This race is really where it all started back in 2004. I had run some 5Ks and even a 5. Mile. Race. the year before, but this was the first race I'd consider an endurance race. And it was hard, but I finished. Didn't quite break the 2 hour goal I was shooting for, but I did a respectable 2:02:43.
Seven (!) years later, I was back, toeing the line not just to finish, but to culminate four months of training. And not just training the way I've done for running races in the past, but applying everything I've learned over the last two seasons of Ironman. I'd lost 20 pounds in preparation for it, followed my training plan about as nearly to perfection as I could hope for, and mentally prepared myself for a couple hours of suffering for a goal. Thankfully, race day dawned with a forecast for 50s and no rain, which was a far cry from the week before. Meredith and I met up with Colleen and Tom in the first corral, and...
Wait a sec, the first corral? Yep. Through what HAD to be some clerical oversight, little old me was in the first corral. Crazy.
...anyway, we said our "good luck"s and I wandered over to join the 1:45 pace group for the start. That was my plan. Get into the group and stick like glue for as long as possible. My training plan said 1:46 was my goal, but 1:45 sounded like it just might be doable on a good day. With the gun, we were off on a tour of Columbus. I decided to wear my iPod and have some low-level background music for a change, so without further ado, a sampling of what I heard and saw:
Miles 1-4: Wanted Dead or Alive
What a great song to start out on an adventure! As we headed out west from downtown through some industrial areas, I took stock of how I was feeling. A little humid, and actually a little warmer than I thought I'd be. The gloves I thought I'd need were in my pockets by mile 2. My pace group was doing a great job of keeping even through the sometimes uneven start of a big race, and I was happy to just find a little running room and stick there. Sure, I took (and gave) a few elbows and steps on heels, but overall it wasn't too bad. We curved up onto Olentangy River Road, through a few little dips and climbs, and headed up toward campus. My fears of not being able to come out of the gates at an 8:00/mile pace were dissolved as I found myself holding it pretty effortlessly.
Miles 5-6: Pinch Me
Wow. Not really what I expected...usually this would be about where I start thinking about how far it is to go. Instead, everything was going really smoothly. That is, until I hit the water stop around mile 5 coming up Lane Avenue. They looked pretty understaffed, and what was a flow of runners quickly became a logjam as we all tried to get hydrated. I finally did manage to grab a cup, but when I looked up, I was a good 10 seconds back of my pace leaders. Visions of the 2007 Columbus Marathon flashed before my eyes, as this was about where my pace group pulled away from me. Not willing to have it happen again, I thought of the old triathlon analogy of a book of matches. You only have so many to burn during a race, and it's all about when to spend them. I decided this was one of those times, and visualized myself striking one as I sped up to catch the group. It took maybe a quarter mile, but I was back with them, one match lighter.
Miles 7-8: Hang On Sloopy
Err...I mean, Hang On Sloopy
These miles were very entertaining, as we headed down High Street. If you're not familiar with Columbus, High is sort of the backbone of the city, and it's where almost all the shops, bars, and restaurants are on the OSU campus. As we passed building after building, I was reminiscing and noticing which storefronts were new, and which were still there 10 years later. The nice thing about this year's course is that we got to run the "downhill" direction. It's not a hill in the traditional sense, but it's a looooong gradual incline going the other way. After the impromptu speedwork on Lane, it was nice to settle back into a rhythm and ease back to the target pace. This was also where the quarter marathon rejoined the course, so there was a little bit of bobbing and weaving as we ran through some of the slower runners there. And suddenly, I heard a "Hey!" to my left, and who was there but my lovely wife!
Miles 9-12: 4'33"
Hearing a good song come on right as she caught me, I put the iPod on pause to save it for later. The next thing I noticed was that Meredith was running a little faster than me. I had mentally prepared to break from the pace group around mile 10 if I was feeling good. This was a mile early, but I wasn't just feeling good, I was still feeling effortless. It was time to see what I had. So, I joined Meredith's pace around a 7:50, and we began pulling away from the group. This section was pretty lonely, so I was glad for the company, even if there were a few unintentional elbows thrown (her), and very intentional hand signal demonstrations of how to run a tangent (me). She was having an issue with a stitch, and for the first time I was working harder, so there wasn't much conversation. Somehow, it makes it easier just to be running with someone, though, and this was one of the first races in which we've ever gotten to run together. Fun times. Just before mile 12, there was one of the steeper little uphills of the course, and Meredith fell back just a bit. She told me to go ahead, and so I climbed the hill fairly hard. As I reached the top and the 12 mile marker, I took out the rest of my matches and set them ablaze.
Mile 13: Jump
You can hardly blame me for saving that one till the end, right? I broke the remaining mile down into 400s and thought of all the times I've been around the track this spring. I probably passed fifty people in that last mile, as I gave everything I had left. (And hit rewind one time) It was a far cry from the final mile in 2004, when I just wanted to be done. I guess I wanted to be done this time too, but I was doing it on my terms. One short painful climb left, and we were turning down toward the finish line. I ended up running the last mile somewhere around a 7:04 pace! When I saw the clock, I knew it was good news, and I crossed the finish line with a big new PR. I hardly had time to get my medal before Meredith was with me, and we both celebrated our way out of the chute.
Time: 1:43:42 (7:55/mile)
Place: 436/2466 male, 552/5952 overall, 95/414 age group
Monday, May 09, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
You've Got To Learn To Pace Yourself
Fresh off a great run in Miami, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Hadn't had a bad run in quite some time, PR'ed in DC, and things were looking great for Columbus. And then taper hit me like a truck.
Long run: hit my target paces, but was working HARD to do it. 12 miles felt more like 15.
Sprint workout: had to do it on the treadmill because the rain will never end. Our gym is about 800 degrees, and I could only do 3 of my 5 sprints before my heart rate was out of control.
Yesterday, I got to do my tempo run, which was an easy warmup and cooldown around 3 miles at short tempo pace (7:38 for me). The hard part started out pretty smoothly - I decided on the fly where I'd run, and just kept an eye on my Garmin pace. It started to feel tough as I went uphill, and my pace was falling off on the watch...7:45...8:00. I pushed hard and got my pace back down. Then, I finished my first mile, and the Garmin popped up my average pace: 7:28.
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
I am officially the worst pacer ever. If there's one thing I think would help me the most right now, that might be it - learning what a given pace feels like so I know when I'm running that speed. Things have just changed so much in the last 6 months pacewise that my internal gauge is waaaay off.
So, the first mile was too fast, and I paid for it in the second mile. That ten second cushion I build was a two second deficit by the time I was done, and the only thing that saved me from a complete collapse on mile 3 was a well-timed stoplight where I had to cross that gave me a breather. As I finished the third mile, I quickly slowed to a walk so I could feel sorry for myself. As I did so, the sky just OPENED UP. All of a sudden, rain was pouring down, and a cold wind was whipping through the field. Even my iPod decided to give a little mood music to the situation.
It was all very melodramatic.
After a minute or two of walking, I decided that I had until I got home to wallow in my self-pity, and then it was time to move on. I got back to a jog to finish up, mostly because the weather was turning from bad to worse. As I turned on to our street, I even saw Meredith driving toward me on a rescue mission! However, I was close enough at that point to finish it out.
I'm hoping this is just the taper blues. I hope I didn't peak too early. I hope I've got what it takes to get this race done the way I want to do it.
Long run: hit my target paces, but was working HARD to do it. 12 miles felt more like 15.
Sprint workout: had to do it on the treadmill because the rain will never end. Our gym is about 800 degrees, and I could only do 3 of my 5 sprints before my heart rate was out of control.
Yesterday, I got to do my tempo run, which was an easy warmup and cooldown around 3 miles at short tempo pace (7:38 for me). The hard part started out pretty smoothly - I decided on the fly where I'd run, and just kept an eye on my Garmin pace. It started to feel tough as I went uphill, and my pace was falling off on the watch...7:45...8:00. I pushed hard and got my pace back down. Then, I finished my first mile, and the Garmin popped up my average pace: 7:28.
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.
I am officially the worst pacer ever. If there's one thing I think would help me the most right now, that might be it - learning what a given pace feels like so I know when I'm running that speed. Things have just changed so much in the last 6 months pacewise that my internal gauge is waaaay off.
So, the first mile was too fast, and I paid for it in the second mile. That ten second cushion I build was a two second deficit by the time I was done, and the only thing that saved me from a complete collapse on mile 3 was a well-timed stoplight where I had to cross that gave me a breather. As I finished the third mile, I quickly slowed to a walk so I could feel sorry for myself. As I did so, the sky just OPENED UP. All of a sudden, rain was pouring down, and a cold wind was whipping through the field. Even my iPod decided to give a little mood music to the situation.
It was all very melodramatic.
After a minute or two of walking, I decided that I had until I got home to wallow in my self-pity, and then it was time to move on. I got back to a jog to finish up, mostly because the weather was turning from bad to worse. As I turned on to our street, I even saw Meredith driving toward me on a rescue mission! However, I was close enough at that point to finish it out.
I'm hoping this is just the taper blues. I hope I didn't peak too early. I hope I've got what it takes to get this race done the way I want to do it.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Race Report - Miami University Student Foundation Triathlon
I really tried to screw this one up. Long run two days before the race? Check. Show up too late to drive the bike course? Check. Forget to put my new laces in so I don't have to tie my shoes in T2? Check. Forget my plastic bag to cover my gear in case it rains? Check.
So, just to sum up: DAVE IS A TOTAL ROOKIE.
That said...
We rolled into Oxford with about five minutes to spare in registration on Friday night. You see, Oxford is a pretty small town in the middle of nowhere. There's basically one way in. And that way was blocked by a car that had flipped into a ditch, and was swarmed by college students trying to get the occupants out. When the police showed up, one of those cars of college students drove off quickly. Hmm... Anyway, we did manage to get registered and up to our lodge at Hueston Woods state park. Our room included tickets to the all you can eat fish fry (because what better pre-race food than that?!), but we had missed it. Big props to the park, though, because they said we could get a free breakfast the next day instead, and it was a GOOD treat after a race! But I digress.
Race morning was chilly...low 50s and kind of drizzly. Once we got set up in transition, it was indoors with all of us to get ready for a 400m serpentine pool swim. Meredith and I didn't get seeded together, so I was on the line first, and with an only slightly better entry than last time I did this, I was off. Pretty quickly, I caught up to a girl who had started a few positions ahead of me, and I was faced with the choice of drafting or passing. Since she was moving along pretty well, I chose to stick close behind her, and stayed that way for a few lengths. I attempted to pass a couple times, but she wasn't having it, and I decided I wasn't ready to put in the extra effort to force the issue. When we reached the end, I glanced at my watch, and was a little disappointed to see that my swim pace for that 400m (1:55ish/100m) was actually slower than the 600m pace from the Lifetime tri. Maybe it was the long course format, maybe the drafting, maybe the fact that in this one I had to get straight out and go to the bike rather than having 10 minutes to transition. Whatever was the culprit, I was quickly out the door into the rain and cold.
400m Swim (plus run to transition): 8:06
The rain didn't make things easy in transition. I had brought a long sleeve shirt to throw on because of the temperature, and between pool water and rain water, it took a while to get on. That plus gloves and general rustiness equalled a pretty slow T1.
T1: 2:21
As I mentioned, we didn't get to drive the course, so I didn't much know what to expect on the bike course, other than some hills. I counted about four significant hills in the 12.4 mile course, and a pretty steady wind. By a mile or two in, I had settled into a good cadence, and just went with it. The roads felt a little slippery, so a couple descents felt more treacherous than I liked. Overall, I felt like I was passing about the same number of people that I got passed by, which is pretty normal for me. At least the ones who were passing me seemed to be on fancy bikes and wheel sets this time! After rolling through country roads for the majority of the course, we had one last climb up into town again, and then a gradual descent back to transition that I used to relax and catch my breath. I'd say that maybe I could have pushed a little harder on the bike given better weather, but biking certainly hasn't been my focus this winter, so I was pretty satisfied. Funny enough, I was only seconds off of the last tri I did that included a 20K bike, three years ago. (This was a much tougher course, though)
20k Bike: 41:29 (17.9 mph)
T2 was a little better. I did decide to strip my long sleeved shirt off, despite the chilliness. If I hadn't needed to tie my shoes, I might have been closer to a minute, but that's my own fault.
T2: 1:20
And finally we were on to the sport that I've actually been working. I was anxious to see if and how my training had paid off here. Right out of the gate, my legs felt good - not too much hangover from the bike. And almost immediately, I was passing people. I would see someone ahead, and pick them off. It became a little game of spotting all the people who had passed me on the bike. I had decided not to wear a Garmin, so I was just using my watch to gauge my progress. There weren't mile markings, but there was one water stop, which I figured was probably around the mile mark. So far so good on the pace. And when I reached the turnaround of the out and back course, it started with 11:xx. That was a nice surprise, and I wanted to see if I could keep it up. I thought of the track and tempo workouts I've put so much time into lately, and told myself it was just 6 more laps around the track. I'm not sure I've ever had so much focus during the run of a triathlon. By the time I turned down toward the finish line, I'd been passed by two runners, but I had passed thirteen. And as I crossed the finish line, I hit my watch to see my final time of...
HOO LO LO9T L
Uh, okay. So I had to wait until the next day to see my results, but at least it was a good surprise: I had cut almost a minute off my best 5K to date. Not just in a tri, but any 5K! And not only that, it was my fastest pace for a running race of any distance. Apparently the plan is working.
5K Run: 21:59 (7:04 min/mile)
Total Time: 1:15:18
15/47 Age Group
85/544 Overall
And now it's back to running. Three weeks until my "real" target, the Cap City Half Marathon!
So, just to sum up: DAVE IS A TOTAL ROOKIE.
That said...
We rolled into Oxford with about five minutes to spare in registration on Friday night. You see, Oxford is a pretty small town in the middle of nowhere. There's basically one way in. And that way was blocked by a car that had flipped into a ditch, and was swarmed by college students trying to get the occupants out. When the police showed up, one of those cars of college students drove off quickly. Hmm... Anyway, we did manage to get registered and up to our lodge at Hueston Woods state park. Our room included tickets to the all you can eat fish fry (because what better pre-race food than that?!), but we had missed it. Big props to the park, though, because they said we could get a free breakfast the next day instead, and it was a GOOD treat after a race! But I digress.
