Ran a 10k in June (5 Viewers)

[SFBayDuck]

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. I'm excited that I'm finally physically feeling like I'll be joining the race crew again soon!

7 miles this morning, with the final two the fastest (of course the middle 3 were on trail), but felt good to run a little faster than I've done in awhile. My buddy who I was originally planning on doing a 50 miler or 100K with this year (until my injury lingered to long) is in town from Oregon for the weekend, may go out with him for part of his 25-30 miler at some point over the next couple of days. But one way or another I'm planning on getting in a 15 miler on all trails at some point over the weekend.

 

[meeka]

I joined the YMCA last October and I have been telling myself that I need to get to the pool and start swimming some laps. The thought of using swimming as a cross-training to running has always been something I wanted to do, but never started. Today I made the first step. I signed up for the 2010 Lazyman Triathlon at the Y. I will have from June 1st to July 15th to cover the distances of an Ironman. I know that is not a very impressive feat, but I am hoping that just getting in the pool to get my 2.5 miles in will be enough of a start to make it part of my routine on a weekly basis.

It looks like it will be around 65 - 70 during my 3:59 (wishful thinking) of running on Sunday. I would prefer a cooler day, but it has been much, much worse this week so I will take it.

 

[2Young2BBald]

I joined the YMCA last October and I have been telling myself that I need to get to the pool and start swimming some laps. The thought of using swimming as a cross-training to running has always been something I wanted to do, but never started. Today I made the first step. I signed up for the 2010 Lazyman Triathlon at the Y. I will have from June 1st to July 15th to cover the distances of an Ironman. I know that is not a very impressive feat, but I am hoping that just getting in the pool to get my 2.5 miles in will be enough of a start to make it part of my routine on a weekly basis.It looks like it will be around 65 - 70 during my 3:59 (wishful thinking) of running on Sunday. I would prefer a cooler day, but it has been much, much worse this week so I will take it.

You should find a nice Sprint Tri in August to put that swim training to good use!Best of luck on Sunday BTW!!!

 

[Sand]

We're supposed to be at about 68 degrees and 68% humidity at gun time. I'm hoping to hang on for a 1:18:20 (7:50s).

I'm guessing 1:15:15.

 

[wraith5]

We're supposed to be at about 68 degrees and 68% humidity at gun time. I'm hoping to hang on for a 1:18:20 (7:50s).

I'm guessing 1:15:15.

gruecd how dd you get Sand's login info?

 

[gruecd]

gruecd how did you get Sand's login info?

I fear you are underestimating the
...10 miles for me today in the mid-day heat. Was effin warm out there. Averaged just under 8 min/mile pace.

 

[Dexter]

GREAT weekend of races!!!!!!! Dexter: I'm always shocked how little the swim takes out of me, though I always try to get into a leisurely pace to avoid getting winded. I need to expend quite a bit of extra effort to get very little gain in the water = smooth and steady is my mantra in the water. Best of luck with your first!!BnB: I'd go sans socks. I can't stand trying to put socks on for a tri, and with it being that short, your feet will be fine. I'll double the glide on shoes and feet prior to starting though. Bourbon Chasers: We can't be Masters unless all of us are over 40. I believe we'll be most competitive in the age/gender handicapped category anyway. With Tri-Man running we probably just need to finish to win the darn thing FWIW: I'll be 45 for the race. ___________________________My Update:I followed up yesterday's 5 miler with core work, and push-ups last night. I always take Fridays off, but will be running tomorrow to change my Sun, Tue, Thur. running to Mon, Wed, Sat to get ready for HIM training.

That's good to hear I've been pretty nervous these past couple of days.

 

[wraith5]

1:20:39

it was pretty warm. While we were hanging out afterwards they Changed the race condition to "black" and told the racers left to stop running. So I feel ok about my time given all that.

Off to the beach then the Cubs game so I'll fully report in later.

 

[Sand]

1:20:39

it was pretty warm. While we were hanging out afterwards they Changed the race condition to "black" and told the racers left to stop running. So I feel ok about my time given all that.

Off to the beach then the Cubs game so I'll fully report in later.

Good effort, Wraith.Why did they stop the runners? Tornado? It couldn't have been that hot.

 

[wraith5]

1:20:39

it was pretty warm. While we were hanging out afterwards they Changed the race condition to "black" and told the racers left to stop running. So I feel ok about my time given all that.

Off to the beach then the Cubs game so I'll fully report in later.

Good effort, Wraith.Why did they stop the runners? Tornado? It couldn't have been that hot.

I'm not entirely sure. It was about 68 and 65 humidity when I finished and it kept getting warmer. I guess the combo got to be too much?

 

[Dexter]

Stony Creek Xtri

Unofficial time 2:15

Could not have asked for a better day.

