September 2013 was all about training for Foxy’s Fall Century on October 19th… What had been an occasional, Monday-morning alternative to running, became pretty much the sole focus of training this past month: namely bicycling. I have missed running as much as I was, but the shift was necessary to finish well on Foxy’s.
I have noticed that my running has somewhat improved (speed and economy), though I have lost the base that I had when I was running 30 to 45 miles per week. That said, I have realized improvement in my cycling skills, speed, cadence, and endurance. I guess that what is gained through targeted training – DUH.
One thing that has resulted this month as been an increasing interest in moving toward multisport: duathlon and triathlon. Swimming is still a ways off, but I’m working toward duathlon. More on that in future posts, but I have added BRicks and sprint distance duathlon sessions (SprintDu) to my Friday sessions.
I had one business trip this past month and took advantage of being in the Philadelphia area and ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly Half Marathon. It was a great event and added a different element to my trip.
HIGH/LOW:
- HIGH: I was selected as the weekly winner of competitor.com’s “Share Your RUNNOVATION” contest, which was really cool!
- LOW: Still no trail runs, but they will return. Not technically a “low”, but I ran 3.25 miles on a treadmill while on my business trip. I avoid treadmills (even while on travel) and this was the first treadmill run in over 18 months or 2,808 miles…
As far as new equipment:
- Bicycle Trainer. I thought about buying a trainer last year, but really wasn’t riding enough to justify the purchase. I bought fenders instead – which I will still use, since riding on the road is preferred in my book. With the increase in my riding and the eventual incorporation of multisport (and the varied training that comes with that), I decided to buy a trainer with my “saved pennies.” Besides, I couldn’t pass up the great sale at REI. I ended up getting a CycleOps SuperMagneto Pro. I have yet to set it up and use it, but it’s waiting patiently in the box for me. Winter is coming…
- Bicycle Stand. I will be perfectly honest, I have not intention of doing in-depth maintenance on my bike. As I shared with Jordan at the Sunnyvale Sports Basement the other day, as I do with my cars, I will leave that to the pros. That said, to make it easier to do light maintenance and wash my bike, I bought a Feedback Sports Pro Ultralight Repair Stand. I’ve used it a few times now, once to wash my bike and am really happy with it.
With that, here are the stats for the month that was September 2013:
Running [10 sessions]
Mileage:
- Total: 56.01 [-59.63 from August]
- Road: 52.76
- Treadmill: 3.25
- Shortest run: 2.01 [-2.0 from August]
- Longest run: 13.28 [-6.73 from August]
- YTD: 1280.48
- Road: 1277.23
- Treadmill: 3.25
Pace:
- Overall Avg: 8:05 [-0:11 from August]
- Slowest Avg: 8:57 [-0:30 from August]
- Fastest Avg: 7:33 [-0:06 from August]
- YTD Avg: 8:55
Total Running Time:
- 7.52 hours or 451 minutes [-8:46:00 from August]
- YTD: 194.07 hours or 11,644.47 minutes
whitespace!
Cycling [20 sessions]
Mileage:
- 597.03 miles [+310.11 from August]
- Road: 597.03
- Trainer: 0
- Shortest ride: 10.3 [+1.99 from August]
- Longest ride: 90.63 [+39.62 from August]
- YTD: 1288.93
- Road: 1288.93
- Trainer: 0
Pace:
- Avg. of 17.5 mph [+0.8 from August]
- Slowest Avg: 16.0 mph [+3.2 from August]
- Fastest Avg: 18.5 mph [+0.7 from August]
- YTD Avg: 16.4 mph
Total Cycling Time:
- 34.93 hours or 2096 minutes [+17:28:00 from August]
- YTD: 77.8 hours or 4668 minutes
whitespace!
Multisport Transitions [5 sessions]
Swim to Bike:
- None. (Listed for someday in the future)
Bike to Run:
- Number of sessions: 4
- Overall Avg: 2:55 [-0:11 from August]
- Slowest Time: 3:32 [+0:13 from August]
- Fastest Time: 1:40 [-1:18 from August]
- YTD Avg: 3:21
Run to Bike:
- Number of sessions: 1
- Overall Avg: 2:35
- Slowest Time: 2:35
- Fastest Time: 2:35
- YTD Avg: 2:35
whitespace!
Combined Training Stats [Month // Year]:
- Mileage: 653.0 // 2569.4
- Road: 649.79 // 2566.16
- Treadmill/Trainer: 3.25 // 3.25
- Time (hrs): 42.4 // 271.9
whitespace!
Training Program(s):
- Foxy’s Fall Century Program. In preparation for October’s FFC, training this month shifted to predominantly bicycling. I programed one run day each weekday (usually Wednesday) and a BRick on Fridays. That equates to about 12 miles running and between 120 and 160 miles riding each week.
- After Foxy’s, I will be transitioning back to a run-focused program in preparation for a December marathon. My plan is to return to ridding on Mondays and keep the BRick or SprintDu on Fridays (alternating them each week.)
- After that, I’m still thinking about how to best train for the runs and possible duathlon/triathlon events that may end up on my 2014 calendar…
whitespace!
Caloric Stats:
- Consumed: 108,503 [+398 from August]
- Burned: 31,546 [+1,181 from August]
- YTD: C: 930,707 / B: 216,622
whitespace!
Races Completed:
- 9/15: Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon [report]
- Race Count: Month: 1 / YTD: 10 / Lifetime: 36
- 5k: 0 / 0 / 7
- 10k: 0 / 0 / 2
- Half Marathon: 1 / 8 / 17
- Marathon: 0 / 1 / 2
- 50K: 0 / 1 / 1
- Other: 0 / 0 / 7
GIDDY-UP!
Training Journal – 10/2/13:
- Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
- Today’s session: 20-mile easy ride
- Comments: I rode for 1:12:17 for 21.9 miles @ 18.2 mph avg & avg cadence of 87 [Strava] I looked at my ride distance once in the garage and was tempted to hop back on and pick up the last .1 miles…I didn’t.
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