Bartram 100s 2011 Pacer Report

I was honored to crew/pace as Team Insanity took on the Bartram 100s on Dec 10-11. Notice how this event dates spread out over 2 days. Here's the quick summary from FB post:

All in all I got 26.9 miles in starting around 1pm yesterday. 4x6.25 loops 1 afternoon loop with Mike Delang, 2 late night loops with John Ridgley & Phil Sustar's last loop that was near 1:15 to get him in under 26 hours, plus 2x.85 out to pickup Sandy Geisel & whip her mercilessly on the way back to a near sub 24 hour hondo. For most of it my HR never went above 70 but I kept moving.

I learned a ton. I got to run between 2-3am. The weather was perfect. The race director did a really nice job. The rest of this report is photos.

Terri finishing pacing John or Phil somewhere past the 50k point. Smiles and moving upright where still in plain sight.

After pacing a loop with Mike Delang I headed off to church in Milledgeville. Church was established in 1874. The sancutary building was so small and original that there where no bathrooms in the that part of the complex.


My scorecard for the race. I am pretty sure in the middle of the night the whole idea of keeping records separate from the race director was abandoned. If anyone has my clipboards I wouldn't mind getting them back. :) I hear they got donated to the race director. Hope they live a good life at lots of races. :)

Sandy smiling as usual in the early evening.

This was the moon sometime early in the AM. Near twilight.

Sunrise - I need to be a better photog because the flash really didn't add to the photo.

On the Phil's last lap heading up one of the inclines.

Course marker.

This was a lot of what we did on the last loop - Chase Phil while he played "Drop the Pacer". :)

Phil finishing the 100 miles in less that 26 hours.

Pine Mountain 40 Miler 2011 Volunteer Report

I decided to volunteer for this race because there were several Get Fit Atlanta runners (some Blue Angels, Jen, Sandy, & Faraz) planning to run. I also like to get a whiff of the crazy that I not ready for now but am considering jumping in with both feet. I exchanged some emails with the Volunteer Coordinator to see what might be the best Aid Station. In spite of my high maintenance needs (I wanted to see the runners at the start, twice on the run, get back to the Finish in time to see them finish, & I needed to get short recovery run in the middle of all of this) Kirsten found the perfect place for me - Dowdell Knob.


Let's rewind just a little. I left my house at 5:05am - about 20 minutes later than planned. Navigated perfectly and ended up at the Start at 6:35am. Got checked in at the volunteer table and got to see everyone before the start of the race. I even picked up another volunteer task - I was supposed to move a few cones and direct the runners through a break in fence. I recruited Erica's husband Phil to help. It turns out there were about 10 of us there doing the same job including the race director. After the runners were off Phil said he was off to get some breakfast. I was tempted to tag along but I had to go get a run in and be at the aid station around 8:30am.

I hopped in the car and headed to Dowdell Knob. My online scouting told me that Dowdell Knob Road was 1.3 miles long from Hwy 190 to the Dowdell Knob lookout. I needed to do 4 miles so I figured that I'd do a couple of out and backs and be done with it. When I got there Mike & John were there with the aid station equipment. I helped take some water down to the trail then I got changed for me run and headed out. It was clear when I got there and I should have snapped some pictures before I headed out because while I was running the clouds started rolling in. It was nice run. I am novice trail runner so instead of hitting a little bit of the race course I stayed on the pavement with the mountains on the right heading out & on the left coming back. At the end of the 1st lap I went to the look at area and did a quick double take when I caught sight of the FDR statute. Was wondering what that guy was doing out here and how he'd gotten here.

I could go on and on but from here I'll do a bullet list of highlights:

• Got to meet a bunch of great GUTS folks including meeting Javi who before Sunday was one of my virtual FB friends and someone I follow on Twitter.
• Saw lots of blood and scrapes but the best was the guy bleeding from his head who could have cared less.
• Got spend some quality time with Phil at the aid station while he jumped in and help as was need.
  
• Towards the cutoff time at the aid station I was reminding the runners it was a waterstop not a waterstay.
• I swear when Faraz came through the 2nd time at mile 28 he was speaking with a Spanish accent. If you know Faraz you know he's actually Canadian. :)
• There was the runner whose little girl was crying because she couldn't understand why she couldn't run the last 12 miles with him. I told him: "Some day's you run to that sound but today you get to run away from it."
  