Swim - The water was perfect. I could have swam in my speedo but still went with the wet suit. seaweed kept getting in the way, nut then again I was in the water. I was one of the last out of the water, but that's okay the next event is my specialty.

Mountain bike - I ride this course every week so I know it very well. I passed 10-15 people and finished strong. I did bring my camelbak and I was glad I did. On the road it's easy to reach down for your water bottle but at stony you have so many switch backs, turns and up downs it's really hard to get a drink without a camelbak unless you stop.

Run - I will have to admit I did some walking here, but it flew by almost to the point where I don't believe it was 4mi. I'll have to check my split times which were not posted when I left.

All in all I had a great time doing my first Tri and will be doing it again soon. Thank you everyone for the advice

Good luck to the rest of our racers this weekend. I look forward to reading your reports

 

[IvanKaramazov]

1:20:39

it was pretty warm. While we were hanging out afterwards they Changed the race condition to "black" and told the racers left to stop running. So I feel ok about my time given all that.

Off to the beach then the Cubs game so I'll fully report in later.

Good effort, Wraith.Why did they stop the runners? Tornado? It couldn't have been that hot.

I'm not entirely sure. It was about 68 and 65 humidity when I finished and it kept getting warmer. I guess the combo got to be too much?

They ended the race for that? _________________

Good job, Dexter.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Way to Go DEXTER & WRAITH!!!

Quick race report as I have to go, I'll get a full one done later. Olympic Tri PR for me and 9th in my AG. It really could have been a whole lot better, but the first 400 meters of the swim was devastating and had me close to pulling out of the event. Glad I toughed it out, but it cooked me for the bike and left me little in the tank for the run.

 

[Sand]

1:20:39

it was pretty warm. While we were hanging out afterwards they Changed the race condition to "black" and told the racers left to stop running. So I feel ok about my time given all that.

Off to the beach then the Cubs game so I'll fully report in later.

Good effort, Wraith.Why did they stop the runners? Tornado? It couldn't have been that hot.

I'm not entirely sure. It was about 68 and 65 humidity when I finished and it kept getting warmer. I guess the combo got to be too much?

If that was the case there would be about 3 days out of the year that they could get a race going in New Orleans.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Nice going, 2Y2BB. Looking forward to hearing the story about the swim.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Island Lake Olympic Triathlon Race Report (warning, lots of in the feel free to )

Up at 4:45 and all went we (my wife gets major hero points for getting up early to cheer me on) got to the race site by about 6:30 and checki in, pick up and set up of transition went according to plan.

SWIM: Due to the early, warm weather, there was ton of seaweed growth and they had to change the swim course from a triangle, to an 800 meter out and back (2 loops for the Oly). A typical to most events, they started the Sprint first which put about 450 of the total 600 racers in the water (on an out and back course) before the Oly swim. For the men, they did a mass start for the Olympic and there had to be 80 to 90 guys in the wave. Trying to test things for July's HIM, I sat back a bit on the start (huge mistake). Right after the horn I was already swimming on top of the guys in front of me. I breathe on the right, so I was trying to work my way towards center so I could spot from buoy to buoy (second huge mistake). While still fighting my way I took a huge blow to the face from a guy next to me I didn't even see. I've been hit a bunch before, but never like this and most of my right cheek below my eye is swollen and my jaw hurts like hell. After gathering myself, I swam another 40 or 50 yards and right in to a swimmer that had crossed over the middle line and in to our out swim. I took his/her swim cap (and the head it contained) right in my bottom lip and about a gallon of water with it. Now, I am not even 250 meters in to the 400 meter out and I've been bashed twice. I encountered two more swimmers that had crossed over before I got the the 400 turn around (and really did not get a stroke in without touching someone). There, I saw the jet ski and had real thoughts of packing it in as I was gassed. Instead, I swam over about 3 guys to the outside left to finally get some room to swim. The next 1,200 yards were slightly less eventful, other than having to swim through a massive patch of seaweed twice.

T1: Socks Suck. Another thing I was trying today was putting on socks for the bike and the run. With wet feet and a double walled sock, I had to sit down and unbunch the socks before I could wear them. End result was an uncharacteristic 2:00+ minute transition.

BIKE: My heart rate was still though the roof from the swim and it took a couple of miles to get my breath. My legs felt lousy, but according to Garmin data, I was still able to average over 19 MPH. The hills were wicked and the wind kicked up for the second loop.

T2: 52 Seconds!

RUN: Cruel start, up hill on grass out of transition. Great 1st loop of the course, but the second loop, and that hill again got me and I started to cramp. I fought through the cramps with a couple of quick walks. At the finish, I spotted a guy in my AG about 40 yards ahead and broke in to a sprint. When I caught him, he realized what was going on and we had a neck and neck sprint to the line, with me getting him by about a 1/2 a foot. We shared congrats and no hard feeling once we could breathe.

