American Triple-T 2014: How Not To Do Your First Half-Ironman

The American Triple-T is the first triathlon event I ever signed up for, even before the 2 sprint tris I did last summer.  The event is a weekend-long series of 4 races, culminating with a half-ironman distance race called the Little Smokies Half.  It's not an official Ironman 70.3 race but it is still all the right events at all the right distances.  This race, of course is after a super sprint on Friday and two Olympics on Saturday...

Singlet we must wear for each race and a hat

I'm fully aware of the undertaking this race would really be, it was going to be hard for all the wrong reasons.  Despite my comfort level in tackling an Olympic-distance event and a 70.3 event, I still hadn't raced those distances and was not really prepared for the toll Saturday would really take.  I'd also been doing all I could to rehab my right IT band the last 3 weeks.  Nonetheless, the adventure was on, Adam and I were determined to get out there and give it hell and have a good time.

Being kinda picky about my fueling, I cooked all day Wednesday, preparing all the food I'd want to consume between races, hoping to optimize my recovery windows by eating well.  I prepared pulled pork, shredded chicken, egg salad, steamed kale, quinoa, rice and a big tub of salad in addition to measuring and bagging all my Hammer powders by race.  Go prepared or don't go at all.

BYOBuffet

Thursday was spent making sure I had everything and in the evening I picked up Adam in Baltimore and we drove as far as we could before finding a hotel somewhere in western Maryland while driving through a mini monsoon.  We quickly left the hotel in the morning and before too long, we were in Ohio and at our destination, Shawnee State Park, by noon.  We checked into the lodge at noon and walked down to pick up our race packets after unloading our gear.

Transition area and finish line

Our bikes' home for the weekend.

The room, before it looked like a triathlete's yard sale.

Lucky for the event, a huge storm had passed through the day prior and we were expecting to be in the clear the rest of the wekend.  We had some intermittent showers during race check in but we'd hoped it would clear up and be sunny for our first race.  Unfortunately, they continued on until race #1.

Race #1 was a little slow to start, I think the organizers wanted to give the weather a little more time to clear and roads to dry off a little so the first racers began about 10 minutes after 5.  I did appreciate the time-trial start format: Every 10-15 seconds, a wave of 3 athletes took off for the swim from the shore.  With the field being sorted by our half-ironman times or expected times, the elite guys were at the front and Adam and I were near the back, #342 and 343, respectively in a field of about 500.

This method of starting out isn't the fastest, so we actually got to see the first finishers come in before we hit the water (the super sprint really is that short, 250m swim, 6km bike, 1 mi run).  But, the way the swim is much more spread out, makes it easier for stronger swimmers to navigate forward in the field faster.  I do love the swim leg- it makes up for being so terrible on the bike.

The race was a lot harder than I imagined.  I'd hoped to be done in about 25 minute, but crossed the finish line in 30 and a lot more winded than I'd expected from a 3 km climb on the bike (the 3 km descent on the return on wet road was pretty terrifying).  It took me the entire run leg to recover from the bike but the run felt good on both legs and that was a huge victory for me.  We relaxed after getting back to the lodge and eating and I slept pretty soundly.

Saturday morning had arrived and I maintained some confidence during my preparation routine.  I checked the outside temperature and got a 34.7 F on my watch... I hoped it was wrong but it was really really cold out there.  I just hoped the sun would show itself and get some heat going quickly.  I prepped my Hammer Perpetuem for the bike leg and brought a few gels.

Exactly like Friday, we watched the first hundred or so waves hit the swim, now on a 1500 m course (2 laps of approx 750 m).  We watched the elite guys speed away on the bike leg and eventually found ourselves a the start line.  Surprisingly, I was not feeling any nerves for my first Olympic tri.  I imagine partially due to my confidence in my fitness level and because this swim start is extremely low pressure.  We ran down the shore, plowing through the water until we were at a depth suitable for swimming.  I tried keeping Adam to my right but it quickly became hard to do as we began overtaking other swimmers.  It did occur to me that maybe I should focus on swimming and not triathlon for a while...

We managed a solid swim, Adam was only feet ahead of me after the swim, we exited transition seconds apart then I lost him.  I spent the first minute on the bike getting comfortable and getting some fuel in my stomach that I assumed Adam took off quicker, he's a bit stronger than me on the bike so I just tried to find a pace that was in the middle of "catch Adam" and "hey, don't forget there's another race this afternoon."

The course was hillier than I expected Ohio could be, having spent a lot of time in northern Ohio, my childhood memories painted a picture of Ohio as flat as can be.  A few times, there was no option but to be in 1st gear and just mash my way up a climb.  Mostly rolling hills, the course was beautiful, the sun came out and it was turning into a very nice ride, considering I was being passed by everyone.

Returning to transition was great, I was excited to be off the bike, partly because I'm terrible at it, part, because my neck was starting to get really sore, but mostly because I was excited for the 6.5 mi run.  The weird part in transition was while I was sure I was chasing Adam, his bike was not back in the rack.  It turned out I passed him exiting T1 when he stopped to pee.  Dude should've peed in his wetsuit.

