With one week remaining before my next XTerra, I went for a longish run focused on technical terrain.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
A bit pissed at Amazon
A little note I just sent to Amazon:
I understand, but don't completely agree with, your battle with Macmillan over e-book content. It's bad enough that I can't currently purchase their books from your site, but now I find that they don't even show up on my wish lists! Being told that an item is not currently available is one thing, but I'm not even sure which items those are since they've all been replaced with placeholder images and captions stating "This title is no longer available!" For a company that wants us to use your site as a universal wish list, you have certainly made me consider your company less than reliable for this purpose. For what it's worth, I have three suggestions:
1) Reinstate Macmillan content on customer's wish lists so that they can at least be seen.
2) Open the Kindle device to support alternate formats like ePub. That will allow the Kindle to be even MORE useful to your customers.
3) Let the market determine if Macmillan's $15 price point for e-books is too high (I agree with your company that it is.)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Treadmill Intervals (6.25mi)
Took the dog for a quick warm up run, then hopped onto the treadmill for some speed intervals.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Recovery Run (8.2mi)
Took the dog with me for the entire run today. Hopefully this will tire her out so she won't be too hyper from not being able to run around the yard because of the rain.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Saturday Run/Walk (17.8mi)
Took the dog for a short run/walk around the neighborhood, then went for a long run/walk in Sycamore Canyon.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Recovery Run/Walk (6.2mi)
The dog and I took a run/walk interval session before I continued on the trails.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Post Race Recovery Run/Walk (4.1mi)
Getting a bit more active and took the dog for a trail run/walk intervals.
Monday, January 11, 2010
XTERRA Boney Mountain Half Marathon Race
The first of the two most difficult trail events was a mixed result this year. I improved my time from last year by more than three minutes, but came in third in my age group due to a very strong group of runners. My downhill times improved greatly as a result of my training, but I also had some setbacks to my uphill times. I've learned quite a bit from the event, but still have to figure out what to do about it.
Weight: 137 lbs
Time: 1:47:57
I prepared my gym bag and Endurox the night before the race. Ate my usual pre-race dinner of mashed potatoes, but added a little sour cream this time. Very tasty, but could have used some bacon, too. Got to bed before 9pm.
Took it easy the morning of the race, since it was just across town. Had a yogurt before showering and shaving. Packed a Zone Bar to eat a half hour before the race, and filled my CamelBak with the Endurox (2 scoops per 16 oz water.) I finally headed out around 6:30 am. The parking was in a different spot this year, but closer than before. I took the shuttle back and forth anyway.
No timing chips this year. Not a big deal since we aren't talking about a road event where split second timing is more important. Probably a cost-cutting measure, not to mention that it greatly reduced the time necessary to get final results.
The course was the same as last year, but the terrain was a bit more forgiving. Some of the early single track was a bit rutted from bicycles, but not nearly as dangerous as last year when rain and horse tracks conspired to break our ankles. The wind was also far more mellow, and didn't knock me down as it did during the initial hill climb, or drive me to a standstill in the final mile like last year. Overall, though, it was still a pain in the ass.
My focus of downhill speed definitely paid off. I was easily able to shed about 30 seconds per mile for the first two miles of the course, where the "black bitch" paved downhill is. The early climbs, however, were the first of my disappointments. I ended up catching up with one of the faster runners, but he was walking due to being too exuberant on the downhill. That kind of sapped my will, so I walked a bit myself before finally passing him. That set me back a bit more than 21 seconds from last year's third mile.
After that setback, things picked up again. I was still working on the initial climbs, but was gaining time again over last year. Miles four and five I picked up 47 second and 41 seconds, respectively. During that time I had transitioned to the middle downhill segment, where I was blazing again. For miles six and seven I gained another 24 and 31 seconds over last year, before finally getting to the tough climbs.
Last year I was able to traverse the entire course without once needing to walk, but this year I slowed several times. However, this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I was still able to get ahead for most of the miles. Mile eight required some walking breaks, but I was still nearly 17 seconds faster than last year. But miles nine and ten I ended up losing 10 and 28 seconds, the latter partly due to my shoelace coming undone.
Finally, once the big climbs were finished I was able to gain speed again, gaining another 26 seconds on mile eleven. Mile twelve had the last "small" climb, but by then I was tired enough that I lost 13 second from last year. Without the headwind from last year, I did gain another 30 seconds on mile thirteen. The last fraction of a mile was about 3 seconds slower this year, but that could be due to my general level of tiredness, lack of precision by not using a timing chip, or slightly different distance readings from my GPS. Whatever the reason, I'm not concerned.
