This past weekend I rode a pretty hard 40+ miles. It felt great to really push hard and try to keep up with Glenda and Nails. Well, they dropped me, but were kind enough to come back for me. And now, a couple of days later, I have what seems to be another flare up of pericarditis.
None of the doctors said that they think there is a correlation between strenuous exercise, but it seems that for me there is a pretty direct correlation. But, I seem to be able to push myself fairly hard while running and it not come back to hurt me. Part of me thinks that it is that I have a much stronger base in running than I do in biking and swimming. But, this is my third year of doing triathlon training and the flare ups have been becoming more frequent. So the denial side of me wants to believe that it is happening independent of my training. Sadly, I think I have been listening to the denial side a bit too much lately.
So, can I try to slowly build up a solid base in the swim and bike and hope that doesn’t cause any more problems? Or will that just lead to more flare ups and more time off from work. Or do I just walk away from training and start doing a little running, biking, and swimming to just stay in shape? Will that even keep the flare ups from happening? And what do I do if the flare ups keep happening even when I stop training? Do I go back to training?
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -T
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Race Reports and Updates
Since getting the all clear from the doc, I have raced two trail races and slowly ramped up the triathlon training. Well, technically one of the races I didn't truly race and it was a couple of days before the doc cleared me. Oh well.
It has felt great to get back to running and training. My first race back, The Maze, was a 10k trail race held by Rogue Running. I did not race the race as many people might assume. I did push myself though and made it about a 70% effort run. The second race was The Loop, the second part of Rogue's trail series. This one I did race. The first thing I noticed is that I have lost a lot of my speed. I tried to stick with the leaders right off the start line, but I just couldn't run that fast. But, after things settled down and people found their rhythm, I could certainly hang with them. I know the speed will come back before too long, but it is going to take some work.
The tri training is coming along. Well, except that my bike frame got cracked. But Masi is shipping out a new one today or tomorrow! Every sport is a little rusty right now, but I have been surprised that it all seems to be in better shape this year than when I started up again last year. Fingers crossed that it continues on in this pattern.
One of my good friends and fellow vegetarian/vegan athletes has started up his own blog. He will probably be a much more prolific writer than I am. So go check it out. The No Meat Geek. Good stuff.
Until next time, run friendly! -T
It has felt great to get back to running and training. My first race back, The Maze, was a 10k trail race held by Rogue Running. I did not race the race as many people might assume. I did push myself though and made it about a 70% effort run. The second race was The Loop, the second part of Rogue's trail series. This one I did race. The first thing I noticed is that I have lost a lot of my speed. I tried to stick with the leaders right off the start line, but I just couldn't run that fast. But, after things settled down and people found their rhythm, I could certainly hang with them. I know the speed will come back before too long, but it is going to take some work.
The tri training is coming along. Well, except that my bike frame got cracked. But Masi is shipping out a new one today or tomorrow! Every sport is a little rusty right now, but I have been surprised that it all seems to be in better shape this year than when I started up again last year. Fingers crossed that it continues on in this pattern.
One of my good friends and fellow vegetarian/vegan athletes has started up his own blog. He will probably be a much more prolific writer than I am. So go check it out. The No Meat Geek. Good stuff.
Until next time, run friendly! -T
Friday, March 25, 2011
I'm back!
Well, it seems that with a new drug, Celebrex - the arthritis med, I have been showing great recovery and the doctor has given me the clear to go back to training. I meet with Panther next week to determine what it is that will entail. But I'll go through some of my thoughts on it.
One of my goals for this year was to do an ironman so that I could say I did it before I turned 30. While I could still probably get there, it wouldn't be pretty, and it certainly wouldn't be a race that I would be proud of. So that is on the shelf for the time being. Instead, I figure I will try to use those fast twitch muscles while I still have them and focus on 5ks, 10ks, sprint, and olympic tris. We shall see.
