I got a bike!! Will this be the summer of cycling?

Rolling across Memorial Bridge in D.C.

New Bike

I have long thought about biking as an alternative to running to stay fit.  The injuries I have had in the past combined with all the aches and soreness I have been experiencing since Boston made it even more evident that I will need a break from running.  I decided to hang on, running here and there and cross-training until Northface and then after that take a break in June.  Not to say a complete break from running, but at least 2 weeks of no running (not one mile), and then another 2-3 weeks of low mileage (like 20-25 Miles Per Week).

Enter: My New Bike.

Specs (all of which are basically just what I had in mind):
    Name: Klein Quantum
    Year: 2002
    Components: Mostly Shimano 105, some upgrades
    Frame material: Aluminum, with Carbon fork
    Color: Its that "Chameleon" color that shifts between green and purple
         depending on how you look at it.
    Its cool! and kind of "retro".

Whats a Klein?

 If you haven't heard of Klein Bikes (I hadn't either until recently) they are known for being rock-solid and having incredibly high standards.  The brand was started by a dude named Gary Klein, an MIT graduate who pioneered the use of Aluminum for building bike frames and had a proprietary welding method for the joints.  Prior to the 70s Aluminum was thought to be too weak and insufficiently stiff to build a bike out of.  Trek bought the Klein name in 1995 but continued making bikes under the brand until the late 2000's.

I was thinking about buying a new bike, but cycling being the expensive, equipment-based sport that it is soon soured me at the multi-thousand dollar price tags.  I started scouring the internet (okay, basically just Craigslist) and found exactly what I was looking for.  In typical Craigslist fashion I jumped on it, headed over to the ATM to withdrawl a large sum of cash, and headed out to the burbs to check it out.  After a quick test ride and inspection it was sold.  Fortunately it already had Shimano clip-in pedals on it which match my cleats that I use for spinning.

After only taking it on a few rides, and to my surprise and exhilaration, I realized this is really, really fun.

Heading toward the Lincoln Memorial.  Many of the roads in D.C. were
closed off in prep for the huge "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle ride/rally.

This and That

Saturday I went to my weekly Saturday Long Run group.  It was an enjoyable romp around the National Mall and Tidal Basin, passing many of D.C.'s iconic landmarks symbolic of Memorial Day.  Got in a little over 12 miles; this was probably the first run in a month where I felt almost normal (say about 85%) and my legs had some "pep" in them.  Maybe too much pep - as I pushed the pace to a comfortably fast at 7:15ish miles my left Achilles started to fatigue.  After a few days rest and easy activity it feels back to normal.

Sunday I again rolled out of bed before 7:00am (this time much more tired than Saturday) to meet a few friends to go riding - er, cycling - , er, whatever roadies call it!  We got in almost 35 hilly miles in about 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Considering at least 1/3 of this was spent dodging pedestrian traffic and meandering through D.C. this was a great pace.  I'm really excited to keep riding with experienced cyclists and test out some long-range country roads to see how I stack up.  If that wasn't enough I went out for another relaxing 90 minutes of biking Monday night.

Speaking of my new addiction to cycling, I think I am going to add a new summer goal:  The Reston Century bike ride, August 25th.  I haven't decided between the metric century (~66 miles) or full (over 100 miles) but I'm leaning toward the latter.

This all has me in a pretty positive mood with Northface coming up.  Feeling about 85% now could easily put me on track to be almost perfect come Saturday.  I don't expect a great finish time but I'll gladly take an "okay" finish time sans injury.  The weather is predicted to start out in the 70s and reach 90 that day, all the better reason to keep expectations low.

Mega-Training Day: Now Featuring Recovery!

Last week has been kind of up-and-down.  After some rest I got back out even while still feeling a bit achy.  These have been the first warm and semi-humid days of the season too, so its hard to tell if I was feeling so out of shape from the rest and general lack of energy I have been experiencing, or if it has to do with adjusting to the spring weather.  I'm hoping its the latter.

Biking Running Routes

These weird aches, sore hips, and general fatigue have caused me to take to the streets on my bike.  Even though I was dreading this at first its actually pretty fun.  Not as good a workout as running but much easier on the body.  Its almost like magic: the pains I have all over my legs while running seem to vanish once I get on the bike.

I've heard a rule of thumb is that the time you spend on a good, tough bike ride equates to about 2/3 that time in running.  So, if  you spend 90 minutes pedaling your heart out, think of that workout like a 1 hour run.  This won't train you for a marathon, but it keeps you in shape so you can train for one later.

Its fun to test ride potential running routes too on the bike since covering 20 miles on wheels isn't a big deal, even if its not easy on my tank of a mountain bike.

