Rock Cut Trail Series 15k

Race Report
Going into the race I said that I wanted to take it kind of easy. I haven't really been running fast or frequent as of late, so I was worried going "all out" could give me an injury. My overall fitness is pretty strong so I thought it would be neat to see how low I could keep my HR while running a solid time. Well, I would like to say I took it easy and didn't try, blah, blah, blah, but the truth is, I gave it all I could today. My heart rate numbers say I was working pretty hard too. Here is a little break down by mile of my Avg HR. (My max HR is 199)

1. 171
2. 175
3. 178
4. 179
5. 181
6. 179
7. 184
8. 184
9. 184
10. 189(last .3mile)

9.3Mile HR AVG = 180 BPM
Results

I came in 15th place out of about 130 runners. Normally I wouldn't be too happy with 15th, but there were a lot of "ringers' from out of town, as well as some real strong local runners. 3 of which I ran neck and neck with most of the day (Brad Born, Tom Lichty, and Tim Sage). These are 3 real nice guys. It seems like every local running race I do, I am neck and neck with them.Course

This was an Awesome course on a beautiful day. There was 5-8 inches of fresh, uncleared snow, lots of hills, crazy trails, trees to jump over, ropes to climb, flights of stairs to scale. One of the hills without a rope was so steep that we had to bear crawl up, to keep from falling over. Most of the runners were about 2 minutes per mile slower than their normal race time. Tough course. Fun course!

Evaluation of Test 1 Toward Ironman

Priority #1: I did not get injured. Even though I did fall twice on the treacherous trail...
This was validation that my training plan is working so far. I have had limited time to train, but have been doing workouts that maximize the effectiveness of my training time. I feel like I have a lot of training tricks up my sleeve for the upcoming year. I haven't begun to pull them out yet. It is nice to know that I can have decent results without doing any race specific training.

Test 2 Toward Ironman

In 8 days I am doing an indoor 10k Cycling time trial. It will let me know where my cycling fitness is. The course record is 14 min+. Even though bike specific training has been limited, I hope my overall fitness gets me within 02:30 of the course record. We will see.

Wanna Race?

I am pretty excited about the 15k race tomorrow. It is supposed to be 25 degrees and snowy (10 degree wind chill). Giddy up!

Today's Workout
Bike Trainer

• 50:00 @ 100RPM

Trail Race In My Future

On Saturday I will be doing my first race of the season. It is a 15K (Rock Cut Trail Series) @ Rock Cut State Park. I am excited to see how it goes. The goal will be to run a steady pace and not run so fast that I pull a hammy(seriously). At this point in the year, my fitness is good, but I have not been running the type of speed workouts to peak for a race like this. Normally when I race, there is planning involved to make sure I am rested and fresh the day of the race. This year though, I will only be "peaking" for 1 race - Ironman Wisconsin. I plan on training right through the rest of my races this year. My hope for this race is to place in the top 30 without killing myself. I will be wearing my Garmin Watch, so I will have a summary of how hard I worked after the race. My heart rate will be documented for each step.

Here are some workouts for the last week:

2/14

--Run 3.07M (22:00) on treadmill

2/17

--Run 3.12M (25:00): treadmill hills 3x3:00 @ 6% incline with 2:00 1% incline in between.

--Wide Grip Pullups = 15

--Dips = 23

--Power Clean, Jerk and Push Press = 40x10 dumbells

2/19 (circuit-no rest in between)

1. Jump Rope = 250
2. Wide Grip Pullups = 13
3. Burpees = 15
4. Planks = 1:30
5. Jump Rope = 250
6. Dips = 19
7. Burpees = 15
8. Close Grip Pullups = 13
9. Jump Rope = 250
10. Incline Press = 8 x 65LB
11. Burpees = 15
12. Power Clean, Jerk & Push Press = 6 x 35LB dumbells
13. Jump Rope = 250
14. Shoulder Press = 6 x 40LB dumbells
15. Burpees = 15
16. Close Grip Pullups = 11
17. Jump Rope = 250 (Total Time = 24:00)
18. Treadmill Run = 6:00
19. Eliptical = 6:00