Sunday morning comes awfully early, once again, up several hours before the sun, grab my gear and head west this morning. i get to the race, park and ride my bike over to transition. my legs are a bit tired from yesterdays run, but i did manage to eat a lot and sleep a fair amount, so hopefully once i get swimming they will loosen up and come around, otherwise it will be an exercise in self control and pacing. i pick out my spot in transition, rack my bike, and lay out my gear in preparation for the race.
now to walk through my transitions, i go to the swim in, walk through to my bike trying to make note of what i'll pass and how to easily find my bike, but i keep getting distracted, ooh elites, i wonder what tricks i can gain from watching them get ready. put your race number on before the swim and tuck it in your shorts, good call. oh yeah, walking to my bike. i do this several times, then decide i should try an easy run to see how things go.
oh yeah, my legs are really tired, my breathing is heavy, and that's not even a hard pace. it should be interesting. once again i'm hoping the swim loosens things up and brings my legs around. back from my warm up run (all of about 1/2 mile and it was painfully slow). i put my wetsuit on and head down for the swim start. i'm in the 5th wave, so i get to see a couple groups go off before getting in the water. it's a bit chilly this morning, and it seems my wetsuit has acquired several new holes since i last remember. why am i here again? oh yeah, i love racing. drift over to the swim start, and notice there is a good current in our favor. excellent. then the gun goes off, and all fades away.
i get stuck behind some slower swimmers for a bit and jostled mildly, but nothing compared to the usual swim start. i never seem to find a rhythm on the swim, i am becoming an endurance athlete, it takes me absurd amounts of time to find a groove, mental note, next time swim 1000 meters or so as a warm up before the actual race. finally as i 'm nearing the buoy to indicate it's time to turn into shore i start to flow slightly (or perhaps i'm just excited to know my bike is waiting in transition).
out of the water, peel the wetsuit down to my waist, a moderate jog up to T1, goggles and cap come off, looking for my bike, all the way at the other end of transition, which is fine, that means i'm that much closer to riding once i get my bike. the asphalt is beginning to hurt my feet. a little further and i get to struggle with removing my wetsuit (i need to work on this a lot more, i have gotten very bad at taking off my wetsuit). all right, don my helmet and sunglasses, grab my bike, and let the fun begin.
i leap onto my bike, and immediately begin picking up places. there is little i enjoy about racing more than passing people. there are a couple sections on the bike course that consist of some good sharp turns, i enjoy these immensely, especially if they are clear of other riders so i can really make up time. coming out onto the road there is an overpass to climb and come down, 2 more good things, i climb and descend well. a hard left then right at the bottom, even better, it's pretty clear so i carry a good amount of speed through. i am able to hold a pretty solid pace for the ride, granted it's flat, but i'm passing people, and nobody is passing me, so i must be doing better than average. i also made a decision to go a bit harder on the bike as i wasn't sure i'd be able to put together to strong a run after yesterday. my plan was go hard on the bike, put as much time into people as i can, and just try to hold them off on the run.
about 1/2 way through the bike another rider passes me, unacceptable, so i grab onto his wheel (staying at least 10m back to avoid a drafting penalty), and just hold on for a mile or 2, then i make a move and try to push him a bit. if i'm working, so is he. this doesn't go quit as well as i expect, as he passes me shortly thereafter. so i'm back to just keeping him within reach and trying to make up some time in the technical section and going back over the overpass. into the parking lot and tight turns i am able to catch up to him and would be able to pass if there is room. since there isn't i sit back and let my legs come around for the climb. i pass on the climb, and enter T2 ahead of him. unfortunately i am not prepared for the dismount line, about 50 feet from it i notice it, and am able to slip my right foot out of my shoe; however, not my left, so i stop at the line and put my right foot down while i take my left shoe off (did i mention i have to work on transitions, and paying attention???).
into t2, i rack my bike, and slip into my running shoes. the guy that passed me on the bike is 10' in front of me. i run through my options in my head sit back and let him dictate the pace until i want to make a move, or let things go and see if/when i blow up.
legs feel pretty good, so i'm going to see if i blow up. i quicken the pace and overtake him. surprisingly my legs are feeling pretty loose and good at this point. so i might as well take advantage of it. 1 mile down, it feels like i'm holding a good pace, and nobody appears to be catching me. about 1/2 way through the run, i'm still going strong, pace feels about the same, and i'm the one doing all the catching. good stuff, how long will it last?? hopefully another 1.5 miles. then there is the overpass from the bike course (get to do this twice on the run too). i hold a good pace over it, and relax into the descent allowing gravity to work for me. at the bottom, the course offers a chance to see who is following and how close. all the faces i see are recently passed, and falling further off my pace. that is good news. mile 2, only 1 more mile, time to try and pick up the pace.
coming around back towards the overpass, i start to settle into a comfortable pace, mmm, not today, with roughly 1/2 mile left, i decide that today is a good day to get used to pushing really hard, so i increase the pace again, over the overpass 1 last time, then down the other side and 1/4 mile to the finish. it's definitely uncomfortable ascending the overpass, and i manage to make the descent a bit of a push as well, then holding that pace for the last 1/4 mile, and the finish. that feels good.
i'm done, and still feeling pretty good. now if i can just figure out how to muster that kind of an effort for the better part of my next long course event, i'll be very happy.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Noble Canyon 50k
saturday was my opportunity to run long, with lots of climbing and some good scenery. I woke up early (it was dark out for some time after i got up), grabbed my bag of stuff, and headed east towards the mountains for the noble canyon 55k trail run. I showed up, gathered my entry swag, a duffle bag, t-shirt, hat, socks, and some other things which are still somewhere in my car. in addition to all this good stuff, they had breakfast, cantaloupe, bananas, water melon, breakfast bars, yogurt, juices, cereal and probably more that i've forgotten. i grabbed some yogurt, a banana, cereal milk, and juice. ate up, sat through the meeting/course description, filled up my water bottle, and then lined up for the start.
at 7:00 am things were under way, the first 1/2mile was on the road and brought us to the base of our 10mile climb from 2000ft up to nearly 6000ft. for nearly 2 miles, the trail was pretty narrow and i was content to settle in to my place in line at a nice liesurely pace, i figured it was good to take it easy as i had 5 or 6 hours of running to look forward to, and lots of climbing. when the trail opened up a little bit i started working my way up, still conscious of my pace and making an effort to keep it very easy. the first aid station of five (the provide food and liquids roughly every 5 miles) came sooner than anticipated, when i got there, it was very congested. since i had hardly touched my water, i decided i would be fine until mile 11 and the next aid station.
on top of that, i remembered to stuff some gels in my pockets in case i needed some calories before the next aid station. on the climb up, a runner i had seen at the 50k in august ran by and commented how we did this through much of the bulldog (august's 50k). i agreed and he continued to remind me that i had finished before him at the bulldog, but that wasn't going to happen this time. i wished him luck and thought to myself, my legs are tired this time, i won't be surprised if i finish behind him. we went back and forth until around 7 miles or so, then he dropped off the pace, and i didn't see him the rest of the day. the trail meandered through some of the best mountain biking in san diego county, working it's way up.
i sat in behind a couple runners for another couple miles before passing them on some switch backs. there were a couple steeper sections which i opted to walk up in hopes of keeping my legs semi fresh, as well as providing an easy pace for eating my gel. i reached the top (at least for now), and began my descent to the 2nd aid station, marking 11.3 miles behind me, and around 20 left. i stopped, refilled my water bottle and my have grabbed a banana, then off again in search of the 3rd aid station, this loop on the course would prove to be the most difficult for me. another gel, some salt tablets. there were no real hard climbs, but with 11+ miles behind me, and having worked my way up from 4000' to somewhere around 6000' my body was tiring.