The run is the same course for all races, a fire road through the woods.  Almost like a trail run, so I was excited.  I felt pretty strong on my legs after the bike so my focus was to maintain that feeling and not lose control and expend too much energy.  I cruised along easily but very early, about one mile in, noticed that familiar IT band pain in the right leg.  It nagged but wasn't a limiting factor.  In fact, my miles got a bit quicker.  I started to notice I felt strong but that I was holding back to try to limit the IT band friction.  The race ended and I was pleased with my performance.  I knew I'd be in good shape if my pain didn't worsen in the next race, a few hours away.

I waited for Adam to finish and we grabbed some food and returned to the lodge again to rest up.  Rinse and repeat.  I called Kristen to let her know: So far, so good!

Race #3 is interesting because the order is bike, swim then run.  This sounded appealing because at this point, now teammates must race together, we were tired and sore and shared the outlook OK, this race will suck if we push it.  We'll find a comfortable pace on the bike, draft when we can, cruise on the swim to recover because that's the easiest leg for us then phone in the run, and just jog it.

All good in theory but that bike leg seemed to be endless, compounding the soreness in my neck, expending what energy we had left much more rapidly as we were depleted and now on a different course with some different challenges like an abrupt and steep 18% climb 8 miles in.  It was brutal but we expected relief in the swim.

We took our time through transition, put the bike gear away and started putting on our wet suits, me tearing mine in the process.  Forewarned that cramping is extremely common in this leg of the race, we took on the swim with the same resolve: this is where we recover, we'll be FINE...

The first lap was pretty tough, I thought I'd find my rhythm a little late, like I usually do but the second lap of the swim was no easier.  After a slow swim, excited to be on the ground and ready to run, I plunged my feet to the soft lake bottom and wham- cramps!  Just like I was told, but not when I expected them.  I hobbled forward in a sort of crouch to just try to keep my muscles moving and not seize up completely and they slowly let go as I waddled through transition to my station.

I caught up to Adam in T2 and we tore off our wetsuits, grabbed a gel, water and trotted into the final leg for the day.  Not far from exiting T2, I knew I was going to succumb to the IT band pain.  Prior to the race, I made Adam aware I was starting to feel the effects of IT band friction again and until now it was tolerable and not yet a problem but that it could become one.  I hated the idea of slowing us down but he was in a pretty depleted state as well.  The 6.5 mile run became a run/walk and at times incredibly painful.  By the turn-around, my leg had loosened up and I was feeling comparable to the morning's race, not too bad but not great; I was able to move at a running pace.  We trudged through and finished, miserable.

Done with race #3 of 4... Assessing damage.

The ensuing conversation went something like this:
Aaron: Hey Adam, how are you feeling?
Adam: Not good, I'm starting to have doubts about tomorrow.
Aaron: Yeah, me too, but let's eat up, head back to the hotel and recover, we'll get up in the morning and see how we feel. (Note: I am completely checked out here.  No half-ironman for me, just hoping that maybe we wake up and through divine intervention, are able to get out and race)
Adam: That sounds about right

So we returned to the hotel, I rolled the living daylights out of my legs, stretched and tried on Adam's NormaTec leg sleeves.  They provided no miracle cures but man, they felt good.  It's pretty much a variable compression sleeve that massage your legs to speed up recovery... or just feel amazing when recovery is out of the question.

These things rock.

Adam won them via a Twitter contest. #seriously

3/4 race results.  The run on #2 was a 57:42.  

Before bed, we threw in the towel.  Morning would bring no salvation of our ability to continue on.  We had crossed the threshold of when it's no longer fun, healthy nor productive to continue on.  I called Kristen to let her know we were done.  Had we lined up at the start in the morning, we'd have turned in an 8 hour half.  We were far more inclined to use those 8 hours to drive home and celebrate 2 Olympic tris in one day and have several beers to reward ourselves.  We got breakfast, packed, noting a few other athletes doing their own version of the pack of shame as they left, as well, drove to Baltimore and feasted on wings and beer.

My evaluation of this event: Awesome.  If you want to see how fit you are, do this.  I'm confident in my fitness level, but now see I'm not 4-races-in-under-48-hours fit.  I'm proud to have pushed through 2 Olympics in one day.  Very well organized and supported.  Beautiful and challenging bike course.  I'm pretty sure if you're in the elite group, it's very competitive, as well.  The only gripe I have is that the lake water was pretty foul.  Great atmosphere the entire time.  Will I go back?  Yeah, maybe in 5 years.  Great job by HFP racing.  I see my weaknesses more clearly and will continue to address them more practically.

Out and Back Party Run 5K and Ironmasters Challenge 50K: Double Race Weekend Report

A weekend I'd looked forward to for a year since last year's Ironmasters had kinda snuck up on us.  Before we knew it, we were a week from the 50K which was a beast of a race last year, with me finishing at 8:33:15 and Kristen just over 9 hours.  It was a big weekend and a lot of fun, and I'd plotted some revenge.

A few months earlier our friends urged us to join them for the Out and Back Party Run in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.  They promised an awesome time.  Awesome times are things we enjoy so that was a no brainer.  We realized this race was the Friday before our 50K on a Sunday.  We chalked it up as a "fun run" that we wouldn't take too seriously.  Even if we did, it's just 5K, a 20-minute workout for me, nothing that would impact our big race.  I was excited to have 2 races in one weekend.

55K worth of bibs.

