Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Road to Inaugural Tri - Permit Phase

I haven't run in more than two weeks, and it's pretty nice! I have zero motivation right now to do any physical activity so I'm going to ride the lazy wave for a while. It's got me thinking that any extracurricular activity over the next six-seven months is simply going to be trying to organize this triathlon.

So far, I've had a couple meetings with the park where I'd like to host it. The main people who run the board are hugely enthusiastic, and they're helping me move the process forward and connecting me with the right people. I did a presentation at one of their board meetings and then a few weeks later met two of the mayors/town supervisors of the towns where the race will take place. They're supportive of the event. We've now scheduled a meeting with one of the remaining governing bodies whose support we'll need to make this happen. If they approve, then we're good to go. If not, oh well. The meeting's scheduled for Dec 15.

In the meantime, I've been tinkering around with Google Earth and some software called ScreenFlow to create a map of the proposed course. Here's the result so far. You might want to skip to the halfway point to see the cooler action.



If the event gets the green light, I'm going to need to raise sponsorship money, a race committee and all of that. It'll take a fair amount of time and probably my own money but I think this is something that will pay off in many other ways.

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bataan Memorial Death March

Here's a cool video about two guys who ran Bataan last year. Provides a good overview of the run, the background, etc. Pretty inspiring.

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Saturday, November 07, 2009

Road to 50k: Race Report

So, after three months of training, I ran my first 50k (31 miles) today, and came in at 5:31:44. This would be a very slow time on any normal course but I didn't realize I'd be in for such grueling terrain. It had 1000 feet of elevation gain per loop, or 5,000 feet overall. I guess to describe it it'd be like running 16 miles up a 5,000 foot hill/mountain and then 16 miles back down. Though hmmmm, not really sure if that analogy applies. Regardless, I placed 10th overall with that time, out of 57 runners. My splits were in the area of:

Loop 1: 1:03
Loop 2: 58:00
Loop 3: 1:01
Loop 4: 1:09
Loop 5: 1:18

I clearly ran out of gas those last two loops. I'm not sure why but I struggled with a few things. I was dehydrated the whole run and I also had a hard time taking in oxygen. This is all probably due to running up and down the hills, up and down the hills, with not many flat stretches.

Rachel had a good 10k result (her first), running 1:05:16 and placing 50th out 81 runners, #2 in her age group (11 runners total).

I think I'm done running for the year. Or maybe with endurance sports in general. Time to focus on other things.


Some cellphone pics from the journey.







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Friday, November 06, 2009

Goals for Tomorrow

We're leaving in a little bit for our 3.5 hour drive to Pittsford. My race starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow and Rachel's is at 9:30 a.m.

Now, for my goals. My main goal is to break 5 hours. That would be a sub 9:28 pace over a hilly trail (800-1000 ft elevation gain per 10k loop). I think it's possible. My ideal goal, if everything went perfectly, would be to break 4 hrs 30 minutes. That would be an 8:33 pace. Not sure if that's doable but I did hit an 8:25 pace for a 22 mile run a few weeks ago. But then again, my marathon last week wasn't the greatest.

No matter, I've been tapering and resting this week. I want to push hard tomorrow.

Hasta la vista!

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Sunday, November 01, 2009

Meb Keflezighi

If you guys didn't see the NYC marathon this a.m., you missed an awesome result. It was Meb Keflzighi, who in all honestly I'd never heard of before, but he toed the line in this cool, old-school U.S.A. singlet that looked like it was out of the 70s. Who would've thought that 26.2 miles later, against some of the top runners in the world, he'd end up crossing the line first -- 41 seconds ahead of Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot?

Too cool, seeing him choked up and tearful at the end.





Also funny clip of Josh Cox and Ryan Hall. These guys are awesome. Hall placed 4th at NYC yesterday.

(this video was removed from YouTube, fyi)

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Poll & Open Thread

What do you guys want to see more of on this blog?

a. all my training stuff and only that
b. pics of bronson
c. the same as it's always been
d. even more randomness
e. guest bloggers
f. other (explain)

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Road to 50k: Week 11

Two weeks until the 50k and I haven't run in three days. After 67 miles last week and then three runs this week (4, 10 & 5) my body said enough and I've had to rest. I've got a tweaked left hamstring, a sore right knee and my right buttock (butTOCK) has got a pinch of some sort. So, three days off (Fri, Sat and today).

Tomorrow, however, I'm going to do the 24 miles I was scheduled to do yesterday. It'll be my last long run and the longest run of this 13 week program. My only concern is that the run might destroy me and any possibility of being ready in two weeks. Either way, I should have enough time to recover if I exacerbate any pains I'm currently experiencing. I'll just take it mile by mile.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Unreal.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Johanna - Sweeney Todd

For the benefit of binzamom. The second best version of all time:

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Road to 50k: Week 10

I ran 67 miles this week, the most ever, by far. My body is adapting well and recovering faster. I took a cold bath last night after my long run and I felt 100% today. They really do work. I just need to add ice since that'll help even more. The runs this week were:


Mon: 21 miles
Tues: 0
Wed: 10
Thurs: 0
Fri: 4
Sat: 22
Sun: 10

Three weeks left till the 50k and I'm starting to think about my goal times. I would ideally like to come in under 5 hours, which would be a 9:47 pace. My ultimate goal however would be sub 4:30, which would be a 8:47 pace. When I've nailed my long runs (~20-22 miles) I've run at sub-8:30 pace, so I think it could be possible. This course is considered challenging though (5000 feet total elevation gain) and I'll need to factor fatigue in. So who knows?

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

U.S. - Costa Rica Highlights

The U.S. escaped with a tie last night against Costa Rica, scoring in the last seconds of stoppage time.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Halo Trailer

Pretty awesome trailer - for Halo, of all things.

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