FW Trot 10k 2015

11.26.15

Year number 4 for this event and year number 3 at the 10k distance.  

In 2013, this was one of the 1st 10k races that if ever done.  I remember being nervous about the distance.  Additionally, this is an incredibly hilly course, which can lead to slower times and tougher runs than events that are held on the trinity trails.  

I have not run this distance since June, and, as a result, had a little trouble targeting a desired pace for this run. I've PR'd at multiple distances over the past 2 months, including 5k, 15k and 13.1. I was curious as if that trend would continue.  Going into the race, my 10k PR was 56:04, or, 9:01 a mile. I set that PR in April of 2014.  I typically have completed 10k's in the 56:30 to 59 range. It was my hope to run this race in the 8's and PR once again.  

As per usual, I helped with packet pick up, set up, etc on Wednesday before the race.  12 hours on my feet, moving boxes etc, took its toll, as I was tired and achy when I got home Wednesday night. I was hopeful that a good nights sleep would help.  

I awoke today still feeling tired and heavy legged after yesterday.  Not a good way to go into a race.   

We arrived early, got great parking, and, Griffin ran the Gobbler Trot.  Next year, 5k for him.  

I headed to the 10k start line, and, positioned myself toward the front.  I was likely a little too far up in the corral, but, better that than having to dodge walkers and dogs for 6 miles.  It was a humid, sticky day. Tough conditions.  

My plan was to run my 1st 3 miles in the upper 8's, with hopes of speeding up towards the end, when the course flattens out a bit.  That idea flew out the window when the horn sounded.  I got out to a fast start...too fast.  I ran my 1st mile in 8:08.  About that time, a guy that I know from the running community caught up to me.  We ran together for a bit and visited.  I ran with him until the 3 mile mark and told him to go on...I was going to scale back, as mile 2 was 8:18. Still too fast.  

I slowed down to 8:52 for mile 3. That should have been my pace for mile 1.  I had completely mismanaged the race.  The next couple of miles  sucked.  I actually walked water stops, and ran miles 4 and 5 in 9:38 and 9:21, respectively.  In watching my total time, I did know that a PR was still in play.  

I sped up to 9:06 for the 6th mile, and kicked down the stretch to a 55:16.  A PR, but, ugly.  28 of 52 in my AG and 298 of 740 overall.  

Hard to feel good about this one.  I'll look forward to running another 10k soon, with hopes of better managing the race.  

I am, however, Improving on this course.  Hopefully that will be true for 2016 as well. 

Pumpkin Spice 15k 2015

11.21.15

In an effort to ramp up my running for Dallas, I found this 15k on the Trinity Trails.  While I have been aware of the Run Project Racing group I've never raced with them.  Many of their races are themed and take place in / around Dallas.  For whatever reason, none of their races have ever made it onto my schedule...until today.

My training continues to be lacking, but, my races have been good of late.

The weather turned cold overnight, and this morning was incredibly windy.  When I parked at Panther Island Pavilion and got out of the jeep, I knew it would be a cold, windy day.

I walked into the pre-race festivities and wondered if I'd made a mistake by registering for this one.  It was a little "too themed" for my liking.

The 10k and 15k were to start at 8, with the 5k starting at 8:30.  I went to the starting line, stretched my calves / achilles a bit, and when Mayor Price sounded the airhorn, we were off.

I don't know that I had much of race plan for this one, but, I was curious if I could finish in under 1:30.  My previous 15k PR was 1:32:04.  The route took us out forest park, through some great neighborhoods around TCU and The Colonial, and, ultimately, dropped us onto the trail.  It really was a great route.  I shed my running gloves at about 2.5 miles and kept a steady pace of about 9:30 a mile throughout.  I felt good and knew that a PR was in sight.

When we landed back on the trail, with a little over 3 miles to go, I knew I would try to pick up the pace near the end.  As planned, I sped up at the 7 mile mark, and passed several runners.  We hit a brutal headwind with about a mile and a half to go, but, I fought through it.  I skipped the "spice zone" (area where you could have orange powder thrown on you - wtf?) and finished strong.  1:28:11.  A new 15k PR by almost 4 minutes.  I had a couple of beers at the post race event, and headed home. Not a bad day.

7th of 13 in my AG and 107 of 321 overall.  A bit of a confidence builder heading into Dallas in a few weeks.

end of year training / racing...

11.20.15...3:17 a.m.

It has been a weird year of racing and training...

while I will provide details in a year end recap next month, suffice to say that I have been somewhat streaky this year.  Fortunately,  from May - October I was fairly consistent in my training, nutrition, race schedule, etc.  As a result, I had good results in my events, set several PR's and whatnot.