Out and Back was in the northwest Philly Fairmount Park area, which is a nice rolling and open park.  The course was pretty flat and the weather was perfect.  Having tried to break that 20-minute barrier a few times already, I was ready to cancel the fun run and make this a quick goal race, so I did.  As rain set in, we lined up in a pack of 688 runners.  I lined up in the middle of the field, kinda late to join the crowd behind the start line, unwilling to push my way up.  Bryn Mawr chip times their races so, I didn't think it would be a big deal to get to the sensors then navigate around the crowd.

At the start, I moved with the crowd to the actual start line then bolted like an asshole around as many people as I could get, before I knew it I saw about 10 runners ahead of me, the rest were toast (some just  momentarily).  I put down  my fastest mile ever on the first third of the race and each 1-mile alarm buzz on my Garmin thrilled me with terrific splits.  I sure didn't mind the rain and kept my focus on maintaining my pace.  Before I knew it, the race was over and I clocked in over 20 yet again but this time, I think I can call it my unofficial sub-20 5K as this had a bonus 0.09 miles as I finished in 20:12.  I'll freakin take it!

The post-race party was really cool.  At the Lemon Hill Mansion about a mile from the race, they'd set up a huge tent, a pretty good band, and TONS of beer and food.  I wound up sitting at a table with the guy that sold me his bike trainer on craigslist and talking triathlon with him for a while and caught up.  I knocked back a bunch of the Harpoon Rye IPA's and let Kristen drive us home.

The party at Lemon Hill Mansion

Post race party with Maggie, Dave, Crystal and her friend.

Saturday morning we took care of our 50K prep work early.  We bagged up our Hammer Nutrition powders, gels, even brought our own coffee, and gathered our race gear.   We tossed the gear in Kristen's car and made our way to Honey Brook, PA for a bluegrass festival at Wyebrook Farm.  If you're ever out that way, Wyebrook is an awesome place to visit.  Kristen took me there for a date night.  A beef butchering class date night!  While we're not exactly huge bluegrass fans, we had a blast.

Cruchy tunes, man

The farmhouse at Wyebrook.  A market and restaurant.

Curried goat and hot roast beef lunches

We left during the headliner act, some old fella' named Jesse McReynolds and his band.  Their second set was a Grateful Dead set, which we didn't really mind missing and we had to get out and get our pre-race BBQ dinner in Carlisle, PA before hitting bed early.

We prepped our Hammer, our bulletproof coffee, race outfits and I got to watch the Penguins win game 5 before we fell asleep.  We're getting pretty good at our big race prep these days- far less anxiety about what to bring, what to carry in our packs, what time we need to rise and get going.  To make it easier, I called Hammer's customer support line to consult with one of their product experts a week earlier.  I was sticking to the fuel I'd been using for long runs/rides, Perpetuem and I'd be supplementing that with gels and their Enduralytes fizz.  I'd finish the race and chug a Recoverite.  I'm sold on Hammer's products, they're all natural and they just work.

Hopefully a future sponsor....

Race morning was super smooth, we got our coffee, a protein shake and drove to Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  We were there with just enough time to hit the bathroom, get our bibs and line up for race instructions that went kinda like this... "OK you guys, we're on the same course as last year, blah blah blah, here's signs you'll look for, blah blah orange tape, if you're hiking the 50K, please stay back on the start line for the runners ok? we're gonna do a ready set go start.  ready, set, go!"

Yep, that's how we started, I scrambled over to the crowd mid-instructions and started my gopro to try to capture the start.  I still haven't checked my videos yet so I don't know if I actually got it.  I do know this much, my gopro died around mile 3.  I believe the housing is activating the wi-fi which is killing the battery...  So much for capturing the race again but it would look exactly like last year's video: a lot of running on a hard course on a perfect day.

My race goal was well-thought out, much like last year's and my goal was to finish in 6 hours (give or take a little).  breaking down each leg of the race, I calculated what pace I could hold and came up with this:

Section	Miles	Pace	Goal time	TOD	Cutoff	Aid Station	Mile
1	2.2	0:11:00	0:24:12	0:24:12		first aid? who cares?	2.2
2	0.9	0:11:00	0:09:54	0:09:54		water	3.1
3	5.4	0:13:00	1:10:12	8:40:12		CP1: Dead Woman Hollow Road	8.5
4	1.6	0:11:00	0:17:36	8:57:48		DWH Rd and 223 (restroom)	10.1
5	2.8	0:11:00	0:30:48	9:11:00	12:00:00	Woodrow Road, lower (water)	12.9
6	6.1	0:12:00	1:13:12	10:24:12		Park campsites (restroom)	19
7	0.4	0:11:00	0:04:24	10:28:36	14:00:00	CP2: Brickyard Pavillion	19.4
8	4.4	0:12:00	0:52:48	11:17:00		Pine Grove Rd and RR Bed Rd (Water)	23.4
9	3	0:12:00	0:36:00	11:53:00		Water Station 2: Old Forge Road	26.4
10	1.8	0:13:00	0:23:24	12:16:24	17:45:00	CP3: Cold Spring	28.2
11	3.03	0:12:00	0:36:21	12:52:45		FINISH LINE	31.23
			5:44:45	0:11:02

I allotted some extra time from the above goal and avg pace since I'd expect that the hills were again going to be a rude awakening.  6 hours was still a bit aggressive but a great goal time.  I hiked up the steepest hills and did my best to scramble through the rocky sections in the first 5 miles.  After ascending Blueberry Hill (mile 7), I knew the worst was over, my pace seemed slightly behind goal but as the miles got easier, I made up time without feeling like I was overcompensating.

