Tour de France

Yesterday, Bradley Wiggins became the first Englishman to win the TDF.  Not only did he win, but he did it by 3mins.  And, if that wasn't enough, second place went to his teammate and fellow Brit, Chris Froome.  Impressive stuff from Team Sky which first came together only two years ago.

Read on:
TDF site
Team SKY website
BBC
ESPN

Dining Out

Interesting article about how restaurants get us to eat and spend more than we should.

That's Seven

Seven weeks down, work has begun and Kobe's rainy season has ended.  Training this week was excellent: 87km/ 54mi with a couple of really good sessions and no sign of injury.

Four days of English teacher training, last Tue through Fri, was challenging (mentally more than physically) and nice to meet new people.  Our lessons are one-on-one and customized for each client, so good practice in reading people and thinking on my feet to change canned lessons for each client's interests.  Anyway, we mostly teach professionals, so to get the most lessons I'll work when they don't (i.e. weekends and evenings).  Weekdays, great.  I can train early, rest, run errands and be in for the afternoon.  To accommodate working early on the weekends, I've changed the training program again (see below) to do the long runs on Mon and Tue.

In other news, Kobe is HOT!  With the rainy season over, even 6am is 90F/ 32C with 80%+ humidity and an oppressive sun.  I'm taking on a lot more fluids, especially sports drink.  I haven't calculated my sweat rate but the following has been working: interval runs with 750ml of sports drink and post-run at least 1.5L of water/ green tea/ electrolytes, long runs with 1.5L water in a camelback and 750ml of sports drink followed by at least 2L of water/ green tea/ electrolytes.

A strong sun is also something new (never experienced it in London).  I never understood why people need sunglasses, sun block and hats/ visors, but now I get it.  Mon's 3hr run started at 6.25am staring into an overbearing sun, and 30mins in I could feel it draining my reserves.  Tue, glasses, visor and sun block, I felt the difference.


H&N - first week of clean diet was fine.  One cheat with post-run anpan on Mon, but after 3hrs on my feet, it seemed acceptable.

62.3kg/ 137lb and 10.5% bf, weight going the right direction.  I'm more focused on the trend than exact numbers.  It's not likely I dropped over 1kg/ 2.2lb in a week, more likely that my body was in a different state at each weigh-in (i.e. more hydrated/ fed last week vs. this); so, I look for the trend, and it's good.


R&R - down to 7-7.5hrs sleep each night which should be enough.  Not sure if it's the heat or additional mileage, but also napping 30min post run (love naps!).  Less compression tights because it's too hot, so naps have been with feet in the air (drains 'old' blood from the muscles bringing fresh nutrients when you stand up) which has done the trick.

No major injuries, just niggles: left achilles and lower back seems 'fragile'.  Continued stretching and a few weeks of rest post Tango should clear these up.


Thu - 75min w/ 4x 7.5min HMP, didn't start great.  Three HMP intervals last week were painful.  I was scared.  In my normal dreading sprints mentality, 'ok, I'll take the first one easier and see how it goes.'  Missing the first two intervals (not by much, but missed), I was mad, real mad,  'Weak, you'll never make 100km.'  That along with some other thoughts pushed me to run the final two below pace, so in the end, all ok.

Sat - 75min w/ 20min MP, standard.

Mon - 3hrs mod, great run.  Legs heavy from the beginning, but eventually settled into a good pace covering 31km with almost 700m of climbing.  Funny because after 2hrs of running, I actually prefer uphill vs. downhill.  Going down is tough on the feet and knees and requires more focus and core strength which are hard to find at that point.  But, this week, no issues going downhill and ran them well.

Tue - 2.25hrs mod w/ 1hr MP, maybe the toughest run yet.  1hr into the run, MP began.  Fine from the start but after 30min at MP I realized there was another 30mins!  Needless to say, I didn't get the full hour, made 35min, mod for 20 and finished off with another mile at MP.  It was a long couple of days, I was happy with the effort.


Looking forward to 8's absorb week, it brings to mind one of my favorite sayings, "everything in life is relative."  I.e.  after long runs of 3hrs then 2.25 w/ 40min MP, 2x 2hr runs at moderate pace seems a piece of cake.  And on we go!

Badwater Ultramarathon

A few hours after I finish my 3hr run for today, the true endurance athletes will begin the 2012 Badwater Ultramarathon, 135mi/ 217km through Death Valley (ominous?).  If that's not enough, it begins at 282ft/ 86m below sea level and finishes at 8,400ft/ 2,550m above sea level.

Best wishes to all taking part.

Work, Work, Work

First week of a new job in a new industry, very challenging.  Running and blogging took a back seat but back on it this morning with a MP interval session (feeling great!).  Will catch up more at the end of week 7.

Also a lot of work from Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky as they take over the Tour de France looking to bring the crown to the UK for the first time ever.  Articles below.

