Ran a 10k in June (3 Viewers)

[Ned]

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

Wife and I stayed at Bally's again, which was the hosting Casino. Having the start right outside the door to your hotel is priceless. We had a nice night there and wished we could've stayed longer. We even won $600 playing blackjack..... I was sweating the weather forecast; namely the wind. When we went to bed the forecasts dropped the wind to 18mph or so.

Woke up and routine was good. I looked out side and the trees, flags, etc were whipping around like crazy. Oh ####. I checked the hourly forecast and it was straight 20+ the whole time. I love following The_Man's 5-5-5 plan, but I ditched it after seeing the wind. New plan was to flirt with LT (178-179 HR) as much as I could when the wind was sideways or in my face. When the wind was at my back, relax and try to get some time under LT; knowing I can't maintain above LT for more than an hour.

I got into the corral late and had to weave my way up to as close to the front as I could. Right at the gun I was boxed in on the boardwalk running an 8:3x pace. I panicked and dropped back around the box of runners and sprinted around them. Looked down and I was already at a 6:5x pace. Wooops. Settled in well and just manged the hills (some small on ramps) and the wind.

The wind was unpredictable. Forecasts said a NE wind, but it came from every direction. It made pacing a smooth race difficult, so I just went with the flow. Whatever the wind gave me, I took. When it was in my face, I stayed strong and relaxed - focusing on my hands. Just keep them moving and the legs will follow. First 5 miles were a complete blur.

Next 5 was along a few roads on the outskirts of the city. Long and straight. Right with the wind. Mile 6 was a bear, but I was starting to realize just how strong I was running regardless of the wind. I hit the 10K mark @ 44:06 and it hit me. I got something special brewing. I wasn't worrying about bonking or getting tired. I was worrying about not going too fast too soon. I had a lot in me.

Mile 8 got us back to the boardwalk where we'd finish the rest of the race. The wind was especially strong here being right on the shore. Around mile 9 the wind was right at our backs and I made a decision. Let's bank some time with the wind knowing I have to turn back around and run back into it for the last 2 miles. So I took off. I caught a guy around mile 10 who had the balls to say "boy this is some wind" and then tuck right in behind me on my heels. Sorry pal, this ride is too expensive for you. I dropped him quickly. Ended up running my 2 fastest miles of the race here - 6:50 & 6:54.

Mile 11 was the turn around. As soon as you turned around it was like hitting a brick wall. OOOF. The wind was awful. I saw a chick up ahead and just focused on running her down. Caught her around mile 12. Saw a guy in yellow up 200m ahead and focused on him. I'm big on mantra's (just like Tri) and I just kept angrily saying "DIIIG" and "YELLOW" over and over again in my head.

Around 12.8ish a guy comes up on me out of nowhere. Totally caught me by surprise. He gets about a 10ft lead on me and I notice he backs off. Did he shoot it too early?? I opened it up and got along side of him. Back and forth we go all the way to the finish. Zipped right on by Mr. Yellow and I narrowly beat the other guy out too (by 0.15 seconds!). I look up at the finish to see my wife standing there with her jaw dropped "what did you just do?! You said 1:35?!"

I still don't believe I ran this. I'm now running paces in a HM that I was running in HS XC. What a dream......

Splits:

6:56/173

7:14/178

7:11/180

6:59/180

7:06/178

7:02/176

7:06/179

6:50/178

6:54/181

7:03/180

6:56/181

7:22/182

7:10/185

0.17 @ 0:57/189 (5:45 pace)

Officially 1:32:53. Good for 5/137 AG and 23/1,252 OA

 

[FUBAR]

Ned!

 

[worrierking]

Great report, Ned. Congrats. Since you have an extra $600, I guess you are buying all of us beers!?

Awesome race!

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Y2BB - Holy crap... Hope you're alright. I'd love to see some pics of the trail. That technical stuff is awesome.

I SO wished I packed the iPhone in the Camelback to get pics (forgot to mention that running the 1/2 wearing a Camelback was not that bad and I barely noticed it). The trial hit a peak looking down on a big lake. Fall colors are close to full and the view was postcard-worthy with the trees reflecting on the water. Slowed myself a bit to take it in before ducking back into the woods. Great 1/2 and write up for you!!!!

 

[Hang 10]

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

Wife and I stayed at Bally's again, which was the hosting Casino. Having the start right outside the door to your hotel is priceless. We had a nice night there and wished we could've stayed longer. We even won $600 playing blackjack..... I was sweating the weather forecast; namely the wind. When we went to bed the forecasts dropped the wind to 18mph or so.

Woke up and routine was good. I looked out side and the trees, flags, etc were whipping around like crazy. Oh ####. I checked the hourly forecast and it was straight 20+ the whole time. I love following The_Man's 5-5-5 plan, but I ditched it after seeing the wind. New plan was to flirt with LT (178-179 HR) as much as I could when the wind was sideways or in my face. When the wind was at my back, relax and try to get some time under LT; knowing I can't maintain above LT for more than an hour.

I got into the corral late and had to weave my way up to as close to the front as I could. Right at the gun I was boxed in on the boardwalk running an 8:3x pace. I panicked and dropped back around the box of runners and sprinted around them. Looked down and I was already at a 6:5x pace. Wooops. Settled in well and just manged the hills (some small on ramps) and the wind.

The wind was unpredictable. Forecasts said a NE wind, but it came from every direction. It made pacing a smooth race difficult, so I just went with the flow. Whatever the wind gave me, I took. When it was in my face, I stayed strong and relaxed - focusing on my hands. Just keep them moving and the legs will follow. First 5 miles were a complete blur.

Next 5 was along a few roads on the outskirts of the city. Long and straight. Right with the wind. Mile 6 was a bear, but I was starting to realize just how strong I was running regardless of the wind. I hit the 10K mark @ 44:06 and it hit me. I got something special brewing. I wasn't worrying about bonking or getting tired. I was worrying about not going too fast too soon. I had a lot in me.

Mile 8 got us back to the boardwalk where we'd finish the rest of the race. The wind was especially strong here being right on the shore. Around mile 9 the wind was right at our backs and I made a decision. Let's bank some time with the wind knowing I have to turn back around and run back into it for the last 2 miles. So I took off. I caught a guy around mile 10 who had the balls to say "boy this is some wind" and then tuck right in behind me on my heels. Sorry pal, this ride is too expensive for you. I dropped him quickly. Ended up running my 2 fastest miles of the race here - 6:50 & 6:54.

Mile 11 was the turn around. As soon as you turned around it was like hitting a brick wall. OOOF. The wind was awful. I saw a chick up ahead and just focused on running her down. Caught her around mile 12. Saw a guy in yellow up 200m ahead and focused on him. I'm big on mantra's (just like Tri) and I just kept angrily saying "DIIIG" and "YELLOW" over and over again in my head.

Around 12.8ish a guy comes up on me out of nowhere. Totally caught me by surprise. He gets about a 10ft lead on me and I notice he backs off. Did he shoot it too early?? I opened it up and got along side of him. Back and forth we go all the way to the finish. Zipped right on by Mr. Yellow and I narrowly beat the other guy out too (by 0.15 seconds!). I look up at the finish to see my wife standing there with her jaw dropped "what did you just do?! You said 1:35?!"

I still don't believe I ran this. I'm now running paces in a HM that I was running in HS XC. What a dream......

Splits:

6:56/173

7:14/178

7:11/180

6:59/180

7:06/178

7:02/176

7:06/179

6:50/178

6:54/181

7:03/180

6:56/181

7:22/182

7:10/185

0.17 @ 0:57/189 (5:45 pace)

Officially 1:32:53. Good for 5/137 AG and 23/1,252 OA

Raising the bar, Ned.

I told you that still had a good chance at a PR regardless of the weather. Glad you went for it.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Fantastic Ned! Great speed, wonderful PR and you're setting yourself up for a PR marathon!

Great jobs by 2young and Worrierking too!