• Managed to get back to the Finish in time to see everybody finish then stayed around long enough to ruin my nutrition plan thanks to the running chef's great spread.

A few more photos:

Sandy at the Finish. She was smiling like that at miles 14 & 28 as well. Not everyone was though.

Erica, Julie & Faraz at the Finish. I wish I could take credit for photo-shopping this photo but they were sprinting and that's how my the phone on my camera saw it.

Not an Expert but Glad to Help

From a guest post by Corbett Barr of Expert Enough on ZenHabits:

"Someone once told me to think about expertise as a scale from one to ten, not as an absolute. If you’re a two or three on the scale, you’re expert enough to help people who are ones and twos. In fact, you might be better suited to helping beginners than a ten on the expert scale, because you’re closer to their level and better understand where they’re coming from."

Since I completed my 1st full iron distance triathlon I've a few folks ask me questions about triathlons, training, nutrition, etc. I'm flattered and I've answered as best as a I can and where appropriate I have directed them to some of the folks that helped me on my journey like Heidi Phillips.

I have a new one to share. I am quoted with a photo on Sandi Goldring's website. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!?

Race Report Rewind Goofy 2010

With a few of my training buddies getting ready for the 2012 version of Goofy's Challenge Race & Half at WDW I thought I'd pull this old race report out for their amusement. Everything following "Quick Summary" below is verbatim (warts & all) from what I posted on the Get Fit Atlanta Forum a few days after the race. I'll probably go back and sprinkle a few photos into the report as soon as can figure which computer they're on.

Quick Summary:
Half Finish Time: 2:20:08
Full Finish Time: 4:29:07
Miles 16-24 of the full were the worst of any race so far - including the last 6 I walked at MCM in 2008.

Likes:
- Running last 2 miles with a friendly face (Thanks Lindsay Doyle!!!) Thanks to Dana for Get Fit Atlanta!!!
- Finishing
- Running through the Costuming tunnel in Disney Hollywood Studios – neat look at part of the Backlot Tour
- Using the Half as practice for as to how the start and finish elements work
- Being able to say "I am only running 26.2 this weekend" on future race weekends

Dislikes:
- Miles 16-24 were the worst of any race so far
- Hit the wall at mile 20 of the full
- Running through the Costuming tunnel – Need lights in the tunnel for the runners. Almost ran a walker over
- Cold Weather (normally you worry about this race being too hot)
- Early rising

Lessons Learned:
- Write your Race Number and Name on you checked bag
- Cold Race: Don’t take off top layer during race unless its really warmer
- Cold Race: Wind may pick up when sun comes out
- Don’t change pre-race nutrition – Was up at 2am and hungry. Should have eaten something solid (banana) at 4 or 5am

What Would I Do Different:
- Maybe Run this event as my only fall marathon
- Run more back to back runs during training
- Run 1st day of back to back training runs slowly

What Did I do Right:
- Ice baths (They ROCK!!!!)
- Slow Half marathon – Ran close to a personal worst
- Not visiting a Disney park after half

Long winded version (I did not proofread the long version - it is what it is):

Traveled down on Weds before the race. Spent Thursday at the Magic Kingdom with the family. Skipped my 20 minutes easy in favor of several hours walking. Don't think that affected the outcome of my weekend. Spent Friday morning at the Expo then the kids races. Weather was nice until 10am then it started to get cold.

