Over the last 7 days I have covered 76 miles on my feet.
Normally I wouldn't be so psyched about such an arbitrarily random number, but I haven't run this much in a week's time since 2001. I feel like my friends Jake, Pat Reaves or Ben right now with this much mileage! I'm actually surprised I've held up this well at all.
When I used to just run, I guess the most I ever ran was 85 per week. I was pretty consistent at that number, and it was always on 6 days and usually included 2 morning runs during the week. This time around it was 7 days/7 runs and included 40 miles in Patapsco and 4 runs that I would classify as "very hilly".
I have another 9 miles on tap for tomorrow, before taking Thursday as a no-run day, and then a couple short, easy runs on Friday/Saturday, leading up to Sunday's Miami Half Marathon. I'm quite looking forward to this escape, albeit brief, from the world up here.
As I was explaining to Kip, who has accompanied me for 32 of these miles, I'm trying a different approach to the tri season this year. I feel like my riding has gotten pretty good and I have a solid formula for success. I feel good about my swimming. My running, however, has been fairly stagnant. I needed a breakthrough, and the only way I was going to accomplish that was if I took this month with a little lighter swim/ride schedule and a big run one. So far so good.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thanks For the Memories
What a week! The highlight came on Tuesday morning when I got word that my job was eliminated, effective immediately. That certainly threw me for a loop as it was completely unexpected. Certainly things could always be worse, but it still sucks.
As a result, I no longer have a vehicle, since it was a company car. The company was not very helpful, so I wound up driving to an office in White Marsh so they could pick it up, and I rode my bike home. That was Wednesday, so fortunately it wasn't terribly cold, but it wasn't very warm. At least it's only 12 miles away.
The good news was that I actually rode my trainer for the first time this season. I managed 90 minutes on Tuesday night. Rides over 90 minutes I always prefer the rollers, and didn't have the patience for that this week.
I did start feeling better running this week too. Wednesday was a quick paced run (for me, given my current fitness) of 12 miles @ 6:25 avg. I was a little tired on Thursday, but Friday, Kip and I hit Patapsco in the late afternoon for a 10 mile run. It was cold, dark and still throughout the park, but it was probably my best run of the new season.
Saturday I hit another 9 with Kip, and my current flavor is to do work everytime the road turns upward. I've been taking easy days really easy and putting in more specific efforts. Today I ran for 2 hours - 20ish minutes more than I've done this year and I felt alright doing it (with the exception of a liquidation event about 85 minutes in). 58.5 miles this week caps a great three week stretch for me of 169 miles. That's normally a month's worth of running for me.
I was going to try and ride today since the temperature is more hospitable, but I'm actually pretty worked from the run and the hour is late right now to go outside.
Weekly Totals:
Swim: 8000 meters (two swims, eh)
Bike: 40 miles
Run: 58.5 miles
12 1/4 hours
The week ahead: I've obviously now got the task of finding a new job, so I will begin with that process this week. At the same time, I will focus a little on getting in a real quality week - hoping for about 200 miles on the bike (it'll be a short week as I am going to Miami on Friday) and 60 miles of running, culminating in the half down in MIA on Sunday.
As a result, I no longer have a vehicle, since it was a company car. The company was not very helpful, so I wound up driving to an office in White Marsh so they could pick it up, and I rode my bike home. That was Wednesday, so fortunately it wasn't terribly cold, but it wasn't very warm. At least it's only 12 miles away.
The good news was that I actually rode my trainer for the first time this season. I managed 90 minutes on Tuesday night. Rides over 90 minutes I always prefer the rollers, and didn't have the patience for that this week.
I did start feeling better running this week too. Wednesday was a quick paced run (for me, given my current fitness) of 12 miles @ 6:25 avg. I was a little tired on Thursday, but Friday, Kip and I hit Patapsco in the late afternoon for a 10 mile run. It was cold, dark and still throughout the park, but it was probably my best run of the new season.
Saturday I hit another 9 with Kip, and my current flavor is to do work everytime the road turns upward. I've been taking easy days really easy and putting in more specific efforts. Today I ran for 2 hours - 20ish minutes more than I've done this year and I felt alright doing it (with the exception of a liquidation event about 85 minutes in). 58.5 miles this week caps a great three week stretch for me of 169 miles. That's normally a month's worth of running for me.
I was going to try and ride today since the temperature is more hospitable, but I'm actually pretty worked from the run and the hour is late right now to go outside.
Weekly Totals:
Swim: 8000 meters (two swims, eh)
Bike: 40 miles
Run: 58.5 miles
12 1/4 hours
The week ahead: I've obviously now got the task of finding a new job, so I will begin with that process this week. At the same time, I will focus a little on getting in a real quality week - hoping for about 200 miles on the bike (it'll be a short week as I am going to Miami on Friday) and 60 miles of running, culminating in the half down in MIA on Sunday.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hangin' Tough
I'm tired. I'm old. I'm beat up. I feel like Tina Turner, or Lil' Kim's pussy.
Seriously, I can't remember the last time I had a good run, and this isn't one of those stories that ends with "...until tonight, when I went out there, got after it and killed my run." In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if this wall that I've seemingly hit is I-T. I'm sure it's not, but man, I am dying out there.
To my body's credit, it's handled things quite well these past 6 weeks. No days off since December 1st, so I guess that is up to 42 days, and the past two weeks I have run 55 and 55.5 miles, respectively. I've barely run over 50 miles in a week once every few months, so stringing two 50+ back to back weeks is proving harder on my body than I thought. I remember just a few years ago when this would represent 3.5 days of running. Now those days seem to be just a fond memory of when my body wasn't as beat up.
The "things that are wrong with me list" is growing these days, and it's resulting in some negative thoughts. For one, I feel as if I'm running slower and it's taking a lot more out of me than it should. But the more optimistic side of me is looking up, realizing the mileage is coming up and I should expect to be knocked down a little at first. I think the harder thing to overcome is the mental breakdown. We seem to have had a lot of "middle days" lately - ones that are cold enough to not ride outside but warm enough to have to make the conscious decision not to.
That was the case this weekend, as both my planned rides were scrapped. I did my first running "workout" of the new training cycle on Saturday at Derwood (more to come on this). By the time I got home - way later than planned - at 2:30, I was wrecked. And then it started to icy rain a little, so no riding outside for me. I woke up today at 5:45, looked outside and saw the wet roads, and felt how cold it was. I texted OJ and Tom and said there would be no riding in Frederick. It's not worth the drive to ride on slick roads out in Hateville.
The end result was a week without riding. Believe it or not, I'm okay with bike hiatuses in the winter. I'm confident enough in my ability to ride a bike fast for a while and know what I have to do to catapult myself into racing shape before the season.
The pool was another story. I got in 3 times for 10,000 meters, which isn't a bad week, but it was one good swim and two crappy ones.
Running was weird. I ran by myself for 3 of my 5 runs, but only because I'm running so slow I don't want anyone to have to run with me. Saturday a couple of us headed down to the Ag Park in Derwood to do a workout on the USATF XC course. I was glad to see everyone else had a good workout, but I just dogged it. We did get introduced to our new friend, Julia, who we have decided is ridiculous, inappropriate and hilarious. A perfect fit for the group.
Weekly Totals: 9.75 hours (big drop from previous two weeks but no riding)
Swim - 10,000m
Bike - 0
Run - 55.5 miles
But what else is new? There is, after all, more to life than training sometimes. Especially this time of year. Actually, I'm lying. There's not much going on by way of fun times, and lately I've been staying in the house a lot more.
On the Boob Tube: A new season of The Real World, Wednesdays at 10pm. The 21st edition of the show makes its way to a sick pier warehouse in Brooklyn. It's actually quite a diverse cast. And by diverse, I mean there's a post-op tranny. Sweet. Tuesdays just got a whole lot better with the return of Scrubs. Now on ABC, the show also returned to being funny, after 1.5 seasons of unfunnyness. Following Scrubs on FX is the 6th season now of Nip/Tuck. The first season of this show was amazing. Then it's just gotten weirder and weirder. I still watch, usually to see the hot chicks that get banged, but whatever, it's still a decent show.
Returning soon will be Lost (1/21 - back to Wednesdays!), and I'm sure new seasons of Survivor and Amazing Race will pick up after the Superbowl. Also, I saw the cast for the new Celebrity Apprentice and I'm partially amazed at who agreed to do it, so I may watch that.
Speaking of football, all is good on the homefront as Baltimore is celebrating the Ravens' success. A trip next week to Pittsburgh is all that separates them from the Superbowl. Should be pretty fun. Unfortunately for the Giants, their season ended today at the hands of the lowly Eagles. Oh well.
I'm currently watching the Golden Globes, which is the start to the televised awards season. I love these stupid things. Again, mostly for the hot chicks, but also because television and film are two staples in my life. I always wish I could be there and hobknob/politic with these folks.
I'm also trying to make some dietary changes by way of reducing the sugary cereals. Once I'm done with my current stock of Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks and Cocoa Krispies, I'm going to avoid them for a while. Maybe eat more eggs or oatmeal. Oatmeal with tons of brown sugar and maple syrup. Booyah.
The week ahead appears to be getting cold. This means the inevitable - I will, in fact, have to ride my bike inside. As much as my body will fight it, I'll have to do it. I might try and stack the front half of the week before it gets too cold. My goals are to get in the pool 4 times, run 57-58 miles and shoot, if the weather on the weekend isn't bad maybe finally get out to Frederick. Or at least do a real long ride.
Seriously, I can't remember the last time I had a good run, and this isn't one of those stories that ends with "...until tonight, when I went out there, got after it and killed my run." In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if this wall that I've seemingly hit is I-T. I'm sure it's not, but man, I am dying out there.
To my body's credit, it's handled things quite well these past 6 weeks. No days off since December 1st, so I guess that is up to 42 days, and the past two weeks I have run 55 and 55.5 miles, respectively. I've barely run over 50 miles in a week once every few months, so stringing two 50+ back to back weeks is proving harder on my body than I thought. I remember just a few years ago when this would represent 3.5 days of running. Now those days seem to be just a fond memory of when my body wasn't as beat up.
The "things that are wrong with me list" is growing these days, and it's resulting in some negative thoughts. For one, I feel as if I'm running slower and it's taking a lot more out of me than it should. But the more optimistic side of me is looking up, realizing the mileage is coming up and I should expect to be knocked down a little at first. I think the harder thing to overcome is the mental breakdown. We seem to have had a lot of "middle days" lately - ones that are cold enough to not ride outside but warm enough to have to make the conscious decision not to.
That was the case this weekend, as both my planned rides were scrapped. I did my first running "workout" of the new training cycle on Saturday at Derwood (more to come on this). By the time I got home - way later than planned - at 2:30, I was wrecked. And then it started to icy rain a little, so no riding outside for me. I woke up today at 5:45, looked outside and saw the wet roads, and felt how cold it was. I texted OJ and Tom and said there would be no riding in Frederick. It's not worth the drive to ride on slick roads out in Hateville.
The end result was a week without riding. Believe it or not, I'm okay with bike hiatuses in the winter. I'm confident enough in my ability to ride a bike fast for a while and know what I have to do to catapult myself into racing shape before the season.
The pool was another story. I got in 3 times for 10,000 meters, which isn't a bad week, but it was one good swim and two crappy ones.
Running was weird. I ran by myself for 3 of my 5 runs, but only because I'm running so slow I don't want anyone to have to run with me. Saturday a couple of us headed down to the Ag Park in Derwood to do a workout on the USATF XC course. I was glad to see everyone else had a good workout, but I just dogged it. We did get introduced to our new friend, Julia, who we have decided is ridiculous, inappropriate and hilarious. A perfect fit for the group.
Weekly Totals: 9.75 hours (big drop from previous two weeks but no riding)
Swim - 10,000m
Bike - 0
Run - 55.5 miles
But what else is new? There is, after all, more to life than training sometimes. Especially this time of year. Actually, I'm lying. There's not much going on by way of fun times, and lately I've been staying in the house a lot more.
On the Boob Tube: A new season of The Real World, Wednesdays at 10pm. The 21st edition of the show makes its way to a sick pier warehouse in Brooklyn. It's actually quite a diverse cast. And by diverse, I mean there's a post-op tranny. Sweet. Tuesdays just got a whole lot better with the return of Scrubs. Now on ABC, the show also returned to being funny, after 1.5 seasons of unfunnyness. Following Scrubs on FX is the 6th season now of Nip/Tuck. The first season of this show was amazing. Then it's just gotten weirder and weirder. I still watch, usually to see the hot chicks that get banged, but whatever, it's still a decent show.
Returning soon will be Lost (1/21 - back to Wednesdays!), and I'm sure new seasons of Survivor and Amazing Race will pick up after the Superbowl. Also, I saw the cast for the new Celebrity Apprentice and I'm partially amazed at who agreed to do it, so I may watch that.
Speaking of football, all is good on the homefront as Baltimore is celebrating the Ravens' success. A trip next week to Pittsburgh is all that separates them from the Superbowl. Should be pretty fun. Unfortunately for the Giants, their season ended today at the hands of the lowly Eagles. Oh well.