 

[beer 302]

Great job Ned! Apparently we have a Fall of Fastness upon us

2Young hope the hand & knee are good. I giffed my second time and felt it in my wrist for 6 months, just recently got over it. Especially scary since you've already wrecked it once. Love the trails but I don't have mountaineering skills in my bag yet for some of these. Still sounds like a fun race because, well, we're all a little ####ed in the head.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Stellar, Ned. Great race. I always find that I lose more into the wind than I gain with it, but you pwned this one.

 

[tri-man 47]

Stellar, Ned. Great race. I always find that I lose more into the wind than I gain with it, but you pwned this one.

Way to push the HR to the edge throughout. Love your competitiveness, as always (and I did shout a few "hell, yeahs!" when passing my daughter during my race).

 

[BassNBrew]

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

Wife and I stayed at Bally's again, which was the hosting Casino. Having the start right outside the door to your hotel is priceless. We had a nice night there and wished we could've stayed longer. We even won $600 playing blackjack..... I was sweating the weather forecast; namely the wind. When we went to bed the forecasts dropped the wind to 18mph or so.

Woke up and routine was good. I looked out side and the trees, flags, etc were whipping around like crazy. Oh ####. I checked the hourly forecast and it was straight 20+ the whole time. I love following The_Man's 5-5-5 plan, but I ditched it after seeing the wind. New plan was to flirt with LT (178-179 HR) as much as I could when the wind was sideways or in my face. When the wind was at my back, relax and try to get some time under LT; knowing I can't maintain above LT for more than an hour.

I got into the corral late and had to weave my way up to as close to the front as I could. Right at the gun I was boxed in on the boardwalk running an 8:3x pace. I panicked and dropped back around the box of runners and sprinted around them. Looked down and I was already at a 6:5x pace. Wooops. Settled in well and just manged the hills (some small on ramps) and the wind.

The wind was unpredictable. Forecasts said a NE wind, but it came from every direction. It made pacing a smooth race difficult, so I just went with the flow. Whatever the wind gave me, I took. When it was in my face, I stayed strong and relaxed - focusing on my hands. Just keep them moving and the legs will follow. First 5 miles were a complete blur.

Next 5 was along a few roads on the outskirts of the city. Long and straight. Right with the wind. Mile 6 was a bear, but I was starting to realize just how strong I was running regardless of the wind. I hit the 10K mark @ 44:06 and it hit me. I got something special brewing. I wasn't worrying about bonking or getting tired. I was worrying about not going too fast too soon. I had a lot in me.

Mile 8 got us back to the boardwalk where we'd finish the rest of the race. The wind was especially strong here being right on the shore. Around mile 9 the wind was right at our backs and I made a decision. Let's bank some time with the wind knowing I have to turn back around and run back into it for the last 2 miles. So I took off. I caught a guy around mile 10 who had the balls to say "boy this is some wind" and then tuck right in behind me on my heels. Sorry pal, this ride is too expensive for you. I dropped him quickly. Ended up running my 2 fastest miles of the race here - 6:50 & 6:54.

Mile 11 was the turn around. As soon as you turned around it was like hitting a brick wall. OOOF. The wind was awful. I saw a chick up ahead and just focused on running her down. Caught her around mile 12. Saw a guy in yellow up 200m ahead and focused on him. I'm big on mantra's (just like Tri) and I just kept angrily saying "DIIIG" and "YELLOW" over and over again in my head.

Around 12.8ish a guy comes up on me out of nowhere. Totally caught me by surprise. He gets about a 10ft lead on me and I notice he backs off. Did he shoot it too early?? I opened it up and got along side of him. Back and forth we go all the way to the finish. Zipped right on by Mr. Yellow and I narrowly beat the other guy out too (by 0.15 seconds!). I look up at the finish to see my wife standing there with her jaw dropped "what did you just do?! You said 1:35?!"

I still don't believe I ran this. I'm now running paces in a HM that I was running in HS XC. What a dream......

Splits:

6:56/173

7:14/178

7:11/180

6:59/180

7:06/178

7:02/176

7:06/179

6:50/178

6:54/181

7:03/180

6:56/181

7:22/182

7:10/185

0.17 @ 0:57/189 (5:45 pace)

Officially 1:32:53. Good for 5/137 AG and 23/1,252 OA

23rd overall

The best part is that you're still improving. Won't be long and you'll be able to run down those deer in the woods.

 

[koby925]

Juxt - exactly what I'd do. I bet the kids loved it. "Dude, I can't believe only one of us could outrun that skinny old guy..."

The_Man: Wow. Congrats to you and your son! That's a killer time for someone who hasn't run that distance before. He's got a bright future ahead of him. Agree with Ned. Definitely have him run the 1M/2M on the track and if he keeps progressing the 8k/10k college cross country and 5k/10ks on the track will be to his liking.

Tri - Bonk or not, you are a machine. I have no idea how you pulled off 3 marathons in this stretch. Amazing. Not much else to say

Prosopis - Go get'm!

Hang10 - Dang dude. That's downright flyin' on trails. Keeps on rolling. H10 having a great season, guy

Steve - @ winning a 5K at your HM pace. Your speed is amazing. Congrats! Just another day at the office for Steve...a ho hum low 18

Duck - Wow. I love hearing those dig deep stories. Can't wait for the detailed RR! Seconded. Hell of an effort to finish under goal pace

worrier - Congrats on another solid marathon! Another ho hum day at the office for worrier also...running another solid marathon...congrats!

2Y2BB - Holy crap... Hope you're alright. I'd love to see some pics of the trail. That technical stuff is awesome.

Wow...catching up now on a weekend of racing. Great job, guys. I have to save time and quote Ned with my comments added in.

Ned, great race and great report. That wind sounds like a bear. You did a pretty damn good job pacing in spite of it, though. 32 seconds from fastest to slowest mile is great in any conditions. And I love that finish! 5:45 pace and holding off 2 competitors. Awesome!

MAC, I didn't forget about you. That 10x800 workout was a great one. I know you fancy yourself a speed guy, but that was a strength workout. I have no doubt that you can break 18 for 5k and crush 40 for a 10k right now.

 

[gruecd]

Sucks for grue. Bad ultra fuel or first time use?

First time, I believe. He was deliberating whether to use it or not.

Not my first time. I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid.

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Young - wow, tough course! I'd suggest planting the award in your back yard and growing your own granola tree. BTW, I happened to look at your Athlink page recently ...it's gotta be one of the most eclectic list of races there. It speaks of your enjoyment of doing a large variety of events!

I really appreciate this post and consider myself very lucky to bet a part of the group of enablers in here who have never told anyone going for anything that its a bad idea, lucky I have friends that actually want to to all this goofy #### with me, VERY lucky my family supports and participates in this stuff to and lucky I live in an area where I can continue to find off beat stuff to race.

Almost forgot to post about my son's race Saturday. A bit of a tough day for him. Two weeks without a race and some very heavy miles in between had him dragging a bit. To make maters worse, varsity didn't race until 2:15pm and it was almost 80 degrees by then. He had a good first two miles and bounced between 3rd and 4th on his team before he encountered a side stitch with about a 1/2 mile to go. He gave up 2 team spots down this stretch to finish 6th on his team with an 18:47. Hopefully, he can have a good week of training as they have districts this Saturday.

I am incredibly sore today, but 100% sure nothing is broken. The feeling is almost 100% back in my hand and think it would be 100% if not so swollen. The bruise on my knee is straight black and blue, but the one on my hip looks like spattered paint of about 6 colors. Anyone see a reason not to swim tonight to try and shake the funk out of my legs and maybe work some blood out of these bruises?

 

[The_Man]

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

Mile 8 got us back to the boardwalk where we'd finish the rest of the race. The wind was especially strong here being right on the shore. Around mile 9 the wind was right at our backs and I made a decision. Let's bank some time with the wind knowing I have to turn back around and run back into it for the last 2 miles. So I took off. I caught a guy around mile 10 who had the balls to say "boy this is some wind" and then tuck right in behind me on my heels. Sorry pal, this ride is too expensive for you. I dropped him quickly. Ended up running my 2 fastest miles of the race here - 6:50 & 6:54.

