Ready For Spring Weather and Thank God For The Trails

I'm ready for Spring to come any time mother nature wants to bring it. Finally back running on trails! How long has it been? A short taste of spring, but now it seems we are back in a psuedo winter, again. Last week's running miles = 90. Not much else going on as that sport is taking up all of my time (~60mi bike and 3Kswimming). April 18th is approaching rapidly and it is almost time to start scaling things back. I am looking forward to scaling back running and doing some long outside rides, hopefully in warm sunny weather. New Bedford Race Report; 3 years in a row now, no taper and high miles in the legs; I just could not find a rhythm and backed off; either a PR or I don't care and don't want to risk injury = 1:26:30. Hope everyone's training had gone well. It has been a tough winter for us New Englanders and I know a lot of people have struggled. There are a lot of injuries out there! Time to hit the trails and give the legs a break!

Better Numbers This Week

6300yd, 121mi, 83mi - first week running over 70 miles this year. Miles for March close to that of 2010, so it's not bad at all. Finally out on the Boston course this am. It felt good to be out there and to up tempo the first 13miles. Plan is to take an easy day tomorrow and resume until Thursday or so, then take some easy miles going into New Bedford next week. No expectations for NB1/2; I have bombed that race two years in a row now, and I don't expect anything different. Focus is on prep for Boston - anything else that happens will be a bonus - 1:22 in 2007 still stands. Finally it looks like we are in the clear and I will be able to continue ride outside this week. Sore shoulder from Monday night sprinting feels fine and I am due for 10K yards this week. -Kyle

Hopefully The Groundhog Is Right This Time

Very quiet on this end, but training is going okay. Back on the bike a day last week and today - it had been a month of no outside biking (thumbs down). Snow banks too high - too risky and I don't want to get whacked - it has been bad enough run commuting with those knuckle-head drivers. Not much else to report; February was a lost month of swimming; pool closed, Feb school vacation and I had to travel. I will need to make up for it this month, but I still feel very good in the water and I'm still doing lots of fly, which is hard work. The return to the Foxborough Old Fashion Ten Mile this year; blustery cold conditions, but I still went out hard, but legs began to tighten; lot's of speed work has done a number on the legs and I only managed 66 minutes. The race was totally dominated by the BAA. Also, three weeks of long runs 23, 17 and 21 - I decided to give it a break last weekend and just put in medium long runs. Mileage not great, but last two weeks 65 and 67 miles. February running miles just a tick above 2011. Need to put in high miles this week, as the following week is New Bedford on 3/20. I also need bike miles, as February wasn't a great bike month either. Body okay. Nagging heel thing (not achilles) comes and goes, but it doesn't keep me from running. It has been a tough winter for us New Englanders, but there is sign that spring is coming! We have earned our dues and it feels great ride outside. Only a couple of weeks until spring and I am ready for some mild, sunny days where I can get out and cruise on the bike. Also, running on some soft surfaces like trails is highly desirable, as the roads just beat you up after a while. Last week; 5800, 102, 67. Thanks for checking in. I will try to get back to posting the numbers on a weekly basis. -Kyle

Fast Forward To February

Once again. Not keeping up with this blog .... I will try to do better in the coming weeks. All is well and my fitness is coming back. Only 9 weeks until the Boston Marathon!!!

Here are the numbers for January:

S-17800yd, B-421mi, R-193mi

Bike miles almost double that of Jan10, so hopefully I'm on track. Unfortunately, the last two weeks have been disasterous for training. Too much snow has limited swimming; the pool has either been closed or I have been unable to make it for some stupid reason. Also, there is no room on the road for a bike; too risky, so all miles have been inside and time on the bike has suffered recently. I have been run commuting - also risky, have already had a couple of run-ins with cars operated by aggressive numb-skulls. Multiple contiguous track workouts accomplished only by use of the treadmill. I think I have shoveled snow every day for the last month, which I think my body is getting used to and my arms have really bulked-up. It has been a tough winter and it is probably the reason us New Englanders have such mental toughness or maybe it's that we cherish the spring so much, that we spend so much time on the bike when the weather gets nice.

