride with Jaime, Stephanie and one other gentlemen on our wheels. About 6 miles prior to being back to the cars, Pete decided to hang back a bit and Steph got rolling with a really nice pace so we played cat and mouse sticking to about a 21-23 mph pace. It was a fun ride, but luckily not too intense to keep our legs for next weeks race.
I went home, showered, rolled, stretched and then headed for a really good brunch at Grillsmith. If you have not had their brunch I highly recommend it.
This morning I woke up extremely lazy, but I knew if I didn’t jump into the pool, I would come up with every excuse in the book not to do it later. Amy, my coach, had me doing a short workout but was form focused which is what I need right now.
WARM UP:
200 WARM UP
50 CATCH UP STROKE
50 ON YOUR SIDE (1,2,3 X 5 KICKS ON SIDE)
50 ARM STOP AND LOOK
50 KICK BOARD CATCH UP
50 KICK FREE STYLE
100 PULL BUOY, FEELING THE GLIDE
MAIN SET:
All repeats are with a steady Rest Interval (RI):
10 X 100 ALL OUT!
10 SEC REST BETWEEN INTERVALS
COOL DOWN:
2 X 25 UNDERWATER NO BREATH
200 FORM FOCUS SWIM
LUNGES
As you can see it wasn’t a long swim by any stretch, but it was enough for me. I actually love these workouts, because of the intervals. It doesn’t seem like it takes as long. This workout took me about 45 minutes, where I am usually in the pool close to 75-90. See since I really do not like long workouts, I probably need to do more of them, you think?
My diet today will consist of a good amount of protein with vegetables and a good amount of water. Breakfast was 4 eggs, sweet potato and turkey sausage with salsa, Lunch will be a spinach and romaine salad with a lot of chicken, vegetables and a splashed with a light balsamic vinaigrette and dinner with be a lean steak with another sweet potato and green beans with almonds. In between, I have a protien shake for morning and an apple and almonds for this afternoon snacks. Pretty lame for a day of eating but I’ll enjoy it nonetheless.
That should take care of Manic Monday. Tomorrow I hope to start a regular post called Tribute Tuesday where I choose one person whom has greatly affected me positively and give you my story of the why and how, and then I interview them in order to let you into their personalities.
CARPE VIAM!!