Officially 1:32:53. Good for 5/137 AG and 23/1,252 OA

So awesome. Great race, great Race Report. This was my favorite part.

Are you scheduling a marathon anytime soon? Take your HM time, double it and add 10 minutes, and you are in the 3:15 neighborhood.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Prairie State Marathon: 3:47ish ...The physiology of a bonk, and how to make positive use of it.

Details after a nap. (For context, the trifecta was 3:44; 3:33, 3:47.)

Three marathons that close together is no joke. Congrats on that accomplishment alone. And I really appreciate how you dealt with this last one in turning what could have been a very negative experience into a positive one, well done.

CC Classic - aka "winning to break even" - 5K:

My wife found this race online a few days ago and I didn't feel like running a tempo workout by myself, so I said "what the hell" and signed up too.

This was a straight forward out-and-back course on one of the local trains. Half of which was paved and half was dirt (namely the first/last half mile and the middle mile). I went for my standard 2 mile warmup, but had to make a pit stop and almost missed the start of the race again.

Couple of fast looking guys with arm warmers and compression socks on the starting line, but 200 meters into the race I find myself all alone. So I just tried to stay at a comfortably hard pace. First mile in 5:24 and I'm still rolling. Soon I hit the dirt section and I'm not rolling so much. I do my usual trick at the turnaround (start a count of how many seconds until I see 2nd place, and then multiply by 2 to estimate my lead) and it's 35 seconds. I hit 2 miles in 11:20 (5:56 last mile) and I'm thinking "do I keep on pushing and potentially implode and lose this 200 meter lead or do I play it safe?". I chose the wimpy way out and toned it down to 90%. Last mile in 5:59 and I am cruising home, turned out I actually extended my lead a little bit. Final margin 18:1x - 19:0x.

Not psyched about the time or the fact that I basically ran my goal pace for my half-marathon next weekend (and not I don't think I could've kept that pace up for another 10 miles) but got some $35 worth of gift cards, a pair of nice socks, and a pair of tickets to some college hockey game. My wife won her age group and got another $10 in gift cards as well. So we basically got our entry fee back and got in a couple of hard solid runs.

"cruising" in at a 5:59 pace. I literally can't comprehend. Congrats to you and the wife on the results!

OUCH! Ignorance is not bliss at all, it hurts. I should have studied up and gone all OCD like I always do, today was the HARDEST trail 1/2 I have ever taken part in. There was really no footing for most of the race due to rocks, roots, a low sun through the trees and leaves down on the trail hiding the hazards. It was worrisome, that during the pre-race meeting, they talked about the "real technical stuff" starting after about mile 8 and I had to ask 3 people if they wanted help getting to medical in the first six miles (2 turned ankles and I'd guess a 15 to 20 stitch gash :X ). Even with the trail being a #####, I was pretty quick for me through the first 8 miles, going sub 10s through the woods. Then, the "technical" stuff happened. Holy ####, no taking advantage of the down hills as I had to almost walk all of them as it felt almost like roller skating and the leaves and rocks. FWIW, I did not walk the entire race which was a big personal victory for me. I thought I;d run by heart rate, and for the most part I did, but it was quick glimpses to check the Garmin for fear of falling. With two to go, I was still feeling strong so I picked up the pace (dumb). After a couple of near misses, I executed my worst trail grub ever with about 1.5 miles to go. Jacked my knee (which started to bleed out nicely), crunched my hip and smashed the hand that got destroyed in the bike crash a few years back. On instinct, I rolled up and just kept running and man, it hurt. Ended up finishing in 2:18 (good for AG 3rd -tiny race- ). No hard feelings for the trail and I'll be back next year if they have this again. The crunchy/earthy vibe was kind of cool (although, I have no idea what to do with my AG award, a home made granola energy bar - true story). I had a blast after BSing with other runners about other trail events. A few hours post race and I am pretty sure nothing is broken, but my knee is puffy huge, I have sweet bruising on my elbow and hip and the pad of my hand is scrapped and swollen. Most worried about my hand as I had nerve damage for the crash and am also having some numbness. Hoping its but a flesh wound and things will be better tomorrow.

Now this is something I can wrap my head around! Sounds like a really fun event, and even crunchier than anything I've done out here in the Bay Area - the birthplace of crunchy. The post-race vibe at most trail events is great, I love how people hang out afterward and celebrate a good day on the trails. Congrats on a really solid effort, and hope the bumps and bruises are just that.

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

I still don't believe I ran this. I'm now running paces in a HM that I was running in HS XC. What a dream......

Officially 1:32:53. Good for 5/137 AG and 23/1,252 OA

Wow, and wow. Finishing in the top 2% of a race with that many folks in it, super impressive results. And love the appreciation and enjoyment you're obviously getting out of your accomplishment. Even more of that to come from you, I'm sure!

4:16x. I am happy with the race. Details after I download the data.

Woohoo! Looking forward to the details, really well done and congrats! Yet another person in the thread faster than me (my only road marathon was 4:23ish).

 

[koby925]

Haven't been posting much on my progress or lack thereof lately. I can't seem to get consistency going. 35 miles for both of the previous 2 weeks but only managed 30 this past week. I thought about jumping in a 5k Saturday but my whole house was sick this week (including me) and my right calf and lingering hip area pain were really sore. I am going in for an MRI today on the hip area. Just to make sure there isn't something structural (hernia, labral tear, etc) causing pain and/or change to my stride which in turn is causing pain to other areas. I think it's just getting older and the Docs agreed with me during the exam and XRay analysis, but they wanted to make sure with the MRI. So there's either something wrong which may shut me down or I'm a wuss. Wish me luck that I'm just a wuss!

 

[tri-man 47]

gruecd, good to know you're not stupid ...just unlucky (if it's not the ITB or the weather, it's a nutritional blip). As a friend of yours posted on FB, we have our up and down cycles - you'll bounce back with a strong stretch of racing soon enough.

koby - here's hoping you only have a case of the wussies! Know that I smirk a little bit when I hear you young whipper-snappers fret about getting older.

2Young - I think some (some!) swimming would be great to get blood flowing through the sore spots and help the healing. Swimming would do so without the pounding of doing a few run miles.

SFDuck, how are you feeling?

 

[SFBayDuck]

SFDuck, how are you feeling?

I'm not gonna lie...I'm hurtin'! DOMS is worse the 2nd day, right? Well today is the 2nd day, and every muscle below the waist, and several above it (shoulder area especially) is really sore. But mostly it is my feet that are a mess. I battled trying to fend off blisters and foot pain all day, and managed to do until the final stretch when I didn't have time (or my crew) to stop and deal with them anymore. But yesterday it was difficult to just walk, and today is only a little better. I'd like to go for a few short strolls today just to get the blood flowing through the muscles, hopefully my feet will let me do that this afternoon.

Working on my race report, should have that done later today.

 

[SteveC702]

Duck-I might be wrong on this, looking at some of your posts here and there on FB, it sure seems like you came out of this one in much better shape than your first 50. Thinking of turning this into a weekly/monthly thing?

Tri- I see you got a 5K coming up next weekend after your string of marathons? Anything else on the horizon?

Ned- Again, great run. I'm sure others have asked as well, any marathons in the future?
Also, loved the report. I used to go to Atlantic City with a couple of my friends about once a month during college, and had some nice memories of cold/windy runs on that boardwalk after staying up all night at the blackjack tables. Reading your post sure brought back some of those memories.

Worrieking- Nice run!

Gruecd- Sorry to hear about the mishap man, although hopefully it happened early enough that you saved your legs and can find another race in the next couple/few weeks?

Fubar- I know nothing about biking, but that tempo/cutdown run after what I imagine is close to 90-100 minutes of pretty hard riding is impressive.



2Young- Way to tough it out man. I try to stay away from trail/xc races as they've always had my number. From your description of that thing I would've probably dropped after 3-4 miles. Hope you are at least healing up from it.



