2009 Ride For Heroes

I completed - scratch that, SURVIVED - the 66-mile route at the 2009 Ride For Heroes bike rally today in Aledo, TX.  This caps off a week of (indoor) cycling: 60-minutes of spin on Tuesday (155 bpm avg hr), 75-minute spin class on Wednesday (155 bpm avg hr), and a 45-minute spin class on Thursday followed by a 2-mile treadmill brick run in 16:04 (8:02/mi pace).

Walking up to packet pickup to get my T-shirt and feeling the wind and cold, I didn't think I was even going to do even the 8-miler, but ended up doing (a very windy and hilly) 66.7 miles in 4:31. Very slow between miles 30 and 50 - only 13 MPH average speed. I'm glad I did it, though - the hill/wind work now will pay off in the future.

Even though the turnout for the ride was low (probably only 200-300 people total), there were great volunteers at Aledo High's Bearcat Stadium - handing out complementary gloves at the start (which I wore on top of my running gloves!) and cookies at the finish.  I could see this ride having several thousand riders on a good day.

The hills were tough (especially combined with headwinds) and lactic acid was building up in my quads.  Had to take them slowly to work through the onset of leg cramps.  The ride through the neighborhoods of Aledo and Annetta was relaxing with lots of nice homes to look at. The route finished with a scenic ride around Lake Weatherford. I would have stopped to take pictures, but didn't want to stop for fear of not wanting to start again.

After finishing the ride, I met up with Don and Wilhe in the cafeteria for the post-ride lunch.  Derek had done the 40-mile route but I missed him at the start and he had left long before I finished, so I never got a chance to see him.  I actually didn't think my friends would still be there either - having done a shorter route and finished about 2 hours earlier.  However, they had stuck around for the raffle (new Trek bike) so I lucked out and had some company while I enjoyed a couple delicious burgers, chips, hot cider, and other snacks.  

MotionBased info and route map: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7887588

(Check out the elevation: 4,265 feet of climb/descent and weather: 21.9 MPH average wind speed)

Ride Review:

• Course: 4/5 - Overall, a pretty good course.  Roads were in good condition with little chip seal.  Had decide between 20/40 miles vs. 66 miles routes at the 5-mile mark!  Lots of hills, but that is a good thing if you are looking for that kind of workout. lightly traveled roads. Turns were generally well-marked and/or well-staffed with police pointing the way, but there were a few places where the signs were not prominent enough. It's tough to cover them all because the route had A LOT of turns, but regardless it's something that must be paramount to make sure riders don't get lost.
• Rest Stops: 3.5/5 - I only stopped at the 30 and 50 mile stops.  Limited selection - fruit, cookies, and water/Gatorade.  Some miscellaneous breakfast bars at Mile 50.  Competent, but average.  Volunteers to hold bikes was nice to have.  I also saw a fair number of SAG vehicles along the way so thumbs-up for those.
  
• Logistics: 4/5 - online registration available; no issues with race day packet pick-up; lots of bathrooms at the stadium and in the high school; T-shirt was a crazy fluorescent yellow color - I guess it's something "unique"; limited parking at Aledo High School due to construction - but not an issue with the low turnout; Good burgers, cider, other refreshments in the cafeteria.
• Overall: 4/5 - Very good ride despite today's poor weather.  Looking forward to next year - maybe I'll do the 100-miler!  :-)

Sunday Reverse Brick

I was amused to discover that I finished last in my age group (4th out of 4) in this morning's Fort Worth Runner's "Club Lucky 7" race despite running a respectable (for me, anyway) 57:34 (8:12/mi).  That's what I get for racing with these speedsters. :-)

I ran this seven mile race last year, and although the starting line was moved from the River Plaza to Trinity Park, five of the seven miles were still on the Trinity Trails - so the 2009 course was "5/7-identical" to 2008.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able set a new PR today - my time was almost 2 minutes slower than last year.  Still, it was a pretty good performance considering that I did the sprint tri yesterday.

My splits and my speed & heart rate charts:

As you can see, I kept a fairly consistent pace for the entire distance.  I took short walk breaks at Miles 1.9,3,4, and 5.1 (which are included in splits for Miles 2, 4, 5, and 6.  Even with those walk breaks, I stayed below an 8:30/mi for those splits - NOT BAD!  I may have gone out a little (too?) fast in the first half mile before settling down.  However, I'm very happy with my strong finish - my last mile was the fastest of all of them.  I think I need to really consider doing walk-run for all of my longer runs - and longer may be defined as anything longer than 10K.