Somewhere after the climb at mile 7, I'd noticed a little tinge in my right knee.  I though "huh, that's weird" and figured the climb might have tweaked it a little, it would loosen up and go away.  It passed for a while, I cruised comfortably and was making up some time.  The discomfort started to come and go and I eventually figured out around the halfway point it was only noticeable on downhill sections.  According to my Garmin, I was just under 3 hours at 15.5 miles in and through the hardest part of the course, excited and feeling great otherwise.  Not having really dealt with any injuries aside from a shin splint, I wasn't trying to self-diagnose it on the trail during a 50K.  I tried to manage it during each section and to this point, it was not impeding my ability to move forward at my goal pace.  I was still cruising and killing it.  The discomfort wasn't worsening over several miles so I'd really hoped whatever it was had just leveled off.   That would've been great, I was catching and passing a few runners until the pain grew.

Around mile 18, I had to slow down.  I did what probably most people do when they have a curious leg/knee injury, stopped, massaged up and down my thigh to my knee and kept going.  Soon I was caught by the lead female runner, she asked if I was alright, and I told her "maybe" but I'd like to run with her for a while.  Wendy was really cool, she was running her first 50K and was doing really well.  An asthmatic, she'd been running marathons for years, ran Boston a handful of times and had some race recommendations for me when I eventually try for my Boston qualifier.  She was having some hip issues and we stayed together for a a few miles stopping for a few seconds each mile for her to stretch out and me to try something new to release the tension in my knee which I was starting to wonder if this is the whole IT band issue I've heard about?  I'm pretty lucky to not know, I suppose.  At mile 21, I couldn't keep up with her, I let her go on and was walking down the hills now.

At about mile 21.5 I spiked my handheld water bottle on the ground in anger.

Two hours ahead of myself at last year's race, at mile 22.4 after refilling at a water stop, and trotting about 50 yds I stopped, turned around and began the DNF process.  The radio crew called in runner #111 was dropping.  A volunteer drove me back to the race finish and at times, I had to force myself to hold it together.  I was furious and completely frustrated.  For the sake of self-preservation, it would have been dumb to continue on.  I have a huge race weekend in only 3 weeks I need to be ready for.

22.4 miles (or 23.8 as marked on the course)

Course profile.  3600' of gain for this portion.

I sulked a little while waiting for Kristen to finish but slowly overcame the disappointment and some of the frustration.  Injury was nowhere on my radar.  I've been fortunate to run injury free for quite a while and I suppose some of these injuries are inevitable for distance running.  I chatted with some other runners and got fed and changed and cheered on the finishers.

Kristen came in well ahead of her goal time which I knew she could do!  I was happy to see her and very proud of her.

Look at that 31-mile smile!

After assessing the day, I was pleased with my performance to the point where I dropped out.  However in my event assessment, I don't know if I plan to return to this race.  I'd like to race it again but in different circumstances.

• The trail is poorly marked.  I was off course briefly this year and a few times last year.  Everyone goes off course.  Maybe the organizers think it's part of the race's charm... who knows.  Mile markers are up to a full mile off from everyone's GPS as well.  Not a huge deal but seriously, get with it, it's not hard.  Bonus miles do nothing for any racers.
• Volunteer support was non-existent late the race.  I appreciate the volunteers, many were fantastic help.  But checkpoint 2 was basically a table of candy, 2 coolers and a row of cackling hyenas sitting on the far side of the table, stuffing their faces with the food on the table, completely unwilling to assist runners, only offering "heeyyyyy we got candy! all kinds!  help yourseeeelff!"  Give me a break.  I was hunched over my camelback trying to rip it open asking them for help and they all gave me looks like I had 8 heads.  I had to ask 6 grown ass adults FOUR TIMES for help.  Kristen got snarky comments from these Pennsyltucky folk about her powdered Hammer Perpetuem fuel, "BAAH What is this stuff??  I hope this isn't something unhealthy!!"  Check point 2 is in close proximity (walking distance) to the start/finish area.  I suppose these are the guys the RD didn't trust enough to deploy out in the woods.  I can't for the life of me figure out how they construe their day as helpful toward others.  I'm aware of my unkind words, I wish I didn't feel so mean towards them but when I volunteer, I bust my ass for the athletes.

  

  Oh look- a runner helping himself.  

  

  I did not appreciate any of these people yesterday.  At all.

• Post race receipt of runners.  Hey, you just ran over 31 miles.  Here's what you get:

I kid you not.  And only $10 for non-participants.  Hope you brought more food.  It was unlimited last year with more options, what gives?

Most of the other participants were happy and weren't under my dark cloud.  I have been to 5K's with better runner support.  I'll reach out to the RD as politely as possible to address my disappointments but next year is unlikely a return to Ironmaster's (for reasons other than what I've whined about).  It's still a great 50K course and it could be that the race fees and sponsors heavily support the Central PA Conservancy instead of the race.  I'm a big baby and sore DNF'er...

