Odyssey Trail 40-Miler

This race is a 13.1 mile three loop course that runs through Douthat State Park in Covington, VA. An absolutely gorgeous run through the Shenandoah foothills. The first three miles are straight up the side of a mountain. Our elevation gain was 2400 feet and pretty much you had to walk. Coming down the backside was where you made up for lost time. It basically amounted to a controlled fall.

I made it through the first lap no problem. The second lap, I made it back up the mountain and had started down. About halfway down I lost my footing and rolled 10-15 ft, destroying my legs. I smoked my left knee and the muscles in both legs instantly seized up. I got up and kept pushing, but by the time I finished the second loop I was toasted. I DNF'd at 26.2 miles and headed for home with bloody knees and bruised pride.

It's never fun DNF'ing, but at least I'm not doing it just because I don't like running. After wasting my lower-half, I knew I could keep pushing. The risk was that I begin the IOC in less than two weeks. This race wasn't worth it.

Run hard.

Star Hill Half Marathon

Pat and I drove to St. Francisville early this morning to run the Star Hill course. The weather was great and really enjoyed getting back to "Louisiana hills."

I'm smoked right now. I've been running the LSU lakes incessantly and it's finally catching up to me. I just want to get in as much as I can before I peace out again. I was suppose to run in the BREC Zoo 5k tomorrow morning, but I may benefit more by taking it easy. Plus I need to go see Inglorious Basterds with Paul.

Run hard.

Hartwood 10 Miler

Saturday night, before the race, Deanna and I went up to DC to see a Nationals ballgame. A crazy rain storm, however, pushed back the start an hour and a half....so we didn't end up back in Stafford until about two AM. I needed to be up at 5:30 to get to registration at six. So I had about two to three hours of rest for this run. My only goal was to keep it under seven min/mile.

For once I didn't come out too hard. I knew what pace I wanted, found someone moving about that speed, and paced them out. I did start to feel it a little after the half-way point, but still finished relatively strong. I grabbed third in the age group and got a $10 gift certificate to VA Runner. Final time was 1:07:47 with a 6:47 pace.

Looking forward to getting back to BR for a couple weeks and doing some running on the lakes and with ole' boy Pat.

Run hard.

Dahlgren Trail 50k

It's important to preface this entry by letting you know that I didn't find out/sign up for this race until about a week and a half before it was scheduled. The negatives may have outweighed the positives, but I figured "eh, what the hell, its just 32 miles" and signed up.

Mother Nature couldn't have cooperated better. I was really worried it was going to be a scorcher, but the sky was overcast all day and stayed in the high 70's. I actually had the heat on in the car before the race.

I came out with the lead group (me and two other guys) and we were moving fast....too fast. The trail narrowed at one point and I knew that in order to stay on the course I was going to have to either sprint ahead or fall back. I decided to sprint ahead 5-10 feet and then fell back to our normal pace. Problem was, when I looked back, the other two guys were dropping off. I didn't think I was moving that fast until a few miles later when I checked behind me. I was all alone. That's when I realized I might be in a position I really didn't want.

I was in the lead up until the 15 mile marker. At the turn-around (mile 20) I was in fourth place. Then I bonked and gradually drifted. I finished in 5:23 and grabbed 11th place. That time isn't great, but remember the preface...

Run hard.

Crystal City Twilighter 5K

Showing up late to races is apparently my style. I thought that maybe there'd be a hundred or so people doing this run, it's just a 5k after all. The numbered of registered runners was close to 3,000. Ridiculous. So while I was fighting to find somewhere to park, the gun was getting closer and closer to going off.

I did make it, but may as well haven't. It was a terrible race. A huge thunderstorm rolled in as it was starting, which actually wasn't so bad. I came out too hard. First mile was close to 5 flat. Second mile was close to 5:20. After that I fell off significantly. Something went wrong somewhere in the race. Either the course was long, or the clock was off, or something. The time on my watch and the race time were about a minute apart. Neither time was very good, however. It was one of those races where afterwards I was embarrassed to call myself a runner.

So now I'm redoubling my efforts to get in 5k shape. I came to the decision this month that I want to aim for the 2012 Olympics in the triathlon. This is my first stepping stone.

Run hard.

Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon

I was able to hang with the lead group in my wave during the swim.  I was close to 20 mph on the bike, and my run ranked 23 out of 1436.  Again, for not training...not bad.

Philly was beautiful, but definitely bigger than I expected.  Also, it'll get sketchy in a pinch.  But overall the race and the course were well organized.  There are a handful of local races coming up, so I've got my pick of what is next.  I recently learned that I'll have a fair amount of time before starting Infantry School, so I may hang low for awhile and just get back into sweet sweet race shape.

Race hard.

64 Miles on the AT

Carol emailed me and said, "Yo, we're meeting at Front Royal at the McDonald's to do about 60 miles.  Be there."  Ok, I paraphrase, but her directions were about that good.

First of all, this place is so far away (how far was it, thank you) that you're almost in Nova Scotia.

