does weight-lifting help your running/cycling?

I am interested to know what people think about whether weight-lifting (or some other type of resistance work) helps your running. Specifically, I am concerning with races 5k and up. Also, if weight-lifting does help, what type of weight-lifting do you do?

Here are some thoughts from places around the web, books, and articles:

(1) Don't lift! If you are running 5k and up, you shouldn't do any weight-lifting. What you should do are (i) hills, (ii) abdominal/core work, and (iii) circuit work (e.g. pushups, pullups, one-leg squats, calf raises, etc.), and (iv) strides.
(2) Lift! Do everything in (1) but also do various sorts of weight-lifting for your legs (heavy weight but a small amount of reps)
(3) Lift! Do everything in (1) and (2) except change "heavy weight" for "light weight" and "small amount of reps" for "a large number of reps."

Ta Ta Trot (Sunbury, PA)

Over 300 runners took part in the 2nd Annual Ta Ta Trot 5K in Sunbury, PA on Saturday, July 9th at 9:15AM. The event raised money for the PA Breast Cancer Coalition.

Here is our race review:

Registration & Packet Pick-Up

David: Packet pick-up was somewhat disorganized. It took a while to find my race number (because they did not put the bibs in the race bag ahead of time) and because they had you fill out a raffle ticket. This led to long lines. I should have run bandit.

Liz: I want to point out that David's bib number was 1. Before the race, a bystander pointed out his bib no. and made a comment about him living up to his number and coming in 1st. I think David humbly brushed it off.


Starting

David: The race started promptly at 9:15AM to the race director yelling "ready, set, GO!" rather than the bang of a starter's gun or the siren of a blow horn. This caused some confusion for runners who were not in the front of the race. There was plenty of room to warm-up since streets were blocked off ahead of time. In addition, there was a lot of pre-race excitement, e.g. a ceremony, a group stretch, dancing, and yoga. I did my usual warm-up, 7-10 minutes of easy running, followed by some strides, and no stretching.

Liz: People were warming up for the race, but the best dude was the Geico caveman. He was hurdling over the barricade for his warm-up routine. He also left his hair down for the race. I think I might try that next time.

Course & Timing

David: The race was timed using disposable chips by PA runners. The course was two loops with no mile markers. While intersections were blocked off by volunteers, the course was not clearly marked. There were faint, pinkish-purple ribbons spray-painted on the road, but they were difficult to see, and volunteers at crucial turns did not direct runners. This led to some confusion for those of us in the front of the pack. At one point, I asked for directions on a turn and the person blocking off traffic shrugged his shoulders. At another, I was running beside a guy and he went the wrong way. I went the right way but thought it would be unfair to take advantage of this, so I waited for him to catch up.

The second lap posed a different set of challenges. The race consisted of 2laps for the 5k and 1lap for the walk. On the second lap, many walkers took up the whole road, so I was forced to (i) weave through groups of walkers, (ii) run around walkers, or (iii) call out ahead.

In the end, the race was accurately timed.

Liz: I thought that running two loops would be daunting, but it was actually pretty nice. I liked knowing what to expect for the second half of the race. I passed 15 people during the second loop and I think only 2 people ended up passing me. The old me (1 year ago) would've been passed by 50 people in the second loop because I didn't quite understand how to pace myself at that point.

Post-Race Food, Festivities, & Prizes

David: If there was any food, I didn't see it. I won a medal but it was nondescript since it did not indicate what place I came in. No delicious cash prize for winning. The race was also part of the Sunbury Festival, but that was a bust too. After the race, I bought 6 cookies from a little girl for $1. They were tasty.

Liz: Although there was plenty of water at the end of the race, there was no food! :( I resorted to buying a 50 cent brownie from a street vendor. I learned to always pack a cooler of food, just in case. The festival was ok, but the best parts were seeing all the happy little doggies running around and seeing all the bright colors (mostly pink of course). Oh, and a little girl who was telling us about her last name, Schrek. She owns all of the Shrek movies.

After the race, the door prizes and awards started exactly when they said they would: 10:45 am. They gave away 60 door prizes, including $50 gift cards to Giant, and gift cards to Dick's Sporting Goods. Neither of us won. David did, however, win a nice medal adorned with the pink breast cancer logo.

The Verdict
David: 6/10
Liz: 8/10

ATITB Pics

I wanted to add some pictures to the blog for ya to check out.

This first one is me getting body marked before the race. Race number on hand and arm. Age on right calf; specific race on left calf (S for sprint for me).










My transition area before more bikes came in and made it super crowded.

Counter-clockwise swim. Right hand turn at that far orange buoy. Another orange buoy is out of the picture to the right that you made another right hand turn to head back towards the beach.

My wave takes off at 8:32am. 51 racers in my wave: Men 39 and under. I had the 27th best time.

Off the bike at the dismount line. Seconds before jumping a concrete curb and my left shoe falling off.

Hard to see but I am running out of transition to start the run leg - with my bike helmet still on! A race volunteer kindly told me about it and I dropped it in the grass.

Crossing the finish line in 1:15:02. My goal was to break 1:15 so I just barely missed. There were definitely a couple places that I lost time on. Learned a lot from this race.









Some other pictures from our weekend at Evangola State Park.