MotionBased route and data: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7802407

Full results: http://www.fwrunners.org/Results/2009/Mar_09_Results_All.pdf

After the race, I met up with some friends and did a 42 mile bike ride on the Trinity Trails.  The ride was at a relaxing pace although I did do "Nice Hill" in Lake Benbrook Park a couple of extra times.  Overall, a solid weekend of races and training.  Looking forward to a light week coming up - Spring Break!

2009 St. Patrick's Day Triathlon

A solid performance at this morning's St. Patrick's Day Triathlon.  This is the fourth time I've completed this 300m swim-12mi bike-5K run course (prior efforts: Monster Tri 2007, St. Patty's Tri 2008, Monster Tri 2008), which is right down the road from me in Keller.

I completed the now very familiar course in 1:10:48.5 which placed me 14th out of 42 in my age group and 82nd out of 477 finishers.  (The cold/wet weather kept a lot of people away - there were around 610 total registrants - but even with the more than 100 no-shows, the attendance was still greater than the original 450 field cap).  This time is 2 minutes and 32 seconds slower than last year's Monster Tri finish (1:08:16, which is my PR for the course) but as I'll explain below is still quite good considering the external factors which slowed the bike and T1.

Results for fellow triathletes: Lee captured 89th place with a 1:11:26, slowed somewhat by a calf cramp during the bike (having gotten two of those during the TMS Du, I knew exactly what he was feeling). Sarah, a fellow VOWS resident, took second place in her age group with a 1:13.49.6.  Jeff (from Irving LA Fitness spin - reunited before the race), Derek (recovering from a cold this past week), and Jenn also turned out solid performances with times of 1:16:45.9, 1:19:32.7 & 1:24:27.3 for 164th, 207th & 276th place, respectively.

My splits tell my story for the day:

• Swim: 5:33.3
• T1: 2:17.2
• Bike: 37:03.6 (19.4 mph average)
• T2: 0:56.9
• Run: 24:57.5 (8:03/mi pace)
• TOTAL: 1:10:48.5

I had a pretty good swim - a 300 meter PR, in fact - the short distance masking my recent lack of training in this area.

My T1 time was a lot longer than it should have been.  It was already going to be slow because I took my normal pre-bike AccelGel and had decided to take some time and towel off from the swim and put on a shirt, but the real mistakes were: (1) my long sleeve shirts for the bike were turned inside out so it took me extra time to get dressed (that'll teach me to be lazy when setting up my transition area), and (2) my timing chip strap was way too long and as I was exiting the transition area with my bike it nearly came off - I had to set my bike down and reattach the Velcro.  So all-in-all, I probably lost nearly 30 seconds in T1.  (For reference, my T1 time was 38 seconds slower than Monster 2007 when I also toweled off and put on a shirt for the bike).

As mentioned, the weather was cold, but not the temperature itself was not too painful.  However, heavy rains for the last several days left the roadways quiet wet.  And so with the wet roads, the cycling was on the slower side.  The two-loop bike course had 11 turns of 90 degrees or more and everyone had to slow down for them for safety's sake.  Thankfully, I believe the race finished without any wrecks.

Actually, when I first jumped on my bike past the Mount Line of the transition area, I had a lot of trouble clipping in and almost ran front wheel into a curb.  Luckily, I was able to regain my balance and avoid a (time-consuming and embarrasing) crash.  After that episode, I was on my way.

Compared with last year's Monster Tri (my PR for this course) bike time of 34:12, I spent nearly three more minutes out on the bike course.  Obviously, slowing down for the turns really added to a loss of momentum and speed. However, this is something everyone had to contend with, and my bike time was about 40th ... in the top 10% of the field - so no complaints!

After the bike, things were pretty smoothly.  My 0:56.9 T2 is a PR for this course even if just by a few seconds and my 5K run was just a few seconds shy of the PR I set in my first race on this course (Monster 2007 - 24:54).  I still haven't been able to break the 8:00/mi tri-5K barrier (darn!).

Took SaltSticks before the event, at T1, and at T2.  Despite this I felt a cramp in my calf coming on at the start of my run.  So I don't know if the SaltSticks didn't make a difference in this area ... or perhaps prevented a full-blown (disasterous) Charlie Horse.