so i alternated between walking and running, enjoying some of the views, and asking the ever popular: when did i think this was a good idea? after winding through the hills for some time and passing several groups of hikers, i came across a couple that was out watching the race, only a couple hundred yards to aid station 3. nice, that's half way, and it's pretty flat to downhill from there on. so my spirits lifted a bit, i picked up the pace, and as the yards past, i started asking if anybody had explained to them that 1/2 mile is more than a couple hundred yards. though they may have been right, it seemed closer to 1/2 mile than 2 or 300 yards.
at this station, more water, i went through the entire bottle in the last 5 miles (it was starting to warm up) and once again on my way. i decided to test out my motivator capsules (essentially caffeine and other stimulants intended to provide a little kick when you are tired). that only succeeded in making me dizzy and shaky. mm, those might take some time to get used to. hopefully it has something to do with the 6000' or so of altitude.
the next 5 miles back to the 2nd aid station (which also serves as the 4th) were slightly better than the previous 5. i was able to tag along with a couple different runners over the course. that helps the mileage go by a bit faster, but also tends to pick up the pace a bit, so drains me a bit. my 3rd and last gel was required to help maintain. there were also several sets of hikers, many of whom provided cheers and welcomed encouragement. a slight climb back up to the road, across the road, and an easy descent into aid station 4. some oranges, refill my water bottle, and try to muster the ambition for the remaining 11 miles.
all right, i'm off again. on the climb up before i get to enjoy the downhill, 4 mountain bikers came up and passed me, so i figured it was a good motivation to stick with them, i picked up the pace slightly and hung on. we conversed briefly: 'how long a run are you doing''31 miles or so''holy ----' then 1 of them lost his balance on the climb and fell, after seeing he was fine, i carried on. i wouldn't see them again for pretty close to 8 miles, which was nice (there are some really technical sections that only really good mountain bikers can cycle through). regardless, it was nice to be able to hold them off for so long. the run down was good, pretty mellow descents the only drawback was a fair amount of half buried rocks and uneven ground which made for difficult footing along most of the trail.
now i'm just trying to stay ahead of the mountain bikers and get to the final aid station (which also served as the 1st). i'm out of food, and running low on water, so i try to let the downhills go as quickly as i can without tripping. it took slightly longer than i expected to get to the last aid station. i grabbed several orange slices, a banana, and a couple gels to get me through the final miles. ok, only 5 miles left, you can fake 5 miles right (funny what goes through your mind when you are tired). the last 5 miles was pretty uneventful, some ups and downs and a bit of walking some of the ups, but pretty much just a shuffle that was somewhere between a jog and a walk.
this lasted until i recognized that i was within 1.5 miles or so, at which point i mustered my remaining energy and increased my pace to a respectable jog. once i got on the road i felt a slight relief. then the final turn into the parking lot, and roughly 0.1 miles left, finished, just under 6 hours, slightly slower than i hoped, but a good day.
on top of that, they had showers there, so i had an opportunity to rinse before i sat down to eat. i enjoyed some pasta salad, sandwiches, salad, drinks, m&ms. very tood stuffs. then it was off to pick up my registration for sunday's sprint triathlon.
at 7:00 am things were under way, the first 1/2mile was on the road and brought us to the base of our 10mile climb from 2000ft up to nearly 6000ft. for nearly 2 miles, the trail was pretty narrow and i was content to settle in to my place in line at a nice liesurely pace, i figured it was good to take it easy as i had 5 or 6 hours of running to look forward to, and lots of climbing. when the trail opened up a little bit i started working my way up, still conscious of my pace and making an effort to keep it very easy. the first aid station of five (the provide food and liquids roughly every 5 miles) came sooner than anticipated, when i got there, it was very congested. since i had hardly touched my water, i decided i would be fine until mile 11 and the next aid station.
on top of that, i remembered to stuff some gels in my pockets in case i needed some calories before the next aid station. on the climb up, a runner i had seen at the 50k in august ran by and commented how we did this through much of the bulldog (august's 50k). i agreed and he continued to remind me that i had finished before him at the bulldog, but that wasn't going to happen this time. i wished him luck and thought to myself, my legs are tired this time, i won't be surprised if i finish behind him. we went back and forth until around 7 miles or so, then he dropped off the pace, and i didn't see him the rest of the day. the trail meandered through some of the best mountain biking in san diego county, working it's way up.
i sat in behind a couple runners for another couple miles before passing them on some switch backs. there were a couple steeper sections which i opted to walk up in hopes of keeping my legs semi fresh, as well as providing an easy pace for eating my gel. i reached the top (at least for now), and began my descent to the 2nd aid station, marking 11.3 miles behind me, and around 20 left. i stopped, refilled my water bottle and my have grabbed a banana, then off again in search of the 3rd aid station, this loop on the course would prove to be the most difficult for me. another gel, some salt tablets. there were no real hard climbs, but with 11+ miles behind me, and having worked my way up from 4000' to somewhere around 6000' my body was tiring.
so i alternated between walking and running, enjoying some of the views, and asking the ever popular: when did i think this was a good idea? after winding through the hills for some time and passing several groups of hikers, i came across a couple that was out watching the race, only a couple hundred yards to aid station 3. nice, that's half way, and it's pretty flat to downhill from there on. so my spirits lifted a bit, i picked up the pace, and as the yards past, i started asking if anybody had explained to them that 1/2 mile is more than a couple hundred yards. though they may have been right, it seemed closer to 1/2 mile than 2 or 300 yards.
at this station, more water, i went through the entire bottle in the last 5 miles (it was starting to warm up) and once again on my way. i decided to test out my motivator capsules (essentially caffeine and other stimulants intended to provide a little kick when you are tired). that only succeeded in making me dizzy and shaky. mm, those might take some time to get used to. hopefully it has something to do with the 6000' or so of altitude.
the next 5 miles back to the 2nd aid station (which also serves as the 4th) were slightly better than the previous 5. i was able to tag along with a couple different runners over the course. that helps the mileage go by a bit faster, but also tends to pick up the pace a bit, so drains me a bit. my 3rd and last gel was required to help maintain. there were also several sets of hikers, many of whom provided cheers and welcomed encouragement. a slight climb back up to the road, across the road, and an easy descent into aid station 4. some oranges, refill my water bottle, and try to muster the ambition for the remaining 11 miles.
all right, i'm off again. on the climb up before i get to enjoy the downhill, 4 mountain bikers came up and passed me, so i figured it was a good motivation to stick with them, i picked up the pace slightly and hung on. we conversed briefly: 'how long a run are you doing''31 miles or so''holy ----' then 1 of them lost his balance on the climb and fell, after seeing he was fine, i carried on. i wouldn't see them again for pretty close to 8 miles, which was nice (there are some really technical sections that only really good mountain bikers can cycle through). regardless, it was nice to be able to hold them off for so long. the run down was good, pretty mellow descents the only drawback was a fair amount of half buried rocks and uneven ground which made for difficult footing along most of the trail.
now i'm just trying to stay ahead of the mountain bikers and get to the final aid station (which also served as the 1st). i'm out of food, and running low on water, so i try to let the downhills go as quickly as i can without tripping. it took slightly longer than i expected to get to the last aid station. i grabbed several orange slices, a banana, and a couple gels to get me through the final miles. ok, only 5 miles left, you can fake 5 miles right (funny what goes through your mind when you are tired). the last 5 miles was pretty uneventful, some ups and downs and a bit of walking some of the ups, but pretty much just a shuffle that was somewhere between a jog and a walk.
this lasted until i recognized that i was within 1.5 miles or so, at which point i mustered my remaining energy and increased my pace to a respectable jog. once i got on the road i felt a slight relief. then the final turn into the parking lot, and roughly 0.1 miles left, finished, just under 6 hours, slightly slower than i hoped, but a good day.
on top of that, they had showers there, so i had an opportunity to rinse before i sat down to eat. i enjoyed some pasta salad, sandwiches, salad, drinks, m&ms. very tood stuffs. then it was off to pick up my registration for sunday's sprint triathlon.
