Benbrook Sprint Tri 2014

4.27.14

One year ago, Griffin and I went to this event to see a real live Tri take place.  Prior to that day, I had no idea about transitions, the sequence of events, etc. 

A year later, I was in. I participated for a few reasons: it is a Trident coordinated event, it takes place at Butler's Y, and, it was time to begin my season. 

I had not been training leading up to this event, but knew I could get through it, even if it was ugly.  

It did not help that I had been out WAY too late on Friday, and was still feeling the effects on Sunday. 

swim: ugly and slow. While faster than my previous Tri swims, I still have a long way to go, and felt fatigue quickly. 

Bike: while this should be my strong suit, my lack of saddle time showed.  I caught a calf cramp on "nice hill". Also, riding into a strong wind made the ride tough.  

Run: slow and steady.  But, ran the whole way. 

Overall: slow.  Only 2 minutes slower than previous tri's but, a slightly shorter route.  A good wake up call for the season. Time to train. 

Stockyards Easter 10k 2014

4.19.14

At the last minute, I signed up for this race, as several Y friends were participating.  I had not raced at this distance since January, and figured I would try to run for speed. My previous 10k PR was 57:22. I was aiming for 55 on this one.  I had a little trouble getting out of the crowd at the start, but, finally did, and took off.  I found a good, fast pace, and kept Sheri in my sights, as I knew she would hold a fast pace.  I felt good for the first 5k, made the turn, and headed back...with a bit of a tailwind.  I saw Erica, Summer, and Melody just after the turn.  It was fun to cheer each other on.  Fatigue set in at about the 5 mile mark, but, even though my pace slowed, I was determined to push through.  As I turned onto the finishing street, Erica caught up to me.  Just the motivation I needed to push hard through the finish.  I posted a 56:04. While a little shy of my goal, a PR nonetheless.  I found it interesting that I finished only 90 seconds behind Sheri.  For me, that meant 7th in my AG. 1st for her AG.  

My speed is definitely improving.  With increased training, I suspect it will improve even more, as I have done no speed work as part of my training routine.  

Good run with good friends! 

Big D Half Marathon 2014

4.6.14

This would be my 3rd half marathon in 6 weeks.  Because one of our board members was running, I figured I'd give it a go.  As mentioned in my last post, I'd struggled thru my last half, and was looking forward to a better showing.  However, I'd trained very little over the past two weeks, with only a 3.8 mile run and a 14 mile ride in the books. 

I'd eaten a little smarter prior to the event, and hoped the stomach issues I'd encountered 2 weeks ago were a "one time thing". 

I arrived of a cold and rainy morning...48 and raining.   A mess.  I ate some cliff chews and took a few endurolytes.  Ready to go.  

I got off to a good start and was keeping a 9:40 ish pace through about 7 miles.  I was tracking with the 2:10 pacer, and thought I would set a PR at under the 2:10 mark.  

About 8 miles in, my stomach went sour.  Cramping,  gas, etc, made for a slow, tough run.   Just after the 10 mile mark, I realized I was going to need to stop before the finish line.  Finally, around mile 11, a portalet.  An unfortunate, poorly timed stop.  I need to determine what the issue is. I suspect it is the cliff chews.  I'll go without next time.  

Based on my garmin, a ran a 2:14, which would have been a PR, even with the slow 3 miles, but, my chip time was 2:18.  My stomach had cost me a decent time.  I didn't stay around the post event soon, as I still felt pretty sick, and wanted to head home.  

The "goods" on this event was that it ran through much of East Dallas, around part of White Rock Lake, etc.  It was fun to run some of the areas I used to cycle, see the old hood, and, even see a familiar face in Vitale.  I'll do this one again.  Hopefully with better weather and a better result.  

Final time: 13.2 in 2:18:00.  

Rock N Roll Dallas 13.1 2014

3.23.14

March has been a lazy month, as my workouts have slowed, we are preparing for a move, and financially, we are trying to save a bit in preparation for the new house.  As a result, my running has decreased since Cowtown.

Hider and a few other friends were going to participate in RnR, so, I thought I'd join. This would be Hider's 1st half. 

The event was on Dallas, which makes for an early morning, but, I always appreciate being back in the hood.  

The week leading up to this event happened to be the 1st rounds of the NCAA tourney.  As a result, my diet had been shit, and alcohol consumption had been high. Not a good lead in to an event.  

I was aiming for a 2:10, 6 minutes faster than Cowtown.  

I got off to an okay start, but felt sluggish.  The poor diet of the days prior had me feeling heavy. 

I found a decent pace, but, early on, realized that my feet were getting numb.  I stopped quickly to loosen my shoe laces, but, no improvement.  Shortly after the 10k mark, I stopped at the medical tent to have my calf sleeves cut off. 2 minutes lost.  

I felt much better until the 15k mark, when I felt a bad cramp in my right calf. I stopped briefly to stretch on a curb.  I knew that the last 3.5 would be tough, as the cramp wouldn't go away.  

To make matters worse, my stomach began acting up with about a mile to go. Again, the diet and alcohol were catching up to me.  

I finished slower than hoped at 2:17:02.  Hider did great, posting a 2:04:57 at his first half.  

Lots of lessons learned on this one.  I'm looking at the Big D half in 2 weeks. Better get my act together. 

Cowtown Half Marathon 2014

2.23.14

The Cowtown is the signature running event in Ft. Worth, and includes several distances, including: kids 5k, adult 5k, adult 10k, half marathon, marathon, and ultra.  The event takes place over 2 days, and attracts more than 30,000 participants.

