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Long Hot Summer

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Nick Morris
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Mike MacLellan
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:22 pm

Well, today's just a good day for endurance sports in my life. That bike ride was awesome, too.

Started off on a relatively hilly section, but had a tail/tail-cross wind the entire time, so that helped keep me going. I keep forgetting how shitty the country roads out here in Antioch are - both the quality of the asphalt and the lack of common sense among the drivers - but man did it feel great when I finally got on a smooth road with a very wide bike lane.

Ended up cruising at 23-27 at a very comfortable, aerobic effort level (wind still at my back, of course) for 5-6 miles before turning the other two legs of my square-ish ride. Still managed to hold a decent 15-17, depending on if it was gusting or not, for the remaining hour of the ride.

Had to tack on a few more miles at the end, since I averaged close to 18 rather than 16. And felt really fresh coming off the bike, too. Yep, a good day for endurance sports in my life.
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Post  ounce Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:29 pm

you're on a roll!
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:34 pm

Oz - Between the very, very good long run on Sunday and today's workouts, I'd say that's true. Weird, too, given this is the 3rd week in a row of very-high volume (next week is the cutback). To ensure I don't blow Thursday's plans (another 1hr run/2hr bike double), going to take tomorrow's 1hr run nice and easy.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:31 pm

As expected, I felt yesterday's workouts today. Even just hopping down the stairs this morning - yes, I'd call it hopping - I felt my left knee a little bit.

But I made an agreement with myself early on in the run to not push the effort level at all and to not even look at my watch until I was back on the street and held to that. I did feel a bit rubbery-legged around... well, I'm going to guess 3 miles in, but I don't know, since I didn't look at my watch (What a Face), but I told myself to just run through the bonk, ease up the pace, and know that I'd be home to some carbs soon. It worked, and I was feeling very, very good and fresh within a mile or two.

Looking back at the data, I negative split every 2 miles until the end (considerable net uphill), averaging 8:12 for a total of 7.31mi in an hour. I'll take it!
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Post  Jerry Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:54 pm

Nobody, not even oz, mentioned to you the blog title is inappropriate?
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Jun 28, 2012 3:42 pm

Texas is its own little sub-continent, Jerry. Wink

---

1hr today. As I went out, I was feeling a bit tired (6am wake-up after a late night watching So You Think You Can Dance - not by choice - and celebrating Spain's EURO 2012 win with champagne/brown ale - by choice) and mentally fatigued. This is the last day of 3 weeks of very high volume (10-12hrs) with some quality workouts (a couple GA runs, an MP run, 1hr time trial on the bike after 3hrs in the saddle, etc.), so I just reminded myself that tomorrow I got a day completely off, lots of sleep, and a cutback week starts Saturday.

That seemed to do the trick, because after the first mile, I noticed myself falling into a very comfortable stride. I checked my watch ~every 2mi, and while I didn't calculate splits, I did notice that I slipped under an 8min average pace by the time I hit mile 6. My effort level steadily increased from mile 4 onward, so I ran miles 6 and 7 at a GA effort before cooling down with 5min around the neighborhood to complete the hour.

Looking back at the splits, each one is progressive, with the last full mile at 7:08. Funny thing is, my stride felt most comfortable sub-7:30; I think that's about the pace I start to really tilt my hips forward and run from them rather than kind of shuffling along.

7.71mi for the day. 2hrs on the bike with some muscular endurance (pushing a big gear into the wind) intervals this afternoon to really maximize the potential for gains next week.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:47 pm

Guess I never posted about the bike ride. That thing killed me. I almost bagged it after an hour, but decided against it - in hindsight, not sure which would've been the better decision. Anyway, I got in 2x 10min @ tempo (2hr race pace) and 2x 5min @ LT (1hr/30min race pace). The second tempo interval was with the wind, so I was holding 29-30 on flat ground. Pretty cool.

I also forgot to mention that during my run Thurs, I ended up in a "pace line" with a few bikes, as a car was blocking the sidewalk and I had to get in the bike lane. Yes, I kept up with people commuting on bike. Kind of cool, too.

---

50min today. Felt last week's stuff, but somehow averaged just a shade over 8min average pace. The first 20min were much harder than the last 30, as a switch seemed to flip after that.

100min tomorrow.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:42 pm

Eh, not much of that felt good. Joints are a bit roughed up, and my left hamstring cramped around mile 9. Need to be a lot better about my recovery than I have been lately.

12.5x mi, 100min.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:35 pm

The left hamstring was still a bit tight today after being pretty obnoxious yesterday. I stretched a LOT yesterday, but I'm not sure if it really helped. Either way, the niggle went away in about 5min of running and didn't come back until I walked again. Of course.

