What a Year!

For a lot of reasons 2009 has been a pretty rough year, the economy tanked pretty bad and that made life pretty difficult for a lot of people, myself included in some respects. But if I look past that I can without doubt say that 2009 has been one of the best years of my life. I've made some great new friends and discovered some things about myself that have really surprised me.
It started in February when I ran my first marathon. I didn't know I'd end up running three more before the year was up. In March I bought a house. Wow, I knew that would eventually happen but didn't really expect it to happen last year. In March I got a dog. Blue can be a bit of a terror, he still doesn't like strangers, but he loves me. In June I did my first triathlon, that lead to 4 more including a half ironman and a fairly expensive Triathlon Bike along the way. Also in June I became an Uncle. My nephew Drew was born, I'm fortunate enough to get to spend Christmas with him and the family. In October I got talked into running a 50k trail run by my good friend John. That is 31 miles through the woods on a mountain. It was not easy, but man a lot of fun.
I hear a lot of people that have known me for years comment on how I'm always on the go, and how they never know what I'm doing next. As crazy as 2009 has been I've got even bigger plans for 2010. Only 5 things that I have officially signed up for, Houston Marathon January 17th, Mountain Mist 50k January 23rd, Mercedes Marathon February 15th, Ironman New Orleans 70.3 April 18th, and Ironman Florida November 6th. I'm sure my schedule will take me to some other places and I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way. I just hope I have as much fun next year and I meet even more really cool people along the way. Cheers to a great 09' and an even better 2010!

Memphis Marathon

There is quite a crew headed to Memphis this weekend for the St. Jude Marathon. I'm really excited to be going and pretty excited about the race. I had a dream about the race last night, I don't remember a ton of details, but in the dream I ran the race way faster than I thought I could. The goal is 3:30:00 and to be honest that probably is not realistic. My friend Julie is also aiming for 3:30:00 so we will run together and see how it goes. As usual my training has been less than stellar but still better than last year. My ace in the hole is that I've actually run some long distances this fall so hopefully my legs won't fall apart when I hit mile 20. I've always been a race day sort of guy so hopefully I can find a little something extra like I normally do. This is the site of the first long race I ever did. Just last year I ran my first half marathon, it was a struggle. My time was something like 1:50:00 and it hurt to walk for the next 3 days. I've come along way and met some great people that have helped me get there. Looking back it is crazy to think that I've only been doing this a year. I wonder what things will be like next year.

Born to Run

Warning: the following contains information about a book

I enjoy reading, but I'm not much of a reader. That being said I recently finished the book Born to Run and let me say it is hands down in my top 5. I could ramble on and try and tell you the story but that would be like me pinch hitting for Babe Ruth, not nearly as effective as the way Christopher McDougall tells the story. I will say this, so many different stories are weaved together in a fascinating way. I learned so much; about the Tarahumara, about ultra running, about the ultra running community and the whackjobs that make up the community, and about the idea of running without shoes.

Yeah, that sounds weird, but the data suggests it may be the healtiest way to run. Thanks to folks like Nike the athletic shoe industry is big bucks, but is it possible that all these high tech shoes designed to make your foot move a certain way are actually fighting against nature? There are barefoot runners that swear by it and while I can't vouch for their technique, I am going to try it.

My plan is to get the Vibram Fivefingers barefoot shoes this week and start breaking them in on some short 2-4 mile runs. If all goes well it will help me develop better running form and a stronger foot. I'm eager to see how it works and I will keep you posted on the success or failure of the barefoot experiment.

Ironman Florida

I am going to my first Ironman race this weekend. No, I'm not racing, not sure I'd be able to finish a race like that in any amount of time. I've got three friends that are racing, and my friend John has graciously invited me to come down for the weekend. I've done a lot of training with John, most of it on the bike, a little running, an even smaller amount of swimming. While I think I've made some huge strides in my fitness level this year, John just continues to amaze me with what he's done. I know he will have a great race. Part of the reason for going down is to support him, and my other friends Sara and Jessica Jacobs (she's a pro and really doesn't need my support, but I'll yell for her anyway) the other part of going down is so I can sign up for next years race. Believe it or not, despite the fact that these races cost way to much money to enter, they sell out as soon as registration opens. One way to ensure a spot is to sign up on site the day after. Scary to think that next year at this time I'll be getting ready to do an ironman. Can I really do it? Do I have the ability to actually train for something like that? The proper training schedule lasts for like 6 months. Lucky for me I'll have some help, John is doing it again next year and so is our friend Colin. They are both way better than me so hopefully they can drag me up with them instead of me dragging them down. I'm super fortunate to have met these guys, I mean what would I be doing if I wasn't running and riding hundreds of miles every month... probably drinking. Cheers to great race, a lot of training to come and a cold one when its over!

