Ocean City Half Marathon Race report

Here is a report on the Island to Island half marathon.  This is a point to point race from Ocean City to Assateague Island.  This race has been on my bucket list for some time now. 

We went down Friday night and hit packet pickup.  It was held at Francis Scott Key Motel in West Ocean City.  This is a very nice motel.

Anyway, we pick up our items and meet up with Pams sister Wanda and her Husband Dennis.  Dennis was the one responsible for getting involved in running in the first place.  We talked about our plans for race day and then said our good nights.

We got up at 5 and started to get ready.  Wanda and Dennis showed up at 5:40 and off we went.  We stopped off and picked up some coffee and something small for breakfast.  We make our way down to the inlet parking lot.  Not very many people were there yet.  We park and started to go through our pre-race routine.  and then we saw it.  Sunrise. It was unbelievable.  Watching the sun come up over the ocean.  What a scene.  

Dennis and I continued with our own pre-race warm ups and then decided to make our way to the start.  They made some announcements and did their thank yous of all of the sponsors etc.  They sang the National Anthem and then we were off.

We ran around the parking lot and then on the boardwalk.  This was a bit weird for me.  I have walked the boardwalk many times in the past but never ran on it.  It took a bit of an adjustment, but I was able to get into a groove.  We head down the boardwalk for a bit and then we make a left and head straight for the Rt 50 bridge. This is one of the two bridges on the course. So aside from the bridges this course is flat.  

Well before you know it, we are at mile marker 3.  The aide stations were plentiful, however there was very little crowd support. As we were running on some major roads it was not very easy to have the streets lined with cheering spectators.  We did make a detour and run in a small neighborhood where some people were out cheering us on.  This was almost at mile 4 where I got a very bad side stitch and had to stop, walk a bit and stretch out my side. Up until then I was feeling very good, almost great.  This is also where the 1:50 pacer went by me.  I was a little upset but knew that it was still ok.  I knew that I would start moving again so that I could make it under 2 hours.  And so I started to get moving again.  I did have my garmin on but was not looking at it. Trying to learn to run by feel, anyway more on that later.

I started getting into my groove again, and like I said there was very very little crowd support out there. It actaully helped me a little to try to focus more on my running then on the crowds.  So, there really is not much else to say but I did get another side stitch between mile marker 10 and 11 and had to walk it out a little more.  I started to move with determination that I needed to finish before the 2 hour mark.  At around the 11 mile mark we make a turn toward Assateague Island, and there it is.  Like a monster on the horizon.  The Verrazano Bridge that takes you into Assateague.  I envisioned myself flying over and down the other side.  Well it was a pretty picture, inside my head.  I did make it over and started on my way down the other side.  I was hoping that the finish line would have been in sight, but it was not.  Mile 12 was on the crest of the bridge so we still had a mile to go. I was hoping that the downhill was going to allow me to pick up speed and cruse into the finish line.  Not so much. 

Well within that last mile, it was a very narrow path.  It was a bit difficult that we had to dodge other runners but we also had to dodge horse droppings as well.  I heard behind me somebody giving encouragement to "Nicole".  I could tell that she was giving it all.  He kept on saying that we are almost there and that the finish line was right around the corner.  I felt myself fading, when he came up close enough for me to look back and see him. He was the 1:55 pacer.  Well I was not letting him, or Nicole, pass me. I picked up the pace and finish I did.  1:55:39.  Yes a new PR for me.  This is equal to just under an 8:50 pace. 

 

After downloading and looking at my data, I know why I got a stitch in my side between mile 3 and 4.  Mile 1:  8:15 pace  Mile 2:  8:16 pace Mile 3:  8:18 pace.  I was just going out a little too quick.  Something to keep in mind next time. 

Well now for some other news.  Pam and Alex ran the 5k.  They started at the same place we did and went on an out and back course on the boardwalk.  This was Alexs first 5k.  She did not do much training at all.   She finished in 30:09.  this was good enough for 4th in her age group, out of 11. Pam finished a second in front of Alex.  They both had a great time, and there is talk about doing this race again next year.  Pam is even asking about half marathon training programs.  

