Training for the Run

This weekend I’ll be running in the Autism Ribbon Run.  This is my first run since the half marathon and I’m looking forward to it.  The weather has cooled off and looks to be just about perfect for this run.  This race is part of the Second Empire Grand Prix Series.  I haven’t been able to run in many of the Grand Prix races, but it’s still fun to get up and run on Saturday morning.  I’m walking over to Grae’s this afternoon from work and will try to pick up my race packet early at Inside Out sports since it’s on the way.

The Rock and Roll half Marathon was a success.  The weather was great, the crowd was great and the bands sounded good.  I even beat my time from last year.  My time this year is 2:05:48  I think I could have done even better if I pushed myself more, but now I know for next year.  This race also fit into my training for the City of Oaks Marathon coming up in November.

OK, so maybe my planning wasn’t the greatest, but I have the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll half marathon this weekend.  The soreness from the triathlon is subsiding and I’m going to either get in a swim or run here at the gym today.

The weather in Virginia Beach Sunday morning should be pretty nice for the run.  Some clouds will be nice towards the end of the run when we are running the boardwalk.  I remember that being the toughest part of the run.

It looks like I’ll be heading up to this run by myself.  Grae has another commitment this weekend and Caroline (Sweet Scaroline) has been recruited to scrimmage practices this weekend to prepare for some of the many great bouts happening in September.  Check out http://www.carolinarollergirls.com/ for info on that.

When I get home tonight, I’ll have a new toy to play with — Garmin Forerunner 305.

OK, so I made it through my first sprint triathlon and I have to say it wasn’t that bad. I went to the Durham Bulls game Friday night and spent most of the time chatting with Grae about the triathlon. I got to bed around midnight and woke up right at 5am when my alarm went off. I slept great and actually felt great for it being so early.

Grae showed up right on time and we were off to Hillsborough. We arrived with plenty of time to check in and setup our transition areas. Grae did a lot of reading up on how to lay out the transition equipment so that everything is ready for a quick in and out of the area.

After we setup our transition, we had plenty of time to kill. The race started at 8am and Grae was in the pool at 9:17 and I was 9:35. We had time to watch the swimmers and even take a few practice laps in the smaller pool. All that time really eats at your nerves and the pre-swim in the pool was actually pretty relaxing.

Grae was off right at 9:17 and I watched him from the side of the pool. He seemed to get stuck in large groups of swimmers. He finished his swim just about the same time I was getting in line to start my swim.

Then it was my turn. I got in the pool and had 30 seconds to wait for my official GO since the person before me was a no show. After two laps, I knew it was going to take me a while to swim and my goal went from doing well in the swim to just finishing. I worked hard at keeping a nice smooth pace. The laps seemed to never end and I must say that it was the worst part of the triathlon experience for me. I did finish and took off for the transition.

In the transition area I dried off my feet and put on my shoes and socks. I then went to put on my tank top and had the most trouble bringing it down my wet back. I really wish I would have taken the time to dry my back. I downed a gel pack, but on my helmet and took the bike to the mounting area. I got on the bike, spent more time than I would have liked getting my shoes in the clips and then took off for the bike ride. This part of the triathlon was by far the best part of the triathlon. You go from the pool where it’s loud, crammed with people, to the bike where you are out on the open road. I give all the credit to the bike I borrowed from Ron. It was easy to navigate through the gears and handled well.

I got back from the bike ride and put by bike and helmet back into the transition area and grabbed some water and my hat and headed out for the 5K. I was feeling tired, but not too bad considering all I’ve done. The 5K was mentally the easiest because I run in 5K races a lot. It was going well until the second lap of the run where I started to cramp up in my legs. I tried to walk, but I only felt it getting worse, so I kept on running. After the last water station I thought I’d stop for a second to try to stretch, but that didn’t work, so I just pushed through the pain till the end. The only problem I had with the cramped legs is that I couldn’t sprint the last 100 or so feet through the finish line.

So, I finished, got some water and took a deep breath of relief that it was over. The experience has been a good one and I’m even more excited about future races.

