$Bill's Tri blog

IFWL Experiment - Week 7

2011-11-21T10:58:00.001-05:00

update for week seven results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54.8 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
end of week 3 on 10/24 - 214.4 / 51.7 lb fat / 24.1% body fat
end of week 4 on 10/31 - 208.6 / 53.4 lb fat / 25.6 % body fat
end of week 5 on 11/7   - 209.8 / 51 lb fat    / 24.3 % body fat
end of week 6 on 11/14 - 207.2 / 47.9 lb fat / 23.1 % body fat
end of week 7 on 11/21 - 206.8 / 45.9 lb fat / 22.2 % body fat

This was an odd week. I decided to take a break this week and didn't do any of the core/resistance workouts and scaled back on my biking and running so was half expecting to gain some weight. Then on Friday morning the scaled said 212, that was a shock as I hadn't been over 210 in 4 weeks, but the body fat % was down in 21 so I chalked that up to my body being in recovery mode soaking up a bunch of water and stuff. This week it's back to the regular work outs, at least as many as thanksgiving will allow. Have company at the house so getting in those early morning workouts without waking everyone up will be difficult. Thinking about moving the bike trainer into the sunroom...

IFWL Experiment week 6

2011-11-14T12:56:00.001-05:00

quick update for week six results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54.8 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
end of week 3 on 10/24 - 214.4 / 51.7 lb fat / 24.1% body fat
end of week 4 on 10/31 - 208.6 / 53.4 lb fat / 25.6 % body fat
end of week 5 on 11/7   - 209.8 / 51 lb fat    / 24.3 % body fat
end of week 6 on 11/14 - 207.2 / 47.9 lb fat / 23.1 % body fat

at the half way point for this experiment and things seem to be right on track. I've lost 11.2 lbs or almost 2lbs a week and if the scale is to be believed almost 6lbs of body fat. Not sure how long the 2 lbs / week will keep up, but the incentive and reward are still there, so doing the exercise at aerobic pace while fasted is still something I can get myself to do without problems.

IFWL Experiment - Week 5

2011-11-08T14:23:00.000-05:00

quick update for week five results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54.8 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
end of week 3 on 10/24 - 214.4 / 51.7 lb fat / 24.1% body fat
end of week 4 on 10/31 - 208.6 / 53.4 lb fat / 25.6 % body fat
end of week 5 on 11/7   - 209.8 / 51 lb fat    / 24.3 % body fat

That was a hard week, coming down off the prednisone, wife has to have semi-emergency wisdom teeth removal, and daughter has rehearsal every night for her ballet on Saturday and Sunday. Finally feeling back to normal and the body fat % is coming down again. The drug should be totally out of my system this week so I'm hoping to get a more normal reading next monday, but it looks like the fat is still coming off. I'm still doing my weight routine and am getting stronger with those exercises.

IFWL Experiment - Week 4

2011-10-31T12:08:00.000-04:00

quick update for week four results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54.8 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
end of week 3 on 10/24 - 214.4 / 51.7 lb fat / 24.1% body fat
end of week 4 on 10/31 - 208.6 / 53.4 lb fat / 25.6 % body fat

At first glance it looks great to lose 6 lbs in a week, but of course we know that's not real since the body fat went way up. I did some yard work the previous weekend and was bit by something and got poison ivy or something like that and had an allergic reaction. so I've been on some kind of drug, prednisol?, for the past week and last night my body decided to get start a faster filtering process so I was up every hour to go flush out the system. Anyway I was definitely dehydrated this morning. On the positive side if I look back to the end of week one when I was at the same body fat % I am 6 lbs under that. Saturday morning at was at 212 and I suspect that is about right, so I'm going to claim 2 more lbs this week and 6 for the month.

IFWL Experiment - Week 3

2011-10-24T10:02:00.004-04:00

quick update for week three results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
end of week 3 on 10/24 - 214.4 / 51.7 lb fat / 24.1% body fat
I slacked off a bit last week and it shows, will attempt to get back on track this week. no cheating with the peanut M&M's and more focus on whole foods...

Week two of the IFWL Experiment

2011-10-19T10:09:00.000-04:00

quick update for week two results
weigh in on 10/3        - 218.4 / 53.3 lb fat   / 24.4% body fat
end of week 1 on 10/10 - 214.2 / 54 lb fat     / 25.6% body fat
end of week 2 on 10/17 - 214.4 / 51 lb fat     / 23.8% body fat
looks like progress is being made, about 2 lbs a week is nice and where I'd like to be, so business as usually this week

Week one of the IFWL Experiment

2011-10-10T11:29:00.002-04:00

So since I'm injured and don't expect to be doing any intensity any time soon I've decided to try out an experiment on myself. Intermittent fasting has been gaining some popularity on the fringes of the endurance community as a way to loose some of your fat reserves without having to starve yourself. So here is how it is supposed to work, as I understand it.
You eat dinner the night before as usual and then go to bed and sleep. Get up in the AM and before eating anything, do an aerobic workout in the fat burning zone for 30 minutes up to 2 hours. Then attempt to make it until it has been 12 hours since you last ate before eating breakfast. Do this 3 or 4 times a week. The idea is to teach your body to rely on fat as fuel and to lessen it's need for quick carbs.
My starting weight was 218.6 - and body fat % at 24.4 - quick note here, I am using a scale to measure body fat and while it gets close, it is by no means accurate. it is very susceptible to hydration and humidity, but is generally within a 3% range.
After one week my weight is at 214.2 and body fat % at 25.6. I suspect that this mornings lowering of weight and upping of body fat is due to me being dehydrated after yesterday's 40 mile bike / 3 hours of yard work. But I do believe I have lost some of that as real weight loss. Next week should be a better indicator as I won't be doing all the yard work and should be in a better hydrated state.
I did 3 workouts fasted the first week.
Monday - 30 min spin on the bike + 30 minutes of core and resistance
Wednesday - 45 min spin on the bike + 30 minutes of core and resistance
Friday - 5 minute walk on Treadmill + 30 minutes of core and resistance
I also took a 90 minute spin class Thursday night ( which explains the no spinning of friday), and did the aforementioned 40 mile bike + yardwork on Sunday.
I have modified my diet slightly as I am trying to eat more vegetables throughout the day and eat less for dinner, but I am not going hungry. I usually start off the workout hungry, but after about 15 minutes that goes away, at least until I am done with the workout.
My goal is to lose about 15 lbs of fat before Christmas, get my injuries healed up and be ready for next year.

White Lake Internation Tri Race Report

2011-09-18T20:22:00.003-04:00

Was really looking forward to this race but unfortunately it didn't work out quite the way I wanted. Leading up to the race my shoulder that I injured at the beginning of the year started hurting again. I stopped swimming in hopes that it would recover enough for me to get at least a desent time in the swim portion, then I wanted to really hammer the bike and run just to see what I could do after a great spring/summer of training and racing.

The race ended up being wetsuit legal. boooooooo. but on the plus side I think the wetsuit helped my shoulder track better and I had no issues what so ever on the swim. tool off to the left of the pack, jumped on some feet until they veered of course, then went at it solo for the rest of the 1200 meters. After I made the first turn I finally noticed that the buoys had meter markers on them. The first one I saw was 700. This kept me facinated and keeping close enough to them so I could read them. I think this was the straightest I've ever swum and kept my pace conservative. It was a good thing I did that as about 1300 or so my swim unconditioning starting to show and I really had to work to keep the pace up for the last 200. Finished about 30 minutes for the 1500 swim and 4th in the MC division.

After a quick transition I headed out on the bike. In the first mile I was doing 21 and I saw an MC go flying by me. He was hauling ass and I knew better than to try to stay on him. I wanted to go fast, but not totally blow it out. I managed a 21.5 mph average for the 27+ miles and felt really strong. I had that I could have gone faster feeling and didn't think my legs were trashed at all. Finished in 1:17, 5th best in MC.

took a bit more time in T2 to make sure I had everything, then headed out on the run, just as I was leaving the rack I saw Collin, another MC heading out the other side of transition. he looked speedy, so there was now at least 2 in front of me. I did the first mile in 8:50 and felt good. legs were coming around, it wasn't too hot and I had consumed all 3 of my gels and drank about 40 oz of water. Ran mile 2 in 8:30 and wanted to do 2 more at that pace then see what I had left. Of course that's when it all fell apart. At about 2.5 my left hamstring cramped up so bad I couldn't walk. I don't want to get into all the gory details, but I cramped up at least 4 more times over the next 4 miles and lost 3rd place by 15 seconds. the 3rd MC passed me while cramping the last time at mile 5.5, I tried to catch, but he saw me and had more left than I at that point.

Totally frustrated with my cramping situation on the mid distance races. Sprints, no problems, ironman, no cramps, but international distance, cramps like crazy. Oh well, got plenty of time before the next one to work on it.

Tri the Worx race report

2011-09-18T20:20:00.000-04:00

This was my 3rd race in 4 weeks. I'm going to do a write up on the experiment I was doing this year on the multi week peak, but first I need to do this write up before I forget all that happened.

This was an awesome race, the race orgainizers have a great site and did a great job of setup and execution. I have no complaints about it at all and would definitely do this race again.

*********************
Yeah, so much for those two paragraphs above that I wrote 3 weeks ago, and now I've forgotten all the good stuff...

anyway I want to write some info here since I will probably do this one again next year and hopefully the wife and kid will actually watch me for part of it instead of playing on the play ground the whole time.

The Pool:
It was an outdoor pool and there was plenty of time for warmup. the thing here was you had to get out and run through the inside pool area to get out to the transition area, and I caught the lady in front of me who caught the lady in front of her. I think instead of 1:28, next year a 1:24 would be better.

T1: The bike start is out the back and up a hill. get to the top before trying to mount.

Bike: loved this bike course mostly a low hill rolling type. only got out of the saddle once. the last right turn was a bit dicey with a bunch of cars at the light, they should probably do something about that as I had to go into the left turn lane to get around the cars so I could make a right. I'm sure the jerk that moved way to the right so the bikes couldn't go around and make that right did it on purpose, but what can you do.

T2: the bike finish is at the top of the hill, be careful running down this hill. slippery when wet...

Run: the run was about .2 short, don't be afraid to go all out after the turn around, the way back is easier then the way out on this out and back course.

UNC Wellness sprint tri race report

2011-08-01T06:44:00.003-04:00

I was a little confused pre-race as I thought the transition area closed at 6:30 and the pool warmup time ended at 6:45. Had them reversed. This was one of those races where they actually enforced the times. The day started out nice, it was overcast and cooler than it had been for a couple weeks and we had no difficulties getting to the race site. I picked Karyn up at 5:30 and she didn't have a flat tire. Got to the race site around 6, setup transition and did an easy warmup jog. Karyn pointed out the bike start where you had to go over a curb and some grass to get to the street before the start, very helpful. After the warmup jog it was close to 6:30 and I wanted to get my warmup swim in so I hit the pool and started. As I was swimming I noticed people kept getting out and no one new getting in. Then I was all alone. I got the end of one of my laps and the official looking guy says "Are you all warmed up?" I said just about, but I feel all alone. He says "That's because the pool is closed for warmup now". oops. He let me do one more lap then out I went. One more quick trip to the port o john and it was time to line up for the swim.

Swim: 250 yards 3:30 - 1:24 / 100 yards ( 1st in MC div )
Had just an awesome swim. No shoulder pain, gliding through the water felt effortless. The guy in front of me was a relay and fast, but the guy behind was a bit slow, so after lap 2 I had the lanes to myself. Wish all swims could feel that good.

T1: 1:40 ( 3rd in MC div )
there was a long jog from the pool to the transition area, and then a long jog with bike shoes on to the other end of transition before starting the bike. Actually not a bad time considering

Bike: 9.3 miles in 28:50 ( 3rd in MC div )
The bike was better than I expected. I thought it was going to be really hilly, but after about 3 miles of tough neighborhood hills and tight turns the last 6 were just rolling. At about mile 5-6 I shifted into the small ring and my chain came off. I had to stop and dismount to get it back on. I've done that often, so probably only cost me 30 seconds, 30 seconds I didn't have...

T2: 1:15 ( 3rd in MC div )
another long run in bike shoes, no socks this time but did get my hat out of the cooler and remembered my race number.

run: 5k in 24:31 ( 2nd in MC div by 2 seconds )
Great run for me, there were two really tough hills on this out and back, the first half mile was all up, and then mile 2 - 2.5 was all up before getting a nice finish downhill for a half mile. I only got passed by 3-4 people and was able to pass a few, not much walking seen on this one compared to Mission Man last week, but it was much better conditions without the sun and starting an hour earlier.

Total: 59:44 ( 2nd in MC div by :13 seconds )
obviously I feel that if my chain incident hadn't happened I would have had another win, but things happen and I didn't panic and still was in the running. Post race we walked over to a coffee shop and I got my iced mocha while waiting for the other competitors to finish up. This race, the prize was a folding chair, nice.

Mission Man tri race report

2011-07-30T08:52:00.003-04:00

Since I have another tri tomorrow I better type this out before I forget or get the two confused. you know how us old people are...

This was a great race for me. I am definitely not a good warm weather athlete, so I was more than a little nervous about this one as the race start was at 8am and predicted to be in the upper 70's with upper 80's when I started the run. Picked up Karyn around 5:30, she had a flat and was attempting to change the tire. I put the new tube in and we tried to pump it up, but the new tube was also dead, so we loaded up the bike and drove to the race thinking they would have tubes there. she as 650's on her bike or I would have given her my spare. Made it to the race site to find out that tri-sports bike assistance wasn't set up yet. I got all my stuff setup, body marked and was about to go out for my warmup jog when I hear the announcer make a plea for anyone with a spare 650 tube, I look over and there is Karyn standing next to him. Luckily a kind sole had one for her, then it took the bike mech about 10 minutes to change put the new tube in. I had done it in 3 minutes in her garage so I was disappointed to say the least the bike assistance crew, first not having 650 tubes is nuts, then not being able to get the tire changed. but luckily she got it all straightened out and was ready for the start. My pre-race went much easier and I got my 2 trips to the port o john, warmup run, and warmup swim with no hassles. Just after the first wave went my stomach said, "ah maybe you should make another trip" I was in the third wave, so I jogged over to the now empty poj line and took care of business and was back at the start just in time to wish Mika and karyn luck and get into the water for my start.

Swim: 15:44 #2 in MC div ( :02 seconds away from #1 )
With my shoulder still on the mend I knew my success in the swim would hinge on swimming as straight as possible and maintaining the best form. so there was no sprint at the start, not jockey for position, just stroke and sight. Very happy to report I swam possible the straightest I have ever done in a race and aside from one dufus who kept cris crossing in front of me in the first 200 yards had an uneventful swim. the best kind...

T1: :55
no messing around in T1 - shoes, helmet, glasses on, head out

Bike: 43:46 #3 in MC div ( :23 seconds away from #1 )
the first 5 or so miles on the bike I was trying to maintain a fast pace and wait for my lungs to catch up, but that wasn't happening so I slowed down, drank some and took it easy for about a mile until my breathing returned to semi-normal, then began to pick up the speed until I got the breaking point, then backed off slightly and kept that pace. It was really hard as the air quality was not so great and the heat was on the rise. Only say a couple drafters today, and they were all relay teams, ( not to relay teams: you are not allowed to draft either ) so was happy about that, passed a bunch of people and got passed by only a few. when I pulled into the park I was over 20mph ave so very happy.

T2: 1:42
did some messing around in T2 but it ended up helping me. Needed to cool off before the run so took some extra time to dig ice out of my cooler and put a handful in my hat, and another handful down my tri-suit. yes it was cold, but felt really good.

Run: 26:40 #2 in MC div ( :01 second away from #1 )
Within the first 1/2 mile I knew the run was not going to be fast today. At the first water stop I asked for water, but the boy gave me Heed instead, I didn't notice till I dumped it on my head, so the run was literally hot and sticky. When we turned onto the trail, I cut back the speed and got to a maintainable pace, on the uphills I was passing walkers left and right, the carnage was already starting. Normally for a sprint I am for low 8's on the run, but today I wasn't even going to look. I just got in a rhythm and went. It was probably one of the harder runs I've ever done, but mentally I was ready for it and since it was a two loop course, I knew what to expect on the second loop so I was able to push up the hills knowing when they would end. There was only 1 hill I thought would be a maybe walk and when I got up that one I knew I was home free. The toughest part about this run course is there were no downhills that you could recover on. they were all short and steep. with about 1/2 mile to go finally someone passed me a speed I could hang on to and I rode his pace to the finish. I was right on the edge at the end and so I knew I had given it all I had. The best way to finish a race, at least that's how you feel about 30 minutes after you finish.

total time: 1:28:44 1st in MC division

Overall they put on a great race. plenty of water on the run, ice at the finish and a great spread of food at the end including watermelon, cantalope, oranges, cookies, chips, gatorade, sode, water and other stuff. and to top it off I got this reward

kerr lake tri race report

2011-06-06T06:36:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've done one of these, not sure why but the previous races I guess I just didn't suffer enough to put the effort into doing a write up. I keep thinking I'm going to go back and add them, but I'm not making any promises. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

I got to the race site early to pick up my packet and finish final preparations. It rained a bit on the way there so I was hopeful for a cooler than expected race. It wasn't too hot but the humidity was up there. Setup my transition area and talked to some friends then when walking back to transition I saw Mika holding her swim cap and remembered I left mine in the race packet back in my car. ok, one more trip to the car ain't going to kill me. Got the race cap, did a quick warmup run and swim and waited for my wave to start.

The Swim: 37:32 - ( 29:36 in 2007 )
the swim was long to start with but when you add in that the buoy came loose and drifted after the 2nd wave passed by it adds even more. when I got out of the water and say 36 something on my watch ( the timing mat was at the top of the hill ), I was a bit depressed since I was hoping to limit my loses due to my shoulder injury to 2 - 3 minutes, so 6 minutes ( I normally swim 29-30 for oly distance ) was not good. Hindsight being 20/20 in all I can see by the results from this year vs last that the top 15 swimmers, which didn't have the buoy drift, were still 2 - 4 minutes slower than last year, so now it makes more sense. Just another reason why time goals at triathlons are not such a good idea. Any way not much happened on the swim, I started back and left since I knew there was no sprint in me and I didn't want to get hammered. I had one mishap of swimming off course when I was spotting on something yellow ( looked like the turn buoy ) in somebody's yard, until I realized I was swimming all by myself and corrected it. It did start to rain on the final 200 yards which felt kinda odd, I busied my brain with stupid thoughts of I can't wait to finish this swim so I won't keep getting wet from the rain. when I got out of the water I heard a thunder clap and wondered if they would pull everyone else from the water. But it was the only thunder I heard and everyone else got to finish up their swim.

T1: 1:42 - ( 2:52 in 2007 )
last time we had wetsuits, so transition was faster, but I did take a bit longer to put my running shoes in a bag so they wouldn't be soaked from the rain when I started the run.

Bike: 1:09:44 - ( 1:13:58 in 2007)
When I got on the bike I was pissed about my swim time and since my legs felt awesome I just started to hammer. At mile 10 I was averaging 22 mph and reality set in that I still needed to do a 10k after this so I settled into my just below acid level for the rest of the bike. I love this bike course, it's rolling with no major climbs so perfect for me, I can maintain my speed up the hills, then spin to recover before going back into pace. the wind was at our back on the gradual uphill out, so coming back on the gradual downhill it would be in our faces. perfect for fast bike splits. 4 minutes faster than last time!

T2: 1:50 - ( 1:39 in 2007 )
took a little longer to make sure to not forget my race number, put on socks for the run and dig the dry shoes out of the bag.

Run: 54:55 - ( 58:20 in 2007 )
got off the bike with a bit of stomach issue going on so didn't take my last gel, but my legs felt great and I did my first two miles in 8:35 and 8:25, was taking in water and ice for the hat at each stop, mile 3 was downhill so picked it up and had and 8 minute mile, I was at 24:02 at three miles and on pace for a 10k pr (53:14), mile 4 is uphill and I slowed a bit for a 9 minute mile, but with only 2 miles togo I thought if I could do mile 5 at 9 minutes then mile 6 was downhill again and I could ride the adrenaline in. But that wasn't going to happen. my left hamstring cramped up bad just after mile 4. I had to stop and stretch it out for 2 full minutes before I could walk again and then slowly start running, mile 5 ended up a 10:41 so my dream of breaking my 10k pr was gone but 2:45 for the race was still out there if I could just hold on. mile 6 is downhill and my leg was feeling better and I did an 8:20, unfortunately just as I made the turn for the finish and the last .2 I could feel the pre cramp tinglings coming on, so no, there would be no sprint to the finish to break 2:45, at this point I just wanted to make it to the end with being bent over in pain.

total time 2:45:12 - ( 2:46:22 in 2007 )

Before the race I looked up last years results for the master clyde division and thought if I could break 2:40 I could get 2nd, the 1st place MC from last year signed up and he had a 2:27 so I didn't think first was possible. I was totally shocked when I saw I got 1st. The previous years winner didn't show up and it looks like one of the other guys who had finished low 2:40's last year had some bike issues. Just goes to show that you can't put so much faith in time goals for triathlons, they course and conditions dictate time and mother nature is very fickle.

Run for the Oaks 5K

2011-03-27T10:47:00.002-04:00

It's been a while so this is going to be short.
My last 5k was in October of 09 so I wasn't quite sure if I knew how to do one of these. The morning was cold, but dry so I was quite happy for that. Drove down to the race site and picked up my chip. Said hi to new daily mile buddy Mika who was manning the registration table and met Chuck from the run for food international. The time was drawing near so I went out for my warmup run and then hit the port o let one last time and lined up. I guess I lined up too far back as when the race started it took me at least 1/2 mile of passing people and weaving in and out to get to clear road. I was coming up on the 1 mile mark and I thought I saw Audrey up in front of me. I thought, that can't be Audrey, she wouldn't be doing a sub 8 first mile. But then I saw her look at her watch, take a step, then look again, take another step and look again. So I ran by her and said, "Yes, you are running too fast". The first mile was right on pace at 7:44. I knew there was going to be a long climb starting at 1.5 so I tried to get ahead of my pace on the downhill and when the uphill started I was at 7:40 for the mile. The climb took more out of me than I expected but managed to hang on for a 7:49. I knew at this point I still had a half mile to climb so I did my best to hang on. when we finally started leveling off I was at an 8:20 for the mile and really had to work. Luckily a girl I had been playing leapfrog with went by me at this point and I hung on to her tail until the finally down hill section started. Mile 3 was 7:58 but I was running as fast as I could at this point, garmin says 6:30 and finished strong.
After it was all said and done I ran a 24:17 for 7:47 ave pace and a 26 second pr. A quick tidbit after the race I was doing my cooldown and was on my way back when I got lost in thought, went around a corner and tripped on a rock and face planted in a dirt parking lot.

2011 Goals and stuff

2010-12-09T07:34:00.002-05:00

1. Don't ride the bike more than 75 miles at one time. I made many a promise to my butt on those long rides this year and promises made to your butt are ones that really shouldn't be broken.
2. Have Fun. Normally this is number one, but a promise is a promise. I plan to do more short fun races with friends this year to make up for missing so many last year.
3. Get Faster. Especially on the bike, I feel I lost a ton of speed focusing on the long rides for ironman so 2011 will be all about hills and sprints on the bike.
4. Get out of the clydesdale division. I was 8lbs away this year, and then the ironman build up started, and then the ironman was over and now I'm 18 away. In the past I didn't think it was possible, but now is the time to rethink what possible means.

So there they are, only 4, but they are 4 I can do and enjoy doing. After 2010 I am in much need of a break and to just let go and have fun. so 2011 is now officially going to be called "The Year of Fun"

B2B training stats

2010-11-26T09:03:00.003-05:00

Here is the overall totals for the training leading up to and including the Beach to Battleship Ironman.
Sport____Time(Hours)___Miles____Calories
* Swimming --- 60.43 ------ 123.16 ------ 36,000
* Biking ----- 183.20 ------ 3018.6 ------ 190,000
* Running ---- 150.63 ------ 890.08 ------ 147,000
* Core/Other - 34.50
* Totals ----- 428.76 ------ 4031.84 ----- 373,000

so about 430 hours and 4030 miles of training / racing. I am still amazed that I did all that. I have to say consistency was my greatest asset during the year. and now just for fun, a closer look into the numbers.

Average per month
swimming - 5.5 hours and 11.5 miles
Biking - 17 hours and 283 miles
Running - 14 hours and 84 miles
total 37 hours and 380 miles

over the last 3 months ( Aug,Sept,Oct), the averages were a bit higher.
swimming - 7.3 hours and 14.5 miles
biking - 23 hours and 385 miles
running - 19.5 hours and 113 miles
total 50 hours and 512 miles

Biggest Months
overall was October with 55.5 hours and 584 miles
Swim was September with 8.5 hours and 13 miles
bike and run were October with 27 biking hours and 23 running hours, 440 biking miles and 130 running miles

lets just say October was a bitch and leave it at that.

Biggest week
overall was 9/27 with 18 hours and 210.5 miles ( ouch! )
swim was 7/19 with 3 hours and 5 miles ( that's not that much ).
bike was 9/27 with 11 hours and 176 miles ( beach ride, mucho pain-o).
run was 10/18 with 6.25 hours and 37 miles

lbs of fat burned
the calorie burn is the best estimate I could find on the web if you divide that by 3500 calories to burn 1 lb of fat you get 106.5, but really I lost 15 lbs during the initial 5 months and then gained back 5 during the big build up over the last 3 months. It was just too hard to exercise that much and not eat everything in site, so my recommendation is to lose as much as you can during that first few months because it won't be as psychologically defeating when you gain some back. Worked for me, and that's all that really matters :-).

B2B - the nutrition episode

2010-11-20T07:03:00.006-05:00

As I was writing up my race report I was adding information about what I was eating and drinking and realized that it was adding nothing to the story. I thought about it some more and decided to take it out all together but I wanted to detail what it is I did since having nutrition not be a part of the day meant I must have done it right. Let me also say this was my first ironman so I am not by any means claiming to be an expert. Let me also say that the one thing I have learned in my 10+ years of triathlon is that everyone is different so what worked for me may or may not work for you. The best thing to do is to try different products and find the ones to work and don't work for you so in a pinch you know what you can and cannot consume.

Race Morning:
I ate my standard breakfast of grapenuts with skim milk and dried cranberries, but also added half a banana and a piece of bread. about 700 calories

prerace:
I ate nothing, but I had a 8oz bottle of water with my first packet of Hornet juice that I drank at 6:30.

Swim:
Accidentally swallowed plenty of salt water but while I did see a jelly fish it was too early in the swim to be tempted to grab it and eat it.

Bike:
started off with 20 oz of Ultima Lemonade in my aero bottle which had packet #2 of hornet juice in it. Consumed my first cliff bar right after the bridge to make up for no food on the swim, but the plan was going to be eat small amounts every 15 minutes instead of 100-200 calories on the hour marks. The only thing I would have changed about the bike nutrition would be to use 20 oz bottles in the rear instead of the 24 oz bottles, I had plenty fluid left over and having to raise my leg that extra 4 inches to get over the taller bottles was harder than you would think after biking for a 100 miles.
all in all I ate
1 cliff bar
3 power bar triple threat bars
6 fig newtons
1 pack of peanut butter and honey crackers
1 espresso love gu
1 peanut butter and jelly sandwich at special needs stop

and I drank
20 oz ultima
48 oz gatorade
48 oz water
plus two packs of hornet juice

Run:
When I started running I felt like absolute crap. It was mostly energy and attitude from being warn down from the wind for 7 hours on the bike. I took a gel immediately and then made the decision to eat only when I was hungry. This ended up working wonderfully and I ate whatever I felt like at the time. But once again it was only a little at a time. I had all my gels squeezed out into a gel flask so I didn't have to take the whole thing at once or waste half if I didn't want the whole thing. I was also wearing my tri-shorts with the two pockets on the sides so I could store bars and crackers if I wanted those as well. The only thing that I would change about my nutrition here would have been to bring more of my own endurolytes and to take the ones provided on the course first before then ran out then I would have my own stash to get me through the end. Luckily that didn't have any adverse effects as I had all of them on the first half of the marathon and ended up not needed them for the second.
Consumed on the run
4 gu roctane vanilla orange gels
1 power bar triple threat bar
1 pack peanut butter and honey crackers
1 100 grand candy bar ( my favorite )
15 endurolytes ( all in the first half )

Fluids:
4 orange slices
24 oz gatorade
at least 20 oz water
2 packs hornet juice

Post race:
cliff bar protein builder
cheese burger and fries
grande mocha

All in all I burned about 14,000 calories during the race and consumed about 3500, that's about 10,000 deficit, this really got me to thinking. One pound of fat is about 3500 so that would be only 2 pounds of fat and we know that not all of those calories came from fat but from stored glycogen reserves, muscles and what I was eating throughout the day. Even with all the science we have today there is so much misinformation out there and the fact that everyone seems to be different in the way they store and burn fat it's no wonder losing weight is so hard. One of my goals next year is to get out of the Clydesdale division, I have about 15 lbs to go and thanksgiving and christmas to get past. If I can even get close to 200 lbs next year I'll count that as a victory.

Beach To Battleship Iron Distance Tri Race Report

2010-11-15T14:23:00.012-05:00

Warning, this is going to be long, very long. For those with short attention spans you might want to print this out and take it in short bursts. What do you expect? I trained for 10 months and it took me almost 14 hours to complete, of course it's going to be a long race report.

First the numbers:
Calories burned - 13742 or 981 / hour
Calories consumed - 3560 or 254 / hour
Endurolytes consumed - 15
hornet juice - 5 packets
rank Men / Master Clydesdales
Swim 1:17:44 113 / 2
T1 10:57
Bike 7:00:37 358 / 10
T2 9:44
Run 5:17:35 237 / 3
Total 13:56:34 272 / 5

Nutrition:
I've decided to do a separate blog entry entirely devoted to nutrition so you won't see much in here about it unless it directly relates to the situation at hand.

The Lead up:
For 10 months and two weeks I trained for this event. The first 6 were mostly fun just stay in shape and get ready for the last 4 months of hell. Truthfully it was really only the last month that was hell. I was faithful to my schedule, stayed healthy, rested when my body needed it, and pushed through when I was supposed to. I did 3 rides of 100+ miles, and 2 runs of 20+ miles so I was ready. I injured my knee on the 145 mile ride to the beach but have been on anti-inflammatories and they have been working great, I did a 100 mile ride and 20 mile run weekend on them so I wasn't worried about it. Then of course the Monday before the race I get a cold. I took the week off from exercise, I rested, I took Zircon and was hoping it would get better in time. The day before I did an easy 10 mile ride and 1 mile run just to see how I would feel and I felt great, even with the lingering symptoms from the cold so I gained some confidence for race day.

Pre-race:
Actually slept fairly well until midnight and then it was toss and turn until 3:30 when I got up to eat breakfast. Got dressed and packed my special needs bags up and headed to the bus. The hard part about this race is the logistics so staying at the host hotel where the buses ran to and from and which is right on the run course was really the smartest thing to do for me. The wife and girl could just hang out downtown and shop, they went to the kids museum, 10 min walk, and then rest at the hotel and wait for me to get to miles 2,9,16 of the run and then take a water taxi, which my daughter loved, to the finish. Really recommend the Hilton for those with families.

Times below will be from my watch and not the same as official as I didn't hit lap when going over the mats, but rather when I felt the leg was ending/starting. They are fairly close though.

Swim: 1:15:48
The swim was advertised that it would be with a strong current. They did warn us at the pre-race meeting that the low tide was scheduled for 6:50 and it would end up being a slack tide. I am thinking I might do some analysis to compare the times from this year with last but that would only be if I have the time. Let's just say the fastest time from last year was 41:16 and slowest was 1:45 this year the fastest was 54:35 and slowest was 2:19. When we lined up to swim I could see the stand up paddle boarders where actively working to not be pushed out to sea, so the tide was still against us at the start. The First buoy was only about 50 yards out, so I waited one minute until the majority of people had started and then picked a line that would take me wide left of the buoy to avoid the huge log jam that would be forming. It was still crowded when I got there and I got my first kick in the chest from a breast stroker, it wasn't that bad and I just kept on going. I'm more of a right side breather so the plan was to move to the left so I could see the mass while breathing and thus avoid having to sight as often. This ended up being a bad decision as we were swimming north and the sun was just peeking over the hotels that we were swimming by so when I would take a breath on the right it was all glare. I didn't panic, instead I just altered to breath every third stroke and as fortune would have it there were boats and stand up boarders following us the whole way so I could stay just to the left of the mix and still sight well. There was a water tower that I was advised by Dave on the bus that would be good to sight off of so I picked it up and used it well. I quickly got into a comfortable pace and started passing people. Every so often a "left drifter" would start to push me out so I would have to speed up and get in front of them, or in the case with on particularly stubborn guy who really wanted to go off course, slow down and swim over their back to stay straight. One guy punched me in the mouth, I'm sure by accident, and probably got a bloody knuckle from it. There were a few spots on course where the water got rough and I actually got dizzy from it, but my experience with the bay bridge 4.4 mile swim saved me and I knew if I just kept going it would be ok. Finally we got to the left turn that was just passed half way. Now we would be doing the same course as the Wilmington sprint tri and I went back and read my race report from them to remind me how to navigate best to the marina where we would be getting out. The trick is to swim in the middle and not get too close to the turns since it is similar to an S curve getting there. Once again I saw a ton of people cutting corners which actually adds distance so I was happy I did my homework. When we got close I started using my legs in hopes to warm them up and get some blood into them. I hit the dock and tried to get up the ladder, but the legs were useless. Fortunately there were two volunteers helping people get out. When I finally got on the dock and stood up straight I got a big case of the dizzies and started wobbling towards the strippers. Wetsuit strippers that is. They were wonderful, at this point better than actual strippers as they undid my zipper and then pulled it down, instructed me to lay on my back and ripped it off, all in less than 15 seconds. I then hit the fresh water warm shower to get some salt off before starting towards T1. I guess it took about 2 minutes to hit the timing mat as my watch said 1:15 but official was 1:17. I heard a ton of people in the changing tent, and after the race complaining about the swim but I thought it was great.

T1: 12:37
having to jog 400 yards to the changing tent with numb toes was not fun. Luckily I had on the wetsuit booties to keep my feet warm but even with them on my toes were still cold. Finally made it to the tent and got my bag to change. Tried to dry off as best I could and change, after I got off my booties my toes really started to freeze, because I was so cold I probably put on too much. I had an undershirt/long sleeve cycling jersey and a vest on top, just shorts on the bottom and gloves. Then jogged over to the bike where my socks and shoes awaited.