Still, I lightened up, met some cool people yesterday had a killer 20 miles and was happy to get home and be fed a great feast at Kristen's sister's house.  It was great to get pampered finally and share our weekend with Kristen's family.

I'll address this IT issue, as the last 18 hours of talking to others and online digging seem to indicate that's exactly what I'm dealing with.  American TTT is in less than 3 weeks.  That's a sprint, 2 olympics and a half-ironman.  The most frustrating part of an in jury at this point of the year, hoping I can heal completely between now and the next event.

Yeungling Lager Jogger 5K: Will Run for Beer

This Saturday Kristen and I ran the 2nd Annual Lager Jogger in Pottsville, PA, home of Yeungling, a race put on by Mid Atlantic Timing.  A 3000 person 5K Run/Walk with a festive atmosphere and a lot going on.  We were really happy to be finally running a race for the first time in about a month.  FINALLY, a chance to freshen up the blog.

Great race freebies!

The scoop I got on this race was that it's a tough (very hilly) course.  Odds of finally breaking the 20 minute barrier were still just as good as any other race as I assumed the hills couldn't be all that bad and I was so close in my last 5K.

The starting line was very well organized in corrals by approximate pace.  11min + in the back, 9-11 min milers in the next section, 7-9, then sub-7 in the lead corral.  It was the first time in my running career I found myself very confidently at home in the front of the field before the start.  3000 runners and I was starting with the top 20-25 and hoping to finish right about there, too.

Dick Yeungling himself welcomed the pack of runners to the start line and sent us off with an air horn.  No specific plan in mind, I just fell into a trot with the group I started with.  As far as I could tell, from the start line, it was a long straight and gradual uphill for as far as I could see, nothing major but I kept my pace steady and felt a little slower than I wanted to be.  The entire first mile was a steady climb until we hit a quick turn and started to loop around a few blocks to complete the first half.  The good news was obvious: at some point, we'll get to another mile back to the finish that is all downhill.

The data and an apparent glitch in the HR monitor.

Between the first and last miles, we navigated around a few residential blocks with a couple short steep climbs, nothing too bad, before I knew it, I was at the 2nd mile marker and assessing what was left in the tank.  Soon after, the home-stretch was in sight, I recovered my spiking heart rate and set my sights on catching the next runner ahead of me about a tenth of a mile in front of me.

Well, that never happened, I got a little closer to catching the guy ahead of me but we both put down a good last mile.  Seeing the race clock ahead of me, I could already see a "2" as the lead digit.  I was still happy with my 21:16 finish for the 3.2 miles.  The time put me 34th overall and 12th in my age group.

One more race in the books.

We lingered around the block party for a while with Kristen's sister and brother-in-law and a few other friends.  The brewery tours were full up so we enjoyed a few lagers, some pierogies, and big news: Yeungling Ice Cream is pretty awesome.  I tried on some Hoka's at a booth and loved them.  It was a little surprising as they look the complete opposite of my minimalist shoes.  They're light as a feather and run very very smooth.  I may be picking up a pair very soon.

Looking for another snack before we left, we made out like bandits.  I think we took our race entry fees' worth of Lara bars to stock up for the Ironmasters Challenge in 2 weeks.  There were 1000's left, but we were kind and only filled our pockets and Kristen's tote bag.

Kristen, counting our LARA Bounty

Conshy Classic 5K: 3/15/2014 race recap

Hey friends, after a few weeks of no races and just training, we finally got in a quick 5K.  Our previous 5K was a distant 5 weeks prior and I was quite a bit leaner and meaner.  My focus was finally breaking the 20-minute barrier after turning in a nice 20:51 at the flat Philly Navy Yard race.

Leading up to this race, I'd been enjoying some nice long runs and rides in my training.  I had a solid 12-mile trail run the previous weekend and felt awesome, a few bike rides on the trainer and a few other workouts peppered in the schedule.  The odd thing this past week was seemed like a relatively benign 5-mile run I made on Wednesday.  After this training run which I used to try to establish what my lactic acid threshold heart rate (LTHR) was, in an effort to learn to train a little smarter, my calves were angry with me for running on pavement, apparently.  Even Saturday morning, I was still really stiff.  I jogged around a bit, stretched and did everything I could imagine to loosed up.  There was a lot of uncertainty of Friday how I'd approach this race but after some jogging and stretching I was feeling loose enough to resume my pursuit of the 20-minute goal for this race, still a little nervous.

The "Classic" part of the Conshohocken Classic 5K is lost on me.  This is the first annual 5K that Bryn Mawr Running put on here but I look forward to do it again next year but I don't get what makes it classic yet, whatever.  It's a nice loop around our neighborhood and downhill on the route the St. Patrick's Parade will take through town.  If you're not familiar with Conshohocken, it's like most PA towns: Kinda hilly.  It would be a little more challenging to tackle than our last road 5K.  The course was a point-to-point with a loop in the middle, ending about 2 blocks from our apartment.  It was windy but sunny and we were excited.

I don't normally line up at the front of the pack but after sizing up the field, I lined up at about the 4th row.  well behind the guys in their school track tanks.   With the start I sprinted up the immediate hill with the lead pack, dodging a few folks that had no business being anywhere near the front (no offense, except to the guy wearing a Flyers jersey with "Crosby Sux" written in electrical tape on it).  I realized really fast I was 5th or 6th and as we crested the hill and turned downhill, I caught my breath a little and cruised as quickly as I could downhill while recovering as much as possible.