I don't recall all my times, but did beat my last Oly time (on a MUCH tougher course). Ending up 9th in my AG was darn good to, to me. The teams brought their entire crews out today and it was a stacked field.

We are off as a family for the traditional post race Blue Cheese & Bacon Burger at Little Tony's!

eta, Memo to self, race stalk #86 from the Sprint. She was in a sun dress by the time I finished the Oly &

 

[wraith5]

Really great job, 2Y!

Finally home and relaxing after the race, the beach, the Cubs game, and of course watching the Blackhawks take game 1 - what a great day!

I did some searching but I can't find why the race officials shut down the Soldier Field 10 when they did. It was quite warm, but as Sand astutely pointed out, it wasn't what I'd call "dangerous."

Even though it was warmer than ideal conditions, I decided this morning to just go for it and push my pace right out of the gate to see what I could do. One thing I have learned about racing (among many others that I clearly haven't grasped yet) is that I wear my Timex Ironman along with my Garmin, so I'm paying attention to my actual mile splits instead of just my pace.

The first mile was a little slow (8:09) as the crowd spread out, but I did each of the next 3 miles at about 7:50. At that point, I knew I couldn't hold that pace the whole way, and I think I got nervous that I would crash & burn, so I slowed down. Miles 5-8 were each at about 8:07. In theory, I could have put the hammer down at that point and been OK, but turned in an 8:33 instead - I really struggled through it. I managed a 7:56 on the last mile, getting me in at 1:20:39 for an 8:04 average. According to my Garmin, I actually ran 10.13 miles, for a 7:58 ave pace (Hence why I use my watch as well!).

So I didn't get the PR I wanted, but I did take 5:39 off of last year's time, and I have a hard time being unhappy about that.

Plus, seeing the weather report last night and not knowing what that would do to my time, I looked at last year's results, and decided I wanted to be in the top 15% of overall finishers, and top 25% in my age group (which is where my goals would have put me last year). My effort this morning was good enough for Top 14% overall (1169/8340) and Top 22% in my age group (151/681). So on an adjusted basis, I hit my targets.

Finally, my wife and kids were there cheering me on at the finish (the 50 yard line of Soldier Field), and that makes any race great.

Now onto a month of tri focused training (bring on the bricks!)

 

[meeka]

Off to try to run my second marathon. Starting temps 68 with 70% humidity. Temps to climb to the high 70's as the humidity drops. I think time goals are going to have to wait and I am going to just get from point A to point B.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

One thing I have learned about racing (among many others that I clearly haven't grasped yet) is that I wear my Timex Ironman along with my Garmin, so I'm paying attention to my actual mile splits instead of just my pace.

You know you can program your Garmin to report your splits, right? It's called "auto-lap" or something like that. You tell your Garmin that 1 mile = 1 lap, and you're good to go. Maybe you know this already, but I find that I still occasionally discover something about my Garmin that I didn't know it could do. It literally took me several years before I figured out how to make it tell me the time of day.

Meeka -- GL. The conditions don't sound good; time to show Mother Nature who's boss.

 

[Dexter]

with me getting him by about a 1/2 a foot.

Representing!

 

[Harris]

My workout for Saturday....unconventional but it left me exhausted.

6:30am (the only actual workout): Started with a 20m bike ride through the city before it got too crowded car-wise, did it in about 1:15, which isn't bad considering traffic lights and stop signs.

2pm: Friend called with an extra ticket to the Cubs game, had to haul ### 5 miles north in the sweltering heat on my single speed while dodging traffic. Spent the next 3-4 hours in the sun watching the Cubs blank the Cardinals

5:45pm: Cubs game over, need to get to the United Center for the Hawks game. Bust it back 5 miles down to my place in what has to feel like 90 degrees, change from Cubs to Hawks gear, hop on the El, and run from the El to the UC to make it in time for the game.

7-10pm: Stand up on a ledge supporting myself in Standing Room Only section so I can see the ice for 3 hours while the Hawks beat up on the Flyers 6-5.

Came home and I was sunburned, legs dead, couldn't hear, and lost my voice. At least I can type!

 

[wraith5]

My workout for Saturday....unconventional but it left me exhausted.6:30am (the only actual workout): Started with a 20m bike ride through the city before it got too crowded car-wise, did it in about 1:15, which isn't bad considering traffic lights and stop signs.2pm: Friend called with an extra ticket to the Cubs game, had to haul ### 5 miles north in the sweltering heat on my single speed while dodging traffic. Spent the next 3-4 hours in the sun watching the Cubs blank the Cardinals 5:45pm: Cubs game over, need to get to the United Center for the Hawks game. Bust it back 5 miles down to my place in what has to feel like 90 degrees, change from Cubs to Hawks gear, hop on the El, and run from the El to the UC to make it in time for the game.7-10pm: Stand up on a ledge supporting myself in Standing Room Only section so I can see the ice for 3 hours while the Hawks beat up on the Flyers 6-5. Came home and I was sunburned, legs dead, couldn't hear, and lost my voice. At least I can type!