I am just back from my second quality swim workout this week. Lot's of fly. Big thanks to coach Kim D. She's made everyone on the team choose a specialty stroke to focus on this winter. Who would of thought a few years ago that my strength would be the fly. It's obvious; it's a stroke that suits me well, less about technique and more about muscling your way through the water. I am actually starting to feel proficient at it.

Less than two weeks is the first prep-race; Foxborough Old Fashioned 10 miler. I am glad they brought the USATF GP series back to this race. My PR is there in 07 - 62:37 and I want to see that time fall this year. I'm unsure, but maybe if I can get some quality runs in here the next 10 days, it might be a possibility.

Anyway, there is a forecast for some better weather coming and no snow storms! Let's hope the ground hog is right this time!

-Kyle

Final Look Back At 2010

The 2011 training is now back in full swing. My New Year's resolution is to spend more energy on bike miles this year. In a perfect world, my bike miles will be about 3-4x my running miles. 2010 was an unusual year, but since I don't have anything to compare it to, I will use it as a baseline.

Anyway, first two weeks on 2011:

week #1 swim-7200, bike-95mi, run-49mi

week#2 bike - 119mi, run-49mi

Snow, holidays and life getting in the way of swimming - seems like the pool has been closed for weeks now. I will need to make up some of the time in the coming weeks.

And now ... drum roll please ... best performances and recap of 2010.

Best Swim:

I think I PR'd in every swim of 2010. LOT's of time in the water - wet suit free. I've improved a lot and it showed this year. Best swim goes to IMLP 64:42.

Best Bike:

Best Bike goes to Pumpkinman 2:35. Not a fast time, but done without a lot of training. I am looking to do this race again in 2011.

Best Run:

This one is easy; Boston Marathon 2:49:53 - new PR. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to best this time in 2011.

Anyway, I am challenging myself to PR on the bike this year. I will take any PRs running this year too.

I hope everyone is well and looking at 2011 races. Looks like we are in for a tough New England winter, so hopefully we'll get some breaks for some outdoor cycling and long runs.

Cheers! -Kyle

2010 Year End Numbers

Year Total, Month (avg.), Day (avg.)

Swimming: 237652, 19804, 668 Yards

Biking: 4416, 368, 12.4 Miles

Running: 2111, 176, 5.93 Miles

Almost 6 miles per day average running for the whole year! not bad.

Biggest Month Swimming: June, 34200 yards

Biggest Month Biking: May, 708 miles

Biggest Month Running: March, 335 miles (10.8 miles per day average for the month)

Conclusion: Need to bike more in 2011!

Getting Back Into A Rhythm

A few weeks since my last post ... Just want to let everyone know everything is good. The achilles thing is behind me and I am slowly ramping things back up. I am already scheduling 2011 and not looking back. I have already shot my mouth off about running 2:45 at Boston in April. That's 6:18 per mile! Yikes!!! This probably means that I will need to run close to 6:10 per mile and give up the rest in the hills! At age 45, it is going to take some discipline, but I will give it a shot. No sense in backing down now. Focus will need to be on speed; intervals and tempo. Anyway, I have kept my promise and I have logged every single mile biked and run, and every yard swum in 2010. I will post these around the end of the month or after the new year. Then everyone can look at the numbers and tell me if I'm nuts or not. It has been a very cold New England December, but we are lucky that there has been no snow and trails are still open. I can't remember a year that we didn't already have snow on the ground a month ago. I'm sure it won't last much longer, so I will enjoy trails as long as possible and then get forced back out onto the streets. I am looking forward to some XC skiing though. Okay, so I am looking for suggestions for next year. Other than Boston and IMLP, I have no definite plans yet, but I am starting to look at races. I am also thinking about getting a coach again for bike training. It has been a few years since I had my beloved coach, but he has moved to AZ and I really could use someone like him again (bike times need to get faster, not slower). Please post race suggestions and let me know what folks have on the radar screen for 2011.

-Kyle