Koby- Definitely everything is okay with you. For what it's worth, I think there's an option 3 with your situation - just being slightly injured and wanting to be smart/cautious with it. Besides, you were sick and sometimes that just compounds the soreness from a minor injury.



Prosposis- How's the foot feeling?



Mac / Juxt / The_man / BnB / Beer / Ivan - No doubt you guys are getting in some solid work as well on a weekend off from racing. Anything for you guys coming up?

*Apologies to anyone I forgot. Also, thanks for the words of encouragement. Just a clarification though - 5:50-6 min pace was my goal-HM pace for next weekend. I think I may need to reconsider at this point. (or more likely I'll just take the "let's go for it and consequences be damned" route)

 

[koby925]

Just got back from the MRI and holy hell it hurts where they injected me. Is this normal? I was fully expecting a "you're old, suck it up" report and still may but the Doc said a painful reaction to the injection may mean something more.

 

[beer 302]

Just got back from the MRI and holy hell it hurts where they injected me. Is this normal? I was fully expecting a "you're old, suck it up" report and still may but the Doc said a painful reaction to the injection may mean something more.

Positive thoughts GB, sorry to hear that but judging from the way your body has been reacting lately I'd agree there is something going on. You might have a lot of little nagging injuries (think death by a thousand cuts) or have one that is giving rise to all the rest as you try to compensate for it. Either way, hoping you get back on track and get some answers soon so you can treat, rest or suck it up.

 

[tri-man 47]

Tri- I see you got a 5K coming up next weekend after your string of marathons? Anything else on the horizon?

Nothing planned beyond the 5K (and I have no idea how my legs will respond to the hard effort of a 5K right now!). Not sure I'm ready to call it a season, but nothing is scheduled. If anything, it'd be shorter races ...maybe just some small race medal mongering. Maybe I'll channel my inner-2Young and hunt out a trail race.

 

[MAC_32]

Mac Anything for you guys coming up?

Signed up for a 5K the weekend before Thanksgiving, if the weather holds it's supposed to be a PR course. I'll test it out a couple of times as time allows over the next weeks.

By the way, I love reading the updates in this thread before my runs. It's motivating. I only had time to knock out 3 over lunch today and I really didn't have many expectations, but about a block in I knew I had a little something extra today so I decided to test my body and see what would happen. All those race reports were dancing in my head, so I really felt the urge to dig deep and go full throttle. And a 17:41 3 miler happened. I got plenty of sleep, which is unheard of when the Tigers are in the playoffs, so I was more focused than I have been lately and my stride strength really held itself together until I was close enough to fight for the last 1/2 mile. I've been making a concentrated effort not to clock watch during my runs, so I don't know my splits but they seemed very steady. My last one may have been my fastest actually.

I'm thinking a nice long low stress run out in the hills tomorrow is in the cards.

 

[SteveC702]

Mac- Nice impromptu 3-miler! There's no way you are not at least in mid-17 shape if you can just go out and pull something like that off.

Tri- I hate to be the guy who nudges/pushes other people to try things that he hasn't done himself, but aren't you in the Chicago area?

Heard of this thing? (Chicago Lake Front 50/50) -> http://www.chicagoultra.org/

Maybe you can talk Gruecd- into joining you too.

 

[Sand]

2013 Atlantic City Half Marathon

Splits:

6:56/173

...

Super consistent splits! Really well executed. Just like that tremendous time that tri-man put up a bit back in his half, this is a massive accomplishment. So awesome for you that everything came together.

The crunchy/earthy vibe was kind of cool (although, I have no idea what to do with my AG award, a home made granola energy bar - true story). I had a blast after BSing with other runners about other trail events.

"Hey, congrats on the AG show, here's an energy bar. My wife Sunlight hand mixed it for you. It looks a lot like her dreds, doesn't it?"



That's gotta go down as the oddest award I've ever heard of. Hope the flesh wounds clear up soon.

Not my first time.

That's what she said. Hope you figure out the nutrition thing.

Wow, what a weekend. Huge congrats to Duck for sprinting the last 10 miles (bahahaha...) to get under 11 hours. Dude, you're certifiable. Gotta love it!

Steve, Fubar, WKing, Koby, so much good stuff going on I can't even keep track. This thread is just kicking ###.

(On my end, I ran today - first activity in 5 days. Felt good to get out there).

 

[parasaurolophus]

Awesome work guys. Love reading the race reports.

As for me, still painful to walk. Been trying to stay active. Swam a couple times last week and went for two rides as well. Been ice rolling the foot and my wife has been massaging it as well.

 

[Hang 10]

Mac Anything for you guys coming up?

Signed up for a 5K the weekend before Thanksgiving, if the weather holds it's supposed to be a PR course. I'll test it out a couple of times as time allows over the next weeks.

By the way, I love reading the updates in this thread before my runs. It's motivating. I only had time to knock out 3 over lunch today and I really didn't have many expectations, but about a block in I knew I had a little something extra today so I decided to test my body and see what would happen. All those race reports were dancing in my head, so I really felt the urge to dig deep and go full throttle. And a 17:41 3 miler happened. I got plenty of sleep, which is unheard of when the Tigers are in the playoffs, so I was more focused than I have been lately and my stride strength really held itself together until I was close enough to fight for the last 1/2 mile. I've been making a concentrated effort not to clock watch during my runs, so I don't know my splits but they seemed very steady. My last one may have been my fastest actually.

I'm thinking a nice long low stress run out in the hills tomorrow is in the cards.

I have no clue how you run that hard when it's not a race.

 

[tri-man 47]

Mac- Nice impromptu 3-miler! There's no way you are not at least in mid-17 shape if you can just go out and pull something like that off.

Tri- I hate to be the guy who nudges/pushes other people to try things that he hasn't done himself, but aren't you in the Chicago area?

Heard of this thing? (Chicago Lake Front 50/50) -> http://www.chicagoultra.org/

Maybe you can talk Gruecd- into joining you too.

I agree regarding MAC's run!

And: Nudge away. Very intriguing, however, 11/2 is the conference championship for my school's D III cross country team. We don't have much of a team (since we don't have a track and can't offer both CC and track-and-field), and other than the young coach, a few parents, siblings, or significant others, I'm truly their only fan. It's like my own group of Tri-Kids, and I love flying around the course calling out encouragement (sound familiar, 2Young?). Our top runner, a senior, should do well in conference, but she needs to be pushed to be more Neddish at the end of the race. The rest are generally younger and often new to running, so it's fun to talk race strategy and urge them on to new PRs.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks to those that encouraged me to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

 

[Sand]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks for those that encouraged my to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

 

[prosopis]

OUCH! Ignorance is not bliss at all, it hurts. I should have studied up and gone all OCD like I always do, today was the HARDEST trail 1/2 I have ever taken part in. There was really no footing for most of the race due to rocks, roots, a low sun through the trees and leaves down on the trail hiding the hazards. It was worrisome, that during the pre-race meeting, they talked about the "real technical stuff" starting after about mile 8 and I had to ask 3 people if they wanted help getting to medical in the first six miles (2 turned ankles and I'd guess a 15 to 20 stitch gash :X ). Even with the trail being a #####, I was pretty quick for me through the first 8 miles, going sub 10s through the woods. Then, the "technical" stuff happened. Holy ####, no taking advantage of the down hills as I had to almost walk all of them as it felt almost like roller skating and the leaves and rocks. FWIW, I did not walk the entire race which was a big personal victory for me. I thought I;d run by heart rate, and for the most part I did, but it was quick glimpses to check the Garmin for fear of falling. With two to go, I was still feeling strong so I picked up the pace (dumb). After a couple of near misses, I executed my worst trail grub ever with about 1.5 miles to go. Jacked my knee (which started to bleed out nicely), crunched my hip and smashed the hand that got destroyed in the bike crash a few years back. On instinct, I rolled up and just kept running and man, it hurt. Ended up finishing in 2:18 (good for AG 3rd -tiny race- ). No hard feelings for the trail and I'll be back next year if they have this again. The crunchy/earthy vibe was kind of cool (although, I have no idea what to do with my AG award, a home made granola energy bar - true story). I had a blast after BSing with other runners about other trail events. A few hours post race and I am pretty sure nothing is broken, but my knee is puffy huge, I have sweet bruising on my elbow and hip and the pad of my hand is scrapped and swollen. Most worried about my hand as I had nerve damage for the crash and am also having some numbness. Hoping its but a flesh wound and things will be better tomorrow.

