Disney & Charleston : Dec 21-Jan 1

After driving to Charleston where I met my parents and sister, we drove down to Orlando.  The next day, we did a ton of walking from 8am to 10pm, visiting Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom.  My dad estimated that it was about 13 miles, with his pedometer.  I felt kind of depleted by the end.  It was fun, though!

 

 (Buzz Lightyear shooting game ride @ Magic Kingdom)

 

(Shake It, Move It Street Parade)

 

(Log flume ride)

 

(Mission: Space - surprisingly fun for the family!)

 

(Shuttle Boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot)

 

(Street performance in "France" at Epcot)

(Epcot ball)

 (Giant smoked turkey leg @ Magic Kingdom - our favorite)

 

(A very cool night show that turns the Castle into a bunch of different things by projecting onto it)

 (Main Street USA)

The next day, we went to Busch Gardens.  Legs woke up tired, but once we got walking, they got back to normal.

 

(Cheetah Run roller coaster - pretty sweet!  The main part of it looks like a tree, and the back end races through some animal reserves and winds back and forth like a cheetah)

(This thing takes you way up, then turns you 90 degrees so that you're face-down looking at the ground, then drops you - quite a thrill!  Probably the scariest ride I've been on, because there's not much keeping you from falling... just the two bars.)

(Cheetah run)

(My favorite - feeding kangaroos!  It was cool just to watch them move/jump/eat/interact)

Tuesday, December 23:

 4.4 in 35:44, 8:10 average.  Got in only 2 laps around my neighborhood before it started raining hard, and it got too dark to make footing easy.  Oh well, least I got in something.

Wednesday, December 24:

Pyramid workout at the track!  5.7 in 42:57, 7:32 average.  800 warmup in 4:30, 4x100 with 100 jog, 3x200 with 200 jog, 2x400 with 400 jog, 800 with 400 jog, and back down.  Harder than it was last time over Thanksgiving break... got through it mentally by thinking "this is the last time I have to do a rep for this distance".  

For Christmas, got my parents some pretty rocks from Brazil...

 

Played lots of home-made "Princeton Carcassonne"...

Saturday, December 27:

8.8 in 1:12:08, 8:12 average.  After drinking decaf and eating a biscotti.  2.25 mi splits. 19:06, 18:11, 17:51, 16:59.  My dad biked next to me as I went.

Sunday, December 28:

55 min Body weight strength session.

Visit from a dog friend:

 

Monday, December 29:

60 min recumbent bike session, followed by some arm weights.

Tuesday, December 30:

6.6 in 1:02:01, 9:24 average.  My hammies were sore from doing squats 2 nights ago, I think.  Definitely a recovery run.  Took it easy, although I did feel back to normal by the third and last 2.25 mi lap.  Splits> 22:11, 20:45, 19:05.

Wednesday, December 31:

Needed to get in some runs before traveling again at the end of the week, so I did 6.6 in 57:35, 8:43 average.  Ran on tired legs... don't know why they're so worn.  Last lap got iffy.

At night, the annual New Year's party at a friend's house.

(I'm on the lower right corner)

On New Year's day, we went to Folly Beach to look for shark teeth, and we came back with some great finds!

 

 (Can you see it?

...

...

 ...

...

It's 1/4 of the way from the top, kind of in the middle.)

RACE REPORT: ENMARK SAVANNAH RIVER BRIDGE RUN DOUBLE PUMP 2014

Training the week of the race:

I was traveling, so I got in a moderate-effort 4 mi, 3 degrees of incline (to make sure that I was somewhat acclimated to what would be a 5.5 degree incline bridge), but 7mph.  34:15 for 4.0, 8:34 ave.  I only brought one pair of running shoes to this trip, so I ran in my race shoes – the Virrattas, and I wasn’t quite used to how flexible the shoe is, and how little support it gives.

The Race:

This was going to be a unique pacing challenge… run your best combo 5K + 10K, with the 5K starting at 8:15 and the 10K starting at 9:00.  You can’t go all-out in the 5K because you have to save an equally good run for the 10K.  You can afford to push the 5K a bit, should you choose to do so, though, because you have some recovery time in between, and the faster you finish, the more recovery time you get.  Plus, the course is a single-hump bridge run, with the 5K crossing it once, and the 10K crossing it twice.

I had been thinking that individual 5K and 10K times during the two legs would be considered in the rankings for the individual 5K and 10K races, too…  and if that was the case, where would my best chances be… 5K individual?  Or run that more conservatively so that I could try to place with the Double-pump?  I haven’t raced the 10K much, so I’m not as familiar with how to pace that.  By looking at the Age Group rakings from last year, though, I figured out that Double-pumpers would not be eligible for awards in the 5K and 10K races, so that solved that problem… I was going to do a strong but not all-out 5K, then throw it all in for the 10K.  I didn’t want to burn out my legs after the first leg.

