1/2 CMM = 1:29:04 (97th Place)

So, it’s been like three weeks since I posted. I’ll try to keep this short and just keep it grouped by races and special events. So far though, 16 weeks of training down and only 18 weeks of training left. I’ve hit 191 hours and 1,760 miles of training, PR’ed twice, done a century, and raced a couple road races.

Country Music Marathon (4/24/2010) -Well, I finally did it. I broke 1:30. This is where the Clementine Experiment all started. Mark and I wanted to break 1:30. I ended up running a 1:29:04 (6:48 pace) and came in 97th out of 24,636 runners. Paced with Johnny for the first mile, made my way to the 1:30 pace team over the next mile, paced with them until around mile 8, then my buddy Wim surprised me at mile 8. I wasn’t expecting him. So, we ran together for a couple miles and realized we’d left the 1:30 pace team altogether. He calculated that I could PR. So, around mile 11, we picked it up. Sure enough, I did. Thanks Wim. Ohh, I also did a 54 mile bike (19mph, LOW HR 129) and a 2 mile run (7:33 pace) the very next day. All of this took place on the fourth weekend in a row of racing, and NO taper (256 miles of riding, 27 running and 5 swimming in the 10 days leading up to this race). Am I ready for IM now?

Cheaha Challenge (4/17/2010) - 102 miles, 8,000 feet of climbing, and a 17.5mph average. This was awesome. If you take all the weekly mileage (and Jeff’s dirt road AL experience) all into account, we ended up with 210 miles over 6 days. Anyway, this was a rough ride. The big mountain climb (about 3 miles up each side) was nothing compared to the steep rollers that wore you down on both sides of it. Plus, at around mile 80, we turned directly into a terrible headwind. After 22 miles of fighting the wind, we found the finish line. I hoped off and ran about 3 miles at a 7:16 pace. Felt good too. Am I ready for IM?

RR in North GA (4/10/2010) - 32 mile, two-loop, relatively flat road race. The first lap was so slow that the official pulled up and said he was going to “neutralize” us and let the girls pass us. Well, after averaging about 19 during the first loop, we kicked it up to where we averaged 23 over the entire course distance (first loop included). Nobody on our team made the podium, but we avoided two large crashes, including one as the final sprint came across the finish line and nailed the pace car (a cop) who stopped AT THE FINISH LINE. We all climbed a nearby mountain for fun after the race.

Infinit – I’m trying a new sports nutrition. This is a custom blend of carbs, calories, taste, protein, sodium, etc. that you mix with water and consume during endurance events. So far, this is working out well. You don’t consume anything solid when using this product. I like it. I kinda miss some solid items, so I sneak some GU Chomps in there sometimes. So far so good. 18 more weeks of testing before race day.

Other – Weight is staying about the same. Still around 163. I’d hoped to drop some so that it would be easier to pack myself around for hours and hours of racing, but no such luck. I picked up a one-piece tri suit from Endurance Sports and Rec in Cool Springs. Sugoi. Love that stuff. It fits well and I’m pretty sure I’ll race IM in this suit (gotta do anything to save time in transition to make up for my crappy swim time). I also got in my Xterra speedsuit. While I am far from “needing” a speedsuit in a swim, IML will be a non wetsuit legal swim. So, I wanted something to protect me from the nasty Ohio river. Plus, it will smooth out my body surface and I won’t have pockets trying to slow me down in the water. Again, anything to make me a bit faster in the water.

Question – Why is the sport of triathlon so expensive? Tires, tubes, bottles, nutrition, bars, bikes, wheels, suits, training, coaches, race fees, etc.

On the 13th wk, I won 13th Overall (and 1st in age group)

13th week in: 153.5 hrs and 1,280 miles of training so far (165 miles this week). 21 Weeks of training left. This week has honestly been the best week so far. Great pool swims, incredible track workouts and age group half marathon win, and a crazy bike ride (for me anyway).

Swim: Swam nearly 4 miles this week. It’s getting easier and better. I finished the week of swimming with a 1 mile swim, short course, in just under 32mins. This was the best swim so far this year.

Bike: I went out Wednesday for and out and back to Ashland City with the expectations of averaging somewhere around 17-18mph (a typical base/endurance pace for me). I ended up Knocking out a near 32 mile ride at 21+mph and kept my HR in the 150s. CRAZY! On Thursday, I showed up for the group ride at Trace Bikes and headed out for the 25 miler. However, due the track workout earlier in the day and knowing I had to race the weekend, another guy and I broke off and finished the 18 mile route. Felt a little guilty/bad, but boy did it every pay off during the weekend. On Sunday, after having raced a half marathon no more than 20 hour prior, I did an 85 mile ride in KY (what was supposed to be a base/endurance ride) and averaged 20.8mph. Two loops: first loop was 20.4mph and second was 21.2mph (a negative split time… HOW?). Cadence was 88, HR was exactly 150, and I had 3,200 feet of climbing and two 12 mile stretches of incredible headwind. So, the cadence and HR both suggest a base building endurance ride yet the speed and wind indicate a challenging ride. Has my endurance paced increased? I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m on my TTX and not the road bike, but would it make that much of a difference or am I really getting stronger? Anyway, the people in Livermore, KY looked at me like I was from another planet when I stopped in at a gas station for nutrition. I guess I was on a funny looking bike, wearing a crazy aero helmet, and in full spandex (probably not something they see every day). Ended up downing 7 bottles of Gatorade, 1 payday, and two Cliff Bars.

