Nick Brown

I am very fortunate to have enough control over my work travel schedule to plan trips during recovery weeks.  Its an efficient use of time, but hopping on a plane and flying 42 hours in four days isn’t the best way to recover, as I would find out later….

This week took me to Guam.  Home of Coconut Crabs and Gamecocks.  I left Monday morning and arrived Tuesday night.  Wednesday I woke up jetlagged (It was really tuesday afternoon as far as my body was concerned) and knocked out all of my work by 3PM.  The weather was hot and humid (about 88 and 90%) but storm clouds were gathering over the tropical island and I could smell the rain.  I had been planning to run and the thought of running in the rain was very tempting.

By the time I got back to my room and changed from my uniform to my running gear, the violent part of the storm had passed.  The rain had gushed from the sky, nothing like what we get in SoCal.  I bounded out the door in a steady rain and took off exploring the navy base’s lonely paved roads that meander under jungle canopy.

These guys. Strange.  Everywhere.  I almost squashed several.  You think they would learn from their flattened buddies and get off the road.

I came across an MWR beach.  The ocean water was unbelievably clear, and very tempting.  Again, if only I had more time on the island.  Snorkeling and skin diving would be a must.

Anyways, this run was strangly relaxing.  Maybe it was the solitude.  Maybe the rain or the exotic setting.  But I felt like I could have gone on forever and would have stretched it out if I would have had more time (Why does everybody I visit for work always want to take me out in town?) .  I’m glad my passtime and my work gives me the opportunity to explore new places from time to time.

Thursday morning I was back on a plane.  After 21 hours of flight, I arrived home on…..Thursday morning.  Wierd.  My Friday and Saturday workouts were tough and I blame the lack of recovery from Sunday’s race and Jetlag.

Its been since I’ve raced, so I was looking forward to “blowing out the pipes”.  I felt strong coming in since work and rain had kept my training volume down the week prior.

While I felt good and was eager to race, this wasn’t really an “A” level event for me.  I figured I might as well learn a thing or two about my abilities and risk pushing to hard or “blowing up”.  Race day weather turned out to be ideal.  Earlier showers had passed, the weather was cool and the emerging sun never became a factor.  Breakaway had a good showing, with both Dave’s, Shaun, Chris, the coaches and many others running.

The race starts with a gradual descent for about a mile, then rolls until you hit the turn around (which thanks to an extra little “dog leg” is at about 8 miles).   The way back is a rolling descent until that last mile, which is a bit abrupt on the legs that late in the race.  Scenery throughout is gorgeous.

Turns out I would spend a lot of time looking at Chris.  We started together, but as soon as the course started to climb he gaped me.  He put about a minute on me on the climb out (miles 2 through 8 ) that I couldn’t get back on the return.  I never really lost sight of him for more then a few seconds at a time though, and he served as a good carrot to keep my effort level up.

I learned after taking a VO2 max test a few months back that my “aerobic threshold” is supposed to be at about 174 bpm.  Beyond this, I’m supposed to rapidly run out of energy stores in my working muscles and accumulate dreaded “lactic acid”.  Well, I kind of let myself forget that during this race just to see what would happen.  My heart rate was surprisingly real low for the first mile of descent (cross talk from the monitors around me?) but when I started climbing it seemed to hover at about 180 to 182 bpm.  The pace was uncomfortable, but sustainable.

As the pain in my lungs and legs climbed from about miles 10 on, I started to worry, but I was able to hold on.  I certainly didn’t have much kick, and my speed up the last climb wasn’t great, but I held on.  It wasn’t pretty (pics to follow!), but a solid effort none-the-less.  I didn’t have a pace device, but judging by my position around my fellow runners, I would say it stayed pretty consistent.

I finished in 1:22:33 with an average pace of 6:18/mile.  My average heart rate was recorded at 1:77 but I think this is low due to the strange mile or so where my monitor read below 100.  Once I had believable data, my hr was only below 180 while descending, and even then it was in the high 170s.  My max hr was 190.

My takeaway from the race though, is that all heart rate monitors and heart rate “zones” have limits and don’t compare to perceived exertion.  More so, pain tolerance is a skill that can improve with time.  I have more faith in my bodies ability to naturally find the fastest pace I can sustain over a distance.  That probably goes for all of us, so if your feeling good, don’t sweat the heart rate monitor!

Oh yea, 1:22:33 is a substantial PR, down from 1:26 at the same race last year.  One of these days I’ll try a flat half marathon….

