Weekend recap

Saturday:

80min easy bike ride followed by a running workout as part of my new resolution to become better at running of bike.

Unfortunately that running workout was a total failure. Not due to running off bike but rather due to my very poor execution. I am usually very good at executing workouts how they are supposed to be executed but sometimes even I screw up. Nobody is perfect.

It was 20min w/up, 2.5k, 1.2k, 1.2k @10k pace with 2min rest. I did this in Tiergarten as part of my resolution to become not only faster but also stronger (because apparently you do not need to be necessarily fast for longer-distance triathlons, but you need to be strong).

Geez, how I hate running in that park. Pace that feels like a jog on a track feels like a 3000m pace on those gravel, full of turns, little bumps and holes, little uphills and downhills roads. Maybe I should adjust my pace accordingly, but I am just too stubborn for that.

So I went with my pretended (I do not really know what my 10k pace is) 10k pace of 4:00-4:03. However I did that 2.5k at 3:57 pace. You see, after around 1k the road goes slightly uphill until this tiny wooden bridge (I do not like running over that bridge, it always throws me of my rhythm) and I always slow down in that section. However, I did not slow down on Saturday (maybe I am indeed becoming stronger) so I was still at around 3:57 pace there. Then the road goes flat/maybe slightly down for around 300m and I was at 3:55 pace at 2k mark. Then it is uphill and I tell you, I was falling apart in the last 300m… You see, a very bad execution, because of those stupid uphills and downhills.

I jogged 2ish min and then almost died trying to hold pace under 4:10. However, the last 200ish m is downhill so I finished the first 1.2k at 4:03 pace. But it was hard.

Then I cheated and walked for 2.5min, otherwise I would not be able to get anywhere close to 4min pace. It seems that it helped because I was able to hold 4:01 pace with less problems than 1.2k before.

I also went swimming, but it was only an easy 1000m flop.

Sunday: Went biking with my bike buddy. Our last ride together:( 4hours. It was the longest ride in like forever. Followed by an easy 300m swim:)

Regarding running in the park. I do not know whether I should adjust my paces. I kind of feel that I should not because I am not going to do any races on a track and let’s now I want to run 40min 10k on a road, therefore I should train at that pace no matter where I am. Right?

   

Thank you ITB

I am more and more convinced that „likely just phantom pains triggered by that part of your brain that is responsible for making sure you not do anything stupid” exist.

Of course I was not going to do that “mad race” in next three weeks to get that awesome beer-filled glass (I would do it if I have not spent the last three years cursing my ITB, but I do have some common sense), I was just dreaming about it. The same way I dream about doing a half-ironman next year… I will put that glass on my imaginary bucket list and I will get it one day. 

However, my ITB might not have been entirely convinced that I have a common sense and just to make sure that I do not do anything stupid it has decided to rebel a little bit. Nothing too bad, but just enough to scare me enough to shoot a freak-out email to my PT to get an appointment and to not even entertain a thought of racing in next three weeks. Yeah, point taken ITB!

I do not know whether it really hurt or whether I was imagining it but I think that it was real. For a second or two I was contemplating to scrap my run yesterday but I knew that would classify in “lazy” category, not in “being careful” category. I have had these little pains before and I knew that it is nothing serious. Interesting thing about it is that although I can feel some discomfort in ITB area sitting at work or in metro, it goes completely away during the run and everything feels great again after I run. Weird. 

By the way, I had a great run yesterday. I did my workout on a dirt track near my house while soccer practice was going on. Hit a runner and get a double score! Not really. They hit me only once and it was not too bad because you are able to react when twenty+ men all at once scream “Vorsichtig” at you. I used my best volleyball move to prevent the ball to break my nose and continued to 1:28 400m split.

Anyway, workout was great. 4x400 @ sub-5k pace, 15min @ little slower than 10k pace, 4x400 again with 90sec jog. 
First 400 felt quite challenging (1:25, 1:26, 1:27, 1:26) and I started to worry about the last 400s.

Then I decided to pretend that my current 10k pace is 4:00-03 (6:25ish in case any North Americans are reading this) and thus wanted to do 15min at 4:05 pace. I was also determined to check my splits only at each kilometer mark because I must learn to “feel the pace” if I want to become a distance runner! Went through first k in a notch faster than 4min (too fast), then second k in 4:06 (slow, although 1sec plus or minus, I do not care), third in 4:05 (perfect) and then the rest to finish 15min. It felt like jogging! I mean, it was really jogging because holding 10k+ pace for 15min should feel like jogging, right? I also suspect that having a whole men’s soccer team watching me might have added to my motivation.

As I was doing this I overheard one of the players telling to his teammate that I looked happy to be running. And I thought to myself," man, you have no idea!!!"

Then the last 400s. These surprisingly felt easier that the first set: 1:28 (that’s when I got hit by that ball), 1:26, 1:26, 1:26. Must be because I was warmed up enough by then.

So everything is good. I am not doing any running races in next three weeks and my ITB is happy. Not as happy as it was on let's say Saturday, but happy enough.

What to do, what to do?

Ok, I am this (holding my thumb and index finger 3mm apart) close to signing up for some running races in next three weeks.

I want that Erdinger beer glass and I want it badly! I have exactly 17 days to try to get it. I went to Erdinger website and found triathlon and running races in next three weeks that they are sponsoring. Then I checked the locations and eliminated those that are too far (with the exception of the one on 22^nd). Then went to races websites and checked whether registration is still open and then checked the results from past years and eliminated those where first three went under 40min (resp under 19) and I got left with these races:

5k and 10k race in Wolfsburg this coming Sunday (5k at 10:20am, 10k at 1:30pm)- easy to get there, it is part of their marathon weekend so all fast runners are doing that. But it is already this Sunday I am not 100% sure my ITB can survive.

10k in Brueggen on 15^th – this race is probably my best chance and would be ideal but there is no train going there so I cannot get there unless I coax someone to come with me. But who?

5k and 8k in Vienna on 22^nd – 5k at 3pm, 8k at 5pm, this is little complicated, since I have to get up at 4:30am, I land in Vienna at 8am and then what would I do there for the next 6 hours till the race starts. I mean I would find something to do but I cannot expect from my parents to spend 11hours in Vienna waiting till I am done with my races. Because you see, I cannot go there alone since I will have my suitcase and my bike with me so my parents must pick me up….And at the end I would not even win that beer glass.  

(All tri races were already sold out)

 Of course in each of those races the winner was faster than I am now but then the 2^nd and 3^rd place were slow, which means that if no freaking fast people show up I have a chance to win and get that beer-filled glass.  And of course it is not 100% that the winner gets the glass and it is very likely that only 10k winner wins it and 5k does not. I went even as far as looking at awards ceremony pictures to see whether they have those glasses. Was not able to find any though. 

So now I do not know what to do. I know that it is not the best idea ever. More I think about it more stupid it sounds. I think that I should sleep on it some more. But I probably won’t do it. I will likely wait until I actually get to a decent running/triathlon shape and then in a few years I will make a trip to Germany/Austria and get that beer-filled glass!!! Too bad I did not start to be obssessed with that glass earlier.

Day after (or two, who cares)

I must have done something right on Sunday because I cannot move my poor arms. I feel as if I was run over by a truck. Well, as if my arms and upper back were run over by a truck. It means that I indeed swam well (although I know that tiny little part of my pains is swimming in restricting wetsuit, to which I am not used)

Too bad I can move my legs without any problems. Means I have not worked hard enough.