Race morning was chilly...low 50s and kind of drizzly. Once we got set up in transition, it was indoors with all of us to get ready for a 400m serpentine pool swim. Meredith and I didn't get seeded together, so I was on the line first, and with an only slightly better entry than last time I did this, I was off. Pretty quickly, I caught up to a girl who had started a few positions ahead of me, and I was faced with the choice of drafting or passing. Since she was moving along pretty well, I chose to stick close behind her, and stayed that way for a few lengths. I attempted to pass a couple times, but she wasn't having it, and I decided I wasn't ready to put in the extra effort to force the issue. When we reached the end, I glanced at my watch, and was a little disappointed to see that my swim pace for that 400m (1:55ish/100m) was actually slower than the 600m pace from the Lifetime tri. Maybe it was the long course format, maybe the drafting, maybe the fact that in this one I had to get straight out and go to the bike rather than having 10 minutes to transition. Whatever was the culprit, I was quickly out the door into the rain and cold.
400m Swim (plus run to transition): 8:06
The rain didn't make things easy in transition. I had brought a long sleeve shirt to throw on because of the temperature, and between pool water and rain water, it took a while to get on. That plus gloves and general rustiness equalled a pretty slow T1.
T1: 2:21
As I mentioned, we didn't get to drive the course, so I didn't much know what to expect on the bike course, other than some hills. I counted about four significant hills in the 12.4 mile course, and a pretty steady wind. By a mile or two in, I had settled into a good cadence, and just went with it. The roads felt a little slippery, so a couple descents felt more treacherous than I liked. Overall, I felt like I was passing about the same number of people that I got passed by, which is pretty normal for me. At least the ones who were passing me seemed to be on fancy bikes and wheel sets this time! After rolling through country roads for the majority of the course, we had one last climb up into town again, and then a gradual descent back to transition that I used to relax and catch my breath. I'd say that maybe I could have pushed a little harder on the bike given better weather, but biking certainly hasn't been my focus this winter, so I was pretty satisfied. Funny enough, I was only seconds off of the last tri I did that included a 20K bike, three years ago. (This was a much tougher course, though)
20k Bike: 41:29 (17.9 mph)
T2 was a little better. I did decide to strip my long sleeved shirt off, despite the chilliness. If I hadn't needed to tie my shoes, I might have been closer to a minute, but that's my own fault.
T2: 1:20
And finally we were on to the sport that I've actually been working. I was anxious to see if and how my training had paid off here. Right out of the gate, my legs felt good - not too much hangover from the bike. And almost immediately, I was passing people. I would see someone ahead, and pick them off. It became a little game of spotting all the people who had passed me on the bike. I had decided not to wear a Garmin, so I was just using my watch to gauge my progress. There weren't mile markings, but there was one water stop, which I figured was probably around the mile mark. So far so good on the pace. And when I reached the turnaround of the out and back course, it started with 11:xx. That was a nice surprise, and I wanted to see if I could keep it up. I thought of the track and tempo workouts I've put so much time into lately, and told myself it was just 6 more laps around the track. I'm not sure I've ever had so much focus during the run of a triathlon. By the time I turned down toward the finish line, I'd been passed by two runners, but I had passed thirteen. And as I crossed the finish line, I hit my watch to see my final time of...
HOO LO LO9T L
Uh, okay. So I had to wait until the next day to see my results, but at least it was a good surprise: I had cut almost a minute off my best 5K to date. Not just in a tri, but any 5K! And not only that, it was my fastest pace for a running race of any distance. Apparently the plan is working.
5K Run: 21:59 (7:04 min/mile)
Total Time: 1:15:18
15/47 Age Group
85/544 Overall
And now it's back to running. Three weeks until my "real" target, the Cap City Half Marathon!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Race Report - National Half Marathon
Our trip to D.C. kind of snuck up on me. I was doing a good job of following my training plan, working away, and then all of a sudden it was here. And I realized that I had a 14 mile training run on my schedule for the weekend. Since we were taking a long weekend, it wasn't really an option to move it a day forward or back. That meant I could either find 14 miles of solo running route in an unfamiliar city, or I could sign up for the half marathon. Spoiler alert - I signed up for the race.
When I finally decided to run it a couple days before we left, I went onto the race site, and online registration had closed. Shoot. However, they said a few spots were still open, first come first serve at the expo. And so, Meredith and I dragged our luggage to the expo, fresh from our train from Baltimore. That was fun to explain and take through the purse check at the entrance, let me tell you. Luckily for me, there were still spots available, and so it was time to gear up for a race the next day. Our hotel room had a full kitchen (!), so we were able to hit Trader Joe's and cook ourselves a good spaghetti dinner.
Race morning, as always, came too early. Staying up late to watch basketball didn't help matters. But we got in our breakfast, bundled up, hopped in a cab for an early morning tour of the lit monuments, and sped over to the start. Unfortunately, though Meredith and I were planning to run a similar pace, we were stuck in different corrals. Back in corral five, it took us six minutes to reach the start line, and we were off! Better that than to be the guy I saw running the other way, asking where the start line was. Since my "A" race isn't until May 7, the intent was to treat this race as a training day with a goal pace of 8:39. I knew my PR pace was only slightly faster than that at 8:35. And so I told myself that if that was in sight toward the end and I felt like I wasn't overtaxing myself, I'd give breaking it a shot.
The beginning of this race winds around the Capitol Hill area, eventually funneling the runners along the north side of the Mall. We got some good views of the Capitol building and the Washington Monument along here. Despite the corral system, there was still a good bit of jockeying for position in the first couple miles, and my splits were a little slow. Not a problem, as I'm used to warming up for the first bit, and making up for it later.
What was a problem is that I wasn't seeing any mile markers. It's a good thing I decided to wear my Garmin for pacing, because the first mile marker I saw (and others reported the same) was at mile 10! I'm not sure I've ever seen a marathon that doesn't have mile markers. The other issue was the water stops. I knew going in that they weren't every mile, but it seemed like they were kind of random, and I never knew which side of the street to expect them on either. I had worn a fuel belt, knowing I'd need the extra water, but a couple times I had just taken a swig from my belt only to find a water stop just ahead.
Once we finished the stretch along the Mall, we turned right and headed up, up, up to the Dupont Circle area. Miles 5, 6, and 7 were mostly uphill. Not gruelingly so, just enough that you could feel the extra effort. When I hit the 10K marker, I was EXACTLY on pace. 8:39/mile. I was feeling pretty good when I finished the climb, so I decided I would push it a bit on the way back down, and see what I could do. The miles started clicking by a little faster; most were in the 8:00-8:15 range. Just. Got. Interesting!
So, I have this one bad habit in racing. In the second to last "thing", whether it's an interval, a set, or a mile, I tend to lose focus. I'm tired, but not "almost done". It was no exception here, as I turned in an 8:30 mile after quite a few faster ones. I looked at my watch, and by its time and distance, I had about 9 minutes not only to PR, but to break 1:50! It would take a big effort in the last mile, and that's what I gave it. All the intervals I've been doing on the track came back to me, and I broke it down into 400s. 1200 left...800 left...400 left...and I started looking for the finish line. It wasn't there. When I finally did see it, I knew I couldn't possibly get there by 1:50. I also knew that I had to keep working hard if I even wanted my PR! It wasn't until I made the last turn and could see the finish line clock that I knew I had it, and I crossed the line (13.27 miles on my watch) with a PR of a little over a minute. For what it's worth, my last mile was sub-8:00 on my Garmin, so there was certainly something left in the tank.
Total: 1:51:08 (8:29/mile)
Overall: 1551/4021
Men: 307/747
I have mixed feelings about this race. I liked the course and getting to see some landmarks, and the crowd support varied from decent to very good. However, the lack of mile markers and insufficient water would make it hard to truly endorse. I'd say it's a good one if you want a race to run for the location, but not so much if you're running for time, especially if you don't have a Garmin.
As for my own effort, I was obviously quite happy. In a sense, though, I already knew I could do this speed based on the training runs I've had over the last few weeks. It was good to know I was able to do it while controlling my pace. The real test will come when I'm not racing "comfortable" for the first half. We'll find out in six weeks...
When I finally decided to run it a couple days before we left, I went onto the race site, and online registration had closed. Shoot. However, they said a few spots were still open, first come first serve at the expo. And so, Meredith and I dragged our luggage to the expo, fresh from our train from Baltimore. That was fun to explain and take through the purse check at the entrance, let me tell you. Luckily for me, there were still spots available, and so it was time to gear up for a race the next day. Our hotel room had a full kitchen (!), so we were able to hit Trader Joe's and cook ourselves a good spaghetti dinner.
Race morning, as always, came too early. Staying up late to watch basketball didn't help matters. But we got in our breakfast, bundled up, hopped in a cab for an early morning tour of the lit monuments, and sped over to the start. Unfortunately, though Meredith and I were planning to run a similar pace, we were stuck in different corrals. Back in corral five, it took us six minutes to reach the start line, and we were off! Better that than to be the guy I saw running the other way, asking where the start line was. Since my "A" race isn't until May 7, the intent was to treat this race as a training day with a goal pace of 8:39. I knew my PR pace was only slightly faster than that at 8:35. And so I told myself that if that was in sight toward the end and I felt like I wasn't overtaxing myself, I'd give breaking it a shot.
The beginning of this race winds around the Capitol Hill area, eventually funneling the runners along the north side of the Mall. We got some good views of the Capitol building and the Washington Monument along here. Despite the corral system, there was still a good bit of jockeying for position in the first couple miles, and my splits were a little slow. Not a problem, as I'm used to warming up for the first bit, and making up for it later.
What was a problem is that I wasn't seeing any mile markers. It's a good thing I decided to wear my Garmin for pacing, because the first mile marker I saw (and others reported the same) was at mile 10! I'm not sure I've ever seen a marathon that doesn't have mile markers. The other issue was the water stops. I knew going in that they weren't every mile, but it seemed like they were kind of random, and I never knew which side of the street to expect them on either. I had worn a fuel belt, knowing I'd need the extra water, but a couple times I had just taken a swig from my belt only to find a water stop just ahead.
Once we finished the stretch along the Mall, we turned right and headed up, up, up to the Dupont Circle area. Miles 5, 6, and 7 were mostly uphill. Not gruelingly so, just enough that you could feel the extra effort. When I hit the 10K marker, I was EXACTLY on pace. 8:39/mile. I was feeling pretty good when I finished the climb, so I decided I would push it a bit on the way back down, and see what I could do. The miles started clicking by a little faster; most were in the 8:00-8:15 range. Just. Got. Interesting!
So, I have this one bad habit in racing. In the second to last "thing", whether it's an interval, a set, or a mile, I tend to lose focus. I'm tired, but not "almost done". It was no exception here, as I turned in an 8:30 mile after quite a few faster ones. I looked at my watch, and by its time and distance, I had about 9 minutes not only to PR, but to break 1:50! It would take a big effort in the last mile, and that's what I gave it. All the intervals I've been doing on the track came back to me, and I broke it down into 400s. 1200 left...800 left...400 left...and I started looking for the finish line. It wasn't there. When I finally did see it, I knew I couldn't possibly get there by 1:50. I also knew that I had to keep working hard if I even wanted my PR! It wasn't until I made the last turn and could see the finish line clock that I knew I had it, and I crossed the line (13.27 miles on my watch) with a PR of a little over a minute. For what it's worth, my last mile was sub-8:00 on my Garmin, so there was certainly something left in the tank.
Total: 1:51:08 (8:29/mile)
Overall: 1551/4021
Men: 307/747
I have mixed feelings about this race. I liked the course and getting to see some landmarks, and the crowd support varied from decent to very good. However, the lack of mile markers and insufficient water would make it hard to truly endorse. I'd say it's a good one if you want a race to run for the location, but not so much if you're running for time, especially if you don't have a Garmin.
As for my own effort, I was obviously quite happy. In a sense, though, I already knew I could do this speed based on the training runs I've had over the last few weeks. It was good to know I was able to do it while controlling my pace. The real test will come when I'm not racing "comfortable" for the first half. We'll find out in six weeks...
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Marching On...
From the lack of "I MADE IT INTO LEADVILLE!!!" post, you might guess that I didn't win the lottery. And you would be correct. (Unless you didn't guess. In which case we have some wonderful parting gifts for you.)
I didn't think I was that set on getting in, but when I got the rejection email, I was more disappointed than I realized. For a couple days I sulked about it, but there had to be a "Plan B". The good news is that I'll get to continue the progress I'm making in my running, and that I'll get to do more races this summer. The "big" early season goal will now be the Capital City Half Marathon on May 7, conveniently close by in downtown Columbus. This was actually the very first half marathon I ran, back in 2004. I ran it in 2:02:43, for a 9:23/mile average. This year, I have some bigger goals. I'd like to see if I can run it in 1:45. According to the plan I'm following, that ought to be right around what I have the fitness for. The course is flat and should be fast, with something like 300 feet of total climbing/descending over the whole 13 miles.
This race has grown quite a bit from that inaugural year. When I ran, there were around 2400 participants, and last year there were over 6000! I learned that they've even gone to a corral system this year based on your estimated finish time. And the cutoff for the first corral? 1:45. I swear I didn't know that before I filled it out! And seriously, who let me in the first corral? Pretty sure that's gotta be an oversight.
What else has been going on?
I'm still considering getting back into the Lifetime Indoor Tri that I did a couple years ago. Though I've not worked as much on swimming and biking over the winter, I think I could put in a respectable time. The local one is on April 3, so I need to make a decision pretty soon!
Broke double digit miles on a run for the first time since Cedar Point on Sunday. I'm pretty sure I have some form of Raynaud's, and despite fairly mild weather, my fingers were blocks of ice by the end. Meredith actually had to drive home because I couldn't use them for a good 10 minutes. If I'm going to train in the winter, I guess I need to come up with a better plan for keeping my hands and feet warm.
I've never EVER done as much speedwork as I am right now. Each week, I look at my "fast day" and wonder how I'm going to do it. And so far, I've surprised myself almost every time. This week is the biggest speed workout for the whole half marathon training plan in terms of distance, with a 6x1200 main set. Yikes!
I didn't think I was that set on getting in, but when I got the rejection email, I was more disappointed than I realized. For a couple days I sulked about it, but there had to be a "Plan B". The good news is that I'll get to continue the progress I'm making in my running, and that I'll get to do more races this summer. The "big" early season goal will now be the Capital City Half Marathon on May 7, conveniently close by in downtown Columbus. This was actually the very first half marathon I ran, back in 2004. I ran it in 2:02:43, for a 9:23/mile average. This year, I have some bigger goals. I'd like to see if I can run it in 1:45. According to the plan I'm following, that ought to be right around what I have the fitness for. The course is flat and should be fast, with something like 300 feet of total climbing/descending over the whole 13 miles.
This race has grown quite a bit from that inaugural year. When I ran, there were around 2400 participants, and last year there were over 6000! I learned that they've even gone to a corral system this year based on your estimated finish time. And the cutoff for the first corral? 1:45. I swear I didn't know that before I filled it out! And seriously, who let me in the first corral? Pretty sure that's gotta be an oversight.