Clearly, you and I need to drink some beers together at Wrigley. Also, if there's a Game 5, I'll be at the UC for that one.

 

[wraith5]

One thing I have learned about racing (among many others that I clearly haven't grasped yet) is that I wear my Timex Ironman along with my Garmin, so I'm paying attention to my actual mile splits instead of just my pace.

You know you can program your Garmin to report your splits, right? It's called "auto-lap" or something like that. You tell your Garmin that 1 mile = 1 lap, and you're good to go. Maybe you know this already, but I find that I still occasionally discover something about my Garmin that I didn't know it could do. It literally took me several years before I figured out how to make it tell me the time of day.

Meeka -- GL. The conditions don't sound good; time to show Mother Nature who's boss.

It's actually pathetic the things I don't know about the expensive piece of technology I use. I appreciate you pointing this feature out. HOWEVER - that particular one doesn't solve the problem, which is it takes 3.06 miles of running to get to the 3 mile marker in a race. When I ran the RnR 1/2 in Chicago last year, I only looked at my pace, never my distance v the mile markers. So my real (race) pace was significantly slower than my Garmin pace. Just made for an unpleasant surprise towards the end. I could use the Gamin manual "lap" feature to do this as well I suppose.

 

[culdeus]

100k data

Here's my garmin data from my 100k this saturday.

It went very well. Averaged 21 when goal was 20.

The start was embarrassing. I didn't get one cleat cover off so I tried to pedal one legged while trying to get the other one off. I wasn't going to pull that off without wiping out so I had to stop briefly and by that point the main pack was gone. I did manage to get caught on with the chase group which had a moto escort which was cool. The chase group split in half when we turned back north as lots of people were just there to push it for half way. I stayed with the front chase for awhile and finally lost contact at about mile 35. You can see where I was coming unraveled on the stats in the link. I caught back on with what was left of the 2nd chase (no moto escort :sad and basically adopted the strategy of hitting every other hill hard. Non stop except one red light.

april 100k that was my april 100k which was 1mph slower.

 

[culdeus]

One thing I have learned about racing (among many others that I clearly haven't grasped yet) is that I wear my Timex Ironman along with my Garmin, so I'm paying attention to my actual mile splits instead of just my pace.

You know you can program your Garmin to report your splits, right? It's called "auto-lap" or something like that. You tell your Garmin that 1 mile = 1 lap, and you're good to go. Maybe you know this already, but I find that I still occasionally discover something about my Garmin that I didn't know it could do. It literally took me several years before I figured out how to make it tell me the time of day.

Meeka -- GL. The conditions don't sound good; time to show Mother Nature who's boss.

Pigskin turned me on to this and I LOVE it.

 

[Steve Tasker]

100k data

Here's my garmin data from my 100k this saturday.

It went very well. Averaged 21 when goal was 20.

The start was embarrassing. I didn't get one cleat cover off so I tried to pedal one legged while trying to get the other one off. I wasn't going to pull that off without wiping out so I had to stop briefly and by that point the main pack was gone. I did manage to get caught on with the chase group which had a moto escort which was cool. The chase group split in half when we turned back north as lots of people were just there to push it for half way. I stayed with the front chase for awhile and finally lost contact at about mile 35. You can see where I was coming unraveled on the stats in the link. I caught back on with what was left of the 2nd chase (no moto escort :sad and basically adopted the strategy of hitting every other hill hard. Non stop except one red light.

april 100k that was my april 100k which was 1mph slower.

very cool.Also, I figured out how to turn my radio into a stopwatch...

 

[meeka]

Well, my race pretty much sucked. I covered the distance, and stayed out of the Medical tent. Those are about the highlights. I almost quit about half way through, but I made it. Now for some r&r.

 

[Sand]

Well, my race pretty much sucked. I covered the distance, and stayed out of the Medical tent. Those are about the highlights. I almost quit about half way through, but I made it. Now for some r&r.

Finishing is always priority 1 in these races. Congrats on that - I look forward to hearing more specifics after your nap.My day today was pretty much the same. It is bloody hot and humid here with big thunderstorms boiling up all throughout the day. Like 77/80. I found myself with an hour predicted between storms and took off for a 7.7 mile run. Really hot. Really humid. I got through 5 miles and the wheels came off. For the first time in a year I walked during a run. I'm not upset about it - it really was that brutal out there. I just couldn't go anymore. I went out in 31 and back in 39. Highlight of the run - for the last mile the storm beat me in. Pelting wind and rain for the last little bit. Loved every second of it. I felt like the guy in Caddyshack playing the round of his life - love storms like that. I wish it had hit a half hour earlier.On the bright side I did lose 8 lbs on the run.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Well, my race pretty much sucked. I covered the distance, and stayed out of the Medical tent. Those are about the highlights. I almost quit about half way through, but I made it. Now for some r&r.