Putting Up the Bike, Pounding the Pavement

I love the fall. The crisp air, the changing leaves, football just a few things I love about the season. But fall also marks the beginning of marathon season, at least for me it does. That means the bike will be ridden less and my running mileage should go up. Ideally I need to be doing at least 30 miles a week, that is a huge jump for me since I was only averaging about 50 miles a month over the Spring and Summer. Truth is when given the choice, I'd rather go for a ride than a run. Perhaps its because I'm better on the bike than I am the trails. Hopefully with some good weather I'll still get some rides in and I'm sure I will, but for the next five months I'll be wearing out the soles of my running shoes. It looks like I have 3 marathons on the calendar, Memphis in December, Huntsville a week later, and then Houston in January. So far my longer runs have been good and I'm optimistic. Who knows, maybe when April rolls around I won't want to get back on my bike.

Mountain Goat Century Ride

"Yeah, there are some climbs."

So I thought I'd take it easy this weekend, do a nice easy century ride and give the legs a little workout. There is nothing easy about the Mountain Goat Century ride.

Just Add Water

The forecast called for rain, and wouldn't you know it the weather man was right for once. I think we did get lucky because it really only rained for about 2 hours, and it was never very hard. Nonetheless, we were wet all day. I'm not sure how many people ended up doing the 102 mile Mountain Goat route, there were multiple options both shorter and easier, but after the first few miles I was never in a group bigger than 5 people. For the most part is was a 3 person group, Al Schlosser, John Gregg and myself.

Into the Clouds

The climbing started pretty early, I'm guessing less than 5 miles in but I had no bike computer or GPS so I really don't know. Walkers Gap isn't the steepest climb in the world, but there are some parts that probably hit 10% and it just goes on and on. I jumped out thinking I would just motor up the climb, after a solid mile I began to melt. I'm sure the view is nice on a sunny day, but unfortunately for us there was nothing to enjoy. The next few miles went along the ridge, some mostly flat riding with some moderate rollers. The downhill was flying, a straight shot down the mountain and I would have loved to see how fast I could have gone, but with the weather and traffic I did not seem to be worth trying.

&#$@ Horse Pens

There is no worse feeling than trying to shift to a lower gear only to find you are already in your lowest gear. The next climb did this to me. At the rest stop the report was that Horse Pens was the toughest climb, average 10% some places much steeper. This was a brutal mile long climb. Several times I thought I can make it. Luckily the three of us all made it up without stopping. This was no doubt the toughest climb I've ever done. I just think to myself, the Tour de France would have a climb like that only 4 times as long. After the climb we rode along the top of Chandlar Mountain. My guess is that it is really pretty up there when the weather isn't so crappy. There were a surprising amount of abandoned cars, trucks, houses, stores... it almost felt like we were in a movie where civilization had died off 2 years earlier and we were the only survivors.

Leveling Out

My thought at this point is that the ride would be much flatter the rest of the way. We certainly didn't have any climbs as challenging as the first two, it was not flatter. At some point we climbed Tumblin Gap, I don't really remember this climb that well. There were a couple people in front of us that we were able to track down, but this climb didn't hurt near as bad as the first two. We made our way into Altoona and Oneonta, and by this time our legs were pretty shot. We knew there was one more climb and the plan was just to survive it.

Up, Up, and Up Some More

The last climb wasn't really a climb, it was like 10 miles that just kept gradually rising. Sure there were some steep parts, but all short. The problem is that by this time we were dead and the slow grind was taking its toll. There was one more rest stop to go and we just had to make it there, the rest was mostly downhill. When we finally hit that last rest stop we were so freaking happy. I think we stayed there for about 20 minutes, I had like 5 cookies, a BLT, brownie, some snack mix, and probably more. As more people began to trickle in, we eventually pulled out.

"Just a Few Easy Rollers"

That's what we were told as we left, these seemed like a little more than just a few easy rollers. We cruised along the ridge for about 3-4 miles before we hit our final downhill. By now the clouds had lifted a little so the view was pretty sweet. There was one sharp hairpin turn on the decent, everything else was straight and fast. All that climbing was erased in what seemed like about a minute. From there is was maybe two miles back to the cars.

Final Thoughts

I thought this would be just an easy ride, not a huge challenge. I was wrong. Despite the rain I still enjoyed it, but I think with better weather this would be an awesome century ride. I intended to take some pictures, but I suck at taking out my camera, plus the rain made that a challenge.

Stump Jump 50k

All I Want to Do is Cry!

I had never done a 50k before, and as far as trail runs are concerned I've never gone more than 11 miles. That being said I'm not sure how John talked me into doing the Stump Jump 50k but despite the way my body feels I'm glad he did.