What else has been going on?
I'm still considering getting back into the Lifetime Indoor Tri that I did a couple years ago. Though I've not worked as much on swimming and biking over the winter, I think I could put in a respectable time. The local one is on April 3, so I need to make a decision pretty soon!
Broke double digit miles on a run for the first time since Cedar Point on Sunday. I'm pretty sure I have some form of Raynaud's, and despite fairly mild weather, my fingers were blocks of ice by the end. Meredith actually had to drive home because I couldn't use them for a good 10 minutes. If I'm going to train in the winter, I guess I need to come up with a better plan for keeping my hands and feet warm.
I've never EVER done as much speedwork as I am right now. Each week, I look at my "fast day" and wonder how I'm going to do it. And so far, I've surprised myself almost every time. This week is the biggest speed workout for the whole half marathon training plan in terms of distance, with a 6x1200 main set. Yikes!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Race Report - Last Chance For Boston 10K
Or, "Where 10K = 8.2 Miles"
I hemmed and hawed about this race right up until Saturday, when the forecast looked like it was solidly going to be okay, and that Meredith was going to be able to cover her share of their relay. But I did decide to sign up and get ready to shoot for another PR. I had only run one 10K before, this same race in 2009.
Because of the in-between weather, I packed almost two complete running outfits. What do you wear at 35 degrees? I had shorts, pants, short sleeves, long sleeves...you name it and I had it. And just before the race, I changed my mind and peeled off a layer. Meredith was running the marathon relay, which, since this is a 1 mile loop course, started together with my 10K at .2 miles before the finish/lap line. We never heard the 5K/half marathon start, and so we were surprised to hear "3 seconds" right as we stepped into the corral. Well, no time like the present! We just had time to get our watches set, and we were off.
My goal pace, based on the FIRST plan, had me averaging a 7:41 pace. For the first loop, it was tough to keep up a good pace, since there were so many people to dodge. I did my best to have quick, light feet and get in a good rhythm. Since I had forgotten my Garmin, I glanced at my watch at each quarter mile to get a reading on where I was.
During mile 2, I fell in next to a guy who was doing the full marathon. His pace was similar to mine, and we got to talking for the next four miles. In retrospect, I wonder if I wasn't pushing myself hard enough if I could somewhat hold a conversation? But I was running pretty hard, and I thought running with someone would help the race seem shorter. The miles clicked off pretty regularly...7:49...7:56...7:56...7:57. I was missing my splits by just a few seconds each time, but it was adding up. Because of my inexperience at this distance, I didn't know how much to push to catch up to my pace.
When we crossed the lap line for my final lap, I told my running buddy that I was going to see if I could push a little harder during the last mile, but I wasn't sure if I had anything in the tank. (Nice positive self talk there, Dave) My quarter mile splits did fall inside my target this time, and I managed to run a 7:29 for the final mile. I crossed the line and received a plaque for my effort. Because this race doesn't give out age group awards, the overall awards go out to 20 places, and I had snuck in at #19! (20th in the official results, it turned out)
I was a little surprised at how much faster the field was this year, as I had run about 4 minutes slower in 2009, and come in 8th male. But obviously, I was in it for my time, not to place, and was really happy with the result.
Mile 1.2: 9:54
Mile 2: 7:49
Mile 3: 7:56
Mile 4: 7:56
Mile 5: 7:57
Mile 6: 7:29
Total: 48:58 (7:54/mile)
Overall: 22/109
Men: 20/54
After Meredith finished up her section of the relay, I went to get in some dry clothes and watch the rest of the race. That worked great to warm me up, but unfortunately her Dad started getting blisters, and stopped at 8 miles, leaving their team 5 miles short of the finish. Rather than DNF, Meredith stripped down and started running again, and I offered to run a couple miles. So, it was a quick run back to the car, and a change into that second running outfit I had packed. :) I made it back just in time to stretch a bit and head back out on the course. I forgot to wear my watch, so I just went out at a pace I thought I could hold for a couple miles.
And I ran faster for their race than for my own, gosh darn it. I ran a 7:33 mile and a 7:28 mile. Maybe I did have more in the tank than I knew. Next time, Gadget. Next time.
I hemmed and hawed about this race right up until Saturday, when the forecast looked like it was solidly going to be okay, and that Meredith was going to be able to cover her share of their relay. But I did decide to sign up and get ready to shoot for another PR. I had only run one 10K before, this same race in 2009.
Because of the in-between weather, I packed almost two complete running outfits. What do you wear at 35 degrees? I had shorts, pants, short sleeves, long sleeves...you name it and I had it. And just before the race, I changed my mind and peeled off a layer. Meredith was running the marathon relay, which, since this is a 1 mile loop course, started together with my 10K at .2 miles before the finish/lap line. We never heard the 5K/half marathon start, and so we were surprised to hear "3 seconds" right as we stepped into the corral. Well, no time like the present! We just had time to get our watches set, and we were off.
My goal pace, based on the FIRST plan, had me averaging a 7:41 pace. For the first loop, it was tough to keep up a good pace, since there were so many people to dodge. I did my best to have quick, light feet and get in a good rhythm. Since I had forgotten my Garmin, I glanced at my watch at each quarter mile to get a reading on where I was.
During mile 2, I fell in next to a guy who was doing the full marathon. His pace was similar to mine, and we got to talking for the next four miles. In retrospect, I wonder if I wasn't pushing myself hard enough if I could somewhat hold a conversation? But I was running pretty hard, and I thought running with someone would help the race seem shorter. The miles clicked off pretty regularly...7:49...7:56...7:56...7:57. I was missing my splits by just a few seconds each time, but it was adding up. Because of my inexperience at this distance, I didn't know how much to push to catch up to my pace.
When we crossed the lap line for my final lap, I told my running buddy that I was going to see if I could push a little harder during the last mile, but I wasn't sure if I had anything in the tank. (Nice positive self talk there, Dave) My quarter mile splits did fall inside my target this time, and I managed to run a 7:29 for the final mile. I crossed the line and received a plaque for my effort. Because this race doesn't give out age group awards, the overall awards go out to 20 places, and I had snuck in at #19! (20th in the official results, it turned out)
I was a little surprised at how much faster the field was this year, as I had run about 4 minutes slower in 2009, and come in 8th male. But obviously, I was in it for my time, not to place, and was really happy with the result.
Mile 1.2: 9:54
Mile 2: 7:49
Mile 3: 7:56
Mile 4: 7:56
Mile 5: 7:57
Mile 6: 7:29
Total: 48:58 (7:54/mile)
Overall: 22/109
Men: 20/54
After Meredith finished up her section of the relay, I went to get in some dry clothes and watch the rest of the race. That worked great to warm me up, but unfortunately her Dad started getting blisters, and stopped at 8 miles, leaving their team 5 miles short of the finish. Rather than DNF, Meredith stripped down and started running again, and I offered to run a couple miles. So, it was a quick run back to the car, and a change into that second running outfit I had packed. :) I made it back just in time to stretch a bit and head back out on the course. I forgot to wear my watch, so I just went out at a pace I thought I could hold for a couple miles.
And I ran faster for their race than for my own, gosh darn it. I ran a 7:33 mile and a 7:28 mile. Maybe I did have more in the tank than I knew. Next time, Gadget. Next time.
Monday, February 21, 2011
First Chance
Limbo: any status where a person or project is held up, and nothing can be done until another action happens.
And that's where I am for another week. Until the Leadville lottery comes out, I'm unable to really commit one way or another. But that doesn't mean I can't do some planning and research. Meredith (at my request) bought me the "Run Less, Run Faster" book from the Furman Institute (FIRST) for Valentine's Day, and I've been reading through it for the last few weeks.
My first (heh) impression? I should have run slower during that three miler! It's got some pretty lofty goals for my longer distances based on that race. It says I should be able to run a 1:45-ish half marathon, and a 3:42-ish marathon. Yikes! The training plan uses three days a week of running, with other cross-training days thrown in as well. It looks VERY challenging, but also interesting.
This weekend, the ironically named "Last Chance For Boston" (too late!) marathon is in town on Sunday. Two years ago, I ran my first 10K there, and clocked a 53:05, for an 8:32 pace. The book says I should be able to best that. By a lot. (Yikes, again!)
The pros:
And that's where I am for another week. Until the Leadville lottery comes out, I'm unable to really commit one way or another. But that doesn't mean I can't do some planning and research. Meredith (at my request) bought me the "Run Less, Run Faster" book from the Furman Institute (FIRST) for Valentine's Day, and I've been reading through it for the last few weeks.
My first (heh) impression? I should have run slower during that three miler! It's got some pretty lofty goals for my longer distances based on that race. It says I should be able to run a 1:45-ish half marathon, and a 3:42-ish marathon. Yikes! The training plan uses three days a week of running, with other cross-training days thrown in as well. It looks VERY challenging, but also interesting.
This weekend, the ironically named "Last Chance For Boston" (too late!) marathon is in town on Sunday. Two years ago, I ran my first 10K there, and clocked a 53:05, for an 8:32 pace. The book says I should be able to best that. By a lot. (Yikes, again!)
The pros:
- Halfway decent shot at a PR.
- I just happen to have a 6 mile tempo run in the books for this weekend anyway.
- I'm going to be there anyway, since Meredith and her dad are running a relay for the full marathon.
- If I get into Leadville, this will be a last running hurrah for a good portion of the year.
- The weather looks yucky, and I'm a wuss.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Dear Boston
Dear Boston,
You suck.
Love,
Dave
Link
Seriously? I announce that I'm going to work toward a 3:15, and five days later you change the standard to a 3:10?!
And for what it's worth, your new registration system of "if you qualify by more than 20 minutes, you get first dibs" stinks too. You're telling me that I can qualify, register, and then enough people with faster times register after me to bump me out of a spot? That's terrible. Plus, it's even more incentive to run boring, flat courses for the better runners. Run a challenging course, and just make sure I qualify? Nope, gotta run 20 minutes faster - bring on a long flat stretch of interstate!
You suck.
Love,
Dave
Link
Boston Marathon organizers today announced adjustments to the qualifying times and registration policies for the 2012 and 2013 Boston Marathons. The marathon will institute a two-week, rolling registration process for 2012, and will tighten the existing time standards — lowering them by five minutes across all age and gender categories — for 2013.
Seriously? I announce that I'm going to work toward a 3:15, and five days later you change the standard to a 3:10?!
And for what it's worth, your new registration system of "if you qualify by more than 20 minutes, you get first dibs" stinks too. You're telling me that I can qualify, register, and then enough people with faster times register after me to bump me out of a spot? That's terrible. Plus, it's even more incentive to run boring, flat courses for the better runners. Run a challenging course, and just make sure I qualify? Nope, gotta run 20 minutes faster - bring on a long flat stretch of interstate!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Race Report - CRRC Winter Run 3 Miler
Well, that certainly didn't take long. It wasn't a 5K, but 3 miles is pretty darn close.
I've been looking at a few training plans for my running this year, one of which is the Furman plan outlined in "Run Less, Run Faster". They have a half marathon plan as well, which I might use in the spring. And to get your base pace for this plan, it suggests that you do a 3 mile run as a speed test. Well, Meredith was doing the 15 mile run anyway, and what do I discover, but that there is also a 3 miler! Once the weather looked beautiful, it seemed clear that this was the time and place to do it. My biggest decision was whether to wear a watch or not - do I pace myself, or just go? I decided to be brave and go watchless. And soon after I sent her off on the 15 miler, it was time to toe the line and get underway.
This was a small race - maybe 50 people or so? I lined up just a couple rows back at the start, trying to make sure I didn't have too many people to dodge on the way out. Once we got spread out a bit, I found myself about 12 people back from the leader. And then a funny thing started happening...I'd pass one, then another, then another. By half a mile in, I was sitting in 5th place. I've never ever run close to the front of a race, regardless of size, and I didn't really know how to react. The first and second place guys were looking very strong, then there was one more guy maybe 20 meters ahead, one woman, and then me, sitting one place off the podium! By the halfway turnaround, I had caught the woman, but everything else stayed about the same.
Unfortunately, right after the turnaround, another guy came FLYING by, passing myself and the third place runner like we were standing still. That took the wind out of my sails a bit, knowing that I'd have to pass two guys to get in the top three, and feeling like I was redlining already. At that point, I started to accept that a podium finish was probably out of the cards, and I concentrated on just running strong. (With maaaaybe a couple glances over my shoulder, just in case.)
As we climbed the hill back toward the finish, I was definitely giving my all, and when I turned the corner to see the clock, I was shocked to see it almost two minutes earlier than I had estimated. It showed 21:55, and I tried to sprint in the last few meters under 22 minutes, but couldn't quite manage it. Still, I was ecstatic at the time, and pretty darn happy to be in the top 5 guys.
Time: 22:03 (7:21/mile)
Place: 5th male, 6th overall, 1st age group
Yes, I "won" my age group, though there were no awards for it in the 3 miler. I guess that makes sense, since it's so small a race, but it's still too bad!
It still feels bizarre to have run a race where I KNEW what place I was in the whole time. It's a whole different feeling and strategy than I've ever dealt with before. And yes, that pace would qualify me for Boston if I could just hold it for a measly 23.2 miles more.
I find myself wondering what happened in this race. Was it the fact that I didn't check my pace, and just went with it? Is it that I've been doing more core/upper body work? Is it that I've lost 15 pounds from my Ironman weight? This was 21 seconds/mile faster than my best 5K, and that must have come from somewhere. The only scary bit? The Furman plan says to add 35 seconds/mile to get your half marathon goal pace. Um, that's a 7:56. Paces starting with sevens scare me! Here's hoping that dreaming big can pay off...
Friday, February 11, 2011
Confessions Part I
Confession: I want to run Boston.
There, I said it.
When I signed up for Ironman late in 2008, it was a daunting task. I didn't know what the training would be, what to expect from myself, or how the experience would affect me. But I had my coach's word that if I trusted in the plan, I would get there. Come race day nine months later, was I nervous? Sure. But I knew that I had done the work, and that barring something going wrong on race day, I had a good shot at finishing.
So what's the difference? Why does Ironman feel doable, but Boston seems like a pipe dream? Is it just the fact that I've done 140.6 twice, and never run under four hours in a marathon? After all, I'd have to cut nearly an hour off my marathon PR. Heck, I've never even run a 5K at a Boston qualifying pace.
