Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Newport Marathon Race Report
This past Saturday I ran my first marathon in Oregon and my second marathon overall. It was a great race and two days after finishing I can say that I would definitely recommend it and would do it again.
I decided to take Friday off work so I could sleep in then spend the morning getting my stuff organized and packed instead of rushing to do it the night before. After a nice relaxing morning I picked Jen up by her office and we headed out on the road to Newport. We took the turnoff for Bay Road in Toledo in order to drive the majority of the course (it was four miles in town then out and back for the remaining 22.2) and get some pictures of where I would be running.
Finishers Medal - made by local glass shop in Newport
Goodbye Marathon Beard
Overall it was a great race and even though it kicked my ass it made me hungry for more. Jen and I are talking about our next marathon but I'll leave the announcement to her as she is the family race planner.
I decided to take Friday off work so I could sleep in then spend the morning getting my stuff organized and packed instead of rushing to do it the night before. After a nice relaxing morning I picked Jen up by her office and we headed out on the road to Newport. We took the turnoff for Bay Road in Toledo in order to drive the majority of the course (it was four miles in town then out and back for the remaining 22.2) and get some pictures of where I would be running.
Once we arrived at the hotel we checked in then walked downstairs to the packet pickup where I got my number (no chips) and asked about the shuttle in the morning. I wasn't sure if I was going to take it or walk (it was about a mile) but I figured I would at least find out where it was picking up. After that we went to our room, drove to the store to pick up some chocolate milk for after the race and regular milk for morning coffee, then walked around a bit and hit up the hotel restaurant where I ordered a great pasta dish and had an after dinner cocktail.
Race morning I woke up to clear blue sky and after having my toast and coffee we walked over to the start. It took about 20 minutes and was a really nice way to start the day. Once we arrived at the start I hit up the port-o-forest then walked over to the starting area and made my way to the front of the pack. Since this was not a chip timed race (it's a small race that is capped at 800) and I wanted to run a 3:10:00 I tried to line up as close to the front as I could. About three minutes later the countdown began and we were off!
Miles 1-5:
I knew that the key to me running my goal time was going to be even pacing and no miles that were unreasonably fast. I kept that in mind as we started out and tried to stay relaxed and run strong but easy. The first four miles twist and turn through town with a few ups and downs and at 4.5 we passed by the hotel for a short but steep climb (which we would come back down right before the finish) then headed out onto Bay Road for the out and back section.
Paces: 7:06, 7:18, 7:10, 7:06, 7:32 - 36:12 (0:03 ahead of pace)
Miles 6-10:
The next five miles went by fairly uneventfully. I got into a groove and kept pace with the few people that were around me. By mile 10 I was starting to wonder if I could hold the pace which started to worry me but I decided to take it one mile at a time and not let myself start to get negative this early in the race:
Paces: 7:14, 7:13, 7:19, 7:14, 7:15 - 1:12:27 (0:04 ahead of pace)
Miles 11-15:
Ahhhh headwind - how sucky can you be - let me count the ways - mile 12, mile 13, mile 14. At one point around mile 13 I passed one guy who tucked in behind me and breathed in my ear for the next half mile or so. I could really feel myself starting to get tired but I also knew the turn around would be coming up soon where I would see Jen and then be heading back to the finish line. Right around 15 I saw Jen and she handed me a new water bottle and shouted some encouragement (and snapped a couple of pics).
Paces: 7:11, 7:20, 7:24, 7:24, 7:23 - 1:49:09 (0:23 off pace)
Miles 16-20:
"On a long and lonesome highway east of Omaha, you can listen to the engine moanin out his one note song"
And the fade begins. After I passed by Jen at the turn around I could feel myself start to slow bit by bit. The sun was hot and the formerly stiff headwind was now a lazy tailwind that did nothing for me. At around mile 17 I realized that I wasn't going to make 3:10:00 and found myself not being upset about it at all. I remember thinking "this shit is hard" and "what did I get myself into" a number of times during miles 17 and 18. Finally at 19 I decided to take a 15 second walk break while I took a drink - that 15 seconds blew by and next thing I knew I was running along again. When we hit the water stop at mile 20 the guy in front of me walked through the stop and I thought "what an ingenious idea, I'm going to walk the water stop as well!" - I still only gave myself 15 seconds and again, it was gone before I knew it.
Paces: 7:33, 7:22, 7:36, 7:42, 8:12 - 2:27:33 (-2:31 off pace)
Miles 21-25:
Holy Hell what did I get myself into? These last miles were SO hard. A couple times I considered grabbing onto a car as it drove by and sort of hooky-dragging along for a while. I figured my arms weren't nearly as tired as my legs so I could hold on for a good 30 seconds or so which seemed fantastic. I didn't think any of the other racers would get upset, in fact I figured I would start a hooky-dragging chain reaction when people started realizing what a brilliant idea it was.
One of the best things about this race being small was that everyone around me at this point was suffering as much or more as I was. There were eight or ten people within a half mile of me and not a single one of them was consistently running. There was guy cramping way worse than me, guy with audible stomach problems, run fast/walk slow guy, and 'oh my god it's another patch of shade' guy just to name a few.
Around mile 23.5 my right quad started cramping with every push off and I thought that if I didn't stop to stretch it out I was going to be in trouble. I stopped and grabbed onto a pole and tried to do a quad stretch but my hamstring stated in no uncertain terms that it would not tolerate any sort of contractions. I immediately put my foot down and rubbed my quad then started running again. My last 15 second walk break was at the mile 24 water stop.
Paces: 8:23, 8:00, 8:34, 8:54, 8:22 - 3:09:46 (-8:29 off pace)
Mile 26:
The quad cramp hit me hard in the last mile and I had to stop one last time to shake it out. Audible stomach problems guy was right in front of me and I set the goal of beating that gassy bastard to the finish so I pushed it hard up the final incline then kicked it into high gear as I was coming down the hill to the finish. I could hear gas master's steps behind me so I gave it all I had and made it across the line before him.
Final Time: 3:20:23 - 7:39 AP
8/38 Age Group (30-34)
46/643 Overall
The guys in the chute asked me how I was feeling and my response (after a few moments of deep thought) was "thirsty". They gave me a bottle of water which I took a few drinks of before dumping the rest over my head. I walked over and got another bottle then saw Jen and she ran over and gave me a hug. She was kicked out of the finishers area a minute later so I stood in the shade and ate a few orange slices before walking over to where she was standing. I spent a few minutes stretching out then we headed back to our room where I took a shower and changed.
We walked over to Rogue Brewery and had an awesome lunch and a couple drinks then spent some time bumming around Newport.
Finishers Medal - made by local glass shop in Newport
Goodbye Marathon Beard
Overall it was a great race and even though it kicked my ass it made me hungry for more. Jen and I are talking about our next marathon but I'll leave the announcement to her as she is the family race planner.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Taper Time!
This past Sunday I ran the last long run of this marathon training cycle and am now officially into my taper. I’ve been looking forward to this for the last couple of weeks as my mileage and speed work ramped up and my body started feeling the full impact of the training. At the end of my 21 miler last weekend my calf was pretty sore and after consulting with Jen I decided it would be best to take Tuesday off (as well as Monday my normal day) to let my body rest. On Wednesday I went out for a run and towards the end it was bothering me again. Admittedly, I probably ran faster than I should have (8 miles at 7:25 AP) and that likely played a role in the continued soreness. With another off day on Thursday, ice bucket, hot tub, Tiger Balm, compression socks, foam roller, and two easy runs on Friday and Saturday I felt fine by the time I started running on Sunday.
While I was out running I was thinking about my upcoming race and I realized that I was pretty nervous about and excited for it. Nervous because, well because it’s a marathon; and excited because, well because it’s a marathon. To ease my nerves a bit and to pass the time during the run I started thinking about the training I’ve done and the things I’ve accomplished over the last four months.
Races:
I ran three races during training; two half-marathons and a 5k.
The Shamrock Run 5k was in week four and although I had been doing hill work I had yet to do any speed work. This race features nearly a mile of incline and only about two-tenths of a mile of decline so it’s a tough one. I managed to push hard and set a new PR of 19:37.