I'm currently watching the Golden Globes, which is the start to the televised awards season. I love these stupid things. Again, mostly for the hot chicks, but also because television and film are two staples in my life. I always wish I could be there and hobknob/politic with these folks.
I'm also trying to make some dietary changes by way of reducing the sugary cereals. Once I'm done with my current stock of Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks and Cocoa Krispies, I'm going to avoid them for a while. Maybe eat more eggs or oatmeal. Oatmeal with tons of brown sugar and maple syrup. Booyah.
The week ahead appears to be getting cold. This means the inevitable - I will, in fact, have to ride my bike inside. As much as my body will fight it, I'll have to do it. I might try and stack the front half of the week before it gets too cold. My goals are to get in the pool 4 times, run 57-58 miles and shoot, if the weather on the weekend isn't bad maybe finally get out to Frederick. Or at least do a real long ride.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Roctane
A few weeks ago I had a few packets of Roctane (made by Gu) sent over to me to try out, and, now that I've consumed them all, I wanted to take a moment to review them.
For starters, I'm a big fan of Gu. I have eaten the chocolate Gu religiously over the years, as they provide calories and also taste good, are easy to transport, and, most importantly, are a tremendous flat-fixer. If you ever get a flat and there is a noticeable gash in your tire, just eat one and stick it in the casing of the tire before putting the tube in. It'll protect the tire til you can get a new one, or in my case, can be ridden on for two years.
I then started eating Vanilla Gu, which is the best tasting one.
The Roctanes came and I wasn't sure what they were all about - they looked like normal Gu but I guess there is something different about them. Maybe more caffeine. Anyway, the flavors were Blueberry Pomegranate and Orange Creme or Orange Vanilla or something.
I brought them with me on each of my 50 mile rides over the 4 days I was home, and ate one at 90min and one at 2h15m. They provided an immediate boost of energy, moreso than the normal Gu, and weren't that bad tasting. I'll say I enjoy the Orange flavor better, and probably wouldn't buy Blueberry on my own, but I also don't like blueberry that much to begin with.
My recommendation is to always keep flavors simple - the more flavor combos you do, the more chance you have to mess up.
But these were some tasty little snacks and great for rides or runs, and now that I'm aware of them I'll probably make sure to carry one or two with me for that extra jolt when needed.
For starters, I'm a big fan of Gu. I have eaten the chocolate Gu religiously over the years, as they provide calories and also taste good, are easy to transport, and, most importantly, are a tremendous flat-fixer. If you ever get a flat and there is a noticeable gash in your tire, just eat one and stick it in the casing of the tire before putting the tube in. It'll protect the tire til you can get a new one, or in my case, can be ridden on for two years.
I then started eating Vanilla Gu, which is the best tasting one.
The Roctanes came and I wasn't sure what they were all about - they looked like normal Gu but I guess there is something different about them. Maybe more caffeine. Anyway, the flavors were Blueberry Pomegranate and Orange Creme or Orange Vanilla or something.
I brought them with me on each of my 50 mile rides over the 4 days I was home, and ate one at 90min and one at 2h15m. They provided an immediate boost of energy, moreso than the normal Gu, and weren't that bad tasting. I'll say I enjoy the Orange flavor better, and probably wouldn't buy Blueberry on my own, but I also don't like blueberry that much to begin with.
My recommendation is to always keep flavors simple - the more flavor combos you do, the more chance you have to mess up.
But these were some tasty little snacks and great for rides or runs, and now that I'm aware of them I'll probably make sure to carry one or two with me for that extra jolt when needed.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
New Year's Week #5
I've got to say, I'm pretty pleased with how things have been going as of late. I'm not doing anything crazy by any means, but getting solid base work in and achieving levels of volume I haven't done consistently in years.
I intended on riding my bike this afternoon for about 2 hours, but with Godsey in town I figured it would be mildly rude to sit on my rollers for that long, or to go out on the road and disappear for a while. So I'm calling it a week as of 7pm on Sunday.
Swim: 1000 meters (more on this)
Bike: 150 miles (2 rides)
Run: 55 miles (6 runs)
This is one of my highest run weeks in the last couple of years (only went over 50 on four occasions last year) and it was done with some pretty good longer runs. I haven't been feeling very swift, and the runs are taking longer than I normally do, but I'm getting it in. I ran 14 miles today with the gang up at NCR Trail. I hate that place. I think it's mental, but it always feels like I'm running way harder than I should be to run 7 minute pace there.
Really psyched on the rides this week. I picked up my tuned up bike on Wednesday, and rode it on Thursday (New Year's Day). I left my house just before 10am, it was really cold and way windier than I expected. The combination of 20+ miles uphill and the headwind resulted in a super slow ride. I wound up picking up some help on the way back down, but was just out there all day by myself, with the exception of maybe 7 miles towards the end with some dude I caught up to. At just under 4.5 hours it was a long time to be out there for 67 miles, but whatever.
Yesterday was the complete opposite. I woke up after not too much sleep, and hopped on my bike at 7:40. I rode up to TriSpeed to meet Tom Stott and Sean, and we rode for an hour before meeting up with a group at 10am at Oregon Ridge. We rode with them for a little, then Tom and I broke off. The roads were amazing; empty, paved and scenic. It felt warmer in the morning, probably due to less wind, but as the wind picked up it became a tailwind for us home. I stopped at 7-11 in Timonium for a Milky Way, and then continued on my way home. Just about 85 miles, on my bike for a little over 5 hours. I came home, ate a little and changed, and then Kip, Godsey, Anthony and I hit the trails of Robert E Lee for about 7 miles.
Had I ridden today it would have been a 185 mile week, but I'm definitely tired from a 6.5 hour day yesterday and a "long" run today. This also isn't taking into account the 3am bedtime last night and another 7:30 wakeup call today.
Swimming - yeah. I didn't have time on Monday or Tuesday due to work, and then Wednesday I didn't realize the pool was closing early so I only had 20 minutes to swim. I just went in for a 150 warmup, 750 hard and then 100 cooldown. It was the least I could do. Then no time over the weekend. I'll get that back this week and maybe take it a little easier on the other two.
So it was a 17 hour week, just slightly below last week's but a great start to the new year. The week ahead should be a little more of the same, I'm going to try to keep around 55 miles a week of running for a few weeks, and hopefully introduce some indoor riding this week during the week. I'm okay with getting outside on the weekends but need to ride a little more during the week.
I intended on riding my bike this afternoon for about 2 hours, but with Godsey in town I figured it would be mildly rude to sit on my rollers for that long, or to go out on the road and disappear for a while. So I'm calling it a week as of 7pm on Sunday.
Swim: 1000 meters (more on this)
Bike: 150 miles (2 rides)
Run: 55 miles (6 runs)
This is one of my highest run weeks in the last couple of years (only went over 50 on four occasions last year) and it was done with some pretty good longer runs. I haven't been feeling very swift, and the runs are taking longer than I normally do, but I'm getting it in. I ran 14 miles today with the gang up at NCR Trail. I hate that place. I think it's mental, but it always feels like I'm running way harder than I should be to run 7 minute pace there.
Really psyched on the rides this week. I picked up my tuned up bike on Wednesday, and rode it on Thursday (New Year's Day). I left my house just before 10am, it was really cold and way windier than I expected. The combination of 20+ miles uphill and the headwind resulted in a super slow ride. I wound up picking up some help on the way back down, but was just out there all day by myself, with the exception of maybe 7 miles towards the end with some dude I caught up to. At just under 4.5 hours it was a long time to be out there for 67 miles, but whatever.
Yesterday was the complete opposite. I woke up after not too much sleep, and hopped on my bike at 7:40. I rode up to TriSpeed to meet Tom Stott and Sean, and we rode for an hour before meeting up with a group at 10am at Oregon Ridge. We rode with them for a little, then Tom and I broke off. The roads were amazing; empty, paved and scenic. It felt warmer in the morning, probably due to less wind, but as the wind picked up it became a tailwind for us home. I stopped at 7-11 in Timonium for a Milky Way, and then continued on my way home. Just about 85 miles, on my bike for a little over 5 hours. I came home, ate a little and changed, and then Kip, Godsey, Anthony and I hit the trails of Robert E Lee for about 7 miles.
Had I ridden today it would have been a 185 mile week, but I'm definitely tired from a 6.5 hour day yesterday and a "long" run today. This also isn't taking into account the 3am bedtime last night and another 7:30 wakeup call today.
Swimming - yeah. I didn't have time on Monday or Tuesday due to work, and then Wednesday I didn't realize the pool was closing early so I only had 20 minutes to swim. I just went in for a 150 warmup, 750 hard and then 100 cooldown. It was the least I could do. Then no time over the weekend. I'll get that back this week and maybe take it a little easier on the other two.
So it was a 17 hour week, just slightly below last week's but a great start to the new year. The week ahead should be a little more of the same, I'm going to try to keep around 55 miles a week of running for a few weeks, and hopefully introduce some indoor riding this week during the week. I'm okay with getting outside on the weekends but need to ride a little more during the week.
Friday, January 02, 2009
When It's Over
I waited a little long to wrap up 2008, so I'll combine posts. I want to grade myself on accomplishing my goals this year.
Columbia Triathlon
The goals were to swim under 22:30, ride under 1:05 and finish overall under 2h10m.
Check, to all 3. The swim was 22:23, just a few seconds off my PR there, but represented over 2:30 faster than 2007. The bike was 1:04:44, which represented a PR by 5:30. This was a HUGE breakthrough. Overall I went 2:08:40, which was a nearly 9 minute PR. I finished 27th overall (including the 12 pros ahead) and my bike split was 13th overall (2nd amateur I believe behind my friend Joe).
Running
The goals were to run a 16:30 5k, run my road PR in a 10k (34:08), run under 58 minutes for 10 miles, go under 1:17 at Philly Distance Run and run a 2:45 marathon.
Waaa-waaa, didn't hit a single one. 16:48 at Shamrock was as fast as I would go, but in fairness the event I would have expected to run 16:30 was cancelled, and at that point I didn't care as much. I only did the one open 10k, and it fell in the middle of some other bigger races, so I didn't take it as seriously, and I got fairly close to the 10 mile goal (58:12 at Broad Street). Had I been able to keep pace with Arjun after mile 7 at PDR, I would have slipped under my goal, but definitely fell apart and we all know what happened with the marathon.
I did, however, accomplish one running goal of winning a race - Terp Trot 5k.
Eagleman
The goal was to win my age group and qualify for Hawaii.
I did not. Enough said.
Other random goals
I wanted to take off fewer than 26 days of training and run 2,000 miles. I also wanted to compete in 26 total races, including 8 triathlons.
In actuality I took off around 42 I think it came to, and fell shy of 2,000 (1,874, still up from 1752 or something from the year before). I did 27 total races, including 7 triathlons and 1 bike TT.
I'm pleased with the results, it was a long year, and it felt long before I even hit the fall. The curse of August is still very much real, with some weird injuries plaguing me again in the late summer/early fall and curtailing some of my fall fun. After a little time off post-NYC and some mental refreshing, I feel ready to go. So far I've got a 32 day active streak going, and am already on pace for hitting some larger than usual volumes early in the season.
2009 Goals
Just as important at looking back is setting new goals. I think I'm going to structure things slightly different this year, and not be as concerned with things like total mileage, number of days off, number of races. I want to race less, that's for sure.
For me it's also very easy to have specific goals for each race I do, since I know what races I'll do this year already. The triathlons are real easy:
Columbia - I want to get into the 21:xx range in the swim, go 1:02:xx on the bike and 37:xx on the run. This would yield a good time and undoubtedly a solid placement.
Eagleman - Avoid the pitfalls from last year, for starters. I know I've got the wheels to do a 2:12 on the bike and 1:20 on the run, and if I could swim under 30 it would be an amazing day. No more qualifying spots for Hawaii means the pressure's off a little.
NJ State Tri - fastest bike split and top 5 overall
Ironman Arizona - I am preparing for a fast time but will not be disappointed with anything I do. I believe a one hour swim and five hour bike are reasonable, and then the run is a wildcard. It could be 3 hours, it could be 3.5, it could be 4. Either way, I absolutely want to be 9:45 or better.
The running races are a little different, because they won't be my first focus this year. At Miami next month I'd like to go under 1:20, and then not run slower than 60 minutes at Club Challenge. At Shamrock I think I can run a few seconds faster than last year, and then Boston Marathon will be the next big event where the goal will be to run an evenly paced, as comfortable as a marathon can be run.
Columbia Triathlon
The goals were to swim under 22:30, ride under 1:05 and finish overall under 2h10m.
Check, to all 3. The swim was 22:23, just a few seconds off my PR there, but represented over 2:30 faster than 2007. The bike was 1:04:44, which represented a PR by 5:30. This was a HUGE breakthrough. Overall I went 2:08:40, which was a nearly 9 minute PR. I finished 27th overall (including the 12 pros ahead) and my bike split was 13th overall (2nd amateur I believe behind my friend Joe).
Running
The goals were to run a 16:30 5k, run my road PR in a 10k (34:08), run under 58 minutes for 10 miles, go under 1:17 at Philly Distance Run and run a 2:45 marathon.