Karnazes in the House

When it comes to ultra running nobody is more well known than Dean Karnazes, he literally wrote the book, which I bought and will start reading soon. At any rate Dean was at the race to speak and run. Dean is an amazing runner, but he might actually be a better guy. Very gracious with his time even took a picture with John and me. He has been on some crazy tour for North Face and has been all over the world for the past few weeks. Not bad for a guy who broke a few ribs during a race in the Rocky Mountains a few weeks ago. He spoke after the carbo dinner, it was good stuff, a lot of insight and some humor. He shared some stories and some clips including his appearance on Letterman several years ago.


We'll leave the Light on For You (Although the bedspread is so bright you don't need it)

After the dinner and speech we drove to our motel, we opted for cheap and had a reservation ready for us at the Motel 6. There were some pretty frightening reviews, one that mentioned "credit card fraud" another strange men lurking in the parking lot. The guy working the front desk was possibly the slowest moving man in the world. He wasn't young and he had some sort of European accent. He gave off a somewhat friendly vibe, but All things considered I was pretty happy with the room. Sure it had some ridiculous bedspreads, a TV that only had VH1 for the first 3 minutes it was turned on, and a couple of odd mirrors, but it was clean. I slept pretty well and was ready for the race in the morning.

Race Morning

The weather was a lot cooler than I expected, it made me realize that Summer is really over. I was nervous, but at this point what could I do except run. There was quite a crowd, I heard some 300 people doing the 50k alone, a bunch more doing the 11 mile run. Parking was a nightmare.

A Fast Start... Too Fast???

So having never done one of these I didn't really know what to do in terms of pace. The race started in the parking lot and went around the school for about a half mile before we hit the trail. It was right then that Dean Karnazes comes right in front of me. So how do you not try and keep pace with him for a little bit. I was not alone, must have been about 15-20 people all grouped together in the Dean pack. The beginning few miles was pretty easy, some gentle hills nice smooth gravel and dirt paths. I stayed with Dean for two miles, I dropped back a bit and noticed there was almost nobody behind me. I cruised along for the next few miles and I was feeling great and the running was easy so all was good. I caught up with John at about mile 3, I was shocked to see him again I think we ran together for another 2-3 more miles including a real nasty decent, I loved it and I was flying, this was probably a mistake and my legs would pay for it later.

Wow the View

There are some parts of this race that are absolutely beautiful. There is an incredible 2 mile stretch or so that runs along a ridge overlooking the Tennessee River. It was still early and there was fog over the river so looking out over a fog covered river was just incredible and perhaps dangerous. I took several bad steps and experienced my first real fall. Luckily I fell right into some fairly soft ground and not left down several hundred feet into the river. I met a guy named Dave from Nashville along this part, it was his first 50k too and we enjoyed a few miles together before he went ahead.

The Thing About Aid Stations is...

When you are running through the woods you can hear the aid station before you see it. You hear cheering and it gives you hope. All of a sudden you are running to something and its close and it has goodies. The pain you are feeling goes away for a second, because help is just ahead. The problem is when you get there you realize they can't fix your blister, or your screaming calf, or throbbing knee, all they have is water, Gatorade, Gummy Bears, Pretzels and encouragement. Nonetheless, I thought the aid stations were great with very helpful, friendly and encouraging volunteers. They did a wonderful job all the way through.

New Territory

I promise I'm going to start doing longer training runs but I can't change the past. Going into this run my longest trail effort was about 11 miles so by mile 17 I was really feeling it. I sang a little song in my head that went something like: F#@k Fu%# F$c%, F@*&ity F&@k F%#k, then repeat. Needless to say things were not looking very good for me. Then I hit the Rock Garden.

Can Anyone Actually Run This?

So the Rock Garden is really cool, unless you are trying to run through it. I've never seen so many giant rocks all together in one spot. It must have been about a mile worth of ground to cover and my pace was not at all fast. My thought is what do the elite guys do here? Do they run or are they slogging along like a 1-year-old learning to crawl?

A Second Wind

I had been thinking for several miles if I would hit a second wind and at about mile 20 I started to find it. This was the same section of trail overlooking the river on the way out. By now the fog had burned off and the river was clearly visible. I was making up time here and was thinking I might be able to get in under 7 hours. Then came a downhill and I was flying, passing guys left and right and feeling great.

What Goes Down Must Go Up

I know that sounds backwards, but in trail running that is law. The same decent I enjoyed around mile 6 destroyed me at mile 25. I actually passed a few people on this hill, but it took everything out of me and by the time I crawled up to Mushroom Rock I was a beaten man.

The Slowest Four Miles of My Life

The remaining terrain wasn't tough at all, but it also wasn't interesting to me either. The same joyful easy trail on the way out was now a painful boring trail that would not end. I would run some then walk even the slightest incline. One thing that made this last part tough were the soccer fields. You could hear cheering and then think, "I'm there I'm actually there!". Psych! It's a F&#KING soccer game. The trail finally ends and spits us out on a paved road, just a half mile to go. I didn't remember it being this much of a hill on the way out? Coming to the finish I see John lounging in the bed of his truck with his camera, thankful there is no audio to accompany the photo. Final time 7:08:18, I didn't cry, and I finished, I actually finished ahead of people too!