Bike: 7:01:36
My bike computer says 6:40:38, so all the stops you get to read about took about 20 minutes off my time. Average speed while riding was 16.8, including the stops it was 16 mph which is exactly what I thought it would be. This leg was the toughest for me, mentally and physically. As mentioned above I injured my knee on a 145 mile ride to the beach but ironically it wasn't my knee that bothered me during the race. I hate the bike, ok I don't actually hate the bike, but after 3 hours I am not happy. Looking back at it I think I was in that mindset from at least August on. If I could pinpoint one thing I would have changed it would be my mental attitude towards the long bike rides. The bike started off ok. The wind was out of the North at about 10 mph and by the beach there isn't much to break it up so if you are going north you get a head wind so we started off going north into the headwind that would suck they life out of me for the next 80 miles. We did get one break when we hit the section that went on I140. That was actually quite nice to be just riding with a cross wind. It was cool to enter on the interstate on the bike, the cops had traffic stopped while you went from the on-ramp and over to the far left lane. When there was a break in the bike line they would let the cars go and they had to stay in the right lane. There was a line of cones to the left of the line separator so we had some room between us and the cars doing 70+ mph just 4 feet away. At one point I was riding two feet from the cones with at least 5 feet to my left before the painted line when I heard someone yell "on your left", I looked to my left and saw there was plenty of room for him to pass so I just nodded my head and said come on by, but the dufus yells "on your left" again. Whatever bonehead there's plenty of room for you to go by I ain't moving over any closer to those crazy pissed off bastards in their death machines who were late getting home to watch all their recorded shows. Finally he went by and made a point of shaking his head like I did something wrong, yeah one if every crowd. After the fun on the interstate we turned onto hwy 421 and started going North again, right into the wind. It was relentless, not gusting, but a constant break applied to your forward progress. Finally we got to turn off and it eased a bit, but then around mile 45 we turned onto 210 and started going, you guessed it, FUCKING NORTH. Luckily the special needs hand-off was at mile 51 so we got a break. I got off, stretched, bathroom break, filled my water bottles found an angel to let me borrow some Shammy butter and started back into the wind again. As I was heading out of transition I saw I guy going out without his helmet. I yelled up ahead, stop that guy without the helmet! some of the volunteers looked at me so I yelled it again, they just turned around and kept handing out the water and heed. luckily another biker heard me and alerted the guy who stopped and went back. Luckily the bike ref was not there or he would have been DQ'd. So back into the wind I went. I kept telling myself that when we turned off 210 we would get a tailwind and everything would be alright. Alas this was not come true for another 20 miles. Somewhere around mile 70, I just lost it. I was swearing up a storm and saying I wanted off this bike and was ready to call my wife to tell her to come pick me up I was quitting. I pulled out my phone in a last ditch effort to call her to get some support and I looked at it and it said "no service". I can't tell you how long the list of swear words was that I had for AT&T at that moment because it was just too long. I did notice that I had received 2 txt msg's while I had service so I went to look at them. The first one from my wife saved my race, it read "please let me know you are ok. Text me whenever you can. I LOVE YOU very much". Well that was just what I needed to hear, I mean how could I possible quit now? After all the sacrifices she had to make all hear to help me get here, it wasn't just about me anymore. I typed out a message to her "Honey that was exactly what I needed to hear right now. you saved me. I LOVE YOU" hit send. but "no service" mother fucking AT&T you suck. Anyway I told her later, and I know you are not supposed to txt and cycle, but that was not going to stop me. Finally we turned out of the wind and into a strong tailwind. It felt so much better and then I saw the 80 mile marker and just stopped. I had to get off, use the facilities, tree, and stretch out my back, neck, it bands, and mostly my hip flexors. After about a 5 minute break I got back on and felt refreshed. I decided I would stop at the next 10 mile markers and do the same. It really helped my mental attitude and I think it definitely helped set up my run. At the mile 100 marker I was relieving myself, tree again, and I hear someone yell out "Bill Reid". It was Karyn, my partner in crime for all these long months of training. I was beginning to wonder what happened to her as I expected her to pass me much sooner on the bike so I was happy it was this late in the race as I wouldn't have to run so fast to catch her on the run. The next 12 miles went by too quickly and soon I was approaching the traffic and two bridges that needed to be climbed to get to the battleship. It actually felt good to get out of the saddle so I stood and climbed both. I rolled into T2 still not feeling great, but determined to at least run to the Hilton at mile 2.5 so I could see the family. I just have to say this one more time. I HATE THE BIKE

T2: 8:43
Pulling into T2 someone grabbed my bike and helmet and pointed me towards the changing tent. There weren't a lot of volunteers here and I was a bit confused at this point so it took me a while to find my bag and get into the tent. Both the mens and ladies tents were small and didn't have doors that could close so while they were covered, they didn't provide much cover, but at this point who really cared. I got those stupid ass bike shorts off and put on my tri running shorts with a ton of shammy butter and then applied some body glide to the nipples and around the waist were my race belt sits to avoid chaffing. Changed my shirt and shoes and headed on out. I had to txt the wife to let her know I was 25 minutes away and then tried to find some water to fill up the bottles on my race belt, but no luck. Karyn said the ladies tent had them stacked up on the table, but the mens side was out. But it wasn't long till I got to an aid station so it wasn't too bad, but at the time it was the end of the world. Finally time for the run.

Run: 5:17:43
I crossed the timing mat and said out loud and now I start my second marathon ever. Those first two miles sucked bad, after a short jog I came upon my favorite bridge, it was steep and long, I still felt like crap so once again out loud I said "I am making an executive decision that I will be walking this bridge both times", you can just assume from now on that when ever I say "I said" or "said to myself" that is was out loud, I was in my own little world. So my first mile was 12:35, not good, but not bad either and my legs were not adverse to running so the downhill felt fine but then bridge number two appeared. Holy shit do I have to do this again on the second lap? Yes you do dumb-ass, I said to myself, in face you have to do over those bridges 4 times. On the second half of the first bridge I started imagining that if I pretend to trip I could just all off right here and then I wouldn't have to run the other 24.5 miles and I wouldn't have to deal with having quit. But the easy way out did not win over and I kept going. Mile two was 11:20, hey, I picked it up! woo hoo! those two miles are the only two splits I remember, in fact I have no clue about any other mile splits and I don't care to know. Good lord has anyone else noticed this race report is really long? and I still have 24 miles to go... I made the right hand turn at mile two and everything was about to change. I saw my coach, Brennan Liming, and she came up and asked how I was doing, I gave her the not so good, but I'm still moving forward answer and she said, "ok, just keep going" not much help there, but seconds later I here "GO BILL" and she keeps yelling that for the next 300 yards, that put a huge smile on my face and just then I hear the volunteer up ahead say to the lady in front of me at the turn "Good job number 202" wait, Karyn is 202, could that possible be her? and just like that she turns around and sees me 20 yards behind.

she slowed a bit and I caught her and we would end up running together until the 13.1 mark. On top of that good news it was now only 300 yards until I got to see the family. I came up and saw the wife and girl with camera ready, posed for a couple pics,

tried to get a hug from the kid who wisely declined, then got a big kiss from the old lady and sprinted, sprint being relative, off to catch back up to Karyn. The crowds on the Riverwalk were awesome full of energy and cowbells and I was running with my training buddy and on top of world. We still took our scheduled walk breaks to eat/drink and at the steep sections, but mostly we were running our normal talk capable training pace. In fact when we got to the 1/4 mark at 6.5 miles we were 1:11, I did the math and if we kept that pace we could do a 4:44, of course both of us knew that wasn't going to happen, but 5 hours was in reach. The bridges would have the final say in that and since you already saw the final run time you know that didn't happen. The lake greenfield section was my favorite, slow steady ups and downs, just like the tobacco trail we had done our long runs on so I was really happy at this point and sent a txt to the wife at a walk break that we were 20 minutes away. Once again when we went by the hotel I got a high five from the girl and some more pics taken. Saw the coach and Karyn's husband and got pumped up from the crowds. Of course the bridges took some out of us and Karyn's stomach started to bug her so she told me at the special needs hand-off that she was taking a longer break and for me to just go on. I didn't want to leave her, but I also wanted her to be able to do what she had to do with feeling guilty about slowing me down and then not be able to take care of herself, so I got my crackers, arm warmers and head lamp out of my special needs bag and headed off solo. I think at this point I was at 2:25 for the run, so we slowed but not by much. Running solo for me is no big deal, especially 13.1 miles and with the volunteers, crowds, my family and coach to see again I was still feeling great. Such a difference from the bike. I did walk both the bridges again as an executive decision is an executive decision after all. I cruised by the family for the last time and told them I would finish in about an hour forty five, but then I looked at my watch and thought that would put me in under 5 hours for the marathon and there was no way that was going to happen so I turned to my daughter who was running with me on the sidewalk and said, "tell mommy I meant 2 hours" she said ok and went back to tell her. I love her. Then I saw my coach and told her I felt better starting this lap then the first one, she said great, keep going. Sage advise... After a few more "GO BILL" 's I was on my way to the final turn around. This lap was definitely harder, I had to force myself to keep going at points and to take advantage of downhill sections even when it was time to walk because I really felt breaking 14 was in reach but I needed to put some time in the bank for that last bridge. I have no idea what the time was at the 3/4 turn around this time, but I did see Karyn who was about I would guess 3-4 minutes behind me at this point and was looking good. A quick high five and passing and back to the grind. When I got to mile 20 I took a picture of the sign and posted to twitter/facebook with the caption "and then there were six" Yes, I am insane.

This time passing the Hilton there was no family, but coach B was there and she ran with me for about a mile and kept me company and focused. We parted just before the first of the bridges with just under 2 miles to go and 27 minutes to make it under 14 hours. I didn't know at the time but Karyn was only about 400 yards behind me at this point and would get even closer by the finish. The second bridge took it out of me, even walking up it was hard at this point, but at the top there was less than a mile to go, 15 minutes to break 14 hours and nothing was going to make me walk again until the finish. After getting passed by hundreds of people on the bike, I was steadily passing walkers and joggers the whole run. But for some reason in the final mile I got passed by 3 people. I had nothing left, no sprint, could not pick up the pace, just kept running. I didn't care that they passed me I was just amazed that they could pick it up like that after so long. They obviously didn't go hard enough during the race. I did txt the wife while walking up that I would be done in 10-15 minutes so they were there and ready for me when I came in. I came upon the mile 26 sign and still didn't see the finish shoot. what the hell is this? some cruel joke? I mean I can hear the announcer and crowds, but can't see a thing. One guy assured me it was just ahead after that turn, but I wasn't believing anyone I just needed to see it. and then finally there it was, I made the turn, heard my name, but nothing else that the announcer said, gave some high fives to the spectators and crossed the line with a big ass smile on my face. Just then all the tired hit and every muscle in my face went limp and I could feel the exhausted expression take over and POOF there goes the finish line picture. can't wait to see that one... So there ya have it, I'll try to get a couple more out with post race thoughts and of course the nutrition blog, but I think this one is long enough as is. If you made it this far, thanks for coming by and reading, please leave a comment so I know you were here. This one really meant a lot.

Anna's Angels 10 mile race report

2010-10-01T16:19:00.002-04:00

I guess I'm a bit behind on this one, but time is something I don't have and probably won't have much of until taper begins in 4 weeks time.

I wasn't actually planning to run the race this year but at the last minute my coach was like why don't you do the race, it's on your recovery week so just go do it. That was enough. Last year I had a great race and remember the course fondly so I was excited. Well, until the morning off anyway.

Woke up not feeling all that great and the weather was a bit warmer than predicted so driving to the race I was not that thrilled. My plan was to do a 1.5 mile warm up then race at tempo pace and 1.5 mile cool down. My coach told me not to kill myself since I needed to be ready for the next week of ironman training so since I did 1:28 last year my goal was to be in the 1:27. I read last year's race report so I had an idea what to expect on the course. Miles 1, 6, 9 were hard, 2 and 10 easy and the rest rolling, at least that is what I wrote in last years report.

I had the Garmin on this year and wanted to go out with 9 min miles and pick it up as I started feeling better. I lined up just in front of the 9 min pace flag and when the gun went off I just tried to run comfortable without looking at my watch and ease into it. Well I was feeling really comfortable running up the hill that runs from .5 to 1 so I looked at my pace and I was doing 8:20. Oops, well it doesn't hurt and I'm in the rhythm so why not? I decided to keep my pace and ease up at the top of the hill. Mile 1 was 8:27, mile 2 is mostly downhill with a slight up at the end so I eased up and just did an 8:34, it felt a lot easier after the 8:27 up so I was happy, but still a bit nervous about running 10 seconds per mile faster than my goal so I backed off even more for mile 3. I met and passed "Hairy Man" on this mile. He was ahead of me the first 2.5 miles and I was gradually catching him, but for some reason he was running just outside the cones and of course cutting every corner. At one point a cop yelled at him and told him to stay within the cones and after that he did. A lady passed me at this point and said "hey there's hairy man" she said he does that at every race. So that's how he got his name. Mile 3 8:50. Felt good and recovered so it was time to pick it up and just in time for the rolling to really get started. I didn't remember mile 4 being that hard but Frank had said it looked hard on the elevation chart so that might have influenced my thinking, but still 8:42 felt good. I knew mile 6 was going to be hard so I eased up on mile 5 which ended up being mostly downhill to flat and did a 8:39, people were going by me but I somehow managed to control myself and not give chase. I would catch most of them on mile 9 anyway. Mile 6 starts with a long uphill, then a short break of flat/down before ending with another uphill section. slowest split of the day at 8:52. Mile 7 and 8 were just plain wonderful, flat and/or down so I was able to recover, get some water and gu in me and prepare for mile 9. miles 7 and 8, 8:33 and 8:32. Mile 9 is long slog up to the interstate overpass and then a bit more up and since I read last years report I knew to get into the climbing rhythm right away and it paid off, about half way through I was passing all those people that passed me from miles 5 - 8, some where walking and others just hanging on. I just said "good job" and kept my pace and focus on myself and before I knew it I was at the start of the last mile. Mile 9 8:31. That 8:31 gave me serious confidence for the last mile and while I was at mile 9 at 1:20 last year, this year I was at 1:17:58. Last year I hauled ass down the hill only to suffer and slow on the last .3 rolling to an uphill finish, so this year I sped up, but kept it in check and when I hit the rolling section I was able to pick up the pace and finish strong. Mile 10 - 8:06. Total time was 1:26:04. I beat last years time by 2:04 and I didn't even kill myself. Just goes to show you never know what kind of race you'll have until you have it.

Probably could have done an 8:30 pace for this race so next year I'll be back to kill myself and see what I can do, but I think an 8:30 paced half marathon is in my future also, can't wait for next year so I can use all these miles I am putting on to add some extra speed.

Patriot's Half IronMan - long version

2010-09-12T19:31:00.010-04:00

What follows could get very long and full of details. My thoughts are rolling through my head and I want to get them down in hopes of piecing together what if anything I may have been able to do differently. You have been warned.

The Friday before I took the day off from work to finish packing and prep the house and cats for a weekend alone. We picked the girl up from school after lunch and headed up to Williamsburg. It's a 4 hour drive and traffic as not bad. Checked into the Great Wolf Lodge and headed to the race site for package pickup. Picked up the package with no issues and even bought two pairs of sock guy socks for $5. Then we headed to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. I had a chicken Parm and a sangria. Everything seemed to be going great. I felt a slight twinge in my lower back from the drive and probably should have stretched it out a bit before bed. Back at the lodge, the girls went to the arcade and I spent some time getting everything ready for the morning. Mixing drinks, putting stickers on, getting out clothes and so on. Hit the bed at 9PM right on time with a wake up scheduled for 4AM.

Race Morning woke up at 4, ate my normal breakfast of grapenuts with dried cranberries 16 oz of water and added half a banana. Packed up the car and headed out right on time at 5. Once at the race site and in transition I had everything setup and ready with 30 minutes to spare. I put on the wetsuit, chugged 8 oz of hornet juice and ate a gel. Headed down to the swim start and got in a nice easy warmup in the bay. The water temp was announced as 74 degrees. I heard a bunch of people saying 74 was generous and how did they come up with that? As if they had some internal thermometer. The air temp was still in the 50's so of course the water felt warm. But no one was complaining about getting to wear their wetsuit. I saw one girl close to shore squatting in the shallows with a strange smile on her face, obviously taking a pee break. Can you make it a little less obvious? I mean walk out 10 more feet and you don't even have to squat. anyway onto the race...

times below are the official times from the race results, I race in the master's Clydesdale division and there were 18 total in that division.

Swim: 39:11 - 6/18
the swim was actually quite nice. They have a nice wide open area to warmup in and to start so the pack was spread out wide and I had no issues of getting kicked at all. The first turn buoy was a long way out which meant the pack was lined up and once again no issues making the first turn. We swam with the current after the first turn, but the sun had just started coming up and it was bright so finding that second buoy was tough. Once I found it, it was smooth sailing to it but then after the second turn we were heading to shore but now we were swimming directly into the sun. I couldn't find the exit for about half the swim until I stopped in the water and shaded the sun with my hand and located. Luckily the exit was right at a perfect spot to sight and I cruised in. Now getting out of the water was tough. It was so shallow we had to walk about 50 yards through the water to get to shore, took me about a minute and my quads were not happy.

T1: 3:19 3/18
T1 was hike from the swim exit so most people's times were in the 3 minute plus time. I didn't mess around, ran to transition, stripped off the wetsuit and got the bike ready to go. no muss no fuss.

Bike: 2:54:34 7/18
As I was heading out of transition, I hit some strange combination of keys on my bike computer and just like that it stopped working. I played around with it for the first mile trying to get it to work, but was unsuccessful so I just had to let it go. I told myself just go by feel and off I went. The only indication of how fast I was going would be at the 5 mile markers where I could do some math and try to figure out my speed over the last 5 miles. The first 5 miles went by and I was at 15 minutes. oops that means 20 mph, a bit too fast, but my legs were feeling good, so I wasn't too concerned. I consciencely slowed and let some people go. Yelled at few people who were insisting on drafting, and some were very obvious about it. Next up was mile 10 and I was under 30 minutes, so my attempt to slow did not work, but I would find out later it was due to the wind being at my back on the out part and of course that meant it would be in my face on the way back, but I wouldn't find that out for another 30 miles or so. I pulled out my power bar and started eating. It wasn't easy and as I was chewing, @andresduquepc12 from twitter went by me. I tried to yell at him, but my mouth was full and I don't think he heard me. He started 9 minutes ahead of me, but swimming is not his strong suit. ok, some more slowing and drinking and eating and the next thing I know I'm at mile 20 in 1:01 and still feeling good. Now the rolling part starts. I still haven't shifted out of the big ring, but I did stand a couple times so I could give my legs a break. It was rolling from 20 - 40 with some rough spots on the roads, but overall a nice ride. I picked up a water bottle at mile 36 and refilled my aero bottle. So far I've had 20 oz of ultima, 24 oz of gatorade and 16 oz of water. Over the next 17 miles I still have another 24 oz of gatorade to go. so all told I had 98 oz of fluid over the 3 hours. Also during 20-40 I had my fig newtons. I had slowed a bit now and I think at mile 40 I was at 2:03, so still a very good time and ahead of my planned pace, but the last 17 miles would be into the wind and slow me down a bit. There was a problem with traffic in this section and I had to slow to avoid cars several times, but the roads where once again really nice. I was now starting to catch some of the people that went flying by me in the beginning. With 5 miles togo I decided to go with the gel instead of the last powerbar as I wasn't really hungry, but I did want some more calories. So a Gu Roctane went in. the last few miles were torture on my butt. I really just wanted it to end but I still hadn't shifted out of the big ring, so I guess the claim that you wouldn't need to shift out was true. I was hoping to get a 2:50, but since the course was really 57 I didn't feel too bad about the 2:54 and I was very happy to get off the bike. As I was pulling into transition I heard the announcer call out that @andresduquepc12 was headed out for his run, so I guess he finished the bike about 2 minutes ahead of me.

T2: 2:54 12/18
This was my lowest ranking and due to the fact that I had to stop to use the port a john. Considering that 2:54 was not bad. At my last half my T2 was over 5 minutes so this was a big improvement. I just noticed that my T2 was 2:54 and my bike was 2:54, of course the bike was 2 hours and 54 minutes but still...

Run: 2:17:19 8/18
started off the run feeling good, the first part we had to run next to the path that the bikes were going out and coming in on so we were on the grass. after about a half mile we hit the real running trail and my ankles were much happier. Got to mile 1 and I looked down thinking I was going to be around 9:30 and my watch said 8:50, ok, slow down and just go easy. Mile two comes up just as we turn onto an offroad section. the path is nice packed dirt and completely shaded. My watch said 17:50, I was a little concerned because I didn't want to be going that fast, but my legs felt good, so I didn't think too much about it. I was cruising along thinking I should start drinking my gatorade when boom! my right hamstring cramps up out of nowhere. Normally when my legs cramp, I can feel it coming on slowly until it happens, not this time. I had to stop and stretch it out. After about a minute I straightnd up and started to walk. I walked through the rest area and got some water and orange slices, and then started to run again. I'm not sure what caused the cramp, but it did not come back again, so I'm going to chalk that one up as a freak occurance. The thing that was really starting to worry me was that my stomach was not being receptive to food or drink. I hit mile three and was still at 29 minutes, considering the long stop and walk I was quite happy. when I got to mile 4 the plan was to run to the mile marker and then walk until I hit the 10 min pace. So I got to mile 4 at 38:30 so I walked 1:30, forced in a couple sips of gatorade and then started to run again. Mile 5 came on in 48 minutes so I was really running well, but the no food thing was really wearing on me, so after a 2 minute walk and some more forced gatorade it was time to run again. There were plenty of rest stops and I was able to get some orange slices down, but after the rest stop at mile 6, no more solid food would go down. I couldn't even think about a gel. At mile 7 I was still doing well, I think I was at 68 minutes when I got to the marker and rest area, so I tried taking a long 3 minute walk in hopes that my stomach might come around after a long break, but nothing doing, all I could manage was some more gatorade. I had managed over the first half to get down 12 oz of gatorade and I just hoped it would get me through. After that long walk I decided to run the next two miles straight through and started repeating my mantra of "Kick ass - don't cry" that I got from my buddy dr. dre ( AndreaDuke15 on twitter ), this worked great but on the trail part, around the spot I got my cramp, I passed a guy who was just hurling like mad, this did not do my stomach well at all but I got to mile 9 at 87 minutes. That's when it all came apart. I walked a minute and took some gatorade, but now my stomach was not liking that either, so no more gatorade for the last 4 miles either. I started back running and after about 3 minutes my legs just said no more, we are done. I had to walk for about 5 minutes before I was able to jog again. Gone now was the run to the mile marker plan and all I could do was jog as long as I could, then walk till I recovered. I was lightheaded and a bit nausous, but I didn't feel dehydrated or over heated which is normally my problem so I just kept moving forward. When I got to mile 11 I had 26 minutes to get back and still break 6 hours. This gave me some hope and was able to put together a long run stretch of about 6 minutes before it was back to jog/walk again. Finally got to the half mile to go and still had 8 minutes to go so I ran through the water stop and dumped a bunch of water on my head and then walked until I thought I could run to the finish and that's what I did. They was a photographer at the finish line and asked if I wanted to take a picture with my medal. I was like not right now, and he looked at me like I was crazy. I just wanted to get some water and head down to the river to soak.

Total Time: 5:57:15 7/18
At the time I was very disappointed because I thought I could have broken 5:50, but in retrospect I'm very pleased. My initial goal was 6 hours and I beat that by 2:45. I've been putting a lot of thought into what I did wrong to not be able to eat or drink like I should on the run and all I can come up with is I drank too much and went too hard on the bike. With the lower temps and humidity I suspect I was not sweating nearly as much as I usually do, in fact I remember seeing other people with salt all over their shorts and looking at mine and not seeing it. I had about 33 oz per hour and I think 20 is about my norm in training so I should have been a bit more careful. I'm just not used to being in that position, especially after this summer from heel. Also I've been average just about 17 mph for my long rides, so the 19+ was probably more that I was ready for. If I could have taken 6 extra minutes over the last 5 miles I probably could have finished my run in 2:05. My legs were functioning well and besides the one cramp issue, I had no muscle issues, just energy and dizzyness. This definetly gives me some things to work on in training over the next two months leading up to the ironman. I hope to have at least 2 more long bricks to test out some theories and get some nutrition practise in.

Patriots half IM race report - short version

2010-09-12T19:20:00.003-04:00

welcome to the short version, the long version containing the many thoughts that have been going through my head will take a bit longer to put out and hopefully won't be as disorganized as I think it will be.

first off let me say I would recommend this race to everyone. It has something for everyone, it was wetsuit legal, a relatively flat bike course with some nice rollers and a totally flat well stocked and fairly well shaded run course.
The times that follow are unofficial and basically what showed up on my watch...

Swim: 39:05 - the swim was actually quite nice. They have a nice wide open area to warmup in and to start so the pack was spread out wide and I had no issues of getting kicked at all.

T1: 3:15 - let's just say it was a long run back to transition, and I had to remove the wetsuit, so 3:15 was actually quite good.

Bike: 2:54:18
The bike was really nice. A mostly flat course billed as you won't have to shift out of your big ring, and I didn't. Felt great on the bike, the last few miles were tough and it measured out as 57+ miles instead of 56, but overall I liked it.

T2: 3:03
This included a quick Port o potty stop so not bad considering my last half IM I had a 5 minute T2.

Run: 2:17:28
The run is where it all fell apart for me and to go into details would take way too long, for the short version I'll just say my nutrition plan needs to be adjusted. Was on pace for a 2:05 half IM at mile 9 and then boom, 2:17. So while I am thrilled I broke 6 hours it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I could have done much better.

total time: 5:57:10
Just under my 6 hour goal, but I really felt like 5:50 was possible. I really need to get a handle on my nutrition if I am going to be able to finish the Iron-man in November.

I bet you can't wait for the long version...

Race Plan

2010-09-09T05:58:00.002-04:00

Visualization is a big part of my races these days. Generally I write down a race plan and read it every night leading up to a big race and try to visualize myself executing the plan and anticipating any problems that could occur and what to do if they pop up.
The Swim: My start time is 7:09. Get in the water and warmup with some easy swimming. The course will be a rectangle with all left turns so try to line up on the right. I tend to drift left when I swim so starting on the right will keep me on the right side of the buoys and out of the washing machine start. Don't get caught up in the scrum and sprint at the start. Go easy and stay steady. Sight often and keep buoys in sight. After making last turn towards the shore start adding in some kicking to get the blood flowing into the legs again so they are ready to run out of the water.
goal time 38 minutes
T1: There is a long run to transition, so get the goggles and cap off and go. If wetsuit is on, start stripping down to waist while jogging. Wetsuit off, shirt on. Helmet fastened, then glasses and shoes. Take a quick gel and sip of water then go.
Bike: Stay steady just below the burn for this first 25 miles, then the rolling section occurs. strong up the hills and recovery down. The way back is a gradual decrease in elevation so it's hammer time. power bar at 45 minutes, fig newtons at 1:30 and depending on stomach power par triple threat or gel at 2:20.
goal time 2:50
T2: Don't forget your race number. socks and shoes on, grab hat and fuel belt. fuel belt should have two gatorades filled and two empty bottles with just the powder to fill on the course.
Run: gel every 3.5 - 4 miles, start off around 9:30 and pick up the pace when feeling good. It's a two loop course so pay attention on first loop and be ready for the grind on the second. Ice in the hat if they have it at the rest stops and keep hydrated.
goal time 2:15
goals for this race
of course finishing is the number one goal but 6 hours is definitely in reach and if I'm having a good day I think I can get 5:45 but there are many factors in this, including length issues in course measurement, weather and mechanical issues. Don't get caught up in the time during the race, just go at a strong pace that you can hold for 6 hours and go as fast as possible.

10 Things I Love about the Taper

2010-09-07T08:31:00.002-04:00

I know most people hate to taper, but I love it. Here are 10 reasons why
1) I wake up in the morning and I'm not sore or tired.
2) I can do my Yasso 800's and JOG all the recoveries.
3) After track I actually want to do the whole cool down.
4) I can finish my long run and not have my shoes be soaked with sweat.
5) No chafing.
6) I can sit in my chair and not feel saddle sores
7) Doing the race plan and visualizing the race course builds excitement without the pain.
8) I Have time to write a blog entry.
9) No chafing ( this is most important and worth two ).
10) My brain actually works well enough that I can think of 10 things.

August Stats

2010-09-01T15:30:00.002-04:00

Finally August is over and I survived the 3 weeks from hell, but barely.
let's see how the numbers went.
Minutes Miles
Swimming 445 14
Biking 1396 389
Running 1092 104

total time 49 hours
total distance 507 miles

Holy shit did I just do all that?
once again biggest month ever in miles and time for all three. The biggest week was the week of August 9th with almost 15 hours and 155 miles, not sure how I survived that one...

luckily I have a half ironman to do in September so it will be an easier month. yes that did feel odd to say that. Looks like the week after the half IM will be the hardest with a 16 mile run and 100 mile bike for that weekend.

The fun continues...

July stats

2010-07-31T19:37:00.002-04:00

July marked the first official month of my ironman training and now it is over and it's time to look back at the numbers.
Monthy stats Time in mins miles
Swimming 406 13
Biking 1131 315
Running 798 78
Totals Time in hours Miles
38.92 406
Since I haven't publishing this yet This has been my biggest month by far this year.
400 miles and almost 39 hours - I was wondering why I was so tired this month. And when you factor in the heat and humidity I feel better knowing there is a reason for it.
For comparison - my biggest month previously was May at 32.5 hours and June with 356 miles. I have 3 more miles of swimming and 35 more miles on the bike than past highs. May was my longest month on the run with 85 and still is.
The week of July 12th was my biggest week to date with 11 hours and 120 miles.
I just got a sneak peak at my August and other than the first week which is a recovery week, it's going to eclipse July.
I definitely need to take this recovery week seriously and not to a lot of volume or intensity so I can be ready for the rest of the month. Luckily I have a Half Ironman on September 11 so I will get a chance to back off and recovery again for the 1 week of taper and hopefully coach will be nice and give me a recovery week after.

Mid Year Recap

2010-07-04T06:05:00.003-04:00

With 6 months of the year gone it's time to look back to see if I'm on track. First a look at the numbers

Averages Monthly Hours Monthly Miles
Swimming 4.62 9.75
Biking 13.89 225.76
Running 11.68 70.64
Total 30.19 306.14

Biggest week miles June 14 - 111 miles
Biggest week hours June 21 - 10.5 hours

Biggest month miles June - 356 miles
Biggest month hours May - 32.4 hours

Goals
1) My number one goal this year is consistency. So far if missed 8 scheduled workouts due to sickness or injury or just being plain worn out. I'd say that is a win so far.
2) Work on your mind - Positive thinking, visualization and not sabotaging my own training and racing have all been on track and I think have really helped this year.
3) Eating better - I have had a few transgressions, but in general I've been eating much better and have lost 10 lbs since January without calorie restriction.
4) Work on the core - started off really well with this one, but when the races started coming it has dropped off. With only 3 races in the 2nd half of the year I need to pick this back up and be more consistent with them. I might add them to my calendar instead of just doing them when I had the time. I think I need that constant reminder

Race results for the first half of the year were great for me so I would say I just need to keep doing what I've been doing, refocus a bit every now and then and that Iron Distance race will be mine.

Tidewater Internation tri race report

2010-06-17T16:51:00.003-04:00

Distance was a little odd for this race.
1500 meter swim / 21 mile bike / 10 k run - so not officially an olympic distance, but close enough.

Had to travel to Virginia Beach for this race, and it was on a Saturday so the schedule was a bit hectic, but we managed to get up there, eat some pasta, check into the hotel and get settled just before 10pm, so I was happy to be getting close to 6 hours of sleep. Woke up race morning at 4:20, watched the weather channel until 4:30 then got up to eat. That's when I realized I forgot to stop and get milk and water for breakfast. Went out of the room to check for vending options, but they only had ice. Downstairs everything was closed and I could not see anything close out the doors. Luckily the tap water did not suck and I went ahead and had my grapenuts with dried cranberries with just water. In a pinch it ended up being not bad. Then started the packing up process and was out the door right on schedule at 5:30.
Arrived at race site at 6am and parked and was in transition in no time. One snag that bugged me was they advertised on the site women's specific sizes and since my wife is small and always complains that she never gets a shirt that fits I ordered a woman's small. When I went to pick it up the lady looked at it funny, then up at me and I said, "yes I asked for a woman's small, it's from my wife" she said, "oh okay, I need a woman's small" response was we are out of woman's small but he can have a men's small. I said if you can't give me what I ordered, give me an extra large. The woman was like you can't change sizes, so I said ok, I asked for a woman's small, give me what I ordered. She looked a bit confused then went to ask someone. She came back with, take the small and come back at 7, side note race starts at 7, and we will try to exchange it. So I took it, then went back 2 minutes later to someone else and said, "they gave me the wrong size". he looked at me, then at the small and said, yes they did, what size do you want. XL please, here you go.
So luckily the rest of the day was uneventful, at least until the results...
On to the fun stuff
Total time: 2:27:07

Swim: 26:44 - The swim was a two loop 750 meter course. with a short run in the middle. The first loop I nailed my sighting and directions and swam straight to the two turn buoys, I jogged back to the start and looked at my watch and saw 13:00. The second loop was not as smooth. I had the bright idea to swim left and let the current carry me to the turn buoy. I guess there was no current as I went way left and wasted some time getting to the first buoy. I hit the turn and knew I was behind so I picked up the pace and pushed all the way back. Ended up going 44 seconds slower on the second lap so my bad directions cost me about a minute.

T1: 2:31 - long jog to transition, full wetsuit to remove, then helmet, glasses, shoes and go.

Bike: 1:00:48 - This also was two lap course and it was an out and back. It was all flat and there was not much wind, so very fast. Early on I had picked up a shadow and didn't want to get a drafting penalty so I put in a couple surges and lost him. then on the second loop one guy went by me and I tried to hand on, at legal distance of course, and this helped me pick up the pace again. Just under 21 mph ave it was one of my fastest bike splits, so I was very happy. But the run in the humidity was about to come.

T2: 1:51 - pushed hard on the bike so this transition went slower than I would have liked, but nothing went wrong and I remembered my number and hat, so I'll take it.