Oh, I forgot to mention that my brother in law place 2nd in his age group.  He also got a PR. 

We all had a great time and hope that we can do this one again next year.  If we do I will try very hard to do what I did at the Rock and Roll in DC.  I am very happy with both times, but the RNR race I ran at a more consistant pace than the OC one.  Next goal.......1:45  

Virginia Duathlon - Race report

I participated in this event last year and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to come back and du it again. Ha Ha.

This event was held at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry which is across the James River from Williamsburg. This is a win win for my family as there is a campground at the state park. So we can camp for the weekend and I can race.

The distances were 5k run, 23 mile bike, 5k run. So last year my first run time was 26:33, bike was 1:19:59 and my second run was 29:59 for a total time of 2:19:21. So my goal was to beat those times.  I feel that I am a stronger runner and I have improved my bike by upgrading.  Last year I was on a Trek 440, but it was about a size and a half too small. I am now on a Focus Varido 1.0, but more importantly, the correct size.
So here is how things went down.

So we make it to the transition area and I get my bike set up. No issues there. Also, I have been working on my hydration.  More specifically not taking too much in.  My wife is shocked when she tells me to line up at the porta potty and I tell her that I don't have to go.  Anyway, she runs with me for a little bit to help me warm up a bit.
So the time comes and I line up for the start. The waves that they had were Males 44 and younger in the first wave, Males 45 and older in the second wave, females in the third and the final was all teams.

I was in the second wave which went off 3 minutes after the initial gun.

Off we go and I felt good. We get to the turn around at the campground which is a little more then a mile into the race and the first female catches us. At Mile 2 the second female catches us. The third female catches us at about 2.5 and the forth female just before mile 3. I won't lie it was a bit humbling.

So I hit the transition area, stop my watch and switch it to bike mode. I did not look at the time but it was 26:00 flat. 33 sec faster then last year.  I felt very good and ready for the bike.

I did not feel like my transition was very smooth, and I am sure it was because I did not "practice" as part of my training. Now we all know how well Mother Nature treated us this winter, not to mention that rodent from PA, but anyway, I won't lie I was a bit concerned about doing well on the bike as I was in the basement on the trainer for most of the winter.
So I am off on the bike. Had a bit of trouble getting on the bike and going but off I went. Now this was a no drafting event and there were many bikers in front of me so I was trying to pace myself but also make sure that I did not get a penalty so close to the start of the bike. I did not want to ex-spell all of my energy within the first couple of miles.

Well I was able to get past them and get into a nice groove (without a penalty, yea). The rural roads of Surry are not too bad. Lots of different farms to look at but not the most pretty either.  Nonetheless I was more focused on what was in front of me the around me. I was feeling really good and pedaling strong. Not really much to say about the bike, except that by mile 20 I was starting to get tired and I forgot about a hill toward the end.  I got over that and was on my way to the bike finish. I was able to stop without an issue but had a bit of trouble getting off the bike and getting my legs to move forward.

Well I got into transition and after fumbling to change my shoes I was finally able to get things going. Not sure about my official time as it did not record correctly. Neither did my transition times.  I got in touch with the race director and he thought that I might have taken my race bib off.  The timing chip was on the back of the bib.  Well I did not remove my bib, there was just a glitch.  However, per my garmin, my bike time was probably about 1:11.

So my goal for the second run was to just keep moving and above all try not to walk. My next goal was to finish it under 30 mins. Main goal, was to keep as close to a 9 min mile as possible.

As I am running along, I came up to a female.  As I got closer I could tell she was struggling and she started to walk. I provided her some words of encouragement to keep going, and she did. We played leap frog for a little bit and then after mile 2 I just saw the back of her. Anyway, as we were coming into the campground I saw my family cheering me on. It was a boost. I was feeling good and kept my legs moving.