I have been fairly inconsistent in diet and training since Chicago, but, have a bit of a plan going into the last 40 days of the year:

I hope to resume some more consistent training for the next 3 weeks...specifically running...as I gear up for the Dallas Marathon.

From a racing standpoint, I'm planning on:

11.21.15  Pumpkin Spice 15k
11.26.15  Trot 10k
12.5.15  FW Jingle Bell 5k
12.13.15  Dallas 26.2
12.19.15 Some Like It Cold 10k
12.22.15  Dallas Jingle Bell 5k

after The Dallas Marathon, I plan to ramp up my time in the pool, run a few days a week (after some recovery time from Dallas), and minimize bike/trainer time.

My primary goal going into 2016 is to be ready for Galveston 70.3 in April.  Lots of work to do in the water to get there.

38 days.

11.18.15

Today makes 38 days since Chicago.   My diet has been poor, my training inconsistent.  Fortunately, my racing has still been fairly solid and my weight has not spiked too badly.  

It's time to recommit.  Better diet. More training.  

The Dallas Marathon is in 25 days. Time to get serious. 

USAT Long Course Duathlon National Championships 2015

11.14.15

For the past two years, I've competed on this weekend in Bronda's Du, a short course Du at TMS. This year, in addition to Bronda's, the USAT Long Course Du National Championship was offered.  This race, held on Saturday, would allow the top 18 in each AG to qualify for the 2016 world championships.  While the location of that event has not been announced, it appears that it will be in Switzerland. 

The format of today's event: 10k run, 42k bike, 5k run. 

I went into this event a little anxious, as I've had very little bike time over the past 2 months.  I've only ridden in the 3 sprint tris in October.  Additionally, I've found that these events bring out REALLY fast athletes.   

After reviewing the participant list on Frday, I realized that I only needed to finish to qualify for worlds, as the field was small and my AG had just 12 participants.  This took a bit of the pressure off.  

The venue was familiar, but the run courses were different, and the bike course longer than in my previous Dus there.  

Having not raced this distance before, I was having a bit of trouble determining my paces and overall time, but, figured a total time of about 3 hours, allowing for a sub 1 hour 10k, 1.5 hours (hopefully less) on the bike, and a sub 30 minute 5k.  

It was a cold-ish morning, with temps in the low 50's. A vest over my Tri kit, with arm warmers and calf sleeves would be the attire for the day.  I considered gloves, and more layers, but, was glad I didn't opt for that.  

When the gun sounded, I got off to a good start (for me), and was pacing under 9 minute miles.  I quickly realized the strength of the field, as I was one of the slower runners.  I paced under 9 minutes the entire way, and ran what would have been my fastest 10k ever.  My Garmin showed the route to be a little short of 6.2 miles.  Good run...for me.  I shed the vest in T1. 

Onto the bike.  This is where I thought I might struggle.  Lack of saddle time and a super fast field would make this a test.  I felt pretty good for the first lap. However, by lap 2, the wind picked up.  I had moments on laps 2-5 where I was pushing hard to maintain 12 mph.  Typically, I like to be north of 18 mph in multi sport events, and, to be competitive, I'll need to be 21-22 mph.  That will involve a new bike and wheels, and much more training.  The lack of bike time showed on this one, as I was having some discomfort on the saddle, etc.  Near the end of lap 5 Sheri caught me (the women started the race 3 minutes after the men). She finally passed me, and, at that moment, I caught a killer calf cramp. I tried to stretch in a bit on the bike, and it finally loosened up.  Bike splits were right at 17mph. Yuck. 

I caught back up to Sheri, and we dismounted together and headed into T2.  My legs were toast.  

The last run was miserable.  I was glad to run the entire way, but, was north of 10 minutes a mile. I crossed the line at 2:57:42. 12 of 12 in my AG and 144 of 171 overall.  

As expected, great athletes out there today...of which I am not one.  But, I'm getting faster.  

In retrospect, this is an  event I should have given a little more respect, as it was my longest multipsport event to date.  I'll know better next time. 

I do believe that I qualified for worlds, but, unless it is in the states, I'll likely skip. I'm simply not competive enough to consider it.  

Time to shelve the bike for a bit. The next "big" event in Dallas Marathon...I need to get some long training runs in.  

Fort Worth Marathon 13.1 2015

11.8.15

13.1 number 11 for 2015.