This is pretty much my goal for my fall marathon.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Got to take my daughter for her 1st open water swim this morning! I was much more nervous than she was. Other than the need to work her her siting (a lot), she took to it quite well. She wants to do a full sprint herself by the end of the season and I have little doubt she'll get there. She ran a local 5K yesterday and did it in 34 minutes. She was upset with her time, but it started at noon and the temps were around 88, so I thought she did GREAT. We wrapped todays swim with an 11 mile ride, so in less than 24 hours, she did more than the sprint tri distance (Dexter, if you read this far, we were out at Stony today. Egad there was a lot to look at, both at the beach and on the paved trail).

With todays swim and bike, I ended May with 19,730 yards swam, 273 miles ridden & only 32 miles ran and added in 3 strength & core workouts. The swim and bike totals were the largest in any month ever for me. May was bike month, June is going to be a continuation of building my endurance, but swimming today without a wetsuit for part of my swim made me realize I need to work on open water without the wetsuit more just in case the HIM in July is not wetsuit legal.

 

[Dexter]

Egad there was a lot to look at, both at the beach and on the paved trail).

Yes the "scenery" is lovely. Congrats to you and your daughter. I'm sure she'll be one of the girls who pass me. :highfive:

 

[gruecd]

What up, guys?! Back from a Chicago a little while ago. There was very little traffic heading north, and I think I made it home in just over 3 hours. Awesome.

Did an easy 4 miles yesterday morning on the Chicago lakefront and another 12 warm and sunny miles today with a buddy of mine. Basically all I need to say is .

wraith, 2Young, meeka - Great job on your races this weekend. (My apologies if I missed anybody!) I'm especially impressed by meeka. With those kind of temps, I would've been a definite DNS. Congrats on finishing.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Set out to do 15+ on trail today, ended up with a good 16 miler. Almost 2000' of total elevation gain, and hit two sections of trail I've never been on before, which always makes it fun. My pf and achilles both felt pretty good, much better than during last week's 14-miler.

It also gave me 100 miles for the month which is over 35 miles more than any other month this year as I've been trying to get back healthy again, very excited about that

Told myself that once I got through at least 15 relatively pain free, I'd sign up for my first race of the year - looks like I'll be doing that this week!

 

[gruecd]

Just realized that I'll top 1,000 miles YTD sometime this week. The tapers and subsequent recoveries from back-to-back marathons have put me just a little bit behind my unofficial goal of 200 miles/month, but I plan on running pretty heavy mileage while training for Chicago, so it shouldn't take me long to get back on track.

By the way, just spent $53 on seven pairs of socks. Only a runner....

 

[Sand]

Got to take my daughter for her 1st open water swim this morning!

She'll never want to get in a pool again. You've ruined her for life.

 

[wraith5]

Did my first ever brick this afternoon:

While my kids played Wii, I did 45 minutes on the bike trainer (5 hard/5 easy the whole way, ave 89 cadence overall), then 3 miles on the treadmill (25:50, started slowly but got up to about 7:20s by the last 1/2 mile). I'd say it went pretty well.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Great weekend of racing everyone It's that time of the year, that the weather is dictating what we can do more than our actual fitness. Working out in the heat/humidity is my least favorite part of training, but I just keep telling myself that it will pay off over time.

Culdeus: Great to see the progress. Leaving a cleat-cover on sucks. I've mastered it, by doing it way too frequently.

2Young: I'm not sure how large your HIM is, but the beating in the water will likely give you some learning lessons.

Wraith: Way to tough it out. Weather is relative to what you are used to. Down here, times would get better in the weather you raced in, bc we are used to warmer/wetter weather. For you, and likely most racers it had to be a big adjustment = likely why they put the weather warning out.

Dexter: great job on your first tri!!! Post your splits on here when you get them.

Meeka:

BassNBrew:

_________________________

My update:

Saturday I got in a sticky 5 mile run (78 degrees; 76% humidity), literally crawling at the end. Sunday was a 21 mile bike ride (first in a month) at 20.6 MPH. I did it in the mid-day heat (93 degrees), so I was pretty ecstatic finding out my legs still have something in them. Monday was a repeat of Saturday's run, with similar weather and results. I hope I start adapting to the weather soon, as I don't mind slowing down for some runs, but can't stand not being able to get any "fast" miles in without bonking.

 

[tri-man 47]

Some gutty racing goin' on through the weekend between the heat and 2Young's incredibly tough swim. Way to push through the adversity, guys. (And I really like Harris' and liquors' non-traditional reports!)

---

Great training weekend for me.

Sat: 3 hour training Triathlon - open water 42 minute swim, 1 hour bike (19.4 mph), 8 mile paved trail run (7:58/mile). I took my time on transitions. The run was surprisingly fast and very comfortable. (Then did a few hours of heavy yard work.)

