We have a winner.

Last Monday I started my contest to win free entry into the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.  I am happy to announce that Kelly Heller won the contest!!!  Congrats Kelly and thank you to all of you that have entered.

Training continues to go well despite the weather.  I competed recently in St. Malachi 5 miler.  This was my 4th year doing this race, but it was extra special to me as the new lady was cheering me on at the finish line.  It was hard for her to be there to support me and it meant so much to hear them cheering me on at the finish.

Despite Spring beginning last weekend, it continues to feel like winter.  This past block of training,  I've been focusing on running and riding.  Those are my two favorite workouts to combine and it seems to help with my running.  According to our 10 day forecast,  we should see a warm up in a couple days.  Hopefully this forecast holds true as I am sure we are all anxiously awaiting Spring.  It won't be too much longer before we are cheering on those Cleveland Indians.  So, hopefully mother nature gets it together and the weather improves.

Today marks 54 days till the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.   It's time to finish strong with your training and not to get your head down with these inclement weather conditions.  Lots of fun things to look forward too as race day approaches like taper, picking out your race outfit, new race shoes, and seeing everyone on race day.

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon training: Weeks 3 and 4.

If I had a quarter every for time that I was thankful this winter for not doing a Spring distance race.  I'd be rich.  This continues to be the worst winter for training that I can remember.  I've managed to still be productive despite the conditions.  Look for a post later this week on ways you can still improve fitness while training indoors.  

My goal each block of two weeks is to build about 10% over the prior block.  Once I can get outside, I'll start to focus more on speed.  The past 2 weeks I did a much better job balancing running and riding, but I need start fitting in some swims.  I also need to mix in a day off once in awhile.  

Class photo from last Saturday at Psycle.  It was the instructors 1st and she's only 17!  Such an inspiration. 

Week 3

1/20:  6.66 mile run followed by a 18 mile ride brick.

1/21:  23 mile ride. 

1/22:  6.66 mile run.

1/23:  21 mile ride.

1/24:  21 mile ride.

1/25:  Speed work:  15 minute warm up.  6x800 at 7:53 pace.  400 rest.  10 minute cool down.

1/26:  23 mile ride.  

Week 4

1/27:  18 mile ride. 

1/28:  22 mile ride.

1/29:  4.23 mile run.

1/30:  20 mile ride. 

1/31:  Speed work:  15 minute warm up.  6x800 at 7:53 pace.  400 rest.  10 minute cool down.

2/1:  25 mile ride. 

2/3:  27 mile ride. 


Totals

15 workouts

246.46 miles

15,258 calories burned. 

Lost a 1 pounds and only 22 till 2014 race weigh goal. 

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon: January Training Recap

Wow, that went by quickly.  Hard to believe we are already 4 weeks into our training for 2013.  Lets hope February goes by just as fast.  Overall, this was a pretty successful month of training.  I continued to build on the foundation that was built over the holidays.  I've settled into the following training schedule:

Monday:  Speed work - I warm up for 1.5 to 2 miles then do a series of 6 intervals of 800s.  My pace for these intervals are slightly faster than my 5K pace.  I rest for 400 in between intervals and then another mile cool down.

Tuesday:  Spin class at Psycle Therapy

Wednesday:  Swimming

Thursday:  Spin class at Psycle Therapy

Friday:  Swimming

Saturday:  Cycling / Run brick training

Sunday:  Swike!!  Swim / Cycling brick training

I'm pretty satisfied with the results i've seen in my riding and running this year.  We were fortunate to have a couple 60 degree days here.  It was a gift from Mother Nature to get outside and see where I was at and I was very satisfied.  Swimming was another story.  My form this offseason has improved dramatically.  Unfortunately, my endurance in the pool hasn't improved.  I've narrowed it down to not sitting high enough in the water.  Its been a struggle keeping my butt high in the water.  To help counteract this, I've been doing more work in the pool with a pull buoy.  I really didn't want to do this as I wanted to swim the bulk of my training without it, but in the long run.  Its not as big of a deal as i'm making it as I will be racing again this year in a wetsuit.  I'm a bigger guy, so its hard for me to stay higher in the water.

Thanks to Bryan @TriDocB for this photo.  I was having a swim panic meltdown about my training and this helped a lot.

Here's the totals from this past month:

Miles ran:  53.53

Miles ridden:  484.24

Miles swam:  8.38

Total miles:  526.16

Calories burned:  37,548

Time training:  40:01

I hope everyone's training is going as well as mine.  February will be much more of the same for me. I may even sprinkle in some 5k's and Indoor Triathlons!!

BEAL

2012 Akron Marathon Relay: Beal's B*tches

Post race beers with Angela, Molly, and Steph

This past weekend I competed in the relay division of the Akron Marathon.  Akron is my favorite race of the year for several reasons.  Before I was a runner, I would always admire how fast the leaders of the race were as I would watch them run through my neighborhood.  The race also special to me as I grew up in Akron and my first road race was in the half marathon event 2 years ago.  I can not recommend this race enough.  It is very well supported by the town, has a challenging route, highlights the whole town, and is extremely well organized.  If you ever get a chance to run this race.  I highly recommend doing it.

This past Spring I met with my sister and some of her friends for happy hour and a little Melt.  They were forming a relay team for Akron and asked if I would be interested in joining.  How can you say no to a bunch of good looking girls who like beer, running, and Melt!  So, I joined the team.  Jokingly I said we should name our team Beal's B*ches.  They loved the name, except for my sister who would be running her first race with us.  Sadly, due to a work conflict.  My sister had to drop out.  With an open space, I decided to reach out to someone who would fit in with our team and that person was the Logo.  The Logo has been fighting injuries since April and I couldn't be happier that she was able to make her return to racing with Beal's B*tches.

Waiting at the finish with Jess and my buddy John (who crushed his 1/2 PR that day)

I was running the 2nd leg of the marathon.  This leg starts downtown and winds through lower Akron and Firestone park then ends at Akron U.  I spent most of the summer working on running after riding for Triathlons.  My comfort and speed had improved a lot.  I figured that I would immediately switch to running only and be faster since I wouldn't tired from the bike.  Well, this wasn't the case.  I struggled mightily in the week leading up to this race with my run.  My pace was about 1 minute off from my brick workouts.  I was really worried I'd hold my team back with a bad run and even considered riding to the race to help warm up.  I decided to rest as the more I tried to get my run straight, the worse I felt and hoped it was just due to fatigue.

My route was 4.9 miles and I felt good at the start.  After taking the slap bracelet from Jess, I immediately began a climb up the on ramp back into the race.  Yes, the first exchange was under a bridge.  Nothing like kicking a race off with a climb.  This route is mostly uphill.  You only get two moments to catch your breath around Firestone park and on Brown.  I felt pretty good on my run except for a little shin discomfort.  I had a great run by making it through the 4.9 miles in 40:37!

After passing off to Stephanie, Molly and Angela jumped in and rocked this course.  Our team finished in 3:41:03!!!!  Good enough for 183rd place out of 1,224 teams!!!  Needless to say....My b*tches are fast!!  I had a blast running with this team and hopefully we get the chance to do it again.

The logo leading us off with SPEED!!!

The man in black returns!!! 1st run only race since the marathon.

Stephanie flying into the Valley

Molly is literally floating out of the valley. 

Angela is making it look easy as she flies to the finish.  

You can find Jessica's race report here:  Akron Marathon Relay

You can find Molly's race report here:  Akron Marathon Relay