Final Thoughts

This is a wonderful race, and while I don't have a lot to compare it to in terms of trail races the setup and feel of this race is big time. The trails are tough and enjoyable with more than enough challenge for anyone and plenty of beauty to distract you. I highly recommend this race and anticipate coming back next year to go under 7 hours. While I felt pretty beat up on Sunday, I was feeling good enough to sign up for the Mountain Mist 50k in January, this trail running is addicting!

31 Miles with Karnazes... probably not

The world of ultramarathons sounds really cool. A bunch of inspiring yet somewhat laid back people who just love to run. My trail running history is pretty pathetic, a few runs, the longest 10 miles. Am I ready for 31 miles? Probably not.
But ready or not this Saturday I will do the Stump Jump 50k trail run in Chattanooga. One of the cools things about this run is that it brings in some big names. Legend Dean Karnazes will be speaking the night before and running the race. It would be cool to run with him, but let's be honest, I'll be running way behind him.
Apparently, the Stump Jump race has some really cool schwag. I'm not sure what all it will include but I'm always looking forward to free stuff. I'll bring my camera and try to take some pictures... or course I usually bring the camera, just never use it. I probably should be scared of Saturday morning, or maybe Friday night and the dump of a hotel I'm staying in, but I'm not. I'm excited. I think this will be a lot of fun.

Augusta Race Report

Save the Best For Last

The final triathlon of the season was my biggest and longest of the year. I guess that is how you want to end the season. I'm not sure why I signed up for the Augusta 70.3 Ironman but I'm glad I did.

The Drive Over

Driving into the Atlanta metro I look in my mirror and see another car with a nice looking tri bike. I always check out bikes I see on the road like this so it got my attention. It turned out to be a bike I see quite often, my friend John and his wife Katie. Together we drove through what I can only guess was like Hell if Hell was filled with terrible rain storms and idiot drivers. We stopped for dinner out Outback before parting ways. I sort of have a spread out family and whenever possible I'll plan trips that allow me to take advantage of free lodging and a chance to catch up. On the way over I stopped and stayed with my brother and his wife. I short stay but nice since I got to see my nephew Drew. He is just 3 months old but already turning into a character.

Check in

I figured getting to packet pick up early would be a good idea since I didn't really know what I was doing, this was a good call as it was very crowded and slower than I thought. I caught a break when they decided to open transition area early so I was able to check in my bike and avoid the really bad traffic. My lodging for the race was with my Aunt and Uncle in Aiken, SC, just about 25 minutes from the race start and about 2 miles from part of the bike course.

69!

So I don't own a wetsuit and I figured I could wait till 2010 before making the couple hundred dollar plunge. In the pre race meeting the race director mentioned the water temperature at 69 degrees. That is much colder than I thought and while I was concerned, I figured I'd be ok. At dinner the night before the wetsuit comments finally got the best of me. "You don't have a wetsuit?!?!", "I'm glad I have my wetsuit", "Kyle you might want to get a wetsuit". I went to the expo and got a wetsuit, got a great deal too.

Race Day

The morning was indeed a bit chilly and overcast. I was thrilled to be wearing a wetsuit. John and I were in the same wave so we were able to calm or enhance each others nerves depending on how you see it. There were a lot of people there, it was a little overwhelming and I really had to go to the bathroom.

Swimming in a Wetsuit

It is probably all mental but I had some trouble swimming in the wetsuit. The first 7 minutes went great, then I started to feel like the wetsuit was suffocating me. I had a minor freakout and looked at a kayak. I thought I'm done, but then a realized that even treading water I was going way faster than I ever swam upstream in the Black Warrior at the USAT Age Group Championships. I refocused and actually had a good swim the rest of the way. I was out of the water at 30 minutes, faster than I had hoped and just in time to see John leaving transition as I entered. That was a huge lift of confidence to know that I only moderately sucked.

Not as Flat as Advertised

So word had it that the bike course was pretty flat. Now it wasn't Birmingham hills, but it wasn't flat either and there were a lot of turns most of them seemed to come right after a downhill and right before a hill. Just past half way I thought I saw John's distinctive orange jersey. Indeed it was him, that made me feel like I was putting in a good bike leg and also gave us a chance to ride together and chat a little bit. We rode in together for most of the ride. The last 10 miles were tough, my lower back was hurting and I still had to run. I turned in a good bike split, just under 2:40:00.

