Race Report: MadCity 100K Relay

My first 'official' race since Ironman took place last Saturday in Madison, WI. I was part of a 100K relay team in the MadCity 100K. I ran the third lap of the relay - a 10K. You would think that the 2nd Saturday in April would bring pleasant temperatures, sunshine and green grass. Then again, this is Wisconsin and in the year of the Never-ending winter we raced in true Wisconsin style.

Race morning brought temperatures in the low 30's, a wet and constant snow, with some pretty brutal winds. I got in the morning prepared to run, but definitely not looking forward to it. I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to run well since my calves were tight and my stomach was rumbling from the previous night's meal of nachos and ice cream. Not kidding - that was indeed my dinner.

I arrived at the race site and was greeted by many familiar faces. It was truly a pleasure to be back in the 'racing' scene since my post-Ironman hiatus. I arrived just in time to see Peter cruise through on his first lap. He was making great time and looked fresh and focused. I ran out, cheered like an idiot and then went back in the Fleet Feet tent to stay out of the wind. There were some fairly nasty gusts on that side of the lake. Brrrrr!

I got my number and somehow managed to forget my race belt. A few bathroom trips later and utterly convinced I was going to run terribly, I needed to start warming up. I planned to warm-up for 20 minutes before I would start my loop. I pleaded with several others to join me in a warm-up and finally my friend Gus agreed. We ran out for about 4 minutes when we saw Gus's teammate and the person he was taking the hand-off from, we had to hustle back to beat her in. Moments later Gus took off successfully and I scrambled back into the tent.

One of my friends brought her adorable 7 month old son to hang out with us in the tent while we waited to run. He was sooooo cute in his blue bear snow suit. And, he was an additional source of heat. He kept me nice and warm while I waited for my runner to come in. While holding Cooper, my runner was coming. I quickly handed off Cooper to his mom, ran to meet my runner, put the chip on and I was off.

Mile 1 - I started out even on the first mile. I was trying not to go too hard, but to find a pace I could do without pain or feeling like I was going to lose my nachos. I sensed that I was running strongly, but wouldn't know it until I passed the first mile marker. Peter was several minutes ahead of me and I had no hope of catching him. Also, this is a long/relay style race. I had no one to run with or pace against, so I was pretty much going by feel until the first mile marker. My time read 8:31. Really? That was 8:31! It felt a lot harder than that....I was going to be in trouble, if I couldn't at least hold that pace.

Mile 2 - Trying not to get too disappointed by my first mile, I just kept running as steady and strong as possible. Maybe I'd at least finish around 52.5 minutes. That would be good for me given the circumstances. It's worth noting too that once you turned away from the lake in Mile 1, the wind was no longer a factor. Running conditions were far more comfortable. Mile 2 is pretty flat and seemed to go by fairly quickly. I arrived at the Mile 2 marker at 16:15. This means my 2nd mile was 7:44! I don't think I picked up that much speed, so I just assumed Mile 1 may have been a little bit long.

Mile 3 - At this point one of the solo runners had passed me and was about 20 yards in front of me. Finally I had someone to pace against. It was interesting to pace behind this solo runner. He always picked the shortest distance between every corner, turn, etc...I was so used to running on the left on this course that I never thought about running the shortest distance between points during a race. I employed the solo runner's strategy for the rest of the race. Mile 3 includes a long, steady hill. I slowed down a bit to try and not exhaust my legs on the hills. I hit the Mile 3 marker at 24:20. 8:05 for Mile 3....good considering the fun hill I just ran.

Mile 4 - More rolling hills and still following my solo runner until the aid station about 3/4 of the way through the mile. My solo runner made his way to a port-o-potty and I kept right on trucking. I hit Mile 4 at 32:05. Another 7:45 mile....At this point it was decision time. I only had 2 more miles to go. If I could hang on to this pace, I would break 50 minutes. This was something I had not thought I could do today and was surprised by my steady running. I decided to go for it. What's another 16-18 minutes of running?

Mile 5 - Overall, a pretty uneventful mile. It included a few small hills, but mostly flats. The worst part was coming out of the tree cover and into the open. You could see up ahead that the wind was just whipping across the lake and that you were going to get hammered as you came out of the trees and turned towards the lake. Sure enough, the wind was strong and cold. It felt like you were running into a wall. I feared I would slow down, but just tried to fight the wind as best I could. I hit the mile 5 marker at 39:51. 7:46 for that mile and right on target.