I don't know how all of this will work yet, but I am excited about it. With all the training, I am going to still try to find more of a balance in my life this season though. I don't have the passion for golf that I once did, and it certainly does not compete with running and triathlon, but I don't want to get as far away from it as I have the past two years. Also, I want to try to make more time for my friends that don't do the crazy training gig. Again, how this will all work out, I don't know. But I am going to give it the ole college tri. (Yeah, that was bad, I know.)
OK. That's all for now. Y'all run friendly! -T
One of my goals for this year was to do an ironman so that I could say I did it before I turned 30. While I could still probably get there, it wouldn't be pretty, and it certainly wouldn't be a race that I would be proud of. So that is on the shelf for the time being. Instead, I figure I will try to use those fast twitch muscles while I still have them and focus on 5ks, 10ks, sprint, and olympic tris. We shall see.
I don't know how all of this will work yet, but I am excited about it. With all the training, I am going to still try to find more of a balance in my life this season though. I don't have the passion for golf that I once did, and it certainly does not compete with running and triathlon, but I don't want to get as far away from it as I have the past two years. Also, I want to try to make more time for my friends that don't do the crazy training gig. Again, how this will all work out, I don't know. But I am going to give it the ole college tri. (Yeah, that was bad, I know.)
OK. That's all for now. Y'all run friendly! -T
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Perspective
"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." -Albert Einstein
"A life not lived for others is not a life." -Mother Teresa
A couple of weeks ago saw me turn another year older. I still cannot believe how many people wished me a happy birthday. It really meant a lot to me and has really made me think about the quotes above. The fulfillment you can get from making someone else feel good is far more rewarding than anything we do solely for ourselves.
Well, I said that I might try to post a little more frequently now that my life is not consumed with triathlon training. One thing that I have certainly had more time to do lately is think. Sadly I haven't been able to find the same type of clarity that can come from a 2 hour long run, but I have been able to start running with my trail group a little. That is a god-send. I wish I could do more and train harder, but at least it is running.
Recently, I have been pondering my love of comedies. Or more specifically, my lack of desire to read or watch dark books and movies. Every time I look at the news there are plenty of stories of human suffering and loss that when I watch a movie or read a book, I don't want to feel that anymore.
On a different note - I am back to working at the golf course and have started playing a bit more golf. I am still a long way from where I was, but it is coming back. In many ways, I probably have a lot more potential as a golfer than I do a runner or triathlete, but I do miss training incredibly. Oh well! I guess I will just have to take that intensity to golf.
In the mean time; run friendly! -T
"A life not lived for others is not a life." -Mother Teresa
A couple of weeks ago saw me turn another year older. I still cannot believe how many people wished me a happy birthday. It really meant a lot to me and has really made me think about the quotes above. The fulfillment you can get from making someone else feel good is far more rewarding than anything we do solely for ourselves.
Well, I said that I might try to post a little more frequently now that my life is not consumed with triathlon training. One thing that I have certainly had more time to do lately is think. Sadly I haven't been able to find the same type of clarity that can come from a 2 hour long run, but I have been able to start running with my trail group a little. That is a god-send. I wish I could do more and train harder, but at least it is running.
Recently, I have been pondering my love of comedies. Or more specifically, my lack of desire to read or watch dark books and movies. Every time I look at the news there are plenty of stories of human suffering and loss that when I watch a movie or read a book, I don't want to feel that anymore.
On a different note - I am back to working at the golf course and have started playing a bit more golf. I am still a long way from where I was, but it is coming back. In many ways, I probably have a lot more potential as a golfer than I do a runner or triathlete, but I do miss training incredibly. Oh well! I guess I will just have to take that intensity to golf.
In the mean time; run friendly! -T
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A wave goodbye...for now
After my first half ironman in November of 2009 I came down with
pericarditis. Essentially the lining of my heart gets inflamed and it
makes everything much more laborious. Since then it has come back a
few times an lately it has become more frequent and the attacks more
painful. There is no evidence that says intensive exercise causes the
flare ups, but it cannot be ruled out. So, my doctor and I have
decided to take a year off from triathlon and intensive running.
pericarditis. Essentially the lining of my heart gets inflamed and it
makes everything much more laborious. Since then it has come back a
few times an lately it has become more frequent and the attacks more
painful. There is no evidence that says intensive exercise causes the
flare ups, but it cannot be ruled out. So, my doctor and I have
decided to take a year off from triathlon and intensive running.