A Terrible and Great Run

I had just a few minute head start on John. Now he's a far superior triathlete to me so I do kind of use him as a measuring stick. If my strength is my bike, his is probably the run, although dude can bike too! I never saw him again till the end if you want to read his race report check out this blog. The first mile is always tough and you have to gut it out. I made up my mind that I would run the first mile and I did, but barely. My calf and lower back were in bad shape. It was here that John flew by and yelled a few words of encouragement. I'd like to say it helped but I was in bad shape. The plan was to finish the run in 2 hours, new plan just finish the run. I would set a goal of running for 4 minutes then walk a minute, then build on to that longer run intervals. It took me till about the 5 mile mark before my body started to feel better. By this point I was knocking out about 9:30 miles. I got to half way and decided I might still have a chance at the 2 hour goal. I would need to do sub 8:30's and my math skills aren't near good enough to figure out how close or not I was. I fell short of the goal, but managed to turn in a 8:47 pace for the second lap. I true negative split and a run that I was proud of even though it was slower than my original target.

The Final Numbers

So the goal going in was to finish in less the 5:30:00, I crossed the line in 5:16:58 with a huge smile on my face. Surprisingly, I felt like I could have kept going, probably not much longer but I didn't feel like dying. The race was great and while Augusta may not be the best city in the South it was a good course. Not the most spectator friendly, but still a pretty fast course. Next stop for me October 3rd in Chattanooga for the Stump Jump 50k, another race I'm not ready to do.

Headed to Augusta

Training is not my strength. With that in mind I'm trying to be realistic about my race this weekend in Augusta. This will be my first half ironman and I think an honest expectation is to just finish. Having a goal time is normal and I'm trying to figure out what mine should be. My guess is 40:00 for the swim, 2:50:00 for the bike, and 2:00:00 for the run, so that tells me 5:30:00 should be my target. I have no idea if I can do that. Last night I did my last workout, a good swim, good rpm class and nice easy PAIN FREE run. I don't feel near ready for this, especially compared with my friend John (who is training for a full ironman and actually training properly), but ready or not I'm going to try and just enjoy the race. If you want to keep up with the actual race on Sunday they have a live race tracker (www.ironman.com) where you can follow people's progress.

4 days left!?!?! Ouch!

I was thinking about how lucky I've been to be injury free all year. After yesterday's run I'm really scared. Rain put a big kibosh on the weekend training, and while I'm sure I could have found time and a place to get some work in I chose football. At the time I figured I be fresh on Monday and I'd be able to get a great run in. Rain again pushed my run indoors and after about 3 laps around the track I felt a great deal of tightness in my right calf and shin. I stretched it out and tried to get going several times but something clearly was not right. Now I'm 4 days away from my first half ironman and I don't know if I can run. I'm going to give it another go today but I won't lie I'm scared. The worst part is I don't know what happened. On a more positive note, I'm finally learning how to swim. Full disclosure, I've always been able to swim, I just had maybe the worst form ever. Big thanks to my friend William, he's been patient with me and totally reworked my stroke, kick and position. I feel good about it and hope to see a nice difernece in the race on Sunday. I'll be leaving for Augusta on Friday, my plan is to crash with my brother and his wife Friday night, it will be cool to see my nephew Drew. I hear he's getting a lot more active so that should be neat. I'll be crashing in Aichen, SC with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Joyce so that will be cool and pretty affordable. At this point I'm very excited but also nervous. Luckily I'll have several friends there so that should make the who thing a lot easier. Gotta run, wish me luck; I need it!

10 miles is harder than 100

So I'm not going to lie, it was a tough weekend but definitely a fun weekend. Started things off Saturday morning with the big 100 mile bike ride, although it did not go as planned. We started with a big group, most of which had planned to turn off and do a shorter ride. The plan was for John and I to go to Pell City and then south for a big loop. We didn't account for highway 78 merging onto I-20. That wasn't going to happen. Luckily another rider we picked up knew a loop through Springville and that turned out to be a good ride. We encountered some angry dogs and a much more enjoyable 49 cent hot dog. We averaged 17 mph which was ok and I was surprised that I didn't feel that bad when it was all over. The real pain came Sunday... after a night of drinking John and I hit Oak Mountain for some pretty tough trail running. The plan was 15 miles, point to point so we dropped a car off at the end. 2 miles in I felt like death and was really slowing John down so I turned around. The run back to my car felt a lot better so I decided to loop around on the trail and meet up with John and at least finish the last leg. I guess I ended up doing just a little more than 10 miles and man did it hurt. Lots of chicken wings and beer afterward made it a little better but on Monday I'm in pain. I've got less then two weeks till my first half ironman, and three weeks till my first ultra race. Ready or not I'm registered.