Waaa-waaa, didn't hit a single one. 16:48 at Shamrock was as fast as I would go, but in fairness the event I would have expected to run 16:30 was cancelled, and at that point I didn't care as much. I only did the one open 10k, and it fell in the middle of some other bigger races, so I didn't take it as seriously, and I got fairly close to the 10 mile goal (58:12 at Broad Street). Had I been able to keep pace with Arjun after mile 7 at PDR, I would have slipped under my goal, but definitely fell apart and we all know what happened with the marathon.
I did, however, accomplish one running goal of winning a race - Terp Trot 5k.
Eagleman
The goal was to win my age group and qualify for Hawaii.
I did not. Enough said.
Other random goals
I wanted to take off fewer than 26 days of training and run 2,000 miles. I also wanted to compete in 26 total races, including 8 triathlons.
In actuality I took off around 42 I think it came to, and fell shy of 2,000 (1,874, still up from 1752 or something from the year before). I did 27 total races, including 7 triathlons and 1 bike TT.
I'm pleased with the results, it was a long year, and it felt long before I even hit the fall. The curse of August is still very much real, with some weird injuries plaguing me again in the late summer/early fall and curtailing some of my fall fun. After a little time off post-NYC and some mental refreshing, I feel ready to go. So far I've got a 32 day active streak going, and am already on pace for hitting some larger than usual volumes early in the season.
2009 Goals
Just as important at looking back is setting new goals. I think I'm going to structure things slightly different this year, and not be as concerned with things like total mileage, number of days off, number of races. I want to race less, that's for sure.
For me it's also very easy to have specific goals for each race I do, since I know what races I'll do this year already. The triathlons are real easy:
Columbia - I want to get into the 21:xx range in the swim, go 1:02:xx on the bike and 37:xx on the run. This would yield a good time and undoubtedly a solid placement.
Eagleman - Avoid the pitfalls from last year, for starters. I know I've got the wheels to do a 2:12 on the bike and 1:20 on the run, and if I could swim under 30 it would be an amazing day. No more qualifying spots for Hawaii means the pressure's off a little.
NJ State Tri - fastest bike split and top 5 overall
Ironman Arizona - I am preparing for a fast time but will not be disappointed with anything I do. I believe a one hour swim and five hour bike are reasonable, and then the run is a wildcard. It could be 3 hours, it could be 3.5, it could be 4. Either way, I absolutely want to be 9:45 or better.
The running races are a little different, because they won't be my first focus this year. At Miami next month I'd like to go under 1:20, and then not run slower than 60 minutes at Club Challenge. At Shamrock I think I can run a few seconds faster than last year, and then Boston Marathon will be the next big event where the goal will be to run an evenly paced, as comfortable as a marathon can be run.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas Week #4
You can dance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind; cause your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance well, they're no friends of mine.
Christmas week was an interesting little test, not as much of physical fitness as it was fighting the demons of going home. I haven't stayed at home for as many consecutive days since 2005 (Tues night-Sat afternoon) and frequently I have trouble getting my training in while I'm up there. Most of this is due to being there for a short time, not feeling like dragging my bike up there and the fact that none of my friends run anymore.
In order to counteract this, I actually brought my rollers home. I was determined to ride no matter what, even if it meant riding inside. Fortunately it didn't come to that, and the week yielded my 2nd highest week by hours of 2008!
I ran fairly easy Monday, and despite feeling like ass put in a decent 3600m in the pool on Tuesday. This would be the only swim of the week. Wednesday morning I was home and ran at Hartshorne, site of my ankle's destruction back in 2003. Conditions were rough, with ice and frozen mud all up on the trails, and it was sleeting. I muddled through 11 miles, and called it a day as I then had to begin Christmas shopping.
Thursday was Christmas, and as tradition prescribes, I strive for at least a 50 mile ride. I headed out toward the beach in 50 degree weather, and in spite of the wind managed a decent ride to the end of Sandy Hook, and then up Scenic Drive and back through Middletown. Of course, I left my house at 2, so as I rolled back in at 5 it was dark.
Friday I got out at 12, it was about 10 degrees cooler but I was still rocking short gloves. I was actually really cold, but was too lazy to go back to the house in the first quarter mile. This day I headed south and west, towards Manasquan Reservoir. Some great roads exist out there; little traffic, long, slightly undulating stretches make for fast riding. 3 hours later I was back home, and met up with Pereless at Tatum for an easy 7 miles. He had just eaten at Five Guys so needless to say it was not a fast run. Again, finished in the dark.
Saturday was a little warmer again but this time was actively precipitating. Because it wasn't raining at the start of the ride, I left at noon and headed out for the same ride as Thursday. As I neared the beach, it was super foggy and so humid there were just raindrops in the air. Wind wasn't bad, but I was really cold and wet. But, I managed the 3 hour ride again.
I drove back to Baltimore and due to a housekey fiasco did not go for a run, but when I woke up on Sunday morning it was 65 degrees! Really windy, but 65 degrees. Pretty awesome. I headed down to Columbia and met up with Scotty, and we rolled (on very wet roads) towards Centennial Park to meet Zero. We had a sweet tailwind for the first half of the ride, but then we turned into the wind and it was brutal. We picked it up a little towards the end, then with 3 miles to go Tom got a flat. Another 50 mile ride, making 4 straight - 200 miles in 4 days on 3 hours a day. I was tired.
Since I had only run 3 days this week, I had to run in the afternoon, so after dropping my bike off at TriSpeed (I am working on coming up with a female name for my bike, as I will be spending considerable time with her this year) I headed back down to Patapsco to meet Jake. This run turned into a tough run, the trails were sloppy and I was beat to the street. We crawled through a challenging and slow 11+ miles. At this point I was totally worked and it was 5 o'clock - I had been out since 8.
The week wound up looking like this:
Swim - 3600m (only had access to the pool the one day really)
Run - 37 miles (4 runs)
Bike - 200 miles (4 rides)
18.25 hours. That's a huge week for me and a great way to end 2008. I need to recover a little over the next few days, and then bang from Thursday through Sunday again. Then I plan on taking the following week pretty easy.
In other news, Terps play their bowl game tomorrow at 4:30, so GO TERPS!
Christmas week was an interesting little test, not as much of physical fitness as it was fighting the demons of going home. I haven't stayed at home for as many consecutive days since 2005 (Tues night-Sat afternoon) and frequently I have trouble getting my training in while I'm up there. Most of this is due to being there for a short time, not feeling like dragging my bike up there and the fact that none of my friends run anymore.
In order to counteract this, I actually brought my rollers home. I was determined to ride no matter what, even if it meant riding inside. Fortunately it didn't come to that, and the week yielded my 2nd highest week by hours of 2008!
I ran fairly easy Monday, and despite feeling like ass put in a decent 3600m in the pool on Tuesday. This would be the only swim of the week. Wednesday morning I was home and ran at Hartshorne, site of my ankle's destruction back in 2003. Conditions were rough, with ice and frozen mud all up on the trails, and it was sleeting. I muddled through 11 miles, and called it a day as I then had to begin Christmas shopping.
Thursday was Christmas, and as tradition prescribes, I strive for at least a 50 mile ride. I headed out toward the beach in 50 degree weather, and in spite of the wind managed a decent ride to the end of Sandy Hook, and then up Scenic Drive and back through Middletown. Of course, I left my house at 2, so as I rolled back in at 5 it was dark.
Friday I got out at 12, it was about 10 degrees cooler but I was still rocking short gloves. I was actually really cold, but was too lazy to go back to the house in the first quarter mile. This day I headed south and west, towards Manasquan Reservoir. Some great roads exist out there; little traffic, long, slightly undulating stretches make for fast riding. 3 hours later I was back home, and met up with Pereless at Tatum for an easy 7 miles. He had just eaten at Five Guys so needless to say it was not a fast run. Again, finished in the dark.
Saturday was a little warmer again but this time was actively precipitating. Because it wasn't raining at the start of the ride, I left at noon and headed out for the same ride as Thursday. As I neared the beach, it was super foggy and so humid there were just raindrops in the air. Wind wasn't bad, but I was really cold and wet. But, I managed the 3 hour ride again.
I drove back to Baltimore and due to a housekey fiasco did not go for a run, but when I woke up on Sunday morning it was 65 degrees! Really windy, but 65 degrees. Pretty awesome. I headed down to Columbia and met up with Scotty, and we rolled (on very wet roads) towards Centennial Park to meet Zero. We had a sweet tailwind for the first half of the ride, but then we turned into the wind and it was brutal. We picked it up a little towards the end, then with 3 miles to go Tom got a flat. Another 50 mile ride, making 4 straight - 200 miles in 4 days on 3 hours a day. I was tired.
Since I had only run 3 days this week, I had to run in the afternoon, so after dropping my bike off at TriSpeed (I am working on coming up with a female name for my bike, as I will be spending considerable time with her this year) I headed back down to Patapsco to meet Jake. This run turned into a tough run, the trails were sloppy and I was beat to the street. We crawled through a challenging and slow 11+ miles. At this point I was totally worked and it was 5 o'clock - I had been out since 8.
The week wound up looking like this:
Swim - 3600m (only had access to the pool the one day really)
Run - 37 miles (4 runs)
Bike - 200 miles (4 rides)
18.25 hours. That's a huge week for me and a great way to end 2008. I need to recover a little over the next few days, and then bang from Thursday through Sunday again. Then I plan on taking the following week pretty easy.
In other news, Terps play their bowl game tomorrow at 4:30, so GO TERPS!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Celtic Solstice 2008
Celtic Solstice is another one of my favorite events, and definitely my favorite end-of-season wintertime race. Normally I can't stand racing in the cold, but this race is worth it. First, it's grown by leaps and bounds in its nearly 10 years of life. There were 2800 registered competitors for yesterday's edition, and even though only 1800 were officially timed (some people forget to pick up the chip, etc), that's still a ton for a late December 5 miler.
More importantly, Jim Adams does a great job with the race premium. No "free" t-shirt, just an optional premium for $35. In years past we've received Brooks technical shirts, then a pretty cool half-zip long sleeve thing, then last year it was a really sweet jacket. This year I think is the best so far, being an awesome and totally comfortable fleece. There are a ton of people who only sign up for the race to get this premium.
The first two years I ran the race, in 2005 and 2006, I magically ended up with the same time and place. Last year I raced it, feeling pretty good for some reason heading into December. This year I wasn't sure what to expect. I feel like a 30min 5 miler has got to be pretty standard for me now, assuming I'm running, but to go much faster than 29 at this point was going to take a lot of effort, seeing as I've run about 100 miles in the last two months, with most of that coming in the last couple of weeks.
I toed the line next to the squad of Justin, Dr. J, Scotty and MGP, and as the gun went off, the race went tearing up the first hill. It's about a quarter of a mile up before taking a right hand turn, and I felt like I was sprinting. My HR skyrocketed before finally settling in. I was keeping most of my friends in sight, but just couldn't bridge up. I hit the first mile in a surprisingly slow 6:03. Either it was long, I thought, or man am I out of shape!
The 2nd mile last year I remembered as being short, so I think things may have been adjusted this year, as I came through in 5:55. At least I was heading in a better direction. The cold was taking its toll and I was really not feeling comfortable. Another thing I love about this race is the number of people that shout me out during it, since it's got an out and back at one point. It's always fun to spot your friends and it helps pump you up. I hit mile 3 in 5:54, so at least I was consistent. I headed down around the lake and was caught in the middle, just running by myself. Someone behind me was making a terrible sound, like they were dying. I then caught up to Weems McFadden of HoCo (interestingly enough he possessed the number ahead of me) and we came through mile 4 in 5:58.
I was still quite uncomfortable but knew the race was almost done, if I could just get around the Moorish Tower and back onto the road I'd have a nice downhill. I get to that point and deja vu prevailed - Eric, Will and Pete are standing there alerting me that if I don't run faster I'm going to get "girled" (act of getting beat by a girl). The same thing happened last year. So I made sure I sprinted in, and put it out there with a 5:35 last mile, crossing the line at 29:28.
At first glance, this is 22 seconds slower than I ran last year, but I had also been running for a while last year and had somewhat of a base underneath me. I had already done the NCR Trail Half and then run 16 miles in the Metric Marathon (not to mention the little xc meet) - so I was definitely more race ready than I was yesterday.
Dave kept his stranglehold on the race, winning for the third straight year in a most excellent time of 25:08, while Kyle was 2nd in 25:18. Collin Anderson had a great race, crossing in 27:55, and then it was Justin, Mike and Tom Stott (28:10, 28:15, 28:46).
Weekly Wrap-Up
And now for the weekly wrap up.
This week was even less by volume than last, but I'm okay with it. Just under 8 hours I think, but I haven't taken any days off.
Swim: 9,000 meters
Bike: 0 miles
Run: 41 miles
I was really tired this week, and the current work situation is getting more and more stressful with the state of the automotive union, so it was a pretty rough couple of days.
However, I had a great swim on Friday night, rolling 2000m straight in 34:05. By 500 I went 8:45, 8:38, 8:30, 8:10. I felt pretty good, and was pleased with the effort.