One week later Jen and I were up in Washington for the Mercer Island Half Marathon which is on twisty, hilly roads for the majority of the race. Since I knew it was a tough course my plan was to run strong but not push too hard and then really try to hang on and pick up the pace at the end. I hoped that the hill training I had been doing would help me push through. It was a hard course but I managed to pull out a new PR of 1:32:38.
On May 2nd we were down in Eugene where Jen was running her marathon and I was running the half. This race was a good confidence boost for me and I ended up finishing with a new PR of 1:30:15.
Weekly Runs:
Even though there were a few days when I really didn’t feel like heading out the door I managed to complete every run except the one mentioned above and one in April when I was traveling for work. I still have a few left during the taper and while I hope to get them all in it is the taper after all and I’m not going to beat myself up if I have to miss one (although I’m sure I will spend some time agonizing over it).
Long Runs:
I used a plan that had me doing two 20 mile runs and one 21 miler which I was a bit intimidated by at first but as I completed each one it was a good confidence boost. I was able to run two of them point to point on the Banks Veronia trail and one of them on a new out and back route along the waterfront downtown. I really enjoyed the runs on Banks Vernonia because it gave me a chance to get out away from people and enjoy my surroundings. I felt progressively stronger on each run and was able to run the last six miles of my 21 miler at an average pace of 7:06. Granted that is likely the primary reason for my sore calf but thankfully that appears to be on the mend. My 21 miler was also only the second time I’ve run over 20 miles
Speed Work:
I felt confident in all of my speed workouts but there were definitely days when I wanted to quit on the second interval when I was scheduled to do six or eight. I pushed through the mental blocks and finished all of them on pace and feeling good; tired, but good. I think the hardest part of speed work is the warm up and cool down. If I’m at the track I don’t mind running fast intervals, but running a 2 mile warm up and cool down can be quite boring.
37 Miles:
As of this evening I have six runs left for a total of 37 miles. The majority of the miles will be at a GA pace or an easy pace and on the last two I’ll likely throw in a couple of goal pace miles just to remember what they feel like. Tonight I ran five miles at an 8:00 average and of course I was questioning the taper the entire time. Luckily I’ve had Jen telling me how important the taper is and to have faith in my training which I definitely do. At this point no amount of speed work or heavy mileage would do me any good. What I need now is to let my body recover so that come race day I am ready to roll.
The Weather:
Springtime in Oregon – I think that about sums it up.
Overall I think I am more excited than anything else. The visual I have is that I am a chocolate chip cookie with the cookie part being excitement and the chocolate chips being nervousness.
I’ll post a race report after I get home – since the race is on a Saturday I should be able to get one done sometime on Sunday.
Thanks for reading!
While I was out running I was thinking about my upcoming race and I realized that I was pretty nervous about and excited for it. Nervous because, well because it’s a marathon; and excited because, well because it’s a marathon. To ease my nerves a bit and to pass the time during the run I started thinking about the training I’ve done and the things I’ve accomplished over the last four months.
Races:
I ran three races during training; two half-marathons and a 5k.
The Shamrock Run 5k was in week four and although I had been doing hill work I had yet to do any speed work. This race features nearly a mile of incline and only about two-tenths of a mile of decline so it’s a tough one. I managed to push hard and set a new PR of 19:37.
One week later Jen and I were up in Washington for the Mercer Island Half Marathon which is on twisty, hilly roads for the majority of the race. Since I knew it was a tough course my plan was to run strong but not push too hard and then really try to hang on and pick up the pace at the end. I hoped that the hill training I had been doing would help me push through. It was a hard course but I managed to pull out a new PR of 1:32:38.
On May 2nd we were down in Eugene where Jen was running her marathon and I was running the half. This race was a good confidence boost for me and I ended up finishing with a new PR of 1:30:15.
Weekly Runs:
Even though there were a few days when I really didn’t feel like heading out the door I managed to complete every run except the one mentioned above and one in April when I was traveling for work. I still have a few left during the taper and while I hope to get them all in it is the taper after all and I’m not going to beat myself up if I have to miss one (although I’m sure I will spend some time agonizing over it).
Long Runs:
I used a plan that had me doing two 20 mile runs and one 21 miler which I was a bit intimidated by at first but as I completed each one it was a good confidence boost. I was able to run two of them point to point on the Banks Veronia trail and one of them on a new out and back route along the waterfront downtown. I really enjoyed the runs on Banks Vernonia because it gave me a chance to get out away from people and enjoy my surroundings. I felt progressively stronger on each run and was able to run the last six miles of my 21 miler at an average pace of 7:06. Granted that is likely the primary reason for my sore calf but thankfully that appears to be on the mend. My 21 miler was also only the second time I’ve run over 20 miles
Speed Work:
I felt confident in all of my speed workouts but there were definitely days when I wanted to quit on the second interval when I was scheduled to do six or eight. I pushed through the mental blocks and finished all of them on pace and feeling good; tired, but good. I think the hardest part of speed work is the warm up and cool down. If I’m at the track I don’t mind running fast intervals, but running a 2 mile warm up and cool down can be quite boring.
37 Miles:
As of this evening I have six runs left for a total of 37 miles. The majority of the miles will be at a GA pace or an easy pace and on the last two I’ll likely throw in a couple of goal pace miles just to remember what they feel like. Tonight I ran five miles at an 8:00 average and of course I was questioning the taper the entire time. Luckily I’ve had Jen telling me how important the taper is and to have faith in my training which I definitely do. At this point no amount of speed work or heavy mileage would do me any good. What I need now is to let my body recover so that come race day I am ready to roll.
The Weather:
Springtime in Oregon – I think that about sums it up.
Overall I think I am more excited than anything else. The visual I have is that I am a chocolate chip cookie with the cookie part being excitement and the chocolate chips being nervousness.
I’ll post a race report after I get home – since the race is on a Saturday I should be able to get one done sometime on Sunday.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Eugene Half Marathon Race Report
After running this race last year and enjoying the course and the city of Eugene so much, I was excited to head back again this weekend to run it for a second time. Jen had decided to run the full this year after debating between this and another race, but since I had already picked a marathon this was going to be a training race for me and hopefully a good indication of my fitness with five weeks of training left to go.
Saturday morning I got up and got in a short easy run before we packed up the car, grabbed a bagel and coffee, and hit the road. When we got to Eugene we hit up the expo, grabbed a sandwich downtown (I’m a big sandwich fan and am always looking for a good sandwich shop), bummed around for a bit, then went to our hotel to check in. After that we walked over to the University to scope out the start (they had changed it a bit from last year) and then walked over the river to find a spot where I could hopefully catch Jen at around mile 16/17 of her race the next day. Then it was back to the hotel for a nap followed by race day prep, picnic style dinner on the bed (chicken, pasta salad, and bread), then some reading and bed.
Sunday morning I was up at a little after five to have some coffee and toast, get ready, and hit up the rr a couple times before walking over to the start. Since our hotel was a four minute walk from the starting corrals (we timed it on Saturday) we were able to stay in the room until around 6:40 which was great. When we got over to the start I did a couple short warm up jogs then Jen and I got into the corral together before we wished each other good luck and lined up in our respective time zones.
Going into the race I my main goal was to have an average pace in the mid 6:50’s with an A+ goal of breaking 1:30:00. Leading up to the race I had been telling myself “remember not to go out too fast” and for the most part I stuck to that (although I did go out a bit fast and had a moment of “this is happening!” before reigning myself in.
The three miles are basically flat with a few downhill sections mixed in so I spent this time getting into a groove and constantly reminding myself that I was likely going a bit fast and needed to reign it in a bit.
Miles 1-3: 6:46, 6:43, 6:44
The next two and a half-ish are basically a slight incline capped off with a steep pitch at the end before the course turns and comes back down the incline one block to the west. During this section I knew that I had started pushing my luck with the miles in the 6:40’s but I felt like I had caught myself before doing any real damage. I was certainly glad to see the turn and the beginning of the decline after the climb.