Run: 55:15 - guess what, another 2 lap out and back flat course. Started off ok, legs felt heavy, but not bad and after 1/2 mile I started getting smoother and feeling better. First mile was 8:35 so I said to myself when I get to mile 2 I'll walk until 18 minutes since my goal was to break a 9 min pace for the run if I could run an 8:30 with a walk every two miles I would be right on, but I got to mile 2 at 17:15 and was feeling good so I just kept running and decided to walk when I got done with lap 1 at the water stop. But once again I got to mile 3 at 25:05 and had a nice cushion of almost 2 minutes, but I just couldn't stop and walk in front of all those people, so I kept going. Mile 4, then 5 came and went still no walking, still kept saying I'll walk at the next water stop. But then finally I turned onto the final stretch with about 1/2 mile to go into a head wind and I had just gotten water and it was still in my hand so it happened, I stopped and walked while I drank and mentally got ready for the final push. started running again and hit mile 6 at 52 minutes I was thinking I would finish under 54, but someone apparently messed up the course marking as the final .2 took me 3:15. still broke the 9 minute per mile goal with an 8:53.

If you like flat and fast, this is the race for you. At just under Olympic distance, 21 on the bike instead of 24 something, you can really fly. In fact the swim had more hills on it than either the bike or run.

Gary Kirby Sprint Tri - Race Report

2010-06-06T15:22:00.003-04:00

Finish time 1:08:14. Wanted to break 1:10:00 so very happy with my time. It was a great race and fsseries, the volunteers and participants were all great. I had one negative and I want to get it out of the way first. They seem to do this at all races, and it's not just fsseries. when they post results they don't put category and they never post a break down of age groups. And this race, they didn't give out age group awards so I finally put together a really good race and I am still wondering how I did in my age group? Once you have the final results it just can't be that difficult to print them out and post them. but like I said, other than that it was an awesome day. So on to the race.

PreRace: it was a small race and I arrived in plenty of time to get my packet and setup my transition area. The bike course was 4 laps of a 3 mile loop so I figured I would ride one loop as warmup and get a preview of the course. Well I got lost as the marking was not that great. Backtracked my way to transition and was nice and warm. I went looking for a race map when I got back but none were available. Odd? I found a staff member and told them my concern and he assured me there would be plenty of volunteers to show us the way during the race. So onto the pool to do some warmup laps.

Swim: 5:17 - wanted to do sub 5 but if you count getting out of the pool and running to the mat I think I would have been close enough. The side to go under the lane lines was on the opposite side of what I was used to so it took about 5 laps to get used to and then just when I got the hang of it, it was time to get out.

T1: 00:45 - I was number 26 and number 28 passed 27 and was right on my heels so we both sped through transition without any problems and were onto the bike.

Bike: 34:42 - My first 21 mph race ever. I was worried about the 4 loops course, but really enjoyed knowing what was to come each lap and had a great bike. Legs were feeling awesome and really pushed it. The course was basically a flat section followed by a hill, followed by a downhill. The hill was long, but not steep so I could stay in the big ring and aero the whole way. There were two traffic circles on the downhill that I needed to come out of the aero bars on, but it was easy to keep the speed up. Really enjoyed the 4 lap course as the spectators were cheering loudly each lap. And like they said no problems getting lost :-)

T2: 1:06 - Yes I did put socks on, I figured it would cost me 10 seconds and that was about right, but I was very happy to not have blisters after the race.

Run: 26:26 - This was hard, no other way to put it. First mile I was trying to keep pace with a 17 year old guy who I had found out early played lacrosse at this high school, I went by him at mile 1 and he said. "This is so hard" He was number 4 so made up a bunch of time on him. first mile was 8:50 Next I was chasing number 17 ( I think), she was a 14 year old girl who I had passed coming in on the bike but she ran out of transition just before me. She stopped to walk at about 1.5 and I never saw her again. It was hot and very humid. Not really hilly, but I felt each one. At the mile two water stop I was at 17 minutes so I took a walk break to drink some water and dump some on my head. The kids at the stop got all crazy excited when I did that and I told them to just through some at me. This made them even more hyper, but gave me a bit of a lift. Number 29 passed me leading up to the last hill but he was not in my age group so I didn't need to beat him, but I did use him to pace off of until the last hill that seemed to go on forever before a short downhill finish. It felt so good to be done and almost made my goal of breaking 26 for the run. With the heat and humidity I was very happy with the result.

I will update this with the official results when they come in some time tonight. It looked like I might have won my age group, but like I said at the beginning I just don't know... yet.

One quick observation that really made me laugh. After the race there was a guy on my bike rack that was showing his daughters what he had to do for the race. When he was done he said to the youngest, now I am going to ride my bike home. She said without missing a beat. "Why didn't you bring my carriage so you could pull me behind you?"

************************************* results finally posted ****************
Overall / swim / Bike / run out of 122 men
14th / 19th / 12th / 42nd
Clydesdales out of 17 clydesdales
2nd / 1st / 3rd / 2nd
thought I had signed up for age group, but I guess not, but if I had still 2nd
2nd / 2nd / 1st / 7th out of 20 aged 40-44

Inside out sports 10k race report

2010-05-18T09:35:00.003-04:00

To be honest when I looked at the course for this race and saw how hilly and challenging it would be I was not looking forward to it. A training race is what I kept telling myself. In fact I didn't even sign up for it until just before the start. With no pressure or thought of a PR I started the race thinking if I could just break 55 I would be happy. Earlier in the week when I talked with my coach she was saying I should go out conservative at around 9, then pick up the pace on the way back, but I was feeling good that day and told her I was going to go for 8:30 and see how fast I could go. Then Saturday came and my legs were dead and I just didn't have that great day before race adrenaline that I usually get. Long story short, I ended up breaking my PR for a 10k by 17 seconds. Now for the long version...

Race morning driving to the race site I was cranking the heavy metal to try to get psyched up. It was hard since I wasn't really feeling it this morning. The last song that played while I was parking was Run To The Hills, one of my favorites, very fitting I thought since this course was all about hills. Jogged to the start, about .5 miles, and was already sweating from the humidity. Registered and then had to jog back to the car to get the chip strap and race belt I had forgotten. Then jogged back to the race to watch the 1/2 marathon start and chat with some friends.
Race started with a long downhill before a 2 mile hill to the turn around and I just wanted to run hard and stay just outside the lactic acid zone. Felt really good on the downhill and just let gravity do it's job. People were passing me, but I knew what was coming so it didn't bother me. About 1/2 mile it turned up and the first water stop was there. Normally I would bother with water so early, but with the humidity and since it was on an uphill I figured why not and took a cup, drank half and dumped the other half on my head. Ended up being a good decision as many people after were complaining about lack of water on the course and this was the only water stop for the 10k, we saw it once at 1/2 mile then again on the back part at 4.5. Started going up the hill to the airport overlook where the turn around would be. I know this hill very well, run it all the time and the best way to take it on is to get a good steady pace going and just keep it up. So I settled into what I thought was about 8:45 - 9:00 and began reeling in some of the people who started too fast. It felt good to catch and pass a bunch of people going up the hill and really kept me focused. The course was not marked, so I had no idea what pace I was running, I just knew it was uncomfortable but not too hard that it would kill me. We got to the turn around in 21:12. I thought the turn around was 2.5 miles so I figured I was right at 8:30, later I would find out it was 2.4 miles and 8:50 pace. I was feeling really good now with a 1.7 mile downhill to come so picked up the pace and kept my uncomfortable feeling going. At about mile 4 I caught a guy I had been chasing all the way down the hill. He had a garmin on so I asked him where we were and he said 4 miles. I looked at my watch and we were at 34:17 or an 8:34 pace. Right about this time a 25 year old girl ran past me and I decided to stick to her pace and hope to bank a little time before the final beast of a hill right at mile 6. We turned onto black creek trail and I got 3 cups of water, two for my head and one to drink. Black creek is mostly flat but has a gradual rise on the out part before we turn around and come part way back to go up to Weston Parkway and the finish. When we got to Weston the first time I was still feeling good and I thought the turn around would be just ahead and then the finish in site, but I was so wrong. We had to go about 1/2 mile more before turning around and each time we went around a corner I would swear that this would be it, but it wasn't. Finally we hit the turn around and I felt like I was on my last leg with 1/2 mile to go. Fortunately the gradual downhill back to Weston revived me enough so that I could make it up that last hill. It wasn't that long, but it was steep, very steep and when you got to the top and thought it was done, there was another short steep hill to get onto the sidewalk. By the time we got to the parking lot, my legs were on fire and I was shuffling something fierce. The girl I was pacing off took off for the finish as I just tried to stay upright on the short (.05 ) downhill finish shoot. My last blog post was titled "It didn't really hurt", but this one really did hurt, the kind of pain you feel when you have nothing left to give and you just want it to stop. I went across the line in 53:17, watch time, and 53:22 gun time. My previous PR was 53:34 set back in March.
I am very happy with this result for several reasons.
1) I had nothing left at the end, so I gave it all I had
2) I managed to pace myself by feel, without course markers
3) I didn't back out of the race when not feeling 100%
With my A race for the spring coming up on June 12, international tri, I have gained some confidence and know my training is on target. The tri has a flat 10k at the end so if it's not too hot, I think a sub 54 is a possibility.
But first I have two really hard weeks to build before a short taper for my two week race block.
Happy Training

link to route map
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=370370

It didn't really hurt

2010-05-10T09:08:00.002-04:00

I've really been focusing on the mental side of training and in particular running for the past year. I learned a new lesson on Saturday. Acknowledgment. It wasn't until mile 9 running up my favorite .54 mile long hill, nicknamed half mile hill aka the spillway, aka I hate this effin hill, more on that later.
The run started off hard, hadn't run since track on tuesday and was still recovering from strep throat which I refused to acknowledge until I almost passed out and/or hurled 20 minutes into a workout on wednesday, so my legs were complaining about the 10+ minute pace. We hit the out, or downhill, part of half mile hill and my ankle started acting up, I walked a bit, stretched it out and kept going. I guess I was complaining about a bunch of things, mostly the humidity, because Frank, the usual chief complainer, said I was complaining a lot today and he would try to not complain as much since I was doing such a good job. I acknowledged he was right and sought to put an end to it. Luckily we were starting the S hill and it would be too hard to complain for a while. Frank was doing 8, so we left him at the water spicket and continued on. I was running with Mark and told him I didn't feel like I had it today so if he wanted to go faster it was ok to leave me behind after the turn around 1 mile ahead. He said he needed to save some for the spillway anyway so he wasn't going to. I just figured he was being nice as he had been running a few steps ahead of me the whole time. At the turn around there is a long gradual uphill back to the water spicket of about a mile and we were trailing a pair of carrots that were running just a bit slower than us, so our gradual reeling in of them kept us at a nice even pace and I started to notice my legs feeling better.
I downed gel number two as we hit the water and the ground leveled out. I had water on me, but Mark stopped to get water and I kept going thinking he would catchup quickly. I slowed to take in the gel and fluids and allow him to catch up and the carrots started gaining on me again. At this point I thought it would be good time to wring out my shirt and after wards felt 2lbs lighter and much better. I thought it was real odd that at mile 7 I would feel better than mile 2, but I wasn't going to let that bother me. We noticeably picked up the pace as every time I would even up with Mark we would speed ahead. At one point I said "hey, just because I catch up to you doesn't mean you can speed up". He said he just liked to surge when he felt like it, then slow down to let me catch up. I should have noticed at this point, but I didn't, that he was having a bit harder time as he was using more hand gestures communicate and less talking, where I was talking more. When we hit the back or downhill part of the S hill, I let off the brakes and just ran ahead comfortably allowing gravity to do the work. I thought he was right behind me so I tried to stay out ahead and do some pace work since he had been leading the past 8 miles. When we got to the spillway, he stopped and said I would have to go on ahead because he was out of gas. I asked if he needed water or anything and he said he just needed to walk a bit so I started up half mile hill.
I got about half way, my form was off I was running crooked and labored, breathing was all over the place, I just wanted to get to the top so the pain would stop. That's when it hit me, I asked myself, "Does this really hurt?" I mean pain, sure it was hard, but was there any pain or was my brain just trying to fool me into taking it easy? I kept running, I thought about it and no, there was no pain. This realization did something to me, I straightened up, my form was back to normal, my breathing evened out and I sped up. I acknowledged that it was hard, made some adjustments, and it got easier. It was all perception, because I thought it was so hard and painful my form got hosed, once I acknowledged it and fixed my form and breathing I could once again run efficiently without the perception of pain. I finished off the hill and ran the rest of the .4 miles back to the start and ended with a 1 minute negative split for the out and back route.

Glen Eagles Challenge Long version: part 2

2010-05-04T19:44:00.005-04:00

I think I'm getting old, forgot all about finishing this off. Well better late than never.

So where did i leave off. oh yeah, finishing the epic canoe from hell and spraying sunblock on my cut up legs. The plan for the second half was go out on the bikes as far as possible and pick up all we can on the way back. Got across the street and found #18 right off. Then we got a bit lost, the map and the trails were not lining up correctly but eventually we made our way to where #17 should be. But after a quick search Tim re checked the coordinates and realized we had two #17's on the map and we were at the one that did not exist. Oh well, can't have a race with at least one major screw up so at least we only wasted about 15 minutes on it. Got back on the trail and made it to where #19 was. There was a 4 person team there searching for it, so we joined in and eventually they found it, but all is fair in AR so we got it as well. We then headed off in search of the #21. We leapfrogged the 4 person team and now they were following us, and we were heading into the mud pits. We were going along well when we hear the group behind sound like they thought they were at the right place, so we stopped, but I thought it was further ahead so I tried to yell at Tim to get back on his bike but he was busy following someone and couldn't hear me so I just biked along parallel to him yelling every now and then until he heard me and went back and got his bike. Next I saw something out of the corner of my eye and thought that might be it, but it was something else and then Tim saw something orange and bolted after that so I went ahead and saw the other group had found it along with the old couple we had met at the beginning so I went back and got tim and we picked it up. We now had all the ones we were going to get on this side and it was time to haul ass back. This was where the fun part was. We encountered several mud holes on the way back where it was impossible to tell how deep it was until you got into it. I learned my lesson on the first one and walked around them after that, but Tim kept trying to go through. There was one hole in particular that was about 3 feet deep. He went right through the middle and the mud went up to the seat. Got back across the street, picked up a couple more of the easy ones and then headed to the single track. After we found the first one Tim made the astute decision that we should head back and get the three other running targets that are worth a lot more points. So we went as far as we could on the bikes found the first one then had to run to the next two. Tim was good enough to locate the barb wire so I got to avoid that. After about 20 minutes of jogging we found the other two and headed back to the bikes. Luckily they were still where we left them and we still had 15 minutes left. There were two easy bike targets left that I thought we could get to, so off we went. Picked up those and made it back to the finish with 3 or 4 minutes to spare.

whew, that was long, if you thought is was long reading this, you should have tried writing it.

Glen Eagles Challenge Long version: part 1

2010-04-26T06:56:00.006-04:00

My teammate requested that I do the long version, at first I was like, but he was there, shouldn't he know what happened? But then I remembered he is old and drinks bourbon so he may have already forgotten what happened, or that he was even there.

so for those masochists that want the really long version...

This is part 1

pre-race:
Race started at 10, so I planned to leave the house at 8 to get there at 8:45. Of course I woke up at 4:45 anyway, turned off the alarm that was set for 6 so it wouldn't wake up the wife and started to get ready. I checked the mandatory gear list one more time and found out we needed something to bail out the boat, just in case. So I cut an old gallon jug in half, as recommended on the race website, and added it to the list. Had everything else I needed so mixed up some gatorade and headed out the door. Arrived at the race site and called Tim to see where he was, due to no signal he couldn't hear me, but I could hear him fine. I yelled where are you? he said I can't hear you, I said Beam Me up scotty, he said "I can't here you all I heard was something like beam me up scotty, I said, see you can hear me, he said I can't hear you, talk to you when I get there. After unpacking a bit and checking on the bike I walked around soaking up the atmosphere and listening to some of the nervous conversations going on. Some notes for next time.
Bring an old card table to setup for map plotting and the canopy in case of rain. They said the race site opened at 8, get there at 8. They told us where the Transition area was going to be, get a map of the area and become familiar with it and look for any "paddle only areas" that might be included.
This race was on a peninsula that was about 4 miles long by 1 mile wide. That info was very important and overlooked by us. It's ok to soak up some atmosphere, but when there is 30 minutes before prerace brief, it's time to start concentrating on the race and what we are going to be doing. At 9:00 they did the prerace brief and we got the rules and what we could and could not do or go. Then we got the map with the first 11 points plotted and would get the rest at 9:55 with a start at 10.

Race Start:
We got the passport and started mapping coordinates. Should have brought the other tool to use as the one we got from the race was either not as good, or I just wasn't comfortable with it. I was making mistakes left and right, using the wrong lines, going the wrong direction, etc so I left it up to Tim and then I went back and double checked. Somehow we ended up with two different points for #17 but wouldn't realize it until much later. Looking back we got them all spot on, except of course for the 2nd #17.

Canoe:
The plan was to go to the furthest point, grab the high point value targets and work our way back. We have done that in the past, so it seemed logical to stick with this way. We never thought about carrying the canoe the 1 mile across the peninsula, at least not until the end when we saw other teams actually doing it. We ended up paddling close to 8 miles and we still didn't get all the paddle only targets. We were making really good time with the canoe, and we found all the targets we looked for in a reasonable amount of time so on that account we improved.
We had to carry the canoe about 100 yards or so done to the lake to put in and on the way one of the paddles fell out when it hit a tree. When we got there I told Tim, HIS paddle must of fallen out. He fell for it and went back to find it. Had some good shots of the nuclear plant on the way to our first 3 targets. Found them fairly quickly and were headed back. At this point we had paddled about 3+ miles and were 1:30 into the race, I was still having a hard time believing how far we had to go back to get to the TA. The next stop we were going to do some trekking. We parked at the very end of the peninsula and bushwhacked through some heavy stuff and our legs got nice and shredded here. ( once again looking at the map the next day we could have made a better decision as to where to dock, but such is life...) We met an older couple doing the race together who were either really confused, or trying to mess with us, they told us the target we were looking for was back 150 yards or so. They went on their way and we turned around and Tim spotted it about 20 yards the other way. We decided they were really confused. Next we split up a bit to look for the next target that should have been right around the corner. Ended up being a bit of a ways in. I spotted it and called for Tim. Not sure if I mentioned this yet, but Tim is old and can't hear very well, so I had to yell like 8 times at the top of my lungs before I finally heard him coming my way. Next time I should bring a bull horn ;-). Got the target, hit the trail and headed back to the boat. We had a bit of a cluster fuck here and we kept going out on the wrong mini peninsula, like 4 of them before we finally found our boat. We found a couple other racers canoes, resisted the urge to steal them, or push them out into the lake, and kept going. I broke out my PB&J sandwich, thanks dr. dre for the great idea, and ate it while paddling across the lake for the next two targets. The first one was right in the middle of some horrible smelling muck. There were plenty of frogs jumping around and I almost lost my shoe when it got stuck in a mud hole. The second one was easy as we saw a guy coming down from where it was, so Tim jumped out while I stayed in the boat and picked it up in no time. Now we needed to traverse back across the lake to get to the take out spot. We had given up on the last paddle target as it was past our put in spot and we were going on 6 miles now and our shoulders were on fire. We made it out without dumping our stuff in the water and carried the canoe back to the TA for some food, change of shoes and shirt and water. I sprayed some sunblock on my legs and holy shit did that hurt. Sunblock not so good on open cuts, I also noticed a blister forming on my left heal from running in my boat shoes with no socks, but too late to fix that now.

Part two will be coming soon...

Glen Eagles Challenge Race Report

2010-04-25T10:59:00.004-04:00

So much happened in this race I could probably write a book on it, but I'll try to just highlight the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good:
Overheard in transition before race, "Are you excited?" "YES!, and I'm scared to Death". I think its awesome when people are willing to face their fears and try something new.
We found all the targets we went after. This was one of Tim's goals since in the past we have been known to miss them even when right in front of our eyes.
I didn't run into any trees.
Had a blast getting completely muddy, scraped up, and exhausted.

The bad:
After looking at the map and with post race experience wish I could do it all over again in a different way. Of course that would require portage wheels for the canoe, or renting a two person kayak.
Annoying woman after the race at the pizza tent saying, "Oh there is a mushroom, I love me some veges on my pizza, I bet there is a ton of that one left since everyone else eats the meat." I said "Actually the mushroom is almost gone, it's really good" She just looked at me like, "don't ruin my superior attitude with you facts", and said nothing.

The Ugly: ( this is actually good too ).
Tim attempting to ride through a 3 ft deep mud puddle and getting stuck in the middle.
This conversation that took place at 5 hours into the race.
Me: "Do you want to bushwhack to the road that way?"
What Tim Heard: "Are you bushed?"
Tim: "Yeah, aren't you?"
what I heard: "yeah, let's do it"
Then a minute later...
Tim: "I thought you said "Are you bushed and I said yeah aren't you"
what I heard: "I thought you said Do you eat bush? and I said yeah, don't you"
ok, so you can see our brains were not working so well at that point.

That was a fun race and I would like to do more, but now is the time to focus on the ironman coming up in November so AR will have to wait till next year.

ps: I may get more motivated later to write up a more detailed race report if requested, but I am tired and sore today and it's time to veg in front of the tube.

So you've had a bad run.

2010-04-21T20:19:00.002-04:00

So you've had a bad run. What to do now? First thing is to look at it honestly and try to figure out why it was bad. Questions you can ask yourself are:
1. Are you injured, tired, or stressed?
2. Was there something on your mind that distracted you?
3. How was the weather?
4. Could you be over trained?
If the answers to these questions don't give you the answer, it could just be that it wasn't your day. Don't beat yourself up about it. If you can identify what it was that caused it to be bad, write it down so you remember not to repeat it. If not, just acknowledge that it was a bad run, log it, file it, record it however you want and get on with your life. You shouldn't hang on to the bad ones just like you can't hold on to the good ones. Each workout will be different and its own experience. Don't deny it and pretend like it didn't happen, learn what you can from it and move on. To help, think about what you tell a good friend and try to change your “self talk” to be like that. You want to be honest so you can learn and grow, but not so negative that it will ruin your day or next workout. We tend to be so critical of ourselves and say and think thinks about ourselves that we would never even consider saying to a friend.

Triangle Ortho Sprint Tri Race Report

2010-04-18T16:58:00.003-04:00

So first the short version for those with short attention spans.
Had an awesome day. Finally had good days in all 5 legs. When final results and official splits are posted, I will post them at the end of this blog, but for now I will give the splits on my watch.

Swim: 13:29
T1: 2:49
Bike: 33:01
T2: 1:11
Run: 26:14
Total: 1:16:44

So on to the long version.
I did this race two years ago and my time was 1:22:46. I didn't check my old times before the race, or read the race report like I normally do for repeat races. I remembered it well enough so I didn't think I needed to, and fortunately I didn't.
I had an excellent prerace brick yesterday and was feeling really psyched up for this race. Went to bed around 10, luckily I had a really busy day so sleep came quickly.
Woke up at 4am, but since this was a local race and I had packed up the car last night I didn't need to rush. I wanted to eat breakfast at 5, so I could leave at 6 to get there in time for a good spot. Got in the car and cranked up the heavy metal from the 80's. Got there in plenty of time, claimed my spot on the rack, got my chip and body marking done, used the port o john's before the crowd and had time to chit chat before heading out for a warmup jog.

Swim: 13:29 - this was a time trial start for an open water swim. the lake isn't big enough to handle a mass wave, so we started 1 person every 5 seconds. I like this better than a pool because there are no walls and you don't get the scrum at the beginning. After last weeks debacle I was mentally prepared for this week and did not go out too fast. Instead I felt smooth and steady from the start. I sited often and swam a good straight line. With 200 yards to go I started kicking really hard. There is a big hill that we have to run up to get to the transition area so I wanted the legs ready. Took 1 minute off my time from 2 years ago.

T1: 2:49 - legs were good on the hill and I was able to get the wetsuit off most of the way and actually ran the whole way to the bike. Once there I took at quick drink, got the suit off shoes on, helmet, glasses and away we go.

Bike: 33:01 - still recovering from the swim and now it's time to go hard on the bike. After about two miles there was a really long uphill. I passed about 5 people on this hill. In fact for the whole bike I think I passed about 15, and got passed by only 2. There was a lot of pain on this course, but I really wanted to get as close to 20 mph average as possible. I was on track until that last really long hill. I think I ended at just under, but that included the run to and from the bike rack. I'll count that as a win.

T2: 1:11 - my only goal here was to not forget my race number. So mission accomplished. No rest here either. Get it done and get going.

Run: 26:14 - After about 1/4 mile of nice downhill and flat the course started going up. and it kept going up for about a mile. I was running hard and hoping to get close to an 8:30 average pace, so when I saw 9 minutes at the 1 mile mark I wasn't happy, but I knew that mile 3 was mostly downhill and I just needed to hang on until the downhill starts. When we finally got to the downhill part, around 1.5, I really wanted to take it easy and recover, but I also wanted to break 27 for this run and that 9 minute first mile told me to get the lead out, so no rest and hit mile 2 in 17:23, that felt much better, but I still needed to hammer out mile 3 because I knew there was a 1/4 mile uphill at the end right before the finish. When I hit the hill, I still had enough to power up it and cross mile 3 at 25:40, then finished off the run with all I had left. Not quite a sprint, but it was close.

So finally I managed to put it all together and have a really good race. Made my goal times for all 3 sports and the total time.

Next up is the Glen Eagles challenge 6 hour adventure race on Saturday. Then another good training block before a sprint and my A race Oly tri in June.

**************************************************************************
Official Results Posted.
Age Group out of 19
total/rank/time - swim r/t - T1 - Bike r/t - t2 - Run rank/time
5/1:16:44.5 2/13:30 5/2:51 4/32:58 8/1:14 11/26:14
Overall Male out of 152
46 32 46 33 80 92

The Pre-Race Brick workout

2010-04-17T08:20:00.002-04:00

This is my favorite workout of all. The idea is to shake the taper out of your legs and get them ready for your race the next day, but to not deplete them or tire them out. So for me it goes like this.
out and back on bike for 8-10 miles - going out is warmup - them coming back you hammer at race pace.
transition - the faster the better, don't lolly gag.
Run - take off and get into race pace mode as fast as possible, then relax into the pace. Usually takes about 1 mile.
Cool down - think about what you want to accomplish in each stage of the race tomorrow and for the whole race.

Today's went like this for me.

Headed out on the bike feeling a bit cold, told myself to shake it off I'll warmup soon enough. warmed up after about 3 miles and started thinking about past mistakes I've made in races and remembering not to do those. Hit the turn around at about 15-16 minutes. After turn around started hammering the pedals and got into a good pedal stroke. Breathing caught up just in time for the first hill and I powered up without issue, after recovering got back into hammer mode until I felt the acid burn begin then backed off just a bit. Wanted to feel it just a little but not too much. Got back home in 27 minutes and was flying high on the endorphins. Transitioned in garage and driveway for 1 minute, then headed out for the 1 mile loop. Immediately fell into good running form and at the half way mark, legs had transitioned into running legs from cycling legs. Only 1 hill on second half of run so I pushed up it and really enjoyed the downhill finish. Was slightly faster than my goal race pace, did an 8:07 mile, goal is 8:15, so I was extremely happy.
Goals for tomorrow -
whole race - put it all together
swim - 3 S's - smooth, steady, site
t1 - resist temptation to put on warm clothes
bike - hammer time - the whole way
t2 - don't forget your race number
run - stay strong and remember the final .25 is all uphill

1st try of the season is tomorrow.
I AM SO READY!

The #i8this challenge part deux

2010-04-16T06:37:00.002-04:00

So after much thought I have finally decided on what I will do for the next #i8this challenge on twitter. I've analyzed my eating/drinking habits and decided the best place for improvement would be my between meal snacks. Most of the time I eat fruit as my snack, but occasionally I will eat candy or chips. So for the next two weeks I will concentrate on eating only healthy food in between meals and will try to mix in a protein with it. Need to add nuts, pumpkin seeds and nutella to the shopping list so I can mix with the fruits.

For more info on the #i8this challenge, and how to join in go here http://holisticguru.blogspot.com/

5280 1 mile open water swim race report

2010-04-13T07:11:00.003-04:00

Let's just say I'm very happy I did this race before my first triathlon of the year. The night before I wasn't nervous at all, I think normally the swim is my best leg of the tri and since the bike I was planning to do after was just for fun there was really no pressure. Of course when morning came the nerves arrived. The first part of the day went ok. I packed up the car and made sure I had everything I would need, I even brought an extra swim cap in case they didn't have any. At the last minute I remembered that I probably I would need a towel.
Arrived at the race site 45 minutes before the start, picked up my race packet and chip and started to get ready. The swim cap they gave out was white and had our numbers on it. By coincidence the spare cap I brought was also white. There also was not an official transition area to layout stuff or to leave it while racing. So I found a bench and began to get ready. This is when the fun begins.
First I put on my wetsuit. This is a new wetsuit and I do remember trying it on when I got it and thought it fit well. Today, for some reason it seemed a bit long. So when I went to put on my chip, there was no where on my ankle for it to fit. In hindsight I should have put it on under the wetsuit leg, but instead I put it on over the wetsuit. I had just got the wetsuit on and they were calling the swimmers done to get a pre-race briefing. I grabbed my goggles and white swim cap and headed down, listened to the speech and jumped in for a warmup swim. Before I knew it they were calling us out for the start.
The start went really well, I managed to get to a spot that was not that crowded, but I could still reach the bottom so I didn't have to tread water. As soon as the gun went off the initial sprint was under way. After about 200 yards I noticed there was a large group out in front of me. I was probably doing my 100 pace and was starting to feel the burn but thought I might be able to hang on to someones feet. Big mistake, at around 500 I was starting to hyperventilate and a little panic crept in. In all the races I've done this has never happened before so it was a new experience, but not a good one. I knew I needed to slow down and recover and get into a rhythm, but I didn't want to lose my position, so I gradually let off the gas until I could breath better, but I think by that time it was too late and the lactic acid buildup was well under way. After the turn buoy I started feeling better, but people were passing me and I couldn't hang on anymore, so I tried to stay on their feet as long as possible and then when they were gone, get back into my steady speed. Finally we got to the end and I started kicking to get the blood flowing through the legs again and got out and ran over the mat.
Somewhere in my head I thought, I didn't hear a beep. oh well no big deal. I then notice the official timers looking at me funny, I figured it was my unique hair do from taking off my swim cap. I looked at my watch and it was still running, I had hit the wrong button getting out and I had started it about 15 seconds early so when I finally got the timer to stop it was 30:10, I figured it would end up being around 29:45 and that made me happy as I was hoping for under 30 and with my blow up at the beginning I figured that was really good. I waited a few minutes and two friends came out and we started talking, at this point one of the time keepers came up to them and took their timing chips. At that point I thought, "did they get my chip" I looked down and it wasn't there, and I don't remember them taking mine off. Great, that meant I lost my chip somewhere in the lake, but I thought the timekeepers would get my number off the cap and I would just show up on the results late.
After we changed from swimming I headed out with one friend to ride the bike course for the tri that was going on in conjunction with the swim. It was a tough bike course with a lot of hills, but the weather was perfect so I was thinking I would have liked to have done the whole thing.
When I got home and was unpacking my bag I took out my cap and noticed that the cap they gave me was bone dry and my spare cap was soaking wet. That's when I remembered the stares I was getting from the timers. No chip, wrong cap, he must be a bandit. This all means I won't be getting an official time for this race, but at least I learned a ton of things not to do and hope that all the screw ups will be done for the year.
Next race is the triangle ortho sprint tri coming up on 4/18 - so ready for the tri season to the begin. It's been a long time and I'm anxious to put my new running legs to the test.

Some people think I'm crazy

2010-03-30T09:05:00.002-04:00

When I tell people how much I love the track, they look at me, or type at me, like I am insane. But for me it's the best place to learn how to deal with the pain I can experience in a race. If you let the pain in, make it your bitch, you can use it on race day. When you are in your final mile of a race and a PR is within reach, or you want to catch that runner just ahead with your age on their calf, don't be afraid to let it in, use it and just go for it. Yes the track hurts, if you do it right, it's supposed to hurt, but the reward is confidence that you can overcome it. Where do you find your pain to overcome?

Cary Long Course Duathlon Race Report

2010-03-22T20:07:00.002-04:00

This was a 5 mile run / 31 mile bike / 5 mile run.
So leading up to this race did not go so well. I got a cold which turned into a sinus infection which I let go too long and thus took too long to recover. But I must say I started feeling close to 100% about 2 days before the race and on race morning I felt back to normal. I has originally hoped to break 3:15 for this race, but after being sick for 2 weeks I thought I should be happy if I broke 3:20.
Race morning the nerves were in high gear. The race didn't start until 9AM which meant more time to sit around and be nervous. I packed up everything and ate breakfast, then finally headed out around 7. Arrived at the site and it was cold, in the 40's. All I had to race in was a short sleeve shirt and my tri shorts. I saw a ton of people getting tights and arm warmers ready and wondered if I was missing something, but no time to worry about that, I had none of that available. I got to meet a fellow tweeter @triblogcarol who had gashed her head on her door and was told by medical that she would need stitches, but decided to do the race anyway.

Run1: 43:40 8:45 / mile. I was planning to run this at 9 min pace, but everyone went out fast and hard and it was all I could do to hang back. I think I was one of the last people in to transition and the results say I was 99 out of 102. Felt good on this run and ended up liking the course more than I expected. It was a loop with an out and back attached. It allowed for 4 water stops which would be very helpful on the second run which would be about 70 degrees.

Bike: 1:39:21 - 18.8 mph ave speed. I was once again planning to stay conservative on the bike and was shooting for 18 mph. I felt so good going out I just coasted the downhills and tried not to redline on the hills. I loved this bike course and we had favorable winds so it went by quickly. When I got to 3 miles to go I sat up and took it easy so I could get ready for the swim. I had taken 20 oz of Gatorade endurance and 20 oz of Regular gatorade and got a water bottle at the hand off so I had about 50 oz of fluid on the bike. Didn't realize until later when I saw my helmet how much I sweated on the bike, but felt like I had replaced enough and would be ok on the second run.