I had a "good" week running, going over 40 miles for the first time in two months. Monday was real warm and we got after it on the run. Wednesday was a little more chill, and then I ran with Kip on Thursday in Mt. Washington for some slow hills. Saturday I raced, and then today I did our Wednesday Night Run in one of the slowest times I've ever done it, which was good.
This week is a bigger week, thanks to a few days off from work. I need to see if I can get my bike fixed up on Tuesday before I head home, and then knock out 5 days of rides. I won't get to swim much, so running and riding will be the staple workouts for the week.
More importantly, Jim Adams does a great job with the race premium. No "free" t-shirt, just an optional premium for $35. In years past we've received Brooks technical shirts, then a pretty cool half-zip long sleeve thing, then last year it was a really sweet jacket. This year I think is the best so far, being an awesome and totally comfortable fleece. There are a ton of people who only sign up for the race to get this premium.
The first two years I ran the race, in 2005 and 2006, I magically ended up with the same time and place. Last year I raced it, feeling pretty good for some reason heading into December. This year I wasn't sure what to expect. I feel like a 30min 5 miler has got to be pretty standard for me now, assuming I'm running, but to go much faster than 29 at this point was going to take a lot of effort, seeing as I've run about 100 miles in the last two months, with most of that coming in the last couple of weeks.
I toed the line next to the squad of Justin, Dr. J, Scotty and MGP, and as the gun went off, the race went tearing up the first hill. It's about a quarter of a mile up before taking a right hand turn, and I felt like I was sprinting. My HR skyrocketed before finally settling in. I was keeping most of my friends in sight, but just couldn't bridge up. I hit the first mile in a surprisingly slow 6:03. Either it was long, I thought, or man am I out of shape!
The 2nd mile last year I remembered as being short, so I think things may have been adjusted this year, as I came through in 5:55. At least I was heading in a better direction. The cold was taking its toll and I was really not feeling comfortable. Another thing I love about this race is the number of people that shout me out during it, since it's got an out and back at one point. It's always fun to spot your friends and it helps pump you up. I hit mile 3 in 5:54, so at least I was consistent. I headed down around the lake and was caught in the middle, just running by myself. Someone behind me was making a terrible sound, like they were dying. I then caught up to Weems McFadden of HoCo (interestingly enough he possessed the number ahead of me) and we came through mile 4 in 5:58.
I was still quite uncomfortable but knew the race was almost done, if I could just get around the Moorish Tower and back onto the road I'd have a nice downhill. I get to that point and deja vu prevailed - Eric, Will and Pete are standing there alerting me that if I don't run faster I'm going to get "girled" (act of getting beat by a girl). The same thing happened last year. So I made sure I sprinted in, and put it out there with a 5:35 last mile, crossing the line at 29:28.
At first glance, this is 22 seconds slower than I ran last year, but I had also been running for a while last year and had somewhat of a base underneath me. I had already done the NCR Trail Half and then run 16 miles in the Metric Marathon (not to mention the little xc meet) - so I was definitely more race ready than I was yesterday.
Dave kept his stranglehold on the race, winning for the third straight year in a most excellent time of 25:08, while Kyle was 2nd in 25:18. Collin Anderson had a great race, crossing in 27:55, and then it was Justin, Mike and Tom Stott (28:10, 28:15, 28:46).
Weekly Wrap-Up
And now for the weekly wrap up.
This week was even less by volume than last, but I'm okay with it. Just under 8 hours I think, but I haven't taken any days off.
Swim: 9,000 meters
Bike: 0 miles
Run: 41 miles
I was really tired this week, and the current work situation is getting more and more stressful with the state of the automotive union, so it was a pretty rough couple of days.
However, I had a great swim on Friday night, rolling 2000m straight in 34:05. By 500 I went 8:45, 8:38, 8:30, 8:10. I felt pretty good, and was pleased with the effort.
I had a "good" week running, going over 40 miles for the first time in two months. Monday was real warm and we got after it on the run. Wednesday was a little more chill, and then I ran with Kip on Thursday in Mt. Washington for some slow hills. Saturday I raced, and then today I did our Wednesday Night Run in one of the slowest times I've ever done it, which was good.
This week is a bigger week, thanks to a few days off from work. I need to see if I can get my bike fixed up on Tuesday before I head home, and then knock out 5 days of rides. I won't get to swim much, so running and riding will be the staple workouts for the week.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Ironman on TV
For the past few Sundays, VS has been televising some of the Ironman events from the past year. I watch most of them knowing the results, but interested in seeing how the races have unfolded on camera. I've watched the half from St. Croix, and the fulls at Louisville, Arizona, Lake Placid and Wisconsin. It's amazing stuff to watch.
Last night I attacked the big one that taped from Saturday - NBC's coverage of the Hawaii Ironman. Normally you can't watch this without tears as they tell some over the top story of the person who overcame some terrible tragedy. This year was a little different. Gone were the Dick Hoyts, or the Brian Boyles. There were a couple of inspiring tales, mostly serving as fodder to get you to join the Navy I think.
But a large part of it focused on the pain of this race, and how it affects even the most seasoned pros. The two winners, Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington, both owned their races and looked cool doing it. Just about everyone else seemed to get crushed by it. As a professional, whose season and life centers around this race, I just don't get how they can all be destroyed by it. But, I understand how they can be destroyed by it, having gone through a few terrible experiences this year myself.
So Arjun and I watched the coverage and were pretty amazed at the race, and then it got me thinking - what am I doing?? This is going to really hurt, and I've got a year to get ready for it and the course doesn't seem all that challenging. I suppose that's relative, because the distance is the same, and flatter courses pose the challenge of having to pedal the whole time; 3 lap courses get boring; Arizona's pretty warm.
We'll see how things go. I'm on track for a pretty decent week, hoping to get in another 100 or so miles of riding this weekend, with about 45 miles of running and 12,000m in the pool. Next week with Wednesday through Sunday off I'll look to make a big week on the bike, so I need to make sure I get my bike problem worked out quick!
Last night I attacked the big one that taped from Saturday - NBC's coverage of the Hawaii Ironman. Normally you can't watch this without tears as they tell some over the top story of the person who overcame some terrible tragedy. This year was a little different. Gone were the Dick Hoyts, or the Brian Boyles. There were a couple of inspiring tales, mostly serving as fodder to get you to join the Navy I think.
But a large part of it focused on the pain of this race, and how it affects even the most seasoned pros. The two winners, Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington, both owned their races and looked cool doing it. Just about everyone else seemed to get crushed by it. As a professional, whose season and life centers around this race, I just don't get how they can all be destroyed by it. But, I understand how they can be destroyed by it, having gone through a few terrible experiences this year myself.
So Arjun and I watched the coverage and were pretty amazed at the race, and then it got me thinking - what am I doing?? This is going to really hurt, and I've got a year to get ready for it and the course doesn't seem all that challenging. I suppose that's relative, because the distance is the same, and flatter courses pose the challenge of having to pedal the whole time; 3 lap courses get boring; Arizona's pretty warm.
We'll see how things go. I'm on track for a pretty decent week, hoping to get in another 100 or so miles of riding this weekend, with about 45 miles of running and 12,000m in the pool. Next week with Wednesday through Sunday off I'll look to make a big week on the bike, so I need to make sure I get my bike problem worked out quick!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Week (Weak) #2
I finished up the week yesterday and was mildly disappointed in retrospect. The numbers looked like this:
Swim - 9,000m
Bike - 100mi
Run - 31mi
Looking at it, it's pretty weak. I only managed to get in the pool twice last week, and only rode Saturday and Sunday. I managed an additional day of running and increased my mileage there to a more respectable amount, but it's still low.
Timewise, however, it really wasn't bad. 13h45m of total training, down an hour from the previous week, but I decided to take a look at how the rest of this year has gone for me. What I noticed was that I only had 6 weeks higher than 13:45, and the last time I was above 13 hours (before last week) was the week ending July 7th.
My two swims were largely uneventful, mostly because I felt terrible all week in the pool.
The two rides I put in weren't bad, but my knee hurts, my bike is falling apart and my computer isn't working. Saturday I was riding before 8am with Dean and his friend Rob, managed 3h15m and then Sunday I headed out solo for 3h45m. I left late in the day (1:30) and was definitely shrouded by darkness once back in the city. My knee was killing me, which could be because if I'm a freewheelin', my rear hub's a squealin. It's an annoying sound so I just keep pedaling. Minor overuse. All told, though, I'm proud that I've gotten out both Sat/Sun the last two weekends for rides totaling 13 hours.
Running wasn't terrible, but it was all pretty slow. Wednesday I was pretty beat up from my first leg session in the weight room, and I still felt the effects on my slow Friday run with Kris. Saturday I got out a little after my bike ride and put in 6 decent miles, and because I got home so late Sunday I opted for not running.
Looking forward to the week ahead, with some fun activities planned for the evenings. Saturday will mark the return to racing at Celtic Solstice 5M, a favorite event around here. The first two years I ran it, I finished in the exact same time AND exact same place (30:56, 47th). Then last year I actually kind of raced it and went 29:06. This weekend we'll see, guess it depends on how I'm feeling race morning. I'd certainly like to run well to remember what that feels like, but I also don't think I'll run poorly.
Oh, and a BIG shout to the Terps Men's Soccer National Championship team, they won the NCAA Title yesterday after beating UNC 1-0. This is their 2nd title in 4 years, and the Terps' second fall NCAA Championship (Field Hockey also). Go Terps!
Swim - 9,000m
Bike - 100mi
Run - 31mi
Looking at it, it's pretty weak. I only managed to get in the pool twice last week, and only rode Saturday and Sunday. I managed an additional day of running and increased my mileage there to a more respectable amount, but it's still low.
Timewise, however, it really wasn't bad. 13h45m of total training, down an hour from the previous week, but I decided to take a look at how the rest of this year has gone for me. What I noticed was that I only had 6 weeks higher than 13:45, and the last time I was above 13 hours (before last week) was the week ending July 7th.
My two swims were largely uneventful, mostly because I felt terrible all week in the pool.
The two rides I put in weren't bad, but my knee hurts, my bike is falling apart and my computer isn't working. Saturday I was riding before 8am with Dean and his friend Rob, managed 3h15m and then Sunday I headed out solo for 3h45m. I left late in the day (1:30) and was definitely shrouded by darkness once back in the city. My knee was killing me, which could be because if I'm a freewheelin', my rear hub's a squealin. It's an annoying sound so I just keep pedaling. Minor overuse. All told, though, I'm proud that I've gotten out both Sat/Sun the last two weekends for rides totaling 13 hours.
Running wasn't terrible, but it was all pretty slow. Wednesday I was pretty beat up from my first leg session in the weight room, and I still felt the effects on my slow Friday run with Kris. Saturday I got out a little after my bike ride and put in 6 decent miles, and because I got home so late Sunday I opted for not running.
Looking forward to the week ahead, with some fun activities planned for the evenings. Saturday will mark the return to racing at Celtic Solstice 5M, a favorite event around here. The first two years I ran it, I finished in the exact same time AND exact same place (30:56, 47th). Then last year I actually kind of raced it and went 29:06. This weekend we'll see, guess it depends on how I'm feeling race morning. I'd certainly like to run well to remember what that feels like, but I also don't think I'll run poorly.
Oh, and a BIG shout to the Terps Men's Soccer National Championship team, they won the NCAA Title yesterday after beating UNC 1-0. This is their 2nd title in 4 years, and the Terps' second fall NCAA Championship (Field Hockey also). Go Terps!
Friday, December 12, 2008
What Race Are You Training For?
I probably haven't read this blog in about 4 months, quite frankly because I was getting bored of it, but I happened across that particular post today and was completely stupefied.
Now, it's entirely possible that I missed the point, and that maybe he is suggesting what one should be doing at this time of year for an Ironman next fall, but this level of training would be nearly impossible to even finish an Ironman, let alone do well at it.
I understand people have obligations that limit their training time, and I'm fortunate that I have no family of my own to take away from my time, but to do an hour a day during the week and a "big day" of about 4 hours on a Saturday just doesn't seem enough. I'm already freaking out that the 20+ hours a week that I'll get up to shortly aren't enough to do well at the distance.
It's really not important that you read the entire blog post, as it was quite long, but the main points were basically swim on MWF for an hour, and maybe 4 runs per week, nothing particularly long, and a quasi-long ride on Saturday.
He also says in one sentence that swimming isn't all that important because it's the shortest part of the race and has the least gains to be made, yet has the athlete do it a disproportionate amount compared to the other disciplines.
It's like when I go up to TriSpeed for Saturday rides. It's chill for the first 7 miles, and then all of a sudden becomes a hammerfest until the church on Dover at mile 13. Then everyone stops and regroups, and decides how long they're going for. Most of them turn around, while some carry on for about 40 miles. Occasionally they'll do 50. I guess if you're doing sprints/Olympics as your main training that could be enough, but I'm surprised that there wouldn't be more people going longer.
I personally won't feel comfortable doing the Ironman next year without having many, many 75+ rides under my belt, and a number of 100+ rides. Additionally, I'll want to see a bunch of 20+ mile runs and probably a few 80/10 bricks.
