Ouch!

I am in pain... In lots of pain actually! But I am also proud and happy.

Yesterday, I did my longest run in my life so far with 15.09 miles in 2h 38mins.

The run was split up in a six mile warm up, three times two miles at race pace with a five minute recovery in between and then finish up with one to two miles cool down.

My game plan was to shoot for around 10:30 minute/mile for the WU, 9:30 minute/mile for the repeats and cool down with whatever is left in the tank.

It was just as cold as every other day this week around here, but sunny with blue skies and only little wind. I bundled up in UA tights and long sleeve, t-shirt, head band, gloves and shades and drove over to the Furman track to leave the car there, basically as my supply vehicle.

From there, I started my warm up over the campus heading for the Swamp Rabbit Trail and once I was on the trail always north towards Travelers Rest until the Garmin beeped for three miles. Starting out, the toes in my left foot were frozen, but during mile two they dewed and burned and once that was done, the feet felt toasty for the remainders of the run. I also had my first three Shot Blok pieces around the three mile mark as well as a perfect stranger saying "That's beautiful" to me while I passed him... I took it as compliment to my gait and kept on going. On the way back to the car, I had to slow myself down every now and then. You see, the way back is slightly downhill the whole time and that makes it easier to go faster than supposed to. On the second half of my warm up, I also felt a lot of discomfort on my right toes and ankle. I wore my new Mizunos again and I don't think those shoes are a good fit for me, especially not on long runs. Once I got back to the car after my first six miles, I called Terry and asked him to bring me another pair of shoes. In the meantime, I did some stretching and had another three pieces of Shot Blok.

After I changed into my Adidas (my toes and ankle felt better right away!), I started my first two mile repeat on the track. I pretty much nailed the pace with a lap time of a little under 19 minutes for the two miles. During the recovery jog, I had a little more to eat and did a pit stop. The second repeat was right at 19 minutes followed with five minutes of recovery. In the last repeat, I had a hard time holding a constant pace. I was either way too slow or way too fast and had to keep on looking at the Garmin and correct my pace. I also kinda ran out of steam by then just barely hanging on. On my second to last lap, I heard somebody approaching from the back fast. I ran my repeats in lane number seven to stay out of the way of the fast people, but for the last 15 or so minutes, I was alone on the track, so hearing somebody running behind me surprised me a lot since I just didn't know where the person was coming from. I thought to myself, I am exhausted, but I am ready to smack you in the face, so bring it on. (Note to myself: Watch out for paranoia around mile 13!) It turned out to be Terry. He did a trainer ride and then ran from the house to the track to finish up with me. So we ran my last lap together and when I hit stop to put my stuff back in the car before my cool down the Garmin was at 13.16 miles. I ran a half-marathon distance for the first time in my life and I felt it everywhere.

The cool down was horrible. I didn't feel that much pain on the last repeat, but once I did the cool down I was about to cry. The last two miles were long and slow with an over 11 minute/mile pace average, but I got it done... Before driving back to the house, we did some stretching and once we were back, I had the hardest time to get out of the car. I can't remember that I ever had such an instant soreness after a workout.

I was hoping that this was the only 15-miler, I will have to do for the MB half preparation only to find out this morning, that the next one is already lined up for this Sunday. Actually, this whole week looks pretty darn tough on paper... Oh well... I'll survive... Somehow.

Salzburg Trip

Do you hear the Sound of Music? ;-)

The first time, I have been to Salzburg was in 2004 (I think) with my mother over the weekend for her birthday. Other than the obligatory sightseeing, we had tickets for a dinner and chamber music package... A total tourist trap, but since we were tourists... Back then I looked through a couple of sightseeing flyers and stumbled over the "Sound Of Music Tour" and didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Newsflash here... Even though the movie takes place in Austria, it is way famous around here than in Germany (I can't talk about Austria). So when I moved over here, that whole flyer finally made sense. Although I sometimes jokily refer to the movie, I have never seen the whole thing (same goes for "Titanic")... It's too long and the singing makes me gag after half an hour. Noooo... I am not a musical hater... I just don't really care for this one.

And now I got completely sidetracked at what actually should be a travel report for our one day tour to Salzburg, Austria.

From where we were staying in Bavaria, there is a direct train connection to Salzburg every two hours. So one morning we hopped on the train and while we were travelling, we soaked in the scenery... unfortunately without snow... it would have been even prettier with a little dusting.

Taking a nap on the train.

First glimpse at the Alps.