Well I was coming into the final stretch and I saw the clock. Well I was a little disappointed. Last year I completed the event in 2:19. The clock read 2:11. I was hoping for under 2 hours. Well I got my office time and it read 2:08:37. I forgot that I was in the second wave that started 3 mins after the initial gun.

I was feeling better about that.

My second run was 28:14 for a pace of 9:06.
So to break things down, my first run was 26:04, pace of 8:23 per mile and 96th place overall, 6th in my age group.  My bike time did not record properly, but it had me at 2:44:25.  My second run again was 28:14, pace of 9:06 per mile and 88th overall and 7th in my age group.
If I go with 1:11 for the bike it would have me at 5th in my age group, which is where I finished overall. 5th in my age group.  Very stoked about that.

Over all I am very happy with my performance and I am looking forward to doing this event again next year.

I did some math and adding up the two runs comes to 54:19.12.  If I take that time away from my overall time I figure that my two transition time and bike time would be 1:14:18.37.  Still is not that bad, plus my run time is a minute off of my PR for a 10k.

So I have a lot to look forward to.  I really like the multi sport events and look forward to doing more.  Still not sure about a Tri but I have learned to never say never.

Rock and Roll Half Marathon - Race Report

This was a race that I had a mission.  Last year my goal was to get under 2 hours.  Well I did not make that goal.  In looking back I believe I was issue was my nutrition.  I took in too many calories and started to get side stitches.   I finished in 2:05.  Still respectful, but I was so disappointed, and pissed off,  that I believe I signed up for the 2013 race within a week of finishing the event in 2012.

Anyway,  I felt that I needed to redeem myself.  I was more then a little pumped.  I was, however,  concerned about the weather report as I felt that it was on that fine line of wearing too many layer or not enough.  So upon waking up that morning and looking at the weather report I went with calf sleeves, shorts, plodder T-shirt arm warmers, knit gloves and baseball running hat.  If this was a training run I probably would have worn long sleeves or even a jacket.  I will say that there were a couple of times where I felt a breeze and a chill ran through my body, but over all, I was just fine.  I think I made the right call, as opposed to long pants long sleeve shirt, skull cap, etc.  

So lets get to the meat of this post.

I hitched a ride down to the Metro with a close friend.  We crammed into Metro and made our way down.  Bob and I both had a bag to check so we said our peace and waited in our separate lines to drop off our bag to pick up after the race.  I will say that I don't think I will ever use bag check again if I don't have to.  It seemed extremely unorganized.  The lines were unbelievably long.  Anyway, I dropped my bag off and made my way to my corral.  Now in the past I have had an issue where I hydrated too much and had to use the bathroom many times before the start of the race.  Well my "big trick" this time (as I knew the lines would be long) was that I  brought with me a small Gatorade bottle so that I could use, for,  well,  you know.  Anyway, I ducked behind some bushes instead of waiting in the long portapotty lines.  TMI I know, but I used a bottle and threw it away when I was done.  moving on. 

 I made my way to my corral and I was getting pumped.  My legs were ready to go and I felt strong.   I heard the national anthem and I was ready. One by one the corrals before me were set loose.  Then came Corral 11.  the count down was made and then we were off.   Running down Constitution Ave, White House on the right, Washington Monument on the left.  I was feeling a bit patriotic as we ran underneath the huge American Flag.  My goal was to run as consistently as possible and while there were some 30,000 people running, I did not feel that I was weaving in and out of traffic too much.  I guess they had broken up the crowds in manageable corrals.  So with that, I was able to get into a groove early and was able to stay with it.  

We went out and back on the Arlington Memorial bridge and made our way up Rock Creek parkway.  (This is also part of the Cherry Blossom 10 miler which I have done before.) We make our way under the Kennedy Center and continue on Rock Creek Parkway.  I am feeling good, but I know that there is a hill coming up as I had looked at the elevation chart beforehand.  AND THERE SHE BLOWS!  So this hill brought us up to Calvert St.  Per my Garmin, at mile 6 we were at 19 feet, by mile 6.3 we were at 160 feet and by mile 7 we topped off at 198 feet.  Not that I am say my Garmin is gospel, but it can not be that far off.