Heartbreak Ridge 1/2 Marathon
woke up early, and headed up to camp pendelton for a good exercise in running. got my race number and sat around for a bit waiting for the start.
i lined up towards the front, anticipating being in the faster portion of the race (out of nearly 1,000 people, i'm hoping to pull a top 50 or so). They have the pre-race meeting, basic rules, and what not, then they raise the flag and honor those that serve and have served the country.
then it starts, of course everybody is caught up in the excitement, and comes out at a fast pace, so i just hang around a pace that is slightly faster than i anticipate being able to hold the entire time. i figure i'll hold this for 1 or 2 miles, then settle into something that is more comfortable.
which worked out well, because just past 2 miles, the race course began climbing for a couple hundred feet or so. this proved to be an interesting climb, i held a good effort up the climb, and was rewarded with a nice downhill on the other side, i let things go, and made some good time on the descent. the first 7 miles were difficult, my calves were pretty tight, and i couldn't really find a rhythm.
at about 7 miles, i decided i would pick up my pace every mile until i either blew up, or finished. it was a bit uncomfortable, but felt good, the rewarding part was i just kept running people down, i'd see them off in the distance, and know that it was only a matter of time until they would be watching me pull away from them.
then at mile 9, there was a bit of a climb, my legs were beginning to revolt a little, but i pushed them through it, and at the top the pace quickened a bit more. then some descents and that is always good for my average speed. i ran down a couple people, and somehow missed the 10 mile sign, then there was the last of the climbs, which is followed by a nice descent and flats to the finish.
so i tried to push up the climb, and was able to make up a little ground, then on the descent i once again let it go, 1 of the other runners tried to hold me off on the downhill, i came up on his shoulder, and i could hear he was breathing hard, so i doubted he would be able to hold me off. i just relaxed into it, let gravity do the work, and watched him fall away. at the bottom, there was the 11 mile sign, and i was able to pick up the pace yet again. as i came around the corner, i saw a slew of people, maybe 10 or 12, within 2 miles, i had almost 1/4 mile to make up on these people, difficult, but plausible.
so i kicked it up a notch, and could feel my legs revolt a little, and my breathing was harder. but the group was getting closer, and their was only 2 miles left. a couple more corners, and i was within 1 mile of the finish, and the people are within a couple hundred meters, a little more push, and i am through the group. a couple more people to pick off in the last mile.
finally i come around the corner into the finish chute, my legs where pretty tired, and definitely burning, but i mustered a bit of a increase in pace to finish strong. a good effort and exercise in being uncomfortable. i need more running time on my legs to get them used to continuing when i'm tired, so a decent pace becomes almost second nature.
i lined up towards the front, anticipating being in the faster portion of the race (out of nearly 1,000 people, i'm hoping to pull a top 50 or so). They have the pre-race meeting, basic rules, and what not, then they raise the flag and honor those that serve and have served the country.
then it starts, of course everybody is caught up in the excitement, and comes out at a fast pace, so i just hang around a pace that is slightly faster than i anticipate being able to hold the entire time. i figure i'll hold this for 1 or 2 miles, then settle into something that is more comfortable.
which worked out well, because just past 2 miles, the race course began climbing for a couple hundred feet or so. this proved to be an interesting climb, i held a good effort up the climb, and was rewarded with a nice downhill on the other side, i let things go, and made some good time on the descent. the first 7 miles were difficult, my calves were pretty tight, and i couldn't really find a rhythm.
at about 7 miles, i decided i would pick up my pace every mile until i either blew up, or finished. it was a bit uncomfortable, but felt good, the rewarding part was i just kept running people down, i'd see them off in the distance, and know that it was only a matter of time until they would be watching me pull away from them.
then at mile 9, there was a bit of a climb, my legs were beginning to revolt a little, but i pushed them through it, and at the top the pace quickened a bit more. then some descents and that is always good for my average speed. i ran down a couple people, and somehow missed the 10 mile sign, then there was the last of the climbs, which is followed by a nice descent and flats to the finish.
so i tried to push up the climb, and was able to make up a little ground, then on the descent i once again let it go, 1 of the other runners tried to hold me off on the downhill, i came up on his shoulder, and i could hear he was breathing hard, so i doubted he would be able to hold me off. i just relaxed into it, let gravity do the work, and watched him fall away. at the bottom, there was the 11 mile sign, and i was able to pick up the pace yet again. as i came around the corner, i saw a slew of people, maybe 10 or 12, within 2 miles, i had almost 1/4 mile to make up on these people, difficult, but plausible.
so i kicked it up a notch, and could feel my legs revolt a little, and my breathing was harder. but the group was getting closer, and their was only 2 miles left. a couple more corners, and i was within 1 mile of the finish, and the people are within a couple hundred meters, a little more push, and i am through the group. a couple more people to pick off in the last mile.
finally i come around the corner into the finish chute, my legs where pretty tired, and definitely burning, but i mustered a bit of a increase in pace to finish strong. a good effort and exercise in being uncomfortable. i need more running time on my legs to get them used to continuing when i'm tired, so a decent pace becomes almost second nature.
Pacific Coast Triathlon
where to start on this one. seemed like a good idea at the time, i've been focused on long course, so why not squeeze in a sprint to get in some speed work.
arrive at the race site early, and had to park about 1 mile away, so a nice easy bike ride over to transition, pick out a spot, get thing set up, and then go for an easy spin with some higher efforts to guage how my legs are feeling (did a longer ride yesterday with some good efforts on the climbs). legs are a little flat for the climbs, but i'm sure it will work itself out.
rack my bike again, and set it up for transition, then an easy little run to spin my legs out a bit. now it's about 20 minutes until the racing begins, time to put on the wetsuit, and get in a little pre race swim.
the water is pretty chilly, it's been some time since i've experienced these temperatures (probably in march at ralph's 1/2). but it's ok, so lets see, 800m swim (1/2 mile), 12 mile bike over some hilly terrain, and 5k (3.1 mile) run. i'm generally just getting warmed up at these times, but speed is a totally different ball game, so let's have at it.
the swim starts on the beach with a 25 m dash to the ocean then making your way through some minor bumps and swim.
I'm lined up and ready, the horn sounds, and it's a faster jog to the water, a couple porpoise dives and onto swimming, unfortunately i neglect to sight the buoy i should be chasing and swim a bit off course, no big deal, i work my way back to the turn buoy and make the turn, then start churning some water, not an incredible swim, relatively uneventful, I round the last buoy and turn in for shore, make a semi surge for the beach, as i am coming out of the water, i see a familiar race suit, Thorin is about 5 seconds ahead of me out of the water.
the run up to transition is a bit of a climb, i chat a bit with him on the way up, then into transition, as usual, i am a little slow getting the wetsuit off (i haven't worn a wetsuit since lake placid 5weeks prior), as i get out of my wetsuit, thorin is off on his bike, no worries, i'll be 10 - 15 seconds back on him (actually it was closer to 30 seconds).
i come out pretty good on the bike, down the first hill, and then the climbing starts, generally i love this part, but my legs just aren't having it today, there is a deep lingering tiredness in there (perhaps they aren't completely recovered from my 50k run 2 weeks ago). regardless, it's a lovely day, so i'll keep turning the pedals, and on the flats and dowhills i can get a bit of speed, it's just the climbing that i'm suffering a bit on.
these efforts are significantly higher than i am used to, so i'm breathing a little hard, and my muscles are warming up pretty quick. just before the turn around, i see thorin blast by, i'm still about 30 seconds behind him, there are a couple more hills in the other direction which take a bit of a toll on me, the 2nd turn around and thorin has put some time in on me, maybe 45 - 60 seconds up on me now.