Miles 4-6: 6:54, 7:02, 6:46
After the six mile mark I felt like I was getting into a good groove but at the same time I could feel myself starting to get tired and knew that it was going to take some mental effort to hang on and keep pushing. It wasn’t that I was ready to give up, I was just running fast and started to question myself and wonder if I could keep it up for another seven miles. When I hit 6.55 I shook out my arms, took my Gu, and knew that I was halfway done and that I could hang in there. After rounding a corner at mile eight and running by the water stop I saw Alisa holding her sign and cheering which was a nice pick-me-up before I had to tackle the biggest hill of the course. I kicked it down a notch and was surprised when the hill didn’t seem nearly as daunting as it did the year before. I don’t know if I had just built it up in my head or if I was just in better shape or what but it really wasn’t that bad. After reaching the top I used my strategy from last time where I didn’t push too hard downhill and let myself relax and recover until I hit the bottom. The rest of the mile was uneventful and before I knew it we were at the nine mile mark.
Miles 7-9: 6:53, 6:51, 7:09
The rest of the race was basically an exercise in perseverance and trust in my training. What really seemed to help me was thinking back on my speed work at the track and remembering how it felt running that fourth mile at 10k pace or my sixth 800 at 5k pace and I knew if I could do that I could hold on and make it through these last miles. There were a couple people who had passed me in mile ten that I managed to pick off over the last three miles and that gave me nice short term goals to focus on. When I got to about 12.6 or so I looked at my watch and thought if I was going to break 1:30:00 I needed to pick up the pace and push hard. Right after that another part of me said, in a very sarcastic tone “Sure, you go ahead and do that, just start running faster”. I pushed as hard as I could but when I hit the stadium I knew I was going to fall just short of breaking an hour thirty, but I was also very happy to be taking a sizeable chunk of time off my PR from the Mercer Island Half marathon in March.
Miles 10-13: 6:51, 7:04, 6:53, 6:51
After I was done I downed a couple bottles of water and ate a pancake then hurried over to the hotel to change, grab the camera and a water bottle for Jen, put on sunscreen, and hurry over the river to catch Jen at mile 16.5. I made it with about five minutes to spare and was able to get a few good shots of her as she ran by. I ran with her for a short bit to pass off the water bottle and let her know she was looking strong, and then I took a couple more pics and watched her run off to finish the race.
You can check out her report on her blog to get the full details and also to hear about the exciting conclusion. She ran great and I was really proud of her for tackling her eight stand alone marathon.
Final Results:
1:30:15
6:54 AP
17/185 AG
84/1,274 Males
109/4,056 OA
Saturday morning I got up and got in a short easy run before we packed up the car, grabbed a bagel and coffee, and hit the road. When we got to Eugene we hit up the expo, grabbed a sandwich downtown (I’m a big sandwich fan and am always looking for a good sandwich shop), bummed around for a bit, then went to our hotel to check in. After that we walked over to the University to scope out the start (they had changed it a bit from last year) and then walked over the river to find a spot where I could hopefully catch Jen at around mile 16/17 of her race the next day. Then it was back to the hotel for a nap followed by race day prep, picnic style dinner on the bed (chicken, pasta salad, and bread), then some reading and bed.
Sunday morning I was up at a little after five to have some coffee and toast, get ready, and hit up the rr a couple times before walking over to the start. Since our hotel was a four minute walk from the starting corrals (we timed it on Saturday) we were able to stay in the room until around 6:40 which was great. When we got over to the start I did a couple short warm up jogs then Jen and I got into the corral together before we wished each other good luck and lined up in our respective time zones.
Going into the race I my main goal was to have an average pace in the mid 6:50’s with an A+ goal of breaking 1:30:00. Leading up to the race I had been telling myself “remember not to go out too fast” and for the most part I stuck to that (although I did go out a bit fast and had a moment of “this is happening!” before reigning myself in.
The three miles are basically flat with a few downhill sections mixed in so I spent this time getting into a groove and constantly reminding myself that I was likely going a bit fast and needed to reign it in a bit.
Miles 1-3: 6:46, 6:43, 6:44
The next two and a half-ish are basically a slight incline capped off with a steep pitch at the end before the course turns and comes back down the incline one block to the west. During this section I knew that I had started pushing my luck with the miles in the 6:40’s but I felt like I had caught myself before doing any real damage. I was certainly glad to see the turn and the beginning of the decline after the climb.
Miles 4-6: 6:54, 7:02, 6:46
After the six mile mark I felt like I was getting into a good groove but at the same time I could feel myself starting to get tired and knew that it was going to take some mental effort to hang on and keep pushing. It wasn’t that I was ready to give up, I was just running fast and started to question myself and wonder if I could keep it up for another seven miles. When I hit 6.55 I shook out my arms, took my Gu, and knew that I was halfway done and that I could hang in there. After rounding a corner at mile eight and running by the water stop I saw Alisa holding her sign and cheering which was a nice pick-me-up before I had to tackle the biggest hill of the course. I kicked it down a notch and was surprised when the hill didn’t seem nearly as daunting as it did the year before. I don’t know if I had just built it up in my head or if I was just in better shape or what but it really wasn’t that bad. After reaching the top I used my strategy from last time where I didn’t push too hard downhill and let myself relax and recover until I hit the bottom. The rest of the mile was uneventful and before I knew it we were at the nine mile mark.
Miles 7-9: 6:53, 6:51, 7:09
The rest of the race was basically an exercise in perseverance and trust in my training. What really seemed to help me was thinking back on my speed work at the track and remembering how it felt running that fourth mile at 10k pace or my sixth 800 at 5k pace and I knew if I could do that I could hold on and make it through these last miles. There were a couple people who had passed me in mile ten that I managed to pick off over the last three miles and that gave me nice short term goals to focus on. When I got to about 12.6 or so I looked at my watch and thought if I was going to break 1:30:00 I needed to pick up the pace and push hard. Right after that another part of me said, in a very sarcastic tone “Sure, you go ahead and do that, just start running faster”. I pushed as hard as I could but when I hit the stadium I knew I was going to fall just short of breaking an hour thirty, but I was also very happy to be taking a sizeable chunk of time off my PR from the Mercer Island Half marathon in March.
Miles 10-13: 6:51, 7:04, 6:53, 6:51
After I was done I downed a couple bottles of water and ate a pancake then hurried over to the hotel to change, grab the camera and a water bottle for Jen, put on sunscreen, and hurry over the river to catch Jen at mile 16.5. I made it with about five minutes to spare and was able to get a few good shots of her as she ran by. I ran with her for a short bit to pass off the water bottle and let her know she was looking strong, and then I took a couple more pics and watched her run off to finish the race.
You can check out her report on her blog to get the full details and also to hear about the exciting conclusion. She ran great and I was really proud of her for tackling her eight stand alone marathon.
Final Results:
1:30:15
6:54 AP
17/185 AG
84/1,274 Males
109/4,056 OA
Monday, March 15, 2010
Shamrock Run 5k
This past Sunday I ran my first 5k since November, and only my second since 2007. I was a bit nervous going in since I really wanted to beat my PR with an A+ goal of breaking 20 minutes. But, since I haven't been training for a short, fast race I didn't really know what to expect.
As anyone who has run any of the Shamrock races can tell you the second mile is a steady climb up Broadway with a nice increase in grade for the last .2 of a mile or so. My strategy was to run the first mile to get into a groove and find my pace, keep it steady but not push too hard in mile two, then try to hold on in the third mile.
Once I was underway it took me a while to settle into a groove but once I did I felt comfortably uncomfortable and figured I could hold on, or at least try to, for the next couple miles.
The first mile came in at 6:10, then I turned onto Broadway and started the steady climb up to the mile two marker. My pace stayed fairly steady for mile two but I did feel myself start to slow a bit. I knew that pushing hard at this point would kill me in mile three so I just tried to hang on and keep moving forward. Mile two: 6:47.
Once I made the turn and started mile three the course was flat for a couple of blocks and so was I. Ever so slowly I increased my turnover and picked up the pace as we encountered four or five glorious blocks of decline. The crummy thing about the mile long climb is that the downhill lasts for less than a quarter mile as the course makes it's way back down to the waterfront. After we made the turn onto Naito I kept the pace strong and when I hit the 2.5 mile mark I picked up the pace just a bit. Once we passed the three mile mark I pushed it to the throw-up threshold and crossed the finish line at 19:36 (6:18 pace).
