March 30, 2006

I'm taking an economics class for my MBA on Wednesday nights, and the local running store in town has group runs on Wednesdays. This week, however, was "spring break", so I did not have class. I thought I'd celebrate my evening off and find a pace group to run a five mile loop.

Runners are similar to cyclists in that they sandbag their times before the run, then overexaggerate their time after the run. For example, some will note that they going to run at an 8:30 pace when in reality, the pace will be 8:00. At the end, they will cut 0.2 miles off the end of the run but count it anyway, making their finish time look a few minutes faster. Hey! It's motivating. Can't criticize that.

So the purported 8:00 minute group ran the five miles at a 7:30 pace. I was confident I could do such a pace quite easily since I had run that quickly in Florida (alternating between 7:30 and 8). But Florida is FLAT. And Birmingham is far from being flat.

First ten minutes, I felt great. Next ten minutes: breathing hard, can't talk much, stop noticing external things in environment, heart rate is high. Third ten minutes: gave up on iPod, started to hate pace group leader, compared myself to others and felt weak, lazy and pathetic, lungs are burning, running partner keeps poking my back telling me not to slump. I gasp out a 'thank you' and encourage him to keep reminding me in monosyllabic gasping grunts. Last eight minutes: continued loss of good running form, praying to God that I will die soon, wishing someone would carry me the last half mile, continued hatred of pace group leader for making it look effortless.

Overall result: I am completely, totally humbled.

More speedwork is in order. It shouldn't be this difficult to run five 7.5 minute miles.

Posted by megabeth at 09:46 AM | Comments (2)

March 29, 2006

I volunteered to host a pro athlete for the Powerman Duathlon on April 9, and it looks like I have a match! This will be an interesting experience. I will provide transportation and housing; hopefully she'll give me some tips and advice in return. More details later.

Posted by megabeth at 09:20 AM | Comments (1)

March 28, 2006

The weather at the beach was spectacular this weekend: intense sunlight and temps in the low 60s. My sister invited a college friend, who brought her Garmin GPS/HRM on run #1. That thing is WAY COOL. She updated me on pace per mile and distance throughout the run. I love instant feedback. We ran seven miles, and in Florida the landscape is flat, so they were speedy (7:30 to 8:00 pace). I ran the same course two days later. Anyhow, if you're in Destin sometime, Sandestin resort is a nice place to get in some distance miles without having to deal with traffic. However, it seems like half the resort is under construction, so I'm guessing that many people do not have a peaceful vacation, unless you enjoy the sound of tractors passing by every five minutes.

During my second run, I did beginner speedwork intervals (two minutes hard fast run, two minutes light jog, times three, with one extra minute sprint at the end for extra pain). That went well, although I was tired at the end of the seven miles. Best not to combine distance with speedwork. For some reason I can't keep myself from trying to kill two birds with one stone.

Other than those two workouts, I sat around by the pool and soaked up the rays. And I went shopping. I bought some Defeet Levitator socks at the Saucony outlet for $5 a pair and tried them out on my run. I get very annoyed by the seam that runs across the top of the toes. The Levitators don't have that seam; therefore, they rock. Wish I had bought more, already.

Posted by megabeth at 03:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

I'm going to the Florida panhandle this weekend for a mini-vacation, although the weather isn't turning out quite as desired. Low 60s will be fine for running, but not for sunbathing. And any weather is great for shopping!

I'm going to try some beginner speedwork during my workouts. I seem to be stuck on an 8:10 to 8:15 mile pace for five mile distances, and I'd like to begin moving that down to 7:30.

My bicycle is not coming with me this time. Everyone I ride with thinks that four days off the bike is a horrible travesty beknownst only to those poor, starving Ethiopians who have been denied their Powerbars by corrupt government officials. (That sounded totally wrong. Please forgive me.) Frame of reference here, folks. I can assure you that if I take four days off the bike, my race performance for the upcoming season is not shot all to hell. We must not forget that we are cyclists by choice, and not by trade.

My other best friend, however, will be coming with me. My laptop's presence is required in case I go through internet withdrawal symptoms, since there are TWO whole places with free wi-fi in the Destin area. That makes sense, though. It's a vacation spot, not a target destination for LAN geeks.