Run2: 50:15 - 10:04 pace. It was close to 70 degrees when we started but I was feeling good and I was ahead of my schedule. I only had to do a 49 minute 5 mile run and I could get my goal of breaking 3:15. Got about 1 mile into the run and I felt some cramps starting in my quads. I decided not to push to hard and just to concentrate on form and hope to hold off the cramps. I tool head and water at each stop, but they didn't have anything with salt so I was a bit worried. I did the first loop in 23 minutes and energy wise I was feeling great. I had two gels on the bike with the last on in transition. The second loop was not nearly as good as the first. When I hit the first downhill my quads were not happy, then going up the first uphill my hamstrings started to cramp so I slowed and walked up. Once at the top I was able to run again and made it to the water stop. Grabbed water and started to jog again. When I got to the final turn around I was at 3 hours even. That meant I had 15 minutes to do the final 1.25 miles. This had me all happy and I was encouraging all the other runners on the course and having a great time. Got the the water stop and was thanking the girls for doing such a great job and staying out there so long. Did a short walk then started running again. It was a short jog then made a sharp left turn and that was it. My left hamstring cramped so bad I thought my leg was going to break. Usually I can walk those out, but there was no walking this time. The only thing I could do was bend over and stretch it out. stayed like that till the pain went away and tried to stand up, as soon as I got close the cramp came right back. 1 minute later I finally could stand and tried to walk, but as soon as I bent my knee, boom cramp came back and I was bent over again. After about three minutes I got to the point were I could walk. I walked for a minute and then started jogging. Amazingly I felt ok again. no cramps. I ran the whole way back except for the really steep hill just before the last water stop. Since I didn't think I could make the 3:15 anymore I didn't think it was worth trying to run it. Once at the top I was able to run it in and finish. Of course right at the finish line my left quad cramped up and I limped across the line.

Overall I felt it was a good race, FSSeries did a good job. The bike course was just awesome. I still need to figure out the cramping deal in my hamstrings. I guess I will have to experiment with salt tabs or endurolytes coming up so I can crank out a 10k at the olympic tri in June without cramping.

I know I should be happy with the 3:16 since it was better than the 3:20 I expected, but knowing how close I was to a 3:13 makes it bittersweet.

Looking forward now to the triangle orthopedic sprint tri coming up in April and the Adventure race the week after that. Race season is in full gear.

Cary Distance Festival 10k Race Report

2010-03-06T12:47:00.002-05:00

It's been so long since I've done a race report I wonder if I will remember how.

Total Time: 53:29 - Official Time: 53:34
Average pace 8:36/8:37

I've had a cold all week so I wasn't expecting much but it ended up surpassing my expectations. I originally wanted to break 53, but after I got this cold on Tuesday I adjusted that to just getting a pr. My old PR was 55:56 from 2004 so I thought even with the cold I could get that. My coach sends me an email and says are going to go out at 8:45 - 9:00 minute pace and then speed up as you get into it? This is code for you should go out at 8:45 - 9:00 minute pace and speed up as you get into it. I replied with I was planning to go out at 8:45. she replies with "that's what I was thinking but I know you don't like to go out too fast". That almost knocked me on the floor as I always like to go out fast and hang on the best I can, but since I took her on as my coach she has changed me into a negative split person.

So race morning I get up, feeling better, but still my head is congested, so I take my last real sudafed and start getting ready. Get to the race site and it's 35 degrees, but the sun is out and just a light breeze so things are looking good. Do my warmup and adjust my clothing options based on how I feel after the warmup and am ready to go.

Mile 1: 8:16 - When I saw this number I burst out laughing due to the convo I just had with my coach. I was following some people that wanted to run 8:45 and I was passed by some talking about how they wanted to run 8:15, and I felt really good at this point so I was thinking I was probably going to be around 9.

Mile 2: 8:49 - 17:06 - If I was healthy, I would have tried to keep the pace around 8:30, but I decided to dial it back to 8:50 just to be safe and it was working out well as I wasn't really stressed and feeling pretty good. I was trying to socialize with people and have fun, but most were breathing too hard to talk so I just kept on going.

Mile 3: 8:42 - 25:49 - Another good mile, I was passed by a bunch of people that I passed in mile 1 but just let them go, I wanted to stay on pace for a 54 something time and was feeling good. I tried to be nice to one lady who was pushing a double baby jogger, but she just looked at me like I was bugging her as she passed me on the downhills and I passed her back going up. So I gave up on that and passed her for good on this mile. my 5k split was 26:40 which meant a 53:20 finish if I could match the first half and that gave me a lift.

Mile 4: 8:48 - 34:37 - This was a hard mile, the last half was uphill, but I could see some of the people that passed me early on and now we were seeing some of the 5k runners and the 10k leaders on their way back. I saw my coach here and she was leading the women's race by about 30 seconds so I gave her a good yell, but not too good or she would think I wasn't trying hard enough.

Mile 5: 8:41 - 43:19 - Had a tough stretch on this one as well at the turn around, but I caught one of the guys here that passed me in mile 2 and had been just up ahead. Talked with him a bit before leaving him on the next hill. Legs were really feeling good, but everytime we went up hill I had to cough more so I wasn't ready to push it yet.

Mile 6.2: 10:10 - 53:29 ( 8:28 pace for this split ) Other than the big hill at the end of this mile I felt great. I passed about 5 people and at each sign I knew it was getting closer. When I got to half mile to go sign I was at 49 something so I knew my 54 was in the bag. This gave me just enough energy to get up that last hill and fortunately there was a .2 mile downhill to the finish to recover so we didn't look like death at the finish line.

This was a great race for me and I know I can get a 52 something 10k, but that will have to wait as triathlon season is almost here.

Next race March 20, Cary long course duathlon
5 mile run / 31 mile bike / 5 mile run

Biggest Loser, why the over drama?

2010-03-05T19:28:00.003-05:00

I've been watching the Biggest Loser this year and as usual they have been over dramatizing every thing. Luckily I am DVR'ing it so I can take the 2 hour show and watch it in only 1 hour. My biggest problem with the show is that they over dramatize everything, I like the show because of what the contestants do to lose the weight and change their lives, I could do with less of the oh my god drama they try to interject. Case in point, last weeks temptation challenge. The winner of the challenge ate about 2000 calories of junk food and everyone was freakin out, but lets look at the numbers and see how bad it really was. They have been driving it into our heads that 3500 calories = one lb of weight so he ate enough food at one meal to put on 2/3 of a lb not really a big deal when you look at his overall weight and calories out vs. calories in. His current weight was 442 lbs. In order to maintain that weight without exercise he needs to eat about 4560 calories per day. So he ate about 1/2 of his maintain calories in one meal of one day out of 7. At the end of the week he had an 11 lb weight loss. a quick calculation

11 lbs x 3500 cals = 38500 cal defecit = 5500 / day

so for the week he burnt 38500 calories more than he ate or 5500 per day.
Also lets look at his weight and how fast he burns calories

at 442 lbs he burns about 1000 cal / hour doing strenuous exercise, so at the ranch their job is to exercise so if he does 8 hours of exercise that equals 8000 calories more per day, add that to his 4560 calories for maintain and subtract the overlap
8000 + 4560 - 1520 = 11020 plus or minus calories he can eat per day to maintain his weight, now subtract the 5500 / day he needs to get his 11 lb weight loss and you get 5540 that he ate per day.
So really why all the drama? He at half his calories as junk food one day out of 7 and all he really needed to do was exercise an extra 20 minutes each day to burn that off, and when you consider the reward of being able to pick the teams, I think all the contestants that didn't do the challenge were the dumb ones.

Of course his picking of the teams was another source of drama and while I agree that the teams are uneven as far as strength challenges go, not so with the weigh ins. Once again the lighter team has less lbs to lose to get the same percentage. They went over the top about how the big team was going to kill the small team and its true, they lost more weight, but as we saw the percentage was in favor of the smaller team. In the beginning this would have been a worse for the small team, but after 6 weeks the huge numbers have all come down and we aren't seeing the double digits like we used to because their bodies have adapted. If Michael was smart he would have put himself on the small team, since he still has the most excess to lose his big number combined with the smaller teams less percentage need would have been a better fit.

So really biggest loser, why all the drama over nothing?

Birthday Triathlon

2010-03-04T11:39:00.002-05:00

On Monday March 1st, I turned 42 and decided that this year I would do a birthday triathlon. All distances/times had to relate to 42 so the plan was to do a 42 lap swim in the AM, a 42 minute mountain bike at lunch, then go to the nOg run club after work for a 4.2 mile run. Sunday I woke up and was not feeling 100% and I had a sub-par run on Saturday. I thought it was just part of the normal cycle of good/not so good workouts and went out in the 29 degree weather for a 2+ hour bike ride. It wasn't the best workout but it wasn't bad either. The rest of the day however should have clued me in to the fact that I was coming down with a cold.
Woke up Monday morning, still not feeling that great, had a bit of a sore throat, but it went away after I got up and ate breakfast. Spent some time getting ready for the 3 workout plus work day and headed off to the pool to swim.
The swim went well, I had a appointment to get my swim stoke videotaped so I could analyze it later. The video came out good, but still waiting on the analysis part. Finished off my laps and headed to work.
Decided to take a half day so I could drop off my tri bike for a quick checkup and ride the mtn bike, then drop that one off at the other bike shop for it's one year checkup.
I really wanted to ride single track, but the trails were closed due to wet trails so I had to just ride the fire trails and greenways for an easy 42 minute spin. I could tell my legs were not all that great and my energy level still a bit off, but really it wasn't that bad so the night run was still on.
After some patience testing at Sam's club trying to get my tires rotated I picked up the girl from school then dropped her off at gymnastics and headed to the bar to get ready for the run.
The run went really well, we ran a nice comfortable 10:30 pace and I was able to socialize with everyone along the way and really enjoyed running in downtown Raleigh. Luckily the lights were with us and allowed the group to stay together the whole way until the last 1/4 mile or so when the impatient went off the front, but everyone made it back to the bar and in good spirits. I felt really good the whole time on the run and after so my fears about getting sick were starting to abate. Unfortunately I am sick now, but I think that had more to do with the track workout on tuesday in the cold/wind but that is another story.
Had such a good time at the nOg run with the group that I think I am going to make it a yearly tradition on my birthday week. Thanks to everyone who came out and see you again next year.

February Recap

2010-03-04T09:10:00.002-05:00

February just flew by with a ton of crappy weather to workout in, but I seem to have acclimated to it and was able to get all my important workouts in and most of the other ones as well. So far I have been doing really well with my number one goal of consistency and following the plan. Let's take a look at the numbers.
Minutes Miles
swimming 281 10.60
biking 842 233.00
running 659 63.00

Total 29.70 hours 307 miles

First thing I noticed is these numbers are about the same as last month with 3 less days, and that I am averaging a little over an hour / day including off days, and this does not include the other workouts I've been doing like yoga, core and resistance. So all in all Feb was a good month.
Highlights
- Took 2 seconds off my 100 pace on my swim test workout.
- Got to finally get back to the track for a couple workouts.
- Loving my new tri bike, feel so much more comfortable and confident on it.
Lowlights
- too much crappy wet weather
- starting coming down with a cold on the 28th

looking forward I have two races coming up in March.
First is the Cary Distance Festival 10k on the 6th. Really hoping to get a PR on this one, but since I am nursing this horrible cold, not sure what is going to happen. The first big test will come on the 20th when I have the Cary Long Course Duathlon, it's a 5 mile run, 31 mile bike, 5 mile run and will give me a better idea of how my training is progressing and my current bike fitness.

One day this month it finally hit me that I am going to do an ironman in November. I think before this point it was just a possibility, and now its more of a reality. Before when I thought about it, it was more of a yes, I want to do one, and now when I think about it I get that nervous butterfly feeling in my gut. Can't remember when it was that I last had that feeling of excitement and fear at the same time.

Bring it on!

Hornet Juice Trial

2010-02-14T16:37:00.002-05:00

One morning I noticed that @hornetjuice was following me on twitter and I remember hearing something about it on a couple of podcasts I listen to but kept forgetting to follow up on it. I went to their website and while I was sceptically it did peak my interest and the $9 (free shipping) 4 pack trial offer was in my price range so I ordered it. The people at hornet juice have their twitter stuff together. When I started following them, I got a DM from them fairly quickly and they said if I had any questions to DM them back. I did and they were very responsive. So far I haven't even tried the product but already really like the company.
The package arrived Monday morning and I formulated my plan to try it out. The first test was my Thursday morning run. I had an 8 miler at comfortable pace and I planned a hilly route. The package said take 30 minutes before on an empty stomach or with light carbs. I got up at 5 and ate my normal breakfast ( minus the protein ) at 5:30. Headed to work at 6:30 and drank the juice on the way for a 7:10 start. I have a notoriously picky stomach in the morning so I didn't want to wait for the weekend to see what it would do to me, but I had no issues what so ever with it. I had even forgotten I had taken it until I got to mile 6 and noticed how good I was feeling. Two miles and some rolling hills later I was done and happy. Test number one passed with flying colors.
next up was the weekend. DM'd HJ and told them I had a 30/3 brick on Saturday and a 40 mile bike on Sunday and asked if it would be better to take 1 Saturday and 1 recovery after the brick then 1 Sunday, or 1 Saturday and 2 Sunday. They answered quickly that 1 Saturday and 2 Sunday would be better and so that was the plan. Unfortunately we got snow again on Friday night so riding on the roads was out. The new plan was 1:30 on the bike trainer, followed by a 3 mile hilly and hard run out in the snow. Didn't really notice anything on the bike, but really on the trainer I wouldn't expect it. When my time was done I jumped off and changed into some warmer clothes and headed out. I had to leave in 30 minutes to take the girl to ballet with the 4wd in the snow so I really needed to go fast. I love running in the snow, and started after being all warmed up just made it so much better. I decided early on I would do the loop the hard way and really push it to see how it went. When I got to the top of the long ass hill at the end of mile two I thought I must be dreaming. I was running a quicker pace then I do when running it the easy way and I felt like it was easy. Day 3 was supposed to be 40 miles on the bike outside, but it was valentines day so I had to get it done early or risk the wrath of my wife and daughter and since it was in the 20's with snow from yesterday on the ground, going outside was not an option. I had planned to do 2 hours on the trainer. This time I took the juice 5 minutes before starting to see if I could handle the transition. One thing I noticed this time was I started feeling the effects at close to an hour into it after my first gel pack. When I got to the 1:45 mark I was feeling strong so i through in some standing climb efforts till the 2 hour mark. I was very happy with the results and rode an extra 15 minutes to boot.
I am very happy with the results of my hornet juice test and am going to order a bigger lot this time and try it out in my two upcoming races in March. From what I have seen on the internet, it doesn't work for everyone, so don't blame me if it doesn't for you, but I think it's worth the money to try it out and they will refund your unused portions if you don't like it. What do you have to lose?

One down 9 to go

2010-02-01T09:04:00.002-05:00

So the 1st official month of ironman training is in the books. I'm not really training specifically for the ironman at this time, but it is the focus of the year so it will always be on the radar. let's take a look at the numbers to see how it went.
Totals Sport Time ( Minutes ) Miles
Swimming 289 10.48
Biking 892 224.20
Running 624 63.75
Total time Total mileage
30 hrs 298

If I break down by weeks it looks like this
Weekly Totals Sport Time Miles Total time Total mileage
12/28/09 Swim 30.00 1.00 316.00 44.80
Biking 90.00 24.30
Running 196.00 19.50
1/4/10 Swim 60.00 2.35 397.00 65.55
Biking 197.00 49.00
Running 140.00 14.20
1/11/10 Swim 77.00 2.83 402.00 63.08
Biking 198.00 46.70
Running 127.00 13.55
1/18/10 Swim 74.00 2.60 446.00 76.80
Biking 227.00 59.70
Running 145.00 14.50
1/25/10 Swim 78.00 2.70 380.00 59.70
Biking 180.00 44.50
Running 122.00 12.50

The week totals a bit higher than the month since I had a few workouts in December mixed in, but it looks like a good 4 week build, followed by a nice recovery week at the end.
My biggest goal this year is consistency and I hit every workout on the schedule. Obviously due to weather they weren't exactly what was written, but close enough. It was a tough month coming off an easy December. I usually only do 3 week before a recovery week, but since I didn't really do anything in Dec after the 1/2 marathon on the 4th I figured I could go 4. That last week was really tough and I was exhausted on several nights. But after this recovery week at the end I am back to my normal self.
All in all a good month for me. Hope to carry that forward to November. Looking ahead to February, the schedule looks good, increasing bike mileage is my focus to get ready for the long course duathlon I have on March 20 and some run speed for the 10k on March 6th.

Running in the snow

2010-02-01T08:48:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I had a 7 mile comfortable run on my schedule. Friday night we got 4 inches of snow, which in NC means everything shuts down. So my 25 mile bike on the roads turned into 75 minutes on the bike trainer, and after 45 minutes on the bike trainer on Friday, that did not make my butt happy at all. But enough of that and on to the fun stuff.
I was a little nervous about the run, I had dug out my cross country shoes with the spikes in them but still I thought the 18 degrees would make for some very slippery roads. The plan was to warm-up inside on the treadmill for 2 miles, then head out onto the frozen tundra of a neighborhood for a 5k loop then do the last 2 on the mill. Since I really don't like the treadmill I was thinking this would be a good way to get in my miles and not go crazy. I can handle 40 minutes on the treadmill and if you break it into 2 sessions all the better.
The first 20 on the mill went by fairly quick, I had broken out into a sweat so I changed into a dry shirt and then started to layer up for the cold. 2 pairs of socks, tights and wind-blocking run pants, a long sleeve run shirt, my heavy ass nike fleece with the hood, ear warmers, and my thick gloves. By the time I was done I must have weighed a good 10 lbs more. Luckily the xc shoes were are really light and probably the pair weighs less than 1 of my normal shoes.
I head out the door really warm from the run and getting dressed, I think, hey it's not that bad. A thin layer of snow had fallen last night and was covering the ice so my shoes were gripping really well. I started off at a nice easy conservative pace and was feeling awesome. Before I knew it I felt like I was running really fast. When I hit the long ass hill I went right up, no problem. I got to the 1/2 mile to go mark at 23 minutes, I usually do this route in 30 and it looked like I was on pace for a 27 something, I was going fast, but it felt so good. I instantly made the decision to stay out for 2 more miles so I wouldn't have to get back on the treadmill when I got home. Ran out to the main road to see how it was fairing with the weather and ran over to my buddy Erin's neighborhood. Cruised by her house and waved hello, no one was up, but I waved anyway :-). Then headed home. It was 9am and I only saw 2 cars, and 1 guy walking his dog for the whole 5 miles. It was really peaceful, the smell of wood burning in fireplaces was a around and everything was a clean white. Finished off the 5 miles in 46 minutes and was on such a high I ran into the house and dragged the girls out of bed to do some sledding.
Perfect way to end the recovery week! need more snow days :-)

are these my legs

2010-01-19T19:27:00.004-05:00

One of the things about living in North Carolina is the winters are just crazy. One week you are running in two pairs of socks, winter tights, three layers on top, gloves and a hat, the next shorts and a t shirt. Today was a shorts and t-shirt day. It was 50 something degrees when I headed out and it felt hot. I had a 5 mile run with the last two miles at 9 min pace, ending at the track, and then doing 6x strides. About a mile into my run I was thinking about how easy this felt and that I must be going at a slow pace, but then I passed the 2 mile mark and saw I was right at 10 min pace. I tried to slow down in anticipation of the long uphill to come, but it just felt too good. I realized I was experiencing the elusive runner's high. It's been a while so I wasn't as quick to recognize it, but once I did I intended to enjoy it. When I got to the hill and started up, I got into a good rhythm and noticed I was still feeling good, half way up the hill was the mile 3 mark and the start of my 9 min pace. When I got there I checked and had done my 3 miles in 30:16 and it felt awesome. I had a third of a mile more up to go, then a nice downhill before the final rolling mile. I picked up the pace up the hill, then really started going on the downhill and did mile 4 in 8:30, when I hit the short and steep hill I pushed up and all I could think was, are these my legs? But I'm not one to look a gift great run in the mouth and just kept going, finished off the last mile in 8:45 and hit the track for some speed. Best run I've had this year.

Not much going here...

2010-01-17T17:39:00.003-05:00

So it's been three weeks now since I've started my training for the year. I have yet to be inspired with anything to write about. I have been updating the mileage chart on the blog almost daily and the amounts are starting to climb. I have a whole complicated spreadsheet setup to calculate all kinds of things and am looking forward to the numbers coming in. It is the base mileage time and that usually means boring slow build up of the miles so the body can handle the intensity later. I've also updated my race list with my final list of races for the year. Yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it... but as long as I make the last one that's all that matters. I am getting excited for my first race in March. I have a love/hate relationship with the 10k and haven't done one in a couple years and with my new found running speed last year am looking forward to a new PR. My last 10k was the inside out classic hill-a-thon on Weston highway in March of 08, but my PR is 55:51 back in 2004. Based on my 8k time from November, I should be able to do around 52, so I'm hoping for the best.

and so it begins...

2009-12-30T07:59:00.003-05:00

318 days until the beach to battleship iron distance event. The fact that it's not called an ironman is one of the reasons I am doing the event. It's not a branded event, and thus I don't have to commit to it a year in advance, it won't sell out in 1 day, won't cost an arm and a leg, and won't be filled with 2000 people. I won't go into all the details about how much I dislike what is going on with the leadership at usa tri and how they are trying to get triathlon to be a more mainstream sport and ruin it like the NFL ruined football by making it more about the money and less about the sport. The owners of the ironman brand have been doing a great job of that for a while now and I don't see an end with their events selling out so fast even though the fees are going up and the quality going down people are still flocking to it. That at least is a good thing.
With my daughter turning 7 next year I suspect this will be my last chance for the next 10 or so years that I will be able to selfishly put in the hours to train for an ironman so it's now or wait and since you really never know what is going to happen I am going to do it now. I'll be tracking all my training miles on the blog and hope to update it regularly. Even though my training for this really started over 10 years ago, this years training started today with an easy 1 mile swim.

2009 Recap

2009-12-12T06:47:00.002-05:00

I started off the year with a goal to complete the national marathon in March. I had been training since November, doing long runs in the cold, rain, snow, cold rain, you name it I ran it in over the winter. I had logged a couple runs ~20 when I started my taper and my right hip started acting up. Well it had been acting up for some time, but now it was affecting my running and a quick trip to the ortho yielded a cortisone shot and 4 weeks no running. So there went the marathon and first half of the year...

After recovering from the hip problem, I had an awesome sprint tri at white lake in May, I was in third for master Clydesdales until getting passed by 2 guys in the final quarter mile. I stayed with the second guy that passed me and he just got me at the line. After that I knew it was time to work on run speed. At the end of may I decided to do the woodlake sprint tri again. I had a great race there last year and was looking forward to an even better race this year. The race was going great until the run when the dreaded stomach issues hit, but at least I finished...

Well at least the 2nd half of the year was amazing.

July 4th I did a 5k in Virginia and got a new PR on a tough hilly course.
September came and I got 2 new PR's. Did a 1 mile run in 7:06 and a 10 mile run in 1:28:07. Never had done either of those distances, so the PR is not as important, but still very good times for me.
In October I had two more 5k's and got two new PR's. The first 5k was a bit of a let down as I really wanted to break 25 at this race, but fell a bit short. But the 2nd one the weather was very friendly and I blew away the 25 mark by 20 seconds.
Next up the Thanksgiving day 8k. I've done this race the past 3 years and each year have taken 2 minutes off my time. This year was no different and a new 8k PR was born.
I decided that since I was running so well I should do a half marathon and go for a PR in that too. On to December and the Mistletoe half marathon. 30 degree temps and rain. Broke 2 hours for the first time ever and a 12 minute PR.
that just leaves my 10k PR waiting to be broken, Looks like it will have to wait until March. For now it's time to relax till January and just have fun.
So while the first half of the was not looking good, a little goal adjustment and some consistency saved the year.

Entitled

2009-12-10T07:47:00.002-05:00

I just have to get this off my chest. I want to write up my year recap, but this is really buggin me so it has to come first so I can move on with my life. Last Saturday 12/5/09 I did the mistletoe half marathon in Winston-Salem NC. After the race I got an email from active.com asking me to go rate the event, I waited a few days and decided to go out and write some comments. I followed the link to here http://www.active.com/running/winston-salem-nc/mistletoe-5k-and-half-marathon-2009 and read some of the comments. Most were positive, but I was surprised with the number of people wanting the race to be chip timed. The half marathon had about 800 finishers and the 5k had about 900. I was surprised at the turnout considering how bad the weather was, but also impressed that so many would show up even in those conditions. The chip time is not used for rankings or for official times but in larger races where it takes a long time to get to the start it is a nice benefit. I started mid pack of the half and it took me 2 seconds to get over the start line. We were able to use the whole road since we didn't have to be crammed into a start corral to make sure we went over a mat to start our chip time. I'm not sure of the actual dollar amount, but chip time also increases the cost to run a race. While that bothered me slightly it wasn't really what set me off. After I left my comments another runner 'lady Runner 1959' left hers and that is what got me down this path. She gave the race 2 stars out of 5 and complained about everything. The post race party, the music was too loud, the food was too spread out. She said the course was too difficult, the weather was terrible, she criticized the volunteers "They may not have wanted to be in the cold wet weather but they volunteered to work like we paid to run". She says we should have gotten an award for finishing, they were handing out ribbons, but I guess she finished too late or just didn't see them handing them out. Then she says "We should have gotten what we paid for."

You paid between 25 - 35 dollars for this race depending on if you were a YMCA member and how early you signed up. I looked up the Rock n Roll half in Virginia beach and it costs between 85 and 125. This race offered use of the YMCA locker rooms and showers before and after the race, the Rock n Roll offers port a johns. This race donates proceeds to local children's charities, I could not find anywhere that Rock n Roll donates any of it's entry fees. This race had on site child care if you called ahead, Rock n Roll has nothing like it. The course was well marked, there were arrows on the ground at every turn. They had the course maps available on the web so you could see the elevation gains before signing up to determine if it might be too hard for you. They had maps at sign in that you could have taken with you so you wouldn't get lost. They had better food and drinks after than most races in this price range which only offer bananas and water.

What do you think your $30 pays for? An escort in a golf cart that you can sit in when you get tired. It's a race, it's up to you to know the course and prepare yourself. All those things you are asking for, chip timing, finishers medals, more "workers" giving directions on course, they all cost money. If you want all that, pay your $110 and go race in Virginia beach with 10,000 other runners.

For $30 this race far exceeded any expectations I had for it.

The only thing you are entitled to is a big kick in the ASS!

Mistletoe Half Marathon Race Report

2009-12-06T18:07:00.004-05:00

So before I begin let me say this race is well run. the YMCA does a great jog, the volunteers were awesome, they had someone at every mile yelling out the splits, there were even people out on the streets cheering us on in the cold rain. The course is not easy, but it is rolling and there is really only one tough climb mixed in with all the rest. You run through some nice neighborhoods, and Wake Forest University, but the best part is the last 5k is mostly downhill and then when you get back there are a ton of people to cheer you home. The Y also allows you to shower after and provides towels. This is the 26th year for this race and the community really supports it. I would definitely recommend it.

I wanted to get that out before my race report as it might appear that I had a bad race, but really I had one of the best races of my life, only it sucked. The reason why it was one of the best is because it sucked so bad and I still hung on to break my 2 hour goal by 1:12, and broke my old half marathon PR by 12 minutes. It gives me confidence to know I can overcome all that sucking and still perform. In better conditions I'm sure my time could have been 1 or 2 minutes faster, but I don't think that would be as satisfying in the end. ( at least that's what I keep telling myself ).

So without further adieu, on to the action.
Woke up early and had my normal Grape nuts and raisin breakfast at the Greensboro Sheraton. I had a 30 minute drive ahead of me so I decided to leave at 6:45 to arrive around 7:15 for the 8:15 race. When I got up it wasn't raining yet, but after watching the radar on the weather channel I knew it was only a matter of time. So waited for the normal bathroom activities and headed out. Arrived right on time and the rain started. Got my race packet, noticed it wasn't in the 20's like they kept saying all week, but in the upper 30's, so I changed out of my running pants and into shorts. Good idea. I left my jacket on with my long sleeve shirt, bad idea, but I was cold. I kept feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom again, but every time I tried, nothing, not a good sign as I would find out on mile 4. At 8 I headed out for a quick warm up then lined up for the start. I will try to look back at the plan I did at the beginning of last week to see how I did. But I can tell you that pre race plan I did saved my ass on this one.

splits:
mile 1: 9:07 - plan says hold back at the start and ease into the race ~9 min pace. Worked out perfectly, but I noticed I was too hot and starting to sweat. So off came the jacket and I found a spot on the return route by a tree where I could pick it up on the way back.

mile 2: 9:30 - 18:37 - this looked to be one of the hardest miles on the route and it probably was. The people were still going by me so it was hard to hold back, but I wanted to do btwn 9:15 - 9:30. Felt like I was doing 9:15, but ended up with a 9:30. But still I felt confident as I was on plan and running well now that the jacket was off.

mile 3: 8:52 - 27:30 - I wanted to do an 8:50 and then keep that till the end, so I was really happy with this mile and didn't freak out. Passed some nice houses and realized that the turn around was not at the end of this road as it appears on the map, but at a traffic control circle instead which explains the mileage discrepancies.

mile 4: 8:54 - 36:24 - Wanted to stay sub 9 and I did but my stomach was now starting to grumble and groan like I really needed to find a porta john. But we were in the middle of a subdivision and I didn't spot any, in fact I wouldn't see any until the finish. I was hoping the stomach would settle down if I slowed a bit.

mile 5: 9:07 - 45:31 - Went back to 2 hour pace in hopes of releasing some stress off the GI issues, but no luck. I was happy to see all the people coming out of their houses and cheering on the runners, but not happy about having to use a lot of energy holding in something that really wanted out.

mile 6: 8:54 - 54:26 - We cross over coliseum blvd here and the path flattens out and ends with a long downhill, didn't really pick up the pace, just the downhill allowed a quicker time. I was really just trying to keep it close to 9 min pace and not blow up. We ran on a nice trail here, it was all paved, but a not too wide so when the leaders ran by on the way back I could reach out and trip them. Did some cheerleading here for the leaders and that took my mind off the problem for a bit, but then mile 7...

mile 7: 9:42 - 1:04:09 - Worst mile for me, it started with an uphill coming off the trail and then a water stop. I decided to get some water and walk a bit hoping it would help. but once again, no luck. And when I started running again it just felt horrible. I remembered my prerace plan was to be under 64 minutes here, so I was only off by 9 seconds here, so I knew I still had a chance to break two hours if I would just keep it close and hang on and hope the pain would go away. Mean while the rain had finally stopped, but that meant it was going to get colder from here on in. I was soaked from the first hour and the wind started picking up and now to go along with the stomach, I was freezing and my jacket was all the way back at mile 1. This mile was the low point for me. I really wanted to stop and walk the whole way back. the only thing that kept me going was listening to the other people and watching everyone else struggle to keep pace. I kept repeating now over and over to myself, just keep it close.

mile 8: 9:13 - 1:13:22 - backed off from the sub 9 pace and it seemed to workout. Of course now we are on wake forest campus and on the flatter section of the course. I knew I was supposed to go for an 8:40 here, but really this was the best I could do. I tried to latch on to some other runners here, but I was unable to find a steady runner, it was always pass them going up the hill and they would pass me going down, or I would never see them again. I got some inspiration from an older guy, 70 something I think still out there running and he was talking to a friend and said they last time it rained during this race was in 96, and that was his first year doing it. 9:13 was close so it kept me going into mile 9.

mile 9: 9:11 - 1:22:34 Now when the stomach cramps would leave me I would pick up the pace and try to make up some time, unfortunately, they always came back and I knew the next mile was going to be tough. I was hoping to get a gel, but I knew that would just be suicide, so it was just water at the aid stations. my core muscles were tired now from constant activation but I dared not let them out. I did back off a bit at the end of this mile because I knew mile 10 would be tough and I needed to keep it low 9's if I wanted to get my goal.

mile 10: 9:11 - 1:31:46 - no holding back on this one, started off going down to the trail back, but then a long uphill, I knew it was make or break on this one and I needed to get down under 1:33. If I could leave myself with a 27 minute 5k, I knew with the downhill finish that I would have a chance. The last half of this mile was uphill, with the steepest hill, IMO, on the course. I passed a ton of people on that hill which fueled my confidence. My legs were not feeling bad and my stomach issues seemed to be subsiding. At the top of the hill I felt the best I had the whole race so far. I made it at 1:31:46, so I knew a 28 minute 5k was all I needed. I thought I can do that no problem, I just ran a 24:40 5k a month ago so 28 is a piece of cake.

mile 11: 8:51 - 1:40:37 - my whole attitude changed here, I started talking to people again, cheering them on, saying weird things that people say to each other after running 10 miles. It became fun again. the stomach problem came back only 1 more time on this mile, but after that it was gone forever. 8:51, fastest split so far, and now with 2.1 miles remaining I only had to do 9 minute pace and I was in.

mile 12: 8:33 - 1:49:10 - This mile is just about all downhill. I was now passing people left and right, I knew most of them at this point were all trying to break 2 hours. I would encourage as many as possible and had some tag along with me for a while, but my legs were starting to respond. I actually had to hold back. I had nothing to eat since 6 am and we were going on 10 now so I didn't want to bonk at the end after having my goal in the bag. At the end of this mile came upon my jacket. I told myself to leave it if the goal was too close, but with 1.1 miles and 10:50 seconds I thought no problem. I bent down to get the jacket and my hamstrings were this close to cramping up. That was a close one, next time leave it.

mile 13: 8:40 - 1:57:51 - This was actually a tough mile for me. I wanted to ease up to a 9 minute pace, but I was too nervous and the Adrenalin was kicking in. I could hear the cheers from a half mile away, but I was seriously on the verge of bonking. I was getting light headed, started having the numb feeling in my legs, but I was not going to let this slip away from me so I keep my pace steady, kept picking off runners, but let others go by. I did not need to chase, just finish my race.

mile 13.1: 0:56 - 1:58:47 - Now it was definitely in the bag, I wanted to pick it up here, but realized it was as up as it was going to get and cruised across the line. Walked a bit to cool down, then went to the car to get some dry clothes to change into. I was really frozen and felt like I was going to die. The guy next to me in the locker room must have agreed with me since at one point he looked at me and said "Are you ok?" I said sure, he said "You're not going to get sick are you?", I laughed at him and said, "oh no, I've been much worse than this, but this has to be the coldest and most miserable I can remember being". He says "so you didn't have a good race then?" and I replied, "I think it was on of my best". I think it was then that he knew I was nuts...

Total Time: Watch - 1:58:47 / Official - 1:58:48

Mistletoe Half Marathon race plan

2009-11-30T09:14:00.007-05:00

So I was running with Cindy on Saturday and telling her that she should map out her half marathon on the usatf map site( http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/ ) or another that allows you to see the elevation and do it mile by mile so you can get a sense of the elevation changes. I also told her I used to write out a plan for each mile and review it each day leading up to the race so mentally I knew what was coming on each mile. I haven't done the writing it out part in a while because I've gotten better at the visualization so I now can just map out the route and save it and just go back and view it each day. I've decided that I would write out again and do it as blog post so I can go back and look at it after the race and compare the plan to what I actually did to see if/how it helped. I just noticed the Hybrid functionality will allow you to see the satellite image and street names at the same time, making the visualization even better. Note, while mapping this, the mile markers on the mapping site do not line up with the markers on the race map, but here goes...