No, I think the difference is the unknown. Can my body physically do it? Racing for speed is something I've never really seriously attempted. Ironman was all about the distance - the question was "Can I finish?". "When will I finish?" was a very secondary issue. But "Do I have the potential to go a certain speed?" is a whole different animal. Meredith has said in the past that she doesn't want to measure her VO2 Max, because it would tell her what her limits are. This feels almost the same - I'm not sure I want to know the answer.
It scares me to put this goal out there, but it seems like maybe the time is here. I've done three marathons, but my confidence in myself and my attitude toward sport has changed dramatically since that disappointing last 26.2 in 2007. Ironman can do that to you. Maybe it's time to take the leap. We're planning to be in Houston next January to watch a friend run in the Olympic trials, and then the marathon the next day would be my first target. Not to qualify, mind you (barring some huge unforeseen leap in speed), but to serve as an initial milestone in the journey.
So, that about covers it, other than one tiny detail...
Confession: I can't commit to a 2011 race schedule quite yet.
And why? Well, Meredith and I went to see "Race Across The Sky" again this year.
Why are you laughing?
Um, yeah, I might have signed up for the Leadville Trail 100 bike race lottery. Because really, what better race to train for in the flatlands of Ohio than a hilly one at 9000+ feet? The odds seem pretty long that I would actually get in, but if so, that will have to dominate my training for the year, especially given that whole "I haven't ridden my mountain bike in years" detail. It's in August, so it wouldn't necessarily scrap the Houston plan, but it would mean more biking than running for the first half of the year.
So, one way or another, there it is. Unicorn, consider yourself warned.
There, I said it.
When I signed up for Ironman late in 2008, it was a daunting task. I didn't know what the training would be, what to expect from myself, or how the experience would affect me. But I had my coach's word that if I trusted in the plan, I would get there. Come race day nine months later, was I nervous? Sure. But I knew that I had done the work, and that barring something going wrong on race day, I had a good shot at finishing.
So what's the difference? Why does Ironman feel doable, but Boston seems like a pipe dream? Is it just the fact that I've done 140.6 twice, and never run under four hours in a marathon? After all, I'd have to cut nearly an hour off my marathon PR. Heck, I've never even run a 5K at a Boston qualifying pace.
No, I think the difference is the unknown. Can my body physically do it? Racing for speed is something I've never really seriously attempted. Ironman was all about the distance - the question was "Can I finish?". "When will I finish?" was a very secondary issue. But "Do I have the potential to go a certain speed?" is a whole different animal. Meredith has said in the past that she doesn't want to measure her VO2 Max, because it would tell her what her limits are. This feels almost the same - I'm not sure I want to know the answer.
It scares me to put this goal out there, but it seems like maybe the time is here. I've done three marathons, but my confidence in myself and my attitude toward sport has changed dramatically since that disappointing last 26.2 in 2007. Ironman can do that to you. Maybe it's time to take the leap. We're planning to be in Houston next January to watch a friend run in the Olympic trials, and then the marathon the next day would be my first target. Not to qualify, mind you (barring some huge unforeseen leap in speed), but to serve as an initial milestone in the journey.
So, that about covers it, other than one tiny detail...
Confession: I can't commit to a 2011 race schedule quite yet.
And why? Well, Meredith and I went to see "Race Across The Sky" again this year.
Why are you laughing?
Um, yeah, I might have signed up for the Leadville Trail 100 bike race lottery. Because really, what better race to train for in the flatlands of Ohio than a hilly one at 9000+ feet? The odds seem pretty long that I would actually get in, but if so, that will have to dominate my training for the year, especially given that whole "I haven't ridden my mountain bike in years" detail. It's in August, so it wouldn't necessarily scrap the Houston plan, but it would mean more biking than running for the first half of the year.
So, one way or another, there it is. Unicorn, consider yourself warned.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Race Report - 2010 Bourbon Chase
After a two year hiatus, it was time to pack up the vans, resign ourselves to no sleep for a couple days, and hit the overnight relay circuit again. This year, the destination was the Bourbon Chase, a 200 mile course crossing Kentucky from Louisville to Lexington. Our little group managed to field two 12-person teams this year, so there was a pretty good caravan on the way down from Columbus. Unfortunately, one of our runners had to drop out last minute due to work, so our team would be going with an 11 runner rotation: less sleep, and extra legs for a few runners.
Once we arrived, we went for a pre-race dinner at the old Olive Garden standby. (One disadvantage of this race vs. Reach the Beach - the neverending pasta bowl had ended. That doesn't seem quite right, does it?) After dinner, it was time to get one last good night of sleep before the long day(s) ahead.
Friday dawned clear and beautiful - a great day to start racing! The first teams started at 8:00 AM, but we wouldn't be starting until 3:00 PM. So, there was plenty of time to hit up the grocery store for in-car snacks and drinks. We even found a rubber chicken at Petsmart to join the crow on top of our van for our team, "Three Old Crows, Nine Spring Chickens". :) Meredith and I were in van 1, so we'd be running fairly early in the rotation. As the time drew near to get underway, we drove to the starting line at the Jim Beam distillery, though we declined the free samples! (Side note: we had followed the Garmin to find a Subway on the way there, and it turned out to be inside a hospital. I'm pretty sure their staff wasn't used to twelve smelly people in shorts and dry-fit in the middle of the day! Somehow we even got free cookies, which are physically impossible to turn down in the middle of a relay.) Our two teams started in a wave with two other teams, who we'd see quite often in the next 24 hours. And with the gun at 3, we were off! We all hopped in the van and began the trek. Meredith took the second leg, and a couple hours in, it was my turn to take the handoff.
My first leg, "Stairway To Heaven Hill", was a 3.9 mile run through the middle of Bardstown. It started off on a pretty narrow road on which I had to duck out of the way of the mirror on an ambulance (ironic, eh?). I was matched up against my father-in-law on this leg, and Meredith handed me about a 3 minute head start. Before the leg, I had predicted that I'd need four minutes to hold him off. I haven't done much running since Cedar Point, so my feel for pace wasn't great, and I took off pretty hard. I managed to hold it together for a couple miles, but by the time I was in town, I was hurting and had to slow it up a bit. And true to my prediction, he caught me with about 3/4 of a mile to go. And what a 3/4 of a mile it was...
I had conserved just enough legs to make a final charge at him on the last hill. Steadily the distance closed...20 steps back...15...10...then my stomach said "no mas" and I was suddenly dry heaving on the side of the road. I walked for a few seconds and then jogged it in to the next handoff at the top of the hill. Oh well. I couldn't have given more effort than I did, so no worries. I ended up with a time of 32:00, for a perfectly acceptable 8:12 pace. That's actually dead even with my 4-mile PR pace, which was on a pancake flat course. So despite the head-to-head loss, I now feel like patting myself on the back a bit. :)
As the rest of our van finished up their legs, afternoon turned to evening, and we pulled into the beautiful (seriously!) campus at the Maker's Mark distillery. Not only was the campus beautiful, their bathrooms were clean - a rare sight on one of these races! We bundled up, as the evening was getting chilly, and our final runner handed off to van 2. Soon, we realized that we were kind of in a sparsely populated area, and asked for a good place to get dinner. That turned out to be Cozy Corner, a local bar/restaurant. We even got hit up by one politician while eating, who was friendly even after he found out we weren't local. My stomach was still a little uneasy, so I just stuck with a grilled cheese. Since our van 2 only had 5 FAST runners, we didn't have much time...had to get back to the course for our second legs!
My second leg was leg 14, "Heart of Danville", and kicked off around midnight. It spanned 5.7 miles, which would officially be my longest run since Cedar Point. The profile didn't look too bad, but not too long into the run, I found myself on a hill that felt like it would never end. Not steep, just long! Even a couple runners that passed me here commented on it, so I knew it wasn't just me. Now that I look back on the profile, it's pretty obvious, so mea culpa on not being mentally ready for it. It was a beautiful night for a run, Orion's belt hung right over the horizon, and I ran steadily for it. And on this leg, I tallied my first roadkill (read: passed a runner) of the trip. She was ahead of me and moving pretty well, but I could tell I was steadily gaining, and when she stopped to tie a shoe, I made my move. Unfortunately, I was also passed by three, putting me at -3 when combined with my first leg. I liked the end of this leg, as you transitioned from dark highway to the streetlights and buildings of Danville and Centre College. I'm pretty sure the "1 Mile Left" sign was a little off here, but regardless, I came into transition just ahead of my predicted pace again. I ran the 5.7 miles in 49:49, for an 8:44 pace.
After the second running leg is always the darkest time for me in these races. There's still one to go, you're soooo tired, and you know you'll get a few hours of sleep maximum. Because of our odd team size, we weren't handing off at the "normal" spots that were set up for sleeping. We pulled into a parking lot around 3:00 AM, dragged our sleeping bags onto the grass a few feet from the car, and crashed on the ground. However, we didn't anticipate problems from our proximity to the bathrooms. "crreeeeaak....SLAM!" doesn't make for great sleep, but it was enough to heed the message that the other team was on the way at 5:30.
I sort of lucked out in that my third leg started right around 8:00, and I didn't have to wear all my reflective gear and lights. It was even warming up a bit! My third leg was leg 25, "High School Reunion". This was a 4.7 mile run, and unlike the previous leg, I was quite aware of the upcoming hills here:
They're not killers by any means, but by your third go-around, you feel them. Luckily, I wasn't the only one on my third leg. As I started out, I'd pass a runner, then get passed by another. This repeated a few times on the first hill, and at mile 1, I was plus 3 and minus 3. As we turned onto the highway that would carry us the last 3+ miles, I was passed again. Dang, back to negative numbers. But then the most wondrous thing happened...the hills were taking their toll on everyone. I passed a runner. Then another. Then one who was walking. Thanks to the open scenery and view from the hills, I could see the runners laid out ahead of me, and realized I could do some damage. I powered up the hills with a quick cadence, and stretched it out going down. Whatever I had left, I gave, and by the time we turned into the handoff, I had passed 12 runners in total! That gave me a final tally of +5 overall for the race, my best to date. I ran the final leg in 40:21, for an 8:35 pace. This was a fun leg with all the runners out there, and it was a good cap to my experience.
Now that I was done, there were still 11 legs to go. It was a pretty relaxing end to the relay, getting to just cheer on my friends, get a couple little bourbon samples, and have a good time in the nice weather. Eventually, we did wind our way into downtown Lexington, and 25 hours and 52 minutes after we started, our team crossed the finish line together. We ended up 20th out of 200 teams - unfortunately behind our other team, but still a good showing! Then, all that was left was sharing stories over pizza back at the hotel, a good night's sleep, and a return to Columbus the next day, tired but happy.
Once we arrived, we went for a pre-race dinner at the old Olive Garden standby. (One disadvantage of this race vs. Reach the Beach - the neverending pasta bowl had ended. That doesn't seem quite right, does it?) After dinner, it was time to get one last good night of sleep before the long day(s) ahead.
Friday dawned clear and beautiful - a great day to start racing! The first teams started at 8:00 AM, but we wouldn't be starting until 3:00 PM. So, there was plenty of time to hit up the grocery store for in-car snacks and drinks. We even found a rubber chicken at Petsmart to join the crow on top of our van for our team, "Three Old Crows, Nine Spring Chickens". :) Meredith and I were in van 1, so we'd be running fairly early in the rotation. As the time drew near to get underway, we drove to the starting line at the Jim Beam distillery, though we declined the free samples! (Side note: we had followed the Garmin to find a Subway on the way there, and it turned out to be inside a hospital. I'm pretty sure their staff wasn't used to twelve smelly people in shorts and dry-fit in the middle of the day! Somehow we even got free cookies, which are physically impossible to turn down in the middle of a relay.) Our two teams started in a wave with two other teams, who we'd see quite often in the next 24 hours. And with the gun at 3, we were off! We all hopped in the van and began the trek. Meredith took the second leg, and a couple hours in, it was my turn to take the handoff.
My first leg, "Stairway To Heaven Hill", was a 3.9 mile run through the middle of Bardstown. It started off on a pretty narrow road on which I had to duck out of the way of the mirror on an ambulance (ironic, eh?). I was matched up against my father-in-law on this leg, and Meredith handed me about a 3 minute head start. Before the leg, I had predicted that I'd need four minutes to hold him off. I haven't done much running since Cedar Point, so my feel for pace wasn't great, and I took off pretty hard. I managed to hold it together for a couple miles, but by the time I was in town, I was hurting and had to slow it up a bit. And true to my prediction, he caught me with about 3/4 of a mile to go. And what a 3/4 of a mile it was...
I had conserved just enough legs to make a final charge at him on the last hill. Steadily the distance closed...20 steps back...15...10...then my stomach said "no mas" and I was suddenly dry heaving on the side of the road. I walked for a few seconds and then jogged it in to the next handoff at the top of the hill. Oh well. I couldn't have given more effort than I did, so no worries. I ended up with a time of 32:00, for a perfectly acceptable 8:12 pace. That's actually dead even with my 4-mile PR pace, which was on a pancake flat course. So despite the head-to-head loss, I now feel like patting myself on the back a bit. :)
As the rest of our van finished up their legs, afternoon turned to evening, and we pulled into the beautiful (seriously!) campus at the Maker's Mark distillery. Not only was the campus beautiful, their bathrooms were clean - a rare sight on one of these races! We bundled up, as the evening was getting chilly, and our final runner handed off to van 2. Soon, we realized that we were kind of in a sparsely populated area, and asked for a good place to get dinner. That turned out to be Cozy Corner, a local bar/restaurant. We even got hit up by one politician while eating, who was friendly even after he found out we weren't local. My stomach was still a little uneasy, so I just stuck with a grilled cheese. Since our van 2 only had 5 FAST runners, we didn't have much time...had to get back to the course for our second legs!
My second leg was leg 14, "Heart of Danville", and kicked off around midnight. It spanned 5.7 miles, which would officially be my longest run since Cedar Point. The profile didn't look too bad, but not too long into the run, I found myself on a hill that felt like it would never end. Not steep, just long! Even a couple runners that passed me here commented on it, so I knew it wasn't just me. Now that I look back on the profile, it's pretty obvious, so mea culpa on not being mentally ready for it. It was a beautiful night for a run, Orion's belt hung right over the horizon, and I ran steadily for it. And on this leg, I tallied my first roadkill (read: passed a runner) of the trip. She was ahead of me and moving pretty well, but I could tell I was steadily gaining, and when she stopped to tie a shoe, I made my move. Unfortunately, I was also passed by three, putting me at -3 when combined with my first leg. I liked the end of this leg, as you transitioned from dark highway to the streetlights and buildings of Danville and Centre College. I'm pretty sure the "1 Mile Left" sign was a little off here, but regardless, I came into transition just ahead of my predicted pace again. I ran the 5.7 miles in 49:49, for an 8:44 pace.