I have no intentions of completely giving up running, but I don't yet
know how much I will be allowed to do. Luckily I have golf that I can
fall back on as something to fill my time. While I am home I can get
pretty excited about golf. And when I am on the course, all the more.
But right now, I am writing this from a log on the side of the Barton
Creek Greenbelt Trail. Watching the trail runners go by is killing me.
Especially as I stare at my trail shoes not being able to do more than
walk. We shall see how this all goes.
I'll try to post more as I apparently will have more time to write.
So, this is goodbye for now to training. But also a timid hello to
whatever awaits around the corner. Run friendly!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Getting Back on the Horse
First off - I am using the new mobile blogging "app" from blogger, so
I am not sure what this will look like.
It has been nearly three weeks since I ran my half ironman. Panther
told me to take three weeks to just do what i want and to really think
about what I want to do next. With kitchen remodeling in full force it
hasn't been to hard to fill in the time that training used to. But now
it is time to make my decision and get back on the horse.
I have decided that I really do want to do a full ironman and to see
if I could possibly qualify for Kona someday. So at least I have a
direction. But it is amazing to me just how hard it is to get back
into the training regime even with a strong desire to get back at it.
I know I will, but it seems like once you let a few practices go, your
schedule just keeps getting booked with non-workouts. Is this just me?
Or is this pretty common?
Well, hopefully I will see y'all out there soon. Run friendly!
-T (Sent from the phone. Excuse all the typos.)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Longhorn 70.3 Report
OK, I am only two and a half weeks late in getting this up. For me, that is not too shabby. For the average person, that is horrible.
The Texas Tri Series came to an end on October 17th at the Ironman 70.3 Austin, formerly known as Longhorn 70.3. This was in many ways a race of contradictions. I PRed, but had a bad race. The race was well organized, but not a good experience. So, with that I shall go into report.
For those that don’t really want to read too much, here is a really quick recap. My swim went pretty well am happy with it. T1 was a little odd as I felt a bit nauseous running to my bike, but it settled quickly. The bike started off well, too well. And instead of trying to slow down and conserve energy, I pushed it and was spent by the end of it. Ultimately my time was great though. T2 sucked as I couldn’t find my shoes right away. The run was horrible! I walked some of it. But I finished a little more than 30 minutes faster than my half ironman last year.
Sadly one of my fellow competitors in the Texas Tri Series got hurt and was unable to run Longhorn. But, that allowed me to move into 4th place in my age group. Not the way I wanted to move up a notch, but what can I do.
Now for the details...
I picked up my packet out at the Travis County Expo Center on Friday after work. This had to be the most steps I have ever gone through to pick up a packet. And somehow I missed the one that would give me my transition bags. Oops. OK, back into the assembly line of competitors to see where I screwed up. I found it without too much of an issue, and was able to work my way out.
Saturday I had to take my back down to Walter E Long (Decker Lake) to be prepositioned into transition one (T1). I actually like leaving my bike overnight as it is one less thing to lug around with you on rave morning. But, with this being a huge race, bike rack space was at a premium, and you had to rack by your race number. I can barely remember how to get to my office some mornings, so I always try to get to transition early and stake out a spot on the end of a rack so I just have to look for my bike. No such luck with this setup. Oh well. I’ll just have to try to remember where it is I am racked.