1 lap of 2 completed, and my legs are still feeling sluggish. the climbs are pretty much the same on lap 2, then after the 2nd turn around, my legs start to come around a bit, still have a deep tired feeling, but they are turning a bit better, just in time to enter T2 and get ready for a run.
as i am coming in to T2, the 2nd cyclist of the day passes me, i have a decent T2, and come out running pretty strong, there aren't many people on the run yet, and the few that are there i'm reeling in pretty well. just past the 1/2 way point, the guy that past me on the bike coming into
T2 goes running by, i could make an effort to hold on to him for the remainder of the run, and do keep him in sight until we hit sand. what the ??? this is a pleasant suprise, or not.
everybody else gets the same course, so i slow my pace slightly, and try to stick to the hard pack sand by the waters edge. at this point i can hear a runner sitting just on my heels, he's been there for long enough that i'm sure he is in my division, and just sitting back there waiting to move in the final sprint to the finish.
do i pick up the pace and turn myself inside out to drop him, or hold out for the finish and try to outsprint him? at this point i'm pretty well beyond my comfort zone, so i'll just sit on it, maybe make a small surge on the climb back up off the beach and see what happens.
on the climb, my legs are starting to hurt, there is no coming around for them on the run, and this brutal climb to finish things off isn't helping, so my surges are very short lived, and rather pathetic (more hill running to come in training). then it levels off, and my tail whips around for a 200m sprint, he goes, and i start to follow, but my legs aren't turning over like they should.
this is peculiar, as i am generally game for a good sprint into the finish, and rarely come up on the short side of these, but looks like todays effort is just a bit higher effort than my body is ready for, so he slips away to finish 3 seconds ahead of me. now had there been another 20 or 30 miles on the bike, that would have been more my game, or the hills could have killed me just as easily?
all in all it was a good race, my stomach was twisted, my legs were burning, and my mind was trying to figure out why my body wouldn't respond to it's requests for speed. the answer, very simple, i have been focusing on slow steady efforts lasting hours, not short bursty efforts lasting just about 1 hour.
the remedy: more speed work during my workouts, not a lot, as i am still focusing on long course, but i do plan on throwing in a spattering of extra high efforts.
as for thorin, he went on to pull 4th place in a very tough division, and acredits his success to cheetos, beer, and hanging out with his newborn daughter.
personally i think he just has a better stomach for going well beyond his comfort zone than i do, i can go a little out of it, and stay there for a long time, but seem to have a little trouble going terribly far out of it even for short periods.
arrive at the race site early, and had to park about 1 mile away, so a nice easy bike ride over to transition, pick out a spot, get thing set up, and then go for an easy spin with some higher efforts to guage how my legs are feeling (did a longer ride yesterday with some good efforts on the climbs). legs are a little flat for the climbs, but i'm sure it will work itself out.
rack my bike again, and set it up for transition, then an easy little run to spin my legs out a bit. now it's about 20 minutes until the racing begins, time to put on the wetsuit, and get in a little pre race swim.
the water is pretty chilly, it's been some time since i've experienced these temperatures (probably in march at ralph's 1/2). but it's ok, so lets see, 800m swim (1/2 mile), 12 mile bike over some hilly terrain, and 5k (3.1 mile) run. i'm generally just getting warmed up at these times, but speed is a totally different ball game, so let's have at it.
the swim starts on the beach with a 25 m dash to the ocean then making your way through some minor bumps and swim.
I'm lined up and ready, the horn sounds, and it's a faster jog to the water, a couple porpoise dives and onto swimming, unfortunately i neglect to sight the buoy i should be chasing and swim a bit off course, no big deal, i work my way back to the turn buoy and make the turn, then start churning some water, not an incredible swim, relatively uneventful, I round the last buoy and turn in for shore, make a semi surge for the beach, as i am coming out of the water, i see a familiar race suit, Thorin is about 5 seconds ahead of me out of the water.
the run up to transition is a bit of a climb, i chat a bit with him on the way up, then into transition, as usual, i am a little slow getting the wetsuit off (i haven't worn a wetsuit since lake placid 5weeks prior), as i get out of my wetsuit, thorin is off on his bike, no worries, i'll be 10 - 15 seconds back on him (actually it was closer to 30 seconds).
i come out pretty good on the bike, down the first hill, and then the climbing starts, generally i love this part, but my legs just aren't having it today, there is a deep lingering tiredness in there (perhaps they aren't completely recovered from my 50k run 2 weeks ago). regardless, it's a lovely day, so i'll keep turning the pedals, and on the flats and dowhills i can get a bit of speed, it's just the climbing that i'm suffering a bit on.
these efforts are significantly higher than i am used to, so i'm breathing a little hard, and my muscles are warming up pretty quick. just before the turn around, i see thorin blast by, i'm still about 30 seconds behind him, there are a couple more hills in the other direction which take a bit of a toll on me, the 2nd turn around and thorin has put some time in on me, maybe 45 - 60 seconds up on me now.
1 lap of 2 completed, and my legs are still feeling sluggish. the climbs are pretty much the same on lap 2, then after the 2nd turn around, my legs start to come around a bit, still have a deep tired feeling, but they are turning a bit better, just in time to enter T2 and get ready for a run.
as i am coming in to T2, the 2nd cyclist of the day passes me, i have a decent T2, and come out running pretty strong, there aren't many people on the run yet, and the few that are there i'm reeling in pretty well. just past the 1/2 way point, the guy that past me on the bike coming into
T2 goes running by, i could make an effort to hold on to him for the remainder of the run, and do keep him in sight until we hit sand. what the ??? this is a pleasant suprise, or not.
everybody else gets the same course, so i slow my pace slightly, and try to stick to the hard pack sand by the waters edge. at this point i can hear a runner sitting just on my heels, he's been there for long enough that i'm sure he is in my division, and just sitting back there waiting to move in the final sprint to the finish.
do i pick up the pace and turn myself inside out to drop him, or hold out for the finish and try to outsprint him? at this point i'm pretty well beyond my comfort zone, so i'll just sit on it, maybe make a small surge on the climb back up off the beach and see what happens.
on the climb, my legs are starting to hurt, there is no coming around for them on the run, and this brutal climb to finish things off isn't helping, so my surges are very short lived, and rather pathetic (more hill running to come in training). then it levels off, and my tail whips around for a 200m sprint, he goes, and i start to follow, but my legs aren't turning over like they should.
this is peculiar, as i am generally game for a good sprint into the finish, and rarely come up on the short side of these, but looks like todays effort is just a bit higher effort than my body is ready for, so he slips away to finish 3 seconds ahead of me. now had there been another 20 or 30 miles on the bike, that would have been more my game, or the hills could have killed me just as easily?
all in all it was a good race, my stomach was twisted, my legs were burning, and my mind was trying to figure out why my body wouldn't respond to it's requests for speed. the answer, very simple, i have been focusing on slow steady efforts lasting hours, not short bursty efforts lasting just about 1 hour.
the remedy: more speed work during my workouts, not a lot, as i am still focusing on long course, but i do plan on throwing in a spattering of extra high efforts.
as for thorin, he went on to pull 4th place in a very tough division, and acredits his success to cheetos, beer, and hanging out with his newborn daughter.
personally i think he just has a better stomach for going well beyond his comfort zone than i do, i can go a little out of it, and stay there for a long time, but seem to have a little trouble going terribly far out of it even for short periods.