Saturday: Dress rehearsal for Sunday. Up at 2:30am. Drive out of the condo at 3am. In the parking lot at 3:30am. Stayed in the car until 4am. Quick look in the start area tells me there is nothing to do here so I head to bag check. Through bag check and to porta pottys. Then wait until 4:40am before they us let us walk about 3/4 of a mile to the corrals. Skipped the next set of porta pottys. Spent time in corral talking to a guy from London who spent 48 hours in transit for a trip that normally takes an afternoon. Oh yeah - it' sleeting and raining at the start of the half. 88 cent poncho from Wally world and garbage bags as top layers. Also talked with a lady from California who was running her 5th Goofy (as in all of them so far) and would be doing her 17th Disney marathon on Sunday. Her son was starting ahead of us for his 1st Goofy. Start at 5:40am. We were in the second wave. Start was slow due to traffic and cold. Cleared out after a 1/2 mile but my cold legs won't go any faster than 10:30min/mile. That's okay because after the 1st mile I plan to run walk. I start run/walk. Run 2 minutes. Walk 1 minute repeat. Not paying attention to time just moving along. Entertainment along the route was interesting. Most notable was a guy playing "Its a Small World" on an accordion around mile 6.5 of the half. We were in one of the many behind the scene areas of Disney that races run through. Later I look down at my Garmin and it says I am at 12.99 miles. Turn the next corner and I see the Finish line. THAT WAS EASY. 2:20ish. 2nd slowest half ever. Stuck to my 2/1 run/walk for the whole race. Medal. Skipped Finisher picture. Skipped massage. Bag check - YUCK. Some how in the 15 steps from the table to the storage area the tag got disconnected from my bag. Luckily on of the volunteers was shopping my bag and I recognized the contents of my bag. Did not carry my mp3 player for the half. 1 hour in line in the parking lot trying to leave. Back to the hotel for an ice bath. Out to shop for through away clothes then back to condo for rest. Off to church the out to Epcot to pick up the family. A little behind schedule for getting to bed but okay.

Sunday: Up early. Hungry. Eat at 2am instead of 2 hours before the race like normal. Think it was part of the wall I hit at mile 16. Leave at 3:10am. In the parking lot at 3:30am. Stay in car until 4:15am. Through bag check and porta pottys. Walk to start. Stop at 2nd set of porta pottys just in case. 5:30am. Strip off throw aways, have a Clif Gel and some water. Start with the 1st wave. Corrals A-C take a different route to mile 4. After mile 1 I start 4/1 run walk. In retrospect I am think 3:1 or 3:30/1 might have been a better choice. Wx - 26F at the start with a windchill of 16F. Cold!!!!!!!!!! Wore ski mask and ear band. 2 longsleeve technicals and 1/2 trainer on top, tights (leggings?) and shorts on bottom. Surgical gloves under Mizno gloves. Clothing was right.Carrying 2 bottles of water on my fuel belt in case, as I predict, water will be frozen at the water stops. I was right. Mile 13 and the sun is out so I decide to take off my 1/2 trainer because it will get warmer, right? Wrong. BTW - I hit the 1/2 mark at 2:07. Feeling good about a near PR finish. Wind picked up and cut me down. By mile 15 I figure out that I need to put my 1/2 trainer back on. By mile 16 I am toast. Stinks at that point too coming in the back end of Animal Kingdom. Decide to drop back to 3/1 run walk and hope that helps. Mile 20 comes and I am ready to walk the last 6 miles. I know that means a 5:15 or 5:30 finish but at that point I don't care. Hit the last food stop and I decide that, totally outside of my race plan, I will take a banana and eat it. What does it matter I am walking it in anyway, right? Banana must have hit the spot because after about 5 minutes of walking I decide that I'll try to run some more. Tell myself to run until I can't run. 2 miles slow running miles later I walk the next water stop. Next 2 miles are uneventful - got a bite size candy bar in Disney Hollywood studios - I remember that. It was frozen and kinda chalky at first but it was lovely. Oh yeah somewhere in there we ran through a part of the back lot tour which was a dark tunnel. Almost ran over a guy walking with a mylar blanket around him. Around mile 24 - a sight for sore eyes - Lindsay Doyle. Had not seen another Get Fit person all weekend. We chatted the rest of the way, agreed to walk the next water stop and crossed the finish line together. Lindsay pulling off a 4:24ish while I managed to salvage a 4:29.

Post Race: After Finisher picture I said goodbye to Lindsay. Had a great massage. Massage was very well organized. 20 minutes for $20. 2 people working on me. I was feeling the race in my mid and upper back. So it was really a 40 minute massage for $20. Grabbed my bag. Tag stayed on. I had put my name and number on the back in Sharpie the night before. Quick look on the other side of bag check for finisher gear. There was none. Head to the car. No traffic getting out of the parking lot. To the condo for an ice bath. Out to Disney Hollywood Studios for late lunch with the family. Spent Monday at Animal Kindgom with the family. Nice casual trip back on Tuesday.