I'd targeted this event for several months, registering last September, and had been training for this new, longer distance. Over the past several weeks, I'd completed 3 runs of 10ish miles, but not yet 13.  However, I felt confident about my ability to complete the half marathon.  

Now, let's put things in perspective. Last summer, I struggled to complete any runs over 3 miles.  I didn't complete a 5 mile run until last October, a 10k until November, and a 10 mile run until January. My distances have increased fairly rapidly...especially for a "non-runner". 

Typically, I will feel some nervous energy the night prior to a big event, but, I felt good about this event, and felt no anxiety. 

Many other Y staff were participating, including several at the 5k and 10k distances, and a few of us at the longer distances.  

Events of this size start in waves, with starting corrals being assigned by pace.  For cowtown, half, full, and ultra marathoners start together, with the longer distances splitting off at about the 10 mile mark.  

I was assigned to corral 5, but, due to the crowd, ended up in 6.  No big deal.  

My goal was to pace at a 10:15ish pace for the first 10 miles or so, with hopes of picking it up for the last 5k. I had a target finish time of 2:15:00.  

I found good rhythm early, continued to check my garmin, and was on track to run my planned race. 

I consumed a gel every 5k, and hit the water stops only twice.  I noticed early on that I should have made a last minute stop to pee pre-race, but had not.  Most of the portalet stops he long lines, and, with my target time in mind, I didn't stop for a long while.  When I finally did, I suspect I burned 1-2 minutes.  

The course was great, with a couple of really great moments:  running through the stockyards was really cool, and running up the big Main Street hill towards the courthouse.  There were lots of spectators along the way shouting encouragement, holding funny signs, and offering high fives.  The encouragement and energy made for a great run.  

I pushed through some light cramping and fatigue, and continued towards the finish line.  As I was about to turn back into the finish line area, my shoe came untied. I stopped quickly to tie it, as I didn't want to trip, and, I hoped to push hard through the finish line.  Another 30 seconds burned.  

Also, in monitoring my gps, I added about .1 mile to my run due to not taking the shortest path from corner to corner, etc.  

As we turned down the finishing stretch, 2 marathoners sped past us towards their finish line. Those guys are impressive.  

I pushed hard through the finish line, and clocked a time of 2:16:38, just missing my target time.  I now know that I can complete the distance, and will attempt to best my time next race, which I suspect will be the Rock N Roll Half in Dallas.  

I stuck around after the race for awhile, and, spent a little time cheering on the marathoners, as, I'd found great encouragement from those that cheered me on along the way.  

All in all, a great event, and a staple on my racing calendar.  

Pedal to the Metal Du 2014

2.16.14

As mentioned in a previous post, ironhead racing disbanded late last year, as has become "Tri Dallas Events". Many of the events have carried over, and several new events have been added.  Their 1st event of the year was today, the Pedal to the Metal Du.  This was the same course as Bronda's Du, held last November.  I'd competed in Bronda's Du lat year, and was looking forward to trying the course again.  

I'd struggled a little thru the event in November, as I'm simply outmatched by more seasoned athletes on better equipment.  I was hoping to improve on my time today.  

I arrived to a cold, foggy, very windy day.  Not a great forecast for racing.  

Like the last event, this one was small, with only about 120 total participants.  

I had been training more leading up to this event, and, it showed. Had it not been for the windy conditions, I suspect I would have been quite a bit better than the November race.  My 1st run felt good, I improved on the bike, and improved on the 2nd run.  My transitions were quite slow, and I felt quite a bit of stiffness transitioning from the bike to the second run, making the start of the second run challenging.  

All in all, I improved by 3 minutes.  Although, I have a long way to go to be competitive, as I finished last in my age group.  

Hot Chocolate 15k 2014

2.8.14

This event had been on my radar for more than a year, as I'd hoped to complete the 5k last year, but, had a conflict.  

This event was part of my 2014 "to do" list, as it would be a new distance for me, and, I planned on it being a training run for my first 13.1, two weeks from now.  While my training had me complete a few longer runs than 15k recently, I was still excited about the distance in a race setting.   

Many of our friends and colleagues were participating, including Lindsi and Courtney that were doing the 5k, and many Y colleagues that were doing the 15k.  

Total expected attendance at the event was more than 10,000.  There are a series of Hot Chocolate events around the country, and, they do it right.  Running jackets for all participants, well organized events, split times at 5k and 10k, etc.  

The route was going to take us through east dallas. I was excited about seeing my old hood.  

We arrived to a very cold morning, but, were able to stay inside until race time.  Starting corrals were categorized by expected pace.  While, for the most part, this was quite helpful, I did see a number of walkers early on, that should have been in later corrals.  

I got off to a comfortable start, much because of the crowd, and finally settled in to a 10:15ish pace.  Having only completed a distance of this length in a race setting once before, I'm still working to determine the right pace for this distance.  We ran down Swiss avenue, through Lakewood shopping center, down La Vista, over the East Grand bridge, through the C streets, etc.  I saw a few folks that I knew along the way.  At the 10k mark, I picked up the pace.   In retrospect, I could have done this earlier, as I still had some in the tank at the finish.  

The finisher prize was a chocolate themed gift, with hot chocolate etc.  Fun, but, ultimately will get trashed.  

All in all, a great event. We will look forward to doing this one again next year, and, I feel good about cowtown 13.1 in 2 weeks.