Here's March 2011:
Swim: 26,800 meters
Cycling (outdoors): 161.0 miles
Cycling (indoors): 9:05 (hours)
Run: 131.6 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 7 sessions
Approximate monthly total training time: 57.25 hours
This was a decent training month. I certainly spent a lot of time training, but I'm not confident that it was as targeted as it could have been. I think it's a combination of the fact that I'm still being a little careful with myself in my general training and that I haven't raced or really tested myself recently. I know my fitness is improving all the time, but it's hard to evaluate how much it's improving or where I really stand. I had a great day being out and about during the L.A. Marathon and loved my 18 miles on the Backbone Trail. Both training days were a blast, but maybe not the best specific training for my upcoming goals. (At least partially because I don't have my long run training legs yet and each of those long runs hobbled me for a couple days!)
Wildflower is just about four weeks away. I'm really looking forward to racing but I feel like I really need these next few weeks of training.
The biggest thing for me this month was the announcement of Pablove Triathlon Team. We're really excited about the team and the ways we can support The Pablove Foundation. Our racing kits are still on schedule to be delivered before Wildflower. All the team members are doing on-going fundraising for Pablove. Huge thank you to those of you who already donated; for anyone else interested in donating, here's the link to MY PERSONAL FUNDRAISING PAGE.
The team is growing and anyone can join the team by signing up on the Triathlon Team website. In addition to helping Pablove and their efforts to fight childhood cancer, the team will have social events (the first one is next Wednesday in Silverlake) and team members get to take advantage of some sweet discounts from our sponsors.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Spending (half) a day on the Backbone Trail
The Backbone Trail stretches 68 (or so) miles through the Santa Monica Mountains from Point Mugu State Park in northern Malibu to Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades.
The Backbone is popular with runners because there's lots of single track, good climbing and descending, a wide variety of terrain, it's underused so there aren't a ton of people out there and most of all, it's a friggin' beautiful place to be. For Southern California ultrarunners, tackling the whole stretch of the Backbone Trail is a badge of honor. One I have yet to achieve. The hardiest try to do it all in one day. A group of friends of mine decided to do it last weekend, but they made the relatively "sane" decision of splitting it up to do half on Saturday and half on Sunday.
I decided to join them on Sunday for the first 18 miles of the day. It seemed like a good idea to me because (a) it would be with a great group of people, (b) I knew they'd have heavy, tired legs from Saturday and probably would go at a pace I could keep up with and (c) I miss spending time on the trails. A lot.
Sunday morning I met up with Billy, Andee, Helen, Erin and Jack at Corral Canyon. Helen, Erin and Jack had run the whole 37-mile first half on Saturday (along with Colin, Kristin, Matt and some others). Andee did about 25 miles of it. Billy was on fresh legs like me.
We got started at 8:30.
And after running past this:
and around this:
and this:
Nearly five hours later I finished here (nice aid station, right? Thanks Matt and Dave):
I was muddy and tired and smiling from ear to ear (not only because I got to call it quits while the rest of them trudged on towards Will Rogers, but partially because of that!)
All five of them finished the trail sometime early in the evening. Congrats to them!!
Most of the trail was ankle-deep mud, except when we were crossing streams. We had sunny, sorta warm weather, light rain, deep fog and chills, and pretty much everything in between. The views were fantastic. As was the company.
There's no way I should have gone out and ran 18 miles. I'm paying for it this week with sore, tired legs. But it was worth it! And next time, I'm doing the whole damn thing!
The Backbone is popular with runners because there's lots of single track, good climbing and descending, a wide variety of terrain, it's underused so there aren't a ton of people out there and most of all, it's a friggin' beautiful place to be. For Southern California ultrarunners, tackling the whole stretch of the Backbone Trail is a badge of honor. One I have yet to achieve. The hardiest try to do it all in one day. A group of friends of mine decided to do it last weekend, but they made the relatively "sane" decision of splitting it up to do half on Saturday and half on Sunday.
I decided to join them on Sunday for the first 18 miles of the day. It seemed like a good idea to me because (a) it would be with a great group of people, (b) I knew they'd have heavy, tired legs from Saturday and probably would go at a pace I could keep up with and (c) I miss spending time on the trails. A lot.