A combination of rain and work decreased my training volume a bit this week. Such is the reality faced by my fellow amateur’s the world over. When training is only a passion balanced among priorities, unexpected speed bumps, detours and obstacles have to be embraced. Creativity can only do so much when trying to squeeze training time out of a working schedule. If Mother Nature decides to become uncooperative at the same time your professional responsibilities increase your options can look daunting:

1: Cycle in the dark, in the rain and with the temperature in the 40’s. Play “tag” with all of the California drivers who apparently missed physics class when the fundamentals of friction, inertia and momentum were covered.

2: Wait for the weather to pass, train during working hours (aka “daylight”) and ignore your priorities at work. Option 2 has several negative side effects. Your stress at work will probably be increased when you return (which will probably only diminish training at a later time). Skip out often and you may lose support of co-workers, or even risk your career. This severity can increase if your profession has guiding documents such as the Uniform Code of Military Justice that can show up if you decide to become “derelict” in your duties.

3. Break out the trainer, trade out cycling for running and swimming whenever possible and embrace the extra recovery time. Train harder/longer when it’s dry and work is slow.

I’ll take number 3.

Do I wish I had the freedom and flexibility to wait out passing weather systems and train at any time, any day? Of course! Would it be nice to be able to follow a training plan without making concessions for business travel, deadlines and “office fatigue”? Definitely! But I am also proud of my chosen profession and training remains a hobby which I have become very, very fond of.

Wait a minute…I live in Southern California. There’s no ice on the roads. Why am I complaining about the weather? How quickly I forget…

A Hard Ride

Saturday I broke.

There is a risk assumed when partaking in group rides.  Even for the strongest riders in the pack, the best laid plans can be trampled by the pace of the herd.  The friends I like to ride with are the types who like to prey on one another.  They sprint, attack and try to break free. Leaders on our rides don’t control, they struggle to maintain their place in the pecking order.  The strongest riders are simply the biggest targets. Not that I am the strongest rider or the leader of the pack.  Far from it.  I usually just fall victim to the jockeying of the peleton. There are several reasons why it is easier to ride in a group then alone, from companionship to drafting.  For those reasons,  I always end up doing everything possible to hang on to the surges of the pack as long as possible.

My intentions Saturday, like usual, were to go long and steady.  The route we take is just under 70 miles (typically a 3:40 to 3:50 effort).  It has five notable climbs (one a bit extreme) as well as some flat and fast sections as it winds from La Jolla to Ramona and through Poway.  I wanted to ride for 4:30, so I was expecting to add some easy solo riding onto the end of the ride, followed by a 30 minute run.

The pace started a bit quicker then usual and my legs were heavy from the start.  I think the sluggishness was the result of the volume of the week and not eating enough the day prior.  The usual antics started with the second climb, and my intent went out the window.  I even had a few brief tastes of anerobic glory as I got caught up in the collective aggressiveness.  I get frustrated since I’m a realtively poor climber, and on the flats through Ramona I made a foolish attempt to push everyone who kept hurting me on the ascents.

As we descended into Poway, I could feel myself shut down.  I couldn’t put pressure on the pedals anymore.  On the last climb everybody rode away and I was left to whimper home alone.  I was so shellshocked when I got home that the extra ride time and run were out of the question.  My 20 hour week goal was now in jeopardy, a victim of the group ride.

Later that evening (after eating a whole lot of greasy Mexican food…recovery nutrition at its finest!) I would ride for 75 very easy minutes.  My heart rate never rose above 150 (that’s still Z1 for my rabbit like heart) and my hands were never really on the hoods or the drops.

A Surprising Run

Needless to say, I was dreading the two hour P. Trail run scheduled for this morning.  But it went unexpectedly well.  The legs were heavy again at first, but as I warmed up I fell into a great grove and felt very relaxed.  I left most of the group and ran with Nathan and H.S. wonder boy Tom.  The 8min/mile pace I started with dropped as the run went on.  I reached the usual 2 hour turnaround point a few minutes under an hour so I ran on, adding about a quarter mile to the run.  Nathan and I dropped the pace down under 7:30 and finished very strong, I felt like I was floating at times!  All told, I ran 15.5 miles in under 2 hours at about a 7:30 average.  My average heart rate was very zone 2.

This was one of the best runs I’ve ever had, despite Saturday’s madness.

Weekly Totals

Finally broke 20 hours!