Also, I shall slap myself on the hand for deprioritizing important tasks such as filing my tax returns such that the only thing left to do before Tax Day is to forcibly remove myself from my home environment and its accompanying distractions (particularly, J) so that I will SIT down and DO the work. Since, as we know, cycling (and boy) are WAY more important than what the IRS requests of me.

Posted by megabeth at 01:19 PM | Comments (2)

March 21, 2006

These Sidis have a good chance of becoming my new babies. They felt good when I tried them on tonight.

How did I find this lovely shoe? Well, J pointed me to Excel Sports Boulder, a store that has an online chat feature. I fired up a live chat window and asked the guy on the other end what shoe he would recommend for my freaky feet. Sidi Genius, he said. I stopped by a local bike shop to try them on after work. The chat feature at Excel Sports totally rocks.

Oh, the Specialized Pro Carbons that don't fit me are for sale (size 38). So, if any of my two readers are interested, I'll sell them to you for what I paid for them, which was significantly less than what they sell for in a bike store.

They shore are purty!!

Posted by megabeth at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)

The quest for finding a pair of cycling shoes that don't make my feet numb continues on. Last night I got a pair of Specialized Pro Carbon Road Shoes in a men's size 38 from eBay. None of the bike stores carry this size because most men don't have feet small enough for a size 38 (which translates to a 6). This shoe isn't comfortable. Drats.

If asked what size shoe I wear, I have many answers; I have freak feet. I'd take a picture of them and post it here, but I'm nice and don't want to make any of my readers puke.

Women typically have narrow heels and a wider forefoot. I do have the narrow heel, with an EXTREMELY WIDE forefoot due to gradual changes over the last ten years. My father had some serious bunions and it looks like I have inherited this fine genetic characteristic from him.

If I shop at the shoe store, then what fits me best is a women's 7 wide. Nobody carries shoes like that (at least in non-grandma styles) so I cheat and wear an 8 medium. If the shoe style eliminates the width variable (such as a thong), then I usually wear a 7.5 medium. I love sandals and flip-flops, because they don't hurt the living hell out of my feet.

My first pair of cycling shoes: Shimano size 39. My big toe and little toe on each side of my foot are pushed inwards towards the center of the show. That isn't the best feeling in the world, but I'm used to it. Hot spots? Yes. Numbness? Oh, yes.

I really wanted to try a new brand of shoe such as Specialized or Sidi. Sidis: too narrow. Sidi Megas: too narrow. Specialized: too narrow. Seeing a trend here?

Specialized women's size 38: Too narrow. Ouch.
Specialized women's size 39: Perfect in width, but way too long.
Specialized men's size 38: Causing immediate foot numbness because they seem too snug, although length is good.

The women's size 39 wouldn't be a problem other than that the guy fitting me on my bike says he may not be able to position the cleats properly to give me the right ratio of power.

What next? I dunno. I'm stumped.

I'm going to beg and plead to see if we can make the women's 39s work out. I don't care if they are too long; once the foot is set snugly in the shoe, it isn't going to move around. I'm wondering if its possible to drill into the carbon sole to move the cleat downwards a bit more.

Posted by megabeth at 10:23 AM | Comments (5)

March 18, 2006

Today I rode eighty six miles with the girls group and two random guys we scooped up early in the ride. This is a PR for my longest ride ever, and my booty doesn't thank me for what I've done to it today.

I give you permission to have my head examined. Surely there must be a chemical imbalance.

I don't think our tenacious ride leader had any idea how many miles we were going to ride, but I thank her anyway for not telling me in advance. If you say, "We're going to ride 80+ miles today" I may not have attended the ride, or I would have harbored visions of doom in my head which would have detracted from my enjoyment of a nice ride with a great group of cyclists on a very beautiful early spring day.

I learned something about myself today. I learned that the half-marathon training has benefitted my cycling condition because my body has learned to conserve energy for endurance-type workouts. Today I actually felt like crap for the first half of the ride, and thought I was going to suffer some serious torture to get myself and my bike back to our meeting place. Instead, I started feeling froggy. At mile 80, we decided to start sprinting in a little mock 'race' against each other. Fun, and nuts.

