Trainerroad Workout:
On Saturday (3/3), the next trainerroad workout was called Carillon. In short, it was two sets of 10 minute intervals at about 90% FTP, with one minute rest in between each interval and five minutes in between each set. However, the workout was more nuanced then that - each 10 minute interval had slightly varying powers - so initially the interval would start at 193W, and then go to 202W and then down to 198W. The description of the workout was:
- 2 sets of 2x10min SweetSpot CrissCross intervals where 1min surges are spend out-of-the-saddle. 1RBI/5RBS.
The problem that I had was that in looking at the profile of the workout, I wasn't sure exactly where those one minute surges were supposed to be. While the profile does indeed show spikes, they also looked to be shorter than one minute in length, because the scale of their length didn't correspond with 1/10 the length of the interval. And in fact, during the workout, those sections ended up being 30 seconds long anyway. In the end, I decided that I'd just skip that portion and stay in the saddle. The reason is that during Lake Placid - I can't expect to be out of the saddle during all hill climbs - if I did, I'd spend half the time out of the saddle, and that just isn't feasible. Besides, I am planning dedicated hill workouts later on in the spring anyway.
The varying degree of power was a love/hate thing - on one hand, having to constantly adjust power was a hassle - 30 seconds at this power, 1 minute at that power, now two minutes at a power in between. And with the power differences being so slight and subtle, nailing the power was really difficult. On the other hand, doing such a workout really begins to emphasize smoothing out the peddle stroke to minimize power fluctuations.
Stu's 30k:
On Sunday was the Stu's 30k race. The 30k was a new distance to me - at about 18 miles, it falls between the more popular distances of a half marathon and full marathon. My original plan was to do all 18 miles at my VDOT predicted marathon pace (7:40 min/mile). However, in the past week, due to the IT band flareup, I had started to back off that plan, thinking that 18 miles at that intensity would do more harm than good. So I came up with the idea of doing one mile easy, two miles @ marathon pace, and repeat that formula about six times. If need be, I'd take some extra time in the beginning for warm up - so in the end I figured on between 10 and 12 miles at marathon pace.
At about 2.5 miles in, I realized that plan was out the window. The course is decently hilly, and it was becoming obvious that with rolling hills, trying to hold to the plan would result in holding back on the downhills and race on the uphills in many circumstances. So I decided at that point to let the terrain more or less be my guide - do the uphills at a comfortably hard pace, but on the downhills take advantage of the easy speed boost, but not too much - this way I'd get some time for recovery and let the HR come back down. Around this time I was also seeing my HR bounce around between about 157-163 - which seemed pretty reasonable for a marathon pace intensity, based on the Karvonen HR training zones (158-172). What I didn't know was how much the hills would impact things - that would have to be something I'd just have to throw caution to the wind on and see what happened.
Around mile 5-6 or so, I started feeling the left IT band a bit. I let myself be a bit disappointed and frustrated for a bit, but ended up deciding that I would concentrate on form the rest of the way. I started with the assumption that my form likely goes south after only a handful of miles. In thinking about how I've approached swimming (concentrate on form, performance will follow) - I decided that if my IT band was going to bother me, I mine as well try and get something positive out of it, and establish muscle memory imprints for running form. So, I paid attention and made sure to land mid-foot, lean forward slightly from the ankles (I sometimes thing that as I tire, in an effort to keep from slouching, I overcompensate and end up with my upper body upright or maybe even leaning back slightly), and try to generate power from the posterior muscle chain (glutes, hamstrings, etc) to alleviate stress on the quads. This ended up making my hips feel a bit like a rubber band - as one leg would go back, it'd reach the range of motion limit on the front hip flexors, generating tension. Then, after that leg has completed its pushoff, it's spring back forward ready for the next surge of power. My thinking was that if I did this, perhaps I could transition some of the knee stability from the glutes and ass muscles instead of the IT band.
Oddly enough - it seemed to have worked. I spent the rest of the race paying as much attention to form as possible (there were admittedly a few times when it slipped), and for the most part, the IT band stayed fairly quiet. While it is certainly a relief - I'm really curious what the the next couple days will bring with respect to how it feels.
At that point, most of the race was just a slog up and down rolling hills. The end of the race is pretty brutal, as there are a couple steep (but thankfully rather short) climbs. It's not that the elevation change is a huge deal - it's that it comes after 17 miles of rolling hills.
In the end, my pace was about 7:50 min/miles - just a tad slower than marathon pace. However, the marathon pace was based on the Half of the Hamptons, a real flat course - and this course was not. I'm really surprised that I managed to maintain this pace, because it didn't seem as intense as I was originally thinking it would be. Not only that, but that pace range was held throughout most of the course - so while I did slow down at mile 18 (which included those two hills at the end), the splits around that one were still hovering around the marathon pace. However, the book on this race has yet to be completed, because recovery hasn't taken place yet - and as I said before, we'll see what the IT band does over the next couple days.
Oh, the other thing I wanted to mention - this was the first run I've used the homemade gu where it was really going to be discernible how well it worked. Overall, I'd say it worked rather well. It definitely didn't kick in as fast as gatorade (which was virtually instant) - but I felt it lasted a bit longer. That is to be expected, I suppose - gatorade would probably be absorbed faster being primary glucose, and being diluted in water a bit more. By comparison, the homemade stuff is half glucose, half fructose, and the fructose requires a stop by the liver before becoming available energy. So the next batch I make, I definitely want to decrease the percentage of glucose a bit by adding maltodextrin (glucose) to reach a concentration more like the Powerade C2MAX formulation of 2:1 glucose-to-fructose. But now that I have a point of comparison - I may try commercial gu next time and see how it compares.
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