After the second running leg is always the darkest time for me in these races. There's still one to go, you're soooo tired, and you know you'll get a few hours of sleep maximum. Because of our odd team size, we weren't handing off at the "normal" spots that were set up for sleeping. We pulled into a parking lot around 3:00 AM, dragged our sleeping bags onto the grass a few feet from the car, and crashed on the ground. However, we didn't anticipate problems from our proximity to the bathrooms. "crreeeeaak....SLAM!" doesn't make for great sleep, but it was enough to heed the message that the other team was on the way at 5:30.
I sort of lucked out in that my third leg started right around 8:00, and I didn't have to wear all my reflective gear and lights. It was even warming up a bit! My third leg was leg 25, "High School Reunion". This was a 4.7 mile run, and unlike the previous leg, I was quite aware of the upcoming hills here:
They're not killers by any means, but by your third go-around, you feel them. Luckily, I wasn't the only one on my third leg. As I started out, I'd pass a runner, then get passed by another. This repeated a few times on the first hill, and at mile 1, I was plus 3 and minus 3. As we turned onto the highway that would carry us the last 3+ miles, I was passed again. Dang, back to negative numbers. But then the most wondrous thing happened...the hills were taking their toll on everyone. I passed a runner. Then another. Then one who was walking. Thanks to the open scenery and view from the hills, I could see the runners laid out ahead of me, and realized I could do some damage. I powered up the hills with a quick cadence, and stretched it out going down. Whatever I had left, I gave, and by the time we turned into the handoff, I had passed 12 runners in total! That gave me a final tally of +5 overall for the race, my best to date. I ran the final leg in 40:21, for an 8:35 pace. This was a fun leg with all the runners out there, and it was a good cap to my experience.
Now that I was done, there were still 11 legs to go. It was a pretty relaxing end to the relay, getting to just cheer on my friends, get a couple little bourbon samples, and have a good time in the nice weather. Eventually, we did wind our way into downtown Lexington, and 25 hours and 52 minutes after we started, our team crossed the finish line together. We ended up 20th out of 200 teams - unfortunately behind our other team, but still a good showing! Then, all that was left was sharing stories over pizza back at the hotel, a good night's sleep, and a return to Columbus the next day, tired but happy.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Help me out!
One of my long standing weaknesses has been my run form. I've developed my run to the point where I can do some long distances, but from the start, I've just run however my little legs carried me. And along the way, I've picked up some bad habits. So I'm calling on you, blog-land! I'll post a video of my "normal" run form, and then my concept of "good" run form. Please give me some feedback on both, and any tips to improve what I've got and make it a fast 2011!
(If the videos don't load inline, try the links)
"Normal":
"Better?":
(If the videos don't load inline, try the links)
"Normal":
"Better?":
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Race Report - Rev3 Cedar Point FullRev
After IM Coeur D'Alene last year, it's been reported that I said I didn't need to do another iron distance race. I just couldn't keep myself away, though, and when the opportunity arose to train again, I signed back on for another nine months of training. At times, I kicked myself for it, but I also saw some dramatic growth in my abilities as a triathlete this year. It seemed like September was upon us before I realized it, and with September came my big race for the year!
While I loved, loved, loved CDA, it was also nice to be able to drive to Cedar Point for this year's race. I had gotten to ride a loop of the bike course a few weeks ago, and I know that everything around there is pretty flat, so I felt a little more confident going in. For those who haven't been to Columbus, it's a little easier to emulate northwest Ohio than it is to emulate northern Idaho. :)
We drove up to Cedar Point on Friday, and were able to get in one more drivethrough of the bike course before getting Meredith to her volunteer duties. I had hoped that a couple of the chip sealed roads would be a little more flat by race day, but there were still some pretty rough stretches. There are only a couple hills of any note at all on the course, so I made a mental note where they were located as well. Friday evening brought one of the best perks of this race - Cedar Point opened some of their bigger rides for the athletes and volunteers from 6-9 PM, and it was fantastic! There were really no lines at all, even for the most popular rides. After a quick trip up Top Thrill Dragster, I ran into Carole and the Team Trakkers group, and they let me tag along for a bunch of rides, which was a blast! They really have a good group of people, and a cool product to boot! Eventually (no thanks to our phone service), Meredith managed to find us after she finished volunteering, and we got to hang out until the park closed. Very hungry, we followed a local recommendation to Chet and Matt's Pizza. Highly recommend it!
On Saturday morning, we got up to walk down the beach and go for a practice swim. Now, maybe for you ocean swimmers, it might have been a reasonable day, but for those of us used to swimming in small bodies of water? It was like nothing we'd ever seen. What were those white parts at the top of the waves?! The swim course is fairly shallow, and people were just standing out in the water. Sure, the occasional person tried a few strokes, but mostly just horrified looks all around. Meredith and I did give it a shot for a bit, but it wasn't much of a swim. My fingers were firmly crossed that the weather would change by the next morning. The plan was to get our bikes and bags turned in, then plant ourselves on the couch for an afternoon of OSU-Miami football. At halftime, we went back to Chet and Matt's for some pasta (stick with the pizza, it was pretty bland), and to watch the rest of our Buckeyes finishing off the Hurricanes. There was time for a Gatorade mixing party back at the hotel room, and then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning dawned plenty early, and I concentrated on getting everything put together that still needed to be put on my bike or in my bags. Strangely, I couldn't find the two Luna bars I'd packed, so I figured I must have already stuck them in my bike bag. Got to transition, and nope, they were nowhere to be found. Well, you have to be flexible to do one of these races, right? (Not literally. Thank goodness!) I quickly revised my fueling plan - I had enough EFS shots to make it 7 hours on the bike; I just wouldn't have any leeway if I went longer. And so I mentally prepared myself to grab other nutrition if needed. The rest of setup was pretty easy - I liked the layout of transition, everything was very straightforward and accessible. And so it was time to walk to the swim start and get ready to race! Good news - the water was flat today!
I said goodbye to the family, watched the pros go out, and then got into the mass of people at the starting line. One of my favorite parts of race day is meeting new people, and I chatted with a guy next to me who was doing his first full distance race.
Then, a quick countdown, and we were off! Or...well, we were walking. Slowly. Remember the part about how shallow the beginning of the course is? Lots of people were just walking out as far as they could, and for those of us behind them, there wasn't much we could do but walk as well. Eventually, most people figured out that swimming would be faster, and decided to get the day underway. I followed suit, and stuck my face in the cool, but comfortable, water. For a mass start, this race was significantly smaller than some of the IM starts, but I didn't think it lacked anything in brutality. :) This was probably the roughest swim start I've been in - the plan was to start to the outside, but I never quite made it out there. I never took any direct hits, but there was a lot of grabbing, pulling, and being swum over. The good news is that I've become a pretty confident swimmer, and by the first turn buoy, I'd pulled away from most of the nastiness. The rest of loop one went by pretty uneventfully, save the velcro on the neck of my wetsuit folding in and scraping me. All those one-armed drills paid off, as I must have fixed it 50 times during that swim!
The swim at Rev3 is a little different than most - there are two loops, but they are actually two distinct swim areas. So, after the first loop, you run down the beach a bit before you get back in the water. My family had, unbeknownst to me, made signs for me this year out of a goofy picture we had taken in Italy a few years back, and I couldn't help but laugh at how funny they were.
The second swim loop was almost a little lonely! I've felt like I was by myself in swims before, but I knew I was swimming pretty well, and I figured the loneliness was a good sign. There were certainly plenty of people in front of me, but as another swimmer and I realized on the way back in, there were even more behind!
I did my best to catch bubbles when I could, but most of the second loop was all up to the individual swimmer. The water had gotten a little rougher, but was still fairly nice. For a change, I kept my sighting pretty good until the home stretch. For some reason, I couldn't for the life of me see the exit arch, and I was sighting off the wrong end of the crowd. Eventually, I realized my error, and swung back to the left, swimming as far in as I possibly could before standing and making my way up the beach into T1. (I got teased about this later, but hey, if you can swim in 6" of water, why not? :)) I didn't find out my swim time until later in the day, but it was a 7 minute PR, a little better than I had hoped for!
Swim: 1:16:42
Pace: 1:59/100m
Rank After Swim: 15/35 AG, 91/421 Overall
Let's be honest. From last year's blazing fourteen minute effort, there was nowhere to go but up for my T1 skills. :) I grabbed my bag from the rack, found an empty chair, and did a full change into bike jersey and shorts. After getting badly burnt in CDA, I decided a bike jersey was a better idea since it would cover up the areas that don't see as much sun. It turned out to be even a better idea than I thought, because I missed any sunscreen on the way out of transition. I think I surprised Meredith and my family at how quick I got out of there this year. The only thing I forgot was my brain as I pulled my bike from the rack and swung a leg over it in the middle of transition. Whoops. Back off the bike, running for the exit, and ready to take on the longest part of the day!
T1: 6:03
For the bike, I had made the decision to pack all my hydration with me for the day. CeraSport (the course drink) sits fine with me, but I hadn't done the training with it, and it didn't have as many calories as I was used to. I had four bottles of Gatorade Endurance on my bike to start, and another three waiting in special needs. That gave me 7 hours of bike time, after which I'd need to start grabbing CeraSport from the aid stations. I'd get my water from the course as I used up Gatorade.
The first part of the bike course goes down the peninsula of Cedar Point itself, and is a little older road with some seams and potholes. And wouldn't you know it, three miles in...
Kachunk. Whssshhhh...Thunk. I launched one of my Gatorade bottles from my rear cage at the rider behind me, who was thankfully paying attention. I had to make a split second decision whether to go back or not, and I decided to keep going. Make that 6 hours of Gatorade I had available. The good news was that these were 24 oz bottles, and I usually train with 20. I figured I could space them out a little more to extend my bike time before having to mess with my (at this point, heavily amended) plan. I was mostly alone for a little while, but then the masses caught me on the bike, and I don't think there was another point in the day when I couldn't see another athlete.
I can't lie, this bike course was not as "epic" as CDA, but that also meant it was easier to simulate for a flatlander. Other than a couple short, moderately steep, little hills this was a pretty fast, easy course on paper. The steepest of the little hills brought us up into the town of Milan around mile 23, and I was happily surprised to see my parents and brother had come out to see me there. This was early enough that I was still feeling great, but even then it's a nice boost to see people you know. And if I thought I was feeling great then, the next 15 miles had a dead on tailwind. I was cruising! (Well, for me at least) But what goes east must come back west, and turning back took us straight back into the headwind, as well as onto some rough chip seal for a lot of the winding return trip. This was the biggest mental challenge of the day for me - you never knew which turn would have you on good or bad road, into head or cross wind. The HalfRev course rejoined us at our mile 50 and stayed with us for the next seven miles or so. This was the most crowded stretch, and at one point I started wondering if I had missed a turn since I only saw bikers wearing HalfRev bibs. I did finally find another fellow FullRev athlete and confirm that I hadn't missed it. Frankly, the turn to the second loop would be hard to miss - they had signs, volunteers, and the road chalked. :)
I saw my family again at mile 60, and knew that from there on, the support would be pretty limited on the course. The drag strip section of Route 113 was still there with as much tailwind as ever, but the way back was even more of a slog. It felt like the wind was picking up during the day, and I was just about seeing single digit speeds on some of the stretches. Chip seal, false flats, and a headwind can be a deadly combination to your psyche at that point in the race; I just wanted to be done. At mile 93, we passed the loop turnoff again, and at least had the good news that we were headed home. I took stock of my time and my nutrition - I would be fine on EFS, but would run low on Gatorade. For the last stretch, I diluted down the half aero-bottle I had remaining with water, and survived on that rather than introduce something new. In retrospect, I think I had done well enough on nutrition that it didn't really hurt me. The Cedar Point sign never looked so welcome as when I saw it, but the last few miles still draaaaaagged getting back to the park. They finally came to an end though, and I was back past my cheering group and into T2 with a new best bike time (on a MUCH easier course) by 46 minutes.
Bike: 6:48
Pace: 16.44 MPH
Rank After Bike: 23/35 AG, 199/421 Overall
I've had problems with my right little toe going numb on the bike and then hurting like crazy when the blood comes back. That happened during T2, and I was limping over to the bags. I knew it would be okay in a few minutes, so I took my time doing another full change into my "Run Dave Run" shirt and running gear. Once again, I was the only one out there with my name...someday triathletes will figure out what marathoners already know - spectators love to shout your name if they know it. :)
T2: 6:45
More than anything, I was thrilled to be off the bike. My long runs have been...questionable...this summer in the heat and humidity, so I just wanted to go out and do my best. Doing a quick overview of my body, my HR and stomach were going to be the limiting factors for me, so I decided to start walking water stops early to let them settle and get in nutrition each time. I was wearing my Garmin this year, so I had a good idea of my pace, and put in an effort to keep it around 10 minute miles to start. The Garmin was a great move, because my legs kept gravitating toward paces I knew I couldn't hold long term. The nutrition plan for the run was a Gu gel every 30 minutes or so, with water/sports drink as needed at each aid station. To that, I ended up adding ice under the cap for the first loop, since it was still kind of warm for a marathon.
The run at Cedar Point is two loops, with the first loop coming almost all the way back to the finish line before heading out again. The course starts out with a scenic run across the causeway over to the Sandusky waterfront. While it was technically a "city" run for much of the course, I was surprised by how much was along Lake Erie, and presented a really picturesque backdrop. The only hill of any note at all was one little bridge on the causeway itself. For much of the first loop, I held my pace and nutrition spot on. I got lots of "RUN DAVE RUN!" from the spectators and volunteers. One volunteer in particular had (I assume) her young daughter with her, who loved yelling for me. In general, I was pretty impressed with how many people were on the run course; I had assumed it would be pretty deserted. By the time I got back toward the park at the end of the first loop, my stomach was starting to turn on me a bit. I wasn't about to lose my lunch (er...gels), but it was starting to walk that line between unease and upset. As Meredith jogged with me on the way out again, I told her my pace would probably drop in the second loop, as I didn't want to push past that line and ruin the rest of my day.