Wow that is bad ###!!!

 

[prosopis]

Ned!

No ####, you killed it Ned!!!!!

 

[2Young2BBald]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks to those that encouraged me to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

Awesome. You should do a race report with leg distances and times, comments on transitions, etc. As you do more, its cool to look back and see where you were and how you've improved and, as always, there is tons of good advice to be had here. The winter offers a ton of opportunities to improve, working on weaknesses and building confidence. The Oly distance is my favorite traditional distance, but if you're planning on one being your first tri next year, you may want to find a sprint to do before it to work the kinks out. I did an Oly to open the season a few years back and was doing two swims a week of around 2,000 to 2,500 yards each. But, getting in the open water with other swimmers threw me a bit. In other years, doing a sprint before really builds confidence for longer distances.

 

[FUBAR]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks to those that encouraged me to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

Sprint tri = the gateway drug.

 

[FUBAR]

APFT this morning - 2 minutes pushups, 2 minutes situps, 2 mile run.

82 pushups, 86 situps, 12:17 run (my watch had the splits at 5:54, 6:11 and the total distance was slightly off)

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks to those that encouraged me to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

Awesome. You should do a race report with leg distances and times, comments on transitions, etc. As you do more, its cool to look back and see where you were and how you've improved and, as always, there is tons of good advice to be had here. The winter offers a ton of opportunities to improve, working on weaknesses and building confidence. The Oly distance is my favorite traditional distance, but if you're planning on one being your first tri next year, you may want to find a sprint to do before it to work the kinks out. I did an Oly to open the season a few years back and was doing two swims a week of around 2,000 to 2,500 yards each. But, getting in the open water with other swimmers threw me a bit. In other years, doing a sprint before really builds confidence for longer distances.

Thanks. On my phone now but I'll try to write something up later.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Fatguy's First Triathlon Race Report:

So, I guess I'll get the times out there first then give a few extra details:

Swim (750K) = 18:29

Transition = 3:28

Bike (16 miles) = 1:02:16

Transition = :57

Run (5K) = 24:23

Total = 1:49:31

So the race was scheduled for 10:00 but it was more than an hour from my house and I wasn't sure where I was going and I was worried about all the unfamiliar things like racking my bike and getting body markings and stuff. So I got up before 6:00 am (couldn't sleep well anyway), got dressed in the dark, put my bike on my car, had some breakfast and took off. Got there around 8:00 and plenty of other folks were already there. I'm glad I gave myself plenty of time.

Got my packet and walked around trying to figure stuff out like where the water was and where the bikes go. It was like 62 degrees and drizzly so I had worn long pants over my swimsuit. At around 9:00 I decided I needed to take a pre-race dump, and in the process discovered that I was wearing my bathing suit inside out. Lesson number one for the n00b -- make sure to get dressed in the light, could have been bad if I had waited until the last minute to take off my pants.

Anyway, swimming started in waves and I signed up as a novice so I was in the last wave. I was so ####### anxious waiting for each wave in front of me to get in the water for the in-water start. When they finally called my wave to get in the water, I went right to the dock and jumped in, even though we wouldn't start for four minutes. I was one of the few people without a wetsuit (water temp was 64.5 degrees). It was sorta cold but really not that bad. I had so much adrenaline I think I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, the swim was a trip. My first experience with an open water swim, so I had to constantly check to make sure I was going in the right direction. Bumped into some folks but no kicks to the face or anything. Probably my favorite moment of the whole triathlon was when I turned the corner of the second bouy and realized I had been swimming against the current for the first half of the swim and now it was pushing me forward. Like a burst of energy, felt great.

The first transition was a big one because it was like a quarter mile on a narrow path up a little hill to get to the transition area. I think I sorta got screwed by being in the last wave -- lots of folks were moving really slowly ahead of me and it was tough to get around them easily. But not having a wetsuit saved me a lot of time. Got on the bike and took off.

I had been paranoid for weeks about my bike malfunctioning or getting a flat. The bike is 12 yers old and gave me some problems when training. But no issues on race day at all. Saw at least 6 or 7 other people changing flats, so I guess I was lucky. I did have a lot of people blow by me on the bike -- looking at the times it was by far my weakest leg in comparison to the competion. Makes sense because I did a lot more swim and run training than bike training, plus lots of folks had fancy racing bikes with the low handlebars and special tires and everything. Mine is OK but not that great.

Anyway, second transition just dropped the bike off and started running. Would have been slightly faster but I originally racked my dirty bike right on top of some other guy's stuff an felt bad so I took a few seconds to adjust it.

Beginning of the run was rough, my legs were hurting from the bike ride. But I got stronger as it went and I passed a ton of folks. The rain had completely stopped by then but it was still cool temperatures so it was great for the run. Finished with a smile on my face, then they had BBQ food for the racers. Really good first experience. Excited for the next one.

 

[BassNBrew]

Fatguy's First Triathlon Race Report:

So, I guess I'll get the times out there first then give a few extra details:

Swim (750K) = 18:29

Transition = 3:28

Bike (16 miles) = 1:02:16

Transition = :57

Run (5K) = 24:23

Total = 1:49:31

So the race was scheduled for 10:00 but it was more than an hour from my house and I wasn't sure where I was going and I was worried about all the unfamiliar things like racking my bike and getting body markings and stuff. So I got up before 6:00 am (couldn't sleep well anyway), got dressed in the dark, put my bike on my car, had some breakfast and took off. Got there around 8:00 and plenty of other folks were already there. I'm glad I gave myself plenty of time.

Got my packet and walked around trying to figure stuff out like where the water was and where the bikes go. It was like 62 degrees and drizzly so I had worn long pants over my swimsuit. At around 9:00 I decided I needed to take a pre-race dump, and in the process discovered that I was wearing my bathing suit inside out. Lesson number one for the n00b -- make sure to get dressed in the light, could have been bad if I had waited until the last minute to take off my pants.

Anyway, swimming started in waves and I signed up as a novice so I was in the last wave. I was so ####### anxious waiting for each wave in front of me to get in the water for the in-water start. When they finally called my wave to get in the water, I went right to the dock and jumped in, even though we wouldn't start for four minutes. I was one of the few people without a wetsuit (water temp was 64.5 degrees). It was sorta cold but really not that bad. I had so much adrenaline I think I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, the swim was a trip. My first experience with an open water swim, so I had to constantly check to make sure I was going in the right direction. Bumped into some folks but no kicks to the face or anything. Probably my favorite moment of the whole triathlon was when I turned the corner of the second bouy and realized I had been swimming against the current for the first half of the swim and now it was pushing me forward. Like a burst of energy, felt great.

The first transition was a big one because it was like a quarter mile on a narrow path up a little hill to get to the transition area. I think I sorta got screwed by being in the last wave -- lots of folks were moving really slowly ahead of me and it was tough to get around them easily. But not having a wetsuit saved me a lot of time. Got on the bike and took off.

I had been paranoid for weeks about my bike malfunctioning or getting a flat. The bike is 12 yers old and gave me some problems when training. But no issues on race day at all. Saw at least 6 or 7 other people changing flats, so I guess I was lucky. I did have a lot of people blow by me on the bike -- looking at the times it was by far my weakest leg in comparison to the competion. Makes sense because I did a lot more swim and run training than bike training, plus lots of folks had fancy racing bikes with the low handlebars and special tires and everything. Mine is OK but not that great.