Bulldog 50k 2007
my last adventure found me up in the mountains above malibu. it was a great experience, and one that will hopefully help me figure out how to run through the discomfort and fatigue which have caused me so much difficulty in past events.
i got to the race check in around 5:30 am, got my number and goodie bag. the race starts at 6:30, so i have some time to work out the details and plan my strategy. a strategy that was comprised of running really slow for a really long time. 6:30 rolls around, and we are off, its a nice trail run, the first 3-4km (2-3 miles) was relatively uneventful, then came the beginnings of the promised climbs. this continued in a pretty consistent fashion for 5-8km (3-5 miles) which bore witness to me walking most of it (this was a strategic choice at this point, i figured there is a lot left in the day, so i will try to save a bit of my legs for later).
then there was a fun section along the ridgeline with some undulating hills and fun single track stuff. followed by a pretty good downhill which i am extremely fond of. i generally let gravity do the work, and just turn my legs over as quickly as possible. that joined up with a good climb lasting about 1 km (.7 miles) then was followed by a brutal downhill, very steep, and lasting 3-5km (2-3miles), then it got flat for a bit followed by some uphill switch backs for approximately 1.5 km (1mile), then it dropped into a parking lot, and the last 2 km (1.5 miles) was on fire road. that was pleasant. then it was time for round 2. that's when things got tough, i kept chugging along at a bit of a diminished pace until the start of the major climb, then i was reduced to a walk.
i would walk much of this, every so often mustering a bit of energy for a run on the flatter portions. at the crest, i enjoyed a bit of the downhill, but at a significantly slower clip than my general vigor with which i embrace the descents. at 32km (19 miles) my legs were ready to explode, but somehow i managed to keep them turning over and moving forward. at this point something strange happened, my legs were terribly tired, but seemed to resign themselves to a slow but steady shuffle somewhere between a walk and a run, this continued, speeding up slightly for the downhills and slowing to a walk for the climbs. then the last 4km (2.5 miles) i was able to dig deep and pick up the pace to a respectable run, picking off 4 places in the process. i was within my expected finish time 5:42:19 (i was hoping for between 5 and 6 hours), and had pushed through some of the worst exhaustion my legs have been subjected to.
though my pace was fairly moderate at 6:49 min/km (10:58 min/mile), i came through the marathon point within 10 minutes of my previous best for that distance (i ran a 4:30:12 marathon at lake placid - 6:24 min/km = 10:19 min/mile), and then tacked on another 5 miles in about 1 hour.
results can be found here:http://www.trailrunevents.com/bd/2007-results-50k.htm
here is an ariel view of the course: http://www.trailrunevents.com/images/google_earth_bulldog_loop.jpg
i got to the race check in around 5:30 am, got my number and goodie bag. the race starts at 6:30, so i have some time to work out the details and plan my strategy. a strategy that was comprised of running really slow for a really long time. 6:30 rolls around, and we are off, its a nice trail run, the first 3-4km (2-3 miles) was relatively uneventful, then came the beginnings of the promised climbs. this continued in a pretty consistent fashion for 5-8km (3-5 miles) which bore witness to me walking most of it (this was a strategic choice at this point, i figured there is a lot left in the day, so i will try to save a bit of my legs for later).
then there was a fun section along the ridgeline with some undulating hills and fun single track stuff. followed by a pretty good downhill which i am extremely fond of. i generally let gravity do the work, and just turn my legs over as quickly as possible. that joined up with a good climb lasting about 1 km (.7 miles) then was followed by a brutal downhill, very steep, and lasting 3-5km (2-3miles), then it got flat for a bit followed by some uphill switch backs for approximately 1.5 km (1mile), then it dropped into a parking lot, and the last 2 km (1.5 miles) was on fire road. that was pleasant. then it was time for round 2. that's when things got tough, i kept chugging along at a bit of a diminished pace until the start of the major climb, then i was reduced to a walk.
i would walk much of this, every so often mustering a bit of energy for a run on the flatter portions. at the crest, i enjoyed a bit of the downhill, but at a significantly slower clip than my general vigor with which i embrace the descents. at 32km (19 miles) my legs were ready to explode, but somehow i managed to keep them turning over and moving forward. at this point something strange happened, my legs were terribly tired, but seemed to resign themselves to a slow but steady shuffle somewhere between a walk and a run, this continued, speeding up slightly for the downhills and slowing to a walk for the climbs. then the last 4km (2.5 miles) i was able to dig deep and pick up the pace to a respectable run, picking off 4 places in the process. i was within my expected finish time 5:42:19 (i was hoping for between 5 and 6 hours), and had pushed through some of the worst exhaustion my legs have been subjected to.
though my pace was fairly moderate at 6:49 min/km (10:58 min/mile), i came through the marathon point within 10 minutes of my previous best for that distance (i ran a 4:30:12 marathon at lake placid - 6:24 min/km = 10:19 min/mile), and then tacked on another 5 miles in about 1 hour.
results can be found here:http://www.trailrunevents.com/bd/2007-results-50k.htm
here is an ariel view of the course: http://www.trailrunevents.com/images/google_earth_bulldog_loop.jpg
Lake Placid 2007
After much preparation and planning, Lake Placid has come and gone. lots of lessons taken away from this one:
PRE-RACEi left san diego late wednesday night, arriving in albany thursday around noon. my dad, sister and nieces were waiting for me. no bike, that could be a problem, fortunately they have a couple days to work out the details on that, so off to lake placid we go.
it's raining pretty steady for most of the first evening. got my registration packet and checked in to our cabin thursday, ate a bit of dinner. the airlines dropped my bike off during dinner, so things are on the up and up. sleep was a bit disrupted the first night.
got up and lounged around for a bit, it rained off and on most of the day, so outdoor activity will be limited (san diego has spoiled me). drove parts of the bike course and part of the run course (i had some problems accurately following the bike course). what i did see looks like it will suit my training very well, no real tough climbs, a couple moderate grades, but all said and done, should be a fast bike course.
as later evening rolled around, most of my family began arriving, with the last couple trickling in around 2 or 3 in the morning ( i was in a haze of half sleep half awake).
saturday morning was rather uneventful, i rode the last 12 miles of the bike course to the pancake breakfast and bike drop off. this is the worst of the climbing, and isn't bad at all, fairly fast and should be fun. spent much of the day enjoying the sun and relaxing with the family.
RACE DAY
woke up around 4, had some breakfast, bagel and infinit drink before heading over to the swim start. got to the transition area dropped off my bags, put my nutrition on my bike and filled my water bottles, then headed over to mirror lake.
SWIM
whoever thinks starting 2000+ swimmers in a mass start must enjoy watching salmon swim upstream. each leg is a 2loop affair, and it took all of the first 1.2 miles (split around 0:31:30) for me to find some open water on the swim. it was entirely too crowded to find a pair of feet to hang on. after running and getting back in for the second loop, i was able to hit a good groove, i wound up hooking on a couple different pairs of feet on the way out, then coming around the turnaround, i found a new set of feet that went very wide on the turn (on the bright side, lots of open water 20-30 meters outside the buoys). i worked my way back towards the course and picked up the effert the last 200-300 meters coming out of the water slightly slower than ideal, but still in good form (1:03:39), the strippers had some issues getting my suit off, no worries, it's a long day, what's 10-20 seconds. a nice jog into transition where i am excited to have my bike waiting at the end of the row for me to pick up.
T1
through the transition tent, number, helmet sunglasses, good to go, all right, now to pick up my bike. unfortunately my number was not relayed to the bike grabbers, so i had to fish mine out of the racks on my own.
BIKE - loop 1
here is where the fun really starts, the beginning has some short steep descents followed by hard turns, fun stuff, i really enjoy these and they provide me with an opportunity to make up a little time, coming out of town it's time to shift into the big ring and get things moving. bad news, that frayed cable i was going to change before the race, didn't change it, and it's broke (<5miles into the bike and breaking things already, good times).
so now i'm on keen lookout for the sag wagon, or somebody that may be carrying a derrailuer cable. there are some light rollers, then a long fast descent over the first 20 miles. despite not having a big ring, only 2 people pass me on the descent, and i am hanging with a pack of riders through the first 2 aid stations, feeling pretty good. i decide to stop at the 3rd station and see about getting my cable replaced, the downhills and flats will be worth the downtime to replace it. no luck, while i'm waiting for them to check for a cable, i eat several bananas, take a bathroom break, and down some water. no cable. ok, looks like today will be a lot of high cadence work.
while i was checking on my cable, dozens of people blow by the aid station.
hmmm, that's unfortunate. all right, back on the bike, back to picking up places. the climb out of jay is pretty good, i'm picking off people as anticipated. in a little bit, there will be an out and back section for me to guage how much time i lost to the group i was with up until i stopped for a derrailleur cable. so to the best of my guesses, i'm 15 minutes down form the group i was with. 40 miles into the race, now i've got to pee pretty bad, hope there are toilets soon. nothing around, so i improvise, now i'm a bathroom break and a 10-15 minute rest at an aid station on loop 1. coming back into lake placid was an absolute blast, several tight turns, ups and downs, a real technical section, i was moving through here picking off people. despite the misfortunes thus far, i was able to split at the 1st loop at 2:46:22, a little off pace, but once the stops are factored in, i'm golden.