I'm sure one day my situation may change and I have a limited amount of time to train. I just won't kid myself and try to do Ironman events in that time.
Now, it's entirely possible that I missed the point, and that maybe he is suggesting what one should be doing at this time of year for an Ironman next fall, but this level of training would be nearly impossible to even finish an Ironman, let alone do well at it.
I understand people have obligations that limit their training time, and I'm fortunate that I have no family of my own to take away from my time, but to do an hour a day during the week and a "big day" of about 4 hours on a Saturday just doesn't seem enough. I'm already freaking out that the 20+ hours a week that I'll get up to shortly aren't enough to do well at the distance.
It's really not important that you read the entire blog post, as it was quite long, but the main points were basically swim on MWF for an hour, and maybe 4 runs per week, nothing particularly long, and a quasi-long ride on Saturday.
He also says in one sentence that swimming isn't all that important because it's the shortest part of the race and has the least gains to be made, yet has the athlete do it a disproportionate amount compared to the other disciplines.
It's like when I go up to TriSpeed for Saturday rides. It's chill for the first 7 miles, and then all of a sudden becomes a hammerfest until the church on Dover at mile 13. Then everyone stops and regroups, and decides how long they're going for. Most of them turn around, while some carry on for about 40 miles. Occasionally they'll do 50. I guess if you're doing sprints/Olympics as your main training that could be enough, but I'm surprised that there wouldn't be more people going longer.
I personally won't feel comfortable doing the Ironman next year without having many, many 75+ rides under my belt, and a number of 100+ rides. Additionally, I'll want to see a bunch of 20+ mile runs and probably a few 80/10 bricks.
I'm sure one day my situation may change and I have a limited amount of time to train. I just won't kid myself and try to do Ironman events in that time.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Miami and Boston Travel Plans
I'm mostly putting this on my blog cause I don't want to clutter up TWSS, but also so I can keep track of my own progress as far as making travel plans.
MIAMI HALF MARATHON, Sunday January 25
I booked my flights. I'm flying AirTran from BWI to MIA on Friday 1/23 at 10:59am. It was super cheap ($72). On the way out, I'm flying from FLL (Fort Lauderdale) to BWI on Sunday 1/25 at 5:41pm. That flight was $158. There were less expensive, earlier options, but I want as much of a beach day post-race as possible. Also on the way down you can probably find a few more flights into FLL (and also really cheap). Total for my flight was $251, booked direct via AirTran. Oh and hint, since I hadn't seen it before, don't select your seats unless you really want to, cause they charge you for that.
We don't have a hotel yet, but we'll be staying in South Beach. Rooms are probably in the $200-$300/night range, so if we have 2-4 people per room it will be about $200-$300 per person for the trip.
We may also rent a car, because we'll have a few people going back to FLL at the same time on Sunday, and also the race start is nowhere near where we'll be staying, so we'll need to get up there. That won't cost that much I feel like.
BOSTON MARATHON, Monday, April 20
It looks like we have a minimum of 14 people going up to this race (plus probably two more spectators), which is crazy. From what I understand, Alyssa and Chrissie have their own respective hotel arrangements, so that takes two out, but we'd probably need 3-4 rooms depending on what other people are doing.
My mom (who is a travel agent) has already booked a room for her and my dad at the Hyatt Harborside or something. A sample of the prices were: $600/night in Boston; $400/night in Cambridge; $240/night at this place, and it's just a water taxi ride across to downtown. To me that sounds like a good idea.
Since I would prefer to get this taken care of sooner than later, I'm going to email everyone who has expressed interest in doing this race and traveling with us to get strict counts. After the Philly Marathon debacle I just want to be sure it doesn't happen again. Hopefully we can come to some kind of decision within the next week and have it squared away.
I can already see how ridiculous that weekend is going to be trying to accommodate everyone's special needs prior to the marathon, but bring it on - how often do you get to race Boston with friends of this quantity and quality??
MIAMI HALF MARATHON, Sunday January 25
I booked my flights. I'm flying AirTran from BWI to MIA on Friday 1/23 at 10:59am. It was super cheap ($72). On the way out, I'm flying from FLL (Fort Lauderdale) to BWI on Sunday 1/25 at 5:41pm. That flight was $158. There were less expensive, earlier options, but I want as much of a beach day post-race as possible. Also on the way down you can probably find a few more flights into FLL (and also really cheap). Total for my flight was $251, booked direct via AirTran. Oh and hint, since I hadn't seen it before, don't select your seats unless you really want to, cause they charge you for that.
We don't have a hotel yet, but we'll be staying in South Beach. Rooms are probably in the $200-$300/night range, so if we have 2-4 people per room it will be about $200-$300 per person for the trip.
We may also rent a car, because we'll have a few people going back to FLL at the same time on Sunday, and also the race start is nowhere near where we'll be staying, so we'll need to get up there. That won't cost that much I feel like.
BOSTON MARATHON, Monday, April 20
It looks like we have a minimum of 14 people going up to this race (plus probably two more spectators), which is crazy. From what I understand, Alyssa and Chrissie have their own respective hotel arrangements, so that takes two out, but we'd probably need 3-4 rooms depending on what other people are doing.
My mom (who is a travel agent) has already booked a room for her and my dad at the Hyatt Harborside or something. A sample of the prices were: $600/night in Boston; $400/night in Cambridge; $240/night at this place, and it's just a water taxi ride across to downtown. To me that sounds like a good idea.
Since I would prefer to get this taken care of sooner than later, I'm going to email everyone who has expressed interest in doing this race and traveling with us to get strict counts. After the Philly Marathon debacle I just want to be sure it doesn't happen again. Hopefully we can come to some kind of decision within the next week and have it squared away.
I can already see how ridiculous that weekend is going to be trying to accommodate everyone's special needs prior to the marathon, but bring it on - how often do you get to race Boston with friends of this quantity and quality??
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A New Attitude and A Fresh Start
I've been letting my fitness situation get me down lately, and I normally don't do that. It's pretty unlike me to be anything but awesome, so I'm going to flip it and reverse it. I talked to two of my buddies today, Nick and OJ, and talks of suffer-fest riding has me poppin' wood. I have 8 days til my first Frederick trip of the new season and I am nowhere near in shape to handle 55 miles of climbing. When I went onto my homepage today (http://www.velonews.com) I saw an interview with American pro Tom Danielson. Most of it was fluff, but I did pick up this little nugget:
All the time in cycling, I think. Your brain can be your best friend or your enemy. If you can break it down to, ‘I must kill everyone,’ or ‘I must destroy,’ then you’re fine. But if you start thinking, ‘Do I really need to be doing this? It’s raining out. The road is slippery. People are crashing everywhere. It’s cold. My whole body hurts.’ That’s when it’s negative, and the desk job seems quite good. But if you can use your mind to make your body like a motorcycle — you just turn the throttle and go — if you can make it like that, you’re fine. That’s normally how it is in training, you take out the elements of stress and performance, and you enjoy it. That’s the key to racing.
This goes for any of the sports we do. It all boils down to attitude and how you approach it. If you're negative, then you're only setting yourself up for failure.
I'm headed back to New Jersey right now and have a 50 mile ride planned for tomorrow morning, and then hope to get in 100 miles of riding this weekend (Sat-Sun) when I'm back here. A little game of MANHUNT in Patapsco on Sunday should help with the final piece of mental recharge, and then Monday is a NEW day.
I am looking at December as being a big month, not from a volume or intensity standpoint, but for re-establishing good behavior and more importantly, a routine. December 1st is Monday, so I can start fresh with the new week. I'm feeling a little bit better about my foot right now, it hasn't hurt after Monday's run really and perhaps it's on the mend. My other little ailments are starting to go away after some much needed rest. I figure I might not be too off course, and while I don't want to do be overzealous, I feel like I can still get to where I wanted to be (mileage-wise) by the end of December.
I'm hoping you all keep me in check though and make sure I'm doing my shit. The good news is that I won't be trying to wile out on Mondays, which seem to be particularly aggressive these days with the group splitting at the end of the run.
All the time in cycling, I think. Your brain can be your best friend or your enemy. If you can break it down to, ‘I must kill everyone,’ or ‘I must destroy,’ then you’re fine. But if you start thinking, ‘Do I really need to be doing this? It’s raining out. The road is slippery. People are crashing everywhere. It’s cold. My whole body hurts.’ That’s when it’s negative, and the desk job seems quite good. But if you can use your mind to make your body like a motorcycle — you just turn the throttle and go — if you can make it like that, you’re fine. That’s normally how it is in training, you take out the elements of stress and performance, and you enjoy it. That’s the key to racing.
This goes for any of the sports we do. It all boils down to attitude and how you approach it. If you're negative, then you're only setting yourself up for failure.
I'm headed back to New Jersey right now and have a 50 mile ride planned for tomorrow morning, and then hope to get in 100 miles of riding this weekend (Sat-Sun) when I'm back here. A little game of MANHUNT in Patapsco on Sunday should help with the final piece of mental recharge, and then Monday is a NEW day.
I am looking at December as being a big month, not from a volume or intensity standpoint, but for re-establishing good behavior and more importantly, a routine. December 1st is Monday, so I can start fresh with the new week. I'm feeling a little bit better about my foot right now, it hasn't hurt after Monday's run really and perhaps it's on the mend. My other little ailments are starting to go away after some much needed rest. I figure I might not be too off course, and while I don't want to do be overzealous, I feel like I can still get to where I wanted to be (mileage-wise) by the end of December.
I'm hoping you all keep me in check though and make sure I'm doing my shit. The good news is that I won't be trying to wile out on Mondays, which seem to be particularly aggressive these days with the group splitting at the end of the run.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Mission: IM AZ 2009
Registration opened up today for Ford Ironman Arizona (race date 11/22/2009). The race has been held typically in April, but this year it took place in both April and then again yesterday. The race will permanently be held in November to avoid the spring wind and potentially hotter temperatures.
At 2pm it was supposed to open up, and the ensuing rush of Interweb traffic crashed Active.com out. After 40 minutes, Zero was finally able to get through. I was still getting shafted. He then calls me up at 2:45 and says he was able to get in (again) and was going to go through guest access to get me in. So a few minutes, and $551 later, I am registered for an Ironman.
Shoot. I'm registered for an Ironman.
My knowledge of triathlon is based on this event; I heard about it in 8th grade and thought "geez that's a piece of cake, I can do that" - nevermind the fact I didn't race anything over 200m on the track, didn't own a bike and couldn't swim. Now to finally be registered for one is pretty cool.
Although, in the back of my head I can't help but think that if I hadn't gotten in, IM Western Australia would have been really cool to do. Drawbacks are the late date (12/8) and the fact it's on the other side of the world and would be really expensive. But it would have been really cool. One year...
So now I have 52 weeks to get ready for this race, which sounds like a lot but there will probably be 15 100+ mile rides, 15 20+ runs and yikes, I'll have to do more than a few swim workouts of 6000+ meters. I'm not real psyched on the late date of this race either, as I was totally burned out before November this year (and just about every year). It'll require a bit more focus and a lot less racing. Forced two weeks off after Eagleman, easy/long training through the summer and intense training during the fall.
The cool part of the experience will be getting to go through the process with Zero, and my old friend Larry, who at age 60something will be doing his first Ironman.
At 2pm it was supposed to open up, and the ensuing rush of Interweb traffic crashed Active.com out. After 40 minutes, Zero was finally able to get through. I was still getting shafted. He then calls me up at 2:45 and says he was able to get in (again) and was going to go through guest access to get me in. So a few minutes, and $551 later, I am registered for an Ironman.
Shoot. I'm registered for an Ironman.
My knowledge of triathlon is based on this event; I heard about it in 8th grade and thought "geez that's a piece of cake, I can do that" - nevermind the fact I didn't race anything over 200m on the track, didn't own a bike and couldn't swim. Now to finally be registered for one is pretty cool.
Although, in the back of my head I can't help but think that if I hadn't gotten in, IM Western Australia would have been really cool to do. Drawbacks are the late date (12/8) and the fact it's on the other side of the world and would be really expensive. But it would have been really cool. One year...
So now I have 52 weeks to get ready for this race, which sounds like a lot but there will probably be 15 100+ mile rides, 15 20+ runs and yikes, I'll have to do more than a few swim workouts of 6000+ meters. I'm not real psyched on the late date of this race either, as I was totally burned out before November this year (and just about every year). It'll require a bit more focus and a lot less racing. Forced two weeks off after Eagleman, easy/long training through the summer and intense training during the fall.
The cool part of the experience will be getting to go through the process with Zero, and my old friend Larry, who at age 60something will be doing his first Ironman.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Fin
It looks like I'm taking some time off from running.
There is what appears to be a piece of bone protruding from my ankle, and while it doesn't hurt terribly to run on (??), it does hurt to walk and also to the touch. I have to call Denise's hospital to make an appointment for a bone scan, which can't be done for another two weeks, so at this point I figure I'll just take those two weeks off anyway and I bet it'll be better by then.
