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.

Know Your Limitations

Today, I had an embarrassing reminder of just how ignorant even the most experienced among us can be.  My grandmother often attends an adult day care center, which allows for her to get out of the house more often.  Today was the center's Christmas party and family members were allowed to attend.  So, Paul and I jumped into the car and went on down.

Maybe two hours beforehand I had gone out for an easy half-hour run.  Normally, not such a big deal.  Here's what made it a big deal:  I've been fighting a cold, I ate and drank very little afterwards, I took NyQuil on an almost empty stomach, and I wore too many layers at the party.

I felt myself getting light-headed and braced myself against the wall, trying to stay balanced.  Just before I realized it was too late, I mumbled to Paul that he was going to have to help me sit down.  BAM!  I passed out.  I woke up sitting in a chair having my multiple jackets and shirts being pulled off and having cold rags draped over me.

My mom freaked out, Paul thought it was really funny, and I was more than little embarrassed.  The lesson is, don't pass-out at an old person's home.  Also, freakin rest when you're tired and for pete's sake, don't take medicine on an empty stomach.  Whether you like it or not (and for the record, I don't) you are human and your body is going to act accordingly.

Happy HO HO HO to you.

Run hard.