Age Group National Championship Recap and More

So I knew I was in over my head but I had no idea. The Age Group National Championships in Tuscaloosa was quite an experience last weekend. I felt like a guy who got to walk around on the field before the Superbowl, the only difference is that I wasn't going to watch the game and drink a beer, I was going race against these guys. As if the competition wasn't intimidating enough the course would be ridiculous. Because of rain, the dam for the Black Warrior River was open. That cause the swim to be very tough since about 2/3rd's of the swim were upriver. You know you are having a bad race when you have a conversation with a guy in a kayak. I was hoping to finish the swim in 30 minutes, 56 minutes later I finally exited the water. I was not only exhausted but I was cramping and realizing that I need to learn how to swim (William has already started teaching me). At this point I was excited about getting on the bike since that is my strength. What I didn't realize is that my calf would cramp up as soon as I got on my bike. After getting off the bike and stretching I figured I could find my groove and pick up some ground. I was wrong. You know you are having a bad race when you spend the entire bike leg going back and forth with a 42-year-old woman. I felt ok off the bike and hit the run. After a mile it felt real hot and then I discovered some of the hills that were randomly thrown into the run course. My 42-year-old woman from the bike leg passed me. You know you are having a bad race when the guy at the water stop asked you what happened to your sunglasses. I was missing a lens and probably had been for quite sometime. The rest of the run was terrible but when I finished I was 83rd out of 86. Not last place. Terrible race, wonderful experience. Three other friends competed with me, I think they had similar experiences except they were all much faster than I was. Despite the tough conditions we all had fun and will no doubt be talking about that swim for years to come.
In other news I've got my 10 year high school reunion this weekend in New Orleans. I'm not sure what to expect from this but I'm hopeful it will be fun. I've also signed up for my first 50k. The Stump Jump 50k in Chattanooga is October 3rd. My friend John talked me into it and I must say I'm excited but nowhere near ready. That's it for now.

Mtn Lakes Race Report and more

Ok, it has been more than a week since my last race in Guntersville, the Mountain Lakes Sprint Triathlon so here is a quick recap. I had what I felt was a great race... lets start from the top.
A good group of friends and I met up at the Dairy Queen at 4:15am. Typically nothing good can ever happen at a Dairy Queen at 4:15am, but in this case it was all good. Team MAS (Mutual Admiration Society) decked out in our new Team MAS shirts (thanks B-RAd!) took a few pictures then loaded up into two cars and drove up to Guntersville. The drive up was uneventful and we arrived with plenty of time to spare. Transition setup was smooth and everyone headed down to the lake to start. The swim was supposed to be 600 yards... it wasn't. I put down a really slow swim time so I was number 588, way behind most of the group I was there with. I was able to see most of the team exit the water and they all looked really good. When I finally hit the water I started passing people immediately. I felt good in the water and settled into a good pace. At the turnaround thngs got a little interesting. The sun was right behind the shore, and at 8 am it made it almost impossible to see. I ran into one buoy, and swam over a couple other swimmers but made it out feeling fresh. I realized mid swim that I had forgotten to start my watch so I would not be able to tell my total time till well after the race. I jumped on the bike and nailed the transition almost perfect until my water bottle fell to the ground. I was going to do the bike leg with no water... that is bad since that is typically the time where you drink the most water. Despite no water I killed the bike, averaged 24.2 mph which was right on my goal. At this point I had noticed that nobody had passed me. I struggled a little bit in the bike to run transition, I turned the wrong way into the transition area, then took a little extra time to drink some water. When I hit the run course the legs felt pretty good. The first mile is the toughest, and once I got my pace I settled in and just kept finding a person up the road to catch and pass. The run was very uneventful, I pushed it the last half mile and really felt like I left a little out there on the course. Final time was 1:17:10. That was slower than my goal, but if you factor in the longer swim distance I was right about on it. Lessons learned are this... Don't sandbag so much on my swim time. It would have been good to have some faster racers near me to help push my pace. Figure out how to keep my water bottle on my freaking bike! And run faster.
Training for the Age Group National Championships has been going well. Did a long ride and then run this weekend with my friend John, he killed me on the run. It is very clear to me that the run is a weakness that I have to improve on soon. I looked up all the competitors for the race this Saturday, out of 84 people, my estimated finish time is 82nd. It will be a struggle to not finish last. I have to keep telling myself that I'm not racing them, I'm racing the course and teh clock and I think I'll be ok.
On another note I signed up for the New Orleans Half Ironman last week. That is in April and will be my 2nd half ironman assuming I am able to finish the Augusta Half Ironman next month. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

Already August!?!?!

Wow, this year has been flying by! It has been 11 months since I quit my job in TV and I feel like I've done more in that time than any other year of my life. The good news is I don't see myself letting up anytime soon because I am very happy right now.
I've got a new marathon training program that I'm actually thinking about following this time. Maybe if I train correctly I can run a better race. As of now there are three marathons on the calendar in the next six months. Atlanta on Thanksgiving, Memphis 10 days later, and then Houston January 17th. The plan is to run Memphis and Houston hard, maybe a Boston QT in Houston. It is a daunting task as I have to run a 7:17 pace, but I've got time to get there and plenty of things to do before then. This weekend is Mountain Lakes Sprint Triathlon, then August 22nd Age Group National Championships in Tuscaloosa, and finally the Augusta Half Ironman September 27th. Why did I sign up for that again? I'm sure I'll post a race report for this weekend, but for now I gotta run!