After getting off the train we stopped by the tourist information to get the scoop and what kind of tours they offered in English. After a little deliberation we decided to do a 1.5 hour walking tour starting at the Mozart square in two hours or so. First order of business was to test out their public transportation (bus) and make our way to the historic downtown to snoop around a little and grab a bite to eat.

The walking tour turned out to be a good decision. Our tour guide was knowledgeable but didn't overwhelm you with too much information. On the other hand, if you had additional questions, she was able to answer them. Every now and then she made a reference to the Sound of Music and how this song was supposed to play here, but was actually done in a studio in Hollywood type information. Since it was a walking tour, it was limited to the old historic city (they kind of have a newer historic city too) which also kept the volume on information to be processed in bearable limits. After the tour we crossed the Salzsach to also make some postcard pictures from the Mirabell Gardens looking at the Hohensalzburg.

Salzburg Cathedral

Year plate on St. Pete Cemetery... One year older than America! ;-)

Mozart's birthplace in the Getreidegasse.

On a bridge over the Salzach with the historic city as backdrop.

Mirabell Gardens

After the Mirabell Gardens, we returned to the older part of the city and did touristy stuff e.g. shopping. After a little debate back and forth, we finally decided not to pass the opportunity and visit the Hohensalzach Castle before heading back. The cable car ride up the castle just takes 45 seconds and all the access for museums at the castle is included in the fair. First order of business was to walk around the castle on the outside and get all the scenic views over the city and the Alps. After that we wanted to do the audio guided tour but the line was loooooong and not moving whatsoever and time started to press since we were shooting for catching the 5PM train. So we skipped the tour 1 (audio guided) and moved on to tour 2 right away.... No lines and we know why.... It was pretty boring unless you are interested in Austrian military uniforms over the centuries. To finished up and after walking around a little confused to find the cable car entrance again, we made it back to the city.

View from castle over city.

View from castle at the Alps.

The last adventure of the day was catching the right bus to bring us back to the train station. We stopped at several wrong bus stops but fortunately didn't hop on a bus. Since I am not scared to ask for directions, we got pointed the way and made it back with time to spare in a PACKED train. Obviously we were not the only ones that had the Salzburg day trip idea.

After getting back to Vilsbiburg, we met up with a friend for dinner and ice cream and with the check each of us got a free piece of cake. Was that a perfect day OR WHAT??

Statistics 2009 and Tentative Race Schedule/ Goals 2010

I am behind – I know! Every other endurance sports blog that I read has already done this post and moved on…. But I still don’t want to miss the opportunity to reflect on 2009 and make a public commitment to my goals in 2010.

Brace yourself and here we go:

Statistics 2009

TOTALS

Bike: 133h 28m 31s - 1320.5 Mi (spin bike incl in time, but not in mileage)
Run: 115h 41m 42s - 670.78 Mi
Swim: 67h 04m 01s - 157033.2 Yd
Strength: 29h 39m

RACES

6 5Ks

2 8Ks

2 10Ks

1 Mud Run (4 miles, 30 obstacles)

1 Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 14mile bike, 4mile run)

1 Metric Century Ride (62 miles)

1 Relay (12.3 miles in three legs)

1 Trail Race over 11K

Tentative Race Schedule 2010

2-13 Myrtle Beach Half Marathon (registered)
4-25 Palmetto 200 Relay
6-5 Middle Tyger YMCA Sprint Triathlon
8-1 Assault on Cherokee International Distance Triathlon

Those are the races that I really want to do and the rest of the year will be planned out as I go. On top of these, I would like to do a century ride and maybe a duathlon, but so far, I haven’t found anything that fits in the existing schedule.

Athletic Goals for 2010

1) back to around 125 lbs by the end of January (yes, I did quite some damage over the winter vacation)
2) finish my first half marathon
3) improve my time from 2009 in the Middle Tyger Sprint
4) finish my first international distance tri
5) get faster especially when it comes to running to be measured in PRs

That’s not too bad of a list… This should be possible! ;-)

Oh and by the way: Yes, I did the swim this morning and it felt good to start the training back up. Coach didn't have a whole lot to correct this time around. Last year after my first lesson, I seriously wondered, how I was able to stay afloat since there was soooo much to correct on my stroke. So the technique seems to be getting better (should I be concerned that she didn't recognize my attempt on perfect form 50s? ;-) and the speed will come with practice!

Sidelined

As mentioned yesterday, I am a little under the weather. First there was this head cold that wouldn’t go anywhere and as soon as I started to relax a little on our winter vacation – BOOM – I got really sick. Right in time for our trip to Bavaria which I didn’t want to cancel and that was also tons of fun, but I just didn’t get the rest in, I would have done if I had been home.