Mile 6 - I was tired at this point and sick of fighting the wind, but I forced myself to hang on. I knew that once I exited the Arb and turned towards the finish line that I had roughly 4 minutes of running left. That final 4 minutes feels pretty long though. You can see the finish line and it looks so close, but really is fairly far yet. I cruised on in and finished in 48:58! It was awesome to hear all the cheers from my fellow runners and friends.

I am absolutely thrilled with how I did and my overall contribution to the relay. I wasn't feeling the best that morning, I didn't eat well the night before, my running has been less than stellar since the beginning of the year and somehow I still managed to run a solid race. Sometimes I wonder what I could if I did everything 'right'? :)

Peter - What happened to Peter you ask? After 50K, Peter handed in his chip. He ran strong and steady for half the race, but ultimately decided it was in his best interests to hand in his chip. I'm guessing he'll write his own race re-cap on his blog. Check it out at: http://lostcobber.blogspot.com

The racing juices have been renewed and I am now ready to get back into the game. Next race - Crazy Legs Classic, Saturday April 26th

62 miles, Snow, Wind - Crazy? You be the judge!

My training partner and friend Peter is about to embark on the stupidest thing I have seen him do yet. He is going to run a 62 mile race tomorrow. That's right folks, 62 mind-numbing, pain-filled miles. What makes this so crazy, aside from the obvious? Peter has never run more than 26 miles in his life. Yes, Peter has rocked 2 Ironmans and that is quite a feat in itself. Despite this fact though, I think Peter has what it takes to enter, do well and enjoy this race. He has just the right mixture of stamina, determination and stupidity.

So maybe I'm being a little hard on Peter. I do have a tremendous amount of faith in him, but I also don't want to see him hurt himself and affect the rest of his season for a decision that was based on nothing resembling a training plan or long time dream. Fortunately, I'll be out there cheering Peter on in the early morning hours and then hopefully running his 3rd loop alongside him.

And because it wouldn't be running without it, tomorrow's race will be accompanied by Snow, Wind and chilly temperatures. That has been the story of the 2007-08 Winter. Even though it's officially spring, the trend continues.

Best of Luck Peter! I know you will do awesome and make good decisions out there, right? :) And hey, if you happen to place and win some dough, remember who paced you through the most critical lap of the race (that'd be lap #3) :)

Bad Treadmill

For the record, I don't like treadmills. They are boring and I don't feel that they accurately represent pacing, distance and speed. Sometimes though, when the weather is total crap or its dark out and I don't want to run alone, they become a necessary evil.

This morning I needed to run and bike for 45 minutes each. First, I opted to hop on the treadmill and beat any other early morning runners. At 515am, I hopped on and began my run. The first 10-15 minutes were mind numbing, but eventually I got into a rhythm and the minutes started ticking by. 29 minutes in and just when I was going to hit my fastest pace of the run, the lights on the treadmill went out and it stopped.

I turned it off and on again. Nothing. I unplugged and hit the reset button. Nothing. I unplugged, reset it and turned it off and on. Still nothing. There I was - just in the high point of my run, hot and sweaty, not finished with my prescribed run and a dead treadmill. I had 3 options. 1) Bag the rest of the run, 2) Get dressed and run outside or 3) Run the stairs in my building.

Option 1 - no way. I cut my run short Tuesday because I didn't feel well, but this time I was determined to finish it. Option 2 - Would have worked as it was getting lighter out, but I still had to bike after the run. Plus all the clothes changing would have been annoying. So, Option 3 it is. Run the stairs. Fortunately, all the windows were open on the stairwell. This made it cool and well ventilated. 16 minutes of running 4 floors of stairs and it was time to hop on my bike.

I had to ride easy for 45 minutes now. I kept the pace steady and constant. I really enjoyed riding easy. It was really quite pleasant, even though it was fairly boring. I listened to music the whole time on my nano. Last time I rode early in the morning and had my TV on, the speakers caused the neighbors to bang on the walls (even though it wasn't loud). Stupid Subwoofer. So headphones it was this time around.

I suppose I should call the new management company about the treadmill. Maybe they can get it fixed soon. It is nice to have that backup, although hopefully the weather will be nicer in the coming weeks and ALL runs will be outside. Besides, Treadmills are evil.

My work is done for the day, which is a great feeling. Now it's just up to me to enjoy my day :)

It's official, I suck....

....at blogging regularly. It was easy when I had Ironman to blog weekly. There was always some new training milestone or adventure to write about. Now, it's just daily life which still includes training, work and plenty of other fun stuff. I just don't feel the motivation to write. I tried last week and was actually successful at writing an entry. Somehow, it disappeared from blogger....something with their servers perhaps? Who knows?! Anyways, here goes...