Anyway, second transition just dropped the bike off and started running. Would have been slightly faster but I originally racked my dirty bike right on top of some other guy's stuff an felt bad so I took a few seconds to adjust it.

Beginning of the run was rough, my legs were hurting from the bike ride. But I got stronger as it went and I passed a ton of folks. The rain had completely stopped by then but it was still cool temperatures so it was great for the run. Finished with a smile on my face, then they had BBQ food for the racers. Really good first experience. Excited for the next one.

Congrats and nice write up.

For your first event, I'm very impressed with that 5k time. Based on that time alone, you've got 10-12 minutes of low hanging fruit on the bike next time. I LOL'd at your comment about your legs hurting when you threw down a time like that.

62 degree swim...you must be a northern guy and your nads probably don't like you any more.

 

[FUBAR]

Fatguy's First Triathlon Race Report:

So, I guess I'll get the times out there first then give a few extra details:

Swim (750K) = 18:29

Transition = 3:28

Bike (16 miles) = 1:02:16

Transition = :57

Run (5K) = 24:23

Total = 1:49:31

So the race was scheduled for 10:00 but it was more than an hour from my house and I wasn't sure where I was going and I was worried about all the unfamiliar things like racking my bike and getting body markings and stuff. So I got up before 6:00 am (couldn't sleep well anyway), got dressed in the dark, put my bike on my car, had some breakfast and took off. Got there around 8:00 and plenty of other folks were already there. I'm glad I gave myself plenty of time.

Got my packet and walked around trying to figure stuff out like where the water was and where the bikes go. It was like 62 degrees and drizzly so I had worn long pants over my swimsuit. At around 9:00 I decided I needed to take a pre-race dump, and in the process discovered that I was wearing my bathing suit inside out. Lesson number one for the n00b -- make sure to get dressed in the light, could have been bad if I had waited until the last minute to take off my pants.

Anyway, swimming started in waves and I signed up as a novice so I was in the last wave. I was so ####### anxious waiting for each wave in front of me to get in the water for the in-water start. When they finally called my wave to get in the water, I went right to the dock and jumped in, even though we wouldn't start for four minutes. I was one of the few people without a wetsuit (water temp was 64.5 degrees). It was sorta cold but really not that bad. I had so much adrenaline I think I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, the swim was a trip. My first experience with an open water swim, so I had to constantly check to make sure I was going in the right direction. Bumped into some folks but no kicks to the face or anything. Probably my favorite moment of the whole triathlon was when I turned the corner of the second bouy and realized I had been swimming against the current for the first half of the swim and now it was pushing me forward. Like a burst of energy, felt great.

The first transition was a big one because it was like a quarter mile on a narrow path up a little hill to get to the transition area. I think I sorta got screwed by being in the last wave -- lots of folks were moving really slowly ahead of me and it was tough to get around them easily. But not having a wetsuit saved me a lot of time. Got on the bike and took off.

I had been paranoid for weeks about my bike malfunctioning or getting a flat. The bike is 12 yers old and gave me some problems when training. But no issues on race day at all. Saw at least 6 or 7 other people changing flats, so I guess I was lucky. I did have a lot of people blow by me on the bike -- looking at the times it was by far my weakest leg in comparison to the competion. Makes sense because I did a lot more swim and run training than bike training, plus lots of folks had fancy racing bikes with the low handlebars and special tires and everything. Mine is OK but not that great.

Anyway, second transition just dropped the bike off and started running. Would have been slightly faster but I originally racked my dirty bike right on top of some other guy's stuff an felt bad so I took a few seconds to adjust it.

Beginning of the run was rough, my legs were hurting from the bike ride. But I got stronger as it went and I passed a ton of folks. The rain had completely stopped by then but it was still cool temperatures so it was great for the run. Finished with a smile on my face, then they had BBQ food for the racers. Really good first experience. Excited for the next one.

Awesome!

A few things.

- Buy or rent a wetsuit. totally worth it.

- currents are a #####

- if you want to compete, bike is the most important leg. It's also the most expensive, so prioritize as you see fit.

- Your 2nd transition was uber-fast. Assume you don't have clip pedals?

- the first mile or so of the run is usually difficult if you're not used to it.

- You rocked it!

 

[tri-man 47]

Did my first triathlon ever yesterday. Lots of fun. It was a sprint triathlon and my goal was just to break 2:00. Finished in 1:49:31 so I was happy. Thanks for those that encouraged my to do it a few months ago when I mentioned it in this thread.

Going to do an Olympic distance next year.

Nice report! You can obviously drop a lot of money on the sport, as you noted with the bikes, wetsuits, etc. But the cool thing is it's ultimately about you doing your best, based on your training and the gear you've got. With the wave starts, you're never too sure anyway who you're 'competing' against. Bottom line: Way to go, triathlete!!!

 

[Hang 10]

That sounds like a pretty decent time for your first race, fatguy! Nice work.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Seriously, Fatguy, fantastic first tri. Now that you're hooked, I'd use the winter to track eBay and Craig's List for potential gear upgrades if desired. Triathletes turn over gear like none other and great deals can be had if you're patient and keep and eye on things. One of the things I'd look for is a Garmin or comparable built for the swim. The feedback, especially when you get to things like the Garmin 910XT, is incredible. I,like others here, also built a tracking spreadsheet that track swim/bike/run along with strength and core work. Doing something like this should help you see where you need to focus workouts (and will likely get you on the bike more). Like was mentioned prior, that is an outstanding run split for a first event. You, no doubt, burned significant calories just stressing about the swim and then swimming in that cold of water; to have that much still left in the tank for the run is awesome. Pre-race (and maybe even in race) fueling must have been right.

 

[FUBAR]

Seriously, Fatguy, fantastic first tri. Now that you're hooked, I'd use the winter to track eBay and Craig's List for potential gear upgrades if desired. Triathletes turn over gear like none other and great deals can be had if you're patient and keep and eye on things. One of the things I'd look for is a Garmin or comparable built for the swim. The feedback, especially when you get to things like the Garmin 910XT, is incredible. I,like others here, also built a tracking spreadsheet that track swim/bike/run along with strength and core work. Doing something like this should help you see where you need to focus workouts (and will likely get you on the bike more). Like was mentioned prior, that is an outstanding run split for a first event. You, no doubt, burned significant calories just stressing about the swim and then swimming in that cold of water; to have that much still left in the tank for the run is awesome. Pre-race (and maybe even in race) fueling must have been right.

I've always been scared to use my Garmin forerunner 305 in the water.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

- Your 2nd transition was uber-fast. Assume you don't have clip pedals?

Yeah, I don't have clip pedals or special biking shoes or anything (just wore my running shoes on the bike). Literally hopped off the bike, took off my helmet, and started running.

 

[tri-man 47]

- Your 2nd transition was uber-fast. Assume you don't have clip pedals?

Yeah, I don't have clip pedals or special biking shoes or anything (just wore my running shoes on the bike). Literally hopped off the bike, took off my helmet, and started running.

One simple upgrade is stirrup pedals. They allow you to use your running shoes, and the big benefit is the ability to get a better rotation on your pedaling - you're able to pull up and push down. The next and bigger iteration above that is clip pedals and the special biking shoes that go with them ...but that's a big step-up in cost and technique (which does come quite quickly).

Wetsuits were also mentioned, especially for an Oly tri. One option is to rent one (but better to practice swimming in it and getting in/out of it!). You'll be amazed at the extra buoyancy ...it's like you're swimming above the water.

 

[FUBAR]

- Your 2nd transition was uber-fast. Assume you don't have clip pedals?

Yeah, I don't have clip pedals or special biking shoes or anything (just wore my running shoes on the bike). Literally hopped off the bike, took off my helmet, and started running.

the clip pedals and shoes are (probably) the single best investment in the sport. Assuming you have the true necessities already.