CNN

BBC

BBC - time trial a few days ago where Wiggins really took control

Week 6

The last week of open diet was delicious.  A few ice creams and sweet breads, tasty.  Also, some running, 80km/ 50mi.

possibly my favorite, anpan
(suga-fied adzuki beans wrapped in sweet bread)

The Sun/ Mon 52km adventure was tough both mentally and physically.  Sun was tougher physically as my legs didn't "engage" until about 90mins in when the hill climbs began.  Mon was a mental strain where for the first hour I questioned the point of endurance racing and more specifically endurance running (must be missing the mix of triathlon!).  As with all down moments, these passed and by the end, I was grateful for sticking with it.  I've made a commitment to do Tango and MDS, and short of serious medical issue, I'll complete these (hopefully in a competitive time).

As for my reasons for endurance racing, that'll be addressed in an upcoming post.

H&N - 63.6kg/ 140lb w/ 10.6%bf, slightly up on weight and flat bf.  I'm not concerned about weight at this point, it's still at a good level, and I haven't tried to start "trimming the fat" yet.

Week seven starts a strict no sweet/ no alcohol (with one drink exception for special occasions, i.e. meeting new work colleagues, weddings, etc.) and more control over portion size (though to be fair, I've been limiting portions for the last week as over-eating just for the calories was uncomfortable).

R&R - Still sleeping 8hrs every night, plenty of time for post-run and random stretching and kicking my feet up with compression tights.  This could all change today as I start work, so may have to adapt.

Wed - 75min w/ 3x 7.5min HMP, 7.5min intervals are a different world from 5min.  I hit the first two but didn't have it on the third settling around 4.15/km pace.  Toughest session yet which felt great afterwards.  Look forward to pushing harder next week.

Fri - 70min w/ 15min MP, relatively easier than Wed and was able to work on tuning out distractions vs. simply getting through the session.

Sun -  2.5hrs mod, given Tango's 500m climb 60km into the race, I'm adding hills to the long runs.  Sun will mimic Tango targeting at least 500m of climbing (easily available in the mountains north of Kobe) starting just after half-way through.

Mon - 2.25hrs mod, beyond the mental side discussed above, physically I could feel the strain through my achilles and feet.  No injuries but may need more rest (if that's possible).

Run for World Peace

I've just read about Reza Baluchi (think I'm behind the ball on this one), but a true inspiration in his goal of world peace.

Read more on his site, but a few details: has run US coast to coast twice, ran the perimeter of the US and will soon set off from Jerusalem to the top of Mt. Everest passing through his native Iran.

FIVE

Wow, done with five weeks.  This one felt long, 73km/ 45mi.

The interval sessions are getting better as they increase pushing my heart, lungs and muscles to develop.

Maybe it's mental, but I've noticed two aspects of the long runs: I feel better on the Mon run than the Sun and my focus drops off a cliff in the last 15mins.  We'll see how this continues.

Health & Nutrition - Weight is down to 63.2kg/ 139lb and 11.1% bf (increase, but no concern as I put it down to the margin for error within the scale, will explain in a later post).  I'm still eating ice cream and sweet breads (lots of bakeries in Japan) at my leisure though plan to cut this out after week 6.

No injuries but some areas to work on: right foot muscles are tight (tennis ball massage to ease the tension), lower back is tight (more warm-up, stretching and back strengthening) and the left achilles "feels funny" (icing, more rest and elevation).

Rest & Recovery - Still with the long stretch sessions (though missed the stretch after Sun's long run with no side-effects Mon morning).  I'm getting about 8hrs sleep each night, sometimes a mid-day nap and plenty of rest at home during the day; however, this could all change in wk7 when I start work.  Also, wearing compression gear like it's going out of style.

Wed - 75min w/ 3x 5min HMP + S&C, stormed this session.  Did some of the intervals off-road and despite my concern hitting HMP, ended up running below it.

Fri - 65min w/ 10min MP + S&C, experimented with this session by sleeping in and starting at 8.30 (vs. normal 6.30 start time).  With the late start, I was ready to go from the first step and executed the MP run well.  Also, the first time I've looked forward to S&C post interval run (a good sign!).  Despite a couple positives, I'll stick with the early start.

Sun - 2hr mod, up at 6.30 and pooring down rain.  I've had build-up in my chest over the last couple weeks, possibly from running in the rain, so doing it again may not be smart.  Back to sleep.  Up at 8.30, still raining, 'I really want to get this done, can't change race day if it's raining, so need to practice for all conditions.'  With that, I headed out in the rain.  Nobody on the street or footpaths, it eventually stopped raining and the session flew by.

Exhausted afterward and a funny feeling up the left leg, straight to nap and rest.

Mon - 2.15 mod, a cool breeze and shining sun made for good conditions while the distance made it tough.  Funny how much a difference 15mins makes.  Was feeling great after cool down, stretch and recovery meal.

Well Done Penny Palfrey

Despite not reaching the Florida shores, Penny Palfrey swam an amazing 40+ hours from Cuba before having to end the attempt.  An inspiring effort.

Penny's blog.
CNN article.