Mile 1: Looks fairly flat, starts outside the YMCA bldg. Remember to hold back a bit and not get caught up in the adrenaline of the start. Want to do a 9:00 minute pace here to make sure I'm warmed up before getting to any bigger hills. Elevation goes up about 70 feet with a small bump at the .5 mile mark.

Mile 2: This mile is mostly uphill, about a 125 feet of elevation change up with only two small downs to recover. Looks like we will be running by some nice houses to help distract from the climb. Want to remember to not push too hard this early in the race on the hills, so a 9:15 - 9:30 would be good here.

Mile 3: Is a rolling out and back so after recovering a bit, need to get into race pace. If I can hold an 8:50 for this mile I should be able to keep that up the rest of the way, if not I need to remember to be more conservative. Remember the goal is to break 2:00 for the half and that takes a 9:08 +- a second or two so if you're not feeling it, don't push it.

Mile 4: Another rolling mile, but not a lot of elevation change. Should be able to hold a sub 9 here. Looks like a hill is starting at the end of this mile as we approach the turn onto Forest Drive. Warwick and Arbor would be a good place to drop any extra clothes so I can pick it up on the way back.

Mile 5: Oaklawn is a very long straight road for the first .75 of this mile, looks fairly flat with a false flat up, then a quick down up down over the last half mile. Might be a good place for a gel if they have a water stop somewhere on this mile.

Mile 6: Looks like we are entering Wake Forest University here. If I didn't get my gel on mile 5, definitely do it here as this mile so far appears to be the easiest of the bunch, a slight up, followed by a long gradual down. Should be on sub 9 mile pace now if feeling good, otw, stay at 9 - 9:05.

Mile 7: This appears to start off on a trail similar to the umstead fire roads before reconnecting to streets on the other side of WFU. Starts with a long climb then a short down and finally flat. Stay strong on this hill as the downhill after will allow plenty of time to recover. Do a time check here, should be less than 64 minutes, if not, time to pick it up. Also looks like we will be crossing with the leaders who will be on their way back at this point so remember to cheer them on.

Mile 8: This is an out and back on Faculty Rd. the out is gradual up, the back is gradual down. Good time to gauge how I am feeling and try an 8:40 if feeling good or if just holding on, stay with a 9 to save it for the end.

Mile 9: Heading into the meat of the university, take some time and look around to distract from the pain that will start any time now. Once again this mile starts with a hard uphill, but followed by a long gradual down, if stomach allows take a gel here, stay strong on the first part, try to pass some people if possible.

Mile 10: This is an important mile, really pay attention to how the body is feeling during this mile. It starts with a nice downhill, then ends with a long uphill. We are now back on the trail and the return trip to the start. If you see the trailing runners keep cheering them on. At the end of this mile do another time check to see what kind of 5k is needed to get your goal.

Mile 11: at the start of this mile we have a 5k to go. Anything under 1:33 minutes is good, meaning we have a 27 minute 5k to break 2 hours. If I'm feeling good, pick up the pace, if bad, just keep it steady and hang on. After the long uphill end to mile ten we have an easy downhill to recover once again. Then we leave WFU and head back into the city.

Mile 12: This mile looks nice. a couple climbs, but mostly downhill. Time to pick up the pace. Near the end of this mile keep an eye out for the sweatshirt I dropped at mile 4. If time looks tight, don't stop for it, just keep going. With two miles to go should be able to keep at least an 8:45 pace.

Mile 13: Last mile before the finish, adrenaline should be kicking in now, but don't start to sprint yet, control the pace, pick it up, but don't over do it, there is still a mile to go. This mile is mostly downhill, so an 8:30 or better is in order. That is, if the legs are feeling good still of course.

Mile 13.1: Looks like there is a little bit of a hill before the end, push up this hill, make it a goal to pass some people here then when you see the finish line give it all you got.

When I mapped it out, http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=338503, it came out to 13.4 miles and the mile markers didn't quite line up with what was on the event websites map, so I'm a bit nervous about that part, but it is registered as an official half marathon on usatf site, so I'm hoping the mapping software is just off.

The McMillan running calculator, ( http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm ) says that based on my 5k and 8k times I should be able to break 1:55, but my original goal was 2 hours so that is still my goal. I will adjust my race, before and during based on weather and race day events but since I have a 5 minute cushion I feel very confident that I will break 2 hours finally for the half marathon and should beat it by even more.

Current half marathon PR = 2:10:16, back in 2007 so I'm psyched to get yet another PR broken this year.

Turkey Trot 8k Race Results

2009-11-26T21:38:00.005-05:00

It's just not thanksgiving until the turkey trot is run. I was a little bummed as my nephew who has beaten me every time we've done the same race was not going to make it. I was ready to kick his butt this time. I've PR'd all my short course distances this year and the legs have been feeling good. The last race we did was a 5k back in July and he beat me by only 3 seconds. I ran this same race the last 2 years and I know the course well. It's hilly and hard with a tough climb on the last mile. I had entertained the thought of breaking 40, but then remembered how hilly it was and changed my goal to 41.
First up was the 1 mile fun run. Lined up with the girl, her two cousins ( 9 and 13 ), and her grandma and grandpa. When the gun went we all took off. I was just going to use this as a warmup and since I love to run with the girl was quite happy to do it. She ended up with a 13:10 which was a 40 second PR for her for the mile. She did much better this race than the last on Halloween too. I was so proud, especially of her finishing kick :-).
After we finished, I had 15 minutes to get ready for my race. I needed to use the facilities and they were about a 1/4 mile away so I ran over, got in line, and ran back with 2 minutes to spare. I was looking for Cindy and Frank, figured they were in line already and close to the front, so I squeezed in and tried to work my way forward. Didn't get very far, but I did see Eric W. ahead and new I had a good carrot to chase.
Mile 1. 7:56 - planned to run this about 8, so right on target. I was a bit too far back at the start, so I was weaving in and out to get a better position. I kept thinking I was going to pass Cindy and Frank as I thought they must be ahead of me, but I guess they ended up behind. Felt really good at the marker but knew that 2 and 3 were the toughest miles, so eased up a bit.
Mile 2. 8:24 - This is a hard mile and I felt really good about that pace. Jordan H, passed me here, he is the son of a good friend of mine and a freshman in college, I thought he was running well as he was able to talk to me as he flew by.
Mile 3. 8:26 - I saw Eric ahead at a turn around point here and he was still about the same distance ahead, I thought I might be able to catch him on the downhill of mile 4 but this was another tough mile. I picked up a few pacers here and was able to keep a good solid pace on the hills. At this point I was trying to do math to figure out what I needed to do to get my 41 and I figured an 8 for the next mile which is mostly downhill would leave me an 8:15 on the last mile to shoot for.
Mile 4. 8:02 - right on target, I was leap frogging now with a couple people but still feeling really good, even though I just ran an 8 minute mile it was mostly downhill and I was able to recover so my confidence was high that I could make the 8:15 for the last mile.
Mile 5. 7:53 - This mile starts with a tough uphill, before rolling to the finish. At the top of the hill I caught Jordan again, he looked like I felt, said hey and he said he was going to run with me for the last mile. I said cool, but I wouldn't be able to talk as I was in extreme pain. When we were about a quarter mile left I looked at my watch and knew I had to give it all I had left to make the 41 so I left him and started passing people. I made it to the final turn and heard my coach yelling for me, and the surprised tone of seeing me this early, I told her I was going for 41 but she thought low 42's was where I would end up, then I saw the finish line clock which said 40:40 and sprinted with all I had left to cross the line at 40:59. My watch time was 40:39 so I was super psyched and ready to die all at the same time. Jordan crossed right behind me so I congratulated him on his race and set off for some water.
This was a great race for me and I'm really excited about the half marathon I have coming up on the 5th of December. I am hoping I can finally break 2 hours for the half, and then take the rest of the year off before starting all over again next year.

Born to Run

2009-11-13T05:26:00.003-05:00

I stayed up late Wednesday night to finish the book "Born To Run" by Chris McDougal, I think that's how you spell it, because I wanted to return it to the library and because it was such a great read. If you are a runner, want to be a runner, think you can't be a runner, READ THIS BOOK. If you know someone who wants to run but always says I can't run because my knees/feet/ankles always get injured when I try. Get them to read this book. Really it's just that awesome.
It's been raining in the Raleigh area since Tuesday and I had a tough looking tempo run scheduled for Thursday. I was thinking I would have to do it on the treadmill since I didn't want to have to deal with the wind gusts up to 30 mph and rain and the flooding that always happens on my on "flat" route when we get this much rain. I ended up sleeping in until 6:15 Thursday morning and when I woke up I saw that the rain had subsided and was supposed to stay away until lunch. I decided I would just go out and run the neighborhood hills and try my best to make the times my coach said I should get. My workout was:
7 miles total-
Miles 1, 2 @ 10:00,
Mile 3 @ 9:30,
Mile 4 @ 9:00,
Mile 5, 6 @ Sub 9:00,
Mile 7- Cool down

Before heading out I went to the usatf website to remind myself of where the mile markers would be for the 5 mile loop I have mapped out. My plan was to do the loop, then do the 1 mile loop that is not as hilly for mile 6. I was most concerned about mile 5 as that features a very long hill. I was not terrible excited about this workout or running in the 48 degree windy overcast morning, but thought that if I didn't go now I wouldn't get the run in, so out the door I went.
Mile 1 starts off with a slight uphill and today it was into the wind. I was just not feeling it today and was not happy, but then I started thinking about the people that want to be able to run but can't and how they would give anything to be able to run and started to change my attitude. I remembered many times in the book how the author describes people running with a look of joy on their faces so I started to smile. I had no GPS, no Heart rate monitor, no IPod, just my clothes, shoes, and watch. Amazingly I started to feel good, I focused on keeping my form good and just ran comfortably. When I hit the mile 1 spot I was at 9:55. I thought that's odd, I've never done that mile this fast and waited until my watch hit 10 to hit the lap button.
Mile 2 starts off downhill before rolling during the middle and up at the end. At this point when the wind was really gusting I could feel some water pelting me in the face. It was cold, but I didn't care. My run was feeling so good I had to hold myself back to stay at 10 / min miles so I could save some for those last two sub 9 miles. I'm running uphill into the wind with some drizzle hitting me and I have this big smile on my face. I just had to laugh at how this must look to the people driving by me. I saw the mile 2 spot and saw I was at 9:30, this just made me smile even more. I decided to take a 15 second walk break and still had a 9:45.
Mile 3 is uphill first, then flat then down. At this point I'm feeling the runner's high big time and concentrating on my form and thinking about some of the lessons learned from the book and trying to run slow so I can get a 9:30 mile. I was still concerned about that 5th mile. The best I've ever done on this 5 mile loop is 48 something and when I did that I was dying. Other that that I've never broken the 50 minute mark. Mean while I'm about to finish mile 3 and the world is a better place. 9:04! I'm shocked, this mile felt so good, how could it be 9:04?
Mile 4 is supposed to be 9, but mile 3 was supposed to be 9:30 so I decided to switch them. This mile has a lot of downhill so I have to really concentrate on slowing down. This time it's easier because mile 5 is looming ahead. I am still feeling really good, I take time to evaluate the different spots that normally give me problems, feet good, ankles no pain, knees a little pain since I'm going downhill but I wouldn't notice if I wasn't paying attention, hips feel good. Now I am thinking about my foot strike. Keep the stride shorter and let the feet land under you and don't land on your heels after 100 of so yards of this my slight knee pain is gone again. The shoes I run in are not meant for my foot type, but they are the only shoes that I can run in and not hurt my knees. I remember in the book about a study they did with a group that wore shoes that cost over 95 dollars and another that were under 40 and found that the expensive shoe group had over a 2x injury rate. They claim that the cushioning in the high tech shoes cause you to run incorrectly by hiding the pain and if you run barefoot or in harder shoes your feet will tell you that you are running wrong and you will adjust. It's starting to make sense now, but enough of that for now here comes mile 5. Mile 4 - 9:33.
Mile 5 - I've run this mile many many times, it's part of the 5 mile loop and the 5k loop that start at my house. The first 3/4 miles of it are long steep up, short down, long gradual up, then the last 1/4 is gradual downhill. It's still cold, the rain is drizzling, the wind is gusting and the hill is rising ahead of me, but a quick reminder to myself of how the best runners in the book always smiled and enjoyed the hard parts got that smile back on my face and while the pain was there it still felt good, made the first hill and started to ease up to recover on the short down but then realized I didn't need to recover so I pushed down before starting back up again. I concentrated really hard and kept my pace up this next hill. When I made it to the downhill section I opened up the stride again and snuck a peak at my watch. I was at way ahead. This just made me smile even more and slow down a bit to save some for the last sub 9 mile, Mile 5 ended up 8:52, and my time for the 5 mile loop was under 46! And I still felt good.
Mile 6 - I've done this 1 mile loop many times as well since it's part of my day before race brick. It starts off gradual up, then a nice downhill/uphill combo before the gradual down to the finish. I've done this in the 8's before, but never after 5 miles, but now my confidence is so high with mile 5 done that I just decided to go for it. I noticed that while going uphill there was a part of my brain that was telling me I was feeling pain and I should go slower, instinctively I slowed, but then a quick check from my logical side found no pain, sure it was hard, but it didn't hurt, so back up to pace. When I got to the next and final hill I expected the pain signal, but when it came I just ignored it and half way up it went away, more eye opening and something to remember for later. Finished with that nice gradual downhill and an 8:14 mile.
I wanted to do the full 1 mile cool down, but I was already late for work and running slower I got cold faster so I called it a day at 6.5.
With my half marathon coming up on Dec 5, I only wish I can bottle up this run and take it with me for that day. I broke my GPS by swimming with it a while back and I think it was the best thing that could have happened. I am really enjoying running technology free, it makes you focus inwardly and really tune into your body. I can't say I won't ever get another GPS, but for now I'm good.

There is so much more in the book that I really didn't cover or even touch on, but I do want to say it was very eye opening and challenged a lot of what the shoe companies are trying to sell us. It also tells a really entertaining story about some great people. It inspired my run above and hopefully more to come.

5k for Healthier Babies race report

2009-10-25T18:08:00.004-04:00

What a difference the weather makes. Last race 78 with 90% humidity. Today 54 with 70% humidity. Really wanted to break 25 in a 5k this year and this was my last best chance to do it.

Day started at 3am when I woke up and realized the AC i turned on at 11 because it was too hot was still running. Had to go outside and throw the breaker so it would turn off. Then got back in bed and woke up at 4:45. Not the best night of sleep, but since I slept well yesterday I wasn't too concerned. Got out of bed around 5:30 and ate breakfast, then tried to fix the Heat pump again, but the blower just didn't want to turn off. Gave up around 7 and got ready for the race.

Got there nice and early and it felt cold, picked up the race packet and chip and dropped it off at the car. It was 30 minutes to race start and I was cold so decided to do my warmup. ran 1.5 miles and then back to the car to drop off the sweat shirt and then back to the start to do my strides. A bunch of people were now headed to the start so I joined in. Was expecting Cindy to just show up right before the gun as usual, and was not disappointed. With about 3 minutes to the gun I see her walking over.

We were fairly close to the front so I was hoping for a nice clean start, but as usual of late there were a bunch of people sprinting out at the gun, then at about a half mile they just died. I was trying to find some clear road and had to run around a bunch before I could find a good spot and then got into my rhythm. I felt like I was running a bit slower than last time, but when we hit the one mile marker the guy yelled 7:45, a bit fast, but I felt good, still I decided to dial it back a bit since I didn't want to die at the end. A couple people ran by me and I fell in their draft. I ran up next to one guy who was constantly checking his garmin and asked how we were doing. 7:52 pace he said. Then he said, "I'm an 8:20 runner so it's a bit fast for me". I told him I just wanted to get under an 8 minute pace so it was perfect for me. I lost him at the next hill. Mile 2 was harder than 1, but I still felt good and was running strong on the hills. Passed mile 2 at 15:55, so an 8:10 pace, but still under 8 for the 2 miles. I had been following two pre high school girls for a while and at this point, one of them just stopped dead in her tracks and told her friend to go on without her. I ended up running next to her and she started talking to me about how her nose was running and her eyes would water when the wind blowed. It was a nice distraction, but then someone she knew flew by us and she went off with her. A few other people passed me on this downhill part, but I knew there was an uphill coming so I just kept my pace steady. We turned into the Lenovo parking lot and started going up. It wasn't steep, but it was a long gradual uphill. Those people that just passed were now getting passed by me. I caught up to one guy just as the hill was ending and went by him. I guess he wasn't happy about it as he looked at me and then passed me back, ok with me, I'll just sit back here in your draft for a while. When we hit the final turn and passed the 3 mile marker it was right on 24:00 for an 8:05 mile 3 and 8 minute / mile. With just .1 to go I sprinted by my draft partner and managed to stay ahead of him to the finish and a 24:39 ( watch time, 24:44 official time ), 5K. That's about 40 seconds faster than two weeks ago and a new PR. But the best part of it was that when I as done I still felt good where as last week I was about to pass out. Did my 1.5 mile cool down and just hung out and people watched for a while until they posted the results.

5k run/walk for Autism race report

2009-10-18T14:05:00.003-04:00

This race was last week, but life has kept me busy so I am going to try to fit this in while the wife is in the shower and the kid is occupied with Sponge Bob before we have to go out grocery shopping.

Had big goals for this race, break 25 minutes for the first time ever. My current 5k pr is 25:17 and that was on the 4th of July this year in Virgina on a hilly ass course, and my track workouts of late have been right on, so I was very confident going into this one. To ruin the suspense, I finished in 25:21. That being said I don't feel like I could have run any faster. The fall arrived here in September and we haven't had a really warm/humid morning in a long time. Not to go into too much history, but I don't do well in warm and humid. My only DNF ever was on a hot humid day where I passed out on mile 3 of the half marathon part of the half ironman I was doing. So when I work up Saturday morning in the it was 75 degrees at 5 am with 90% humidity I was less than pleased. I decided to race anyway ;-). Arrived at the race site and got ready, then did my warmup. I put the weather out of my head, after all it was just a 5k and I would only have to suffer for 24:59 anyway. Race started and I was feeling good, did the first mile right on 8 minutes, then started downhill. This race was supposed to be flat, but this downhill was lasting way too long and eventually it would turn up. when it did I was still pushing the pace but could feel the heat and my legs were starting to slow. Got to mile to at 16:18, that's not good, but I need an 8:03 average and I'm still at 8:09 so I told myself to just keep going as hard as I can. Finally made it to the top of the hill and had a 1/2 mile downhill to the finish. Had no idea where I was on time and didn't want to look at my watch, just wanted to push as hard as I could and have no regrets. When I saw the clock at the end it was just turning to 25 minutes. That meant I had 9 seconds to get there, I tried to sprint, but I was already sprinting. And the clock seemed to be going too fast. Finally after what seemed like 10 seconds I crossed at 25:30 with a chip time of 25:21. I was disappointed, but really there was nothing else I could have done. I started feeling the first signs of the "I'm going to pass out now" feeling so I told Cindy I needed water and to walk away from the crowd. Luckily I got away quick enough and after 5 minutes began to feel better again. We walked a bit more before doing a 1 mile cool down. There will be other 5k s, in fact next week end, and I'm sure I break that 25 in one of them, but for now, it's onward with no regrets.

Anna's Angels 10 miler RR

2009-09-27T12:02:00.004-04:00

Today was the Anna's Angels 10 mile race. I wasn't sure what to expect so I was trying to down play my chances of breaking 90, but after Friday's many conversations with cindy and frank and my coach telling me I was in good condition and she thought I could go faster then 90 I decided that I would just go for it and see what happens. I haven't really done a lot of long runs over 10 lately so the nagging feeling about what is going to happen at mile 9, the hardest mile of the race, was in the back of my head the whole way. I got to the race site, got my chip and found Cindy for our pre face warmup. I commented to her that long ago I would think people were crazy doing a mile warmup for a 5k and now here we are going it for a 10 miler, as if 10 miles wasn't long enough.

So on to the race. It had just stopped raining and we were nice and warm for the start. For some reason they had blocked off the whole street, but were only using half of it for the start, so even though we were only about 10 yards from the start it took us about 30 seconds to get over the start line. Eventually the crowd thined out and I was able to get into my rythm, I heard Cindy and Frank behind me talking but I was just concentrating on running a 9 min pace for this first mile and I figured Cindy would just pass me when she started going fast.
Mile 1 was mostly uphill and I managed about 9 minutes. There wasn't an obvious mark so I missed it, but I knew it was before the turn that started us downhill. Cindy caught up to me somewhere during mile 2, I was trying to find someone running a consistent pace to draft/pace off of, but most just kept slowing on the uphills so I would pass them, then flying on the downhills so they would go by me. I just wanted to run a consistent pace. Lucky for me once Cindy caught me she decided to run with me, I had thought she was just going to go by me because she looked like she was running really well with an easy stride. We went by the mile 2 mark and were running about an 8:50 pace, I thought this was a little fast, but felt good so far so just worked at keeping this pace.
Mile 3 was nice and flat and I think we ran another 8:50 mile without too much agony. My aerobic condition felt really good and I was able to talk and point out the weird people and their conversations around us, but my left ankle was starting to give me problems so I had to alter my foot strike from the inside to the outside until it went away and I could get back to my natural gait. I guess this was a good thing as it kept me from picking up the pace. Mile had two rolling hills on it, but still on the uphill we would pass people on to have them pass us going back down. I think we hit mile 4 with another 8:50 pace and then mile 5 was going to be flat before the uphill mile 6. I felt at this point that Cindy was slowing for me so I told her if she felt good to just go on ahead. She said something like, "I'm good with this pace".
Mile 5 felt great, but we had some problems at the water stop as I guess a big group had just gone through and they didn't have any water ready. We did not see the mile marker indicating mile 6 was starting but I knew it had since it just got difficult, this mile was hard and I really had to concentrate to keep the pace up. We went by the end of mile 6 at 53 minutes and then I knew we were having a good race. My 10k pr is 55 minutes something so I broke that and I still felt good. So I said to Cindy, "now we are doing well", she says "yeah for now", always the optimist. ;-). My ankle pain was gone now so I think we started picking up the pace around here, but my math and memory from the last 4 miles is bad, which is why I think we picked up the pace. I knew mile 9 was the hardest and wanted to get two fast miles before then so we wouldn't have to push too hard. We passed a few more people now and my confidence for finishing strong was increasing, not sure what the splits for those two miles were, but our converstion had just about stopped but we were still running side by side and Cindy still looked awesome.
I could see the start of mile 9 ahead so I started to mentally prepare for it, and when we hit it my breathing starting going all over the place. I finally relized that I needed to get into a rythm to make it up this mile long hill so it was two in, two out. I think cindy was counting and we both were hitting the same pattern. Once I got going on this the hill it was much easier and I think our pace increased. then came the last water station. I grabbed a water and drank half and dumped the other half into my hat and started going again. I heard Cindy behind me say "Go Bill" so I figured she was going to take a longer break. I hit the 9 mile mark at 79:59 and that was all the motivation I needed as I knew if I could do an 8 minute mile on this last downhill mile I could break 88 minutes. I really pushed as hard as I could on the downhill and I'm sure my heartrate was higher than the last uphill and I was starting to make up ground on the group that was ahead of me. Then it was the turn onto the finishing stretch which has two little hills which I didn't think were going to be hard, but when I hit the first one my legs felt like they were stuck in mud and it was so hard to keep my pace up. I recovered on the down and saw my coach, her husband, and the rest of her family cheering me on so I had to push harder, also I knew Cindy was just behind me and that helped me get up that last hill to the finish, but I just missed 1:28 and got a 1:28:07, officially probably a 1:28:35 for an 8:48 ave pace.
I was thrilled with that and when I turned around Cindy was right there. After I was finally able to breath again, Frank came in 2 minutes ahead of schedule. Coach B won the women's race and everyone we talked to seemed to have had a great race so even though it was rainy, foggy, misty, humid, at least it was cool.
Now I'm ready for a nap...

Magnificent Mile RR

2009-09-20T15:52:00.004-04:00

I ran this race last week, but haven't had time to write up a report yet since my 6 year old daughter had her birthday on Thursday and we had a party at our house for her on Saturday. This has not been a good year for me as far as injuries and weird things occurring to cause me to not make it to races, so around June I had decided to take it easy the rest of the year and just do sprint tri's and running races for the rest of the year. I really want to improve on my running speed so I set this race as one of my 2nd half of the year goal races and wanted to break 6:30. I think in my whole life the fastest mile I had ever run was 7:40 so it wasn't going to be easy. But then another one of those weird things occurred and I had to take 1 week off from running and 2 weeks off from hard efforts right in the middle of training, so I adjusted the goal to break 7 minutes. I knew also that the adjusted goal was going to be hard to get and if the weather did not cooperate it probably wouldn't happen. Another thing against me is this was a Sunday at 2pm start time. I hate Sunday afternoon races. So here it is one week late with memory lapses and all...

Woke up Sunday morning early as usual and had that strange nervous feeling. Not really sure why I was so nervous for a 1 mile race but there it was, and I had to deal with it until 2pm. Did I mention how I hate Sunday afternoon races? So I decided to get ready and head over around 12:30 since I usually feel better once I am on site and can start feeding off the nervous energy of others. We show up, get the family settled and go for my warm up, the route feels flat and legs feel good. I'm a bit hungry since I ate a small lunch to keep the stomach settled, did I mention I hate Sunday afternoon races?, and didn't want to take a gel since I didn't know what that would do to me but I found the Gatorade stand and had a cup. Then did my strides and saw that my sprints were about as fast as the fast runner's easy pace. Not too encouraging, but I wasn't really there to race them, I was there for me and to support the other people running and walking to help the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation.
Finally it was time for the race to start, it was mid 80's and slightly humid but I wasn't really thinking about that, just trying to remember to start fast and get faster. The start was crazy, all the young kids took off at a dead sprint, then most of them just stopped dead after 100 yards or so. It was a slight uphill to start and I did the first .25 in 1:44, so I was happy that I was right on pace, but my breathing was off, I was wheezing and that was not normal. I decided to back off a bit as the 2nd quarter was downhill and I wanted the wheezing to go away and as long as I was around 3:30 at the half I thought I would be able to make it. I hit the .5 mark at 3:32, so a little slower, but the effort was more sustainable and now I was running with people on the same pace so it just felt better. That of course did not last long as the 3rd 1/4 was mostly up hill, funny how I didn't remember any of these hills from the warm up. I was passing people and being paced by a 13 year old boy who really wanted to finish in front of me, not sure why I inspire that in 13 year olds, but happy to have someone keeping pace. hit .75 in 5:21 due to lack of oxygen going to my brain I was luckily unable to calculate how fast I had to do the last quarter mile I just ran as fast as I could. The finish is a slight downhill, so as soon as I hit the downhill section I started to sprint. I saw the clock at the finish and it said 6:45, I thought I could make so I tried to run faster and almost went over but stayed up and kept right on that edge. Half way to the finish I looked at the clock again and it said 6:57 and I thought I must have entered a time warp because that 12 seconds felt like only 5 but since I was almost done I just kept going and finished in 7:06. It really felt like I just got started and I wanted to run it again. It was really painful, but it was over so quick it wasn't so bad. I do think if the race was in the morning I would have made it under 7, but I can wait for next year...

Triangle Tri Race Report

2009-07-13T08:04:00.002-04:00

First the results...
in the master Clydesdale division there were 28 starters
rank time
total 10 1:42:39
swim 6 16:44
T1 3:22
Bike 8 53:16
T2 2:21
Run 9 26:58

Feel pretty good about the results, thinking about it I might have been able to break the 1:40 barrier if I hadn't sprained my ankle on tuesday, but given the conditions it still would have been tough. On to the race report.

They moved this event to Harris lake this year so it was the first time at this site. In my opinion the site is not big enough to handle the 1000 participants, volunteers and spectators. I would say 700 would be better, but they seemed to pull it off so I doubt the number will be reduced especially since it sold out. Arrived at the site around 6:15 and the park was already filled and they were parking the outside lots. waited in line for 15 minutes and got one of the last spots in the lot just outside the entrance. The rest had to park at the visitor center at the nuc plant and either bike or take the shuttle.
Got to transition and picked up my chip, then did my warmup and while running noticed my ankle was not happy. I had taped it before I left hoping it would be ok, but this run was not giving me hope. checked out both the swim start and finish, then went to get body marked. After body marking it was getting close to the race start at 7:30, my wave was at 8 so my plan was to hit the porta john, then do my final prep of transition and do a quick swim warmup at the start before my wave. While I was in line for the porta john they announced the race was about to start and everyone would have to exit transition. Apparently while i was in the john they announced the start and to clear, so when I got out they were saying if you were caught in transition you would get a penalty, but I needed my cap and goggles and to take off my shoes so in I went, did what I needed and left with only a warning by a USAT official. Headed to the lake to get in a warmup, but when I got there the race still hadn't stated yet, and no one was allowed in except for the wave that was starting. so no warmup and the start area was way too small. I heard they had some electrical problems that delayed the start, so I planted my ass down to wait. When we were called on deck I got up and started loosening up my arms and shoulders for the swim.
The Swim: The water was warm, but at least it was cleaner than the old lake. Moved far left to get a good line and started off strong, made it to the first buoy just behind the first group, but after the turn we were facing the sun and my goggles were starting to fog up. This made sighting really difficult which meant more siting and slowed me down quite a bit. After we passed the next buoy I decided to clear them and wow did that make a difference, wish I had done that 5 minutes earlier. Starting swimming stronger again and hit the final buoy and turned for the final stretch in. The water was rough here and coming from the left, but since I prefer breathing on the right it was not a problem for me. Sighted in on a straight line and started working some kicking in to get the legs ready.
T1: Had to take my time getting out of the water and jogging to transition so as not to risk the ankle so my time was slow, think at full speed could have saved 45 seconds here, but not worth the risk in the rocky water or the long ass run on the grass barefoot to the bike. Once at the bike I got my shit taken care of and started. When I finally got on the bike the computer said 1:18, so it took me 1:18 to run from my rack to the mount line, that's a long way and I was in the middle of transition.
Bike: Had a great bike, felt really good and on the climbs I was able to get into a good rhythm. It's about 1.2 miles to get out of the park and 4 speed bumps. They put some wood in front of the bumps that made it much better getting over them, but I still saw tons of sponges and water bottles lining the road. The first part of the bike is up hill so I got aero and tried to get into it. I could tell it was going to be a good day on the bike, I was thinking I could break 54 on a good day based on my practice ride a couple weeks ago. The one rough spot on the route is when you turn onto friendly road, and still it was not that bad but saw more water bottles at the rough patches. There was a long downhill followed by a really long climb but the road was recently paved and it went better than I remember doing it during training. This is where I started trading spots with another MC, he would pass me and then stay about 20 yards ahead until a climb came up and then I would pass him back, we did this for the last 15 miles. I remember the last half as being a long downhill to the lake, and it was, but there was a strong headwind on this morning so I did pick up a bunch of speed, but not as much as could have been. Then the short speed bump filled 1.2 miles back to transition.
T2: Tell you the truth I don't really remember T2 except that due the length of the transition area there was a lot of running, oh and I almost rolled my ankle leaving T2.
Run: The run was quite an adventure. Started of very tentative, the MC I had been trading spots with on the run was about 10 seconds ahead of me and I gradually came up on him and passed in the first 1/2 mile. I was really looking for someone to pace off of so I could concentrate on not landing funny on the ankle. A 27 year old girl passed me and I latched on to her, after another 1/2 mile she stopped to walk so I had to move on. It was hot, but the trails were shaded and they had 4 or 5 chances to get water on the trail so I was quite happy. At the turn around with 1.2 miles to go my confidence in my ankle had increased so I picked up the pace to get a negative split. It was starting to hurt now so I knew I has at the right pace :-). finally made it to the road again and had one more left turn onto a grass finish shoot that was about 20 yards. I made the turn and tweaked my ankle, the pain shot up my body and caused me to jump in the air, when I landed I had a couple strides of limping and then both my hamstrings cramped up and I must of looked really funny. I had enough momentum to get me to the line but it wasn't pretty. The race director was in the shoot and he looked at me and said, "Are you cramping up?" All I could say was yeah and keep limping by...

Post race they had red beans and rice, soda, water, heed, bananas, oranges, bagels and assorted cookies.

I liked the new course much better than the old, but in my opinion the site wasn't big enough to handle that size of event. The parking, the transition, and the swim start with no warmup area were the only down side, but other than that the race was run well, volunteers were awesome and plenty of support.

Kiwanis 5k Race Report

2009-07-13T07:54:00.003-04:00

This race is in Charlottesville Va in the forest lakes subdivision where my brother lives. I did this race one time back in 03 and ran a 28 even. It's a tough course so i wasn't expecting a great result, but I knew I would be able to beat the 28. My nephew who is 20 now was going to run it with me. He claimed to be recovering from a knee injury and hadn't run more than 3 miles in two months. I suspected he was sandbagging, but played along anyway.
start the race and it's a downhill start for 1 mile so I wanted to be right around 8 minutes. At the mile marker it was 8:03. The next mile is rolling with and out and back on a cul de sac. I was able to see that I was a good 40 seconds ahead of my nephew at this point so I felt like I could take him. wanted to do mile 2 at 8:15 pace and when I hit the marker they were yelling 16:16, so once again right on, mile 3 is the killer, there is a steep climb coming out from the lake area, then it's a gradual climb all the way back to the start with only one short downhill for recovery. I was hoping for an 8:30 here. Last time I did this race there was an 11 year old girl that passed me on the finish stretch and she beat me by 1 second. This time I had caught up to a 13 year old boy and tried to pass him, but every time I got close he would sprint up ahead, then slow down until I got close again and repeat, to make matters worse in the last tenth my nephew goes flying by me and says "HA HA" he gets about 20 yards on me and just ahead of the stupid kid and slows a bit so I start my sprint and just as I get within 5 yards the stupid kid sees me and starts to sprint really loudly, my nephew hears him and takes off again and beats me by two seconds and the stupid kid beats me by 1.
On the positive side, I got a new PR for a 5k by about 15 seconds on this really tough course and now am looking forward to breaking 25 in the fall :-)

Adventure Race Camp - Day 3

2009-07-06T21:02:00.003-04:00

Day 3 arrived and we had a practice 5 hour adventure race on the schedule followed by some other little things. We were getting kicked out of our hotel and decided to just head home instead of staying another day and mtn biking. I think we were all ready to sleep in our own beds again and I was dead tired and didn't think I would be able to mtn bike on Sunday anyway. So we packed up and checked out. Crossed our fingers that Tim's truck would start, it did, and headed over to pura vida adventures to meet Joe. After our prerace briefing we got our map and headed to the race site. We decided to do the mtn bike part first and I would hold the map, and Tim would have the passport.

