Great Aloha Run Day
distance- 8.15mi
time- 1:24.55
pace- 10:26/mi
Yesterday was the Great Aloha Run, an annual event here in Hawaii where thousands of participants run, jog, walk, wheel, jog/walk, and stagger the 8.15 miles from Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu to Aloha Stadium in Aiea (those of you not from here go ahead and try to pronounce that, I'll wait.).
As of 365 days ago I had no interest in such an event. Wake up pre-dawn to run? Eight miles? Yeah, no. In the words of Johnny Rico, "Some changes have been made." I've since decided that getting up in the am dark to push my body is somehow fun. Now, I'd rather swim and ride before I run, it seems I'll take what I can get. I have become a whore for endurance event t-shirts.
To be honest, participating in the Great Aloha Run wasn't even my idea. Stitches, Team Dirtbag's Official Super-Awesome Wife, Nutritionist, and Photographer, brought it up. She wanted to walk it and I figured that if I was getting up that early anyway to get her there I might as well play too. Then I could be both moral support for her and I could get a nice long run in. Because for some reason getting a nice long run in is now fun. No, I'm not sure when that happened.
Let me be clear about my goals for the GAR. I wanted to have a smooth, pain-free, good jog. I did not train for it. In fact, I barely thought about it. My focus is completely on the Honolulu Tri. This was a good training opportunity. I've never run eight miles before. And the tri will be six. Seems like I should get as many miles as possible in. Having no goal is both a blessing and a curse. If you look at my pace my Ego says, "Gaaa! You are so slow. 10:30!? Lame. Lame lame lame." But my Training Brain says, "Listen: Saturday you ran five miles. Sunday you rode 35 miles. Tuesday you are back in to your training cycle with an am swim and an afternoon ride. And so on. This was not the time to blow out your legs."For once, Ego lost out. I kept a calm, smooth pace. Slower than I would have liked, to be sure, but I have a long way to go yet.
We woke up at 3:40am and were out of the house by 4:something. We drove to the stadium, which is the end point, and got on a bus. Why? Think about the course. It's one-way. So either we bus from the stadium in, or after the race we have to bus back to the car in Honolulu. Dirtbag hates the bus, but the bus post-run would be worse. Dirtbag sometimes refers to Himself in the third person.
We milled around the streets of Honolulu with a mass of humanity preparing for the run, checking out the other runners and walkers. I saw a bunch of Vibram Fivefingers in the crowds. The minimalist movement is catching on! Me like! I mean, Dirtbag like. I mean, Dirtbag means, Dirtbag like. Damn, this third person stuff is hard.
At the start it still took Stitches and I ten minutes to get from where we were to the actual start, where our race chips activated and started timing us. I took off and she started her power walk. In all, I'd say my run went well. No foot pain, good stride, and I had fun for most of the time. Hawaii locals walk exactly like they drive. That is, slow and in the middle of the road with no awareness of the people around them. And sometimes two or three across. Dodging did occur for the first few miles. They had high school marching bands stationed around each of the aid stations (miles 3, 5, and 7) who were playing inspiring music. The first one was rocking a horn section version of Iron Man. Hell yeah. Some jackass kept yelling at the bands, "Stairway! Play Stairway!" (Oh wait, that was me.)
Some people love stuff like this. So much so that they dress up or bring toys. I saw a Forrest Gump, complete with long beard, long hair, and Bubba Gump hat. Pretty sure I saw a Navii (seriously, dude was painted blue. Full on.). Saw some guy dressed as an anime character I've never seen, but that was what it had to be. And the dragon people. This group made a long yellow dragon out of balloons and hoisted it up on poles, running with it the entire way. It was probably six people long, with the pole-holders trading off as they ran and some crazy dude in the front shouting, "Make way for the dragon!" and smiling. Shouting! And smiling! Jerk. I ran by them for a while. Crazy people help.