9/465 AG
62/2,631 males
72/7,076 overall
As anyone who has run any of the Shamrock races can tell you the second mile is a steady climb up Broadway with a nice increase in grade for the last .2 of a mile or so. My strategy was to run the first mile to get into a groove and find my pace, keep it steady but not push too hard in mile two, then try to hold on in the third mile.
Once I was underway it took me a while to settle into a groove but once I did I felt comfortably uncomfortable and figured I could hold on, or at least try to, for the next couple miles.
The first mile came in at 6:10, then I turned onto Broadway and started the steady climb up to the mile two marker. My pace stayed fairly steady for mile two but I did feel myself start to slow a bit. I knew that pushing hard at this point would kill me in mile three so I just tried to hang on and keep moving forward. Mile two: 6:47.
Once I made the turn and started mile three the course was flat for a couple of blocks and so was I. Ever so slowly I increased my turnover and picked up the pace as we encountered four or five glorious blocks of decline. The crummy thing about the mile long climb is that the downhill lasts for less than a quarter mile as the course makes it's way back down to the waterfront. After we made the turn onto Naito I kept the pace strong and when I hit the 2.5 mile mark I picked up the pace just a bit. Once we passed the three mile mark I pushed it to the throw-up threshold and crossed the finish line at 19:36 (6:18 pace).
9/465 AG
62/2,631 males
72/7,076 overall
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 in Review
Happy New Year!!
As always, best viewed with the sound on - even better with the sound up loud:
As always, best viewed with the sound on - even better with the sound up loud:
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Greatest Spectating Experience of my Life
I've seen the Raiders beat the Broncos, I've seen the San Jose Sharks beat the Red Wings in the final seconds of the game, I've seen Barry Bonds hit the game winning home run, and I've seen Michael Jordan hit a game winning shot; but none of that compares to what I watched this past Sunday in Tempe, AZ when Jen became an IronMan. I was so proud and amazed that I really can't put it into words but I'm sure that my fellow spectators (Maritza, Deana, Dana, Inga, Josh, my Dad and Step-Mom, my Aunt Carol, and Arizona blogger Kelsa Lynn) all know what I am talking about. Watching the swim start was un-freaking-believable; seeing Jen come out of T2 to run a marathon after biking 112 miles was un-freaking-believable; and watching her run down the finish chute as Mike Riley announced that she was an IronMan brought tears to my eyes (Maritza was full-on crying and not for the first time that day). All of the details of the day will be revealed by IronJen in the days to come but let's just say that I was inspired by what she accomplished and I'm sure you will be as well.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
This, That, and the Other
Today was the last day of summer and on my way home I really noticed shade where there used to be none, leaves showing the first hint of fall color, and it really made me realize that the short days of winter will be here before we know it. In fact, on November 1st, sunset is at 4:57pm in Portland. Now that my triathlon season is over for 2009 it's time to start looking to the future and deciding what's up next.
After Hood to Coast I suddenly found myself free from having to train for anything specific which at first was tough. 2009 was a good year for me - new 10k PR, new Half Marathon PR, the Hood to Coast Relay, and my first Half Ironman which was a great experience. Coming off of all of that really left me feeling aimless and like I wasn't doing enough every day. A few days after Hood to Coast I went on a run with Jen and about 6 miles in my knees really started bothering me, especially the outside of my right knee. That night in bed it was really hurting and whenever I would move it would cause me pain. The soreness hung around for a few days and right when I thought it was going away we had a fire drill at work and I had to walk down a LOT of stairs. Later that day I tried running again and within a half mile the pain was back and I ended up turning around at about one mile. After some research I determined the pain was likely due to my IT band and the only way to get better was to not run for a while. At first I took the woe is me approach but after a couple of days I realized that although it sucks I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with this during my training for the Lake Stevens 70.3. So I've been riding the bike, swimming, and going to the gym to lift - I've put together a "schedule" to follow but I'm pretty much just enjoying the end of summer, taking days to kick back when I want, doing some more cooking, and just enjoying not having to do a specific workout on a specific day.
This weekend we're heading up to Hood River for a wedding which promises to have good food, good drinks, good people, and great times. I'm sure Jen will have a great recap of her weekend training and the wedding and I'll try to take as many pictures as I can. I hoped to have a new camera for the event but I'm still hemming and hawing over where to order it from and what lens to get so I'll be shooting with our old camera - but I think that's good cause it's easier to get a lot of pictures without being "that guy with the camera".
One last item to note -I'm really proud my little cutie and her last two race performances - although anyone reading this has likely already read it over on Jen's blog - but if you haven't heard she placed 2nd in her AG at the Aluminum Man tri and 1st in her AG at the Timberline Half Marathon.
I hope everyone had a great last day of summer - get out there and enjoy these last days - unless you live in San Diego where summer never ends - bastards.
Also, it's almost hockey season - GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
That Old Familiar Feeling
While most of you are probably in the midst of training for some upcoming event - Jen, Kim, Aron, and Sarah just to name a few - I find myself in the no mans land of the off season. I am signed up to do a trail half marathon next weekend but I've been thinking of that as something fun to do and not really a "race" so I find myself drifting in the land of "I don't really have to do any specific workout". Fortunately I am Jen's training partner/coach/assistant for her IMAZ training so I will be doing some long bike rides in the next few weeks which are always a lot of fun.
Since my HIM and the Hood to Coast relay I have been sort of floating along not really doing much and getting all stressed out about it. After talking it over with Jen I decided that I would keep up on my swimming and biking with her but would shift my running focus to setting a new 5k PR with my goal race being the Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day 5k in San Diego. I'm going to run the Run Like Hell 5k in October to see what the ole legs have in them then figure out what a realistic goal is for San Diego. My previous PR of 20:30 was set in 2007 and I think that I have a good chance of going sub 20 if I put some effort into it.
At first I was stressed out about not really doing anything but once I came to terms with the fact that a little down time never really hurt anyone I realized that I should take advantage of not having to do any specific workouts this week. The timing has actually been pretty good since I've been really busy at work and instead of trying to get out the door right at 4:00 I don't mind sticking around a bit late to finish up what I am working on. Starting next week I'm also going to start going to the gym more often to lift weights and do some core work (and sit in the steam room).
Since I really don't have much to report I'll finish up with some pictures from the last couple of weeks:
Two legs down at Hood to Coast one to go:
The pile of wood I chopped for my parents - notice how you can see the fence in this picture; you will see it slowly disappear:
Making progress:
Almost done:
Two cords chopped and stacked - the folks will be warm this winter:
This shot gives you an idea of how tall the stacks were - and it was two rows deep!
I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer - before you know it the sun will be rising after you are at work and setting before you get off.
Since my HIM and the Hood to Coast relay I have been sort of floating along not really doing much and getting all stressed out about it. After talking it over with Jen I decided that I would keep up on my swimming and biking with her but would shift my running focus to setting a new 5k PR with my goal race being the Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day 5k in San Diego. I'm going to run the Run Like Hell 5k in October to see what the ole legs have in them then figure out what a realistic goal is for San Diego. My previous PR of 20:30 was set in 2007 and I think that I have a good chance of going sub 20 if I put some effort into it.
At first I was stressed out about not really doing anything but once I came to terms with the fact that a little down time never really hurt anyone I realized that I should take advantage of not having to do any specific workouts this week. The timing has actually been pretty good since I've been really busy at work and instead of trying to get out the door right at 4:00 I don't mind sticking around a bit late to finish up what I am working on. Starting next week I'm also going to start going to the gym more often to lift weights and do some core work (and sit in the steam room).
Since I really don't have much to report I'll finish up with some pictures from the last couple of weeks:
Two legs down at Hood to Coast one to go:
The pile of wood I chopped for my parents - notice how you can see the fence in this picture; you will see it slowly disappear:
Making progress:
Almost done:
Two cords chopped and stacked - the folks will be warm this winter:
This shot gives you an idea of how tall the stacks were - and it was two rows deep!