A Tri in the Buff(alo)

This is my race report from A Tri in the Buff held on Saturday, July 2nd. I copied this from my online training log. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Distances: 750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run
Final time: 1:15:02
Overall Place: 14/110
Age Group(M30-34): 4/16

Pre-race routine: Stayed on site at the Evangola State Park campground. Didn't have the greatest night of sleep, but I don't believe that it affected me too much. Packet pick-up was at Tri Spot Multi Sports. Amanda and I then went to dinner at the Olive Garden before heading back to the tent.

Friday at 330 I was able to swim in the Lake with my wetsuit for the first time. Water was very choppy at that time, but the wetsuit felt comfortable.

Event warmup: I didn't do much of a warm-up for bike/run and that may have hurt me. I was so focused on warming up for the swim and making sure my heart rate was up at the start of the race. Legs were quite heavy at the start of the bike.

Swim

Comments: Was very focused on going out easy as to stay calm and I think it hurt me in the end. I felt as though everyone from my heat left me in the dust right from the start. It was a wade start and I set up to the left as heats from the Oly race were still in the water and we would eventually merge with them.

I was 27/51 in my wave so I was MOP. If I would have hit my goal pace/time, I would have been 16th.

The good: I didn't hyperventilate! Went out under control and was able to swim the whole distance without much trouble. Got hit a few times and pushed and I was able to deal and keep moving.

The bad: Sighting. Felt I did well for the first half of the race, but coming back to shore I had a tough time seeing the buoys. I felt as though I swam a lot further than I needed to. Definitely need to sight more often, especially as I get tired as I seem to drift more.

Wetsuit: Very happy with the purchase of my Xterra Vortex 4. Gives me peace of mind. Fits perfect.

My back was killing me the next day and I'm not sure if it's wetsuit related or just swim related.

OA 45/110; AG 6/16

What would you do differently?: Sight more often. Go out a little harder. I need to do longer swim workouts to build endurance. I believe my lack of swim endurance really hurt me on the bike and subsequently the run.

Transition 1

Comments: During the race I felt like this transition was 'bad' but in looking at the rest of the times, I was right in line with my AG (6/16). My suit got stuck around my ankles. Skipped the socks, put bike shoes on and ran out of transition.

Had way too hard of a time getting on the bike and clipped in after the mount line. Lost precious time here.

OA 18/110; AG 6/16

What would you do differently?: Not put Garmin watch on in T1 and wait until T2.

Bike

Comments: Bike leg started off rough. Bike shoes were on feet so a flying mount isn't much of an option. Took way too long to get clipped in and I started to get frustrated. Then after getting clipped in I was trying to put my Garmin watch on and that took way too much time as well. Once I was able to get focused on riding, I realized I didn't have much power in my legs. Felt completely trashed and tired - not sure what it could have been. Lack of swim endurance? Lack of nutrition before race? Lack of warmup?

Felt like I was working very hard the whole way. Bike computer was not working so I had no idea of my pace which was frustrating, but I just kept pushing and passing people. Unfortunately, most of the people I was passing were from the Oly. I did not see ANY sprint guys on the bike and that was a deflating feeling. On the other hand, no one passed me on the bike.

Finished with a 20.8 avg. (4/16 in AG) 1st in AG was 22.7. Makes me wonder how many in front of me had tri bikes and what difference it makes with me riding an entry level road bike with no aero bars.

OA 17/110; AG 4/16

What would you do differently?: Swim more!

Transition 2

Comments: I hadn't practiced taking my feet out of the shoes prior to the dismount line, but decided to do it in the race. It didn't go too bad actually and I was able to maintain some speed. I don't have tri specific shoes so it was a bit more difficult to pull off. My one shoe popped out of the pedal as I was lifting my bike up over the curb. I just left it there and kept running into transition.

Ran into T2 with the bike. Was able to get bike racked fairly quickly and get my shoes on. No socks which was a first for me. I took the chance of blisters because I felt like I needed to make up time. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to take my helmet off. Ran out of transition with it on only to have a race volunteer point it out. It slowed me down because I stopped, turned around and started running back until he said I could just throw it on the ground. Did that and I was on my way. Amanda was there to see it all and picked up my helmet for me.

OA 10/110; AG 3/16

What would you do differently?:Take my helmet off in transition. Put Garmin on while running out.

Run

Comments: Run was a bit longer than 5k. I had 3.25m. I didn't like this run course at all! It was a lot like a cross country race, only very difficult to navigate. Ran on some paved paths and roads and a lot of thick grass. The grass made it very difficult to get any sort of speed. Because there were a lot of twists and turns it made it difficult to see the competition in front of you. I ran by myself pretty much the whole way which is hard to do. I love having people to chase within sight.

I did pass a handful of people on the run - and thankfully, finally! - they were sprint participants and also in my AG. Again, no one passed me on the run.

I put below average for my overall performance because I came into this race hoping and expecting to run a better pace than I did. I need to put up good run times to offset my swim.

OA 3/110; AG 1/16

What would you do differently?: Probably could have pushed a little harder throughout, but with no one to chase it made it tough to stay focused and push.

Post race

Warm down: Didn't do anything to warm down. Drank a bottle of water, found Amanda and then tracked down my bike shoe that fell off while entering transition after the bike leg.

What limited your ability to perform faster: Probably my swim endurance. Feel as though it effected the rest of my race and limited my chances at a podium finish.

Event comments: Very nice race. Perfect for beginners - of which there were a ton! Seemed to be very organized and great communication from the event organizers leading up to the race. Probably would have given this race a 5 but the after race meal was pathetic. I bought an extra meal ticket for Amanda - won't be doing that next time.