I'm in there somewhere.

Thanks, Times Herald, for my only race picture (that's me under the flag).

I could see the leader and handful of people between us and we slowly all drifted apart, it looked like we were in our places running our own races and I tried to estimate the gap between me and first, I knew it wasn't my day to challenge this guy, so I focused on the task at hand.  We rounded the corner where we'd eventually finish and made our way up the short hill for the loop.  I was still feeling good and ready to take on the uphill at a smart pace.  I regained a spot I lost on the downhill then lost another 2 to the a girl and some kid who was about 9.  My lungs burned but I ignored it.  After all, it's a sprint, soon enough it would be over but turning the corner at the crest of the hill felt like I was dragging a person behind me.  I expected relief during the final downhill backstretch but it never came.  What did come was an awesome stitch in my side at 2.5 miles.  Damn it all.  Without checking my pace or total time, I knew I was running my fastest and very near breaking 20.  I focused on breathing and raised my right arm over my head to try to alleviate the stitch and tried to maintain what little speed it felt I had.  A few runners overtook me on the backstretch.  I was sure to leave nothing in the tank so I gave chase.

I didn't regain my lost positions and the race timer was probably in sight before I noticed it but when I did look up about 30 yards away, I watched it tick from 00:19:59 to 00:20:00.  I might have uttered a very audible "SHIT" and look around to see how inappropriate that might have been then quietly turned in a PR and hit the deck to catch my breath.  My official chip time was 20:109 and 11th overall, 3rd in AG.  My Garmin data  also showed 20:09 which I thought to be longer than my chip time but only 3.04 miles.

It's dumb to be frustrated with a distance PR (by about 40 seconds) on a harder course.  Nevertheless, there I was, complaining to Kristen about being so close to my goal and missing it.  If anything's certain, I ran a heck of a race and there's not a doubt I crush my next 5K and the 20-minute mark.  As of now, it looks like it will be the Yeungling Lager Jogger in a few weeks in Pottsville, PA... apparently a hillier course.  As my friend Kelly would say, honeybadger don't care.

Ugly Mudder 2/23/14: Hogging the Trails of Mt. Penn

Yesterday was our second PCS race of the year, far too few if you ask me because they're superbly executed and fun trail runs.  The Ugly Mudder is, in theory, just another one of their trail runs, 7 miles (give or take course conditions) on Mt. Penn in Reading.  Conditions are usually lousy, hence the name and general theme of this race.

I was looking forward to the race all month, but with an extra boost before race day, I found I'm at the lightest racing weight I've ever had at just under 160.  Holy crap, I think I've accidentally lost too much weight.  A bit of fear that I'd hit the wall early with a lack of body fat but eh, what am I gonna do?  All  week, I'd felt great but this morning I was inexplicably sore in my calves and just feeling tired and kind of miserable, I shook it off, knowing I've had lousy runs when I felt great and good runs when I've felt lousy, performance isn't always related to feel.  

My race plan was pretty loose due to the course conditions.  Conditions were pretty interesting.  Ron Horn, PCS' race director, let the corral of runners know he believed that course conditions were the "worst ever" on this morning during his always entertaining pre-race debriefing.  One of his volunteers suggested it's even "worse than that," whatever that means.  Ron notified us also that the course had been shortened due to the conditions, somewhat relieving.  He told us it was 5-point-something miles instead of the planned 7...

Actual weather conditions were pretty nice.  It was probably mid-40's at the start, a little cloudy which would open up during the race to warm up a little more but we were tackling some unbroken snow from the last few snowfalls.  Despite the recent break in the cold weather, the warmth of the weekend didn't have enough impact on melting away any of the snow.  Fortunately for me and 99% of the field, we'd have a packed track to follow.  A narrow track.

Kristen and I met our friend Josh before hand and we chatted some about race plans and all pretty much decided to throw them out the window and focus on having a fun run.  The reality was it was going to be a difficult course to navigate via single track and it was inevitably going to be a walking conga line at multiple pinch points and climbs.  

With the race start, we poured out across the start line onto a brief stretch of road where Josh and I tried to move ahead in the pack to avoid getting stuck in lines, we did some work to move up to the front 1/4 of the pack and he made out well a little further ahead, I'd never see him again.  He's a running coach and I'm just some dude so he's got some great ability while I'm still developing.  The first pinch point came fast, as soon as we turned off the road to the single track.  A few people ran around the pack, plowing their own tracks a little wider of the course, I submitted to the line and thought I'll choose my passes wisely later on in the course.  I think it was a strategy that worked well.  

Early on, a slow entrance to the trails

The narrow track, but beautiful scenery.

We stretched out along the trails, eventually forming packs and mashing our way through the slushy course.  As I've become used to them, I wore my Ice Trekkers (on my NB 810's) and felt pretty solid in regards to footing.  I had no issues on the runnable climbs and any descent was a lot of fun, taking long, gliding strides and "sledding" a little on each strike in the slush.