In this race, as opposed to CDA, I felt like a "mid-pack" racer. There were plenty of people going in to finish while I was heading out on my second loop, but last year I felt like everyone was finishing while I wasn't even to the finish of the first loop. And so, I never had the down feelings I did during the run of that race. For all the issues my stomach was presenting, my legs were still solidly underneath me, and I knew I was going to finish with a pretty decent time. And those gels I had planned on? Those were turning my stomach more than anything right now. I turned to that best of friends to the triathlete, flat coke. That and the occasional CeraSport and salt tab became my nutrition for the last ten miles of the run, and I think it was the right move. I did begin walking some more stretches, but felt like I was being honest with myself. Run until you're nauseous. Walk till it's under control. Repeat. This still kept me going around an 11 minute pace including water stops. And while there weren't the vast hordes of walkers from IM, I still felt like I was gradually moving up in the ranks. Then, at mile 20-something, I started seeing runners with glowsticks. And I realized that I might not finish before dark, but I was going to finish without a mandatory glowstick this year. :)
The last few miles across the causeway were beautiful. The temperature had dropped to something very close to ideal, and the sun was fading into the lake with all shades of oranges and purples, and the park was silhouetted in the midst of it all. To the end, my legs stayed with me, and I was running sub-10s as long as my stomach could take it. I was offered water at mile 26, and kindly let the volunteer know that I could probably make it from here. :) From there, it was into the park, down the chute into the crowds, and to a final chant of "RUN DAVE RUN" from the announcer and spectators, I finished my second iron distance tri.
Run: 4:46:27
Pace: 10:56/mi
Rank After Run: 19/35 AG, 171/421 Overall
Total: 13:04:45
I'm really feeling happy and content with my effort. Do I wish that I could have found 4 minutes out there and come in under 13 hours? Sure. But I sort of feel like I had the race I wanted, and I can be satisfied with it. Will I do another one? Sigh...probably. Somehow I've found that I really like these things. :) But not next year.
Maybe next year?
NO.
Next year, I plan to focus on the shorter distances. Local sprints, some Olympics, maaaaybe a half if I feel like it. But I think if I want to improve my speed, it's time to learn some technique and focus on that for a while rather than enduring another season of IM training.
And now, the most important part. Thanks to both sides of our family for coming out and spending yet another long day cheering. Thanks to my amazing coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat. Thanks to all the friends, local and remote, who I've met through this sport, and who have supported me throughout the year. Thanks to Team Trakkers for adopting me for the weekend, and for being cool people all around. And the biggest thanks as always go to my wife Meredith, who somehow got me into all this, and without whom I couldn't do it at all.
While I loved, loved, loved CDA, it was also nice to be able to drive to Cedar Point for this year's race. I had gotten to ride a loop of the bike course a few weeks ago, and I know that everything around there is pretty flat, so I felt a little more confident going in. For those who haven't been to Columbus, it's a little easier to emulate northwest Ohio than it is to emulate northern Idaho. :)
We drove up to Cedar Point on Friday, and were able to get in one more drivethrough of the bike course before getting Meredith to her volunteer duties. I had hoped that a couple of the chip sealed roads would be a little more flat by race day, but there were still some pretty rough stretches. There are only a couple hills of any note at all on the course, so I made a mental note where they were located as well. Friday evening brought one of the best perks of this race - Cedar Point opened some of their bigger rides for the athletes and volunteers from 6-9 PM, and it was fantastic! There were really no lines at all, even for the most popular rides. After a quick trip up Top Thrill Dragster, I ran into Carole and the Team Trakkers group, and they let me tag along for a bunch of rides, which was a blast! They really have a good group of people, and a cool product to boot! Eventually (no thanks to our phone service), Meredith managed to find us after she finished volunteering, and we got to hang out until the park closed. Very hungry, we followed a local recommendation to Chet and Matt's Pizza. Highly recommend it!
On Saturday morning, we got up to walk down the beach and go for a practice swim. Now, maybe for you ocean swimmers, it might have been a reasonable day, but for those of us used to swimming in small bodies of water? It was like nothing we'd ever seen. What were those white parts at the top of the waves?! The swim course is fairly shallow, and people were just standing out in the water. Sure, the occasional person tried a few strokes, but mostly just horrified looks all around. Meredith and I did give it a shot for a bit, but it wasn't much of a swim. My fingers were firmly crossed that the weather would change by the next morning. The plan was to get our bikes and bags turned in, then plant ourselves on the couch for an afternoon of OSU-Miami football. At halftime, we went back to Chet and Matt's for some pasta (stick with the pizza, it was pretty bland), and to watch the rest of our Buckeyes finishing off the Hurricanes. There was time for a Gatorade mixing party back at the hotel room, and then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning dawned plenty early, and I concentrated on getting everything put together that still needed to be put on my bike or in my bags. Strangely, I couldn't find the two Luna bars I'd packed, so I figured I must have already stuck them in my bike bag. Got to transition, and nope, they were nowhere to be found. Well, you have to be flexible to do one of these races, right? (Not literally. Thank goodness!) I quickly revised my fueling plan - I had enough EFS shots to make it 7 hours on the bike; I just wouldn't have any leeway if I went longer. And so I mentally prepared myself to grab other nutrition if needed. The rest of setup was pretty easy - I liked the layout of transition, everything was very straightforward and accessible. And so it was time to walk to the swim start and get ready to race! Good news - the water was flat today!
I said goodbye to the family, watched the pros go out, and then got into the mass of people at the starting line. One of my favorite parts of race day is meeting new people, and I chatted with a guy next to me who was doing his first full distance race.
Then, a quick countdown, and we were off! Or...well, we were walking. Slowly. Remember the part about how shallow the beginning of the course is? Lots of people were just walking out as far as they could, and for those of us behind them, there wasn't much we could do but walk as well. Eventually, most people figured out that swimming would be faster, and decided to get the day underway. I followed suit, and stuck my face in the cool, but comfortable, water. For a mass start, this race was significantly smaller than some of the IM starts, but I didn't think it lacked anything in brutality. :) This was probably the roughest swim start I've been in - the plan was to start to the outside, but I never quite made it out there. I never took any direct hits, but there was a lot of grabbing, pulling, and being swum over. The good news is that I've become a pretty confident swimmer, and by the first turn buoy, I'd pulled away from most of the nastiness. The rest of loop one went by pretty uneventfully, save the velcro on the neck of my wetsuit folding in and scraping me. All those one-armed drills paid off, as I must have fixed it 50 times during that swim!
The swim at Rev3 is a little different than most - there are two loops, but they are actually two distinct swim areas. So, after the first loop, you run down the beach a bit before you get back in the water. My family had, unbeknownst to me, made signs for me this year out of a goofy picture we had taken in Italy a few years back, and I couldn't help but laugh at how funny they were.
The second swim loop was almost a little lonely! I've felt like I was by myself in swims before, but I knew I was swimming pretty well, and I figured the loneliness was a good sign. There were certainly plenty of people in front of me, but as another swimmer and I realized on the way back in, there were even more behind!
I did my best to catch bubbles when I could, but most of the second loop was all up to the individual swimmer. The water had gotten a little rougher, but was still fairly nice. For a change, I kept my sighting pretty good until the home stretch. For some reason, I couldn't for the life of me see the exit arch, and I was sighting off the wrong end of the crowd. Eventually, I realized my error, and swung back to the left, swimming as far in as I possibly could before standing and making my way up the beach into T1. (I got teased about this later, but hey, if you can swim in 6" of water, why not? :)) I didn't find out my swim time until later in the day, but it was a 7 minute PR, a little better than I had hoped for!
Swim: 1:16:42
Pace: 1:59/100m
Rank After Swim: 15/35 AG, 91/421 Overall
Let's be honest. From last year's blazing fourteen minute effort, there was nowhere to go but up for my T1 skills. :) I grabbed my bag from the rack, found an empty chair, and did a full change into bike jersey and shorts. After getting badly burnt in CDA, I decided a bike jersey was a better idea since it would cover up the areas that don't see as much sun. It turned out to be even a better idea than I thought, because I missed any sunscreen on the way out of transition. I think I surprised Meredith and my family at how quick I got out of there this year. The only thing I forgot was my brain as I pulled my bike from the rack and swung a leg over it in the middle of transition. Whoops. Back off the bike, running for the exit, and ready to take on the longest part of the day!
T1: 6:03
For the bike, I had made the decision to pack all my hydration with me for the day. CeraSport (the course drink) sits fine with me, but I hadn't done the training with it, and it didn't have as many calories as I was used to. I had four bottles of Gatorade Endurance on my bike to start, and another three waiting in special needs. That gave me 7 hours of bike time, after which I'd need to start grabbing CeraSport from the aid stations. I'd get my water from the course as I used up Gatorade.
The first part of the bike course goes down the peninsula of Cedar Point itself, and is a little older road with some seams and potholes. And wouldn't you know it, three miles in...
Kachunk. Whssshhhh...Thunk. I launched one of my Gatorade bottles from my rear cage at the rider behind me, who was thankfully paying attention. I had to make a split second decision whether to go back or not, and I decided to keep going. Make that 6 hours of Gatorade I had available. The good news was that these were 24 oz bottles, and I usually train with 20. I figured I could space them out a little more to extend my bike time before having to mess with my (at this point, heavily amended) plan. I was mostly alone for a little while, but then the masses caught me on the bike, and I don't think there was another point in the day when I couldn't see another athlete.
I can't lie, this bike course was not as "epic" as CDA, but that also meant it was easier to simulate for a flatlander. Other than a couple short, moderately steep, little hills this was a pretty fast, easy course on paper. The steepest of the little hills brought us up into the town of Milan around mile 23, and I was happily surprised to see my parents and brother had come out to see me there. This was early enough that I was still feeling great, but even then it's a nice boost to see people you know. And if I thought I was feeling great then, the next 15 miles had a dead on tailwind. I was cruising! (Well, for me at least) But what goes east must come back west, and turning back took us straight back into the headwind, as well as onto some rough chip seal for a lot of the winding return trip. This was the biggest mental challenge of the day for me - you never knew which turn would have you on good or bad road, into head or cross wind. The HalfRev course rejoined us at our mile 50 and stayed with us for the next seven miles or so. This was the most crowded stretch, and at one point I started wondering if I had missed a turn since I only saw bikers wearing HalfRev bibs. I did finally find another fellow FullRev athlete and confirm that I hadn't missed it. Frankly, the turn to the second loop would be hard to miss - they had signs, volunteers, and the road chalked. :)
I saw my family again at mile 60, and knew that from there on, the support would be pretty limited on the course. The drag strip section of Route 113 was still there with as much tailwind as ever, but the way back was even more of a slog. It felt like the wind was picking up during the day, and I was just about seeing single digit speeds on some of the stretches. Chip seal, false flats, and a headwind can be a deadly combination to your psyche at that point in the race; I just wanted to be done. At mile 93, we passed the loop turnoff again, and at least had the good news that we were headed home. I took stock of my time and my nutrition - I would be fine on EFS, but would run low on Gatorade. For the last stretch, I diluted down the half aero-bottle I had remaining with water, and survived on that rather than introduce something new. In retrospect, I think I had done well enough on nutrition that it didn't really hurt me. The Cedar Point sign never looked so welcome as when I saw it, but the last few miles still draaaaaagged getting back to the park. They finally came to an end though, and I was back past my cheering group and into T2 with a new best bike time (on a MUCH easier course) by 46 minutes.
Bike: 6:48
Pace: 16.44 MPH
Rank After Bike: 23/35 AG, 199/421 Overall
I've had problems with my right little toe going numb on the bike and then hurting like crazy when the blood comes back. That happened during T2, and I was limping over to the bags. I knew it would be okay in a few minutes, so I took my time doing another full change into my "Run Dave Run" shirt and running gear. Once again, I was the only one out there with my name...someday triathletes will figure out what marathoners already know - spectators love to shout your name if they know it. :)
T2: 6:45
More than anything, I was thrilled to be off the bike. My long runs have been...questionable...this summer in the heat and humidity, so I just wanted to go out and do my best. Doing a quick overview of my body, my HR and stomach were going to be the limiting factors for me, so I decided to start walking water stops early to let them settle and get in nutrition each time. I was wearing my Garmin this year, so I had a good idea of my pace, and put in an effort to keep it around 10 minute miles to start. The Garmin was a great move, because my legs kept gravitating toward paces I knew I couldn't hold long term. The nutrition plan for the run was a Gu gel every 30 minutes or so, with water/sports drink as needed at each aid station. To that, I ended up adding ice under the cap for the first loop, since it was still kind of warm for a marathon.
The run at Cedar Point is two loops, with the first loop coming almost all the way back to the finish line before heading out again. The course starts out with a scenic run across the causeway over to the Sandusky waterfront. While it was technically a "city" run for much of the course, I was surprised by how much was along Lake Erie, and presented a really picturesque backdrop. The only hill of any note at all was one little bridge on the causeway itself. For much of the first loop, I held my pace and nutrition spot on. I got lots of "RUN DAVE RUN!" from the spectators and volunteers. One volunteer in particular had (I assume) her young daughter with her, who loved yelling for me. In general, I was pretty impressed with how many people were on the run course; I had assumed it would be pretty deserted. By the time I got back toward the park at the end of the first loop, my stomach was starting to turn on me a bit. I wasn't about to lose my lunch (er...gels), but it was starting to walk that line between unease and upset. As Meredith jogged with me on the way out again, I told her my pace would probably drop in the second loop, as I didn't want to push past that line and ruin the rest of my day.
In this race, as opposed to CDA, I felt like a "mid-pack" racer. There were plenty of people going in to finish while I was heading out on my second loop, but last year I felt like everyone was finishing while I wasn't even to the finish of the first loop. And so, I never had the down feelings I did during the run of that race. For all the issues my stomach was presenting, my legs were still solidly underneath me, and I knew I was going to finish with a pretty decent time. And those gels I had planned on? Those were turning my stomach more than anything right now. I turned to that best of friends to the triathlete, flat coke. That and the occasional CeraSport and salt tab became my nutrition for the last ten miles of the run, and I think it was the right move. I did begin walking some more stretches, but felt like I was being honest with myself. Run until you're nauseous. Walk till it's under control. Repeat. This still kept me going around an 11 minute pace including water stops. And while there weren't the vast hordes of walkers from IM, I still felt like I was gradually moving up in the ranks. Then, at mile 20-something, I started seeing runners with glowsticks. And I realized that I might not finish before dark, but I was going to finish without a mandatory glowstick this year. :)
The last few miles across the causeway were beautiful. The temperature had dropped to something very close to ideal, and the sun was fading into the lake with all shades of oranges and purples, and the park was silhouetted in the midst of it all. To the end, my legs stayed with me, and I was running sub-10s as long as my stomach could take it. I was offered water at mile 26, and kindly let the volunteer know that I could probably make it from here. :) From there, it was into the park, down the chute into the crowds, and to a final chant of "RUN DAVE RUN" from the announcer and spectators, I finished my second iron distance tri.
Run: 4:46:27
Pace: 10:56/mi
Rank After Run: 19/35 AG, 171/421 Overall
Total: 13:04:45
I'm really feeling happy and content with my effort. Do I wish that I could have found 4 minutes out there and come in under 13 hours? Sure. But I sort of feel like I had the race I wanted, and I can be satisfied with it. Will I do another one? Sigh...probably. Somehow I've found that I really like these things. :) But not next year.