This is the third race that I've ended up walking parts of, and I don't like it. It is obvious that I was able to correctly identify my weaknesses with my downhill technique, but now I need to figure out how to address my weakness with uphill endurance. I know that I shouldn't be too disappointed by it, since I'm still faster than last year, but I'd really like to get back to a condition where I don't need to walk quite so often. Especially since my initial analysis of the race data seems to show that the miles where I was slower than last year could have been offset if I had just kept running, even at a slightly slower pace.
Regarding my finishing position, I can only remind myself that there will always be someone faster. Last year I was over three minutes slower, but was first in my age group. This year, even with my speed, I was third. The simple fact is that there were stronger runners this year. Besides, I still have a narrow point lead for now. However, this could change during the next four races.
Weight: 137 lbs
Time: 1:47:57
I prepared my gym bag and Endurox the night before the race. Ate my usual pre-race dinner of mashed potatoes, but added a little sour cream this time. Very tasty, but could have used some bacon, too. Got to bed before 9pm.
Took it easy the morning of the race, since it was just across town. Had a yogurt before showering and shaving. Packed a Zone Bar to eat a half hour before the race, and filled my CamelBak with the Endurox (2 scoops per 16 oz water.) I finally headed out around 6:30 am. The parking was in a different spot this year, but closer than before. I took the shuttle back and forth anyway.
No timing chips this year. Not a big deal since we aren't talking about a road event where split second timing is more important. Probably a cost-cutting measure, not to mention that it greatly reduced the time necessary to get final results.
The course was the same as last year, but the terrain was a bit more forgiving. Some of the early single track was a bit rutted from bicycles, but not nearly as dangerous as last year when rain and horse tracks conspired to break our ankles. The wind was also far more mellow, and didn't knock me down as it did during the initial hill climb, or drive me to a standstill in the final mile like last year. Overall, though, it was still a pain in the ass.
My focus of downhill speed definitely paid off. I was easily able to shed about 30 seconds per mile for the first two miles of the course, where the "black bitch" paved downhill is. The early climbs, however, were the first of my disappointments. I ended up catching up with one of the faster runners, but he was walking due to being too exuberant on the downhill. That kind of sapped my will, so I walked a bit myself before finally passing him. That set me back a bit more than 21 seconds from last year's third mile.
After that setback, things picked up again. I was still working on the initial climbs, but was gaining time again over last year. Miles four and five I picked up 47 second and 41 seconds, respectively. During that time I had transitioned to the middle downhill segment, where I was blazing again. For miles six and seven I gained another 24 and 31 seconds over last year, before finally getting to the tough climbs.
Last year I was able to traverse the entire course without once needing to walk, but this year I slowed several times. However, this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I was still able to get ahead for most of the miles. Mile eight required some walking breaks, but I was still nearly 17 seconds faster than last year. But miles nine and ten I ended up losing 10 and 28 seconds, the latter partly due to my shoelace coming undone.
Finally, once the big climbs were finished I was able to gain speed again, gaining another 26 seconds on mile eleven. Mile twelve had the last "small" climb, but by then I was tired enough that I lost 13 second from last year. Without the headwind from last year, I did gain another 30 seconds on mile thirteen. The last fraction of a mile was about 3 seconds slower this year, but that could be due to my general level of tiredness, lack of precision by not using a timing chip, or slightly different distance readings from my GPS. Whatever the reason, I'm not concerned.
This is the third race that I've ended up walking parts of, and I don't like it. It is obvious that I was able to correctly identify my weaknesses with my downhill technique, but now I need to figure out how to address my weakness with uphill endurance. I know that I shouldn't be too disappointed by it, since I'm still faster than last year, but I'd really like to get back to a condition where I don't need to walk quite so often. Especially since my initial analysis of the race data seems to show that the miles where I was slower than last year could have been offset if I had just kept running, even at a slightly slower pace.
Regarding my finishing position, I can only remind myself that there will always be someone faster. Last year I was over three minutes slower, but was first in my age group. This year, even with my speed, I was third. The simple fact is that there were stronger runners this year. Besides, I still have a narrow point lead for now. However, this could change during the next four races.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday Run (10mi)
Went for a mellow, but very hilly, run before I taper for next week's half marathon.
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