Sunday morning I met up with Billy, Andee, Helen, Erin and Jack at Corral Canyon. Helen, Erin and Jack had run the whole 37-mile first half on Saturday (along with Colin, Kristin, Matt and some others). Andee did about 25 miles of it. Billy was on fresh legs like me.
We got started at 8:30.
(photo by Jack)
And after running past this:
and around this:
(photo by Jack)
and through this:
(photo by Jack)
and past this:
and this:
(photo by Billy)
and through this:
(photo by Billy)
Nearly five hours later I finished here (nice aid station, right? Thanks Matt and Dave):
I was muddy and tired and smiling from ear to ear (not only because I got to call it quits while the rest of them trudged on towards Will Rogers, but partially because of that!)
All five of them finished the trail sometime early in the evening. Congrats to them!!
Most of the trail was ankle-deep mud, except when we were crossing streams. We had sunny, sorta warm weather, light rain, deep fog and chills, and pretty much everything in between. The views were fantastic. As was the company.
There's no way I should have gone out and ran 18 miles. I'm paying for it this week with sore, tired legs. But it was worth it! And next time, I'm doing the whole damn thing!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
My Morning at the LA Marathon
Once upon a time, I thought I would be running the LA Marathon today. Actually as Billy reminded me a little bit ago, I'd actually mentioned running a there-and-back (i.e. double) LA Marathon today. Today is the six month anniversary of my surgery and I thought it would be a pretty great way to prove (mainly to myself) how quickly I was able to come back. But as I've written here ad nauseam, my spring training plans didn't work out exactly as hoped.
So, instead of running the marathon today, I did the next best thing: spectating and cheering and supported those who were out there running.
First off for any of my readers who weren't in LA today, let me set the scene: As of 5:30am, the forecast for the day read something like 90-100% of rain, heavy at times, temperatures in the low 50s, and wind gusting up to 25mph. Sweet! But contrary to what Reggie Bush might think (tweet from March 20 at 11am), runners don't stay home when it's gonna rain.
It didn't start actually raining this morning until right about 7:30, which was conveniently the start time for the race. Well goody.
I started my morning at 6:45 with a 5.5 mile run from home to The Pablove Foundation HQ at Sunset and Lucile, just before mile 8 on the course.
I hung out there with the Pablove team, waiting mostly patiently for the runners to start coming by. Standing outside in the cold and rain, cooling down after the first run of the morning, I started getting really cold. But then racers started streaming by which made it easy to forget any cold I was feeling! First were the wheelchairs and handcycles (who started first):
Then the elite women (next wave):
Then the elite men (who started 17-or-so minutes after the women):
I waited at Pablove until Jimmy and Tyler came by, at their blazing fast 6:30-something pace. I jumped in and ran with them for about two miles, which was just about as long as I could last at that speed:
At mile 10, I stopped and waited for Kate. She came by with Travis and Justin (?) and I jumped in with them for a couple miles at a somewhat more reasonable 7:15-or-so pace.
A little past mile 12, I stopped again to wait for the next friends to come by - Colin and Kristin weren't too far behind. So I jumped in with them for a few miles through West Hollywood:
At around mile 15.5, I stopped again and this time waited just a minute or two for Billy and Sam. By now, the constant-and-sometimes-hard rain had become much of just a constant, hard rain, so I couldn't take any more pictures. I'd also already run over 13 miles on the day, which was more than I'd planned and I still had to go at least 2 to get home. So I only ran with them for a few hundred meters before stopping to wait for Pete. When Pete came, I ran with him for about a half mile before turning for home. Running for home I ran across many semi-flooded streets, I felt like a little kid jumping directly into the puddles. Credit to my awesome DryMax socks for keeping my feet comfy and blister-free all day long!
Even though while I was out there I was mostly wishing I was actually running it, I made the most of it and had a blast today. In all, I ran about 16.6 miles. Congrats to all my friends who braved the rain and kicked ass!
So, instead of running the marathon today, I did the next best thing: spectating and cheering and supported those who were out there running.