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Getting way behind so I'll have to cut this short...
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we did really good on the bike, we started to crack a bit in the heat on the way back to transition, but still made a good time. My legs were not going good and the heat was not helping at all so I knew we wouldn't be doing much running on the trekking part and we probably wouldn't be able to get all 4 targets.
Long story short, we made a huge error at the start, but luckily we recognized it in time and decided to skip #1 and go for #2 and #4 and if we had time #3, made it to 2 ok, #4 was at the top of stone mtn and I just about died getting up there, the way down was cramping time, but when we got back to the road we had 30 minutes to get back, luckily we were able to run the flats and downhills and made it back with plenty of time to spare.

We then had lunch and a short debriefing about what we did wrong and right.

All and all a great trip. I would highly recommend Pura Vida to anyone interested in learning about adventure racing.

Adventure Race Camp Day 2

2009-07-05T08:58:00.005-04:00

My plan for this morning was to not set an alarm and if I got up early I would go mtn bike on some easy trails and if I slept in then I would just sleep in. Well I got up at 5:05, so once again banana, some water and out the door.
It was still a bit dark, so I put on the rose lenses for my glasses to help me see and started out towards the forest again. Found a trail I "thought" I could handle and headed up. Well, I ended up pushing the bike half the time and when I got to the top of the trail, it said it was a "medium" difficulty. Luckily the trail I came out on was marked easy. I headed up a bit more then turned around and headed back down.

At the bottom I found the exercise trail again so did a loop on that, then coasted back to the hotel. When I got back to the entrance I went to take my helmet off and it wasn't there. My first thought was it fell off, but then I realized I had never put it on. Went in for a quick shower then breakfast and a talk with the hotel staff to see if we could get rooms. Luckily someone cancelled and the room Tim and Michael were in was going to be available through Friday and we were able to get another double, but had to switch rooms, so Eric and I moved our stuff into Tim and Michael's room and headed to camp.
On tap for today is rappelling in the morning followed by navigation after lunch. We were warned that for the navigation we might want to wear long pants since we would be going through some thick brush. We asked what he was wearing and he was like just shorts and since we didn't really bring long pants we would all be wearing shorts. The rappelling was really cool. After some safety instruction we did one quick one then we were to learn a self rescue which meant stopping half way down, pretending that something was stuck in the ATC, create a foot hold, step into it, cleat the ATC then continue down, all while hanging 35 feet in the air. How much fun is that?
We asked what ATC stood for and Joe told us Air Traffic Controller. I thought he was messin with us, but a quick search later found that he was being straight. We ended up going 5 or 6 times each, then headed back for lunch. Today's lunch was at another local place which had mexican and american food. I got a big ass burrito and woofed it down. There we found out that for navigation we were going to the mountain and hiking, on the way we got a map and learned we would be hiking close to 3 miles. I wasn't expecting that much and had I known I would not have gone out mtn biking that morning, but off we went.
We started down the trail and I hear this high pitched scream and Michael comes running to the back. I look up ahead and see a big snake headed into the woods.
The first part wasn't bad, I was leading with Tim navigating. I was thinking this is going to get a lot worse very soon, but for now I'll just enjoy the ride. Eventually we went off trail and the real fun began. We went straight up a steep hill and started getting into the thorny bushes. Wasn't long before my legs were covered in scratches. But we made it to the top and found the first target. At this point Tim took over the front and Michael was navigating. This was almost all off trail and took forever and we had to go up about 1200 feet over a 1 mile trek. let's just say it was more than painful and my legs were done when we got to the top. "luckily" the next part was all downhill, once again all of trail, but not as bad. Until I got stung by something. It felt like fire ants were all over my ankle. I was told it was probably prickly Nettles and it would go away soon. I have non idea what it was, but I suspect a wasp or some such creature since now that the rash has finally dyed down I can see a sting site. Finally we made it down to the road and Joe hitchhiked back to the car to come get us. Another tough day and I was beat, we headed back for pizza and beer, but first we had to go pick up Tim's truck and get some Bourbon for Tim and Eric. Tomorrow we had a 5 hour simulated adventure race so there would be no morning workout.

Adventure Race Camp Day 1

2009-07-05T08:15:00.010-04:00

After yesterdays fiasco with the hotel room, I got up early, scarfed down a banana and some water waited a bit, then headed out for a run. I had emailed Joe earlier about an easy trail run for the morning since we were doing kayak and classroom I thought I could handle an hour. He said there was an exercise trail about 3 miles from the hotel that was flat and ran along the river. Never really found out how to get there so I figured I would just run 30 minutes then turn around and come back. Started out downhill from the hotel and saw a sign for the Pisgah forest and followed it. The next sign I see is.

First thought I had was oops, wrong way, but then I was like this is supposed to be an adventure so why not, and I only had 20 or so minutes to go till I turned around so it can't be that bad. Anyway I kept going and while it was uphill, it was just a slight uphill and the scenery was keeping my distracted enough that it didn't matter. After a mile I see a trail off to the left paralleling the river I have been following so I decide to take it.

After a few minutes on the trail I see the sign for the exercise trail, amazing... So I follow that a while taking it easy and taking pictures. When I arrive at the English Chapel I'm at 34 minutes and decide to turn back so I can get breakfast #2 in before camp starts.
Turn around and it takes me 26 minutes to get back, I guess it was a bit more of an uphill than I thought, but I was moving much faster and the temp was a brisk 63 so feeling really good.
After the run had breakfast at the hotel, eggs, sausage, and biscuits. Then headed off to camp. Tim when to get the truck and meet us out front, but he comes walking back in and the truck would not start, so we had to take Michael's car. Met Joe from Pura Vida Adventures at his office which was just around the corner from the hotel and right next to the Indie Coffee shop. Started with some admin/paper work, camp itinerary and then some kayak classroom instruction. next we packed up the van and headed out to the lake for some on the water learning. We learned to do a boat rescue where you after purposefully roll over, then get out and then push the kayak onto someone Else's kayak upside down to get the water out and flip it over. Then you have to get back in with out filling it back up with water.
Then we learned a self rescue with a bilge pump and floaty. This was more of a challenge especially for me. I could get the kayak over ok, but then every time just before I got in, I would flip it over again. I think it took me 6 tries to finally get it. Next there was some basic paddle instruction and we headed to the waterfall.
I was amazed that we only went about a mile but the water was much colder and cleaner near the falls. We hiked up to the top and I swam out to the middle almost to where the water was landing. I felt like I was in my endless pool because the closer I got the harder it was to keep moving forward.
After a few minutes we paddled back, then headed back to the office for lunch and some rappelling instruction so we could head directly to the rock in the morning.
Got back to the hotel and Tim called AAA to come look at the truck after it still wouldn't start when we got back. We headed off to a local place to eat and he waited for the tow truck.

At the restaurant it was taking more than 45 minutes to get our dinner so I talked with the manager and got our appetizer and drinks taken off the check. When the food finally arrived, it was really good or I was really hungry, or both. And this ends day 1, I really needed this.

Adventure Race Camp - Prelude

2009-07-01T19:16:00.004-04:00

Earlier in the year we signed up for Adventure Race Camp, Tim, Michael, Eric and I. We had originally planed to do the Black Beard Adventure Race and asked Joe at Pura Vida Adventures to tailor the camp to that race. It would include Kayaking, Rappelling, Mountain biking, and trekking. We had received a special rate with the Holiday Inn Express that was about a half mile from his office. He had sent the itinerary a few weeks ahead of time and it was setup like this.
Thursday day 1 - Admin stuff and kayak instruction in class, followed by a trip to the lake / river to put our skills to the test and learn on the water, then back to the class room for some more instruction.
Friday day 2 - Rappelling in the morning, then navigation class after lunch
Saturday day 3 - Mtn bike instruction and training and maintenance.

Since day 1 was just kayaking and class I decided to get my weights in and do a swim workout on Wednesday before leaving. Tuesday I had done a 5 mile run and Monday I did some mtn biking, can't remember when my last day off was, but I'm sure it was when I was sick. I was feeling really good after my forced week off so didn't really think about the extra workouts and really the camp on paper didn't seem that hard. We even booked an extra night so we could go out Sunday and ride after camp was over. Michael was driving himself and Tim, Eric and I were car pooling. Left around 4 and made 2 stops for food and gas on the way. At about 9, Michael calls us from the hotel and tells me they don't have our reservation. We get the confirmation number and are told that they were canceled due to an "issue" with the credit card. They could not tell us what the issue was just that the first night did not go through and when that happens, they cancel the reservation. Also it was not them that canceled it so they knew nothing about it. They at least had two rooms for Wednesday and Thursday. They bumped us up to suites because that's all they had, then tried to charge us more but Michael spoke up in a calm manner that Tim, Eric, nor I were capable of and we ended up with the original rate. One of the rooms was a King and the other two queens. Michael was a little too eager to sleep in the king with Tim, but Tim was ok with it so that was our room assignments.

Tim and Michael's love nest.

Scary, isn't it?

Impossible Panther Race Report

2009-06-08T17:30:00.004-04:00

This was a 6 hour adventure race in the uwharrie national forest. The race was to start at 1:30 and run until 7:30 so lodging was not required, although it probably would have been a good idea to have something for after as I didn't get home until after 11pm and with a 5am wake up, 4 - 5 hours in the car and the 6 hours of race I was exhausted.

note: I started this entry with the above a week ago and then my daughter got the flu and gave it to me so I am just getting back to this now.

got to the race site at 11:30, checked in and got our map and passport. Mapped out the checkpoints and decided to canoe first, then head to the rappelling section, then come back for the orienteering course. We had some time to relax and prepare before the race briefing at 1. They informed us that the rappelling was only open till 6, that there would be 2 ropes and that at least two members had to do it to get full points. Answered some questions and told us that the O course map would be handed out just before the start. We moved the canoe into position and got our canoe gear ready to go. At 1:30 we got the O course map and race number and were ready to go.
After the gun went off we headed down towards the water with the canoe on a hiking trail that said it was about .25 miles. Started off on the canoe with me in the back, Eric up front and Tim in the middle on map duty. We had 3 paddles but really only 2 could paddle and the canoe was smaller then I expected or that we had at the Flying frog so we were taking in water the whole time and when we hit a big wake from the water skiers we would almost sink. Remember next year, kayaks would be a better choice. We made our first of many mistakes in the canoe and went to the wrong Island, and wasted about 15 minutes searching for the target and even more time as we went about a mile out of our way. We managed to figure out our mistake and headed to the correct Island where the target was waiting for us. Tim was now in front and Eric in the middle as we went to the next of 3 targets, found those easily and then Eric took over the back and I got a break on the way back in.
When we got out of the water we started heading back up to transition with the canoe and missed our turn, we got to carry the canoe and extra bit and added some more missed time, not the best of starts, but we got all three water targets and were on our way to the rappelling section.
We planned to hit one of the mtn bike targets on the way but after a series of missed turns and then when we got to where we thought it was, we couldn't find the target, we back tracked to the road and tried to come in from the other side of the trail. No luck from that side either and now it was time to head to Rappel before it was too late. Got to the rap station and there was a line. We were told there would be two lines running and that it wouldn't take that long, but when we got there the lady said it would be about an hour. luckily she changed the requirement from two members to only 1 member had to do it to get full points so we say and waited.
After Eric went, the plan was to head back and try to get as many orienteering pts as we could before the end. The road back to camp was long and very hilly, by the time we got to transition we had about 30 minutes left.
Found the first target ok, the second target no luck, we looked for an easy one and thought number 8 would not be too hard since it was by a re entrance and a building, but once we got there we had 5 minutes to find it and... no luck. So we hauled ass back and made it in with 30 seconds to spare.
It was a bit frustrating not to find the targets, but we are still gaining experience and learned some valuable lessons from this one. All in all the race was well run and we had a awesome time. Only complaint was with the rappelling section only having the one rope going.

chase run race report

2009-05-31T07:31:00.002-04:00

ok so this wasn't really a real race, but it sure felt like one. The idea is that there are a group of crazy runners at 6am on a tuesday morning that all decide they want to torture themselves and get together to do so. Each runner gives the pace they think they can run this 4.75 mile out and back route. Someone does the calculations to get start times for each pace so that we all end at the same time, if we were to actually stick to that pace. There was a 1.5 mile warmup and 1.5 mile cooldown as well. I am still recovering from hip bursitis so I wasn't ready for 8 miles especially with a 5 mile tempo in the middle, so I parked near the start of the tempo part and ran back towards the group until we met, then back to the start for my warmup. This was a very good idea as when we were done, I was done.
I was running an 8:45 pace, I figured this was doable, but was still not sure since I hadn't done a 5 mile tempo in months. Luckily Cindy was also doing 8:45 so i had someone to share the pain. Our coach says to push each other and to not chit chat. There was one guy ahead of us at 9 min pace or a 1:11 min head start. I'm ready to get going because I see all the speed people waiting around and don't want to get caught.
finally we get going. We start off on a slight downhill and with all the adrenaline at the 1/4 mile mark we are doing a 7:50 pace, Cindy's like "I thought it felt fast" I was like "You are a step a head of me and every time I pull even you speed up", Cindy's like "I thought you were speeding up and pulling a frank", I was like "yeah right, you are pulling a Vivian". This slows us down a bit and now we can chit chat. If you are reading this coach, ignore that last sentence ;-). We hit the 1 mile mark right on 8:45, it feel hard, and we have just started. I try to relax into the pace and just not think about it. We continue to talk and run and when we hit mile two we did 8:40, this is good as the next mile starts with a short but steep hill up to the damn dam, then a flat to coach's parents and the turn around. I see her dad is the marker and once we do around him I tell him to back up about 20 yards. I look down and see this mile we are slacking and at 9:10 pace so I pick up the pace to around 8:30 till we get back to the short hill and Cindy says something like "if you keep this pace up I'm letting you go" I told her I had to surge to get the pace back where it should be. This is the last thing I say that can be considered a real sentence. I remember saying something like, I have to say this now while my brain can still speak with logic, we then pass our coach who is still on the out part and the 3 mile mark at an 8:46 pace. I think that we still have a 3 second cushion to work with and if we can just do a 8:50 for mile 4 we will make it to the end on pace. I tell Cindy we only have 1.75 miles to go and Cindy replies with f$%k, that word will make several repeat appearances over the next 1.75 miles. After about 5 minutes I realize Cindy is no longer talking. I am thinking to myself, please leave me, please leave me so I can slow down. But since she is not talking and only speaking in expletives, I know she is in pain. I try to keep steady and not say anything that will stop us because I am ready to stop and puke, or die or both. We do mile 4 in 8:39, This was a little surprising but since I wasn't looking at my watch as much and just concentrating on keeping the pace I guess it snuck up on me. And I have to give my partner a lot of credit, just a year ago she would have stopped and or slowed but she kept up and didn't quit, even though I know she was hurting. I think she was counting as I kept hearing numbers in my head, but mostly she was just running solidly beside me.
About this time i start hearing footsteps behind us. Everytime I turn and look, nothing, nada, no one, but i keep hearing the footsteps. We pass the 1/4 mile to go sign and the guy that started after us goes by. I say Come on cindy, she says something and we pick up the pace to try to keep him in sight. We go over the last bridge and I thought the end was a 100 yards away so I start picking up the pace again, but then I see it is not over in 100, but more like 250, so I slowed a bit until I really saw the end. I didn't want to get passed again so I had to keep going. Finally the end. stopped the watch at 40:59, or an 8:41 pace. No sooner than I looked at my time then the rest started coming. Everyone looked like I felt, it was hard, but it was supposed to be hard, so mission accomplished. This is one of those workouts I will look back at and know it made a difference. Not only physically, but mentally. We will do this again at the end of June and I'm looking forward to it already. the chance to push yourself to the limit and realize that not only can you survive, but you will get better and faster is worth the pain.

Come on out and join us, you won't be disappointed :-)

woodlake tri race report

2009-05-24T07:53:00.003-04:00

Morning started out at 4:45 with the alarm blasting, got up made breakfast and had a half cup of coffee. packed up the car and got dressed for the race and was out the door at 6:15. Google maps said I had a 1.5 hour drive, but it was only 55 miles so I was suspicious. The first part of the drive was as I remember from last year, it's just when you get close and the major roads get fewer that it gets a little confusing. So I come up to the turn off hwy 27 onto some back road that is supposed to take me to one of the roads that the bike course is on and make my turn. I see a sign that says "no outlet" that's not good, but I'm only supposed to go 3 miles so it's worth the risk. about 1 mile more and I see "pavement ends ahead" also not good. then when the pavement ends there is a sign for a business, I think it's a tire recycling center, but in the morning in a rush I can't be sure what it was, anyway time to turn around. Pull out the IPhone and reroute, it uses google maps, so it wants to send me back down the dirt road through the plant, I don't think so. I make my way back to 27 and start looking for a road south, I mean I'm only 5 miles away can't be that hard. after a couple more dirt roads I find the one I need and am back on track. There were more than a few people lost, I guess they were using google maps also, because I saw a few people making wrong turns and I pointed the right way to them, and they ended up following me, had a whole convoy by the time I got to woodlake.
I was still early so I got a good spot on the racks, no numbers here, first come first serve. picked up the race pack and went to body marking. the two ladies there were quite entertaining. the put my race number on my arm and my leg, the one on my arm was wrong so she crossed out the 0 and put a 2 at the end, she said want anymore? I was like they usually put your age on the back of your leg so you can see who you are racing against. They laughed and said, not here we don't. Then added well maybe on the good looking ones. that just seemed to crack them up even more. I later relayed this story to some women at my rack and they thought it was funny also, I guess i was having a bad hair day ;-). After getting all set up I still had an hour to kill, so I hit the picnic benches to relax for a while before warmup.
Did my warmup run and was feeling good, had a hard time making the decision as to wearing the wetsuit or not as a bunch of people were saying how warm the water was. I finally decided not to and headed down to do my warmup swim. Got in the water and changed my mind. Went and got the wetsuit and put it on just in time for the first wave's 5 min warning. Since I was in the last wave I still had 13 minutes to go. Swam out and over so I was out of the way and did some warming up. Felt really good in the wetsuit, glad I went and put it on.

so on to the race, finally...

Swim: 9:54, Started off to the left with a good line on the far buoy and a nice flag pole to site on. Hit the first 200 hard and was clear of the bunch, but in another 50 we were at the first turn and ran into the 2nd wave. Had to pick my way through 6 or 7 swimmers, and was in the clear again. The next turn was about 50 or so more, but a lot less congested and headed back towards the shore. never really found anyone to draft off, but the wetsuit was working well and didn't think I needed it. No foot cramps or major issues, sited well and felt strong the whole way.

T1: 2:06, had some issues getting the strap to pull down the zipper, but once I got it, the wetsuit came off easy and the rest of the transition was smooth.

bike: 53:57, not in as good a bike shape as I was last year at this time due to early season marathon training so my goal was to come close to last years time and hope my improved run would pull it off for me. Started up the first hill and my legs were just not into it. I think I was still sore from Thursday tough workout, especially the hip flexors so climbing was tough. After the turn around, they started to come around and I tried to really push the 2nd half back. When I rolled in I was only 30 seconds off last years time so I was quite happy and but my low back was hurting a little so I was a little worried as well.

T2: 2:03, could not run well right off the bike so I hobbled to the rack and started to changed the shoes, I had a hard time getting my left shoe on correctly, the back kept getting stuck, so this took longer than I wanted, but at least all the bending over helped loosen my back up.

Run: 27:27, Last year I did a 25:12 on this run course and I was hoping to break 25. It is advertised as 3 miles, but my GPS puts it at 2.85, so under 25 is definitely in my reach. Started off with upper 8 min/ mile pace and felt a little stiff, but knew it would come to me. After a half mile things started feeling good and I picked up the pace a bit. a quarter mile later my stomach said stop running or else. So I stopped and walked and started looking in the woods for a secluded spot just in case. Luckily the feeling went away after a minute and a half and I was able to run again. Even with the 1:30 walk I was at 9:45 pace. Mile two was going real well, I was running 8:15 pace and legs were telling me I could do more if I wanted. I was a bit concerned about my GI issues so I kept it where it was, but right at the end of the mile they came back and worse. This time I had to walk for 2 - 3 minutes and was really in danger of going, but once again it finally went away. I started running again right at 2 miles and it was right at 10 min pace, so even with the extended walk break mile 2 was still 10:20 pace. This time when I started running I only had .85 to go and I knew my time was screwed so I didn't push anymore and just ran a 8:40 pace. This felt too easy and I just got into a depressed mode as I knew I could have had an awesome run time if only...

I'm still waiting for that race where I can have all three go right, but for now it's time to put this one behind me and start preparing for the 6 hour adventure race coming up on the 6th of June.

White lake sprint Race Report

2009-05-13T20:36:00.002-04:00

oh so close to the perfect race for me. It's been a long time since I've had a race where the swim/bike/run have all come together and just been perfect. If not for the Swim, this would have been it. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Morning started off ok with breakfast and gatorade, was ready to go and was just watching tv. We headed out around 6:15 to get there nice and early to get setup, warmed up and ready. Felt good on the bike ride over to the race site, it was about 2 miles so I used it as my bike warmup with the first mile easy, then picked up the pace to race pace for the last bit. Racked the bike setup a little before going to get the chip and body marking. Found out that the swim was not going to be wetsuit legal as the water temp was 79 degrees. With a bike ride over I didn't have shoes to walk around in so I was barefooting it and normally that doesn't bother me, more on this later. After getting all organized, went for a quick mile warmup, legs were feeling good, not great, but good and it was still early so my hopes were up. After warmup and final check of transition I still had 30 minutes to wait, but I couldn't take the transition area anymore so I headed to the lake. With about 15 minutes to start I got in for a quick swim warmup. After warmup I was standing around in the water and my left foot cramped up. I walked it out and was thinking this is good because now it won't happen on the swim.

Swim: 18:26, started off great, had a good line and was out in front. Was just starting to settle in when my right foot started to cramp up. normally it will work itself out, but it just kept getting worse and worse until I had to stop and massage it out. I thought this was a bad omen, but once it was gone, I started back up and tried to stay on line and just go at a good pace. Got out of the water in 17:30 and crossed the timing mat in 18:26.

T1: 2:18 took a little too much time here, but was still sulking about my foot cramp.

Bike: 40:14, Ended up getting 2nd in my division on the bike, didn't think it was that great, but it was windy and it must have affected everyone the same as I was really pushing the bike, the first lap and the second even more. Can't wait to see the pics as my face was just in pain the whole way. The only time I wasn't pushing hard was the last 200 yards when I pulled my feet out of the shoes to get ready to transition. I was also happy to see that there wasn't a lot of drafting out there.

T2: 1:42 Was not expecting much on the run after that hard ass bike but still I didn't dawdle here, got my socks and shoes on, took off the helmet, got my race number and hat and jogged out.

26:10 Started running and I was like wow, my legs feel good, what's up with that. I figured it wouldn't last, but still I wanted to keep a 9 min pace and try to settle in and get right around 27. I just kept going and my legs kept getting better and better. Got to the turn around in 13:36. last year it was 14:11. half way there and I just needed a 13:24 to break 27 on the way back. When I hit the water stop I grabbed some to splash on my head, took a quick swallow and picked up the pace one more time for the last 1. I was averaging 8:40 at this time and new I still had some left. Made the final left onto the main road and turned it up again. I did not want to get passed on the final stretch. But as fate would have it I was passed by one guy in my division. He flew by me and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep pace. 3 seconds later another guy went by me. But he as going just a bit faster, so I slid in behind him and tried to get ready for the final kick. We hit the final straight away and I tried to go around him, we ran neck and neck for the last 30 yards, but my legs just wouldn't go any faster and he got me on the line.

Total time 1:28:48 good for 5th in Master Clydesdale's but without that foot cramp would have gotten third. I'm over it now, but it took a while. Very happy about my bike and run, not so about the swim which is usually my strong suit. I've got woodlake coming up on the 23rd. That was my best race last year so got to be ready

First brick of the season

2009-04-19T17:08:00.002-04:00

When I saw this one on my schedule I was like cool, first brick of the season. Sure it was 30 miles of biking and 2 miles of running, but since I haven't run in forever, any kind of running is good for me. Woke up Saturday morning and was not in any kind of mood to go out and ride. Lilyan had two birthday parties to go to so I had to hit the road by 8 in order to get done in time to pick her up from ballet at 11 and rush her over to the first party. Wanted to get going at 7:30, but procrastinated enough that I didn't get started until 7:45. I decided to do the 27 mile route I had done a couple weeks back which is fairly easy to not get lost on. While last time there were no dogs to be seen, for some reason there seemed to be a dog barking every where I turned. But luckily I was not chased by any of them. Of course it helped to get me moving faster each time I heard the barking. It was going really well and getting more used to my aerobars again so I was quite happy. I made the turn home and started to eat my powerbar. 30 minutes later I pull into my driveway and start the transition to run. I start off and my legs are killing me, I feel like I am running like 12 min miles and like it is so hard. After 1/2 mile I look at my watch and see I'm doing 9:45 / mile and I'm like woo hoo, no wonder why this hurts so much. At that same time I start a long down hill section so I slow down and let the heart rate come down a little. finished the first mile in 9:42. Start feeling good now and pick up the pace and finish the second mile in 8:55. Great workout, gives me some confidence for my tri coming up on the 10th.

Me, Myself, and I

2009-04-06T20:59:00.002-04:00

The three of us went for a ride together on Saturday. I told myself it was going to be an easy 30 miles as written on our schedule, but myself objected and said we should go more since it's so nice out. I was not hearing any of it but me popped up and voted with myself and I was overruled. So I looked up the loop that we've done in the past and it was 36 miles. All of us agreed that was enough and out we went. I was a bit cold and I was bitching up a storm the first ten minutes. But finally I warmed up and got into an easy rhythm. The first 20 miles was a southeast route and the wind was out of the west south west so it was easy going and we averaged 19 miles an hour and kept our heart rate down. I knew we were going to be in deep doo doo on the way back but just kept it to myself.
When we hit the left turn and started the ride back our speed dropped from the 20's right to 15. The way back is also slightly uphill. Me told us just to put are head's down and just try to keep the ave speed over 16 so I hit the lap button on my watch and started to push. Myself, whose idea it was to do the extra 6 miles was in charge of the open areas where the wind was full on. He would get down into the drops and be as aero as possible and push as hard as possible. When he got tired, me would take over and sit up to recover before I would take over on the break heads and pedal a consistent pace. Me was in charge of the hills. There isn't a lot of hills on the way back, just some bumps, but with the wind, even a bump is a hill. The three of us would split time, at about mile 7 of the 16 I was dying and ready to quit. Myself had just given it all for a mile and still the average dropped from 16.4 to 16.1 and the wind just wouldn't stop. Just then me took over and did an easy pull and let our average drop. Somehow we manage to keep it at 16 and came to an easy spot. This gave us some hope and at mile 10 we must have hit the end of the climb because I was able to keep the pace over 16 without hitting to high of an hr. At mile 10 myself took over and did a hard pull to get us back to 16.3, then each of the next 3 miles the average went up .1 until we were at mile 14 and at 16.6. I knew we would make the goal of over 16 mph ave for the return trip so we sat up and coasted in the last mile or so.
It just so happened that the last mile was not into the wind anymore so we ended 16 miles at 16.6 and combined with the first 20 at 19 gave us a 17.9 ave mph. I was worried there at mile 8 on the way back that evil bill was going to show up and ruin everything, but we were able to keep him under wraps, at least for the time being.
It was tough ride at the end of a tough week with 4 bikes and 3 swims, and then 12 hours of yard work/staining was still ahead. I think I should have taken Monday off from work as I really needed a vacation from my weekend

20 years ago

2009-04-06T20:14:00.002-04:00

Well actually it's 21, but that's close enough. It was 1988, I was a junior in college at University of Florida, I got on the scale and it said less than 220. That was the last time I can remember that an accurate scale registered less than 220. Until last month. I was training for a marathon and my weight was down in the low 220's but still could not get under 220. It was warm day and I had an 8 mile run scheduled, the scale in the morning said 223. After the run I got on the scale and it was 218. Of course I knew that it was all water, but still it was nice to actually see it. The next day it was back at 224.
Then the event occurred. I finally admitted my hip was injured enough that I wouldn't be able to do the marathon. I went to the ortho doctor and he told me it was bursitis, gave me a steroid shot and said no running for 4 weeks. With 4 weeks of no running in my future, I did not want to gain back up to the low 230's where I was when I started the marathon training so I began tracking my calories in vs out and watching what I ate. Two days later I weighed 219. It was quite a shock since the last time I weighed myself it was 226. How did a lose 7 lbs in 3 days? I was going a lot, but I was also drinking a lot of water and had not exercised in 5 days so I just thought it was water lose combined with my body flushing out all the junk and figured it would go back up again.
Two weeks later I am still hovering right around 218 - 221. My scale's body fat percent has returned to what it was before the shot so no dehydration. I have resumed exercise, bike and swim and weights, but still watching the cals in vs out. I am aiming for 90% of what I need to stay at current weight so I can lose gradually without getting too hungry or sending my body into store mode. I will admit that I have been hungry probably 80% of the time for the last two weeks, but with the scale cooperating it has been easier to keep it up. So I am going to officially count it and hope that next week when I start running again I can keep it going and finally get down to the 210 - 215 mark that I really would feel comfortable with. If by some miracle I can get under 200 that would be 1985. Maybe next year on the 25th anniversary :-).

National Marathon training week 19

2009-03-07T13:17:00.003-05:00

this was supposed to be the first week of my taper. And it started off that way, but my coach emails me that I should do a big double on the weekend and add a 10 mile run on sunday instead of my swim. After some bargaining, we agree to add 2 miles to thursday, and 1 mile to saturday, then 6 on Sunday. This way I don't have to drive some where to run on Sunday, I can just run from the house and save a bunch o time and keep the wife and girl happy since i will be done before they get out of bed.

Monday: 4.5 miles
On tap for today, 4 miles easy, then 5 x 100 strides. Well it's cold and icy out so I hit the treadmill for 44 minutes easy, then do my strides of fast for 30 seconds, easy 15 seconds to end up with 48 minutes and close to 4.5 miles.

Tuesday: 7 miles
Track day, today is 4 x 1 mile at 9:45, Well the track was closed, so my 1.5 mile warmup, ended up being 2 miles and we ran around the soccer field which is 3 laps per mile instead of 4. The first two were a little fast at 9:35 and 9:39, then the 3rd one I was starting to feel good and my hr was coming down so I just decided to skip the recovery and do a 2 mile rep. in 19:05 for a 9:32 pace. Then when I finished, I decided to just cut across the field to meet the other people who were already done and waiting on the other side, when I stepped on the ice and slipped and fell. Luckily I hit the grass and not the trail, but still it hurt. I did get up and do my 1/2 mile cool down to get my 7 for the day.

Wednesday:
Did a little weight training and mulching today instead of back to the core.

Thursday: 7.1 miles
This was supposed to be 5 easy, but as noted above it got changed to 7. Felt good for the first 5. Did the umstead loop with Frank, Kendel and Melissa at about 10:10 pace then they cut off and I did the last 2 miles solo and at mile 6 really started to feel it. My legs just started hurting and getting tired. finished off my 7 and hit the showers.

Friday: day off
Woke up and was really sore, especially the whole right side of my body.

Saturday: 14 miles
Still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I was "supposed" to do a 3 mile warmup, then 10 miles at marathon pace, then 1 mile cool down. I knew when I got up, this wasn't going to happen. The first 3 miles were painful, knees, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back, everything hurt. I was running solo today and was ready to just give up and pack it in, but somehow managed to keep myself going. Was running at shelley lake and started out towards the mall. When I hit the turn around I was just thinking, when I get back, cut off the last mile and just do 13, but once again, I managed to convince myself to finish off the run. Splits below
lap / time / ave hr
1 10:49 139
2 11:06 141
3 10:31 144
4 10:36 143
5 10:14 143
6 10:13 146
7 11:58 139 long walk to get a gel in
8 10:17 143
9 9:48 152 Best lap of the run
10 10:38 149
11 10:13 152
12 10:59 151 starting to fall apart now...
13 11:45 149 long walk
14 11:20 151 two walks
Once again, my recovery week after a long run sucked, and I'm not going to run tomorrow like I'm supposed to. It just hurt too much for the speed I was doing. I need to rest my body to get ready for the race, more than I need to get those 6 miles in. My confidence is a bit shaken again this week, but I still have hope with 2 weeks of rest, just hope the hips and legs will recover in time.

Sunday:
Woke up stiff and sore er then yesterday, no surprise there, so I took the day off, I did get in the pool, but just to watch the girl swim and make sure she didn't drown.

weekly miles: 33

National Marathon Training week 18

2009-02-26T19:56:00.003-05:00

This is the last big week before the taper begins. I'm a little nervous as my last big run was not so good, and then I got sick so my next 20 miler was actually 0. Coming off of coach bubba I started feeling a bit better so my confidence is growing.

Monday: 5 miles
5 mile easy recovery run. It was cold, very cold, like 28 degrees in the morning when I went out. usually when I wear my thick running gloves, they come off after 1 mile, but today it was mile 3. I took it easy and stayed in zone 3 except for the big hill at mile 4, and then I did my 5 x 100 meter strides at the end.

Tuesday: 8 miles
today's track workout was 1 mile warmup, 3 x 2 miles at just under marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. I decided to do 2 x 3 miles instead to make it go by faster. Felt pretty good on these, my hr was hovering right around zone 4, and I would prefer it to be 3.8, but as my hip and legs felt good the whole time and just zoned out on the heavy metal it was alright.

Wednesday: swim 1.2
Did a little bit harder swim today than usual, but still felt good and worked on my breathing technique and keeping my legs up.

Thursday: 6 miles
I had an easy 6 miles today, so I ran down harrison to black creek, at the point where I would turn back for the 4 mile loop I just kept going for another mile and back and made 6. kept hr low except on the hill back up to harrison. Felt good on the hills and hips and legs still feeling good. Friday is off and my confidence is growing, but still Saturday looms and now it's going to be rainy and cold. oh joy.