The single-file running was nice in that I could mindlessly pursue whoever's in front of me but I could only maintain the position for so long before feeling restless or bored so I changed my scenery as often as I could, breaking trail along side of the single track just long enough to get by a few runners and eventually far enough to find the next pack of runners.  You could see little patches of blood in the snow from the runners lowing through the unbroken trail marking the trail, I had a few scratches from the icy top surface too, so it's a nice little badge of honor to earn while moving through the packs. 3 miles of that and I suddenly felt a ton of energy, I was ready to go and I wanted to go fast!

I did what I could and cruised through the last 2.5 miles pretty easily, enjoying the race and scenery.  At about 5.5 miles, we approached the final aid station right below an abrupt drop in the course where the girl I was following decided to suddenly stop to contemplate her decent and with cat-like reflexes I hopped to her left and into a foot-first slide right off the hill, somehow making a quick work of the "obstacle" and trotting another 100' to the final aid station.  By "aid," I mean lager.  I pounded a beer and kept going on to the finish, invigorated.

The slide with fermented refreshment just ahead.

Is it weird that this is the only aid station where I stopped?

Finish of a much quicker race than I expected.

I did my best to continue forward progress among the field of runners but it was still a limiting factor.  My last few miles were quicker than I'd expected and I turned in a 1:16:37 for 6.37 miles (Ron must have misspoke at the beginning about the revised course distance, no big deal).  Josh greeted me at the finishing chute and said I did really well, only finishing 3 minutes behind him.  In those 3 minutes were 63 other runners.  Josh just missed placing in our age group and I felt like I cheated myself, sandbagging too much at the beginning.  I found Derek Schultz at the finish and chatted with him a bit; he's an awesome runner.  He turned in a 17th place finish, the final award position for our age group.  I was expecting him to be in the top overalls but he had some similar struggles with the course and had to deal with losing a shoe when someone gave him a flat tire.

We stuck around and shared a pitcher of a tasty dark German beer and watched the awards.  I love PCS races, they're really awesome and the people are fantastic. Happy training, folks, enjoy the race recap video!

Feel the Love 5K: A couple miles for couples

Bryn Mawr Running Store puts on an annual 5K race for couples called Feel the Love.  A little cheesy but hey, 'tis the season for mushy Valentiney stuff.  It was a fun race with a cool format: 2x 2.5K loops with a partner.  Each couple runs the same loop but in opposing directions so you get to see each other 3 times during the race.  Couples' combined times were used for the placing and individual results were still tabulated.

The race is held in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, a quick loop with a total 7 feet of elevation gain.   A stark contrast to our typical trail races and training runs, we both fully enjoyed the change in pace (quite literally).  We looked forward to the 5K for a little change up.  I was eager to see what kind of time I could put down since it's been a long time since my last official 5K.  The quickest 5K I had to date was 23:29 and that was a little time trial I did on my own one morning.  I can't find my last official race 5K time but I am pretty sure it was over 24 minutes.  I considered my recent training and what I thought would be an acceptable goal to set.  I thought that holding 7 minute miles would be great and figured I could easily do that for the first 2;  This would really be a test of maintaining the same pace I started with for the last 1.1 miles without letting myself slip.  Twenty two minutes would be a good goal to set.

The 2.5K loop

I had considered my cadence during the week prior.  I've become aware that it may be far more useful to maintain a higher turnover rate than longer strides.  Boning up on running cadence via intense Googling (over 5 minutes worth of research) I did my homework and settled on a target.  Any target is a great place to start, several sources indicate 180 is ideal so there's my target for this race: 180 steps per minute or 3 per second.  I'd tried counting my cadence manually during some runs in the woods by counting out loud: "one-one thousand, two-one thousand..." etc., trying to make it a good 3-beat cadence meter.  I found it a little tricky because I'm a simple man so I gave it up and let technology figure it out for me.

I don't always run with music, when I do, I use an iPod nano loaded with running songs.  It's more appropriate now to just call them pump-up songs because I've repopulated that playlist with truer running songs after this exercise with cadence.  Each song was picked less for how awesome I think it will be to go along with zooming around the trails or roads but now specifically for it's ability to help me maintain a proper cadence.  I downloaded a pretty awesome $7 program called... you guessed it: Cadence.  Cadence works as an extension of iTunes to measure each song's beats per minute quite well.  After analyzing my eclectic library of tunes, I sorted my iTunes library by BPM and after purging my iPod, threw a handful of songs on that were going to fit my raceplan.

Screenshot of Cadence

The race was in the afternoon, which I didn't complain too much about.  I prefer to get these done early and have a great full day afterwards.  We arrived about 30 minutes early, checked in, got some cool swag, and decided to stay warm in the car since it was only about 27 F that afternoon.

The pre-race couple, team Tired Feet. 

We lined up in our respective corrals as each departed from the start line in a different direction and our own races were off.  I lined up in the middle of my pack, Kristen directly beside me in the middle of hers and we were off on our first road 5K in over a year.

I don't remember which song I started off with but it wasn't working.  I was caught in a pack and could start off quite as planned.  After some patience and some maneuvering, I made my way into some daylight and cruised along as I fell into my pre-planned pace.  As is my habit, I didn't consult my Garmin during the race other than to accept its buzzing alerts for each mile covered.  I made the assumption my pace was on target.