Well I got up and over that and started to work on recovering. I knew that was the worst of it as the other hills were not as bad, so I started to get back into my groove. There were a couple more little bumps coming up but I knew I would make up some time.  I still felt great and knew that it was mostly down hill from here.  

Coming down mile 9 on N. Capitol I was able to focus on the Capitol Dome as I was starting to feel a little tired.  This was the first time, and before I knew it I saw the marker for Mile 11.  Where the heck did mile 10 go?  Never mind I told myself and started to focus more and picture what the finish should look like.   We came up to the split from the full and half and I knew it was coming, the finish.  I was glad too.  My legs, rather hips, were starting to feel it.  I saw RFK and knew it was right around the corner.  I started to see banners. I started to hear the crowds yelling.  I was trying to kick it in, but honestly I felt like I moving slower.  Finally I crossed the finish line and then looked at my Garmin for the first time the whole race.  1:56.  I did it.  Not only did I beat last years time but I came under 2 hours.  Mission accomplished!

Will I do this race next year?  Maybe.  Unlike last year, I don't have that feeling deep down that I have to.  This year I trained and I conquered!  However, if I do come back next year I will not use bag check.  I might pay someone to be my pack mule.  Any takers?  Also I was a little disappointed in the water stops. Most of the stops were short on water when I ran by.  they only had Gatorade at what seemed to be every other aide station.  Even though I did not use the aide stations that much I think it helped me in the long run.  I (We) tend to get caught up in making sure we take in enough calories and water when we are out there.  For this race I only hit 3 aide stations, 2 for water and 1 for Gatorade and unlike last year where I took 3 Gu packets during the race this year I only took 1 and that was at the very beginning.

Oh, and supposedly they had bands through out the course (insert sarcasm), but honestly there were only three groups that I could really remember.  One was a brass quintet but I have no idea how they sounded as they were not playing as I ran by.  Another was a group of people that were all dressed similar and just jumping all around like they had so much energy. Come to think of it I don't believe they were a Band at all, I believe they might have been considered a cheer group.  Any way they gave me some of their energy. The last group was Batala at mile 8 I believe.  There were a group of kids banging on drums.  That just got me going. I really was not focused on the bands, I was more focused on my task at hand.  I will say that I have run the Rock and Roll Half in Virginia Beach, VA  and I remember more about the bands down there then the ones in DC.

Anyway all that I have to say about my experience on Saturday is that I had a great time. 

training starts

Well as I sit here watching some great football, I look back at the past week happy that I was focused on keeping my fitness up.
There is a reason why we keep running in the off-season even though we are not training for anything specific.
As it turns out, I have caught something.  I have an upper chest/respiratory infection/cold.  I feel ok but I have some congestion in my upper chest and it has taken a bit of a toll on me.
I went on a run on Thursday and could tell I was very weak.  So I decided, with some encouragement from some friends that I should take it easy, relax and stay focused on what needs to be done long term.
So that is what I am doing.  I am not happy about it but I feel that I have kept my endurance going that I can take a couple of days off and not do too much damage.
So I hope that I will be able to get back at it soon.

Will up date on my progress.

A look back at 2012

So even though I have been extremely busy I am going to make a commitment to updating once a week.

2012 was a very good year.  I am on daily mile and recently received an email with my training summary.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.

I covered 2,433 miles in running and biking.  This was an average of 46 miles per week.  I logged 340 miles and burned 70 miles.
So I decided to review my Gamin stats.  It took me a minute to remember how to navigate, but I figured it out.
I had 165 Activities for running with a total distance of 726.27 miles in 123:29 hours/mins.  My average speed was 5.9 mph and burned 117,786 calories.
For Cycling I had 182 activities and went 1,729.31 miles in 117:52 hours/mins.  My average speed was 14.7 mph and I burned 128,236 calories.
I did spend 4 hours doing 12 "other" activities and burned 1,021 calories.  There was also 5 activities that I did for a total of 2:39 hours/mins.  I only burned 194 calories.  Not sure what they were but it counts.

