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2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon Race Report

October 11, 2013 — 5 Comments

[aka: “no base, no base, no base, …” – a la that Chevy Volt commercial]

This past Sunday, I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon – half marathon number eighteen for me. As with all Rock ‘n’ Roll events, it was a great one and big! The half drew a total of 10,272 finishers. For the second year, they also ran a 5-mile, “Mini-Marathon”; but this year they did not time it or report results (to the dislike of many, I’m sure), so I don’t know how many people participated in that distance.

The weather was excellent: clear and cool at the start (~54 degrees.) It probably warmed up to the low sixties at the time I finished. I saw many shedding their layers two to three miles into the race; though I stuck with my standard shorts and tech shirt (I sported my RnR Philly shirt.) Again, great weather for a run!

The flat and fast course which, according to a fellow runner, has not changed since RnR started coming to San Jose, made its way through downtown, portions of the Rose Garden area, and then back downtown to finish at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Course marking was excellent and there were volunteers everywhere to make sure people stayed on course – especially at the split where the mini-marathon and the half separated.

Footfalls…nothing but footfalls. I distinctly remember that between miles 1.66 and 1.78 in the area around Jackson and 11th streets, everything just got quiet and the sound of footfalls was all I could hear. People were just getting in the zone and no one was conversing – at least in my area. It was totally cool and peaceful: hundreds of footfalls. The sweet sound of running. [Interestingly, I also wrote about this in last year’s race report.]

As with all RnR races (I’ve now run four), on course entertainment was great. They had the usual “official” bands staged at certain points along the course and there were even a number of people from the various neighborhoods we ran through that were either playing live music or blasting a boom box in their yard. Some houses even had aid stations, though I passed… The various cheer squads along the way were great as well – there was even an elementary school cheer squad…I guess they start younger now.

The finish area was laid out great – good flow after crossing the finish line for photos, SWAG, and then hanging out all around Plaza de Cesar Chavez.

My Race

In Fitness, Race Reports, Running Fitness, postaday, Race Reports, Running

10/7/2013 Training Journal

October 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
Today’s session: Rest Day
Comments: Today was a programmed rest day, since I did a long ride on Saturday (my normal rest day) and ran the RnR San Jose Half yesterday. I actually set out my cycling kit and prepped my bike last night…just in case, but decided to honor the program this morning! I’m sure my body will appreciate it.

In Fitness, General Bicycling, Fitness, postaday, Running

Half Number Eighteen

October 6, 2013 — 1 Comment

I knocked out my eighteenth half marathon this morning, extending my race-a-month streak to 24!

Today’s run was the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon. I’ll post a race report this coming week; but, ahead of that, my time was 1:56:38 @ a 8:55 avg pace. Not an “A” race (I knew it wouldn’t be going in); but, it still was a respectable time (sub-2 hour) and run (given my focus on cycling right now and having ridden 52 miles yesterday.)

GIDDY-UP!

Training Journal – 10/6/13:

Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
Today’s session: Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon
Comments: See above, more to follow
Weekly mileage: Running: 27.5 / Bicycling: 134.1 – Total: 161.6

In Fitness, Running Fitness, postaday, Running

This Morning’s Set-up

October 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

It’s not the best picture, but here is a view of this morning’s RuBi* session set-up:

Dual use of my bike repair stand and
practice transitioning in a small space!
Weeeeeee!

Have a wonderful weekend!

*pronounced “ruby” – Run-Bike. Yeah, my own creation. It just seemed weird calling it a BRick when I ran first.

Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
Today’s session: 4/10 RuBi and day one of carb loading for a half marathon on Sunday
Comments:
- RUN: 4.02 miles @ 8:03 avg pace, avg cadence 97. TIME: 32:30 [Strava]
- TRANSITION: 2:03 min
- BIKE: 13.41 miles @ 18.4 mph avg, avg cadence 86. TIME: 43:33. I had time on the clock, so I extended the planned 10 miles by 3! [Strava]
- TOTALS: Distance: 18.64 miles, Time: 1:18:06

In Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, Running Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, postaday, Running

September 2013 Training Stats

October 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

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:
Continue Reading…

In Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, Running, Triathlon Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, postaday, Running, Triathlon

2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon Race Report

September 30, 2013 — 2 Comments

On September 15th, I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon – my seventeenth 13.1. No, I didn’t make a special trip – I actually had a business trip. When I first found out that I would be traveling to Philadelphia, it happened to be when I was registering for the San Jose RnR…and noticed that the Philadelphia event was on the weekend I would be traveling East. Why not?!? So, I left a day early and had a great time.

The weather was great: clear and cool at the start (~50 degrees.) It probably warmed up to the low sixties at the finish, but not too much warmer. Again, great weather for a run!

The course started and finished near the Eakins Oval and was a quick 4.5-mile loop through parts of downtown Philly, with the balance of the 13.1 a loop along the East and West sides of the Schuylkill River. The finish was in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a la Rocky…though access to the “steps” was not easily gained after crossing the finish. The course was pancake flat and paved the whole way, though there was an ever so slight incline at the finish, for good measure.

As with all RnR races, on course entertainment was great, though this race didn’t have an many cheer squads as the San Jose and San Francisco races. Water/Gatorade stations were well staffed, though stop one was almost out of water when I passed by…people were worried and miffed (I carry my own bottle so I was OK.)

The finish area was great. They took over the whole Eakins Oval area and had things set up in a great flow from finish line to SWAG areas to the main stage/post-race area.

My Race

In Race Reports, Running Fitness, postaday, Race Reports, Running

I Du’d

September 27, 2013 — 3 Comments

This multisport thing is starting to grow on me. The aqua part of triathlon is still looming ominous though; so I’ve been looking at duathlons of late. I ~~think~~ know triathlon will come, just need to figure out how and when…and then make it happen.

Anyway, back to duathlon… Instead of doing my usual, Friday BRick this morning, I did a home version/distance of a sprint duathlon that I’m looking at for early 2014: run 2 miles, bike 10 miles, run 2 miles. I’m actually leaning toward the international distance (10k run, 40k bike, 5k run); but, with only about 1:20 max in the morning for my workout, the shorter distance worked better.

It was fun and, for my first “Du”, went great:

RUN 1: 2.0 miles @ 7:48 avg pace, avg cadence 96. TIME: 15:45 [Strava]
TRANSITION: 2:35 min
BIKE: 10.6 miles @ 18.6 mph avg, avg cadence 88. TIME: 34:09 [Strava]
TRANSITION: 1:40 min
RUN 2: 2.0 miles @ 7:31 avg pace, avg cadence 99. TIME: 15:12 [Strava]
TOTALS: Distance: 14.6 miles, Time: 1:09:24

I’ve programmed Friday’s as BRick workouts on my training plans, but I think I may weave SprintDus in the schedule…just to break things up.

Have a great weekend – I know I plan to!

Training Journal – 9/27/13:

Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
Today’s session: ~~10/4 BRick~~ 2/10/2 Short Du
Comments: See above…

In Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, Running, Triathlon Bicycling, Duathlon, Fitness, postaday, Running, Triathlon

9/20/2013 Training Journal

September 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

Current plan: Foxy’s Fall Century Training Plan
Today’s session: 10/4 BRick
Comments:
- BIKE: 10.54 miles @ 17.9 mph avg, avg cadence 88. TIME: 33:23
- TRANSITION: 3:32 min
- RUN: 4.08 miles @ 7:42 avg pace, avg cadence 98. TIME: 31:28
- TOTALS: Distance: 14.62 miles, Time: 1:08:23