When I got there, we take off into the Shenandoah National Park...and the first hill is epic.  I put my head down and get to the top.  I look up, and there's more hill.  "Ok, I enjoy a challenge.  Bring it."  Put the head down and keep pushing.  Get to the top, look up, more hill.  "Sheesh, this baby is bringing the thunder."  Put the head down, keep pushing.  Get to the top, look up, more hill.  "Sweet Moses, what's the deal, yo?"

I look back at Carol and ask her how high we're getting.  She informs me that we should max out just under four thousand feet in elevation.  Thanks for the heads-up, Carol.  We were on the Appalachian Trail.

It turned out to be an heroic 64-mile ride.  Killer, never ending climbs.  Saw a black bear and her cub (scared me stupid).  Incredible views into the lowlands.  Coming off the mountain we had to be pushing 45 mph.  Also scary, but über speedy getting off that baby.  Good day.

Ride hard.

Marine Corps Historic Half

I met Ryan and another friend down in Fredericksburg, VA yesterday to get ready for the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon.

The day started rough.  I sprinted from our hotel to the Caribou Coffee across the street at six this morning.  It was closed, and it was cold and rainy.  Double whammy.  So I settled for the watered down coffee in the hotel.  It was so weak I could see the bottom of the mug.

I was shooting for 1:20, didn't get it.  I knew I was coming out too hard and burned out around mile 8.  Again, not like I've been able to train at all.  It rained the whole time, I was drenched.  Fun course, though.  Only one bad hill and most of the course is through downtown Fredericksburg...gorgeous.  

Ryan missed breaking 1:40 by six seconds.  I'm sticking it too him pretty hard...because I'm a good friend.  Next race is probably the Montclair Tri at the end of June.

Run hard

Ulman Cancer Fund 100k

I was staggering, incoherent with blindness from low blood pressure, and all I wanted was to keep putting one foot in front of another, but couldn't.  One year ago I tried to run 100 miles to raise money for Relay for Life, in memory of my aunt who died from colon cancer.

Today, to commemorate, I rode in the Ulman Cancer Fund Le Tour de Howard County.  It was a 100k (62 miles) bike ride through the gorgeous farm country of Columbia, MD.  Barns, fields, vineyards, and wide open spaces.  Not a cloud in the sky.

Looking forward to the Half-Ironman distance Kinetic Tri in two weeks, and eventually getting in another attempt at that ultra-marathon.

Run hard.

Rumpass in Bumpass Sprint Tri

My first tri of the season was this past Sunday.  On the map, Lake Anna State Park looks like it's just off I-95.  In reality, the park is in East Jesus-Nowhere.  I got there, literally, 15 minutes before the gun went off.  I jumped in my wetsuit and sprinted from packet pick-up, to the timing chip table, to body marking, and to the transition area.  The gun went off as I was getting in the water.

The swim was horrendous (750m).  No surprise.  Water temp was 60 degrees (thank you wetsuit) and I got caught by the wave behind me (the female wave).  Oh well.

The bike was ok (12 miles).  It was a hilly course, but the hills were conducive to high speeds.  I averaged around 19, --eh.

The run, I loved (5k).  It's where I really get my money's worth.  Eleventh fastest overall (6:20 pace).

Final time was 1:18, 77th overall (out of 300-ish).  Not great, but it's the first race of the season and lets not even pretend like I've been training consistently.  All-in-all, a good start to the season and I'm looking forward to more.

party on Wayne, party on Garth

Burke Lake 12K

When I do the math, 12k comes out to 7.45 miles...but the GPS says we actually only ran seven.  So go figure.

The temp this morning was hovering around freezing and there was already an inch of snow on the ground.  When Badri, Ryan and I got out to the lake it was snowing steadily.  They stayed in the car before the race while I ran around like a fool, trying to warm up.

I came out too hard.  No surprise there.  I was hanging with first place up till the turnaround and then I started fading.  I finished in sixth (out of about 90 folks) with a time of 47:33.  That's about a 6:45 pace.  Not horrible, considering my lack of consistent training....but lets not kid ourselves, that disgusts me.

Run hard-er.

GW Birthday Marathon

So I thought the George Washington Birthday Marathon in Maryland started at 8:30, which is why I arrived at 7:30.  When I rolled in there were signs for the race everywhere, but nary a soul was present.  I was nervous.  Turns out the race started at 10:30, so I had time to kill.

Considering I've been in the field for the past two and a half weeks and have only done about two runs, I wasn't expecting big results.  Much to my surprise, however, I held a sub-7 pace for 20 miles and was securely in third place.  My half time was 1:28...a.k.a. sub-3 hour marathon, a.k.a. Boston qualifier, a.k.a. stud.  Unfortunately, I bonked at mile 20 and walk/shuffled the rest.

No big deal.  This just tells me that if I do any decent training, I can drop an excellent marathon time.  Too bad I still hate doing 26.2.  Just not fun.

Run hard.