First off for any of my readers who weren't in LA today, let me set the scene: As of 5:30am, the forecast for the day read something like 90-100% of rain, heavy at times, temperatures in the low 50s, and wind gusting up to 25mph. Sweet! But contrary to what Reggie Bush might think (tweet from March 20 at 11am), runners don't stay home when it's gonna rain.
It didn't start actually raining this morning until right about 7:30, which was conveniently the start time for the race. Well goody.
I started my morning at 6:45 with a 5.5 mile run from home to The Pablove Foundation HQ at Sunset and Lucile, just before mile 8 on the course.
I hung out there with the Pablove team, waiting mostly patiently for the runners to start coming by. Standing outside in the cold and rain, cooling down after the first run of the morning, I started getting really cold. But then racers started streaming by which made it easy to forget any cold I was feeling! First were the wheelchairs and handcycles (who started first):
(this guy was either the second or third wheelchair at mile 8)
Then the elite women (next wave):
Then the elite men (who started 17-or-so minutes after the women):
I waited at Pablove until Jimmy and Tyler came by, at their blazing fast 6:30-something pace. I jumped in and ran with them for about two miles, which was just about as long as I could last at that speed:
(best I could do, while trying to keep up with wet cold hands)
At mile 10, I stopped and waited for Kate. She came by with Travis and Justin (?) and I jumped in with them for a couple miles at a somewhat more reasonable 7:15-or-so pace.
A little past mile 12, I stopped again to wait for the next friends to come by - Colin and Kristin weren't too far behind. So I jumped in with them for a few miles through West Hollywood:
At around mile 15.5, I stopped again and this time waited just a minute or two for Billy and Sam. By now, the constant-and-sometimes-hard rain had become much of just a constant, hard rain, so I couldn't take any more pictures. I'd also already run over 13 miles on the day, which was more than I'd planned and I still had to go at least 2 to get home. So I only ran with them for a few hundred meters before stopping to wait for Pete. When Pete came, I ran with him for about a half mile before turning for home. Running for home I ran across many semi-flooded streets, I felt like a little kid jumping directly into the puddles. Credit to my awesome DryMax socks for keeping my feet comfy and blister-free all day long!
Even though while I was out there I was mostly wishing I was actually running it, I made the most of it and had a blast today. In all, I ran about 16.6 miles. Congrats to all my friends who braved the rain and kicked ass!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Pablove Triathlon Team!!
I have some very exciting news to (finally) report!
The Pablove Triathlon Team has officially launched. I've had the privilege over the last few weeks of working with team founders, Warren and Mike, and the awesome staff at The Pablove Foundation to get the team off the ground. We've designed a racing kit, rounded up some awesome team sponsors and partners and recruited a strong group of local age-group athletes to join the team. But first...
The Pablove Foundation is a Southern California charitable foundation dedicated to fighting childhood cancer with love. The Foundation name honors Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz, who was six when he lost his battle with bilateral Wilms' Tumor, a rare form of childhood cancer. Pablo's parents, Jo Ann and Jeff started the Foundation in order to raise money to fund pediatric cancer research and advances in treatment, to educate and empower cancer families, and to improve the quality of life for children living with cancer through hospital play, music and arts programs. There's plenty more information on at pablove.org.
Their primary fundraising is through benefit concerts (Jeff is the CEO and co-founder of Dangerbird Records, a local independent record label) and through the annual Pablove Across America bike ride. During the summer, Jeff and other participating riders spend up to three weeks riding through a portion of the country, flying the Pablove colors and stopping at children's hospitals and cancer centers, meeting kids and families. The current issue of Peleton magazine has an article by Jeff about Pablove Across America, you can read an excerpt here.
And here's a video also from Peleton about the ride:
Pablove is small but they are making an impact. And Warren and Mike were excited to help. So they started talking to Pablove and recruiting local age-group (i.e. glorified weekend warrior) triathletes to join the cause. And now we're here. As of today, we have 14 members but that number is sure to grow quickly, especially as the word starts to get out. We're a triathlon team at heart, but we also race marathons and trail races and ultramarathons and cycling races and participate in all other sports as well. We are all dedicated to raising money and awareness for Pablove. All team members set their own individual fund-raising goal. And each team member can be as involved with Pablove as they want. The only pressure to raise money or participate is the drive to help Pablove do their good work. I think we're all going to be very surprised at how much we can add to Pablove's mission.