Running through the stadium parking lot and down the tunnel on to the field to the finish is a pretty cool thing. Final time was, if you skipped the beginning, 1:24.55. Meh. Not bad for not having set a goal. Inside the stadium there was entertainment, including the Marine Corps band rocking out. What were they playing when I passed by? "Walk This Way." Not sure if that was a joke or not. I followed the herd, grabbed a water and a banana, and went out to the stadium front to stretch and keep an eye out for the wife. Even walked up the course a little ways but didn't see her. Along with bananas they were handing out DingDongs and Cupcakes! Yeah, because after I workout I want a huge shot of fake sugar and crap. Stitches power-walked by and I shouted encouragement then went to meet her by the water and banana people. She was under her goal time by nearly a half hour! Go baby, go!
So it was a good run. I didn't swim yesterday but I figure my swim is the strongest discipline and missing one day wouldn't hurt. Since Monday was supposed to be a ride the rest of this week will be backwards too, with a swim/ride today, a swim/run Wednesday, and a ride Thursday.
Showing posts with label great aloha run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label great aloha run. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Friday, December 3, 2010
Gettin' Registered and Goin' Swimmin'
Swim Day
1 x 200 Warm-up
4 x 250- 3:45
1 x 100- 1:20
1 x 500- Pull
4 x 200- (100-5,7,9; 100- fingertip drag) 3:30
1 x 150 Cool down
You'll notice the 1 x 100 on the 1:20. Yeah, that was supposed to be 5 x 100 like the last two swims but I'm having training doubts about the effectiveness of short, fast sets. My initial logic, that I'll slowly increase the number of 100s on the 1:20 until it's an easy pace to hold for a long time, still feels solid. But at the same time, it seems wrong to train at such a repeat of short distances when I should be preparing my body to chug for a longer period of time. Maybe once I'm done base training and I'm getting into it a little more I'll bring that set back. Right now I think maybe I should be stretching the length of my sets out and trying to get my stroke as smooth as possible.
Other than that it was another good swim. I got up early, so it was a 5:30am workout, but I'm starting to like that (aside from the waking up at 4:45 thing). I don't have to worry about working out after school, I can relax a little more and spend time with the wife. Plus, once real training kicks in I'll be swimming in the am and having a ride in the afternoon. Might as well get used to it now.
AND NOW....*Dirtbag Drumroll*
I'm officially registered for the Honolulu Triathlon- Olympic distance! (pause for applause) Its a 1.5K swim, a 40K bike, and a 10K run. For the Americans out there, that's a 0.9mi swim, 25mi bike, 6.2mi run. So, its about twice as long as the last two races. Which means the training will be more intense and more brutal, but I like that. It'll be fun.
And to start the first third of the training cycle off, the wife and I just registered for the Great Aloha Run. This is something that even a year ago I had no interest in doing. Get up early and run eight miles? Yeah, no. But now? Now it makes perfect sense. It'll make me a better triathlete, a stronger runner, and mentally tougher. And it might actually be fun. That thought kinda blows my mind.
So base training stays strong, trying to build my engine up. The trip to Dallas and then to New Zealand is going to cut into that, but I can run in Dallas and I'm certainly not going to complain about not training during the honeymoon. I need to get the bike all fixed up and then I'll really be able to focus on that, which will be the most important portion of the training.
Long run this weekend.
1 x 200 Warm-up
4 x 250- 3:45
1 x 100- 1:20
1 x 500- Pull
4 x 200- (100-5,7,9; 100- fingertip drag) 3:30
1 x 150 Cool down
You'll notice the 1 x 100 on the 1:20. Yeah, that was supposed to be 5 x 100 like the last two swims but I'm having training doubts about the effectiveness of short, fast sets. My initial logic, that I'll slowly increase the number of 100s on the 1:20 until it's an easy pace to hold for a long time, still feels solid. But at the same time, it seems wrong to train at such a repeat of short distances when I should be preparing my body to chug for a longer period of time. Maybe once I'm done base training and I'm getting into it a little more I'll bring that set back. Right now I think maybe I should be stretching the length of my sets out and trying to get my stroke as smooth as possible.