In looking back I accomplished a great deal.  I have kept myself fairly healthy and have really improved my speed on my feet. 

I obtained 3 new personal bests.  My 5k, 10k and half marathon, in that order.
My 5k is 24:25 at Sadies race on May 12th, my 10k is 53:42 at Columbia Turkey Chase on Nov 18th and my Half is 1:56:35 at Annapolis Half Marathon on Dec 1st.

I have not done a full marathon since the Marine Corp in 2010.  I do plan on doing another one, maybe this is the year.  Maybe not.  We shall see.  I am wanting to get into duathlons more this year, but I have a lot of events on my bucket list.  Speaking of the bucket list, I did a Spartan race this past year.  Don't plan on doing anything like that again.  One and definitely done with that.  There are many different obstacle or themed events out there and I am just not interested in doing anything like that again.

Getting back to duathlons, this year I plan on doing 2 events that I have done before, The Virginia Duathlon and the Maryland Olympic Duathon.  I am going to hope to do both duathlons in Hagerstown but we shall see.

One thing that I have come to realize is that I need to do more stretching and work on my core.  I plan to do that.  I am also going to give the 100 push ups a try.

I am going to be giving a couple of different things a try this first quarter, training apps, work out routines etc.  I will keep you posted.

well thanks for reading. I will update more later.

Columbia Turkey Chase

On November 18th, I decided to travel up to Columbia, MD an participate in the first annual Columbia Turkey Chase 10k.
I am glad that I did.  I had a very good race.  This was an out and back, fast and fairly flat course.

This was put together by Rip it Events.

This is a fairly new organization that started up a couple of years ago.  I participated in the first event that they put on, the Maryland Olympic Duathlon.  It was called Duthe2.  It was, in my opinion, a well run event.

Well the Columbia Turkey Chase was no exception.  I did packet pick up the morning of. I had a little issue getting to the start only because of my GPS.  Packet pick up was no issue.  I got my swag bag and headed back to my car to drop off the stuff.  I had enough time to hit the porta potties.

I would like to just say that when I sign up for an event, I like to know as much as possible about what I am getting myself into. I try to familiarize myself as much as possible with the layout of the start area, the course itself and the finish line.  This would include parking, packet pickup, aid stations, porta potties etc.  
Well while I was standing in line, some people were talking to each other about whether or not there were aid stations on the course, if there was parking at the relay point, and if there were porta potties on the course and at the relay point.  All of this was covered on the website.  I decided to do my good deed for the day and answer their questions without judging them.

Anyway, I did my business and was able to warm my legs up a little bit before the start.

So the details of the event was a 10k run, 2 person relay and a kids fun run.  With the run they had three waves.  The first wave was for physically challenged athletes, the second wave was 10k and relay runners and the final wave was the Kids fun run.

The course was out and back with minimal hills. In fact the elevation gain was only 164 feet.  There was no cut off time and I was a little surprised about that but was also not worried about it.  With regards to aid stations this is the first time that I felt there were too many.  For a 10k, I would think that 1 maybe 2 would be enough.  Well they had 4.  Anyway, one great thing about this event is that it was benefiting Little Things for Cancer.  Honestly I don't know a thing about this organization and I was not doing this race because of the charity but I was happy to be able to support it. 

Over all this event was excellent.  RipIt Events is a top notch organization that puts on some great events.  I am looking forward to what they have up their sleeve next. 