 

[FUBAR]

One simple upgrade is stirrup pedals. They allow you to use your running shoes, and the big benefit is the ability to get a better rotation on your pedaling - you're able to pull up and push down. The next and bigger iteration above that is clip pedals and the special biking shoes that go with them ...but that's a big step-up in cost and technique (which does come quite quickly).

Less than $50 for cheap Shimano pedals and cheaper shoes should cost less than $100. I'm sure there are used deals to be had. (I'm considering selling my old ones but have kept them as spares so far)

 

[SFBayDuck]

**** Collins Firetrails 50 Miler

A bit of a head cold started to set in on Friday morning which set me back mentally a bit, but I hammered it with every kind of homeopathic and holistic immune booster and cold remedy I could find and seemed to keep it at bay. I managed a whole four hours of sleep before waking up for good at 2:00 AM, and watched some Bear Grylls (if he can eat that stuff I can run 50, right?) while waiting to begin my pre-race routine at 4:30. Then it was a handful of MAP (Master Amino Acid Pattern) pills, chia/coconut milk/banana/protein powder smoothie, a shower followed with a good coating of Body Glide and off to the race about an hour away.

At five minutes to race start I went to turn on my Garmin, accidentally hit two buttons at once and the screen lit up – but was blank. Every button I pushed gave a strange beep I’d never heard before, and I couldn’t get it to work. “Everyone to the start line,” they announced, and I’m panicked! I see someone with the same 310 and ask if he knows how to reset it, and he points at another guy who looks at it and says “that’s not good,” but then gets it to reset. Whew, off to the start line we go.

As per usual, I take my spot in the very back of the pack at the start line, and realize with the Garmin issue I forgot to do any sort of warmup or stretching. A couple of quick leg swings and active calf stretches, the horn goes off and it’s time to go. I planned to basically walk/slowly jog to warm up for the first mile anyway, and was able to do that with a quick stop to stretch my calves again and was good to go.

With all of the elevation gain and loss in this race (race website says 7,800’, Garmin tells me it was 8,600’!), it was a little tough to set up my pace chart by aid station. I worked it out as best I could with a window of time I wanted to be at each that would keep me moving toward a finish between 10-11 hours. The way it played out for me, the race really broke down into three sections: the first 30 miles, miles 30-41, and the finish.

First 30 miles

All in all, this segment went pretty well, and I managed to stay just barely ahead of my 11:00 pace times at the aid stations. Some highlights:

• The first 10.5 miles had climbs of 580’ over 1.5 miles and 600’ over 3 miles mixed in, and I planned to be to the AS (Aid Station) in 2:03 or less, and got there in exactly 2:03. Took a couple of pics up above the fog.
• I ran with my HR monitor for the first 15 miles and tried to stay 140-150, but it was regularly hitting 160 hiking the climbs. As usual, I hiked well and consistently passed people on the ups, including an 800’ climb over 3.5 miles heading into the mile 15 AS.
• Mile 15 was the first time I saw my crew – my girlfriend Heather. As I would at each AS for most of the day I filled my handheld with GU Brew, drank a cup of Coke, ate a couple of pieces of boiled potato dipped in salt, then from Heather grabbed a handful of MAP and a kiss and headed down the trail again. I also ditched the HR monitor as I knew at this point cardiac drift made the data pretty useless, and I was afraid I would just use it as an excuse to slow down, and off I ran into the Redwoods.
• Next section had the steepest climb of the course – 600’ in just over ¾ of a mile. Brutal, and starting to feel it in my quads and hammies and was working much harder than I wanted to be at this point. I started to feel hot spots on my toes on the downhill, so I took a couple of minutes at the next AS to put Vaseline on them and change socks to try and prevent blisters from derailing me with so much time left to go. Back onto the trail with another kiss from Heather, and the AS captain yelling out “are kisses considered PEDs?”
• 850’+ feet up to the high point of the course at the 21.5 mile mark and another AS, followed by the big downhill dropping almost 1300’ in just over 4 miles –quads really feeling it now. Into the AS just on my target time for some more GU Brew/MAP/potatoes/Vaseline/new socks, and I grabbed from Heather my waist pack with another bottle as I knew this hill, which was mostly exposed to the sun, was going to take a while to get back up.
• Barely managed a sub-15:00 pace over the four miles back to the top, but I had counted on this and was still on target hitting the 30.3 AS a couple of minutes ahead of my 6:40 goal time.

Miles 30-41.5

This is where things started to fall apart a bit for me. It was a steady downhill followed by re-visiting the backside of the steep hill from earlier in the race, and I started to fall off my pace. The quads were feeling it so the downs were slow, and the fatigue had set in making the climbs brutal. That 3+ mile stretch took about an hour, and I came into the next AS 7:30 into the race, now 11 minutes off my goal pace. Another steep downhill on trashed quads and feet that were now officially killing me, and it was another 15:00+/mile stretch that left me over 20 minutes off the pace at mile 37.

This was the last time I would see Heather until the finish. I left that AS saying to her, “I’ve got to pick it up”….but wasn’t really able to do so, mostly because the last sizable climb was heading in to the mile 41.5 AS. I hit that 9:27 in, now a full 28 minutes off of where I hoped to be at this point.

Mile 41.5 to the Finish

I headed out of there knowing that most of the next 6 miles was downhill, not overly steep or technical, with one short climb in the middle. I was totally negotiating with myself, “you don’t really need 11:00, you’re already qualified for States” battling with, ”quit being a wuss, you want 11:00 so HTFU and go get it.” The latter won out, and I decided I was going to go as hard as I could considering I had 41.5 miles in my legs, feet that were totally beat up and now blistered, and really unable to take on much in the way of calories anymore (I switched to water at this point as my stomach couldn’t take GU Brew anymore). I switched from podcasts to music to get a boost, and the next few miles were 10:25, 11:44, 11:32, 13:04 (there’s that climb), and 10:32. I had made up enough time that I knew it was in reach, with rolling bike path for the last couple of miles.

And if you look really closely at the elevation profile for the last couple of miles you can see that it is a relentless series of small rollers. Around Mile 48 I started to slow, and worried that I had started pushing too early or that the inability to keep taking in calories had caught up to me. I had been running off and on all day with another guy, who would repeatedly fly by me on flat/downhill stuff, and who I would pass on climbs. We had been near each other for the past 30 minutes or so, and he turned to me and said “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I replied, “eleven hours?” He nodded and we both just started picking it up again – an awesome moment. Mile 49 was 11:23, slowing to walk for a bit at every little hill before forcing myself to start running again. I kept thinking I’d never see that damned finish line, but then the sound of cowbells and cheering hit, and we turned a corner and could see the finish area. I ran the last .34 miles at a 9:25 pace, and crossed the finish line in tears. I felt completely overwhelmed by the effort I had given for the entire day, but especially the last 90 minutes. The guy I had been running with came over to high five me and said, "thanks, you got me here," and I replied that he had done the same for me. Official chip time: 10:55:39.

Looking back, I obviously underestimated my ability to go a little quicker over the final stretch – I had planned on 13:00-14:00 mostly walking miles just due to the expected fatigue, but I managed an 11:18 average for the final 7+ miles. I need to figure out my feet issues – it was suggested by my friend Erika that Vaseline isn’t great because it breaks down, and I should try either just Body Glide or something called Gurney Goo. In both of my 50s my stomach has had trouble taking on anything other than water once I’m in the 40s, so I may have to adjust that as I look to move up. And I’ve got to do even more to bulletproof my quads – long, hard downhill efforts and maybe even some lunges

As for post-race carnage, my feet are a mess with a few blisters and a toenail or two that don’t look likely to survive - three days later I still can’t wear shoes. My quads are really sore, and it’s hard to walk especially after I’ve been sitting for a bit. But I seem to have come out uninjured, which is more than I can say for my last 50. I’m taking at least this entire week off before evaluating how I feel before I start up again.