Chattanooga Race Report

With my first Olympic Distance Triathlon in the books I am officially humbled. I'm somewhat known for not doing things the right way and this event was really no different. My more intelligent friends decided to drive up to Chattanooga and stay at hotels on Saturday, I decided to wake up at 2am and drive up Sunday morning. The drive was uneventful and I arrived in plenty of time to pick up my packet and set up my transition area. Upon setting up my transition area I started to not feel as good about my new bike. There were some dudes with some serious bikes here, but also one guy on a mountain bike.
We bused over to the swim start about a mile up the Tennessee River. The swim is my weakest part of the race so I didn't really know what to expect. I felt surprisingly good in the water and just tried to keep a steady pace. I was out of the water in less the 26 minutes, far better than I should have expected. We climbed out of the water on to some steps, this was very awkward. Maybe because of the steps or maybe because I was pretty tired. I ran up to the transition area, quickly grabbed my helmet and bike and took off. Again I tried a little trick where you clip your shoes into the pedals and stabilize them with rubber bands. At my first triathlon I fell trying to jump onto the bike, this time I jumped on perfectly. While I was pedaling I tried to slide my feet into the shoes, but it wasn't working. Having the right shoes on the right pedal is conducive to riding your bike, I probably lost at least 20 seconds trying to recover from this mistake. Once on the road the ride went great. The new bike and aero seemed to help, how much I have no idea, but I felt good and rode fast. I averaged 22 mph and came in at just under 1:11:00. At this point I realized I could finish under 2:30:00 if I could simply run 8 minute miles for the 10k. I could not do this. Something happens to my body after the first mile of the run. Was it poor training, poor nutrition, did I hit the bike to hard? I'm guessing a mix of all of those things contributed to my slow run. I only managed a little over 9 minute miles, a little over 56:00 total. My overall time 2:36:57. Good, respectable, but defintely not as fast as I will go in my next olympic distance triathlon.
The good news is that my next olympic distance triathlon will be sooner than I thought. Because I finished in the top 33% of my age group (barely I finished in the 30th%) I qualify for the National Championships in Tuscaloosa, AL August 22nd. I plan on being faster, I plan on training better, we'll see how that goes.

Here's to a great weekend ahead!

I'm now just hours away from the beginning of my 4th of July weekend and I'm convinced it will be an awesome one. Several rides are planned as well as a couple of runs and I'm sure some good food a drink with friends as well.
Some exciting news for me on the triathlon front, I bought a new TT Bike and I signed up for a half Ironman.
First the bike. What started out as a trip to get aero bars put on my road bike ended up with me buying a 09' Felt B12.
I'm really excited about it, it felt great and all the reviews of it are super positive plus I got a pretty good deal from Joe at Bike Link. They are a small shop but I kind of like that because you feel like you actually get some real attention and you get the same person every time. I get fitted Friday and will take it for the first ride Saturday. Hopefully it will be all good for the Chattanooga triathlon next Saturday.
The other big money buy is my entry into the Augusta Half Ironman on September 27th. I figured why not, even if I run the thing really slow I know I can at least do it. I'm fortunate to have some family living in the area so at least lodging should be cheap. I find it is necessary for me to always have something out on the horizon to keep my focus on training since I honestly hate training.
In other news I took my dog Blue out for his first run... the goal was to do a 5k trail, we made it half way and he was done. I think he's getting used to being around other people and dogs so that is a good thing.
I also officially became an Uncle on June 13th. Drew Hudson Stichtenoth is a healthy happy baby as long as his diaper is clean and his belly is full.
That pretty much covers everything going on with me, I hope everyone has a great 4th of July, enjoy some good food, good beer and the start of the Tour de France!

Finding Inspiration

It was a very low key weekend for me, no races, no trips, no friends visiting, just me at home. It's not like I didn't do anything. Saturday morning Colin, John, Brad and I did a nice 36 mile ride and then a 4 mile run. Colin and John can really push it and it was one of the hardest rides I've ever done. Saturday night I went to City Stages, not really to see any bands but to watch people and drink some beer, maybe too much beer. The excesses on Saturday night made the Sunday workout a little tougher. Still I managed a good swim and a pretty crappy run. Sunday afternoon I followed the progress of my friend and professional triathlete Jessica Jacobs. She was competing in the Ironman Coeur d'Alene. In the last year she has really turned up her focus and training and it has paid dividends and inspired me. While she didn't win, she did put in a great effort and set a course record in the run. Why can't I achieve that sort of thing? Oh wait I can. Here is to a great week of training because I know I can and I will!
www.justfinish.com