Sun: 100K+ (64.5 mile) bike ride. It took about 3 hrs, 45 minutes (18 mph) with rolling hills over the first and last several miles and steady riding on a paved trail through the heart of it.

Mon: 7 mile run (8:27/mi). Intended to repeat the tri, but a serious thunderstorm changed the plans. The run felt very comfortable, though, following two hard days. Disappointed that I had to cut the run shorter than planned.

Heading off tomorrow to a Florida conference and an extra vacation day through Sunday night. I'll target a few swims and a couple of runs. It'll be good to give the legs a rest from the biking (though I was back out this morning for 75 minutes). All in all, I'll start to taper it down for the next three weeks.

 

[wraith5]

Some gutty racing goin' on through the weekend between the heat and 2Young's incredibly tough swim. Way to push through the adversity, guys. (And I really like Harris' and liquors' non-traditional reports!)---Great training weekend for me.Sat: 3 hour training Triathlon - open water 42 minute swim, 1 hour bike (19.4 mph), 8 mile paved trail run (7:58/mile). I took my time on transitions. The run was surprisingly fast and very comfortable. (Then did a few hours of heavy yard work.)Sun: 100K+ (64.5 mile) bike ride. It took about 3 hrs, 45 minutes (18 mph) with rolling hills over the first and last several miles and steady riding on a paved trail through the heart of it. Mon: 7 mile run (8:27/mi). Intended to repeat the tri, but a serious thunderstorm changed the plans. The run felt very comfortable, though, following two hard days. Disappointed that I had to cut the run shorter than planned.Heading off tomorrow to a Florida conference and an extra vacation day through Sunday night. I'll target a few swims and a couple of runs. It'll be good to give the legs a rest from the biking (though I was back out this morning for 75 minutes). All in all, I'll start to taper it down for the next three weeks.

You are a machine!!

 

[The_Man]

Lot of people grinding it out in tough circumstances this weekend. Excellent! It's more impressive to hear about people overcoming tough obstacles. Like I tell my 7-year-old, "It doesn't count as being brave unless you're doing something you're scared of."

Wraith - great job, and sounds like a great weekend. You still have bigger things to come this summer.

Dexter - congrats on the tri.

2Y2BB - congrats on the PR. Sorry about the swim - sounds like you complete a quadrathalon, including water boxing.

Meeka - good job finishing in the heat and staying healthy.

Culdeus - nice ride!

I had a big training weekend. 7 miles at 7:33 pace on Saturday. Was trying for my 10-Miler goal race pace of 7:30, but I went back to my hill course after running flat stuff for a few weeks and uphill miles 5 and 6 killed me. Did mile 7 (which is flat) in 7:12 but couldn't make up all the time I lost on the hills.

12 miles Sunday - 8:48 for 10, and then did a Fast Finish run, averaging 7:39 for the last 2. If I decide I do want to shoot for a Boston Qualifier, my pace would need to be 7:38. I like the idea behind Fast Finish runs - that you're teaching your body how to run at your desired pace after you're fatigued. Any thoughts on that? And then a solid 5-mile run today.

2010 monthly totals

Jan - 46

Feb – 58

March 73

April - 85

May – 137

June - planning for 120 (down a little due to racing, plus the fact that May had 5 full weekends to inflate the totals a little)

 

[pigskinliquors]

Some gutty racing goin' on through the weekend between the heat and 2Young's incredibly tough swim. Way to push through the adversity, guys. (And I really like Harris' and liquors' non-traditional reports!)---Great training weekend for me.Sat: 3 hour training Triathlon - open water 42 minute swim, 1 hour bike (19.4 mph), 8 mile paved trail run (7:58/mile). I took my time on transitions. The run was surprisingly fast and very comfortable. (Then did a few hours of heavy yard work.)Sun: 100K+ (64.5 mile) bike ride. It took about 3 hrs, 45 minutes (18 mph) with rolling hills over the first and last several miles and steady riding on a paved trail through the heart of it. Mon: 7 mile run (8:27/mi). Intended to repeat the tri, but a serious thunderstorm changed the plans. The run felt very comfortable, though, following two hard days. Disappointed that I had to cut the run shorter than planned.Heading off tomorrow to a Florida conference and an extra vacation day through Sunday night. I'll target a few swims and a couple of runs. It'll be good to give the legs a rest from the biking (though I was back out this morning for 75 minutes). All in all, I'll start to taper it down for the next three weeks.

I love your vacation workouts the best The_Man: Impressive totals for last month!!

