2010: The Plan

The racing season is starting to be pieced together for next year. So far, here's the plan:

May: Ironman Florida 70.3 (Orlando, FL)
June: Ironman Kansas 70.3 (Lawrence, KS)
June: Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3 (Lubbock, TX)
July: Ironman USA (Lake Placid, NY)
November: Ironman Arizona (Tempe, AZ)

I guess it's time to start training.

Singing in the Rain

Despite flash flooding on the bike course, the Long Course National Championship was a fast race. About 45 minutes before the start of the race, a thunderstorm rolled through that delayed the race by 45 minutes. The Race Directors decided that we would race, but at certain spots on the bike course we would be required to dismount...pick up our bikes...and carry them ~75 yards across the washed out roads. This Half Ironman distance triathlon quickly became a cyclocross event. The rain continued to pour and continued for 4 of the 4.5 hours that I was on the course. Because of the flat terrain in Oklahoma City, several sections on the run course were also full of a half foot of standing water. This was a lot of fun.

The race was without a doubt a success. I came out of the water in about 10th place for my age. Coming off of the bike, I had made up a lot of time. In fact, I saw another guy in my age group in the bike to run transition at the same time. We came out of transition within 3 yards of each other in 1st and 2nd place for Men 25-29, and it stayed that way for almost the rest of the run. I led for the first 11.5 miles by one step. His footsteps were like a constant echo for the first hour and ten minutes. With 1.5 miles to go, I laid it all on the line and took off at about a 5:40 pace. I was able to hold on to this pace and ended up winning my age group by 1.5 minutes with a total time of 4:29:07. I did the 1/2 marathon run portion in 1:25:09, which was a 6:30 min/mile pace. Not bad considering the rain. Overall, I took 12th place at the National Championship.

Mind Games

This weekend, I will be travelling to Oklahoma City for the USA Triathlon Long Course National Championship. It will consist of a 1900m swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 run. After taking the entire month of June off for recovery from the 100 miler, I jumped right back into triathlon training and decided to tackle some of the best triathletes in the States.

Just when I have started seeing the end of the 2009 season, my competitive nature has been sparked by a friend on Facebook. A guy I met from San Diego will be headed to Missouri for the first 100 mile run hosted in the state, and he asked why I wasn't doing the race. Now start the head games...do I have time to get ready after OKC? What will Lindsay think? Can I mentally take a break from racing? I haven't run anything over 16 miles since June. Have I lost my long distance endurance? Why do I insist on self-inflicted pain?

After knocking these questions around for awhile, I went to the blog of one of my favorite endurance athletes-David Goggins. Here's a bit of one of his posts that I have to at least consider when deciding on whether or not to do another hundred in 8 weeks:

One thing that always comes back to my mind that I am going to share with you is this..... What good does all of this actually do. What does running ultra's, biking, lifting, ect. What does it do for you? Where does it get you?
For me, the answer is this. It's not about what you do in life. It is about what you don't do. The truth is running has not got me anywhere in life. I don't enjoy it. I hate it really. It certainly hasn't made an income for my family. And it definitely takes up a lot of my spare time. So why do it then? Because I can. When I was running 100 mile races back to back weekends, people never understood. They thought I was crazy. They told me how injured I was going to get. But I didn't care. I still don't. Tomorrow is never promised to you. If I looked back on those times now and didn't do the Plain 100 because it was too soon after my other race, I would kick myself. Now I can look back and say. I'm glad that I did what I did when I could.
I am not saying that this is how everybody should be. What I am saying is that I believe everybody should push themselves to their limit. Whether it be in life or in sport. If not, you will wake up one day and your limits will have been determined by other factors. Health, family, work, ect. While you have it in your power to do something, do it. Don't wait until that opportunity gets taken from you. I know I'm not. I hope to see you somewhere on the road in June 2010.

The Damage is Done

The SAN DIEGO 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN was a success. Thank you to Pam, Lindsay, and Tyler for pacing me and keeping me awake. Thanks to my family for coming out to support me. I don't have much to say. It hurt and at the same time was such an incredible feeling. It's been 3 weeks and I'm still recovering. My 2nd trip to the chiropractor/active release trainer will be in a few days. Needless to say...I'm pretty banged up. Here are a few videos from the race, which started at 6am Saturday and ended at 4:08am Sunday.




I finished at 4:08 am and it was about 42 degrees out. My total time was 22:08:36, which was a 13:17 min/mile pace on a 100% trail and mountain race.

I placed 14th overall out of 130 and 1st for my age group (Men 20-29).

Free State Trail Run - 40 MILES

3 minutes and 10 seconds...that's all that separated me from first place. This was an extremely fun run that included navigating rocky waterfronts, 99% single-track trail, and a whole lot of mud. The run went really well, except for my nutrition plan. I didn't bring extra Gu with me and it wasn't on site. This has become my main sustenance during these runs. Without it on Saturday made the race an energy exhausting race. Lesson learned.

Free State Trail Runs Website: http://www.psychowyco.com/id1.html

Brew to Brew and Free State 40

The Brew to Brew was a successful race. I took 2nd place in 5:33:45, which averaged out to be 7:40 per mile. The conditions were fairly tough. After 26 miles, the sideways snow and rolling hills started and really took their toll; but, I made it through the 43.5 mile trek. My parents made up my crew and did a great job. I even think I saw my Mom run with me for awhile to hand-off water bottles. What a great experience...I love this crazy stuff.

The Free State 40 takes place in 11 days in Lawrence, KS. It is all on trails at Clinton State Park. The 40 mile race should be great practice for running on trails in San Diego.

As the light begins to shine at the end of the tunnel, I am starting to wonder if I've trained enough. I have found that one of my biggest obstacles is self-doubt, in regards to my training, preparation, and recovery. I have also found this to be a great motivator. It helps me make my body a slave...

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Cor. 9:24-27

100+/wk.

In the heat of Ironman training, when I was running 50 miles per week, cycling 250 miles per week, and swimming 6 miles per week, I never remember being as run-down as I am now. The month of March kicked off the beginning of 100+ mile weeks strung back-to-back. This most recent 7 days, I've put in 110.2 miles in 13 hours and 4 minutes. This means my average mile is a 7:07. Too bad I can't maintain this over a 100 Mile Trail run. Speaking of that...I have entered the San Diego 100 Mile Run. It will take place in the mountains in eastern San Diego County. That race is definitely a motivating factor for me as I struggle to log over 100 miles per week.

In addition to the San Diego race, I'm planning on racing the Brew 2 Brew race from Kansas City to Lawrence in 2 weeks. The course is 43.5 miles of pavement, gravel, and trail that leads me back to my alma mater. Expect the results in a few weeks.

Rocky Raccoon 50 Miler

The first race of 2009 is done and was a success. The Rocky Raccoon trail runs take place in Huntsville, TX, which is about an hour northwest of Houston. There are two distance options - 100 Miles or 50 Miles. I chose the 50 Miler and ran a 7:10:43, which equated to a pace of 8:36 per mile. This was good enough for 4th place overall of a total of 214 racers. Thank God for the strength to endure.