That's enough. I hope that reading this won't be as bad for you as the last 10 miles of the full were for me.

My 7 week (6week & 6 day) plan to becoming an Ironman

How did I go from dropping out of IM Wisconsin in the middle of mile 20 of the run to completing the Beach2Battleship full iron distance triathlon in less than 7 weeks?

1^st order of business: WELCOME TO THE DISCLAIMER: IN BIG RED LETTERS: DON'T TRY TO DO WHAT I DID. I had an extraordinary year (I am not an extraordinary athlete) wherein I had one day that so many things went wrong that I could not finish a race & then after playing it smart I had a day that was so good that like the words from Foo Fighters song Everlong - “And I wonder... if anything could ever be this good again.” I am thankful that I made it through it successfully and without doing myself an injury. THIS STORY IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES AND IS NOT AS A MODEL TO BE FOLLOWED.

Short Answer:

• A lot of help

• A lot of rest

• A lot of training – before IM Wisconsin but not a lot in between IM WI and B2B

• A lot of mental toughness training

Long Answer:

HELP

Credit 1^st goes to my wife who after almost 18 years I should know that she knows me almost if not better than I know myself. Quite honestly without her patience and support it would not have happened. Flashback to 2010 when I decided 2011 would be the year of the Ironman for me. My wife agreed that I should go for it. Just to make sure she was on board she was the one who had to complete my registration. She got me in in the 15 minutes the 1^st day IM WI opened before IM had to shutdown the registration system on and try again 2 days later. We agreed that after the January 1^st I could let training trump everything else until the race. When I called her from the car on the way back from IM WI to ask her what she thought about me doing Beach2Battleship I bet she didn't think that September 11^th would be Groundhog Day. You know where I, the groundhog, saw my shadow (DNF) which meant 6 more weeks (and 6 days) of training. Ultimately my wife knew that while I was a peace with the DNF at IM WI, I could put on a brave face for 12-14 months to try again but it wouldn't be the same as getting a full iron distance triathlon done this year. To tell the truth I am kinda glad I couldn't walk on Monday 9/12 or I probably would have been in line to sign up for IM WI for 2012. Oh Happy Accident of blisters the size of $.50 pieces on the balls of both feet.

Credit also goes to the small group of people who I swore to secrecy who's help I needed. My massage therapist, my sports chiropractor, & my sports nutritionist. I hear keeping the secret was touch and go with my massage therapist but he held out under extreme circumstances. Visits to the chiropractor helped me physically and mentally. I could tell there wasn't as much happening during the final adjustment which told me the extra rest was working.

There were a few others who found out by accident, a few I told lies of omission to and at least one I person I outright lied to but I had my reasons. Here's part of Facebook status update from the night I finished:

To anyone who might have had their feelings hurt that I told very few people I was training for Beach 2 Battleship - I'm sorry. I had my reasons, not the least of which was to limit the amount of pressure I put on myself. I also wanted to limit the number who might feel responsible for the outcome.

In hindsight I have to admit that I told no one that I thought would try and talk me out of it. I got a few funny looks from some of the people who I told but once they knew it was happening it was full steam ahead.

Another person who played a critical role in helping me complete B2B with a short turn around from IM WI was Sandy Geisel. Mostly I have to say that I was lucky that she decided this was the year she decided to check Ironman off her bucket list. Turns out she was planning on doing B2B as her 3^rd full iron distance triathlon for the year. She can do that kinda a stuff. Just Google her name with the keyword 'Adventure Racing'. :)

While driving back home I called to ask her what she thought about the quick turn and two things stick in my mind from that conversation. First she said that for me making it to the middle of mile 20 on the run at IM WI was just a long training day and I'd have the base to come back and do it again in 7 weeks with minimal training. Second I remember something like this: “Blah, blah, blah, You Can Do It, blah, blah, blah.” I might even be referring to the same sentence here.