The worst part of all of this was that I do try to let air out of my tires overnight to avoid the risk of a flat the next morning. (Colin convinced me that this was a good idea. And he is quite right!) Typically it is not a big deal to pump up your tires in the morning, but for this race, we had bags that everything had to fit into. A morning bag for anything that we would need before the swim start, and immediately after the race, a bike bag, and a run bag. My bike pump does not fit into one of those bags, and I had no spectators at the race that I could hand the pump off to. I was at the mercy of the benevolence of my fellow competitors on race morning. This worked out perfectly fine, but, as I am sure is the case with most endurance athletes, I don’t like leaving things to chance or in the hands of others - at least when it comes to racing.
Race day! Traffic was backed up early. And only got worse later thanks to a wreck. Thankfully I missed that. This morning, I had to park at the expo center and then get on the school bus that would take me over to Decker Lake. First though I had to drop off my run bag at transition two (T2). Again it was by number and this spot was even more hidden than my bike spot. Ugh! Oh well. On to the bus I went and got out to the lake. Luckily there was a very nice guy racked a few bikes away that let me use his pump. After dumping the liquids on the bike and placing my bag on the handlebars I was ready to go chat with a few friends that were racing and just get ready for it all. Colin got trapped in the wreck that I mentioned earlier and barely made it out to the lake before the first pros were getting out of the water. He and I chatted a little bit and helped each other into our wetsuits right before his wave started. I was five minutes behind him.
Finally, nearly an hour after the first wave, it was my turn to go. The horn blew and we were off. The first 100-200 meters were great and I was hanging with most of the lead pack of my wave, but then I lost whatever wind I had and could not catch my breath. Instead of fighting it, I just started breast stroking for a little while and low and behold, within a minute I had my breath back. OK, back to swimming! I started passing different colored swim caps by the halfway point and just managed to keep trucking along. When I finally got to the swim exit I heard the announcer say, “And one of the first blue caps to make it out of the water, Tanner Hunt from Austin!” Holy crap, I had no idea I would be anywhere near a point to be one of the first out of the water.
As I trotted up the hill I started unzipping my wetsuit and looked for the strippers. (Side note: I think it would be hilarious if a local strip club actually volunteered to do this at a race sometime.) But the wonderful non-exoctic dancer wetsuit strippers did a great job of getting me out of my wetsuit and back on my way. As I was running up the hill I just felt my stomach lurch and had to start walking for a little bit. Not quite sure what it was all about, but oh well. I found my bike without much trouble and stuffed my wetsuit in the bag and was on my way. My stomach was already settled down a little.
The bike started off great and I was feeling wonderful. A little cold and drafty, but wonderful. Then I looked down and saw that my jersey had become unzipped to where it was just barely hanging on by the zipper start. I tried to pull the zipper up with one hand but quickly discovered this was a two handed task. Ugh! I do not have the best balance on the bike, so this will be interesting. The first 5 or so miles had a lot of hills, turns, and rough road, so I just had to suck it up and enjoy the breeze. Finally we got into the flat part of the course and I decided it was worth a shot. I rode my bike with no handlebars. And I got the zipper up! I was actually very impressed by the feat. I fully expected to have to pull over and stop to do this. Onward I went. I hit mile 20 in about 55 minutes and realized I was going a fair amount faster than what I had planned on doing. Instead of realizing that this was a sign to slow it down and conserve, I tried to keep it going. By mile 40 the stretches were very frequent and I was not a happy camper. Oh well. Gut check time. By the time I made it back to the expo center and T2 I was starting to fade mentally. I have become fairly good at getting my feet out of my shoes while on the bike so that I don’t have to run in them and save a little time getting my running shoes on. As I rolled up to the dismount line I realized that I was still securely clipped in. Oops! Luckily I didn’t fall and got off the bike before the dismount line.
I couldn’t remember which row I was in for the life of me and had to look at the signs on the end of each row to see where my stuff was. Finally I found it and was able to get to my stuff. Got the bike racked and put all of my crap on, stuffed my bike bag with stuff and was on my way.
Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t feeling exactly fresh at this point, but new that my time was looking pretty good and if I could just keep it around a 7 minute pace for the first half of the run I would be doing great. And I typically start the run feeling bad but once I find my stride I can hold it. I hit mile 1 at 6:55 and was pretty happy with it. Right around the time I was leaving I saw Ginny and Padre (2 other runners from my running group, Riff Raff) not too far apart from each other as they were working on their runs. Mile 2 came up at 14:10. Not too shabby, we are on the trail part of it so I was fine losing a little bit of speed. I think I hit mile 3 at a little over 22 but was still doing OK. Then the wheels fell off. As I came up the big hill (Quadzilla) I had to do something that somehow I have managed to never do in a race before. I walked. After a few seconds I started to shuffle my feet again and made it to the top of the hill. Just then my quads started cramping on me. This was another first. Oh boy. And to top it off, my stomach was definitely not happy. After rubbing out the quads, I got back to doing a little bit of a jog, but my stomach was not getting any better. Finally, somewhere around mile 5, I pulled off to the side and forced myself to puke. That really helped and I found my stride again. It certainly wasn’t the 7 minute pace I was looking for, but it was something resembling running. And then I made it to the water stop manned by Riff Raff. As soon as they saw me they just erupted into cheers and there was no way that I could hobble through it. I found my stride, grabbed some drink (no clue what) and smiled big as they shouted. 50 meters later I returned to the hell that was going to be my life for the remainder of the race. My legs were fried. My resolve was withering into nothing and it just seemed like a long way to go. As I completed my first lap I realized that there was absolutely no chance of accomplishing my B goal of breaking 5 hours and what little spirits I had wilted drastically. But, I had a race to finish and dammit I was going to finish it. The quads kept cramping and there was more walking this time around than the last, but I tried to intermix a jog in there as much as possible. Shortly into the start of my second loop Colin saw me and said hello is his always chipper mood. Sadly all I could muster was a meek response, but his energy did make me feel a little better. Again, when I hit the Riff Raff water stop I found a spring of energy and tried to put on a show of competence and nearly pulled it off. Padre, was a little ahead of me and later said that he heard the cheers when I went through the water stop. How cool of a running group is that?! As I entered the Expo Center grounds I saw Padre was only about 20 meters in front of me. No sooner was I trying to catch him so that we could run in together that my quads seized up on me forcing me to stop completely and rub them out. Finally they released and I was able to start jogging again. As I made the turn up to the coliseum I started pushing if only to make myself feel a little better (mentally only that is - this increased pace did absolutely nothing good for me physically) and hammered my way to the finish line inside. I crossed the finish line. I finished it.
Final time was 5:27:09. A good 32 minutes faster than last years race (different course), but my run was a solid 15 minutes slower. Ultimately I am happy with the race as it is a huge testament to my training, coaching, and support that I have had that I can be disappointed by a 32 minute PR. But it is a tough pill to swallow knowing that I put myself in position to have a great race and then not be able to bring it home. Up next is the Rogue FAT ASS Trail Series - The Mule 30k on November 21st. Then, the Big Bend Ultra 50k on January 16th. Oh! And ironman prep. No rest for the wicked. Until the next time - run friendly!
The Texas Tri Series came to an end on October 17th at the Ironman 70.3 Austin, formerly known as Longhorn 70.3. This was in many ways a race of contradictions. I PRed, but had a bad race. The race was well organized, but not a good experience. So, with that I shall go into report.
For those that don’t really want to read too much, here is a really quick recap. My swim went pretty well am happy with it. T1 was a little odd as I felt a bit nauseous running to my bike, but it settled quickly. The bike started off well, too well. And instead of trying to slow down and conserve energy, I pushed it and was spent by the end of it. Ultimately my time was great though. T2 sucked as I couldn’t find my shoes right away. The run was horrible! I walked some of it. But I finished a little more than 30 minutes faster than my half ironman last year.
Sadly one of my fellow competitors in the Texas Tri Series got hurt and was unable to run Longhorn. But, that allowed me to move into 4th place in my age group. Not the way I wanted to move up a notch, but what can I do.
Now for the details...