After the race, I caught up with fellow racemates, took some photos, and had some pancakes with Lee and Jenn.  (Wisely, back inside the Natatorium to warm up.)  After learning that Sarah had taken 2nd in her age group, I decided to stick around the awards ceremony and was rewarded for it ... My bib number was picked during the door prize drawings and I went home with a new Rudy Project Kontact+ helmet!

So even though it wasn't the best weather, it was still a good fun race and a nice surprise at the end.

Full results at: http://www.racechiptiming.com/files/ST.PADDY'STRIRESULTS.HTM

2009 Cowtown Half

I finished the Cowtown Half Marathon this morning in 1:57: Not quite a PR (I was hoping to get to 1:50), but I'll take it.

Met with part of the Ranch View Gang near the starting area for some photo ops and pre-race inspiration, but it turns out that some of the smarter members of the gang had been waiting in the Starbucks around the corner.

The day started off cold and very windy (22 MPH average with 30+ MPH gusts).  Panicked due to the wind and bundled up for the start.  Consequently, I was completely overdressed for the race - gloves, two long sleeve tech shirts and two pairs of pants over my tri-shorts.

The shirts came off at Mile 2 or 3. And if they weren't my good wind-pants (and my running gloves were stuck in the pockets), the pants would have been tossed as well.  So I definitely wasn't in my "comfort zone".

The course what I expected since it was the same as last year.  After the initial steep downhill from the Courthouse, a steady uphill climb to Mile 8, then downhill for a couple miles and finally uphill again when approaching downtown Fort Worth to the finish line.  Elevation map in the MotionBased stats below.

I didn't have a great race, but it was okay.  Lowlights: Had to stop at mile 0.5 to adjust my PattStrap which had slipped down (probably from rubbing against my running tights - another reason I shouldn't have worn long pants) from its above-the-knee perch.  Also had to use the "portolet" at the Mile 6 aide station - I think I was just tired and convinced myself that I needed the rest :-P.  However, despite these stops, I still had a sub-9:00/mi pace, so it was still a respectable performance by me - the total time being almost exactly what I did in the Benbrook Half last month and the DRC Half back in November.   I'd like to do more running training, but am worried about reinjuring my stress fracture.  We shall see ...

Oh well, I still had a great time and got to see my friends before, (a few) during, and after the race.  Lots of good refreshments at the finish and an awesome medal (the first of a series of five!) to boot.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

Course map & MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7706995

Full results at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=17319&year=2009

2009 Texas Motor Speedway Sprint Du

Great day for race this morning. I thought the weather might be on the cool side when loading up my bike this morning, but it turned out not too bad and very little wind (yay!) Big crowd – 350 participants. Ironhead Jack said it was the biggest duathlon in DFW since he ran the Du National Championships back in 1996(??)

I ended up finishing with a 1:19:47. I’m very happy with this result because I shaved over five minutes off my time from 2008's race - despite that last year the run legs were only about 1.8 miles each and this year they were the full 2 miles. Granted the lack of wind (which was very strong in 2008) also helped.

My official results:

• 16th out of 30 in my age group
• 87th out of 219 men
• 94th place overall (out of 319 finishers)

• Run 1 (2 miles officially): 15:36 (7:48/mi, 162nd place)
• T1: 00:58
• Bike (16 miles officially): 45:44 (21.0mph, 57th place)
• T2: 00:54
• Run 2 (2 miles officially): 16:33 (8:17/mi, 191st place)  

(Obviously, my running is still the weak link.)

Here are my stats as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner 305 (split times very close to the chip timed results):


I'm pretty happy with my level of effort as my heart rate was fairly consistent and not out of control (keeping my speed down for first run leg helped):

Lee passed me at Mile 1.25 of the first run leg – the 2:00 head start that my age group had over his evaporated. I trotted into transition and was changing my shoes as he was heading out on the bike course. My 7:43/mi run pace was a little slower than last year’s 7:35/mi, but not by much. First run leg speed chart:


After a sub-minute T1 (nice, smooth transitions), I started the three loops around Texas Motor Speedway for the bike. I passed Lee at about Mile 3 of the bike (south side of the Speedway) knowing full-well that he’d pass me again back on the run. The lack of wind really helped my speed (and maybe those new tires that we got last summer). My bike avg was 18.4 MPH last year ... this year, 21.3 MPH (per GPS). Woo-hoo! I might have been able to go even a little faster I hadn’t gotten two Charlie Horses – right calf during loop 2 and left calf during loop 3. Yep, I had forgotten to take my SaltSticks. Live and learn.