Maybe next year?
NO.
Next year, I plan to focus on the shorter distances. Local sprints, some Olympics, maaaaybe a half if I feel like it. But I think if I want to improve my speed, it's time to learn some technique and focus on that for a while rather than enduring another season of IM training.
And now, the most important part. Thanks to both sides of our family for coming out and spending yet another long day cheering. Thanks to my amazing coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat. Thanks to all the friends, local and remote, who I've met through this sport, and who have supported me throughout the year. Thanks to Team Trakkers for adopting me for the weekend, and for being cool people all around. And the biggest thanks as always go to my wife Meredith, who somehow got me into all this, and without whom I couldn't do it at all.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mirror, Mirror
I think I have an evil twin.
Back in college, I wasn't the best at actually keeping in contact with my advisor. Let me rephrase that. I first met my advisor when filing for graduation. Never saw the point in talking to them as long as I was doing okay, I guess. But I was a little shocked when he asked me about all the classes I had failed, and how I had apparently made a big turnaround.
Huh?
After some further investigation, it turned out that there was another David Michael Gordon at Ohio State (go figure!), and he apparently had some issues with actually attending and participating in classes. It got ironed out, and I did graduate on time. What? Lots of people go to school for seven years!
Two David Gordons in this little group? What are the odds?
Fast forward to today. Dave has gotten married, settled down his wild ways, and is trying to refinance his house. But wait! There's a lien on the house. Seems that I've forgotten to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes. Again, I think it will be cleared up since I've never lived in the address where they were field, and I've never even heard of the company who filed one of them. Has evil Dave surfaced again? Will his antics follow me my whole life? If you ever see this man, TURN HIM IN!
Evil Dave (Artist's Rendering)
And bonus points for anyone who gets the title reference. :)
Back in college, I wasn't the best at actually keeping in contact with my advisor. Let me rephrase that. I first met my advisor when filing for graduation. Never saw the point in talking to them as long as I was doing okay, I guess. But I was a little shocked when he asked me about all the classes I had failed, and how I had apparently made a big turnaround.
Huh?
After some further investigation, it turned out that there was another David Michael Gordon at Ohio State (go figure!), and he apparently had some issues with actually attending and participating in classes. It got ironed out, and I did graduate on time. What? Lots of people go to school for seven years!
Two David Gordons in this little group? What are the odds?
Fast forward to today. Dave has gotten married, settled down his wild ways, and is trying to refinance his house. But wait! There's a lien on the house. Seems that I've forgotten to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes. Again, I think it will be cleared up since I've never lived in the address where they were field, and I've never even heard of the company who filed one of them. Has evil Dave surfaced again? Will his antics follow me my whole life? If you ever see this man, TURN HIM IN!
Evil Dave (Artist's Rendering)
And bonus points for anyone who gets the title reference. :)
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Race Report - JCC Independence Day Triathlon
Okay, first off - I know I still owe an IM Kansas 70.3 report. It wasn't quite what I had wished for, so I've put it off, and now I've gone and done another race. And this one I am excited about, so you get it first. :)
When coach told me the July 4 weekend would be a good one to find a race, I was excited to find out that not only was there a race in Columbus that day, it was right in our backyard! This was the inaugural year for this race, which always carries some risks, but the lure of a race that starts four miles from our house was plenty to get me to sign up. This would be the first sprint tri I'd done in two years, so I had a few nerves the night before. What if I don't remember how to push hard in a race? What if all I have in me is long slow distance?
On race morning, we were able to get up at a leisurely 5:45. (Though it ended up being 5:35 when Meredith asked if I had an alarm set. And then 5:40 when our dog started barking. Fine, I'm up.) I got my stuff gathered, ate a couple quick pieces of toast, and we were off for the LOOONG eight minute drive to transition. The race field was limited to 250 due to parking, so it was a fairly small transition area, and I lucked out with a rack near one of the exits. Since I decided I would swim in my tri jersey, there wasn't too much to set up. Helmet, glasses, shoes and socks, plus a hat for the run. There were no bibs, and I didn't need any nutrition other than my aerobottle. Kind of a far cry from the hyper-organization I'm used to lately on race day!
Once set up, we moseyed down to the pool to get in a little warm-up and test how the tri jersey felt in the water. I got in a quick 100 yards, felt good in the jersey, and so Meredith and I just grabbed a lounge chair, chilled out while everyone finished up in transition, and chatted with some other athletes. For one, this was his first triathlon! It was a nice race for a first timer, I think - pretty laid back vibe to the day. This race had a long run between the pool and T1 that crossed some questionable terrain, so I took a cue from what some others were doing and stashed a pair of shoes to grab on my way out of the pool.
While we lined up, I got to chat with Colleen and husband Tom, as well as new friend Rebecca. The swim was seeded by your own estimate of a 300y swim, and we all happened to be in the same range, so we just lined up together. Better to have a friend run into you in the pool than a stranger, right? :) While the seeding worked well for the most part, we did notice a pack of three swimmers who started among the first 20 athletes or so doing the breaststroke 100 yards in. Not sure what happened there? Regardless, it soon was my turn, and I took a running jump into my swim.
I realized before the swim that it would be difficult to pass people, since it was a serpentine swim with people going both directions in the same lane. So, I decided to swim at a comfortably snappy pace, but not to overdo it, since I would just get in a traffic jam. This worked really well - I caught the guy in front of me around 150 yards in, and drafted off him the rest of the way. We passed one guy standing at the wall, and near the end of the swim I turned on the afterburners briefly to pass another swimmer who got mixed in there somehow. I came out of the water with my watch at 5:07. That's a 1:51/100m pace, which is pretty slow for me over that distance, but with the format, I'm not sure I could have done much better. It also paid off because I came out of the water at a run, not feeling out of breath at all. Next year, maybe I'll seed myself a little higher. The mat wasn't until the entrance to T1, so the official swim time is a lot longer.
Swim: 6:41 (5:07 in water, 1:51/100m pace)
T1 was pretty efficient for me, and I got in and out in a hurry. I thought about going sockless to save a few more seconds, but ended up opting for the socks.
T1: 0:58
The bike course for this race was almost exclusively on roads we ride ALL.THE.TIME in training. For me, I took this as a benefit - I knew the gearing, I knew the corners, I knew which roads were false flats or slight descents. And I rode HARD! The ride started out down a gravel driveway. This was a little scary, with a lot of "Please don't flat!" and "Please don't wipe out!" thoughts going through my head. However, I made it through fine, and was soon out on the roads. The fact that I started fairly early in the time trial start made me a little resigned to getting passed by a ton of people on the bike, but other than jockeying back and forth with one other rider early, this really didn't happen. I started picking off some of the earlier swimmers, and every time I looked back at a corner, there wasn't anyone back there. This was very different for me! I kept the hammer down (at least as far as my hammer goes), and just rode. The inevitable pass from Tom happened about halfway through the course. (Seriously inevitable, he was on the team that won Race Across America, I'm just glad I could hold him off this long!) But that was the last time I'd get passed. Maybe the only time? I can't remember for sure. Part of that was the time trial format, of course, but it felt very different to be toward the front of a race for once. I could get used to that feeling... :) The only other blip in the bike race came when a car turned right in front of me, but he was also right in front of a policeman, who chewed him out pretty well as I rode on. One more safe trip across the gravel, and I was back into transition with what I knew was a speedy time. What I didn't realize at the time was that I broke a 20 mph average for the first time in a race, and that somehow I managed the third best bike split in my age group!
Bike: 33:59 (21.18 mph)
T2 was blazing fast - shoes off, helmet and glasses off, shoes and hat on, GO!
T2: 0:28
My stomach was bothering me a little on the bike, so I was nervous to see where it would go on the run. Didn't end up being an issue. My legs were also pretty tight as I started out on the run. After exiting the park, you go down maybe a quarter mile hill, and then immediately back up. I had to slow my pace a little bit here, as my legs really hadn't loosened up from the bike yet. Once up the hill, I tried to get into a good rhythm - never felt super fast, but just kept on trucking. I did get passed by a few runners, but they were going at speeds I couldn't possibly hang with at the time, so I stayed at my own pace. It was starting to get a little hot by this time, so at mile 2 I dumped some water over my head to cool off. (heard later that someone accidentally did the same with a glass of Heed, hehe!) As we got back toward the park, we had to do the hill one more time, but I think I came up with a little more speed this time, and then it was just a sprint down the entry road and into the finish line! I feel like I ran fairly well here - just on the edge of what I could do. There maaay have been one more gear that was left unused at the end, but I still give myself an A- on the run. This ended up being a PR for me in a 5K triathlon run by about 30 seconds.
Run: 25:56 (8:20/mile)
I was holding out a bit of hope that I might place in my age group here, but I ended up in 6th place out of 16. Speedy people in that 30-34 group! What I was excited about, though, was placing 23rd overall out of 241. Top 10% for the first time! I think I can take a lot of positives out of this race - I have more speed than ever before on the bike and run, I possibly ran my best race to date mentally, and just had a lot of fun doing it!
Now, the real push for Cedar Point begins! First iron distance swim is this week, as well as the first 6+ hour bike ride. Just over two months to go...yikes!
When coach told me the July 4 weekend would be a good one to find a race, I was excited to find out that not only was there a race in Columbus that day, it was right in our backyard! This was the inaugural year for this race, which always carries some risks, but the lure of a race that starts four miles from our house was plenty to get me to sign up. This would be the first sprint tri I'd done in two years, so I had a few nerves the night before. What if I don't remember how to push hard in a race? What if all I have in me is long slow distance?
On race morning, we were able to get up at a leisurely 5:45. (Though it ended up being 5:35 when Meredith asked if I had an alarm set. And then 5:40 when our dog started barking. Fine, I'm up.) I got my stuff gathered, ate a couple quick pieces of toast, and we were off for the LOOONG eight minute drive to transition. The race field was limited to 250 due to parking, so it was a fairly small transition area, and I lucked out with a rack near one of the exits. Since I decided I would swim in my tri jersey, there wasn't too much to set up. Helmet, glasses, shoes and socks, plus a hat for the run. There were no bibs, and I didn't need any nutrition other than my aerobottle. Kind of a far cry from the hyper-organization I'm used to lately on race day!
Once set up, we moseyed down to the pool to get in a little warm-up and test how the tri jersey felt in the water. I got in a quick 100 yards, felt good in the jersey, and so Meredith and I just grabbed a lounge chair, chilled out while everyone finished up in transition, and chatted with some other athletes. For one, this was his first triathlon! It was a nice race for a first timer, I think - pretty laid back vibe to the day. This race had a long run between the pool and T1 that crossed some questionable terrain, so I took a cue from what some others were doing and stashed a pair of shoes to grab on my way out of the pool.
While we lined up, I got to chat with Colleen and husband Tom, as well as new friend Rebecca. The swim was seeded by your own estimate of a 300y swim, and we all happened to be in the same range, so we just lined up together. Better to have a friend run into you in the pool than a stranger, right? :) While the seeding worked well for the most part, we did notice a pack of three swimmers who started among the first 20 athletes or so doing the breaststroke 100 yards in. Not sure what happened there? Regardless, it soon was my turn, and I took a running jump into my swim.
I realized before the swim that it would be difficult to pass people, since it was a serpentine swim with people going both directions in the same lane. So, I decided to swim at a comfortably snappy pace, but not to overdo it, since I would just get in a traffic jam. This worked really well - I caught the guy in front of me around 150 yards in, and drafted off him the rest of the way. We passed one guy standing at the wall, and near the end of the swim I turned on the afterburners briefly to pass another swimmer who got mixed in there somehow. I came out of the water with my watch at 5:07. That's a 1:51/100m pace, which is pretty slow for me over that distance, but with the format, I'm not sure I could have done much better. It also paid off because I came out of the water at a run, not feeling out of breath at all. Next year, maybe I'll seed myself a little higher. The mat wasn't until the entrance to T1, so the official swim time is a lot longer.
Swim: 6:41 (5:07 in water, 1:51/100m pace)
T1 was pretty efficient for me, and I got in and out in a hurry. I thought about going sockless to save a few more seconds, but ended up opting for the socks.
T1: 0:58
The bike course for this race was almost exclusively on roads we ride ALL.THE.TIME in training. For me, I took this as a benefit - I knew the gearing, I knew the corners, I knew which roads were false flats or slight descents. And I rode HARD! The ride started out down a gravel driveway. This was a little scary, with a lot of "Please don't flat!" and "Please don't wipe out!" thoughts going through my head. However, I made it through fine, and was soon out on the roads. The fact that I started fairly early in the time trial start made me a little resigned to getting passed by a ton of people on the bike, but other than jockeying back and forth with one other rider early, this really didn't happen. I started picking off some of the earlier swimmers, and every time I looked back at a corner, there wasn't anyone back there. This was very different for me! I kept the hammer down (at least as far as my hammer goes), and just rode. The inevitable pass from Tom happened about halfway through the course. (Seriously inevitable, he was on the team that won Race Across America, I'm just glad I could hold him off this long!) But that was the last time I'd get passed. Maybe the only time? I can't remember for sure. Part of that was the time trial format, of course, but it felt very different to be toward the front of a race for once. I could get used to that feeling... :) The only other blip in the bike race came when a car turned right in front of me, but he was also right in front of a policeman, who chewed him out pretty well as I rode on. One more safe trip across the gravel, and I was back into transition with what I knew was a speedy time. What I didn't realize at the time was that I broke a 20 mph average for the first time in a race, and that somehow I managed the third best bike split in my age group!
Bike: 33:59 (21.18 mph)
T2 was blazing fast - shoes off, helmet and glasses off, shoes and hat on, GO!
T2: 0:28
My stomach was bothering me a little on the bike, so I was nervous to see where it would go on the run. Didn't end up being an issue. My legs were also pretty tight as I started out on the run. After exiting the park, you go down maybe a quarter mile hill, and then immediately back up. I had to slow my pace a little bit here, as my legs really hadn't loosened up from the bike yet. Once up the hill, I tried to get into a good rhythm - never felt super fast, but just kept on trucking. I did get passed by a few runners, but they were going at speeds I couldn't possibly hang with at the time, so I stayed at my own pace. It was starting to get a little hot by this time, so at mile 2 I dumped some water over my head to cool off. (heard later that someone accidentally did the same with a glass of Heed, hehe!) As we got back toward the park, we had to do the hill one more time, but I think I came up with a little more speed this time, and then it was just a sprint down the entry road and into the finish line! I feel like I ran fairly well here - just on the edge of what I could do. There maaay have been one more gear that was left unused at the end, but I still give myself an A- on the run. This ended up being a PR for me in a 5K triathlon run by about 30 seconds.