I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer - before you know it the sun will be rising after you are at work and setting before you get off.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
2009 Nike Hood to Coast Relay Race Report
If I was to sum up the Nike Hood to Coast Relay in one word it would be Awesome. The experience, the running, the scenery, the volunteers, my teammates, pretty much everything about the weekend can be summed up with that one word. Let me elaborate.
I was first asked to be an alternate on the team after it was put together but within two weeks I was an official runner. Since it was with a group of my co-workers I was a bit hesitant at first – I mean I was going to be spending over 24 hours in a van with people that up to this point where just faces in the office (some of them I had never even met or seen before). It turns out that they are all very cool people and deciding to join the team was an excellent choice.
Since this was such a long event I will try to get in as much detail as I can but I may miss a thing or two which is bound to happen when you are up for nearly 24 hours, sleep for an hour and a half, then get right back into the swing of things.
I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning of the day.
The weather forecast for Friday was perfect – sunny and mild in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon. Since our starting time was approximated at 1:00 (the first van started at Mt. Hood at 8:15am) we had a bit of sun when we started but by the time my leg rolled around the clouds had really started moving in and the sun was becoming less and less of an issue.
I started my first leg thinking I would go out conservatively and then pick up the pace in my second and third legs. By the time I hit mile two I decided the hell with it; I was going to push myself on each leg and if I collapsed in the middle of the coast range so be it. This leg was along the Springwater corridor out in Gresham which is a trail I have run on a few times so I knew what to expect; a flatish path that was dirt for the first 2.5 miles. I cruised along and before I knew it I was halfway done, then three quarters, then next thing I knew I was coming around a corner to the exchange point where I would pass off the slap bracelet to the next runner on my team.
Leg 1 – 6.89 miles, 7.06 AP, 15 kills (passes)
After everyone in our van ran their first leg we stopped by the house of one of our teammates to take a quick shower and have some dinner (which was a great decision; there is no way we would have survived on snack food). After cleaning up, eating, and relaxing for couple hours we piled back in the van and headed out to the next exchange where we would meet up with van 1 who would be completing their second section of the day.
The next leg I was going to run was at 1:00am (give or take a couple minutes depending on where the runners before me came in) and I was really excited for it. Never before had I run at that hour and doing it in the middle of the coast range in the middle of the night while it was raining made it that much more exciting. When the slap bracelet was passed off to me I took off into the night and never looked back. The sky was misting and I felt as though I was running through space at warp speed. From time to time I would look up at the trees and the rain and think about how lucky I was to be experiencing what I was experiencing at this moment. Of course a few seconds after that I would remember that I was running down a dirt road in the middle of the night and I would look back down to make sure I could see the road and all the bumps and holes that were coming my way. A little after the first mile I could hear someone coming up behind me and right before mile two he caught me. We ran together for the next couple of miles and talked on and off – needless to say I was surprised when these miles beeped in around 6:26. By mile four I was starting to wonder if I could hold the pace when my new friend said “I’ve got to drop back, good talking with you”. Even though that was exactly how I was feeling I decided to push on and finish strong. Eventually I saw some lights up ahead and next thing I knew a volunteer was asking me what my number was so they could shout it down the road.
Leg 2 – 5 miles, 6:32 AP, 22 kills
After everyone had finished up their second leg we pushed on to the spot where we would be meeting van 1 at the end of their final section so we could kick back and try to get a couple hours of sleep. We finally pulled up into the sleeping field, parked the van, and were all asleep within 15 minutes. An hour and a half later I woke up feeling, not like a million bucks, but maybe a few hundred grand. I got out of the van, hit up the Honey Bucket, then walked over to the food area that was set up and got myself a Dutch Brothers Mocha and a hot ham and cheese croissant (which was SOOOO good).
My final leg of the day was coming out of the coast range and it was extremely beautiful. Although I ended up with a side cramp and had to slow down a bit it really didn’t matter to me because I was enjoying the scenery and the experience.
Leg 3 – 7.75 miles, 7:22 AP, 17 kills
At around 1:15pm on Saturday we reached the coast and crossed the finish line as a team.
This was one of the funnest (or most fun for you grammar nuts) running events I have ever done. For a van full of first timers we did a great job navigating, getting along, cheering for each other, and making sure that everyone was having fun the whole time. You make jokes that get stupider and funnier as the night goes on, you eat a random assortment of food, you make new friends, and you surprise yourself many times.
I have to give credit to the volunteers that sacrifice their time to help out their friends and family. Each local team is required to have three volunteers who are assigned random tasks at random locations at random times of day all the way from Mt. Hood to Seaside. Every volunteer I encountered was helpful, patient, and friendly even though they were getting all of the shit and none of the glory. One thing that I would tell any participant in the race is that a little bit of patience goes a long way out there. I saw quite a few people that showed up at the exchange only to find that their teammate wasn’t there to meet them due to traffic or some other circumstance – once that person showed up they were sent on their way with some bitching and complaining – all I could think was, what a way to start your leg!
One additional observation – the Honey Buckets were the cleanest and best stocked of any I have ever seen at an event this large (17,000 participants including 3,000 volunteers).
If you want a visual of what it was like or just something to make you consider putting together a team for next year check out the video in my previous post.
I was first asked to be an alternate on the team after it was put together but within two weeks I was an official runner. Since it was with a group of my co-workers I was a bit hesitant at first – I mean I was going to be spending over 24 hours in a van with people that up to this point where just faces in the office (some of them I had never even met or seen before). It turns out that they are all very cool people and deciding to join the team was an excellent choice.
Since this was such a long event I will try to get in as much detail as I can but I may miss a thing or two which is bound to happen when you are up for nearly 24 hours, sleep for an hour and a half, then get right back into the swing of things.
I suppose the best place to start is at the beginning of the day.
The weather forecast for Friday was perfect – sunny and mild in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon. Since our starting time was approximated at 1:00 (the first van started at Mt. Hood at 8:15am) we had a bit of sun when we started but by the time my leg rolled around the clouds had really started moving in and the sun was becoming less and less of an issue.
I started my first leg thinking I would go out conservatively and then pick up the pace in my second and third legs. By the time I hit mile two I decided the hell with it; I was going to push myself on each leg and if I collapsed in the middle of the coast range so be it. This leg was along the Springwater corridor out in Gresham which is a trail I have run on a few times so I knew what to expect; a flatish path that was dirt for the first 2.5 miles. I cruised along and before I knew it I was halfway done, then three quarters, then next thing I knew I was coming around a corner to the exchange point where I would pass off the slap bracelet to the next runner on my team.
Leg 1 – 6.89 miles, 7.06 AP, 15 kills (passes)
After everyone in our van ran their first leg we stopped by the house of one of our teammates to take a quick shower and have some dinner (which was a great decision; there is no way we would have survived on snack food). After cleaning up, eating, and relaxing for couple hours we piled back in the van and headed out to the next exchange where we would meet up with van 1 who would be completing their second section of the day.
The next leg I was going to run was at 1:00am (give or take a couple minutes depending on where the runners before me came in) and I was really excited for it. Never before had I run at that hour and doing it in the middle of the coast range in the middle of the night while it was raining made it that much more exciting. When the slap bracelet was passed off to me I took off into the night and never looked back. The sky was misting and I felt as though I was running through space at warp speed. From time to time I would look up at the trees and the rain and think about how lucky I was to be experiencing what I was experiencing at this moment. Of course a few seconds after that I would remember that I was running down a dirt road in the middle of the night and I would look back down to make sure I could see the road and all the bumps and holes that were coming my way. A little after the first mile I could hear someone coming up behind me and right before mile two he caught me. We ran together for the next couple of miles and talked on and off – needless to say I was surprised when these miles beeped in around 6:26. By mile four I was starting to wonder if I could hold the pace when my new friend said “I’ve got to drop back, good talking with you”. Even though that was exactly how I was feeling I decided to push on and finish strong. Eventually I saw some lights up ahead and next thing I knew a volunteer was asking me what my number was so they could shout it down the road.
Leg 2 – 5 miles, 6:32 AP, 22 kills
After everyone had finished up their second leg we pushed on to the spot where we would be meeting van 1 at the end of their final section so we could kick back and try to get a couple hours of sleep. We finally pulled up into the sleeping field, parked the van, and were all asleep within 15 minutes. An hour and a half later I woke up feeling, not like a million bucks, but maybe a few hundred grand. I got out of the van, hit up the Honey Bucket, then walked over to the food area that was set up and got myself a Dutch Brothers Mocha and a hot ham and cheese croissant (which was SOOOO good).