I picked up my packet out at the Travis County Expo Center on Friday after work. This had to be the most steps I have ever gone through to pick up a packet. And somehow I missed the one that would give me my transition bags. Oops. OK, back into the assembly line of competitors to see where I screwed up. I found it without too much of an issue, and was able to work my way out.
Saturday I had to take my back down to Walter E Long (Decker Lake) to be prepositioned into transition one (T1). I actually like leaving my bike overnight as it is one less thing to lug around with you on rave morning. But, with this being a huge race, bike rack space was at a premium, and you had to rack by your race number. I can barely remember how to get to my office some mornings, so I always try to get to transition early and stake out a spot on the end of a rack so I just have to look for my bike. No such luck with this setup. Oh well. I’ll just have to try to remember where it is I am racked.
The worst part of all of this was that I do try to let air out of my tires overnight to avoid the risk of a flat the next morning. (Colin convinced me that this was a good idea. And he is quite right!) Typically it is not a big deal to pump up your tires in the morning, but for this race, we had bags that everything had to fit into. A morning bag for anything that we would need before the swim start, and immediately after the race, a bike bag, and a run bag. My bike pump does not fit into one of those bags, and I had no spectators at the race that I could hand the pump off to. I was at the mercy of the benevolence of my fellow competitors on race morning. This worked out perfectly fine, but, as I am sure is the case with most endurance athletes, I don’t like leaving things to chance or in the hands of others - at least when it comes to racing.
Race day! Traffic was backed up early. And only got worse later thanks to a wreck. Thankfully I missed that. This morning, I had to park at the expo center and then get on the school bus that would take me over to Decker Lake. First though I had to drop off my run bag at transition two (T2). Again it was by number and this spot was even more hidden than my bike spot. Ugh! Oh well. On to the bus I went and got out to the lake. Luckily there was a very nice guy racked a few bikes away that let me use his pump. After dumping the liquids on the bike and placing my bag on the handlebars I was ready to go chat with a few friends that were racing and just get ready for it all. Colin got trapped in the wreck that I mentioned earlier and barely made it out to the lake before the first pros were getting out of the water. He and I chatted a little bit and helped each other into our wetsuits right before his wave started. I was five minutes behind him.
Finally, nearly an hour after the first wave, it was my turn to go. The horn blew and we were off. The first 100-200 meters were great and I was hanging with most of the lead pack of my wave, but then I lost whatever wind I had and could not catch my breath. Instead of fighting it, I just started breast stroking for a little while and low and behold, within a minute I had my breath back. OK, back to swimming! I started passing different colored swim caps by the halfway point and just managed to keep trucking along. When I finally got to the swim exit I heard the announcer say, “And one of the first blue caps to make it out of the water, Tanner Hunt from Austin!” Holy crap, I had no idea I would be anywhere near a point to be one of the first out of the water.
As I trotted up the hill I started unzipping my wetsuit and looked for the strippers. (Side note: I think it would be hilarious if a local strip club actually volunteered to do this at a race sometime.) But the wonderful non-exoctic dancer wetsuit strippers did a great job of getting me out of my wetsuit and back on my way. As I was running up the hill I just felt my stomach lurch and had to start walking for a little bit. Not quite sure what it was all about, but oh well. I found my bike without much trouble and stuffed my wetsuit in the bag and was on my way. My stomach was already settled down a little.
The bike started off great and I was feeling wonderful. A little cold and drafty, but wonderful. Then I looked down and saw that my jersey had become unzipped to where it was just barely hanging on by the zipper start. I tried to pull the zipper up with one hand but quickly discovered this was a two handed task. Ugh! I do not have the best balance on the bike, so this will be interesting. The first 5 or so miles had a lot of hills, turns, and rough road, so I just had to suck it up and enjoy the breeze. Finally we got into the flat part of the course and I decided it was worth a shot. I rode my bike with no handlebars. And I got the zipper up! I was actually very impressed by the feat. I fully expected to have to pull over and stop to do this. Onward I went. I hit mile 20 in about 55 minutes and realized I was going a fair amount faster than what I had planned on doing. Instead of realizing that this was a sign to slow it down and conserve, I tried to keep it going. By mile 40 the stretches were very frequent and I was not a happy camper. Oh well. Gut check time. By the time I made it back to the expo center and T2 I was starting to fade mentally. I have become fairly good at getting my feet out of my shoes while on the bike so that I don’t have to run in them and save a little time getting my running shoes on. As I rolled up to the dismount line I realized that I was still securely clipped in. Oops! Luckily I didn’t fall and got off the bike before the dismount line.
