Monday, July 17, 2006

DO-OR-DIE

Being in the Midwest (and not being in Chicago) means that I don’t have access to lots of cool races and professional endurance athletes. So when the Lifetime Fitness triathlon is in town, I like to go down and watch. While I thought conditions were a little better than last year, that’s not saying much. At 8 AM it was already approaching 80 degrees with dew points in the low 60s and bright blue skies. Highs for the day were forecasted at 97.

Given that nearly ¼ of the field is new to the sport and that some of these athletes wouldn’t be starting till 10:30, the organizers shortened the Olympic distance race for age-group athletes by 6 miles – 3 on the bike and 3 on the run.

In the pro “equalizer” race the woman were given just under a 10 minute head start. It wasn’t enough as Hunter Kemper passed Emma Snowsill about halfway through the run. Hunter would hang on to win while 6 other men also passed Emma before she finished.

In the past, NBC would broadcast the race in the afternoon. However, it appears they want to put a little more time into their production, as they are waiting 2 weeks before airing the race.

A little off-topic, but I’d like to thank the sport of triathlon for having their athletes write their age on their calf. What a great way to figure out how old all the hotties are!

While watching the race, I got in an easy 9 miles. It was even easier than “normal” due to all the stopping, standing, cheering, and starting again. Probably not the best way to get in my miles, but it’s not like I do that every day.

That run gave me 74 miles for the week on 8 runs. While I normally take a cutback week every 3 weeks, I haven’t done that this time around – yet. I think I have one more week in me before needing to cut back.

Saturday I surprised Evan by telling him I would join him on Sunday at 5 AM for a long run. Actually, after working out the details, I didn’t have to meet him till 5:40. Yes, getting up at 4:50 on a Sunday does suck – especially when it’s already 82 degrees with a dew point of 72. However, getting in 17 miles by 8 AM feels great.

During the run we were trying to determine if this weather is worse than the last time we ran together, when it was 38 degrees and rainy for the whole 20 miles. I don’t think we came to a consensus.

Quote of the day;
“The only tactics that I admire are do-or-die.” – Herb Elliott

7 comments:

D said...

I vote for 38 and rainy over this heat and humidity! I'm really enjoying your posts lately Chad.

Chad said...

Susan, I'm sure it's even worse in Texas.

D, thanks. I guess I have my moments - even though today's post was kinda boring.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun way to get in the miles.

Anonymous said...

Zeker, I will run Lakefront on a day to day training program in hopes of dipping back into the 2:40s, or should I say break 2:50. Al's is two weeks out this year, so hoping for better results at both. Been doing 40s a week, not motivated to crank miles.......yet, but am motivated to run hard a little more often. health wise I am feeling better. I will be in a new age group at Lakefront (45), so there's a little more incentive to get over 60 occasionally.

Let me know how the training is going. Start cranking it up a bit now. Make a lot of the runs easy and a few of them memorable. Get passed "GO" twice a week and collect the "$200" and bank it.

Ryan said...

Nice early Sunday run. 17 by 8AM is great. That's earlier than I could get up to this point. I need to go for a new "early start" record with all these damn high temps. Right now, my best is 5:45. I need to go for about 5:15.

Anonymous said...

Zeke, this guy's coming to Mpls tomorrow.

http://www.50in50in50.com/

I ran with him on Sunday in Omaha, he's a great guy. He tries to be flexible with his start times, but you might be able to catch him by email sometime today, to find out when he plans to get going. He'll start at the official starting point of the TCM and follow the course as closely as possible.

Carl

Chad said...

Double, good advice..."Make a lot of the runs easy and a few of them memorable." I only ran 5 miles yesterday in an effort to be rested for tonight's hard workout. Maybe it'll even be "memorable".

Ryan, it wasn't that bad since I get up at that time a couple of times a week any way. But still, come on, it's Sunday...

Carl, interesting. At first I thought it was going to be Deano's website. I sent an email, but it'll be unlikely that I can run with him since I have this thing called "work".