My first 'race' of the season is this Saturday. I am part of a relay, so I'm not sure I can call it a race, but I guess I am still running against the clock. My crazy friend Peter decided to run the MadCity 100K. That's right, 62 miles of fun and excitement this Saturday. I told Peter I'd run the first 2 10K loops with him to help keep his brain occupied. Peter checked the rules and it said he couldn't have someone 'pace' him unless they were in the race. So, somehow I ended up on the FF MadCity 100K relay team and am running 3rd. Now I don't even know if I will see Peter during the run or not. Oh well! I guess it will be a good test of my run fitness. I'm not sure I really need to test it though. I know where I'm at and it ain't pretty. After a winter of less than ideal running conditions, I let my running fall to the wayside as I worked on my bike, my swim and spending time with Joe.

Speaking of Joe, he just returned from Jackson Hole. Lucky guy! I got the chance to see his pictures and it looked spectacular. I can't wait to go on our hiking trip in August-September with him (and 3 of his buddies). It will be my first experience backpacking and it sounds like it's going to be an intense, yet beautiful first hike. We are venturing deep into the backcountry of Kings Canyon in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I've always wanted to do something like this. I've just never had the people to go with me. I recently got my backpack and shoes. I'm about to purchase the clothing I need and then just a few more purchases before I am ready to go!

One of Joe and my favorite new activities is bowling! I always enjoyed it, but since dating Joe I've really gotten into it. I even learned to throw a hook ball recently, which has helped me focus my efforts rather than just trying to aim for the pins. Most of the time, we have a lot of fun doing it. Look out though, when we are bowling bad it becomes very frustrating. Last week we bowled 10 games on one day! I look forward to doing that again this Sunday! I'd really like to join a league too. Maybe not over the summer, but definitely in the fall.

My first big triathlon of the summer is on the horizon - only 2 months away. That sounds like a long time, but as we all know - time flies! I'm a bit nervous at this point, but know that I can do well 2 months from now. It'll be pretty cool to do my first big race in Minnesota this season. My coach and many other Digit athletes will be there. Plus, Joe will be there! I hope I kick some major butt. I don't have many races on my schedule this year, so I want to do well in the ones that I do race in. I opted to maintain a more flexible schedule this year so that I can have fun doing other things as well - like camping, hiking, relaxing, traveling, etc...

Today looks to be a gloomy day in Madison. Heavy rain is supposed to fall this afternoon/evening. I am supposed to go out and run at lunch. Part of me hopes it pours so I don't have to. But another part of me knows I need to get my butt out there and do it. I think I used up all my self-motivation last year during Ironman. I need time to replenish the supply!

Here we are again (Part 2)

I started this post last week, intent on getting it done while at work in San Diego. Here I am though, one week later and no further than I was a week ago. Let's see where I left off.....

Wisconsin Rapids
Joe invited me to join him in Wisconsin Rapids for a weekend of fun in the snow and sun with some of his firefighter buddies. The weather was perfect, the food was awesome and the drinks were flowing. All in all, it was a really fun weekend.

Joe showed off his snowboarding skills as he was pulled around the lake by Chris and his 4-wheeler. Then we took a turn at tubing behind the 4 wheeler together. It didn't last long though because the snow was blowing up into our faces and was pretty chilly. The rest of our time there was spent eating an awesome dinner and playing a board game called Apples to Apples.

On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Mirror Lake to go XC-skiing. The weather was nice and the snow conditions were perfect. After about an hour though, we were both tired.

Bowling with the Firefighters

The following weekend involved more fun times with the Janesville FD. This time we spent our time indoors bowling and drinking our brains out. The night before the big tournament I became the proud owner of a new bowling ball, shoes and a bag. Of course we had to try it out and bowled 5 games the night before the tournament. Needless to say, I was a little sore going into Saturday.

I was expecting to bowl only 3 games in the 9-pin Tap tournament that was intended for spouses/significant others. 2 of Joe's teammates didn't show up so I got to bowl in the regular tournament as well. 6 more games of bowling. It was lots of fun. My bowling was so-so, but that's ok, I'm still learning. There was plenty of drinking going on which added an element of fun to the day.

So, you are pretty much caught up now, short of talking about my work trip to San Diego last week. All I can about that is that the weather was amazing. It was great to be in t-shirt weather for 5 days, especially after the winter we've had. Now I'm back and trying to get back into the swing of things - training, time with Joe, work, etc...

I promise to get into the blogging a little more often. I know, I've been a slacker.