BIKE - loop 2
still feeling pretty good, legs are a little heavy from the fun i had going through town, but once i get down into keen (the bottom of the long downhill), they will be ready again. uh oh, i'm way ahead of pace on my nutrition, i'm set to run out around 80 miles or so at this rate, and i've been conservative taking in the calories. instead of being smart and grabbing all the calories i can at the aid stations i blank and am just picking up water. then around 80 miles it happens, nutrition is gone, and my legs go flat, just before i get to start climbing back out of the lowest point on the course. jolly good.
so the climb is a bit painful and slow, and of course i neglect to get any nutrition at the 1st aid station i pass, so it's another 10 miles and i need to start taking on nutrition. next aid station i grab 3 or 4 gels, stash them in pockets and grab water, refill the water, start eating gels. repeat at the next aid station. around mile 95 my legs start to come around, and i start to return to form. attacking more so on the hills, still a bit leary because i am far behind on caloric intake. the last aid station i take another 3 or 4 gels and space them out over the remaining 6 miles. one more pass through town, a bit slower than last time, but still fast and fun. a great way to finish off the bike, i come into T2 with a big smile on my face despite having used 5:52:08 to complete the 112 mile bike (3:05:45 for the 2nd loop).
T2
hand off my bike, grab my T2 bag, and into the tent, shoes on, helmet off, good to go, except that pesky cramping in my left hamstring, so i get it rubbed out before setting out on my run.
RUN - loop 1
coming out of T2, i'm feeling pretty good, the run starts with a good dowhill, then about 1 mile of flat and a 2nd good downhill. as usual, i let gravity do the work, and am going by people. i turn down river road, it's about 3 miles out to the turn around, and now the tricky part, i need to keep a nice comfortable pace that i can maintain for the next 3+ hours, i settle in to a pretty comfortable pace, and am taking in 2 cups of liquid at each aid station, and a gel here and there. at 8 miles, i am feeling pretty good and go by the personal message sign (my family took this opportunity to tell me they love me, a very good pick me up at a needed time), at 10 miles, i get to start up the hills, when i reach the top, i get a boost of energy, so the pace is picked up and held pretty solid until mile 14, then things begin to crumble again. the first 13 miles were split at 1:55:38 (a bit behind pace, but i'm running)
RUN - loop 2
the downhills aren't quite as fast as they should be, and the flats are a shuffle, not really much more than a brisk walk, but still in the form of a jog. i'm parched, so i up the liquid intake (2 gatorade cups, and 2 waters at each aid station). throw in a gel pack to try and up the energy levels. now it's time to see how deep i really want to dig? is it time to walk??
1 mile at a time, mile 15, and i get to turn around at mile 18, i'm shuffling, struggling to keep moving forward and battling the desire to walk. so the games begin, if each aid station is 50m long, and there are 26 in the race, i walk every one of them in it's entirety, that means i've walked 1300m, just over 3/4 of a mile, so if i'm at mile 16, and i walk the rest of the way, that's less than 11 miles of walking, this continues up until mile 20, where i see the motivating sign from my family again.
that provides a little boost, and the pace quickens for about 1 or 2 miles. just before i get into the uphills again, it's time for another bathroom break (2 for the run). now it's the last bit of challenge, uphill, then it flattens and my pace quickens a bit. still only walked the aid stations and maybe 1/4 mile of the regular course. here comes the last of the uphills, my sisters are there to run with me for a bit, that helps. now if at absolute worst, i can wind up walking 2 miles, not gonna happen.
the worst of it is i have to go by the finish turn off, past this by almost 1 mile, and i get to turn around again to come back to it. this is usually where i shine, normally i throw in a good kick for the last mile, and a sprint to the finish. past mile marker 25, and it's time to pick up the pace, but it doesn't go, i'm still shuffling, though it may be slightly faster, it's still shuffling. i'm usually good to pick up 6 or 7 places in the last mile, but not today, i am humbled yet again, and content to shuffle into the last 200meters, as i step onto the speed skating oval, i find a bit of energy and start my finishing sprint, my niece and dad join me for the last 150meters. 2nd loop split at 2:34:33 for a 4:30:11 marathon (a personal best, but still a far cry from where i was hoping to be).
POST RACE
as i said lots of things learned, prior to lake placid, i had been very stringent about keeping my gear in top form; this time, i let a couple things slide, and they bit me. previously, i'd always carried an extra 25% of my calculated caloric requirements, today, i had to have botched the numbers and came in 25% short, and didn't acknowledge it and begin correcting until it was too late.
so when i tally the damage, broken cable (did this save my legs for the run? or cause me to spin out burning up more than i anticipated? i don't know and don't particularly care). the important thing is i had several downs, which i managed to pull through and come out with significant improvements over past experiences.
a big thank you and i love you to all that came to support me, including those there in spirit and my thoughts.
PRE-RACEi left san diego late wednesday night, arriving in albany thursday around noon. my dad, sister and nieces were waiting for me. no bike, that could be a problem, fortunately they have a couple days to work out the details on that, so off to lake placid we go.
it's raining pretty steady for most of the first evening. got my registration packet and checked in to our cabin thursday, ate a bit of dinner. the airlines dropped my bike off during dinner, so things are on the up and up. sleep was a bit disrupted the first night.
got up and lounged around for a bit, it rained off and on most of the day, so outdoor activity will be limited (san diego has spoiled me). drove parts of the bike course and part of the run course (i had some problems accurately following the bike course). what i did see looks like it will suit my training very well, no real tough climbs, a couple moderate grades, but all said and done, should be a fast bike course.
as later evening rolled around, most of my family began arriving, with the last couple trickling in around 2 or 3 in the morning ( i was in a haze of half sleep half awake).
saturday morning was rather uneventful, i rode the last 12 miles of the bike course to the pancake breakfast and bike drop off. this is the worst of the climbing, and isn't bad at all, fairly fast and should be fun. spent much of the day enjoying the sun and relaxing with the family.
RACE DAY
woke up around 4, had some breakfast, bagel and infinit drink before heading over to the swim start. got to the transition area dropped off my bags, put my nutrition on my bike and filled my water bottles, then headed over to mirror lake.
SWIM
whoever thinks starting 2000+ swimmers in a mass start must enjoy watching salmon swim upstream. each leg is a 2loop affair, and it took all of the first 1.2 miles (split around 0:31:30) for me to find some open water on the swim. it was entirely too crowded to find a pair of feet to hang on. after running and getting back in for the second loop, i was able to hit a good groove, i wound up hooking on a couple different pairs of feet on the way out, then coming around the turnaround, i found a new set of feet that went very wide on the turn (on the bright side, lots of open water 20-30 meters outside the buoys). i worked my way back towards the course and picked up the effert the last 200-300 meters coming out of the water slightly slower than ideal, but still in good form (1:03:39), the strippers had some issues getting my suit off, no worries, it's a long day, what's 10-20 seconds. a nice jog into transition where i am excited to have my bike waiting at the end of the row for me to pick up.
T1
through the transition tent, number, helmet sunglasses, good to go, all right, now to pick up my bike. unfortunately my number was not relayed to the bike grabbers, so i had to fish mine out of the racks on my own.