 

[Miscellaneous]

**** Collins Firetrails 50 Miler

A bit of a head cold started to set in on Friday morning which set me back mentally a bit, but I hammered it with every kind of homeopathic and holistic immune booster and cold remedy I could find and seemed to keep it at bay. I managed a whole four hours of sleep before waking up for good at 2:00 AM, and watched some Bear Grylls (if he can eat that stuff I can run 50, right?) while waiting to begin my pre-race routine at 4:30. Then it was a handful of MAP (Master Amino Acid Pattern) pills, chia/coconut milk/banana/protein powder smoothie, a shower followed with a good coating of Body Glide and off to the race about an hour away.

At five minutes to race start I went to turn on my Garmin, accidentally hit two buttons at once and the screen lit up – but was blank. Every button I pushed gave a strange beep I’d never heard before, and I couldn’t get it to work. “Everyone to the start line,” they announced, and I’m panicked! I see someone with the same 310 and ask if he knows how to reset it, and he points at another guy who looks at it and says “that’s not good,” but then gets it to reset. Whew, off to the start line we go.

As per usual, I take my spot in the very back of the pack at the start line, and realize with the Garmin issue I forgot to do any sort of warmup or stretching. A couple of quick leg swings and active calf stretches, the horn goes off and it’s time to go. I planned to basically walk/slowly jog to warm up for the first mile anyway, and was able to do that with a quick stop to stretch my calves again and was good to go.

With all of the elevation gain and loss in this race (race website says 7,800’, Garmin tells me it was 8,600’!), it was a little tough to set up my pace chart by aid station. I worked it out as best I could with a window of time I wanted to be at each that would keep me moving toward a finish between 10-11 hours. The way it played out for me, the race really broke down into three sections: the first 30 miles, miles 30-41, and the finish.

First 30 miles

All in all, this segment went pretty well, and I managed to stay just barely ahead of my 11:00 pace times at the aid stations. Some highlights:

• The first 10.5 miles had climbs of 580’ over 1.5 miles and 600’ over 3 miles mixed in, and I planned to be to the AS (Aid Station) in 2:03 or less, and got there in exactly 2:03. Took a couple of pics up above the fog.
• I ran with my HR monitor for the first 15 miles and tried to stay 140-150, but it was regularly hitting 160 hiking the climbs. As usual, I hiked well and consistently passed people on the ups, including an 800’ climb over 3.5 miles heading into the mile 15 AS.
• Mile 15 was the first time I saw my crew – my girlfriend Heather. As I would at each AS for most of the day I filled my handheld with GU Brew, drank a cup of Coke, ate a couple of pieces of boiled potato dipped in salt, then from Heather grabbed a handful of MAP and a kiss and headed down the trail again. I also ditched the HR monitor as I knew at this point cardiac drift made the data pretty useless, and I was afraid I would just use it as an excuse to slow down, and off I ran into the Redwoods.
• Next section had the steepest climb of the course – 600’ in just over ¾ of a mile. Brutal, and starting to feel it in my quads and hammies and was working much harder than I wanted to be at this point. I started to feel hot spots on my toes on the downhill, so I took a couple of minutes at the next AS to put Vaseline on them and change socks to try and prevent blisters from derailing me with so much time left to go. Back onto the trail with another kiss from Heather, and the AS captain yelling out “are kisses considered PEDs?”
• 850’+ feet up to the high point of the course at the 21.5 mile mark and another AS, followed by the big downhill dropping almost 1300’ in just over 4 miles –quads really feeling it now. Into the AS just on my target time for some more GU Brew/MAP/potatoes/Vaseline/new socks, and I grabbed from Heather my waist pack with another bottle as I knew this hill, which was mostly exposed to the sun, was going to take a while to get back up.
• Barely managed a sub-15:00 pace over the four miles back to the top, but I had counted on this and was still on target hitting the 30.3 AS a couple of minutes ahead of my 6:40 goal time.

Miles 30-41.5

This is where things started to fall apart a bit for me. It was a steady downhill followed by re-visiting the backside of the steep hill from earlier in the race, and I started to fall off my pace. The quads were feeling it so the downs were slow, and the fatigue had set in making the climbs brutal. That 3+ mile stretch took about an hour, and I came into the next AS 7:30 into the race, now 11 minutes off my goal pace. Another steep downhill on trashed quads and feet that were now officially killing me, and it was another 15:00+/mile stretch that left me over 20 minutes off the pace at mile 37.

This was the last time I would see Heather until the finish. I left that AS saying to her, “I’ve got to pick it up”….but wasn’t really able to do so, mostly because the last sizable climb was heading in to the mile 41.5 AS. I hit that 9:27 in, now a full 28 minutes off of where I hoped to be at this point.

Mile 41.5 to the Finish

I headed out of there knowing that most of the next 6 miles was downhill, not overly steep or technical, with one short climb in the middle. I was totally negotiating with myself, “you don’t really need 11:00, you’re already qualified for States” battling with, ”quit being a wuss, you want 11:00 so HTFU and go get it.” The latter won out, and I decided I was going to go as hard as I could considering I had 41.5 miles in my legs, feet that were totally beat up and now blistered, and really unable to take on much in the way of calories anymore (I switched to water at this point as my stomach couldn’t take GU Brew anymore). I switched from podcasts to music to get a boost, and the next few miles were 10:25, 11:44, 11:32, 13:04 (there’s that climb), and 10:32. I had made up enough time that I knew it was in reach, with rolling bike path for the last couple of miles.

And if you look really closely at the elevation profile for the last couple of miles you can see that it is a relentless series of small rollers. Around Mile 48 I started to slow, and worried that I had started pushing too early or that the inability to keep taking in calories had caught up to me. I had been running off and on all day with another guy, who would repeatedly fly by me on flat/downhill stuff, and who I would pass on climbs. We had been near each other for the past 30 minutes or so, and he turned to me and said “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I replied, “eleven hours?” He nodded and we both just started picking it up again – an awesome moment. Mile 49 was 11:23, slowing to walk for a bit at every little hill before forcing myself to start running again. I kept thinking I’d never see that damned finish line, but then the sound of cowbells and cheering hit, and we turned a corner and could see the finish area. I ran the last .34 miles at a 9:25 pace, and crossed the finish line in tears. I felt completely overwhelmed by the effort I had given for the entire day, but especially the last 90 minutes. The guy I had been running with came over to high five me and said, "thanks, you got me here," and I replied that he had done the same for me. Official chip time: 10:55:39.

Looking back, I obviously underestimated my ability to go a little quicker over the final stretch – I had planned on 13:00-14:00 mostly walking miles just due to the expected fatigue, but I managed an 11:18 average for the final 7+ miles. I need to figure out my feet issues – it was suggested by my friend Erika that Vaseline isn’t great because it breaks down, and I should try either just Body Glide or something called Gurney Goo. In both of my 50s my stomach has had trouble taking on anything other than water once I’m in the 40s, so I may have to adjust that as I look to move up. And I’ve got to do even more to bulletproof my quads – long, hard downhill efforts and maybe even some lunges

As for post-race carnage, my feet are a mess with a few blisters and a toenail or two that don’t look likely to survive - three days later I still can’t wear shoes. My quads are really sore, and it’s hard to walk especially after I’ve been sitting for a bit. But I seem to have come out uninjured, which is more than I can say for my last 50. I’m taking at least this entire week off before evaluating how I feel before I start up again.

Fan-f'n-tastic. Congratulations on a well-deserved 11 hours! I can't even imagine summoning that level of effort right now.

 

[Hang 10]

Awesome stuff, Duck. Great write-up. You're a beast!

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Speedwork today called for 3 x 1600 with a 400 RI. The bad news was that it was quite windy and I wasn't able to make it the school track we normally run on before school got in session. So plan B was to run around this loop at a local park...probably about 600 meters.

Mile 1 - 5:48 (wow, probably went a little fast as I was just going for 6's)

400 -2:11

Mile 2 - 5:58 (a little closer to the right pace...stoked to still see a 5 in there)

400 - 2:21

Mile 3 - 6:03 (Obviously went a bit to fast on the first one and this lap suffered...still not bad)

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this session. Definitely feel like I'm getting faster.