I couldn’t remember which row I was in for the life of me and had to look at the signs on the end of each row to see where my stuff was. Finally I found it and was able to get to my stuff. Got the bike racked and put all of my crap on, stuffed my bike bag with stuff and was on my way.
Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t feeling exactly fresh at this point, but new that my time was looking pretty good and if I could just keep it around a 7 minute pace for the first half of the run I would be doing great. And I typically start the run feeling bad but once I find my stride I can hold it. I hit mile 1 at 6:55 and was pretty happy with it. Right around the time I was leaving I saw Ginny and Padre (2 other runners from my running group, Riff Raff) not too far apart from each other as they were working on their runs. Mile 2 came up at 14:10. Not too shabby, we are on the trail part of it so I was fine losing a little bit of speed. I think I hit mile 3 at a little over 22 but was still doing OK. Then the wheels fell off. As I came up the big hill (Quadzilla) I had to do something that somehow I have managed to never do in a race before. I walked. After a few seconds I started to shuffle my feet again and made it to the top of the hill. Just then my quads started cramping on me. This was another first. Oh boy. And to top it off, my stomach was definitely not happy. After rubbing out the quads, I got back to doing a little bit of a jog, but my stomach was not getting any better. Finally, somewhere around mile 5, I pulled off to the side and forced myself to puke. That really helped and I found my stride again. It certainly wasn’t the 7 minute pace I was looking for, but it was something resembling running. And then I made it to the water stop manned by Riff Raff. As soon as they saw me they just erupted into cheers and there was no way that I could hobble through it. I found my stride, grabbed some drink (no clue what) and smiled big as they shouted. 50 meters later I returned to the hell that was going to be my life for the remainder of the race. My legs were fried. My resolve was withering into nothing and it just seemed like a long way to go. As I completed my first lap I realized that there was absolutely no chance of accomplishing my B goal of breaking 5 hours and what little spirits I had wilted drastically. But, I had a race to finish and dammit I was going to finish it. The quads kept cramping and there was more walking this time around than the last, but I tried to intermix a jog in there as much as possible. Shortly into the start of my second loop Colin saw me and said hello is his always chipper mood. Sadly all I could muster was a meek response, but his energy did make me feel a little better. Again, when I hit the Riff Raff water stop I found a spring of energy and tried to put on a show of competence and nearly pulled it off. Padre, was a little ahead of me and later said that he heard the cheers when I went through the water stop. How cool of a running group is that?! As I entered the Expo Center grounds I saw Padre was only about 20 meters in front of me. No sooner was I trying to catch him so that we could run in together that my quads seized up on me forcing me to stop completely and rub them out. Finally they released and I was able to start jogging again. As I made the turn up to the coliseum I started pushing if only to make myself feel a little better (mentally only that is - this increased pace did absolutely nothing good for me physically) and hammered my way to the finish line inside. I crossed the finish line. I finished it.
Final time was 5:27:09. A good 32 minutes faster than last years race (different course), but my run was a solid 15 minutes slower. Ultimately I am happy with the race as it is a huge testament to my training, coaching, and support that I have had that I can be disappointed by a 32 minute PR. But it is a tough pill to swallow knowing that I put myself in position to have a great race and then not be able to bring it home. Up next is the Rogue FAT ASS Trail Series - The Mule 30k on November 21st. Then, the Big Bend Ultra 50k on January 16th. Oh! And ironman prep. No rest for the wicked. Until the next time - run friendly!
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