Training Log Archive: Chris9

Easy spin on the trail to Ft. Sheridan and back. Just enjoyed being outside, no nutrition other than water, just cruising whatever pace felt ok. Legs started to come back after 30 minutes, which means i'm on my way to recovery.

Long day of yard work ahead.

300 wu
3x100
150
50 easy
3x200- was around 3:39ish , slow
2x150
100 hard in 1:37
150 CD

Very sluggish swim. First true workout of the week, and just did what my body would let me do. More muscular fatigue than anything, energy level was actually ok.

Easy spin before work

Very easy spin before work

Outdoor pool, literally messing around and swimming a few 100s and 200s and taking long breaks. Just getting the body moving.

Waited in long line at the swim start. Pros took off into the current and were struggling so bad that they re-routed the swim for the AG'ers. Only did 1200ish meters, all down current. Swim wast fast.

Overall pushed the pace, sighted fairly well, stayed close to the buoy's. Found myself zig-zagging a little bit, which is expected since i've not swim in open water since last September. Took a moment to enjoy the swim under the bridge.

62 in my age group which was my highest placing.

Love the rolling swim start. Very minimal traffic, seeded myself around 35 minutes for HIM.

Overall really pleased with my bike given my low biking volume, the fact it's only May, and the course supposedly has 2200-2400 feet of climbing. Basically was 11 miles out, 34 mile loop, and 11ish miles back. First and last part were fast and felt very flat. The 34 mile loop had a bunch of ups and downs, but honestly it didn't seem that bad. Were two 'climbs' but they weren't anything crazy that Barrington Hills doesn't prepare me for.

Cruised the entire time and tried to make it feel easy. Wanted to save some energy for the run. Took almost all of my 800 calories of perpetuem, a clif bar, and probably 3-4 bottles of water. A couple sips of gatorade here and there.

I loved the first and last parts of the bike because you had sweeping views of the mountains. The middle part was also really pretty.

Pushed through 56 miles in 2:48 pretty much on the nose, but I measured course a little over half mile long.

This was going to be the big question mark. Been consistently running 20-25 miles per week since December. Only a couple of runs of 9-10 miles, so the long run wasn't too strong. Started off pacing it really easy, and it may be that I went too easy for the first 6 miles. Hovered around 9:30 miles with a few higher than that. Started off cruising down the main road to the turn-around, and then back up the first hill. Saw Heather Jackson crushing it on her way to the win, was really cool to see. She was smiling through the pain, really impressive. Went up the hill and then on my way to through the course. There's a long slow false flat up to mile 2ish, and then you run out and back on this little walk-way, and then make your way into this area down below where there's another out-and-back. Just kept crusing through 6 miles, and was starting to wonder if the wheels would come off, or if I had under-paced it. Saw Jen at the 6 mile mark and told her I was going to try and push the second loop, but didn't feel great.

Made the turn for the second loop and started working up towards 9:15 minute miles part way in. Found that I still had energy. Took about a full clif shot (a half two times), water and gatorade almost every aid station, and then started the red bull around mile 7. The second loop was carnage, so many people were walking. I bet I passed about 500 people on the second loop at least. Temps were high 70s with 65% humidity. Not bad, but there's around 700 ft of climbing on the run course too.

Made my way onto the first bridge and found myself able to hold a 9-9:15 pace, and stayed there for the last 2-3 miles. Went down hill and then over to the last bridge. Had a few moments of just taking in the incredible view of downtown Chattanooga and the mountains, and put my head down and ran low 8's and into the high 7's for the last mile. Literally was the only person running the last mile that I saw, and was proud to have paced it well.