Month: May 2011

Training (AKA, Self Medication)

Quite often I find that people don’t understand why I train the way I do.  They don’t understand the appeal of getting up at 4:30 AM to run, or spending 4 hours of a Saturday running and biking.  But for me this is my drug of choice.  Triathlon training is my way of  self medicating.  It is my happy pill.

Life can be hard.  Work and family can wear on everybody at some point.  And what makes me feel better, and more even, is to have a very consistent training regimen.  I do 6-7 days a week.  And if I can’t get it all in, it can make me moody and irritable.  I’m glad that it is exercise that keeps me happy because the side effects of it can be great!

This post was inspired by reading a post from The Una Runner.  I really connected with what he wrote.

April 2011 Training Report

Training Summary

  • Running – 101 miles
  • Swimming – 19 miles
  • Biking – 251 miles
  • Total Distance – 371 miles
  • Total Time : 41:34

Races

I completed my first Half Ironman distance triathlon in Oceanside, CA on 4/2/2011.  It was awesome! My goal ultimate goal was to go under 6 hours but I thought that I would most likely be  closer to 6:30.  I was thrilled to finish in 5:59:41!  Full race report can be found here.

Notes on Month

Kind of a strange month because I had a big race in the beginning so there were a couple of light weeks dues to recovery.  I did 30 less total miles than the month before but 4 more hours or training.  This is probably due to the fact that I swam a lot! (twice as much as the previous month).  I also upped the running and had a light month of riding.  Another notable thing that happened in April is that I started this blog.  I am really enjoying it and I hope that people continue to read it.  And lastly, late in the month I tried trail running.  I liked it so much there is a 50K penciled on my calendar for November 2011!

Running in Neutral

So last weekend I got my first taste of trail running.  I went with a friend and we ran one of his favorite trails.  It was great! Scenery was beautiful, pace was comfortable, and weather was cool and damp (which made for some very muddy and wet shoes).  So since I am very interested in doing more trail runs (and a 50K) I figured I should get the right equipment (plus I love any excuse to buy new shoes).  So I went to the local running store, Inside Track. I tried on a couple of trail shoes and was really interested in the Salomons.  But they had two versions, a stability or a neutral.

I have always run in a stability shoe since I was first fitted 5 years ago. I figured that now might be the time to try something new.  I am not an expert on shoes (yet).  I generally can run in whatever I have with no problems.  One of the things I do when I run is heal strike really bad.  I can wear through a pair of shoes in less than 200 miles just because heal strike! I could feel the difference in the two shoes immediately.  The stability shoe felt much stiffer and the neutral shoe was much more flexible.  I wanted to get a shoes that does less work for me so I can get stronger as a runner.  So I got the neutral version of the shoes and took them out for their inaugural run today.

The run was delightful!  Much harder than last weekend.  There wasn’t a flat part in it!  We were either running up or down!  So far I am very happy with the shoes.  I will do a full review after I get a few more run in them.  I think when I replace my regular running shoes (soon) I will try to switch it up and go for a little less shoe as well.

Photos by Quadrathon. (Feet on left, Quadrathon.  Feet on right, mine)