Check out Grae’s Race Report: http://www.lafrider.com/index.php/endurance-challenge-triathlon-2007-report/ 

Borrowed a bike yesterday evening and took it for short half mile spin. I also got swimming goggles and tri shorts, so I guess I’m ready to do this triathlon on Saturday morning. Let’s see, the pool here at State is still closed, so I offically logged no swimming laps, borrowed the bike last night and logged a 1 minute half mile on it — nervous? naw — well maybe — ok maybe I just shouldn’t think too much about it now. Hopefully I’ll have a full race report sometime this weekend if I can find time to be online.

Grae’s Post 

OK so I signed up for this triathlon this weekend and I’m starting to become a little nervous.  I’m been reading up on beginner sites such as:  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/  and http://www.trinewbies.com/  There are very good articles on how to train and what to expect.

The pool here at NC State opens back up tomorrow and I expect to go and do some laps Wed, Thurs, and Friday.  I’m also going to try to get in a bike ride Friday evening with Grae since I haven’t trained at all on a bike other than stationary bikes.

My goal with this triathlon is to finish.  Set that initial time to beat for any other future triathlons I may compete in.  We’ll see how it goes.

It’s sad to see the summer fly by, but it’s good to see the race season fire up again. I just about filled my calendar for the next few months. I already had the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and the City of Oaks Marathon planned and on my calendar, but I wanted to get some of the 5K races on the calendar.

I signed up for as many Second Empire Grand Prix series races as I could. Currently I’m signed up for:

The Magnificent Mile

Second Empire 5K Classic

Autism 5K Ribbon Run

Jingle Bell 5K Run

These are the races for the Grand Prix. I also signed up for the Apex Turkey Trot since I enjoyed that last year. I also agreed to run in a triathlon with Grae at the end of this month. So, after a few weeks of training only, I now have a full plate. My only question is do I run the Free To Breathe 5K the day before the City of Oaks Marathon? The Free to Breathe 5K would give me my fifth race for the Grand Prix. Oh decisions . . . .

The results are in for the Wilmington Tri-Span Road Race.  Grae and I ran the 10K and Caroline ran the 5K race.  It was setup almost exactly like last year where both races started at the same time and the 5K racers turned around at the first bridge and the 10K racers headed over the first of 3 bridges.

This race was very hot and humid.  The race course offers very little shade and nice blacktop roads to run on.  I think we were all sweating before we even began the race.  There were a couple issues with the organization.  They ran out of shirts and also ran out of wet towels at the end.

It was a tough race, but when you finish the tough ones, you feel much better about yourself.  Even with the heat and humidity, Caroline made her PR for a 5K.  It must be because of her determination and all of that derby practicing.

I finished with a time of 59:04

Caroline finished with her PR of 35:29

Just signed up Caroline and I for the Wilmington Tri-Span Race. Caroline is signed up for the 5K and I am signed up for the 10K race. We both did this race last year and had a lot of fun with it. This race is pretty flat except for when you are crossing the bridges. I also remember it being pretty hot with little or no shade. A good chunk of the race goes around the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. The 5K racers just stay in the downtown area. They run up to the first bridge and turn around at that point where as the 10K runners run over the bridge.

Caroline and I are both looking forward to the race, but also looking forward to going to the beach. It will be our first trip this season. Grae is also planning on running the race and hanging out at the beach. It should make for a fun 4th of July Weekend.

Caroline and I woke up early for the Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure run last Saturday morning.  We got there about an hour early so that we could pick up our packets and get them back to the car.  We picked up a free Gatorade like drink and sipped on it while we waited for the race to start.  That proved to be our only mistake of the morning.  Caroline and I both felt the drink weighing heavy during our run. 

The race started and with so many people there it took about 3 and a half minutes to cross the start line after the official start.  Grae and I walked up to the start line and then took off running when our timing chips hit the start line.   Grae took the high road (sidewalk) at the beginning and I tried to weave through the crowd.  It was pretty fun and really cool to see so many people out running.  I think that there was 22,000 people out there.  I’m not sure if that was a number for all of the different races or just the competitive.

I finished the race with a time of 27:28 and Caroline finished the race with a time of 37:22

This is the first 5K race that Caroline finished the entire race running.  She didn’t take any walking breaks.  She really felt great and knew she has improved over the past year.  Her time last year was 38:18  She almost knocked a full minute off her time!

The race really got us of to a great start that turned out to be a pretty long day.  The Carolina Roller derby championship bout was that night and Caroline worked most of the day getting ready for it, working in it and partying after it.