BIKE - loop 1
here is where the fun really starts, the beginning has some short steep descents followed by hard turns, fun stuff, i really enjoy these and they provide me with an opportunity to make up a little time, coming out of town it's time to shift into the big ring and get things moving. bad news, that frayed cable i was going to change before the race, didn't change it, and it's broke (<5miles into the bike and breaking things already, good times).
so now i'm on keen lookout for the sag wagon, or somebody that may be carrying a derrailuer cable. there are some light rollers, then a long fast descent over the first 20 miles. despite not having a big ring, only 2 people pass me on the descent, and i am hanging with a pack of riders through the first 2 aid stations, feeling pretty good. i decide to stop at the 3rd station and see about getting my cable replaced, the downhills and flats will be worth the downtime to replace it. no luck, while i'm waiting for them to check for a cable, i eat several bananas, take a bathroom break, and down some water. no cable. ok, looks like today will be a lot of high cadence work.
while i was checking on my cable, dozens of people blow by the aid station.
hmmm, that's unfortunate. all right, back on the bike, back to picking up places. the climb out of jay is pretty good, i'm picking off people as anticipated. in a little bit, there will be an out and back section for me to guage how much time i lost to the group i was with up until i stopped for a derrailleur cable. so to the best of my guesses, i'm 15 minutes down form the group i was with. 40 miles into the race, now i've got to pee pretty bad, hope there are toilets soon. nothing around, so i improvise, now i'm a bathroom break and a 10-15 minute rest at an aid station on loop 1. coming back into lake placid was an absolute blast, several tight turns, ups and downs, a real technical section, i was moving through here picking off people. despite the misfortunes thus far, i was able to split at the 1st loop at 2:46:22, a little off pace, but once the stops are factored in, i'm golden.
BIKE - loop 2
still feeling pretty good, legs are a little heavy from the fun i had going through town, but once i get down into keen (the bottom of the long downhill), they will be ready again. uh oh, i'm way ahead of pace on my nutrition, i'm set to run out around 80 miles or so at this rate, and i've been conservative taking in the calories. instead of being smart and grabbing all the calories i can at the aid stations i blank and am just picking up water. then around 80 miles it happens, nutrition is gone, and my legs go flat, just before i get to start climbing back out of the lowest point on the course. jolly good.
so the climb is a bit painful and slow, and of course i neglect to get any nutrition at the 1st aid station i pass, so it's another 10 miles and i need to start taking on nutrition. next aid station i grab 3 or 4 gels, stash them in pockets and grab water, refill the water, start eating gels. repeat at the next aid station. around mile 95 my legs start to come around, and i start to return to form. attacking more so on the hills, still a bit leary because i am far behind on caloric intake. the last aid station i take another 3 or 4 gels and space them out over the remaining 6 miles. one more pass through town, a bit slower than last time, but still fast and fun. a great way to finish off the bike, i come into T2 with a big smile on my face despite having used 5:52:08 to complete the 112 mile bike (3:05:45 for the 2nd loop).
T2
hand off my bike, grab my T2 bag, and into the tent, shoes on, helmet off, good to go, except that pesky cramping in my left hamstring, so i get it rubbed out before setting out on my run.
RUN - loop 1
coming out of T2, i'm feeling pretty good, the run starts with a good dowhill, then about 1 mile of flat and a 2nd good downhill. as usual, i let gravity do the work, and am going by people. i turn down river road, it's about 3 miles out to the turn around, and now the tricky part, i need to keep a nice comfortable pace that i can maintain for the next 3+ hours, i settle in to a pretty comfortable pace, and am taking in 2 cups of liquid at each aid station, and a gel here and there. at 8 miles, i am feeling pretty good and go by the personal message sign (my family took this opportunity to tell me they love me, a very good pick me up at a needed time), at 10 miles, i get to start up the hills, when i reach the top, i get a boost of energy, so the pace is picked up and held pretty solid until mile 14, then things begin to crumble again. the first 13 miles were split at 1:55:38 (a bit behind pace, but i'm running)
RUN - loop 2
the downhills aren't quite as fast as they should be, and the flats are a shuffle, not really much more than a brisk walk, but still in the form of a jog. i'm parched, so i up the liquid intake (2 gatorade cups, and 2 waters at each aid station). throw in a gel pack to try and up the energy levels. now it's time to see how deep i really want to dig? is it time to walk??
1 mile at a time, mile 15, and i get to turn around at mile 18, i'm shuffling, struggling to keep moving forward and battling the desire to walk. so the games begin, if each aid station is 50m long, and there are 26 in the race, i walk every one of them in it's entirety, that means i've walked 1300m, just over 3/4 of a mile, so if i'm at mile 16, and i walk the rest of the way, that's less than 11 miles of walking, this continues up until mile 20, where i see the motivating sign from my family again.
that provides a little boost, and the pace quickens for about 1 or 2 miles. just before i get into the uphills again, it's time for another bathroom break (2 for the run). now it's the last bit of challenge, uphill, then it flattens and my pace quickens a bit. still only walked the aid stations and maybe 1/4 mile of the regular course. here comes the last of the uphills, my sisters are there to run with me for a bit, that helps. now if at absolute worst, i can wind up walking 2 miles, not gonna happen.
the worst of it is i have to go by the finish turn off, past this by almost 1 mile, and i get to turn around again to come back to it. this is usually where i shine, normally i throw in a good kick for the last mile, and a sprint to the finish. past mile marker 25, and it's time to pick up the pace, but it doesn't go, i'm still shuffling, though it may be slightly faster, it's still shuffling. i'm usually good to pick up 6 or 7 places in the last mile, but not today, i am humbled yet again, and content to shuffle into the last 200meters, as i step onto the speed skating oval, i find a bit of energy and start my finishing sprint, my niece and dad join me for the last 150meters. 2nd loop split at 2:34:33 for a 4:30:11 marathon (a personal best, but still a far cry from where i was hoping to be).
POST RACE
as i said lots of things learned, prior to lake placid, i had been very stringent about keeping my gear in top form; this time, i let a couple things slide, and they bit me. previously, i'd always carried an extra 25% of my calculated caloric requirements, today, i had to have botched the numbers and came in 25% short, and didn't acknowledge it and begin correcting until it was too late.
so when i tally the damage, broken cable (did this save my legs for the run? or cause me to spin out burning up more than i anticipated? i don't know and don't particularly care). the important thing is i had several downs, which i managed to pull through and come out with significant improvements over past experiences.
a big thank you and i love you to all that came to support me, including those there in spirit and my thoughts.
Duecman 2007
got into arizona early friday afternoon and picked up my race packet. woke up early saturday, water is 67 degrees, i get to use my wetsuit today. I'm in the 2nd wave of 3.
I was curious to see how i would deal with the elevation (the race is between 5600 and 6500 feet), the swim being situated at an elevation of 6200'. my goal was to come in around 5 hours on this course, that would put me on target for lake placid. I lined up near the middle of the swim start. i had some significant issues the first 200 - 300m. i was unable to find a rhythm, i had trouble with my breathing, and wound up stopping completely 2 or 3 times to try and relax. after the 3rd stop, i decided i was going to just put my head down and keep swimming, breathing will happen. i found a pretty good groove, and cruised pretty comfortably back into t1.
The swim turned out to be pretty quick, especially considering my issues the first several hundred meters (0:32:26). out of the water, and i have the pleasure of wetsuit strippers (it's good stuff, i take the top of the wetsuit off, then lie down and bam, they yank it off the rest of the way). then a slight uphill to the transition area.
There are still lots of bikes here, that's a good sign. T1 went smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way. The bike course was pretty hilly, and i was already breathing pretty heavy, so i settled into a decent pace and started taking in some water and nutrition (carbopro infinit blend). the hills started almost immediately, slight rollers, nothing too challenging, just enough to keep everybody honest.
the real climbing doesn't start until mile 40 ish.i took in nearly 6 water bottles of liquid on the bike course. the temperatures were pretty warm (mid 80's), and exceptionally dry. around mile 20 my legs started to feel better, so i picked up the pace slightly, and around mile 25, i hooked onto another rider and stayed with him for roughly 15 miles, then we got to the hills and it was time to start climbing. i made some good time on the climbs, and my legs were still feeling pretty solid. I took in 8 - 10 salt tablets during the bike, one of which broke on me, salt tastes really bad, and takes a fair amount of time to wash completely out of my mouth.