This means that my already severely unfit self is going to become less fit each day, until I'm reduced to my running ability circa 1995. For your reference, this is when I started running cross country and ran my first 2 mile xc race in 18:10.
In the meantime I guess I will just try and make the effort to swim everyday and ride inside during the week (egad) and outside on the weekend. Not that I shouldn't be doing those things anyway, but for me it's always easier to run when I don't want to do anything else (e.g., now).
What this also means is that I will not be doing any sort of group runs for probably a very long time, as my reduced fitness will not allow me to keep up. I'll be lucky if I can be back to an 11 mile long run by the end of this calendar year I think, which will certainly not put me in a great position for the Miami Half Marathon or XC Nationals, but I'll have to make do.
I'm not really sure how some people are able to not run for long periods of time and be able to crank out halfway decent results, or run at all for that matter. If I take three days off in a row I lose everything I've worked to attain over a period of months. Just goes to show how very little natural ability I have, and proves why I don't take days off if I can avoid it. I'd always rather run hurt than not at all.
There is what appears to be a piece of bone protruding from my ankle, and while it doesn't hurt terribly to run on (??), it does hurt to walk and also to the touch. I have to call Denise's hospital to make an appointment for a bone scan, which can't be done for another two weeks, so at this point I figure I'll just take those two weeks off anyway and I bet it'll be better by then.
This means that my already severely unfit self is going to become less fit each day, until I'm reduced to my running ability circa 1995. For your reference, this is when I started running cross country and ran my first 2 mile xc race in 18:10.
In the meantime I guess I will just try and make the effort to swim everyday and ride inside during the week (egad) and outside on the weekend. Not that I shouldn't be doing those things anyway, but for me it's always easier to run when I don't want to do anything else (e.g., now).
What this also means is that I will not be doing any sort of group runs for probably a very long time, as my reduced fitness will not allow me to keep up. I'll be lucky if I can be back to an 11 mile long run by the end of this calendar year I think, which will certainly not put me in a great position for the Miami Half Marathon or XC Nationals, but I'll have to make do.
I'm not really sure how some people are able to not run for long periods of time and be able to crank out halfway decent results, or run at all for that matter. If I take three days off in a row I lose everything I've worked to attain over a period of months. Just goes to show how very little natural ability I have, and proves why I don't take days off if I can avoid it. I'd always rather run hurt than not at all.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
USATF XC Preview
To quote Isla Fisher's character in the movie Definitely, Maybe:
My shit is a mess.
I started running again this week by showing up to Fed Hill Runners on Monday. After a mile my body was falling apart. I took Tuesday off. I tried to run again on Wednesday from Canton. I did much better, making it about 5 of the 7 miles before my body crapped out. I got back in the pool on Thursday for my first swim in 6 weeks. That went about as well as what you'd imagine. Yesterday I just wanted to run a few miles again, and I started out pretty slow but didn't feel terrible. Halfway through the 5 miles, this feeling changed. I "picked it up" the last mile home - 7:01. My right hip is all sorts of f'd up, and my left knee hurts more than anything has ever hurt on me ever.
Needless to say I should probably not have run this morning at the cross country race, but a) I have too much pride and b) I really wanted to do it. I arrived at the course out in scenic Derwood just after 8 and watched Denise roll to the women's masters win. Then Dave Berardi ran well in the men's masters. Finally at 11 it was time for the premier race of the day - men's open. By far the biggest field of the 4 races and very competitive. I was foolishly wearing a long sleeve pullover/shirt thing, which, after 2k, was stifling as the temp reached the mid to upper 70s. I went out pretty slow but was committed to running whatever my body could handle. As it turned out, that wasn't that bad.
My first 4km were 4:13, 4:14, 4:11, 4:20 (6:45/mi). I was really warm after that, so I wanted to back off on the third lap. 4:26 and 4:39 were the 1km splits on that lap. Then my body just started to fall apart. My left knee couldn't handle shit, it feels like it's going to give out on me. I ran a 4:47 kilometer 7, and then tried to pick it up a little to have somewhat of a decent finish (4:25).
My overall time was 35:17, which is actually a little bit quicker than I first anticipated. I thought I'd be running 7:30-8:00. The course is quite challenging, but you can go pretty fast I think if you run smart. On the back end of the course there is a steep downhill with a sharp turn at the bottom, and with it being as muddy as it was (rain the last 3 days) that became tough. There's a hill on the front end that is a little challenging, but it's not bad. Undulating. Never really flat in any points. The first kilometer of the 2k loop is quick.
I'm not sure what place I finished in, or how many people were in the race, but it wasn't a terrible day. Now my knee hurts so bad I can't even walk. I guess I'll be taking a few days off from running, and I'll see if riding doesn't aggravate it tomorrow out in Columbia. Shit.
My shit is a mess.
I started running again this week by showing up to Fed Hill Runners on Monday. After a mile my body was falling apart. I took Tuesday off. I tried to run again on Wednesday from Canton. I did much better, making it about 5 of the 7 miles before my body crapped out. I got back in the pool on Thursday for my first swim in 6 weeks. That went about as well as what you'd imagine. Yesterday I just wanted to run a few miles again, and I started out pretty slow but didn't feel terrible. Halfway through the 5 miles, this feeling changed. I "picked it up" the last mile home - 7:01. My right hip is all sorts of f'd up, and my left knee hurts more than anything has ever hurt on me ever.
Needless to say I should probably not have run this morning at the cross country race, but a) I have too much pride and b) I really wanted to do it. I arrived at the course out in scenic Derwood just after 8 and watched Denise roll to the women's masters win. Then Dave Berardi ran well in the men's masters. Finally at 11 it was time for the premier race of the day - men's open. By far the biggest field of the 4 races and very competitive. I was foolishly wearing a long sleeve pullover/shirt thing, which, after 2k, was stifling as the temp reached the mid to upper 70s. I went out pretty slow but was committed to running whatever my body could handle. As it turned out, that wasn't that bad.
My first 4km were 4:13, 4:14, 4:11, 4:20 (6:45/mi). I was really warm after that, so I wanted to back off on the third lap. 4:26 and 4:39 were the 1km splits on that lap. Then my body just started to fall apart. My left knee couldn't handle shit, it feels like it's going to give out on me. I ran a 4:47 kilometer 7, and then tried to pick it up a little to have somewhat of a decent finish (4:25).
My overall time was 35:17, which is actually a little bit quicker than I first anticipated. I thought I'd be running 7:30-8:00. The course is quite challenging, but you can go pretty fast I think if you run smart. On the back end of the course there is a steep downhill with a sharp turn at the bottom, and with it being as muddy as it was (rain the last 3 days) that became tough. There's a hill on the front end that is a little challenging, but it's not bad. Undulating. Never really flat in any points. The first kilometer of the 2k loop is quick.
I'm not sure what place I finished in, or how many people were in the race, but it wasn't a terrible day. Now my knee hurts so bad I can't even walk. I guess I'll be taking a few days off from running, and I'll see if riding doesn't aggravate it tomorrow out in Columbia. Shit.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
2009
Inspired by Alyssa, who posted her projected 2009 racing schedule, I am going to put into writing my preliminary schedule. While 2008 is not quite over, the demands of our sport necessitate us to plan far into the future. Anything marked with an * denotes a definite.
1/25: ING Miami Half Marathon*
2/7: USATF Cross Country National Championships*
2/21: Club Challenge 10 Mile*
3/15: Shamrock 5k
4/20: Boston Marathon*
5/10: Kinetic Sprint Triathlon
5/17: Columbia Triathlon*
6/14: Eagleman*
The plan is then to chill out the remainder of June and start rebuilding for the fall.
7/26: New Jersey State Triathlon*
8/30: Ironman Louisville
9/20: Philly Distance Run*
10/11: Chicago Marathon
11/1: New York City Marathon*
11/22: Ironman Arizona*
Obviously I will not do two Ironmans and two additional marathons, but it'll be probably one of each. Louisville is not my first choice, nor is Arizona, but they seem to be the only ones left open in the US. Chicago Marathon is the same weekend as Baltimore, but they'll be split up again in 2010. New York didn't go great this year, and Justin plans on doing it (since he registered this year but broke his ankle) so I think I might like another go at it. Plus, New York would be a good race to do a few weeks out from the IM. We'll see what happens.
Since posting this I have decided that I will do Ironman Arizona because Mike Zero and Larry Rutledge are committed to this one as well. Since Justin is looking to do NYC Marathon next year, and it would be a good run a few weeks out from the Ironman, I'll commit to that as well.
All I know is that I need to race a lot less, because the distances are going up which means so are the stakes. If you have a bad day in an IM, you don't go out the next weekend and make up for it. I want to cut out some of the shorter races, the back to back to back weekends, and unnecessary summer racing. I'm at 24 races this year, probably finishing at 28. I need to cut that down big time next year.
1/25: ING Miami Half Marathon*
2/7: USATF Cross Country National Championships*
2/21: Club Challenge 10 Mile*
3/15: Shamrock 5k
4/20: Boston Marathon*
5/10: Kinetic Sprint Triathlon
5/17: Columbia Triathlon*
6/14: Eagleman*
The plan is then to chill out the remainder of June and start rebuilding for the fall.
7/26: New Jersey State Triathlon*
8/30: Ironman Louisville
9/20: Philly Distance Run*
10/11: Chicago Marathon
11/1: New York City Marathon*
11/22: Ironman Arizona*
Obviously I will not do two Ironmans and two additional marathons, but it'll be probably one of each. Louisville is not my first choice, nor is Arizona, but they seem to be the only ones left open in the US. Chicago Marathon is the same weekend as Baltimore, but they'll be split up again in 2010. New York didn't go great this year, and Justin plans on doing it (since he registered this year but broke his ankle) so I think I might like another go at it. Plus, New York would be a good race to do a few weeks out from the IM. We'll see what happens.
Since posting this I have decided that I will do Ironman Arizona because Mike Zero and Larry Rutledge are committed to this one as well. Since Justin is looking to do NYC Marathon next year, and it would be a good run a few weeks out from the Ironman, I'll commit to that as well.
All I know is that I need to race a lot less, because the distances are going up which means so are the stakes. If you have a bad day in an IM, you don't go out the next weekend and make up for it. I want to cut out some of the shorter races, the back to back to back weekends, and unnecessary summer racing. I'm at 24 races this year, probably finishing at 28. I need to cut that down big time next year.
Monday, November 03, 2008
New York City Marathon 2008
8 seconds. I never thought I would need the full minute of 3:10 in order to qualify for Boston, but there it was, staring me in the face. All the positive thinking in the world is not enough to overcome what you really need to be running with at that point: fear.
The race had obviously not panned out quite like I hoped, but in the end hope is not a plan. Of course I had hoped to go through 16-18 miles fairly comfortably around 6:10-6:15 pace. I didn't see that being terribly out of reason given PDR and how I felt there running much faster. 6:18 pace is 2:45, and while I knew it was a reach, I felt like I could do it. If I couldn't, at least I wouldn't slow down to much over 2:50. Worst case 3 hours. Boy, I was way off.
I haven't woken up this many times during the night in a while, and was definitely anxious as I was up before the alarm. Thanks to my dad we got a ride right to the Fort, which was awesome. It was a pretty cool scene, and definitely well organized. It was also super windy and not terribly warm. Jake and I chilled out with this dude from Colorado, who appeared to be quite fit and looking to go low 2:30s. It was time to go into the corral, which was really cool. I was in the first wave and was mad close to the line. The cannon went off, amidst the speakers playing "New York, New York" and off we went to traverse the Verrazano Bridge.
Everyone talked about how hard the first mile is, uphill, lots of people, but I didn't really think it was that bad. I weaved through a few folks and found some space and hit the mile somewhere around 6:40. The view is pretty awesome if you take the time to look, and running over the bridge was one of the things I was most excited for. The downhill mile on the other side was pretty awesome and I cruised through 2 miles in 12:18 (5:38). At this point I found a little group to run with, there were three of them that were clearly friends but also had really poor running etiquette. I think I clicked my watch a little early on mile 3, which made mile 4 a little long but was at 18:59 through 5k and 4 miles in 24:30.
At this point I was feeling good, knocking out 6:15 and 6:07 for the next two (10k was 38:12, so 19:13 5k split. All this time though, as good as I felt aerobically, my body just felt trashed. The race was really hard on my hips, and the wind wasn't helping. Just after mile 7 (6:13) I felt the onslaught of mudbutt, so I ditched into the bathroom. I managed to get feces on my shorts and hands, which was disgusting. After the 2 minute stop I was back on my way, and after the 8 mile split (8:15) I was back into two miles at 6:13 (1:03:48 at 10).
So in my head I'm thinking, okay you just ran 1:01:48 for 10 miles, which is right on 6:10 pace. You're doing great, keep it up. Then mile 11 happened, and I'm not sure what happened. I just slowed down. 6:34, to be exact, and then picked it up a little bit for mile 12 (6:26). Mile 13 was 6:40, so it was apparent the wheels were well on their way to coming off, but I was still at the half in 1:24:15.