It really didn't take too long to see runners coming from the opposite direction.  The leaders were running 5 minute miles, something I aspire to do, maybe once, maybe for just one mile.  Soon, I saw Kristen, we high-fived each other and continued on until the next time we saw each other.  I ran my race solely focused on keeping a steady pace, not mindful of my actual performance.  I was going to know nothing until I approached the finish line.

At about 2.5 miles I started feeling more labored breathing set in.  My  legs felt strong but I was getting winded.  I decided ain't nobody got time for that and just ignored it.  Sure, I enjoy longer races, but this is a road 5K, it's short but still supposed to be hard if I'm showing up to race in it.  I was in no danger of dying so I poured it on down the last stretch of road and through the finish in under 21 minutes.

Hooray for maintaining cadence!  Usually this looks like a hilly course profile.

My official chip time is 20:51 and I must admit, I wasn't overjoyed with crushing my goal but really just satisfied.  I have that sub-40 10K goal in the back of my mind and this was a huge step in that direction, I immediately recognized that while I've made great progress, I still have work to do.  At least it's work I'm glad to do.  I may have to plan a 10K time trial for next weekend.  With my race in the books, I grabbed a water, cheered on more racers and waited for Kristen to turn in her own PR and tell me how using songs for pace is her game-changer.  Happy to know it worked for both of us!

I'm sure you're dying to know what got my going on this run so here's the playlist, songs close to 180 or 90 BPM that I felt fit to run with.

Fun fact: Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself was my favorite of the race, getting me to the finish line ahead of schedule.

NJ Trail Series Half Marathon 2/1/2014: Ramping up for 2014

Kristen and I completed our second race in the NJ Trail Series yesterday, our first was the Watchung Run, this nameless race was our first >10 mile race of 2014, both aiming for the half marathon.  After a few weak runs and tweaking my fueling habits, I was feeling good and scouted the course a little finding the course profile from another runner's Garmin data to wrap my head around the runnability of the race.  Similar to the Watchung course, it was another 10K loop.

After feeling crushed after Chilly Cheeks, I felt like I made some significant progress during the week to recover and adequately prepare.  I logged some quality miles and ate well, at least I think.  Mentally and mechanically I was feeling pretty solid for a much flatter course and to target my goals.  My primary goal was to keep my heart rate under control.  I'd been noticing that Garmin suggests most of my runs are "overreaching" and I am not training effectively at my HR goes above 150 bpm.  Without too much deep investigation on where my HR should be, I wanted to keep it under 150 on average, based on Garmin Connect and a little digging in the Triathlete's Training Bible, keeping it a little lower that I had been running at was a safe bet.  Before my next long race, I'll be measuring my target hear rate zones to dial in a little better.

My half marathon HR data,  average was 151

My secondary goal was a bit of a reach but I wanted to hold around 11-minute miles.  A challenging trail run Thursday morning made me believe that was a legitimate target.  7 miles @ 10:45 and felt good, sure, I think I could manage that in a race twice that distance.

We arrived about 25 minutes prior to the 9:00 start time, checked in, hit the porta potty and met the oncoming wave of starting runners as we'd missed the start.  Whoops!  We fell into line with the pack about .25 miles from the start, kissed eachother good bye and started pounding snow.  The field looked pretty small compared to their last race with maybe a hundred people here or so.   The longest distance event this day was the half marathon so I imagine this didn't interest a lot of the longer distance runners as it looked like less than half the amount of racers from Watchung.

Part of the 1K loop at the start before 2 10K loops

These courses are well marked with orange spray paint in the snow

Conditions were great, at 25 degrees, I layered lightly and ran on my NB 810's with Ice Trekkers again: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  My Asics long sleeve from the Celtic Solstice 5mi, a light down vest, running tights, shorts, a hat, running gloves and my Nathan handheld bottle were all I had on me.  In my pockets I carried a Lara bar and 2 packs of baby food.  Yes, baby food.  Gels are awesome but not Whole30 compliant (10 days in).  These things provide a small amount of carbs and electrolytes and they did a pretty good job keeping me going and avoiding bonking.  I enjoy that they're larger and I don't feel hungry as they fill you up a little more.

I avoided the prunes, assuming they'd facilitate the old saying "shit happens"

Baby food compared to a Hammer Gel

I may not have bonked but the race did go pretty slowly.  I felt pretty solid but to keep that HR down, I found myself taking the climbs really easily.  After the "halfway" point (after a 1K loop plus the 10K loop), I was not very pleased with my speed.  I gobbled down a few orange slices at the single aid station at the start/finish line, refilled my handheld and focused on running the remainder of the event.  I caught another runner, also named Aaron, and struck up conversation which is not typical of me but I thought I could use the distraction, conversation would keep me from moving too fast and a few miles would tick by a little quicker and it worked and we were about 2 miles closer to the finish before we broke the same pace and he took off ahead of me.

Somewhere pretty and downhill in Jersey

First running cap as swag!  I've got enough shirts.

Not quite 13.1, maybe I should have made it to the starting line on time...

Off my planned pace, I stewed a little but took in the beautiful scenery and knocked out another race for 2014, meeting Kristen at the finish line.  After the race, I stewed a little more, displeased with my speed.   I am looking forward to a quick 5K next weekend and a lot of time to figure out improving my training.