Other than that it was another good swim. I got up early, so it was a 5:30am workout, but I'm starting to like that (aside from the waking up at 4:45 thing). I don't have to worry about working out after school, I can relax a little more and spend time with the wife. Plus, once real training kicks in I'll be swimming in the am and having a ride in the afternoon. Might as well get used to it now.
AND NOW....*Dirtbag Drumroll*
I'm officially registered for the Honolulu Triathlon- Olympic distance! (pause for applause) Its a 1.5K swim, a 40K bike, and a 10K run. For the Americans out there, that's a 0.9mi swim, 25mi bike, 6.2mi run. So, its about twice as long as the last two races. Which means the training will be more intense and more brutal, but I like that. It'll be fun.
And to start the first third of the training cycle off, the wife and I just registered for the Great Aloha Run. This is something that even a year ago I had no interest in doing. Get up early and run eight miles? Yeah, no. But now? Now it makes perfect sense. It'll make me a better triathlete, a stronger runner, and mentally tougher. And it might actually be fun. That thought kinda blows my mind.
So base training stays strong, trying to build my engine up. The trip to Dallas and then to New Zealand is going to cut into that, but I can run in Dallas and I'm certainly not going to complain about not training during the honeymoon. I need to get the bike all fixed up and then I'll really be able to focus on that, which will be the most important portion of the training.
Long run this weekend.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Think About the Future, Jack!
Dual purpose blog today, sports fans. Swim Workout first, then planning the future of Dirtbag Fitness.
Swim Day
1 x 200 Warm-up
5 x 100 1:20*
3 x 200 pull 3:15
2 x 300 4:30
1 x 150 Cool down
total yards- 2050
Decent 5am swim. I marked the 100s set because the time is obviously much too fast. I did that on purpose. Right now in my training is called building my base. My swim already has a solid base. The run and the bike need a lot of miles because that's how you get better. Swimming works the same for most people, but my swim is pretty solid. Its not super-fast, but we can build on this. So instead of stacking yards on top of yards, I'll do that when the next tri cycle starts up, I'm working on dropping my base hundred time. No triathlon swim is a sprint, but the faster I can get my pace, the better the swim time. So my plan for base training is doing 100s on the 1:20 until I can make all five. Then up it to seven. Then ten. Hopefully I can get it to 15 100s on the 1:20. If I can do that I'll be a happy Dirtbag. On this particular set I made the first two (ok, and then barely), then spent the next three hitting the wall, checking the watch, and cursing under my breath as I did what amounted to an open turn. Gotta get that average down. The rest of the time standards actually felt slow comparatively though. So I've got that going for me.
Thinking About The Future
I am not done with the triathlon thing. I'm just getting in to it. The Haleiwa tri was the last of the year and that gives me plenty of time to prepare for my next one. I have two triathlons planned right now, one A race (races will be leveled from A-C, A being very important, B being a training race, not going for a Personal Best, C being just for fun) and one B race, as well as a C with the wife (kinda).
My big goal and my A race for the next six months is the Honolulu Triathlon on May 15th. This will be two things: first, it will be my biggest race in terms of number of participants. Second, it will be my longest race. They do a Sprint and an Olympic distance of this event and I plan on signing up for the Olympic. Where as a sprint is a 500yd swim, a 12-ish mile ride, and a 3 mile run, and Olympic is a 1500yd swim, a 20 mile ride, and a 6 mile run. So basically twice as far as what I've done so far. Training will be intense. I'm still looking for a good training plan to use and modify. Pretty sure its going to kick off right when we get back from New Zealand. Registration opens in December I think, and I'll need to be paying attention. I bet it fills up quick.
A month before the Honolulu Tri, though, will be the Lanikai Sprint Tri on April 17th. This will be a B race. I'm going to use it as a tune-up for the Honolulu race the following month. So I'll be pushing it but mostly it will be used as a measure for how training is progressing. Registration has opened for this race and I'm hoping it doesn't fill. Neither of the ones I've done so far have, so I'm not too worried, but I should sign up sooner rather than later.