The last 5 miles or so i pulled back slightly and picked up the cadence to start preparing for the run. I came off the bike with a decent split, right around 12th place overall, 2:37:35 (21.3mph), slightly slower than i would have liked to see, but still on target to come in under 5 hours. the good news is my stomach is pretty comfortable so far, no nutrition problems. i had some minor troubles in T2 (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good).
the first 4 miles of the run would have roughly 1/2 of the climbing on the course, and they seemed to go all right. the run started out fine, mile 1 was around 7:30 min/mile, mile 2 a little closer to 8:00 min/mile, after 4 miles, i was pretty close to a 7:30 min/mile pace. i was taking in 4-6 oz of water at every aid station, and 1 or 2 salt tablets.
At mile 4, i decided to try the hydroboom (the sports drink they had on the course). that sent my stomach into the verge of fits, i had acid reflux, and some significant sloshing deep down in my stomach (generally i get the sloshing right in the middle, but this stuff seemed to work on either extreme). i dropped my pace a little, to try and settle my stomach. in addition, my legs started to fade. damn i forgot to get some gels, they are supposed to be at every other aid station, so maybe 2 miles before i can get some nutrition in me. mile 5, no gels, or i forgot again, mile 6 definitely didn't have any gels, and mile 7 had no gels.
my pace probably dropped to 8:30 min/mile or so at this time. i'm still taking in 4-6 ozs of liquid at every aid station, and some salt tablets. shortly before mile 8, the aid station purports to have everything, until i ask for a gel, oooh, we are out of those. damn it, 2 more miles?? lesson learned, pick up nutrition before i need it, and always carry a spare. at this point, i'm pretty much overheating and dehydrating pretty good. i have been getting cold water dumped on me at nearly every aid station to try and cool down, and drinking, but it's not working real well.
mile 9 goes by slowly, at the aid station, they are giving out gatorade, which turns out to be more of that damned hydroboom, some fo the same effects. lesson learned, little kids call sports drinks gatorade, much like i call bandaids bandaids, regardless of what brand (see, i don't even know how to refer to them without the brand name) the run is starting to turn into a shuffle, i walk up some of the rollers between mile 10 and 12.
finally get a gel at mile 10, it provides a little help, but is hard to swallow with so little water. after mile 12, there is a bit of a downhill, and then minor climb then a short distance to the finish. i muster a slightly more respectable pace for the downhill, and begin to pick up the effort on the climb, to finish strong. probably need to work on better heat dissipation and more consistent nutrition during the run. the run was done now, 1:57:17 (8:57 min/mile).
time to start putting in the miles. lessons learned: - more liquid on hot days- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels) stockpile these early- remember the boost before the swim next time- no hydroboom sports drinkthings i learned in florida that helped:- more electolytes on hot days- no accel gel
times can be found at: http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/171767_201330_2007.html
photos at: http://www.fotojack.com/race/index.htmrace=950&sid=3fe1e998275804ac35adf85da6b6318d
(race number 128)
I was curious to see how i would deal with the elevation (the race is between 5600 and 6500 feet), the swim being situated at an elevation of 6200'. my goal was to come in around 5 hours on this course, that would put me on target for lake placid. I lined up near the middle of the swim start. i had some significant issues the first 200 - 300m. i was unable to find a rhythm, i had trouble with my breathing, and wound up stopping completely 2 or 3 times to try and relax. after the 3rd stop, i decided i was going to just put my head down and keep swimming, breathing will happen. i found a pretty good groove, and cruised pretty comfortably back into t1.
The swim turned out to be pretty quick, especially considering my issues the first several hundred meters (0:32:26). out of the water, and i have the pleasure of wetsuit strippers (it's good stuff, i take the top of the wetsuit off, then lie down and bam, they yank it off the rest of the way). then a slight uphill to the transition area.
There are still lots of bikes here, that's a good sign. T1 went smoothly, ran out dropped my swim gear, adorned my helmet and locs, grabbed my bike on my way. The bike course was pretty hilly, and i was already breathing pretty heavy, so i settled into a decent pace and started taking in some water and nutrition (carbopro infinit blend). the hills started almost immediately, slight rollers, nothing too challenging, just enough to keep everybody honest.
the real climbing doesn't start until mile 40 ish.i took in nearly 6 water bottles of liquid on the bike course. the temperatures were pretty warm (mid 80's), and exceptionally dry. around mile 20 my legs started to feel better, so i picked up the pace slightly, and around mile 25, i hooked onto another rider and stayed with him for roughly 15 miles, then we got to the hills and it was time to start climbing. i made some good time on the climbs, and my legs were still feeling pretty solid. I took in 8 - 10 salt tablets during the bike, one of which broke on me, salt tastes really bad, and takes a fair amount of time to wash completely out of my mouth.
The last 5 miles or so i pulled back slightly and picked up the cadence to start preparing for the run. I came off the bike with a decent split, right around 12th place overall, 2:37:35 (21.3mph), slightly slower than i would have liked to see, but still on target to come in under 5 hours. the good news is my stomach is pretty comfortable so far, no nutrition problems. i had some minor troubles in T2 (some minor issues tying my shoes, but it's all good).
the first 4 miles of the run would have roughly 1/2 of the climbing on the course, and they seemed to go all right. the run started out fine, mile 1 was around 7:30 min/mile, mile 2 a little closer to 8:00 min/mile, after 4 miles, i was pretty close to a 7:30 min/mile pace. i was taking in 4-6 oz of water at every aid station, and 1 or 2 salt tablets.
At mile 4, i decided to try the hydroboom (the sports drink they had on the course). that sent my stomach into the verge of fits, i had acid reflux, and some significant sloshing deep down in my stomach (generally i get the sloshing right in the middle, but this stuff seemed to work on either extreme). i dropped my pace a little, to try and settle my stomach. in addition, my legs started to fade. damn i forgot to get some gels, they are supposed to be at every other aid station, so maybe 2 miles before i can get some nutrition in me. mile 5, no gels, or i forgot again, mile 6 definitely didn't have any gels, and mile 7 had no gels.
my pace probably dropped to 8:30 min/mile or so at this time. i'm still taking in 4-6 ozs of liquid at every aid station, and some salt tablets. shortly before mile 8, the aid station purports to have everything, until i ask for a gel, oooh, we are out of those. damn it, 2 more miles?? lesson learned, pick up nutrition before i need it, and always carry a spare. at this point, i'm pretty much overheating and dehydrating pretty good. i have been getting cold water dumped on me at nearly every aid station to try and cool down, and drinking, but it's not working real well.
mile 9 goes by slowly, at the aid station, they are giving out gatorade, which turns out to be more of that damned hydroboom, some fo the same effects. lesson learned, little kids call sports drinks gatorade, much like i call bandaids bandaids, regardless of what brand (see, i don't even know how to refer to them without the brand name) the run is starting to turn into a shuffle, i walk up some of the rollers between mile 10 and 12.
finally get a gel at mile 10, it provides a little help, but is hard to swallow with so little water. after mile 12, there is a bit of a downhill, and then minor climb then a short distance to the finish. i muster a slightly more respectable pace for the downhill, and begin to pick up the effort on the climb, to finish strong. probably need to work on better heat dissipation and more consistent nutrition during the run. the run was done now, 1:57:17 (8:57 min/mile).
time to start putting in the miles. lessons learned: - more liquid on hot days- more nutrition on the run (try 2 or 3 gels) stockpile these early- remember the boost before the swim next time- no hydroboom sports drinkthings i learned in florida that helped:- more electolytes on hot days- no accel gel
times can be found at: http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/171767_201330_2007.html
photos at: http://www.fotojack.com/race/index.htmrace=950&sid=3fe1e998275804ac35adf85da6b6318d
(race number 128)
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