 

[meeka]

Meeka:

Since you asked I will take a few minutes for a write up. I have not been posting much in here this year as an attempt to cut back from the distractions in my life and put a greater focus on my job, my family and my spiritual well-being. I still stop in to read, but my updates have been few and far between. Thanks for the support guys.As the race was approaching I was hopeful that we were going to have some decent weather for the race. It was going to cool off for the weekend and I do much better when the weather is not hot and humid. I know most people need to slow down when it is hot and humid, but I have always had trouble with this. I get over-heated pretty quickly. When I woke up at 3:59 I checked the weather and it said it would be 70 at the start of the race with a 78% humidity. The humidity was supposed to drop during the day, but that never happened.The Race:I started off running around 8:30s and the first part of the race was not too bad. My buddy looked over at me about a mile in and laughed at how much I was sweating already. The first 5 miles were along the St. Croix river and there was a pretty long uphill around mile 3, but there was a little breeze and some shade. After 5 miles we turned away from the river and headed west for about a mile. When we turned and headed North back into the city of Stillwater it was like running on a skillet. No shade, no breeze and no water. They had 2 water stops in the first 7 miles!?!? Sure there was one soon after mile 7, but that was poor in my opinion. We hit the 10K at 51:31 and I knew that this pace was both unrealistic, but was going to send me to the hospital if I tried to keep it up. I told my running partner that there was no way we were going to keep up that pace in the heat and humidity, but he is far more stubborn than I am. Around 9.5 I told him to go ahead and that I would pray for his health. Now way was I going to run myself into the ground. Between 9.8 and mile 10 was the turning point of the race for me. I had already seen 2 or 3 people duck out of the race at the medical tent just after mile 7. I think many of the experience runners knew that this weather was not ideal for a great time and they were going to save it for another day. I took a walk bread at 9.8 and walked for about a minute. I had planned to walk every 2 miles until 14 and then every mile after that. So to not make it to 10 was the beginning of the end. After a minute I started to run again and made it maybe another minute before I was walking again. I was trying to decide if I would finish this race or pack it in. Pack it in was receiving about 80% of the vote. I started running again at mile 10 and still had really not decided what I was going to do, but the cut off for the half was not until about 12.4 so I had some time to think it over. The only thing that saved me was that as we entered a neighborhood area of Stillwater there a bunch of people out cheering and the streets had a bunch more people than any of the first 12 miles. We took a left turn and only about 100 yards ahead of us was the turn off for the half marathon racers. I did not see the turn off until I was about 20 feet from it and by the time I saw it I did not have enough time to talk myself into quitting. So there I was 13.75 miles from the finish line committed to finishing. I started walking and doing some math in me head. I crossed the half way point at 1:58:01. OK, I had 4 hours to finish the last half. I knew I could walk about 4 MPH so finishing in time would not be a problem. So I walked, and ran, and walked and ran. I knew that a good time was not going to happen, so staying out of the medical tent was the main goal. I would walk a quarter of a mile and then run a quarter of a mile. and repeat. I had my Ipod in my pocket, but since I had been pouring water over my head and down my back all race I did not feel like taking it out of the zip-lock and risk losing that as well. So I was on my own with my thoughts and a lot of open road ahead of me.I hit the 20 mile mark at 3:21:48 and my walking pace was starting fall under 15 M/M. I did not want this race to take 5:30. I had my wife, my sister-in-law, and my running partner waiting at the finish line. I had to get moving. I decided that I would try to only walk for a minute and then run as long as I could until I had to walk again. I felt fine. I was not dying from the weather, or even overly tired because I had spent a lot of the last 8 miles walking. The only problem I had now were the hot spots under my arms from my sleeveless shirt rubbing. So now I was making a stop each mile at the medical station to grab some vasoline. That was a first. Never have I had this problem before, but I have never done this much walking and I have never been this drenched for this long. I hit mile 25 and was passed by a couple that was running together. That was all I needed to see. I knew now that I only had 1.2 to go so cramps of heat related illness were probably not going to get me at this point. I started running. I was surprised that after a quarter mile I was still able to run around 8:30 M/M and I had filed in right behind the couple that just passed me. That only lasted about a minute and then I had to go. I passed the couple and looked for the next person to pass. This was not really a pride thing, just something to keep my mind off the running. I should not have been behind these people so passing them did not give me any boost at all. I think I made my way ahead of most of the people that I had passed me over the last 2 or 3 miles. My tiny cheering section was waiting just before mile marker 26 and I felt a blister pop. My feet blister pretty easy and I usually with get 4-6 on a long run and sometimes they pop but I don't even notice. This one hurt. My foot was stinging, but I was 2 minutes from finishing so I kept running. I finished at 4:37:49. 20 minutes slower than my 1st marthon, but about 45 minutes slower than my next marthon. Chicago 2011?I will be taking a few weeks off to refresh and I will be putting in some miles on a bike and laps in a pool. I will probably be back on the streets by the middle of June. I want to PR in my half this fall, so I am going to adding a weekly speedwork run to my schedule now.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Good writeup, Meeka. Sounds like you did the best you could do under bad conditions. I'm the same as you in that I would rather take a "bad" time over a DNF, but I'm not as hardcore as some of the regulars in this thread. GL with the half and keep us updated.