The temps were cool-ish, but still quite bearable in a sports bra, so not as ideally cold as it could be, but still decent.  It was foggy and overcast, too, which is my favorite.  At the start of the 5K, they had separate sides of the road for the Walkers and the Runners, which was great.  Within the runner lane, though, they should’ve put up some pace markers.   Once we got going, a few feet past the start (to which I had been pretty close), there were already three bodies sprawled out on the road from a crash… ouch.  

The first time up the bridge was ok… the incline seemed runnable… I could do somewhat of a running gait.  The decline was steep and long (probably equal to the incline), and normally, I love downhills and can’t get enough of them, but this was very steep and very long, so your legs had to be ready to take it and take it for quite a while.  Then, a bit of flat with tiny inclines, and the finish.  Didn’t go all-out, cruised in, mission part 1 complete.

After crossing the line, I got some Powerade and water.  It was nice…. The 10K race-morning packet pickup and starting line was right at the finish line, so I went in for a needed bathroom break and moseyed over to the starting line with plenty of time to massage my quads and stay loose.  As the time for the 10K start neared, though, it was a bit daunting to think that with the somewhat fatigued legs, I’d have to go through the bridge again, twice.  The 10K started off with about 20 blocks of running through the downtown area, which was pretty and decked out in Christmas decorations.   

 (Photo credit: DaBrooksOhana)

Then, the bridge… oh man, it seemed much steeper this time than last time!  I was shuffling this time, as opposed to doing a run.  As usual, people caught up to me on the uphill, but I was able to catch back up during the downhill.  Looped around, then back on the bridge in the other direction.  Mentally, this wasn’t as hard as the second crossing of the bridge.  Was it less steep on the incline part?  Was it the knowledge that it was the last time that I’d have to cross it?  Supposedly, for your information, it’s a 5.5% grade and a mile and a half… there are probably variations, so I don’t know how they measured it.  I didn’t train for hills, but I had trained for speed.  During the last decline, I was letting it rip.  Survived the last 0.75 of flatter section, and finished a challenging finish… my legs were starting to become over-fatigued.  

 

 

(You can see a difference in the pain level between the 5K finish picture and the 10K finish picture)

I ended up running 21:58 + 44:30 = 1:06:28, good for 1^st in the age group.  It’s about what I expected to run, so I’m so happy that I survived the bridge…  before the 10K, I hadn’t been sure if I could hold it and endure the pain of two more crossings.

There was a costume contest, and after the race, it was fun to see all of the contestants congregate at the post-race party.  My favorite was the Jamaican Bobsled team, which ran carrying their sled!  Other cool ones were the Wheel of Fortune and Up.

 

Afterwards, my friends and I had some good BBQ, followed by a stroll around the waterfront.   It was a nice getaway, and a fun weekend. 

 

Post-race training:

Monday, December 8:
65 min body weight strength session.

Tuesday, December 9:
4.5 in 36:26, 8:06 average, at 3 degrees of incline on the treadmill = 7:29 effort.

Saturday, December 13:
6.0 in 51:28, 8:32 average at the park, for Zombies.  Originally planned to do a long run to make up for 3 days of rest, but my cardiovascular system wanted some exertion.  I felt like I needed some stress relief, too.

Sunday, December 14:
Wanted to run at the park again, but I napped through daylight.  4.0 in 32:51, 8:13 average, 3 degrees of incline = 7:35 effort.  The run felt harder than it should've been.

Tuesday, December 16:
5.0 in 40:04, 8:01 average, 2 degrees of incline = 7:42 effort.  Run felt easier than Sunday's.  Knees got inflamed after 1/3 of a mile, but I sped up the treadmill and got through it.  Up til 2am working tonight.

Thursday, December 18:
60 min body weight strength session, with the elevation mask, which felt hard at first, before I got used to it.  Probably couldn't have run today... at work, felt so tired that I may collapse while walking down hallways.

Saturday, December 20:
Last run before driving to Charleston.  Interval session on the treadmill - needed a good workout after 3 days of rest.  3.8 in 28:01, 7:22 average.  8:04 mile warmup, 3x [800 in 3:21, 400 in 1:59], 0.45 mi in 3:57... for that progressively faster cooldown, I pushed the distance by thinking "just eek out another 0.1".

Thanksgiving 2014

8 days of bliss... finally a break from work... although I still had to work a few painful hours.  Working on vacation... no fun.