Here's me riding last weekend on the PCH in the Pablove cycling kit.
Our tri race kits have a similar design, including the awesome Pablo-drawn "punch guy" texturing all over the kit. Look closely and you can see it, but here's original design, as drawn by Pablo:
We're hopeful that our flashy cool kits will be ready in time to show off at Wildflower on April 30 and May 1.
Team members will be racing all over the country and the world this season. Currently, all of our members are in Los Angeles, but that's gonna change. We'll be a national team soon enough. And, even though we're triathlon focused, you don't have to be a triathlete to be a team member.
You will be hearing lots and lots more about Pablove and the Pablove Triathlon Team from me over the coming months. But for now, I'm leaving you with my little plea:
Click HERE to go to my personal fundraising page and help me raise money for The Pablove Foundation - all of the money raised by the Triathlon Team goes directly to the Foundation. (The team is paying it's own way for all events and team merchandise - hopefully with the help of a few team sponsors!)
I believe strongly in the goals of The Pablove Foundation. They are doing wonders to help fund cancer research and to provide support and encouragement to children with cancer and to their families. And I know that we can help. I've set what I believe to be a very modest initial fundraising goal. I will reach that goal quickly and then set another and another. That doesn't mean I'm asking YOU for a large donation. Any amount will help.
If you go to my fundraising page, you'll notice that I haven't donated to myself yet. So... to make this a little more fun, I'll match dollar-for-dollar any donations that I get between now and April 1 up to a total of at least $1,500. (I thought about typing that sentence for a while and yes, I am a little scared to have written it, but let's do it! Just please don't tell Elizabeth! :) Remember, dear, it's for the kids.)
As always, THANK YOU!
(edited 8:39am to make it clear that fundraising is for The Pablove Foundation, not the Triathlon Team!)
The Pablove Triathlon Team has officially launched. I've had the privilege over the last few weeks of working with team founders, Warren and Mike, and the awesome staff at The Pablove Foundation to get the team off the ground. We've designed a racing kit, rounded up some awesome team sponsors and partners and recruited a strong group of local age-group athletes to join the team. But first...
The Pablove Foundation is a Southern California charitable foundation dedicated to fighting childhood cancer with love. The Foundation name honors Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz, who was six when he lost his battle with bilateral Wilms' Tumor, a rare form of childhood cancer. Pablo's parents, Jo Ann and Jeff started the Foundation in order to raise money to fund pediatric cancer research and advances in treatment, to educate and empower cancer families, and to improve the quality of life for children living with cancer through hospital play, music and arts programs. There's plenty more information on at pablove.org.
Their primary fundraising is through benefit concerts (Jeff is the CEO and co-founder of Dangerbird Records, a local independent record label) and through the annual Pablove Across America bike ride. During the summer, Jeff and other participating riders spend up to three weeks riding through a portion of the country, flying the Pablove colors and stopping at children's hospitals and cancer centers, meeting kids and families. The current issue of Peleton magazine has an article by Jeff about Pablove Across America, you can read an excerpt here.
And here's a video also from Peleton about the ride:
Pablove is small but they are making an impact. And Warren and Mike were excited to help. So they started talking to Pablove and recruiting local age-group (i.e. glorified weekend warrior) triathletes to join the cause. And now we're here. As of today, we have 14 members but that number is sure to grow quickly, especially as the word starts to get out. We're a triathlon team at heart, but we also race marathons and trail races and ultramarathons and cycling races and participate in all other sports as well. We are all dedicated to raising money and awareness for Pablove. All team members set their own individual fund-raising goal. And each team member can be as involved with Pablove as they want. The only pressure to raise money or participate is the drive to help Pablove do their good work. I think we're all going to be very surprised at how much we can add to Pablove's mission.
Here's me riding last weekend on the PCH in the Pablove cycling kit.
Our tri race kits have a similar design, including the awesome Pablo-drawn "punch guy" texturing all over the kit. Look closely and you can see it, but here's original design, as drawn by Pablo:
We're hopeful that our flashy cool kits will be ready in time to show off at Wildflower on April 30 and May 1.