It's interesting to see just how much you can pull out after you feel exhausted. There's a little left if you reach in deep enough.

Posted by megabeth at 06:13 PM | Comments (2)

March 16, 2006

J. sent me a link to a cool water bottle invention: the Gel Bot. It contains a smaller gel flask inside the larger bottle to hold your energy gel, with a special valve for releasing either/both the gel and water as you choose.

Neat-o. Check it out.

Posted by megabeth at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Yesterday I put my custom orthotics back in my running shoes and headed out after work for a 5.2 mile run in the beautiful springtime weather . My legs felt pretty good, which means either that Endurox and Accelerade totally rock or that I didn't work hard enough at the bike race on Sunday. My legs were a bit sore and fatigued for the run, but I cranked out an 8:15 pace for most of the distance. My knees did not hurt at all with the orthotics in my shoes.

I don't like the orthotics, though. They are heavy and add quite a bit of weight to my shoes. I'm using different muscles (mostly in the glutes) to run with the orthotics. And I don't feel as if I'm getting as much 'spring' in my step. Perhaps I should train with the orthotics and race without them. Hmmm.

Also, last week I received a castoff iPod as a little gift from someone who is very nice, and it has Changed My Life. The last material item that Changed My Life was the bicycle. I visited a surgeon to have the iPod permanently fused to my body. Yesterday it accompanied me on my run. This iPod infuses more energy into my body than Hammer Gel or Gatorade. I listened to Kanye West and Missy Elliot. I pounded the pavement to the beat of the music. I ran hard because Kanye told me that Jesus Walks.

Life is beautiful sometimes.

Posted by megabeth at 10:44 AM | Comments (4)

On Sunday I experienced my first road race with men. Well, it was my second road race ever (I tried my first one in Huntsville last July). Let me tell you, those men are a bunch of pansy-ass, wimpy and puny Chicken Littles. We heard a lot of whining and crying after the girls spanked them all.

Just kidding. That was a fantasy.

However, my teammate E *did* place second in the field, which is awesome and probably made some guys feel emasculated.

The C race has the tendency to start out too quickly (as I learned yesterday) due to inexperience. That's exactly what happened. We did a blazing first ten-mile lap in which my lungs and legs burned as if they were on fire. Nice wake-up call for my third outdoor ride of the season. Especially since last weekend I was freezing in 30 degree temps, and on Sunday the high was 81. At mile 25, my water bottles were empty.

Anyhow, I hung in there for the first lap with some help from one of the really cool, super nice guys who pulled me back up to the group after I dropped off the back. After that, I thought my stomach was going to eject my lunch (note to self: don't eat two hours before the race), so I decided to give up after the first lap.

I rolled on for another five or six miles until one of my female teammates who was dropped earlier caught up with me. We shared the wind-breaking duties for the rest of the race (tho' it wasn't so much of a race with just the two of us). The route was excellent and there was little traffic to deal with, so it was nice to finish even though I didn't stay with the pack.

A few times I fought off feelings of disappointment about not staying in the race, but I remind myself that: a) this is my third road ride this season, b) this race was with crazy men leading out too fast and c) this is my second road race in my history of cycling.

Racing is a good way to get in shape, though. And I acheived a greater awareness of my strengths and weaknesses at this point in the season.

My strengths:

• Endurance - thanks to running the half marathon in February!
  
• Pulling women who weigh less than me - My team should make better use of this advantage on the flats and downhills. I am certainly not big, but I do weigh more than some of my teammates.
  
• Cranking out a fat gear for a long period of time right below lactate threshold - This is a good skill for time trialing
  
• Climbing very steep inclines - I can dust the big guys since I'm not pulling that much weight!

My weaknesses:

• Sprinting at the finish line - I don't have any experience with this
  
• Finding good shelter while riding in a pack - being on the back is a bad place
  
• Hammering up short/gradual inclines - this is where I usually get dropped

One thing I observed is that the only reason why I didn't get dropped on the first big hill is because I was at the front of the pack at the bottom. At the top of the hill, I ended up at the back of the pack. Good strategy to use next race.