Saturday, Nov 22:
Drove to Charleston.  Did a nice 11.2 in 1:37:03, 8:38 ave.  2.2 mi splits> 20:59, 19:47, 19:22, 18:49, 18:04.  Nice to throw it down without difficulty.  Could've done another lap if it wasn't getting dark.

Sunday, Nov 23:
An easy recumbent bike session of 65 minutes. 

Monday, Nov 24:
Track time!  To get ready for the races on Dec 6, I did the Pyramid workout.  My legs were not awake yet, so I did 3 warmup laps, instead of 2, followed by 4x100 with 100 jogs, 3x200 with 200 jogs, 2x400 with 400 jogs, 1x800 with a 400 jog, and back down.  It gets a bit easier to complete each time... still a challenge, but doable.  Played with another new Hero accessory - the stick.  6.2 in 46:50, 7:33 ave.

 

 

Wednesday, Nov 26:

Wasn't sure if I was physically or mentally ready for a treadmill hill workout or a long run, so Zombies was a perfect alternative.  I could take it mostly easy, have a shorter run, rack up supplies to build my virtual base, and have fun.  6.6 in 55:55, 8:26 ave.

Thursday, I painted.  I have to be in the right mood to paint.  It's relaxing and exciting in a way, but it also takes a lot of patience and concentration.

Friday, Nov 28:
55 min strength session in the morning.

Saturday, Nov 29:
Tried another Hero accessory: the bike attachment.  My dad biked behind me, while I did 6.6 in 53:32, 8:07 average... it was a tempo-y effort.  This is where I run my 2.2 mi loops around the neighborhood when I'm in Charleston.

 

 

 

 

Did another painting:

That night, a bird got in the house.  It had been sitting in a wreath on our door, and when my dad opened it, he heard something, but he didn't think much of it.  While he was gone, my mom and I tried to coax it back outside, but despite turning off the inside lights to get it to go outside into the darkness, it didn't leave.  

(can you spot the bird?)

 

When my dad came back home, we tried to make him move by shooting rubber bands at it, but even when we hit it, it wouldn't move at all.  We tried cornering it so that my dad could catch it in a plastic bag.  It finally worked, and we released him outside, unharmed.

The whole episode reminded me of this classic scene from Modern Family:

Sunday, we walked around downtown Charleston, with my new, significantly bigger 10" Paddington Bear.

(This is at the park where I took my first steps as a baby/toddler)

Monday, Dec 1:

Didn't get to run on Sunday because my dad said it was too late to go out at 10:30pm... still treated like a kid.

Ran the next morning, 6.6 in 57:38, 8:45 ave.  Did Zombies, which was good motivation to get out.

Now... back to the fray!

Recovery - Nov 15-20

Coming back to the US, I felt like I was coming home from a mission... the 2-yr task was accomplished.  I was practically jumping out of my office chair all week thinking about the upcoming holiday and a chance to rest at last.  Still had to clean up various issues and wrap up loose ends, but things were finally wrapping up.

Saturday, Nov 15:
Did Zombies, Run, at the park.  Tried out my new GoPro Hero chest strap, which I've considered using at the Boston Marathon, to capture the experience before and during the race, without having something flopping on my head the whole time.  I made the straps tight, to limit bouncing, but it did constrict my chest's ability to expand during inhalation a bit.  The video ended up oscillating left and right more than expected, too.  I'd also have to figure out a way to prevent the up and down movement that causes a clicking noise... we'll see.  If it ends up being a hot day with no chance of a BQ, I may go for the Hero.  Maybe I'll go for it anyway... we'll see.

(Starting the mission on the app, and starting my watch)

7.0 in 59:14, 8:39 ave.  Felt decent in terms of fatigue, despite the air travel the previous night.  Felt like it was an easy 7, no big deal... although it was because I only ran once in the past 5 days.

Sunday, Nov 16:
Zombies again.  Legs were stiff in the morning, but by mid-morning, I was tired but ready to run.  8.4 in 1:13:06, 8:42... another nice run that wasn't hard.

Tuesday was a busy day - interviewing people at work for work, then for college in the evening.  Could've run or done a strength session afterwards, but I was too physically and mentally fatigued.  I regretted it later, considering it a weakness of will.  My body could've used it.



Wednesday, Nov 19:
I debated whether I wanted to do hills or intervals on the treadmill, to get ready for an early December B-race.  I ended up doing neither, because going at 7.2mph at 3 degrees of incline was feeling really difficult as it was.  I ended up doing a tempo-y 5.0 in 39:29, 7:54 ave (7:19 effort), so I was satisfied anyway.