Not only is Sandy an above average athlete (that is such an understatement...) she's also had lots of experience coaching athletes. We did quite a bit training together this year. A lot of it bike rides where I asked training questions and we talked about things like nutrition, hydration, etc. With her knowledge of my training and her coaching experience she customized a precise 7 week training plan for me. I gave her feedback along the way and we tweaked things as needed. What I am trying to say here is READ THE DISCLAIMER AGAIN. If you're an age grouper like me, without this kind of support or appropriate equivalent self-knowledge you'd be crazy to try to do what I did.

Last I might have to take credit for the right mix of listening to my body and disassociating from it. The 1^st long run and a 63 mile solo bike ride I did were miserable but I pushed through. When I felt tired or sick I did nothing.

REST

The 1^st thing had to do right after IM WI was to let me feet heal. Big blisters = Instant recipe for rest. Not sure what I did the 1^st week after. Possibly some weight training not much else. I was sick 3 times during the my prep for B2B – and not just in my head for attempting to do what I did. 2 bouts of strep throat. The 1^st not a big deal and the second was a doozy. Then the week of the race I got sinusitis or my allergies were horrible not sure which but it was no fun.. That week of near total rest right before that race had to help. With the rest and the healing of the feet I ended up not running for 3 weeks then having to go from zero to double digits to feel like I was close to ready to run a marathon. It worked but I hope to never take 3 weeks off from running again - EVER.

Part of the active rest I did was to get massages. I know I had at least 4 sessions during the 7 weeks before B2B and one more after. I also got at least 2 adjustments.

TRAINING

All in all in the 6 weeks and 6 days between I had 2 weeks of real Ironman training, a couple more weekends where I got the long stuff in & the rest was off days – planned & unplanned. As I said I am not sure I did anything the 1^st week. Max bike ride was 90 miles on a flat course to convince myself I could take the training I had for IM WI that was full of hills and do long and flat where there are no downhills for recovery. I think until I finished that ride in a decent time, feeling strong, I was on the fence about showing up on race day. My 2 long runs were 13 & 14 miles and they doubled as mental toughness training. According to my training logs in 48 days I ran 9 times, rode 10 times & swam 5 times excluding 2 min bike checkout & 7 minute OWS Friday of race week. With some of those workouts being bricks it works out to roughly 25 days out of 48 involving workouts and resting the other days. I went into race day thinking I was totally under-trained for the run. Turns out I was just well rested & ended up running my best marathon ever. Hopefully I'll know the difference in the future.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS TRAINING

During the 1^st long run just about every step hurt. I said a lot of Hail Mary's during that run. As the Prayer to Our Lady goes:” ...that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.” Amen to that.

During the other long run I discovered that it takes 2.5 miles to sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall to myself. Both of these runs I ran past the point where turning back to the house would have gotten me an 11 mile run so I could say: I went further than the easy choice - to just go home after 11 miles. Directly from the notes in my training log for the ride I did the day after the 1st long run of 13 miles: 63.57 mile ride. This ride was cold and torturous.

CONCLUSION

So there's my story. Don't try this at home. Watching the post race recap for IM WI this year several of the pros did a 2 week turn around between IM Louisville & IM WI. I am not a pro and I'll bet unless you're a really bored pro triathlete and reading this in your spare time you probably aren't either. :) My support system was phenomenal but I bet the pros have even better ones.

Editor's (self-conscious) Note: I write these posts until I think they're good enough to publish then proof and edit some more once their uploaded. Misuse of their & there and other such error are purely for the reader's amusement.

Things you hear on Group Runs but not IRL

Saturday I was on Group Run with Get Fit Atlanta when from behind me I hear one of the ladies say: "I am going to take my clothes off." Hold you horses there - Get Fit Atlanta is among many things a family oriented running and triathlon club. She meant that she needed to shed her top layer to cool off.

I felt obligated to tell her two things:

1. When a man hears those words an angel gets it's wings.
2. As a father of six (6) kids when I hear those words from a woman other than my wife (come to think of it that might have been the 1st time I've ever heard those words from someone other than my wife) that the first thing that comes to mind is Child Support.

I love group runs.

B2B Photos from 10-29-2011

I just said to the guy next me "Holy cr4p that was fast!"

Best picture of the day - at the end of the bike ride from hell. Wind at my back.

On the 1st loop of the run. Running & waving.

Flashing the 'W' for my wife. I swear I thought I was smiling. Long day but good day.