My final leg of the day was coming out of the coast range and it was extremely beautiful. Although I ended up with a side cramp and had to slow down a bit it really didn’t matter to me because I was enjoying the scenery and the experience.
Leg 3 – 7.75 miles, 7:22 AP, 17 kills
At around 1:15pm on Saturday we reached the coast and crossed the finish line as a team.
This was one of the funnest (or most fun for you grammar nuts) running events I have ever done. For a van full of first timers we did a great job navigating, getting along, cheering for each other, and making sure that everyone was having fun the whole time. You make jokes that get stupider and funnier as the night goes on, you eat a random assortment of food, you make new friends, and you surprise yourself many times.
I have to give credit to the volunteers that sacrifice their time to help out their friends and family. Each local team is required to have three volunteers who are assigned random tasks at random locations at random times of day all the way from Mt. Hood to Seaside. Every volunteer I encountered was helpful, patient, and friendly even though they were getting all of the shit and none of the glory. One thing that I would tell any participant in the race is that a little bit of patience goes a long way out there. I saw quite a few people that showed up at the exchange only to find that their teammate wasn’t there to meet them due to traffic or some other circumstance – once that person showed up they were sent on their way with some bitching and complaining – all I could think was, what a way to start your leg!
One additional observation – the Honey Buckets were the cleanest and best stocked of any I have ever seen at an event this large (17,000 participants including 3,000 volunteers).
If you want a visual of what it was like or just something to make you consider putting together a team for next year check out the video in my previous post.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Report
Lake Stevens was my first HIM and overall it was a great experience. The race was great - nice lake, beautiful bike course, and a spectator filled run course that passed through downtown four times.
Saturday:
Saturday morning we slept in till around 7:30, got up and had some coffee, then loaded up the car and headed out. We made a stop for bagels at Kettleman's before hitting the road to get some additional carbs in (and because bagels are freakin delicious). We wound up hitting some traffic once we got near Tacoma and hit some major backup outside Seattle. Since we've moved from CA and don't really drive much anymore I forgot what a "joy" it is to sit in traffic and deal with the idiots that have somehow been issued a drivers license. Once we were past the I5/I90 junction the traffic thinned out and we made our way up to Everett where we were staying the night. We met our friends at their place (that's where we were staying) and dropped off our stuff before heading out to grab some lunch. Afterwards we headed out to the expo and bike drop off.
At the expo we sat through the mandatory pre-race briefing then went and picked up our numbers, bought a parking pass for downtown Lake Stevens, and made our purchases at the expo. Although the expo was pretty bare bones it did have the three things I wanted (coffee cup, bike jersey, and a hat) so for me it was just fine. It is nice to browse around a large expo looking for deals but really the only deal I ever found was at the Boston expo (I was not a runner but merely a spectator) on a pair of shoes. Other than that it's really just the same things you can find in a store or online. After that we drove to Lake Stevens to drop off our bikes in transition (dropping them off the day before the race is great), checked out the ins and outs of transition, then drove the bike course to see what was in store for us on Sunday. I knew it was a hilly course going in so it was no surprise to see some climbs and some downhill sections that would be pretty fun and potentially dangerous. After that we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some dinner supplies, headed back to our friends place, made dinner, organized our stuff, and were in bed at 10 with our alarms set for 3:40.
Race morning:
Nothing too exciting here - we arrived at transition at around 5:30 and milled around setting up our areas, hitting up the blue boxes, and talking with the other athletes. The start was delayed due to heavy fog on the water so each wave was bumped back 10 minutes which wasn't a big deal at all. Jen and I put our wetsuits on then walked over to the swim start to pick up our chips and get ready to go. After watching the pros start and wishing each other good luck (and sneaking in a final good luck kiss) I walked over to get with my group and get going.
The Swim:
The swim started in AG waves and mine was going to be the fourth group into the water. We walked down the pier and out onto a floating dock before jumping into the water – one thing I did that I shouldn’t have was I just jumped off the dock into the water and kept my legs straight. My feet hit the muddy bottom and although I didn’t get hurt I realized that I could have landed on a rock, stick, log, etc. that would have really hurt my foot and possibly ended my day before it began. So from now on I am going to sit on the edge of the dock and lower myself in if I can’t see what’s on the bottom.
Once in the water everyone fanned out into a line and I had positioned myself on the far end away from the buoy line. I figured that I didn’t want to fight it out with the main group and I would slowly make my way over once the melee was over. Although this meant I would likely end up swimming an extra 50 or so yards it was worth it to me.
Once I had been swimming for a couple minutes I could see that there were plenty of pockets of open water to my left so I started swimming towards the buoy line and the main group. Eventually I saw the white line holding the buoys and I swam along keeping it in the corner of my left eye. After a couple more minutes I decided to swim a few more feet to the left and get right above the line – I can’t say enough good things about having this to “sight” on. The only time I had to lift my head out of the water was to see who was in front of me and to look for the large buoys marking the middle of each out and back and the turns.
By the time we started catching swimmers from the wave before ours (M 25-29) I was in a line of swimmers and we were moving along at a pace that felt strong and comfortable. At this point we were about a quarter of the way through the swim and this is where the battle to maintain a buoy line spot began. The guys from the wave behind us (M 35-39) started catching up and I was also passing quite a few guys from my wave and the wave before mine. At this point I started looking up to see who was in front of me then I would look for an open spot and surge forward to move into it – this strategy worked great.
At the turn I got onto some faster feet and kept pace with a guy from the wave behind me – we swam side by side (the furthest we were apart, other than to go around another swimmer, was two feet) for the entire second half of the swim.
Finally I could see the docks and blue banners ahead of me and I knew we were getting close so I put on a final surge and swam in as far as I could – I stood up and ran into transition.
Swim: 35:40 – 25/69 M30-34
T1:
Transition was pretty uneventful. I ran over to my bike, peeled off my wetsuit, cap, and goggles, and put on my socks, shoes, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses.
T1: 2:55
The Bike:
Since we had driven the course the day before I had a good idea what I was in for and that was a fair amount of climbing with a few steep descents thrown in the mix. I spent the first few miles spinning at a high cadence and mentally preparing myself for the next three hours (my goal was to finish in 3 hours sans any mechanical issues).
The first lap was fairly uneventful – I passed a couple guys on the bike but was getting passed at a fairly steady rate. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise – although I am a pretty solid biker I am by no means fast and I know that this is one area where I could see quite a bit of improvement with a few hundred more miles under my belt. The highlight/lowlight/shake-me-up-light of the first lap came at about mile 17 when I was nearing the top of a climb and getting ready for the big downhill on the other side. I heard a loud screech/squeal from up ahead and thought “wtf was that?” Once I crested the hill and started down (it was a large sweeping downhill turn to the right and the road was lined with trees) I saw a volunteer up ahead standing in the road with a flag waving us to the left. I slowed down and when I came around the corner I saw a cop with a mangled bike tire in his hand, several pieces of a bike frame and water bottles in the road, and a dazed biker sitting on the side of the road with what was left of his bike still clipped onto one of his feet. There were so many pieces of bike in the road that I thought there must have been two cyclists involved. I later on found out that a dog ran out in front of him when he was approaching 60 mph and he had no time to react. He ended up with a ton of road rash but other than that he was fine – the dog was ok – the bike was a complete loss.
Towards the end of the first loop I had my first experience with the “death wobble” and it scared the shit out of me. I was coming downhill at probably close to 40 mph when the guy ahead of me decided that even though he was going slowly he was still going to weave all around the whole lane so no one could pass. I made a quick movement to get out of my drops and up onto my hoods when all of a sudden my front wheel started violently wobbling. I applied firm pressure to my breaks and after slowing down to about 20 mph my bike settled down. This was my second note to self of the day (after the dock jumping) – when you’re hauling ass downhill, stay in your drops.