Saturday Mega-Day

Northface is in less than 2 weeks, and I have been forced to be inconsistent with my training, so Saturday I decided to make it a long, arduous  make-it or break-it workout.  The goal was 6-7 hours of almost continuous activity, to simulate the demands of running an ultra.  My body would  not be able to hold up to that much running and I would probably be too damaged to race in a couple weeks, so I made it a combo bike, run and walk day.  It wen't down something like this, staring at about 7:30am:

• 20 minute bike ride, about 6 miles
• 2 hour 20 minute road run, about 16 miles
• 1 hour 40 minute bike ride, about 21 miles
• 25 minute walk, about 2 miles
• 2 hour trail run (with plenty of walk breaks), about 9 miles

Total Time on my feet: over 7 hours, with only short breaks between each activity.  This tells me I have the endurance and energy to run the 50 miler, now I just have to hope my legs hold up.  Needless to say, I was ridiculously tired when it was all said and done!

Riding North on the Mt. Vernon trail just after leaving Alexandria you pass some kind of electrical/utility/cooling plant.
There are murals on the wall and you pass under fencing which looks cool up close. 

A mid-workout snack.  More nasty
Gu, a Sandwich, and Chips (not shown).

After my long bike ride, I had a small snack before my walk, and then another snack after my walk before I headed out on the trails.  This is good prep for Ultras since the aid stations feature more "real food" (ie sandwiches, cookies, crackers) then sports nutrition (like Gu).  You need the calories and something to physically fill you up since after a few hour you start getting really hungry.  Plus, eating too much Gu, Sport Beans, and Gatorade kind of makes you feel sick...

Recovery the Right Way

179.6 lbs and holding steady.  Nevermind the toes.

But it wasn't really over yet.  In keeping with my conservative approach, I wanted to give myself a full cool-down, stretch out, foam roll, and ice bath recovery.

I weighed myself when I got home.  I half expected to have dropped a few pounds like on a hot summer day, but I was actually only a hair below my day-to-day weight of 180 lbs.  This is a good thing - it means you are taking in enough calories and fluids throughout your workout to replenish what you are losing.

Then came about 20 minutes of stretching and another 20 minutes of foam rolling.  And then, an ice bath, which I reserve for only after particularly tough workouts and/or for when your legs are sore all over.

Recipe for success - Reading material, food,
water, coffee, and - oh yea - ICE!  Gotta have
something to keep you occupied.

Brrrr!! I can just feel those inflamed legs
cooling off - the first couple minutes
are the worst part!

There are a zillion things out there that people "swear by" and I'm skeptical of just about all of them.  Ice baths however are the real deal.  Its essentially like covering every inch and crevasse of your lower body with ice packs.  When your legs are sore after a hard workout they are also inflamed all over and just like when you ice an injured spot the freezing cold water reduces the inflammation.  They aren't for the faint of heart though and the first few minutes are freezing.  After that you kind of get used to it - just be sure to have some snacks and reading material to pass the next 18 minutes with.  I have a method to make it not quite as bad: put cold water in the tub, get in (while this is cold it isn't freezing yet), then dump the ice in to lower the water temperature more gradually.  It will reduce the likelihood of injury and you won't feel as much of that stiff/sore feeling the rest of the day.

Rethinking my Strategy

Lately I have been rethinking my long term strategy and realizing what I really want to focus on.  There is a quote that I've always liked, but lately I have been relating it to running, training and racing:

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” (John D. Rockefeller)

I used to think this just meant that you should always give it your all (whatever "it" is that you love) and never look back.  I still think this applies, but I see a new meaning too.  That you need to determine, more specifically, what you love and what brings you happiness and focus on that - even at the cost of things that only make you kinda happy.

How does this translate to running? If you want to be a fast marathoner, focus on the marathon at the cost of shorter events and true speed.  Want to be a 5k artist? Hammer out 5k specific workouts and training plans and do not (I repeat, do not) plan on doing a marathon that season.  Oh, and what do I want right now? I think I want to be an ultra-runner.  And I want to be good at it.  This means a focused approach to ultra-marathon training at the expense of shorter distances.  There might come a time when I want to spend a whole season on 5k specific training but that hasn't come yet.  Its near impossible to train for your best 5k and 10k times while also putting in quality training for Marathons and Ultra-Marathons.

Racing too many 5ks and doing speed work while trying to keep up long (sometimes back-to-back) weekend runs is also a a recipe for injury.  This spring has taught me that and I feel fortunate to have only been out a couple of weeks because of it.

I also want to run for life, not just for another year or two, so this could even mean taking some time off running to ensure a healthy return later.  I would rather take a month or two at a very easy effort (something like an average of 20 miles per week), then run myself into an injury that needs complete rest from all physical activity for months, and could even put a damper on things for years to come.  This would definitely be "giving up the good to go for the great" as I see it.