Thursday, Nov 20:
60 min strength session.  Finally, my quads are functioning normally again, after they got really weak while recovering from the Spartan Carolinas double.

Bye, Bye, Brazil

2 years of work on the project to roll out software in 9 countries, and this was the last trip.

After being so sore after the 4-mi Spartan Sprint, and after being left to hobble after just a free Spartan workout, I figured that I would barely be able to walk for days after the Spartan Carolinas double.  Somehow, I was able to walk decently.  Just the top of one of my feet felt squeezed, from the tight shoes yesterday.  I had 4x24 hours at home, before heading out to Brazil again. 

Wednesday, Oct 29:

I stayed at the usual hotel for a few days, before switching to another hotel closer to my home base for the next 2 weeks.  The gym at the first hotel was *still* under renovation, so the day that I arrived, I got in a run at the park.  I took it nice and easy, since it was my first run back.  Nose breathed, since the park didn’t lend itself to fast running, and I wanted to limit the effects of city smog.   My knees felt inflamed a the end of the first lap, but they recovered.  4.4 in 4:57, 9:46 ave (estimated).

Friday, Oct 31:

Forgot about Halloween, with all that was going on at work.   Plus, the country only recently started getting into this holiday, with kids dressing up and everything.   I saw one adult dressed up, when we went out for drinks (for me, acai juice).  After getting back from a late night out, I did 50 min of body weight strength in the hotel room.  Even a 2:00 plank felt hard probably due to the effects of the Spartan.  My single-legs squats were also barely squatted, and my knees felt weak and achey.

Saturday (workday), Nov 1:

At the other hotel now.  They have the usual Brazillian old-but-usable-but-no-incline-functionality treadmills, plus one slightly more sophisticated treadmill that could do inclines.  This treadmill was actually kind of funny, because for the display, they printed on pictures of workout modes that were meant to look like windows on a computer.  They had scrollbars and buttons on the pictures.  It was a bit amusing.

The treadmill was good, though.  Got in 5.0 in 41:34, 8:22 ave, at 3 degrees of incline.  My body hadn’t been in any kind of mood to exert itself or move, but I tried running anyways, and it ended up being a good effort, especially at the end.  Glad I did it.  One never regrets having worked out.

Sunday (workday), Nov 2:

The one incline treadmill was taken, so I used the 0-degree, narrow treadmill for a 4.3 in 37:06, 8:32 ave.  Nose breathed for this one.  Did arms afterwards. 

Tuesday, Nov 4:

Did a recumbent bike for 60 min, with BPMs of 150, 155, and 140 at the 20 min interval marks.  Pretty sweaty, high resistance.  My legs hadn’t felt fresh for running, so I went with the bike this time.

Thursday, Nov 6:

Went at 6am, a little bit before the gym was actually supposed to open, and I got the incline treadmill, which is typically otherwise occupied in the evening.  Did a nice 6.2 in 51:20, 8:17 average.  Before breakfast.  It was warm, and I felt like if the temps were cold, I could’ve gone on forever.  Lots of endorphins afterwards.

Friday, Nov 7:

Yesterday’s morning run was great, so I did it again today.  I actually started off with the idea of doing intervals, but I soon discovered that due to having to control speed in increments of 0.1K on this treadmill, it wouldn’t be too easy, so I just did a normal run.

Saturday (1/2 workday), Nov 8:

I did a strength session in the evening.  The single-leg squats were decent this time, but the plank was still hard.  That night, went to a Samba club with my co-workers.   That was something I had wanted to check off my Brazil to-do list in the past, so it was nice. 

Sunday, Nov 9:

The backs of my shoulders were sore today.  Was it due to the lateral pulldown weight machine?  I wanted a good, serious workout session, so I tried a long run and managed 8.6 mi in 1:12:50, 8:25 ave @ 3 degrees of incline.  The treadmill actually said 9.3 mi, which is what I’ll be racing in December, but the mph pace suggested otherwise, so I think 8.6 is more realistic.  This was after a skipped lunch (due to a long nap, to recover from the 4am return to the hotel last night).  I adjusted the pace slightly throughout, to do what was most comfortable at the time… only 0.2 kph of difference.

Tuesday, Nov 11:

Tried running, but my legs wouldn’t have it, so I biked again.  I feel like I went really slow this time and didn’t end up getting much of a workout by the end of it.  Although, my lower legs were sore the next day.