Bike elevation:


Fairly consistent bike speed:


Luckily, the cramps had pretty much subsided after T2 and the start of the second run leg. As expected, Lee re-passed me at about Mile 1.75 for a strong push in the final stretch. My run pace was 8:23/mi per GPS (vs. 8:37/mi in 2008) so while still lumbering, it was actually a stronger finish than I felt it would be.  Second run leg speed chart:


In the final results, Lee finished in 67th with his great runs. My friend Archie, who I saw at many races in 2007, is back in DFW after moving out of state last year and obviously has been training hard ... he crushed us both at 36th place and a 1:13:49 time. Jenn, my spin LA Fitness instructor, had a good race as well and finished in 5th place in her age group.

Full results at: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3396

Next up: The Cowtown Half Marathon

Moving the Cheese

(Perhaps "moving the finish line" is more accurate, but I really like that book.)

The only way to get better (for endurance training, anyway) is to go longer and harder.  So I'm going to try to kick it up a notch the next few weeks until I begin tapering in mid-March for the Lonestar Half-Iron.

On Saturday, I started the morning by meeting up with the Keller Running Club at the Keller-Smithfield Node for their "6-miler" on the Bear Creek Trails.  I took a detour up the steep hill on Elaine St (both times - on the "out" and the "back") and did the loop around the baseball fields at the Keller Sports Part so my run totalled just over 8 miles.  Afterward, I did another couple of miles (oops, forgot to restart the Garmin) with a fellow Cowtown Half-marathoners - back west on Bear Creek Parkway to Keller Town Hall and the KISD Natatorium and then wound along the trails back to the Node (and my car).  About 10 miles total.  MotionBased data & map (for the first run): http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7619648

After the run, I hightailed it to LA Fitness and was surprised to find that even at 9:00 AM (15 minutes before the start of spin class), all the bikes were already reserved.  I caught a huge break when someone working out on a bike told me he was planning on leaving at 9:10 and that I could have his bike then.  Nice.  Not only did I get a bike when it wasn't looking likely, but the bike he was riding was "my" bike (you spin regulars know what I mean).

After 6 minutes on the rowing machine (while waiting for the clock to reach 9:10), I hit the first class hard (avg hr 155 bpm) and then took a 4-minute breather during the 15-minute intermission (note heart rate drop on chart from 1:05-1:09) and the tried to hang in there for another hour.  The second class was very hard - the run was definitely catching up to me and my legs felt very sore.  But overall, I ran 2.75 miles more than last week and added the 6-minute rower session - so definitely a significantly more vigorous effort despite the lower heart rate during the double spin-classes.

Today, after two 2,000 yd swims last week, I decided to go a little farther.  Total swim time: 52:44.6; Total distance: 2,500 yd.  My splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:31.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:29
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:25
  
• 4th 500 yds: 10:40
• 5th 500 yds: 10:38.5
  

Still a ways to go when compared with my 3,000 yd PR pace, but overall, not too shabby ...

Symmetric Week

Symmetric as in [Swim] - [Bike+Run] - [Bike+Swim] - [Bike+Run] - [Swim]

Monday (2/9) : 2,000 yd swim in 37:54.4 (splits: 9:28, 9:31.5, 9:25, 9:30).  Pretty fast time (5:45 faster than January 19) - mainly because I "cheated" and wore tri-shorts.  Taking yesterday off helped as well.  Still, it felt good to get in a longish swim.

Tuesday (2/10): 1 hour spin class (144 bpm avg heart rate - hmm, why so low? - lazy!) followed by a 1:16 transition and a two-mile treadmill brick run in 16:29 (8:15/mi pace; 153 bpm avg heart rate)

Wednesday (2/11): 1 hour spin class (149 avg heart rate - better intensity, but still doggin' it!) and then a 500 yd cool-down swim in 10:36

Thursday (2/12): A clone of Tuesday - 1 hour spin class (156 bpm avg heart rate) followed by a 2:53 transition and a two-mile treadmill brick run in 18:20 (161 bpm avg heart rate despite the 9:10/mi pace; I was a little tired after that spin class)

Friday (2/13): I ended the week the way I started it - with another 2,000 yd swim.  No tri-shorts this time so I'm back to my normal pace.  My time was 42:26.6 with splits of 10:23, 10:38.5, 10:41, 10:44.  Not bad at all - just 1:08 slower than my 2,000 yd PR.

Happy Friday the 13th and that "other holiday" tomorrow!