Buster Britton

My first ever triathlon is in the books and it was awesome. The race was not only great for me but for the whole crew from the JCC. The morning began early for me, I got to Oak Mtn a little before 6am. I quickly set up my transition area and got my body marked. I ended up having plenty of time to relax, which was good since I always have a fear of being late for races. There were a few problems with the swim, first lightning delayed us about 20 minutes, and second; one of the bouyies kept drifting so the swim was shortened by about 100 yards. Once I got in the water I felt pretty good, and surprisingly I was passing people. It was midway through the swim that the bottom dropped out and the rain came. When I got out of the water I felt good, I ran up the beach to the transition area to get my bike. I tried an advanced trick where you rubber band you shoes on the the bike, it is supposed to make your transition quicker. I should have practiced because as soon as I jumped on the bike I crashed. The good news is my recovery was fast and my second attempt went very smooth. The bike course was pretty hilly but I was feeling good. My number was 296, pretty high, so I found myself passing a lot of people. That is a huge confidence builder. Only one guy passed me on the bike and he was a guy who I passed in the first two miles, he ended up finishing about 15 seconds ahead of me. I got a little lost when I got back to the transition area and I ended up going to the wrong rack. Once I got squared away it was out to run 3 miles. My legs were really feeling it at this point, and to make it worse the run started uphill. This was the part of the race where I started getting passed. I was in a bad place, I was happy with things so far and I knew I was well under my target time so I probably didn't push as hard as I should have. The rain and no socks were starting to take a toll on my feet, had the run been longer I would have been in trouble. Once I hit the turn around I turned it up a bit. Something about seeing a 12 year old in front of you makes you push hard. I caught the kid and as sad as that was it made me feel good. I finished strong with a 1:10:45 good enough for 7th out of 46 in my age group. As I mentioned it was a great showing for all my friends from the JCC. Colin Soniat took first in his age group, John Gregg finished second in his age group, William Belser took third in his age, Neily Krebs finished third in her age in only her first ever triathlon. Also running her first triathlon Ruth Douglas stormed in just under 1:20:00, and Casey Coleman finished 7th in her age. And I cannot forget the Power Spouses Relay Team, Katie Gregg, Betsy Belser, and Julie Elmer dominated the field to take the relay title. A great race by all and a lot of fun. Next for me Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon in July, I'm excited!

Another First

As many of you know I've sort of become a bit of an endurance athlete. "Sort of" is the key, but I have done two marathons this year so I think I fit in the lower tier of endurance athlete. That being said I'm on the eve of my first triathlon. As far as triathlons go the Buster Britton Triathlon is pretty short and easy. Finishing the race should not be a challenge, at least I hope not, but finishing in a time that makes me happy will be tough. The race consists of a 400 meter swim, 13 mile bike, then a 5k run. I must admit I'm very anxious. I've got quite a few friends who are veterans of such races, I know I cannot hang with most of them but I'm hopeful that I will be at least respectable. If all goes well tomorrow then I should have several more of these triathlons on the race schedule including a possible half Ironman in September. I'll be sure to post a full report after the race.

Cahaba River Ramble

I've recently discovered trail running. It is much different than you normal road race and a lot of fun, at least so far. Saturday I did the Cahaba River Ramble 10 mile run with my friend John, Ed(a guy I work with), and Ed's son. The Cahaba Wildlife Refuge is in Bibb County near the town of West Blocton, kind of out in the boonies. There was a small crowd but a lot of people that I knew from other races. The 5k and 10 mile started at the same time, Ed did the 5k, his son was supposed to do the 5k but ended up going 10 miles, and John and I did the 10 mile.

The run started on a gravel road along the river, very pretty. At one point I saw a hover craft, I thought that was odd, it might be the first actually hover craft I've seen. We crossed the river at the 5k turnaround, I'd say it was bout 2-3 feet deep but very refreshing. From here the trail got more challenging and more hilly than I expected. This was also the last time I saw any other runners till I got to the end. Running in the woods by yourself is peaceful but also challenging. There is nothing to keep you going but yourself and there were some times I didn't want to keep going. I only walked twice... once on a pretty tough hill around the 3 mile mark and then on "The Equalizer" at the end. This is a ridiculous hill that you hit sometime after mile 8. Miserable on the way up, but going down the other side was fun and a good way to end the run. My goal was under 1:25:00 and I finished just over 1:23:00 in 6th place overall so I was happy. No more trail runs on the schedule anytime soon, next weekend I do my first triathlon. We'll see how that goes.

The New Blog

So I've been super busy with stuff lately so I decided this might be a good way to keep everyone in the loop of all my comings and goings. I'll try to update this at least weekly. Its been an exciting year so far. I bought a house, got a dog, ran 2 marathons. I got a lot more to come!