45min, 5.25mi, 7mph average pace.

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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:59 pm

Hour bike ride this morning. On the high end of recovery or low end of easy. Just around the country roads with Aileen before she headed to work.

Long day ahead: an hour run in the afternoon, then packing and driving to Antioch, then leaving for home at around 9pm tonight. Yep, driving all night. Should be fun... At least it beats fighting traffic tomorrow.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:47 pm

Oh boy. Felt allllll of that on today's run.

Yesterday's afternoon run was, in a not-politically-correct word, retarded. It was like running Boston all over again, but fortunately only 1 hour instead of almost 4. 7.55mi and one very sweaty, miserable me.

Headed out of Davis around 7:45pm and arrived in Antioch around 9:00pm. Aileen got there just a few minutes later and we were off... to Chipotle. After gobbling up our dinner, we hit the road for home at 9:40pm. The first leg of the trip was worse than the second, really, but once I got coffee in Kettleman City, the remaining 200mi didn't seem so bad. Found a group of like-minded individuals who were content to take turns leading the way at 85mph, so we ended up in LA just after 2am and home at 2:45am.

Sleep came, eventually, but wasn't solid or restful. Which made today's 10am wake up not very refreshing. And made today's 45min recovery run feel awful. Pretty bonky throughout it, legs had no zip, and just wanted to go home and sleep. Which is what I did, after eating a ton of homemade soup and tomato salad (man, Aileen's mom is an amazing cook). Did I mention that today begins the carb-load for Saturday's 105mi bike ride to San Diego?

Then I slept another 2hr. I feel semi-human now, but I think it'll take another night or two to make up the sleep from last night.
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Post  Alex Kubacki Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:23 am

Mike, what's the plan on that ride to SD? A joy ride or are you pushing it? Should be fun.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:20 am

Alex - If it were up to me, it'd be ridden as an honest ride. Not century-race-pace, whatever that is, but at least a normal easy effort level. I'm somewhat certain my normal easy effort level will destroy Aileen and her brother - as well as her dad, by the end - so I'm thinking this ride is going to be pretty lazy. Probably going to be more of a fat-burning outing than anything else.

---

Did 45min fartlek run yesterday. 2x hard (RPE 8 ), 2x progressive tempo (RPE 5-7/8 ), 2x hard (RPE 8/9). The last hard interval was up a very, very steep hill in my parents' community (MapMyRun puts it around 10-11%, my Garmin put it around 12%) for .3mi. Felt like heaving at the end of that one... in a good way. Cooled down with a couple of loops up and down my street to hit an even 45min.

Then a very tedious hour on the bike in the afternoon. Really just to get some miles in the legs, but I forgot how hard it is to find a rhythm when there's nothing flat around here.

Rest day today. Feels good already.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:44 am

Alive and surprisingly spry this morning. Tired, of course, and I'm sure the fatigue will be felt as I head out for a little recovery run this afternoon, but I don't feel like a train wreck, which is good. Probably has a lot to do with the fact that I stuck to my guns last night about NOT having the typical Cuban celebration of accomplishment, i.e. getting hammered.

Raw data: 116.xx miles, 7hr11min ride time, 8hr45min total time.
Average speeds...
First 2hr: 17mph
Next 2hr: 16.6mph
Next hr: 14.2mph
Next hr: 15mph
Last hr: 17mph

Any guesses when Aileen and family started flagging a bit... and when we got separated?

EDIT: Oh, and I managed a 7min30sec lactate threshold interval at 91.5mi. What a Face
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Post  Mike MacLellan Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:22 pm

Still haven't uploaded any of the video from the ride yet, but I only filmed maybe the first 20-30 miles anyway (isn't that how it always goes?) so I'm not sure if it'll give the real story.

Feeling a bit more recovered... my 45min yesterday was as expected. Started pretty clunky, finished much smoother (though still heavy-legged) and comfortable. Averaged 9:13 or something like that, but not really a concern.

Headed out for another 45min this morning, same deal as yesterday, then driving back north to move out for the rest of the summer.

Lots on my mind about school/jobs/my future/being an adult lately. Any generic words of wisdom appreciated.
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Post  Michael Enright Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:47 pm

Generic words of wisdom? Show up on time for whatever the next thing is, do the best you can at it, and then move on to the next thing after that, and you'll be just fine.

Or as my Dad once told me at a crucial point in my life: Do the best you can, and don't take any shit from anybody.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:52 pm

Thanks Michael. Once again getting to the point where I'm freaking out about the future. You know, as if freaking out will help.

