Key Workouts
SWIM:
w/u: 600m
main: 3 x 400m at tpace on :40 rest
c/d: 100m
Webb: This swim set was a little tough. We did a strength workout a couple of days before with some pull-ups and push-ups. Apparently I had some residual soreness in my lats, so it took a little while to warm up. I also did the workout in the sole free lane while a Masters Session was going on. My guess is most people would hate swimming at such a time. I kinda dig it. It is the closest you can come to an open water experience in the pool.
BIKE: Hell Hath No Fury
Webb: Yep, this workout still rocks. The bike training has been going well. Even though you must always suffer when doing these videos...
Elle: Yeah, this is a good one, one of my favorites. And the music really helps to make this workout, it's a bit like a dance party. But with more sweat and gasping for air.
Webb: More sweating and gasping than a dance party? You need to go to better dance parties.
Elle: You are correct, sir.
RUN: Dave Scott Treadmill
Main 1- 6x {45 seconds at 5%, 45 seconds at 6%, 30 seconds at 7%, "recover" 60 seconds at 2%}
Main 2 - 12x {20 seconds "very fast" (not all out, no sprinting) with 20 seconds passive recovery}
Elle: This workout is a killer. I did it once before on my own, and I was glad to have Webb there this time to experience the hell along with me. Near the end, I honestly had a fear of flying off the end of the treadmill, so I just pushed it hard until it was over.
Webb: I put it on the schedule as a muscular endurance workout because that is how Dave Scott describes it. I guess being a multiple Ironman World Champ and coach of champs (ahem, Chrissie), means you might know a thing or two. Well, this is definitely a tough workout that must improve your muscular endurance.
I actually found the "recovery" efforts to be tougher because as far as recoveries go, it sucks. Sure 2% is easier than 5, 6 or 7%, but not so much as you are all "Ahhhhh, whew, this is better." The cool thing is that when you do the speed skills after, they are pretty easy. Hell, that was a better recovery and a great way to end a workout. It definitely stretched out and loosened up the legs.
The Boston Marathon is in Effect ...
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| Karen, Bill and Mark |
Saucony event: Find Your Strong
Webb: On Friday we attended the Saucony event on finding our strong. There were four speakers scheduled to inspire us and they did not disappoint. The evening opened with Luis Escobar talking about his friend Micah True, aka Caballo Blanco, of Born to Run fame. Sadly, a couple of weeks ago Caballo Blanco was found dead in the New Mexico desert a few days after he went out for a 12-mile run. This is a terrible loss for the running community and the Tarahumara people of Mexico.
Elle: I couldn't believe it when I heard the news, I was devastated. I never met Caballo Blanco, but was super excited to do so at this event. I never even changed it in my calendar, which still reads, 'Meet Caballo Blanco!'
A sad loss indeed.
Webb: We also heard from Mark Herzlich, Karen Smyers and Bill Rodgers. Herzlich defeated cancer at age 21 and went on to win Super Bowl XLVI (2012) as a linebacker for the NY Football Giants. He had bone cancer in his left leg and after undergoing chemo and radiation treatments, doctors inserted a titanium rod down the length of his femur. Karen Smyers might be one of the best athletes you've never heard of - unless of course you are a triathlon junkie. Karen is in the Triathlon Hall of Fame because she has won at every distance and overcome amazing set backs: cancer, severed hamstring (home improvement accident) and multiple injuries from being hit by an 18-wheeler on a training ride. She was part of one of the most dramatic finishes in Ironman history. Finally, Bill Rodgers, 4-time winner of both the Boston and NYC Marathons gave a high-energy, if not a little wacky, speech about how we are all different yet, fundamentally the same in that we need to get out there and take on challenges.
Elle: It was seriously hard to tell if Bill Rodgers was drunk or just a little crazy. I've never heard him speak before, so maybe he's just kind of wacky. Meanwhile, Karen Smyers was inspiring as ever. I'll definitely be remembering her words while I'm out on the 1/2 Ironman course at Timberman later this year. It's always good to hear that even Ironman World Champions get down on themselves every now and then. The difference is they pull themselves out of it and go on to win the race.
Best quote of the evening, from Karen Smyers, "It's not failing, its temporarily not succeeding".
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| @ HHRC on Heartbreak Hill |
Marathon Expo
PRE-EXPO BIKE WORKOUT
Webb: As the weather warms up, weekends are for nice and easy long bike rides. Since the schedule called for 3 hours and Elle was to meet Laura at the expo, I chose a route I call The Weston Hills. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who calls it that. Anyway, it is a 5-mile loop of rolling hills (of varying grades) - long enough not to be boring, short enough that you can control how long you are out on the ride. Since it was to be an easy, aerobic ride it was also good practice on applying steady effort on the climbs. Had we been out there trying to hammer the pace, we might have blown up on some of the steeper grades.
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| Laura and I with Bart Yasso |
Elle: Even though I'm not running this year, the Boston Marathon Expo is still a fun time. So I met my friend Laura there, and Webb met up with us later on. There were lots of interesting booths of vendors. Of course everyone who's anyone in the world of running was there. Laura and I had a photo taken with the great Bart Yasso. And he gave us each a signed cartoon of himself. He was there with Runner's World, and editor David Willey was there too.
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| Bart Yasso! |
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| Look, it's Meb!!! |
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| Me & Laura with some dude at the Expo |
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