Friday:
day off

Saturday: 20 miles
on the plan was 22 miles at comfortable pace. This one could get a little wordy since it was a really long run. Friday comes along and the forecast for the weekend is 50 degrees and steady rain all day long saturday. I'm thinking maybe sunday this week, but then I look at sunday and it's 30's and rain all day, so back to Saturday. So I wake up Saturday morning, eat breakfast and start to get ready. The phone rings and it's downstairs, but I know it's Erin, calling to say she is not going. I get the phone mail, and it's Erin, saying she is not going. So I call her back and tell her I am going anyway and it's ok that she isn't going. She tries to convince me to go tuesday, but I am so ready to get this over and start tapering and it's really only 4 hours out of my life and I need to be done so I can have the next 21 days to rest and get ready. Anyway she changes her mind and is going to go. We start off and head towards umstead from north cary park, the first few miles not so good but then we get to the airport overlook and things level off and I start feeling a bit better. We loop around and head up the spill way, my favorite hill, only had to walk once, then at the top we head to the rest rooms for a quick pit stop before heading down harrison. Next we turn down ready creek to cary cafe, pick up an extra mile in the cary slums behind the cafe and then head down harrison to pick the greenway back up. Things are still going good when we hit dynasty and take a nice walk break up the mean hill, then decide to loop back to maynard via sudbury to get two more miles in so we don't have to go back up to the airport overlook. We run until we get back to the mean hill on dynasty, then run back to north cary park. Now we are on mile 16 and once again my legs/feet start the normal after 16 revolt so I give Erin the key and send her on her way. After the turn around at the gate, i am resigned to walk 30 seconds, run to the next 1/4 mile post, then walk 30 seconds, until I reach the 20 mile mark and then I am done. This run didn't really help my confidence as it was at 11 min pace so I am hoping the taper and rest will help, but have already started lowering my expectations and questioning if I am really cut out to do marathons. I guess part of the draw for me is the fact that it is such a challenge, but I was really hoping this time I might be able to get to the point where 18 - 20 didn't just kill me and make me suffer as much.

Sunday:
standard sunday swim except legs are really sore and lower back not feeling good. Did my swim and some stretching in the pool then got out to start my birthday...

weekly miles: 39

Coach Bubba Race Report

2009-02-21T13:12:00.002-05:00

Gotta do this while it's still fresh in my head...

Started off about 2.5 miles away from the race. Since I only ran 4 miles total the week before my original race plan was out the door and I was supposed to run 17 miles total for the day. I ran the 2.5 mile warmup, then got my chip and hit the bathroom and waited for the start. Started off with Cindy, who was not thinking today :-), but lost her at about the 1/2 mile mark. I was hoping to stay around 10 min pace through the beginning hilly part in the neighborhoods, then when I hit the tobacco trail, see what I could do.
Mile 1 was 9:50 and I had to constantly slow myself or I would have gone too fast.
Mile 2 was 9:42, but now I really had that feeling that I needed to go so I was looking for somewhere, but nothing
Mile 3 was 10:58, found a port a let and had to wait for one person, but better than going in someones front yard.
Mile 4 was 9:41, this pace was good and I was feeling good even on the hills
Mile 5 10:07, this was the hilliest mile of the race
Mile 6 9:32, Feeling good, but probably going too fast
Mile 7 9:46, with a walk break at the rest stop, I was planning to take a gel at this stop, and I did, but I was doing 9:15 when I came on the rest stop and after I hit the gel and got some water, it almost came right back up. Had to coast a while to recover.
Mile 8, 9:38 feeling good again and picking up the pace to try to break 2 hours.
Mile 9, 10:17 oops, had a gatorade at the turn around and once again had to hold it back or it was coming back up, and now my stomach was feeling sour. Time to abandon my hopes of breaking 2 hours. the plan now was just hold marathon race pace.
Mile 10, 9:44 doing ok, but stomach not happy
Mile 11, 9:48 starting to feel better, but this is mile 13.5 for me and my legs are saying, um you haven't held sub 10's for this long before what are you thinking?
Mile 12, 10:29 walk break at the last water stop. Just got water and it went down fine.
Mile 12.5, 4:27 for a 9:29 pace, it was all I could do to not take a walk break at the mile 12 sign, but there was a nice lady there cheering us on and I just couldn't do it to HER.

When I got done I was supposed to do a 2 mile cool down for 17 total, but did not. Instead I caught a ride to breakfast and my car. The way I was feeling it was for the best...

I really do like this race and all the miles I've put in made the hilly section easier. I think I could have broken 2 hours this year, but the 2.5 mile warmup and the bathroom break and then the gels did not help. I was taking nutrition for 17 miles, but doing a pace for 12.5 miles, not really the best way to do it. Live and learn.

National Marathon Training week 17

2009-02-17T20:32:00.006-05:00

Monday: Finally feeling better from my sinus infection and decided to do the Nog run on Monday night. Met Micheal at Tir na Nog in downtown raleigh to do a 3 mile run followed by free food and not free beer. He's a bit faster than I and wanted to start with the 8 - 9 min pace group. I said what the hell and took off with him. After the first two miles in 17 something I started to lag back and cruised in the last mile around 10 min pace. No warmup and running 5k pace was tough, but after a week off my legs were up to it, but I did get a nasty side stitch.

Tuesday: Track workout. 7 miles total
I had a 5,4,3,2,1 lap workout at 2:05 - 2:10 per lap with a 400 jog between. did my 2 mile warmup and was anxious to see how my legs would respond. Felt really good and hit all my numbers, but I was noticing that during my recovery my HR was not going down as low as normal, so after the 3 lap set I decided to cut it short by skipping the 2 lap set. Did my 1 lap in 2:03, then jogged back to the rec center. My legs were hurting big time after lunch. Might swim tomorrow instead of the back to the core class to rest the legs a bit.

Wednesday: Swim
woke up and actually felt good, like I wanted to exercise, it's been a while...
so I went for a swim. My legs were sore from yesterday's speed work and I felt the pool would be better than BTC today. Did a nice easy workout in my 92 degree pool ( note to self, turn down the heater ). 1.1 mile in 25 mins, mixed pull and swim

Thursday: Run 7.5
today was an 8 miler at an easy pace. I told the coach I would do the 10k loop and then if I felt good at the end I would tack on some more. I met Matt in the locker room, he's a bit faster than I as well, and he had 8 also. I was a little tentative about running with him as I wasn't sure how fast I could handle, but he said he was ok with going slow and we headed out. Ends up I felt fairly well and we did the loop and were at 10:10 pace so we decided to add some and I finished with 7.5 miles at 10:10 pace and felt good. It was a nice change. Off tomorrow, then 17, including a 20k race in the middle on Saturday...

Friday: off day

Saturday: coach bubba race report is here http://slowburntt.blogspot.com/2009/02/coach-bubba-race-report.html, total miles 15

Sunday: swimming
Woke up and did my swim early. Felt fairly good, but legs sore so it was nice to have my workout say over half should be pull.
did an easy warmup of half swim / half pull
then did a hard set of 12 mins pull and paddles at a good clip followed by 5 x :45 swim at 2.6 with :15 rest. Then an easy cool down of breast stroke and back stroke and for good measure did some yoga in the pool to stretch out the hips.

next week is the last really hard week before tapering, 41 total miles with a 22 mile run on Saturday

weekly miles: 33

National marathon training week 15&16

2009-02-15T17:37:00.004-05:00

Let's see, I am going to break from the norm as the last two weeks haven't gone very well...

week 15 started off ok, but have been feeling a bit tired and had low energy the whole week. My workouts had been on target, so not too worried, but still I felt like I needed a break so I told the coach I was going to ease off the intensity a bit and recover a bit more. Thursday came and I woke up not feeling great, when I looked to far up,down,left or right, there was a weird shooting pain in my head. So I just didn't do that. My run went fine, and decided to do my 13 mile run on Sunday instead of saturday. Friday was a day off, and the weird pain was still there, but it was a day off and so I didn't think about it. Saturday was my swim that I was to do on Sunday, and it went fine and the weird pain was gone. The energy level was still low, but my recovery weeks to date haven't been all that great and usually the next week is better.
Sunday's long run was 13, I met cindy at Shelley lake for some flat easy miles. It felt a little harder than normal, but she was up for the walk breaks and we made it without too much difficulty. Afterward we met the families for brunch at golden Corral. I did not feel well at all at GC, but made it home without losing anything. When I got home I hit the scale and I had lost 5 lbs since the morning weigh in. That was before breakfast and all that I drank before during and after the run. So I attributed my crappy feeling to getting dehydrated. Little did I know what was in store.

Weekly miles: 23

Week 16: Got a sinus infection and felt like crap all week. Ran once for 4 miles. That's all I want to say about week 16...
Weekly miles: 4

National Marathon training week 14

2009-02-01T15:46:00.002-05:00

Let's see, I can summarize this week in 5 words...
Holy Crap that was hard!

So here we go
Monday: 5 miles flat and easy. This was the easiest workout of the week. Only did 4.5 but at 10:04 pace and it was flat and enjoyable. Ran with cindy on black creek trail.

tuesday: my track workout was 6 x 1 mile ( 400 jog recovery ) getting faster each odd lap. Coach called and suggested I go in the morning since it might rain in the late morning when I normally go. It was really hard that morning to get going. The 1.75 mile warmup was tough, my legs were tired, my knees hurt and I had no energy. Luckily this wasn't a fast pace so i still felt I could handle it. I told Coach B that I was going to change it to 2 x 2 miles and 2 x 1 mile so I could get done quicker. My first two laps were at marathon race pace, or 9:50 / mile after those two I decided to skip the recovery and start the next set of 9:30 both of those went well two, I was in a groove, my hr was doing well and I was listening to endurance planet podcasts to take my mind of the boringness of running 30 laps by myself. so it ended up being 1 x 4 miles, then I did a recovery which I almost skipped, but was so happy I didn't. the next set was 2 x 1 mile at 9 min pace which on the track is usually very easy for me, but not today. The first I did ok, but the second was really hard. This is 10k pace so at mile 8 I guess it's supposed to be hard. I survived this one.

Wednesday: since this was the second hard week in a row I only had back to the core and no cycling this week. It was of course a hard class and my tired legs didn't help. My abs were doing fine, but whenever the set called for using the hamstrings for hip flexors I just couldn't do it.

Thursday: morning, a little sore in the abs, but since I really couldn't do the class as I should it wasn't bad. Had a 6-7 mile run today and I wanted to hit my 40 for the week so I had to do 6.5 since I only did 4.5 on monday. Started off really hard again, but after about 3 miles i started feeling better and finished off fairly strong so I had some hope for my 20 on the weekend. That night Erin texts me that we are meeting Lauren at breakfast at 11 so I have to come up with a route that starts and stops at cary cafe so I don't have to worry about rushing after the run is done.

Friday: day off, find route, but it is on turkey creek trail, I ran turkey creek once during my last marathon training so I knew it was hard, but figured it was doable and now would be the best time to do it and reep the benefits. aka get stronger for it, without sacrafising recovery.

Saturday: Still not doing great on energy, but still had to go. Picked up Erin and headed out. The first 9 miles of the run went really well, we were on 10:40 pace when we hit turkey creek and were doing good on the hills. Turkey creek really took it out of me and had to walk many of the hills, when we got to the spillway my legs just died. After a short break at the bathrooms I started off for the remaining 4 miles just hoping to survive. I left early thinking Cindy and Erin would catch me soon enough. Got about 1 mile and Cindy came beside me and said Erin was taking the short cut and was walking. I said I was going to whole way, but then turned around and saw Erin right behind so I waited for her. Earlier in the run I was telling her how I wasn't hung up on killing myself for one workout, but here I was ready to do it for this one. She asked what I was going to do so I told her, my brain says go long, but my body is screaming shortcut. She said she would do what I did and as long as we stayed together we could make it. Some blood must have made it back to my brain and I remembered what I said earlier and when we got to the shortcut spot I said shortcut. It saved us about 3/4 a mile and I really needed it. I think this run will really help in the end, but do not want to do that again. I think the loop from cary cafe is good, but I'll need to see how many miles if we the skip the turkey creek part before adding it my list or "normal" routes. I took two alleves and ate a big awesome breakfast, then went home, had more coffee and off to the ballet. came home and went to bed early.

sunday: knees are better this week than last, but muscles are much more sore. Did an easy swim with a lot of pulling and breaststroke and nothing that got my heart rate up too high. The pool was 90 so it felt great. Then did some yoga in the water that really helped. I knew trying to do this on land would not work as I would be spending too much energy staying upright and not enough getting the position right to get the benefit from it. I must say the yoga in the pool was awesome and really helped my hips loosen up. Then the girl joined me in the pool for some fun.

weekly mileage:39 - not the 40 I wanted, but still a record for me.

next week is a recovery week for me and I need it.

National Marathon Training week 13

2009-01-25T08:09:00.003-05:00

Monday: Had five easy miles today, but had to run at home since the girl was off for mlk day and I was staying home with her. Running from home is never easy as the neighborhood features some big hills. I wanted to stay in hr zone 3 today but I knew the last mile that was not going to happen due to one of those aforementioned hills. So I started off nice and easy and really concentrated on easing up going downhills so my hr would lower enough to not peak too high on the uphills. Only went into zone 4 for a few minutes on that last hill, and felt pretty good today.
5 miles with a 10:30 ave pace.

Tuesday: Today was supposed to be a track day, but the snow made that impossible so when I got up and saw it coming down hard and already 2 inches on the ground, I broke out the cross country shoes with the spikes, got bundled up and headed out to do my 2 mile warmup. It was awesome, except for the fact that the snow stung my eyes, it was perfect. Then headed into the house for some speedwork on the treadmill. Did 4 x (4 mins fast / 2 easy / 2 faster / 4 recovery), then only did a half mile of my 2 mile cool down as the kid really NEEDED to go out in the snow and wanted to take the cat for a walk in it.

Wednesday: another snow day, so no biking outside was possible, so I stayed inside and did a 45 min spinnervals dvd and a core/Resistance workout.

Thursday: Still snow on the ground, but I thought umstead would be ok, so cindy and I headed out for our normal 10k loop, she was going to cut off at the 5 mile spilt and I was supposed to negative split the last 2 miles. We got to umstead after 2.5 miles and it was covered in snow and I saw a sign that the trail was closed. I just thought they meant the hiking trails so proceeded into the park. got about 50 yards and the snow was hiding ice underneath so we decided to just turnaround and run back. Then I got the joy of trying to negative split miles on a mostly uphill very hilly campus. Needless to say that didn't occur, but the workout was supposed to build strength, so really pushing on those hills, I'm sure, did the trick.

Friday: day off, it was great, but getting a little nervous about the 18 on Saturday.

Saturday: Started off with temps in the low 40's so after last week's 18 degrees, it was a joy. Still cold on the black creek trail but after about 3 miles I was warmed up, then at mile 5 the fleece top came off and I just ran in a short sleeve running shirt. The first part of the run was going great, I noticed my hr was up from the previous 16 I did on the same route, but we were going faster, and still I felt pretty good. At the 16 mile mark we were at a 10:40 pace compared to 10:44 the last time I did 16, but I still had 2 miles to go. I was really hurting but decided to just do the 2 miles in survival mode, I sent Erin on ahead as she was feeling good and I didn't want to slow her down, or have the pressure of trying to keep up. Mile 17 was harder as it is a slight uphill and I walked twice, but after the turn around, I started feeling better with the slight downhill and only had to walk once. Once the run was done, it was real struggle to get up the hill back to the car. Then finally we got to breakfast and I was starving, wanted to just keep eating, but had to leave to get home.

Sunday: it was tough going this morning, right knee was buggin me, both legs sore, and I was a little tired and dragging, but I still got in the pool. it helped that I cranked the heat last week and it was probably 90 degrees. Swam 1.2 miles in about 30 mins, with a little kicking that really helped the knee.

weelky miles = 35, next week is my first 40 mile week ever and the first 20 mile run of this training period.

National Marathon Training Week 12

2009-01-17T16:00:00.005-05:00

This was a recovery week for me, but sure didn't feel like it on Saturday.

Monday: Day off, still riding the high from last week so it was really hard to take the day off, but I scheduled a massage which meant no lunch workout so that helped.

Tuesday: 5 easy. Still feeling really good and my 5 miles easy was just that, easy. did 5.4 at around 10:15 pace

Wednesday: Heater broke so had to work from home, did 30 mins of mtn biking at a place near my home after heater was working again.

Thursday: 7 miles easy. Ran the umstead 6.2 mile loop and then added a bit to the end to make it 6.6 miles at just under 10 min / mile pace. Not really easy, but still feeling good.

Friday: Another day off

Saturday: Today really sucked. Woke up to no water in the house and 11 degree temps.
too many things conspired against me today and my run just didn't go well.
Due to the cold temps I had planned to start running around 9:45 to get some sun and I was going to eat breakfast at 6, then have a banana around 9. Morning started off with no water in the house. Ate my breakfast at 6:30, then tried to figure out why we had no water, by 8:30 and still no water I had to goto Erin's house to get some water so we could flush the toilets and then by the time I was ready to go the banana was long forgotten. Started around 9:45 and it was still only 18 degrees, my legs never really got warmed up and it was really hard to keep turning over, then one of the people running with us hurt his knee so we were taking walk breaks to make sure he was ok and we would run up, then run back while he walked and that kept us off getting into a good rythm on the way back. Then about mile 10 I bonked and just had to stop. Erin kept going for another loop around the lake and I went the other way slowly to get to 11.
total
11 miles in 1:58:51 - 10:48 ave pace
ave hr 147, for the effort the hr was too high.
splits
1: 10:22 - left shin pain
2: 9:37 - warming up a bit
3: 9:31 - feeling ok, but it felt too hard
4: 9:40 - still feels hard and legs won't warmup
5: 10:26 - knee blow out ( not mine )
6: 9:44 - back in groove
7: 10:29 - stop for gel
8: 12:12 - knee guys starts walking
9: 11:05 - back and forth
10: 11:38 - bonking
11: 14:01 - half walk half run

Sunday: easy swim, been a while since I just did a straight 1 mile swim so did 8 mins of easy warmup, then 20 mins a faster pace and 4 mins easy cool down. just swimming for 1.1 miles

This was a tough ending to a good week, hopefully the weather and my legs will cooperate better next week...

weekly milage 23

National Marathon Week 11

2009-01-11T08:52:00.003-05:00

This was a tough week, but amazingly I felt good for every workout. Next week is a recovery week to rest up for the last two weeks of the month which should prove to be extremely difficult. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Monday: I was really sore from the weekend but luckily I only had 4 miles easy followed by 5 x 100 strides at the end. Did the 4 miles in 10:30 pace, but it wasn't easy and then the strides which actually felt good.

Tuesday: Still a little sore, but 100 times better than monday. Gotta love those recovery runs. The workout was 1.5 mile warmup, then 3 x 2 miles at 8:50 pace and 1 mile cool down. It was cold and drizzly. I had company for the warmup, and there were people at the track for the first two reps, but by the time I started the 3rd two mile repeat, I was by myself and the cold and rain were getting to me. I managed to do all 3 at 8:45 pace, but my cool down jog was only 1/2 mile instead of the full mile.

Wednesday: Met with the coach at lunch to go over the year plan so had to get both workouts in the morning. Did 35 mins of spinning on the bike while playing mario cart wii, then did a 20 min core workout.

Thursday: This was a 6 mile recovery/steady run. I didn't look at the details since all my recovery runs are at "comfortable" pace. Luckily today comfortable was a little faster than usual. Plus Erin and Vivian ran with Frank and I so the pace was a more lively 9:50 which included a 5:19 up half mile hill. Frank dropped out and did the 5.5 mile option and then we picked up the pace for the last mile to sub 9's to make up for the wait at the intersection. Felt really good on the hills on this one.

Friday: day off, yoga in the morning

Saturday: This was the 16 mile run at comfortable pace. Can 16 miles ever really be comfortable? I guess I'll find out when I do my 18 mile comfortable run in 2 weeks. This run went better than last week. I changed my walk breaks to be every 2 miles instead of every mile, this allowed me to get more into a rythm and relax into the run, without so many breaks. my ave pace for the whole run was 10:44 where last week it was 10:47. And I ran the last 3 miles without a walk break just like last week, but this week my last 3 miles were 1:10 faster. I ran mile 14 with Frank who was doing 8 and trying to average sub 10, after about a half mile I had to let him go as 9:25 was not what I wanted to do on mile 14, but I managed to do 9:48, then 10:07 and 10:08. Mile 16 felt better this week than 15 last week and my recovery after the run was faster as well.

Sunday: Easy swim, but legs are much better than last week. I actually felt good enough to do 5 mins of kicking.

I have a bit more confidence after this week, but the last two weeks of this month are still looming...

weekly mileage: 35

National Marathon Week 10

2008-12-31T08:57:00.006-05:00

This week has another 15 mile run at the end and it has new years in the middle. should be a tough one... January is the make or break month for me to see if I can hit my 4:20 goal. There are 4 tough weeks this month with one recovery week. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with my schedule...

Monday: Was supposed to swim, but got home late from Virginia and was worn out so I skipped it.

Tuesday: Today was a tempo run, after my last few workouts and all the traveling I wasn't expecting much, but it ended up being a really good run. Met Tim and Frank at Shelley lake and did the 1 mile warmup together. Tim had 4 miles at 8:30 and Frank said he would hang with me as long as he could. At mile 1 Tim took off and Frank and I increased to 9:10 pace, took my sweat shirt off at 1.5 and felt much better. My tempo pace for 5 miles was to be between 9:00 and 9:20. Mile 1 of tempo was 9:11 and I felt really good. Shelley lake is really flat so I'm sure that had something to do with it. mile 2 of the tempo was 9:10, still feeling good so I decided to pick it up a bit to 9 min pace and lost Frank. Mile 3 was 8:58, this was harder, but I still felt really good so I kept this pace for mile 4 and an 8:59. Mile 5 of the tempo had a short steep hill right where I dropped my sweat shirt that I had to pick up so I wanted to keep my 9 min pace going so after picking it up I sprinted to the top and still had dropped to 9:30 pace from 8:56 and was way out of breath. I kept a decent pace going until I could breath again and picked it up for the final quarter to finish mile 5 @ 9:03. then did a 10:14 cool down. total for the run 1:05 and a 9:23 pace for 7 miles, tempo part was 9:04 pace for 5 miles.

Wednesday: Coach changed my schedule to be a cross train at the last minute from a run so I did a swim today.
warmup:
5 swim, 5 pull, 5 kick w/fins

mainset:
12 mins pull & paddles @ 2.3
3 min swim at 2.3 :30 ri
2 min swim at 2.4 :30 ri
1 min swim at 2.5

cool down:
5 mins easy

Thursday: Very cold new year's day run. Wore my new tights and socks and shorts with an old long sleeve shirt and heavy fleece sweat shirt on top, skiing gloves and a hat. Had my heavy metal play list shuffled on my iphone and took off early. It was close to 30 degrees, I think I overdressed, but running into the wind I was cold with the wind chill, but when the wind was at my back it felt hot. Either way I felt fairly good and stong on this run, a little sore from the 3 hours of ice skating the day before, but since it was an easy run I took it easy. Did 5 miles in 52 mins for a 10:16 pace...

Friday: day off - woo hoo, but spent day taking down chritmas gifts and starting on a hopefully consistent resistence training plan.

Saturday: 15 miles at comfortable pace - um remember not to start resistence training day before 15 mile run. This 15 miler was better than the last 15 miler, while last time I was coming down with a cold, this time my energy level was good, but my muscles were sore. My running partners were resting injuries and my other running buddies were either too lazy to get up or had to watch the kids so I was solo this week. I setup a playlist for the iphone and headed to umstead. Started off cold, I was wearing long tights and shorts and a long sleeve running shirt and fleece pullover. no gloves or head gear. My paces were slower to start than last time, but overall my pace at the end was better. I did run the last 3 miles without walkbreaks but man my quads were killing me.
stats: 15 miles in 2:42:00 for a 10:47 pace, ave hr 144 max 162. spent most of the time in zone 3 1:54:45, and some in zone 4 ( 40:06 ).

Sunday: Swim - legs were really sore today so just did an easy swim and no kicking.

miles for the week 27

looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule...

National Marathon Week 9

2008-12-30T06:23:00.004-05:00

These next two weeks are going to be odd with Christmas and New Years and the kid off from school and us off from work so I told myself to make sure to get the runs in and try as best I can to do the rest...

Monday: I had a 3 mile recovery run with strides after, but decided to skip it since I was still recovering from a cold and it was 23 degrees in the morning, the only time I had to run and I just felt too crappy to get out of bed.

Tuesday: Feeling better today but decided to do an easier track workout today to keep recovering from my cold. Did 1.5 mile warmup followed by a 3 mile run alternating 400's fast/recovery ( 2:10 / 2:20 ). Ran with Cindy and Frank and this way of doing 3 miles on the track was better than the way I did it last time as the change in pace broke up the monotony, but since I had company that probably had something to do with it as well.

Wednesday: Today I had swim/kick with fins in the morning and mtn bike at lunch. Did my swim and more kicking than normal and felt really good, but had to skip the bike as the park was closed and had to do some last minute shopping

Thursday: day off

Friday: Today was the long run day as Saturday is a travel day. This is a recovery week so I only had 10 miles, but they were to be done at ~9:30 pace. Met Erin and Rob at Lake Benson and ran towards downtown Garner and did a loop back. This one was tough. We started off around 10:30 pace for the first mile, but then gradually sped up until we were doing 9:30's. The course was sidewalks and roads and rolling all the way. At mile 7 we were at 9:37 ave pace for the whole run so we were right on pace, but even though the next two miles were flat, I couldn't get the pace any lower so at mile 9 we were at 9:35 and I decided to slow down and do a cool down back to the car. Ended up with 9:37 ave pace for 9.61 miles

Sat: day off, but I did play some sand volley ball for 1.5 hours

Sun: had a 6 mile easy, run, it wasn't easy, I was tired from travel and staying up really late for me. Did 6.1 miles in 1:02:43 for about a 10:20 pace.

Next week is going to be tough again, but then hopefully will be back to the normal routine.

weekly mileage: 22

National Marathon week 8

2008-12-21T08:15:00.004-05:00

Week 8 was a struggle, really only Tuesday went well, but I managed to get through it and am looking forward to no work for two weeks and having a recovery week during Christmas.

Monday: Recovery Run 4 miles: Did 4.3 on the flattest course available which really isn't flat but does have a nice middle section that is flat. legs felt really heavy and tired at the beginning, finally started feeling good around mile 2.5 just in time for the hilly section back to work.

Tuesday: Track Day, This was a great day for me, did a 1.5 mile warmup, then
2000 at 9 min pace, 6 x 800's starting at 4:20 and getting faster by 5 seconds rep. then a 1 mile cool down, beat all my goal times and felt good doing it. big confidence builder.

Wednesday: was supposed to do core class and 20 mile easy bike, wasn't able to do either as we were driving up to Virginia for dinner with Lilyan's grandpa. So it was leave at 3, drive 3 hours, eat dinner and open presents, drive 3 hours home, this after getting up at 5 to get my work hours in. At least she got a wii out of it.

Thursday: I had a 6-7 mile steady run on the schedule, but instead did a 1 mile warmup, 3 mile tempo at 9:15 pace, 2 mile cool down. This was tough and did more walking than I would like, but I needed to save my legs for saturday's 15 miles and was tired from yesterday.

Friday: This was an off day, but since wednesday got screwed up, I did an easy 35 min swim. It felt great swimming but still mentally tired.

Saturday: Woke up with a head cold, felt really tired and congested, but had to meet Erin and Rob for 15 miles. Luckily the weather this week was in the 50's and dry. We did a route that started at starbucks, ran 2.5 hilly miles to a greenway, then did a 5 mile out and back on the flat greenway. taking walk breaks every mile to drink or eat. I felt tired and drained the whole time but the fueling strategy kept me going and I made it through, the first half was at 10:25 pace, the second at 11:15 to ave 10:50 for the whole route.

Sunday: still feeling the headcold, but wanted to get the legs and shoulders loosened up so did an easy 30 min 1 mile swim.

Looking forward to next week's reduced mileage, but more travel at the end of the week.

Weekly mileage: 25

National Marathon Week 7

2008-12-14T15:10:00.004-05:00

Week 7 looked like this
M - Recovery Run ( 5 miles easy )
T - Track ( 1.5 warmup, 3 miles @ 9, 2 miles @ 8:45, 1 mile @ 8:15 - 8:30, .5 cool)
W - Mountain bike morning, back to core class lunch
T - Negative Run ( 6 miles last 2 @ 9:30 pace )
F - Off
S - 13 miles on flat roads
S - Cross train

Monday: started off ok, I had a race on Saturday but still felt fairly good today, did 4.7 miles in 49 mins for 10:30 pace.

Tuesday: was great, it was a long track day, but I was looking forward to it since I saw it on my schedule. 3 miles ( 12 laps ) on the track is not that exicting so I was happy to have my coach run part of it with me as part of her cool down. Hit my paces right on or a little better, so very happy.

Wednesday: nothing went right, raining so trails closed, rfc staff had holiday lunch, so no back to the core and my last ditch plan to spin at home just wasn't appealing enough so I skipped it. No work out today but the rest was needed after Tuesday.

Thursday: Should have run in the morning, but was still feeling lazy. The rain stopped at 10 and I thought I could get an hour in before it came back so I headed out. Made to mile 4.5 before I got hit by a downpour. With only 15 minutes to go I figured I would just suck it up and get wet, but then the lightning started so I took the short cut back to work and ended up with 5.5 miles instead of the 6.2 planned and my pace at the end while faster was not quite the 9:30 on the schedule

Saturday: Was supposed to be flat, but my running partners had to stay close to home so we did loops around my extremely hilly neighborhood. Did 13 miles at 10:30 pace with walk breaks on the miles. It was cold, but little wind and the sun felt really good.

Sunday: Did a quick easy swim to loosen the legs and get the blood flowing. Quads are hurting, but not too bad.

31 miles this week, haven't done that many in a long time...

Run at the Rock

2008-12-07T19:47:00.002-05:00

Last race of the year. This was a 7 mile trail run. I haven't been having the best of luck with trails lately, so I wasn't expecting much in speed and I didn't disappoint.
The day started off ok, went to starbucks to meet Tim to make the hour drive to the race site. It was cold, but the truck was warm. Got there with plenty of time to get our race bags minus the normal t-shirts, and do a short warm up. They were playing 80's rock music like Van Halen and Ozzy. The race started off with a canon shot, Tim told me I should put this in my report so he would remember it.
It was in the 30's, I was wearing thin gloves, long sleeve under shirt, running tights, an old sweatshirt and a thin headband. I thought I was going to be ok since I started off really cold, but soon found out I was over dressed. The headband came off at mile 1, and the gloves at mile 2. Then I was still hot the rest of the way. Mile 1 was ok, we started on roads, the eased into a dirt trail until we came to a stop at the bridge to the single track. Waited about a minute, then started the trails. Mile 2 was ok as well, people were passing me left and right, but it didn't bother me as I was more concerned with not twisting my ankle or falling on the rocks. Mile 3 sucked as my legs were hurting and the hills were tough. I think I was at an 11:11 pace at mile 2, but by the time we got to mile 3 my ave dropped to 12. When we came out of the first set of trails I started feeling better and my speed started picking up. When got to the final section, I was just starting to feel good, and was getting the hang of the ups and downs over roots and rocks. I picked up a good pace setter and followed her the rest of the way in. There was one more big hill before the end which came at mile 6.6 on my watch, not that I wanted to go another .4, I was ready to get back in the truck and warm up.
It was a fun course, easier than the trails I trained on, so I enjoyed it more than I expected and saw a bunch of people I knew so it was fun. I do like trail running, but I also hate it because I suck so badly at it...

inside out sports turkey trot 8k

2008-11-30T14:04:00.002-05:00

When I left the house this morning it was cold, but the forecast called for temps in the 40's at the start. I was a bit tentative about this race, as my tuesday run felt really tough and I had rolled my ankle on Saturday at mile 1 of an 11 mile run so it wasn't feeling all that great. This race for me is all about just getting out and exercising so I can eat more so there is little to no pressure.
Showed up at the race, got my chip and stuff then headed across the street to wait for warmup time. The 1 mile fun run started so I waited a couple mins after that, then followed the course for my warmup, then did a couple strides after. I had a fleece sweat shirt, long warmup pants, and gloves. After the warmup, I was starting to sweat, so I shed the warmups and fleece and just had shorts, long sleeve top, gloves, and my new running bee hat. Did a little stretching and it was time for the start.
mile 1:
Started near the front and the first mile went by fairly quick at 8:34 pace. I was shooting for a 8:45 pace so I felt good about my start. Average hr was 156 and just about all in Zone 4
mile 2:
This is the 2nd hardest mile on the course, so I wanted to try to maintain a 9 min mile pace. I did a 8:50 with an average hr of 165, mostly zone four with 1/3 in zone 5, so the effort was picking up.
mile 3:
This mile was the really the only mile to cruise in. It is rolling with no big climbs, so I wanted to do an 8:45. I managed an 8:41 with an ave hr of 168. times in zone 4 and 5 flip flopped on this one, with 1/3 in 4, and 2/3 in 5.
mile 4:
This mile is the easiest and really wanted to do a fast mile here to take advantage of the long downhill and put some time in the bank for the last and hardest mile. Did an 8:21 with ave hr of 168, so picked up the pace but kept same effort as mile 3 with about half zone 4 and half zone 5. At this point I was on target to break my goal time of 44 fairly easy, so it gave me some inspiration to really keep pushing up the long hill at the start of mile 5.
mile 5:
The hardest mile on the course, and even though it's listed as an 8k, my watch had it as 5:02 miles. Picked up the effort and tried to keep my pace under 9 for the first half of this mile. It was all uphill with a couple steep sections. People were dying out and walking alot here. I was passing a bunch of people that had started too fast and were paying for it on this hill. I really started hurting at the top of the hill and hit my max hr for the race of 176. I just kept hearing my coach's voice in my head saying it's ok to hurt and that kept me going. I recovered on the short downhill before the next climb then was able to push up the last hill before the short downhill finish. 8:51 - ave hr 171 - all but 1 min in zone 5.

totals
5:02 miles / 43:18 / 8:37 ave pace / ave hr 166 / max hr 176
Felt really good about this race, and beat my nephew's time from last year by 1 second. woo hoo!