What I've been up to lately, Spring Woes, and Beer consumption via 1 Liter Mugs

Front page banner for the Crystal City April 5k Race series.  Look who's making eye contact! (me)

Kind of cool thing.  Was checking out the Crystal City 5k Fridays website and found a picture of none other than yours truly   I'm the only person really looking into the camera!  This one is actually from a year ago but I suppose they need to have something to show and races recycle old footage all the time as it is.

Some 0.0 Miles and BEER!

This was a great find on a walk.  I had heard of the "0.0"
sticker online but hand't seen it until now. MMM BEER!

The picture to our left kind of sums up my last couple of weeks.  After my fun win at the Fly Like an Eagle 5k, and then a 4 hour ultra training run on the Potomac Heritage Trail (most fun I've had in ages by the way) I knew I needed rest if I wanted to avoid serious injury.  This wasn't acute, I could feel something building but I just kind of dealt with it so I could run my 5k and then get one last super long trail run in.

The cause?  Frustrating but almost certainly self-imposed.  Should have taken a little more time off after Boston, should have run fewer miles in the weeks following, should not have run four 5ks within the span of a couple of weeks.  Shoulda, woulda, didnta.  It wasn't the end of the world.  I rested and cross-trained like heck for a week until I felt about 90% solid, did an 8ish mile trail run at Difficult Run (near Great Falls) on a Sunday.  Still didn't feel perfect but getting better.

Then, foolishly, I test ran some Newtons at my Tuesday Fun Run group.  They felt great!  While I was running in them at least - then came the next day, worse pain than I had the previous week.  Something was up in my inner lower leg, as well as the top of my left butt cheek.  Some Google-ing (and convincing myself that I'm a sports physiologist capable of accurate self-diagnoses) helped convince me it was a mild case of Posterior Shin Splints and a sore Piriformis, respectively.  Nothing serious, not painful, and nothing that inhibited normal movement (ie walking or bike riding), but this is not something you want to just ignore and run through, crossing your fingers it will go away.  So I had another week of R.I.C.E, meaning a rest from running, though this time with not as much cross-training as I would have liked.  At a certain point of withdrawal from running you just get so sick of riding your bike or driving to the gym just to see people happily running outside that its easier to just stay home and sulk.  Fortunately I had some other stuff going on to keep me busy.

This downtime did at least give me a chance to enjoy the great weather in more standard, unrunning related ways.  I took my dog for plenty of walks and even let her meander around the trails at times.  It also gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep, work, and all important video games - what male lifestyle would be complete without them right?

Some wondering around taking in the spring smells,  and
 galloping back and forth on the trails.

Happy Beerday!

It was also my birthday last weekend on May 12th.  That's right, every few years my birthday falls on Mother's Day.  Could there be a better Mother's Day gift?  There's probably some kind of immature Oedipus complex slash mama's boy pun in there somewhere - I'll let your imagination do the talking.

While I am typically someone who likes to coast quietly through my Birthday, this year I decided to roll up my sleeves and plan an outing at a private room in a local [dive] bar.  I love beer, especially when served in 1 Liter mugs; I also love all things Bavaria and Germany, so the theme was clear: Oktoberfest.  Things turned out great and it gave me a chance to drag out some friends I hadn't seen in ages.  Sunday I was definitely too hungover to do any real exercising - I mean, I planned it as a rest day ahead of time!

Saying "Prost" to my lady; attempting to drink out of
a balloon; and posing with a group of good friends.

I went for a 5 mile tune up run last night.  Things started out feeling a little achy but gradually improved leaving me cautiously optimistic.  It was also my first day running in hotter (and humider) weather so I blamed feeling out of shape on that.  Running on a warm spring evening did make me realize how crummy winter running can be, its just so nice running while its light out, with lots of other people out on the trails, never having to worry about getting cold.  I might not sound so positive in a month when its 90 and humid though.

As you might also recall, I had planned on doing an ultra, the Capon Valley 50k, in West Virginia the morning of my birthday.  I ended up having to sit this one out due to the aforementioned aches and pains.  I could  have done it, but this would hurt and not help my efforts to stay healthy and train for ultras this summer.  If it was a goal race (like Chicago) I would have gone out there and gave it my all, dealing with the consequences later.  However, I'm mature enough now to know I'll be miserable if I have to rest for a month just from doing a non-goal race.  There is always next year - At least I didn't have to wake up at 4am!