I knew I was slowing down, but figured I could at least go 1:30-1:35, and get under 3, but something was definitely up. I was out of it, and my body was shutting down. I was having stomach trouble and my legs just felt broken. Miles 14-16 were really slow, as I went over two bridges and back into Manhattan (22:52). I was still at 1:46 at 16 and thought c'mon buddy, let's go.
Zero jumped in for a little but it was really tough having him there being as fresh as he was, and it was tough for me as I crawled up First Ave. I still wasn't doing terrible yet, as the next couple of miles were 7:43, 7:50 and 8:00. It's amazing to think of how one's body shuts down like this. I figured I wouldn't be in serious trouble til this point, and definitely didn't think I'd cross over 7s, let alone 8s.
Then the real trouble started as I crossed another bridge into the Boogie Down - 8:16, 8:22, 8:20, 8:42. At this pace it was now clear that 3 hours was out, 3:05 was out, and Boston was questionable. Zero jumped back in and was helping, but I was in all sorts of misery. All I wanted was to get into Central Park and feel good, wave to my family and friends and come in with some energy. This was not to be. I saw Kootman and Pereless, but couldn't even respond.
The death blow was really mile 24, which was largely uphill and 8:58. Real trouble now. I knew I had one shot to get under 3:11, and that failing was not an option. Running 3:11:00 would have made the effort not even worth it, so I sucked it up and went. With 2 miles to go I was at 2:52:35, so under normal circumstances you would think no problem. Well I was having a problem, and the next two miles were 8:25 and 8:08. I was now at 3:09:09 with .2 to go. Could it be done?
Fortunately for me and those around me, I was able to "kick" it in with a 1:42. Only about 42 seconds slower than I would run for .2 at the end of a 10k, but whatever, it got me under 3:10:59. I walked through the finish and was freezing, like hypothermic style. I went into the medical tent and tried to get warm, my legs seized up, I smelled like feces - it was terrible.
I finally got walking again and met up with the squad, and then met up with my parents and walked some more, took the subway to the train, rode the train home and was exhausted. At least my subway and train trips were free.
Most important take away: it's great to have great friends, so thanks to everyone who supported this endeavor, whether you were there or not. But a lot of credit is deserved to those who were there, so thanks to my parents (especially my dad for his driving and help) and my bro, Kootman, Pereless, Vic and Bobber (from high school team) and then ZERO for running with me, and the indefatigable squadron of Melissa, Arjun, Alyssa, Brennan, Jen and Sara Spears for their efforts. It was really awesome to see you all out there and know you were rooting for me.
Not like what I've done is that big a deal, certainly people do them all the time, but you guys have been to all the shittiest races I've ever had (which have all happened this year mostly).
Mad props go out to a few people I saw yesterday who had great races, first being Jake, who took the last 24 weeks to train as seriously as anyone and it paid off with a 2:42:59 debut marathon; Brian Shea, who thought he would go 2:55 and wound up dropping a 2:51; Maggie Guiney who passed me at 14 and while that killed me, she did go 2:54; and Matias, who is one of the more amazing athletes I know, who ran a pretty even split 2:38 and change.
It was really hard, I got schooled by another race but as always, learned another lesson. For Boston it'll be time to TCOB (take care of business) and run a little bit smarter. I kind of wish I had run a first marathon prior to this one, just to have the pressure taken off a little. NYC has been such a big part of my life as a runner and is the most important running race I can think of. Boston is big for Americans; New York is big for the world. Everyone knows New York. So while I haven't committed to next year's race schedule, this may wind up back on the docket if I have good fortune.
Race #24, the most I've ever done in a year.
The race had obviously not panned out quite like I hoped, but in the end hope is not a plan. Of course I had hoped to go through 16-18 miles fairly comfortably around 6:10-6:15 pace. I didn't see that being terribly out of reason given PDR and how I felt there running much faster. 6:18 pace is 2:45, and while I knew it was a reach, I felt like I could do it. If I couldn't, at least I wouldn't slow down to much over 2:50. Worst case 3 hours. Boy, I was way off.
I haven't woken up this many times during the night in a while, and was definitely anxious as I was up before the alarm. Thanks to my dad we got a ride right to the Fort, which was awesome. It was a pretty cool scene, and definitely well organized. It was also super windy and not terribly warm. Jake and I chilled out with this dude from Colorado, who appeared to be quite fit and looking to go low 2:30s. It was time to go into the corral, which was really cool. I was in the first wave and was mad close to the line. The cannon went off, amidst the speakers playing "New York, New York" and off we went to traverse the Verrazano Bridge.
Everyone talked about how hard the first mile is, uphill, lots of people, but I didn't really think it was that bad. I weaved through a few folks and found some space and hit the mile somewhere around 6:40. The view is pretty awesome if you take the time to look, and running over the bridge was one of the things I was most excited for. The downhill mile on the other side was pretty awesome and I cruised through 2 miles in 12:18 (5:38). At this point I found a little group to run with, there were three of them that were clearly friends but also had really poor running etiquette. I think I clicked my watch a little early on mile 3, which made mile 4 a little long but was at 18:59 through 5k and 4 miles in 24:30.
At this point I was feeling good, knocking out 6:15 and 6:07 for the next two (10k was 38:12, so 19:13 5k split. All this time though, as good as I felt aerobically, my body just felt trashed. The race was really hard on my hips, and the wind wasn't helping. Just after mile 7 (6:13) I felt the onslaught of mudbutt, so I ditched into the bathroom. I managed to get feces on my shorts and hands, which was disgusting. After the 2 minute stop I was back on my way, and after the 8 mile split (8:15) I was back into two miles at 6:13 (1:03:48 at 10).
So in my head I'm thinking, okay you just ran 1:01:48 for 10 miles, which is right on 6:10 pace. You're doing great, keep it up. Then mile 11 happened, and I'm not sure what happened. I just slowed down. 6:34, to be exact, and then picked it up a little bit for mile 12 (6:26). Mile 13 was 6:40, so it was apparent the wheels were well on their way to coming off, but I was still at the half in 1:24:15.
I knew I was slowing down, but figured I could at least go 1:30-1:35, and get under 3, but something was definitely up. I was out of it, and my body was shutting down. I was having stomach trouble and my legs just felt broken. Miles 14-16 were really slow, as I went over two bridges and back into Manhattan (22:52). I was still at 1:46 at 16 and thought c'mon buddy, let's go.
Zero jumped in for a little but it was really tough having him there being as fresh as he was, and it was tough for me as I crawled up First Ave. I still wasn't doing terrible yet, as the next couple of miles were 7:43, 7:50 and 8:00. It's amazing to think of how one's body shuts down like this. I figured I wouldn't be in serious trouble til this point, and definitely didn't think I'd cross over 7s, let alone 8s.
Then the real trouble started as I crossed another bridge into the Boogie Down - 8:16, 8:22, 8:20, 8:42. At this pace it was now clear that 3 hours was out, 3:05 was out, and Boston was questionable. Zero jumped back in and was helping, but I was in all sorts of misery. All I wanted was to get into Central Park and feel good, wave to my family and friends and come in with some energy. This was not to be. I saw Kootman and Pereless, but couldn't even respond.
The death blow was really mile 24, which was largely uphill and 8:58. Real trouble now. I knew I had one shot to get under 3:11, and that failing was not an option. Running 3:11:00 would have made the effort not even worth it, so I sucked it up and went. With 2 miles to go I was at 2:52:35, so under normal circumstances you would think no problem. Well I was having a problem, and the next two miles were 8:25 and 8:08. I was now at 3:09:09 with .2 to go. Could it be done?
Fortunately for me and those around me, I was able to "kick" it in with a 1:42. Only about 42 seconds slower than I would run for .2 at the end of a 10k, but whatever, it got me under 3:10:59. I walked through the finish and was freezing, like hypothermic style. I went into the medical tent and tried to get warm, my legs seized up, I smelled like feces - it was terrible.
I finally got walking again and met up with the squad, and then met up with my parents and walked some more, took the subway to the train, rode the train home and was exhausted. At least my subway and train trips were free.
Most important take away: it's great to have great friends, so thanks to everyone who supported this endeavor, whether you were there or not. But a lot of credit is deserved to those who were there, so thanks to my parents (especially my dad for his driving and help) and my bro, Kootman, Pereless, Vic and Bobber (from high school team) and then ZERO for running with me, and the indefatigable squadron of Melissa, Arjun, Alyssa, Brennan, Jen and Sara Spears for their efforts. It was really awesome to see you all out there and know you were rooting for me.
Not like what I've done is that big a deal, certainly people do them all the time, but you guys have been to all the shittiest races I've ever had (which have all happened this year mostly).
Mad props go out to a few people I saw yesterday who had great races, first being Jake, who took the last 24 weeks to train as seriously as anyone and it paid off with a 2:42:59 debut marathon; Brian Shea, who thought he would go 2:55 and wound up dropping a 2:51; Maggie Guiney who passed me at 14 and while that killed me, she did go 2:54; and Matias, who is one of the more amazing athletes I know, who ran a pretty even split 2:38 and change.
It was really hard, I got schooled by another race but as always, learned another lesson. For Boston it'll be time to TCOB (take care of business) and run a little bit smarter. I kind of wish I had run a first marathon prior to this one, just to have the pressure taken off a little. NYC has been such a big part of my life as a runner and is the most important running race I can think of. Boston is big for Americans; New York is big for the world. Everyone knows New York. So while I haven't committed to next year's race schedule, this may wind up back on the docket if I have good fortune.
Race #24, the most I've ever done in a year.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Vegas Vacation
First and foremost, I do not believe in the saying "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." That said, I didn't do anything questionable enough to not be written. But my one night event in Vegas was just the ending to a crazy few days out in the desert.
Wednesday morning I was late for my plane, as usual. I had a 9:20 flight and left my house somewhere around 8:26. I made it down to the airport pretty fast, and as I was getting out of my car in Long Term A, a bus was about to stop nearby. I ran over to it and got on. A minute or two later I realized I didn't have my running shoes and that I may have left them on the trunk of my car. I emailed Arjun and asked if he could stop by (he works near the airport) and check if they were there. He texted back while I was on the plane and said they were not. My only hope was that they were in the trunk.
This leaves me without shoes now before our little work 5k on Thursday morning. In years past we've stayed at nice resorts that have been nowhere near any shops of any kind. The good news was that this year's resort was near a mall; the bad news was the resort was a shithole. I walked over to the mall and perused its numerous shoe stores with no luck. I finally settled on some crappy Mizunos from Sports Authority that were a half size too small.
Then I remembered I know someone who lives in Phoenix area and works at a running store nearby. I got in touch with him and he came by, dropping off some Brooks Glycerines. They would suffice. The next morning I wore them to race to a 4 minute victory on what was a deceptively hard and seemingly long 5k. I ran 19:17, and while I don't think I was running under 6s, I don't think I was running over them. Next finisher was 23:10. Afterwards you would have sworn I won the Olympics, with the people I work with gushing over my run.
Later that evening I then WOW'd the crowd with several songs at one of the sickest karaoke jams I've ever been to.
Friday evening we were all done with our work obligations, but since we weren't able to fly out til Saturday morning, a few of us made the most of our time and headed the 5 miles to downtown Tempe. Reminder: this is home to Arizona State. A couple things I know about ASU are that anyone can get in and that the girls are real hot. I was not let down on either count. Fast forward to the end of the night and I found myself in the hotel pool til 5am, and asleep around 6. Woke up at 7 and had to get ready real quick for my flight.
I arrived in Vegas and once I saw the sun beaming off Mandalay Bay I was revitalized. My buddy FranManDaLastDon picked me up and we checked into the Bellagio. Quick note: this is my first trip to Vegas. I have images in my head from all the TV shows and movies, and did not want to be disappointed. My original room at the Bellagio was supposed to be a "deluxe lakeview room" - meaning I would get a little view of the crazy lake with the sick fountain show.
What really happened was Francis got a room upgrade through his connections (he used to be concierge at the Bellagio) so we got a tower suite, corner unit room of 1500 sq ft. It had three bathrooms, a huge living and a kitchen/bar. It was ridiculous. Unfortunately we would hardly even see the room.
For dinner we headed to The Country Club at Wynn. Amazing meal. Thanks to Francis' roommate, who is the manager of food operations at the Wynn, we received a significant discount for the meal. It was still really expensive. After that we headed downstairs to a bar where they hooked us up again. I'm starting to realize at this point in order to have a really awesome time in Vegas you need to either have a LOT of money or know somebody who is kind of a big deal.
Now it was time to start the going out portion of the evening. I'm still exhausted from last night, but have to suck it up. We drive over to the Palms and hit the Playboy Club and Moon. Francis knows someone so we don't have to wait in line OR pay the $40 cover. After we leave there, we headed over to Pure at Caesar's Palace, and again went straight through the VIP line. Checked out the Pussycat Doll Lounge, which was actually pretty awesome, and stayed for a little at Pure before moving over to the Mirage.
At this point I'm barely able to keep my eyes open, but I wanted to see Old Town LV, so we headed down to Fremont St. Definitely the shadier part of town. Walked around there for a minute, then hit McDonald's for McFlurries and headed home. It was 4am and I crashed on the bed like a baby.