And my last planned race is also the soonest. That is the Great Aloha Run, an eight mile run from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium on February 21st. This wasn't actually my idea. This was Stitches' suggestion. She wants to walk it and I'm all for that. But I don't want to walk eight miles. It will be better for me to run it. This is a total C race. Its going to be in the middle of the start of my training cycle, its two miles longer than my race run will be, and I'm going have fun with it. It'll be good for me. I know I can run that far, I haven't yet though. Stitches is hunting down people to walk with so I don't feel guilty not walking it with her. Should be a good time.
So that's the future of Dirtbag Fitness friends. I haven't mentioned this in a while and this seems like a good time, donations are still welcome and accepted. They will be put immediately towards registration for the Honolulu and Lanikai Tris.
I have another morning swim planned tomorrow before school and getting on a plane to Seattle for Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday Swim to me!
Swim Day
1 x 200 Warm-up
5 x 100 1:20*
3 x 200 pull 3:15
2 x 300 4:30
1 x 150 Cool down
total yards- 2050
Decent 5am swim. I marked the 100s set because the time is obviously much too fast. I did that on purpose. Right now in my training is called building my base. My swim already has a solid base. The run and the bike need a lot of miles because that's how you get better. Swimming works the same for most people, but my swim is pretty solid. Its not super-fast, but we can build on this. So instead of stacking yards on top of yards, I'll do that when the next tri cycle starts up, I'm working on dropping my base hundred time. No triathlon swim is a sprint, but the faster I can get my pace, the better the swim time. So my plan for base training is doing 100s on the 1:20 until I can make all five. Then up it to seven. Then ten. Hopefully I can get it to 15 100s on the 1:20. If I can do that I'll be a happy Dirtbag. On this particular set I made the first two (ok, and then barely), then spent the next three hitting the wall, checking the watch, and cursing under my breath as I did what amounted to an open turn. Gotta get that average down. The rest of the time standards actually felt slow comparatively though. So I've got that going for me.
Thinking About The Future
I am not done with the triathlon thing. I'm just getting in to it. The Haleiwa tri was the last of the year and that gives me plenty of time to prepare for my next one. I have two triathlons planned right now, one A race (races will be leveled from A-C, A being very important, B being a training race, not going for a Personal Best, C being just for fun) and one B race, as well as a C with the wife (kinda).
My big goal and my A race for the next six months is the Honolulu Triathlon on May 15th. This will be two things: first, it will be my biggest race in terms of number of participants. Second, it will be my longest race. They do a Sprint and an Olympic distance of this event and I plan on signing up for the Olympic. Where as a sprint is a 500yd swim, a 12-ish mile ride, and a 3 mile run, and Olympic is a 1500yd swim, a 20 mile ride, and a 6 mile run. So basically twice as far as what I've done so far. Training will be intense. I'm still looking for a good training plan to use and modify. Pretty sure its going to kick off right when we get back from New Zealand. Registration opens in December I think, and I'll need to be paying attention. I bet it fills up quick.
A month before the Honolulu Tri, though, will be the Lanikai Sprint Tri on April 17th. This will be a B race. I'm going to use it as a tune-up for the Honolulu race the following month. So I'll be pushing it but mostly it will be used as a measure for how training is progressing. Registration has opened for this race and I'm hoping it doesn't fill. Neither of the ones I've done so far have, so I'm not too worried, but I should sign up sooner rather than later.
And my last planned race is also the soonest. That is the Great Aloha Run, an eight mile run from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium on February 21st. This wasn't actually my idea. This was Stitches' suggestion. She wants to walk it and I'm all for that. But I don't want to walk eight miles. It will be better for me to run it. This is a total C race. Its going to be in the middle of the start of my training cycle, its two miles longer than my race run will be, and I'm going have fun with it. It'll be good for me. I know I can run that far, I haven't yet though. Stitches is hunting down people to walk with so I don't feel guilty not walking it with her. Should be a good time.
So that's the future of Dirtbag Fitness friends. I haven't mentioned this in a while and this seems like a good time, donations are still welcome and accepted. They will be put immediately towards registration for the Honolulu and Lanikai Tris.
I have another morning swim planned tomorrow before school and getting on a plane to Seattle for Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday Swim to me!
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