As mentioned in previous posts, I set out this year to complete a half marathon each month in 2015.  My streak was intact through August.  As a matter of fact, through August, I'd completed 10 13.1's.  In September I was unable to find a half that fit my schedule, and, in October, I ran the full marathon in Chicago.

I considered this event last year, but, the "Best of the Best" triathlon fell on the same day.  Again, this year, I qualified for Best of the Best, but, opted for the FW Marathon 13.1 instead.  This is due to the fact that I plan to run the 26.2 in Dallas in December.  I need to focus on running and resuming my training after almost a month off since Chicago.

Of the 2 marathons in FW, this is, by far, the smallest.  While Cowtown feels like a big marathon with expo, crowd support, etc., this does not.  There were a total of 961 participants today, with race options of 13.1, 20, and 26.2.

I arrived to Panther Island Pavilion about 45 minutes before race time (8 am for 13.1), and had no trouble parking.  There was a $5 fee to park, which was goofy, but, other than that, no issues.

The weather was cool, but, honestly, perfect running weather.

I made the decision last week to try and push for sub 10 minute miles on the one, with hopes of a PR. I was interested to see how my body would respond after a few weeks off.  Sub 10 minute miles would be be significant, as my previous 13.1 PR was 2:15:32, or, 10:20 a mile.   I figured I'd run the 1st 5k at sub 10's and see how I felt.  Fortunately, the weather was great, and, this is an incredibly flat course on the trinity trails.

I got off to a comfortable start, and felt good. The narrow trail made for a congested run early, but, eventually, it thinned out.  I ran my planned race through the 1st 5k and continued to clock sub 10 minute miles. I had a guy pacing just behind me through the turn, which helped.  I took a couple of endurolytes and gel at the 1 hour mark, and continued.  I hit the 6.2 mark in under an hour, and felt good.  Typically, my 1st 6.2 in a 13.1 is 1:03 - 1:04.

I had headphone issues all day, but, no big deal.

After the turn, I kept my pace at sub 10, and headed back.  There was a bit of a headwind on the way back.  I was consistent with my sub 10 minute miles, and knew a PR was in reach.  I slowed slightly on mile 11, and booked a 10:18, which is frustrating, but, recovered for the remainder of the race.  

I crossed the pedestrian bridge towards the final mile and picked up the pace slightly.

Final time:  2:07:47.  A PR by almost 8 minutes.  13 of 25 in my AG and 175 of 436 overall.

I hung out for a bit afterwards, as a food truck meal and Martin House beer were included.

Considering the lack of training, a good day.  I was pretty achy afterwards, but, I suspect that will improve as I ramp my training back up for Dallas.

This event is "ok".  It is conveniently located, coordinated by good people, on a familiar course, etc.  However, the "feel" of a big marathon in not there.  I suspect I will continue to consider it as an option as it can serve as a good training run in the fall.

Shannon Brewery Monster 5k 2015

10.31.15

This is a new event for Dallas Athletes Racing.  Quite honestly, I'm not sure what drove me to sign up for this one, as driving to Keller for a 5k seems a little goofy.  In the days and weeks leading up to this event, I considered skipping it and opting for a 13.1, as there were 2 today in the area.  I'd also considered running the 5k today and the DRC half tomorrow, but, ultimately decided to do only the 5k, as Hider and John-Michael signed up and we would be headed to Rockwall later in the day.  JMC would be doing his 1st race ever. 

It has been raining much of the past 2 days, including all night last night and this morning.   However, the race was on. I left the house at 8:15 to make sure I could get parked and pick up my packet before the 10 o'clock start time.  No issues getting there and getting squared away prior to the race. 

The crowd looked smallish.  I suspect the rain kept some people away.  Results showed just over 300. 

Hider and I moved up towards the front and got off to a good start.  My Garmin showed us at a 7:55 1st mile.  Just before mile 1 there was a big hill to climb.  It sucked. Hider and I ran together through the turnaround. Around the 2 mile mark, he began to pull away a bit. I booked a 7:52 mile 2, but, slowed to 8:11 for mile 3.   Total time: 24:31.  This time last year, I would have been thrilled with such a time. However, after my 23:24 at Rahr a month ago, I felt only ok about this one. In looking back at my 5ks this year, this is my 4th fastest.  Not bad, I guess, considering the weather, the hill, and, the lack of training since Chicago. 5th of 28 in my AG and 40 of 339 overall. 

Scott booked a 24:03, and, JMC, in his 1st race ever, booked a 37:24. Talking to him afterwards, he is already talking about his next race.  

The run was followed by beer. That's always a plus.  

Not a bad day, I guess.