---

51min this morning. Legs are feeling fine, and the body is definitely better (easy breathing, smooth running), but I'm still not fast at all. Hey, I'm just happy to have logged 16 miles in the 3 days following a 116mi bike ride.

---

Noticed my focus is flagging a bit lately. Part of it is the whole future thing, part of it is seeing how my myopia sometimes affects my relationships with Aileen and her family, part of it is just wanting to ride a bike or eat oatmeal for dinner and not worry about how it might affect my training.

I think I'm going to let the next month just be, paring my "training" down to an uptempo run, a long run, and a sorta-long run each week. The rest is whatever I want to do. I will have loose goals, but that's the extent of it. Then when "training" will have less of an effect on my time with Aileen/my family, I can focus a bit more and become crazy like always.

Long run up in Auburn tomorrow on my favorite trail. It's just too bad it takes 6 miles on a less fun trail to get there...
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Post  Nick Morris Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:04 am

Mike MacLellan wrote:

Lots on my mind about school/jobs/my future/being an adult lately. Any generic words of wisdom appreciated.

- Don't eat yellow snow
- Always pee downwind
- If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out
- Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
- It is easier to get forgiveness than permission
- A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand
- Opportunities always look bigger going than coming
- Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again
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Post  Jerry Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:23 pm

Mike MacLellan wrote:

Lots on my mind about school/jobs/my future/being an adult lately. Any generic words of wisdom appreciated.

Dream big, marry late. Long Hot Summer - Page 5 2472758156
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Post  T Miller Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:33 pm

Mike MacLellan wrote:
Raw data: 116.xx miles, 7hr11min ride time, 8hr45min total time.
Average speeds...
First 2hr: 17mph
Next 2hr: 16.6mph
Next hr: 14.2mph
Next hr: 15mph
Last hr: 17mph

Any guesses when Aileen and family started flagging a bit... and when we got separated?

I'm guessing the family started having problems when the speed dipped down to 14.2 mph and then you eventually decided to part ways when the speed started to recover.
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Post  Mark B Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:45 pm

Mike MacLellan wrote:Lots on my mind about school/jobs/my future/being an adult lately. Any generic words of wisdom appreciated.

Don't forget to breathe.

That may sound flippant, but it isn't meant that way. Seriously. Breathe.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:19 pm

Thanks for the words, all. Appreciate the tongue-in-cheek-yet-actually-meaningful nature of most of them.

Tim - You're pretty much dead on, though the question was meant to be rhetorical Wink. The last hour was through heavy traffic (read: insane college assholes trying to get to the beach) and saw me getting very frustrated. I entered "bike messenger" mode for that hour and just mashed the pedals.

---

In the spirit of being a bit more liberal with my training, I scraped the long run for a long bike ride today. I really wanted to get on the bike, really didn't want to drive for 2hrs to Auburn, and really didn't want to run. Plus I had a weird feeling I'd come face to face with a mountain lion or bear.

Rode out to Winters via the time trial route on the controversially named Putah Creek Road. The time trial is a weekly Wednesday night activity up here during the summer in which a bunch of pretty damn good riders show up and ride their brains out for 10mi. Every time I ride the course (5mi out-and-back), I have to put a little extra effort into that section, since it's marked on the road and everything. So I rode the 5mi stretch at "tempo," which I guess would be something like GA/MP in running terms. Refilled my bottle at a hose outside a Mexican restaurant in Winters (one of those "in the know" secrets) and headed towards Cantelow, the lesser-of-two-evils climbs in the area.

According to Strava, Cantelow is 3.4mi @ 3.2%... But that says nothing of the truth of this climb, since there's 100' of descent broken into 2 parts over the course of those 3.4mi. The actual climbing segments average around 6% and range from 4% to 11%. I blew up just a little bit on the last big pull, since I was nearing 18min for this LT interval, but I was able to keep things from totally melting down and got some nice recovery on the descent.

Headed back to Winters, refilled the bottle, and did the 5mi stretch at tempo again. Then just rode easy back to the house.

54.71mi, 3hr1min, 1500' gain/loss, 18.1mph.

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Post  Nick Morris Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:00 pm

Nice ride Mike!! I am by no means a biker, but that sounded like a pretty tough ride and definitely a great work out...
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Post  Michael Enright Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:29 pm

I suppose it's fun on the way down!
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Post  Mike MacLellan Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:48 pm

Nick - If you were, you'd know that "bikers" are motorcycle riders. Bicyclist shortens to cyclist. What a Face

Michael - You can go to GoogleMaps and plug in 3493 Cantelow Road, Vacaville, CA as the address if you want to see the descent. Then do Street View and go downhill (southwest from the bend). Fun, but very technical and lots of blind curves to keep you on your brakes.
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