New Year - New LT Test

Since I've been working out off and on for the last few weeks, yesterday's Winter Beach run seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-test my LT, and reset my hr zones.

For breakfast, I had some Hi Octane Pancakes, recipe courtesy of D3 Multisport. Yummy.

This year the beach run started and finished in Neptune Beach, a fact I wish I had noticed before parking in Jax beach, where they held it the prior year.

I thought I had given myself plenty of extra time to pick up my number and chip. Imagine my surprise when 15 minutes before the race I found out I was in the wrong place. Oops.

I drive the few minutes north to Neptune beach, stressing the whole time of course, and seemingly taking forever to find a parking spot. Fortunately the race start was delayed by a few minutes, and I ended up with more than enough time.

I signed up for the 5-mile option, perfect for a LT test. I went easy for the first 10 minutes, using it as a warmup, with some 30 second accelerations to get my hr up before starting the test.

I hit the lap button after 10 minutes and started running....let the "fun" begin. As usual, I completely overestimated the pace I thought I could keep for the next 30 minutes, going out at ~7:20. I was able to keep up that pace for a while, although saw it start slipping.....

I hit the lap butting 10 minutes in, so I'd have my average HR over the last 20 minutes of the run. I watched as my hr kept climbing, and my pace kept slipping. The last miles SUCKED.

I was oh so happy to cross the finish line and end the pain, looking up to see 40:something. My average HR for the last 20 minutes was 186. I'll discount that slightly, since we all have a tendency to go harder in a race than on our own, so will base all my new zones on a running LT of 183 and biking lt of 173, slightly up from the last time I did the test.

The winter beach run may be the best value of the year too. For $20 you can do either a 5 or 10 mile run, you get a REALLY comfortable technical running shirt, and the best part.....

FREE BEER and PIZZA......

Thanks to ......1st Place Sports for putting on another great event. Next up, the Gate River Run on March 8.

Live with purpose....enjoy the adventure

Need a challenge on your birthday?

I've got just the thing for you:

The B-Fit Birthday Challenge.

Take your age and:

1) Swim the number of miles in the first number 2) Run the number of miles in the second number 3) Bike the number of miles in the combined number

So a 45-year-old athlete would:
1) Swim 4 miles
2) Run 5 miles
3) Bike 45 miles

The Challenge is a simple one. If you choose to accept the Challenge you must....

Bronze: Do all three (swim/bike/run) during the week of your Birthday.
Silver: Do all three (swim/bike/run) in the three days before, after, or during your Birthday.
Gold: Do all three (swim/bike/run) in 24-hours to celebrate your B-Day!

Important Note: Since “0” Birthdays like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and so on are important milestones the "0" in your birthday represents a 10. This means that on those “0” Birthdays you get to celebrate this big milestone by running ten miles.

Since I'm turning 40 this August, I'll have the pleasure of swimming 4 miles, biking 40 miles, and running 10 miles. What kind of an ironman athlete would I be if I did anything other than the gold challenge?

Who else is up to the challenge? See the website for more details:

http://bfitbday.ning.com

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....

A great new toy for busy Type A's

A new way of getting my ass kicked....

Pilates....aka 20 different ways to do crunches and ensure I cannot situp without assistance....

Although I haven't been blogging nearly as much, I am finally back to working out somewhat consistently. I got in a great 8 mile beach run on Saturday, and a 2 hour ride on Sunday, all while putting the finishing touches on Elle's room.

This weekend we finished painting, so the room was all set for her furniture to arrive today :) Pictures to follow.

The gate river run is on March 8 and is coming quickly. I did a bit of easier base building over the last 4 weeks to get going again, and over the next 4 weeks I plan to add some intervals and tempo runs.

It'll be interesting to see if I can set a PR at that distance, relying mainly on the base I built over the last couple of years. Two years ago I put up a pretty decent time (at least for me) while training for my first marathon. This time around, I'm only running a couple of days a week, and am cycling x 2, hitting pilates x 1 and lifting weights x1.

At the moment I'm much more focused on overall health and fitness than training for any particular events (although you'd never know it from my nutrition lately).

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....