Run: 25:56 (8:20/mile)
I was holding out a bit of hope that I might place in my age group here, but I ended up in 6th place out of 16. Speedy people in that 30-34 group! What I was excited about, though, was placing 23rd overall out of 241. Top 10% for the first time! I think I can take a lot of positives out of this race - I have more speed than ever before on the bike and run, I possibly ran my best race to date mentally, and just had a lot of fun doing it!
Now, the real push for Cedar Point begins! First iron distance swim is this week, as well as the first 6+ hour bike ride. Just over two months to go...yikes!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Race Report - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Triathlon
Let's just start off by saying kudos to Knoxville for being a great site for a race. It's a nice little city that's completely walkable with plenty of fun local places to eat and see. For Meredith and I, that's exactly how we love to do races - settle in and don't move the car unless we have to.
We arrived on Friday night, and basically just had time to check in and make it up to the restaurant area of town before everything closed down around 9:00. A little early, but still better than most of Columbus' downtown restaurants! We found a little cafe called Trio, and the food was good enough that we'd return the next morning for breakfast. There was also an art show/community gathering going on in the park outside, with lots of hula hooping, dreadlocks, dancing, and the like.
Saturday morning, Meredith had some team obligations for Team Trakkers, so we headed down to the expo/finish area and met up with her team. I met lots of people there, and not knowing names coming into it, I failed big time at remembering them all! Sorry... However, everyone seems really nice and really fast! And thank you Carol for my shiny new Trakkers visor for doing the hard work of hanging around during the photo shoot. :) I was joking with Meredith later that someone should have taken MY picture - while the age group team all lined up on stage, I was lined up on the side with Richie Cunningham, Michael Lovato, and Dede Griesbauer. If you're scoring at home, the four of us hold a combined FOUR Ironman titles AND a top 20 overall finish in the 2009 Last Chance For Boston 10K!
After the shoot and some breakfast, Meredith and I scampered down to the river with fellow ELFlete Rachelle to get in a practice swim.
My "Andre the Giant" Look
Mid-swim picture break!
The water was warmer than expected, but just about as murky as expected. We swam down a couple buoys and back, and realized the only way out of the water was to press yourself up and out onto a floating dock. Not a huge issue, but might be difficult after a hard swim. We figured they would have a ramp, or ladder, or something on race day. After the swim, Meredith got to man the Trakkers booth while I went back to the room and got our bikes packed up and ready to check in to transition. One more trip down to the river, and we were finally all done for the day. Somewhere in all that, I also managed to acquire a decent sunburn. Oops. I was never outside for an extended amount of time, but it all must have added up. We did dinner at Altruda's, a nice local Italian place that was out away from the race atmosphere. Lasagna, ravioli, and some garlic rolls to die for...yum!
Race morning came later than most, since we were only a couple blocks from transition and we didn't have to be out of there until 7:40. The previous morning, we had picked up some homemade bread at a local farmer's market, so we ate some chunks of that (yeah, forgot the plastic silverware), honey, and bananas. Setup was quick and painless, if a little chilly, and before we knew it, we were lined up to hop in the water.
The swim start was an in-water start, a first for me. We all jumped off the landing, treaded water for a couple minutes, and then swam off into the morning sun. The course went upriver for maybe the first 250 meters, then did a u-turn and came straight back down. That first stretch between the start and the turnaround was definitely the roughest swim I've been in so far. No particular hard hits, but I felt like I didn't have much room - always right in between two people, and sometimes getting squeezed out. I felt like I was swimming hard, though, and holding on to a pack from my wave. The good news was that I sighted this course probably better than any other to date. I never felt off line whatsoever, and when I climbed out (nope, no ramp or ladder), my watch verified it. 22 minutes and change! My goal coming in had been to break 30 minutes. Yeah, I guess I did that.
Swim: 23:05 (1:32/100m) (PR)
As I jogged up toward transition, I fumbled for my wetsuit zipper and couldn't quite get it. No problem, I'll just get it once I get up there. But even then...stuck fast. I thought I might be the only one out on the bike course in a wetsuit, but finally another athlete came by and was willing to help me out. So, a slower T1 than I would have liked.
T1: 3:55
I got out on the bike and really didn't feel too hot to start. I might have swum just a little out of my league, and now I was feeling it. Apparently, so was my speedometer, because it didn't start working until about mile 10. I just went on perceived effort and my cadence, which was working. This course was WAY hillier than anything I've ridden. CDA and Maysville had hills that probably outdid anything in Knoxville, but they also had some flat parts. This was pretty much nonstop up or down, and the down was usually twisty. I never really got my bike legs and my mind both in the same place at the same time, and ended up biking a little slower than intended. I kept a high cadence because my legs didn't feel like pushing hard, but couldn't make up the lost speed purely through cadence. I never had a problem getting up any of the hills; I just didn't do it quickly. By the time I rolled back into T2, I was more than ready to do some running. The course was about a mile long, we think, so my time was a little high, but it still wouldn't have been a bike PR.
Bike: 1:29:15 (16.7 mph official, 17.3 mph real)
I had three things to remember in T2. Hat. Race Number. Gel Flask. I remembered two, and my nutrition wasn't one of them. But hey, it was a pretty fast T2 at least!
T2: 1:44
As I started on the run, I realized that I had forgotten my gel and was already overdue for some calories. I also realized that my legs were kind of fried, so I took the good advice of my coach and held back for the first mile. At mile 1, I was running under a 9 minute pace, and I asked the volunteers for "anything except water!" They handed me a cup of Cerasport, which wasn't altogether bad - I've certainly had worse. It tasted kind of like sweet tea, but in looking at their site, that's not a flavor, and I can't figure out what I drank. So Cerasport, maybe your flavoring is a little off. :) Anyhow, I finally had some calories, and my legs started settling into a decent rhythm. At mile 2, I grabbed a Gu, downed it, and was back on track nutritionally.
I was expecting the turnaround around mile 2, but apparently, the course had changed last minute. At an aid station near mile 3, I stopped to ask a volunteer if I was still on course, but she didn't really understand me.
Me: "What mile am I at?"
Her: "3"
Me: "Where is the turnaround?"
Her: *blank stare*
Me: "Am I past the turnaround?"
Her: "3?"
So, somewhere in there, our communication broke down just a bit. It turned out that the turnaround was pretty much just around the corner out of sight, and soon I was headed for home. A few minutes later, I saw Meredith flying down the course, and started doing the math in my head to see if she was going to catch my time. I knew it would be close! I knew I would also be close to a PR time, but as my watch climbed past 9 minutes on mile 5, I figured I would just fall short. However, once it then climbed past 10...11...I knew I had just not seen the last mile marker. As we passed transition, a volunteer let us know that we had half a mile to go, and I realized I still had a chance! I used whatever energy I had left to power up the last hill, into the park, and across the finish line with a big run PR. My goal pace was 8:30s - didn't quite hit that, but still snuck into my goal range for the run of 50-55 minutes.
Run: 54:50 (8:49/mile)
Overall: 2:51:50 (21/31 AG, 165/372 Overall)
In the end, it was good enough for a new overall PR, and I knew it when I hit the line! In all, it was an amazing swim for me, a "meh" bike, and a pretty solid run. I think on a flat course, I would likely give back a little swim time, but I could easily make that back on the bike. (And subtract a few minutes for that extra bike mile) I'm pretty happy with the way everything went. Rev3 has a few glitches to work out, and there were some city construction issues that weren't under their control and impacted the course, but I think Knoxville has a LOT of potential as a destination race. I'd certainly consider going back.
Post-race, we got to catch up with friends old and new about the race, and then refueled with gelato, pizza, and margaritas! (Yes, in that order) It was great to hear all the stories of success and perseverance from the day, and a nice way to cap off a good weekend.
We arrived on Friday night, and basically just had time to check in and make it up to the restaurant area of town before everything closed down around 9:00. A little early, but still better than most of Columbus' downtown restaurants! We found a little cafe called Trio, and the food was good enough that we'd return the next morning for breakfast. There was also an art show/community gathering going on in the park outside, with lots of hula hooping, dreadlocks, dancing, and the like.
Saturday morning, Meredith had some team obligations for Team Trakkers, so we headed down to the expo/finish area and met up with her team. I met lots of people there, and not knowing names coming into it, I failed big time at remembering them all! Sorry... However, everyone seems really nice and really fast! And thank you Carol for my shiny new Trakkers visor for doing the hard work of hanging around during the photo shoot. :) I was joking with Meredith later that someone should have taken MY picture - while the age group team all lined up on stage, I was lined up on the side with Richie Cunningham, Michael Lovato, and Dede Griesbauer. If you're scoring at home, the four of us hold a combined FOUR Ironman titles AND a top 20 overall finish in the 2009 Last Chance For Boston 10K!
After the shoot and some breakfast, Meredith and I scampered down to the river with fellow ELFlete Rachelle to get in a practice swim.
My "Andre the Giant" Look
Mid-swim picture break!
The water was warmer than expected, but just about as murky as expected. We swam down a couple buoys and back, and realized the only way out of the water was to press yourself up and out onto a floating dock. Not a huge issue, but might be difficult after a hard swim. We figured they would have a ramp, or ladder, or something on race day. After the swim, Meredith got to man the Trakkers booth while I went back to the room and got our bikes packed up and ready to check in to transition. One more trip down to the river, and we were finally all done for the day. Somewhere in all that, I also managed to acquire a decent sunburn. Oops. I was never outside for an extended amount of time, but it all must have added up. We did dinner at Altruda's, a nice local Italian place that was out away from the race atmosphere. Lasagna, ravioli, and some garlic rolls to die for...yum!
Race morning came later than most, since we were only a couple blocks from transition and we didn't have to be out of there until 7:40. The previous morning, we had picked up some homemade bread at a local farmer's market, so we ate some chunks of that (yeah, forgot the plastic silverware), honey, and bananas. Setup was quick and painless, if a little chilly, and before we knew it, we were lined up to hop in the water.
The swim start was an in-water start, a first for me. We all jumped off the landing, treaded water for a couple minutes, and then swam off into the morning sun. The course went upriver for maybe the first 250 meters, then did a u-turn and came straight back down. That first stretch between the start and the turnaround was definitely the roughest swim I've been in so far. No particular hard hits, but I felt like I didn't have much room - always right in between two people, and sometimes getting squeezed out. I felt like I was swimming hard, though, and holding on to a pack from my wave. The good news was that I sighted this course probably better than any other to date. I never felt off line whatsoever, and when I climbed out (nope, no ramp or ladder), my watch verified it. 22 minutes and change! My goal coming in had been to break 30 minutes. Yeah, I guess I did that.
Swim: 23:05 (1:32/100m) (PR)
As I jogged up toward transition, I fumbled for my wetsuit zipper and couldn't quite get it. No problem, I'll just get it once I get up there. But even then...stuck fast. I thought I might be the only one out on the bike course in a wetsuit, but finally another athlete came by and was willing to help me out. So, a slower T1 than I would have liked.
T1: 3:55
I got out on the bike and really didn't feel too hot to start. I might have swum just a little out of my league, and now I was feeling it. Apparently, so was my speedometer, because it didn't start working until about mile 10. I just went on perceived effort and my cadence, which was working. This course was WAY hillier than anything I've ridden. CDA and Maysville had hills that probably outdid anything in Knoxville, but they also had some flat parts. This was pretty much nonstop up or down, and the down was usually twisty. I never really got my bike legs and my mind both in the same place at the same time, and ended up biking a little slower than intended. I kept a high cadence because my legs didn't feel like pushing hard, but couldn't make up the lost speed purely through cadence. I never had a problem getting up any of the hills; I just didn't do it quickly. By the time I rolled back into T2, I was more than ready to do some running. The course was about a mile long, we think, so my time was a little high, but it still wouldn't have been a bike PR.
Bike: 1:29:15 (16.7 mph official, 17.3 mph real)
I had three things to remember in T2. Hat. Race Number. Gel Flask. I remembered two, and my nutrition wasn't one of them. But hey, it was a pretty fast T2 at least!
T2: 1:44
As I started on the run, I realized that I had forgotten my gel and was already overdue for some calories. I also realized that my legs were kind of fried, so I took the good advice of my coach and held back for the first mile. At mile 1, I was running under a 9 minute pace, and I asked the volunteers for "anything except water!" They handed me a cup of Cerasport, which wasn't altogether bad - I've certainly had worse. It tasted kind of like sweet tea, but in looking at their site, that's not a flavor, and I can't figure out what I drank. So Cerasport, maybe your flavoring is a little off. :) Anyhow, I finally had some calories, and my legs started settling into a decent rhythm. At mile 2, I grabbed a Gu, downed it, and was back on track nutritionally.
I was expecting the turnaround around mile 2, but apparently, the course had changed last minute. At an aid station near mile 3, I stopped to ask a volunteer if I was still on course, but she didn't really understand me.
Me: "What mile am I at?"
Her: "3"
Me: "Where is the turnaround?"
Her: *blank stare*
Me: "Am I past the turnaround?"
Her: "3?"
So, somewhere in there, our communication broke down just a bit. It turned out that the turnaround was pretty much just around the corner out of sight, and soon I was headed for home. A few minutes later, I saw Meredith flying down the course, and started doing the math in my head to see if she was going to catch my time. I knew it would be close! I knew I would also be close to a PR time, but as my watch climbed past 9 minutes on mile 5, I figured I would just fall short. However, once it then climbed past 10...11...I knew I had just not seen the last mile marker. As we passed transition, a volunteer let us know that we had half a mile to go, and I realized I still had a chance! I used whatever energy I had left to power up the last hill, into the park, and across the finish line with a big run PR. My goal pace was 8:30s - didn't quite hit that, but still snuck into my goal range for the run of 50-55 minutes.
Run: 54:50 (8:49/mile)
Overall: 2:51:50 (21/31 AG, 165/372 Overall)
In the end, it was good enough for a new overall PR, and I knew it when I hit the line! In all, it was an amazing swim for me, a "meh" bike, and a pretty solid run. I think on a flat course, I would likely give back a little swim time, but I could easily make that back on the bike. (And subtract a few minutes for that extra bike mile) I'm pretty happy with the way everything went. Rev3 has a few glitches to work out, and there were some city construction issues that weren't under their control and impacted the course, but I think Knoxville has a LOT of potential as a destination race. I'd certainly consider going back.
Post-race, we got to catch up with friends old and new about the race, and then refueled with gelato, pizza, and margaritas! (Yes, in that order) It was great to hear all the stories of success and perseverance from the day, and a nice way to cap off a good weekend.
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