Run: On Tuesday, Brett and I met up for a tempo – 8 miles with 4 @ 6:36. Thursday was 200s on the track with Johnny at 28-29 seconds. Saturday, race day, was truly a remarkable day. I went to the Oak Barrel Half Marathon with Mark and had no intensions on “racing”. In fact, I had not tapered, carb loaded, and knew I had at least a 4 hour bike ride the following day. Plus, the week leading up was crammed full of hard workouts. Anyway, the race started and ended in the rain. It even included periods of terrible crosswinds and rain slamming you in the face. When they said “GO”, I started at what felt like an easy pace. Within seconds, I was running in the top 5-6 places. Then, about 2 mins in, I decided I was going to race. I ran the first mile in a sub 6:30 pace. I continued to follow a couple hundred yards behind the top 4 runners and was leading the second group of runners until we reached THE hill around mile 4.5. This hill was incredible. It would have sucked on a bike. I lost two minutes, and a few places, on this switchback climb. I just dug deep and kept on climbing. It felt as if rain was trying to wash me back down the mountain. Once I got to the top, all the endurance training proved to pay off as I quickly recovered and took back off. Except for the first mile and the hill, I kept a 6:48-6:52 pace. I had never been so glad to see a finish line in my life. The mile leading up to it was miserable and wet. As I wondered why I was doing this, I could hear a guy’s feet slapping the wet pavement just feet behind me, so my body’s first reaction was to dig as deep as I could to not let him pass me. As the finish shoot came into view, I heard someone yell “GO Jonathan”. I didn’t know them, so it had to be the guy behind me. I wasn’t going to let a guy with the same name beat me. I knew I was in at least the top 20. So, I somehow took off like a rocket (legs were screaming with pain). I crossed the line in 1:32:13. The other Jonathan crossed in 1:32:17. I found out later that day that I won 1st place in my age group and 13th overall. The other Jonathan happened to be in my age group and got second place by 4 seconds. FOUR SECONDS. I pushed my body into a level of pain I hadn’t ever found to end up winning my age group by only 4 seconds. I’m glad it was only 4 seconds; it makes it that much better. Racing like this will only make Ironman more manageable. Mark came in 3rd in our age group with a 1:42:04. Even though this wasn’t a PR race (1:29:15 in Tom King just three weeks ago), it was the best race I’ve ever ran. 1:32 was so much stronger than 1:29 at Tom King.

Gosh this week was awesome. Like I said, great swims, great race, and great bike. I don’t know where I got the power and energy for such a rewarding week. I think the intense attention to nutrition, stretching, sleep, and listening to my body is starting to finally payoff. I have to thank Kiki for putting up with all of this. I love you!

First Real Endurance Week.

12th week in: 140 hrs and 1,114 miles of training (149 miles this week alone). Finally broke 1,000! (Just FYI, last week was crazy at work, so I’m just now posting from two weeks ago). This was the first real endurance week I’ve had with very little interruption or deviation in the overall training plan. Two swims, three runs, three bikes, and two strength training sessions and everything was long and at a base building pace.

Swim: I ended up swimming two nice 1 mile swims in the pool. One long course and one short course. Felt good to get out and swim long (as bad as I hate to admit it). So, I’ve totally given up on alternate breathing. I can breathe on both sides; I just can’t go three strokes without a breath. Oh well, I’m not looking to kick ass in the water anyway. This decision turned my crappy swims into nice, long, easy swims. Finally able to build distance.


Bike: On Wednesday, we decided to time trial Percy Warner Park (the 11.2). After warming up and cooling down, I ended up with about 20 miles. My TT time was just under 37 minutes. I think Jeff came in somewhere around 35 or just under, so I feel pretty good about my workout. On Thursday, I actually did 16 miles on my TTX on the trainer (since it was storming outside). This was the longest “ride” I’ve done on the TTX since buying it last year. Saturday ended up being the first very long bike ride of the year (75 miles in Jan was previously holding title to the longest). I finally broke the TTX in by putting 91 miles on it. Patrick and Robert came out and we went to Fly via the trace and back via other roads. Once we were backed, I hopped onto hwy 100 and crossed over the hill and did another 30 out on a decently flat course to Fernvale and a few other places. Turns out I love this bike (imagine that). It was incredibly comfortable given the 5+ hours I spent bent over the bars on Saturday.

Run: This week, I decided to start swimming on Tuesdays during lunch instead of hitting up the track workouts. I did this because I really need to be swimming 3 days a week and it’s the only schedule that works with the pool hours. Anyway, I’m supposed to be doing tempos and track workouts on Tues/Thurs, so I can do my tempo runs by myself on Tuesday AM and I’ll save Thursdays with Johnny to kill myself on the track. However, due to legs being tired from racing and my work schedule consuming nearly every minute of the day, I just ran 6 easy miles Tuesday and Thursday. I ran 8 on Sunday after the long ride Saturday. Total running miles was 20 (which will surprise you as being one of the longer weeks I’ve had over the last 12).

So, as you can see, this weekend ended up really falling into the endurance pattern that I am attempting to transform my workouts into. The first part of this year was all about base and building workout quantity volume; now I’m adding on the distance.