 

[meeka]

Good writeup, Meeka. Sounds like you did the best you could do under bad conditions. I'm the same as you in that I would rather take a "bad" time over a DNF, but I'm not as hardcore as some of the regulars in this thread. GL with the half and keep us updated.

It really helps that my 4 year old thinks that my medal means I won! One of my thoughts from mile 10-12 was that this will be a good lesson for my 2 older boys (6 and 4) that just because something is hard does not mean that you quit. It would have been tough to tell my 6 year old that I had to quit. He is already realizing that Daddy may not have in fact hung the moon. I would like to slow that realization as much as possible.

 

[El Floppo]

Good writeup, Meeka. Sounds like you did the best you could do under bad conditions. I'm the same as you in that I would rather take a "bad" time over a DNF, but I'm not as hardcore as some of the regulars in this thread. GL with the half and keep us updated.

It really helps that my 4 year old thinks that my medal means I won! One of my thoughts from mile 10-12 was that this will be a good lesson for my 2 older boys (6 and 4) that just because something is hard does not mean that you quit. It would have been tough to tell my 6 year old that I had to quit. He is already realizing that Daddy may not have in fact hung the moon. I would like to slow that realization as much as possible.

Awesome stuff. It may not feel like it yet, but you should be really proud for gutting this one out, if just for yourself being able to look back and not wonder what may have happened if hadn't quit (supposing you had). That your family was there adds that much more to it... again- awesome stuff.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Good writeup, Meeka. Sounds like you did the best you could do under bad conditions. I'm the same as you in that I would rather take a "bad" time over a DNF, but I'm not as hardcore as some of the regulars in this thread. GL with the half and keep us updated.

It really helps that my 4 year old thinks that my medal means I won! One of my thoughts from mile 10-12 was that this will be a good lesson for my 2 older boys (6 and 4) that just because something is hard does not mean that you quit. It would have been tough to tell my 6 year old that I had to quit. He is already realizing that Daddy may not have in fact hung the moon. I would like to slow that realization as much as possible.

Way to tough it out Meeka!!!!!!! I'm the same as you, when it comes to heat/humidity. I take quite awhile to adjust, and can't imagine trying to do a marathon in those conditions. Amazingly done. Pat yourself on the back for the lesson you taught your kids, and for finding something inside yourself to keep you moving. Great write-up!

 

[The_Man]

Meeka,

Don't be such a lurker, because that was a great write-up. I love the line about the HM cutoff coming up too soon to give you time to talk yourself into quitting. Most people would have been talking themselves into NOT quitting.

Congratulations on finishing what you started in the face of unexpected difficulties.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Good writeup, Meeka. Sounds like you did the best you could do under bad conditions. I'm the same as you in that I would rather take a "bad" time over a DNF, but I'm not as hardcore as some of the regulars in this thread. GL with the half and keep us updated.

It really helps that my 4 year old thinks that my medal means I won! One of my thoughts from mile 10-12 was that this will be a good lesson for my 2 older boys (6 and 4) that just because something is hard does not mean that you quit. It would have been tough to tell my 6 year old that I had to quit. He is already realizing that Daddy may not have in fact hung the moon. I would like to slow that realization as much as possible.

Great race report and I like this last post even more! I had similar thoughts on Saturday. Last week my son had to do a coat of arms for social studies that included a motto. The motto he came up with was "If You Don't Quit, it Will Always Pay Off Later". (Maybe I should back off the HTFU lifestyle just a bit ). As I was getting destroyed in the swim Saturday I had thoughts of this and figured I'd either drown or finish, DNF was not an option. Hopefully he'll bring the coat of arms home in one piece, I think I'll make it my new avatar.

 

[rail]

Did the Bolder Boulder 10K yesterday.

As always - a huge race. Just needed to get in my 7 miles yesteday, so I ran about a mile and then jumped in a wave to start. Gf and I had actually gotten there late as the shuttles were running very far behind. C'est la vie.

I wasn't trying to run real hard, just wanted to put my miles in. Spent a lot of time dodging around other runners, walkers, people with canes (wtf), etc. Some little 8 year old kid totally blew by me. Wow. Really fun course with bands, belly dancers, people handing out beers, tossing marshmallows, etc. I made a quick stop to go through a home-made slip-n-slide. Got to finish inside CU Stadium/Folsom Field. Just a really fun race.

I finished in 54:40 (about 7 mins faster than when I did it 2 years ago). My pace actually increased by about 30 seconds/mile in miles 4-6. Happy with that. I felt like I ran at a decent rate the whole time, with no stopping or walking. I can tell I've got a lot more training to go if I'm going to pull out a 9 minute pace for a marathon. I think I'm making some headway, and creating a good cardio base.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

rail -- When's the marathon?