I ran very well and looking back I probably had more left in the tank but I did not want to go out too strong as I was focusing on my Half Marathon coming up on December 1st.   I actually recorded a personal best in the 10k distance at:  53:48

Annapolis Half Marathon race report

Ok so I wanted to share with everyone my experience in running the 2nd Annual Annapolis Half Marathon on Saturday December 1st.
So I ran last year, along with some other plodders, and there were some issues that came up. Mainly the parking was a big mess and the course was short by about a quarter of a mile.
This year was a vast improvement. The only issue that I have is packet pickup, but I will cover that at the end.
I was actually able to secure a place to stay Friday night so I did not have to worry about driving to Annapolis Saturday morning. This helped out greatly.
The parking issue from last year seemed to be fixed, but then again I was coming in from the opposite way then last year.
Well I got myself parked and started to go through my routine and get ready to race. I had plenty of time. It was a beautiful day for a race. The temps were around the high 40's low 50's. it was very foggy. I was prepared either way. (last year it was a bit colder and a lot windier.) I had packed tights and a long sleeve shirt, but I opted for a short sleeve shirt, arm sleeves (love these), cotton gloves, and shorts. I brought a throw away sweat shirt that I was wearing so I was comfortable.
So I had some time before I needed to line up in the coral for the start, which was at 7:10.

I have been trying to get a grip on my hydration and fuel. I tend to drink too much water in the morning as I am trying to calm my nerves etc....Well a trick that has helped me is to chew gum, but I started to have that do I need to pee feeling. So I walked over to the line for the porta potties, and there I stood for a while.

Well after a while I decided that I really did not have to pee so I started to make my way to the starting coral.

They did not have any pacers but they did have signs in the coral that pointed out if you were going to run a certain pace to line up here. My goal was to come in under 2 hours, which is a 9:10 per min mile. Did I make it? We shall see.
They did sign the National Anthem and then we were off, early I might add. We started at 7:00 not at 7:10 like it was advertised. The course was not much different then last year. We started at the Naval Academy Stadium (outside of the field) and ran through the parking lot. We covered more ground in the parking lot this year then last. We continued around the stadium and went into a little residential area, came out and continued on the roads around the stadium.

We started to make our way down to the water front. The fog was still thick in the air. I tossed my sweatshirt and was feeling really comfortable all the way around.
When we got "downtown" we went down Dock Street, which was added on from last year as they decided to leave out the out and back on the B&O Trail. Many people complained about this last year. The B&O is similiar to the W&OD but I think the B&O is much more narrower. Having people running 2 -3 wide on an out and back course was just a little dangerous.
Anyway, we make our way next to the Naval Academy on our way to the bridge to cross over the Severn River. I was still feeling very good at this point. I would look down every now and then at my Garmin just to briefly look at my pace. I wanted to make sure that I was not going too fast but that I was going faster then a 9:10 mile.

I did not carry water with my but I did carry some Gu energy gels. I took one gel before the start. They recommend taking a gel 15 min before and then every 45 mins during. Back when I ran the Rock and Roll in March I had some side stitches and stomach cramping so I decided to note follow the instructions to the letter.

I did not take water at the first aid station I was looking at doing an every other aid station.

I was coming up on mile 7 when I decided to take my first gel since starting and I only took about half of it. After that, about mile 8.5 my side started to hurt. I am guessing that either Gu does not agree with me or I really don't need it. Or it could mean that I need to start working more on my core (which I still plan on doing).
Other then that there really is not much more to say. The fog stuck around the whole time. While there were times when I felt a little cold I feel that I made the right move in what I wore. I think I would have been too hot if I wore tights and long sleeves.
So to recap from last year, my garmin reported a distance of 12.77 and a time of 1:57:30. I put a side note on this as the course was short, and the organizers did admit to it. Anyway, my time this year? Well I will say that this was a pretty hilly course and it had a lot, and I mean a lot of turns that we did. With that my garmin, as a lot of others, came up short again but it was 12.95. the course was certified and there is an arguement to be made that GPS watches are not 100% perfect, especially when you are making a lot of turns. Anyway, my time you ask? 1:56:35. So yes I am going with I made my goal of getting under 2 hours in a half marathon. I even beat last years time. My calves were extremely sore for a couple of days after.

so will I run this again? yes. It really is a great run and they have made a lot of improvements from last year. The after party was a blast as well.

I am starting to think that I might not need the extra gels, does anyone else have any input?
thanks for reading.