On the second loop an earlier suspicion I had was confirmed; I was going to have to pee. Now for those of you that can pee while riding, more power to you. I don’t see how it is possible and with the sheer volume of urine I tend to release I don’t really think I want that all over my legs, shoes, and water bottles. I finally saw a port-o at a water stop/penalty tent and I stopped and ran over to it. Since I was curious how long this would take I was watching my watch – I kid you not, I was peeing full stream for 40 seconds – not exactly the sort of piss you want to take all over yourself, at least in my opinion. Once I was back on my bike two minutes had gone by but I felt 5000% better. I felt like that port-o was a cocoon and I was emerging from it as a new person ready to push hard through the end of the ride (which I did).
Note to self number three occurred on the second loop of the bike: Always have back-up nutrition plans. I knew that I would only need three bottles of liquid for the ride but I carried an extra bottle of water with me (I didn’t want to deal with the bottle hand off) – one bottle of Perpetuem to drink first, a bottle of water to drink second, and a bottle of Mandarin Heed to finish out the ride. I had decided to carry a Hammer Gel to take during the second hour with my water and decided to throw an extra one in my pocket just in case I needed it. Well, when I went to grab my bottle of Heed at around mile 40 I bobbled it in my left hand and dropped it while climbing the biggest hill on the course. The drop really didn’t register until I was about 15 feet past the bottle and by the time I thought about stopping to get it I was a good 30 feet beyond it and I knew there was no way I was going to ride back down the hill, stop, then ride back up. The main reason for this decision was the extra gel I had with me. One bottle of Heed = 100 calories; One Hammer Gel = 90 calories; aka – it was all good.
The next thing I knew we were turning off to head back to transition and about 15 minutes later I was riding through downtown and starting to think about the run. The final stretch into transition was lined with people and I felt pretty cool swooping around the corners on my bike.
Bike: 3:05:34 – 43/69 M30-34
T2:
Basically the same as the first one – bike gear off, run gear on, quick hammy stretch, off we go.
T2: 2:29
The Run:
Going into this race I knew that the run was going to be a challenge but I also knew that this was my strong point and I could do well if I paced myself. A special thanks to Jen here because throughout training she consistently reminded me to go out easy and run at a pace that seems slow for the first couple of miles.
When I was leaving transition I felt like I had to pee again but it wasn’t that bad and I figured I could stop on the course if necessary – since there were aid stations every mile I knew this wouldn’t be too much of an issue. My pace for the first mile was 7:50 and I was feeling good. I saw someone run over to the port-o so I kept going and figured I would stop at the next one if it was empty. For some reason stopping to pee really wasn’t an issue for me; I knew that there was no possible chance I would place in my AG and since I had no PR to beat I just didn’t care about the few seconds it took to stop. So when I saw an empty blue box at the mile two aid station I ran right over to it – total stop time: 45 seconds – not nearly as much fluid in me as there was on the bike.
By the time I was at mile four I had made up the stop time and was back on a 7:50 AP – mile five was the last time I would be able to check my pace as the distance on loop two was off from the loop one markers and they hadn’t marked anything over mile five.
One thing that was really amazing to me was the number of fit looking people that were walking, cramping, and looking miserable in general. I was very happy that I wasn’t having any issues when suddenly it hit – the dreaded side cramp. I ran for a few hundred feet then decided to just stop and stretch it out. I started running again at a slower pace and although my side still hurt it never got to the excruciating point that it has in the past. It started at approx mile 7.5 and hung in there but suddenly at around mile 10 it just went away. I picked up the pace a bit but was still cautious because I didn’t want it to come back full force. At around mile 11 I saw Jen coming towards me waving and we high fived as we ran by each other – I was so happy to see her because I knew it meant she was more or less on pace and she looked great too! At this point I really picked up the pace and knew that if I pushed hard I could cross the line in under 5:30:00 – the last half mile I really kicked hard and even got a couple “nice stride” shout-outs from the crowd. I looked at my watch and saw 5:28:XX as I was nearing the turn to the finish and I knew I was going to make it. I heard my name announced as I came down the chute, threw a fist into the air, and crossed the finish line.
Run: 1:42:31 – 13/69 M30-34
Total Time: 5:29:07 – 24/69 AG – 260/882 OA – 213/591 Males
An Interesting Observation from the Numbers:
Of the 23 people in my AG with a better overall time:
1. 12 of them beat me in the swim.
2. All 23 beat me in the bike (I was 7:55 behind the slowest of those – he beat me by 5:04 overall). To reiterate: Everyone that was faster overall was faster on the bike, every single one of them.
3. 12 of them beat me on the run (everyone that ran faster than me had a faster OA time).
After I was handed my water bottle, Gatorade, and medal I walked over to the food and had a slice of pizza and some grapes. My stomach was a bit tight so I stretched out in the shade then walked over to the store to get a chocolate milk. I was able to see Jen come through on her way out for the final out and back then I saw her come flying around the last corner charging towards the finish. She was running down her PR and she looked really strong – I cheered her on then ran (aka hobbled) into the finishers area and gave her a big hug. She had a great day and is well on her way to an awesome race at Ironman Arizona.
Saturday:
Saturday morning we slept in till around 7:30, got up and had some coffee, then loaded up the car and headed out. We made a stop for bagels at Kettleman's before hitting the road to get some additional carbs in (and because bagels are freakin delicious). We wound up hitting some traffic once we got near Tacoma and hit some major backup outside Seattle. Since we've moved from CA and don't really drive much anymore I forgot what a "joy" it is to sit in traffic and deal with the idiots that have somehow been issued a drivers license. Once we were past the I5/I90 junction the traffic thinned out and we made our way up to Everett where we were staying the night. We met our friends at their place (that's where we were staying) and dropped off our stuff before heading out to grab some lunch. Afterwards we headed out to the expo and bike drop off.
At the expo we sat through the mandatory pre-race briefing then went and picked up our numbers, bought a parking pass for downtown Lake Stevens, and made our purchases at the expo. Although the expo was pretty bare bones it did have the three things I wanted (coffee cup, bike jersey, and a hat) so for me it was just fine. It is nice to browse around a large expo looking for deals but really the only deal I ever found was at the Boston expo (I was not a runner but merely a spectator) on a pair of shoes. Other than that it's really just the same things you can find in a store or online. After that we drove to Lake Stevens to drop off our bikes in transition (dropping them off the day before the race is great), checked out the ins and outs of transition, then drove the bike course to see what was in store for us on Sunday. I knew it was a hilly course going in so it was no surprise to see some climbs and some downhill sections that would be pretty fun and potentially dangerous. After that we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some dinner supplies, headed back to our friends place, made dinner, organized our stuff, and were in bed at 10 with our alarms set for 3:40.
Race morning:
Nothing too exciting here - we arrived at transition at around 5:30 and milled around setting up our areas, hitting up the blue boxes, and talking with the other athletes. The start was delayed due to heavy fog on the water so each wave was bumped back 10 minutes which wasn't a big deal at all. Jen and I put our wetsuits on then walked over to the swim start to pick up our chips and get ready to go. After watching the pros start and wishing each other good luck (and sneaking in a final good luck kiss) I walked over to get with my group and get going.
The Swim:
The swim started in AG waves and mine was going to be the fourth group into the water. We walked down the pier and out onto a floating dock before jumping into the water – one thing I did that I shouldn’t have was I just jumped off the dock into the water and kept my legs straight. My feet hit the muddy bottom and although I didn’t get hurt I realized that I could have landed on a rock, stick, log, etc. that would have really hurt my foot and possibly ended my day before it began. So from now on I am going to sit on the edge of the dock and lower myself in if I can’t see what’s on the bottom.
Once in the water everyone fanned out into a line and I had positioned myself on the far end away from the buoy line. I figured that I didn’t want to fight it out with the main group and I would slowly make my way over once the melee was over. Although this meant I would likely end up swimming an extra 50 or so yards it was worth it to me.
Once I had been swimming for a couple minutes I could see that there were plenty of pockets of open water to my left so I started swimming towards the buoy line and the main group. Eventually I saw the white line holding the buoys and I swam along keeping it in the corner of my left eye. After a couple more minutes I decided to swim a few more feet to the left and get right above the line – I can’t say enough good things about having this to “sight” on. The only time I had to lift my head out of the water was to see who was in front of me and to look for the large buoys marking the middle of each out and back and the turns.