I enjoyed riding with my female BBC team-mates. We have the same race kit and we look SHARP when dressed in our kits. There isn't a lot of cohesive women's team riding in Birmingham... I'm not complaining since I'm not the poster child for commitment. But it does make sense to race with the women you train with, and I enjoy riding with this group of ladies, so I'm looking forward to having a great time racing with them this year.

Posted by megabeth at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

I've been instructed not to do both the time trial on Saturday and road race on Sunday (which is 30 miles, not 40). I'm not in great cycling shape right now, so I see the validity in this instruction. I tend to overdo things.

So maybe I'll drag myself to the pool on Saturday to learn how to swim right!

Just ordered some new cycling shoes from eBay: the Specialized Pro Carbon Road shoe. I have no idea if it fits, which makes it dumb for me to order online, but nobody has a men's shoe in stock in a size 38. Only way for me to try them on is to buy them first. If they don't fit, I'll put them back up for sale. I was able to try the women's Specialized Torch road shoe on in a 38 and a 39. The 38 is too snug and the 39 is too long. The men's shoe has more room in the toe box. These are a kick-a$$ pair of shoes, so I really hope they fit. I have hot spots and numbness with my current shoes (Shimano TR-01 triathlon shoe), and the Specialized feel really darn good, especially with their fancy footbeds.

Posted by megabeth at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2006

I don't think indecision ever made one a champion. I'm getting a little frustrated with the notion of training for three sports, and it's too early in the season for that. The main source of my frustration is my knees, which are sore at the top of the kneecaps and also on the left knee where the IT band connects atop that little bone spur on the side. I'm going to try my next run with my custom made orthotics to see if that makes my knees hurt less. And I suppose I should drive over to VHHS and run on the fancy soft track to avoid exacerbating anything further.

Dang knees aren't wanting to join the program.

I want to run the Statue to Statue 15K in late April, which involves running and training on steep hills. Not good for knees.

This weekend, there's a time trial on Saturday morning (relatively flat) and a road race (40 miles) on Sunday afternoon. I'm thinking of doing both, but my lazy self doesn't want to get up on Saturday morning. The time trial should benefit my training for an April 9 duathlon. I WILL DO IT. DANGIT. MY &$%*# KNEES BE DERNED.

Posted by megabeth at 09:54 AM | Comments (3)

March 06, 2006

My second outdoor ride this year was the 10 mile time trial on Saturday at Oak Mtn, in which I did manage to drag myself out there despite the cold temperatures and early morning start time, mostly due to the presence of a person who is particularly skilled at spoiling me; I offer no objections to this.

Unfortunately, though, only the HARD CORE people showed up, so the field was very competitive. I think I sucked. I was the second woman to finish out of three, so I suppose you could say that I was in the top three. Hah.

My weakness in hill climbing is hill climbing. I love to climb on my bike, and I have the advantage of diminutive physique, but I think that I could be faster at this type of cycling if I worked harder at it. I seem to have better results against competitors on hilly courses as opposed to flat or rolling, but my average speed on a hilly course usually turns out to be a discouraging number.

This coming Saturday is a flat course TT, so I will see how that goes in comparison to last Saturday's TT.

Then on Sunday there's a training race, so I prepare myself to be shamed against those who weren't big whiny babies in the cold winter weather and thus did not stop riding. I have to note that on Saturday, I could not feel my feet. I find that to be very unpleasant. In the winter, I'd much prefer climbing up hills the entire time to avoid the wind chill that accompanies 20 mph. Hopefully this issue will resolve itself very soon as spring arrives.

In running and other news of total self-absorption, my kneecaps hurt when I run. Yesterday I had a very pleasant 7 mile run at around 8:15 pace; thinking all the while about how I should start doing speedwork to get my pace down to 7:30.

Posted by megabeth at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)

March 03, 2006

This week I was kinda tired, so my training plans were reduced as a result. Blah. I need to get more sleep if I want to be at my best.

Tomorrow morning I am going to participate in a time trial, but I am woefully unexcited about it because I am just plain sick of cold weather. Not looking forward to losing the sensation in my hands, feet and nose.

On Sunday, I plan to get in a long run.

It appears that I am low on motivation at this moment.

Posted by megabeth at 11:19 AM | Comments (1)