Here we are again....

So, here we are again. As I attempt to get back into more regular blogging, I am sitting in a hotel in sunny(not snowy, cloudy or cold) San Diego. This is the third time in 4 months that I have been to San Diego, but this time it's for work and not pleasure. I'll admit, I'm not at all thrilled to be traveling for work this week. But, after a day of sunshine, comfortable temps and not a drop of snow or ice in sight, it may be worth it. Before I go on and on about that though, it's catch-up time. Here's the highlights of the last 3 weeks.

Valentine's Day
This was a special Valentine's Day this year. I am in a new relationship and couldn't be happier. Joe is absolutely wonderful. I have a ton of fun with him and as he puts it 'he's a good boy'. He's definitely holding up to the things he says. (I think I'll keep him around awhile longer ;))

It was a Thursday this year and both Joe/I agreed to keep it low key. We didn't want to deal with reservations or getting dressed up. We just decided to cook together and relax. Sounds perfect to me! It's always tricky when deciding what to get someone in a new relationship for Valentine's Day. I settled on the 'Planet Earth' DVD set for Joe and a cute card.

Unfortunately for Joe he was pretty sick on Valentine's Day. But he was a trooper. He still came over to my house to spend the evening with me. When I arrived home, a dozen beautiful red roses were waiting for me along with a bag full of dark chocolates and my favorite body lotions. The gift was incredibly thoughtful, sweet and romantic. Joe knocked this one outta the park. The best part was the card - very funny and sweet :) If you want to know what it says, you'll have to come over and take a look at it.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Joe was asleep by 8pm. Poor guy was sick for several more days before he turned the corner. Fortunately, I never ended up catching whatever he had.

Skiing in Kettle Morraine
Several days later, Joe and I made a trek out to Kettle Morraine to work on our skate skiing. We've had a very snowy winter and conditions were perfect the day we went. We had some fresh new snow, temps were in the high 20's and the sun was shining. Joe was still recovering from his illness, but we made it for just over an hour of skiing.

It was a beautiful day, the trees were gorgeous and covered with snow. Some of the trails were pretty hilly, but overall not too bad. Joe and I took turns leading. Joe would lead on the downhills and I'd take over on the uphills. I had a couple of good spills which led to a few good laughs for Joe.

After we finished up, we went to a small sandwich shop in La Grange. It was delicious and filled with skiers. We picked out a bottle of wine and headed home. Since skiing wasn't enough, we decided to shovel several feet of snow off of Joe's deck. It was a great day - lots of fun, lots of activity, great company.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 'Here we are again'.....More to come!

Training Slump

Before I get back to catching you all up on my life, I thought I'd ramble a bit about training. I'm in a slump. I'm still pretty diligent about getting in 2-3 swims a week and 3 bikes...but my runs....well let's just say it's been a fight to get me out doing those.

First I have to say 'It's not all my fault'. I know, it sounds like an excuse, but it is so difficult to feel motivated to run when it's snowy, icy, freezing, pouring rain with huge puddles, etc...This winter has been tough for runners in WI. The weather has made it challenging and a bit unsafe at times. Yes, I could certainly head for a treadmill, but that is so boring I can't even begin to describe the monotony of running in one place for 45 minutes or longer. I've been lucky to run 10 miles in one week lately.

Second, everyone around me has been sick lately. I've been trying to avoid getting sick and every time I have a single symptom I take time off and rest. This has worked for me so far, but has also gotten me into a position where I don't feel like running much. It's frustrating and makes me anxious about what will happen with my running once the weather turns the corner. I definitely feel slow and probably am slower than I was a few months ago since my running has cut back a bit.

Swimming is going well. I did have my Time Trial last week and I knew during the warm-up that I was going to have a less than ideal TT. I swam a 5:55 for 400 yards. That's an official personal best for me, but I know I'm capable of much more than that. Just a few days ago at practice I was swimming my 200's in 2:48 or 2:50. The nice part about those was they didn't feel like Time Trial pace, but were quite a bit faster than my TT pace last Friday. That's the way it goes though, some days you have it and some days you don't. It's just the nature of training. You accept the bad days because you can't always have good days. It doesn't work like that.

Biking is also going well. I'm really anxious to get my bike out on the road this spring and see how my training over the winter has affected my road riding. I've worked hard on the bike and am hoping that translates into some good bike splits this summer.

I need to get back to days of long bike rides and runs...blue skies, warm temperatures, carrying water or gatorade on a hot summer day. I'll just say it, I'm sick of winter. Spring and Summer can't come soon enough....