National Marathon

2008-11-06T07:30:00.002-05:00

I've signed up for the National Marathon in DC
http://www.nationalmarathon.com/home.asp
last year there were about 1400 marathon finishers and 2600 1/2 marathon finishers, so much smaller than the marine corps but you still get to see all the sites of DC.
here is a link to the marathonguide page where you can read comments from past runners.
http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=2453090321

and this is my long run schedule which started last weekend
Saturday, November 1, 2008 9
Saturday, November 8, 2008 7
Saturday, November 15, 2008 10
Saturday, November 22, 2008 11
Saturday, November 29, 2008 12
Saturday, December 6, 2008 9 Run at the Rock
Saturday, December 13, 2008 13
Saturday, December 20, 2008 15
Saturday, December 27, 2008 10
Saturday, January 3, 2009 15
Saturday, January 10, 2009 16
Saturday, January 17, 2009 12
Saturday, January 24, 2009 18
Saturday, January 31, 2009 20
Saturday, February 7, 2009 13
Saturday, February 14, 2009 20
Saturday, February 21, 2009 14 Coach Bubba's 20K
Saturday, February 28, 2009 22
Saturday, March 7, 2009 13
Saturday, March 14, 2009 8
Saturday, March 21, 2009 26.2 DC National Marathon

Pinehurst Triathlon Race Report

2008-10-05T11:16:00.002-04:00

First the results
swim 28:24
T1 3:15
bike 1:14:42
T2 1:33
Run 1:07:31
Total 2:55:22

Woke up at 4am so I could eat breakfast and finish packing up the car for the 5 am departure time. Arrived in pinehurst at 6:30. The race was to start at 8, and my wave goes at 8:18. The sun was not up yet, but with all the lights in the transition area you could see the fog/steam on the lake. Parked the car, packed everything up and realized I had brought my long run shoes and not my race shoes with the quick lases on them. Doh! Walked through the lot to the street for the 1/2 mile trek to transition from parking and went to get on my bike and found my chain was off. I love starting the day with grease all over my fingers... Arrived at transition with freezing fingers thinking I should have brought gloves.

Line #1 - Packet pickup - Many people did not have either or both of their required cards, Photo ID and USAT card, so this took a while and they were still signing people up since the race hadn't sold out.

Line #2 - Port a john - decided to go to this one before the number marking line since the line was already long and getting longer

Line #3 - body marking - whew, finally no more lines. Walking back to transition I find someones chip on the ground. So I scoop it up and bring it back, the guy at the chip tent says give it to the guy on the mic, the guy on the mic says give it to that guy over there and he will give it back to the chip buy. I chase that guy down and tell him the guy on the mic says to give it to you. OK 20 minutes later I here the guy on the mic say #624 we have your chip, duh...

I finish setting up my transition area and go for a quick warmup jog. I see a guy warming up ( jogging ) in his full wetsuit and flip flops, I think this is a little odd... Back to transition I put on my wetsuit and head down to the lake for a quick swim. The water temp 68 degrees, air temp 50 something. Water feels good, and it's cleaner than I remember. I could see the bottom at points. But, it is covered in Fog and it's not easy to see the first buoy and cannot see the turn buoy at all. My warmup jog took my along the lake so I kinda new where it was.

The Swim: Took off fast and found some feet to follow, as in the previous waves, people were going all of the place due to the fog so as soon as my draftee veered left, I let him go and kept going straight. I was following some trees and for the first two buoys I was right on, but then I lost the trees and was swimming blind. Ended up going to far left and when I saw the girl in the kayak I headed toward her, Since all the other kayaks had been right on the buoy I thought that's where I should go. Alas when I got there she was yelling "the turn is over there" over and over again, so I had to swim perpendicular about 15 yards to avoid cutting the turn. I noticed a bunch of people just keep going and not go back for the turn and I have to admit I thought about it, but if I ended up having a great race, it would be tainted and I didn't want that. After that first turn, it was much easier has the sun was not in our eyes and it was easier to see the buoys. Finished 4th in my division for the swim.

T1: A long uphill run combined with taking off my wetsuit led to this 3:15 transition, but I was closer to the fast people than the slow as the fastest time was 1:40, slowest 6:07. Ate a gel, put the other in my race suit, put on my socks, it was still cold, helmet, glasses, and headed out.

Bike: Turns out I didn't need those gloves as the sun was warming it up nicely. Started off easy, it was mostly uphill to start and my legs needed to warm back up. Wanted to average about 19 mph, and did 18.7 for the first 5 miles, then started to pick it up. Felt easier than previous years, but I've made some good strides on the bike this year and chalked it up to that. This a fairly hilly course, with the way out harder than coming back. I think there are 3 tough hills and a lot of rollers. Finish my aero bottle of gatorade by the water bottle hand off at mile 15 and refilled with water. I was at 19 mph ave now and still feeling really good, so focused on pushing on the downhills and staying steady going up. I only stood up once and that was for just a minute to get over a short steep section without losing speed. At mile 20 I took my second gel so it would kick in for the run. The wind must have been with us going back as my average picked up to 19.4 by the end. Good enough for 8th on the bike.

T2: Grab my jelly belly beans and finished off my water in the aero bottle, changed shoes, got some more shammy butter for the friction and headed out in 1:33.

Run: Run did not start out great, but I just kept going until I started feeling ok. The first hill my right ankle was killing me so I walked it until the pain went away. Mile one was a respectable 9:55, mile two started feeling better, but the ankle still throbbed every now and then but not as bad and only had to walk once on this one for a 9:45, mile three was great, I was getting into a rhythm of pushing up the hills and recovering down as most were short enough not to punish you. There were water stops every mile and I was drinking a cup at each one. Mile 3 9:20 and I felt the best on this one. Then at about mile 3.5 my right hamstring cramped up so bad I almost feel over. I veered to the right and screamed in pain. Finally I was able to stretch it out and walk a bit without pain, but every time I started to run it would come back. two and a half minutes later I could finally run again, but as soon as I came up on the mile 4 water stop, my left hamstring cramped up, not as bad as the right one did, but still enough to stop me from running. mile 4 - 13:00. I took some Heed sports drink instead of water this time since I figured I had nothing to lose, normally I don't try new things at races and I've never had Heed before. the next mile I walked/jogged/stretched, I knew after mile 4 that my breaking 1 hour on the run was over, but I still had the 2:56 time from two years ago to beat and I didn't want to give that up without a fight. got to mile 5 water stop and chugged some more Heed and started jogging again. mile 5 13:00, I was at 55 minutes with 13 minutes to go for a 2:56. I guess the Heed helped as I was able to jog all buy one of the hills on this mile and actually run the down hills. Finished up at a 10:00/mile pace and a 67 minute 10k, but 1 minute faster than two years ago on this course. It was 8 minutes slower than I thought I could do, but in some ways still a victory. This is tough run course, with mile 4 and 5 being the toughest. Not sure what caused the cramping, the cold I just got over, not drinking enough, although I think I did, or it just wasn't my day. I'll never know, maybe I'll come back next year and try again...

Wilmington YMCA Race report

2008-09-21T05:56:00.003-04:00

First the results

Official results master Clydesdale division
overall place swim rank/time t1 bike rank/time t2 run rank/time total time
10 WILLIAM REID 10 23:46 1:35 6 35:31 1:54 15 26:35 1:29:20

watch results
swim t1 bike t2 run total
21:12 4:46 34:51 1:55 26:35 1:29:22

This was one of my A races, and I had 4 goals for this race.
1. Swim straight and fast
2. Bike at least 21 mph ave
3. Run the last mile faster than the first
4. beat 1:30 total time

What a great day, started off at 4:45 with the alarm going off. wanted to hit snooze, but couldn't find it so I hit every button I could find until the damn thing stopped beeping. by this time I couldn't go back to sleep if I wanted to so I got up.
ate breakfast, took a shower to warm up the body, packed all my stuff into the back pack and headed out.

We were staying at the residence inn landfall which was about 2.5 miles from the race site, so instead of driving I just rode my bike. It was 5:30 and pitch black. I bought a light set from Dick's yesterday so the cars could see me and I figured all the cars on the road would be going to the race and not want to kill me :-). Got to the race all warmed up, setup transition, got chip and body marked, then did a quick 5 min run warmup before getting on the bus. This race is a point to point swim and they bus you to the start. Once at the start I had an hour to wait until my start time, so I sat down, ate half my power bar and chatted with some other waiters. Two coworkers found me and I had some people to pass the time with. About a half hour before my start was the official start so I wanted to get in the water and warm up before that. the water temp was about 80 and felt so good compared to the air temp of 60. After warmup I had to get out again and freeze for 20 minutes before getting back in for the last 10 mins before my group started.

The swim: my goal, swim straight and fast. Let the shoulders burn. Started off in front and when the gun went off followed some feet for a while, but they were going right so I let them go and stayed on my line. There was a big boat I wanted to head for and was not going off course. Most people were on my right which is good for me as I like breathing right and it helps keep me in line. I guess they were all following someone or the current was taking them because the big pack kept drifting right. I stayed on course and headed for my boat. As we got closer, I could see the big pack having to adjust course and when we rounded the boat, I was in front.woo hoo. This is a little over half way and my shoulders were feeling the burn, but didn't want the pack to catch me so I just kept pulling hard. Next you have to swim to the dock. Couldn't see it yet, but I knew it was a slight right followed by a left to get around a small Island. There is a marker that you can sight on. Once again a big pack started going right and I gained some more ground. Hit the ladder in 20 something, got out and started the long run, about 1/4 to 1/2 mile to transition. Took about 3 minutes and my feet were not happy about running on the road without shoes.

T1: After the jog to transition, I changed quickly and headed out on the bike. Sucked down a gel as well, just in case. There were 1300 athletes in this race, so transition was huge, and at 6:15 when I left my spot it was till dark. Luckily I scouted the area out and found my bike and stuff easily.

Bike: It was windy today but luckily the wind was at our backs to start so transition from swim/run to bike went well. You start off going over a drawbridge, and you don't have room to pass. They tell us over and over don't pass and every year I see some dufus passing on the bridge. Amazingly, not this year. Last time I did this race, there were potholes galore after the left turn as you come off the bridge, Amazingly again, they were filled. That was where I got my flat last time and I took these two things as a good omen for the bike and tried to get into a rhythm. Unfortunately, it was crowed on the bike, and they was a lot of traffic for 7 am on a saturday morning, so dodging cars and other bikers meant the first part was out of my aero bars. Finally we hit Oleander and I could get into them and really go. when we made the turn into the wind I had been averaging 23 mph, that didn't last long. The wind was brutal at one point and I was red lining and looked down to see I was doing all of 17, but I was still passing people. The wind finally let up and I rolled into transition with my 21 mph ave :-), two down, two togo.

t2: nothing to see here, move along...

Run: This report is too long for my coach to read ;-), so I can tell you she called me during the week. I was having a nice stress free week, not worried about my big race and she apparently thought I was taking it to easy. With words like "This is a big race for you" ok, so now I'm all nervous. I started running and wow, this isn't too bad, so let's go faster. I wanted to do about 9:15 to start and then get faster as I went and of course run my last mile all out. I got to the mile 1 marker and my watch said 9:35, now I wasn't going fast, but I wasn't going that slow either. later I would realize that this marker was long. I picked up the pace and was actually passing people on the run which gave me more adrenalin. At the last waterstop I grabbed a cup and walked for 5 seconds to get some down then started my final push. Went over the last bridge and every time someone passed me I would try to pick up the pace, eventually I felt like I was at my 400 pace on the track and I had about half mile to go. When we hit the final turn into the finish area, the guy at the corner said 1/4 mile to go and just then a MC went by me. I tried my best to stay with him, but I was at the limit and he was still pulling away. They moved the finish around the corner from last time so when I made that turn to where the finish used to be I was all like where the hell is the finish. Luckily it was just one more turn and then finish. If I had to guess I would say I did 9:15/9:00/8:21.

I was definitely euphoric after this race as I hit all 4 of my goals and they had these amazing brownies at the finish. Three brownies later I was on my bike for the short ride back to the hotel. My legs were spent and riding back was tough with the 20 lb back pack, but the legs did feel better by the time I got to the hotel so it worked out well.

If you do this race I would highly recommend the Residence Inn landfall and biking to/from the race. It was much easier not having to deal with traffic and parking getting to and leaving the race. And the hotel has a full kitchen and fridge, and a hot tub :-).

up next Pinehurst, Can't wait :-)

Flying Frog Adventure Race - Race Report

2008-09-14T11:36:00.002-04:00

This may get long as the race took almost 7 hours and it contains explicit material that may not be suitable for young children.

This race was billed as follows ( taken from website )
The 2008 Flying Frog Adventure Race includes a 5-10 mile Mountain Bike course, 5-10 mile Trail Run and a 2-5 mile Paddling course.

It was supposed to be a 3 - 6 hour race and looking at results from previous years, the winners were right around 3 hours. I was expecting about 4 - 5 hours. when they announced the course at 9:30, it was to be 28 miles, 4.2 mile canoe, close to 15 mile single track mtn bike, and almost 9 miles trail running. I looked at Tim and Eric and they had that deer in the headlights look about them. I think it was 9 miles of trail running that did it. I was most concerned with the technical single track mountain biking as I have done 1 session of mtn bike on single track in the last 4 years, but more on that later.

part 1: 1:06:01 - The race started with a challenge. We had to pick a canoe, turn it over and untie all the knots in a rope that was tied to the canoe. For some reason we were like the last team to get the knots undone. We started out in the canoe with Tim in front and me in the back. after a couple minutes and near collisions with a couple teams that were literally paddling in circles, we got free and into a good rhythm. We came around a bend and there were four canoes a head of us but I saw up ahead a group headed to the left and one group way to the right. Most of the boats were following the left but I was a little concerned so I had Eric consult the map and he determined that the right was the correct way so we headed towards the lead kayak on the right. The teams were in canoes and the solo's were in kayaks. We made the right decision and passed two more canoe teams on the way to the turn around. At the turn around Eric wanted to paddle but Tim didn't want to give up his spot so I took the easy way back. I was a little concerned at first with Eric's steering ability, but he caught on and other than a couple minor issues did a great job on the way back. I think we came in 2nd or 3rd team for the canoe.

part 2: mtn bike - 3:00:40 - Without a doubt this course killed half the field. It was extremely muddy and technical. We started out and within half a mile I went over the handle bars and scratched up my leg. This was to set the tone for the team for the rest of the 3 hours. We came up to a bridge and Eric was standing on the other side telling us to walk across, it was too slippery and he just fell of it. I took up the rear since I was being chicken and Eric and Tim were going real well. I hit a tree, then one more, it was great. Finally we got past the mud, but the roots, rocks and trees never ended. It took about an hour for the first trail and we headed down the greenway to the 2nd trail that was billed as the most technical trail in Greensboro by some of the other teams we talked to. I think we had been passed by 3 or 4 teams at this point and thought we were in 5th place. I don't think we ever really concerned ourselves with finishing place, we just wanted to finish. The second trail was not nearly as bad as the first. It was dryer, but still tough as hell. I think this trail is where Tim went over his handle bars. later we thought it probably would have been a good idea to bring more fluid and food on the bike as the 2 hours we thought it would take to do this was going to be three since the 2nd trail took an hour and the we still had to do the first trail again to get back. So back to the first trail. It started off OK, I was in front and keeping a nice slow pace. After picking up a little speed I slammed into my 3rd tree. This was the hardest one and stopped me dead in my tracks. Tim commented, through uncontrollable laughter, that he was impressed that I stayed on and said it probably hurt the tree more than me. I don't think so, and today I know the tree feels better than my shoulder. After a couple more rough patches including one where I had to get off my bike and push Tim up a hill so he didn't slide back down onto the rocks, we finally got to the end. Right at the end there was a tree across the path and I started to go over it when my peddle got caught on one of the knots that were sticking up. Bike stopped I kept going. Didn't go over the handle bars so I was all happy, but when I went to get back on the seat I racked my testicles extremely hard. That was it, no more bike for me. I limped back the 100 yards to where Tim and Eric were waiting barely able to stay on foot and using the bike as a crutch. Tim asked if I broke something, but luckily my balls were still intact. It was downhill to transition and we rode in to a thundering round of applause. Didn't look at the leader board at this time, we didn't even think we were close. I knew on the last section we had passed two teams and that one of them was going to drop out due to injury.

bike to run transition: 15:10 At this point looking at Tim and Eric I didn't think we were going to continue on, so I suggested that we start walking the trail, get to the first navigation challenge and see how it goes. This seemed to work, we took our time, 15 minutes worth, got food and drinks and a quick dip in the lake for me and Eric. I changed my socks and shirt and put on my ankle brace for the trails ahead. I really didn't expect to finish the race at this point, but really wanted to get to the orienteering challenge. Before we started the winner of the race came in, probably about 4:15. Considering last years winner was just under 3 hours I would say this year was much more difficult.

part 3: 2:35:27 - We started off walking and after a short 2 or three minutes we were at the challenge. I was surprised to see so many teams were still there. The two guys monitoring told us not to follow the teams out there as they were seriously lost. After a shaky start we figured out the paces that we were given needed to be doubled, and we made it through the course finding the flags fairly quick. We all seemed to be feeling better after the long transition and the break at the challenge so we kept going. I was concerned that I didn't have enough fluid for a 3 hour hike with just 20 oz of gatorade and 12 oz of water and was trying to save some for later, but my quads were cramping going up some of the tough hills. We tried to run down and jog some flats, but my legs were not agreeing. At the one hour mark of the run I said if we didn't get to the half way point by 1:30 we should just turn back. I said if there was a water fountain or something to refill our water bottles with I would go on, but without water we needed to go back. About 5 minutes later we got to the end of the first trail and my saving grace was that there was a big water cooler there. I downed about 20 oz of water and then refilled my water bottle with cold water. About 2 minutes later I started to feel good again. This next trail was not as long and it was more flat. We had a couple good runs on the first half and made some good time. We got to the next challenge and there was once again water for us to refill with. Tim volunteered to do this one. He had to wear a tied thera band around both his ankles and waddle to the next check point about 500 yards away. This was also a good chance for us to rest and get some more fluids in. The second half of this trail was still not bad so we had a couple more runs until we got to the greenway. Once on the greenway I started running and was so freakin happy that I could run without looking down and to lengthen my stride and actually feel good. I think we ran about a quarter mile and Eric looked like he was ready to stop. I said you can make it to bridge? he said sure, once we got there I said let's goto that shade. Tim then says "You're trying to pull that psychological shit you always use on Cindy". Yes you caught me, but it worked and stopping in the sun was not what I wanted to do. Once in the shade my plan was to say we can make it to the next challenge which was really just 200 yards away, but Tim foiled my plan. So we walked it. I was able to get a little more water at this stop, but not a complete refill as they were running low. This next challenge was a bow and arrow. Eric took this one and after three shots hit the target and we were off. I found out that we were not in last, and had about 2.3 miles to get back to the finish. This pepped us up and we started with some good runs. We were still walking the uphills and this section had some nasty ones. About a half mile to a mile from the end Eric started getting chills. That is usually a sign of severe dehydration so I said we needed to walk it in. He finished his water and had some of Tim's. I could tell he was hurting as he went to the back after staying out in front for most of the trail. After about 10 minutes we were getting close and Tim and I gave him one more swig of our remaining water and he seemed to pick back up, or just wanted to get it over with as he moved back to the front and was setting a good walking pace. I'm not much of a fast walker so I was drifting off the back. When we finally got to the orienteering section I had to jog to catch up and it felt so good to jog again that I just kept going. The thrill of the finish rubbed off and we all jogged into the finish area. I was looking around when Tim yells from up ahead, what are you waiting for. I was like I didn't know you were going to sprint, relative term ;-), and caught up so we could all cross the line at the same time.

overall 6:57:20 - 3rd place all male team - amazing...

The non yoyo yoyo diet

2008-09-10T20:19:00.002-04:00

So a couple months ago I decided I wanted to lose 5 - 10 lbs for my race next month. The only way I have been successful lately in losing any weight was to track my calories in and calories out and make sure there was enough of a deficit to actually lose weight. So for two weeks I wrote down everything I ate and logged all my workouts calorie expenditures and had 500 - 1000 less taken in then going out. I should be about 3 lbs less, but to my dismay I was the same body fat % and weight. After all that time and energy into planning meals, eating the right kind of foods, cutting the calories. Nothing, nada, nicht, mola. So for the next two weeks I decided to not count calories or plan or keep track of anything. Just eat when I was hungry and eat what I felt like eating. I didn't go out of my way to over eat, or eat junk food. I normally eat fairly decent anyway, but there was no deprivation. If I wanted M&M's, I ate them. It was great, I had more time, did less thinking, wasn't hungry when I went to bed. After two weeks, same body fat % and weight. I just don't get it.

Separated

2008-09-03T20:45:00.002-04:00

It's not you, it's me... At least that's what I told her. I just think we need some time apart, maybe see some other people or something. For the next 8 weeks I'll be taking a speed and agility pliometrics class instead of going to the track. It was a hard break up, we've been going steady for 5 years now and it's been great, but lately I just feel like I need a break. So when this class popped up on the radar I went for it. I've been wanting to try a pliometrics class for a while, but they always seem to be on track day. As I left the track on tuesday after a hard workout I heard her whisper "You'll be back..."

I'm sure I will :-)

Comfort Zone

2008-08-30T18:57:00.003-04:00

I used to live up in North Raleigh and would love to ride my bike around Falls Lake. After moving South about 3 years ago I hardly ever get back up to that area, but when I do it brings back all the old memories. Today was one of those days. The plan was for me to drive up to Durant and Falls of the Neuse, ride my bike to a friends house, pick him up and then ride back to my car and then drive up to do a 1 hour kayak trip down the neuse river. Usually I don't enjoy riding my bike alone as it's boring and sometimes dangerous, but this morning the first half of my bike was great.
After a short stretch on Durant I turned onto Honeycutt road and was treated to a couple huge castles. Probably an acre or two of land and all brick houses that looked to be 8000 sq feet or so. I was going up hill so I got a good look at both and I swear I saw some motes around them... At the top of the hill a squirrel ran across the street followed closely by a hawk or falcon or some kind of bird of prey, I think the squirrel got away, but not sure. Then a few more houses and there is this deer walking in the front yard eating plants and stuff, he paused briefly to look at me after I said hello, then he walked on. I couple of hills later I was on pleasant union and saw my first human. He looked, smiled, waved, and said hello. Amazing, usually humans don't like bikers, but this is North Raleigh and not South. Less than a mile later a lady up ahead is crossing the street with her dog and she turns to look at me, smiles and waves good morning. Now I am amazed, she was way up ahead and didn't have to even acknowledge my existence. This is getting weird, I never get this many friendly people. I travel down some of my old favorite hilly roads and pass more friendly people. I knew I had to be at Ray rd and Norwell by 7:50 so I could meet up at 8:15, and my memory seemed to fail me as I misjudged the distance so I had to really pick up the pace, I somehow managed to make it at 7:52. this is when I met the first person who didn't wave, and the only one on the ride. He was riding his pro bike with his pro shirt on and just too busy to notice. I speculated it was the husband of someone I know who lives in that area, but I wasn't sure. Anyway, ray road is great until you get to lake lynn and I had never rode south, so the next hill took my by surprise and kicked my butt. After that I was able to cruise to Tim's house and take a powerbar break. We were on a tight schedule so we headed out. Tim started to sandbag me with his "I haven't been on the road bike in a while so if you drop me, I know where you car is" routine. but I knew better, and I was already on 22 miles so I told him not to worry. I thought I would drop him on some of the hills, but he surprised me and was able to keep up until the very end. There was one hill on 6 forks where I was dying and I thought there was no way he is still back there, but I looked back, and there he was. We got to the top or at least to where it wasn't as steep and he yelled something at me, so we stopped for a second to rest. I never thought of that, it's hurting I'm dying, why not just stop and recover, that thought never seems to enter my oxygen deprived mind. We passed the first human that waved at me this morning again, I guess he was on his way back home after a long walk, but he was still very cheerful. Finally we got to the last hill, and it was a killer, it was at the bottom of a hill where there was a 4 way stop and we had to make a left turn, then go straight up. I shifted to the small ring in the front since I had gone down it to start and knew what was coming, and it still took a lot out of me to make it up that one. But at the top I was able to recover and peddle back to the car. Two iced mocha's later and we are on the way to Kayak.
I have never kayaked before, but I have been in a canoe a lot when I was a kid. The people at paddle creek were assured me that if I could handle a canoe I would have no problem in the kayak on this trip. We started off and for the first 15 minutes my shoulders and arms were burning as I criss crossed back and forth across the river trying to figure out how to steer one of these crazy things. But eventually I figured it out and was able to kinda keep a straight line. I found that paddling backwards was easier as long as there wasn't something to run into, and even just floating with the current took skill. My hip flexors where killing me from the seated position, but when I would bend my legs my left inner thigh would cramp up. the most comfortable position seemed to be hanging my left leg over the edge. I was just getting the hang of the steering when the trip was over. I think some lessons would be a good idea, then some faster rivers would be really fun.
Then we headed back to Tim's, I got changed and went to get an iced white lightning and pick up the girl at her friends birthday party, got there just in time for the cake. Sweeeeet! After a half hour of crazy screaming kids we headed home. I had one final job of cleaning the garbage can, then off to the shower and a much needed nap.
If you think it took a long time to read this post, you should try living it ;-)

Mossman Tri race report

2008-08-10T17:14:00.003-04:00

This was a great race for me. It was very painful but I managed to beat my old international distance PR by 3 minutes.

unofficial times

Swim T1 Bike T2 Run Total
25:42 1:56 1:12:41 1:43 1:01:21 2:43:25

Official results are in *************************************************************
25:57 1:36 1:12:51 1:36 1:01:20 2:43:22
bike pace 20.4 mph
swim pace 1:43 / 100 meters
run pace 9:53 min/mile
*************************************************************

Swim: the swim was in the long island sound and this morning it was in the 70's and flat as a pancake. wetsuit legal and the water was pretty clean. It was a beach start and we started by running down the beach about 50 yards before heading out towards the first bouy. I stayed to the left and out of the main action, but did manage to draft a few times. Felt like I was going too easy, so either it was short or I'm a bit faster than I thought...

T1: hate running in the soft sand, but it wasn't that far. Saw the kid and wife and yelled, but the wife is deaf and the kid looked at me like I was a wetsuit green cap blue goggled alien.

Bike: about 21 mph ave - I had planned to go conservative on the bike, but it was flat and not much wind, so when I did the first of 5 laps in 14:30 minutes, I decided to crank it up for the next 3 and did them in under 14. the last lap I backed off for a 15 so I could get my legs ready to run. Being a 5 lap course, I saw the kid and wife 3 times playing on the rocks by the car and yelled and finally got some waves :-).

T2: legs were realing from the bike and my back was hurting from all the driving but I hoped they would feel better as I got into the run. The wife walked up while I was putting on my running shoes so i got a kiss before heading out to run, the kid said I was too dirty.

run: 9:52 / mile - Ran the first mile in 9:12 but didn't think I could hold that for 6 miles with my back, leg, neck, ankle, hamstring and etc pains but I was going to try as long as I could. Managed to just keep going the first loop and did the 3.1 in 27:30 so i was on a really good pace, then I got to mile 4 at 38 so i was still on a 9:30 pace, but then I started to fall apart. Took my first walk break at 4.2 or so then managed to run to the final turn around before walking again and got some water and gatorade. Started running again, but only to mile 5 before it was walk or puke time. I chose walk, I still wanted to break 1 hour for the run so after I felt less puky, I started again, but could only do 2 mins before walk time again, this went on to the finish so I didn't break an hour, but close enough.

Then after the race, the battery in my car was dead, tried to get a jump, but apparently my cables were no good and had to call for a jump, then went to a firestone where they told me it was my alternator. Waiting till tomorrow to goto a Toyota dealer because we didn't trust them.

Muddy Buddy Race Report

2008-07-15T05:19:00.002-04:00

This was a lot of fun. It was a low key, low pressure, low stress event :-).
I actually was woken up by the alarm at 5 AM. I always wake up before the alarm for other races and that normal nervousness wasn't there. My Buddy already told me not to expect to win or anything so that took all the pressure off me.

Tim and I got up early and let the girls sleep in and headed over to the event around 5:45 and got there at about 6:15. Parked, unloaded and headed to the start. It was already very crowded when we got to the race site and there were some interesting costumes and helmet dinosaurs.

The race format is two team members doing the same course, one does a Bike/run/bike/run/bike, and the other does a run/bike/run/bike/run. you share the same bike and at each transition you have to complete an obstacle before moving on.
I had the run/bike/run/bike/run part.

Run1: 11:47, I thought each leg was going to be 1 mile, but this first one was probably closer to 1.3, we lost the bike computer on leg 3 so we have no clue how far any of the legs were or the total distance. The bikers started first, then they made the runners wait a minute before they could start the chase. The beginning was really the only time it was crowded on the course for us as we went first so there wasn't anyone on the course yet. The first part I just hung behind and paced off a group until it got stung out enough and I was warmed up enough to pass. I felt like I was running close to a 9 min mile and then picked it up near the end and was passing some of the started too fast people up the last hill to the first transition.

T1: did not time my transitions. The first one was a climbing wall that was about 5 feet high. There were plenty of hand and foot holds so it wasn't difficult but getting down the other side on the rope ladder was a little dicey but made it without any problems.

Bike1: 9:47 including transition. I was hoping to catch Tim about half way, but didn't see him until the very end. At least he didn't have to wait for me to get the bike. I passed about 10 bikers on this leg. Felt really good on the bike and didn't need to get off and push like some were. There was one long up hill near the end that I probably should have gone easier on as it didn't help with the next obstacle to have all that acid built up in my legs.

T2: balance beam. the beam was about 4 feet off the ground and 20 feet long. Just getting on was a problem as my legs were a little wobbly from that last hill on the bike. I heard Tim yell at me on his way out when I was about 1/2 way done so I knew I was going to have to do a fast run to make up some time so he didn't have to wait too long at the end.

run2: 10:54 (including T3) This was a good one for me as I passed a few more runners and was able to keep a steady pace up the hills and on the rougher terrain. I think this leg was probably the hardest for the bikers as part was off the packed trail and there was one tough hill that I passed many bikers pushing their bikes up the hill. I found out later that Tim lost his chain at close to the top of the hill and had to get off and pull a branch out of it.

T3: Over/Under/Over: This one was an A Frame structure with 3 cross beams going up to the peak that you were supposed to go over the first, under the second, then over the top, without touching the ground. I saw many guys going over the first, stepping on the ground and going under the second, then climbing up and over the top. I was tempted, but stuck to my principles and actually did it the hard way without touching the ground.

bike2: 6:45 Wished I could have had some more time on the bike to get ready for the next run, but once again I got to pass a whole bunch of people and was flying down the hills.

T4: This was the best one, up a 10 foot rope ladder then slide down the blow up slide on the other side. When I got to the bottom I couldn't stand up on the base so I just rolled off onto the ground. grabbed some water and headed off for the last run.

Run3: 16:10 ( including T4 and mud pit ) This was the hardest and longest of the legs. there was a long downhill to a water crossing. It was up to my waist and very muddy. I had thought about taking my shoes off, but was very glad I didn't after feeling the ground under the water, very rocky. Then after getting out and adding 5 lbs to each foot you had to go up a long steep climb to get back to the road. Once again I passed about 7 bikers who were pushing their bikes up the hill. I have to admit at the top I took a 30 second walk break to catch my breath before the final push to the finish. Tim passed me with about a quarter mile to go and gave me a water bottle to drink and dump on my head, then took off to the finish. He only had to wait about 2 minutes or so, so we had really good timing. of course if he didn't lose the chain it would have been a little longer, but still not too much.

Mud pit: I got to the pit and was ready to crash, but still had to bend down and climb under a net to get into the pit, then crawl across to the finish.

Our total time was 57:08 and we came in 21 out of 51 in the beast division. Knowing the course and obstacles will be a big advantage next year as you can start to prepare for the obstacle and next leg before you get there. we probably could take a couple minutes off our time.

All and all a great race and a fun stress relieving time.

great raleigh road race 5 miler - race report

2008-07-08T07:21:00.002-04:00

I usually like to write my race report the day off or after the race, but for this one I needed a little perspective so I decided to wait a while.

Race morning was going well, except for the 73 degree temps and high humidity that showed up after the stupid weather guys kept saying 66 degrees. family got up and ready on time and we had no problem finding a good parking spot. Made our way to the start and easily found Cindy and family and Frank. After getting my chip and attaching the kids, Lilyan and Mia, we headed out for a warmup jog. The weather didn't feel too bad in the shade and standing still, but once you got moving you could feel the moisture in the air. It was a short warmup of about 8 minutes, but we warmup quick in the heat.

I was planning to do the following for my splits
8:45 to 9:00 for the first mile between 9 and 9:15 for the next two then for the down hill finish on hillsboro 8:30.

Mile 1 - started off well at 8:59, kept the pace in check and was thinking about the hills so I didn't get too far ahead of myself. But when we made the turn off hillsboro the sweat was already dripping off my hat. This was not boding well...
Mile 2 - missed the mile marker so my watch said 9:37 for 1.04, but the pace was 9:22. Not too bad, but still slower than I wanted. I should have gotten some more water at this stop, the half cup on my head and half in my mouth probably wasn't enough. The hills had started and it was getting tough.
Mile 3 - Since I was late on mile two, mile 3 was fast at 9:03, but my pace actually dropped to 9:25 for the .96 miles. I still thought that was ok because I knew the hills were finally ending and there were some tough long climbs. I was ready for it end at this point. I think 5k is probably the longest one should run in the summer. I need to remember that :-).
Mile 4 - my best mile since the start 8:57, but for how much it hurt and the fact that is was mostly downhill, the 8:57 was not a good sign of what was to come. Once again, did not take full advantage of the water stop, and the fact that there was no shade on Hillsboro wasn't helping.
Mile 5 - 9:13, This was the hardest mile, it was downhill, but every time there was a little bump it felt harder and harder to get over and I just wanted to stop. But I knew Cindy was back there and if I slowed anymore than I already did she would fly by me. I saw the coach near the finish and waved, then listened to she if I could hear her shout to Cindy, but nothing. As soon as I crossed the finish I feel a tap on my back and it was Cindy. I think we were all of two seconds apart.
Total time 45:51 9:10 / mile - I relize I wasn't tapered for this race, but still I wanted to go a bit faster. Somehow I always forget that I can't go fast in the heat. Then after the finish when we were standing around, that confused, dizzy, nausous feeling came on and I knew that I was going to the ground one way or another so for once I chose the better way and sat myself down on the road easy. After a few minutes I finally started to feel better and was ready to watch the kids.

This race was an eye opener for my tri next month in Connecticut. I really need to work on my hydration and heat management for that race or it will end up in the bad category. Also need to adjust my expectations and use that as more of a training race for Pinehurst and not as a big goal race. because I don't do well in the heat. now if I can just remember that...