Wednesday, Nov 12:

4.3 in 36:14, 8:20 ave, on the 0-incline treadmill.  The incline treadmill was out for repairs, since it had been stopping suddenly, mid-run, for people.  Nose-breathed, felt good.  Ended up stopping, mostly because my right shoelace was coming undone, and after tying it, I wasn’t in the mood to start again (being all sweaty).  Did arms, instead.  Felt kind of wimpy for not going farther, eh.  I hadn’t been eating as cleanly as usual, either… maybe due to stress, and just needing to get through.  Oh well, it’s the off-season, anyway.

Summary of Brazil:

- They're fun, easy-going people, and always joking around and having a good laugh

- Traffic in Sao Paulo, but some really unique & beautiful places in Rio & Iguazu

 Not-to-miss:
- Coconut water out of a coconut
- Rio Hanggliding
- Monkeys and other animals
- Acai slushies
- Rio Paddleboarding/Beaches
- Feijoada (black bean dish)
- Iguazu Falls
- Caipirinha

RACE REPORT: Spartan Carolinas Super 2014

I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, only to find that I could barely walk, haha.  At my first Spartan in May of this year, I did the Sprint with my sister and her friend.  That was just 4 miles, and it wiped me out.  Even after 2-hr Spartan Workouts hosted by the race series, I'd barely be able to walk the next couple of days, with all of the burpees.  And this time, I had done 12 miles of obstacles.  I still had a couple of hours of sleep to go, so I elevated my legs up on the wall for a while, then went back to sleep. 

When I woke up, it was still like that... oh man, it was going to be a long day.  I wasn't injured or anything, just rigor-mortis-ed and sore.  So I figured that I'd literally hobble baby steps for the whole 9 miles today... even though I had a 9:45am start time, I wondered to myself whether I'd need a headlamp, since I'd potentially still be out on the course when it got dark.  I packed up, had a nice complementary breakfast at the hotel (eggs, turkey sausage, oatmeal, milk, decaf, and green tea), then drove the 40 minutes out to Carolina Adventure World.  Somehow, by the time I got there, I was able to walk and even run decently.  Crazy.  I had had to hobble out of the hotel.

I took some pre-race pics.  I wasn't sure how well my arms would do on the obstacles, since I don't do much training of my upper body, and it had already gone through a lot the previous day, but it actually turned out ok.

I was in an open heat this time.  The trails were clogged for the first few miles, but the good thing is that I wasn't in a rush or racing for time today.  Another nice thing about the open heat is that people can help each other on the obstacles, which was good on walls and the monkey bars.


The race course was the same as yesterday's, other than cutting out 3 miles.  Nearly all of the obstacles were still there. 

My focus for the race was enjoying the obstacles, taking my time on them to complete them and practice technique.  After failing on the log hop yesterday, I went step-by-step very slowly, caught my balance a few times after almost falling, and made it.  Redemption feels so good!

I learned a great tip from a race veteran, who suggested that I put the sandbag on the top of my back.  I was skeptical at first, but I tried it, to be polite, and oh man, it felt like nothing (at least during the first half).  It was as if I wasn't carrying anything at all.  On the uphill, it started getting a bit heavy, but not nearly as much as it would've felt like, had I been resting it on my shoulder, like yesterday!

During the race, I encountered the Atlas Carry again - hard, again.  Had to try a couple of times, to pick it up.  There were times when I think I wouldn't be able to do it.  

I kept hoping that we wouldn't have to do the Bucket Brigade again.  That nearly did me in, yesterday.  We got through more and more of the race course, and I kept hoping and hoping.  But towards the very end, bam, bucket carry.  Oh, man.

In filling up the bucket, I found a good method - use a big rock to push rocks down the slope of the pile, to fill the bucket, instead of sanding down your hands.  I also found a method not to use.  At first, I thought that I'd try to use big rocks, which, if irregular, may cause more spaces to form in the bucket, to make it less heavy.  But, I think that doesn't work, because the small rocks would still fill in, and one big rock has no space at all, vs. the many small spaces caused by many little rocks.  The rocks were like gravel.  Anyway, I filled it up to the bare minimum and started the long trudge up.  This time, I didn't bother with trying to rest the bucket on my quads.  I put it down completely, quite a few times.  People were encouraging, though.  We were all suffering together.  Many people were putting their buckets down.  The volunteer even helped me lift the bucket up to empty it.  Ah, the perks of the open heat.  

 

I tried to be deliberate and careful on the Traverse Wall this time, but I slipped again!  Like, on the 2nd hold!  That's 0/3 in races.  I think I need to focus more on keeping hand grip to test footing... next time.  Failed spear throw, of course... not any better than yesterday.  Same with rope climb.

It was all about finishing today, and I did!  Spartan Carolinas Double-header completed, and 2014 Trifecta completed!