Needless to say, Sunday was a tired day. We kicked it for a little while, took in the rollercoaster at New York New York, and then took a 5pm flight home. As I returned to the airport parking lot around 12:45, I popped the trunk and was woken up with excitement.
My running shoes were there!
Ultimately it was a totally sick weekend, felt awesome to ball like a VIP on Saturday but I think that ruins any other trip I may ever take out there. My boy FranMan is headed back to the east coast soon, and this may be the only trip to Vegas for me while he's out there. It makes me wish I had stayed longer, or gone out at some other point in the last four years.
Wednesday morning I was late for my plane, as usual. I had a 9:20 flight and left my house somewhere around 8:26. I made it down to the airport pretty fast, and as I was getting out of my car in Long Term A, a bus was about to stop nearby. I ran over to it and got on. A minute or two later I realized I didn't have my running shoes and that I may have left them on the trunk of my car. I emailed Arjun and asked if he could stop by (he works near the airport) and check if they were there. He texted back while I was on the plane and said they were not. My only hope was that they were in the trunk.
This leaves me without shoes now before our little work 5k on Thursday morning. In years past we've stayed at nice resorts that have been nowhere near any shops of any kind. The good news was that this year's resort was near a mall; the bad news was the resort was a shithole. I walked over to the mall and perused its numerous shoe stores with no luck. I finally settled on some crappy Mizunos from Sports Authority that were a half size too small.
Then I remembered I know someone who lives in Phoenix area and works at a running store nearby. I got in touch with him and he came by, dropping off some Brooks Glycerines. They would suffice. The next morning I wore them to race to a 4 minute victory on what was a deceptively hard and seemingly long 5k. I ran 19:17, and while I don't think I was running under 6s, I don't think I was running over them. Next finisher was 23:10. Afterwards you would have sworn I won the Olympics, with the people I work with gushing over my run.
Later that evening I then WOW'd the crowd with several songs at one of the sickest karaoke jams I've ever been to.
Friday evening we were all done with our work obligations, but since we weren't able to fly out til Saturday morning, a few of us made the most of our time and headed the 5 miles to downtown Tempe. Reminder: this is home to Arizona State. A couple things I know about ASU are that anyone can get in and that the girls are real hot. I was not let down on either count. Fast forward to the end of the night and I found myself in the hotel pool til 5am, and asleep around 6. Woke up at 7 and had to get ready real quick for my flight.
I arrived in Vegas and once I saw the sun beaming off Mandalay Bay I was revitalized. My buddy FranManDaLastDon picked me up and we checked into the Bellagio. Quick note: this is my first trip to Vegas. I have images in my head from all the TV shows and movies, and did not want to be disappointed. My original room at the Bellagio was supposed to be a "deluxe lakeview room" - meaning I would get a little view of the crazy lake with the sick fountain show.
What really happened was Francis got a room upgrade through his connections (he used to be concierge at the Bellagio) so we got a tower suite, corner unit room of 1500 sq ft. It had three bathrooms, a huge living and a kitchen/bar. It was ridiculous. Unfortunately we would hardly even see the room.
For dinner we headed to The Country Club at Wynn. Amazing meal. Thanks to Francis' roommate, who is the manager of food operations at the Wynn, we received a significant discount for the meal. It was still really expensive. After that we headed downstairs to a bar where they hooked us up again. I'm starting to realize at this point in order to have a really awesome time in Vegas you need to either have a LOT of money or know somebody who is kind of a big deal.
Now it was time to start the going out portion of the evening. I'm still exhausted from last night, but have to suck it up. We drive over to the Palms and hit the Playboy Club and Moon. Francis knows someone so we don't have to wait in line OR pay the $40 cover. After we leave there, we headed over to Pure at Caesar's Palace, and again went straight through the VIP line. Checked out the Pussycat Doll Lounge, which was actually pretty awesome, and stayed for a little at Pure before moving over to the Mirage.
At this point I'm barely able to keep my eyes open, but I wanted to see Old Town LV, so we headed down to Fremont St. Definitely the shadier part of town. Walked around there for a minute, then hit McDonald's for McFlurries and headed home. It was 4am and I crashed on the bed like a baby.
Needless to say, Sunday was a tired day. We kicked it for a little while, took in the rollercoaster at New York New York, and then took a 5pm flight home. As I returned to the airport parking lot around 12:45, I popped the trunk and was woken up with excitement.
My running shoes were there!
Ultimately it was a totally sick weekend, felt awesome to ball like a VIP on Saturday but I think that ruins any other trip I may ever take out there. My boy FranMan is headed back to the east coast soon, and this may be the only trip to Vegas for me while he's out there. It makes me wish I had stayed longer, or gone out at some other point in the last four years.
Monday, October 13, 2008
28th Annual Terp Trot 5k
After watching 4.5 hours of the Baltimore Running Festival on Saturday, it was my turn to race on Sunday morning. Of all the events I do each year, the Terp Trot probably holds the most sentimental value. For one, it's the only race I know I can win (partially because it's the only race I've really ever won, in 2002 and 2006), but also because it's great to go back to College Park and run a race.
I think I first did the Terp Trot back in 2000. The course was much different then, still starting in between Byrd and the Union, it made its way through Lot 1, around VMH and back up towards the Union. As you screamed down Campus Drive, you then went halfway around the circle and down towards the nerd portion of campus, before coming back up by the North Campus dorms and finishing through the stadium walkway. I liked when it was completely contained in campus, and started and finished in the same spot.
When I did the race again in 2002, the course had changed to include "College Park" - although really this just meant crossing Route 1 and going behind Frat Row and Leonardtown before returning up College Ave. The finish features a sharp left hand turn at AOPi, with about 25m to go to the line. In 2002 I ran side by side with Tri Guy Tommy before outkicking him at this turn. In 2006 I won by a minute and didn't need to worry about it. This year it again proved the difference between first and second.
Saturday was a warm day, for October 11th, and the sun was strong. Not ideal marathon conditions at 80 degrees, but I thought it would be great for Sunday morning. After barely drinking or eating all day on Saturday, I headed to the afterparty at Arjun's. As a result of some friends in town that evening, I didn't get home until after 1:30, and let them sleep in my bed. This meant a crappy sleep on the couch. If it had been anything longer than a 10k I was racing, I wouldn't have done that.
Woke up a few hours later and it looked like it was going to be another great day. I picked up Alyssa and drove down to CP, registered and warmed up. My boy Ron $ Willoughby was there doing his first race in 2 years, and my friend Karen, who just finished her first marathon on Saturday came out to watch. I always scan the start line for the competition, and noticed a few of the usual suspects - wrestling team (not really competition but fun to watch), a couple HoCo guys and that dude from Annapolis Striders. We chatted at the start a little, and then I noticed two fairly legitimate looking dudes.
The gun goes off and I quickly move to the front before being passed by a guy on the wrestling team for about 100m. That's always a highlight of this race, one or two of the guys on the wrestling team gets a rise out of his teammates by sprinting at the start, before blowing up. Anyway I make the turn into Lot 1 by myself, and am alone as I speed down towards VMH. I can tell there are a few people behind me, but try not to look back. I can tell one kid (one of the two from pre-race) is catching me on the uphill, and sure enough we are side by side coming down Campus Drive. I couldn't tell if he was strong enough to get a lead, but we did exchange the lead a few times before he started pulling away by the chapel.
Apparently I had come through mile 1 in 5:27 and mile 2 in 5:49. The 2nd mile was in the spot I always remembered it, but the first mile seemed to be a little early. After crossing Route 1, where I saw Alyssa and Karen cheering, I was able to catch the kid and subsequently pass him as we went behind Frat Row. I was psyched, as I felt the momentum had shifted, and with 3/4 of a mile to go I should be able to hold on.
Au contraire, as he was coming back on me around Leonardtown. Only it wasn't him, it was a newcomer (the other kid from pre-race) and he seemed to have the legs. As he passed I could only think DBAP, and did everything I could to stay on his shoulder. I adjusted to the increase in pace, and as we turned onto College Ave I still felt good about my chances. With a minute to go, I started to pick it up, and I guess with 100m left I took off, hitting the last turn in first and never looking back.
It felt good to secure a win for 2008, my first W since 2006, and with the time of 17:18 it was a few seconds faster than last year and only a few seconds slower than my time from 2002. It did feel extremely hard though, and I think last year I was in better shape, just reeling from the piriformis problem I was having.
After the race I cooled down with the guy who got 2nd, and then waited around a while to get my crappy little award. I actually kind of swept the awards (first 19-29, first UM affiliate, first overall) but gave the two awards away and kept the overall. It was a gorgeous day in College Park - not a cloud in the sky, mid 70s, strong sun - so we grabbed a bite at the Bagel Place before heading back home for a fun-filled day of corn mazes and apple orchards.
This was race #22 for the season, eclipsing my previous best of 21 races from 2006. I actually skipped on a race report for race #21 since it was worthless (Bel Air Mile, 4th place, 5:24 in the rain and crappy weather, which was also the day of my birthday party). I need to check results later for what happened at Hereford, since Bull Run was rescheduled for the day of Baltimore Marathon.
I think I first did the Terp Trot back in 2000. The course was much different then, still starting in between Byrd and the Union, it made its way through Lot 1, around VMH and back up towards the Union. As you screamed down Campus Drive, you then went halfway around the circle and down towards the nerd portion of campus, before coming back up by the North Campus dorms and finishing through the stadium walkway. I liked when it was completely contained in campus, and started and finished in the same spot.
When I did the race again in 2002, the course had changed to include "College Park" - although really this just meant crossing Route 1 and going behind Frat Row and Leonardtown before returning up College Ave. The finish features a sharp left hand turn at AOPi, with about 25m to go to the line. In 2002 I ran side by side with Tri Guy Tommy before outkicking him at this turn. In 2006 I won by a minute and didn't need to worry about it. This year it again proved the difference between first and second.
Saturday was a warm day, for October 11th, and the sun was strong. Not ideal marathon conditions at 80 degrees, but I thought it would be great for Sunday morning. After barely drinking or eating all day on Saturday, I headed to the afterparty at Arjun's. As a result of some friends in town that evening, I didn't get home until after 1:30, and let them sleep in my bed. This meant a crappy sleep on the couch. If it had been anything longer than a 10k I was racing, I wouldn't have done that.
Woke up a few hours later and it looked like it was going to be another great day. I picked up Alyssa and drove down to CP, registered and warmed up. My boy Ron $ Willoughby was there doing his first race in 2 years, and my friend Karen, who just finished her first marathon on Saturday came out to watch. I always scan the start line for the competition, and noticed a few of the usual suspects - wrestling team (not really competition but fun to watch), a couple HoCo guys and that dude from Annapolis Striders. We chatted at the start a little, and then I noticed two fairly legitimate looking dudes.
The gun goes off and I quickly move to the front before being passed by a guy on the wrestling team for about 100m. That's always a highlight of this race, one or two of the guys on the wrestling team gets a rise out of his teammates by sprinting at the start, before blowing up. Anyway I make the turn into Lot 1 by myself, and am alone as I speed down towards VMH. I can tell there are a few people behind me, but try not to look back. I can tell one kid (one of the two from pre-race) is catching me on the uphill, and sure enough we are side by side coming down Campus Drive. I couldn't tell if he was strong enough to get a lead, but we did exchange the lead a few times before he started pulling away by the chapel.
Apparently I had come through mile 1 in 5:27 and mile 2 in 5:49. The 2nd mile was in the spot I always remembered it, but the first mile seemed to be a little early. After crossing Route 1, where I saw Alyssa and Karen cheering, I was able to catch the kid and subsequently pass him as we went behind Frat Row. I was psyched, as I felt the momentum had shifted, and with 3/4 of a mile to go I should be able to hold on.
Au contraire, as he was coming back on me around Leonardtown. Only it wasn't him, it was a newcomer (the other kid from pre-race) and he seemed to have the legs. As he passed I could only think DBAP, and did everything I could to stay on his shoulder. I adjusted to the increase in pace, and as we turned onto College Ave I still felt good about my chances. With a minute to go, I started to pick it up, and I guess with 100m left I took off, hitting the last turn in first and never looking back.
It felt good to secure a win for 2008, my first W since 2006, and with the time of 17:18 it was a few seconds faster than last year and only a few seconds slower than my time from 2002. It did feel extremely hard though, and I think last year I was in better shape, just reeling from the piriformis problem I was having.
After the race I cooled down with the guy who got 2nd, and then waited around a while to get my crappy little award. I actually kind of swept the awards (first 19-29, first UM affiliate, first overall) but gave the two awards away and kept the overall. It was a gorgeous day in College Park - not a cloud in the sky, mid 70s, strong sun - so we grabbed a bite at the Bagel Place before heading back home for a fun-filled day of corn mazes and apple orchards.
This was race #22 for the season, eclipsing my previous best of 21 races from 2006. I actually skipped on a race report for race #21 since it was worthless (Bel Air Mile, 4th place, 5:24 in the rain and crappy weather, which was also the day of my birthday party). I need to check results later for what happened at Hereford, since Bull Run was rescheduled for the day of Baltimore Marathon.
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