By the time we started catching swimmers from the wave before ours (M 25-29) I was in a line of swimmers and we were moving along at a pace that felt strong and comfortable. At this point we were about a quarter of the way through the swim and this is where the battle to maintain a buoy line spot began. The guys from the wave behind us (M 35-39) started catching up and I was also passing quite a few guys from my wave and the wave before mine. At this point I started looking up to see who was in front of me then I would look for an open spot and surge forward to move into it – this strategy worked great.
At the turn I got onto some faster feet and kept pace with a guy from the wave behind me – we swam side by side (the furthest we were apart, other than to go around another swimmer, was two feet) for the entire second half of the swim.
Finally I could see the docks and blue banners ahead of me and I knew we were getting close so I put on a final surge and swam in as far as I could – I stood up and ran into transition.
Swim: 35:40 – 25/69 M30-34
T1:
Transition was pretty uneventful. I ran over to my bike, peeled off my wetsuit, cap, and goggles, and put on my socks, shoes, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses.
T1: 2:55
The Bike:
Since we had driven the course the day before I had a good idea what I was in for and that was a fair amount of climbing with a few steep descents thrown in the mix. I spent the first few miles spinning at a high cadence and mentally preparing myself for the next three hours (my goal was to finish in 3 hours sans any mechanical issues).
The first lap was fairly uneventful – I passed a couple guys on the bike but was getting passed at a fairly steady rate. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise – although I am a pretty solid biker I am by no means fast and I know that this is one area where I could see quite a bit of improvement with a few hundred more miles under my belt. The highlight/lowlight/shake-me-up-light of the first lap came at about mile 17 when I was nearing the top of a climb and getting ready for the big downhill on the other side. I heard a loud screech/squeal from up ahead and thought “wtf was that?” Once I crested the hill and started down (it was a large sweeping downhill turn to the right and the road was lined with trees) I saw a volunteer up ahead standing in the road with a flag waving us to the left. I slowed down and when I came around the corner I saw a cop with a mangled bike tire in his hand, several pieces of a bike frame and water bottles in the road, and a dazed biker sitting on the side of the road with what was left of his bike still clipped onto one of his feet. There were so many pieces of bike in the road that I thought there must have been two cyclists involved. I later on found out that a dog ran out in front of him when he was approaching 60 mph and he had no time to react. He ended up with a ton of road rash but other than that he was fine – the dog was ok – the bike was a complete loss.
Towards the end of the first loop I had my first experience with the “death wobble” and it scared the shit out of me. I was coming downhill at probably close to 40 mph when the guy ahead of me decided that even though he was going slowly he was still going to weave all around the whole lane so no one could pass. I made a quick movement to get out of my drops and up onto my hoods when all of a sudden my front wheel started violently wobbling. I applied firm pressure to my breaks and after slowing down to about 20 mph my bike settled down. This was my second note to self of the day (after the dock jumping) – when you’re hauling ass downhill, stay in your drops.
On the second loop an earlier suspicion I had was confirmed; I was going to have to pee. Now for those of you that can pee while riding, more power to you. I don’t see how it is possible and with the sheer volume of urine I tend to release I don’t really think I want that all over my legs, shoes, and water bottles. I finally saw a port-o at a water stop/penalty tent and I stopped and ran over to it. Since I was curious how long this would take I was watching my watch – I kid you not, I was peeing full stream for 40 seconds – not exactly the sort of piss you want to take all over yourself, at least in my opinion. Once I was back on my bike two minutes had gone by but I felt 5000% better. I felt like that port-o was a cocoon and I was emerging from it as a new person ready to push hard through the end of the ride (which I did).
Note to self number three occurred on the second loop of the bike: Always have back-up nutrition plans. I knew that I would only need three bottles of liquid for the ride but I carried an extra bottle of water with me (I didn’t want to deal with the bottle hand off) – one bottle of Perpetuem to drink first, a bottle of water to drink second, and a bottle of Mandarin Heed to finish out the ride. I had decided to carry a Hammer Gel to take during the second hour with my water and decided to throw an extra one in my pocket just in case I needed it. Well, when I went to grab my bottle of Heed at around mile 40 I bobbled it in my left hand and dropped it while climbing the biggest hill on the course. The drop really didn’t register until I was about 15 feet past the bottle and by the time I thought about stopping to get it I was a good 30 feet beyond it and I knew there was no way I was going to ride back down the hill, stop, then ride back up. The main reason for this decision was the extra gel I had with me. One bottle of Heed = 100 calories; One Hammer Gel = 90 calories; aka – it was all good.
The next thing I knew we were turning off to head back to transition and about 15 minutes later I was riding through downtown and starting to think about the run. The final stretch into transition was lined with people and I felt pretty cool swooping around the corners on my bike.
Bike: 3:05:34 – 43/69 M30-34
T2:
Basically the same as the first one – bike gear off, run gear on, quick hammy stretch, off we go.
T2: 2:29
The Run:
Going into this race I knew that the run was going to be a challenge but I also knew that this was my strong point and I could do well if I paced myself. A special thanks to Jen here because throughout training she consistently reminded me to go out easy and run at a pace that seems slow for the first couple of miles.
When I was leaving transition I felt like I had to pee again but it wasn’t that bad and I figured I could stop on the course if necessary – since there were aid stations every mile I knew this wouldn’t be too much of an issue. My pace for the first mile was 7:50 and I was feeling good. I saw someone run over to the port-o so I kept going and figured I would stop at the next one if it was empty. For some reason stopping to pee really wasn’t an issue for me; I knew that there was no possible chance I would place in my AG and since I had no PR to beat I just didn’t care about the few seconds it took to stop. So when I saw an empty blue box at the mile two aid station I ran right over to it – total stop time: 45 seconds – not nearly as much fluid in me as there was on the bike.
By the time I was at mile four I had made up the stop time and was back on a 7:50 AP – mile five was the last time I would be able to check my pace as the distance on loop two was off from the loop one markers and they hadn’t marked anything over mile five.
One thing that was really amazing to me was the number of fit looking people that were walking, cramping, and looking miserable in general. I was very happy that I wasn’t having any issues when suddenly it hit – the dreaded side cramp. I ran for a few hundred feet then decided to just stop and stretch it out. I started running again at a slower pace and although my side still hurt it never got to the excruciating point that it has in the past. It started at approx mile 7.5 and hung in there but suddenly at around mile 10 it just went away. I picked up the pace a bit but was still cautious because I didn’t want it to come back full force. At around mile 11 I saw Jen coming towards me waving and we high fived as we ran by each other – I was so happy to see her because I knew it meant she was more or less on pace and she looked great too! At this point I really picked up the pace and knew that if I pushed hard I could cross the line in under 5:30:00 – the last half mile I really kicked hard and even got a couple “nice stride” shout-outs from the crowd. I looked at my watch and saw 5:28:XX as I was nearing the turn to the finish and I knew I was going to make it. I heard my name announced as I came down the chute, threw a fist into the air, and crossed the finish line.
Run: 1:42:31 – 13/69 M30-34
Total Time: 5:29:07 – 24/69 AG – 260/882 OA – 213/591 Males
An Interesting Observation from the Numbers:
Of the 23 people in my AG with a better overall time:
1. 12 of them beat me in the swim.
2. All 23 beat me in the bike (I was 7:55 behind the slowest of those – he beat me by 5:04 overall). To reiterate: Everyone that was faster overall was faster on the bike, every single one of them.
3. 12 of them beat me on the run (everyone that ran faster than me had a faster OA time).
After I was handed my water bottle, Gatorade, and medal I walked over to the food and had a slice of pizza and some grapes. My stomach was a bit tight so I stretched out in the shade then walked over to the store to get a chocolate milk. I was able to see Jen come through on her way out for the final out and back then I saw her come flying around the last corner charging towards the finish. She was running down her PR and she looked really strong – I cheered her on then ran (aka hobbled) into the finishers area and gave her a big hug. She had a great day and is well on her way to an awesome race at Ironman Arizona.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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