Team members will be racing all over the country and the world this season. Currently, all of our members are in Los Angeles, but that's gonna change. We'll be a national team soon enough. And, even though we're triathlon focused, you don't have to be a triathlete to be a team member.
If you're interested in joining the team, you can register at pablove.org/triteam. Check out more information at the triathlon team facebook page.
You will be hearing lots and lots more about Pablove and the Pablove Triathlon Team from me over the coming months. But for now, I'm leaving you with my little plea:
Click HERE to go to my personal fundraising page and help me raise money for The Pablove Foundation - all of the money raised by the Triathlon Team goes directly to the Foundation. (The team is paying it's own way for all events and team merchandise - hopefully with the help of a few team sponsors!)
I believe strongly in the goals of The Pablove Foundation. They are doing wonders to help fund cancer research and to provide support and encouragement to children with cancer and to their families. And I know that we can help. I've set what I believe to be a very modest initial fundraising goal. I will reach that goal quickly and then set another and another. That doesn't mean I'm asking YOU for a large donation. Any amount will help.
If you go to my fundraising page, you'll notice that I haven't donated to myself yet. So... to make this a little more fun, I'll match dollar-for-dollar any donations that I get between now and April 1 up to a total of at least $1,500. (I thought about typing that sentence for a while and yes, I am a little scared to have written it, but let's do it! Just please don't tell Elizabeth! :) Remember, dear, it's for the kids.)
As always, THANK YOU!
(edited 8:39am to make it clear that fundraising is for The Pablove Foundation, not the Triathlon Team!)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Brooks Minimalist Shoes???
I've been reading up on some very exciting news from Brooks recently!
They're finally adding some truly minimalist shoes to their line-up. The PureProject line will debut in October. From their official blog post, it sounds like they're going to come out with five different models of minimalist, light-weight shoes with varying degrees of support. The goal for these shoes will be to "promote a natural ride" and give runners a stronger connection with, and feel for, the road (and hopefully trails) beneath them.
For more info, you can read the official post on the Brooks blog and definitely check out Pete Larson's take at his blog, Runblogger. (Runblogger is one of my favorite blogs - really smart news and reviews about all things running, especially minimalist running shoes and studies on running form. He has detailed reviews of most of the shoes listed below, and tons of others. If you're a runner, you should be reading his blog.)
I'm really excited about this announcement. I'm a loyal Brooks shoe wearer. For the past three or four years, I've logged probably 90% of my road miles in Brooks shoes - I've gone through lots of pairs of Defyance, Launch, Cascadia, Racer ST, Green Silence and Mach 12's. Their shoes consistently fit my feet better than any running shoes I've tried.* Early last year I became a member of Brooks ID, which is a nice Brooks-affiliated running community and gets me a discount on their products.
 |
| The collection of Brooks shoes currently in my closet. The only ones I'm wearing now are the green and black Green Silence and the yellow and black Mach 12s in the right of the photo. This doesn't include the pairs I've given away in the past or the two pairs still in their unopened boxes. |
BUT. My first Brooks shoes were the 10.something ounce first generation Defyance. I went through a bunch of pairs of those over a couple years. Since then I have been moving to progressively lighter and more minimalist shoes. Last year I ran a ton of miles in a few pairs of the Launch. And still I want to go lighter. So, right now I'm rotating between the Green Silence and the Mach 12. I'm tempted to get a pair of the 6 ounce T7 Racer but the 12mm drop from heel to toe bothers me. I like them all, but none of those shoes is exactly what I'm looking for. While Brooks makes some light-weight shoes, they don't make anything really low profile, with a zero or small drop and a roomy toe box. And as I look around at what other shoe companies are doing - especially Saucony (the Kinvara and A4) and New Balance (the Minimus line) - I've been getting serious shoe envy. For the first time in years, I'm seriously tempted to branch out and try some other brands of road shoes. (Those New Balance Minimuses look sweet and are getting great early reviews.) So for a while now, I've been dreaming about the day that Brooks would come out with truly minimalist shoes.
Now it seems I just have to wait until October.
*The big exception here is the New Balance MT100. I love running trails in those shoes. Low to the ground, light-weight, fast, comfortable. Brooks doesn't make anything even close to comparable. Yet. *fingers tightly crossed*
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