Northface is in 2.5 weeks, that means in about 20 days I'll attempt to cover 50 miles on foot.  I have mixed feelings on this, I know it won't go great since I haven't gotten to train the way I like this spring; I also know that I will finish the task, more than likely in a time leaving some middle and back-of-the-packers envious.  The biggest piece of advice that I have heard about ultras and which I have taken close to heart is the following: "Start slow and then Slow Down".  This will be my strategy from the start, along with drinking and eating regularly.

Similar to when I ran Boston, I really am not nervous about Northface.  I think nervousness before a race typically comes from setting an intimidating goal for yourself.  Low expectations = low apprehension level.

Running (and walking) the Potomac Heritage Trail

Trail Running in your backyard

This past weekend was my last chance to get a long, slow, trail run in preparation for my upcoming 50k.  With 2 weeks to go I could not have waited any longer, and since Boston was 2 weeks ago I could not have done this any sooner.  Logistics were tough, since I ran a 5k Friday evening and another one Sunday morning.  I rested all day Saturday since I wanted to be fresh for Sunday's race.

I set out around 3:00pm Sunday from my doorstep to dark skies and some light rain.  This can be a recipe for disaster, but the rain held up and I had enough energy (thanks to a nap and about a half a dozen pancakes consumed after the morning 5k).  I had also been feeling a slight tinge in my lower left leg.  As much as I hate to admit it, this could be the start of a shin splint, but I needed to get this training run in.  Afterward I would be free to rest and crosstrain as much as needed to heal things up before the 50k.

My goals were clear: to spend 4 or more hours on my feet, regardless of mileage (though around 20 miles would be nice), and spend a significant portion of that walking.  Also to use my Ultra Running Vest to make sure its comfortable and fine tune what I should be carrying.

I ran the incredible Potomac Heritage Trail, accessible from where I live in North Arlington via a few connector trails, though the actual trail head starts from Roosevelt Island.  Things started off as planned, which included some tip-toeing over both flat rocky terrain, and scrambling up a series of rocks closer to the intersection with Chain Bridge road.

Part of the infamous rock scramble on the
Potomac Heritage Trail near where it
crosses Chain Bridge.  Hold on to the rail
Easy does it!

This picture doesn't appear to be anything
special, but I see it as beauty in simplicity.
Just you, nature, and an open trail - no
people, cars, or buildings.  This is often
what trail runners strive for.

After making my way across Chain Bridge Road I continue on the trail, make a stream crossing to the other side of Pimmit Run and continue up a steep path to Fort Marcy Park.  After some more steep up and down hill portions there is a section along side the George Washington Parkway.  It feels odd running near cars traveling over 50 MPH especially after having just moved so slowly through the wilderness.  After a few more climbs and ascents the trail flattens out as it nears the Potomac River.  Here I travel along with long a few stream crossing until I reach the next major landmark, the I-495 American Legion Bridge.

Behold!  The I-495 American Legion Bridge passing over the Potomac River.  Though it ind of breaks up the feeling
of solitude and natural beauty, it provides for an  interesting contrast.

After going under 495 I popped out in an affluent neighborhood and took a left on Live Oak Drive.  After about a mile on this road you come to an entry point for Scotts Run Nature preserve.  Scotts Run has multiple routes of trails to build anywhere from a 2 to 6 mile loop out of.  After a couple wrong turns I did a small loop that returned me to Live Oak Drive.  Now it was just a matter of retracing my steps back to the Potomac Heritage Trail to get me home.  I opted not to fill up my water on the way out, but this way veered right onto a side trail about 2 miles after the 495 bridge underpass.

A huge advantage of taking this route is that I can make a stop at Turkey Run Park, conveniently connected to the trail as indicated by signs along the way.  This gives you access to restrooms and (more importantly) a source of potable water.  There are several options in Turkey Run but I like to wait until the last one near the park headquarters.  On a hot day its smart to fill up both on the way out and on the way back, but this day was just cool enough that I only filled up on the way back.  I carry Nuun tablets and toss a couple in my hydration bladder each time I fill up.  Water is absolutely essential to trail running, not only due to the obvious thirst factor but you would not be able to eat and keep down food products without it.

Natural beauty can be observed in smaller doses as well.

About 3 hours into my journey I was starting to get tired, very thirsty and fatigued.  This is why you do mega-training runs like this, to know what to expect in your trail race and train yourself to handle it better.  You really can't duplicate these conditions on roads hence why I felt it was even more important to get out on the trails.  Once I was getting close I opted for some hilly paved roads to save a little time rather than the aforementioned rock scrambling on the trail.  While it wasn't dark out yet the low light made it tough to see the trail and I was more comfortable on the road.  Made it home around 8:00pm, hungry, thirsty, tired, and with a bit of soreness all over.  Overall a great outing!

20 miles in 4 hours, with a good portion of that walking.