So my last real workout has been on the last Saturday in 2009 and since then I didn’t do anything than hiking and walking and actually since I am back from Germany…. I didn’t do ANYTHING AT ALL. This might be the longest stretch of workout free time in a year.

Of course the timing is BAD. There is no good time for getting sick and there is much worse out in this world than having a cold. Nevertheless, in the absence of having real problems, I am frustrated to say the least. I signed up for my first half marathon and the big day is less than six weeks away. On top of it, I haven’t managed to run the 13.1 miles in one of my long runs yet.

Considering all these current events, I decided to scramble my planning around a little. The planned 10K in Asheville in two weeks is OFF. I prefer to have this weekend available for a quality long run instead of doing a race. That means that I didn’t do a race in December and won’t do one in January. Looks like this cold has also induced the longest stretch of non-racing months, since I started racing in November 2008. I try not to go to crazy over that, but I show tons of nerves at the starting line and doing races on a regular basis helps my brains to remember that there really is nothing to be nervous about. Terry always says: “Why should I be nervous, it’s just running!” – I wish I could adopt that attitude.

As of right now, I plan to get back to my workouts tomorrow morning with a swim class at 6AM… Today, I stopped by the nurse in our facility and got the green light for working out. I was planning on starting back up, but it gives me some peace of mind that she agrees with my assessment.

On brighter news (brighter than the green light): Team D.N.R. will be back in action end of April at the Palmetto 200 Relay from somewhere close to Columbia, SC to Folly Beach, SC. Originally we talked about doing the American Odyssey Relay from Gettysburg, PA to Washington D.C., but then we heard about this new relay in our backyard and decided to it instead. So far it looks like the original cast will get together for a new installment of running insanity and a sleepless night and tons of stories to tell. STAY TUNED! ;-)

Welcome 2010

Hopefully, everyone had a GREAT start into the New Year and the New Decade.

We are back from our winter vacation in Germany. It was a fun trip and I enjoyed the time with friends and family.

While I am typing this post, I am also uploading a fine selection of the 10,000 pictures taken during this 2.5 week period on Facebook. I hope and pray that the upload works at the first time (for once) since I am not in computer mode... I am in lying in bed and rest mode. Simultaneously, I also try to catch up on laundry and as mentioned before: I'd rather be in bed and watch TV.

For a week now, I am having a cough and just feel wiped out, so training is on hold for the moment as well. As frustrated as I am about that, it also freed up some time to do other stuff... other than resting I mean. One example is to scribble on a post-it note the next couple of headlines for this blog of mine in order to recap the adventures and impressions from the trip of ours. I got the headlines, but as previously mentioned... I am in resting mode, so the actual typing of the posts will be done at a later point in time.

In the meantime, a little feel good picture... This is my parent's dog Paul.... It took me a while to get a really cute shot of him, but he was finally in model mood!

Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas to all of you.

I hope you have the opportunity to spend this time of the year with your family and friends.


We enjoy our vacation in Germany very much... More to come, when we get back and then I will also put up some pictures!

The Sweet Smell Of Chlorine

Right now, all the swimming that I do is mostly focused on technique and not speed. A lot of drills and if I just swim I am supposed to do it with perfect form. Between watching what the position of my head is, if my torso rotates, that my arms don't cross center line etc I would hardly have a chance to be speedy. But as the form is getting better and more efficient, speed will come... That's the idea anyways.


I tried to sign up for Tri Swim Classes at the Middle Tyger YMCA, but those are not set-up in the computer yet. At least I was able to find out how much it is going to be for members and once again, I think USD 25.- for a month of swim classes is not bad at all. So from January until April I will be in the pool every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Can't wait... NOT! While I enjoyed the group of people this year and really feel that I improved my swimming a lot during that time, I am not looking forward to have to get into this COLD pool at 6AM twice a week, walk into the office with the google imprints around my eyes, smell like chlorine all day long, no matter how long I showered afterwards and feel hungry for the rest of the day, because the cold water is sucking everything out of me.


Yesterday, I had my last (regular training) swim on tap before the classes are starting up again. I tried to do flip turns! It was pathetic! ;-) Last year after the classes were done, I taught myself bi-lateral breathing, so why not try to teach myself a flip turn? There is still room for improvement and I will keep working on it. Of course you don't need a flip turns for open water swims, but so many sprint tris around here are done with pool swims and then it could actually be an advantage... Turn faster and while you do so, knock out a couple of your competitors.... JUST KIDDING.

Source of picture here.

Actually looking at this illustration already helps... Visualize... Always visualize! ;-)